S a c r e d A r t o f G e o m e t r y
Glorious Gothic
Art and Architectural Principles and Practices of Medieval Europe
2 - 6 July 2025
with Clarissa Grandi, Daniel Docherty,
Lucie Galvani and Vija Docherty
Join us this summer for what promises to be a highlight of our 2025 calendar ...
SAOG Studios tutors, Daniel Docherty and Vija Docherty, will be joined by renowned Artist/Geometers Clarissa Grandi and Lucie Galvani for this five day immersion in the arts of the late/high European Middle Ages. Explore rose window geometry, the analyses of cathedral plans/designs to determine underlying proportional principles; undertake drawings inspired by medieval bestials and labyrinths; arch geometry, raised-gesso gilding and cosmatesque-style floors will also feature; there will also be the opportunity to make your own set of inks, pigments and paints, based on medieval recipes, as we explore the medieval colour palette ...
To book, use Paypal button below
(being a 50% course fee deposit, refundable in full upto six-weeks prior to course commencement; transferable for upto 12 months thereafter); alternatively make a bank transfer (details at top of Bookings page)
Cost £440
including all materials
SAOG Studios
Emerson (venue tbc), Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
SAOG tutors' Daniel Docherty and Vija Docherty will be teaching two courses in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France this August 2025 ...
Le movement des planètes, leur influence sur l'eau et les plantes. Dessiner la géométrie sacrée de la Lune, Mercure et Vénus Observations botaniques et dynamique de l'eau.
avec Daniel Docherty and Jean-Michel Florin
13 - 16 August 2025
Association Arts Sciences et Culture de l’Eau (ASCE)
https://artssciencesetculturedeleau.org/
Contact : artssciencesetculturedeleau@gmail.com
Renseignements et inscriptions : Kethy +33 (0) 6 71 85 53 56
Of further interest:
The Making of Pigment and Paint from Mineral and Plant
with Vija Docherty
9 - 13 August 2025
Further details from:
Association La Passerelle
1 chemin de la Margauderie
18330 Saint Laurent
tél : 02 48 51 58 18 courriel : lapasserelle@laposte.net
Alchemy of Pigment and Pattern
with David Cranswick PhD and Daniel Docherty
25 - 29 August 2025
Cost: £425 Details/bookings
(Early booking recommended)
SAOG Studios
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
I’m so grateful for this week. I’m leaving feeling alive, centred, and present. It’s incredibly inspiring;
the amount of opportunities to expand my awareness that this course provides and encourages.
I have learned so much and my confidence in working with pigments has developed beyond any expectation;
and my love affair with geometry has been kindled … Rebecca Gilling Dec. 2022
Learn the alchemy and processes involved in making your own set of watercolour and gouache paints.
The roots, berries and minerals that we will be precipitating, grinding and binding, all have
layered correspondences that link to the planetary archetypes.
Using compasses and straight-edge we will create mandalas that also resonate with the planetary patterns.
The symbolism and character of colour in different traditions will be explored as we apply our paints to patterns to reveal works of dazzling beauty to adorn the home and nourish the soul.
Feedback past course
'... beyond expectations ...'
'I leaned more in five days than in three years of Art at university'
'What a wonderful couple of days!
Thanks so much. You hit the "beginners" note perfectly.
So much fascinating information. I really hope to be back for more ...'
'Heartfelt philosophy that resonates with our deepest wish expressed through design, colour and skilled instruction.
Who could not feel gratitude at this sharing.'
'Absolutely amazing and fantastic. I had a great weekend. I’ve been exploring geometry for just over a year now and this was a wonderful weekend of getting my foundation stones in a better order, sorted and a little more settled. I think it’s always good to revisit the fundamentals. I learnt so much and was reminded of a lot I had forgotten. I feel much more confident in my skills after the weekend. I’ll definitely be back to do another, it helped me put some of the pieces of the puzzle together. For me, it’s essential to remember the sacredness of these images every time I draw a pattern. It’s an adventure and an initiation into something magical and this weekend really brought that home to me. As ever Daniel, I’m truly grateful to you ... thank you so much for remaining open ... for holding the light and offering a portal to the divine for those who wish to step through it ...
