2021 East Coast Retreat - Part 2

Our East Coast retreat this year, for all caimeachs in East Coast Céile Dé groups, will occur over two weekends, April 9-11 and September 24-26, with online gatherings via Zoom. Each weekend will include two teaching sessions, one with Sr Fionn and one with Sue Mosher.

This online retreat is only for members of our Céile Dé community. We sincerely hope to be able to welcome others to join us for in-person retreats on the East Coast once again, in 2022. Thank you for understanding.

The Shape of This Retreat

You will notice that this retreat is shorter than our usual in-person gathering. We've tried to arrange the schedule so that most working people -- especially those with job-related challenges due to the pandemic -- won't need to take time off and also so that we can keep our screen time within reasonable, healthy limits. Online sessions that everyone is expected to attend will include:

• An opening session with rùn on Friday evening
• Two morning teaching sessions, one on Saturday and another on Sunday
• An afternoon session on Saturday and another on Sunday for anam chairdeas, discussion, and/or sharing, or whatever the needs of the circle seem to call forth
• A closing session with rùn, ending early Sunday evening
  

In addition to these six online gatherings, the schedule will include other Tráth (the hours set aside by the community for prayer and devotions) that we would normally observe at an in-person retreat. Opportunities to practice rùn and paidirean together via Zoom will be part of the schedule, but you can also fit them in at home by yourself if that better suits your personal circumstances.

Our Sacred Intention

Our intention is to spend as much of our weekend as is practically possible in the same way as we would at an in-person retreat -- following the Tráth and keeping silence, walking with the teachings, praying the paidirean, doing Oran Turais, and spending time in Nature. When you register, you are making a sacred commitment to attend the whole retreat, just as you would for a face-to-face retreat. Of course, we recognize that many people have commitments, such as jobs and caring for family members, that could make it challenging, if not impossible, to keep silence all day. So, plan to do what you can, aiming to be present to yourself and to the láthar of the retreat as much as possible and holding silence in your heart when you can't do it physically.

How to Prepare

To support our dedication to the Tráth and the intent of the retreat, we can each make a contract with ourselves of how we will hold our retreat -- how much of the Tráth and silence we aspire to keep, our intent of staying 'in tune' with the virtual Caim, and so on).

For those who are concerned about using Zoom for a gathering of this size, we will hold a practice Zoom meeting the weekend before, to help smooth out any technical and practical difficulties, including 'What to do if I can't get through...' sort of questions. Details of date and time for this meeting will be given nearer the time.

Registration & Payment Information

We suggest a donation of $99 because it's a lovely round Celtic number, but if this poses a hardship for you in these unsettled times, please simply give what you can. These contributions will cover honoraria for our teachers, Sr Fionn and Sue Mosher, and a donation toward the ongoing costs borne by Termonn to maintain this website and the Zoom account used for our online gatherings.

Whatever amount you choose to donate, please remit it promptly to ease the work of our volunteer treasurer.

To pay by mail: 

1. Register here online.
2. Click the "Invoice Me" button. You will receive an invoice by email. 
   
3. Print out the invoice, and mail it immediately with your donation to:
   
   Melinda Gardiner, Chapter Treasurer
   162 North Mountain Road
   Copake Falls, NY 12517
   
   Please make checks out to "Termonn EC Chapter". Be sure to write "2021 East Coast Retreat" in the memo line of your check. 
   
4. You are not officially registered and will not receive the Zoom link until we receive your donation. 

To pay online: 

1. Register here online.
2. Click the "Pay Online" button to pay the total amount using a credit or debit card. We use PayPal to facilitate payments, but you do not need a PayPal account.
   
3. You will be fully registered within minutes, as soon as the payment goes through, and will receive the Zoom link closer to the time of the retreat.
   

Because of the nature of this retreat, no refunds will be offered if you need to cancel. Any monies left after disbursing honoraria to our teachers and funds to Termonn will be used to defray the cost of future retreats.

Please be sure to register by March 15, so we’ll have time to finalize details. Thank you!