THE WITCHES' REVIVAL
Wisewoman Calls us Home!
We invite you to a magical weekend of history and healing on World Day Against Witch Hunts.
9th-11th August 2024
At The Storey, Lancaster
Come join us as we stir the collective cauldron and create the magic and medicine we need to heal and reclaim our power and wisdom lost through the passages of time.
Over 4000 women were persecuted as witches in Britain during the 16th and 17th centuries and over 15 generations of our ancestors affected by the violence and brutality of witch hunt hysteria. 300 years on we continue to carry the generational trauma and the wounds of separation that trauma brings about. Survival patterns have become our default way of being, disconnecting us from our innate power and potential.
We want to contribute to the healing of our broken bonds so we may come back into right relationship with ourselves, each other and with life itself - so we're offering this weekend as a heart-centred space designed to enable deep healing. We will bring this through the magic of ancestral connection, inner journeying, creative collaborations and sisterhood.
If you're looking for a safe space to take the next step on your inner journey of transformation and empowerment, then a warm welcome awaits.
Introducing our theme for 2024
Wisewoman Calls Us Home...
No matter our age there is a Wisewoman within us all.
She is our intuitive knowing, our creative wisdom, our life experience, our healing abilities, our higher self, our love and joy, our connection to the sacred.
As a wise Elder once revered, she is powerful beyond measure, the very reason she has been devalued and demonised for centuries by a patriarchal culture.
With her wisdom banished and buried we have lost our way and allowed the beauty and sacredness of life to be replaced by an extractive, destructive, consumerist, fear-based culture.
As we stand on the precipice of our own extinction and feel the pain of the damage we've caused, it's time to reinstate Wisewoman to her rightful place.
For she offers us a pathway home to our authentic selves, to our purpose here on this beautiful Earth, to what really matters when it comes to life and death.
She is known by many names...Grandmother, Crone, Hag, Queen, Elder, Carlin, Biddy, and Shrew; and she calls us now, home to the love and wisdom that lies within.
So come join us as we step into the world of Wisewoman and journey within to seek the treasure she offers that lies deep in the marrow of our bones.
Wisewoman is calling...are you hearing her?
The Magic Ingredients...
Here's what's on offer during the weekend...
Wisewoman Calls Us Home...
An Experiential Exhibition into the womb of your wisdom.
Step into the world of Wisewoman and her ancient archetypes from around the world. Be guided to connect with the Wisewoman within.
At the heart of the weekend is our experiential exhibition which will offer a space for you to explore Wisewoman through a number of powerful and transformational experiential installations.
Who is Wisewoman? Why do we need her now more than ever? What doors does she invite us to open? What power does she hold? How can you bring her gifts more into your everyday life?
Wisewoman Workshop Programme...
A daily menu of experiential workshops designed to help you dive deeper into claiming the power of Wisewoman within.
Facilitated by a team of experienced Wisewomen themselves, you will have the opportunity to explore the various aspects of the Wisewoman archetype.
From guided journeying to somatic experiencing, from herblore to creative experiences, from ancestral healing to death cafes, there will be something for everyone as we work together to step more fully into our wise and wonderful selves!
Wisewoman Speaks...
A menu of interactive talks to educate and inspire the Wisewoman within!
The voice of the Wisewoman has been silenced for far too long! So we'll be providing a much-needed platform for her to share her vital wisdom. Our menu of talks will cover a wide range of topics and feature some renowned Wisewomen with urgent messages to share.
The Witches' Emporium
A place of magic and medicine!
Come and breathe in the beauty that emanates from women's creativity. The Witches' Emporium will shine a light on the lost arts and crafts born out of our rich heritage and which support you to connect with your inner Wisewoman. Come and immerse yourself in a magical experience where products are made with love and the makers are passionate about sharing the stories they hold.
The Council of Wisewomen
Wisewomen Circles for heart and soul sharing!
Each lunchtime there'll be a Wisewoman Council on offer, a space for you to sit in circle with other women to support your processing of the inner work and what it's evoking in you. Rooted in acceptance and non-judgement, this will be a supportive space to share the contents of your heart, held by experienced circle holders.
Dancing with Wisewoman...
Ecstatic, Somatic, Shamanic Dance Evening
On Friday and Saturday evenings we will host an evening of open-floor style dance and movement sessions to support our journey to connect with the Wisewoman withing. Included in the ticket price this will include a special tea ceremony and be an opportunity to be together as a sisterhood in sacred space.
Around Wisewoman's Cauldron...
An Evening of Story and Song!
On Friday and Saturday we will host a evening of magic as we stir our creative offerings into Wisewoman's cauldron. We invite you to share your own poetry, songs, and stories inspired by Wisewoman as we weave our wisdom into a night of wonder, supporting and encouraging each other to shine!
Wisewoman's Homecoming Ceremony...
An unforgettable Closing Ceremony!
We will gather for a final time on Sunday afternoon to end our weekend with a big closing ceremony!
Through sacred ritual we will bring Wisewoman home, and reinstate her, fully crowned, on her throne as Queen amongst Queens.
