Overview

​Manitou’s 223-acre woodland sanctuary in Williamsville, Vermont is a welcoming place for exploration into rediscovering who we are in relation to the Earth. It’s a place where balance between attuning to Nature and our own inner awareness leads to claiming our place in the web of life with awe and appreciation.  It’s a place for being, where we open to possibilities for healing and wholeness in ourselves, with the Earth and all beings.

Finding balance with Nature

“Tell me what you pay attention to and I will tell you who you are.” —Jose Ortega y Gasset

Vision

​These words above were inspired by the practice of Manitou in the life and culture of indigenous peoples, for whom the term meant “It is Sacred”.  Today, Manitou invites us to see light seeping into the shadows, where our heightened senses take us to the places and beings in Nature that we find sacred. The Manitou Project invites all to rediscover themselves and their place on the land; to honor, heal and grow their connection to it.

                                                                                                                      
​“Manitou is a place consecrated to a way of being—celebrating the oneness of creation; a place for listening, waiting and noticing.” —Pam Mayer, upon Manitou’s founding 35 years ago

The Fen & Sanctuary Trail

​For years, Healing Walks (2nd and 4th Friday afternoons) have been the way many first experience Manitou. Encircling the lower fen on the Sanctuary Trail invites a balance between the fragile wetland preserve to the right (off limits to humans), and woodlands to the left—like our own journey of inner and outer experience in the world. The walk begins with a stream crossing to the ‘In-between Place’, where heightened senses may have you observe: here, the veil between the worlds is very thin. With boundary trees honoring each of the four directions and a massive quartz healing stone, mindful walking along this trail takes you to a new place every time.

Woods Music

​Our Forest Theater venue has become a favorite with local musicians and sound healers, with thrush and squirrel-song harmonies wafting through the pine. A gentle 7-minute walk from the parking area, these late-Spring and Summer-into-Fall happenings are not to be missed!                                                                  

Into the Forest Theater

“The universe trembles with wild music. Who would not tremble with wonder?” —Kathleen Dean Moore

Placemaking

​The practice of placemaking, initiated at Manitou by dowser Ross Jennings, is first about listening and deepening our connection to the land. That causes us to pause and engage with particular places that speak to us. We respond with kindness and intention, honoring the spot with a physical gesture that gives something back in return. Seeing with new eyes and responding restores to our senses the hidden beauty of the land and its inhabitants, and mirrors the sacred we find in our own being and expression in the world.  

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.” —Marcel Proust

Seasonal Celebrations

​Seasonal gatherings honor each Solstice and Equinox. In Winter, a bonfire or story telling round the Hogan's woodstove in the woods, brings warmth and fellowship, stillness, song and reflection. Spring through Fall, the Forest Theater hosts concerts and sound healing with renowned local musicians. Join in our Community with Nature and the magic of each new season!

Fulfillment

​Being present with the land triggers something in us to co-create for a better world. Empowering workshops past and planned reflect Joanna Macy’s Work that Reconnects, among others, based on a process that begins with gratitude for the land, leads through environmental grief and despair, and emerges into new vision for manifesting who we can be in the world. 




                                                               

Flowing with Nature

“You don’t need to do everything. Do what calls your heart; effective action comes from love. It is unstoppable, and it is enough”.  —Joanna Macy      

Giving Back

​People often find that their connection with the land breeds gratitude and generosity, and a desire to give back in return. This recurrent energy exchange is both the core of Manitou healing, and how the land, trails and special places are kept up by volunteers. Honoring places special to us on this land has the effect of honoring all land everywhere.

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“Even a wounded world is feeding us… holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. I choose joy over despair. Not because I have my head in the sand, but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.” —Robin Wall Kimmerer