We're canceling our Hawaii retreat🌋(the why & what's next)

The wildfires on Maui & the Big Island began to blaze the night of the 8th.

By the 9th, my inner-world began following suit.

The town of Lahaina, totally leveled.

A leveled feeling in my heart as I read more, saw more, learned more, listened more.

Tourism in any place with indigenous folks currently resisting a colonial project is wrought.

But tourism on Hawaii – an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with limited resources (especially water in times of drought), being bought up by hotels, resorts, folks flipping homes into AirBnBs, and millionaires and billionaires who want a paradisiacal second home – is the kind of land extraction and exploitation that leaves native Hawaiians, frankly, f*cked.

You can listen to more on that right here.

And like, somewhere inside before planning this retreat, I already knew and felt this.

But I thought – We’ll go to an off-grid preserved eco-sanctuary and learn about the native Hawaiian trees. We’ll donate $111 to the Hawai’i Land Trust for every person who comes. We’ll hire a Hawaiian chef. We’ll contribute to the native economy. We’ll do tourism on Hawaii the “good” way.

Listen. I’m not here to argue with folks about this. Some of y’all reading this would probably think, Yes! That’s awesome! What’s “wrong” with that approach? It’s “complicated” anyway, because Hawaiian economy depends so much on tourism.

I hear you.

I said the same thing to myself.

But then, the fires set ablaze, and resources became even more limited.

But then, I’d been chatting in my DMs with a native Hawaiian woman throughout my sales process. She graciously questioned and challenged me, invited me into deeper awareness around the risks of what I was doing by hosting a retreat on Hawaii when I’m not from those lands.

But then, a memory of the day I gave birth to Noah. The Mother Fire that arose in me that afternoon looking into his ocean blue eyes. I will work for the climate, the preservation of our sacred earth & water resources, so that future generations have a chance at receiving the beauty & abundance of our precious wild home, I told myself.

And who better to listen to about working for the climate than the indigenous people who’ve never lost contact with that sacred, essential call?

Every day since becoming a Mother, I am confronted with outdated Maiden approaches. To work. To value coherence. To love, sex, marriage.

It’s all different now, and my body & soul are amidst a grand operating system upgrade. I’m being deconstructed and remade daily over here. I’m grateful and tired and wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Okay, so what’s next, instead of the original MAGIC 4X: Entering the Motherverse program?

First of all, the retreat center we rented was non-refundable. We’re looking for people who’ve been displaced or first responders who’ve been on the front lines of support who could use a 5-night respite at this beautiful sanctuary to heal and recover. If you know a group of people, either on Big Island or Maui, who fits the bill, please connect us. We have the retreat center booked from Sept 18th - Sept 23rd and would love to offer it as a gift. It sleeps up to 20 people, so a few families could gather and recover together.

Secondly, Jasmine and I are going to recenter and reconfigure our Entering the Motherverse retreat offering, adjusting it to be an online offering. We’re actually really excited about this, as it’ll allow us to serve way more people at a way more affordable price. If you’d like to get updates about our new Entering the Motherverse Coven, click here, and we’ll make sure you don’t miss the announcements.

Sending you big love & wild trust in the brazen truth in your beloved heart.

xox,
Rachael