Women together, on land;
creating a life that sets you free
Trauma-informed, emotionally safe space to explore the rhythm of Womaning, for all ages and all stages.
In realationship with the natural world. Small groups of celebration with women who desire to live fully. Intimate connection with nature and women who are also making Big Wild Dreams real.
What to expect
Accomodation is camping.
Food is : either BYO everything or Communal Shared Kitchen.
Location
We meet on private property on Walbunja land at the base of the Budawangs, near Braidwood.
90 mins from Canberra (closest airport) | 60 mins from Bateman’s Bay | 3 hours from Sydney
Self Crafting Retreats
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Transformative Retreats
Deep-work Intensive Transformative Weekend Events.
☸️ Celebrating the journey of womanhood
☸️ Learning skills and processes for Self awareness, Self commitment, Self respect and Self empowerment
☸️ Creating Expressions of Self Knowledge
Exploring living in a woman’s body in this time and place, making and staying well in relationship with the natural world. We uncover the herstory of Women’s Mysteries in relationship to Self, and learn creative practices to reignite ancestral threads in modern life.
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Gentle Giants Day Retreat
One-day explorations in Self Crafting for women who desire to grow the edges and deepen personal development.
☸️ Gentle Giants Gathering : Exploring Horse Connection and Togetherness
Exploring living, being and staying well in relationship with the Self, others and the natural world.
Teaching realationship skills for taking into everyday life.
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Seasonal Retreats - for members of A Rhythm of Her Own
Celebrate the Season with authentic connection
☸️ Celebrating the changing Rhythms of the year
☸️ Learning Traditional Crafts
☸️ Creating Ceremony
☸️ Sharing Wisdom
Exploring living, making and staying well in relationship with the natural world. We uncover the herstory of Women’s Mysteries in relationship to Land, Water and Sky, and learn creative practices to reignite those traditions in modern life.
Your Group Leader
Hi, I’m Hollie Wildëthorn; a psychotherapist, ritualist and wild woman working at the intersections of trauma & neurodiversity, feminism, magick and ecology. For more than twenty years I’ve been guiding women through circles, group therapy and ritual.
My retreats bring together the depth of psychological safety with the magic of ancient herstory, embodied ritual, and creative expression. You might find us weaving baskets from grasses from the land, shaping clay we dug from near the creeks, singing, swimming, or sitting in circle always in ways that honour the full experience of womanhood.
What lights me up is creating spaces where women can lay down shame, comparison, and “not-enoughness,” and remember themselves as whole. Each retreat is a living ceremony: part learning, part creative practice, part sacred remembering… held gently by the land and by the circle of women who gather.
Optional Upgrades for Day & Weekend Retreats
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Early Arrivals and Late Stays
Add to your ease and comfort by arriving the evening before, or staying on for more time to integrate at the end of a Retreat.
Especially beneficial for women travelling from afar.
We can work in whatever composition you’re thinking of, so if you don’t see it when you’re booking, just make contact.
N.B. Early arrivals and late stays are available on Overnight and Day Retreats.
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MidGlamp Camp Setup
Everything you need for camping already setup and waiting for you to arrive, so all you need do is pull up your car and join us.
Includes a double swag with luxury bedding, extra blankets, ground mats, table and boxes for storage, a shelter over the top and lighting.
Bedding includes woolen underlays, linen sheets and woolen quilt.
Simply select the MidGlamp option when you book for your Retreat
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Communal Food Sharing
We share the load in creating nourishing, sustainable and ethical meals in the communal Kitchen.
If you would like to opt in for the shared kitchen, you will be required to bring 2-3 side dishes. We provide the protein-based part of the meal as well as goat’s milk, cheese and eggs (from on farm).
You’ll be given some direction on what to provide (e.g. ‘a salad and a fruit side’ or ‘roast potatoes and some greens"‘). We can meet most dietary requirements.
If you would prefer to BYO all food and cook for yourself, that’s cool.
Gentle Giants Gathering
Exploring Horse Connection and Togetherness…
Join our herd for a day, and learn the principles of Nature’s Harmony in Realationship
come into close contact with an equine friend
learn how to change your personal state to affect relationship
develop a respectful bond between you and your horse
sense what it's like to be trusted by a gentle giant
connect with a group of supportive, nurturing women who accept you just as you are - a women's circle with so much more
Embrace your Body, Embrace Your Divine Self
Exploring body image, clay shaping and the feminine form throughout the ages
Learn about the herstory of women's shapes through the feminine divine.
Explore self image and body positivity in a supportive, trauma-informed intimate group
Using clay from The Wilde, shape a Goddess self-image of your own…
The Shape of Self Love
A VARIETY OF OPTIONS
Every woman’s needs are different, and so Retreats at The Wilde offer inclusive ways for all women to have their needs met.
Base cost includes
BYO camping accomodation
Workshops and ceremonies
BYO (some) food
Select Optional Upgrades when you’re booking your Retreat.
Catering at Retreats
Over the years we’ve tried all sorts of catering models for on-land events.
The way it’s done now is the current best-practice as we’ve learned what works for this space and our community.
Everything is negotiable and up for a conversation. If you can see another idea that would work for you, let’s talk about that.
