The School For Alchemy

A place to learn something new that is old

Discover rituals, Taoist philosophy, and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Timeless practices that offer meaning and balance in modern life. Brought to you by the School for Alchemy with retreats, mentorships and online salons.

Welcome to The School for Alchemy

Founded in 2024 by Karen Vuijsters – sociologist, therapist, and acupuncturist at Spirit Path. The School was born from a deep longing.

A longing for a place within modern society where ancient rituals and healing traditions can be experienced again: practices that support healing on both the individual as the collective level.

This desire and goal is shaped into a beautiful curriculum. Want to join something? Scroll down.

The curriculum

Salons

Welcome to Needles, Nietzsche and Netflix. In this online salon gathering Karen reflects on what the symptoms of her acupuncture clients reveal about the state of our world, drawing from clinical practice, sociology, personal memoires and the Five Element framework. The salon is the most accessible way to enter The School for Alchemy. It is 5 times a year, via Google Meet for 60 minutes for a fixed price of €20. Sign up via mail or below.

retreats

Join our retreats if you seek a time of rest and restoration, while being nourished in understanding. From 22-25 October we will host Elemental Rest in the mountains of Bolzano. Here nature becomes your companion and Chinese Medicine your ally. Expect daily yoga, cacao ceremony, a vision quest, food from the lovely Luna Restaurant, and unlimited access to the heated pool and sauna in the luxurious Parkhotel Mondschein. Prices from €965.

Mentorships

Heaven on Earth is a 1:1 mentorship for women ready to stop circling. This is a structured 3-month container where we work with: recurring patterns, nervous system imbalance and desire, fear and responsibility, through weekly acupuncture therapy, yoga, reflective conversations and assignments. You move from understanding your shadow to embodying your truth. This dedicated mentorship costs €2.150 for 3 months.

What people say

Karen is a truly special and powerful woman. She supported me immensely and served as a mirror for me during the three-month mentorship. It was amazing, magical, but most of all, the sessions were incredibly valuable. With almost weekly sessions, you delve deeply into yourself and your feelings. Slowly, things in my life are changing: insights, desires, aspects of myself I didn't see before, aspects I'm accepting—less perfection, more raw and pure.

Karen not only helped me with my severe allergy symptoms (hay fever), but through her "Heaven on Earth" approach, she also helped me, in a gentle and safe way, create more balance (not only in my life, but also between my body and mind) and better listen to my intuition. Her passion is infectious. I recommend a visit to Karen to everyone!

The ceremony was a deeply healing experience that brought me back to my core. It provided a safe space to ground, let go, and reconnect with my inner strength. A valuable step in my own recovery.

It was a success! The ceremony brought me peace and focus, as well as even more confidence to follow the river's flow like a log and, like a true adventurer, to be open to new connections and unique paths. Your guidance was not only skillful but also inviting, playful, vulnerable, and wonderfully bold. I'm already looking forward to the next one and will definitely recommend participating to my network.

Want to try acupuncture therapy first?

Karen works as a therapist with Spirit Path. Feel welcome to experience acupuncture and alchemical therapy in Utrecht or online. This, too, is a doorway into truth and balance.