A 7 day in-person retreat to the heart of the Black Madonna in Chartres with depth work in the mythopoetic, walking the Chartrean labyrinth, collective dreamwork and embodied practices with the Mundus Imaginalis.

Chartres Summer School 2025

This retreat will be open to all students from the Ecologies of the Imagination programme or anyone who has done a long-term course with the Anima Mundi School.

The theme of the Summer School will be announced in due time. What is on the menu is traditional storytelling and mythopoetic work to integrate the myth we will be working with. This includes collective art-practices, psychodrama and fieldwork. There will be a special emphasis on voice-work and releasing the feminine power through body and sound. Woven throughout the entire week is the golden thread of Anima Mundi Dreamwork, a form of collective dreamwork developed by Farânak Mirjalili. In 2025, there will be a special session dedicated to the connection between body and dreams.

We will do this work in community, while communing on the sacred hill of Chartres, next  to the Chartres Cathedral. It is the home of the Black Madonna —the place called by Joseph Campbell as the ‘womb of the world’; a site of pilgrimage and mystery from the times of ancient Celts to Christian esoteric traditions, and where druids to templars for many hundreds of years have gathered in pilgrimage and incubation.    

Dates: August 31st - September 6th 2025 in Chartres, France. (1 hour from Paris).

The retreat program includes:

-       Anima Mundi Dreaming // Collective dreamwork sessions (every morning).
-       Storywork // Storytelling & embodied story-work practices: one of the cornerstones of the work the Anima Mundi School developed is being rooted in fairytales and myth. During this week we will be diving deep into this ancient oral tradition through storytelling and embodied story-work. (fairytale(s)/myth to be announced)
-       Mythopoetic art sessions //  a total of 4 sessions where we work with different modalities (clay, mask-work and more) to integrate the story and emerging motifs from the depths.
-       Lecture and discussion evenings // during 2 evenings, we will explore the theoretical frame of our topics through a talk and later group-discussion.
-       Labyrinth and Crypt rituals // a private tour in the crypt of Chartres Cathedral with the Black Madonna and a walk through the famous Labyrinth of Chartres as part of our opening and closing ceremonies.
and a celebratory ceilidh evening on the last day of the retreat. 

Fees: 

-       Course fees (excl. accommodation and food): 695,- euro 
-       Accommodation options: rooms at venue (Saint Yves) are available or you can book your own bnb.

Accommodation at Saint Yves
You can stay in Hotellerie Saint-Yves, where our main meetings will be held. Limited availability: Double Room (for 2 people, separate single beds): 44,- euro / night per person.
Triple rooms are also available at 33,- euro /night per person. If you want a Double Room for yourself, please inquire availability.

Pre-register below. (Place secured after payment of deposit of 300,- euros)