creative ritual retreat // nov 20-22 // mother lion rest //

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creative ritual retreat // nov 20-22 // mother lion rest // *

A weekend of applied learning in astrology and tarot, personal reflection and restoration, creative excavation, and relational nourishment.

The lighting of a candle. The deep exhale of a breath. The murmur of a personal affirmation. The ring of a chime.

Rituals initiate thresholds, temporarily suspending reality and unfolding portals to a self-defined world. Within the sacred space of ritual open and close, you can:

Imagine. Play, Ground. Connect. Create.

You can remember the feeling of being in your own body and returning to yourself.

We warmly invite you to join us for Creative Ritual, a weekend urban retreat immersing you in the magic of rituals, interwoven with hands-on astrology and tarot education, creative expression, community building, and personal enrichment. 

Over an intimate weekend at Mother Lion, we'll blend the ancient wisdom of astrology with the intuitive symbolism of tarot to provide you with sacred and practical tools and rituals for activating your creative agency through ritual, reflection, and community.

Creative Ritual is for all seekers who: 

  • Are curious about astrology and tarot and who want to deepen their knowledge through applied education and creative practice. You’ll leave with practical knowledge and personalized rituals that can anchor your creative and spiritual life.

  • Are craving a restorative weekend grounded in spirituality, creative play, coaching, and educational enrichment in an intimate, supportive environment. 

  • Want to reignite their creativity or move through creative blocks using tools such as symbolism, archetypes, and the unconscious.

  • Want to set intentions and cultivate creative and self-care practices in grounding preparation for the incoming winter season

  • Are walking in uncertainty and are seeking new perspectives in a caring community!

No experience with astrology or tarot required. Just curiosity, and a willingness to play.

our space for the weekend

mother lion rest

Mother Lion is a one-of-a-kind urban retreat center that creates a nourishing environment for relationship and community building and personal reflection and restoration. Inside, we’ll sprawl on the coaches in the cozy living room, sharing laughter and intentions, enjoy delicious communal meals, engage in hands-on astrology and tarot creativity workshops with real life takeaways, and find peaceful respite and creative inspiration. Outdoors, enjoy the private sauna and hot tub during scheduled free time.

meet your guides.

Mary Joy Hickey

Creative Ecology

Hi, I’m Mary Joy! I come to you as the intersection of many things: a musician and performer, experience designer, creativity and leadership facilitator, tarot reader, a mother, and Jungian depth coach-in-training, among many others.

I discovered astrology and tarot during the pandemic, and deepening engagement in tarot and full moon rituals has transformed my relationship with myself and creativity. My primary creative practice is as a musician and performer, and astrology and tarot have brought new dimensions and authenticity to my work. 

After many years traversing tangling and diverging paths in non-profit, education, and grassroots community work, I recently founded Creative Ecology, an applied creative leadership development studio grounded on the premise that Creativity is Leadership. I am also currently pursuing certification as a Jungian depth coach. Co-hosting this retreat will be an extension of this creative and spiritual journey.

I believe that using tools like ritual and symbolism can help us access our unconscious, where our creative spirit waits to be liberated. I especially believe that expressing creativity and vulnerability within a supportive community can unlock new creative depths and bravery.

I look forward to co-creating a magical space with you over a restorative weekend together.

Curiosity Coven

Sarah Page

I’m Sarah – an astrologer and water chemist, which means I approach everything as though it is both knowable and a great mystery at the same time. I believe that community and curiosity will save us from the robots, and I create safe places for people to experience both. 

I’ve been practicing astrology since 2020, when my first birth chart reading blew my mind, and I immediately became obsessed with ways it helped me to truly embody all of the parts of myself and then use this alignment to cooperate and collaborate with the universe, enabling me to stop fighting and surrender to the ups and downs in life. I love helping people use astrology as a tool for unlocking new energy and watching them achieve their potential as they become more in tune with themselves and their charts’ unique flow and creative energy. It is a delight to watch people find the courage to take a big step forward in their life, armed with strength and insight from their chart. 

I’ve facilitated groups for Artist’s Way, full moon rituals, crafting afternoons, Enneagram, and Myers-Briggs over the past decade and started the Curiosity Coven in 2026 as a place for woo-curious people to explore wisdom practices and other occult topics. You can find more on Substack. (https://curiositycoven.substack.com/)

Our Story // Why This Amazing Collaboration?

