Gathering
Next Rewilding Day
- Sun, 06 AprMonbulk
Rewilding Days
Come gather round the fire to share story, music and re-wilding skills as we rekindle our ancient ways and reweave connection in the bush, in the beauty of nature. For all those who yearn to deepen roots in community, in nature and in belonging.
Its free, we give freely in reciprocity. Family friendly, welcoming all ages. We value what kids and elders bring to the space. Diversity creates a thriving ecosystem.
What are we looking for in the space
Bush skills such as fire by friction, weaving, carving and tracking
Mythology stories and stories that connect us back to nature and our humanity
Songs and poems on nature connection and belonging
Movement practices that bring us into our primal being and senses
Plant and animal knowledge, medicine making and bush tucker
The flow of the day
Arrive from 10am to settle in with a cuppa from the billy on the fire
10.30am Karla will offer a gentle welcome, acknowledging country and custodians and opening our senses to deepen into place and connection with each other.
11am - 1pm Skill sharing
1pm picnic potluck lunch
3-5pm yarning and wild crafting - Coming into council on what we are learning from nature on the topic of nature centric culture (how our ancestors lived)
5.30pm Potluck dinner
6pm-9pm Fireside spoken word and song
Earthdance
First conceived and danced in central Australia, Earthdance is an embodiment practice that deepens our connection to the Earth through circle and dance. In ritual we come back to the heart of our humanity, returning to reverence.
The journey begins with an embodied meditation of acknowledgement to pay our respects to Custodians and Country. We begin in circle with our intention and what is on our heart, from this space we dance. With both live music and earthy beats we dance a freeform dance and end in circle to reflect and connect.
Our outdoor events bring us round the fire where we share in potluck under the stars after our dance. In the winter we dance indoors at CERES, offering the warmth of cacao and tea for everyone to come together.
Upcoming Events
Sat, 05 AprGathering Place
Sat, 17 MayMonbulk
ToGather
A community who come together each month to acknowledge colonisation and it’s impacts. We support each other through the journey of decolonising. Together we learn the truth of our past, connect to Country and listen to First Nations voices through all mediums, including in person.
“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
~ Maya Angelou
Our vision is to walk with First Nations to live in harmony with Country, community and Custodians and return to our belonging to the land. When we belong we have the responsibility for reciprocity with Country and Custodians.
Each month we have someone from the community host and lead a circle, ritual or embodied process. The content is based on either what the person is exploring or what is strongly present within the broader community. We also share local and national events and gatherings that are Indigenous led, support initiatives from local Indigenous groups and keep each other informed through an online chat group.
All are welcome, diversity and inclusivity is a necessity in the journey of decolonising and challenging our internalised racism. We lead with the ethos of care and respect for each other with radical self accountability. We are a community, with the common unity of moving into a more embodied state of connection and care for country ~ Together.
We meet on the third Sunday of every month
3pm-5pm with a potluck picnic lunch
location changes depending on who is hosting
Ancestral Healing Circle
Welcome into council, a circle to deepen into our ancestral origins restoring our connection to self, family and the more than human family. In circle we see our humanity, the ecology of a world trying to heal, so what is getting in the way? Why would we keep walking the trauma of our ancestors when a whole new world of possibility has opened up to us?
This circle has evolved from the former ancestral grief circle. It’s true, grief is a part of the healing… but there is more to the story. What is it that we carry forth for the generations to come. Here we share our burdens, tell our stories and the stories of our lineage and set them free. This work sits alongside the story of this country. You see, we were colonised once, a long time ago, we brought it here and now we are been supported to unravel from those shackles.
What it looks like:
We open with an acknowledgment of country and custodians
Settle into relationship with the land, with nature as kin with a guided embodiment meditation, inviting the holding of the land
An invocation is shared to call in the ancestors to invite the holding of spirit
Open into sharing what is alive in a traditional sharing circle.