It’s heaven on Earth! '
"I was astounded at how wonderful the sacred geometry weekend was! I had a feeling it would be magical, but we explored far more than I had expected we would, and feel so much more excited and confident in my ability to play with elegantly simple and intricately complex shapes and patterns.
Daniel is a fantastic teacher, with whimsical humour, simple instructions for all levels, excellent baking and coffee-making skills, and so much generosity of spirit and wisdom.
The SAOG studio is warmly inviting, and exquisite with its mix of timeless beauty in the form of books, art and natural art materials, tea and snack selection and large windows with natural light streaming in throughout the day. I would be content to live in such a space.
Who knew numbers and geometry could be so much fun? This weekend has opened my eyes to the awe-inspiring designs of Life and expressions of Love in ways that I didn't know existed!"
Click for further details and to view images from previous
Alchemy of Pigment and Pattern courses
'I feel on the Alchemy of Pigment and Pattern course that I was really entering into a deep organic process that was steeped in tradition and spiritually. I found it tremendously inspiring, nurturing and a deeply powerful experience - amazingly good!' Dec. 2017 course participant
Inks and Ochres:
An introduction to foraged colour
"... Another outstanding course with exceptional teachers."
with Daniel Docherty and Vija Docherty
10 am - 5 pm Cost: £265 Details/Bookings
SAOG Studios
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
A practical and participatory three-day introductory course for anyone wanting to develop a deeper relationship to ink and ochre. We will walk in the beautiful surrounds of Emerson College and the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty; we will reverently forage minerals and materials which we will transform - through various alchemical processes - into pigment, paint and ink. These endeavours will be accompanied by exercises in contemplative pattern making and nature inspired studies in various mediums including traditional watercolour and egg tempera.
Thanks Daniel & Vija for such a wonderful three days of soulful, sacred, creativity - the best medicine!
Freya - Winter 2024
Wonderful course!
I feel renewed, enlivened and inspired.
Such a wealth of knowledge, wisdom and lore.
A Gift! Many thanks.
Caroline - Winter 2024
a HUGE THANK YOU for the weekend Ink and Ochres course at SAOG Studios ...
I LOVED everything about it! It felt a real privilege to have both Daniel and Vija teaching at the same time! ... The foraging walk was fab! Making the inks and Ochres brilliant, and my favourite bit ... playing with the paint and especially the egg as the medium was absolutely wonderful.
Sara Hall - Autumn 2021
A sanctuary of inspiration ...
it's been a revelation. Thank you so much for this rich, heartfelt and generous time.
Such a meaningful three days.
Ruby Taylor - Spring 2023
Thanks so much for these wonderful days. Another outstanding course with exceptional teachers!
It was relaxing and full of precious information and doing at the same time.
Monika - Spring 2023
The Inks and Ochres course has been a wonderfully nourishing, joyful and dynamic learning experience for me.
I absolutely enjoyed the experiential interactive and nature-oriented elements of the course.
Thank you so much.
Niloufar - Autumn 2022
This course has been utter joy. Connecting Mother Earth's gifts - to heavenly precision and motion ...
The facilitators a constant source of support and inspiration.
I can thoroughly recommend this course.
Jo - Spring 2023
Thank you both for a weekend of gentle yet industrious interaction with many important soul feeding forces, exploration and wonder, relationships and contribution, creation and contemplation ...
Sarah Francis - Autumn 2021
Folk Ikons with Vija Docherty
15 - 17 September 2025
(Monday - Wednesday 9.30 am - 12.30 pm)
The themes to be explored during SAOG Studios 2025 Folk Ikon series may be inspired by the qualities of the season, celestial happenings, and inspirations living within course participants ...
"Life enhancing. A wonderful three days.
Can’t thank you enough, Vija.
You will see me again!"
Angie
Reflections from 2024 Folk Ikon courses
I feel very grateful for the opportunity to be in flow, to feel and to be inspired. The space was held beautifully and the pace and rhythm were just perfect. I learned so much about colour, composition and icons. SAOG is such a rare sacred space.
