Spirit Place: Spirit People. Exploring an Ecology of Australian Spirituality

5 pm Friday 26 September– 3 pm Sunday 28th September.

Eremos and Open Sanctuary are collaborating to offer this unique weekend gathering.

Spirit Place: Spirit People  is a weekend event on Yuin country at the foot of Gulaga to talk, walk and wonder together about the unique nature of an Australian expression and practice of spirituality. We will spend some time with local Aboriginal elders, walk the bungarri-yana track, sit round the fire, and enjoy the spirit of place and people.  

The weekend is based at Open Sanctuary Church at Tilba Tilba and Mountain View Farm, a rustic venue which sits in the foothills of the mountain. Accommodation is at Mountain View Farm and surrounds. 

Tilba Tilba is on the far south coast of NSW in the magnificent country of the djiringang-Yuin people, just south of the town of Narooma. 

Cost $220 per person for the full weekend, which includes the program, 2 dinners, 2 lunches, morning and afternoon teas. Accommodation (not included) is booked separately. Numbers are limited, so please book early. Registration closes 19 September or when full. If you are booking for 2 people, add the second person's name to 'Ticket 2" on the registration form. 

Partial registration is possible. Please contact katescholl@eremos.org.au to enquire. 

Eremos and Open Sanctuary members: $190.

We do not want financial concerns to keep people from participating in this gathering. There are subsidies available for low and no-income participants. Please contact Anthony to discuss what’s possible:  stanwell.management@gmail.com

Our time together 

The weekend is a time for silence, deep listening and reflecting on our place in the land and Spirit in place context. The rustic and natural setting of the venue will enhance our connection to the earth. 

We begin 5 pm Friday evening with a Welcome gathering and dinner at Mountain View Dairy.  We encourage arrival any time after 3 pm Friday afternoon.

Saturday 9.00 am  we welcome the day and one another with Morning Prayer/Meditation in the church led by Linda Chapman. Followed by time to wander / sit / and be in place. 

After morning tea, around 11am Aunty Lynne will share her deep connection to country and invite us to listen and be present.  

After lunch there will be time to walk the bungarri-yana track, rest, share conversation with others and/or be silent in the church or on the land. 

At 5 pm we will gather in the church again for Meditation/Prayer and time for reflection.

This will be followed by dinner at 6 pm at the Dairy at Mountain View and gathering round the fire to share stories, music, poetry, song, explore what we have encountered and what is emerging. 

Sunday begins at 9am with a Eucharistic gathering in the church followed by morning tea. 

The morning program will include Aboriginal elder, Uncle Bunja, who will share his connection to country and invite us to see the relationships between all created beings through indigenous eyes. 

A guided reflective writing session with Kate Scholl will conclude our time before lunch. Please bring a notebook or something to write on/in for this session. 

1pm Lunch will be followed by our concluding session with closing by 3 pm. 

What to expect

The venue is rustic with the intention to be close to nature and feel the ground beneath our feet. All events will be undercover, but we advise you to bring outdoorsy clothing and footwear prepared for variable weather and conditions. 

Accommodation 

There are 2 Mountain View Farm accommodation options on site available:

To see the description of this on the Mountain View website: https://www.mountainviewfarm.com.au/the-tent-house-gulaga

Studio cottage. Has wheelchair and bathroom accessible fixtures Cost for 2 nights $350.  To see the description of this https://www.mountainviewfarm.com.au/the-studio

Please enquire with Kate if you are interested in either of these options. katescholl@eremos.org.au . Payment and booking for Mountainview accommodation is done directly with Kate.  

Onsite camping at Open Sanctuary is also possible in your own caravan or tent. Please contact Anthony to discuss if you are interested. stanwell.management@gmail.com

Links to nearby accommodation. Open Sanctuary is approximately 15 minutes drive from Narooma and Bermagui. 

Tilba Accommodation | Find places to stay in Tilba

booking.com Tilba, Narooma and Bermagui 26-28 September

AirBnb Tilba and surrounds

Who is involved

The gathering has been planned by a small group of Eremos Council members (Anthony Mayne, John Foulcher, Bethany South and Kate Scholl) with Linda Chapman from Open Sanctuary. Session facilitators are:

Aunty Lynne Thomas is a Black Duck woman (Yuin) of the Far South Coast. She is a cultural knowledge holder and was cultural consultant on the Bangarra production Dark Emu. She has been educating people about caring for Country for many years.

Lynne has worked as a Field Officer with the National Parks & Wildlife Service and as an Aboriginal Education Assistant with St Joseph's Catholic School, Eden Primary School and Eden High School as well as a Tour Guide for Umbarra Culture Tours. She presently works at Narooma Public School.

Uncle Bunja Smith is well known as a local Walbanga and Murramarang man from the greater Yuin nation. He has held board positions on various health, legal and natural resource management organisations on the south coast, currently including the South East Local Land Services Board. In 2018 he became Chairperson of the Biamanga National Park Board of Management. This Park, under joint Aboriginal management covers land handed back to the First Nations owners in 2006.

Bunja says, "My people are deeply connected to nature through our totemic systems. You often hear the Yuin nation referred to as Umbarra, the black duck, because that’s our tribal totem. But we also have individual totems. Being connected to particular animals made you responsible for directly caring for that species. This is how our people cared for the environment – although that relationship was broken down by colonisation, along with the loss of our language and our access to lands."

Linda Chapman, OAM is founder of Open Sanctuary at Tilba which sits in the foothills of Gulaga. Linda is an advocate for earth care and social justice as well as the significance of contemplative practice for the flourishing of life. She is an Oblate of the World Community for Christian Meditation, a retreat leader, spiritual director and ordained Anglican. She greatly values other religious traditions and especially the gift of our First Nations knowledge and practice.

Kate Scholl has a strong interest in how we make meaning and live fully connected to the depth and beauty of our lives. Eremos has been a place which has enabled this connection for her over many years, and she is currently the chair of the Eremos Council. One of her most deeply valued projects is leading Intensive Journal Workshops in person and online. She lives on Dharug country in the Sydney’s Western suburbs with her partner Alex. 

About the Place we gather

Gulaga and her surrounding landscape have great spiritual significance to local Yuin people. Read more. 

Mountain View Farm is located on the Gulaga (Mount Dromedary) walking trail - you can walk straight out the door and head up the mountain, experiencing its various aspects of its temperate rainforest flora and fauna.

Najanuga, Little Dromedary, and Barunguba, Montague Island are also visible from Mountain View Farm.

https://www.mountainviewfarm.com.au/about-us

Open Sanctuary 

Open Sanctuary is a diverse community of people from different traditions and none who are exploring their spirituality together in the modern world through their relationships with silence, each other, the wider community, and the community of the natural world. https://www.opensanctuarytilba.org/