About Us

Azogires - holiday for body & soul in Crete | home

About Us

We are a group of friends, originally brought together through our love of tantra - a deep and powerful path of personal and spiritual transformation. Apart from Knut (and Malcolm for half of the year) we are based in the UK, where some of us run SkyDancing UK, a tantra trainings teaching organization. We spent large part of the holiday season being personally in Azogires.

Our vision for

the holistic seminar centre in Azogires

is to create a place that nourishes both body and soul, where individuals, couples and groups can come to contact their deepest creativity, aliveness and joy, to come closer together, to relax and regenerate in the womb of Goddess.

In close contact with the elements and the powerful landscape, and in the energy of the ancient mysteries of Crete, life and its aspects are seen as a manifestation of the divine; the centre supports that experience of life.

(Snake Goddess from Knossos, Crete)

Hilly Spenceley

Mother, Grandmother, Tantra Teacher. My gifts are to facilitate personal freedom and choice in life, freeing up the chains of conformity that keep us locked in a state of unconsciousness. The medium I use is Tantra, this is the only path I have found that embraces , literally, mind, body, and spirit.

The word Tantra means to weave , to expand, my understanding of this is to allow all parts of ourselves, to embrace and expand into these, reclaim these parts, weave them into our wholeness, using all this energy as a tool for moving into higher conciousness.

I first met Crete about three years ago when I had an impulse to teach Tantra in the sun, after much searching I heard of Azogires so John and I took a small group there. My first impression of Crete was a mixture of excitement and dread, I knew stepping foot on this land, my life would never be the same- it touched a part of me that was deeply buried, it ripped me open , casting aside the carefully constructed layers that smothered the freedom of my spirit and soul. For me Crete is not a place to escape, not so much a holiday as we know it, but more 'Holy Day' in the truest sense, it strips away at everything that gets in the way of our essential self - moving into the sacredness of the ordinary.

I realized that I hadn't chosen Crete, she chose me- one of my 'strands' is for myself to heal and reclaim the Goddess within, and to facilitate that in others, Crete - like the feminine in our culture, has been raped, abused, and torn apart, underneath all this you can feel the deep beauty and wisdom of the Ancient Mother- the Great Goddess, she is there to help us, to bring us back in touch with her/ourselves in her enormity and compassion. Azogires centre was offered to us for hire, without hesitation my answer was 'Yes'! My vision is twofold, the word Azogires means 'Holy Village' I wish to care for and protect this very special little home, and to bring people there so they have the experience of Tantra - "knowing themselves within connection to the other and of Shamanisim - "knowing themselves within connection to the landscape and elements".

Azogires nurtures and supports this vision.

This quote by Nikos Kazantzakis says it all for me:

"There is a kind of flame in Crete - let us call it "soul" - something more powerful than either life or death. There is pride, obstinacy, valor and together with these something else, inexpressible and inponderable, something which makes you rejoice that you are a human being, and at the same time tremble..."

John Hawken

John studied under the famous Polish experimental theatre director, Jerzy Grotowski, in the 1970s, and since this experience has dreamed of creating a magical place where people are called together to meet on a deep level without masks, to touch souls and inspire each other, where holidays become once again "holy days". His search has taken him through training and working as a psychotherapist to teaching tantra and studying shamanism. Founder

of SkyDancing Tantra in the UK, he teaches the Tantra Club programme and special holiday groups and tantra trainings in Azogires.

John says:

"Azogires is a high energy place which acts like a catalyst for personal growth: processes are accelerated, the unexpected happens, not always what you think you want but certainly what you need. It is a place for adventures, inner and outer, as well as for relaxation and nourishment.

When I first came to south-west Crete 24 years ago I had spontaneously my first tantric experiences, as if the place itself were facilitating them, calling them forth. The energy of the landscape seems to magnify what is going on for you, your truth: it magnifies your passion and your search, as it clarifies your resistances and your fear.

I hope that the Centre will become a resource and a home for seekers and searchers, a place for the unconventional, for dreams and hopes, for creative chaos and for the truth."

Frank Dolan

Frank is our organizer for the UK.

We will supply his personal profile soon!

Malcolm Barradell

Malcolm is "our man in Crete" being resident in Azogires from mid-March to mid-November. As well as being centre manager, Malcolm is also our accomplished cook. He has been involved with the centre in Azogires for the last four years and consequently has a good local knowledge, his particular interests are walking, bird watching and snorkelling. His partner Kay is also a valuable member of the team and assists with the running of the centre.

Malcolm says:

"I love this place and this area of Crete particularly, the mountains, sea and surrounding countryside are full of magic and mystery. I enjoy the peace and quiet of the village and surrounding hills, the friendliness of the people and the pace of life here, I revel in sharing the delights of this place."

Hana Evans

Hana created this website and maintains it. Having been a student of tantra for four years, she also assists her partner John, Hilary or both in leading the tantra workshops in Azogires.

"In my highest 'Azogirean potential' I see myself as a dream holder, or, if you like, a priestess in this place. It's the heat of the Sun that burns away my illusions, the saltiness of the sea that cleanses me from my fears, the elemental simplicity that strips my soul bare, the loud whispers of Cretan spirits that lure me into the dreamtime... Echoes of the vibrant past resonate within me, pictures come from the deep flooding my memory, the whole of nature comes alive so easily here. I have a great passion for the Goddess whose presence is strong and tangible in Crete."

" I enjoy running the website and hope you like it - please, let me know if you feel there are improvements to be done, I really appreciate your feedback as I am still learning about website design. Otherwise, I feel very honoured to be able to help create and look after Azogires centre, this place for you in this particular part of Crete, which I see as a vessel holding a very nourishing, healing, inspiring, challenging and transformative energy, in one word - sacred!"

Knut Brockmoeller

Knut started as a member of our Tantra Club and his desire to became envolved closer with the project inspired him to take on the task of organizing our German Tantra Club. So if you live in Germany, have done some basic training in tantra and would like to enjoy more in Crete, please, contact Knut.

He will also add more to his profile.

Click on our names to email us.

FOR FURTHER DETAILS of how to get in touch with us, please, go to CONTACT US.

Top