Mid-summer retreat in Finland

Welcome to the meditative and shamanistic retreat in the middle of the pristine forests and lakes of North-East Finland! This is the time of maximum light, when the sun is shining throughout the night in the Northern sky. The mid-summer day is called in Finnish "Juhannus", and it is traditionally magical and celebrative time. We are invited to use this around-the-clock light and special transition time to discover together our connection with this pure nature, and to tap into further energy sources to take back home after the retreat.

Together with your fellow participants and your guide, you participate a profound, yet celebrative, journey where the natural world, rituals connecting to the essence of our very souls and imagination, will enhance our lived, embodied experience of this lifetime. You are being called to this circle of friendship, which we create together in this special time and place.

In the safe and beautiful location of Metsäkartano, Finland, we will participate shamanistic rituals and workshops such as wand carving, take time to connect with nature through nature activities and just resting, and use this special magical time of mid-summer to dive into the sacred potential of our existence in this planet. Below this text you find the retreat program, which gives you more detailed information about the retreat.

This retreat is suitable for everybody, whether you are new to the retreat themes or an experienced practitioner.

Program:

This is the preliminary program, and some changes may occur due to weather and other conditions.

23. June:
Arrival of the participants
Welcoming and introductory gathering
Invocation of our sacred despacho as our shamanistic mandala ground and offering: You will learn the shamanistic tradition of making a despacho offering, and we will use this as a central mandala for our retreat time together.
Dinner
Gathering Fire and drumming at “turf cabin” by the lake: This is a wonderful turf cabin situated underground covered by moss, yet open to the lake panorama. This rounded structure in the woods has a fireplace in the middle, and we will engage ourselves with a shamanistic evening with fire rituals, drumming, and calling forth our power animals for assisting us during our retreat.

24. June:
Yoga and meditation: We will start our mornings by short and gentle yoga practice followed by guided natural mindfulness meditation.
Breakfast
Hiking tour in the nature reserve: We will explore the trails of the nature reserve and learn about the local environment, listen to the forest and connecting with the amazing, powerful nature of this place.
Lunch
Break
Traditional Finnish mid-summer rituals: We will learn about traditional Finnish rituals for “Juhannus” and prepare ourselves for the celebration of the mid-summer night.
Dinner
Sauna: There is no Finnish mid-summer night without a sauna! We will enjoy the magnificent wooden sauna by the lake, and have possibility for swimming, Helena enacts a special ritualistic sauna performance made just for this special occasion.
Mid-summer celebration and bonfire

25. June
Yoga and meditation
Breakfast
Kayaking and canoeing by the Ylä-Keyrityn lake and river: Enjoyning the noon in the pristine lake of the nature reserve and paddling in natural silence.
Lunch
Break
Building an apacheta, a sacred shamanistic stone structure: Here we will combine the Finnish and Peruvian shamanistic traditions, and build together a sacred structure from local natural stones. We will start by learning what is an apacheta and discover why we want to build one today. You will learn the basics for consecrating
the ground, building an apacheta and activating it. If you are already familiar with apacheta building, your contribution for bringing your wisdom and support for making one more structure to our global healing network is most welcome.  
Dinner
Meditation

26. June
Yoga and meditation
Breakfast
Workshop for making your own personalized wand. Together with your shaman guide and a carpenter-capable staff member of Metsäkartano, we will use Finnish wood to carve and prepare our own magic wands. Local stones and decorative materials can be use to further beautify your wand. We will ritualistically activate them later in the same evening by the fireplace.
Lunch
Freetime for swimming, kayaking, hiking, mountain biking etc. During this time, you have also possibility to get a very traditional Finnish healing called “kuppaus” from Helena, about which I will tell more during our retreat.
Dinner
Sauna, fireplace, singing and drumming

27. June
Yoga and meditation
Breakfast
Final gathering
Departure

Your guide:
Your retreat guide and coordinator is Helena Karhu, a native Finnish from the lakelands. You can read more about my profile from: www.umaohealing.com/about. I am very familiar with our retreat location Metsäkartano, as I used to work there for two years organizing different international projects. It is my favourite place in Finland, where I return every year in different seasons since 9 years, and which I
consider a very special place for our retreat together. I know the unique retreat environment and the amazingly friendly staff, and feel comfortable to invite you to Metsäkartano, and to explore together with you, what this mid-summer has to teach and show us. I am honored to be your guide in this sacred journey, and I welcome you with full of joy, anticipation and gratitude for life to invite us here together.  

Retreat location: Metsäkartano wilderness center is located in Rautavaara, Finland, in the middle of quiet nature reserves, pine forests and lakes. You can read more and see images here: www.metsakartano.com

Accommodation: In simple but comfortable wilderness hotel rooms, which have their own bathroom. Shared twin rooms, but single rooms are also available. The building has also a small kitchen, living room with fireplace.

Price: 583 EUR / 4340 DKK including accommodation in the wilderness hotel with full-board (breakfast, lunch and dinner as ecological, traditional Finnish food), guidance, materials for your own personal wand, retreat program including free use of Metsäkartano’s equipment such as kayaks, canoes and mountain bikes.

The price does not include travel costs to the retreat location. The closest airport is Kuopio airport, where there are flights from Helsinki. It is also possible to reach Kuopio by bus or train from Helsinki. We can arrange shared transfers between Kuopio and Metsäkartano, as there are no public connections all the way to our retreat location.

Pre-retreat possibility:

Shaman drum making course 21.-22. June

If you would like to build your own new shaman drum from traditional Finnish materials with a master drum maker Ari Kuivalainen, you have this unique possibility to travel to Metsäkartano couple of days before, and make your drum ready for the mid-summer celebrations. Ari has learned and developed a unique method for making shaman drums, which are in my opinion some of the most beautiful shaman drums there are being made today. The drums have fantastic sound, and Ari’s gentle teaching and wisdom on nature medicins makes it all ever more interesting. This pre-retreat course is arranged, if there are minimum 4 participants.

Price: 310 EUR / 2310 DKK including accommodation with full-board for 2 nights during 21.-23. June, teaching and equipment for making your own shaman drum from Finnish reindeer skin and hand-made wooden frame. A local master Ari Kuivalainen will be guiding you for making your drum, and teach you the first secrets of shamanic drumming and drum healing.

Registration:
Registrations are made by sending your name, address, telephonenumber, e-mail address and information about your allergies, special diet etc. to contact@umaohealing.com. Please include also information, if you would like to participate the shaman drum making course as a pre-retreat program.

Questions and contact:
If you have any questions concerning the retreat, you are welcome to write to Helena to contact@umaohealing.com