Toltec Shamanism Retrieving personal power through the ancient shamanic practices of the Toltecs

7 – 13 October & 5 – 10 May 2020

Thousands of years ago, the Toltec in southern Mexico where known as the ‘men and women of knowledge’. They were ancient ‘shaman-seers’, the receivers and holders of mysteries.

Toltec Shamanism offers a range of practices within the greater shamanic traditions in which the Toltec created vital teachings and practices for the purpose of developing full consciousness and spiritual awakening. It is a powerful, non-sectarian path offering specific tools for self-examination, re-collection of and re-connection with all that we are. It recognises and seeks to nurture the awakening of the life force existing in all of us.

The goal of this training programme is to provide opportunities to move beyond our limited selves to perceive another, practically limitless, aspect of reality in which the confines of our way of being, acting, and feeling – determined by personal history – vanish. This presents the opportunity to reinvent ourselves and to discover authentic and unknown facets lying hidden in remote corners of our being.

This highly experiential journey of deep self-enquiry will consist of two gatherings filled with a rich spectrum of practices and themes, including a programme of suggested practices to be undertaken at home.

Week 1: Darkness Embrace

Initiation into the Toltec path of knowledge through the power of darkness

7 – 13 October (starts Monday evening 6pm)

Ceremonial darkness is an ancient tool employed by a broad spectrum of traditions including Taoism, Hinduism, and a range of aboriginal and indigenous cultures.
In this highly experiential journey of deep self-enquiry participants will undergo a two-day period in complete darkness through the use of ‘mindfold’ masks, whilst they are lead through an initiation into the Toltec path of knowledge.

Many initiations into the mysteries of life have traditionally taken place in darkness. It has proven to be a unique and highly effective tool in opening up to the otherwise ‘invisible worlds’. Through ‘seeing in the dark’ and ‘tracking the interior world’ participants experience its healing essence and mythic quality as a source of illumination and self-surrender.

The initiation is followed by a two day period of integration to ground the experiences and consider its application in daily life. This will also include a Toltec Sweatlodge Ceremony to mark the completion of the initiation.

Mystery and imagination arise from the same source. This source is called Darkness… Darkness within darkness, the gateway to all understanding.

Lao-Tzu

Week 2: Coming Home

5 – 10 May 2020 (starts Tuesday evening 6pm)

The Toltec were supreme artists where every individual life was considered a work of art, a conscious, living creation, always in a dynamic state of evolution.

Following on the Initiation into the Toltec path of Knowledge, ‘Coming Home’ leads us through a pilgrimage into the heart of Toltec spirituality evoking deep connection with the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan which was revered by generations of indigenous people as a site of significant ceremonial importance and a means of tapping into the timeless wisdom of their forebears.

Whereas the Darkness Embrace can be described as ‘opening the gates’ to higher forms of perception, ‘Coming Home’ is the journey of ‘stepping through those gates’ into the unknown depths of the soul – tasting, touching and experiencing that deep Universe that lies within. Here the experience of ‘Gnosis’ awaits, a state of presence from which we begin to perceive the world with unbounded, dimensionless clarity. It is the journey of ‘coming home’ to that eternal essence, the Infinite Self, and to reconnect with our original instructions as to who we are and why we are here.