Forthcoming Retreats
Get a glimpse of the contemplative experiences we are preparing for you. These upcoming retreats are in the planning stages, designed to continue our shared exploration of the Christian Wisdom tradition. Stay connected to be the first to know when registration opens.
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Cynthia Overweg
Cynthia Overweg has been facilitating retreats and educational programs for over twenty-five years. Her work is influenced by the profound teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff, J. Krishnamurti, the world’s great mystics, and the non-duality that underpins contemplative Christianity and the Wisdom Traditions of the East. She also draws from her own inner experience and a life-long study of Christianity and Buddhism, sometimes integrating similar threads of compassion and the realization of Oneness that are also fundamental in Sufism and Hinduism. Her work includes meditative programs on Hildegard of Bingen, Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Mary of Nazareth, Mary Magdalene, and visionary women of Eastern traditions.
"The Sacred Feminine in a Fractured World,"
with Cynthia Overweg.
Thursday 24 September 2026
6:30-9pm Pacific Time
An online retreat.
"As God is our Father, so truly is God our Mother."
Julian of Norwich
“We are all meant to be mothers of God.”
Meister Eckhart
The Sacred Feminine and Sacred Masculine are regarded as equal and complementary divine energies that are beyond gender and form. Conceptually, it is the Feminine Principle that gave birth to the matrix of all life, and it is through Her that the whole of creation is nurtured and sustained. Hildegard of Bingen put it this way: “She is so bright and glorious that you cannot look at her face...but she is with everyone and in everyone.” The mystery of the Sacred Feminine dwells deep in the hearts of both women and men. She invites us to give birth to the inner transformation that dissolves the illusion of separateness from each other, from nature, and from the unconditioned love that underpins the whole of life.
Yet for centuries we have not understood or embraced the transforming power of this silent, receptive and compassionate Presence within us. The conscious restoration of the Sacred Feminine is imperative if we are to heal the trauma of accelerating global divisions and violence, and end the destruction of precious ecosystems that sustain life on Earth. This online retreat has four segments: An overview of the Sacred Feminine through time; Mary of Nazareth and the birth of the Christ consciousness; the Sacred Feminine as represented in the work of Hildegard of Bingen; and the significance of the Sacred Feminine in today’s world and within ourselves. Time will be time set aside for questions/answers/discussion.
Registration coming soon...
Why Ritual?
The relationship of stability and openness in contemplative prayer
By Paula Pryce
Thursday 05 November 2026
6:30-8:30pm Pacific Time.
An online retreat.
Ritual is God’s gift to humanity.
Whether formal liturgy or intentional living, ritual exists in every culture as a conduit to the Divine beyond our own imagination. Ritual provides an anchor that steadies us in a the fluid, often unsettling world of moving beyond the ordinary and expected.
This online retreat will explore how people everywhere have turned to ritual as a source of renewal, but also a less benign means of social control. Our focus will turn to how contemplative practices combine attention to the body, refinement of the senses, and a willingness to enter the unknown. With Divine consent, these disciplines can become the agents of human transformation.
The retreat will include contemplative practice to facilitate exploration of the teachings.
Registration coming soon...
Dr. Paula Pryce
Dr. Paula Pryce is a cultural anthropologist whose research explores silence, ritual, and contemplative traditions across cultures. Her publications include The Monk’s Cell: Ritual and Knowledge in American Contemplative Christianity. Having been raised in an interreligious household, Paula has studied and practiced meditation and other contemplative rites since childhood. She lives in Vancouver BC, where she leads retreats, facilitates contemplative prayer groups, and writes in a variety of genres. Paula regularly contributes reflections to The Contemplative Society website.