Overview of Lorian Education

The goal of our programs is to enable individuals of vision and determination to meet the challenges and opportunities of the Twenty-First century by gaining an understanding of their own generative, creative and spiritual nature and strengthening their skills to apply that understanding.  Our intent is to enhance life, freedom and the capacity within each of us to create wholeness and abundance. Incarnational Spirituality is the tool that we offer for this work.

Incarnational Spirituality is a practice that focuses on the co-creative relationship between the individual, the soul, the world, and the sacred.  It unites a range of topics and experiences including attunement to subtle energies, the principles of incarnation, unfolding the generative self, subtle activism, subtle energy hygiene, and working with spiritual worlds and forces.  It has on two goals.  The first is to unlock the incarnational intelligence.   This is an inner capacity akin to the other “intelligences” within us such as kinesthetic, verbal, emotional, and social intelligences, but one rooted in the activity of the soul and its sacredness.  It gives us resources and capacities to act with blessing and creativity in the world.  This incarnational intelligence is holistic in nature, giving us the means to build connections and collaborations with the world around us.  This in turn leads to the second goal, the development and expression of a Gaian consciousness, an awareness that enhances our participation in creating wholeness in our world.

Our educational approach seeks to reflect our view that each person expresses his or her incarnational intelligence in unique ways. Consequently, our classes honor the integrity and spiritual power of our unique personal selves as well as the importance of the earth and our role in its wellbeing. 

Core Classes

Our Core Classes are structured into at least three levels, each building on the previous. Here is a summary of them:

• Facing the Future: Our educational program begins with a six week online class entitled Facing the Future:  Incarnational Intelligence and the Way Forward.  This introductory program provides an overview of Incarnational Spirituality and the benefits it offers you in your life as a way of responding with inner vision and strength to the challenges and opportunities of your experiences. 
• Self-Study Modules: Our main program is built around a series of self-directed study modules that allow an individual to learn at his or her own pace.  These programs are augmented by optional, interactive opportunities for personal mentoring and question-and-answer sessions using online forums and teleconferences.  It is this mentoring that turns the information in the various incarnational spirituality themed modules into an individually integrative learning experience.
• Path of the Chalice Integrative Program: For those wishing to go more deeply in integrating the various elements of Incarnational Spirituality into a dynamic daily practice, there is a seven-week online forum entitled The Path of the Grail.  Further training is offered in a five-day, face-to-face program entitled The Gaian Initiation and the Path of the Planet.  This class uses the tools of Incarnational Spirituality, subtle activism and group initiation to give an experience of Gaian consciousness and attunement, further enhancing one’s individual spiritual practice and service in the world
• Survey Courses are short overviews or “mini-modules” of a particular aspect of Incarnational Spirituality.
• Masters Degree in Contemporary Spirituality (MCS). Advanced work is also possible requiring additional reading, classes, and writing a thesis.

Click the specific class menu items for additional information.

In addition to these core programs, from time to time we offer stand-alone classes and workshops.  Information on these special events is given on the website Home and Calendar pages, and announced in our Lorian Association Newsletter.

Living Text

Incarnational Spirituality is an evolving system of ideas and practices.  Everyone who participates may add to the collective body of knowledge about this approach; in addition, David Spangler and others maintain an ongoing research effort in collaboration with the spiritual worlds to continually deepen our knowledge in this area. In a way, the self-study modules and the classes represent research reports outlining the current state of our understanding.  But this knowledge and understanding are evolving.  For this reason we treat the material in the self-study modules and classes as living texts, subject to change and growth as new information is developed.  The online environment gives us a unique opportunity to update this material and keep it fresh and alive.  Our website will carry announcements when new or revised material is available.

Downloadable E-Documents

Forums and online classes often contain material that we wish to share with a larger audience in a different format. Transcripts of such events, containing limited editing, may be available for purchase as a downloadable "E-Document" for sale from the Bookstore.

 

Facing the Future

Facing the Future: 
Incarnational Intelligence and the Way Forward

This is the portal class for our educational program.  It offers an overview of Incarnational Spirituality and provides a rationale for its study and practice as a contemporary path in tune with the needs and opportunities of the Twenty-First century. 

