Last Call
Transcending Traditions
May 15-17, 2026
The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands NC
Convener: John Marotta
Dearest Siblings,
The 2026 Gay Spirit Visions Spring Retreat is just around the corner. As convener, it is my sincere honor to invite you to join this retreat. Transcending Traditions, May 15-17, 2026 at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center, Highlands, NC, awaits your valued presence and participation.
Transcending traditions means moving beyond established customs, beliefs, or practices to innovate, find deeper meaning, challenge limitations, reinterpret the past, and create new forms while respecting foundational ideas.
May this gathering be a hearth. May we warm one another with honesty and kindness,
and most importantly with your presence. This is where sacred memory meets living truth.
A Call for Workshops
First of all, a word of humble thanks. The response to the call for workshops has been amazingly abundant. Bring forth your ideas. What is it that strikes a passion in your heart to share. Let’s talk about your workshop ideas. The talent and willingness to enhance conversations through topics of interest provides a gift to us all.
The “in the works already” workshops will touch on the following topics.
• Let Your Kid Come Out to Play (Robert Devereaux (Trio), presenter). A workshop to bring out our lighter and playful side. Includes cooperative games and play.
• Usui Reiki: A Japanese Healing Art (Peter Gebhardt, presenter). Experience this healing art form with an experienced Usui Reiki Master.
• Traditional Masculinity and the Trauma of Conformity (Jason Arnold, presenter). An interactive conversation on how poetry, images, and erotica have influenced and shaped our vision of masculinity and conformity.
• Gay Spirit Visions, a Trailblazer to the Currency of the Future: Heart Energy (Peter Kendrick, presenter). We come together with heart-centered energy to create a sense of belonging to a sacred community that celebrates connection and authenticity. We will invite you to share, if you wish, personal experiences that exemplify this lived reality. As the world is now opening to, and needing this consciousness, how are we cultivating this energy into our daily lives?
• Sacred Touch (Mahan Kalpa Khalsa, presenter). Enhance your own personal level of how we interact as men of conscience.
• Tai Chi (Peter Gebhardt, presenter). A movement meditation. Invigorate your mind and body for peace and calm.
• The Body Compass: Embodying True North (Jeff Blocker, presenter). Many of us learned to override our bodies in order to survive. This workshop invites participants to reconnect with the body as a source of wisdom, learning to recognize somatic signals of yes, no, and maybe as guides for boundaries, desire, and authentic living.
• From Inheritance to Intention: Reimagining the Traditions We Carry (Hamad Alghareeb, presenter). This workshop invites participants to reflect on the traditions that have shaped their lives, explore the deeper meaning behind them, and creatively imagine new traditions that foster connection, belonging, and authenticity.
There is still room at the table for your amazing workshop! Contact me if you are drawn to facilitating a workshop. My email address is jm19562002@yahoo.com and my cell phone number is 828-388-3344. Please leave a voice message or text message if I cannot answer when you call.
Transcending Traditions fully espouses honoring a sacred past and building a courageous future. Please join us!
With great respect and humility,
John Marotta
Gay Spirit Visions 2026 Spring Retreat Convener
Accommodations
3 Day/2 Night Package (Friday through Sunday)
All pricing is per person
Double occupancy – Lodge or duplex cabin $270 + tax
Bunkhouse $230 + tax
Single occupancy $410 + tax
For All Rooms Add Required GSV Program Fee $35.00 per person
Scholarship Information and Application Deadline
Financial assistance in the form of scholarships is available. The financial assistance application submission deadline is Friday, May 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET. 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 and for a link to the GSV financial assistance application form. Remember, the financial assistance application submission deadline is Friday, May 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Registration
Registration for the GSV 2026 Winter Meditation gathering is now open. Please begin the registration process on the Spring Retreat Registrationpage. All questions about registration should be directed to The Mountain – gsoffice@themountainrlc.org – Phone: (828)-526-5838. Registration closes on Friday, May 1, 2026, at 5:00 p.m. ET.
Participants needing accessible accommodations are encouraged to register early.
Getting to The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center
The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center is located west of the town of Highlands, NC. For detailed driving information and transportation options, visit The Mountain Getting Here page. Note: If your transportation plans include flying, the closest and easiest airport to fly in and out of is Asheville Regional Airport (AVL) located in Fletcher, NC, just south of Asheville, NC.
Please note that there are no public transportation options from AVL that service The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center. You may wish to consider rental car services at AVL. The drive from AVL to The Mountain is approximately 2 hours, or longer if you are not accustomed to mountain driving conditions.