ANIMA TERRA
A Yearlong Journey of Wild Descent and Soul Emergence for Women
Guides: Tracey Forest and Jonah Ruh Roberts
April, 2025 – January, 2026
Out in the deep forest, beyond the temple, there is a well.
Beyond the bells, shimmer and celebration of the emergence of women, some are called to enter Her, Gaia and the Mystery of what she is dreaming.
Far from the village and cacaphony of Apollo’s world, these women descend, quietly, purposefully, together, yet alone, to hear the note of Gaia’s song they are to sing.
Among pure flowing underground streams, ancient roots and dripping moss, they descend to remember what it is to flower in the dark.
Transformed back into their true nature, the waters of Earth rise again, bringing the women up in her swell to clear the debris from this forgotten source, and make holy the sacred well again.
ANIMA TERRA is a Journey of Soul Initiation for women.
It is for those who feel the call from Earth and Soul to dive more deeply than ever before, to cross a one-way portal and fall back into the “source of everything,” to dissolve and open to the Muse, to Mystery, to the mythopoetic underworld, to finally access your own ecological niche in Earth’s dream.
This is a journey for the wild woman who, like the silke, must leave the village- the pull to the sea, to mystery, to authenticity too strong for the bonds of the familiar to hold. It is for women who have given themselves fully to motherhood or a career path but are now hearing the howl, the moon’s glint, the scent of the forest, and surging of their soul to something deeper, something invisible, something out beyond the village walls.
This transformational journey is one of descent and return. The descent is into the underworld of Earth and psyche to let go of attachments to the roles and identities of a life that does not feel like yours, so you can encounter the pure voice and true expression of your soul. Courageously releasing the cultural and personal mindsets that have bound you, you will cross many thresholds, confront your shadows, your fears, and your wounds as well as your light, passion and inspiration, and explore the edges of your grief and longing. In relationship with the clear reflections of nature, you can allow yourself to be radically reshaped by the elemental forces of wind and water, moon and sun, rocks and trees, owl and coyote, and return to your communities in wholeness, with your mythic soul now guiding your life.
Earth willing, during this yearlong journey, you will have a genuine soul encounter that shatters illusions and makes it impossible to stay small or to inhabit any world except the one to which you truly belong. The risk is you won’t be the same woman you used to be The reward is you will potentially be irreversibly changed into the one you were born to be. By gaining profound inspiration and vision for your life, you will return to your community with precious seeds and gifts that only you can offer the world.
Dear Sisters,
Do you feel a longing-ache to seek your unique, yet-to-be-revealed gift for your people and for the greater Earth Community?
Are you ready to tear away the masks of the tame and domestic self and feel your pure wildness come through?
Have you done much work around your own healing yet there is something you still haven’t gotten to the core of?
Do you feel like your center of gravity is shifting away from concerns about career and social belonging and toward the depths and the unknown?
Do you feel like the life you’ve been living (even if you are “successful”) is too small and that there is something more raw and real that is drawing you in — something both terrifying and breathtakingly exciting?
Are you undeniably pulled to spend time delving into the realms of dreams, longings and wild nature?
Do you feel you must dissolve old identities and release attachments to what is holding you back from accessing and offering your greatest service to the World.
Are you ready to be challenged and encouraged by seasoned guides to look fearlessly in your own mirror with both love and ferocity?
If so, we have designed this yearlong immersion for you.
Outline of the Year
The journey unfolds over five sessions – four five-day sessions and one eight-day vision fast.
Session One – Preparation
We are passionate ones holding the flame of ideal and healthy culture where humans live in deep relationship with the land and one another. Thus, the whole first gathering is to come home to these ways–to enchantment with nature, to the ways of council, to sacred speech, to our beautiful facets of wholeness, to healing childhood wounds, understanding our survival strategies and the inner protectors that have kept us from living in our wholeness and authenticity, to working with dreams as messages from the subconscious, and deep imagery journeys to access soul guides. Together we land in the context, language and tools and begin our journey down soul canyon.
