Hello, Sweet Souls,

I’ve lived a thousand lifetimes these nearly four weeks while abroad on our Magical Isles Retreat. It’s not just the whirlwind helping with my dear mother before I left or getting my house in order. It’s flying across the world on a wing and prayer as we dive into the unknown weather patterns of expanding love. I always pack a full heart, and line its pockets with extra optimism. I am seasoned enough in our retreats to know that angels spin the compass and giggle and wink as they lay out the clues for our latest scavenger hunt. How will we give thanks to begin? How will we honor the ancestors — of ourselves and others? Where will the land call each of us? When will we dive into our deepest listening — when we get quiet or the world gets chaotic? Will we remember the lessons of healthy community? What old patterns will we unpack and reweave for joy or toss in the “been there” gotta be better bin? What’s the gift in this moment? Can you say yes to the Language of Love? Or more simply, can you say yes to love?

My overflowing suitcase had clothes for rain, cold, warm hikes, and dancing a jig. We packed costumes for the Beltaine bonfire celebration and dressier meetings with bells at the end — one of the sweetest fetes ever! (I’ll share the surprise below) My bags and heart were full. And then, meeting up with a beloved troupe of spectacular souls who also committed to exploring their own sacred expansion within the collective of high heart, it was a stunning reminder why we do this work— for the best and highest good of one and all individually and collectively. Together we learn. Forever I dance.

And I am still abroad. I am still traveling with a dancing heart and hands. Writing from Flensburg, Germany now where I’ll be dancing this Friday and Saturday morning, after a day in the fairyland and fairytales of Hans Christian Anderson in Odense, Denmark, it seems wildly surreal that just two weeks ago we were learning from our old/new friends about the alchemy of the Women’s Entrance of the Rosslyn Chapel, just 7 miles outside of Edinburgh. Here, we sat and stood in the energetic votices. We met and learned from magnificent storytellers that plied seekers of the deeper truths with questions for the quest. How will you carve your place in this world? With love or fear? With generosity or scaricity? With wonder or shielding? These were no mere sermons in a church, but prayer beads for life. Invitations to inspire!

We cheered in new pubs and old, enjoyed the local food, walked the cobblestones of the Royal Mile, listened to buskers in the moonlight, and toasted to all the Universe (did you feel it?) before we made our journey to the Isle of Skye where our caravans had a sparkling view of the Old Man of Storr across the sea. The winds may have rattled our roofs, but we were snuggled under down comforters and dancing prayers. “This or better. Letting Source fill in the blank beyond our imagining!”

Barefoot and sighing, we hiked to the The Fairy Glen where we went deep into the magical land and climbed up the jagged peeks. We adored our misty days exploring Dunvegan Castle & Gardens one day and singing in the Giant Angus MacAskill Museum another. And as the rain came down, the Fairy Pools beckoned. This was one another of my most favorite rainboot hikes ever! We even managed to shake the chill in the delightful warmth of a roaring, gracious fire within Eilean Donan Castle. I remain so enchanted by Scotland, even this fourth time, I pray I can return again! My DNA feels the tugs from Caledonia as mightily as I do with England and newly Ireland, but to tell the rest of the tale, I’ll hand this next segment over to my daughter, Violet:

From Violet:

I have been so utterly swept up by the magic of the past two weeks that it seems an impossible task to try and put the beauty of it all into words. I joined the Magical Isles Retreat at the midway point, meeting the band of merry travellers in Dublin for a rousing Irish Dancing Experience before heading off to our accommodation for a gentler entry into the ancient lands of the Emerald Isle. The following days were filled to the brim with hikes up sheep-dotted rolling hills, fire ceremonies from ages long gone, and spectacular views of cliffs falling sharply into the sea. We rode in a horse-drawn cart around the smallest of the Aran Islands, breathing in the fresh salty air and basking in the Irish sun that seemed to have come out just for us. We flitted between fairy groves and open-air concerts filled with fiddles and tin whistles. We stretched out in the soft grass of the hill of the High Kings and Queens and watched the breeze gust puffy white clouds through the bright blue sky above. It was heavenly.

The final day was easily my favourite. We determined our destination less than a minute before heading off. There had always been two possibilities for the day, and, feeling a pull for one over the other, we set off for the Ring of Kerry, a scenic drive on one of the most Westerly fingers of Ireland’s green hand. As we stopped to refuel, I, knowing that there were many locations that people stopped in along the way, looked up a few of the most magical places for us to see on the journey. One seemed more suited to our group and its core purpose than the others. The Kenmare Stone Circle seemed just about right, don’t you think?

After a positively delectable lunch in Killarney, I set our course, and off we flew! Well…off we eased gently along the cliff faces and through the dripping tunnels set into the sides of the mountains, just large enough for one car to pass through at a time. Though I was behind the wheel and unable to do much more than concentrate on the safety of our passage (especially with the very wide, very confident coaches hurtling towards us in the oncoming traffic lane), I was struck by the majesty of the Ring of Kerry.

