Venus: The Return to the Jungle

Costa Rica April 28 - May 3 2026

Femme Empowerment & Art Retreat

This retreat is completely devoted to the feminine body, art, and voice. Together we will journey through waterfalls, black sand beaches, and ancient trees; back into our wilder selves.

We will use daily rituals, movement, sound, and storytelling to awaken our inner Venus and reconnect us to the heartbeat of the jungle.

Join a carefully selected group of 16 women in a private jungle villa for a week of sisterhood, adventure, and creative rebirth.

Meet Your Facilitators

Receive professional photos that honor your personal and collective journey

Meet Francine Gonzales

Immerse yourself in 7 transformative days of healing and empowerment in the lush mountains of Platanillo, Costa Rica

Stay 6 nights in a beautiful jungle villa, with private or shared room options

Our Retreat Space

Experience a daily rhythm of guided movement, song circles, and expressive art

Retreat Price

THIS NEEDS POLISHING

Includes all lodging, dinners, and local transport during the retreat + a portfolio of wild, liberated creative content.

Private Room 2000$

Shared Room 1500$

HOW TO PAY - payment options/payment plans

Reserve Your Spot

Join us on an adventure of a lifetime!

Venture off-road with 4WD access to sacred natural sites for ceremonies and creative photoshoots

The Heart of the River

Corazón del Río

Join us for a 7-day, 6-night retreat in the lush jungles of Costa Rica’s South Pacific Coast.

We’ll stay together in a luxurious open-air villa in Platanillo, surrounded by waterfalls, goddess pools, and the wild light of the jungle. This is a sanctuary where your body can rest deeply, your heart can open fully, and your creative flow can come alive.

Each room is thoughtfully designed for comfort and privacy, while shared living spaces invite connection, collaboration, and inspiration.

We honor and acknowledge the Indigenous peoples who have long stewarded this land with reverence and care.

Wooden porch with chairs overlooking a lush green forest.

A cozy bedroom with wooden walls and floor, a window with white curtains, a bed with a light green quilt and pillows, a colorful tropical bird-themed painting on the wall, and a black standing fan in the corner.

A small pond with a heart-shaped outline and a stone border, situated in a backyard with a wooden deck and stairs, outdoor seating, and lush greenery.

A rustic bedroom with wooden walls, ceiling, and floor, featuring a bed with beige bedding, a window showing greenery outside, and built-in wooden shelves.

A wooden house with a balcony, surrounded by trees and greenery, illuminated at dusk.

Who We Are: The Venus Collective

The Venus Collective is a group of women from around the world who have come together around the vision of creating transformational experiences in the wild, and creating bold, empowered art within our sisterhood. We empower femme creatives of all ethnicities and backgrounds to create, own, and share their offerings with with world.

Together, we use our art to work towards rebuilding a healthy relationship between humans and the earth and to create positive ecological impact.

Irene Rosalia

Take a moment to listen to Irene’s powerful healing music and get your body moving! Dance is the ultimate medicine.

Francine Gonzales

Francine Gonzalez is an Indigenous Mexican–Native American woman, retreat photographer, medicine woman, and energy healer. She bridges visual art and vibration, weaving ceremony, sound, and sacred storytelling into every experience she facilitates. As a 300-hour certified sound healer, Reiki Master, and empowerment photographer, Francine creates spaces where women feel safe to soften, be seen, and reconnect with their natural rhythm and radiance.

Through her lens and her medicine, she guides women back to remembrance — of their body’s wisdom, their ancestral power, and their belonging to the Earth. Based in Portland, Oregon, Francine serves as the Director and Temple Guardian of Her Sanctuary, where she continues to hold community for women walking the path of awakening and embodiment.

What I Offer You in Your Empowerment Session

Your session is a portal — a sacred meeting between your body, your spirit, and the truth you’ve been waiting to step into. I guide you into the soft, instinctual places where your sensuality becomes a language, your breath becomes ceremony, and your presence becomes the medicine.

This is where feminine power and mystery meet.
Where your curves become landscapes, your expression becomes spell work, and every gesture becomes a prayer back to yourself. You’ll feel held, witnessed, and honored as the woman you are underneath all the noise, Raw.Real.Redefined

You won’t just receive photographs.
You’ll leave with embodied remembrance… the moment you saw yourself as the world has always felt you: irresistible, untamed, and divinely yours.

Sign up

FAQ & Retreat Logistics

Yes! The price covers your lodging, meals, classes, and all retreat activities.
$1,500 for a shared room
$2,000 for a private room
We offer several partial scholarships/worktrade. When you apply to join us, there will be a place to mention what degree of financial support you are in need of.
When arriving to the retreat, you’ll need to fly into the city of San Jose, Costa Rica, and take a 4 hour shuttle ride. (approx $150/one way) to the retreat center. These shuttles will be scheduled for the morning of April 28th and the afternoon of May 3rd.
You can arrive at the retreat center any time after 11 am on the 28th, and our official programming will begin at 2 pm. On the final day, our programming will end at 2 pm.
We recommend booking flights on April 27/May 4 and spend a night in San Jose on either side of the journey.
You’ll have the option to stay in a private or shared room, with a shared bathroom and open-air living spaces in our luxurious jungle villa.
Please note that you’ll be responsible for your own accommodations in San José on the evenings of April 27 (before the retreat begins) and May 3 (after the retreat concludes).
Throughout the retreat, you’ll be nourished with three fresh, vibrant meals each day, lovingly prepared by a local chef. All meals are vegetarian, with gluten-free and dairy-free options available to support your individual needs and wellbeing.
Yes. There will be lots of chocolate.