Rite & Wild Retreat

The Night the Sky Does Something It Won't Do Again

On August 12, 2026, three things happen over Alaska that have never happened together before in a place most of us can reach. Here's why we built a retreat around it.

I didn't set out to plan a retreat around a solar eclipse.

I set out to build something that had been forming in me for a long time — a container for women who are done waiting to feel like themselves. A few days in Alaska with real movement, real breathwork, real cold, real food, and enough space to actually hear yourself think.

Then I looked at the calendar.

On August 12, 2026, a solar eclipse crosses the Alaska sky at sunrise. The new moon is exact 27 minutes after it ends. That same night, the Perseid meteor shower peaks in a sky with no moon at all — because the new moon is invisible, there's nothing to wash out the light. In Hatcher Pass, away from city lights, you can see up to 60 meteors an hour.

Solar eclipse at sunrise. New moon minutes later. Meteor shower that night.

I've never seen anything like this on a calendar before. I don't think I will again.

And yes — August 12 is a Wednesday. I know.

I thought about it. I thought about moving it, finding a weekend that was close enough, making it more convenient. But here's the thing about celestial events: they don't care about your schedule. The eclipse happens when it happens. The new moon is exact when it's exact. The Perseids peak when they peak.

And I've been doing this long enough to know that the women who show up to something like this on a Tuesday night in the middle of August are exactly the women this retreat is for. The ones who decide something matters and make it work. The ones who have been waiting for a reason to say yes to themselves and finally found one they couldn't talk themselves out of.

If you can make a Wednesday work — this is yours.

What the new moon means

Every new moon is a beginning. It's the moment the lunar cycle resets; the sky goes dark, the slate clears, and whatever you're ready to start gets an energetic foothold.

New moon in Leo — which is what this is — carries themes of confidence, self-expression, identity, and reclaiming your light. The shadow work that comes with it is about what you've been hiding, what you've been shrinking to accommodate, and what you're finally ready to stop apologizing for.

What the eclipse means

An eclipse on a new moon is a new moon amplified. Where a regular new moon whispers beginnings, an eclipse shouts them. It marks endings that make room for what comes next. It's been used as a ceremonial moment across nearly every culture on earth that has ever looked up at the sky.

The eclipse on August 12 is a partial solar eclipse over Palmer, Alaska. Not totality; you'll need eclipse glasses (provided), but it happens at sunrise with the Wrangell and Talkeetna mountains in the background.

It will be something.

What the Perseid meteor shower means

The Perseids peak every year in mid-August. They're one of the most reliable and spectacular meteor showers of the year — fast, bright streaks, some with long trains, up to 60 per hour at peak.

What makes August 12, 2026 unusual is the new moon. Most years the Perseids compete with moonlight. This year there is no moon. The sky will be as dark as it gets in the Matanuska Valley in August — dramatic, wide, and full of light even at midnight.

We will be outside. We will have blankets. Nobody will be facilitating anything. You just lie down and watch.

What we're doing with all of it

Rite & Wild is four days of foundational movement, breathwork, heat, cold, and ritual built around the idea that you are more capable than you think. Physically and mentally. Both at the same time.

We open under the eclipse. Our witch holds new moon ceremony as the moon becomes exact. We breathe together, move together, go into cold water, sit in sauna, eat real food made with care, and stay up to watch the Perseids fall.

This isn't a passive experience. You will do hard things. You will also laugh, eat well, and sit in sauna with strangers who become something more than that.

We didn't plan the celestial events.

But we're absolutely using them.

The details

Rite & Wild · August 11–14, 2026 · The Apiary, Palmer, Alaska12 spots · Open to all who identify as women · $1,997 all-inclusive

Includes lodging, all meals, breathwork, cold water immersion, movement, new moon ritual, eclipse ceremony, sauna, and airport transport.

Early bird pricing: $1,797 for the first 4 spots.

Reserve your spot at outwildhumanperformance.com/classes

The eclipse doesn't wait.