2026 Elders Weave (East Coast Collaborative)

The Elders' Weave™ retreat holds all these seasons of the Elder, tending to each in turn. Thus for some the Elders' Weave™ serves as an entrance into the journey, and for others it is a deepening of work that has been ongoing for a long time. Using ceremony, story, time in nature, council, and image, participants are invited to harvest all that has been, sit with death, practice deep listening to the cries of the world, and discern to whom they are called to elder in their final chapter.

It is an encounter with life and death that is uncontainable, and calls one deeper into their own story as well as The Great Stories.

After the Elders's Weave™ one finds they have been ushered into a community of Elders, who have gone before, and are welcomed into a council of elders in which the work began can continue. In the end, how each Elder chooses to bless the world is as varied as their fingerprints, but one thing in common is that one cannot elder alone- there are no solo journeys into the sunset, eldering is a communal experience.

“Elder” by definition is a relational word, naming a sacred connection and responsibility on behalf of others. On whose behalf are you being called to elder? It is not (only) for or from one’s own self that the call comes. The call is on the lips of descendants, in the dreams from the ancestors–even the more-than-human world is crying out for men and women to rise up as Elders: to give, live, die, laugh, & bless on behalf of all that is…

Pricing: $995 (scholarship assistance available)

Date: Tuesday May 19th - Saturday May 23, 2026

Location: Johnsonburg, New Jersey

Registration Deadline: April 30, 2026

Contact: John Ball eropeast@illuman.org