The Heroine’s Journey:
A Woman’s Rite of Passage Retreat
A Heroine’s Journey: A Women’s Rite of Passage Retreat
Becoming the Poets and Prophets the Earth Needs Now
September 17-20, 2026
Grunewald Guild Retreat Center; Plain, WA
Registration Opens in January 2026. Email Mary to be placed on a priority waiting-list.
The Heroine’s Journey Retreat offers a long-overdue rite of passage for women, honoring spiritual depth, ecological wisdom, and communal strength. Over 4 days at the Grunewald Guild, participants will engage in ritual, storytelling, and guided wilderness immersion, creating sacred spaces for initiation, personal growth, and deep connection. Through ceremonial practices—including drumming and chanting circles, Crone-ing rituals, candle-lit labyrinth walks, and the Council of All Beings—women mark life passages while reconnecting with the rhythms of the natural world. This retreat invites participants to move from stories of separation to belonging: to the Earth, to themselves, to one another, and to the Sacred, embracing the archetypal wisdom of Maiden, Mother, and Crone in embodied, experiential ways.
Facilitated by Waymarkers and endorsed by Illumen, the retreat integrates eco-spirituality, ancestral and Celtic Christian traditions, and post-heroic frameworks of the Heroine’s Journey.
What is Included
Ritual and Ceremony
Communal initiation rituals inspired by ancient traditions, including a symbolic underworld/initiatory experience.
Sacred drumming and chanting circles to facilitate deep healing and reconnection with ancestral wisdom.
A Crone-ing Ritual, honoring the wisdom of elder women while younger women weave and present crowns to them in reverence.
Interactive storytelling and poetry sessions, revealing the voices of poets, prophets, and wisdom-keepers that the Earth needs now.
A woven tapestry of grief and celebration, created collaboratively as participants integrate personal and collective transformation.
Facilitated soul-centric and nature-based rewilding practices and rituals, including Joanna Macy’s Council of All Beings.
Candle-lit labyrinth walk to deepen reflection and connection.
Nature and Earth Practices
Pilgrimage walks and guided wilderness immersion experiences to deepen connection with the sacred landscape.
Sauna treatment for body, mind, and spirit renewal.
Fasting and communal feasting, marking a journey from contemplation to celebration.
Practices that encourage moving from isolation and competition to solidarity and mutual empowerment.
Integration and Community
A sacred listening circle, allowing women to share their personal stories and be witnessed in their unfolding transformation.
Teachings on the Heroine’s Journey archetype, exploring the initiatory path unique to women.
Space to explore women’s wounds and healing, transforming internalized meanness into solidarity and sacred sisterhood.
3 nights/4 days at the Grunewald Guild in comfortable shared double-room lodging.
8 delicious whole-food meals, accommodating all dietary preferences.
Preparation and packing lists provided to all registered guests.
About the Grunewald Guild
The Grünewald Guild is an arts education nonprofit retreat center nestled on 16 acres of Cascadian woodland, bordered by the Wenatchee River in the Plain Valley of Washington.
Throughout the year the Guild offers art classes and workshops in our studios and contemplative spaces. When there are no scheduled programs, our facilities are available to groups and individuals for retreat, personal study, workshops, reunions, etc. Snowcapped peaks, rushing waters and sweet smelling ponderosa pine welcome, inspire, and create an environment in which people come to learn, grow, and explore the relationships between art, faith and community. At its core, the Guild a place of learning. People come to study their chosen area of art in the context of a community of artists. When they leave, they are charged with the work of returning to their homes and sharing what they have learned with their communities. This is straight from the artisan guilds tradition, stretching back into the depths of human history.
Our Spaces
LODGING. The Heroine’s Journey: A Woman’s Rite of Passage Retreat will have 28 spots available. We have reserved spacious private double rooms that can comfortably sleep two people each. Room pairings will be arranged and room-mate requests can be accommodated. We will be residing within the Fiber Arts facility and the Homestead center. Fiber Arts is named for the large, airy studio space it houses, this building also offers five guest rooms and two bathrooms. Homestead features a shared living room and kitchenette. Freshly laundered linens and towels are provided. Rooms are not en suite; shared bathrooms are accessible.
GATHERING. We will have our learning circles and opening/closing ceremonies within The Centrum. This is a space that will also be akin to our communal living room where guests can relax, read, sit around the fire, and enjoy lively conversation. Located at the heart of the Grunewald Guild’s campus, The Centrum is also near the dining hall.
EATING. The Dining Hall will be where we gather for our collective meals. Meals are served buffet style during scheduled mealtimes. Friday night dinner; Saturday breakfast, lunch, and dinner; and Sunday brunch are included in the retreat cost. Outside of mealtimes, an assortment of food is available for snacking – fresh fruit, breakfast cereals, homemade bread with peanut butter and jams, and various baked goods and snacking items prepared by the kitchen. Coffee and tea is available at all times. Meals are locally sourced and organic ingredients are utilized when available. Food sensitivities and preferences are considered and accommodated. Please note any food sensitivities you may have in the registration form. The kitchen makes every effort to accommodate, and we have strategies in place to minimize the likelihood of cross-contamination. But please note that the Guild kitchen is not an allergen-free facility. If you wish to bring food to supplement your meals, there is a “community fridge” available for your use in our Dining Room.
CONTEMPLATION. The Grunewald Guild’s 16-acre campus offers a variety of spaces that invite private contemplation as well as group quiet times. The Labyrinth takes the form of a Celtic triple spiral, located in a quiet clearing amid the pine forest and overlooking the Wenatchee River. This will be the site of a facilitated candle lit labyrinth walk. Finisterre is a contemplative space at the River’s edge and is a place to connect to the personal and collective spiritual journey. The Sculpture Garden is near the labyrinth and offers benches for quiet sitting. The Wenatchee River is an always-present and faithful witness The always-present Wenatchee River watershed is witness to our gathering and the lives of the Wenatchee Tribe, who have stewarded this land for millennia. May our presence be a blessing to the land and its people.
Getting Here
The Guild is located in Plain, a small unincorporated community about 15 miles north of Leavenworth. Unfortunately, there is no transit system that stops in Plain. The nearest transit hubs are Leavenworth (Amtrak and Greyhound) and Wentachee (Alaska Airlines, Amtrak, and Greyhound). If you fly into SeaTac airport, you can take the Wenatchee Valley Shuttle to the Peshastin Park’n’Ride.
For connection to Plain, consider Leavenworth Shuttle & Taxi. Guild staff may also be able to offer local pick-up. Possible pick-up spots and pricing is listed during registration, through which you can submit your request for pick-up. We will review your request and let you know if we are able to accommodate a pick-up.
The Guild’s main address is 19003 River Road, Leavenworth, WA 98826.