Skye was raised on (and by) a farm on the edge of a wildlife reserve in South Africa. Her early childhood was spent wandering barefoot and immersed in the imaginal worlds that emerged between her senses and the touch of lion’s roar, river song and rolling thunderstorms across the bushveld. Her teen years were spent hand-raising and rehabilitating wildlife and later, led her to qualify as a wilderness guide.
She then went on to train in traditional Taoist healing practices for three years and qualified as a yoga instructor before travelling to the Peruvian Amazon to undergo an in-depth apprenticeship in Amazonian curanderismo (the regional word for shaman/plant spirit healer). Here is Skye’s personal blog.
Helm also grew up close to nature but attempted to ‘civilise’ himself through higher education and a few years as a corporate lawyer. Through the good fortune of an existential crisis, he wound up in the jungle, where he met Skye and remembered what it felt like to belong to the world. Along the way, he trained as a counsellor, psycho-therapeutic journey practitioner, breath worker and in bodywork.
Together, in Peru, we underwent a full-time 5year apprenticeship with Shipibo curanderos from the Mahua-Lopez lineage- simultaneously facilitating healing and transformational retreats for hundreds of people from all over the world.
In the years since then, we have studied the sickness of modern industrial growth culture, and to the deep ecological movement arising in response, including the work of John Seed and Joanna Macy (The Work that Reconnects). We see our path as one which traverses the jagged terrain of separation, towards a culture of ‘interbeing’.
To this end, we now apprentice themselves to the wild multi-form sentience of the land. To the lyrebirds, mushrooms and passionflowers. To the humans that remember what it is to belong. To the old growth.
teachers and influences
A few of our teachers and influences are: Joanna Macy, John Seed, Stephen Harrod Buhner, Daniel Foor, Gabor Mate, Bayo Akamalofe, Thomas Berry, Joan Halifax, Adyashanti, Jon Young, Stephen Jenkinson, Bill Plotkin, Michaela Boehm, Starhawk, Charles Eisenstein, Daniel Christian Wahl, Brian Swimme, Robert Bly, Jeremy Lent, Frank Ostaseski, Lama Tsultrim Allione, Pema Chodron, Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Mingyur Rinpoche…
… reishi mushrooms, all manner of ensouled green things, suffering, lyrebirds, lichen, and so forth. And Leonard Cohen, Sigur Ros, Radiohead, Choying Drolma, Lama Gyurme, Estas Tonne, Dhafer Youssef, Bjork… and anyone else who wrangles funky-fresh cuts, non-dual transmissions and profound lyrical / visionary output.
what we’re about – the great turning
As warm-blooded human animals, we are deeply disturbed by the trajectory of our western civilisation. Whilst we acknowledge the marvels of this culture, its global shadow is now impossible to ignore. At the same time, we feel that this life is a miracle and want to honour it and celebrate it. We are part of the movement from the Industrial Growth Society to a life-conducive or biophilic culture – also known as the Great Turning.
what we offer –
deep ecology, plant medicine, breathwork
In contemplating how we can use our gifts to contribute to this Great Turning, the words of Fritjof Capra came to mind:
We feel that our ecological function is to address this crisis of perception. We’re talking about the pernicious misunderstanding that humans are separate and superior to the rest of creation. Our work is to help awaken the human from the trance of separation and anthropocentrism, and into the truth of interbeing: our identity as interconnected and interdependent cells in the living body of the earth.
To this end, we facilitate workshops, immersions, one-on-one sessions and study groups that are a synthesis of The Work that Reconnects- Plant Ritual and Relationship- Breathwork and Poetic Re-storying. We also offer ceremonial preparation & integration support for those who have worked with plant medicines.
More broadly, we try to collaborate with / support others who are doing good work in putting the Gaian perception of reality into practice. This includes those involved in various forms of activism and those exploring biophilic culture and systems (eg, spirituality, community living, bioremediation/regeneration, permaculture and soul-centric early childhood education).
what we’re up to now
We recently emerged from a long period of integration, study and city living. This was a kind of winter cycle. Now it is spring again, so we are offering sessions and growing our networks and paying more attention to our little garden and the dog.
If it feels right, reach out to us.
Skye and Helm
