Orphan, Fool, Sovereign, Prophet: Creating New Beginnings in Times of Unraveling
- Online retreat
- Self-study, start anytime
- Move at your own pace, in your own place
- Lifetime access
Registration Fee: $120 USD
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Program Description
“Apocalypse” is a mythic and archetypal reality that has been activated many times over history during wars, pandemics, and other kinds of societal collapse. The root of the word apocalypse means to uncover or reveal. Theologian Dr. Brian Blount referred to Revelation as a call to endurance when two worlds clash — “the world as it is” and “the world as it meant to be.” These times ask us to cultivate endurance and practices which help us to nurture hope and new beginnings, rather than preparing for the end.
Time is cyclical and moving in spirals, rather than linear, so the endings always hold seeds of new beginnings. “Apocalypse” is a threshold, a liminal time between eras and ways of being which disrupts the status quo. As destructive systems collapse, humanity is called to rebuild the world rooted in a new vision. The veil is slowly lifted, to reveal a future filled with glimmers of renewal, compassion, beauty, hope, and thriving for all Earth’s beings.
The value of looking to the archetypal imagination is that it reveals a world behind the world of appearances. This mythic way of understanding asks us to cultivate a different way of seeing, to find solace in the threads of the eternal which are woven into the fabric of our lives, and to re-orient ourselves toward a deep kinship with the natural world and those beyond the borders of political and cultural power to discover wisdom from the wild edges of life.
These times demand endurance and a trust in our role in the unfolding of things. They also require rest and resistance to all the ways our culture tries to exhaust and deplete us, so we have nothing left to offer. They call us to focus our resources on supporting those whose suffering has been the greatest as well as making space for grief and lament as a practice of naming the harm that has been done.
Through imagination and creative process, we can nourish ourselves and the world by also turning our attention to shimmering moments, to those places where beauty erupts in the midst of challenge, to learning how to see the deeper union of all beings, and to create together from these visions.
At the heart of the Christian tradition is the reality of suffering and death being transformed into new life in ways beyond expectation. The natural world teaches us about the rhythms of dying and composting as necessary before another cycle of blooming and fruitfulness.
In the four weeks of this retreat, you will explore the significance of living during what feels like end times to gain new perspectives on the beginning of time. You will focus on the liberating and empowering concepts of threshold and transformation. You will listen to the wisdom of the mystics who have lived through their own turbulent periods as well as those who have been oppressed and lived through end times over many generations.
In the weekly recorded webinars Christine will weave in an exploration of the archetype of apocalypse with the archetypes of orphan, fool, sovereign, and prophet to help illuminate the ways these ancient patterns or ways of being help support your call to create newness in the face of endings. Through teaching, meditation, and creative writing explorations you will empower yourself to be fully present to the reality of the world we live in and listen closely for what is yours to do in response. She is joined by Simon de Voil who will offer the gift of music to help you deepen into the themes.
The rest of the week you are given daily invitations into various creative and reflective practices led by a wonderful array of Abbey Wisdom Council members and other guest teachers (more details below).
Through various forms of creative practice including writing, song, visual expression, movement, and ritual you will be invited to yield to the creative force at work in you, summoning new possibilities. You will also root yourself in kinship with nature as a resource and powerful ally for your sense of grounding and connection to the sacred in all things.
What are the things I need to lament in the world as it is?
How am I am called to be a sign of hope and promise in a world that can often feel very dark?
How might the reality of endings also point to new beginnings and the world as it is meant to be?
What's Included
Each week you will receive an email with a link to the day’s content. The materials are in written, video, and audio format which you can view and listen to at any time. You have lifetime access to the materials in the course.
Day 1: Pre-recorded webinar with Christine Valters Paintner offering teaching on each archetype, a guided meditation, and creative writing explorations to deepen into the overall theme. Simon de Voil offers his gift of song to deepen your reflection.
Day 2: Somatic Intelligence and Nature Connection with Aisling Richmond. Aisling offers you a rich weave of practices to deepen your wisdom, well-being and response-ability in these epic times. Through embodiment and nature connection you will be supported to grow your roots deep into the earth, so as to reach your branches outwards and offer your unique gifts to the world.
Day 3: Songs of Healing and Hope with Dena Jennings. Dena will offer the gift of songs from various traditions such as spirituals and songs of the South which speak to ways that creative impulse can provide people who are struggling a way to lament, protest, celebrate, and resist.
Day 4: Dancing Mindfulness with Jamie Marich. Dancing Mindfulness is a come-as-you are meditation and expressive arts practice that uses dance and other creative movement as our primary vehicle for engagement in present-moment awareness. Participants are given a great deal of options to engage movement in whatever way is sustainable for their bodies and personal practices.
Day 5: Conversations with Guest Teachers. Christine invited wisdom teachers to explore the archetypes we are considering.
