People have a special fatigue that leads them to Hawaii. It’s not tiring, it’s the other kind. The type that continually tells you that something must change.
Those who come here and are open to the true islands, rarely ever leave the same. Not because the landscape is pretty or beautiful (it is) but because something in this land meets you. An old, slow and sincere thing.
A true ceremonial practice Hawaii retreats is based on this quality of the land as an integral part of the healing process. It’s not a backdrop that is the islands. They are participants. Hence the best Hawaii getaways are intertwined with the land.
These Islands, with their many vistas, have long been a call to those who seek.
Hawaii is located at the crossroads of fire and ocean. It is a daily reminder to us that creation and destruction go hand-in-hand, with the eruptions of the Big Island’s volcanoes bringing forth new land from the fire, while old forms are dissolved to give way to the new. This landscape is not a metaphor for anyone in a transition time in their life. It’s a real-life experience.
The native Hawaiian people have always recognized these islands to be sacred land, inhabited by life energy called mana. Stone temples (heiau) built many years ago have an indelible imprint. Each of the areas including sacred valleys, ocean passages and lava fields contains unique and powerful energy.
A spiritual retreat, based on this landscape, with a shamanic approach to power, can’t be matched at any retreat center in the city. This land has been cultivated, revered and worshipped by the people for many centuries. If the ceremony is run respectfully, then the results are always greater than the participants’ expectations.
The ultimate in good ol’ fashioned fun!The iconic fun of Maui!
Maui is a special place in the imagination of those seeking answers and has a unique role in the transformational work on all the Hawaiian Islands. An island of contrasts, volcanic Haleakalā peaks stand silent and in cloud above ten thousand feet on one side while on the other, lush jungle valleys, ancient fishponds and healing coastal waters appear.
Maui Spiritual Retreats are based on both of these faces. Many people consider the Haleakalā sunrise an one of the most spiritual natural places in the Pacific. The quietness in which I sat, above the clouds, while the sun rose, the invisible world below, the big sky. The sense of urgency diminishes and the small becomes urgent. In places, that which was impossible is made possible.
Under the peaks, Maui’s rainforests and waterfalls offer another, equally potent, medicine – abundant, fertile, feminine. The juxtaposition between the volcanic mountains and green valleys offers a natural journey between dissolving and regenerating, or between inhibiting the old and supporting the new. This geography is skillfully utilized to orchestrate the flow of participants through both these qualities, with the intent to create a real integration. The best Maui Spiritual Retreats are designed to do just that.
What makes a Ceremonial Retreat really Transformative?
It is not all experiences of language of transformation that provide it. The important aspect of a real spiritual retreat is what it offers—not its marketing! The quality and integrity of Hawaii’s visibility and ceremonial offerings has become a mixed bag as the former have been increasingly visible and the latter are more widespread. It’s important to know what makes a meaningful experience and a good wellness trip apart before you dedicate your time, money and spiritual preparedness.
Facilitator integrity. Real facilitators articulate their training, their teachers and their connection to Hawaiian culture. They don’t discourage such questions and they don’t dismiss them.
Respecting and being reciprocal to culture. An offering that engages in some of the Hawaiian sacred traditions needs to be rooted in grounded relationships with the Hawaiian community. The most authentic Maui Spiritual Retreats are committed to maintaining cultural heritage and are truly in cooperation with local practitioners.
Small, intimate containers. The number of 8-12 can provide a quality of being witnessed and relational safety to enable real transformation. Groups bigger in size: volume, not depth.
Incorporating the retreat into the community. There are ceremonial activities that open things—deep ceremonial work. The changes and events that occur over the following few weeks after coming home can make the difference between permanent change and just a memory. Effective follow-up is a good indicator that a facilitator is “on the job.”
About Sacred Voyages
Sacred Voyages is a boutique transformative travel company, whose mission is to create deeply intentional ceremonial travel experience to the most spiritually alive landscapes in the world, in Hawaii’s center we serve.
Each Sacred Voyages retreat is carefully crafted: small, intimate groups, true cultural integrity of facilitators, access to sacred sites with authenticity and reverence, and a robust post-retreat integration framework.
All of the shamanic spiritual retreat we create are not an escape from your life, but a journey to the part of your life that needs you most, and that you need most of all, and which is being offered by the land, by ceremony and by a community willing to accompany you.
