24 Hour Retreat; Art as Meditation, Inspiration and Transformation

Beltane and the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality

Calling all Spiritual Warriors, Midwives of Grace, Lovers, Mystics and Prophets

With Ellen Kennedy & Christopher Volpe

Saturday, May 17 1PM – Sunday, May 18 1PM, 2025

Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center

660 Great Pond Road, North Andover, MA

The Wisdom of the Mystics, the Four Paths of Creation Spirituality (Via Positiva, Via Negativa, Via Creativa and Via Transformativa) and the fires of the Celtic season of Beltane will illuminate our spiral journey.  Together we will travel deep into the heart of what we each need to meet this moment of planetary crisis; the in between time where the old story has dissolved and the new story is yet to be.   This retreat is not for the faint of heart, but those whose hearts are ready to ignite with love in service. The gift of Sacred Dance/Art as Mediation will be our touchstone as we step into the unknown and return inspired to do what is ours to do as Transformers!!   At the heart of our retreat we will practice art as meditation crafting personal symbols of transformation and intentional artwork using the Four Paths as creative guides.   Together we will co-create rituals of fire, water, earth and air on the sacred grounds of Rolling Ridge.  In closing celebration we will weave our ribbons around The Maypole, a symbol of the union of The Green Man and The May Queen. dancing our hopes, dreams and intentions for our sacred planet earth and the people places and situations in need of love and light.

Art as Meditation is a concept introduced by Matthew Fox www.matthewfox.org  It involves entering into the artistic process not to produce a work of art, but to be with the process.  “The most beautiful thing a potter produces is…the potter.  Art as Meditation allows us to truly listen to the cosmos with us and around us”. Matthew Fox

Each dance will be taught, no experience required. Space limited to 24

DEADLINE MAY 1, 2025

$198.00 pp double  

Registration Form is attached with payment link. Receipt of you registration and payment confirmation will confirm your place. Rooms will be assigned in the order of registrations received. 

Instructions for registration: Download the form, Open the form, Click fields and fill out the form, save the form as a new document as an attachment.  dancingspiral@aol.com

Ellen Kennedy was trained and certified at The Findhorn Foundation in Scotland to teach Sacred Dance and has been teaching in the US and internationally for 30 years.   She holds certificates in Basic and Advanced Shamanic Studies thru The Foundation for Shamanic Studies. Ellen has been a student of Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox for almost 30 years. His teachings on Creation Spirituality and The Four Paths burn bright in her heart. She is an Art as Mediation faculty member in the Creation Spirituality Movement.  In  collaboration with Fox,  Ellen has led Sacred Circle Dance at seven Creation Spirituality retreats and the Spiral Dance at the Cosmic Mass;  Parliament of World Religions, Toronto.  She serves on the design team for Daily Meditations with Matthew Fox   http://dailymeditationswithmatthewfox.org  

Christopher Volpe is an artist, writer, and teacher striving to make work that imeaningfully reflects on the human condition. He received a master’s degree in poetry from the University of New Hampshire and his paintings have won numerous accolades including the Saint Botolph Club Foundation’s Emerging Artist and Nellie Taft awards and grants from MassMoCA/Assets for Artists and the NH State Council on

the Arts. Although his primary focus is painting, Chris has been leading painting and written word workshops for nearly 30 years. He taught mythology, art history, and comparative religion at the former Chester College of New England in Chester, New Hampshire for several years before teaching art history and writing at the New Hampshire Institute of Art. He now teaches independently and paints full time. He is an Art as Mediation faculty member in the Creation Spirituality Movement. His website is www.christophervolpe.com.