Call of the Cailleach: Wise Women Week 1

Call of the Cailleach: Wise Women Week 13th – 19th September 2025

How do our spiritual lives change as we age?

Autumn is the time of letting go, maturing, reaping fruit, marking the passing of summer, preparing for winter and embracing the new season. This is also the spiritual journey of ageing.  

Creation’s seasons can inspire us to explore the spiritual task of ageing. What are the seasons in the life of women of faith? Does Creation have the answer? 

This Wise Women week offers guided reflections and engaging discussions to explore life’s transitions. Honouring the changing body we will discern our developing role in the world as wise women. We’ll explore life as a work of art, taking on creative challenges and designing rituals to weave new-found wisdom into the winter months to come. 

In Scottish legend the Cailleach is a powerful figure, a mythical hag who personifies winter while embodying wisdom and is guardian of the natural world’s balance.  

This week is open to those who will experience, have experienced or are experiencing menopause. 

Programme leaders

Elspeth Murray is an Edinburgh-based artist, writer, celebrant, facilitator and baker. She supports people facing life transitions to stop ignoring their creative yearnings and learn how to integrate the miraculous with the mundane.  

Rachel Weiss is an Iona Community Associate Member, counsellor and founder of the Menopause Café. First held in Perth, Scotland in 2017, the Menopause Café is a global movement which celebrates women in their third stage of life. 

Costs

6 Nights: £792 per adult, £396 for reduced rate – see our programme page for more information.