Spring Weekend Retreat | 9 & 10 May 2026
Beltane Weekend Retreat
Join Four Great Fires and Tongues in Trees for our first collaborative Spring weekend retreat, held on 18 acres of wilderness in the South Downs National Park.
Guided by story and anchored in embodied practice, this retreat includes a range of energy cultivation activities whilst leaving space for gentle emergence of the kind of unexpected wisdom that arrives when men gather with intention.
The weekend culminates in a special Inipi Sweat Lodge Ceremony with Joseph Christlow.
Inipi is a purification rite of the Lakota Nation, designed to cleanse body and mind through steam and heat. Guided with Lakota songs and prayers, this ceremony is ancient and one of re-birth..
Join us to feel..
Refreshed and reset
A connection to a growing community of men
Uplifted, challenged and held by a supportive group
Of service to others through listening and sharing real life experiences
Inspired by the natural beauty of the South Downs National Park
This is for you if you feel the ancient tug to sit with other men around a fire, to be witnessed and inspired to deepen our purpose and impact.
Our Why
Four Great Fires creates space to pause, reset, and reconnect: with yourself, with nature, and with one another.
In a world that often pulls us off balance, many of us feel the need to reconnect with what’s real — to feel more present, more honest and more fully ourselves.
Our Spring weekend retreat offers a rare opportunity to step out of the noise and into a simpler rhythm. Set in a beautiful natural landscape just outside London, it invites you to slow down, attune to the rhythm of nature, and rediscover a more grounded way of being.
Held at the turning point of Beltane — the threshold of summer — this gathering marks the shift from winter’s darkness into summer’s light. Surrounded by blooming woodland and bluebells, we come together to celebrate renewal and vitality.
Expect
Fireside circles & story
Inipi Sweat Lodge Ceremony
Transformational group and 1-2-1 work
Stillness
Movement for energy cultivation
Hike
Healthy & delicious meals cooked over an open fire
and more..
Joseph ‘Rising Sun’ Christlow has received the necessary guidance of elders along with the many years of personal experience required to masterfully hold this ceremony. He is also a family man and a community leader based in Yorkshire.
“What brought me here was primarily a desire for connection. Four Great Fires is a really powerful, supportive and grounding space with lots of healthy male energy”
- Jonathan, Photograher
“Four Great Fires to me is an opportunity to connect with other men, to let go and be myself.
I also wanted to connect more with nature and the seasons having spent a lot of time disconnected from my own body, disconnected from other people and working on my own”
Adam, Poet
“This weekend has been amazing.. I’ve left with a real sense of connection to self, to others and an ability to think about where I want to go next in my personal and professional life”
Hendrix, Psychotherapist
Accommodation & Tickets
Bell tents sleep circa 6 men in each. Each man brings his own bedding and is welcome to bring his own tent if preferred.
The infrastructure on site is rustic. The loo is outdoors and there is running drinking water.
Tickets available here:
https://events.humanitix.com/men-s-beltane-weekend-retreat/tickets
Price Includes
All group activities and equipment
Sweat lodge ceremony and cold plunge
Snacks and tea throughout the weekend
Cacao
Freshly prepared, healthy & delicious food
Saturday: lunch & dinner
Sunday: breakfast & lunch
The land is a haven for nature and parking is available in the local vicinity, not on site.
Lifts are available from designated parking locations, as well as Haslemere train station.
A full list of what to bring along with car sharing suggestions will be provided on booking.
Over the last 3 years of running retreats Four Great Fires has developed an exhilarating yet subtle format grounded in the belief that “we are each-other’s medicine.”
We hope you can join us for this unforgettable experience
Other Retreats in 2026 & 2027
Typically the Winter and Summer events are day experiences in Hackney, East London.
The Spring and Autumn events are weekend camping retreats in beautiful, wild places within 1.5 hour’s drive of London.
Embodied Men is a weekend retreat in London especially for facilitators; those that hold space for others yet rarely find a circle to hold them.
🔥 Summer Day Retreat, East London | TBC July 10am - 4pm
🔥 Autumn Day Retreat, East London | TBC November 10am - 4pm
🔥 Embodied Men Facilitator Weekend Immersion | TBC Dec 2026 or Jan 2027
Get in touch to line up a free discovery calls to find out more.
“I love these retreats. They never fail to give me exactly what I need.. Always: amazing men, sitting, sharing around beautiful fires, nature, sauna, cold plunge.. They give me a feeling of coming home to something deep and profound. I’m really grateful for them!”
- Tom, actor
“Wow what can I say!? What a wonderful weekend away from the city, in such a beautiful location! To be held in a space of love and to feel safe to open up and share with fellow men in dynamic ways has given me so much that will transcend into what I do in work, family and social life”
- Kofi, teacher
“I’ve had a fantastic weekend spending time with great people. It was a truly bonding experience that I would recommend to anyone. “
- Jamie Ross, model