One of the women with us said it was as though the illustrations from a child’s fairytale book had sprung to life before our eyes. I think this is perhaps the most apt way to describe it. Lush green forest surrounded us on either side. The road wove through the trunks of the leafy trees like a thread embroidering a sparkling hem. Towering rhododendrons pushed their bright pink faces forward, seemingly to catch a glimpse of the travellers below. Where the trees fell away and the sheer rock walls bounded one side of our path, tenacious ferns and other clinging plants held tightly to the slick stone. The vast lakes we drove along the shore of shrunk somewhat as we climbed the mountains towards the thunderous waterfalls that fed them. Butterflies danced between shafts of light that snuck through the green canopy, dappling the road ahead. It was stunningly beautiful.

We arrived at the Kenmare Stone Circle to find that one of the enormous coaches providing guided tours for visitors was parked neatly in the car park. I was a little disappointed that we might have to share this sacred place with so many people, but nearly as soon as we entered the clearing at the top of the hill, they were called by their guide to return to the bus. In the new stillness and quiet, we discovered the beautiful hawthorn trees that were teeming with the wishes of all those who had come before us, the stream gurgling happily below, and, of course, the stone circle. A huge stone was set in the centre, with a wide, flat space on top for offerings to be lain by those who had come for ceremony. Around it, a ring of slightly smaller stones formed an almost egg-shaped circle. We all gathered around the stone in the centre, placing our hands and then our heads upon it.

I’ll pause briefly to note that often, when I have been in circle with Mum or when I’ve asked her to dance for me to cure various aches and pains of adolescence, I’ve historically felt very little, and typically nothing at all. I have always been aware that people are affected by the energy in different ways, and though I had never really felt anything personally, I always believed in the experiences that others had. This time was a little different.

When I opened my eyes, my hands still firmly placed on the stone, I was aware of something a little…different. M’Anita’s shadow, the only one that was being cast onto the stone, was resting near my hands. When I looked at it, I saw that it was not quite behaving as a shadow ought to. Most of it was the standard gradient that one might expect to see, but up towards the top, right around where a first eye might be, I saw a sliver of what can only be described as a flickering, as though I were seeing the light of a flame diffused through glass. I looked away and back again, to test if my eyes were deceiving me. It remained there until her shadow moved away and she began to dance around the circle with the other women. There was nothing on the stone itself to suggest that it had been a trick of the light—it seems it could only have been her inner fire, alight and alive in her first eye.

We danced another time, in another stone circle later that evening as the sun was beginning to set and the green hills were cast in a golden light. When we closed the circle, we thanked the ancient energies for welcoming us into these beautiful places of ceremony and allowing us to honor them through our dance. It was a blissful experience to be amidst the stones older than the Pyramids, sacred for as long as they had existed in that place, and to know that we were simply carrying on tradition by being there.

We flew the next day, some of us home and some of us to London, but I think each of us carried a piece of Ireland home with us when we left.

Love and light to you all,

Violet

And another testimonial from someone else on the Magical Isles Retreat…

“During the spiritual retreat in Scotland/the Magical Isles, I experienced moving through various dimensions, saw many otherworldly beings, and passed through multiple realities. I experienced emotional releases, physical healings, and spiritual expansions, including the ability to see myself in different lifetimes and locations. Jane/Source provided downloads and activations, and I received insights about belief systems, manifestation of physical pain and physical form, and the power of focus. There was much emphasis on the importance of staying in integrity, love, and using our ‘God goggles’ to connect with the quantum realm and our inner selves. In circle, after I was gently pulled to the ground with eyes closed, I was shown the connection of All There Is, flying over oceans, jumping in the water as dolphins, sitting in a tree as a monkey. I was a molecule, an atom – all of these things at once to show that WE are all things and are all connected. Through all time and space. We all have access to everything, including Source connection. 

Highlights:

• Spiritual experiences, codes, and interdimensional connections.
• Emotional cleansing and dimensional shifts experienced during the group circle with Jane.
• Healing, spirituality, and connection to nature.
• I experienced vivid visualizations and downloads during the circles, including memories of childhood in Scotland and visions of multiple realities coexisting.
• I felt physical healing and release of pain after receiving “shock pops” (non painful jolts of energy) during the circle, and felt a deep connection to the land and a sense of homecoming.

“After the circle, as I laid on the floor with my hands on my chest, the middle of my body opened up into a wide chasm, like an ocean with two mountains on either side. My hands went into this chasm and disappeared. Two days later we went to the fairy pools and I saw that vision in person. The manifestation is starting to happen quickly from vision to ‘reality’.”

~MP

One more bit from Jane…

I’ve been waiting to share this last bit until I got the go-ahead from Violet, but one more special piece of this magical isles retreat was the exceeding kindness of the women who joined me here on this journey. The extraordinarily special ways they also embraced my youngest child, Violet as she was preparing for her new adventure, touched me many times over to tears. One woman wrote a sublime limerick for Violet, another an ode to romance with a poem. One shared a toast, and the others sweet words of wisdom. On May 17, 2024, in a gorgeous, intimate ceremony in London of just family, our dear Violet Grace Fink married her beloved fiancé, Jamie. I couldn’t have dreamed a more wonderful man to marry our Violet, nor perfect son-in-law to keep my heart peaceful with their love, even if it is overseas from me.  I will forever be grateful to the fairy goddessmother/women of this journey who made this bridge of new life even more beautiful with the heart that each paricipant shared on our Magical Isle Retreat. May you all be as generous with receiving all the best as these women were in sharing theirs.

Peace and Blessings on our collectively growing family. Joy to Violet & Jamie!