     At the heart of Incarnational Spirituality is the idea that within each of us is an “incarnational intelligence.”  The theory that we possess multiple intelligences was first formulated by psychologist Howard Gardiner in his 1983 book Frames of Mind.  More recently, psychology writer Daniel Goleman elaborated on this idea with his book on “emotional intelligence.”  Incarnational intelligence is an expression of the consciousness and activity of the soul as it engages in the process of incarnation.  It is a holistic intelligence that understands how to work with the energies of self, spirit and sacredness to manifest physical life and to connect with this world.  Understanding this incarnational intelligence can open the door both to deeper self-knowledge and to an enhanced ability to express one’s potentials.  Most importantly for us at this time in history, it is an intelligence that can connect us to nature and give us the capacity to partner with the living soul of the planet in ways that can help heal the ecological damage that humanity is causing to the earth.  It is an intelligence that knows how to create wholeness within ourselves, between each other, and between ourselves and the planet.

     This six-week online class introduces the basic principles of incarnational intelligence and gives an overview of the practice of Incarnational Spirituality. It provides the essential foundation for all the other programs and self-study modules that Lorian offers.  This is the place to start your spiritual and educational journey with Lorian.

                      Recommended reading for this class are Facing the Future, by David Spangler, and The Gathering Light:  An Exploration of the Incarnational Way, by Jeremy Berg.  Both of these books are available from the Lorian website bookstore.

Survey Courses

As the name implies Survey Courses are short overviews of a particular subject important to Incarnational Spirituality. They provide a way to gain a quick understanding of the concepts involved. You get them online.

Most courses (not all, see details listed) include:

• one or more audio recordings by David Spangler - about an hour long, and
• An E-Document (PDF file) of 8-10 pages on the subject

NOTE: When you complete the payment process, click the link to return to Lorian Association to immediately see your Survey Course. In addition, within a day or two, you will receive the link to the module via email to give you access to the same page containing full navigation to these resources. Alternately you can email us at lorianeducation@msn.com to register.

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Survey Course	Description
The Incarnational Way - Survey Course To access the survey course, click here.	This FREE survey course contains a 16-page e-document entitled, Incarnational Spirituality, A Short Introduction by David Spangler, two audio recordings entitled Incarnational Way, 1A and 1B, and 2 charts illustrating some of the concepts introduced. To access the survey course, click here.
Subtle Activism Kit - Survey Course To access the survey course at no cost,click here.	This FREE survey course contains a 16-page e-document entitled, Subtle Activismby David Spangler, three audio recordings entitled Subtle Activism Commentary, Blessing Exercise, and World Work Oil Spill.
Subtle Awareness - Survey Course Cost is $15	We live our lives in the midst of an invisible world of energies and presence. We are not totally unaware of it; it impinges on us in many subtle ways. But for the most part it goes unnoticed and unremarked. Yet within it are resources of creativity, insight, healing, and partnership with life around us. With this survey course you will receive: An e-document entitled The Four Faces of Home by David Spangler Two audio recordings entitled Subtle Perception, 2A and 2B Six charts illustrating some of the concepts introduced in the material
Subtle Energy Health and Safety - Survey Course Cost is $15	This survey course consists of an e-document by David Spangler entitled, Subtle Hygiene and one audio recording entitled, Energy Hygiene Introduction also by David Spangler.
Partering with Unseen Allies - Survey Course Cost is $15	This survey course consists of two audio recordings entitled, Partering with Allies by David Spangler, and six charts illustrating the concepts introduced in the audio recordings.
Subtle Activism - Survey Course Cost is $15	With this survey course you will receive: An e-document entitled Energy Activism by David Spangler Two audio recordings entitled Subtle Activism, 5A and 5B Four charts illustrating some of the concepts introduced in the material
Manifestation - Survey Course Cost is $15	When you purchase this survey course, you will get two audio recordings, entitled Manifestation, A and B. These recordings are from an introductory talk given by David Spangler to an IONS gathering in Sacramento, CA in December 2007. Books and Card Deck can be purchased through the Bookstore.

The Path of the Chalice

The Path of the Chalice program provides application, mentoring, and deepening into the core ideas and practices of Incarnational Spirituality. There are two parts to the overall program. The parts integrate the material from Sets I, II, and III of the Self-Study Modules. Participants are expected to have familiarity with these studies or be currently studying them. Certain modules are particularly relevant to this program as indicated below, though all nine are referenced.

