by Banafsheh | Aug 12, 2019 |
Week-long Intensive presented by Ubiquity Chartres Academy
August 12-19, 2019
Chartres, France
Join us at Chartres’ holiest time during the Feast of the Assumption of Mary and the adoration of the Black Madonna in procession out in the open for a time for a full immersion in the divine feminine and her union with the divine masculine through deep reflection, joyous celebration, ritual, walking the labyrinth, dance and singing.
This pilgrimage will center us deeply in the heart of Chartres. We will be there on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary (August 15) which honors the Church doctrine, enunciated by the Pope in 1950, that Mary was assumed directly into heaven upon her death and now presides as the Mother of God. Carl Jung believed that this doctrine elevating the feminine into the Godhead marked the most important development in Christian theology in the last 2000 years. This year’s Feast coincides with the full moon. A city that has reverenced the feminine for several thousand years honors the feminine in the deepest of ways. On the Day of the Assumption, the Black Madonna is carried through the streets before being placed in front of the statue of the Assumption of Mary. She is kept in the Choir for one week and then hidden away till the following year.
Parading the Black Madonna recalls the way the Druids in ancient times brought her out of the grotto underneath the granite promontory upon which the cathedral today stands. They honored Mother Earth and the cycles of the seasons through the Black Madonna. Being in Chartres at this one time of the year will both deepen our Memory of ancient rites and activate our souls to a greater reverence for the Mother of God.
It is within this sacred space that we will honor the divine feminine and contemplate how she can most powerfully be present with us today. She has many guises and appears as She wills. The aspect we will explore is new visions of the relationship between the divine feminine and divine masculine, so powerfully depicted in the north (Mary) and south (Christ) rose windows of the cathedral.
There is no issue challenging human society more than how we understand the relationship between the feminine and the masculine in the aftermath of 5,000 years of patriarchy. This mandates in turn a fundamental revisioning of the feminine and the masculine aspects of ourselves. Rising women with Rising men erotically, passionately, dynamically, synergistically and compassionately can powerfully shape the world to come.
There is nowhere this exploration is more appropriate than Chartres, the locus of sacred power of the feminine since time immemorial, and the cathedral that represents the union of the divine feminine and the divine masculine in full splendor.
Daily Program
Each day will include Sacred Practice, an opening Session, presentations on the Divine Feminine and Masculine, a sound bath, sacred dance, immersion in the Cathedral, and personal time for meditation and exploration. Women and men will meet separately and together during the course of our time together. We plan to have one private evening in the cathedral devoted to walking the labyrinth, accompanied by Gregorian chant, and another private evening in the crypt. We will spend time in the cathedral reflecting on the many aspects of Mary and communing with the Black Madonna.
Faculty: Anne Baring (virtually), Apela Colorado, Ruth Cunningham, Jim Garrison, Andrew Harvey, Banafsheh Sayyad.
Ubiquity Chartres Community Webinars – Join the faculty and participants in our monthly webinar on the second Sunday of every month for discussions on the topics included in the intensive. Register for the Webinars here. Watch past Webinars here.
TO REGISTER:
Click here to register!
More info: Email | 702-358-0551
36 hrs towards Dance of Oneness® Certification Program
Preparing for a Dance of Oneness® Retreat
by Banafsheh | Jul 14, 2019 |
4-day Workshop
July 14-18
Hollyhock, Cortes Island, British Columbia
Stella Maris is the sun in the sea, a reference to Mother Mary, and originally, the Goddess Isis. It was the Persian Mehrab that was later used in mosques to indicate the direction of prayer. Mehrab points us to the secret that at the heart of darkness is a blinding light—our journey toward light is through darkness, and our guide is love. Mehr in Persian means both sun and love. Mehrab then is the sea of love, the sea of light.
Dance to submerge yourself in the sea of love, melt and give yourself fully to the divine love energy that moves through all of existence. You’ll be surprised to find that surrendering in this way is the key to transforming all your relationships…with your body, yourself, the people in your life, and life herself.