How it works
When you book your Retreat, you will have the option to select either ‘SHARED COMMUNAL CATERING’ or ‘BYO ALL FOOD’.
BYO all food
If you select this option, we will assume you’re going to look after yourself for the weekend. You’ll need to bring your own cooking and storage tools. At mealtimes you are welcome to join us, but there won’t be any room in the kitchen for additional cookups.
You are welcome to share the kettle for boiling water.
Shared Communal Catering
We will cook up delicious protein-based main meals, such as pork stew, goat curry or roasted chicken. The animals featured in our meals have grown up at The Wilde, or with one of our friends in the local area. They are cooked with love and care within the Nourishing Traditions / Weston A. Price protocols.
You will be added to a Group Chat for the Retreat, and we will communicate with the group about what you could bring. Some people will be designated specifics e.g. ‘you bring the sour dough and butter’ while others will be given loose directions e.g. ‘you bring a salad and a sweet dish’.
We’ve found this to be a lovely way of connecting, sharing wisdom and nourishing ourselves in more ways than one.
Questions?
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These Retreats are for people who identify as women (including teens). The Retreats are not for young girls. Babes in arms are welcome in most instances. Potential participants may be required to attend a 15min video interview with Hollie before the Retreat to check we are a right fit.
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There are 15 places available for each session. With Hollie and our staff team, that makes a maximum of 20 women at any Circle.
Smallish groups are important for this model of trauma-informed group work.
If we end up with a high number of women interested, we will put on a second group, rather than increase the size.
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Retreats are an opportunity for growth. The trauma-informed space will be very different to any other experiences you’ve had in self-help groups and with other women. Hollie sets and holds clear group boundaries to ensure everyone can be safe and secure in the shared space.
Collaboration and Co-regulation are important pillars of this work, along with Choice, Learning and Integration. If you have concerns about being with a group of women, have a chat to Hollie.
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Yes. The group is intentionally small, trauma-informed, and invitational. You choose how much to participate, and you’ll never be pushed to share more than feels safe.
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Hollie offers Scholarships and Volunteer places. If these options would benefit you, please mention your situation in your initial interview.
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Sygfa the therapy-hound-in-training is always around at Retreats. If dogs are a concern for you (either for fear, grief or allergy) please talk to Hollie in your initial interview. There are a myriad of options to modulate the puppy experience so that you can feel safe and secure in our space.
Our horses are always nearby, and on the property we also live with goats, chooks, guinea fowl and cats.
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Many women who work with Hollie use medical cannabis products on prescription to manage anxiety, chronic pain and other symptoms. If your Retreat experience requires you to engage with your prescription cannabis, please keep to common smoking expectations and burn (smoke or vape) flower outdoors and away from the main group.
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Whatever feels comfortable and enjoyable for you and your body. Ensure you can move easily and you have appropriate footwear for being on land. Layers are usually helpful as the weather can be unpredictable and sometimes process work can heighten temperatures. Often after process work your body temperature will drop, so having a shawl or jacket is great support. Some women like flowy dresses and robes, and some like yoga pants and pyjamas, and others like jeans and puffy jackets. There’s no special uniform that witchy women are supposed to wear and you will not be judged for wearing something that’s not typical in the self-help scene. As Self Crafters, whatever you wear is the perfect creative expression of you on this day, in this moment; and everyone else will be equally in their own perfect expression too.
Become part of the team
Discounted Rates
on Retreats and Circles
VOLLIES
A limited number of Vollie positions are available for a discounted fee. Vollies must be physically capable to help with setup, packdown, kitchen and gophering.
There are also Vollie positions for farm work at The Wilde in the lead-in to events.
Vollies receive discounted tickets. Contact admin@selfcraft.me
SCHOLARSHIPS
The Scholarship program supports women who do not have the means to attend. Please consider donating to the Scholarship Fund. Scholarships are prioritised for those with financial needs that fit these criteria:
Women of Culturally and Linguistic Diverse Groups (CALD)
Indigenous women
Women with a DFV story
Women who have recently lost a child or intimate loved one
Women with excluded or marginalised gender, body, kinship, and sexuality (GBKS) lived experiences
If you would like to apply for a discounted rate under the Scholarship fund, please send an email. All information you share with us is 100% confidential. admin@selfcraft.me
What Women Say…
I really enjoyed connecting with you Hollie, and your beautiful property and horses, and I am interested in further connection.
~ Kelly
I loved working with the horses, swimming, the ceremony, night swim, co-creating the food and enjoying getting to know the group, the awareness/resource exercises and content to explore process work.
~ Sara-Jane
There was such beauty in witnessing other wild women remember pieces of themselves, alongside myself, feeling into the feminine lineage and remembering - Women have gathered, descended, created and shape shifted for eons.
~ Lisa
📷 A note on imagery: The photographs on this page were created during a planned branding shoot with Julia Meon Photography. We are committed to vital representation, while also honouring the privacy and protection of our real ceremonial spaces. These moments are intentionally posed to reflect the feeling and texture of Self Crafting work, without intruding on the sacredness of live circles. Deep thanks to the wildflower women who showed up and lent their sparkle to this epic creation day.
