We will spend our first two days exploring the main island of Malta, staying at the 4-Star Galaxy Hotel in Sliema. Our day-trips will include the Tarxien Temple complex, known for the highly decorative spiral and animal motifs, and the nearby underground Hypogeum - a burial temple with fascinating architecture and red-ochre symbols still found on some of the walls and ceilings. The "Sleeping Lady of Malta" found in the Hypogeum and many of her sister statues are housed in the National Archaeological Museum in the Baroque capital of Valetta, where we will also see many other artifacts from Malta's rich heritage including animal fetishes, pottery, Neolithic-period small scale temple models, and original temple decorative blocks.

Our next few days will be spent on the smaller, more rural sister island of Gozo. We will stay in the town of Xaghra, home of the legendary Ggantija double temple ("The Giantess"), where we will have a private evening ritual. Our accomodations will be in contemporary "farmhouse style" self-catering stone houses with beautiful arches, swimming pool, and a stunning view of nearby flowering hills and the Medieval Citadella. In Gozo we will have relaxed opportunities to create sacred space, spend time in Nature while exploring seaside geological wonders, meet local artisans while visiting shops and studios, see an Italian Black Madonna, visit fishing villages to see the famous Maltese "eye" boats and sample local cuisine. We will be joined by local pre- historian Joe Attard Tabone who will take us to out-of-the-way prehistoric sites and show us the local flora and fauna.

Back in Malta we will visit more temples, gardens, churches, and spend the morning of the Spring Equinox at the Mnajdra Temple near the southern shore, experiencing the energy of the solar alignment entering through the trilithon's threshold.