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Ninfe II | Of Fire + Water
With Barbara Crescimanno
September 17-24
A collective passage in learning and emergent ritual with the thresholds of fire, Mungibeddu (Etna), water and the underworld.
8 days, 7 nights
Locations: Catania, Enna and Siracusa
Cost of Experience
$4950
Per person based on double occupancy.
Limited single occupancy rooms available upon request for an additional $700.
Note: Airfare and airport transportation are not included.
Want to know more about our redistribution of money in Sicily? Click here.
“My time with Radici during the Ninfe Immersion (I say immersion rather than retreat, because this was so much more than a retreat!) was life-shifting. Exploring Sicily and the Divine Feminine under the guidance of Barbara Crescimanno was such a powerful experience of embodiment. As a sensuality and aging expert, this immersion allowed me to not only deepen into my personal spiritual journey and Sicilian roots but has translated in how I support my clients. If you’ve been thinking about going on this journey... do it!!”
We gather together for a rite of passage together during the days of the equinox, on ancestral land.
We invite you to Sicilia for our second unique immersion with Barbara Crescimanno, founder of Arci Tavola Tonda.
Barbara is a Palermo-based mythologist, researcher, teacher, ritualist, drummer, singer and dancer—and our teacher and guide as we immerse ourselves in Ninfe II: of water and fire.
We gather during the season of underworld descent, on the island also known as Persephone’s island.
The word ‘nymph’ is used to describe a divine being, but also nymph’s were considered to be humans and animals as well. Nymphs were beings capable of moving and mixing between worlds, between different planes of existence, collecting an extremely complex symbolic ensemble identity that oscillates between mythic- narrative and historical dimensions. Nymphs are those of the “in-between” — the oracles, the healers, the beings that embody the rhythm of both the inner world, the underworld, the more-than-human-world, the human world and the cosmos. They move between all realms.
On the ‘divine’ level, Nymphs are ‘collective’ female divinities, that show themselves in different forms linked to aspects of the natural world such as gardens and medicinal plants, sacred trees, forests, woods, and, above all, the waters. They are also connected to deities, such as Demeter and Persephone.
Mediterranean nymphs were considered the keepers of the thresholds. There were many Mediterranean human cults connected and associated with and to nymphs.
This relationship, the one between the worlds of humans and more-than-humans, the one of our ancestors, was much more fluid, respectful and healthy than what we currently have now with the natural world/more than human world. Everything, and everyone, and every being was in relationship, and Nymphs are a very large part of those relations—they were the doorway, the keepers of these relations. They kept the rhythms of threshold, and held and sang us into different planes of existence. (source: Il Sacro al femminile; Figure e forme rituali in area mediterraneafra memoria e contemporaneità, By Barbara Crescimanno).
Nymphs were kourotrophoi, i.e. beekeepers, herbalists, midwives, nurses, priestesses, seers — those who guided people during ritual using tools such as entheogenic plants, dancing, and rhythm to activate non-ordinary states of consciousness— the same skills were had by funeral mourners and prophetesses through a form of sacred mania: ‘nympholepsy’.
These complex figures, Nymphs, are present as our guides in every crucial passage of existence. Passages such as: being born, moving from baby to childhood, childhood into adulthood, the rites of first blood and last blood, the rites of sex and marriage, the rites of divorce, the passage into pregnancy and childbirth, the passage of becoming elders and of course initiatory deaths and rebirths of all kinds.
Nymphal figures are guardians of passages between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
They are the diviners, the messengers, the rhythm-keepers, the healers, the dancers, the witches, the magical ones.
They are the collective grievers and mourners.
They are our ancestors. They are us.
together we will:
Immerse in the ancient space of Mount Etna and learn about Empedocles and entrance to Hades; the volcano as an entrance to the underworld
Dive into Simeto and the Nymphs— Valley of the Muses, Galatea and Aci and learn about the sacred hot and sulphurous waters, Hades/Adrano and Kore/Nesti
Visit the belly, Enna, and hold rhythm circles on sites such as Rocca di Cerere, lake Pergusa, Cozzo Matrice; learning about the prehistoric water cults.
Visit Theatre Nymphaeum, Ear of Dionysus, hold a rhythmic circle and learn about Nymphaeums as sanctuaries, Sicilian and Eleusinian mystery cults
We will circle together at the source of the Ciane and move deeper into female rites of passage, frame drums.
