Abbey of the Arts

Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts

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  • Books
    • 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
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    • Walk the Ancient Paths: Pilgrimage
      • Monk in the World (Ireland)
      • Writing on the Wild Edges (Ireland)
      • Honoring Saints and Ancestors (Iona)
      • Vienna Monk in the World (Austria)
      • Hildegard of Bingen (Germany)
      • Sacred Rhythms of Sky, Sun, Sea, and Stone:
        An Embodied Writing and Voice Retreat (Ireland)
      • The Soul’s Slow Ripening (Ireland)
    • Live Programs and Spiritual Retreats
      • Evening of Celtic Wisdom, Song, Poetry, and Dance
      • The Soul’s Slow Ripening: Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred Day Retreat
      • Writing on the Wild Edges:
        A Creative Retreat in the Pacific Northwest, U.S.
      • Poetry and the Sacred Garden of the World:
        A Veriditas Retreat in Chartres, France
      • The Elements as Wise Guides and Companions
      • The Soul's Slow Ripening: Celtic Practices for Seeking the Sacred 5-day Retreat
      • Awakening the Creative Spirit: Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts (Northwest)
      • Earth Monastery Intensive:
        Nourishing Intimacy with Nature for Soul Care Practitioners (Scotland)
    • Community Online Retreats
      • The Soul of a Pilgrim:
        An Online Retreat for Lent and Easter
        (a companion retreat to the book)
      • Eyes of the Heart: Photography as a Contemplative Practice (a companion retreat to the book)
      • Jubilee Year Community Retreat:
        Exploring Sacred Rhythms of Time
    • Self-Study Spirituality Online Classes
      • 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
      • Exile and Coming Home:
        An Archetypal Journey through the Scriptures
      • Eyes of the Heart:
        Photography as Contemplative Practice
        (Companion retreat to the book)
      • Lectio Divina:
        The Sacred Art of Reading the World
      • A Midwinter God:
        Making a Conscious Underworld Journey
      • Sacred Seasons:
        A Yearlong Journey through the Celtic Wheel of the Year
      • 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
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A Midwinter God: <BR>Making a Conscious Underworld Journey

A Midwinter God:
Making a Conscious Underworld Journey

In a dark time, the eye begins to see. -Theodore Roethke
Wisdom comes with winter. -Oscar Wilde

Description

Our western culture denies the reality of difficult feelings, demonizes the experience of darkness, and rejects the invitation of winter to move into a place of unknowing and mystery. Our religious institutions don’t leave any room for the experience of doubt and despair. Certainty, planning, and achievement always trump unknowing, mystery, unfolding, and fallowness. We are encouraged to move full steam ahead through every season, never taking time to rest.

The seasons of the year offer us a profound invitation to embrace the gift of darkness and mystery, and to honor what I call the Midwinter God. John of the Cross describes one aspect of this experience as the dark night of the soul which is a spiritual journey of having one’s attachments stripped away.

In the midst of anxiety and distress, how might we begin to cultivate our ability to stay awake and present through the dark night of the soul we experience both individually and collectively? How might these descents into the underworld become an experience of initiation into wiser ways of being in the world? What if the very experience we are resisting is a source of profound creative renewal so necessary for this moment in history? What if we could stay fully awake in dark and difficult times, emerging wiser and more resilient? What might happen if we cultivated a non-anxious presence in ourselves and on behalf of all those with whom we minister?  What gifts might emerge from creating safe holding spaces for folks to do their own deep inner work, wrestling with the shadows, expressing grief, and embracing the mysteries of life?  I intentionally ask more questions in this description than make definitive statements, because the very quality this journey asks us to cultivate is an ability to be with life's questions.

For this 6-week online journey we will draw upon Christian mysticism and contemplative practice, myth and archetypes, sacred scripture, yoga philosophy, and the creative arts as our guides. Support will come from the voices of a variety of wise guides across centuries and from our own community of fellow pilgrims gathering virtually to share our own wisdom.

This class in particular requires that participants come with a certain amount of spiritual maturity and experience, as well as a willingness to plumb some dark depths in a container of support.  We also recommend having a soul friend or spiritual director with whom you can process what emerges in this material.

*Special note: The materials for this class were designed with the soul care practitioner in mind (spiritual directors, chaplains, counselors, pastors, etc) however anyone with an interest in the content may register.

Do you long for ways to enter more mindfully into this holy time of year?  Are there stories you would like to remember and honor?

Program Objectives

Participants who successfully complete this course will:

  • cultivate their capacity for wakeful presence in the face of life’s difficult challenges;
  • develop a set of practices including meditation and art which support this ability to be present and alert;
  • explore how their own conscious underworld journey increases their capacity to hold space for others to do this kind of deep inner work; and
  • develop an appreciation for the profound gifts of midwinter, darkness, and the underworld as a source of deep empowerment for ministry and life.

