Shamsia prefers to be contacted by email sandrasunfire@gmail.com
- receive Zoom links
- details for in person Dances
- booking retreats and weekends
- mentoring and Dance leader's group
Special events in person
Special events
- A Summer Solstice weekend retreat in WalesAncient Names of the Sacred, Names of the Goddess & Her Beloved
Friday 19th ~ Sunday 22nd JuneWe will weave story, meditations and body prayer, Walks and Dances, guided by the Native Middle Eastern/ South Western Asian Cycle composed by Neil Douglas-Klotz & Kamae Amrapali Miller. Using sacred phrases reconstructed from the Old Canaanite, Old Hebrew, Egyptian, Sumerian and Babylonian languages, we can dedicate ourselves to a reconnection with and embodiment of the deep feminine as expressed by the sacred names of power of our ancient ancestors.We seek to resound again with some of the most Ancient Names of the Sacred, touching some of the most ancient parts of ourselves.
Cost: £75 for the whole weekend (concessions available)
- Abwoon Circle onlinethe Healing Breath through the Beatitudes, starting Wednesday 22nd April
We will be guided by the work of Neil Douglas-Klotz on "the Beatitude Way": a continual internal process that will help us affirm a state of readiness to come to wholeness, to realise our
highest purpose, and to find our right place in society and the cosmos. You can find out more about Neil’s work on this link: https://abwoon.org/
We’ll gather weekly on Wednesday evenings at 6.30pm ~ 8pm UK time, beginning on the 22nd of April. We will meet for 10 weeks ending on the 24th of June. It may be that I might have to change dates at times due to unforeseen circumstances.
These sessions will be on Zoom. Donations are welcome, £5/ meeting is suggested.
- A Pilgrimage to Ynys Enlli, Bardsey Island, Wales, UKThe Healing Breath through the Aramaic Beatitudes
19th – 26th SeptemberWe have rented Plas Bach, an 8 bedded house. There are only 4 or 5 places available. One of the rooms has a double bed and so would ideally suit a couple. You may need to share a twin room. If you have not been to Ynys Enlli before please contact me to arrange to have a chat about it as it is unique. Plas Bach has a wood stove and an oil range. Warm, dry clothes will be essential, with indoor slippers or shoes. I often describe it as a bit like indoor camping. We need to take all our food with us and we return with all our rubbish and recycling.
Please do read the information on the website. It will give you a sense of what it is like staying on the island: https://enlli.org/visit/accommodation/
Contact us if you have any questions.
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...the House of Lovers...
A weekend retreat with Yelena Swarana, Silje Devi & Shamsia
Friday 16th ~ Sunday 18th October
Yelena Swarana from Latvia, Silje Devi from Estonia & Shamsia meet "in the house of lovers" again and again, in Latvia and the UK. Together and alone, these 3 sisters are learning more of love and friendship on this Path of Heart. You may find the fragrance of the Baltics, of India, of Cymru mingling in love, beauty and harmony.
Croeso i bawb ~ all are welcome whether you are new to the Dances of Universal Peace or returning for another drink from this particular well!
Join us for the whole weekend or some of it. Please get in touch if you need help with accomodation or if you can offer accomodation.
Cost: £75 for the whole weekend (concessions available, generosity welcomed)
This is where we meet, where we really meet. As Samuel Lewis who gave us the gift of the Dances of Universal Peace said,
"real meetings are mergings: they change the parties involved leaving them more fully themselves."
Yelena Swarana from Latvia, Silje Devi from Estonia & Shamsia meet "in the house of lovers" again and again, in Latvia and the UK. Together and alone, these 3 sisters are learning more of love and friendship on this Path of Heart. You may find the fragrance of the Baltics, of India, of Cymru mingling in love, beauty and harmony. There will be Dances of Universal Peace, Zikr, a practice of Remembrance, the Healing Service of Hazrat Inayat Khan, poetry, moments of stillness, of reflection, of breath...
Yelena Swarana encountered the Dances in 2006. Since then, she has been compelled to serve as an organizer for Dancing Heart camps and events, a role she has continued for the past 18 years. Her passion lies in traveling and sharing the Dances in various locations, including the Baltics, Poland, the UK, New Zealand, Turkey, Israel and Sri Lanka. In collaboration with Vasudeva from Russia, they initiated the first Indian annual camp, attracting both international leaders and local dancers.
For a decade, Yelena has spent several months in India, visiting the holy mountain Arunachala, which she considers her home. She serves on the board of directors of DUP International.
Our Beloved Friend Silje Devi has been leading Dances of Universal Peace since 1998. Besides Estonia, she has led DUP and Sufi events in Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine and UK. She has been co-organizer of the Dance camps and Sufi retreats in Estonia over the last 27 years. Murshid Saadi is her inspiring Sufi guide, but she has learnt a lot from many other great teachers, including Murshid Saul Barodofsky from Dervish Healing Order. Silje likes to share the joy, peace, harmony and feeling of Unity through the Dances and Sufi practices and we especially all melt into wonderful zikrs.
