The Lover’s Journey
A Quest for the Inner Man and Woman
An Eight-Day Residential Workshop
As will be clear from the subtitle, the Lover’s Journey workshop is not a ‘couples’ workshop. Instead, it is a unique journey of self-discovery based on the ancient concept of the alchemical marriage, the owning and uniting of the masculine and feminine archetypes. On this journey we will come to know, to own and to feel at home with both the feminine and masculine aspects of ourselves. As we grow up, we learn – from our parents, from our life experiences and from our interactions with others – what it is to be a man or a woman. Sometimes these ‘learnings’ can be constraining and damaging to both our relationships and to the quality of our lives.
In this workshop, we will explore and enact four important aspects of ourselves, the negative and positive man and the negative and positive woman. These four aspects represent powerful opposing forces within all human beings and it is possible to experience their humour as well as their power and profundity by bringing them into contact and interaction with those of the other members of the group. By playing out these frequently unconscious aspects of ourselves and by engaging deeply with them, we are better able to see how they influence our lives. By playing them out and having fun with them, they can become optional rather than obligatory. Armed with this insight, we can become newly aware of our previously unrecognised potential, and this new awareness can also enable us to transform destructive ways of being. Although some of the workshop activities involve all the participants, much of the work will be done in the safety and security provided by small groups.
At the climax of the workshop, we will create a ritual of joining together these four aspects of ourselves – all of which must live harmoniously within us if we are to experience our wholeness. By accepting these polarities, we open the door to a fuller and more satisfying contact with others and with ourselves.