A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH: The Quest for Maturity, Soul and Resilience in Uncertain Times
An Initiatory Programme for Men and Women
EXTENDED EARLY BOOKING DISCOUNT
RUNS OUT ON FRIDAY 18th MAY
More about the programme below - please forward to friends poem and free talk on shame
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POEM
I Have Seen Enough of Death
[Nos Calan Mai]
I have seen enough of death
To know that the cruelties and petty slights
Of its coming are no more than distractions,
that the true grief of parting is ours not theirs.
For no matter what the outward appearance
of struggle may be, the soul makes its choices
and knows when to leave — it was time.
Let us then sit and hold each other
In the tender gaze of our bereavement
And sing — sing the praises of our dear friend.
Let us swear that we will never forget
And, even in the given of our forgetfulness,
Know that they’ll be with us till our very end.
Let us laugh, and smile and raise a loving glass
to what we admired, and what we held so dear,
Cherish them, and bless them, then let them go
And add them to our loving — until it be time.
© William Ayot
Nos Calan Mai
(May Day Eve)
2022
TO SEE 12 MINUTES OF VIDEO EXTRACTS FROM THE 2021 PROGRAMME OF THE SAME NAME
click picture above, or click here to play video
TO SEE JULIET TALKING ABOUT PRACTICALITIES, AND HOW THE SMALL SELF FACILITATED 'HOME' GROUPS WORK IN BETWEEN SESSIONS
Click picture above or click here to play video
To read feedback from people who attended the
2021 version of this workshop
click here
THIS PROGRAMME HELPED US WIN AN AWARD!!
WORKSHOP STARTS
Saturday 18th June
and finishes on October 15th
(there are no sessions in August)
ALL SESSIONS ARE RECORDED
SO YOU CAN MISS ONE AND STILL CATCH UP
Each session will be recorded so that if you miss one, you can catch up in your own time. We will generate a community, with self-facilitated small group meetings in between the main sessions.
A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH
“In the middle of the journey of life, I awoke to find myself
in a dark wood where the way was wholly lost.”
Thus the great poet Dante begins ‘The Divine Comedy’, his journey through Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. Seven hundred years later we are, once again, beset by uncertainty and existential threat – living through what many believe to be the end of an epoch. How do we find our way in such dark and uncertain times? How do we navigate our own Inferno? How do we meet the mystery?
In this eight-part online programme, beginning in June 2022, Juliet Grayson and William Ayot explore ways to wholeness, healing and a soulful sense of belonging in a troubled world. Each afternoon session will stand alone but build – through teaching, exercises, inter-action and ritual – into an initiatory programme for men and women – exploring the great mystery of maturity. The sessions will be between 3 and 3 ½ hours long. Session themes to be explored session by session:
Session themes to be explored session by session:
- Family First: Beginnings and Roles
- The Second Self: Embracing the Shadow
- Initiations: Conscious and Unconscious
- Life Purpose and Meeting the World
- Living in Paradox: Love and Relationship
- Turning for Home: The Beginning of Healing
- A Deeper Dive: Making and Breaking
- Full Circle: Spirituality, Nature and Coming Home
Course Content in More Depth
“To begin at the beginning…” Having looked at the terms and parameters of our journey, we delve into our beginnings, childhood roles and the experience of innocence. Topics include:
- How we are made and imprinted.
- Attachment styles and a sense of belonging.
- Stereotypes and designated roles.
- The open child, and the rapture of being alive.
- The loss of innocence and the sacred.
A clear-eyed look at the human shadow – source of our greatest troubles, unforeseen dangers, and unexplored potentials. Topics include:
- The birth of the Shadow and our dark potentials.
- The Bipolar shadow of too much and too little.
- Shadow on the grand scale – evil in society.
- Eating the Shadow and “making the darkness conscious”.
- The Golden Shadow and our hidden potential.
Occurring throughout life, initiations are about more than transitions from adolescence into adulthood. This session looks at ongoing initiation as a positive necessity. Topics include:
- Milestones and marking initiations in life.
- Trauma and loss as initiation.
- Self-initiations and unconscious initiation.
- Grounding grandiosity: naivety, narcissism and initiation.
- Ritual initiations and rites of passage.
Here we look at our interface with the world – at vocation and direction. Are we on the right path? Are we leaders or followers? And are we ready to stand up and be counted? Topics include:
- Finding true purpose: right challenge, right path.
- Passion and action: standing up and speaking out.
- Life as an art-form: ambit and ambition.
- Making a difference: leading and serving.
- Becoming who we really are: work and the soul.
This session looks into the people-growing machine that is relationship –unpicking the confusions and contradictions of becoming and belonging. Topics include:
- The path of love: from romance to reality.
- We are one: the dangers of fusion.
- The wounded heart and the dark side of relationship.
- Attachment & autonomy the dance of differentiation.
- Yes, no and maybe, the art of negotiation.
Some call it a mid-life crisis, others a great awakening – but there comes a point in life where the soul comes a-knocking and old ways of doing things just don’t work anymore. Topics include:
- The soul’s insistence: recognising the call.
- Refusal and denial, inaction and avoidance.
- Crisis and awakening – the road to wholeness.
- Guides and teachers – staying on the path.
- First things first: the order of the work.
The core of the work lies in meeting ourselves, making deals with our soul (or psyche) and addressing those parts of ourselves we’ve so often failed to challenge or change. Topics Include:
- If not now, when? Grasping the nettle.
- Fears and resentments: the door to change.
- Working with our grief, anger and shame.
- Addictions, avoidances and self-sabotage.
