16-19 July 2027. 

Josephine Pretorius will offer a 3-day deep silent retreat “The Gifts of Silence”, with a 2-day option available.

This retreat is an invitation to step away from the noise and busyness of everyday life and enter the spaciousness of silence, stillness and deep rest. In the desert landscape of Campfire in the Heart, on Arrernte Country, we are offered a unique opportunity to slow down, listen deeply, and become attentive to the quiet movements of our hearts and the presence of God.

Inspired by the wisdom of the desert mothers and fathers and the rich heritage of the Christian contemplative tradition, this retreat gently explores silence as a place of welcome, healing, attentiveness, simplicity and transformation. Through extended periods of shared silence, participants are invited to discover the gifts that emerge when we allow ourselves to be still and fully present.

This silent retreat is for you if:
* you meditate regularly or have previous experience of meditation
* are seeking rest and replenishment
* are interested in deepening or reconnecting with your practice in a silent setting
* are inspired by spending time reconnecting with nature
* are willing to be challenged and be open to the healing experience of meditating with others

Retreat Guide
Josephine Prestorius is a long-term meditator with a particular interest in the transformative potential of deep silent retreats and sees Campfire in the Heart with its desert location on Arrernte country as a place rich in culture and spirituality. It resonates with the early desert mothers and fathers of the Christian tradition, as well as the richness of other wisdom traditions, as a place to ‘come away’ to and rest a while. Josephine has a background in pastoral care and art therapy. She offers this retreat as an opportunity to experience the many gifts arising out of the slow work of silence and stillness.  

Cost: Packages from $390 – $585

Price includes all meals and accommodation in a private room, for 2 nights ($390) or 3 nights ($585)

About the Deep Silent Retreat experience:

• After an introduction on the first evening we will enter into silence. Each morning there will be regular periods of meditation, times of contemplative walking concluding with evening prayer together.
• During a silent meditation retreat, we’ll find that our mind begins to slow down, to calm down, to become more clear and we begin to discover the natural state of the mind.
• During the silent meditation retreat, we will give up all use of digital communication – a digital fast.
• The most important element of an intensive retreat is silence. Firstly, the silence as the mind begins to settle down, becomes more clear and more manageable and secondly, the silence of the heart emerges – a silence beyond thoughts, beyond imagination.
• The intensive silent meditation retreat is also inviting us to enter more fully and simply into a direct experience that we have been entering in our practice of meditation for some time already.
• Participants are asked to read “What to expect from a silent meditation retreat” before attending an deep silent retreat or designing your own retreat.

NO. OF PARTICIPANTS Maximum of 7

ENQUIRIES: Josephine Pretorius pretoriusjl@gmail.com