Session Two – Severance
This work of healing, wholing, tracking and journeying out into the wild continues on your own between session one and two, and during session two we begin the descent into the underworld where Soul/Mystery is hunting you, and you are hunting it. You enter the stage of the Wanderer, psychospiritually ‘leaving the village’ in order to shed attachments to the old ways you have inhabited the world through relationships and social roles. You will be invited to lean into not-knowing, to listening to, trusting and following the call from the depths, and be supported in allowing yourself to feel all the grief and gratitude for what you are leaving behind. By falling apart, you are falling toward the underworld. By listening, feeling, seeking, answering the invitations, letting go, you are creating space for Soul.
Session Three – Soul Encounter
Our third gathering is the deepest dive of the year. You will enact a wilderness vigil alone out on the land for four days and three nights–just you and Earth in that timeless space where the voice of Soul and mystery is as palpable and present as the trees, stars and streams. Through this death-rebirth experience and revelation, you will open to receive new vision and clarity for your life and understand more of your personal mythos- who you are as a mythic being in deep reciprocity with the Earth Community. Our hope is for a genuine Soul Encounter which reveals to you your unique ecological niche for and with the world.
Session Four – Metamorphosis
What major shifts and changes is your Soul asking of you? How are you being rearranged by Earth’s dream, your soul and Mystery? What metamorphosis is underway? How is your Ego being reshaped into a form capable of carrying the vision you received on your fast? How can we continue to make ourselves vulnerable to the shape-shifting images and longings of Soul? As Bill Plotkin says, “The Ego gets transformed directly by making itself vulnerable to the vision, by inviting the holy thing, the revelation, to do its alchemical work on it. How this happens and how the Ego cooperates with and amplifies the process are what we are exploring– a transformation that enables you to enact your vision, to ‘carry what is hidden as a gift to others.’ “
Session Five – Emergence and Embodiment
How is your more mature ego now of service to the missive of your Soul- that unique expression of mythos that is your way of showing up in the world? What strengths, what skills, what tools are needed now to do your Soul’s work? How will you embody and deliver your gifts? This is the time of fulfillment and celebration–a rite of passage into a more mature and mythopoetic identity–knowing your self, knowing your place, your power and your voice and beginning to deliver that to the Earth Community.
Anima Terra is creation that grows out of our intensive guide training with the Animas Valley Institute and our many years’ passion for and experience with women’s work. We recognize and tend both the cultural and personal wounds of women so that participants can come home to themselves and embark on the individual soul journey as deeply as possible. This transformational program has emerged through our own mythos and guidance.
Commitment
We are committed to your evolution; likewise, we expect a full commitment from you in return. This journey will ask a lot of you–psychospiritually, maybe physically. It is NOT for those who are currently unstable, in a healing crisis or in active trauma.
It IS for you if you have come far on your journey, done significant healing work, and are emotionally and psychologically strong. It requires you to be willing to take risks and confront fears, to lean IN to edges and be willing to enter new, rich territory in yourself and in the natural world. It requires your ability to sever attachments with a fierce devotion to creating and protecting the space required for your Soul to come through. It requires you to spend extended time alone out on the land, doing the work we offer you to do. You will be uncomfortable, you will be challenged, you will have to find deep courage, and you will find your strength and your gifts.
If you are feeling an undeniable magnetism to the words we speak here, then we welcome you to apply.
Dates
April 17 – 21, 2025
July 3 – 7, 2025
September 1 – 8, 2025 (longer session with vision fast)
November 13 -17, 2025
January 8 -12, 2026
Exchange
The journey consists of 5 in-person gatherings including wilderness vigil, one zoom circle between each session and 4 private mentoring calls.
Exchange is $4200.
Early Bird rate of $3900 is available if you register by Leap Day, February 28th, 2026.
A nonrefundable deposit of $700 is due when committing to the circle. This deposit is applied toward your full tuition.
Payment options are available!