Thank you. Nilofar
Thank you for the most incredible time, and for your kindness and generosity.
See you for many more courses! Aliya
Never want this to end! Lucy
Click here for details of all SAOG Studios 2025 Folk Ikon short courses
Patterns of the Alhambra
(The content and pace of this course has beginner/intermediate level practitioners in mind)
with Daniel Docherty
10:00-17:00 Cost: £245 Bookings
SAOG Studios
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
Some of the greatest expressions of Islamic Geometric Pattern are to be found in the Nasrid Palace of the Alhambra, in Granada, Spain ... During this three-day course we will learn how to construct a number of these beautiful patterns - ranging from the simple to highly sophisticated - using the traditional geometer's tools of compass and straightedge.
The course is led in a gentle, easy to follow, step-by-step manner, suitable for
both beginner and more experienced geometers alike.
Making Moon Calendars
with Daniel Docherty and Vija Docherty
20 - 22 October 2025 - Click to book
21 - 23 November 2025 - Click to book
SAOG Studios (Ruskin East)
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
10:00-17:00 Cost: £265
Join us at SAOG Studios for a three-day immersion where we will deepen our understanding and appreciation of the moon, 'eye of the night sky' and closest of our heavenly neighbours. We are inextricably aligned with the moon's cycles and rhythms, yet, it can be a challenge to be consciously attuned to these apparently ever-changing patterns. Perhaps, as we begin to gain insight into the elusive nature of the moon, her more timeless and enduring face will become clearer. And by the end of the course, we will have our own handmade Moon Calendars for the mo(o)nths and year ahead which will surely help to serve us in our endeavours to re-attunement with the moon.
Art and Craft of Labyrinth
with Daniel Docherty
1 - 5 November 2025
10 am - 5 pm Cost: £425
SAOG Studios
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
Labyrinths have intrigued and inspired people the world over for several millennia.
During this week-long course we will undertake a deep dive into the mysteries of the labyrinth ... Our exploration will be philosophical and practical and by the end of the course participants will have drawn, using compasses and straightedge (and freehand!), several labyrinth designs both ancient and modern.
We will crafted several of our designs into works of art through various means and mediums including gold, silver and copper gilding, ceramic tile making, embossing finger labyrinths ...
We will also build a candle-lit labyrinth to walk together to celebrate the full moon and culmination of our week.
The Dance of Earth and Mercury
- Meeting the Sage;
Befriending the trickster -
with Daniel Docherty
6, 7 December 2025
SAOG Studios
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
Mercury, winged-sandalled messenger god, mediator between heaven and earth, and patron of the alchemical arts, healers, practitioners of sacred number, geometry and cosmology!
Smallest and swiftest of heavenly wanderers, Mercury's merry dance is a wonder to behold; where the patterns of Earth and Venus often resound in beautiful fivefold (phi) form, Earth and Mercury appear to manifest many threefold patterns and pi ratios. The legendary Hermes Trismegistus (Thrice-greatest Hermes), reputed author of the Corpus Hermetica, has subtle and interesting affinities with the planetary being. Each and every one of us has been thrice-blessed by the fleet-footed messenger god whilst in our mother's wombs (nine months equates to three turns of Mercury around the sun!!!).
Through these two-days of contemplative pattern exploration at SAOG Studios, we hope to begin a journey of remembrance and friendship cultivation with our most esteemed of fleet-footed heavenly neighbours, Mercurius, and to embrace our birthright, gifted to us during gestation, of becoming Alchemists and consciously endeavouring to marry circle and square, heaven and earth.
Folk Ikons with Vija Docherty
15 - 17 December 2025
(Monday - Wednesday 9.30 am - 12.30 pm)
The themes to be explored during SAOG Studios 2025 Folk Ikon series will be inspired by the qualities of the season, celestial happenings, and also the inspirations living within the course participants ...
"Life enhancing. A wonderful three days.
Can’t thank you enough, Vija.
