Nature and Soul Council

Next Council -10 September

Noordhoek

We offer a monthly ‘Nature and Soul Council’, as a way for our alumni to remain connected and engaged with Soulcraft practices. Each gathering has a different host, a particular theme and comes with an invitation to wander prior to the meeting.

These offerings are open to those who have attended an Animas Valley Institute or SoulNature immersion programme in South Africa (in person or online).

We will issue an invitation to the Soulcraft Africa community via email prior to each meeting. You will then be able to RSVP. You will receive details including a theme for the meeting and an invitation to wander.

10 - 14 October 2025

Cederberg Mountains

with Brian Stafford MD MPH

SOLD OUT - JOIN THE WATING LIST!

Based on Bill Plotkin’s book, Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche, this five day intensive is an experiential exploration of our human psyches as unique expressions of the universal forces and patterns of nature. We will work with what we call the Nature-Based Map of the Human Psyche, which is, among other things, a comprehensive inventory of what can be right about a person.

Our wild minds possess astonishing resources, untapped potentials and depths that we might not even know exist until we discover how to access them, cultivate their powers, and eventually integrate them into our everyday lives. In this intensive, we’ll access these depths and potentials — which we call the four facets of the Self, or the four dimensions of our innate human wholeness — and also the four sets of fragmented or wounded subpersonalities that form during childhood.

Rather than attempt to eliminate our subpersonalities (which is not possible) or to beat them into submission, we’ll cultivate the four facets of the Self and uncover the gifts of our subpersonalities. Our goal is to fully embody our multifaceted wild minds, commit ourselves to the largest, soul-infused story we’re capable of living, and serve the greater Earth community.

Early-bird: Bookings by 20 August

SA and SADC residents: 

Camping: R9,250

Shared room in cottage: R11,250

Single room in cottage: R12,500

Others: 

Camping: R14,250

Shared room in cottage: R16,250

Single room in cottage: R17,500

Full Price: 

SA and SADC residents: 

Camping: R10,750

Shared room in cottage: R13,000

Single room in cottage: R14,250

Others: 

Camping: R15,750

Shared room in cottage: R18,000

Single room in cottage: R19,250

Please enquire about bursaries available to people from previously disadvantaged communities.

14 - 25 October 2025

Cederberg Mountains

with Brian Stafford MD MPH

 SOLD OUT - JOIN THE WATING LIST!

This contemporary Western embodiment of the ancient, pan-cultural vision fast is a dynamic wilderness rite for all who are seeking greater depth and clarity about life purpose and meaning. As a rite of initiation, the quest is a ceremonial descent to the underworld, in which you die to your familiar way of belonging to the world, uncover the passion and wisdom of your soul, and retrieve the gift that is yours alone to bring to the world, enhancing personal fulfillment and genuine service. 

Click here for a fuller description of the Quest.

This is an all-camping programme and participants must bring their own camping gear.

Participants bring their own breakfasts and lunches for the non-fasting days, and evening meals are shared in cook teams.

Open for bookings now to all! 

Early-bird: Bookings by 13 August

SA and SADC residents:  R15,500

Others: R24,500

Price: 

SA and SADC residents:  R17,000

Others: R27,000

Please enquire about bursaries available to people from previously disadvantaged communities.

6 - 10 April 2026

Plettenburrg Bay

with Brian Stafford MD MPH

There is a sacred portal, a mysterious door, a green gate, a dark space into certain realms of our consciousness, of our and the collective Psyche. These portals are both within and without. Many of us struggle to find enchantment in the world and a connection to our imagination. An important practice for intentionally accessing the sometimes-hidden realms of the Self, the Earth, and the Cosmos is through the practice of deep imagery.

Around us we see the cleverness of the human ego creating artificial intelligence and striving for virtual reality when, in fact, what we most deeply long for is to step through the portal into our own unique imagination. Deep in our psyches are landscapes and images, beings, animals, guides, saints, demons, heroes, and lovers that are accessed during dreams, sacred medicine journeys, and in deep imaginal journeys. The images, energies, and archetypes we encounter are often aspects of our vast wholeness and they may wish to share, explore, and embody their unique perspectives on the Self, the Earth, and our mycelial relationship with everything. In this realm we share away from interpretation; rather, we explore, interact, embody and move deeper into relationship with these extraordinary images.

In this 5-day immersion, we will offer several deep imaginal journeys and other intentionally designed and interconnected practices, including solo land wanderings, dreamwork, council, ceremonies, conversations with the other-than-human inhabitants, embodied movement, dance, artwork, journaling, and poetry that comes from and invites us into these imaginal realms.

For those longing to take a step toward the journey of soul initiation, to re-enter their imagination, and to recover the extraordinary nature of themselves and experience the nature of the imagining Earth, this experiential intensive is both a great place to start and an intentional step toward bringing the enchanting imaginal realms back into one’s daily life. But, be careful! Sometimes those that step into the portal vow never to step back out.

Early-bird: Bookings by 6 February

SA and SADC residents: 

Camping: R9,250

Shared glamping tent: R11,250

Others: 

Camping: R14,250

Shared glamping tent: R16,250

Full Price: 

SA and SADC residents: 

Camping: R10,750

Shared glamping tent: R13,000

Others: 

Camping: R15,750

Shared glamping tent: R18,000

Please enquire about bursaries available to people from previously disadvantaged communities.

11-16 April 2026

Cederberg Mountains

with Brian Stafford MD MPH and Rachael Duffy

Life is a wild adventure. And this programme is a great starter to rewild one’s life, move beyond domestication and to remember our primary place of belonging - the Earth community. 

We will venture into wildish places leaving our previous identities behind. We will engage in conversation with each other, but in a sacred circle. We will engage in conversation with the wild ones (dragonfly, raven, river, klipspringer) whose ecosystem we are stepping into. We will engage in conversation with long-forgotten aspects of ourselves – our muse, our wild self, and our innocent child. We will converse with the sun, the moon, the stars, the rain, and the ancestors.

Various practices that open us up to our senses, our wild connection with Earth, and the imagination, will help us re-enter the magic of our lives. The culmination of this journey is a 24-36 hour wilderness solo where you might be welcomed homed by Earth, heal your rift from the wild, and be propelled into the joy of what it is to discover the sacredness of the Earth and the Self, and the grief of what is happening to Earth, her species, and our people.

This intensive is designed for those called to rewild their Self and the world, for the ones who are curious about what the Earth really is, and about who they really are. It is also a great step into the wild and, for those who have spent little time in nature, a great precursor to most of our deeper programs and the Animas Quest.

Early-bird: Bookings by 6 February

SA and SADC residents: 

Camping: R10,750

Others: 

Camping: R15,750

Full Price: 

SA and SADC residents: 

Camping: R12,250

Others: 

Camping: R17,250

Please enquire about bursaries available to people from previously disadvantaged communities.