Your two guides Mary Joy and Sarah first met in November 2021 at a weeklong Jungian psychological type conference in Orlando, Florida. As Mary Joy talked to a conference attendee about her unfolding vision for her life, his eyes lit up and he said, “You have got to talk to Sarah! She’s got a vision like yours too!” We sure did find immediate connection in our visions, along with many other things, including our shared community-minded and social justice values, religious Midwestern upbringings, our compulsion to go deep across personality and meaning systems, including astrology, tarot, enneagram, and human design, and even our astrology and human design charts (Hello from two Aries Risings with 6/2 profiles!).

Post conference, we initiated a virtual “Full Moon Club” within the conference community to stay engaged with new friends while continuing to deepen our own knowledge in astrology, tarot, and ritual. We extended our connection to monthly one-on-one virtual calls and have been connecting monthly ever since. On one of those calls, Sarah once said, “I just have this feeling we’ll collaborate on something someday.” Here it is, the vision has arrived. Welcome to Creative Ritual.

weekend schedule

    • 6:00–7:00 PM: Arrival, settle in, connection, charcuterie

    • 7:00–8:00 PM: Opening ritual / intention setting / connection activity

    • 8:00–9:00 PM: S’mores / sauna / hot tub / cider

    • 9:00 PM: Closing ritual

    • 7:30–9:00 AM: Continental breakfast

    • 8:30–9:00 AM: Morning mindfulness (optional)

    • 9:00–10:00 AM: Morning opening ritual, check-in, group activity

    • 10:00 AM–12:00 PM: Workshop 1: Astrology + Ritual

    • 12:00–1:30 PM: Lunch / free time (on your own - explore Bayview!)

    • 1:30–3:30 PM:  Workshop 2: Tarot & Creativity

    • 3:30–5:30 PM: Integration / free time / optional 1:1 tarot & astrology readings (20 min)

    • 5:30–7:00 PM: Communal dinner

    • 7:00–9:00 PM: Optional structured community time

    • 9:00 PM: Closing ritual

    • 7:30–9:00 AM: Continental breakfast

    • 8:30–9:00 AM: Morning mindfulness (optional) 

    • 9:00–10:00 AM: Morning check-in / final group share-out / closing ritual

    • 10:00–11:00 AM: Departures

What’s Included?

Every guest, regardless of ticket tier, receives:

  • Full participation in all workshops and ritual offerings, Friday evening through Sunday morning

  • Astrology workshop with Sarah: practical, usable tools for reading your chart and developing personalized rituals

  • Tarot & Creativity workshop with Mary Joy: using the cards as a prompt for creative authorship and developing personalized spreads and symbols

  • 1:1 tarot and/or astrology readings, up to 20 minutes, available during Saturday afternoon/evening free time.

  • Friday evening charcuterie & weekend snacks

  • Continental breakfast Saturday & Sunday

  • Communal dinner Saturday evening 

  • Access to the on-site sauna & hot tub during scheduled free time

  • Special momentos, keepsakes, and magic

Ticketing Options

Ready to join us? We’re offering three ticket tiers: Commuter (no overnight), Shared Room, and Private Room.

Creative Ritual Retreat

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  • Creative Ritual begins at 6:00 PM Friday and runs through 11:00 AM Sunday.

  • We provide charcuterie snacks Friday evening, continental breakfast Saturday and Sunday mornings, and a communal dinner Saturday evening. Please eat dinner prior to arrival on Friday. You will have the opportunity to explore Bayview dining options over a 1.5-hour lunch break on Saturday, or you are welcome to bring your own lunch.

    Provided food will be nut-free and accommodate vegetarian, vegan, diary-free, and gluten-free diets. Please reach out with any questions or concerns about food!

  • Street parking is available around the retreat center. If you're staying overnight, you'll need an overnight permit from the City of Milwaukee (city.milwaukee.gov/Parking/ParkingPermits, $1/night or $5/week). Getting your permit is your responsibility. Please reach out with any questions!

  • Mother Lion is not wheelchair accessible at this time. Guests will need to ascend 3–5 stairs at the entrance. The inside is one floor.

  • Yes, due to the brave space we intend to build for all guests, this retreat is drug and alcohol free.

  • All participants are invited to bring comfortable clothes, indoor slippers, a reusable water bottle, personal nut-free snacks, a journal, and any other comfort items.

    If staying overnight, please pack clothes and toiletry essentials for two sleeps.

  • Yes! Optional 20-minute tarot and/or astrology readings are available Saturday afternoon and evening during free time hours, included in the ticket price. You can book in advance or during the retreat, space permitting.

You might be wondering…

Questions?

Please reach out with any questions. We’d love to have you join us at Creative Ritual Retreat.