Rites of Passage Summer School 2017 with GILLY ADAMS and SUE GILL
Friday 23 – Monday 26 June 2017
East Woodlands Village Hall, Frome, Somerset BA11 5LQ

If you are at a moment of transition in your life or would like to expand your personal practice, this four day Summer School is an opportunity to examine the Hows and Whys of ceremony and celebration in practical and experiential ways.

Many of us experience ritual and ceremony in our lives in an inarticulate way, plagued by anxiety and embarrassment. We may settle for a formulaic response to marking birthdays; we may pay glancing attention to the changing of the seasons; we often bear witness at weddings and funerals. And yet, we may also experience the absence of ritual at key moments of change or loss when we long to find a vehicle to express our emotions.

Examining how ceremony and celebration feature, and have featured in our own lives, allows us to clarify how we can be bolder in honouring significant beginnings and endings and in imaginatively facilitating that process for others.

We will investigate how both positive and negative life events can be distilled into myth and poetry, and create meaningful rituals to contain them.

Journey, with all its associated imagery, is often a significant metaphor in the work

This is not a nuts and bolts course although we focus on practice more than theory. Most crucially, the days will be shaped to fulfil the needs and aspirations of participants so there will be opportunities to learn and practise many aspects of the craft of creating ceremony – both public and private – in a safe environment.

Gilly Adams and Sue Gill have been working together for many years and will offer insights into the cognitively rich world of the secular celebrant. They bring their own particular brand of humour and insight to the task of sharing their broad experience, offering theory, information, and – they hope – inspiration.

Food is usually an important element in ceremony and celebration and, since we will be eating lunch and supper together, cooked specially for us, feasting will be a special theme. The working day will be from 10a.m. to 9p.m. except on the last day when we will finish at 2p.m.

The fee of £450 includes tuition, materials, meals and refreshments.
Payment in instalments can be arranged.
There are 12 places available… only a few left.

To secure your place, send a cheque, payable to SUE GILL, to:
The Beach House, Swinestead Lane, Baycliff, Ulverston, Cumbria LA12 9RY (or request details for bank transfer).

East Woodlands Village Hall is on the edge of the Longleat Estate and has a very particular, rural character. Some accommodation is available in the immediate vicinity and more in the nearby town of Frome, including AirB&B. Look online. Accommodation is not included in the course fee. Nearest mainline train station is Westbury, 2hrs from London / SW line.
To express interest and/or for further information please contact
Sue Gill foxandgill@btinternet.com 01229 869769
Gilly Adams gillyadams@tiscali.co.uk 02920 552389