You will see me again!"
The Dance of Earth and Venus
with Daniel Docherty
9 -11 January 2026
10 am- 5 pm Cost: £265 Details/Booking
SAOG Studios
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
The Dance of Earth and Venus results in one of the most beautiful and breathtaking rhythms and patterns of the solar system. Every eight Earth years (13 Venus years) they dance a pentagonal form in space akin to the pip-star inside your apple or the petals of a primrose flower! During this course we will learn how to draw this incredible pattern using the traditional tools of compass and straight-edge; we will explore the key aspects of Earth and Venus' cycles that determine such extraordinary heavenly harmony.
And time allowing ... with copper leaf and watercolour paint made from malachite and azurite - which in the Hermetic/Alchemical tradition have forever been associated with the planet Venus - we will create stunning mandalas embodying the Earth/Venus dance ...
'The dance of venus course was a mind-blowing, heart-opening experience!'
'Thank you for a magical course where time and space merged and disappeared!
Thank you for your kindness, poetry, patience, gift of sharing the spheres, planets and other joys ... I travelled out of my comfort zone and into magical realms of remembering and letting go. I have been transported way beyond any expectations ...'
Sacred Art of Geometry
an introductory course
with Daniel Docherty
17, 18 January 2026
SAOG Studios
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
Delve into the deep mysteries of Sacred Geometry - 'Art of the Ever-True', under the gentle guidance of SAOG Studios' senior tutor Daniel Docherty. You will learn how to draw the primary four, five and six fold 'Creation' Diagrams with the traditional geometer's tools of compass and straightedge. You will be introduced to the inherent symbolism of these symmetries and how they may be developed into a myriad of pattern possibilities. The pace of this weekend course will be set with beginners in mind and there will be time to enjoy conversation and colour ... and of course tea, coffee and cake!!!
I must admit that I was a little apprehensive before the course, being a beginner both in art and maths!
My apprehensions, however, fell away the moment I entered your beautiful studio, so full of life and beauty.
Your gentle guidance and step-by-step instructions were perfectly paced for beginners and easy to follow. I was also grateful for the moments spent colouring our creations with those lovely natural inks and paints made at the studio.
I will certainly be returning for more courses ...
2025 course participants
So grateful to be able to share some time in the workshop this weekend. It was a real pleasure and so inspiring to be in your incredible studio, which is such an incredible space oozing with such amazing creative energy.
Andrew Cohan - March 2022
The Golden Ratio:
Jewel of Geometry and Cosmos
23 - 25 January 2026
with Daniel Docherty
10 am- 5 pm Cost: £245
Details/bookings
SAOG Studios (Ruskin East)Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
Kite of Life with Golden squiggles - SAOG Studios March 2020
‘I was very lucky to attend a weekend workshop facilitated by Daniel Docherty on the Golden Ratio. It wasn’t just a workshop, but a coming together of hearts and minds in a friendly and fun weekend, where, through a journey of curated discovery we explored the ancient magical principles of the structure and form of The Golden Ratio and other Sacred Geometric principles.
Daniel taught us how to create a range of incredibly beautiful designs using just a compass and ruler. Despite most of the group being at either a beginners or intermediate level, Daniel skilfully took us step by step through to some relatively complex structures.
Daniel has a very special way of never making any one feel that they ‘can not’ do anything and with the most jovial warm and friendly manner he supported all of us seamlessly. Daniel wove in many fascinating points of knowledge and philosophy both ancient and modern, and throughout reminded us of the humanity of this important study and its universal, binding principles. I absolutely loved the 2 day course and I would have loved more! It was incredibly good value and I felt so blessed to be working as part of a small group with such a warm and learned professional who clearly has a true passion to skilfully connect all his students to the magical realm of such sacred principles and I recommend everyone to discover this joyful skill made simple.'
Rebecca (Oct. 2021 course participant)
Courses awaiting scheduling.
