Essence Work

Essence Work reconnects us to our innate true nature, the gift we were all born with, but over time have lost connection with. As humans, we have a strong instinct for fulfilment, and often a deep sense of something that is lost or lacking. Essence Work gives us a map and tools to gently, step by step, reconnect with our true Self, our blue-print through awareness, compassion and inquiry.

Essence Work was developed by two pioneers in psycho-spiritual work, A.H. Almaas and Faisal Muqaddam, who discovered an ancient Sufi map of consciousness which they married with modern psychology approaches.

At the heart of the work, is the subtle energy system of the Sufis called the “Lataif”. The work describes a pathway to assist the retrieval of our connection to various Essential states, including our true capacity for Will, Strength, Love, Value, Compassion, Peace and Joy. Each of these are described through a colour which manifests its qualities.

Retreat | Gate to Essence

This intensive seminar presents a new understanding, a new map of human consciousness. It is based on ancient insights from the Sufi tradition of the Middle East and has become known in the Western world through AH Almaas and Faisal Muquaddam. It is based on the insight that separation from our being, from our true nature, is the main reason for our deep suffering. According to this approach, we are only complete when we rediscover our lost essence and can experience it in totality.

This retreat is an enrichment for all those who work with people and are looking for new tools for their own therapeutic practice, as well as those interested in using this work for their own growth.

What is essence?

By essence we mean our actual being, our true nature. Like a rainbow or a diamond, it has many aspects, colors and facets. Some of the essential qualities of essence are strength, love, trust, peace, power, compassion, joy, objective presence and clarity. We were born with these essential qualities and they are still present within us, even if we have often forgotten how to access them, neither see them nor notice them because they have been hurt or rejected.

During our childhood, we gradually lost touch with our essence. We gave up certain aspects of our being to protect ourselves and to get the love we needed to survive. This is how our personality, the ego, developed and we now believe that this is our true self.

We experience the loss of our essence, or certain parts of it, e.g. the loss of love, the loss of our power, our strength, the loss of our clarity or our joy, as an inner emptiness, as loneliness, pain, worthlessness, impotence and often as a senseless struggle, a separation from the whole.

Gate to Essence

Through a deep understanding of our childhood influences and personality structure, we will rediscover various dimensions of being in this training that we lost contact with in our early development. We do not see psychological life issues as problems, but welcome them as a gateway to our essence, to our true nature, which we long for so much.

We rediscover the essential aspects of being: strength, love, trust, peace and power, compassion, joy, objective presence and clarity. Each quality of being has its own color, its own set of life issues and its own solution to help us return to the "essential" state. Special exercises for self-exploration, meditation and understanding can help us rediscover the lost aspects of our being and embrace them.

Retreat Dates and Content

White Essence - Trust with Turiya Hanover
13 - 17 November 2024

Inner support and trust in ourselves and others
Resting in our center
Learning to live in a relaxed atmosphere of trust with ourselves and the world

Red Essence - Strength, Power and Fusion with Vasumati Hancock
28 May - 01 June 2025

Inner strength, liveliness, sexual passion
Courage to break old patterns
Individuality vs. fusion, devotion vs. self-sacrifice

Black Essence – From Destruction to Inner Peace with Turiya Hanover
12 - 16 November 2025

Silence, Truth, Peace
Exploring Darkness and Light
The Love of Truth
The Mystery of Being

Green Essence - The Voice of the Heart with Vasumati Hancock
03 - 07 June 2026

Finding the Inner Friend
True Compassion
acceptance
delicacy
forgiveness and gratitude

Yellow Essence - The Lightness of Being with Turiya Hanover
11 - 15 November 2026

Living in joy and brightness, curiosity, taking new paths
Deep trust
Devotion to the divine, innocence, the lightness of being.

Through deep self-inquiry we learn to reclaim these lost aspects of essence. Through curiosity, courage, and our love of truth, a deep understanding and often joy arises that heals and brings us to a state of inner peace and integrity.

The work takes place in a gentle and accepting atmosphere. There will be phases of stillness and silence, as well as times of sharing - depending on the particular essence quality we are exploring.

The ultimate goal of this work is to reclaim all the different facets of our being in order to become the perfect, shining diamond that we truly are.

Retreat | Black Essence

Overcome fear, touch your innate Truth and explore Intimacy and Power

Black Essence enables the power to cut through illusions with Awareness, Understanding and Love for the Truth.

Most of us are afraid of our own power because we fear that we might misuse this power. We long to be powerful beyond measure and instead we succumb to the helplessness and frustration that arises out of not taking our power.

True black essence cuts through all our illusions and self- deceptions and through this clarity we gain a profound understanding and insight into truth, and the ability to discern what is false from what is real.

The black essence creates guidance that is fierce and clear, like a cutting edge. It shows us our relationship to truth and thus opens the door to our true nature.

The embodiment of the black essence stills our mind and brings a deep inner peace and is a portal to a mysterious, infinite Universe.

It is the Power of Being.

In this profound Transmission of the Black, we will use guided meditations, embodiment and inquiries to gather a new understanding about our essential nature. We will also learn to meet our ego structure with compassion and acceptance.

What you will get out of the Black Essence training:

Clarity
Strength
Courage
A healthy sense of power
A deep sense of compassion for yourself and the world we live in
Embracing darkness as beautiful and magical
Cutting through ego's illusions
Understanding of ego structure
Exploring the shadow aspect of Power
The power of discernment between what is false and what is true
Clear, objective, exquisitely precise and sharp guidance
Silencing the chattering mind

Date to be announced.

Retreat | The Citadel

Bringing clarity, understanding, a grounded will and deep self-respect.

The experience of the "Citadel" brings a new dimension of will. It is the presence of essence that defends truth and brings solidity like a citadel, grounded in the laws of being, full of stability and harmony. It brings a sense of solidity, presence in truth and a feeling of protection. It brings the awareness of truth into our daily lives.

We begin to explore all aspects of our life, work, relationships and behaviour patterns and ask whether they are true or not. One aspect of the citadel is to provides guidance on how to live according to the truth of your being while learning to support this inner development. We learn to accept discipline, not the one that is imposed by society and its rules, but an inner discipline that helps and supports the truth of our being.

This process brings clarity, understanding, a grounded will and deep self-respect.

“The Citadel gives you a feeling of

Solidity and support without grandiose

ideas. One is clearly aware that

it is an essential presence and not

is a physical or mental force,

that it's a support for

being acts and not for the ego. "

- A.H. ALMAAS

Date to be announced.

The Citadel