IN the stars retreat center
In the Stars Retreat Center, is my family-owned retreat center I steward and operate as an ancestral land steward of the Gasque family. 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 that has been in the Gasque-Gerald family since 1869 and has been stewarded while housing family members and previously producing cash crops such as tobacco and indigo over its time. The land has been preserved to this point by my father’s maternal lineage of family and now is part of my work to steward for future generations.
The vision of In The Stars Retreat Center is to host communal skill shares and retreats for Black folks seeking communal space, healing and retreat away from the demands of American society and the traumas of existing in dominant culture. These retreats support the communal healing of Africans across the diaspora and support the Gasque family in sustaining and maintaining the stewardship of the land.
Story of Our Land
retreat services
Awaken spring retreat
Awaken Spring retreat is an annual communal retreat, inviting us to awaken as the Earth awakens from its winter slumber. The Awaken retreat takes place in March. This retreat focuses on renewal, growth, and planting the seeds for personal and communal transformation.
Virtual and in-person training opportunities are offered throughout the year or explore these additional options.
harvest retreat
In October, we gather to celebrate the abundance of the harvest season and reflect on the fruits of our labor. The Harvest Retreat is a time for gratitude, sharing and preparing for the winter months ahead in a communal and transformational gathering.
retreat space rental
Are you interested in having a retreat but wanting someone else to do all the logistical planning while being care for in a communal setting and/or experiencing plant medicine? Let’s discuss the endless possibilities for you and your group.
African Plant Medicine
In 2021, in an effort to address the ptsd and trauma kennae and her husband experienced from their military service, kennae was invited to experience an african plant medicine.
unknown to her at the time, this would not only be a life changing experience but it would be the plant medicine of her paternal lineage.
As a part of the African diaspora of Black African Americans in the United States of America, I have always deeply desired to return to the motherland, the land of my ancestors to visit and experience a familial connection.
In February 2022, I had the opportunity to experience a once-in-a-lifetime plant medicine ceremony that specifically used African plant medicine only located in Gabon, Cameroon and the Congo but has been known to support people healing from personal and past trauma and addiction. During my experience with the plant medicine, I knew I would be building a relationship with the plant, its wisdom and sacred tradition as a healer and herbalist.
After deeper inquiry for myself and with my husband, I shared my interest in going to Gabon to experience the training for facilitating the use of this plant medicine and spoke with the 10th generation African Shaman, that guides and provides the training.
Your support would assist me in covering the training fees and flight to and from Gabon. I truly believe in the wisdom of this plant medicine and the healing it can provide to Black people across the diaspora and beyond in my community.
The next training cohort begins in 2025. I am approximately 1 year out from the next training. My intention is to work and take on various work projects through the healing capacities I already have to raise the funds for the deposit and its submission by January 1, 2025. Once, I return from Gabon I desire to lead my first plant medicine experience in fall 2025.
