Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

  • Welcome
    • Prayer Cycle
      • Introduction to the Earth Monastery Prayer Cycle
      • Day 1 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Cathedral
      • Day 2 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Scriptures
      • Day 3 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Saints
      • Day 4 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Spiritual Directors
      • Day 5 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Icon
      • Day 6 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Sacrament
      • Day 7 Morning & Evening Prayer:
        Earth as the Original Liturgy
      • Prayer Cycle Leader Resources
    • About the Abbey
    • About Christine Valters Paintner
    • About John Valters Paintner
    • About the Wisdom Council
    • Monk Manifesto
    • Join the Holy Disorder of Dancing Monks
    • Subscribe to Our Love Notes
    • Website privacy notice
  • Books
    • Sacred Time:
      Embracing an Intentional Way of Life
    • The Wisdom of Wild Grace: Poems
    • Earth, Our Original Monastery:
      Cultivating Wonder and Gratitude through Intimacy with Nature
    • Dreaming of Stones: Poems
    • The Soul's Slow Ripening:
      12 Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred
    • The Wisdom of the Body:
      A Contemplative Journey to Wholeness for Women
    • Illuminating the Way:
      Embracing the Wisdom of Monks and Mystics
    • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
      Eight Practices for the Journey Within
    • Eyes of the Heart:
      Photography as a Christian Contemplative Practice
    • The Artist's Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom
    • Desert Mothers and Fathers: Early Christian Wisdom Sayings Annotated & Explained
    • Lectio Divina–The Sacred Art: Transforming Words and Images into Heart-Centered Prayer
    • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire: The Christian Practice of Praying with the Elements
    • Awakening the Creative Spirit:
      Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction
    • Lectio Divina: Contemplative Awakening & Awareness
  • Poetry | Art | Music
    • Music + DVD
    • Poetry by Christine Valters Paintner
    • Poetry Videos
    • Dancing Monk Icons
    • Other Art Collaborations
      • Monk in the World art series by Kristin Noelle
      • Saints & Animals art series by David Hollington
      • Sacred Time art series by Alexi Francis
      • Mary block print art series by Kreg Yingst
  • Programs
    • Live Programs: Pilgrimage & Retreats
      • Monk in the World (Ireland)
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Vienna Monk in the World (Austria)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
    • Community Online Retreats
      • Lift Every Voice: Contemplative Writers of Color
      • The Way of the Hermit:
        A Spiritual Survival Guide for Dark Times
        with Kayleen Asbo, PhD
      • The Spiral Way:
        Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination
      • Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers (Lent 2021)
      • Dancing with Fear in Troubled Times
      • Novena for Times of Unraveling
      • The Two HT’s-Harriet Tubman and Howard Thurman-on Being Free
      • Writing Into Bloom
        with Christine Valters Paintner
      • Sacred Time: Embracing an Intentional Way of Life (Spring 2021)
      • Poetry and the Sacred Garden of the World:
        An Online Writing Retreat
    • Self-Study Online Spiritual Retreats
      • Creative Flourishing in the Heart of the Desert:
        An Online Retreat with St. Hildegard of Bingen
      • Dreaming of the Sea:
        A women’s discernment journey through the story of the Selkie
      • Earth, Our Original Monastery
        A Companion Retreat to the Book (SELF-STUDY)
      • Exile and Coming Home:
        An Archetypal Journey through the Scriptures
      • Eyes of the Heart:
        Photography as Contemplative Practice
        (Companion retreat to the book)
      • Honoring Saints and Ancestors:
        Online Retreat for the Season of Remembrance
      • Lectio Divina:
        The Sacred Art of Reading the World
      • A Midwinter God:
        Making a Conscious Underworld Journey
      • Sacred Rhythms of Sky, Sun, Sea & Stone:
        A Creative Retreat with the Elements (SELF-STUDY)
      • Sacred Seasons:
        A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year
      • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
        Eight Practices for the Journey Within
        (a companion retreat to the book)
      • The Soul's Slow Ripening: 12 Celtic Practices for Seekers of the Sacred (a companion retreat to the book)
      • Water, Wind, Earth & Fire
      • Watershed Moments
        in the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures
      • Way of the Monk, Path of the Artist:
        A 12-Week Companion Retreat to The Artist's Rule
      • The Wisdom of the Body:
        A 10-Week Online Companion Retreat to the Book
      • The Wisdom of Mary and the Sacred Feminine
  • Calendar
  • Reflections
  • Contact

Awakening the Creative Spirit:
Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction

by Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE, OblSB
& Betsey Beckmann, MM

Morehouse Publishing, SDI Imprint Series, 2010

Description

The new resource is designed to help spiritual directors and others use expressive arts in the context of spiritual direction. It is the latest book in the unique SDI series, designed for professional spiritual directors, but also useful for clergy, therapists, and Christian formation specialists.

The Spiritual Directors International Series – This book is part of a special series produced by Morehouse Publishing in cooperation with Spiritual Directors International (SDI), a global network of some 6,000 spiritual directors and members.

Order Details

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When you purchase books through the links to Bookshop.org or Amazon.com, Abbey of the Arts is provided with a very small percentage of your purchase price at no extra cost to you. We apply these funds toward scholarships for our online programs. Thank you for your support!

