BeFriending Creation
Grounding for a Green Life:
Crossing the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche
THE Friends Conference on Religion & Psychology presents "Grounding for a Green Life: Crossing the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche," with Bill Plotkin on Memorial Day Weekend, May 25–28, 2007, at Lebanon Valley College, Annville, Pa.
To encounter the soul is to discover the truth at the center of the image you were born with, a truth that reveals the nature of your gift, your particular way of belonging to the world, the wellspring of your passion, and the path to your greatest fulfillment.
Bill Plotkin is a depth psychologist, ecotherapist, and wilderness guide. In his work, Bill has tapped into the wisdom of nature-based spiritual traditions found throughout the world. He has become a master at guiding people into wild lands and into the underworld of the soul. Bill's life and work are steeped in Jungian thought, the poetic tradition, and the intimate study of nature. He invites us to make a deep connection with the natural world we are a part of and dependent upon. Bill works with emerging visionaries, leaders, and artists of cultural renaissance, whom he has asked one important question, a question that is vital for us all:
"What is the one conversation with the world that only you can have?"
Bill is the author of Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche and is currently completing A Natural History of the Soul: the Ecopsycholgy of Human Development, to be published in 2007.
On-line registration available in March, <http://fcrp.quaker.org>.
EarthSpirit Rising, a Return to Earth's Wisdom
The 6th EarthSpirit Rising Conference is scheduled for June 8–10, 2007 at Bellarlmine University, Louisville, Ky. Titled "EarthSpirit Rising, a Return to Earth's Wisdom," the conference will focus on listening to and learning from the ways of Earth. At the heart of this conference is the conviction that the spiritual dimension of life offers the greatest untapped reservoir of power, imagination, and courage to meet this challenge to return to Earth's wisdom.
Knowing that you are someone deeply aware of the crises of our time, we'd like to invite you to participate in an opportunity for transformation.
Crises: Crisis-management seems to be our primary cultural response to the endangered life systems of Earth. Crises surely abound, from global warming to the pollution of air and water; from corporate greed to terrible violence. Things continue to worsen as we experience the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Lebanon, as well as the effects of global warming. The list goes on and on. When we focus on the problems, the results can only be fear and despair.
Opportunity: The solution to these crises will be found when we begin looking at Earth in a whole different way. When we see, as Thomas Berry says, that there is only one sacred community, one Earth community; and when we understand that there cannot be a healthy human community on an unhealthy planet, then the possibility for real change arises. As we grow in this deep love for Earth, we come to know that it is not only a necessity, but also an ideal way to live.
Since 1998 the EarthSpirit Rising conferences have provided many people who have awakened to this deep love for Earth with an opportunity to come together, share their efforts, learn from visionary speakers, and leave feeling empowered to continue their part of the Great Work.
Conference organizers, Imago and Cultivating Connections, have gathered visionary thinkers Jean Houston, Kirkpatrick Sale, Jerry Mander, Starhawk, Margaret Wheatley, Paul Rogat Loeb, and Jane Siberry for this conference. <www.earthspiritrising.org>