To register your interest, email: sacredartofgeometry@gmail.com
Sacred Avebury
Dowsing and Drawing amongst the Stones
with Daniel Docherty and Maria Wheatley
7, 8 June 2025
Cost: £225 Bookings
Avebury Social Centre
High Street, Avebury, Wiltshire, SN8 1RF
Saturday: 11 am - 5.30 pm; Sunday: 10 am - 4.30 pm
(optional group dinner at local pub and sunset walk on the Saturday evening)
What a joy it was to be back amongst the Sacred Stones (11, 12 May 2024); the sun shone brightly on our endeavours by day, while the Aurora flashed brilliantly by night! We look forward to returning again 7, 8 June 2025 to further our explorations.
Daniel Docherty and Maria Wheatley are also looking forward to scheduling a Sacred Glastonbury offering asap. Stay tuned.
A participatory two-day course with Daniel Docherty (Sacred Geometry) and Maria Wheatley (Dowsing/Geomancy) amongst the ancient sacred stones of Avebury.
The Saturday sessions will be engaged primarily in the drawing of significant sacred geometries relating to Avebury; Sunday will be spent amongst the stones and surrounds of this most sacred of sanctuaries ...
New 2026 course dates tbc soon
Subtle Body - The Geometry of the Chakras
An introductory three-day course
with Daniel Docherty and Vija Docherty
NEW COURSE DATES TBC Cost: £265
To register your interest, email: sacredartofgeometry@gmail.com
Details/Bookings
SAOG Studios (Ruskin East)
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
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Weaving the Cosmos:
Sacred Geometry and Hexagonal Weave Basketry
with Daniel Docherty
New course dates tbc
(9.30 am - 4.30 pm) Cost: £110 Details/bookings
SAOG Studios (Ruskin East)
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
Weave a basket and learn the Art of Hexagonal and Spherical-Weave Basketry while exploring significant principles inherent within the Sacred Art of Geometry ...
Mandalas of the World
with Daniel Docherty
New dates tbc
Cost: £425 Details/Bookings
(Last few places - limited conc. available)
SAOG Studios
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
Mandalas, in essence, can be understood to be diagrams, patterns and pictures that are distillations
of cosmic wisdom and harmony; repositories of archetypal intelligence.
Mandalas offer a potentially powerful means of deepening one’s spiritual and contemplative practice.
This is especially true when they are constructed - using the traditional tools of compass and
straightedge - in a considered and contemplative manner.
During this week-long course, Daniel Docherty will guide participants through the construction of a number of mandalas from different traditions including mandalas that embody significant planetary patterns. We will explore their inherent symbolism and cosmic correspondences. Participants will
also make their our own inks and paints from plant and mineral in
order to colour and ensoul their designs.
After our soul nourishing 2024 offering we are delighted to announce new Autumn 2025 Soul Wilding course dates ...
Soul Wilding
with Daniel Docherty, Vija Docherty and guest tutors
New dates tbc
SAOG Studios (Ruskin East)
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
A week-long journey of re-attunement and resilience building through nature connection and creative soul craft, including: Art of Fermenting, Foraging, Wild Colour, Poetry, Paper Making, Book Binding, Basketry, Story, Sacred Geometry, Song and so much more ...
The Point is Love
A three-day exploration of Story, Poetry, Pattern
with Ashley Ramsden and Daniel Docherty
31 January - 2 February 2025
Cost: £265 Bookings
Fully booked. To join the waiting list, email: sacredartofgeometry@gmail.com
SAOG Studios (Ruskin East)
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
New course dates tbc soon
The Point is Love:
A three-day celebration of Story, Poetry and Pattern with Ashley Ramsden and Daniel Docherty
Sacred Geometry starts and ends in a point. The point is the axis of everything and from this we set out, to this we return. The great mystics would say the same of Love. Take Rumi “Everything has to do with loving and not loving.” or Eliot “The end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time.” Is Love a pattern, or many patterns, or all patterns?
Come play, draw and enjoy the matrix and mixture of masculine and feminine forms, the places where poetry, story and sacred geometry meet, perhaps even the point of our existence
The subject tonight is Love
And for tomorrow night as well,
As a matter of fact ...
