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IN the stars retreat center: An ancestral healing space

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There can be no liberation without a relationship to the land. The land itself is an active participant in healing because we see the Earth as our oldest ancestor.

In The Stars Retreat Center is a land-based space devoted to ancestral remembrance, rest, and collective transformation. Rooted in decolonial values and cultural integrity, the retreat center hosts immersive healing experiences, small-group gatherings, and intentional retreats.

Located in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina, it serves guests from across the African diaspora. In The Stars offers a grounded, nature-centered setting for reconnection and ritual. Some people arrive here after months of personal practice.

A Space for rest, ancestral connection, and ceremony

In the Stars Retreat Center, is heirs family property stewarded since 1869 and the ancestral land of the Gasque-Gerald descendants. The land that In The Stars Retreat Center is located on was formerly the land of the Indigenous people of the Pee Dee, Lumbee and Waccamaw tribes in the Pee Dee region of South Carolina.

The retreat center is located on roughly 28+/- acres of wooded and cleared land previously used for homesteading and producing cash crops such as tobacco and indigo over its time.

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retreats, gatherings, and healing experiences

Ancestral healing retreats

  • Retreats for those in the African diaspora.

  • A remembering and reconnection to land.

  • An honoring and reconnection to ancestors.

  • Addressing ancestral and intergenerational limiting experiences.

Camping tents illuminated with string lights on a wooden platform at night under dark blue sky with trees.

communal circles

  • Quarterly experiences for those seeking community

  • Reconnecting to land and ceremony requiring communal participation.

  • Uplifting our collective participation in the liberation..

This space is for

This space is for those that believe in living out liberation and healing today while actively experiencing the daily impacts of colonization and empire. This is where Black women, men and children can lay aside all that has been burdened. This is where in community we listen to the chullen’ for their wisdom as much as the elders. Where our community organizers, activists and advocates retreat to for reprieve and restoration of their spirit. A place where healers and artist share their gifts with our community and receive as well. This space is to strictly honor and uplift those that are descendants of the African diaspora and living in the U.S. People from various lived experiences are welcomed to the space by invitation only. Because this work is relational, all participation begins with inquiry.

Host or attend a retreat
A backyard with a grassy lawn, trees, a small garden area with covered soil, a trash bin, and a clear blue sky with some clouds.

In The Stars Retreat Center hosts ancestral healing retreat and wellness gatherings serving Charleston SC, Myrtle Beach SC, Raleigh NC, Durham NC, and surrounding communities throughout the Southeast. .