From Vulnerability to Intimacy: Exploring the Threshold
May 12-14, 2023
The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands NC
3 Day/2 Night Package (Friday through Sunday)
Bunk House (shared room up to 4 people): $190.00
Lodge or Duplex Cabin (double occupancy): $220.00
Single Occupancy (private room): $340.00
Register Now!
On the threshold, the entire past and the endless future rush to meet one another.
—Gunilla Norris
Dear Siblings,
The time of our Spring Retreat gathering is getting closer and the anticipation of being with you all is growing stronger. I am eager and excited to share mutual experiences of intimate and vulnerable conversations during our time together. I hope you are eagerly anticipating this as well.
As a reminder, our opening time together on Friday evening will honor our GSV traditions, followed by simple, meaningful conversations, and gentle touch; tea and biscuits may even be involved!
On Saturday you will be invited into experiences that will allow you to explore the thresholds we cross as we journey from vulnerability to intimacy. These will include clothed sacred touch, an exploration of sacred wisdom, and a discussion of how our identity is itself a threshold into deeper intimacy. Finally, there will be an invitation to have a socially nude experience through boundary setting and ritual. On Saturday evening we will share in drumming and camaraderie around our sacred fire.
Throughout the weekend there will be plenty of unstructured downtime to allow you an opportunity to encounter The Mountain and our siblings in whatever way you desire.
I know many of you may be expecting organized higher levels of sacred and erotic touch during our time at The Mountain. To be clear, the Spring Retreat will not have an organized massage event, puppy pile, dedicated intimacy space, or other types of higher-level touch opportunity. What you will have, if you wish, is an opportunity to seek and create higher levels of touch on your own—good practice for being vulnerable, intimate, and asking for what you need from your siblings. It is, perhaps, a different way of encountering the presence of your fellow siblings and the energy of The Mountain.
Financial assistance, in the form of scholarships, is available. The financial assistance application submission deadline is April 30. We hope that anyone who resonates with our mission and community, and who has the desire to attend, can join us at our gatherings. To that end, we offer financial assistance through the Raven Wolfdancer Financial Assistance Fund. Please go to the Financial Assistance page on the Gay Spirit Visions website for more information about financial assistance (scholarships) and for a link to the GSV financial assistance application form. Remember, the financial assistance application submission deadline is April 30.
Registration is now open via the GSV website, so please join us. To inquire about the availability of private rooms, which are available on a limited basis, please call The Mountain office at (828) 526-5838.
So, come—enter into your vulnerability and discover intimacy. Come—stand on your thresholds and listen to how they are calling you deeper into new manifestations of yourself. Come—your siblings and The Mountain await you.
Douglas Argue
GSV 2023 Spring Retreat Convener