Praise for the Book

I put this at the top of the list for required reading for spiritual directors and spiritual formation classes. The clear, foundational writing introduces 'art in service to the soul.'  Brimming with multiple art forms, we get to hear the voices of directors and directees who are profoundly affected by the arts. This book is the next best thing to learning directly from such wise, inspiring teachers." -Cynthia Winton-Henry, cofounder of InterPlay, author of Dance--The Sacred Art: The Joy of Movement as Spiritual Practice

With their groundbreaking book, Christine Valters Paintner and Betsey Beckman offer a profound gift to the spiritual direction community and those whom we serve. They remind us that creativity is God's first language. It is our mother tongue, and one that we have too often ignored in journeying with others and in our own seeking after God. Word, image, music, dance: this book provides a rich vocabulary for entering more deeply into conversation and communion with the One who gives us the arts as path to knowing God." -Jan Richardson, author of In Wisdom's Path: Discovering the Sacred in Every Season

Christine Valters Paintner and Betsey Beckman have put their golden weight of gifts and skills together to form a masterpiece in using the arts in spiritual direction. Each topic addressed, from the power of the arts to mediate the sacred to every chapter which include “The Dance as Embodiment”, “Visual Arts Expression”, and so much more, holds golden nuggets of wisdom. But beyond the wisdom is their own (and others) practical, hands on experience that exhibits a powerful statement of the transformative strength of creative exploration. This is a book we need as spiritual directors and others who “tend the spirit”, that opens doors to the exploration of the sacred.

For those who are learning to advance their skill in service of others, their step by step accounts for working with creative exercises is simple, grounded and profound. This book is in service of helping the director be of greater assistance to the spiritual director as they seek to deepen their spiritual direction skills and also in service of the directee as the arts encourage their healing and wholeness. Having taught classes about the use of art in spiritual direction, I’m delighted to have a text that combines not only the theoretical reasons for using the arts in direction and the exploration of the various art modalities but also the valuable Part III, “Working in Different Life Contexts”, that envisions the life contexts and themes that arise in care of souls. It is an inspiring and regenerating piece of work that teaches the intrinsic significance of the arts and the value of engaging body, mind and spirit in creative pursuit of awakening the Holy that resides within." -Rebecca Bradburn Langer, D. Min., Adjunct Faculty, San Francisco Theological Seminary Program in Christian Spirituality, Spiritual Director, Pastor and teacher of supervisors in “Together In The Mystery” with Dr. Maria Tattu Bowen, co-editor of Supervision of Spiritual Directors: Engaging in Holy Mystery

Awakening the Creative Spirit beautifully and evocatively explores the relationship between spiritual direction and the arts. Readers will delight in the integration of personal story, thoughtful reflection, and practical guidelines that illuminate this relationship. Drawn into this engaging work, we encounter a book that bears witness to the transformative power of the arts to convey a sense of ultimate mystery. Replete with exercises, examples, stories, and resources, Awakening the Creative Spirit offers the most comprehensive guide to date on how to develop the “spark of divine creativity” embedded in us all. This is an invaluable resource for spiritual directors and for anyone who desires to become more aware of ultimate mystery in and through the arts. Those of us engaged in teaching the art of spiritual direction will find in it a beautiful introduction to the arts as the 'language of the soul.'" -Mary Rose Bumpus, RSM, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Spirituality, School of Theology and Ministry, Seattle University, co-editor of Supervision of Spiritual Directors: Engaging in Holy Mystery

Christine Valters Paintner and Betsey Beckman generously invite the reader into the winding paths of creative expression. With expertise and reverence, they showcase the gifts of storytelling, imagination, dance, visual art, music, movement, poetry and presence. Through a gentle weaving of their insightful work, with reflections from workshop participants, and the community of spiritual directors, the authors prepare a dazzling palette for discovery and deepening.

Through Awakening the Creative Spirit, spiritual directors, retreat and group leaders will find courage to dip into the richness of these modalities for their own journey, while developing confidence and discernment in utilizing these tools in their creative ministries." -Marianne Hieb, RSM, ATR, MFA, D.Min., Director, Lourdes Wellness Spirituality Program, author of Inner Journeying Through Art-journaling

Having spent 40 years teaching and advocating a wider use of the arts and media in ministry and in spirituality, we are pleased to affirm and support the work of Paintner and Beckman." -from review at Spirituality and Practice

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Upcoming Programs

The Spiral Way:
Celtic Spirituality and the Creative Imagination

Hosted by the Rowe Center
February 1-21, 2021
with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD

Journey with the Desert Mothers and Fathers
Retreat for Lent 2021

February 17-April 1, 2021
with Christine & John Valters Paintner and Betsey Beckman

Recent Reflections

  • Hildy Tales 3: Ní heolas go haontíos ~ by John Valters Paintner
  • Humility + Join us today for live prayer! ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales 2: Tús maith leath na hoibre – by John Valters Paintner
  • New Book Club for 2021: Lift Every Voice ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Hildy Tales One: Dia dhuit, is mise Hildy! by John Valters Paintner, Your Online Prior

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