Goddess River Retreat
Where there is a woman there is magic. If there is a moon falling from her mouth, she is a woman who knows her magic, who can share or not share her powers. A woman with a moon falling from her mouth, roses between her legs and tiaras of Spanish moss, this woman is a consort of the spirits. —Ntozake Shange
I invite you to journey through the social practice art of the Annual Goddess River Healing Retreat (AGRHR)—an annual intimate gathering of 100+ Black and Brown women immersed in animistic collective restorative rituals rooted in indigenous eco-philosophies. Nestled in thick green open space, we publicly engage in communal ancestral emancipatory healing ceremonies, decolonize space, and indigenize our relationship to the land as spiritual autonomy reclamation and reparation. This ecosomatic healing experience takes place in Easton, Pennsylvania, over an 8-hour day, traveling through six focal points: Offering, Procession, Womb, Rebirth, Muva, and Fête. The images, documented by photographer by Jenee Williams, serve as mirrors and portals to the raw, authentic, and unapologetic beauty of returning back to self through community-focused participatory art.
Immortalizing seven years of AGRHR’s transformative collaborative art, I curated Mirrored Reflections exhibition, published Mirrored Reflections coffee table photography book, and co-produced the documentary film, Muva’s Mirror; each medium takes you on a sequential journey through the AGRHR.
Offering, Annual Goddess River Healing Retreat, 2022, Pennsylvania.
OFFERING
We present fruits, flowers, and honey as an offering to a tree, representing the honoring and veneration of Mama Earth. I guide participants in a pouring libation ritual calling out the names of ancestors and nature-based spirits, expressing our gratitude. This opening ritual connects participants to the environment and unifies our hearts and intentions as we initiate the retreat.
Offering, Annual Goddess River Healing Retreat, 2025, Pennsylvania.
PROCESSION
Marching towards the valley we engage in ceremonial singing of Black spiritual hymns and religious folk songs as . In sync, we clap, sing and remember. As we internalize our loved ones that came before us, our bodies have a visceral reaction to singing ancestral songs, “Roll, Jordan, Roll” and “Down by the Riverside”. Our feet, our hearts, and our voices carry us towards salvation.
Procession, Annual Goddess River Healing Retreat, 2024, Pennsylvania.
Procession, Annual Goddess River Healing Retreat, 2024, Pennsylvania.
WOMB
Down in the valley, we gather in a sacred circle. Through prayers, incantations, and affirmations, we work through mental stress, womb trauma, and heartache. We cry, scream, and wail the shame from our backs, the grief from our breasts, and the rage from our bowels. By far, the womb focal point is the retreat’s climactic somatic occurrence.
Womb, Annual Goddess River Healing Retreat, 2025, Pennsylvania.
Womb, Annual Goddess River Healing Retreat, 2025, Pennsylvania.
Womb, Annual Goddess River Healing Retreat, 2024, Pennsylvania.
Womb, Annual Goddess River Healing Retreat, 2022, Pennsylvania.