... I know of no better topic
For us to discuss
Until we all
Die!
(Hafiz - trans. Daniel Ladinsky)
Persian Pattern
Exploring the geometric genius of the Persian master-craftsmen
with Daniel Docherty
New dates tbc soon
Details/bookings
SAOG Studios
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
Explore the geometric genius of the Persian master-craftsmen.
Learn the art of compass and straight-edge construction and create a dazzling portfolio of geometric patterns from the Persian tradition.
"A brilliant course so clearly and patiently taught. Such a lovely few days and plenty to work
with after the course. Totally inspiring!"
Patricia Gidney - Persian Patterns course participant
My words are truly inadequate to express the way I feel about the Course, your work, your studio ... within seconds of walking through the door my eyes welled up with tears of utter heartfelt Joy so struck by the beauty, grace & feeling contained within the images that adorned the walls.
It felt like a coming home, something in me recognised something in them & it felt like coming home.
It’s been a mind blowing & momentous 3 days of discovery, initiation & finding my way back into a world so expansive yet containing filled with love, grace, spiritual connection & beauty ... I cannot believe how much I’ve discovered not only about myself but about the universe all contained within these works each one a portal of information within which one can choose to enter or observe while constructing. Extraordinary, inspiring ...
I truly cannot wait until I return.
Sara Hall - Persian Patterns course participant
Sky and Psyche
Planets Within, Planets Without
with Daniel Docherty, John Meeks and Hartmut Warm
17 - 19 July 2024
Cost: £285 Details/Bookings
Fully booked. To join waiting list, email:
SAOG Studios
Emerson, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
New course dates tbc soon
Come and join us at SAOG Studios this summer for what promises to be a rich and soul-nourishing three-day course, as we contemplate both the cosmos within and the starry realms above. We will be guided on an immersive and participatory journey through illustrated talks on Planetary Movements and Mythologies. We will be introduced to new cosmological research and discoveries; we will draw and choreograph the Sacred Geometry of the Planets; and later in the evening - weather allowing - we will cast our eyes heavenward and engage in some naked-eye astronomy
Click here for further details and to book your place ...
Projective Geometry: Sunflowers and Spirals
A four-day intensive
with Sophia Montefiore
2 - 5 May 2024 (lFull booked)
(10:00 - 17:00) Cost: £335
SAOG Studios (Ruskin East)
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
Bookings
New Projective Geometry course dates tbc
Join Sophia Montefiore for what promises to be an inspiring and illuminating four-day Projective Geometry intensive at SAOG Studios. The focus of this course, open to all ability levels, will be on the exploration of phyllotaxis and fibonacci forms in sunflowers and other spiral phenomena of the natural world ...
The Alchemical Art of Astrology
with John Wadsworth and Daniel Docherty
New course dates tbc soon
{To register your interest, email: sacredartofgeometry@gmail.com}
SAOG Studios (Ruskin East)
Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex, RH18 5JX, UK
An experiential introduction to the twelve signs of the zodiac wheel, the sun, moon and planets, and the twelve houses or mansions of the sky. Astrologer John Wadsworth will guide us soulfully and poetically into the world of astrology, revealing the harmonic patterns between the twelve signs and the seven traditional planets that create the cosmic wholensss that has been known from antiquity as the Ptolemaic Order. We will explore the nested layers of myth and perennial wisdom within the astrological tradition that reveal the symbolic resonances of the signs, planets, houses and aspects of a birth chart. We will explore the different levels of the zodiac, its form and function as ceremonial calendar, developmental journey through life, map of the psyche, mandala of the soul. And we will explore the alchemical properties of the planets, and experience their animated presence through colour and sound, mask, movement and gesture.
Throughout the week Daniel Docherty will guide us through the various geometric constructions that structure and inform the astrological patterns. We will approach this work in a gently guided and contemplative way where the inherent symbolism of the forms will be elucidated as we go. One of the many patterns that we will explore and work with during the week will be a labyrinth imbued with planetary and zodiac significance. We will also have the opportunity during the course to create a sacred artwork of our own astrological chart.
