Reclamation

A Pilgrimage to the Lands of You

A Story of How it Came to be

It began with a roar.

A roar that I released into the ether, that expressed anguish and exhaustion at stories, systems and experiences that women through time have experienced that held women down, small and invisible.

Every part of me was full of rage for all that women have endured.

This was the moment I stepped into being the Shamanic Feminist.

What followed was several months of me sitting in circle together with my sisters, in deep healing, tired and angry. ‘F*@% this S&*£!’ I would declare, shout or sob.

It was then that I set the intention of bringing change.

Fast forward to 2022, I began hearing whispers in my dreams and during conversations. ‘Reclamation’. And I realised that the work I had been doing up to then had been the puzzle pieces for a big healing container for women, the big work.

But Reclamation is not solely for women to benefit from.

I am a Shamanic Feminist, for women and for men. I want all women and men to live incredible lives together, in harmony, in full reverence of each other.

The work and gold Reclamation holds is for women and the true glory of it, is that it will indirectly help men too. The practices, the experiences that Reclamation brings is deep healing for women and their relationships around them.

What is Reclamation?

Reclamation is a 9 month healing container, of 4 in person retreats weekends based in and around Mid and North Wales and 5 online gatherings, to be accessed from the comfort of your own home and lands.

I have carefully created this with two things in mind.

Firstly, I want to make it accessible for people to join, regardless of where they live and time available to take away from home; and I also know that time away for yourself, with land and people is deeply powerful in the healing process.

Reclamation provides both of these opportunities.

The deep healing that comes from in person retreats is incredible and hugely transformative and I also find that online working, connecting with others, within your own surroundings can be massively helpful with integrating the work within your environment and home.

It begins in February, at the time that the Earth begins to stir a little after the rest of winter and with Reclamation you will be setting the big intentions of all that you desire from Reclamation, for yourself and it ends as the seasons dive into rest, in October, harvesting the fruits from the year… gathering in celebration all that you have reclaimed.

The weekends take you into a gentle dive of healing with combinations of sacred information sharing, self enquiry opportunities, practices for your to help support your own healing after the weekends and ways to resource yourself through life.

What will you Reclaim?

Reclamation is a healing experience that takes you from the outside edges of yourself, guiding you gently within to the centre of yourself, where you can connect with your healing, resourcing your nervous system to support you through life, transmute trauma and bring back parts of yourself that have been lost or hidden.

I truly believe that information is key to Empowerment and so Reclamation takes an approach of information sharing, of sacred knowledge that can be filtered into everyday life, bringing loving change in the way you wish.

Reclamation is also about bringing women back to their body and so there will be practices you can use for yourself to support your body, bringing safety in connection with yourself and the world around you.

I will support and guide you gently at your own pace, to help reclaim your voice, reclaiming trust within yourself, reclaiming safety in your connection to pleasure, feeling comfort in your body, reclaiming your whole self, both light and shadow and reclaiming your sexuality and sensuality, solely for you.

Why is Reclamation important?

There are many behaviours, experiences and desires that women have, which are considered ‘taboo’.

Here’s some definitions, from the online Collins Dictionary, for the word taboo:

1.       forbidden or disapproved of; placed under a social prohibition or ban

2.      (in Polynesia and other islands of the South Pacific) marked off as simultaneously sacred and forbidden

3.       ritual restriction or prohibition, esp. of something that is considered holy or unclean

4.       among some Polynesian peoples, a sacred prohibition put upon certain people, things, or acts which makes them untouchable, unmentionable, etc.

5.      the highly developed system or practice of such prohibitions

6.      any social prohibition or restriction that results from convention or tradition

7.      sacred and prohibited by taboo

You can see from the definition, there’s lots about prohibition, restriction, unclean (make you think about the Patriarchy’s view of periods, perhaps?) AND there’s a few other words there too.

Sacred, holy, ritual. All pretty powerful words.

If taboo also means prohibition of the sacred, does that mean taboo topics are of things, aimed at preventing us from accessing, the sacred and holy?

And with sacred being pretty powerful, does that mean being scared of taboo topics is preventing us from accessing our Power?

At the beginning of birthing and talking about Reclamation with other people, do you know what one word they really heard?

Yep, it was taboo. Their eyes would light up, intrigued. I could sense a real yearning for having safer spaces to dive into shedding the shame around taboo.

Reclamation is all about reclaiming everything that’s considered taboo for women.

The messiness of the Feminine, the softness, the rawness, the loudness of it all. It all feels very big (which can feel petrifying, but is utterly wonderful) and we all have this accessible to us… if we find spaces where we can be with it and allow it.

It can feel very dangerous to allow ourselves to be with these ‘taboos’.

• To feel our grief and rage can feel overwhelming and too painful. We may judge ourselves on being the ‘angry woman’ or for false story that it’s ‘weak’ to express the tears we cry.

• To really embody our sensuality can feel frightening. We may feel the full shame of old stories and beliefs.

• To step into vulnerability can feel alarmingly unsafe. We may not want to be seen as ‘not having it all together’ and feel the unsteady foundations beneath us.

• To feel our feelings can feel unbearable, when our body responds to our wounds, as if they are happening. We may feel the need to push them further down and further away.

These are all valid ways to respond to these taboo ideas.

We have deeply engrained beliefs and conditioning from a whole cornucopia of sources that add to our shame and judgement.

But they can keep us small and out of alignment with who we truly are. And most importantly, they are heavy to carry.

Shame is excruciatingly heavy to carry.

It’s time to put it down,

And to truly embrace your gloriousness.

I am here to help with the big stuff and shift shame around taboo topics for women. Whatever it is that you seek to reclaim or however you want to feel within your body, shifting all shame, I am here to support you.

I am a Trauma Informed Coach and Healer here ready to hold and support you as you take a Pilgrimage to the Lands of You.

How will Reclamation Help me?

The Pilgrimage is a journey of you. You will explore aspects of you that you may be rediscovering, returning or finding out for the first time of shifting shame as you discover and remember the sacred knowledge of the Feminine and of yourself.

On our four retreat weekends we will reclaim our connection to the land, meeting sacred spots, developing an intimate relationship within ourselves, to bring great healing and exploring your bigness.

Reclamation will connect you back to your life force, your essence and creativity, helping to release blocks and bring great healing, allowing you to safely and fully step into abundant joy, love and pleasure. Held in a beautiful container with other women, Reclamation offers the golden opportunity for deep healing of the sister wound, healing trust and safety with ourselves and other women.

The lands we visit on our retreats will be pilgrimages of sacred connection, visiting special places in exchange of reverence and love. The more we love ourselves, the more we have available for ourselves, our loved ones, to love our lands and bring big healing in deep connection.

To bring the change we wish to see, where our Earth is thriving, where our children grow up safe, loved and confident in being the leaders our world needs, where our communities are loving and supportive, we need to bring it back to ourselves.

We must begin with ourselves first, reclaiming all that we need, to be our most loving, powerful, healthiest selves and then gently allow the ripples of Reclamation to expand out from our centre, gifting the world with this beauty.

Let’s begin.

If you’re ready to join go to janemary.co.uk/reclaim and book your place, for an epic year of Reclamation.