Visit Fonte Aretusa and learn in the archeological museum
Join us as we immerse and journey in their mythology, rhythms, and way of being together on the thresholds of both Fire and Water, as well as on the edge of where the underworld meets us.
This year we create a collective passage as we spend time in learning and emergent ritual with the fire, Munghibeddu (Etna), the underworld (Enna, the womb of the island) and the oracles of the water (Siracusa area).
During our time experiencing the pilgrimage of NINFE II: of fire and water, we will be re-membering and embodying the rhythms and rituals of the nymphs, the oracles, the timekeepers, the gatekeepers.
We will become the liminal ones. The ones who honor the season of going within, and under.
This pilgrimage is one of depth, devotion, and initiation.
Ninfe II, is for those of us who crave rites of passage, who can feel it in our bones, in their blood, and who can hear their ancestors calling them to integrate these rhythms back into their lineages. For those drawn to volcano medicine, the chthonic realms, and the oracles of the sea– if you are called to song, grief work, ancestral animism, and thresholds keeping, this may be an immersion for you.
We come from this lineage. And we need rites of passage to reclaim it and sew these worlds back into our lives.
We can ask the questions; who are we in connection to nymphs? Who are we when we tap into, connect with this magic of fire, water and the underworld? What could a world look like when we re-awaken and remember our relationship with these threshold keepers so important in our ancestors existence? How can it help us collective grieve and protect? How could it change who we live together? Die together? Heal together?
During our 8 nights and 7 days together we will gather at sacred spot within Mount Etna’s cave, the places of Persephone descent in the womb of the island, and will also be be visiting the sea and rivers of the SE coast of Sicilia, near Siracusa.
Barbara Crescimanno will be teaching and guiding us in places she feels are historically sacred to these practices, and learning the myths, the stories, the songs, the rhythms and rituals devoted to nymphs and other divine beings. We will practice the time keeping of community and experience emergent ways we hold each other’s grief. MaryBeth Bonfiglio will be support the container, Barbara, and integration for all.
Barbara is one of the living keepers of this wisdom and knowledge of these ancient traditions in Sicily. She is ready and willing to hold us in these rites of passage.
We will be in deep circle, radical togetherness, and we will be channeling together all that has been waiting to come through.
“Marybeth is a gracious, generous, and sincere human and creator of containers. Her devotion to Radici Siciliane—not only to us participants but to the land and the Sicilian locals who help us or join us on our experiences—is what makes this journey so special.”
You will need a drum for this immersion, so make sure to bring one if you already have one. But if you do not have one and have never played a southern Italian frame drum, this is totally fine. These rhythms are accessible to all of us and you don’t need to be an expert. Drums can be borrowed or purchased in Sicily from Barbara.
Ninfe is not a workshop to learn traditional folk drumming, it is an experience to learn how to become and be with rhythm, with each other and the lands myths. It is a space to practice integrating spirit of place and time and within the body. We will drum and sing, but again, this is not a technical workshop.
Ninfe II is for all levels who want to hold and awaken their ancestral frame drum lineages, their line of ancient ninfes, keepers of the magic and myth.
Have questions? Take a look at our FAQ.
Cost of Experience
$4950
Per person based on double occupancy. Limited single occupancy rooms available upon request for an additional $700.
Note: Airfare and airport transportation are not included.
Want to know more about our redistribution of money in Sicily? Click here.
What’s included?
Overnight accommodations for 7 nights
Most meals over 8 days with Radici Siciliane (there may be a street food lunch or dinner along the way). We promise you will not go hungry! Wine is always included.
Licensed, insured, and certified guides and drivers that are invaluable, welcoming, deeply knowledgeable. They are my good friends… and will become your friends as well.
All experiences, which includes local guides and translators
Space to explore and workshop our writing together
Workshop, teachings, immersion, ritual, integration, drumming, held by Barbara Crescimanno.
Integration support with MaryBeth Bonfiglio.
Moral and emotional support — it can be intense to be immersed in another culture, especially if it is your ancestral land.
Deep knowledge of the land, ancient and modern myths and stories will be shared.
A community for both longing + belonging to be explored.
A life changing experience in Sicilia, one that you will hold, carry, and share forever.
Ancestral healing practices and ritual anchored in body and land.
Is this immersion a fit for you? Check out our FAQ + Community Guidelines
About Our Facilitators
Barbara Crescimanno
Independent researcher and teacher of dance and percussive techniques at the Arci Tavola Tonda School of Music and Traditional Dances (https://www.tavolatonda.org/index.php/en/ ) Barbara coordinates the TrizziRiDonna ethnocoreutic research group and conducts a research path on the relationship between music and the sacred feminine.
