wilderness vigil: 4th - 12th July

(please note: if from the U.S. you may want to consider The School of Lost Borders in California for something like this.)

The dates have arrived for the Wilderness Vigil in Dartmoor national park this summer:
Friday 4th July to Sat 12th.
Cost £600.

The Basics:
The first two days are spent orientating to the area and finding your spot. There will be daily one-to-one sessions with myself, and on-going sessions with the wider participants and the base-camp crew. You will receive full preparation and a deepening context for your vigil and it's place in history. Food will be healthy and slightly reduced in size as preparation. We advise giving up caffeine in advance. Health and safety will, of course, be observed.

Monday morning you leave base camp and head for your alone spot. For the next four days you will be completely alone fasting in a wild place. During the entire time the crew will stay at base camp. I will return daily and attend to whatever is needed. You will take plenty of water/ a tarp for keeping the rain off/a warm sleeping bag.

On the fifth morning you will return to base camp for a gentle re-orientation to a new world. When fed, watered and rested, you will tell your story to your fellow questers and an experienced and supportive crew. This is the last time you will tell the story in depth for one year - to allow it time to settle. At some point on the saturday we will pack up base camp and leave.

The vigil usually proves tough/ wonderful/ scary/ sometimes boring and deeply mysterious. All and more. It can be a life changer. It won't make you a good person or your life simpler, but it will help you relish its complexity. Come if, as Yeat's, you say; "I'm looking for the face i had before the world was made".

To apply we require a PDF biography of your life up to now. Not just stories of achievement, but the difficult parts too, everything that has got you to this point. No more than ten pages no less than six. Secondly a non-refundable deposit of £200 if accepted.

If it feels like it's your time to be on the hill, we will be in touch with preparatory material - reading and practical work.

Please note, you will need your own equipment (tent for base camp, tarp, bivvy bag, sleeping bag etc).

Warmly,
Martin and the base-camp team.

* Martin has almost twenty years experience of both undergoing and leading wilderness vigils. The experience is a crucial underpinning to his mythological work.

PLEASE CONTACT TINA AT: TINA.SCHOOLOFMYTH@YAHOO.COM TO REGISTER. PLACES VERY LIMITED.