"real meetings are mergings: they change the parties involved leaving them more fully themselves."
Yelena Swarana from Latvia, Silje Devi from Estonia & Shamsia meet "in the house of lovers" again and again, in Latvia and the UK. Together and alone, these 3 sisters are learning more of love and friendship on this Path of Heart. You may find the fragrance of the Baltics, of India, of Cymru mingling in love, beauty and harmony. There will be Dances of Universal Peace, Zikr, a practice of Remembrance, the Healing Service of Hazrat Inayat Khan, poetry, moments of stillness, of reflection, of breath...
Yelena Swarana encountered the Dances in 2006. Since then, she has been compelled to serve as an organizer for Dancing Heart camps and events, a role she has continued for the past 18 years. Her passion lies in traveling and sharing the Dances in various locations, including the Baltics, Poland, the UK, New Zealand, Turkey, Israel and Sri Lanka. In collaboration with Vasudeva from Russia, they initiated the first Indian annual camp, attracting both international leaders and local dancers.
For a decade, Yelena has spent several months in India, visiting the holy mountain Arunachala, which she considers her home. She serves on the board of directors of DUP International.
Our Beloved Friend Silje Devi has been leading Dances of Universal Peace since 1998. Besides Estonia, she has led DUP and Sufi events in Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine and UK. She has been co-organizer of the Dance camps and Sufi retreats in Estonia over the last 27 years. Murshid Saadi is her inspiring Sufi guide, but she has learnt a lot from many other great teachers, including Murshid Saul Barodofsky from Dervish Healing Order. Silje likes to share the joy, peace, harmony and feeling of Unity through the Dances and Sufi practices and we especially all melt into wonderful zikrs.
Shamsia lives, Dances and Walks in Wales and has done for over 30 years. She follows the Path of the Heart, the Path of Love. Shamsia is a leader and mentor of Dances of Universal Peace. She loves the retreat process that draws on the rich tapestry of wisdom teachings and practices, the rhythms of nature
which empower us to be more of who we truly are. She both leads and attends retreats. Just like her 2 sisters, Shamsia is a conductor in the Dervish Healing Order and is dedicated to service on the healing path and the path of peace.
Croeso i bawb ~ all are welcome whether you are new to the Dances of Universal Peace or returning for another drink from this particular well!
Join us for the whole weekend or some of it. Stay on a bit longer in the beautiful Dyfi Valley, near sea and mountains. This is a non-residential weekend mini-retreat, a chance to dive deeper, to benefit from the nourishing support of being together. Please get in touch if you need help with accomodation or if you can offer accomodation.
Please bring food to share:
we'll share lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
Please bring cushions and shawls anything that helps you feel comfortable. Bring something you love.
Friday 7.00 ~ 8.30pm
Saturday 10.30am ~ 8.30pm
Sunday 10.30 ~ 4.00pm
Cost: £75 for the whole weekend (concessions available, generosity welcomed as we welcome our Baltic sisters)
All love and blessings,
Shamsia, Yelena Swarana and Silje Devi
which empower us to be more of who we truly are. She both leads and attends retreats. Just like her 2 sisters, Shamsia is a conductor in the Dervish Healing Order and is dedicated to service on the healing path and the path of peace.
Croeso i bawb ~ all are welcome whether you are new to the Dances of Universal Peace or returning for another drink from this particular well!
Join us for the whole weekend or some of it. Stay on a bit longer in the beautiful Dyfi Valley, near sea and mountains. This is a non-residential weekend mini-retreat, a chance to dive deeper, to benefit from the nourishing support of being together. Please get in touch if you need help with accomodation or if you can offer accomodation.
Please bring food to share:
we'll share lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
Please bring cushions and shawls anything that helps you feel comfortable. Bring something you love.
Friday 7.00 ~ 8.30pm
Saturday 10.30am ~ 8.30pm
Sunday 10.30 ~ 4.00pm
Cost: £75 for the whole weekend (concessions available, generosity welcomed as we welcome our Baltic sisters)
All love and blessings,
Shamsia, Yelena Swarana and Silje Devi
Past events
The Blessing Way of the Aramaic Jesus
10th – 12th April 2026
Oblate Retreat Centre, Wistaston Hall, 89 Broughton Lane, Crewe
With Neil Douglas-Klotz
abwoon.org
An introduction to the spiritual practice and contemplative prayer of Jesus viewed through the lens of his native Aramaic language. Including meditation, chanting, body prayer, walking meditation, contemplative prayer, and Dances of Universal Peace.
This retreat will focus on selected short sayings and words of Jesus from throughout the Gospels that reveal the depth of teaching hidden in his ancient native language, cosmology and way of viewing the world. We will center on what he has to say during his own challenging, turbulent times about blessing, happiness, joy, limitation, present moment awareness, and guidance.
Neil Douglas-Klotz Ph.D. is a writer, researcher, teacher, and musician in the fields of Middle Eastern spirituality and the translation and interpretation of the ancient Semitic languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic. Living in Scotland, he was for many years the co-chair of the Mysticism Group of the American Academy of Religion. He has been a student of various teachers on the Sufi path for the past 50 years. In 1982, he co-founded the International Network for the Dances of Universal Peace with the Rev. Tasnim Fernandez.
