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HERMITAGE
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the Wisdom of Darkness together.

This page is truly just a sketch to invite and cocreate an online conference and spread 

SINCE TIMES UNKNOWN PEOPLE RETREAT INTO

darkness

What was once a space for hermits and monks has now spread as a practice all around the world.

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We invite you to cocreate and cohost and online conference with us with the purpose of spreading the Wisdom of Darkness.

we invite you

This is not an invitation to create „just another“ online conference but a space where we want to convene for the first time ever online those that are both interested in the topic as well as those experienced with Darkness Retreats.

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Amongst the topics we want to explore are

dark retreats

COMMON MISCONCEPTION ON

  • Longer is better

  • Visions & deep transformation is guaranteed

  • Dark Retreats are for everyone

  • A dark retreat is not a trip!

  • Integration is more important than the dark retreat itself

  • Psychological health & preparation

  • Can i go crazy?

  • What happens when I die?

  • The dark retreat is my first retreat

  • Who will help me when things get difficult?

INTRODUCTION INTO

darkness retreats

We are inviting those that have facilitated - like us at The Hermitage some 600 Darkness Retreats - to come up with best practices that we want to share.

  • Nutrition

  • Fasting vs. not fasting

  • Exercises, singing, breath, meditation, movement, dreams

  • Trauma - the inner child

  • Medication

  • Anxiety & depression

symbolism

DARKNESS

There is something very archetypal with darkness. We are at the same time frightened by it and attracted to it. It seems there is an inherent polarity that wants to be explored. We want to explore this through diverse perspectives such as psychology, C.G. Jung, Kali, The Unknown, Yin-Yang, The Evil or Devil/Hell, The Mother/Goddess, first darkness, Prakriti, Materia Prima, or Void from where all creation comes, Xibalba in the Mayan mythology.


Beyond the mythological part we want to explore the poetic side of it. We all know:

There is a crack, a crack in everything.

That's how the light gets in.

(Leonard Cohen)​

chemistry

SCIENTIFIC STUDIES & BRAIN

We want to shed a light on the neurobiological processes behind the experience itself.

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From Melatonin, Serotonin to DMT & 5-MEO DMT, activating the pineal gland.

A ROUND TRIP THROUGH THE SPIRITUAL

tradition

We find darkness retreats in various different traditions, from India - Kayakalpa / Ayurveda, Tibetan - Dzogchen & Mahayana, Colombia - Kogi Mamos, Daoist, Dream Yoga & Lucid Dreaming, Egypt - Pyramids, France - Catacombes, Mayan tradition, Greece, as well as the Essenes Scrolls near the Dead Sea in Israel.

integration

Much like any peak experience, be it a silent retreat, plant medicine, or a darkness retreat. The most important part comes after the experience itself. It’s all about integration.

 

We are inviting therapists, trauma experts to share their expertise on how to best bring into fruition these often very deep, transformational experiences we have when we spend a longer stretch of time alone in the darkness.

AUBREY MARCUS

OM C. PARKIN

GABOR MATE

MANTAK CHIA

BRUCE LYON

SAHAJANANDA

CREATE A

we space

But besides just putting talking heads, we truly want this to be a We-Space, where we provide ample space to all of those who already shared a transformational experience in a darkness retreat.

THE SPEAKERS WE WANT TO

invite are

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