Walking in Wild Prayer
A 4-Day Desert Pilgrimage to Feed the Holy Wild
October 10-13th, 2024 near Hesperus, Colorado.
A Band of humans
giving of their bodies
to the beauty of their earth
paws paying homage
to hope and hunger
with each sole
upon soft earth.
View of Big Sheep Mountains from the Mesa we will be walking upon during our pilgrimage.
You long to journey with wild places. You sense something profound waiting in your relationship with nature; something you may even call “sacred” or “holy.” Whispers of another layer of intelligence, of other realms, are alluring you into deeper communion with Wild Spirit.
What does it mean to pray in the wild, with the wild, and for the wild?
Our ancestors sought spiritual sustenance in the land. They walked alone or in bands to sacred mountains, lakes, rivers, caves, forests and deserts to pray out their deepest longings; to feed the spirit of the living with their beauty, presence, and even pain.
We need an ancient way in a new time.
The growing contemplative eco-community of Windhorse Village.
We are contributing to the international lineage of peoples sustaining the ancient practice of pilgrimage in contemporary ways–feeding the sacred wilds we walk on and our own internal landscapes. We will journey to nowhere in particular over a period of four days to inspire the idea that pilgrimage is a way of being, accessible just outside our door. We will seek to pray in movement, silence, word and song; as individuals and as a living organism slowly entangling its energetic tendrils with all around us.
The ancient junipers, alive and dying, stretch out across the sacred mesa to sing and be sung for.
Why Say “Yes?”
Saying “yes” to this unique journey is saying “yes” to the mysterious forces of the wild shaping you into who you are truly meant to be. If you hold a deep longing or prayer, this is a powerful way to feed its potency and make of it an offering that may be answered. If you’ve hungered to walk as a band of sacred nomads living in prayer, then say “yes.”
Seven Guiding Principles:
Golden eagles reside in the valley of our pilgrimage.
Courting the Deep Wild- Our spirits are not just our own, but a unique constellation of relationships that include the multi-realmed beings and landscapes we inhabit. We will learn together how to sacredly seduce and draw up the deep waters of these mysterious relationships to become more of who we are and hone our innate gifts to feed the world.
“Nowhere to Go, Four Days to Get there”- this pilgrimage is not intended to be some epic traverse (at least in a physical way) to some high mountain or distant lake, but rather moving in a sacred pattern with attention and intention.
The Songs and the Silence- Silence is sacred. As such, we will have periods of silence, both in meditation and movement, every day. Singing and rhythmic speech are sacred. As such, we will invite communal song and Self-generated mantras to emerge.
Meditation in Movement- while we will engage in formal meditation sits out on the land (in both traditional Insight/Vipassana lineages and non-traditional nature-based meditations), we will also be practicing the art of mindful movement.
Poetry and Ritual Arts- we will embody our primal creators, inviting ritual artistry and poetry to spill from us.
Dancing with Dreams- the land is alive with the wisdom-gifts of dreams. Each day, we practice the art of soul-centric and embodied dreamwork as a wandering community to listen and enact the guidance of Mystery.
Solo Wilderness Vigil (Fast Optional)- a night of stillness and ceremonial time alone in the wild but supported from afar to truly seep into your prayer and be receptive to who answers in the living darkness.
Who We Are and Why Us
Joe and Deer (ft. Moon Water the Cat) have an unscripted chat about pilgrimage and Walking in Wild Prayer. Gratitude to Morgan Harrington for filming.
Joe Peloquin stumbled into his first Buddhist pilgrimage, The Dharma Yatra, when he was 23, during his early days of wandering as a young man in rural France.
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"Yatra", the Pali/Sankrit word for voyage has been used by Buddhist communities and teachers for generations to name their practices of pilgrimage - from forest monasteries completely emptying into the Thai countryside, Monks and Nuns in single file with begging bowls in hand, to Maha Ghosananda's peace walks in war-torn Cambodia's "killing fields". The experience of this ancient practice brought to life by western practitioners in their home countries - of walking as an immense silent serpent through the French countryside; waking with the sun and sleeping with the stars as a traveling village, care and resources freely shared; and encountering a depth of wisdom-teachings and spiritual practice that he had never known existed, touched Joe deeply and decisively changed the course of his life.
Over the next decade, amidst a life centered around meditation practice, service, and following his teachers, Joe regularly embarked on communal Yatras in Europe and India, culminating in a final journey into the High Himalayas where his and Deer's separate paths intertwined for the first time. Now, his own Yatra having guided him to the Four Corners, he feels called to bring the spirit and form of pilgrimage that so shaped him to others in the place he now calls home.
Joe has participated in and organized pilgrimages in India, Europe, Israel/Palestine and the United States. He has lived for two and half years on meditation retreat and engaged in array of service work since 2013 - including within the the Israel/Palestine conflict, grassroots refugee aid work, forest rehabilitation, homesteading, coal mining protests, prison systems, leprosy communities and guiding wilderness therapy. He currently serves as a meditation and nature connection retreat facilitator in the U.S. and abroad.
Joe's primary teachers are Christopher Titmuss, Zohar Lavie and Nathan Glyde of the Insight tradition. These days, he is mainly involved in the work of Bill Plotkin's Animas Valley Institute - completing a yearlong immersion in 2022 and continuing to participate in ongoing training and mentorship.
Deer Ryder’s relationship with pilgrimage began when he left his urban life in Los Angeles at 29 to silent retreat at a jungle monastery in Myanmar that subsequently fed into a world journey to explore the “spirit of nature and the nature of spirit in himself.”