Celebrating Samhain, Calan Gaeaf
Honouring our Ancestors
Friday 31st ~ Sunday 2nd
Derwenlas Community Hall, SY20 8TN
Samhain, Calan Gaeaf, the Celtic New Year, is the end of the harvest season and time to enter the darker part of the year. It is said that at this time the veils between the worlds are thin and traditionally we remember and honour our ancestors and connect with those that have gone before. We do this with love and respect.
Croeso i bawb ~ all are welcome whether you are new to the Dances of Universal Peace or returning for another drink from this particular well!
Join us for the whole weekend or some of it. This is a non-residential weekend mini-retreat, a chance to dive deeper, to benefit from the nourishing support of being together.
Please bring food to share: Feasting is also traditional! We'll share lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
Please bring cushions and shawls anything that helps you feel comfortable.
Friday 7.30 ~ 9.00pm, Saturday 10.30am ~ 8.30pm, Sunday 10.30 ~ 4.00pm
Cost: £65 for the whole weekend (concessions available)
ruth st denis
ruth st denis
Dear friends,
We, Ruth Christine & Shamsia, are really delighted to be offering another time and space to gather to explore the inspiration that "pours forth" from the Grandmother of the Dances of Universal Peace, Miss Ruth (as her students called her). She taught Samuel Lewis "about how to pick dances from the akashic sphere", perhaps one could say, the heart of God, and he began to call Ruth St Denis his "fairy godmother."
"Artist, dancer, poet, mystic and a very human being", is how Kamae A Miller introduces us to Miss Ruth in "Wisdom Comes Dancing". Miss Ruth is a Grandmother to the Dances of Universal Peace. She was a teacher and friend to Samuel Lewis.
We will experientially explore and embody the legacy left us by this pioneering woman and through the inspiration of the Divine Dance, inclusive to all. We will perhaps allow our own creativity and beauty to be reborn anew. Come join the Divine Dance.
We will explore the embodiment of Divine Beauty & Divine Truth.
There will be
~Dances of Universal Peace & Walks
~body prayer and mudra
~Miss Ruth’s poetry and words
~the beautification of space, body and being
~stillness and movement, ribboned rhythm sticks
~heart sharing and more…
We, Ruth Christine & Shamsia, are really delighted to be offering another time and space to gather to explore the inspiration that "pours forth" from the Grandmother of the Dances of Universal Peace, Miss Ruth (as her students called her). She taught Samuel Lewis "about how to pick dances from the akashic sphere", perhaps one could say, the heart of God, and he began to call Ruth St Denis his "fairy godmother."
"Artist, dancer, poet, mystic and a very human being", is how Kamae A Miller introduces us to Miss Ruth in "Wisdom Comes Dancing". Miss Ruth is a Grandmother to the Dances of Universal Peace. She was a teacher and friend to Samuel Lewis.
We will experientially explore and embody the legacy left us by this pioneering woman and through the inspiration of the Divine Dance, inclusive to all. We will perhaps allow our own creativity and beauty to be reborn anew. Come join the Divine Dance.
We will explore the embodiment of Divine Beauty & Divine Truth.
There will be
~Dances of Universal Peace & Walks
~body prayer and mudra
~Miss Ruth’s poetry and words
~the beautification of space, body and being
~stillness and movement, ribboned rhythm sticks
~heart sharing and more…
ruth st denis
Croeso i bawb ~ all are welcome whether you are new to the Dances of Universal Peace or returning for another drink from this particular well!
Join us for the whole weekend or some of it. This is a non-residential weekend mini-retreat, a chance to dive deeper, to benefit from the nourishing support of being together. Please get in touch if you need help with accomodation or if you can offer accomodation.
Please bring food to share: We'll share lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
Please bring cushions and shawls anything that helps you feel comfortable. Please bring objects and fabrics of beauty to adorn the hall and also ourselves. We'll have a "dressing up" collection of clothes and objects to share throughout our time together.
Friday 7.30 ~ 9.00pm
Saturday 10.30am ~ 8.30pm
Sunday 10.30 ~ 4.00pm
Cost: £65 for the whole weekend (concessions available)
All love and blessings,
Shamsia & Ruth Christine
Join us for the whole weekend or some of it. This is a non-residential weekend mini-retreat, a chance to dive deeper, to benefit from the nourishing support of being together. Please get in touch if you need help with accomodation or if you can offer accomodation.
Please bring food to share: We'll share lunch and supper on Saturday and lunch on Sunday.
Please bring cushions and shawls anything that helps you feel comfortable. Please bring objects and fabrics of beauty to adorn the hall and also ourselves. We'll have a "dressing up" collection of clothes and objects to share throughout our time together.
Friday 7.30 ~ 9.00pm
Saturday 10.30am ~ 8.30pm
Sunday 10.30 ~ 4.00pm
Cost: £65 for the whole weekend (concessions available)
All love and blessings,
Shamsia & Ruth Christine