A Letter from Iona
Written by Britta Schmitz, from the sunroom at our retreat house Traigh Bhan
Dear friends,
I am sitting here in the sun-flooded conservatory at our retreat house, Traigh Bhan, on the sacred Isle of Iona, looking out over the turquoise sea and white sands towards the Isle of Mull, the northerly wind howling as I write, the ever-changing cloudscape and late summer shades taking my breath away … CaptionAfter completing our SCIO team retreat, Terence, Alex, and Sara just left us this morning and tomorrow Andrew, Donald, Anka (my dog), and I will follow. Fi and Ellie are going to arrive later to hold our Spirit of Iona retreat weeks for the next month …
From left to right: Britta, Donald (with Anka the dog), Ellie, Fi and Andrew.
Surprise Visitors
At this moment, we have two lovely ladies meditating in Traigh Bhan’s sanctuary. They came all the way from Costa Rica to visit this tiny house in a field of cows and sheep by the sea, close to the beach of the white singing sands on the northern tip of this rugged island at the end of the world on the west coast of Scotland. They surprised us with their visit from the other side of the earth while Donald is tidying the garden, Anka is resting on the sofa, and Andrew is chopping onions for our next meal, while sorting away the food order, and doing laundry in preparation for the arrival of our next group of participants.
Andrew multitasking in the kitchen, eating outside the sunroom, Donald tidying the garden, Anka resting, meditating at Traigh Bhan’s sanctuary
This morning, Judith from France – another surprise visitor – joined us for our 9am morning meditation. Our team holds this communal spiritual practice every weekday on Zoom and I am excited that very soon we will invite you to join us! Over the years, Judith had stayed several times at Traigh Bhan during the winter months. On one of her visits, she wrote a beautiful song, which she shared with us. It was lovely to listen to it in the place where it came into being and to hear more about her life story and the big changes she is going through, just like many of us at this time …
Druid Stones
This morning I also spent time talking to Andrew and heard about his experiences of holding the Spirit of Iona retreats over the summer months. I listened to all the magical stories he had to share, learning more about the energy with which he holds this special space, and our guests. In this context he recommended a video about the spiritual experiences of our co-founders Peter and Eileen Caddy, and their friend Dorothy Maclean, which I immediately watched, and loved.
Master Druid Stone in the sanctuary at Traigh Bhan.
A bit later he told me about a Druid Stone, which lives in our sanctuary, and its special energies. This started me on a whole journey of reading a book about the history of the Druid Stones of Iona and at the moment I am listening to the beautiful soul music that came through one of them. I also wrote an email to the German author of the book to find out more about our Druid Stone here. I am sure Andrew and I will share more about this in the future as it is such an exciting exploration full of synchronicities and Spirit!
Wow, what a day! And it is only 14:14 right now!
Island flow
Many of our days here were full of everyday miracles like this. Here you can make a plan for the day and then you’ll just have to go with what presents itself to you. Going with the flow and the rhythms of the house, the people, the season, and the island and even with, at times, the mind struggles with the daily adjustments to this natural flow of island life, all gets done. We meditated together, planned for our educational offerings of the year ahead, cared for the garden, cleaned the house, sorted cupboards, did some repairs, washed windows, prepared, blessed and ate wonderful meals, created flower arrangements, took photographs, walked, swam, and much more … and luckily we were blessed with glorious sunshine for most of the week.
Sara, Britta, Terence and Donald blessing the food at lunch in Traigh Bhan.
Golden threads
For me one of the most meaningful things during this retreat were the magical moments that seemed to be a golden thread, a theme throughout the week. One of my favourite ones was finding out more about Lucy Bruce. She built her house Grianan, meaning house of the Sun, in between Traigh Bhan and Iona Abbey in 1930, and wrote a book called When I Consider The Heavens under her spiritual name Lucia. When she lived on Iona, Lucy was in close contact with Jessica Ferreira – who owned Traigh Bhan at the time – and Ella Horsey, who lived on the Isle of Erraid just across the sea. All three of these mystics worked with the energy streams of the Network of Light, strengthening the energetic pathways which connect us all, holding a container of enhanced spiritual consciousness. So many synchronicities took place over the time I spent at Traigh Bhan, that it felt right to read out guidance received by Lucia in our monthly Foundations of Light Meditation, which we held live on Zoom with 400 members of our global community. It was amazing to sit in this small sanctuary at the end of the world with so many of you!
“When I have ceased to care how I appear in the eyes of humans, I shall be able to help them truly according to their view, for it will no longer be I, but the Light that will shine through me.”
Rainbows
What a gift to experience such a magical time here with so many special moments and synchronicities. It leaves me deeply touched and reconnected with the wonder and magic of the Western Isles and the Divine, Source, Oneness, Spirit or whatever you would like to name the Great Mystery. ‘Even if you are just sitting in the house, magic tends to come and find you here! And just now writing about it all a rainbow appeared outside the window – I kid you not!
Rainbow outside the sun room.
New experiences on the Western Isles of Iona and Erraid
Our retreat house Traigh Bhan in winter with geese in the fields next to it and snow on the mountains on Mull.
Peace of Iona 9 – 22 November 2024
I am very happy that I will be returning in November together with my partner Donald, and Anka (the mini labradoodle) to hold the two-week winter retreat Peace of Iona to go deeper within. During the darker time of the year, when the nights draw in, and the hearth is warm, and the candles shine softly, we will explore the mysteries within our hearts and the magic of this small, sacred island off the Scottish west coast.
Our plans for 2025
In last week’s planning meetings we have been talking more about our wish to offer longer and deeper experiences on the islands of Erraid and Iona and we are very excited to let you know more details about next year's offerings soon.
This is what I can tell you at this point:
We are planning to hold retreats that last two weeks at a time around the period of Winter Solstice, Christmas, and New Year (starting this year!) and over the Easter period next year.
Winter sunrise over Mull, seen from Iona.
From spring 2025 we are also going to offer our new Experience Weeks on Erraid and of course we will continue to hold our thriving Spirit of Iona retreat weeks on a weekly basis from March 2025.
We will continue to celebrate the Celtic Festival Weeks on Erraid and are very much looking forward to fully immersing ourselves into the seasonal rhythms of nature in this ancient landscape with the traditional celebrations of the islands and their communities.
We will put these new experiences into next year's calendar as soon as possible, and will let you know more about our schedule and the details of our offerings as soon as they are ready …
Looking from Iona over the sea towards the snow capped mountains on the Isle of Mull.
Winter’s Embrace, 20 December 2024 – 3 January 2025
… but before this happens maybe some of you would like to spend a very special time here during the darkest time of the year and share Winter’s Embrace with Michael and Anja, who welcome you to a two-week long retreat over Winter Solstice, Christmas, and New Year 2024 in ritual, silence, and celebration.
If you would like to…
… join our special two week long winter retreats Peace of Iona and Winter’s Embrace and find out more about all our experiences, please find out more here:
… take part in our monthly global Foundations of Light Meditation, please reserve your free space here:
… receive our Weekly Inspiration email, please join our mailing list here:
… listen to our surprise guest Judith’s song Still, written during a retreat at Traigh Bhan on Iona, please enjoy:
