*If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.*
— Jesus, The Gospel of Thomas

The Eye of Horus. Sunlight on a Tree. The Church. The depths of the Oceans and the Twinkling of the Stars. The Sword, the King, the Circle.

Humanity has ever been in love with the symbols that radiate meaning — the images and stories through which we make sense of life, the world, and ourselves.

Today, we have access to more of these symbols than any people in history. And yet most of us have no practice for working with them — no way of discovering which energies are actually ours - that reflect the life that's trying to emerge through us, and how to embody them.

Which means they work on us anyway — unconsciously. The Hero, the Martyr, the Rebel, the Good Child — archetypes that have us by the neck, governing how we live, what we pursue, what we sabotage. We are lived by symbols we have no control over.

There's another possibility, from the tantric traditions, whose practitioners have always worked directly with archetypal energy: deity yoga, visualization, mantra - as a central practice on the path of awakening. Entering into these expressions of divine, awakened energy and power until the boundary between you and them dissolves.

This weekend brings that possibility to your own life, and can become a powerful approach and ally on your path.

**Awakening to Your Avatar** is a weekend of working directly with the archetypal energies that compose your life — mapping them, practicing with them, and learning to embody and emanate them.

**April 11–12, Amsterdam.**

Co-led by Andrew and Ellen Waenink.

**About Andrew:**
*I've been fascinated with the way reality appears through symbols for most of my life — the stories and images through which life communicates itself, and the ways we relate to those symbols. I'm a dreamer, poet, and storyteller, with decades of practice in relationship with the mysteries that symbols and archetypes can open us into. As a coach, I've worked for years with the imaginal metaphors that seem to shape our lives — the archetypes and energies that move us before we're even aware of them. Symbols hold and reflect so much of our potential and power. The Avatar practice grew out of all of this — out of a conviction that we can work consciously with the energies that compose our lives, rather than being unconsciously governed by them. I teach this because I've found it one of the most direct ways to help someone come alive — not as an idea of themselves, but as the full, embodied, archetypal being they already are.*

**About Ellen:**
*I am a coach and facilitator devoted to helping people discover and embody more of who they are, and to come into conscious relationship with the deeper forces that shape their lives and reality.*

*My own path includes tantric practices such as deity yoga — a way of working directly with archetypal energies through visualization and the body, allowing them to become lived experience. I also work with subtle energy and the differentiated fields of intelligence known as the 20-Count. Learning to sense and relate to these layers has cultivated a deep reverence and awe for the intelligence that moves through us and through the wider field of reality.*

*Over the years, I have facilitated workshops and spaces where people experiment with connection, surrender, expression and inhabiting different energies. Again and again, I've witnessed how this opens greater aliveness, eros, and creative range — and allows something more true to emerge.*

*I care deeply about approaching this work in a grounded and respectful way. I aim to create spaces where you can meet more of yourself, and learn to consciously relate to the energies and intelligences that are everywhere present and available to move through you.*

**What will we actually do?**

You'll leave this weekend with a living map of your own inner energies and a practice for working with them. Along the way:

- What is an Avatar? What is an Archetype? — generating this understanding together
- Coming up with your Avataric Mandala: a map of your own inner energies and potentials
- Learning how to practice with Energy and Symbol
- Practicing with an Entelechy — that "self" you are when given 10,000 lifetimes to evolve
- Embodying and emanating particular energies at will, and working with them in daily life

**What you'll walk away with:**

A living map of your own archetypal energies — and the felt, embodied experience of what it's like to step into them. Not just intellectually. In your body.

This weekend will expand your range — your capacity to feel and move with different energies in your body, including the ones your nervous system habitually avoids. The fierce ones, the tender ones, the ones you've kept at arm's length. You'll learn to step consciously into and out of these energies — and to integrate on your own home frequency, so that the work lands in *your* life, not just in the room.

You'll leave with a practice you can keep working with — a way of accessing these energies deliberately, in daily life, rather than being unconsciously run by them.

Each day will have a mix of sessions, practices, and discussions. We begin each day at 10AM, breaking at 1PM for a 90-minute lunch. Saturday ends at 6PM, Sunday at 5:30PM.

**Price:** €300 Early Bird for the first five tickets. €350 after that. If that's unattainable for you but you're interested in attending, please reach out.

**Sign up?**

by sending the ticket price to scrutable@gmail.com via wise (preferred!), or via this paypal link: https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/ZSGDA3LMJMY66

**Qs:**

*Is this blatant narcissism? Would I just be worshipping myself?*
No, entirely not. We are using these energies to tap the intuitions we each have that form us prior to our becoming aware of them as egos. While there is deep wisdom in working with instantiations of the divine — i.e. Deity Yoga (and I recommend that and work in this way myself!) — there is something else available from working with the signature of one's own highest representation. This is an important aspect of the unique path of 21st century Tantra that I teach. Or in short -- no no, earnest practice in this way is more likely to dissolve your ego than indulge it.

*Um... is this dangerous? Actually, yes -- it can be. We will situate with a few important practices that help to keep this from being too much. The irony here is that the power of these symbols and forms doesn't leave you alone if you don't work with them deliberately -- you just become their tool. We aim to equip you with a few crucial, crucial practices and orientations so that you can work consciously in this way.

*Do I need to have practiced any of this before coming to the workshop?*
Not exactly. This workshop is more helpful for people with at least some practice, in whatever form (yoga, Circling, meditation, etc.) If this is the first thing you're going to do on the path of awakening and personal development, reach out to see if it's a fit. Otherwise, welcome in, game on.