Chetham Farm Labyrinth & Retreat – Winter Solstice Gathering
🗓 21 December | ⏰ 10:00am – 4:30pm
📍 Chetham Farm, High St, Chapeltown, Bolton BL7 0EZ
A day of release, remembrance, and gentle re-emergence.
Arrival & Time Flow (Revised & Final)
10:00 – 10:30 | Arrival & Settling
Arrival, Cacao, warmth
Shoes off / slippers on
Blankets, mats, nesting the space
Quiet grounding into body and breath
This is the nervous system arriving before the mind catches up.
10:30 – 11:15 | Dowsing & Water Sample Data taken &
Altar Creation in the Barn
Collective altar created together
Placement of personal offerings and intentions
Integration of the sites, lives we have walked, witnessed, and activated over the past months
Naming what is completing, composting, and carrying forward
This is where the threads come together — land, body, memory, future.
11:15 – 12:00 |
Cacao Opening Ceremony
Heart-opening cacao
Gentle orientation to the day
Winter Solstice context: darkness as the womb of light.
12:00 – 1:00 | The 13th Womb Rite
Sacred womb blessing and lineage healing
Honouring the womb as:
Creator
Holder
Releaser
Deep rest, safety, and remembrance
(Tthis is a rite of creative life force, not anatomy.)
1:00 – 1:45 | Lunch & Rest
Shared nourishment
Blankets, warmth, silence or soft conversation
Integration time — nothing to process, everything landing
1:45 – 2:45 | Labyrinth Walk (Outdoor)
Grounding walk to the labyrinth
Slow, mindful walking
Reflection, yawning, breath, and embodied listening
Dowsing entrance into the Labyrinth and integration of sties. Walking in what has been released… and what is ready to return.
The labyrinth after lunch allows digestion — of food, rite, and insight.
3:00 – 4:15 | Sound & Somatic Integration (Indoors)
Return to warmth
Sound journey and resonance
Nervous system settling
Allowing the body to anchor what the land has offered
4:15 – 4:30 | Closing Circle
Gentle sharing (optional)
Gratitude and sealing
Carrying the light forward together
What to Bring (Updated Essentials)
Indoor Comfort
🧣 Blanket (non-negotiable winter ally)
🧘 Yoga mat / something to lie on
🥿 Slippers or indoor shoes
🧦 Warm socks
Outdoor Labyrinth Walk
👢 Sturdy outdoor shoes / boots (expect boggy ground)
🧥 Waterproof coat
🧤 Hat, gloves, scarf
🌦 Layers
Food & Drink
🥗 Veggie Chill & Soup Provided bring extras if preferred.
🍎 Nibbles to share (optional)
☕ Mug / flask
💧 Water bottle
Altar & Ceremony
🌿 Altar item(s): stone, seed, flower, object of meaning
📝 Written intention / release
🕯 Symbol of what is completing & what is being called in
Optional
📓 Journal & pen
🎶 Gentle instrument (rattle, drum, chime)
🧪 Water sample (for those tracking site integration)
💛 Curiosity and kindness toward yourself
Winter Solstice Intention
This day is about remembering how to be held — by land, by sound, by stillness, by each other.
Nothing to achieve.
Nothing to fix.
Only to allow the turning.
And yes…
Yawns are sacred.
Slippers are ceremonial.
Mud is part of the medicine.
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