Week 1: Dr. Brian Blount on Revelation and Apocalypse
Week 2: ValLimar Jansen on Sister Thea Bowman as Holy Fool
Week 3: Benjamin Mertz on Maya Angelou as Sacred Sovereign
Week 4: Dr. Luther Smith on Howard Thurman as Mystic and Prophet
Day 6: Scripture reflection by John Valters Paintner and questions for reflection. At the end of each week, John offers a scripture reflection (originally in the book Illuminating the Way) and some questions to help you sit and listen to what each archetype is inviting you to consider.
Day 7: Sabbath rest and integration. There will be no new content this day to encourage a day of rest and integration of the week’s archetype.
Weekly Themes
Week 1: Orphan
Week 2: Fool
Week 3: Sovereign
Week 4: Prophet
Your Guides for the Journey
Christine Valters Paintner
Christine Valters Paintner is the online Abbess and 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, Benedictine oblate, and author of numerous 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.
John Valters Paintner
John Valters Paintner studied education and earned a teaching certificate in his home state of California. John later went on to earn a Masters in Theological Studies at the Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley. After working in parish ministry for several years, John returned to the classroom, teaching high school religion for twelve years. He now works as Prior of the Abbey of the Arts alongside his wife of thirty years, Abbess Christine. Visit the “About John” page for more information.
Simon de Voil
Reverend Simon Ruth de Voil is an interfaith-interspiritual minister, sacred musician, spiritual counsellor, and chaplain.
His sacred work—both musical and interpersonal—explores themes of the inner landscape of the soul, the enchantment of the natural world, and the healing power of spiritual practice. As a chaplain and counsellor, Simon helps individuals and groups connect sacred presence with everyday life. Simon is also a transgender activist and a luthier in training. Visit Simon’s website here>>
Dena Jennings
Dena Jennings, D.O. is a luthier, musician, writer, Virginia Master Naturalist, and an Internal Medicine physician with certification in Ayurvedic practice. In addition to over 30 years of medical practice, she completed a 4-year apprenticeship with a sculptor and luthier in Ontario, Canada where she learned to design and built the gourd instruments of cultures around the world. In 2013 Dr. Jennings married her best friend Donald Jennings and moved to their organic herb farm and wildlife preserve in Nasons, VA which they lovingly call the Farmashramonastery. There, she practices medicine and counselling, hosts contemplative retreats, hikes, and meditation, and raises angora rabbits.
In the larger community, she conducts conflict transformation workshops including one for artistic ambassadors through the US State Department in Washington, DC. She has developed accredited curricula of meditation for racial justice, and for cultural sensitivity in artistic performance. In 2019, she was appointed to the Virginia Commission for the Arts where she serves as the chairperson.
Since 1996, Dr. Jennings has been the Executive Director and founder of Imani Works, a human rights advocacy group that enjoys consultative status with the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs. Through Imani Works, she provides evaluations for asylum seekers. You can reach her for bookings, consultations, and counselling by visiting ImaniWorks online.
Aisling Richmond
Aisling Richmond is a Somatic Therapist and transformative guide who is deeply inspired by nature and the wisdom of the soul. Aisling is currently undertaking a PhD in Psychology and Transformative Leadership to work with cultural change. She shares a home with her partner in the rugged wildness of Donegal, North West Ireland. Aisling works as a therapist, supporting people to resolve trauma and life challenges through body-psyche-soul wisdom. She also mentors people in finding their deep soul purpose, and teaches a rich range of transformative programs online. Aisling is passionate about soul centred living, where nature and the feminine are deeply valued. Having worked collaboratively with many organisations including Amnesty International, Aisling has also been a guest lecturer with both Galway and Limerick Universities. Visit Aisling’s website here>>
Jamie Marich
Jamie Marich, Ph.D., LPCC-S, REAT, RYT-500, RMT travels internationally speaking on topics related to EMDR therapy, trauma, addiction, expressive arts, LGBTQ issues, spirituality and mindfulness while maintaining a private practice in her home base of Northeast Ohio. Jamie is also the developer of the Dancing Mindfulness expressive arts practice. Jamie is the author of several books including Dancing Mindfulness: A Creative Path to Healing and Transformation (2015, with foreword by Christine Valters Paintner) and Process Not Perfection: Expressive Arts Solutions for Trauma Recovery released in 2019, heavily influenced by the growth she has experienced through her study with Abbey of the Arts! Now primarily a North Atlantic Book author, she has recently released Trauma and the 12 Steps: An Inclusive Guide to Recovery (2020), Transforming Trauma with Jiu-Jitsu (2022), Dissociation Made Simple: A Stigma-Free Guide to Embracing Your Dissociative Mind and Navigating Life (2023), and You Lied to Me About God. Visit Jamie’s website here.
Guest Teachers
Dr. Brian K Blount is a President Emeritus, Union Presbyterian Seminary and the author of numerous books including Can I Get a Witness: Reading Revelation through African American Culture
ValLimar Jansen is a singer, composer, recording artist, and playwright. She wrote and stars in “I Will Live Until I Die” – a musical of the life of Sr. Thea Bowman.
Dr. Luther Smith, Professor Emeritus of Church and Community, Candler School of Theology, Emory University and author of Howard Thurman: The Mystic as Prophet
Praise for the Course
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