Red Heart Wild Mind: July 20 - 24, 2026
Artwork by Doug Van Houten
Come join us in the red sands and wild gorges of Eastern Arrernte desert country, land shaped by the Caterpillar Dreaming, held by Eastern Arrernte Traditional Owners as a living current and Law. Here the ancient rocks speak in the language of deep time, the gnarled river gums beckon to the deep imagination, and the rumbling subterranean waters invite you to your sacred edge, calling for you to dive in…This is an opportunity to wander under the vast, open skies and to listen closely to the wild indigenous spirit of the land, where you may offer yourself up for psycho-spiritual transformation and to be reshaped by the image of your own Soul.
A residential, fully catered intensive held on Inteye-Arrkwe (Eastern Arrernte Country) at Ross River Resort, Yepenyere (East MacDonnell Ranges), Northern Territory, 85 km east of Alice Springs. Maximum of 16 participants.
Program Fees - Soulcraft Australia & New Zealand Inc. is a not for profit, volunteer association:
Early Bird: $1,995 plus GST
Full Price: $2,100 plus GST
Concession: $1,875 plus GST
We encourage you to pay the full price if you have the means to do so. This will enable us to cover costs and offer concessional places to those in need. If you are challenged financially, please contact us to discuss.
**********************************
Based on Bill Plotkin’s third book, Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche, this 5-day intensive is an experiential exploration of our human psyches as unique expressions of the universal forces and patterns of nature. We will work with what we call the Nature-Based Map of the Human Psyche, which is, among other things, a comprehensive inventory of what can be right about a person, a ‘shadow’ version of mainstream psychology’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), a list of what can go wrong with people.
Our wild minds possess astonishing resources, untapped potentials and depths that we might not even know exist until we discover how to access them, cultivate their powers, and eventually integrate them into our everyday lives. In this intensive, we’ll access these depths and potentials — which we call the four facets of the Self, or the four dimensions of our innate human wholeness — and also the four sets of fragmented or wounded subpersonalities that form during childhood.
Rather than attempt to eliminate our subpersonalities (which is not possible) or to beat them into submission, we’ll cultivate the four facets of the Self and uncover the gifts of our subpersonalities. Our goal is to fully embody our multifaceted wild minds, commit ourselves to the largest, soul-infused story we’re capable of living, and serve the greater Earth community.
Discover:
how to recognise and consciously cultivate the four facets of the Self — your innate human wholeness
how to identify the subpersonalities that supported you in childhood and adolescence to adapt to the challenges of family and social life, but ultimately became barriers to your full and authentic humanity
practices and guidelines for cultivating relationships between the Self and your subpersonalities, enabling you to heal your subpersonalities, discover their gifts, and foster Self-actualisation
how each facet of the Self provides essential resources for the underworld journey (the descent to soul), its radical transformation of personal identity, and for living as a visionary artisan of cultural evolution.
We’ll explore the landscape of the psyche through a variety of practices, including creative expression, self-designed ceremony, solo exercises while wandering on the land, group work, movement, voice dialogue, journaling, and deep imagery work.
Photo: Ross River Resort
Venue:
Ross River Resort in the East MacDonnell Ranges (Yepenyere), Northern Territory, 85 km east of Alice Springs. The resort is built around the historic 1898 Loves Creek Homestead and covers 18,000 acres which includes dramatic red cliffs, dry creek beds, ghost gums and access to stunning gorges and swimming holes.
Ross River Resort is easily accessible via sealed road from Alice Springs (Mpartnwe).
Food and Accommodation:
The program is fully catered, providing hearty vegetarian food. Our caterer is experienced in looking after those with special dietary needs and will be provided with details of dietary restrictions advised by you at registration.
There is dormitory accommodation in shared bunk rooms or camping if preferred.
Your Guide:
Jules Howatt
From her earliest memory, Jules has been spellbound by wild places, following the call of wind, water, and stone into the ever-unfolding mysteries of the living earth, the untamed depths of the psyche, and the shadowed realms of the Underworld. Storm-shaped and drawn toward horizons without fences, she has braided her life from the edge of the land’s fierce beauty, the deep currents of soul, and the dark shimmer of what cannot be seen, yet is always felt. She walks beside others as they turn toward their own wild truth, into landscapes both inner and outer where longing and Mystery conspire to weave a deeper story. An ACMG/IFMGA Mountain Guide, wilderness guide, and photographer, Jules makes her home in the Monashee Mountains of Canada, on the traditional territory of the Sinixt people. Here, she listens to the songs of the peaks and rivers, her two adventurous adult children keep her deeply moved and wildly entertained, and she is held in awe by the land’s enchantment.
We acknowledge the First Nations Peoples of this Country and their connection with land, sea, community and story. We offer our respects to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present and emerging. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.