Online Advent Retreat
Entering the Mystical Metaphors of the Christmas Story
Facilitated by Carolyn Kolovitz
Whether you identify as Christian or no longer align with your Christian lineage, you might be surprised at the universal wisdom the sacred stories of Christmas reveal about the path of the mystic. Each morning of the retreat, we’ll immerse ourselves in the rich metaphors through visual art, music, storytelling, guided visualization and reflective writing. Take a break from the busyness and baggage of the holiday season and center yourself in the wisdom of your own experience.
Dates & Cost:
Saturday mornings, from 10-11:15 AM CST
Dec 9: The Annunciation: Saying Yes
Dec 16: The Epiphany: Our Journey
Dec 23: The Nativity: Wonder & Awe
Facilitated by Carolyn Kolovitz
Live participation encouraged, but recordings available if you’re not able to be present.
$90 for the series
When I was a little girl, my December ritual was to sit in our living room beside the twinkling tree lights and imagine myself into the coffee table nativity scene. I saw myself with the shepherds underneath a Bethlehem sky full of angels until the angels and the tiny God lying among the ox and cows felt real, became real to me. I wasn’t spiritually advanced, I did the same thing with the Santa’s Workshop pop-up scene that sprang to life when I opened our Ronco Christmas album cover. Both these imaginings were how I felt “The Christmas Spirit.”
When I grew up, I experienced disillusionments that made the Christmas season painful, and I avoided much of it. Adopting my daughter and playing Santa for the first time eased those pains and I turned the car radio to the Christmas station. When O Holy Night played, I cried through the whole song knowing I was part of the weary world who at long last was given a thrill of hope. I unpacked my childhood manger set and over time the rich metaphors of the annunciation, nativity and epiphany slowly unveiled truths of my own longing for and birthing of the Divine.
When I became a grandma and held my grandson fresh from the womb, the angels singing at the Bethlehem birth became real for me in a whole new way, as did the desperate love of the parents and onlookers at the manger. In this season of long winter nights, the Christmas stories are a powerful gateway into the part of my psyche that holds my most painful wounds as well as my deepest capacity to love the world and people around me.
In this Online Advent Retreat join me to immerse yourself in these stories through art, music and guided reflections.
- Carolyn Kolovitz, Retreat Facilitator
Carolyn Kolovitz is a wisdom teacher with a lifelong devotion to the Sacred Feminine and extensive experience accompanying people through transition.
For many years, she facilitated girl groups in schools and other settings, often using the arts to explore coming-of-age and dream new possibilities. Later, she filmed life reviews with people who were elderly or dying and then became a spiritual director and retreat facilitator. Always her mission is to tap people into self-compassion and their own inner knowing. As an artist, Carolyn wrote and performed a play about her girlhood that inspired many local audiences to consider the insidious messages that shape girls’ lives. Her next show was a multimedia event exploring female archetypes in fairy tales, dreams, and religion. Carolyn has a BS in Psychology, an MS in Women’s Studies and an MA in Theology as well as a graduate certificate in Spiritual Direction.