Part I – Path of the Grail:

The Path of the Grail, a two-month online program, offers an integrative experience for taking the material presented in the Self-Study Modules and developing a spiritual practice tailored to your individual life. Your experience is deepened through mentoring from the Lorian staff and applying your own understanding and expression of your incarnational intelligence to your practice.

The work is based on the material in Set I—Incarnational Cosmology and Set II—Working with Subtle Energies of the Self-Study Modules.  The following modules are particularly referenced:  Incarnational Way, The Incarnational Self, Subtle Awareness, and Crafting Home.

This program encourages personalized engagement with the incarnational study material using your own home and workplace as your classroom. It is designed to foster skills in awareness and relationship with the physical and subtle ecologies of life, and strengthens an individual’s capacity for service in his or her world at local and global levels. Because of the personal attention and mentoring given to each participant, this program has a limited enrollment.  It is offered three times a year in the fall, winter and spring.

To see the current schedule and register, see the Calendar. Cost is $295.
Click here to register for Path of the Grail (Look for ID="POC ")

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Part II – The Gaian Initiation and the Path of the Planet:

For the first time in history, the integrity and coherency of the global ecology is being threatened; because of the environmental effects of human civilization, “ecocide” may be a possibility. Certainly, human civilization as we know it is in jeopardy and many millions of lives are at risk. Yet within us lies the power to redress this growing imbalance and to open new, positive possibilities for the future. This power resides in a Gaian consciousness.

Gaian consciousness emerges from the attunement of an individual’s own incarnational intelligence with the incarnational intelligence of the living planet itself, the world soul or Gaia. In this spiritual and energetic partnership and blending, an individual begins to think like a planet, feeling in himself or herself the life force of Gaia and a deeper connection with the world. From this comes a capacity to aid the world through techniques of subtle activism that use spiritual and subtle energies to complement outer, physical activism. Gaian consciousness also charges a person’s personal energy field and awareness so that he or she may contribute to the healing and wholeness of the planet through the ordinary actions of his or her daily life.

This program is a five-day, face-to-face retreat available twice a year. It employs techniques of group initiation to seed the experience of a Gaian consciousness, which then may grow in unique ways within each individual in harmony with his or her life.

To qualify for this program, an individual needs to have read Subtle Worlds, by David Spangler, and taken at a minimum the following self-study modules: The Incarnational Way, Energy Hygiene, Crafting Spiritual Alliances, and Subtle Activism.

Check the Calendar for a schedule.
Cost is S695, plus room and board.

Click here to register for the Path of the Planet. (Look for ID= "PotC")

Note that the Path of the Chalice programs are prerequisites for those pursuing the MCS degree with Lorian.

Masters in Contemporary Spirituality

Those who take the Path of the Grail program may also apply to earn a Masters Degree in Contemporary Spirituality. This involves work with specific self study modules, participation in the Path of the Grail forum, The Path of the Planet retreat and a thesis year focused on the writing of a thesis based on a personal project demonstrating mastery of the ideas and principles involved in Incarnational Spirituality. The purpose of the degree program is to help empower an individual in their service as an agent of wholeness in the world.

Please click here to email us for a current catalog and application form.

Engaging Incarnational Spirituality

How can you enter this stream of teaching? Here are several suggestions on how you might choose to interact with the material depending on your life situation.

1. Read the articles and booklets available free on this website.

2. Sign up for our mailing list, which includes Lorian’s free e-newsletter and David Spangler’s monthly essay, “David’s Desk.”

3. Download the free or inexpensive Survey Courses to learn some introductory concepts of the deeper trainings offered.

4. Engage in a program of self-study using the Self-Study Modules. Click here.

5. Investigate one of Lorian's other educational offerings. Lorian sponsors online classes, face-to-face talks, workshops and forums around specific themes or books.

6. Explore Lorian's advanced training and longer-term programs in the Path of the Chalice leading to certifications or a Masters Degree in Contemporary Spirituality (MCS).

7. Sponsor a Lorian workshop, talk or study group in your area. Please contact us for further information.

8.  Contact us for further information:  email info@lorian.org, call (425) 374-7069, or write:

The Lorian Association
P.O. Box 1368
Issaquah, WA 98027