Beyond the Great Mystery: A Samhain Shadow-Work & Insanity Retreat (presented by Drum Temple & Hannah Joy)

The Shadow of Samhain: A Sisterhood Journey into Insanity & the Great Mystery

Presented by Drum Temple x Hannah Joy

📍 Camp St. Augustine, St. Augustine, FL

📅 October 23–25, 2026

This Samhain, as the veil grows thin, we gather at the threshold between worlds to explore the healing power of our SHADOWS.

In this 3-day initiation and ceremonial immersion into the veil-thinning darkness of Samhain meet ourselves through sacred grief and reciprocity rituals, cacao, soul weaving EFT journeys, embodied movement, a full Women's Primal Drumming Ceremony, and Earthen frequency integration.

Limited to 30 women. Earlybird pricing available for 1 week after official release.

Camping on the land available for out-of-town attendees.

Local AirBNBs also available.

Click here to chat with other attendees for carpooling, questions, and anything else.

*Please check the bottom of the page for all necessary parking, attire, and other info for the experience.

*On-site RVs available for rental through the venue (link coming soon)

🎭 A Little Background

Samhain is traditionally a time when the veil thins between the living world and those who have transitioned. In Celtic mythology, the liminal space between living and dead is one of pilgrimage into the shadowlands, movement between light and dark, and ritual offering and sacrifice to the gods. It is also a time of great harvest, earth-tending in preparation for winter rest, and honoring the mysterious and cyclical earthen Goddess, Danu.

With deep Indo-European roots, Danu is both the ancient Celtic Goddess of flowing water and sacred trees, and the Vedic primordial goddess of the cosmic and primeval waters. Both goddesses share the embodiment of the nurturing, Divine Mother.

In this collaboration, we descend into our own inner underworlds — our own primordial waters — pray with the earth and our ancestors, and return to remembered wholeness together.

✨ Overview

In honor of the Indo-European Goddess Danu, we gather to anchor into the Earth's mysteries alongside those who have come before us, bringing nurturing and aliveness to the places we have forgotten, pushed down, numbed, and FEARED.

Across the weekend, we will use

• Ritual Theatre

• Sacred Drumming & Sound

• Deep EFT Soul Work

• Vocal & Full-Body Experiencing

to embody the Goddess of the Shadow — in mask and in vulnerability — so we can walk in TRUTH!

We come from the darkness, and the compost of our past selves helps us REBIRTH through the Earthen womb -- let's do this together in sisterhood.

🌑 Day 1 (Friday, Oct 23): Crossing the Threshold

Land opens 12pm | Opening Ceremony | Dinner Provided

We will:

• Open the land

• Drop into opening circle

• Share a welcome dinner

• Move into cacao and deep intention setting

• Experience a soul-shifting EFT journey to meet our fear, resistance, or grief (Hannah)

• Return to the primordial pulse through a guided journey (Katie)

This is the evening we exhale and unwind together before deepening and facing our infinite potential.

*Attire: casual ceremonial (open to interpretation)

Bring: Water bottle, journal, layer of warmth, comfortable clothes for dancing

🌒 Day 2 (Saturday, Oct 24): Into the Underworld

Full-day immersion | Breakfast & Dinner provided

We will:

• Ease into the morning with optional tea and meditation

• Enjoy an organic breakfast

• Drop into cacao, breathwork, and an EFT journey directly into last night's intention

• Gather for integration

• Roam the land and prepare ourselves for ceremony

• Come together for the Women's Primal Drumming Ceremony

• Close the night in snacks, dancing, and quiet integration

This is the day we rattle it all loose, express, and UNFURL. In sisterhood and safety we will explore our masked selves, our shameful selves, and the healthy ways to express our INSANITY and SHADOW.

*Attire: Ceremonial attire for the evening drumming ceremony; casual for the day

Bring: Water bottle, journal, snack, ceremonial evening attire, djembe & shamanic drum if you have, layer of warmth

**If you are interested in joining the 13 Goddesses to open the evening Women's Primal Drumming Ceremony (7-minute performance & required 1.5 hr rehearsal on Saturday), please purchase your event ticket first then read the information here and fill out the interest form. 

🌓 Day 3 (Sunday, Oct 25): Return to the Light

Morning through afternoon | Brunch & Light Snacks Provided

We will:

• Move gently through optional tea and yoga

• Share brunch together

• Drop into cacao and a final EFT journey to close the portal and invite in what's next

• Settle into a banjo meditation and sound healing for integration and rest

• Close in circle together before we part

This is how we integrate the journey. After rising up from the shadow realms, we drink in light. Bellies full, laid to the side, we ponder how we will continue with our new and transformed selves. Integration is our highest work so that we can BE ourselves in the continued world.

*Attire: Comfortable, casual, or ceremonial — whatever you desire

Bring: Water bottle, journal

100 Women Drumming Miami

The 2nd Women's Primal Drumming Ever :)

About the Facilitators

Katie Berns Lee

Katie Berns Lee is the founder of Drum Temple LLC, where she helps people open their hearts, ground in, and get in touch with their “truest and most primal selves” through deep activation, ancestral remembrance, and reconnection to the primordial heartbeat.

Through her music, Katie connects deeply to indigenous and ancient cultures from West Africa, Latin America, Mongolia, the Middle East, and folk America, and her mission encourages a return to original ways of feeling, expressing, and being as stewards of this Earth.

Katie believes that rhythm activates vibrational messages from our body and soul—so let us use it to communicate the messages coming through us during times of great responsibility and transformation.

Hannah Joy

EFT Journey Weaver & Cacao Ceremonialist

Hannah is a guide through inner thresholds within sacred and somatic space. Emotion, energy and spirit moves freely and is experienced fully in my signature Soul Weaving ceremony. Rooted in Ceremonial Mothering and Ancestral Reclamation, I blend EFT/tapping, the medicine of Ixcacao, meditation, breathwork, intuitive movement, Ayurveda and more for support during deep healing and remembrance.

Together, we co-create a safe landing place to return home to the body, release inherited patterns, reclaim the truth flowing in blood and bones, and reconnect with the divine within.

FAQs

1. Is this only for women?

Yes -- this creates an energy of safety for us to drop in together in this particular way.

2. Do I need to know how to drum, tap, or do any of this before?

No experience is necessary. This experience is meant to be felt.

3. Can I camp on-site?

Yes — Camp St. Augustine offers camping. You can purchase a tent camping pass with the tickets.

4. What if I don't have a djembe drum?

Djembe drums can be rented. Please also bring shamanic drums if you have.

5. What should I wear each day?

Friday: casual daytime into slightly more ceremonial evening only if desired

Saturday: casual daytime into ceremonial evening attire for the full Women's Primal Drumming Ceremony (we will have time to get ready with headdresses, gowns, etc.) Make sure you can move in your evening attire.

Sunday: casual attire you can move in

6. What do I need to bring?

Please bring water, a journal, snacks, lunch if we do not provide, and a layer of warmth for each day.

7. Will there be food and drink?

Friday: Dinner provided (bring lunch)

Saturday: Breakfast & light dinner provided (bring lunch)

Sunday: Brunch & light snacks provided

8. Will there be vendors on-site?

Yes! We'll have a small marketplace of vendors offering herbs & tinctures, hydrosols, crystals, cacao, juice/tea elixirs, massage, ceremonial clothing, and flash fine-line tattoos throughout the weekend.

100 Women Drumming Miami

The Drum Temple Experience Orlando

The Drum Temple Experience Orlando