Do you feel called to live a wilder life? More in touch with your own innate potential and wisdom?
Do you wish to cultivate deep nature connection through skills of belonging and resilience?
Would you like to experience this within a community who are witness to and value each other’s gifts?
The Wild Awakening is a 7 part journey which is a culmination of my own explorations in Rewilding over the past twelve years here in Ireland and abroad. It weaves together my experience as an ancestral skills practitioner, a Rites of Passage guide, an activist and a rewilder.
I see this programme as both a response to these unprecedented times and an ever-growing offering to the decolonial futures we dream to embody and inhabit.
From the time of the sap rising to the leaves falling, we will gather around the fire, barefoot and rooted on the land and explore the ways in which our inner and outer landscapes entwine with the more-than-human world around us.
From Bealtaine to Samhain, we will explore with our heads, hearts and hands, what it means to rewild in these times of great change and to live in reciprocal relationship with the land and our entangled web of relations.
We will do this through:
~ Ancestral crafts and skills such as; friction fire-making, basketry, fibre arts, hide tanning, wild foods and medicine, wild cooking & wildlife tracking.
~ Soul-tending work such as; Celtic wheel rituals, gratitude, self-generated ceremony, working with intent, the Way of Council, Myth and Story Telling.
~ Systems change work such as; Cultural revitalisation, conflict navigation, exploring decolonisation & unravelling whiteness.
~ Nature Connection practises; Wild-listening spots, Threshold crossings, Art of Questioning, Tracking, Play and expanding our sensory awareness.
~ Irish language revitalisation; weaving words of Gaeilge between us and in relationship with the land.
~ Wild tending acts such as; seed saving, tree planting, removal of introduced species.
This programme is designed and guided by Lucy Ní hAodhagáin (They/Them), who will be joined by a range of incredible facilitators, teachers and wild-hearted ones.
They include:
Annemarie Ní Churreáin; award-winning poet from the Donegal Gaeltacht
Rosemary Kavanagh of Wild Rose Basketry; Ancestral crafter, willow weaver and storyteller
Jimmy Ó Briain Billings of Gaelic Re-existence; Decolonial scholar, Animist and Anarchist
Margaret Chití Ní Bhaoill; Bean na luibheanna, herbal woman
Ian Ó Droma; An fearr beann, antlered-man, deer ally and wild weaver
Jenny O’Hare; Deep ecologist, facilitator, and a "live it all" human kind of being
Rupert Marques; Wilderness rites of passage guide
Clare Murphy: storyteller, performer, teacher, salon curator, artist in residence. A woman of many skills.
Aodh Mac Gairbheá; local Múinteoir Na Gaeilge, Irish teacher, prolific storyteller and our resident Gaelchara
John Duffy and Laura McGoran; ‘Future Oak Farm’; Regenerative farmers & community tenders
Community Support
This programme would not be possible without the support of the Wild Awake community that has grown with each new group over the past five years.
Each year, a previous participant returns to support the current group as part of their own personal and professional development, but also to offer experienced support and guidance for the group when needed.
Hazel Branagan is a treasured member of our team, supporting both behind the scenes and during the gatherings. Now in her fourth year of The Wild Awakening, Hazel brings a grounding presence, a balanced ear, an infectious joy and a deep love for the wild. We are so grateful for her!
Where?
Cnoc Rátha, 43 acres of rewilding land on the shores of Lough Gartan in the Donegal uplands. 20 minutes from Letterkenny.
Farmers John Duffy and Laura McGoran are stewarding this land, using regenerative agriculture practises to heal ecosystems and feed communities. John Duffy is a seventh generation farmer from this valley and has been working with Wild Awake since 2020, exploring the intersections of regenerative agriculture and cultural regeneration through decolonial practises of deep nature connection and ancestral lifeway restoration.
John and Laura will join during parts of this programme, inviting us to lend a hand in contributing to the overall health of the land here and the preservation and continuity of traditional ecological knowledge.
This course will take place entirely outdoors, starting and ending at 4pm. We will be learning, cooking and sharing around and with the fire. With the sky as the roof and the meadows, beaches, bogs and woodlands as our classrooms, we will build our relationship with the living world around us.
Who's it for?
Anyone over the age of 18 who feels the call and can commit to the immersive nature of this programme. Applications are now open and will close on December 9th. Successful applicants will be notified by December 12th.
1st - 5th May
~ Tine agus Tinfeadh ~
with Lucy Ní hAodhagáin & Annemarie Ní Churreáin
Gather at the hearth and explore practices of belonging; relational ways needed for the journey ahead. Become re-acquainted with the ancestral lifeways of home-making; tending teallach, the hearth, both within us and between us.
Ignite your inspiration through the ancient art of poetry; listening and conversing with the land.
“Most of us think of belonging as a place outside of ourselves, that if we keep searching for, that maybe one day we'll find it. But what if belonging isn't a place at all, but a set of skills, or competencies, that we in modern times have lost or forgotten.” -
Toko-pa Turner
30th May - 2nd June
~ Fite Fuaite ~
with Lucy Ní hAodhagáin & Rosemary Kavanagh
Weaving connections with one another as we weave a Willow basket for the journey ahead. What lessons can we learn from saileach as we continue to weave our communal container?
