Self-Development Workshop
Examine the myth of the Goddess Inanna and learn to navigate the cycle of Life, Death, Life. Explore your relationship with the archetypal feminine instinct, discover potent strategies for personal development and strengthen your unique spiritual practice.
About Reclaiming the Dark Workshop
We all receive wake-up calls from our soul as an invitation to examine what no longer serves us. Pursuing this call can be frightening because we intuitively know it heralds a time of change. It is not so much change that unsettles us, rather that in-between space of transition. The void where the old is expiring and the new is yet to emerge. It’s within this liminal space that we cross paths with the Dark Goddess.
This is not a conventional self-improvement workshop. To find a deeper understanding of our own potential for self-actualisation and transformative growth as contemporary women, we will investigate the myth of the Goddess Inanna, and the archetype of the Dark Goddess. Stretching back in time over 5,000 years, Inanna’s story provides an archetypal feminine map, to guide us through this transitional place, or the ‘dark night of the soul’ as it is commonly described. She teaches us to emerge transformed. Personal empowerment is a lifelong process and will require us to journey deep within to cultivate the self-awareness and self-confidence necessary to pursue our unique purpose.
During our time together, we will:
- Discover how the gifts of the dark empower us to live authentically in the light.
- Create a powerful ceremony of liberation that signifies letting go of what no longer serves you and embody your intention for transformation.
- Gain insight into the rich and complex history of the Dark Goddess archetype, from her revered origins to strategically labelled evil and ultimately dismissed as irrelevant.
- Explore the pre-patriarchal myth of the Descent of Inanna, and why it is relevant to the modern woman, and the times in which we live.
- Return to our natural rhythms and recognise the soul’s signals announcing the time to descend to the Dark Goddess for initiation and metamorphosis.
- Learn how to embrace the ‘dark night of the soul,’ as a powerful force which illuminates our hidden strengths, wisdom, and power. Explore the depths of the shadow self through the transformative lens of the Dark Goddess archetype.
- Gain insight into how to overcome the obstacles that hold you back, how to show self-compassion, inner emotional intelligence, and learn how to move through fear to pursue your unique life goals.
Embark on a journey to the Dark Goddess.
Register your interest in the Reclaiming the Dark workshop today and learn from ancient feminine archetypes to strengthen your spiritual practice, navigate through times of change, and emerge transformed.
What to Expect
My style is interactive and personal, and because of this, groups are capped at six participants. A safe environment is created so that you can journey together and freely share experiences and ideally create a community of support beyond the workshop.
There is also an opportunity here to bring an existing friendship group of like-minded women to form an exclusive group to work together. Those who have participated in such a group found that their friendships were deepened, and the experience afforded them a shared cosmology and language, enabling deeper conversations and support.
Become a Student of the Ancient Goddess Inanna
Inanna is one of the foremost Sumerian deities and governed the spheres of war, fertility, and love. Both a lover, warrior, and philosopher, her stories come to us through the work of the Akkadian high priestess and poet Enheduanna, and offer us valuable insights into the complexities and nuances of feminine archetypes.
For centuries women have placed Inanna’s guidance at the centre of their ritual practice. With the scarce knowledge and awareness of the instinctual feminine in our culture, we must look to those who went before us for the missing pieces. A rite of such duration belongs at the heart of the twenty-first-century woman’s odyssey for wholeness.
Upcoming Reclaiming the Dark Workshop
The Reclaiming the Dark workshop consists of five 4-hour sessions. The fifth session is to be decided by the group. All sessions are face-to-face and held in Adelaide.
Next Workshop
Dates: Sundays 2, 9, 16, 23 June 2024
Time: 12:30pm – 4:30pm
Price: $396
Upcoming Reclaiming the Dark Workshops
The Reclaiming the Dark workshop consists of five 4-hour sessions. The fifth session is to be decided by the group. All sessions are face-to-face and held in Adelaide.