We will integrate our experiences and prepare to return to our lives with hearts full of love and vows in place to honour our inner Wisewoman in the weeks and months to follow! All to dress as Wisewoman would!
Global Witch-Hunts are on the Rise...
Raising awareness of those still suffering the horrors of witch persecutions.
In more than 40 countries worldwide, witch accusations are far from being a thing of the past, but continue to be the violent and increasing reality for many (mostly) women.
It's a topic that is close to our hearts at The Witches' House, but which most of us don't know much about, despite a recently signed UN Resolution calling for its end.
During the weekend we will shine a light on the facts of what's happening around the world, and share some of the stories of those affected.
BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE
Head over to our Ticket Tailor Page by clicking the Button below...
Called to join us?
Here's how it works...
Tickets:
-You can come for one day, two days or three days (and we really encourage you to come for the whole thing if you can!)
-Your ticket price includes everything on the schedule including the evening events (the only exception is the individual treatments)
-One day tickets are £80 and our discounted three day tickets are £200.
-There is a limited number of tickets available each day to ensure enough workshop/talk spaces for all as well as a safe and held space for the work we're doing.
-We invite you to donate to our Angel ticket scheme to enable us to provide concession tickets to those in situations of financial hardship.
-Concession tickets are available on request, please email us if you need one explaining your current situation.
-Tickets are non-refundable and non-transferable.
-Due to the healing intention and nature of the topics we are addressing (persecution, torture and trauma), the event is designed by women for women and is suitable for ages 13+
The Schedule:
Friday and Saturday will run as follows:
9am - Registration and workshop booking (Exhibition opens)
10am - Opening Ceremony
11am - Emporium Opens
11.30am - Workshop Sessions (5 to choose from)
1.30pm - Lunch Break
3pm - Workshop Sessions (5 to choose from)
5.15pm - Closing Ceremony
7pm - Emporium Closes
7.00pm - Evening Events (2 to choose from)
9.00pm - Close
Sunday will run as follows:
9am - Registration and workshop booking (Exhibition and Emporium opens)
10am - Opening Ceremony
11.30am - Workshop Sessions (5 to choose from)
1.30pm - Lunch Break
3pm - Wisewoman's Homecoming Ceremony
5pm - Close
-The Exhibition and Emporium will be open for you to explore throughout the day when you're not in a workshop/talk
-Wisewoman Councils will take place during the lunch breaks and Sat/Sun mornings before the opening ceremonies
-The garden space will be available as a place to hang out with other sisters
-Workshops will be bookable at registration each morning
-We operate a strictly no alcohol and drug policy
-The Witches' Revival is a non-religious, non-political event focused on the psychological impact of ancestral trauma and the relationship impacts of witch-hunt dynamics.
About our Venue...
The Storey, Lancaster
The Storey is an iconic centre for cultural events and creative industries located in the heart of Lancaster and the Pendle Witch Trials.
For the three days we will be inside The Storey building where we have 7 beautiful spaces, including use of the walled garden with its magnificent copper beech tree.
This year we have hired the main Gallery Space in addition to all the spaces we had last year. This will house our interactive exhibition and provides a large enough indoor space for our full group sessions. The Witches' Emporium will be in the bright and airy Music Room next door and the other spaces used for workshops and treatments. If you haven't been before, we'll give you an orientation on arrival and we'll have ample signposting to help you during your visit.
The venue is fully accessible with ramps, lifts and disabled toilets. No part of the weekend will be inaccessible to wheelchair users.
The Printroom Cafe on the ground floor is a great place for lunch or coffee with space to hang out and chat with friends.
The only challenge is no parking at the venue itself. However, the nearest public carpark is Dallas Road which is only a street away. There are many other carparks in and around Lancaster if you need them.
The Storey is easily accessible by train and a 3-5 minutes walk from Lancaster's main train station.
If you're coming from afar and need somewhere to stay there are lots of options available.
Check AirBnB or visit the Lancaster Tourist Information Website for a comprehensive list.
Once you've bought your tickets, you'll be invited to join our private Facebook Group where we are helping women who need someone to share with to find each other.
Meet the Team...
We are passionate about creating safe and creative spaces for women's healing and following the success of 2023's weekend, we're excited to make The Witches' Revival 2024 another powerful, creative and educational experience.
We weave our many years of experience within the fields of psychotherapy, counselling, healing, ritual guiding, group work, dancing, music, and event organisation to bring a safe space for healing and empowerment. Women's safety is paramount in our planning and decision-making as we invite and hold space for shadow work and trauma healing throughout our event.
Come alone or with sisters. A warm welcome awaits you!
Cali White
In a crumbled and polarised world, archetypes offer us vital pathways to our authentic power and shared humanity. The Wisewoman archetype holds the keys to some much-needed truth and self-understanding. Wisdom comes from our lived experience and I know from my own that coming together to journey within is a magic ingredient for healing and growth.
Wisewoman invites us to step through a portal of power and to initiate ourselves into what it really means to be post-menopausal women and living perhaps the most powerful phase of our lives.
