WILDCRAFTING PATHWAYS
Transformative wisdom for a regenerative lifestyle
by Joanna Sweeney
Click above to pre order
20% off – use code WP20 at checkout
Book launch, talk, reading, Q&A, signing & celebration
19.30pm Wednesday July 15th 2026
Free and open to the public
Booking essential (Eventbrite link to follow)
Brú Moytura, Sligo, F52 N292
Wildcrafting Pathways Eco Retreat
at Brú Moytura, Sligo, Ireland, F52 N292, July 13th – 16th 2026
BOOKING
MINDFUL NATURAL BUILDING
Devised and presented by Peter Cowman BArch.
Tuesday, July 14th, Part 1 & Wednesday July 15th, Part 2
You are invited to participate in this interactive workshop comprised of the current evolution of almost four decades of development, practice, insight and refinement of a simple idea – that we all possess the ability to create shelter.
We first display indicators of this innate facility as children ‘playing house’ where imagination, role-play and self awareness are key elements of the experience. In later years the construction of hideouts, forts, dens and makeshift shelters occupy many children over long summer days.
This innate sheltermaking facility is of a similar kind to birds’ nest building ability or ants ability to create precisely oriented air conditioned mud tower shelters. In all cases the maintenance and propagation of life are key elements in such natural practices.
Human beings began to create permanent dwelling places 10-12,000 years ago shifting from a hunter-gatherer way-of-life to a domesticated one. This led to the development of agriculture, artistic expressivity along with concepts of place, property, boundaries, society, individuality and so on. This evolutionary path has led to the modern world with its cultures, religions, technologies, built environments and settled life.
People had been constructing temporary shelters for an extended period before permanent settlement began. They brought to this new way-of-life worldviews based on nomadic traditions and on mythologies framed by the perspective of the cosmos as viewed from the campfire – the cycles of sun, moon, planets and seasons, the orientations of sunrise and sunset, the patterns within the night sky, the rhythmic qualities of day and night.
Sheltermaking activity – in effect the permanent move indoors – retained these previous worldviews relating to the mysterious qualities of the cosmos. This was done by enclosing and interiorising them as an integral part of the sheltermaking process. In effect, an imagined and scaled-down version of the cosmos was brought inside providing an altered view of a familiar external reality that was in-scale with the sheltermakers themselves.
This conceiving, constructing and inhabiting of permanent shelters was marked by a gradual increase in artistic expression. From the perspective of the here and now and the view this offers into that long-ago, these early cultural expressions – painting, myth-making, artifacts – can be interpreted as references not only to the cosmos but also to the mystery of life and to the inner human drive to maintain this aliveness. Named spirit, soul, feeling, mindfulness, cosmos, consciousness, life, unity, god, allah, source, the void, emptiness or the universe across the ages, these are but references to this innate drive that strives to deepen our understanding of life and its felt but invisible qualities. The sheltermaking process offers the opportunity to connect to and harness the energy of this inner drive because it is a vital component of space. Mindful engagement with the process offers an individual valuable insight into the life they were born to live as well providing appropriate context for the living of that life. [Version 14/4/26]
THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS ENERGISED BY THIS OPPORTUNITY FOR ME TO ENGAGE DIRECTLY WITH PEOPLE ON THIS FASCINATING TOPIC. THE EVOLUTION OF THIS CONCEPT HAS BEEN DRIVEN BY THIS TYPE OF DIRECT ENGAGEMENT. IF YOU WISH TO MAKE A MEANINGFUL CONTRIBUTION TO THIS WORKSHOP AND TO EXPLORE ITS RELEVANCE TO YOUR LIFE IT WOULD BE WORTHWHILE TO DO SOME EXPLORATIONS OF THE MATERIAL LOCATED ELSEWHERE ON THIS WEBSITE. I WILL BE CONTINUALLY UPDATING THIS ESSAY AND POSTING THESE UPDATES HERE. LOOKING FORWARD TO ENGAGING WITH YOU IN JULY.