“Those who do not understand
their destiny will never understand
the one life that waits
beyond all the others.” - David Whyte

Addressing the deep longing for meaning and fulfillment ‘From Caterpillar to Butterfly’ is a profound experiential immersion tackling the grand topics of PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION and CULTURAL R-EVOLUTION.

This is a courageous journey in a series of 3 programs that guides participants into a profound descent nowhere else except of the mysteries of Soul and into the aching heart of the world to encounter and gather their own golden thread of their personal Gift.

‘From Caterpillar to Butterfly’ is anchored in 3 in-person programs spread out along 2023 and 2024 taking place in Romania, Cyprus and Italy. We believe that participants can reach extraordinary shapes of transformation when being held by this consistent and ongoing container of 22 participants and 3 guides.

First program: ‘The Caterpillar’ (1st - 9th of August 2023 in Romania)

Our first program will be dedicated to the metaphor of the ‘caterpillar’, the one who consumes, eats and becomes bigger and bigger. Similarly, participants will be guided to be true wanderers of the psychic and Earthly terrains, consuming and digesting ‘life’, gathering resources, skills and burning questions. This is a moment of preparing the rootedness and the foundation for embracing the unknown “life that awaits beyond all others”.

Second program: ‘The Cocoon’ (1st - 9th of June 2024 in Cyprus)

One day the caterpillar stops eating, attaches itself to a leaf or a stick and spins itself into a silky cocoon, a tomb, really, where the very substance of the caterpillar’s body begins to change into a soup. Inside the cocoon, a funeral is taking place. The caterpillar as we know it is dying. The life that it knew is being utterly transformed by the imaginal cells that have been in the caterpillar body the whole time, now forming the soup.
Similarly, participants will be guided into a process of transformation, of shedding the old story they lived by and daring to pray for a vision that holds their most precious truth. Such an endeavour implies giving oneself completely to the Earth and Mystery. Rilke writes “Earth, isn’t this what you want? To arise in us, invisible? What, if not transformation, is your deepest purpose?”. A human transformation is barely possible without a tremendously vulnerable dissolution and a complete surrender to the longing for your Soul and the dream of the Earth. Only then, one can reach deep down to their own golden thread of their personal Gift.

Third program: ‘The Butterfly’ (1st - 9th of November 2024 in Italy)

The imaginal cells are shaping a new being into birth and now what was a tomb for the caterpillar, becomes a womb for the butterfly. All the cells of the soup rearranged into the configuration of a butterfly. And then, when the butterfly is formed well enough, the cocoon cracks open, and out flies the adult form.
Similarly, participants will be guided to a holy re-birth. They will be invited to know and embody their Visionary selves, the adults rooted in their Soul that this Earth is in need of. A transformation is not truly complete unless the holy vision of the deepest Gift and the most Sacred Name is woven together with a courageous return to the outer world and a determination for showing up in it as a mature adult. In this last program participants will be invited to walk on Earth as agents of Cultural R-evolution.

“And so long as you haven’t experienced
this: to die and so to grow,
you are only a troubled guest
on the dark earth.” - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

In this project we will in particular use the NATURE AND THE HUMAN SOUL DEVELOPMENTAL WHEEL developed by Bill Plotkin, which is an eco-psychology of human development which reveals how fully and creatively we can mature when soul and wild nature guide us. Nature and the Human Soul wheel presents a model for a human life span rooted in the cycles and qualities of the natural world, a blueprint for individual development that ultimately yields a strategy for cultural transformation. This model defines eight stages of human life - Innocent, Explorer, Thespian, Wanderer, Soul Apprentice, Artisan, Master, and Sage - and describes the benefits, tasks and challenges of each.

VALUES

Soulcraft
The whole program gravitates around Soulcraft practices, deep, dangerous (for the consumer-conformist world) and potent invitations. Although information and knowledge will be offered, this is primarily an immersion into profound experiences that transform the way you see, act, are. It is the experiences that unearth your mythopoetic identity and your deepest knowing.

Maturity
The program requires maturity and wholeness. It is not a retreat, a vacation or a relaxing time. It is, in our view, a revolution! It is an investment in you for the benefit of the Earth. As the activities will direct you gradually to deeper and deeper discoveries, you are called to show up resourcefully and respectfully towards the sacredness of the space we will create, the depth of the work we will do and your commitments. Come with a loving heart, a burning desire, an aching longing, an immense curiosity and a committed responsibility for your personal and cultural transformation. (See more about your commitments later on).

Vulnerability
Nothing is really achieved unless there is vulnerability. No seed roots unless it cracks. No butterfly emerges unless there is dissolution of the caterpillar. No vision invokes without a cry. This whole program is all about transformation and therefore, it is also about courage and vulnerability. We will wholeheartedly create such a space in which vulnerability is held, contained, honoured.

Sacred Work
Our sacred work will be inspired by Nature, Arts and Ritual. We’ll explore the landscape of the psychic inner nature through a variety of art practices, including
Nature immersions and wanders
Vision fast in Nature
Poetry
Storytelling
Singing
Embodiment and Movement
Symbolic art work
Deep imagery work
Journaling
Council
Deep listening and group work
Ceremonies and Rituals

Commitments
-Your full participation in the 3 programs is mandatory (Romania 1-9/08/2023, Cyprus 1-9/06/2024, Italy 1-9/11/2024)
-Preparation before the first program delving into some video materials and nature wanders;
-In between the programs participants will have online monthly meeting; invitations to deepen the inner work through audio-visual materials, nature wanders and soulcraft practices;
-At the end of every program, every participant will do an offering for their community (event, workshop, art performance etc) to spread the gifts further into the world.