- In the belly of the beast – self-care and support.
Having looked at our past and our blocks to generativity, our final session brings us to a point where we can start to develop a richer inner life and spirituality. Topics include:
- The generative heart and the gift of compassion
- Reconnecting with nature and the Anima Mundi.
- Ritual, offering and addressing the Other.
- Gratitude, devotion, and the arts of surrender
- Letting go and self-acceptance: coming home
Building a self-development community
During this workshop we will encourage the group to create a community, and part of this will be self-facilitated study groups, which we will call ‘Home Groups’. Initially, we will assign people into small groups, to reflect, share and explore. NB We ask you to keep the following times free for the first 2 meetings: 2-5pm on 25th June and July 9th. After this you’ll make their own arrangements to meet between sessions. Some groups will choose to meet weekly, but most will meet once a fortnight. We recommend that you meet in groups of 4-5 people, though a meeting between 2 of you is perfectly valid, as is a group of 8. We call these groups ‘home groups.’ You can request to change your home group at any time.
Online Forum
We will provide a closed, online forum for whole group discussion. There will be a relevant resource section, where participants are invited to post information that is related to the course content. There could be online articles, essays, YouTube clips, and so forth.
The Practicalities
The programme will consist of eight live meetings with William and Juliet.
Each meeting will last approximately 3 – 3 ½ hours.
There will be self-facilitated small discussion groups between the meetings, and an online group forum.
Tutors: William Ayot and Juliet Grayson. They will usually co-faciliate. There may be an occasional exception, where only one of them leads the group.
Live Lecture/Workshops: Saturdays
Starting time will be 2pm (UK Time). Please log on at 1.50 so we can start promptly.
Finishing time will be by 5.30 pm.
NB if you cannot make one of the meetings, the recordings of these will be available by Tuesday afternoon following the session.
Live Lectures Dates: Saturdays June 18th 2022 (BST), July 2nd (BST), July 16th (BST), July 30th (BST), September 3rd (BST), September 17th (BST), October 1st (BST), October 15th (BST)
First 2 ‘Home Group’ Meetings Dates: Saturday June 25th 2022 from 2-5pm and Saturday July 9th from 2-5pm. After this the group will make their own arrangements for future group meetings.
Where: Online using Zoom Meetings
Different Time Zones: UK British Standard Time (BST) 2.00pm Click here to see the start time in your time zone
Frequency: Fortnightly for 4 sessions, a complete break during August, and then fortnightly for 4 sessions.
Dates for your first two ‘self development community group’ meetings: Please keep 2-5 pm on Saturday June 25th 2022 and Saturday July 9th available to start your first 2 ‘home group’ meetings. Once the group is established, we encourage you to find a regular time that you the group can commit to on a fortnightly basis. Group sizes can be anything from 2-8 people. We recommend 3 or 4 people.
Cost for the whole programme:
£630 early bird price if booked by 18th May
£690 FULL PRICE
CLICK HERE TO PAY A £200 DEPOSIT
PLEASE fill in this registration form (which has a few questions)
Time to pay: If you would like to attend but need to set up a payment plan to pay over a longer period, please fill in the registration document (above), and also contact [email protected] with the details of what you can realistically manage per month.
Recordings: All talks will be recorded, in both audio and video form and posted on a private programme website by the Tuesday afternoon following the programme. This allows participants who need to miss a talk to watch it later. Those who attend may choose to reinforce their learning by watching or listening again. Participants should note that if they appear on screen they will be in the recording, which is used for this group. NB No recordings showing group members will be made public without prior agreement.
Homework: There may be some homework between modules. This is strongly recommended but not required.
Certificate of Attendance : A certificate of attendance for continuous professional development (CPD) will be provided at the end of the entire programme. Participants who attend the entire programme can claim 24 hours CPD.
Registration: Requires two steps:
1) Fill in this registration form (which has a few questions)
2) TO PAY IN FULL . Click here
3) If you need to make a payment plan because you cannot afford the full payment now, then please pay a deposit of £200 click here and let us know your suggested payment plan. If you pay over time then the full payment of £660 will be due. Email [email protected] with your proposal
4) We have 2 bursary places left. If you would like to attend but cannot afford to pay the full amount, then please email [email protected] with some info about your circumstances and what you could pay.
NOT YET READY TO REGISTER, BUT STILL INTERESTED? If you are not yet ready to register, but would to discuss it, or just want to let us know that you are very interested but not ready to register quite yet, then please click here to keep in touch with the programme
Cancellation
Cancellations or alterations made more that 90 days of the first day of the workshop (June 18th) are subject to a 12.5% handling charge. Cancellations or alterations within 90 days of the first day of the workshop (June 18th) are non refundable and non transferable.
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THE ENGINES OF SHAME –
Episode 2 from Exploring Shame Series 1
This talk is about the way that shame triggers and induces our drives and dysfunctions. Behind the success of a thrusting executive, or the downcast expression of a shrinking non acheiver, we can often find the same overwhelming shadow of shame.
FREE OF CHARGE WEBINAR RECORDING
If you’d like to see Juliet and William in action, we are offering you the chance to watch the second of the Series : Exploring Shame, free of charge. (The rest of the series of 7 can be purchased at £10 each, or £50 for the 7 talks).
To watch Shame 1: The Engines of Shame free of charge
1) go to https://jandw.thinkific.com/ and
2) create an account.
3) Find Shame Series 1 Episode 2 THE ENGINES OF SHAME https://jandw.thinkific.com/courses/shame2
4) use the code free_shame2 to watch this for free.
Thanks for reading this far!
Love
Juliet
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