The inheritance no one ever told you that you had.

Stalking the Rebel Soul is the school’s new look immersion programme, rehydrated and re-energised from the solitude of lockdown. This extraordinary five-weekend journey, undergone by hundreds over the last two decades, remains the central fire of Dr Martin Shaw’s teaching. The next programme will begin in September 2023.

Over this programme we will journey from the oldest stories imaginable, far beyond the conditions of the modern West. From there, our thoughtful little caravan trundles through Sumer, Greece, the Caucasus, and onto Britain, Ireland, Iceland and many other extraordinary terrains. Riding alongside these dazzling tales is attention to the where in your own life and thinking. You make depth connections; this is not a passive experience.

“Stalking the Rebel Soul,” explains Martin, “was the title I gave my very first year teaching from the belly of my black tent way back at the beginning of this century. Somewhere deep in lockdown I realised it was talking to me again, saying something about the urgency of our times and the need for deeper ground.

“This iteration of the programme is a result of that listening. Although in the short term the prime benefactor of what we do may seem to be yourself, the way of things should eventually dictate that you find useful methods to pass it on. Reverie leads to participation.

“Each weekend is packed with story, poetry, and a culture of conviviality. We are always looking for a little cross-species dialogue, a world which speaks of more than our own reflection.”

Deep listening is required, a willingness to study, a commitment to entertaining more than the fluctuating polemics of our times. As a student, you will engage in storytelling from the very first weekend, not just as entertainment but as a different kind of activism.

All weekends include solo time in the afternoons, brooding and deciphering stories contained within the Dartmoor landscape. The mythology of a landscape and the landscape of a mythology is a perennial theme for the year.

Please note the dates and other information below is for 2022. The next programme will be over the winter and will take place in an old manor house on the edge of Dartmoor. Bookings will open later this year.