About Us
Ravensong Retreats is the loving creation of founders Amy Goetz and Adele Peters- Johnson. It is the outcome of Amy and Adele’s common vision and desire to provide relaxing yet informative, and healing retreats to women and men seeking time away from the stresses of daily life. Their commitment to clients is to provide a safe, secure, relaxing yet stimulating experience with the Sacred, while remaining attentive to the realities of 21st century demands and constraints. Our focus is on reconnecting with the Earth and with others, both human and non-human. Our goal is to help our clients find THEIR way, not THE way on this amazing journey through life.
About Amy
Amy Goetz is by trade a massage therapist and reflexologist. She divides her time between clients and being outdoors, mainly in her garden. For the last few years Amy has been developing her understanding with the concept of finding balance in the world we inhabit. She has discovered that being aware of your body's ability to move through space has a huge impact on how you view the world. An avid learner Amy is often found in the presence of books, where she soaks up knowledge of story, myth, and spirituality. A true walker between the world, Amy incorporates Faery doctoring into all aspects of her life these days. She finds her Faery allies are key to teaching her how to remain balanced in body, mind, and spirit. A person often finds miraculous things happen in the presence of this gifted individual. Amy is a magical being able to transform all she touches. A true anam cara to many, she listens with her whole body and acknowledges the divine in each person she has the privilege to interact with.
Amy has a degree in K-12 art education, massage training in Swedish and Traditional Thai, national reflexology certification, shamanic training from various sources, and teaches several bodywork and intuitive classes around the country.
About Adele
Adele, a former corporate senior manager in both the banking and telecommunications industries, believes in balancing and integrating the many facets of our lives as we work to become whole, capable, compassionate Beings. Active in the AIDS community since 1989, she was the Media Coordinator for the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt display in Seattle and served on the Board of Directors for a local AIDS agency. She has also volunteered extensively in women’s health care and other community service areas. World travel has also provided Adele with a broader view of life in our global village. Her corporate, volunteer and life experiences provide her with wisdom, insight and perspective on many of life’s challenges. Adele brings knowledgeable and practical advice to her teaching and consulting practice. She believes that one’s spirituality should be expressed in every day life and that no matter where we are, we can, with intent, live our soul’s purpose.
Adele facilitates Shamanic journeys for groups and individuals. She offers a safe space with intuitive yet practical interpretations of journey experiences to enable her clients to apply teachings to everyday life. She has developed her shamanic skills over a number of years working under the guidance of multiple Shamans from various cultural traditions. She is also a certified Reiki Master. In her spare time she works with acrylic media, using a Shamanic framework to create Sacred Art as a physical expression of her spiritual Being. She is also an avid gardener, photographer, reader and music lover.
About Our Name
We chose the name Ravensong Retreats because it embodies the joy of song with the qualities often associated to the Raven. Ravens are deemed by some as the most highly intelligent of all birds. Within their natural habitats they work conjointly with wolves to the benefit of both by flying ahead of a wolf pack seeking prey then returning to the pack and communicating the location of their find. When the wolves have taken their fill of downed prey, the raven will swoop in and glean food from the remains, demonstrating their qualities of teamwork, communication, intelligence, and practicality. And in they ’re play with mates they ice glide, which simply has to be fun!
Because at Ravensong Retreats we draw on traditions from around the globe, having the Raven as a representative animal for us made sense. The Raven is prominent in the myths and legends of many cultures including Native American/First Nation, Celtic, Norse, Egyptian, East Indian, and Aboriginal Pacific Island traditions. They are seen in many cultures as mystical beings, often utilized by ancient gods and goddesses as messengers. In Norse mythology, for example, the Ravens Hugin and Munin sit on the god Odin's shoulders and bring to his ears all the news they see and hear; their names are Thought and Memory. Odin sends them out with each dawn to fly over the world, in order he may learn everything that happens.
Sometimes portrayed as “the Trickster” Raven myths are also balanced with tales of Raven as Creator, giver of light, water and fire. In Northwest Native American myth from the Alaskan Haida people the Raven was said to have stolen the Sun to bring light to humankind. It is the sustaining light of Spirit that we hope to bring to the clients of Ravensong Retreats.
To explore more about Raven in mythology, the following sites, among many others, are
available:
Raven in mythology, Wikipedia
Raven in mythology, Raven
Family
Common Raven, Answers.com