The Wilderness
Your experience will begin as you board a floatplane in Temagami, Ontario, a tiny village 200 miles due north of Toronto. Within the boundaries of this provincial forest reserve are four and one half million acres of crystal clear lakes and unspoiled rivers. As you journey to the island, you will look down upon the ancestral and present day home of the Teme-Aguama Anishinabsea planeai, "The Deep Water People." This local band of Ojibway were the first to paddle the waters of Temagami and they have traced their ancestry back over five thousand years.

You will fly over wilderness carved by glaciers at the dawn of time, much of which remains unchanged to this day. When you step from the floatplane onto the island you will step into a world steeped in history and beauty. A world where you can peer into a 1,000 foot deep blue lake, smell the fragrance of a pine forest and witness the shimmering panorama of the Northern Lights.

Past participants talk . . . about the wilderness environment and what it meant to them:

Workshop pseudonyms have been used
to respect participants' confidentiality.

"Temagami is the most beautiful place on the planet! In Temagami I feel like I’m sitting on top of the universe looking down on a place of Godliness. I feel closer to God because of nature – each leaf, blade of grass, rock, and the water – nature so profound in power that we realize we are small. The beauty, richness, depth and power of nature can help people keep things in perspective. We take ourselves way too seriously." My Time

"The significance of the wilderness for me is that it holds absolute truth. It contains that which is fulfilling and appropriate. By wilderness I don’t just mean the land and the water, but also the wind, rain and sun – the interactive play of nature. This setting is most appropriate for the work we did together. A safe place for us to express our own truth and feel the interactive play of our own natures. Swimming in the waters of Lake Temagami was also significant for me. I came away realizing that each body of water has its own feel, texture and quality. I felt welcome in Temagami. Felt invited. And I loved the island. It is an intimate piece of land, yet filled with places apart. At the same time that we lived in community, there was opportunity for privacy in the craggy nooks and rocky outcrops on the land." Laughing Woman

"I had never been so immersed in nature as I was in Temagami. The wilderness stripped away all the garbage – the imposed stuff we do in our real lives (like spending half an hour in front of the mirror). I’ve gotten caught up in wanting material things. But I realized I’d gone through a shift in value systems when I came back from an excursion in Temagami and considered the outhouse a luxury." Seven Senses

"Connecting with nature is important; the earth has much to teach us. To be there in the wilderness without the trappings of our lives – the noise, the visual bombardments, etc. – allowed me to get in touch with other things through my senses rather than in my mind. Temagami touched all of my senses. I felt the warmth of the sun and felt the water. The breeze in Temagami on the Island of Langskib was gentle and constant. It gave me a cleansing feeling. It was not stifling. It allowed me to clear myself from thoughts that would clutter." Kabril

"I’m a gatherer at heart. I can’t walk through the woods without checking under a rock or a log. I sit and gather, bind things together . . . it just grabs me. In Temagami, I remembered times when I would walk with my father and mother. I reconnected with that. It allowed me the peace I needed. I can’t get that any place else right now." Infinity

leaves

Program Dates:

Wednesday, August 22 to Friday, August 31, 2007

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