Esalen Institute is open! However, Highway 1 to the south is closed — please review the alternate route directions.
Please note: On Wednesday September 20, online registration may be unavailable for up to 15 minutes while system maintenance is performed. If the 'Register Now' page does not load, please wait about 15 minutes and try again.
Traditional African rituals are an important part of our global spiritual heritage. They have much to teach us about many different forms of creation: how the universe was brought into being, how to manifest things we want in the world, and how to create a life filled with divine harmony.
In this workshop, we will introduce the world of African ritual through a screening of Marques Redd’s experimental film Obi Mbu (The Primordial House): An Igbo Creation Myth – a fantasia of dance and theatrical performance shot with fluorescent body paint and ultraviolet light. From there, we will explore a variety of ritual modalities designed to enliven all the senses.
Come prepared to engage with the Primordial Blackness that precedes creation and embodies infinite possibility. We’ll use African symbols and movement to energize your intentions and activate the cosmic strings that link everything in creation in order to draw your desires to you. Experience symbolic death in order to be resurrected into new life, and employ the magic of spaces and thresholds.
Traditional African rituals are a powerful and effective mode of spiritual expression. They are grounded in the view that humans must vigilantly maintain harmonious relationships in both worldly and divine realms in order to prosper. Ritual is the means to negotiate responsible relationships in the human community and with the ancestors, spirits, divinities, and cosmos. Filled with cognitive complexity, wisdom, and aesthetic splendor, African rituals are also very practical. They provide techniques for manifestation, fostering empowerment, affecting transformation, cultivating vitality, and expanding human consciousness.
This workshop will provide you with many ritual tools that you will be able to use to plug directly into potent spiritual energy to empower your life!
Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.
Dr. Marques Redd is a traditional African cosmologist, independent scholar, filmmaker, sculptor, and art curator based in Pittsburgh, PA. He has degrees from Harvard and UC-Berkeley and has trained in Afro-Cuban, ancient Egyptian, Yoruba, Dogon, Igbo, and Dagara spiritual systems.
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Friday
8:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Saturday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
4:00 pm – 6:15 pm
7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Sunday
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Summer Groovers will experience Esalen in a format similar to our Self Guided Explorations workshops. Each Summer Groove week or weekend will open and close with a circle, and be filled with festive, nostalgic activities that harken back to those days of yore.
More activities can be found on our open class schedule.
See general schedule information including arrival, departure and meal times.
Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive, program-specific tuition. Please note that not all accommodation levels are available for every workshop and additional faculty fees may apply.
We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.
Please note: On Wednesday September 20, online registration may be unavailable for up to 15 minutes while system maintenance is performed. If the 'Register Now' page does not load, please wait about 15 minutes and try again.
Click Register Now to view availability of accommodations and all-inclusive tuition that includes lodging, three meals per day, access to the baths, and all activities on the Summer Groove schedule.
We offer scholarship funds for those with financial need. Learn more.
For this workshop, you will register and pay for accommodations and tuition in two separate steps.
Second, click Book Accommodations from this page and enter the password to complete your reservation to stay at Esalen.
Prices for accommodations include your lodging, meals, open classes, and use of the baths and other facilities. View partner program accommodations pricing.
As of June 30, 2023 we no longer require a negative COVID test at the time of check in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.
All guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.
In addition to proof of vaccination, all guests and faculty must provide proof of negative test results at time of check-in. Please read our current COVID safety guidelines for complete details prior to booking your stay.
Effective January 7, 2022 in response to the rapid spread of the new Omicron variant, all guests and faculty will provide proof of negative PCR, NAAT, or antigen test results at time of check-in. The test must be taken within 72 hours nd results must come from a laboratory or healthcare provider.Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Effective December 15 in accordance with new guidance from Governor Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Health, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are required to wear masks in all indoor public settings, irrespective of vaccine status, for the next four weeks (December 15, 2021 through January 15, 2022). Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Effective November 19, 2021, in accordance with new guidance from the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, all guests, students, staff, residents, and faculty are no longer required to wear masks indoors on campus. Please read our updated COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Starting November 5, 2021, due to substantial levels of COVID-19 transmission in Monterey County, a mask mandate established by the Monterey County Board of Supervisors will go into effect. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
All guests will be required to provide proof of vaccination upon arrival starting September 3, 2021. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Masks are no longer mandated indoors or outdoors, except during massage sessions. Guests are not required to provide testing or vaccination verification before arriving on campus. Please read our COVID safety guidelines prior to booking your stay.