She coordinates various training projects:
CHORÓS. Dances, Voices, and Rhythms of Southern Italy. A two-year training course between music, theater and pedagogy; aimed at performers, educators, cultural operators, teachers, enthusiasts (2020/22);
Nymphs, Maenads, Bacchae. Female voices and rhythms in the Mediterranean, artistic residency with the support of MiBACT and SIAE (2020).
She collaborated with the Chair of Ethnomusicology of the University of Palermo for the performances Stories of tarantism in Sicily, (OrtoinArte festival, Palermo 2018), and L'osso che canta, (Dionysian Festival, Greek Theater of Segesta 2019)
Barbara has also curated several performances:
TRI DONNI VIDI RIPITARI. Funeral practices in Mediterranean Sicily (Sponde Sonore Festival, Palermo 2022)
Kore and Hades, or water and fire, love and death (Hay Theater Festival and Poetic Forest, Gibilmanna 2018; University of Verona 2019; Rosalia and the others. Symbols of the sacred feminine, conference at International Puppet Museum A. Pasqualino 2019)
The flowers, the blood, the wheat. Kore and Demeter in the island (Festiwal Opowiadaczy, Brama Grodzka - TeatrNN, Lublin, Poland 2013)
She organized the conference The sacred feminine. Figures and ritual forms in the Mediterranean area between memory and contemporaneity (Palermo 2019)
As a ritualist and guide, Barbara holds an integral, tight, and joyful space where movement, rhythm, self expression, integration, and sound create a profound shift within the body. Her roots and methods are ancient and animist, and she expertly and lovingly weaves community through myth and music.
This is the second year that Barbara has co-created with Radici Siciliane. It is Radici’s pleasure and great honor to support the teaching and work of Barbara, hoping more and more people, including diaspora, learn these ancient ways of being and making rhythm from someone born and raised, learning and living, in Sicilia.
She is also building the WebMap FRAME DRUM ATLAS IN THE EUROMEDITERRANEAN AREA (https://www.tavolatonda.org/index.php/en/lessons/choros-en , being translated into English), and DEE and NINFE di SICILIA (Goddesses and Nymphs of Sicily, in Italian).
Publications by Barbara Crescimanno:
➢ Kore and the Nymphs in the Mediterranean between bees and honey (in Italian)
http://www.istitutoeuroarabo.it/DM/kore-e-le-ninfe-nel-mediterraneo-tra-api-e-miele-2/
➢ Phylogenetic origins of dance. The body as an instrument and the earth as a drum (in Italian)
➢ The Siceliot Kore, Mediterranean Nymph (in Italian), in Prometeo n.147 (2019)
➢ The Bal Folk Movement in Palermo. Dance Practices and the Dynamics of Socio-Cultural Identity, in Street music and narrative traditions, Museo Pasqualino edizioni (2019)
➢ Nymphs and waters in Sicily. A sacred relationship (in Italian)
https://www.autricidicivilta.it/ninfe-ed-acque-in-sicilia-una-relazione-sacra-barbara-crescimanno/
➢ Mediterranean nymphs. Goddesses/women who heal (themselves) (in Italian), in METIS, ALLARGARE IL CERCHIO. Pratiche per una comune umanità (2020)
➢ Quando le donne suonavano i tamburi, Italian translation of Layne Redmond 's text When drummers were women, edito dalla Venexia (2021)
➢ The sacred in the feminine. Figures and ritual forms in the Mediterranean area between memory and contemporaneity (in Italian), Istituto Poligrafico Europeo (2021)
MaryBeth Bonfiglio
MaryBeth Bonfiglio is a writer, independent researcher, and ancestralist. She is the founder/co- curator of Radici Siciliane, as well as Blood + Belonging: an ancestral wisdom school. Her favorite work is gathering people together to be wildly creative, connected to enjoy each other. She creates containers for wisdom and relationship remembering, for tending to the village, and weaves folks together in non-hierarchical/non linear ways. She has been trained in midwifery, yoga, animist space holding, and holds an an MFA in creative writing. MaryBeth co-organizes, visions the gathering of people together in Sicily, while holding a tight ancestral container— her role is to listen, sit with you, and support ritual integration. Her late father is 100% Sicilian, her mother is half Northern Italian and half Polish.
She devotes herself to caring for those who are around her— both the living and the dead. She is honored and privileged to cultivate this work/play/prayer with you.