Through his study with indigenous shamans, Daniel Stone established The Centre of the Conscious Dream in 2000. In addition to leading retreats, he is an author, musician, and international artist.
MOREJoin Daniel Stone and Toltec teachers at the Centre of the Conscious Dream for a practical shamanic initiation and profound healing retreat that will rekindle your creative fires.
On this course, you will discover very clear, powerful tools to help cultivate your intuitive inner wisdom in order to move, heal, express and decide with clarity. You will find new solutions to old problems and develop the power to heal yourself and others. The retreat is ideal for people in all types of employment and will equip you with the ability to clear the mind, make informed decisions and clarify the vision of your work. The retreat begins at the sacred site of Teotihuacan followed by immersion at the Centre of the Conscious Dream site, located in the desert of San Luis Potosi. You can see a twenty minute video which gives the history of the centre and shows the area here below. READ MORE
Through his study with indigenous shamans, Daniel Stone established The Centre of the Conscious Dream in 2000. In addition to leading retreats, he is an author, musician, and international artist.
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I am very pleased that I went on this journey. It was perfect for me! Thank you!! I liked it all, the food, the teachers, the accommodation...I found the group perfect!Christel Vissers, The Netherlands
TESTIMONIALS
The retreat in the desert of Mexico was an extraordinary experience, the healing and cleansing on all levels is a guarantee and changes are inevitable. Great way to move forward. Sylvia Pecinska, Australia
TESTIMONIALS
Read a personal message from Daniel Stone about this retreat
The Toltec traditions come from Central America, originating, it is said, “from the stars.” The Toltecs express these stellar traditions as they are reflected in this central part of what is called Turtle Island (the American Continent).
The essential principle of the traditions is that everything is in interconnection, and the powers of healing and of creativity come from the energies around us and inside of us with which we can be in constant communication.
There is a focus on life as a dream: the dream of the night, the dream of the day, and the concept of the “dreaming body” – the means through which we open up to all other bodies and energies in the universe. By learning how to communicate with elemental, animal, mineral, plant, earth, planetary, and stellar forces, we have the possibility to use these powers in our everyday lives through decision-making, creative expression, our own healing, and the healing of others.
In this course, you’ll learn practical techniques and participate in ceremonies designed to help develop your intuitive inner wisdom so that you can move, heal, express, and decide with clarity. We are looking for the place of no doubt. The instinctive intuitive senses are something to learn and develop. There is a place in all of us without question, and from this place, there is knowledge – practical, useful, powerful, meaningful.
We focus on individual histories, assisting each individual to find new solutions to old problems, helping the growth of their creative fire and developing their power to heal both themselves and others. You will leave this course with very clear, powerful tools.
This event is called an initiation because even for those who are already on a clear path, what you will receive will be new, and will initiate a different relation with your self and the world in which you live. You can take many of the practices with you into your homes, your work, your relations, and your healing.
All of the teachers on this retreat live and work in the Toltec traditions of Central America, but we also make bridges with other living dreaming traditions, in particular, the Australian Aboriginals and Tibetan Buddhism.
The retreat is for people in all types of employment – business people, executives, professionals, employers or employees – as the ability to clear the mind, to make informed decisions, and to clarify the vision of your business or work is a learned skill.
It is also for healers, new or established, who wish to develop new techniques of self-healing and healing others, also offering the option for those who wish to enter into a more committed training; and for artists, musicians, writers, and dancers who wish to remember their deepest inspiration and rekindle their creative fire.
* Please note that you will be asked to contribute with basic group service work for about half an hour a day in the desert.
In addition to Daniel Stone (Chu-Ra), you will work with Toltec teachers at Teotihuacan and in the desert including Yei Malinali, Estefany Ruiz Gordinez, “El Paco” Ramirez, and Tessa Ingleby.
Chu-Ra’s life quest has been to understand his ‘dreaming.’ As a child, his dreaming experience at night was more real than his experience in the day. In order to try and find the bridge, he explored psychotherapeutic theories (in particular Carl Jung) and artistic movements (painting, music, theatre, literature). For ten years, he travelled widely, and It was through the shamanic path, working with indigenous shamans— in particular, the Australian Aboriginals, Tibetan Buddhism (Bon Shamanism), and the Toltec wisdom of central America—that he found a language that could bring together the night with the day. Life as dream. He has received various initiations, in particular the crystalline intelligence (inner crystal skull), and holds dreaming circles in Mexico, North America, Europe and Australia. He founded the Mexican desert Centre of the Conscious Dream in 2000, where he now lives. Daniel is the author of “The Dreamer Who Dreams You” (Axis Mundi Books), and “Chu-Ra – The Change of Time” (Circle). He is an established international exhibiting artist and musician.
