Scotland Retreat, Isle of Lewis
October 21-28, 2026
Reconnecting to the Sacred, Land, and Ancestors
There is a wound that many of us can feel at the center of modern life. An aching crevasse where our connection to the land, to our ancestors, to the sacred should be.
At times it is possible to dull or nearly ignore this pain, burying ourselves in the games and trappings of our domestication (many of which are wonderful - here's to indoor toilets!).
And yet...there is a longing underneath that we can never entirely forgot. Something calling from the deep, willing us to remember the layers at which we belong to the whole.
Our week-long retreat on the Isle of Lewis, in the Hebrides of Scotland, facilitated by Naomi McDougall Jones, will serve as a balm for this wound, reconnecting and deepening your relationship with the land, ancestors (known and unknown), and the sacred.
Whether or not Scotland is your ancestral place, it is a land alive - ready to welcome you home.
The Experience & Offerings
During our retreat, Reconnecting with the Sacred, Land, and Ancestors, you will experience:
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Immersion in the nature, beauty, and wildness of Scotland
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Sacred ceremony with the Callanish Stones (pictured at top of the page) and other ancient sites
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Sessions designed to help you reconnect with your ancestors (known and unknown) and understand your place in your lineage
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Daily heart-centered meditation practices
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Experience of local island culture, one of the last true preserves of Gaelic traditions
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Free time for journaling, walking the moors, and inner exploration
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Various global healing and ceremonial modalities to connect with the land, ancestors, and sacred drawing from:
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Gaelic/celtic wisdom traditions and ceremony
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Mayan fire ceremony and nawales
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Andean Incan land ceremonies
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Egyptian mysticism
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Ancestral Energy Healing practices
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Come prepared for a week of deep reconnection and personal transformation as we draw on global traditions and healing practices, while immersing ourselves in the specific culture and traditions of the Scottish Isles.
Nourishing Food
Nourishment will be provided by visionary mycophile, ethno-herbalist, author and former professor, Chef Michelle. Ancient knowledge of food as medicine meets modern science in the form of dishes designed to provide full-system resets and elevated neurochemistry. Relax into daily prepared meals that will decrease inflammation, heal digestion, encourage connection and bring lightness to the form. Over the course of the retreat's 26 meals--feel yourself transform and reconnect to your wellbeing.
Michelle will also be available for individualized dietary consultations for any interested participants.
The Logistics
The retreat will take place from October 21 - 28, 2026.
The majority of retreat activities will take be located at Sundown Cottages in the village of Achmore on the Isle of Lewis. Some participants will be housed in one of these cottages, while others will be housed at various BnB and tiny house accommodations in Achmore (all within walking distance).
The group will be capped at 10 participants.
Cost:
Retreat fees cover:
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Lodgings on Lewis from October 21 - 28
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All meals from dinner on October 21 to breakfast on October 28
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All retreat activities, ceremonies, workshops, etc
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All ticket entry into local site we'll visit as a group
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All transportation on Lewis during the retreat week, including pick-up and drop-off to/from Stornoway
Retreat fees do NOT cover:
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Your travel costs to and from Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis
Overall retreat fees are based on your preferred room status:
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Single room occupancy ($2200)
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Shared room occupancy ($1800 each)
Specific accommodations will be allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis according to your preference.
Getting there:
You will want to arrive in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis on October 21st (hopefully in time for our welcome dinner!) and leave on October 28th (ideally, after our farewell breakfast).
The easiest way to travel to and from The Isle of Lewis is to fly into the Stornoway Airport (SYY), which is about a 10 minute drive from our retreat location.
If you fancy a more adventure travel approach, you can alternatively take the Calmac Ferry service from Ullapool on mainland Scotland to the Stornoway Ferry terminal on Lewis (which, again, is about 10 minutes away from the retreat). You can alternatively take a ferry from Uig Bay on the Isle of Skye to Tarbert on the Isle of Harris. However, you will then need to make your own way up to Stornoway
Registration
To secure your place, please fill out THIS registration form. Naomi will then reply with instructions for remitting a $500 deposit, which will secure your place.
Please note that we are capping this retreat at 10 participants and it is likely to fill far in advance, so register early if you'd like to join!
Naomi McDougall Jones (your retreat host and guide)
Naomi McDougall Jones is a 15-time award-winning storyteller, changemaker, and future-weaver working across books, film, television, and the healing arts.
Naomi has worked professionally as an Ancestral Healer, Priestess, and Witch for the past two years and has spent the past ten years studying deeply across a wide range of spiritual, ancestral, and wisdom traditions. These include Zen Buddhism, Tucson Mystery School (Ann Marie Chiasson), Gaelic/Celtic wisdom traditions and ceremony, Mayan fire ceremony, nahuales, and ancestors, Greek god twins Artemis and Apollo practices, as well as a wide range of global mysticism traditions.
In the other part of her career, she is a leading advocate for gender parity in cinema, Naomi has written for The Atlantic, Ms. Magazine, and Salon.com, and her TEDTalk, What It’s Like to Be a Woman in Hollywood, has been viewed over 1.2 million times. Her first book, The Wrong Kind of Women, enjoyed wide critical acclaim. Her second book, American Selkie: One Woman's Journey Back to Wildness, Ancestral Wisdom, and Magic will be published by Penguin Life in 2027. Naomi wrote, produced, and starred in Imagine I’m Beautiful and Bite Me, each of which won numerous film festival awards. She co-founded The 51 Fund, whose projects include Sundance winners Cusp and Shayda, the latter acquired by Sony Pictures Classics and Australia’s official entry for a 2023 Academy Award. Her narrative change work includes The Light Ahead podcast and Avalon: Story, which incubated a number of initiatives to reimagine media’s role in building equitable futures.
Her own ancestral lineages trace back entirely to the British Isles (with some Viking blood woven in), primarily Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man. Any traditions or practices that Naomi shares that are not from her own lineage are done so having received the training and permission of those wisdom keepers.
Chef Michelle (your nourishment provider)
Michelle is the founder of, mycarium.com, an educational portal for Functional Mushrooms, adaptagens, and metabolites as the alternatives to the status quo. As a chef she specializes in mushroom centric dishes and is the author of Just Mushrooms which reimagines the future of food with mushrooms as the central protein source, consumed regularly, for their sustainability, and power to heal. Michelle's vast knowledge of the microbiome, neuroplasticilty and intuitive ability to speak to the mushrooms and plants is available to all guests for personal consultations and individualized nutrition.
