Gaatha - Mumbai’s International Storytelling festival will happen from 18 - 20th October 2024. This year’s theme is ‘Mukhauta’ - Unmasking Narratives. There are workshops & Storytellings. You can find the entire programme here.

I will be facilitating a workshop on 18th October (2 - 4pm) called ‘Recovering Narratives: Working with fragments of Myths & Fairytales’.

I will also be storytelling on 20th October morning for the programme ‘Raagas & Kathas’ - stories with Indian music.

On the evening of 20th October, I will be telling the story of Ahalya in my performance titled ‘Still-point: The story of Ahalya’.

You can find tickets and programme of events here.

A 3 session workshop about crafting stories from your life - whether it be a single incident or telling the story of your life, and striking a chord with your listeners!

Dates of the sessions: 21 September/ 5 October/ 12 October (all Saturdays)

Time: 10am - 1pm

Cost: 30 GBP for 3 sessions/ 10 GBP for each session

Biographical storytelling is about how does one find that kernel in one’s own or someone else’s life-story that has a universal resonance; and TELL it in a way that the moment or the journey of one person’s life becomes universally resonant. You could tell it across a dining table or at Edinburgh Fringe - that depends on who you are and what your style of speaking and being in the world is.

Biographical storytelling is the kernel from which biographical writing, stand up and theatre emerge. It is the fundamental of human communication. Many of the exercises that I work with are one’s that I use in training within organisations, corporate structures and oral history trainings to enable people to create interesting presentations, improve their public speaking skills and become sensitive to one’s own and other people’s stories.

If this sounds interesting to you, do consider attending my 3-session workshop on biographical storytelling. We work in a relaxed but confidential space, where in you choose the stories you want to work with - they could be from your life or from lives of those who are no longer with us.

Please contact me for any questions or to book your place: gauriraje2@gmail.com

Note: We are almost at full capacity — if you are considering joining this retreat, please register asap.

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.

"In the Labyrinth of the World Soul”

This retreat will be a culmination of a body of work of 7 years at the Anima Mundi School. We will sit within community with some of the mysteries and questions that have risen along this journey, carrying myths of the divine feminine and collective dreaming work. We will reflect on the power of the dark feminine, the mystery of the Black Madonna, what it means to retrieve her from forgetfulness and ponder on what her arrival means at this time of transition?

And centrally the questions we ask, what does it mean to live with dark feminine? What are the consequences of the powers released from her eruption? How do we start walking the labyrinth of our lives with the power and presence of the dark feminine?

We will do this 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: September 8th - 14th 2024 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): 650,- euro 
-       Accommodation options:  You can stay in Hotellerie Saint-Yves, where our main meetings will be held. Limited availability: 

• Double Room (for 2 people, separate single beds): If you are sharing the room, you will pay 270,- per person for 6 nights. If you want the room for yourself, it will be 520,- euro.

• Dorm Room (shared room for 4 people, separate single beds): 190,- per person for 6 nights.
  
  There also are many (Air)bnb’s available in Chartres for an affordable price, we recommend booking on time.