Explore the mysteries of Stella Maris through dance, poetry, and meditation. Dive into the sea of love as we dance at the edge of the sea and in the sea.
TO REGISTER:
Click here to register!
26 hrs towards Dance of Oneness® Certification Program
Preparing for a Dance of Oneness® Retreat
by Banafsheh | Jul 7, 2019 |
Week-long Intensive presented by Ubiquity Chartres Academy
July 7-13, 2019
Chartres, France
Join an extraordinary confluence of thinkers, artists, movers and shakers to explore the influence of the heavenly bodies on our psyches and destinies in the context of the 7th liberal art of Astronomica. Step into a field of empowering grace through reflective time in the cathedral, shared dreams, ritual, walking the labyrinth, singing and dancing the patterns & rhythms of the cosmos.
In studying the seventh and highest of the liberal arts of Astronomica, begin to contemplate the entire cosmos as a divine work, designed to express beauty. Through astronomy, ascertain the laws which govern the heavenly bodies, and by which their motions are directed. Through astrology, investigate their archetypal characteristics and seek to discern their influence upon our psyche and destinies.
Dancing the Planets
In Astronomica, celebrate the spiritual relationship of the human being to the Cosmos and to the Earth through dance, awakening the soul to a conscious experience of the harmony of the spheres – an experience through which the divine origin of the human being becomes tangible. The dances create dynamic living mandalas as a flowering of the life forces, giving human form to the harmony of the planets and stars.
For the Chartrian Masters, the liberal arts were ultimately an artistic impulse, through which the highest appreciation of the sacred is expressed. Dancing the patterns and rhythms of the cosmos opened sacred communion with the world of the stars. The labyrinth no doubt emerged out of their cosmic contemplations. Led by Banafsheh Sayyad, whirl like the planets and stars, echoing that which from heaven streams down to human beings and animates us to becoming luminous reflections of love.
Daily Program
Each day will include Sacred Practice, Dreamwork, an opening symposium, a presentation on astrology, immersion in the Cathedral, and personal time for meditation and exploration. Dance the movements of the planets, and sing. We will have one private evening in the cathedral devoted to walking the labyrinth, accompanied by Gregorian chant, and another private evening in the crypt.
Faculty: Richard Tarnas, Apela Colorado, Ruth Cunningham, Jim Garrison, Andrew Harvey, Caroline Myss, Calen Rayne, Banafsheh Sayyad and Linda Tucker.
Ubiquity Chartres Community Webinars – Join the faculty and participants in our monthly webinar on the second Sunday of every month for discussions on the topics included in the intensive. Register for the Webinars here. Watch past Webinars here.
TO REGISTER:
Click here to register!
More info: Email | 702-358-0551
36 hrs towards Dance of Oneness® Certification Program
Preparing for a Dance of Oneness® Retreat
by Banafsheh | Jun 21, 2019 |
Weekend Workshop
Friday, 21 June – Sunday, 23 June, 2019
Waldhaus Centre Lützelflüh,
3432 Lützelflüh, Switzerland
Dance for the Sun that gives you life, and cultivate the energy of the Sun within. Embody and live your dreams, and create positive change in yourself and the world.
Loving kindness is the Sun within which makes us most ALIVE and vital. Affirm life like the Sun and generate ALIVENESS like the Sun in the world of darkness.
Learn to trust your deepest understanding and unleash your wild sweet nectar through sacred dance, whirling, poetry, and meditation. Gain transformative tools for living creatively in your day to day life and make true positive contribution to our world.
Mixed levels. Most appropriate for those with a background in dance, yoga or other movement modalities.
Click here to view the German translation.
TO REGISTER:
To register, email or call Nurgül Usluoglu
Email | +41 77- 412 82 93
10 hrs towards Dance of Oneness® Certification Program
Fees:
Tuition Early Bird rate until May 20 2019: Fr. 275.-,
After May 20: Fr. 300.-
Accommodations at Waldhaus: start at Fr. 230.-
Please arrange for your accommodations directly on www.waldhaus.ch
Preparing for a Dance of Oneness® Retreat
by Banafsheh | May 17, 2019 |
7-day WOMEN ONLY Dance Retreat
Featuring musicians and guest speaker, Caroline Casey
“You are the Secret of God’s Secret. You are the mirror of Divine Beauty.”