What's Included

6 weeks of three-times weekly emails which contain reflections on the topic for the week and suggestions for experiential activities to deepen and enhance the Soul Care Practitioners' personal practice.

Weekly Themes

The Gifts of Winter and Darkness

The seasons and the breath as a way of being with the cycles of experience

Embracing the season of winter, the hour of midnight, and the new moon as invitations to mystery, unknowing, fallowness

Grief as Holy Path

Being with the difficult emotions

The essential role of lament

The Apophatic Path or Way of Unknowing

John of the Cross and the Dark Night of the Soul

Meister Eckhart and "gelassenheit"

Wisdom of the desert

The Compassionate, Fierce, Dark Feminine

Mary as the Mother of All Sorrows

Black Madonna, Inanna, Kali

The Transformative Mythic Journey

Persephone and the journey from victimhood to sovereignty

Archetypes

Modern Voices, Rituals, and Practices

Rainer Maria Rilke, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Simone Weil, Michael Meade

Reclaiming ritual, story, and practice for our lives

Registration

Register Now: US$120
TERMS AND CONDITIONS

There are no refunds for self-study purchases. Please make your selection carefully. Materials stay available to you indefinitely. There is no "expiration" date for your access.

Discounts are available for small groups wanting to move through the material together:  20% off when 3 people register together, 30% off for 5, 40% off for 7 and above. Please contact Christine by email to request an invoice.

If you need a payment plan to participate, we can arrange that with you directly. We also offer partial scholarships to those for whom the full cost would be a financial hardship. Please contact us to inquire.

Your Guide for the Journey

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE
Christine is the director of AbbeyoftheArts.com, a virtual monastery exploring contemplative practice, creative expression, and ways to nourish an earth-cherishing consciousness. She is a spiritual director, teacher, pilgrimage guide, and author of nine books on spirituality and the arts. Her deepest belief is that the earth is the original monastery--a wisdom guide and mentor in living a soulful and vibrant life. Visit the "About Christine" page for more information.

 

Praise for the Class

Christine, thank you for doing this work. The materials, their organization and your careful guidance (and nudges) have made this one of the most meaningful and rewarding (and hardest ! !) spiritual "retreats" I've participated in. -Cynthia Gardner

I would absolutely recommend this class to others, in fact I have already done so. This course helped me to speak to my pain and see its beauty, to welcome it and embrace it. -Melanie R.

The theme and the week to week movement through aspects of midwinter was very rich and meaningful.    Christine's care for our movement through the themes, and in the deeper movement within our own souls was very evident in how she guided us.   I appreciated her wisdom, her transparency and her openness to relationship. -Deborah K.

There were places I didn't really want to go but I did and it was ok. I was able to allow my inner witness to emerge and interact with my feelings without drowning in overwhelming emotions. I have a sense that my inner witness will continue to teach me and I will trust myself more ... and that will extend to those I companion, trusting others to listen to their inner witness more deeply as well. -Cindy S.

This was very very rich material from a wealth of sources! Christine is so knowledgeable and ties things together well. This course helped me to "name" some of the spiritual geography I have been traversing, and was so valuable. I expect to use much of what I learned to help others I companion. One of the most critical aspects was being able to "hold" the discomfort of myself or another without trying to remove or fix it. The Abbey courses provide a depth and richness that is hard for me to get elsewhere. I live in somewhat of a rural area so my access to such courses locally is very limited. -Tina F.

This class helped me to revisit, and mine those dark and seemingly fallow periods of my life. It has helped me to recognize how deep and dark those nights have been as well as how profound and lasting the impact was and continues to be. Learning the lasting impact for myself opens my heart to the ongoing nature of any midwinter experience and heightens my sensitivity and appreciation for the growth, wounded-ness and mystery that surrounds those periods without time limit. -Mary L.

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Upcoming Programs

The Soul of a Pilgrim:
An Online Retreat for Lent
An 8-week companion retreat to the book
(ONLINE)

March 4-April 28, 2019
with Christine & John Valters Paintner, and Jamie Marich

Poetry and the Sacred Garden of the World:
A Veriditas Retreat in Chartres, France (LIVE)

June 10-14, 2019
with Christine Valters Paintner, PhD, REACE

Awakening the Creative Spirit:
Experiential Education for Spiritual Directors in the Expressive Arts - Pacific Northwest (LIVE)

October 27-November 1, 2019
with Betsey Beckman, MM and Kayce Stevens Hughlett, MA

Recent Reflections

  • Abbey of the Arts Featured Poet: Nita Penfold
  • 7 pilgrimages you can go on right now (Part 1) ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Monk in the World Guest Post: Elaine Breckenridge
  • Poetry and the Sacred (new videos and featured poet series) ~ A Love Note from Your Online Abbess
  • Abbey of the Arts Featured Poet: Kenneth Steven

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