Courses 2009

This page is dedicated to courses run both by Witchcraft Emporium and our friends. It’s a new look Courses page and will eventually contain more courses and workshops – so keep on checking it out!

New for 2009

We are delighted to offer this new and enlightening course run by a good friend of ours, Graci Chacon. I have personally been on several of Graci’s workshops and courses and have found them totally amazing and can fully recommend them! This following course is to be held in Glastonbury at the new Goddess Hall an Benedict St on the weekend of May 23/24.

THE LABYRINTH OF THE SEVEN PATHS

The Goddess Hall, May 23/24th

With Graci Chacon

This is a two day course running 23/24 May (Sat and Sun). The course is being run by a Spanish Witch Graci Chacon, who comes from the Basque Country and is an expert in working with Labyrinths.

Brief history and explanation of Labyrinths

The Labyrinth is a unicursal path that takes one on a journey into its centre and back out again and should not be confused with mazes which have dead ends and false paths designed to block and trick you.

The image of the labyrinth goes back to earliest man and examples can be seen all over the world in many shapes and guises. Throughout time they have been used as forms of protection, in ritual dance, in rites of passage. During the medieval times they were seen as a path to God and were walked by those who could not afford to visit the holy sites and shrines. They saw the centre as God himself with the entrance as the one true path to Him. Labyrinths have long been seen as paths of pilgrimage where one can walk the path that ascends to enlightenment or salvation. Today the Labyrinth is seeing a surge in its population once more and can be found in churches, parks and other landscapes. They are walked today by many seeking answers to questions about life itself and all its mysteries. Many walk them to achieve a contemplative state, loosing themselves in its twists and turns, thus loosing track of the outside world and by doing so, quietening ones state of mind. The result is a relaxed mental attitude, free of internal dialog – a form of intense meditaion, bringing with it all the benefits that are part of such meditation.

Graci says about The Labyrinth of the Seven Paths “It is associated with the sanctity of the earth. These sacred passages lead us to our Inner Being. The Labyrinth can be considered as a metaphor in the process stage of Self-Knowledge that we call "the dark night of the soul". To transcend ego and establish contact with the Superior Being, we have to face our inner demons such as out worn beliefs, attitudes and dysfunctional fears that result from childhood or perhaps even from previous lives. The knowledge gained by working the Labyrinth clearly reflects the spiritual trends we all possess within ourselves, the answers to our psychological challenges deep down inside. If we apply simple practices, inner serenity and courage, we can deal with the most frightening of subconscious fears.”

The Course

This course will be an intensive learning experience involving many walks within Graci’s 7 Path cloth Labyrinth. We will learn how to use it within meditation, how to work on our inner selves by walking its Path with understanding and clarity. The Labyrinth will teach us how to understand and face life and all its problems. Using the Labyrinth as a mirror and a symbol for the often difficult and convoluted path life can take we will begin to understand that nothing is insurmountable, that all Paths lead to the centre and out again. Once we have overcome our difficulties we can walk ahead with a sense of achievement and freedom.

We will learn of the history of the Labyrinth and of its many meanings. We will carry out healing works, both for ourselves and Mother Earth and we will meditate within the Labyrinth. We will learn to die and rebirth within its Paths aided by the Four Elements and we will learn how to connect with the Supreme Energies and how we can use the Labyrinth to enhance our lives

The Labyrinth is also a symbol of Death and Rebirth, a journey into the beyond, most appropriate for the dark half of the year when we begin to look inwards at ourselves. The Path in to the Labyrinth symbolises the journey toward Death (change, transformation etc) and the Path toward the exit is our rebirth. It therefore becomes an experience of learning about who we are and what we need to let go of before we can walk forward into light.

This course is for anyone who wishes to look more deeply at themselves, life, magic and working with ancient energies. It will take place in the lovely Goddess hall, here in sacred Avalon itself.

Cost: £140 payable in advance

Please secure your place asap at Witchcraft Emporium, 13 The Gauntlet, Glastonbury.

Tel: 01458 830359 or
email us at: courses@witchcraftemporium.com