Yei Malinalli is a Mexhica dancer, Toltec Visionary and Temazcal leader. He received the "Don del Agua" (official recognition and permission of the culture) from the well-respected Abuela (Grandmother) Margarita. For more than 20 years Yei has taught the Mexhica culture, the Mayan and Nahuatl languages and time systems, the traditional dances as well as the Temazcales. He is also an expert in plant homeopathy and alternative energy systems. He presently runs his own medicine centre in Celaya, central Mexico.
Estefany Ruiz Godinez is also a teacher of the Mexhica culture, Tamazcal leader, and Dancer of the Moon as well as a trained transpersonal therapist (Higgins). In the Temazcal she balances the energies with Yei and in the teachings she offers a feminine vision and perspective.
“El Paco” Ramirez is a sacred dancer, teacher, and ceremonial leader in the Anahuac tradition. He has devoted his life to the understanding of the traditional teachings in Teotihuacan and is a gatekeeper of the sacred site. His ability to communicate the Toltec vision in such a clear and humble way makes people warm to him very easily. He will lead the group into the sacred mysteries of the Calpulli.
Tessa Ingleby is an 'abuela' (spiritual grandmother) from Scotland, a wise woman, experienced dreamer, counsellor, and guide. She has been to the desert three times, and Bolivia also with Chu-Ra and has become a valuable link to enable people to understand their experiences.
There are other Toltec teachers at Teotihuacan and in the desert.
Teaching methods include meditation, movement (shamanic yoga), ceremony, expression (drawing, painting, creative writing, music), and practical tools for self-healing and healing others.
What can I expect with regard to food and accommodations?
Accommodation is in a hotel in Mexico City; shared partitioned rooms or dormitory in Teotihuacan; and camping, adobe dome, or round houses in the Centre of the Conscious Dream. Food is through restaurants in Mexico City; in-house Mexican food at Teotihuacan; and a varied diet (organic when possible) at the desert site, where there is also a shared kitchen.
Are the domes enclosed?
No, there is a door and a window. So, you can sleep with both closed to create a darkened space, or with either or both open to the stars.
Is there Internet and telephone?
In the city yes, in the desert no. However, there is an emergency number for your friends and relatives. One of the main points of this retreat is to release yourself from internet and telephone so that you can hear other kinds of messages.
What is the weather like?
It is cold at night and warm in the day.
What do I need to bring?
A comprehensive list will be sent to you.
In what languages is the retreat given?
The retreat is given in English and Spanish. Typically, this retreat attracts people from many different countries.
How far ahead do I need to book?
The retreat is usually oversubscribed, so we advise you to book as far in advance as you are able.
Can I take this course in conjunction with other trainings?
This course can be taken as part of the following ongoing trainings: The Conscious Business; Practical Intuitive Shamanic Training; The Creative Fire. Please contact Daniel Stone for further information.
Is there any sort of outreach to the local community?
US $60 of the program price is donated to the Wirrikuta plastic recycling project or the San Francisco Nayarit Children’s Shamanic School Project. Both of these projects are working and functioning. You will also be asked to contribute together with basic group service work for about half an hour a day in the desert.
The Centre of the Conscious Dream is in the desert of San Luis Potosi at the end of the Wirrikuta pilgrimage route. Free from the distractions and interferences of the city, it offers space and time. You can walk undisturbed in each direction and your eyes can wander uninterrupted to the horizon.
It is an extraordinary multi-dimensional field of energy, which “called” Daniel to build his centre here. Established in 2000, the centre is now in its 19th year offering retreats and courses.
The site consists of a medicine wheel made of four round houses, three of which are the temple, studio and sleeping spaces. There is also a large dining area, two kitchens, a building for bathing and toilet, and seven specifically designed adobe dreaming domes. The food is mostly organic and we cater for all diets.
See more photos of the Centre of the Conscious Dream.
