The inheritance no one ever told you that you had.

Stalking the Rebel Soul is the school’s extraordinary immersion programme, a five-weekend journey which forms the central fire of Dr Martin Shaw’s teaching.

Emerging rehydrated and re-energised from the solitude of lockdown in 2021, this course begins with the oldest stories imaginable, far beyond the conditions of the modern West, travelling through time and place as a thoughtful little caravan trundling through the Mediterranean, the Caucasus, and onto Britain, Ireland, Iceland and many other extraordinary terrains.

Riding alongside these dazzling tales is close 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 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.

The course, undergone by hundreds over the last two decades, begins its 2023 incarnation in September at an old manor house on the edge of Dartmoor. Between weekends there will be four extra audio stories from the school archive; recordings of the weekend stories to continue working with; a book club that will meet between each session via Zoom and two Wolf Milk talks via Zoom.

This course is open to all ages (adults) and backgrounds. No experience of storytelling is needed, and there is no ‘performance’ aspect to this course. If fully booked there will be 60 people in the 2023 cohort.

Scroll down for dates and fee details.

Please note this course is attendance only.