Traditional African rituals are an important part of our global spiritual heritage. They have much to teach us about many different forms of creation: how the universe was brought into being, how to manifest things we want in the world, and how to create a life filled with divine harmony.
In this workshop, we will introduce the world of African ritual through a screening of Marques Redd’s experimental film Obi Mbu (The Primordial House): An Igbo Creation Myth – a fantasia of dance and theatrical performance shot with fluorescent body paint and ultraviolet light. From there, we will explore a variety of ritual modalities designed to enliven all the senses.
Come prepared to engage with the Primordial Blackness that precedes creation and embodies infinite possibility. We’ll use African symbols and movement to energize your intentions and activate the cosmic strings that link everything in creation in order to draw your desires to you. Experience symbolic death in order to be resurrected into new life, and employ the magic of spaces and thresholds.
Traditional African rituals are a powerful and effective mode of spiritual expression. They are grounded in the view that humans must vigilantly maintain harmonious relationships in both worldly and divine realms in order to prosper. Ritual is the means to negotiate responsible relationships in the human community and with the ancestors, spirits, divinities, and cosmos. Filled with cognitive complexity, wisdom, and aesthetic splendor, African rituals are also very practical. They provide techniques for manifestation, fostering empowerment, affecting transformation, cultivating vitality, and expanding human consciousness.
This workshop will provide you with many ritual tools that you will be able to use to plug directly into potent spiritual energy to empower your life!
Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.
Dr. Marques Redd is a traditional African cosmologist, independent scholar, filmmaker, sculptor, and art curator based in Pittsburgh, PA. He has degrees from Harvard and UC-Berkeley and has trained in Afro-Cuban, ancient Egyptian, Yoruba, Dogon, Igbo, and Dagara spiritual systems.
October 21–23, 2022
This program is full. Find another.
Applications are closed.
Applications are closed.
Traditional African rituals are an important part of our global spiritual heritage. They have much to teach us about many different forms of creation: how the universe was brought into being, how to manifest things we want in the world, and how to create a life filled with divine harmony.
In this workshop, we will introduce the world of African ritual through a screening of Marques Redd’s experimental film Obi Mbu (The Primordial House): An Igbo Creation Myth – a fantasia of dance and theatrical performance shot with fluorescent body paint and ultraviolet light. From there, we will explore a variety of ritual modalities designed to enliven all the senses.
Come prepared to engage with the Primordial Blackness that precedes creation and embodies infinite possibility. We’ll use African symbols and movement to energize your intentions and activate the cosmic strings that link everything in creation in order to draw your desires to you. Experience symbolic death in order to be resurrected into new life, and employ the magic of spaces and thresholds.
Traditional African rituals are a powerful and effective mode of spiritual expression. They are grounded in the view that humans must vigilantly maintain harmonious relationships in both worldly and divine realms in order to prosper. Ritual is the means to negotiate responsible relationships in the human community and with the ancestors, spirits, divinities, and cosmos. Filled with cognitive complexity, wisdom, and aesthetic splendor, African rituals are also very practical. They provide techniques for manifestation, fostering empowerment, affecting transformation, cultivating vitality, and expanding human consciousness.
This workshop will provide you with many ritual tools that you will be able to use to plug directly into potent spiritual energy to empower your life!
Learn more about the requirements to receive continuing education credit.
Dr. Marques Redd is a traditional African cosmologist, independent scholar, filmmaker, sculptor, and art curator based in Pittsburgh, PA. He has degrees from Harvard and UC-Berkeley and has trained in Afro-Cuban, ancient Egyptian, Yoruba, Dogon, Igbo, and Dagara spiritual systems.
Esalen Institute
55000 Highway 1
Big Sur, CA 93920
US: 1-831-667-3000
info@esalen.org