Read a personal message from Daniel Stone about this retreat
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As a way of arriving in Mexico, the first opening of the eyes is to the Toltec culture of this land. Teotihuacan is the Toltec (pre-Aztec) ceremonial city about 30 miles from Mexico City. It is the most important pyramid site in Mexico linked to Giza in Egypt, and covers over two square miles. The dreaming of the ancient Toltecs was to understand the connection between the Earth and the other planets in our solar system, and the sun, our star. Through this knowledge they found the connection of the Earth with the whole universe. At Teotihuacan we can touch again this dream of unity. We will be staying in the traditional pre-Aztec calpulli (school) within the Ancient Teotihuacan site. We will be learning the meanings of the ancient dances and taking part in the Dance of the universe. We will be learning the theory and practice of the limpia (energy cleansing), and learning about the curative plants and stones of the traditional Mexica. We will be taking part in cave meditations underneath the sacred site before we are taught how to enter through the natural energetic doorways on the land to the pyramid site.
The Day of the Dead. This is one of the most important series of ceremonies in the Mexican calendar. We have timed our visit so that you can experience these very colourful and powerful ceremonies. You will be taken to see the altars and the sacred dances as well as a seminar on the meaning of the offerings and ceremonies that you will witness.
Meditation: Breath awareness is the foundation of understanding the truth of our present moment. It is the means through which we can make space in the mind, so that we are then able to make informed decisions. This meditation practice is daily, and will enable us to see our reactions before we react, giving us the time and power to choose our response to any given moment.
The Medicine Wheel: Balance of mind, body, spirit, and emotion. The Medicine Wheel is a map which teaches balance and healing. Each participant establishes their orientation to the four directions and the four elements as a strong and secure base for their ongoing dreaming and healing. A technique is given that teaches the individual their strong and weak elements and how to balance them.
Trees: In coordination with the conscious breath, working with trees is a more profound means through which we can find clarity. We open the doors of perception so that we see through the surface of the tree to the energy which sustains it. We learn how we can receive information from another energy body through our intent. Trees hold the deep wisdom of the breath.
Movement: This is an ongoing practice. Shamanic yoga. The listening moving body. The body heals itself by finding its natural movement in the moment. The body finds its true expression in the revealed secrets of each second. The body knows how and when to move. Our work is to listen to the language of the body in movement. The human does not live in isolation. Shamanism teaches that the human body is connected not only to other human beings. The human body is connected to the elements, trees, the plants, rocks, the animals, the whole planet Earth, the sun, the moon, the stars. When the human body finds its moving connection with where it lives and breathes, it ends its isolation and finds its freedom. Yoga is a series of movements and stretches that connect the human body with the universe. In this yoga, the moving human body finds its own language, its own response to each moment, its own “truth”. The wisdom of our perfection comes from within our own body. Our work is to listen to our own wisdom. The body listens. We create a space in which the body listens to each moment and finds its authentic response from the truth in the body. This is an ongoing practice throughout the retreat.
Rocks: “Stone people” hold memory. We learn how to read the memory held in stones. This will help us to read the memory held in our bones. We identify the memories held, repeated emotional and mental habits, like time traps. We then learn to release the memory from the body.
Conscious Dream: We look at this word “dream”. We look at the way of “life as a dream”, and therefore the relation between the dream of the night and the dream of the day. We look at the idea of waking up in the dream of our lives so that we become the co-creators of our own dream, the writer of our own book of life. We learn different ways in which we can perceive, understand and respond to dreaming information. We look at death as the transformation between one dream state and another dream state. We also look at the term ‘dreaming body’ and look at its meaning and function in our work here.
Animal guides teach us how to be in a body. They guide us into different parts of the human body, showing what is unnatural or out of balance. They give us instinctive and intuitive information which can lead to deep release and healing. They are also guides in the movement between dimensions (dreams).
The sacred fire: Tatiwari. What is a sacred fire ceremony? What does the word “sacred” mean in practice? What is the difference between a Fire Ceremony and a bonfire? We share the Toltec traditions of the Fire Ceremony, their meaning, their power. We explain the careful preparation of the sacred fire, its meaning and symbolism, and all the steps in the timing and intent.
Human Teachers of the Dream are the most advanced guides of our own condition. We connect with energies that would be useful to you – priestess, priest, shaman, Buddha, Jesus, Isis, Shiva, Shakti, etc. Sometimes these guides have no name they are just felt. Human spirit guides can also be people that we know who have died or even people we know who are still alive. We develop and maintain this connection with our human spirit teachers.
The Temazcal is without doubt one of the most ancient mystical ceremonies in the Toltec traditions. It is known as “the mother of all the medicines” because it takes us to the origins of life that came out of the harmonic union of our four great ancestors – air, fire, earth, and water. The Temazcal is like an interdimensional vehicle and it takes us to different levels of conscious and unconscious dream so that we can achieve the healing of our memory. We introduce the symbolic magic of the Temazcal through the practice of the union of mind, body, spirit, and emotion. The course will teach the seeding of the Temazcal, the construction of the dome in which it takes place, the ceremony of the lighting of the sacred fire. We explain all the fundamental symbols and their physiological, mental, and emotional meanings.
