Welcome To The Land of Women

The first Goddess of Ireland and oldest name for the land is Banba, which means The Land of Women. What does this mean? If are you a woman artist, writer, poet, musician, healer, intuitive, or practitioner in the earth based traditions seeking a thoughtfully paced immersion into Irelands many layered living landscape, we invite you to join us this spring in Ireland to discover for yourself how the living Goddesses of the land continue to guide us today.  

This journey may be of particular interest to Daughters of the Irish Diaspora and Women of Color of mixed Irish ancestry who are longing to explore our ancestral homelands and reconnect with the organic sounds, sights, smells, flavors and textures that shaped our DNA.

PILGRIMAGE DATES

March 13th- 23rd 2026

Our Time Together Includes:

  • Daily Shamanic Dreamwork Practice for Guidance & Connection

    Morning dreamwork circles serve as our anchor, a place to develop or deepen our practice of looking to our dreams to receive guidance from our wise and well ancestors and the spirits of the land. Participation includes the entire content of our popular online course "Dreaming with the Ancestors."

  • Local Guest Wisdom Carrier Guides

    We are honored to be joined by 7 experienced local guest Artist/Educators, Priestesses, Seanchaithe (traditional Irish storytellers) and other women wisdom carriers who will be our guides to participating with respect in Ireland's rich living culture.

  • Daily Somatic Practices for Grounding and Co-Regulation

    Meditation, breathwork, traditional Irish prayers and chants, and other somatic practices are woven throughout each sacred site visit and skillshare, enabling us to tend our bodies, the nervous system of the group, and the unique spirit of each place we visit.

Sacred Sites We Will Experience

Local wisdom carriers will meet with our group each day for the first 5 days of our time together to guide us into bespoke experiences of the deeper mysteries of Ireland’s world famous sacred sites, including:

  • The Hill of Tara: Inauguration site of the High Kings, who needed the blessing of the Goddess in order to lead

  • The Hill of Uisneach: Sacred Center, The Umbilicus of the Land

  • Goddess Brigid's Sacred Well

  • Loughcrew: The Hill of the Witch

  • The Falls Road: The Sacred Scar

  • Queen Maeve's Cairn. The resting place/ abode of Ireland's beloved Goddess-turned-warrior-queen

About the Retreat

For the second half of our journey, we will land in the idyllic Donegal, where we will stay in a beautiful rustic retreat house with a rich cultural history in Ireland’s bardic traditions. Here we will have the opportunity to slow down, relax, and dive deeper into Irish folk medicine remedies, practices and traditions, and enjoy 3 nourishing home cooked organic and local meals per day crafted by a talented local team of dedicated kitchen magicians. Includes:

  • Irish Language Folk Songs Immersion with a local fluent Irish language speaker, including a unique performance, a workshop with the history of the songs and styles, pronunciation guidance and song sheets to take home, playful practice, and singing in the wild

  • Mestiza Guided Yoga & Cacao

  • Traditional Nutrition and Herbal Remedies

  • Traditional Crafts Circles with Local Artist and Artisans

  • Nearby Beaches, Bogs and Mountain trails to explore

  • Spring Equinox Rebirth Ritual. Experientially explore Irelands ancestral traditions for grief, celebration and renewal, gratitude and reciprocity with the more than human realms with experienced local Ritualist & Culture Carrier who will invite her local community to join us for a very special evening shared with local likeminded sisters and soul-friends

  • Optional proffessional private bodywork session add-on (details provided upon registration)

I'm a Mestiza folk medicine practitioner of mixed Irish and Boriken descent (Indigenous Afro-Caribbean) and am the director of Escuela del RÍo Cósmico, a brick-and-mortar school and seasonal ceremonial micro-village located in Kumeyaay land in Southern California. I spend my time helping folks reconnect with their roots and establishing nourishing practice rhythms in service of community and planetary health, mostly through our year long Folk Medicine Apprenticeship, which we have hosted for the past 8 years. I specialize in helping other women of color with mixed Irish or other european ancestry integrate both the blessings and hardships of carrying and tending to more than one culture in the context of reductionist modern binary over-cultures that try to make us choose, and seek to dictate what parts of ourselves are safe to express and which parts we must repress. In 2019 I met my partner who hails from Belfast, Ireland and I have had the privelidge of spending the past 6 years between Ireland and Southern California, exploring my own Irish roots and reconnecting with the parts of myself that originate in Irelands earth based traditions. Click below to learn more about my background and related trainings.
More about Yaya

Cost Includes:

  • All Accomodations

    Group shared accommodations include 4 star hotels, unique stays including a castle steeped in local lore, and 5 days in a beautiful rustic retreat house with a long history among Irelands Bardic traditions.

  • 2-3 Healthy Meals Per Day

    During our Sacred Sites Pilgrimages, we will enjoy delicious local food available along the way, including several unique communal dining experiences. Our Retreat time will be fully catered with fresh, healthy, inspired, seasonal local nourishing and educational meals and snacks provided with love by an inspired team of local Irish Kitchen Magicians.

  • Dedicated Transportation

    Our dedicated drivers are also experienced professional guides to Ireland, helping to ensure our travel is safe and seamless. Pick up and drop off at Dublin International airport included.

  • Donations and Fees for all Sacred Sites

    All donations and entrance fees to our scheduled sacred site experiences are included in the cost of the journey.

  • Materials

    Materials for all traditional craft and herbal remedy instuction

  • Reciprocity for Our Facilitators

    All of our facilitators are compensated fully for their travel, time, expertise and other offerings during their time with us. Your participation uplifts a sprawling web of Ireland's best creatives and makers- Thank You!

  • What's NOT included:

    airfare, travel insurance, cafe lunches and snacks on the road during the first 5 days, personal shopping/ souvenirs & extra snacks beyond those provided in the retreat half of the journey, gifts for guest facilitators, optional bodywork after spring equinox ritual, and any extra nights in Dublin before or after our journey.