The HEART OF THE WOUNDED HEALER 2025

The Transformative Power of Ceremony

A five-day residential educational training intensive

with Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés Réyes

October 14-19, 2025

Prerequisites: One previous training (Storytelling and Art as A Sacred Act exempted) and a possible 10-minute interview

Tuition: $2275 (does not include accommodations and meals)

coming soon

The Heart of the Wounded Healer, with Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés Réyes, is an annual, five-day training intensive that delves deeply into the wounds we carry – whether inherited or self-inflicted – and unveils their hidden wisdom. Learners gain the tools to harness this wisdom and channel it into impactful work for their lives and in the world, all from a unique and powerful two-world perspective.

OVERVIEW

In 2025, Dr. Estés invites those with a deep commitment to personal growth and healing to immerse themselves fully in this in-depth and pragmatic training which will be guided by Tezcatlipoca, Smoking Mirror, the ancient God of Memory and Ceremony in traditional medicine of our Mexica tribes.

The significance and power of the sacred Force, Tezcatlipoca, in the Mexica tradition, and the ancient observations of the life of memories-- the Life Giver-- will be the central story to find one’s own way with ceremony –your own one-of-a-kind way of noting and blessing and helping and healing whatever and whoever needs to be noted, blessed, helped and healed.

The long life of memory now remembered, now forgotten in the smoking mirror -- will be the talisman and also the mirror forward to show us our next era… the mirror so thinly silvered, so delicate, yet of profound reflective strength is an able and durable symbol for how we are put together too--so delicate, so frail in certain ways – yet so sensitive to light and dark in our lives, so accurately reflecting truths—these we will note in ourselves in the smoking mirror— You are invited to bring a small handheld mirror to this training, no more than about 3”x4”.

Ceremony comes from profound memory… its ability to mark important transitions, honor significant events, and bring people together in shared experience, create the oral tradition of remembering one’s history that would otherwise be lost. Ceremonies provide a sense of structure and ritual that can help individuals and communities navigate change, loss, and celebration for successes and opportunities. They offer paths and words and dance and song to acknowledge and validate the emotions and experiences of those involved, creating a space for reflection, connection, and rising up again or anew. Through symbolic actions, words, artifacts and gestures, ceremonies have the power to unite people in meaning—often a rare consideration in the talky-talk world.

You will be guided to consider how to instill a sense of belonging and reinforce cultural and social bonds as you make your ceremonies about ‘matters that matter to you.’ Whether marking a rite of passage, commemorating a milestone, or expressing collective values, ceremonies hold kinship as a deeper sense of meaning and connection to our lives.

Personal preparation is crucial when it comes to initiating and enacting a ceremony. It involves sealing yourself at the beginning, removing yourself from hatred and resentment—these are wounds-- and allowing yourself to heal from past wounds. It's about opening yourself up to Greater and being receptive to Greater’s guidance. And to come to the ceremony with a deep feeling of sincerity and sanctity.

With Dr. Estés guidance, and working in dyads and triads with fellow learners, you will explore what role ceremony plays with Smoking Mirror and can play in your present and future life. When the dominant culture dictates what constitutes ceremony by rote you may feel disconnected, lost.

Dr E will ask: Have you lost any significant ceremonies in your life? Losing ceremony can erode your cultural identity. What does it feel like to be alienated from your culture? How can you identify the absence of ceremony in your life and how did this happen for you? She will speak about the ways to take it all back again.

Dr. Estés teaches ceremony is not confined to religious spaces. It can be found in various aspects of life, from the sacraments and confirmations in the Catholic church to marriage ceremonies, anointings, hands-on healing, imbibing and rites of passage. Each ceremony is a preparation for a journey, whether it's embracing the sacrament for child loss or marking the transition into the next phase of life or returning to the stars.

With Dr. Estés’ guidance you will learn the transformative potential of ceremony and its profound impact on personal healing and transformation. She will show you how to uncover the lost art of creating your own ceremonies, aligning with your truest self, and honoring your unique, individual cultural heritage.

This is not a casual endeavor, but a sacred commitment to living deeply in both worlds with full consciousness and devotion.

This opportunity is to see through ‘the smoke’ of blindness and inattention and being colonized by the overculture… returning to the healing potential within you so you can embark on a sacred, transformative journey with Dr. Estés at your side. We traverse the inner and outer worlds at different junctures in life. Ceremony helps us to do this with consciousness, confidence, and profound healing and blessing for ourselves and the people we are helping.

SMOKING MIRROR CHANT
by dr. e.

May the blue fire of mirror imbue you,

With pollen and dew, ancient and true.

With steps precise,

Our spirits enter the dance ring for a payable price.

As the elders speak, suddenly the worlds leak,

And your old Tradition comes to seek

you --in vows then shall we gentle bind you,

we truly will find you…

as you Let your body’s dances gleam;

as you will pull down the smoke of a powerful dream,

your new ideal washed in ‘never seen before’ streams.

Wearing our chants we rise, toward the skies,

uniting our hearts, before our own eyes.

The fire burns bright, an ancient sight,

Banishing shadows, embracing the Light.

In kinship we hold, unheard stories unfold,

weaving our living blanket, more precious than gold.

Let us partake, for it is for old paths we awake,

Blessing one another to merge with Greater-- for all our sakes.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

By registering for this training you acknowledge your desire to comply with the following:

This is a training for the dedicated learner who has and is working to help place ego in second position, Soul in first position.

It is for people who can enter “the closed container," meaning, remain in soul and spirit, attend fully every session, and be present and be willing to go deep -- perhaps for some, while enduring discomfort, if any, (physical, emotional, or psychological) that might arise, for this may be part of one’s own personal process.

It is for those who have the physical ability to do some of this work outdoors if asked, (nothing arduous, but being able to be outdoors on a short trek for instance).

It is for those who think they hear the summons and are serious, who seek to learn the benefits and honored ways of prayer and ceremony, who can value the spirit in all things, including one’s own ancestors, and listen with an open and ‘beginner’s mind’ and heart.

SCHEDULE

October 14 - 19, 2025
Sunrise Ranch, Loveland, CO

TUESDAY | October 14, 2025

2:00—5:00pm Registration and orientation at Sunrise Ranch

6:00 & 6:15pm Dinner served

7:00—9:00pm Meet with Dr. Estés Réyes

WEDNESDAY - SATURDAY | October 15-18, 2025

7:30am Breakfast

9:30am—12:00pm Meet with Dr. Estés Réyes

12:00 & 12:15pm Lunch

2:30—5:00pm Meet with Dr.Estés Réyes

6:00 & 6:15pm Dinner

7:00—9:00pm Meet with Dr. Estés Réyes

SUNDAY | October 19, 2025