Our Hedge School founder Kathy Scott (Creative Director of The Trailblazery, Ireland) will be joined by Marie Spears (Singer/songwriter, Ritualist, citizen of the Cherokee Nation), Clare Murphy (Storyteller, Teacher, Facilitator), Kerri ní Dochartaigh (Writer, Nature Lover, Grower), John Cantwell (Shamanic Teacher, Healer, Co-founder of Slí an Chroí), Dr. Karen Ward (Holistic Therapist, Author, Co-founder of Slí an Chroí) and Áine Tyrrell (Multi-instrumentalist, Songwriter, Artivist, Troubadour).

Over 5 Sunday sessions from Apr 20 - May 18 we will gather in a collective enquiry to learn and unlearn by sharing stories, experiences, practices, artistries and resources le chéile (in community) in an ecology of care and kinship.

Sundays, April 20 - May 18

7pm Ireland | 2pm ET | 11am PT

Course price: €166

Payment plan available: pay in 2 installments

Please ensure you have read our Terms & Conditions before purchasing from The Trailblazery

As our world descends into chaos we are inviting you to come on a journey of sensory remembrance, somatic reclamation and sacred ritual. Returning to our Senses will host voices from Ireland and other parts of the Earth, bringing alive the power of right-relationship with our wild selves and the wild world that nourishes us.

As we travel through this 5-week immersive online journey, we will have an embodied experience of rewilding and ripening in alignment with the gifts and challenges of Bealtaine. We will be led by a host of extraordinary guides, artists and medicine keepers through shared practice, communal ritual and ceremony. Our intention is to re-source true belonging with kin and kindred so that we can be fite fuaite (interwoven) and develop our capacity to navigate this turning of the Wheel together.

why now?

The Wheel of the Year is not just a calendar—it’s a cosmology. An ancient spiral of time that honors both light and dark, death and rebirth, inner and outer realms. The Irish imagination is rooted in a mythic consciousness where both heartbreak and enchantment co-exist, where contradiction is not a problem, but a portal.

Bealtaine marks the midpoint of the Celtic Wheel of the Year and lies directly opposite Samhain on the Wheel. This is a liminal time when the veil between worlds is thin. At Bealtaine we mark the transition from winter to summer, and step over the shimmering threshold from the dark to the bright half of the year. ​Beal-taine translates as bright fire or mouth of fire as Gaeilge. This is a fire festival of fertility and wildness that celebrates the rekindling of the sun’s strength. It is a potent time to inhabit seasonal sensuousness and sovereignty.

Aligning with the gifts of these pivot points of the Wheel of the Year supports us to reconnect and repair our relationship with the human and more-than-human world. This is an invitation to return to your senses and rekindle a connection to your untamed nature. If you are longing for belonging and feel ready to reclaim your wild soul then this is for you.

what’s involved

The opening and closing sessions invite us to co-create a courageous container by weaving our individual worlds into a collective space. This will be facilitated by Kathy, who will create the conditions for meaningful conversations through practices and ritual in collaboration with Marie Spears (Singer/songwriter, Ritualist, citizen of the Cherokee Nation) and Áine Tyrrell (Multi-instrumentalist, Songwriter, Artivist, Troubadour) Together we will become a vibrant collective body from which we will co-sense new insights and learnings for these times.

The central trilogy invites us to tune into the energies of Bealtaine and this moment on the planet with the support of our guides and musicians including Clare Murphy (Storyteller, Teacher, Facilitator), Kerri ní Dochartaigh (Writer, Nature Lover, Grower), John Cantwell (Shamanic Teacher, Healer, Co-founder of Slí an Chroí) and Dr. Karen Ward (Holistic Therapist, Author, Co-founder of Slí an Chroí). These sessions will include guided somatic practices (visioning, movement, breathwork, creative writing) to help us process and integrate the gifts and challenges of the season.

A care package with recording and curated resources will be provided within 24 hours of each session.

Meet your guides

Kathy Scott | Host

Kathy is a cultural activist and creative entrepreneur dedicated to creating provocative experiences that animate the spirit of our times. Her greatest mission in this life is to nudge humanity forward by inspiring people to rise and lift each other up along the way. She is the creative director of The Trailblazery which was founded as a response to a need for deeper human connection and belonging in our world.

Marie Spears | Guide, Apr 20

Marie Spears is a singer/songwriter, published author and the creator Your Mother’s Medicine. She is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and a direct descendant of Nanyehi (Nancy Ward, Beloved Woman to the Cherokee) Find out more about her retreats and offerings at www.yourmothersmedicine.com

Clare Murphy | Guide, Apr 27

Clare Murphy tells stories to transport her audiences into a world of possibilities through wonder and awe. Her work ranges from compelling performance to transformational training. Clare proves that story can be used to celebrate and connect humanity. She uses story-work with groups and teams globally to change culture, empower individual voices, and create powerful connection.

Kerri ní Dochartaigh | Guide, May 04

Kerri ní Dochartaigh is a mother, writer, holder and grower. She has written for The Guardian, BBC, RTE, The Irish Times and others. She mentors and teaches worldwide. Her work currently explores ideas of one-anotherness, interconnectedness and ecologies of care. Her first book, Thin Places, was published in Spring 2021, for which she was awarded the Butler Literary Award 2022, and highly commended for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2021. Cacophony of Bone was published in May 2023 and was longlisted for the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2023. She lives in the west of Ireland with her family.