TEAM OF GUIDES:

SANDRA HOREA (guide of the programs)
Sandra is a soul initiation guide courting and embodying Love and Death as necessary allies to the journey of transformation, supporting the remembrance of the sacred truth one is Here to make manifest. She is in love with the depth of the world’s mysteries, fiercely guiding humans to their most exquisite place of belonging, and inviting them to live a Soul-driven life in service of Earth.
As a guide, she creates deep purposeful spaces of inner-discoveries incorporating in her work her experience regarding depth psychology and soul-based practices, eco-centric development, embodiment, storytelling, poetry and deep imagination. She has a wide experience of 13 years in working with humans in facilitating spaces of personal transformation and cultural evolution.
She graduated from the Wild Mind Program (focusing on eco-depth psychology of wholing and healing) at Bill Plotkin’s Animas Valley Institute in the USA.
At the moment she is intensively studying Soul Initiation Guiding Apprenticeship and Initiation Program (SAIP) within the same organization, an in-depth study of soul-initiation practices and guiding skills.

ELENI MICHAIL (guide of the programs)
Eleni Michail is a weaver of the ancient threads of Soul and Spirit, a deep listener and a deep see-er. She is a songstress of the sacred and an apprentice of the Moon. She devotedly calls people to lose themselves, to the point of madly finding themselves.

Eleni is a Soul Mentor and a Human Development Guide dedicated in human transformation. She holds spaces, rituals and ceremonies in which people reconnect with their inner resources, their unique gifts and the wisdom of the Earth. For the last 16 years, she has been on a journey of tending the personal and cultural revolution as a space holder, guide, mentor and human being. In her work, she uses elements of Eco-Soulcentric development, ancient traditions, nature and arts. She resides in her birthplace, the island of Cyprus.

SARA MARZO (apprentice for the programs)
Sara is a facilitator and trainer from Italy guiding individuals and groups to become more conscious human beings and to connect authentically to themselves, to others and to nature, in order to engage in meaningful actions in their lives and to better impact our planet Earth.
She has more than 11 years of experience in international projects management and youth work. In her work she brings expertise in mindfulness, eco-somatic practices, ecopsychology and nature- based methods.
She is attending the Nature Coaching Academy in Italy to become Nature Coach.
She is co-author of the book: “Mindfulness and Nature: a toolkit for youthwork” realised during the project KA2 “Mind your Mind: Synergies between mindfulness and nature-based methods”.

Practical information:

This project, ‘From Caterpillar to Butterfly’ encompasses 3 different programs/training courses to which all selected participants must attend.
This project is made possible with the financial support of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. (Funding line of Key Action 2: Partnerships for Cooperation in the field of youth).

Who can participate?
Human beings who are willing to explore their own depths and personally transform so that they could be agents of cultural evolution in their communities in a nurturing and generating life enhancing way.
The participants must be over 18 years and have a good level of English.
Participants can apply to this training if they have a legal residency in Romania, Cyprus or Italy.

What are the costs?
Materials, activities, accommodation and food during the 3 programs are 100% covered by the Erasmus+ grant. Yet, we as guides and organizations aim to offer much more than this. We intend for an ongoing support throughout a year and a half.
Therefore, we are inviting you to contribute to supporting financially the amount of work and dedication offered by the guides in between the programs, by making a donation from 200 to 500 Euros (for all 3 programs) based on personal financial capacity.
No one will be left behind because of the financial endeavor. If you consider yourself a person with fewer opportunities and are in the impossibility to pay even the lower sum of the sliding scale, please tell us so and we will accommodate that need and find other ways of contributing.

The traveling costs (mean of transport) are also covered and will be reimbursed to the participants after each program. We are encouraging to opt for a ‘green travel’ to take a train or a bus or share personal cars to reach the destination of our project. In this way we will use a low-carbon alternatives to flights.

When and Where?
First program: ‘The Caterpillar’ (1st - 9th of August 2023 in Romania)
Second program: ‘The Cocoon’ (1st - 9th of June 2024 in Cyprus)
Third program: ‘The Butterfly’ (1st - 9th of November 2024 in Italy)
In all 3 programs the arrival day is on the 1st of the month and the departure day is 9th of the month.

Application procedure and deadline:
If you want to participate in this project and attend all 3 programs, please thoroughly take into account all the commitments you have to say yes to and then apply for our project.
Application Form:
https://forms.gle/YHXZqks1EZvfExgp6
The deadline for application submission is 30th of May 2023 (included).
The selection results will be published on 7th of June.

Contact:
For further details and questions you can contact:
Sandra Horea (project coordinator and guide) sandra.horea@gmail.com or
Eleni Michail (project contributor and guide) elenimichail1@gmail.com

Finally, this intense project series of 3 programs is a very significant commitment, not only to the “project” and the others in the group, and not only during the 3 in-person programs in which we will be gathered together, but also to yourself, to your own journey, and to the world. Are you willing and able to allow your coming year and a half to be significantly shaped and informed by these programs, both logistically as well as psycho-spiritually?

Looking forward to having a delightfully meaningful experience together!