Learn about traditional Luibheanna Leighis, medicinal herbs, from Bean Luibheanna, Margaret Chití Ní Bhaoill.
“Strands once separated are rewoven into a new whole. The journey of a basket is also the journey of a people.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer
11th - 14th July
Ag lorg ár Dúlra
with Lucy Ní hAodhagáin, Jimmy Ó Briain Billings & Jenny O’Hare.
Reclaim your attention and awaken to the wisdom of the land through the devotional practise of wildlife tracking.
Track stories of self, culture and society to consider our possibilities in revitalising our own disrupted ancestral stories and becoming animal once again.
“Tracking…is not just a way of seeing ‘how things are connected,’ it is a discipline that redefines and expands what connection and relationship even is.”
- So Sinopoulos-Lloyd
31st July-4th August
~ Echtra Lughnasadh ~
With Lucy Ní hAodhagáin, Aodh Mac Gairbheá & other guests
Celebrating the threshold of abundance by turas / pilgrimage along the mythic trails of the Donegal Gaeltacht.
From Mountain to Coast, Bogs to Beaches, we will share gratitude for the harvest on hilltops and turn our attention to the stories of the sea.
“At its heart, the journey of each life is a pilgrimage through unforeseen sacred places that enlarge and enrich the soul.”
– John O’Donohue
5 -8th September
~ An Fómhair Fiáin ~
With Lucy Ní hAodhagáin & Ian Ó Droma
Become intimate with our deerkin, an Fia, and experience their embodiment of life as a giveaway.
Explore ways to receive and embody the ‘honourable harvest' and celebrate the responsibility that this life gives us.
“What happens to one happens to us all. We can starve together or feast together. All flourishing is mutual.”
― Robin Wall Kimmerer
1st - 5th October
~ An Tairseach ~
With Lucy Ní hAodhagáin & Rupert Marques
Sunrise- Sunrise threshold crossing to come closer to the land, and so closer to your own dán; the unique gift that you carry in service to the whole.
Explore self-generated ceremony, working with intent and the art of mirroring.
"Landscape is an incredible, mystical teacher and when you begin to tune into its sacred presence, something shifts inside you."
- John O'Donohoe
30th October - 2nd November
Slí abhaile
With Lucy Ní hAodhagáin & Clare Murphy
Summer’s end and the final threshold that we will cross together.
Acorn processing as we story our journey together.
We will finish with a Féasta Fiáin – a wild feast cooked in the earth – to celebrate the Celtic new year and begin the long and beautiful process of integration.
“It might be time, if we aren’t going to sicken further, to break out of our cultural grow-bag. It might be time to make contact with wild nature.”
- John Moriarty
What’s included?
– A total of 31 days spent on the land and 24 nights spent under the stars.
– Tuition from a wide diversity of teachers who are experts in their field
– All materials and tools for classes
– Simple, nutritious Breakfast & Dinner on all days
– Group shelters and camp kitchen
– Prompts for exercises and readings to do between meeting times.
What’s not included?
– Transport to and from venues
– Lunch and snacks
– Camping equipment and clothing
We will be camping outside for the entire programme so do make sure that you have enough clothing and sleeping gear to feel warm and comfortable.
Full kit list will be provided.
Group size is limited to 12 people.
What people are saying about this course
“Woven like the most skilfully crafted of baskets, bringing together diverse strands including song, story, ceremony, the community-strengthening practice of council, play, practical skills, land-tending and soul-tending into a whole experience that blossoms into the very depths of what it is to be alive in these bodies, in relationship to the land. This is radical work that sits at the edge of so many disciplines to form its own mysterious and thriving ecosystem where all can feel welcome.” - Sophie, 2022
“It's such humbling work, to feel into the support that exists in the natural world and just how generous it is when we can really take the time to connect with it's many blessings. To do this in community with other loving humans who are committed to their own journey makes it all the more special. To be taught and led by many facilitators who have dedicated their lives to their own art form and that bring this medicine into this container. I'll be forever grateful for this work finding and changing me.” - Darragh, 2024
“We sang, cooked, had deep conversations around grief and decolonisation, craic and divilment were aplenty around the fire and a beautiful supportive community was formed.The Wild Awakening is a deep remembering of ourselves, a supportive space to connect to the land, our ancestral wisdom and access deep healing.” -Maggie, 2024
“At the journeys end, I know the stirring and longing in my soul is for a life where I can be more still and present to enjoy and be of service to this stunningly beautiful Earth , its people and all species of animal, plant and mineral.” - Sarah, 2022
“It is hard to encapsulate in words the richness and depth of the Wild Awakening. To say it has been transfomative is an understatement. Lucy guided us with the utmost love and care through a myriad of experiences that were a blend of the magical & mystical, the practical, and the challenging. Her choice of guest faciltators in addition to her own deep knowledge mean't that our group enjoyed quality tuition and instruction throughout.” - Eldon, 2022
“There are no superlatives that could do this course justice. It was a truly epic journey that will stay with me forever.” - Liam, 2021
“Lucy brings together a host of inspiring facilitators to engage, challenge and educate. They create spaces for community to grow and connect to the wild both within themselves and around them. They do this in a way which is authentic, contemporary and radical while honoring our ancestors and giving us all a chance to be ancestors of the future.” - Rob 2021
