On Becoming a Firemaking Badass
Making fire is a badass skill. For our ancestors, making fire was essential for survival. They understood the ways of fire intimately. Our modern lives separate us from this intimate knowledge of fire, so most of us are helpless when we need to make fire and matches or a lighter are not at hand.
How do you think you will feel after you make a fire with nothing but your knife, a few pieces of wood, and a length of cord? In the words of once past student: "I feel like a total badass!"
- Do you want to know how to make a fire without matches, using only what you find in the landscape?
- Do you want to know how to nurture a small friction-fire ember into a roaring blaze?
- Do you want to become more confident in your fire skills overall?
- Do you want to discover how the element of fire can transform out lives for the better?
How do you think you will feel after you make a fire with nothing but your knife, a few pieces of wood, and a length of cord? In the words of once past student: "I feel like a total badass!"
Come discover your inner badass through the
ancient art of making fire without matches!
Are you ready to become the competent and fierce woman you know you can be? The world needs you to stand in your power so you can do your part to help us all grow, heal, and evolve. Let your inner fire guide you to make powerful choices in your life that will take you where YOU want to go. A badass makes her own fire and blazes her own trail.
At the Sacred Fire Retreat we nurture our inner badass in a concrete way. You will go through the process of creating an actual fire from scratch, without matches, in the ancient way: fire by friction. Together in a community of sisters we will support each other to learn these skills, push through the challenges, and build a fire together that we can use to understand our inner transformative work. As we create a fire for our circle, we will make the connections between our awesome accomplishments and other parts of our lives where our inner badass could kick some butt.
Creating fire without matches is an act of magical manifestation, creating something entirely new using only materials from the natural world. Exploring this skill will teach you about your own competence and determination. As my friend Hannah likes to say: "If you want to be a badass, you have to do badass things!" Learning to make fire without matches definitely qualifies.
At the Sacred Fire Retreat we nurture our inner badass in a concrete way. You will go through the process of creating an actual fire from scratch, without matches, in the ancient way: fire by friction. Together in a community of sisters we will support each other to learn these skills, push through the challenges, and build a fire together that we can use to understand our inner transformative work. As we create a fire for our circle, we will make the connections between our awesome accomplishments and other parts of our lives where our inner badass could kick some butt.
Creating fire without matches is an act of magical manifestation, creating something entirely new using only materials from the natural world. Exploring this skill will teach you about your own competence and determination. As my friend Hannah likes to say: "If you want to be a badass, you have to do badass things!" Learning to make fire without matches definitely qualifies.
Here's what some past students have to say:
Using the Bow Drill
"Mountainsong’s bowdrill fire-making class is an event to experience. Murphy is an outstanding expert at starting fire with primitive methods. She is totally committed to providing her students with understanding and success. Participants are guided, not pressured, as they make tools and learn technique through their own actions. It is a real life-lesson-providing activity and provokes thoughts for you to process long after the class ends. I recommend this class without reservation." ~S. F. Clark, Worcester, VT
Creating a Fireboard
"This class gave me the sense of accomplishment that comes from succeeding at something that's pretty difficult. Not many people know how to make a fire without matches, it is a really bad-ass skill and I'm proud to have achieved it with a bow drill set I carved myself in the class. I feel really grounded by the knowledge that I am competent to go out into the woods and create fire from scratch. Murphy is a talented instructor with a impressive skill set and a natural ability to empower her students. She walks that line of knowing when to both support and challenge the people in her classes." ~Leonore from Burlington, VT
Colleen using her Bow Drill
"I so appreciated Murphy's wisdom, support, and guidance as I made my first bow drill kit. She did a beautiful job of meeting my needs, the needs of the group in teaching skills, providing information and allowing me time to learn hands-on what felt right in my body as I made my own kit. I walked away excited to make my own fire." ~Colleen from Worcester, VT
Here are the details
What: The Sacred Fire Retreat for Women: Kindling Your Flame Within and Without
Where: The Mountainsong Expeditions Headquarters at Good Heart Farm, in the beautiful mountains of Worcester, Vermont
When: April 23-24, 2016
Our Promise To You:
We promise to deliver a high-quality educational experience. Your payment is non-refundable, but if you give us more than two weeks notice of a cancellation we can offer you credit towards future Mountainsong Expeditions classes.
How Do I Sign Up?
Its easy! Just submit your payment through the paypal button below. The cost for this weekend of powerful work is $295. Tuition includes two lunches. Accommodation is not included (see details below).
What: The Sacred Fire Retreat for Women: Kindling Your Flame Within and Without
Where: The Mountainsong Expeditions Headquarters at Good Heart Farm, in the beautiful mountains of Worcester, Vermont
When: April 23-24, 2016
Our Promise To You:
We promise to deliver a high-quality educational experience. Your payment is non-refundable, but if you give us more than two weeks notice of a cancellation we can offer you credit towards future Mountainsong Expeditions classes.
How Do I Sign Up?
Its easy! Just submit your payment through the paypal button below. The cost for this weekend of powerful work is $295. Tuition includes two lunches. Accommodation is not included (see details below).
Frequently Asked Questions:
- How do you make fire without matches? We will use the ancient fire making tool called the Bow Drill, which was used in cultures all over the world to make fire in prehistoric times. You use a knife to carve your own bow drill kit, then learn the correct technique to use it to make fire. The fire is created by your own intention, intelligence, and skill applied to a few pieces of wood -- a truly magical process! Creating fire in this way will deeply impact your sense of power in the world.
- Where do I sleep? We have negotiated discounted rates for you at a local Bed & Breakfast! You can also choose to camp here on the farm if you have warm gear for the chilly April nights ($15 donation per person is requested by the farmers for camping). Accommodation is not included in the price of the retreat.
- What will I eat? We will provide delicious, healthy lunches. If you are vegetarian, gluten-free, or have food allergies, please let us know when you register so we can plan yummy meals that will meet your needs. You can drink crystal-clear mountain water from our well. Please feel free to bring personal snacks that you want to have available.
- What do I need to bring? Please bring clothing for working outdoors, leather work gloves, a knife you can carve wood with, and a journal & pen. We will have a few knives and gloves handy in case you forget yours. If you would like to buy your own knife for this work, we're happy to recommend our favorite model.
- Who is our teacher? Your guide at this Retreat is Murphy. Murphy is the founder of Mountainsong Expeditions, she has been teaching Bow Drill Firemaking since 2007 and creating women's transformational circles since 2005. She knows the tricks you need to coax an ember from your bow drill set and to claim your inner fire. Hannah has been learning and teaching primitive skills since she was a teenager, and has led girls' nature camps since 2008. Her gentle energy and spiritual clarity will help us all push through our inner blocks and break through to a new experience.
- What is your gender policy? This Sacred Fire Retreat is an event specifically for women. That means that anyone who identifies as a woman is welcome to attend, regardless of whether you are cisgender or transgender. If you have any questions about whether this event is right for you, please feel free to ask! If you don't identify as a woman, we have lots of programs that are open to all genders for you to explore.
- How old do I need to be? The Sacred Fire Retreat is for women over 18 years of age.
- Anything else? If you have a question we haven't addressed, please don't hesitate to be in touch. Simply submit a question through our contact form and we'll get back to you as soon as we can (we do live off the grid here at Mountainsong Expeditions, so we don't have email access every single day, and your patience is appreciated!).
