BRINGING THE BONES 2026-27
a year long training programme in rites of passage and vision fast leadership
‘William Blake said that the garden of the soul is already planted and is waiting for the water of life. Call it the water of attention. There are innate ideas, dreams, stories, buried in people. When we don’t water those seeds, culture loses ideas. It loses imagination. It loses the capacity to dream itself forward.’
-Michael Meade
event Profile
Dates
March 2026-May 2027
price
3150 / 2650*
Location
DART VALLEY
event type
leadership training
suitability
adults
BRINGING THE BONES
What is Bringing the Bones?
Bringing the Bones is a year-long programme in contemporary wilderness rites of passage work, that culminates in a 4 day vision fast ceremony to be held on Dartmoor in the UK. The programme is a personal and experiential journey of nature immersion (using practices such as medicine walks, threshold crossings, and vision fasts), and of letting that process guide us towards a clearer sense of attunement with ourselves and with the world around us.
The opportunity is also woven into the course to start learning and practicing some of the core skills required to hold others in this sort of ceremonial wilderness work. In order to offer the most comprehensive experience to those involved, this course is limited to 12 participants.
Who is the course aimed at?
The course is for anyone with an appreciation for the potency of spending time in the natural world, and who feel drawn to nurture that through a deeply personal journey of remembrance, rediscovery and reconnection.
This programme will be of particular benefit to those involved in leading nature-based courses, and offers a developmental pathway in the longer apprenticeship towards guiding others in initiatory wilderness experiences.
How is the course structured?
The programme consists of 4 residential camps over 5 days each, a final camp over 12 days, plus 5 online meetings to prepare for each module. The first 4 modules will be located in the wild and beautiful Dart Valley on Dartmoor, with the final camp – which contains the 4 day solo fast – held in a more remote setting a few miles away.
To support their ongoing learning throughout the course, participants will be given online access to specific texts and core media, as well as 2 individual support sessions from the course leaders.
What happens on each module?
The teaching themes within the course originate from the work of Meredith Little and Steven Foster of the School of Lost Borders and are enhanced by Bill Plotkin’s work on the 4 directions and his ’eco-centric wheel of human development’, with the ceremonial containers of the vision fast based on an approach that comes to us through the School of Lost Borders.
The basic structure of the first 4 modules will include a 1 day medicine walk based on each of the 4 directions. To prepare for this there will be focused council time for participants to set their intention for the threshold crossing, and then time to share their story on their return and have it mirrored back to them by the guides and the other participants. The final module, which includes the 4 day and night fast, is similar but with more time for each participant to prepare for, and integrate from, their threshold time.
Much of the programme will be spent sitting in circle, learning the simple and powerful arts of council, intention setting, and mirroring, with time as well to nurture those old-world skills of living together on the land and of becoming a village.
Course Facilitation:
Rebeh Salisbury and Bill Wood are the Course Guides for the 2026 programme. Rupert Marques will be our Guest Tutor offering an online teaching, followed by Q&As, during the first 4 Zoom meetings, to outline each of the 4 directions and to help prepare for the upcoming module.
The dates for the 2026-27 programme are:
- Zoom Meeting – Introduction and Preparation March 29th 7-9pm
- Module 1 – South: Spring to Summer (childhood) April 16th-20th 2026
- Zoom Meeting – Check-in and Preparation June 17th 7-9pm
- Module 2 – West: Summer to Autumn (adolescence) July 22nd-26th 2026
- Zoom Meeting – Check-in and Preparation October 7th 7-9pm
- Module 3 – North: Autumn to Winter (adulthood) November 5th-9th 2026
- Zoom Meeting – Check-in and Preparation February 7th 7-9pm
- Module 4 – East: From Winter to Spring (elderhood) April 1st-5th 2027
- Zoom Meeting – Check-in and Preparation April 25th 7-9pm
- Module 5 – the Vision Fast Ceremony May 20th-31st 2027
Clearing
Do not try to save the whole world or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create a clearing in the dense forest of your life
and wait there patiently,
until the song that is your life
falls into your own cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know how to give yourself
to this world
so worth of rescue.
– Martha Postlewaite
FEES £3150 / £2650*
*some lower cost concessionary places offered subject to application / evidence of financial need AND the overall economy of the programme
HOW TO FIND OUT MORE
If you would like to read more about the theory underpinning the course please click here.