Sunday Workshop
Dates June 2,9,16, 23 Time 12.30 – 4.30 (ACST) Price AUD $396 inc GST 
Meet Your Guide
I live and work in Adelaide, South Australia. For over three decades, I have supported people in my professional practice as a psychologist, eco-therapist, shamanic psychotherapist, teacher and facilitator. I draw wisdom from numerous influences I have incorporated into my life and work.
I love variety and feel blessed to have had an interesting and diverse career that has brought many opportunities to learn, travel and assist individuals, leaders and organisations. My professional experience includes establishing my private practice, working with people in rural and remote towns and the criminal justice system, speaking at conferences and facilitating community women’s workshops. Compassion Fatigue Australia is another facet of what I do and is designed to support front-line organisations that provide services to the vulnerable. It will offer you some more insight into my work.
Over time my focus has evolved into teaching what I love the most; women’s transformational work, the ways of the soul and finding our way back into the right relationship with the more-than-human world and the land upon which we reside. For this reason, I have created Soul Praxis.
Register Your Interest:
Reclaiming the Dark
Frequently Asked Questions
The Reclaiming the Dark workshop is unique and does not share the same focus or structure as other conventional self-development workshops. Reclaiming the Dark focuses on the lived experiences of women. It combines your own personal insights with ancient myths and shamanic practices to strengthen your spiritual praxis and help you navigate the often intimidating phases of transformation and growth. Throughout this workshop, the myths of Inanna help us to challenge limited notions of femininity and allow us to reclaim personal power and self-determination.
The myths and stories of Inanna have echoed from Ancient Sumeria and through the annals of history for over five thousand years. Today, the powerful feminine archetypes represented by Inanna help us find inspiration, guidance and empowerment. Her story advises us to stop fearing change, embrace transformation, heal ourselves through self-compassion, and grow in personal strength, character, and power.
No previous experience is necessary to undertake the Reclaiming the Dark workshop. However, we strongly recommend this workshop for those already in possession of personal spiritual practice and experience with shamanic journeying. As this workshop builds upon the fundamental principles of shamanism explored in the foundational Soul Flight workshop, we recommend this as a starting point for newcomers to shamanism. The Soul Flight workshop will help you get started on your spiritual journey, and equip you with the essential tools and knowledge to grow a spiritual practice that is as unique as you are.
Much of what you take from this workshop will be up to you. However, the Reclaiming the Dark workshop is aimed at helping you further develop your existing spiritual practice, growing an understanding of feminine archetypes through the figure of the ancient goddess Inanna, and learning to navigate through periods of change and transformation. Reclaiming the Dark will give you valuable insight into the importance of self-compassion, how to cultivate spiritual self-awareness, and working within the cycles of change. It will also give you the opportunity to work collaboratively with like-minded women that share your cosmology and to build lasting friendships.
Yes! Reading widely is an excellent way to broaden our understanding of various myths and spiritualities. For extra reading related to this workshop, we highly recommend engaging with the following texts:
- Descent to the Goddess: A Way of Initiation for Women by Sylvia Brinton Perera
- Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer by Diane Wolkstein and Samual Noah Kramer
- Inanna of Largest Heart: Poems of the Sumerian High Priestess Enheduanna by Betty De Shong Meador
- Uncursing the Dark Treasures from the Underworld by Betty De Shong Meador
Should you decide to enrol in the Reclaiming the Dark workshop, you will be emailed a comprehensive list of items to bring with you. As a general suggestion, we recommend wearing comfortable clothing and bringing a notebook, pen, and blanket.
Yes, this workshop is designed to offer a safe space for women to come together to explore feminine archetypes and their own lived experiences.
As the Reclaiming the Dark workshop does not follow the structure of a conventional self-development workshop, it does not include a personal development plan. However, this workshop does provide strategies for implementing spiritual insights in everyday life.
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Join the Circle
Do you yearn for a place to come and spend time with like-minded women and have enriching conversations that nourish your soul?