Emergence: A Journey Around the Sun

Where the seasons turn, awakening begins

August 1st

Healing • Presence • Awakening

Lughnasadh: The First Harvest

Avena Botanicals, Rockport Maine

RSVP by July 25th

In times of rapid change and uncertainty, much of what once felt stable seems to be shifting beneath our feet. Yet amid the unraveling, one thing remains constant. The Earth continues her ancient journey around the Sun. The seasons continue to turn. The light continues its dance of waxing and waning. Spring gives way to Summer. Summer yields to harvest. The cycle continues as it always has.

As the Earth moves through her seasons, she offers us countless invitations to join her in the dance of creation. For most of human history, seasonal festivals such as Lughnasadh helped keep humanity woven into this living relationship between Sun, Earth, and the great web of Life. These gatherings were not simply celebrations. They were ways of maintaining a spiritual relationship with the Earth and her cycles that give rise to the energy that creates all living things.

The root of the polycrisis we now find ourselves living through is the story of forgetting this essential relationship. Forgetting that we belong to the Earth. Forgetting that our lives unfold within the same cycles that govern the plants, animals, waters, and seasons. Forgetting that human wellbeing and the wellbeing of the Earth are inseparable.

The Emergence Series is an invitation to remember, to accept the invitation, and to step back into that relationship. Through ritual, community, seasonal practice, and direct experience of connection with plant spirits, we learn once again how to move with the seasons and remember our place in the Web of Life.

In a time of great uncertainty, perhaps the most radical act is to rejoin the dance.

Love • Meaning • Belonging

At Imbolc, we planted seeds of possibility and listened for what was seeking to emerge in our lives. At Beltane, we stepped into the warmth and vitality of Summer, tending those emerging gifts and nourishing their growth through connection, joy, relationship, and the light of the Heart.

Now, at Lughnasadh, we arrive at the first harvest.

Having passed the height of Summer, we find ourselves at the threshold to Autumn. The ancient Celtic festival, Lughnasada (pronounced LOO-nuh-suh), invites us to pause and notice what gives life value and meaning and letting go of that which keeps us from our true essential nature.

Harvesting requires one to discern what would sustain life through the winter ahead. Grain was stored, herbs were dried, seeds were saved, and root cellars were filled. The harvest required gratitude for the bounty, discernment to choose what was essential, and the courage to let go.

The harvest nourished more than the body.

These seasonal festivals arose alongside the work of the land, a spiritual reflection of physical life. As food was gathered and stored to sustain the body through the winter months, people gathered in ritual celebration to invoke blessings for the community, give thanks to the land that sustains them with a deep know of what is most valuable for life to continue.

Today, most of us no longer spend our days in the fields, yet the deeper invitation remains. While the physical harvest continues to sustain us, few of us pause to gratefully gather the blessings and discern what gives our lives meaning. These are the spiritual gifts that sustain the spirit through the dark months.

The Emergence Series is an invitation for a small group of companions to walk the turning of the year in conscious, grateful relationship with the Earth, gathering at the great seasonal thresholds and responding to the invitations each season offers. As we participate more fully in the living cycles of creation, we remember our place within the great web of Life and rejoin the ancient dance between Sun, Earth, and Humanity.

Beltane May 2nd, Lughnasadh August 1st, Sanheim November 7th, Imbolc February 6th

Gratitude • Connection • Reciprocity

The Arc of the Day

We begin the day gathered in circle, creating an altar together in honor of Lughnasadh, the first harvest. Each person will be invited to place an item on the altar representing something they have realized is of deep value and meaning to them and the recognition of what will have to be let go in order to keep it held closely. Together we create a living altar of gratitude, honoring the many ways Life has been at work among us.

Through a guided meditation journey, you will meet the spirit of Schisandra, the Five Flavor Berry. Long valued for its ability to help preserve and protect our vital essence, You will have the opportunity to ask her for guidance on how you can better utilize and protect your vital essence to live more fully into the life you were given.

Along the way, we will weave in gentle breathwork, energy healing, and connection with the land.

We will close the day with a fire ceremony. We will give thanks to the fire as a representative of the Sun for its warmth and providing the energetic spark that makes life possible. We will ask the alchemical capacity of fire to help us transform that which no longer serves us and keeps us from living more fully. And finally, we will send our blessings forward, via the spirits who are listening, for a thriving life future for the Earth and all her beings.

Many thanks to Avena Botanicals in Rockport, a biodynamic medicinal herb and pollinator farm, for hosting our gathering.

Saturday, August 1, 2026

  • 9:30 AM – 4:00 PM

Location:

  • Avena Botanicals, Rockport, Maine

Investment: $195

Space is limited to support a small and intimate gathering.

Registration or Questions: email amy@amyjenner.com or 207-542-1575

RSVP by July 25th

Details:

Amy Jenner, LAc, is an acupuncturist, healer, teacher, and mentor with over 25 years of experience in Chinese, Energetic, Shamanic, and Herbal medicine. Her practice is grounded in a deep theoretical understanding and enriched by extensive clinical experience. Amy’s work reflects her life’s purpose: to facilitate healing, alleviate suffering, and guide individuals in the alchemy of inner transformation.

Your Facilitator

What People are talking about

I'm so grateful to have attended one of your retreats. I came away from it feeling more connected to my ancestors and understand how Ican carry on a legacy without the trauma.  You have a special gift and I'm so glad I know you. BFAmy's retreats provide an incredibly valuable touchstone in our chaotic times. They're a chance to meet like-minded people I might not otherwise know, connect with myself in a supportive environment, and learn about the turnings of nature in a way that feels grounding. -KM
I am grateful for all the joy, resilience, love, community, sharing, insights, wisdom and commitment to ourselves and others Amy brings into our hearts and to the Earth.  It is such a warming, grounded experience to be with in circle with her. -Lori
As we moved through the day, I found myself feeling safe and relaxed. And after the floss breathing exercise the tension I've carried in my chest since my partner died seemed to vanish. When I notice it returning I now stop and breathe and it soon dissipates. Such a wonderful gift! -SY
Amy's retreats provide an incredibly valuable touchstone in our chaotic times. They're a chance to meet like-minded people I might not otherwise know, connect with myself in a supportive environment, and learn about the turnings of nature in a way that feels grounding. -KM
These retreats are helping me build community and feel connected to other folks who have the same or similar values and concerns. The acceptance of where we are is tempering my internal resistance and allowing me to take steps on a more spiritual and sacred path toward what I want to manifest into the world. Maybe some of that could help someone else? - SR
The retreat was a beautiful gathering of inquiring and nurturing souls. The introductions at the beginning made me aware that I am in community with others on this path and that there is room for different directions and understandings. The fire ceremony was a great closer, but also highlighted the work I want to continue to pursue and deepen my understanding. -CM
Amy's retreat will empower you with an "excuse" or motivation kinder and more compassionate, it will offer you tools and frameworks of thinking to help you navigate the difficult times that we live in. It will remind you of the values that are worth upholding (and not surprisingly, those same ones that give us meaning and fulfillment) during a time of quite rapid dissolution of value systems and networks of support. You will walk away refreshed and grounded. -PB

Growing, deepening, freeing, in a safe setting with a community of impressive people. -DF

Gathering in the safe shelter of an old barn, sharing personal vulnerabilities, learning the ancient ways of all levels of nature, sends us back into the current world, strengthened and embraced by humanity at its best. -DS