Bone Deep – The stories in our bones

An invitation to Stories in our Bones. A weekend of stories of initiation from the House at the Edge of the Woods.

Gathering together on the afternoon of Friday 13th September until the afternoon on the 15th September 2024

Once upon a time, a story was told in the heart of the woods.  Once upon a time, people gathered around a fire, and leaned in to listen to words mixed with woodsmoke.  Once upon a time a woman walked into the Forest and stepped off the path….

This is not just ‘once upon a time’, this is our time.  Time to do what wanderers and seekers have been doing for millennia, and step into the Forest.  Just as in the old tales, we won’t walk out the same. 

We invite you to a weekend retreat at The House at the Edge of the Woods for a two day story-telling weekend which will include the tale of the Handless Maiden.  This powerful story of endurance, exile, descent and sovereignty is filled with initiation, and is deeply relevant for people of all ages and especially those wondering what is asked of us in our troubled times.

What part of yourself has been exiled in order to survive in this world? What is calling to be seen, to be given voice, to be heard? What wild longing needs to be witnessed, honoured, and welcomed?

Join us as we follow the stories off the beaten track, beyond the threshold, to honour the descents that we go through at initiatory moments in our lives. 

We will invoke the art of slow listening, opening our ears to the depth of the old tales, and inviting encounter with the wild woods and the more-than-human world. Our creative practices include poetry, environmental art making, storytelling, image work and solo wandering. There will be time in the woods, cooking over the fire, feasting, random acts of creativity, wood-fired sauna and sharing of stories together.  

“In this [story-telling] tradition a story is ‘holy,’ and it is used as medicine. The story is not told to lift you up, to make you feel better, or to entertain you, although all those things can be true. The story is meant to take the spirit into a descent to find something that is lost or missing and to bring it back to consciousness again” – Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Women Who Run with the Wolves: Contacting the Power of the Wild Woman.

The House at the Edge is in the South Downs National Park, a beautiful dark skies area in the South of England. The food forest garden includes over 60 fruit and nut trees, edible and medicinal herbs, berries, and vegetables and cultivated fungi. The sauna is heated by wood from our woods and chopped by Emma and her coppicing companions.

Ten minutes walk down the lane and across the field is 11 acres of ancient woodland lovingly managed by Emma’s community of coppicers, crafts folk and tree lovers. 

The nearest train station is Petersfield, and we can arrange pick-ups from there for those arriving by public transport.

Exact location will be shared once your booking is confirmed.

Please indicate which room you wish to book. If that room is not available we will contact you to talk through the options. You will receive a booking confirmation and banking details shortly after you complete and send your booking form.

7 places maximum with various room options available including camping. The fees for the weekend are

£285 includes all your meals, Friday evening, Saturday breakfast, lunch and dinner, Sunday breakfast and lunch and wood-fired sauna Friday and Saturday evening. 

Accommodation costs:

Double bedroom (solo) – £150

Shared bedroom (two people) – £120 per person

Futon in the library – £120

Luxury camper van – £100

Tent in the garden – £30

Alternatively you can arrange your own accommodation (for example The Rising Sun pub in the village)

Email me to book your place: info@houseattheedge.com or sign up here.

With Rebecca Smart and Emma Collins

Rebecca is a storyteller who works with rites of passage, and is inspired by taking myths into nature.  She has an ear for unearthing the untold stories that need to be shared, and is a deep listener as well as being a compelling and dynamic story teller.  Rebecca continually draws inspiration from the diverse stories encountered in her group work in settings ranging from NHS mental health wards, to businesses, retreats, and the forest – where she works with women and myth.

Emma is a hedge witch, a storyteller, and a grief whisperer. She lives in a beautiful house at the edge of the woods with a kitchen that is always preparing for a feast. She gathers people, nettles, and stories and weaves them into beautiful tapestries of community, ceremony, and rooted living. She spends her days collecting treasure from the forest floor and medicine from the hedgerows. You can mostly find her outside tending the vegetables and herbs in the garden, walking the woods, conjuring blessings from the joys and heartaches of life and making offerings to the moon, the ancestors and forgotten stories of this land. She knows her magic is real and her spells are conjured from remembered fragments of place based folk magic and the medicine of her ancestors.