News Update July 2024

​The Shamanic Gathering have some exciting news to share about our upcoming event this September. We are blessed with a great bounty of presenters and their offerings but also really blessed to welcome a group of indigenous Elder Women from the Central Desert of Uluru who bring their culture to share with us all. More of that to come.
This year, the Shamanic Gathering UK feels like it’s definitely coming of age. It is our 18th year as a residential gathering of people interested in exploring the shamanic pathway and it runs from 4th to 8th September. First started in Glastonbury in 2006, with a taster day to gauge what interest there would be, over 100 enthusiastic people attended, that the decision was made to create a residential gathering. In the early days it was held in Dorset and then moved to EarthSpirit Centre in Compton Dundon where it’s grown from strength to strength.
Each year, a theme is given that guides the energy of the Gathering and the direction of the presenters and this year it’s “Navigating the Journey – Same River, Different Waters”. This speaks of how there’s been some big changes within the Shamanic Gathering organisation as the baton has been handed on for the organisation team but at the same time, we hold the space as ever, feeling unchanged, for the U.K. shamanic community to come together, once a year, where old friends can meet up, and new friendships made. All with a common bond of an interest in all things “shamanic” and “animistic”. There are many that attend where shamanism has been a lifelong journey but also there’s space for those that feel the call and want to dip their toe in (or even dive in head first).
We have a fantastic range of presenters and what they bring to the gathering, more of that later, too, but this year we’re extremely honoured to be welcoming a group of four Aboriginal Senior Law women / Ngangkari from the Uluru area in Central Australia. This is the first time they have travelled to the UK and they are here just for a few weeks.
The Central Desert Uluru Minyma (women) are coming to England to share their culture. These women are the Ngangakari (Spiritual Healers) who work in hospitals and for whom people travel miles to visit. They are also the Law Women, who carry the traditional songs and stories of the Dreamtime, which have embedded in them the rules for living in right relationship. The women are sharing about their homelands, their stories, their Inma (ceremony) and their painting of Country. They embody the divine feminine, having grown up outside the patriarchal paradigm of The West, they have much to teach us about living sustainably and in right relationship with Country, Kin and Spirit.
They will be here for the duration of the Gathering (which is residential only) and running alongside our great feast of the presentation programme. They may offer all aspects of their culture such as their world renowned paintings that come from the Dreamtime. Paintings doesn’t do this justice as it’s so much more. These women are nature, they are painting themselves when they paint their Country, the ancestors, the Tjurkupa (creation / creative life force / Dreamtime stories). You will see that in the painting process the Country literally flows through the women into the painting. The art tells a story of their Tjurkupa (Dreaming). Aboriginal Australia never had written text, the paintings are the form of communicating the stories, this is their form of writing. Watch the women paint and you might be invited to paint with them. If you attend, you might feel a connection with the artist or the painting. These paintings often hold secrets that then get painted over but still hold the energy of those ancient secrets before a beautiful facade is painted over the top. These may be offered for sale and are highly prized.
There may also be dancing where you may loosen up and feel the ancient rhythms of songs of the central desert, the world's oldest continuous culture. Sung for millennia these songs tell the stories of creation. Often playful with lots of laughter, it is a great pleasure for the Elders to see people enjoying their culture and traditions in the Lore they hold and share with us. Often the seven sisters, the Pleiades, and Milky Way songs and dances are shared. Clowning is a big part of Aboriginal culture and always lots of playful laughter accompanies these performances.
There may be an opportunity to receive healings from the women, Ngangkari (traditional healers) of the Central Desert. As children these women are recognised to have a gift and are chosen to learn the skills and traditions of the Ngangkari from their Elders. With a lifetime learning the tools for healing it promises to be a unique experience as together the women gather around their patient and work at deep levels to affect change for healing. These women work in hospitals in Adelaide and Alice Springs to bring their magic and alternative healing. (a separate charge will apply)
There will also be time just to sit with them around the central fire which is always an important space and element of our Gathering.
Running alongside all of this, we are blessed this year to have a wealth of experienced presenters bringing their teachings, guidance and stories. From Caroline Carey, Helen Bruce, Danu Forest, Leo Rutherford, Howard Malpas and so many more. Too much to list here but it’s all on our website in great detail, alongside the booking details, accommodation options and food. There are workshop choices throughout the day and often larger communal ceremonies and trance dances in the evening. This year the whole Gathering is carefully held by the organising team, Derek Gane, Alison Wells and Steve Niner, who bring many years of being part of the event and have navigated this year of change both within the Gathering as well as in the world around. Many have said that they look ahead each year to come together once more and be held in this crucible of friendship, with the ancient wisdom guiding us through these tumultuous times where we find ourselves right now finding a way for us to be in right relationship with each other and the world around us. .
If you want to find out more, go to www.shamanicgatheringuk.org.uk. Come and join us, we’d love to welcome you.