An Invitation
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​​Beauty, in all its many guises, has enchanted us since the beginning of time.
It carries many meanings and definitions, yet there is a shared understanding of how it moves us: it opens the heart and unfurls the soul.
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Our ancient ancestors gathered in the shade of awe and wonder. They sang to the rising sun and danced themselves into the One-ness of things, until they became the beauty they saw and longed for in the world around them. Beauty created a felt sense of belonging.
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Today, as we sink deeper into a machine-dominated world, beauty is steadily stripped from our lives. Industrial standardization gives us the same coffee shops, the same apartment blocks, the same planned communities, everywhere. Beauty has been repackaged as something to purchase rather than perceive. It has been flattened into prettiness or perfection, leaving us hungry for something unnamed and largely forgotten.
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The cost to the human soul is profound. The soul needs beauty as the body needs food. Without it, we stop engaging with life and begin merely enduring it. We become numb.
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Recovering beauty is emergency medicine for the soul. Join me online over five weeks as we explore how to rewild our childlike sensitivity to beauty in the world. Beauty will become your compass, pointing toward what genuinely nourishes the wild part of you that knows how to flourish.
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You will leave with practical ways to weave beauty into daily life as an orientation: a way of meeting the world with reverence, imagination, and care.
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"It (beauty) makes you want to evangelize!
Beauty is the quality of things seen for what they really are. If we could see the world as it is, perhaps it will all strike us as being sublimely beautiful. Maybe art is a matter of taking or framing little bits of the world and polishing them a bit so that the beauty that was inherent there can be available to others."
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JF Martel (What beauty can do to the soul, youtube)
The Details
Who This Is For
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Artists, writers, and makers who've lost a sense of inspiration or aliveness in their work
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Anyone feeling tired, uninspired, or overcome by the grind of daily life
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Perfectionists wanting to break the cycle of control and move toward a more integrous participation with life
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Anyone seeking a deeper, more creative and nourishing orientation to the world
Please Note:
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This is not a course in aesthetics, art appreciation, or developing cultivated taste. Nor is it an intellectual breakdown of classical philosophy—though we will weave in some of these concepts as part of the practice itself.
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Join Us:
Tues 3, 10, 17, 24 March 2026 18h30-20:00 SAST on Zoom
International: $180 USD
Early bird (until Jan 31, 2025): $160
South Africa: $120
Early bird (until Jan 31, 2025): $99
(For payment plans or direct payments, please email me anel.hamersma@gmail.com)
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Includes:
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Weekly practices, handouts with supplementary readings and reflections
Each session follows a rhythm: reflection, teaching, contemplative exercises, and a daily practice to develop between sessions.
This course offers a framework, but the real work happens in the dailiness of your life. By the end of five weeks, you'll have a complete practice to return to throughout your life, distinct ways of engaging with beauty that become woven into how you move through the world.
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My name is Anél
I've been a traditional African doctor for 25 years. My initiation dramatically reshaped my understanding of what it means to live in relationship—with the earth, with mystery and with the invisible threads that guide our lives.
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I believe that many of the medicines we need today lie in the ways of seeing that pre-industrial cultures have practiced for milennia. I weave together ancient ritual, soulful tools, and creative practices to help people gently break free from the tamed constraints of modern life—without burning everything down in the process.
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My work invites you into a quieter, more reverent way of being—one that honours your soul, your story, and your place in the greater living world with humour and heart.
FAQ's
​Do I have to be an artist or creative person?
Not at all. This course is for anyone who wants to cultivate a deeper relationship with beauty—no artistic experience or creative background required.
What if I miss a session?
All sessions are recorded and available for one month after the course ends.
How much time will I need each week?
Besides the 90-minute live session, allow 15-30 minutes daily for the weekly practice—simple contemplative exercises woven into everyday life.
Is this a religious or spiritual course?
The course draws on contemplative traditions and includes spiritual language, but it's not tied to any specific religion. It invites your own sense of meaning and the sacred.
What if I start the course and find it's not for me?
Cancellations made up to 14 days before the start date receive a full refund minus a small processing fee. After that, we can discuss transferring to a future offering.​