Water to the alchemist represents the fluidity of spirit and consciousness.

Like water, we take many forms on our journey. There are times in life when we become hardened and cold, like ice. With experience, we can allow ourselves to soften and yield, like water. And with patience and wisdom, we can learn to rise and ascend, like vapor.

Water is the great reflector of life. When disturbed, there is confusion and it becomes difficult to see through the chaos. In stillness there is clarity and calm, and the way through becomes clear.

The water element is associated with stamina, endurance and wisdom. It reminds us that we have the potential to crash, or flow. To be like water means to let go of attachments and resistance. Water teaches us that from a place of acceptance, life is able to flow.

At the Inner Alchemist Retreat, you will discover that you are not a drop in the ocean; rather, you are the ocean within a drop.

Like the ocean, deep under your surface is an ever present, unchanging stillness. And it is from this place that we discover an inner power greater than any tsunami. All that is required is a willingness to take the plunge.

At the Inner Alchemist Retreat, you will have the opportunity to take that plunge with an ice initiation.

Initiations have been seen as fundamental to human growth, spiritual development and tribal bonds for thousands of years. They mark an important turning of tides in someone’s life; a rebirth. The opportunity to wash away the unnecessary and make room for something new to take its place.

Upon entering the cold, a cascade of hormonal reactions occur that allow the body to contend with extreme temperatures. The release of these neurotransmitters improve intrabody communication, allowing the body to manage stress and maintain a state of homeostasis even with the ice pushing you to the edge.

The cold literally centers you.

The experience demonstrates that you are stronger than the influences of your external environment. You will walk away with a sense of personal empowerment and accomplishment as you reintegrate into the world, born anew.

According to the ancients, everything in existence is comprised of the 4 quintessential elements of Earth, Water, Wind and Fire.

In the great work of alchemy, fire does the work, fire is the process, fire is the medium, and fire finds the gold.

It is only by going through the fire are we deeply transformed on a spiritual level.

Fire is the Earthly manifestation of the Sun, and it is through the sun that all transformation on Earth occurs. The cycle of the seasons, the growth of plants, regulation of the biosphere. The Fire of the Sun is the source of all change we experience on Earth.

Despite its destructive nature, fire can be seen as an element that is supportive of life, just as the sun nourishes and supports life on Earth. There cannot be creation of the new without destruction of the old. Therefore, our challenges, or, trials by fire, serve only the growth and evolution of the Soul.

Within the body, we discover the metabolic fire, whose responsibility it is to transform the food that we eat into the cells of our body. This same transformative process can be found within the mind, where it is the responsibility of our consciousness to process and assimilate our experiences into intelligence and wisdom.

At the Inner Alchemist retreat, this process will be embodied with a traditional fire walk.

Firewalking has been practiced by cultures all over the world for thousands of years. It is often used as a rite of passage and as a test of strength, courage and faith.

When we face our fears and walk through the fire, we discover a love that endures and the inner gold of self-discovery.

Our task is to feed our flame and reach for the light.

Fire transmutes. To transmute is to move further along the evolutionary path towards a higher level of consciousness. And it is through the conscious use of Fire that this is achieved.

Only fire can finally reveal what cannot be burned — our Divine essence, the Spirit.

Earth is the element of harvest time, abundance and nourishment. In alchemy, it is the symbol of stability, stillness and being properly anchored.

This element is also regarded as the Great Mother and is therefore associated with love, compassion and understanding as well as potential and creativity. When juxtaposed with Heaven, Earth represents the world of matter; the place where the Spirit materializes.

The Inner Alchemist Retreat represents a change of seasons as you move from scarcity to abundance. It is both a sowing and a reaping of love, inner compassion and self understanding so that your highest Self can blossom in this reality.

Just as Earth is the birthplace of new life, the Inner Alchemist retreat marks the beginning of your new life as you fulfill your true creative potential.

Nature teaches us that everything supports the growth of every other thing. What is initially seen as a dismantling is eventually revealed to be a wonderful catalyst for evolution. 

Plants feed insects, which get eaten by lizards, whose droppings feed the plants.

As the Inner Alchemist, you will come to understand that just as everything in the natural world exists to support the evolution of life, challenges exist to support the evolution of Spirit.

During your stay, you and your new tribe will venture to Strickland State Forest, known as the gem of the Central Coast, to become more intimately acquainted with Mother Earth.

You will hike through the forest, past waterfalls, under cabbage tree palms and along creeks as a way of anchoring and grounding into the new you. In the lushness of the natural world you will nourish your soul, rediscover your roots, and from the stillness regain clarity of why you are here.

Your experience will be supported with the use of medicinal mushrooms, providing the opportunity to, in the truest sense, become one with Nature.

Mushrooms have a deep symbolic meaning. They grow in the dark and represent good health, luck, longevity, energy, safety, prosperity, transformation and rebirth.

The mycelium, from which mushrooms grow, literally take dead debri and create new life that nourishes trees, plants and soil; they are nature’s alchemists, embodying the myth of the phoenix who rises from ashes.

The mushroom of choice for this experience is Hericium erinaceus (Lion’s Mane). It will support and stabilize the transformation of your inner world on the level of the brain and nervous system. It will solidify your new way of being in the world and result in thoughts, feelings and behaviours that align with your highest Self.

At the Inner Alchemist Retreat, like the phoenix, you too will rise. Like the trees and plants, you will reach for the light.

You will discover that you have arrived, and experience first hand what Lao Tzu meant when he said that “Nature Does Not Hurry, Yet Everything Is Accomplished.”

The wind symbolizes the raw and brutal power of nature. It is a symbol of might and strength.

It also reminds us that the strongest forces of nature are those unseen.

The air element represents our connection to the universal life force. After all, life itself begins when we take our very first breath, and comes to an end when we take our very last.

Between these two points of birth and death, the air element is the ever-present life-giving force that nourishes, nurtures and renews. It is the foundation of life itself.

In ancient Greek the word for breath is “pneuma” which also translates to “Spirit.” It could be said that when we breathe in, we are taking in spirit; inspiration. And it is when we are most inspired that we feel most alive!

The Inner Alchemist Retreat is a place to become inspired and renewed with a transformational breathwork ceremony.

You will use the breath to break through any illusion or limitation in Self. You will be invited to take in the new and expire the old. These ancient techniques will blow the roof off your reality, facilitate profound healing and allow you to rediscover your true inner wisdom and strength.

While wind has the potential to be devastating, it is also the element behind which ships reach their greatest speed and realize their highest potentials.

At the Inner Alchemist Retreat, you will become empowered to become the captain of your life and steer your own ship; you will learn to navigate the storms, take charge and lead the life that you know you are destined to live.