Each person is invited to speak an intention for healing, a prayer for repair.
The space is closed with gratitude to the holding of the land and the holding of our ancestors and other supportive guides.
We end with a shared potluck meal together.
This is a learning space, each persons story carrying a wisdom for the group. In this way, there is no hierarchy and so is the way of circle. Where trauma tears the fabric of life, prayer weaves it back.
Who’s the circle calling?
This circle is for anyone who is looking for a community and prayerful approach to healing. It is most effective for those who continue on this journey. It is no coincidence that familiar is in the the word family. This is a space for you to settle in, sink your roots in and feel the holding of country and kin.
Who’s holding the circle?
Karla brings over 15 years of journeying with old healing modalities from far and wide. With a quiet curiosity she followed her own threads of healing which eventually led her back to her Celtic origins. As a fifth generation Australian Karla feels this country deep to her bones and also hears the faint echo of the remnants of her ancestors pulsing through her blood. Her love for country has led her across Australia to walk with First Nations people, lighting her heart to confront the pain of colonisation. If hurt people, hurt people… perhaps we can draw the line to say no more. In going to our core, our roots, we don’t need to bypass, we can make a stand, own our bit and walk the very long journey of repair. This is a step by step journey that we no longer need to take alone. Karla created Gather Australia to make solid ground to build up the hearth of community and the heart of our shared humanity.
Next Event Saturdy 10th May, 3pm-5pm
Potluck and cacao round the fire afterwards.
Held in my dome in the Yarra Valley, near Monbulk. Address given on booking.
We acknowledge we gather on Wurundjeri country, an ancient land that holds the grief of her people.
This will naturally be a part of our circle.
Courting the Sacred
A night of Spoken Word in ritual, in nature, with fire together
We live in a beautiful world, beckoning us into our senses and calling us back to belonging. As Arrernte elder uncle Chris Peltherre says, “Heaven isn’t up there, Heaven is on Earth”.
Courting the Sacred invites us into our senses, our feeling body, our heart. In ritual we remember. It’s an opportunity for that inner romantic to express this love we all share for the natural world. It’s for us to open up to the beauty of living. Word is powerful, we cast our spells with word. Words can both harm and heal. I started to focus on Spoken Word as a form of activism in 2020 when I was walking with Custodians of Country in central Australia. I wanted to use my love and my pain for the people to speak to the hearts of those willing. Each year I would write in the desert and come back to Melbourne to share the Poetry, and what I discovered was the power wasn’t in the message, the power was in how it moved through me as a form of healing. And so, I discovered that my own poetry was healing for me, and so, it could be healing for others. When we speak from the heart, we speak to the heart of others.
I am a romantic, but I also acknowledge my upbringing in remote Queensland and my time in communities with Custodians confronting the impacts of colonisation have weathered me into a deeper wisdom of the pain and injustice that exists in this world. So for me, Spoken Word is a way for us to speak truely from the heart, to unravel us from the rigidity of the man made world and bring us back to the ancient art form that was once used to bring healing and hope to the people. In ritual, our poems become invocations, prayers for the living. So come join me in my dome, on the edge of the rainforest on Wurrundjeri country in the Yarra Valley, to remember our way back home to belonging.
Next Event Sunday 9th March 2025, 5pm-8pm
This is a special winter solstice event free for the community with potluck round the fire, music and poetry.
Held in my dome in the Yarra Valley, near Monbulk. Address given on booking.
I acknowledge the ancient lands on which we gather, the stories, language and ceremonies that exist within Country and the Custodians.
I pay my respects to the sacred art forms that exist within the original culture, to the ceremonies and rituals.
We gather on ancient lands that hold an ancient culture and acknowledge the Custodians that have taken care of these lands for over 100,000 years. We pay our respect to all Indigenous and acknowledge this always has been and always will be Aboriginal land. Sovereignty has never been ceded. May we listen and learn from the oldest living culture in the world and walk together.