Quartz crystal has the properties of amplification and clarification. Our crystalline intelligence is our amplified and clarified consciousness. From this place, we can perceive the planet earth as an energetic being in relation with other energetic beings. We are able to listen through the crystalline grid of this planet – both the physical grid that geologists have found and the energetic grid – to the conscious wisdom that it holds.
We use part of this day to begin to ground the information we have received through creative writing, painting, music, movement, or simply reflecting in silence. For those who are on the two-week retreat, we also look at how to make the bridge between what has been received in these two weeks and your daily life where you live.
This ancient shamanic ritual is a ceremonial death. The personal history is released, and so the sense of “self” can expand to include the human connection with the earth, the planets, the stars, and the universe. There is the space to release long held memories that cause physical and psychological imbalance. The planet earth is your healer.
For those taking the 2 weeks program, you will leave your journey back to Mexico city on Day 15 Thu, Nov 14. Transportation from the Centre of the Conscious Dream back to Mexico City is not included but it is relatively easy and Daniel Stone will assist you with arrangements. The journey to Mexico City is easily done in a day. The driving time from the Centre to Matehuala is approx. 1 and a ½ hours, and from Matehuala to Mexico City is approx. 7 ½ hours. Book your international flight home the day after your travel back to Mexico City.
The walk of clear intent. The walk to Vernalejo. This is an ancient Huichol site which represents and embodies the death aspect of the pilgrimage. This is the place where the death that one carries from the history of blood family generations and culture are released. Also, it is the place where trapped souls (those spirits who do not know how to die and cling to a body) can be released. Pilgrims pass through their death before climbing the sacred mountain where the sun was born – the place of the pilgrims re-birth.
Having worked in letting go, death as transformation, we would have made space in mind, body, and heart. So, what is new? How do we re-seed our hearts so that we can both give and receive love, re-program our mental computers, renew our vision, and generate a truly healing path for our bodies? On this day we look at the significance of the number twelve, the possibilities of the unconditional in our lives, and we dare to ask the question of ourselves – what is freedom?
We open to the spirit of plants. Many of the cactus in the desert are called the “gift from the stars” since they bring such clear and conscious information about our meaning and purpose on this planet. We open to the spirit of Tatiwari, the sacred fire, learning to listen to the way in which fire communicates, translating the energies of the plant spirits into physical sensations, new thought forms, and clear visions.
Our final destination is the sacred mountain, which, rather than this programme, is what would call you to the desert. In this vision quest, we find out why, and also why this particular mountain has been considered to be so sacred for centuries. This great mountain teacher has information it would have called you to receive, and everything you would have passed through on the weeks leading up to this day would be so that you have the intuitive knowledge to know how to receive it.
How do we bring this information from these three weeks into our daily lives? How do we create the bridge between the times and spaces that have been touched and experienced to the times and spaces of your home, relations, and work? On this day we look at how to develop what has been received, and further training options. (Please note: a consultation is given on the theme of the bridge for participants on the two and three-week programs before they depart.)
Also today there is a day of service to people in the local village. Those that feel they are ready to offer healing sessions to them based on the work we have learned.
Today is your departure day. Transportation from the Centre of the Conscious Dream back to Mexico City is not included but it is relatively easy and Daniel Stone will assist you with arrangements. If there is a group, he will hire a van taxi for the group that takes you directly to the Matehuala bus station, and there are buses very frequently from there, every hour. If it is an individual, he will arrange a taxi to Matehuala, and then ditto. The journey to Mexico City is easily done in a day. The driving time from the Centre to Matehuala is approx. 1 and a ½ hours, and from Matehuala to Mexico City is approx. 7 ½ hours. Book your international flight home the day after your travel back to Mexico City.
*This course description is subject to some change in order and its presentation here is as a general guide. Some ceremonies and activities may be modified to suit some participants’ physical and/or dreaming capabilities. Many of the practices described here are ongoing.
*Please note that the course is open only to a maximum number of participants so please book early to confirm your space.
Accommodation in Mexico City on October 30th is included in the package price. Participants will travel together to Teotihuacan on October 31st.
All internal transportation is included in the retreat price. Transport from the Centre of the Conscious Dream back to Mexico City for return flights home at the end of the program is not included in the retreat price.