Designing "The Wisewoman Experience" is an honour and a privilege that's enabling me to explore my own creativity to the full and to work collaboratively with others to offer what I hope will be a deeply healing experience for everyone who comes.
Now more than every we need to return to the sacred, to ritual and ceremony, and to build creative community that supports and inspires through love and joy!
Wisewoman is teaching me a lot as I prepare to welcome you to what promises to be a life-changing weekend and I really look forward to co-creating a memorable experience of magic and medicine with you all! x
Lynsey Tidbury
It is with wide open arms that I welcome you to our festival this year! Wisewoman stirs deep in our bones and we know that we
are not here on this Earth to suffer or be repressed, but to thrive, to
create, to flourish and to embody Joy.
The last 22 years have led me on my own, epic journey of wisdom-seeking, therapeutic training and ever deepening connection to the
innate wisdom and cyclic nature of the Feminine, and has shown me how the ancestral wounds of separation and disconnection are
causing much of the emotional and physical suffering women experience
in the world today.
Journeying with Wisewoman as my guide in this, helps me to offer
deeper, and more intuitive support and healing to others, and to weave
my wisdom into my group circles and teachings with more confidence and compassion.
I am so excited to share what I've learned from Wisewoman with you during our weekend together and I
feel a heartfelt appreciation for all women who step into this work, for
when we walk this path together, we heal together, evolve together, and
cultivate change.
So I look forward to holding you, as you journey and seek your own
wisdom with Wisewoman. x
Paula Fox-Valsler
Wisewoman is here to inspire radical change in you. Through embodying shared truths, beliefs and sisterhood connection, The Witches’ Revival promises to be a potent container to support your growth and healing.
When a woman becomes conscious of the Wisewoman archetype, she will become free to live a life in full self-expression.
My path on this planet is to midwife, support and guide women to embody the modern feminine; to find their way back into their bodies, to their inner knowing, their feminine wisdom and power, into radical expression and empowerment.
Wisewoman has been my muse and mentor as I prepare for her homecoming at this year's Revival. Her biggest teaching and my biggest lesson, is how to live a full and expansive life as a well-nourished woman. Invaluable wisdom I think we could all do with.
I am so looking forward to co-creating group immersions at The Witches’ Revival for this individual and collective transformation to take place.
Deep gratitude to you for hearing the call! x
Sara Carter
My life’s work has taken me on a deep and expansive journey as I survived
and healed the wounds of rape and violence. Disconnected from my body, I am constantly working to find my way back
into connection, to reclaim my joy, confidence, innate wisdom and potential.
This journey
involves ancestral healing, conversing with the Earth and the non physical realms of Spirit, all of
which is rooted in embodied somatic practice and dance. I now work as a guide offering all my
gifts and skills to support others to heal, to live in their own innate, loving, wise power and thrive.
It is with an open heart full of excitement
and appreciation that I welcome you to this year's Witches' Revival: Wise woman calls us
home!
Wise woman for me is about our connection to the intelligence and wisdom that lives within the
body; the one who knows what to do and how to be, if we get out of our own way and learn to
listen. Here, is where the seer and the healer reside. We are
being called now to claim back our power and co create the social change needed, for all our
relations.
I am thrilled to be on this journey with you! x
Testimonials...
Here's what a few women said about their experience at The Witches' Revival 2023
"I had THE most amazing time meeting so many inspiring people, having the best conversations and feeling like I finally belong. I have so much gratitude in my heart for everyone involved, and I’m flying high still with all of it, the fabulous four organisers are incredible."
"There's such a lot I could say about my experience at The Witches' Revival. It's still with me, I'm still processing everything. It was absolutely marvellous. So much care and thought put into it. Brilliantly organised, with fantastic use of The Storey to create different spaces. What a gift to us all."
"Well...what a weekend! So so grateful to have been part of this...I have started to make changes at home...setting boundaries and reclaiming my Me time and my space. I'm going gently and have upped my self care. And I'm working with my talking therapist to start a woman's circle. It's been such an amazing experience. I really feel like I've got my voice back."
"It is difficult to describe the magical and magnificent experience at Witches Revival. The energy. connection, wisdom sharing, and depth of healing was on a whole other level. The transformation in me is still being processed and absorbed. The exhibition, workshops, talks, emporium and live show stirred a deep re-membering and I've felt empowered and connected to my lineage and my magic in a deeper way since. Absolutely life defining - Thank You!"
"Firstly huge huge huge gratitude to you all for visioning this in and then pulling it together with such grace and care and love. I don't gush about held spaces often, as in my experience, sadly many people move into space holding without having done the work to adequately prepare their ground first. But this was not what I experienced at the Witches Revival and it was medicine to feel that ground and the strength, integrity and wisdom woven through the container and the work. So moving and so important. One woman said to me, "I have never experienced such safe space-holding". I feel that is testament to your wisdom and web of connection as wise women for calling us together and knowing who to trust in that and the mystery supporting the work. What a gift. I am sure the ripple effects will continue to move through each of our lives."
BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE
Head over to our Ticket Tailor Page by clicking the Button below...