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17 countries and a few years later, he found himself in a predominantly silent pilgrimage through the High Himalayan Pindari Valley to a glacial source of the holy river Ganges (where he met Joe Peloquin). Not long after, he found himself unexpectedly wandering the high coastal mountain jungles of Colombia, where he lived and worked for almost 2 years journeying with indigenous Kogui spiritual leaders to their wild and remote holy places, supporting them in their duty to feed the sacred beings of their land. All these ancient journeys and more profoundly influenced Deer and seeded his desire to bring back such devotion to his homeland. Read more about Deer Ryder.
Chloe Fae has dedicated much of her life to growing an intimate relationship with the wilds of the natural world. She enjoys connecting people to the land through her colorful, wild, nutritious, local cuisine.
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She’s been a forager, wild-crafter and wild foods chef for over 8 years and she weaves these connections into bringing deep nourishment to others. Along with working as a chef, she has worn a variety of hats and been shaped by a wide range of experience…. as a student of environmental science, a backcountry trails worker, a land conservation leader, permaculture farmer, gardener, natural builder, jewelry designer, homesteader, tempeh and miso maker, personal chef, ancestral skills practitioner, nomadic gypsy, dream guide and most recently as a student of the Animas Valley Institute. She currently wanders and lives simply on the land between the San Juan mountains of Colorado and the Sonoran Desert of Arizona.
Joe and deer meditating on Himalayan pilgrimage where they met.
We pay homage to our teachers Christopher Titmuss, Nathan Glide and Zohar Lavie, Bill Plotkin, Mai-Linh Lemminhbach, Mama Pedro and Luameko of the Kogui, and all their lineages before them.
Testimonials:
We are honored to be given such feedback about our offerings.
Note: written testimonials don’t seem to show up well on mobile devices, please use desktop to view.
The Practicals:
When: October 10-13th, 2024. Arriving Thursday the 10th at 9am, and departing around 3pm on Sunday the 13th.
Where: Windhorse Village near Hesperus, Colorado. (https://earthvilleinstitute.org/)
Who: Guided by Joe and Deer; culinary and creative collaboration with Chloe Fae.
Cost and What’s Included:
This retreat is offered on a sliding scale. Your financial contribution covers all catered meals from Thursday lunch through Sunday brunch (8 to 9 meals and snacks), supply/logistic costs, a daily wage for Deer, Joe, and Chloe, along with a monetary gift to Wind Horse for hosting us. All food is catered and local/organic whenever possible.
We are asking folks to choose the rate that authentically reflects their level of financial resources:
Requested Rate - $650
This is our baseline rate which offers Chloe, Joe, Deer and Wind Horse modest compensation. If paying this amount does not impact your core needs (housing, food, transportation, supporting dependents, paying for education or mental health support, etc.) we ask you to offer at this level.
“Full-Financial Worth” Rate - $650 - $800
Offering along this range provides Chloe, Joe, Deer and Wind Horse appropriate compensation and supports folks who cannot afford the requested rate. If you have the financial resources to do so, please pay along this range.
“I need more support to attend” rate - $550 - $650
This rate is for folks who would experience financial stress or have their core needs impacted by offering at one of the other rates. If this rate is still unaffordable, please contact Deer or Joe as we will work with you to support your participation.
Payment Plans Available, as well as work-trade options for partial payment exchange. Text Us (#’s below).
We are committed to making these experiences accessible to everyone. We regularly offer community donation-based weekends and evening groups. Your support allows us to continue and expand these offerings as well as meet our own core needs. Thank you for your generosity.
If you are interested in attending this retreat, please fill out our pre-registration form:
Once registered, we will send a follow-up email asking for a $150 deposit. Payment is confirmation of your place.
Scholarships
We have a limited number of scholarship options available to help partially support any potential pilgrims who are feeling called to join but are struggling financially. Please fill out our short scholarship application.
Support a Wild Pilgrim
While we have done our best to make this offering as affordable as possible, we know there are passionate potential pilgrims who cannot afford to join us but would love to. If you feel inspired to donate any amount to support a participant coming on this program, we would be ever-grateful, as would they.
Some Important Pieces
Once you’ve paid your deposit, you will receive a letter with detailed instructions on how to prepare, what to bring, medical forms, etc. Here are a few important points to consider before registering:
Physical Capability - Although this pilgrimage is far less strenuous than many backpacking trips, significant portions of most days will involve walking at a relatively steady pace, with your pack on your back, on fairly accessible terrain with some minor inclines and declines. We will take into account the group's capacity and adjust our route/pace accordingly. Please get in touch if you have any concerns about your physical capacity to participate.
Camping - this is a camping program, so please expect to sleep in a tent (tarp or “cowboy camping,” if preferred) and carry most of your gear in your pack. The expectation is that you have most of the required gear (sleeping bag, sleeping pad, tent, layers, etc.), however, please contact us if you need certain items and we will work to support you in that. All group gear (cooking equipment, food, water, etc.) will be provided by your guide team.
Please contact Deer or Joe if you have any questions. We are occasionally out of contact while guiding programs, but one of us is usually in service when the other isn't. Regardless we will respond to you as soon as we can.
Deer - ryder.ponzi@gmail.com 541-645-3080
Joe - jpeloquin@posteo.net 401-241-9051
Additional photos of Windhorse Village (the first six) followed by some of the world pilgrimages that have shaped our worlds and connect with our global community. Thanks to Mark Moor, Christopher Titmuss, and Nathan Glide for providing some photos.
