Star River Sanctuary

Pachakuti Mesa Tradition Apprenticeship- Level 1

Food & Lodging 

We are so honoured and excited to be able to offer this year’s apprenticeship series out of Star River Sanctuary on Crystal Mountain. Star River Sanctuary is our new home and healing center. It is here that we will be gathering for each of the 5 levels of the Pachakuti Mesa Apprenticeship. This is a residential program and each participant will be asked to stay on site for the duration of the weekend to help to build the sacred space and safe container of the Hoop. This is an in depth and transformational journey that does require radical self care, rest, and renewal. Each weekend is a learning and activation intensive. It’s big energy that is best grounded in the natural beauty of Pachamama.

We will be gathering at 4:30-5pm Friday evening to check in and unpack.

Prices include two nights lodging(based on type) and retreat meals $125.00 for the entire weekend.

Friday

Circle will begin at 6:30-9:30pm

Saturday

Breakfast at 8am-8:30am

Circle begins 9am

Lunch 1pm-2pm

Circle 2-6pm

Dinner 6pm

Sunday

Breakfast at 8am-8:30am

Circle begins 9am

Lunch 12pm-1pm

Circle 1-3:30pm

3:30pm departure

Our lodging is charming, rustic, clean and cozy. We have the options between the months of April-November of guests staying in two person bell tents,  2 person retreat cabins, or in a private room in the main house. Our retreat lodging has shared showers, composting toilets, and a kitchen for guest use, the rooms in the main house have shower and traditional plumbing. There is outdoor lounging and dining areas, surrounded by lush forest and cultivated gardens. Star River Sanctuary is just beginning, and yet the beauty that is already here truly makes this a mountain oasis.

Our weekends will be catered by our on-site amazing cook, Cassandre Ortiz. We are passionate about eating and growing local, fresh, organic food, as well as supporting local food resiliency and security.  Each meal will be made with fruits, veggies, herbs, and the occasional egg from Star River Gardens. What we can’t grow we strive to source from local producers and suppliers. For each PMT weekend, we will have catered meals on Saturday and Sunday. Please come on Friday already having eaten dinner or with something light to eat. All meals will be vegetarian with a gluten-free and dairy-free options. Please let us know if you have any other food allergies. If you are a protein lover or have other personal food needs, there is a fridge onsite that you can store personal food in. We have an abundant selection of organic coffee, tea, and wild harvested herbal beverages for your sipping pleasure:)

More about our new project….

​​Our Mission:

                    Star River Sanctuary’s mission is to love and serve all of our relations.

Our Vision:

Star River Sanctuary is here to nourish the renewal, reconnection and reverence for nature through experiential and skill based learning. Star River Sanctuary is a multidisciplinary learning center in the heart of the Kootenays with three main interwoven platforms: regeneration, reconnection, and renewal. Star River Sanctuary has three pillars of purpose: organic gardens (regeneration), wilderness programs (reconnection), and healing retreats (renewal). 

We envision a world where people are fully connected to self, other, and the Earth holistically through mind, body, and heart. We see a world in which people are awake to their inherent gifts, health, and joy, living in balance and harmony with the natural world; a world where every being’s needs are taken into consideration, and where gratitude, reciprocity, and reverence for the earth lead our lives. We see a world where all people have the opportunity to connect to the wellspring of health, love, and inspiration found in Mother Nature, and where wise and loving mentors guide children in how to walk upon the Earth lightly and with open hearts. 

We understand that having a sanctuary of natural peace and beauty is an essential service at this time of ecological crisis on the earth. Within our culture there is an epidemic of disconnection from nature and we see this as a root cause of the ecological crisis we are facing. At the core of challenges, we as a human family face, is the recognition that all of life is interconnected and interdependent. 

We recognize that theory alone is not enough to meet the immense challenges of our generation and the generations to come. Experiential learning and healing in nature ignites creative genius and love of Earth. It is through our connection to nature that we will be guided to sustainable innovations and regenerative practices in the years to come. We must move the class and therapeutic spaces from the four square walls of institutions to the wild places with reverent devotion. Star River Sanctuary will be a place for such learning. There will be residential programs for all ages that focus on nature based outdoor education, ecopsychology, earth honouring animism, and agricultural skill-based learning through our fully functioning organic micro-farm. 

Values- 

Star River Sanctuary exists to love and serve all of our relations as a place of beauty, peace, and re-wilding for the seven generations to come through the conscious: 

• Regeneration of the natural intelligence and health of our soils to create abundant and resilient food security and foster ecological diversity.
• Reconnection to the natural intelligence within Gaia as our greatest teacher, guide, and healer through Earth honouring ceremonial arts.
• Renewal of the natural intelligence within our bodies to live in health and well-being with Gaia.

We do all of this through our conscious relationship and sacred reciprocity with the whole of Life. Through growing our spiritual practices and grounding this spiritual compassionate wisdom in right action. We believe that in order to meet the intense challenges we face, we must bridge theoretical and experiential learning and healing. This style of learning is in the container of what we call “re-wilding” which means to awaken the natural intelligence within. To become fully embodied requires us to heal with the holistic intelligence of Gaia through Earth honouring ceremonial wisdom. To heal we must learn new ways of living and rewrite our habits of disconnection. It is clear we can no longer teach by theory alone; we must provide experiential containers and mentorship for students of all ages to: 

• Experience the beauty and peace of Nature and awaken to their interconnection and interdependence within all life through age-appropriate curriculum and methodologies. 
• Grow individual inner resilience and skillful means with which to meet the unprecedented challenges of this time through nature-based therapy, eco-psychology, and earth-honouring wisdom traditions.  
• Build skill based understanding of regenerative agriculture and farming to build local food security