Gathering 2026: Where We Remember How to Be Human

This year we gathered in the mountains of Norway, in the area of Jotunheimen National Park, surrounded by wild landscapes, flowing rivers and distant mountain tops still covered in snow. The landscape felt vast and untouched, reminding us that we were guests in something much older and greater than ourselves.

And then there was the light.

At ten in the evening, the day still hadn’t really ended. The mountains were visible in the distance, the landscape was still illuminated, and there was no need to rush towards sleep. At this northern latitude, summer stretches the day almost endlessly.

For one week, we lived together in this landscape.

We drank water directly from the river. We learned skills with our hands. We walked, cooked, made, shared, played, sang, talked and sat around fires together.

But perhaps more than anything else, we built a tribe.

One of the most powerful moments of this year's Gathering was the Wisdom Circle.

People of different ages sat together and shared something that our modern world often has very little space for: life wisdom.

For many participants, the experience was deeply moving. Some described it as life-changing.

Perhaps this is because something very old is happening when generations sit together and genuinely listen to one another. Wisdom is not only something that can be found in books or courses. It lives in people. It grows through experience, through mistakes, through love, loss, hardship, joy and the simple act of living.

The Wisdom Circle reminded us that we need one another.

And perhaps this is one of the things Lithica is ultimately about.

Not simply learning how to make fire, work with stone, tan hides, make things from natural materials or live more closely with the land.

But remembering how to be human.

Every Lithica Gathering teaches us something. And this year was no different.

We have listened carefully to the feedback from participants - to what worked, what moved people, what was challenging and what could be improved. We will take all of this with us as we continue shaping Lithica. Because the Gathering is not a finished product.

It is something that grows with the people who come, with the land that hosts us and with everything we learn together.

The next Lithica Gathering will take place in the very same place, from 1–7 August 2027.

We hope to see some familiar faces again, and many new ones.

Until then, may we remember to look up from our screens.

To put our hands in the earth.

To listen to those who came before us.

To share what we know with those who come after us.

And to remember that beneath all the noise of modern life, we are still human beings - needing nature and needing each other.