05/05/2026
What does it mean to employ the heart as an organ of perception? How do you call back exiled parts of yourself, those things that have been pushed away, forgotten, twisted into a false story? How can a family’s accumulated trauma act as a catalyst, a training ground for your soul purpose? These are some of the foundational questions that will act as sparks in the yearlong quest for those who embarked on Seeing with Your Heart’s Alchemical Constellations Training (ACT).
Then there are synchronicities that guide participants to and through the front door of this experience. We’ll share a personal story from Stephanie Conway, an ACT participant (pictured below), who speaks to the promise of beginning this quest…
“On arrival day, I stepped off the bus to wait for the shuttle from the retreat center, and quickly met two other souls headed to the training. We spent time exchanging stories and introducing ourselves. My new cohearts are Irish and I loved hearing the music in their voices as they spoke. Our shuttle arrived and we made the last bit of the journey to Menla together. At check-in, I gave my name to the receptionist and my new friends looked at me, with audible recognition, basically saying, “Ah, so also Irish”. I hadn’t thought to make this connection when we met, because based on family stories swearing we have no Irish blood, I’m conditioned not to think of myself as such. (Like many identities, there were times in history when owning this one would not be desirable). My surname sounds Irish, so I’ve seen the skepticism when I’ve told this story to others, such that I no longer believe it, yet the conditioning remains. Standing there, I laughed and enjoyed this poignant moment - what a perfect way to enter an ancestral constellation workshop…with the inherited stories (lies?) we come with, and a willing community of strangers somehow reflecting back to you, in poetic ways, who you truly are.”
The training kicked off welcoming 75 online and in-person journeyers (plus a herd of horses!) from 19 countries for a 4-day retreat at the Menla Retreat Center in the Catskill Mountains of New York. The elements seemed to reflect the full range of the felt experience: an 80 degree day, a booming thunderstorm, winds, rains, a new moon, chilly spring weather and even snow on the departure day! Seventeen Hearthtenders provided support, calling us back with musical instruments and movement practices, and working with the depth of the ancient crater in which the retreat is situated, a bowl of intentions, and a rich altar of our ancestral and mythic resources. With these, we shaped a sacred container for the deep work of our shared ancestral web.
For each creature weaving into this cosmic quest, there are a multitude of stories, gifts, obstacles, and experiences of what actually happened during those days. These insights may take months or years to fully integrate. Behind each of us, there is a chorus of ancestors, and before us, a bright intention beckoning. So we spent our days naming the forces supporting and/or blocking our freedom, and co-creating healing movements that bring compassion, inclusion, and balance to the weight we carry unconsciously from our inheritance. We do this in community because all healing is collective, because nothing is outside this living constellation of consciousness, not nature, not mythic beings, not even the dead.
The multifaceted nature of the work makes descriptions difficult but as we traveled into the darkest corners of human experience, we also accessed a field of possibility that can offer immediate release and healing. As a first exercise, we gave a name to the interplay between our self, our heart, and the burden our Self carries and added this storyline to the center of the circle, to be used in a larger constellation. “Ancient darkness”, “I will own my spiritual power”, “Healthy dynamism’, “I deserve to fall in love” were all in the room with us, along with countless other threads. Witnessing the specificity of the individual story within a larger, interwoven context is the shape of this work.
Age-old human traumas surfaced and were acknowledged, and included themes of sexual abuse, substance abuse, religious ritual and repression, the persecution of those with visions, the victims and victors of war (spoiler alert - there’s no difference between the two!), human trafficking, environmental degradation, the hope and trauma of bringing new life into the world, colonialism, the culture of r**e rooted in the extraction of land itself. The list goes on and on and on. Add any burdens you’re working with now, because they too are important and related!
But the idea is to disentangle from these universal stories of being pulled into the gravity of family patterns, limiting beliefs, and conditioning that eclipses an individual from the fullest expression of their soul. We engage in this work to learn Constellations, to connect with the pulse of abundant truth and resource, and perhaps to bring this much needed magic to others who feel caught. The alchemy that turns generational trauma into metaphorical gemstones is multidimensional. There are many methods to spark it, with effects that can be instantaneous or slow burning. The exact mechanisms are difficult to name precisely, but the exploration of this particular mystery, at the root of how consciousness works, is the dance we’ve signed up for! And what a whirling dervish of a dance she is!
If you are ready to spark the hearth of your own transformation in the emergence of Spring, the high heat of summer, or the turn of the season, join us in the dance of life and embark on generational healing in community at our local island circle or one of the upcoming international retreats - details below!
Warmly,
Emily Blefeld & Dan Cohen
with Stephanie Conway
