Derwen

Recording of Voice from the Underworld Talk

Thank you for all who joined the Voice from the Underworld Talk last week. Paid subscribers to this newsletter have access to calls and recordings included as a massive THANK YOU for supporting my work. Here is the link for the Talk for your ears only: https://on.soundcloud.com/

Lament in the Heart of Europe: Last call (and special offer) for the Alchemy of Lament retreat 1 - 4th November in Czechia

This amazing retreat is coming up and there are a few places left we are keen to fill, what an opportunity it will be to gather and to deep dive into the art and science of lament with myself, Alexandra, and Tuomas Rounakari. If finances are a challenge then a

Voice from the Underworlds Talk 17th October

This talk has been stirring in me for a long time; even before my mother died last year I was already in the throws of some incredible underworld labyrinthine pilgrimage with my grief; one that was intensely personal and very hard to articulate even for a wordsmith. Then after she

"Alchemy of Lament" Retreat in Czechia 1 - 4 Nov

Retreat 1 - 4 November 2025 at Paběnický mlýn, Paběnice 33, 285 43 Paběnice, Česká republika Tuomas Rounakari and Alexandra Derwen collaborating to bring this powerful practice as a pathway of liberation. All information can be found here: https://www.ksmrtidobryfestival.cz/the-alchemy-of-lament/

Assessing your Psychic Health

How well is your soul? How clear is your psychic field? What does that even mean and why does it matter? Following on from the last two posts about our entangled humanity and mapping the unseen landscape; here I shall cover some of the fundamentals of soul health which is

Mapping the Unseen Landscape

So... picking up from yesterdays article on what a Tangle we humans are; understanding the nature of trauma and healing. Today I would love to share some short thoughts about what it means to then Map the Unseen Landscape. Really that's a very poetic way to say "

Entangled Humanity

Since I am beginning again in writing about the things that matter to me; shared mourning practices and Death Rites. I have decided to map out some of the key skills and areas of knowledge that are essential to fully understanding a lot of what I am rambling about. Partly

Re-emerging from my Mourning Times

It has been a long time coming; over a year in fact since Mum died and I found my writings on hold. But I am re-emerging and really feeling the Call to share what I have to bring. So, thank you, to YOU the ones on my mailing list who

Bear Awakens Retreat: Last Minute Availability

7th - 10th March 2025 Trefacwn, Pembrokeshire Lament Retreat with Tuomas Rounakari and Alexandra Derwen We have last minute availability for the Bear Awakens Retreat which was previously sold out; due to personal circumstances a couple of participants have had to relinquish their places. There are 2 bunk room beds

Fundamental Rites

I was up late into the night last night writing, more came to me this morning as I made my way over the mountain road to my office. I knew I didn't have the time today to keep writing more so I made a spider diagram in my

Lost Rites: Lament of 13 Moons and the Lament of Conception

Good morning folks! I just want to share this again as it is the central focus of my personal Work at this time. I spent all day yesterday out on pilgrimage really meditating on the Rite of Passage of Conception and the interface between the formless and form, between the

The Lament of 13 Moons has Begun... before I thought I was ready!

The way I thought it would go was thus: I would start by going out on a Quest at the full moon, a solo pilgrimage from which I would return with insights, visions, deeper inquiry, form of ceremony, meditations on the first Rite of Passage "Conception", I would

2025 the year for Earth Hospice...

Happy New Year!!! What better way to embrace 2025 than to invest in Earth Hospice…? (wink, apologies for the earth hospice spam...)  Here is the link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/earth-hospice-hafan-ddaear If you are able then please do purchase a share in the Earth Hospice and become a

Lost Rites: Lament of 13 Moons

Webinar Series 2025 Throughout 2025, starting on 26/01/15 and running until Imbolc 2026 these monthly webinars will explore more deeply 13 Lost Rites of Passage as identified in the Ancestral Landscape book. Participants will get fresh and exclusive material including poetry, prose and artworks plus seeds for shared

Earth Hospice... a wee reminder

EARTH HOSPICE: Community Benefit Society, Share Offer OPEN   This is just a gentle reminder in case you are checking your emails in the midst of all the festive comings and goings that the Community Share Offer for EARTH HOSPICE is OPEN!    Here is the link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/

Dance of Darkness and Light

I am writing these words sitting in a lovely artists cottage overlooking the 3 river estuary in South Wales and I was moved by my morning walks with the dogs by the liminal and ethereal energy of the estuary place.  As the rivers meet the sea I feel, not just

Earth Hospice Community Share Offer is OPEN!

Happy Solstice to all x The Community Share Offer for Earth Hospice is OPEN! Here is the link: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/earth-hospice-hafan-ddaear If you are able then please do purchase a share in the Earth Hospice and become a member of the Cooperative.  Please also sign up

Earth Hospice: Launching with the Dawn after the Longest Night

Here's the story of Earth Hospice to date as we are on the eve of the launch of the Community Share offer...  Going back to 2017 I had walked the Portuguese Camino de Santiago where I was meditating on the origins of Hospice. On the pilgrim ways they

Lost Rites: News from the Midwinter

If you are getting this email now it is because you attended the Lost Rites: Rituals of Lament Tour in February 2024 and I had you on that mailing list. By far the easiest way, I think, to see if you would still like to follow my work and get

Lamentation: A Breakthrough

The wilderness of the past week, which led to the recent writings, precipitated my Return. Of course it did, although for me when I am in that bleak and barren place I always fear I will die there, either it will kill me or I shall give up and let

The Flawed Whistleblower

As you might have deduced from my recent run of writings I am deep in process. One in which I have come to realise I have amends to make to those leaders of organisations that I have been critical of over the years. This includes my own mother, and my

The Power of Process

It was many years ago now when I was newly sober and I was going through an immensely challenging time and everything that I tried was failing that a friend tried to offer me advice, he offered me solutions, he tried to fix, he made constructive comments about what he

Moving through the Valley of Shame

I began to feel better as soon as I reentered the world. It is really only in the tangles of my isolation that I touch that pure raw edge of shamefilled lonliness, as soon as I can be useful in the world the nakedness finds at least some of its

The Barren Valley of Shame

I did something really small but significant today, I moved my mothers memorial card from the centre of my altar to one side, the smiling photo of her holding my brothers French bulldog puppy that I graphic designed onto our Order of Service on an eggshell blue background with a

Assisted Dying, in which Paradigm?

It’s been a week of questions coming in at Sacred Circle HQ about our stance on the Assisted Dying debate in the House of Commons, people asking what our views are on it and also whether our role as Death Doulas will change.   I, for one, have been somewhat