This retreat is for anyone who would like to be creative. The intention is to create a space that is supportive and nurturing to all, with time to focus on Spirit and Nature, to reflect on your creative practice and to rest in the Spirit knowing you are enough. We will immerse ourselves in the Country and the Spirit to be inspired to create. Some collaboration and sharing may occur as guided by the Divine.

Limit 12 participants.

Cost $720 single room/ $550 per person twin share (COVID restrictions may apply)

REGISTER HERE

Additional fee of $20 for art supplies

Contact us if you need more information

Barbara Huntington is a textile artist living at Fishermans Reach NSW on the banks of Macleay River on Dunghutti land. She is inspired by her environment, using natural dyes, slow embroidery and weaving to reflect her surroundings. She is a Quaker, inspired by poetry, her relationship to the environment and the Buddhist understanding that we are all connected.

Brenda Roy is a Quaker, gratefully living in Perth, on Whadjuk, Noongar, land. She is a spinner, weaver and natural dyer who finds delight in the colours and textures of the world around her. She follows an Earth Path spirituality, seeing the Spirit in all beings and believes in the power of making clothing and everyday objects which carry sacred intent.

Jen Newton lives in Mount Stuart on Nipuluna country, the land of the Muwinina people. She is a convinced Quaker and believes that her creativeness is part of her spiritual practice. Inspired by the natural environment, she explores textiles, mixed media, wearable art, photography, basketry, natural dyeing and recycled materials for sculptural pieces.

Come and help care for the many trees we have planted on Silver Wattle over the years!

There are so many natives that have been carefully planted, staked and caged, to protect them while they are young. Many of these cages are a bit overgrown and some of them are no longer needed. It’s a big and fun job to weed around the trees and de-cage those that are strong enough to withstand being nibbled on by the wildlife. We will work in teams and have all the equipment needed, although if you have any favourite tools bring them along! We’d also encourage you to bring gardening gloves, a hat, drink bottle, sturdy shoes and long pants.

We have done a summer prune on many of our stone fruit trees, but there are lots of other trees around the house and in the orchards that might need a bit more cutting back, mulching, and other kinds of care.

We don’t expect to spend much time in the orchards this gathering…but it can be hard to resist the call of the chooks and the veggie tunnels, so there will surely be some opportunities to spend time there too.

There may even be a bit of planting…there are always various things here to plant, so while this won’t be a major focus of this gathering, there may be a little planting to be done.

Donations are encouraged to cover costs, up to $110/ day. REGISTER HERE.

Any questions, please email admin.office@silverwattle.org.

Led by Julian Robertson & Sheila Keane

This course is for anyone who is interested in learning more about the role of clerking. It applies to a variety of settings (Yearly/ Regional/ Local Meetings and committees) and provides opportunities to explore your gifts in this area.

We will be learning as much from each other as from the course facilitators.

Topics will include: Spiritual preparation; Discerning the sense of the meeting; Clerking facilitation skills; Strategies to address difficulties, and Clerking online… as well as other topics that arise during our time together. There will be lots of free time to relax, share worship & meals, and be inspired by one another and the beautiful setting of Silver Wattle.

Cost:  Four day course $450 single room or $390 shared room (COVID rules may apply). The price includes all meals and accommodation

REGISTER HERE or Contact Us if you need further information

Julian Robertson and Sheila Keane are both longstanding members of the Religious Society of Friends and have experience in clerking roles in a number of settings. Julian has served as clerk of Regional and Yearly Meetings. Sheila is currently on the clerking team for NSW Regional Meeting. Both Julian and Sheila have served as clerk of the Silver Wattle Board.

Led by Helen Gould and Rowe Morrow

Many of us feel powerless in the face of the unfolding climate emergency, species extinctions, and global chaos. This course affirms us in the capacities we have and helps us become more skillful in responding to these interconnected crises. The course draws on Quaker, Buddhist and Permaculture practices. As Quaker William Penn wrote, we each have within us a guide to show us what to do, and we each have been given the ability to follow that guide.

The course will take a practical and spiritual approach to ways of responding creatively and constructively to “the end of normal” insofar as the crises of our time touch our own experience directly. The course will include the practice of deep listening and understanding the Self, the Other and the Landscape; as well as a deep practical understanding of how connecting with and listening to the Earth can empower us to live effectively and joyfully in a world of disintegration. The course will be structured so that there is a balance between guided class work and rest, and allowing ample connection with the landscape around Silver Wattle.

Cost $720 single room/ $550 per person twin share (COVID restrictions may apply)

REGISTER HERE

Helen Gould has led courses at Silver Wattle, and Experiment with Light workshops, developed by Rex Ambler based on George Fox’s practices. The workshops draw on the body’s wisdom of the Light from whatever source it comes. The listening practices have helped her become more resilient and more open to guidance. Helen has a “leading” about the life of forests and has become politically active on these issues.

Rowe Morrow is an adult educator in permaculture. In her interactive workshops she listens for people’s fears and joys and works with these for solutions, with plenty of teaching and learning outdoors.

With regret that our dear friend Arthur Wells has withdrawn from co-facilitating this course due to health issues, and we hold him and his family in the Light.

Led by Anne Felton and Peri Coleman

This course is for people wanting to connect more deeply with the land that sustains us. Meet the soils, rocks, and landscape features around Silver Wattle, including Weereewa (Lake George). Learn how plants are uniquely adapted to different parts of the landscape. Visit elder trees and rare plants and find out why they are so special. This course is suitable for all ages, young and old. Adaptations will be made for those who have difficulty with mobility. Locals who are not Quakers are encouraged to attend to get to know their own landscape.

Cost:  Four day course $450 single room or $390 shared room (COVID rules may apply). The price includes all meals and accommodation.

REGISTER HERE

Anne Felton has had a long professional career in geology and Peri Coleman is an internationally renowned botanist and restorer of salt marsh environments. Both are long time Quakers. Their backgrounds enable them not only to interpret earth history from a western science viewpoint, but also to connect with the wonder of creation.

Led by Christine Venner-Westaway

This six-day Retreat invites you into a space to reflect on your life’s spiritual journey thus far, to understand how the human condition affects your decisions, and to come to a greater awareness of next steps on your spiritual journey. A looking forward by looking back - what to keep, what to lay aside.

You will be offered a range of ‘windows’ to the soul (interactive drawing, Enneagram personality insights, small group conversations, writing/journaling), opportunities in community to reflect, share, and learn together.

Cost is $720 for single room/ $550 for twin share, all meals included.

REGISTER HERE

About the facilitator:

Christine’s spiritual formation started from a very young age.  In her teenage years she entered the convent and remained there for 18 years.   Her experience of walking such an “active/contemplative” way of life has provided her with a substantial and enduring spiritual framework, spanning the next 40 years.  For the last ten of those years, she has been attending the Brisbane Quaker Meeting House where she formally embraced membership in 2020.  She brings her lived experienced rather than any theological, biblical discourse or spiritual school of thought to walk the Quaker way as faithfully as possible.  More recently she has been led to a life of nonviolent direct action and bearing public witness to the Peace Testimony. This journey, and the many other spiritual lessons and “tools, acquired along the way, will be on offer, alongside those shared by other Retreat participants.