JON KEEN, founder and guide

At the heart of who I am and why I do this work is my deep personal relationship with Nature. I recognise that humanity urgently has to rediscover its true relationship with Nature; one based on attitudes of reverence and respect - and an understanding that we are of Nature not separate from it. My role at Wild Rites is the best way I currently know to make a meaningful contribution to that change work. By helping people reach their fullness through Nature, I contribute to the healing of both individuals and subsequently the Whole.

I am fortunate to have been a traditional apprentice to a Medicine Man for 8 years, learning the Nature-based ancient wisdom teachings of the medicine wheels and assisting with ceremonies, workshops, and vision quests. I was honoured to be adopted as the spiritual grandson of my teacher’s teacher and initiated further into the Mystery and deep relationships of this world. My teachers then encouraged me to share these teachings and ways with individuals, leaders, communities, and organisations across the world.

Back in London I chose to train at The Institute of Psychosynthesis, studying a psychology of Spirit and emergent potential - I could call this a psychology of hope. I received a distinction for my thesis on the Vision Quest Rite of Passage and qualified with an MA in Psychosynthesis Psycholgy, diploma in Counselling and Post Graduate Diploma in Leadership Coaching. Today, I am a member of the Institute faculty and train psychotherapists and coaches.

Interwoven with my psycho-spiritual journey have been many other experiences of working with and in Nature: as a yacht captain, mountain leader and an instructor in many other ‘outdoor pursuits’.

My leadership of vision quests, other ceremonies at Wild Rites - and my calling to pass on the teaching I have received and the wisdom I have learnt - draw deeply on all these experiences and many more.

alex hatfield, founder and guide

I absolutely love the natural world with all its power, light and darkness. What really lights me up is the liminal space of ceremony on and with the earth and her inhabitants. Mythic-poetic-alive ceremonial containers like the work we offer here at Wild Rites, means people can enter into something greater, into a sacred space where transformation is possible, this is why I do this work.

Life has taught me that struggle and joy exist simultaneously. I have come to see that personal suffering can be a call to develop more authenticity and deepen one’s soul life. I know that I am constantly learning from Nature and from the people I work with.

I have been making ceremony, rites of passage and creating initiatory experiences for 20+ years. My particular passion is designing and leading events based in the mytho-poetic. I am a seeker, a story-teller and a guide to Psyche.

What is most important to me is to create a warm connection so that I can hold, support and challenge deeply and authentically as a guide.

I am a lover of human Nature too and find peace in knowing that our shared experience of being human is a journey of the soul that it is more than mind, greater than the body and beyond the realm of feelings; yet totally inclusive of all these aspects of our existence.

I am also a psychotherapist, a coach and am helping the corporate world make the energy transition happen so we can collectively achieve net zero in line with the Paris agreement - Mother Earth’s health and the health of all Her species means a lot to me.

Over eight years I studied at the Institute of Psychosynthesis, London and achieved an MA in Psychosynthesis Psychology, a Diploma in Counselling and a Post-graduate Diploma in Leadership Coaching. I am a BACP registered psychotherapist and EMCC registered master coach alongside being a member of the Wilderness Guides Council.

FI MACMILLAN, GUIDE

Witnessing the transformations that happen in nature-based ceremony with Wild Rites is a profound privilege.  The magic of this work found me at a point in my life where I needed to die to who I was.  I was utterly surprised by its’ discovery as my mind had told me it wasn’t for me.  Its’ power continues to shape me.

Now I am called to guide others to be found by the magic too.  It is endlessly humbling and inspiring to witness the shedding, connection and re-emergence of Self that happens in the ceremony that we create together. 

I’ve spent my adult life doing many things in the linear world.  Now I work as a leadership coach and facilitator in organisations.  I bring outdoor connection to how I do that work and run online programmes to support that.  I founded and ran different consultancy businesses in my earlier career.

As a child I spent a lot of time standing in a Hampshire river dreaming.  Now, my bliss is to walk in the mountains.  I live in a cottage on the edge of fields in the Cotswold but go wild when I can.

I am an EMCC & Ashridge accredited coach, and CSA accredited coach supervisor with an MSc in Coaching.

simon fardell, guide

Simon is a poet, storyteller and soul guide whose work draws deeply on the experience of being human both within and as part of what we call nature.

Using traditional story as a door through which we might step into our otherness, Simon aims to lead an exploration of human archetypes whose roots lie deep within the pre-digital, pre-industrial and pre-enclosure psyche.  As a writer, Simon draws on metaphor and the music of poetry to help us step beyond the everyday world, creating a space from which we might see ourselves anew. Both approaches inform Simon’s work with groups and individuals who, through deep encounters with nature, are seeking a truer sense of self and to access the full potential their lives hold. 

Working with Wild Rites as a guide, Simon evokes the old wisdom of traditional stories as an inspiration to our essential human spirit and then seeks to find and amplify the echoes of that spirit arising from our own encounters with wild nature and the land. He also brings a lifetime of rich experience to bear on this work, including profound encounters with mortality, loss and grief, the joys and challenges of single-parenthood and his own long struggle to live a life more fully aligned with his true purpose. All of this is woven together with Simon’s experience of various modalities of therapy and coaching to form a unique guiding practice.

For Simon, the third act of his life is all about sharing his love of words, his deepening understanding of the magical system of meaning that they really are and harnessing their power to lead us along a path of deep transformation. His role as a Wild Rites guide provides Simon with the perfect ground on which to practice this profound work.

BRAN, GUIDE

Bran is Wild Rites 4-legged lurcher guide who's strengths lie in being truly himself, able to bring us back into the here and now and has been know to play the jester to teach us about the sacred and the profane.

"Each of the three guides had a powerful impact on me including Bran the dog. For me connecting with animals can be easier than with people. Bran knew this and welcomed and guided me throughout. He knew instinctively when I needed help to stay present, coming to me and letting me place my hands on him when I needed to and at other times he encouraged me to play and laugh carefree like a child. He gave me the confidence to face my fears and to stay connected with life. The experience was all the richer for having him there. Thank you wise Bran!" NB, March 2018