Join our free online Meet the Leader / Q&A event on Jan 28th from 7-8pm. To register or to ask a question about the programme in general please complete a booking enquiry form here.
HOW TO BOOK
When you are ready to book a £250 deposit will reserve your place. See How to Book tab below for next steps.
Essential Information
COURSE GUIDES:
REBEH SALISBURY
Rebeh grew up in the Australian sub tropics where she cultivated a deep love for the earth and wild places. For the past 17 years she has been pursuing a friendship with the river dart and beautiful Devon with her beloved family. She is a perpetual learner, delving into holistic science, social ecology, permaculture, eco facilitation, mythology, playback theatre, kinesiology, wilderness rites of passage and women’s menstrual mentoring and now works as a naturopathic nutritionist where she supports people to develop a deeper relationship with their bodies and health. All her work contains the intention of supporting the beautiful, fragile and vitally important relationship between the human soul and the phenomenal wild earth, for the deeper wellbeing of both.
BILL WOOD
Bill has spent over 30 years working in the yoga world, was a psychotherapist for 10 years until 2017, and has been mentoring on Wildwise’s Call of the Wild Programme since 2019. In his downtime he has always been drawn to the natural world and, in recent years, has felt a growing pull towards ceremonial wilderness work, with a decade of involvement now in seasonal earth-based rituals on Dartmoor, and through the richness of his own journey a few years ago on Bringing the Bones.
With Gaby he has 2 gorgeous kids in their 20s, has recently completed a training in Parts Work (IFS), and can often be found wandering on the moor with a scruffy lurcher, or paddling a canoe down the River Dart.
GUEST TUTOR: RUPERT MARQUES
My background is in environmental and outdoor education with an emphasis on experiential approaches to exploring ecological identity and personal agency. For several years I trained and guided with the School of Lost Borders (U.S.) in Contemporary wilderness rites of passage, and now offer this work here in Europe.
The other thread of my livelihood centres on contemplative practice. I have practiced in the insight meditation tradition for over 25 years in Europe, America and Asia, and teach at various retreat centres in Europe and beyond.
In recent years I have sought to bring the fields of contemplative practice and wilderness immersion together. This has been supported by living and working at Ecodharma, a contemplative retreat community in the Spanish Pyrenees dedicated to the movements for social justice and ecological sustainability.
I currently work with individuals and organizations offering a range of retreats and trainings that explore personal empowerment and resilience in service of creating a more just and beneficial human presence on this Earth. Visit handontheearth.org for more info.
A full kit list will be provided in the joining instructions after booking. Participants will be camping using their own tents. Tents can be hired at a nominal rate if helpful.
You will need to bring:
- Tent & sleeping gear (bag/mat/pillow etc)
- Clothes for all weathers (ideally layers) include waterproofs and sturdy footwear
- Torch & spare batteries
- Note book & pen
- Food for lunches & snacks
- Water bottle
The modules will take place at Lower Meadow, our private wild meadow site near Newbridge on Dartmoor.
Detailed joining instructions including directions will be provided.
- Food – breakfasts & suppers are included. Participants will need to bring food for lunches.
- Diets – we can offer vegan, vegetarian & gluten free options. Participants will need to provide food for any other special dietary needs
HOW TO APPLY
A £250 reservation deposit will secure your place.
Please note this deposit is non refundable in the case of client cancellation so please check that you are happy with all the dates and details before proceeding. In the unlikely event that the programme does not run all fees will be fully refunded.
For any queries in advance of booking please complete a booking enquiry form here.
If you wish to book you can book instantly online here.
TERMS & CONDITIONS
This programme, like most of our training and mentoring programmes, is hosted by WildWise Enterprises CiC (not Events Ltd), and is covered by specific terms & conditions. We can supply a copy on request. Please note:
- As for all of our programmes and events reservation deposits are non-refundable unless the event cannot run or is cancelled by ourselves.
- Due to the nature, duration and cost of these longer programmes we generally confirm the course between 8-12 weeks beforehand and ask for a balance payment to signal your commitment at that time. Please note: for this reason we are unable to accommodate balance refund requests once the course is formally confirmed.