– Rumi
True beauty radiates from an inner core of love – love for yourself, the Earth and all beings. Release old resistances and blockages in your body that hold you back from experiencing ease and comfort within yourself, so you can connect with your innate beauty. Rediscover your body as a luscious temple of ease, beauty and sensuality. Feel and look young, energetic and ALIVE!
Guided by the love poetry of Rumi, other Sufi mystics and Taoist philosophy, explore the foundations of Dance of Oneness and develop presence in your body through a focus on the Chakras and the Meridian system. Integrate your body, emotions, mind and soul in a sacred union and learn tools for self-healing.
- Ground your soul in your body
- Connect to your life’s purpose
- Become who you truly are
- Awaken your inner and outer feminine beauty
- Observe and manage your life dramas without being overtaken by them
- Transform limitation to possibilities
- Reduce stress and learn to cope with daily stress to become more responsive rather than reactive, and thus contribute your unique gifts to our world
- Heal your stubborn ailments and cultivate a well-balanced body
- Find and connect with an international community of like-hearted sistas
The retreat will take place at a Sufi/Darvish House or Dergah and a beautiful historic hotel built on an Aesclepian site in the quaint village of Gokcedere. The days will be balanced with guided and free-style dance, whirling, Sufi teachings, wisdom teachings from the East & West, live music, yoga, chanting, meditation, sharing circle in a community of like-minded and like-hearted women, lots of laughter, Astro-mythology sessions, ample breaks, and detoxing in the natural hot springs. A new addition this year is aquatics – movement sessions in the natural hot spring pools.
Astrologer Caroline Casey will share stories related to the constellation of the retreat to highlight the connection between the self and the cosmos.
We will convene during Ramadan, a time of prayer, purification and introspection. We will harness the energy of this time to purify, listen, focus our undivided attention on the Beloved and cultivate resiliency and perseverance in love.
Dance, whirl, and soak in the healing natural hot springs. Nourish your soul with Sufi teachings and sacred dance. Nourish your body with exceptional Turkish cuisine and on-site Turkish baths.
Mixed Levels. Suitable for women with some background in movement or dance, trained dancers, yoga and other movement practitioners as well as healing/medical practitioners. The only requirement is a desire to connect your mind, body and spirit in healing and wholeness through movement. 30 hrs towards the 400-hr Dance of Oneness® Certification Program
Looking for more information about the retreat before you’re ready to register? Click here!
TO REGISTER:
- Purchase a ticket. Scroll down until you see “tickets”
- Sign the Terms of Agreement.
Click here to open and sign the Terms of Agreement.
Questions about registration
310 499-7100
Email
Tuition
Early Bird Rate until February 1st
Hotel Single Room Lodging $1750*
($250 deposit with full payment due February 1, 2019)
(the equivalent in Euro or TRY)
After February 1st:
Hotel Single Room Lodging $1950*
(the equivalent in Euro or TRY)
Above fees include:
- Stellar accommodations in a beautiful historic hotel built on healing natural hot water springs
- Private group access to the onsite pools and fully equipped hamam (spa)
- Exceptional buffet breakfast and dinner
- Round trip ground transportation from the Yenikapi ferry dock in Istanbul to the hotel**
Fee does NOT include airfare to Turkey, visa and roundtrip transportation from the airport to the Yenikapi Ferry dock in Istanbul.
*Only Single lodging available
**Must arrive at the designated departure time on May 17 and plan to go to Istanbul on May 24.
Lodging:
Limak Hotel
Amazing historic hotel with natural spring thermal water pools, Turkish hamam, massage, beautiful views of lush mountains and a royal feast for breakfast and dinner.
Preparing for the retreat
Everything you’ll need for a Dance of Oneness® retreat
Planning Your Trip
