About
Are you longing for sacred depth, spiritual roots and to be part of a kind and reflective learning community? Then welcome to our Wild Wisdom School!
Our Wild Wisdom School emerged from groups first created over twenty years ago by Rev Sam Wernham and colleagues, to explore sacred mysteries, including mystical Christianity, in curious, creative, contemplative, collaborative and compassionate ways. Our current ‘Wild Cat(echetical) course is now offering an depth, yearlong exploration of Christian mysteries through radical enquiry within a supportive small group. We meet monthly on the third Sunday of the month by Zoom and there is also the option of regular retreats & pilgrimages for those able to visit our home base at Brooking Church in Dartington, Devon UK.
The course involves a one year commitment and begins each September. It is designed to be repeated over three years, in an ever deepening spiral of exploration. Each year there is a a slightly emphasis and input, as we work through some core Christian teachings and practices in a very open and inclusive way. This three year process is intended to form a kind of noviatiate, with the option to move towards some form of mystical Christian initiation. Members from our first cohort are currently in their third year, alongside newer companions, and core members are working towards formalising a new monastic (dispersed) community for our next steps.
The current course for for 2025/26 is full and in process, yet please see here for an outline of the course and you can get a glimpse of our current journey through signing up to our Wild Monastery newsletter here. The gateway to our ‘Wild Cat’ course is through our Wild Monastics Zoom community which meets twice a month – more details here. Prospective ‘wild cats’ need to spend at least one term within Wild Monastics, before they will be invited to join the next course in September 2026. There is currently one space left for a new member to join Wild Monastics (& then Wild Cat) this year.
Through our previous years of weekly meetings, day and weekend courses and retreats, storytelling festivals and more (previously offered under the names Wood Sisters, Tree of Life School and Open Spirit) our current three year course slowly took shape and a Wild Wisdom learning community came into being. The core elements of our journey together have been a commitment to:
- reclaim the sacred feminine and diverse experiences of the divine
- engage with embodied, creative and contemplative practices that enable us to connect with and care for the earth
- learn together in holistic and collaborative ways that seek depth of mind, heart and spirit
- offer a warm welcome to the whole of ourselves and each other, including vulnerability and difficulty
The Wild Wisdom School is part of a wider exploration of feminist, eco-spirituality co-ordinated by Sam, called Wild Monastery, which includes a Wild Church. Although our first Wild Wisdom three year course concluded in 2017, some core members of the Wild Wisdom Community continued to meet, enabling our new ‘Wild Cat'(echetical) course to emerge.
For the most up to date details, follow our Wild Church facebook community here or get in touch for more details.
For more details please contact Rev Sam Wernham
WhatsApp/text/call:
07979 057169
or email:
livingspirit3@gmail.com
