This article was published in 2021; you will find the current price in the price section.
It is exactly 8 years since we built the windowless cabins in our orchard for you, where you can stay in the dark.
Soon almost 2000 participants will have been in the dark with us.
We are very glad that you come to us near Kutná Hora for your dark retreat.
How much to contribute for a dark retreat
From the very beginning, our aim was to create a space for participants who need calm and long for deeper self-knowledge and transformation. We wanted to make dark retreats available to everyone, regardless of gender, profession, native language, race, or physical or economic health. That is why, right from the start, we left the amount you contributed for a dark retreat up to you.
The booking fee was just 1,000 CZK, so that truly anyone could book a dark retreat.
But 2021 was a real turning point for dark retreats with us.
We started getting bookings from people who weren’t really that interested in the darkness and who changed or cancelled their bookings at the last minute. Perhaps covid had a hand in it too. You will surely have noticed that almost every week we sent out an email, say the day before arrival or on the day itself, saying that a participant hadn’t turned up and so a sanctuary was free for a stay in the dark – which is a great shame.
This caused stress for us and for the people on the waiting list, whom we were emailing or calling on the day of arrival. We believe everyone should take responsibility for their own actions and shouldn’t shift that responsibility onto others.
A fixed price for a dark retreat
We came to the conclusion that we don’t have the energy to educate not-so-responsible people who block a date for a dark retreat and then, on a whim or out of carelessness, don’t turn up. A bit like when someone puts a towel on a sunbed first thing in the morning and then nobody uses it all day, neither they nor anyone else :'(
So we think the only way to make it clearer to anyone interested in a dark retreat that a booked date is binding, and that there are far more people in need than there are free places, is a financial incentive.
That is why we are setting the booking fee at 5,000 CZK, which secures your date, and the remaining balance for the dark retreat of 5,500 CZK will be due at least 30 days before arrival.
This will give us and the other participants enough time to get in touch with people on the waiting list, so they can arrange time off or personal matters and go into the dark in place of someone who can’t.
A voluntary price for a dark retreat
We realise this changes our original rule that the amount you contribute is voluntary, so we are offering a compromise: the remaining balance for a dark retreat can be paid in instalments from 500 CZK a month, with a minimal increase only to cover inflation – something we believe truly anyone can afford.
We firmly believe this measure will make participants more responsible and that only those who really want a dark retreat will book one. And if something unexpected comes up, we can sort it out together. For example, you can send anyone into the dark in your place, or we may manage to find someone from the waiting list in time and then we can refund the full amount. The main thing is that the dark retreat sanctuaries don’t stand empty.
We wish all participants lots of love, and see you in the dark.
Because the Czech National Bank is printing new crowns for all it’s worth and devaluing the currency, we always keep the current price of darkness therapy on a separate page.
