Founded 2018
Council of Questions
October 8–11, 2026
Trout Creek Wilderness Lodge
Molalla River Watershed, Oregon
Cure + Era was founded in 2018 from a simple recognition: women* hold profound wisdom, and that wisdom needs space, time, relationship, and place in order to be heard. We make room for ancient and innate ways of knowing to come forward through collective discernment, connection with one another, and attentive relationship with land and water. When women* are given room to listen deeply — to themselves, to each other, to place, and to what is asking to emerge — clarity, creativity, and new possibilities can take form.
Over the past several years, I have found myself returning again and again to a relatively small circle of women* whose lives embody qualities I most hope will shape this work: wisdom, courage, intellectual curiosity, generosity, humility, and a deep capacity for relationship.
You are one of those women*.
A small council of women*. Four days. One watershed. A shared commitment to asking better questions than any one of us could ask alone.
I hope you will consider joining us for the inaugural Cure + Era Council of Questions, October 8–11, 2026, at Trout Creek Wilderness Lodge in the Molalla River watershed of Oregon.
Together, we will step away from urgency and the noise of everyday life to listen deeply — to the land and water, to one another, and to the questions, values, and principles that may guide Cure + Era’s work in 2027 and beyond. This is not principally a self-care retreat. It is an invitation to a serious and sacred endeavor: to discern together what wants to be born through us.
I immediately thought of you because I believe your presence and perspective would enrich this gathering.
I would be deeply honored if you would join us. You are also invited to share this invitation with one other woman* whose presence may deepen the Council. Please ask her to contact me directly so that we can welcome her thoughtfully and confirm space. Please RSVP by September 1, 2026.
Whether or not you are able to join us this October, thank you for the ways your life and work continue to enrich the wider world. I hope our paths continue to cross.
With gratitude,
Chel Rowan, Founder
and the Cure + Era Board of Directors:
Cullen Raphael, Yuri McGaha, & Vanessa Barcus
A Note on Language
Throughout this invitation, women* includes cis, trans, queer, and non-binary people who feel called to a women-centered space. We recognize that gender is diverse and warmly welcome those who find resonance in this gathering.
The world our descendants inherit will be shaped by the questions we have the courage to ask together.
The questions we carry shape the lives we live, the communities we build, and the futures we leave behind. Some generations are asked to solve problems. Others are called to imagine entirely new ways of living in relationship—with one another, with the more-than-human world, and with those who have not yet been born. We believe ours is one of those generations. The Council of Questions is an experiment in feminine discernment: a practice of listening deeply enough that wiser futures might become imaginable.
You are helping begin a tradition.
This gathering is the first expression of a longer practice—one we hope will continue through correspondence, return, stewardship, friendship, and the questions we carry into the rest of our lives. In that sense, you are not simply accepting an invitation to a weekend in the forest.
May it become a tradition of women who return, who remember one another, and who continue asking the questions that make wiser futures possible.
FOUNDED 2018
Cure + Era
Cure + Era is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization cultivating a forest-rooted commons where people return to relationship — with place, with one another, across generations, and with the enduring questions that shape a life. Through hospitality, stewardship, correspondence, seasonal gatherings, and repeated return, Cure + Era creates conditions in which individuals, communities, creative offerings, and landscapes may flourish together. The Council of Questions marks the beginning of a new chapter in that work, helping clarify the guiding inquiries and practices that will weave through Cure + Era’s 2027 offerings and beyond.
THE WORK BEFORE US
Why This Moment?
We are living through a period of ecological instability, social fragmentation, political uncertainty, technological acceleration, and profound cultural transition. Information is abundant. Wisdom, attention, and trustworthy relationship can feel scarce. Cure + Era begins from the belief that some questions cannot be answered through expertise alone. They require time, embodied listening, moral imagination, ancestral and intuitive ways of knowing, rigorous thought, and relationship with the living world. The Council creates a temporary commons in which women can practice these forms of discernment together — not only for ourselves, but in service of children, communities, the wider human family, and the more-than-human world.
We are not gathering because we already know. We are gathering because the questions deserve company.
COLLECTIVE DISCERNMENT
Why a Council?
A council is different from an audience. Each person carries responsibility for the quality of attention in the room. Council Members will be invited to bring intellectual, spiritual, practical, creative, and lived knowledge into conversation. We will practice speaking from experience, listening without preparing a response, noticing what remains unspoken, and allowing the land and water to participate in our discernment. The Council will help identify the living questions and foundational principles that Cure + Era should carry into its programming, partnerships, and public work.
What we will practice
· Deep listening and spacious dialogue
· Silence, solitude, and forest-based reflection
· Embodied and alternative ways of knowing
· Inquiry without premature resolution
· Honest conversation across difference
· Collective harvest and practical next steps
The Facilitator
Dr. Roksana Badruddoja
Dr. Roksana Badruddoja (she/they) is a scholar, teacher, and spiritual leader whose work brings rigorous thought, embodied practice, and a deep commitment to relational transformation into conversation. As the Council’s lead facilitator, her work guides the gathering’s practices of deep inquiry, collective discernment, spiritual reflection, and attentive relationship with one another and the living world.
THE PLACE THAT HOLDS US
A gathering held by the land
Trout Creek Wilderness Lodge sits within the Molalla River Watershed: a place of forest paths, river quiet, mossed cabins, restoration work, and shared firelight. This landscape is part of Cure + Era’s place-based practice—a setting for rest, relationship, and the attention that gathering asks of us.
CHILDCARE AND CAREGIVING
Children Belong Here
We recognize that many women move through the world as mothers and caregivers. Those responsibilities should not automatically prevent participation in spaces of deep inquiry. If bringing a child would make it possible for you to serve as a Council Member, please coordinate with Chel before confirming attendance. Once we understand the number and ages of children attending, Cure + Era will develop a thoughtful childcare plan for relevant portions of the weekend and include that support within the gathering budget. Please share the age of each child, whether you are bringing a nursing infant, toddler, or older child, and any routines, allergies, access needs, or other considerations that will help us plan well.
SAVVY FOOD CO.
Food and Hospitality
All meals will be catered by Savvy Food Co., from a welcome dinner on Thursday evening through breakfast on Sunday morning. Savvy Food Co. is a Portland-area catering company rooted in seasonal food, local sourcing, community, and thoughtful hospitality. Dietary restrictions, allergies, and food access needs will be collected in advance so the menu can be planned with care. Savvy Food Co. is a two-person catering business, owned and operated by Ian Grant and Dana Vargas. They focus on connecting people to quality food and to each other, the perfect partner to nourish the Council.
Your stay is our gift
Council Members and facilitators are guests of Cure + Era for the entire gathering, from Thursday afternoon through Sunday following the closing circle.
Your three-night stay—including accommodations in cabins, tiny homes, or luxury bell tents, depending on availability—is provided in full.
The average value of this stay is approximately $525 per person, generously gifted by Cure + Era and Trout Creek Wilderness Lodge.
SHARED STEWARDSHIP
Meals — $172.80
Facilitator honorarium & travel — $100.00
Cleaning — $42.50
Childcare — $40.00
DJ / Music — $20.00
Supplies — $18.70
A GIFT OF PLACE
Gifted by Trout Creek Wilderness Lodge.
ONE INVITATION TO SHARE
If there is one other woman whose wisdom, courage, or way of knowing belongs in this Council, please invite her personally and ask her to reach out to Chel.
RSVP
If this gathering feels like a place where your living question might be held with care, we warmly invite your response. Please share what would help you participate fully, and the contribution that feels possible for you.