Library Overview
The library is where you will find information from various sources: Lorian Associates, friends, fellow researchers, and students completing our masters degree programs. You will find recommended books from like-minded authors, and recommended links of individuals and organizations we think are worthy of your time.
Please take time to puruse and enjoy our library!
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Articles by Lorian Associates and Friends
Lorian Associates are people who actively support the work of Lorian and carry the practice of Incarnational Spirituality into the world in practical ways. This is where they can share their thoughts, articles and work.
In addition, from time to time, colleagues and friends of Lorian write articles that we feel expand our spiritual horizons and widen the vista of human potentiality and spiritual development or give important insights into the situations which we face today in the world. It is an honor to present these articles here.
Contents:
Accessing the Power of Love in the Workplace, by Roger Harrison, Ph.D.
What to Expect in Interspiritual Spiritual Direction, by Rev. Freya Secrest, and Suzanne Fageol, M.Div.
What Can We Know?, by Arthur Zajonc
The Flight to Abstraction, by John Michael Greer
Author: Roger Harrison, Ph.D.
I have the privilege of calling Roger Harrison a good friend. He is a legendary figure in the field of Organizational Development. He is a consultant, trainer, and theorist who has influenced every phase of the evolution of this discipline. He was there at the beginning when the first sensitivity seminars were emerging in the fifties and he is still offering his wisdom and insights as organizations struggle with a host of new challenges from dealing with a global environment to becoming more holistic and spiritual in their operations. He is a man of high integrity and honesty, and we have benefitted from his service as a member of Lorian’s Board of Directors and now as a continuing friend of Lorian. He sent me this article on his most recent work on integrating love into the workplace, and I knew I wanted to share it widely. –David Spangler
Accessing the Power of Love in the Workplace
Roger Harrison Ph.D.
For most of my working life, love has not been an idea in good currency in organizations—to say the least. When, in the eighties, I first wrote about the importance of understanding love in the workplace and tapping into its power, I did so against the counsel of trusted colleagues who had my best interests at heart and were concerned that I maintain my credibility. I went against this good advice because I believed, and still do, that we cannot fully access the power of a concept like love by using a euphemism such as caring, consideration, or the like. The "L" word wouldn't be as scary as it seems to be if that weren't true.
Early experiences with love in the workplace
I grew up in a family of scientists and engineers, and I learned early to value rationality. Although love was present, it was not something much talked about. I trained as an industrial psychologist, and I was well into my first professional job in personnel research with Procter & Gamble before an event occurred in 1958 that opened my eyes and heart to the potential power of love in working life. That event was a five day workshop billed as an opportunity to learn about the dynamics of small groups. It turned out to be a "T group laboratory." That experience changed my life by opening up possibilities of levels of openness and intimacy between strangers that I had not previously imagined. The vision was naive, but it was very powerful. I was enthralled by the idea that by meeting with no agenda other than to understand what was happening in our group, we could come at the end of five days to respect and appreciate each one of the strangers we started out with. We felt love for one another—though not necessarily liking for each one.
An idea in good currency in an organization is one that is generally accepted, and is used frequently in the day to day thinking and conversation of people in the organization.
Click here to download the rest of this article by Roger Harrison.
What to Expect in Interspiritual Spiritual Direction
Authors: Rev. Freya Secrest, and Suzanne Fageol, M.DIV.,
Many people today are finding a home in their relationship with the Sacred outside of traditional religion. They move between and away from traditional faith practices. They see wisdom in many paths. They participate in different spiritual communities and sacred ceremonial settings. If you are such a person, then interspiritual spiritual direction might be of interest to you on your path.
A new clientele for spiritual direction is emerging. It is a growing community of people who explore beyond the particular tenets of any single faith tradition and who include a broad spectrum of beliefs and practices in their spiritual life. Their explorations lead to dynamic intersections of spirituality, faith traditions and spiritual practices. Spiritual direction can be a great support to them on their path of discovery and in their grounding with the Sacred. Here we share a brief overview of the development of interspirituality and outline some characteristics of this emerging field. Then we discuss the value of interspiritual spiritual direction, the qualities of an interspiritual director, and what to expect in interspiritual direction encounters. Finally, we explore the benefits of an interspiritual direction process.
An Overview of Interspirituality
Interspirituality has its roots in inter-religious dialogue and interfaith encounters that have occurred throughout history. Two examples of places where this interface between different religious beliefs was visibly active in ancient times are the Mediterranean during the Hellenistic period (4th - 1st century BC) and the Indian subcontinent during the Magadha period (546–324 BCE) when Hinduism encountered Buddhism. More recently, in the west, these dialogues and encounters were brought to public attention in 1893 with the first World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago. Some interfaith exchange continued, including, in the 1960’s, Vatican II’s conciliar document, Nostra Aetate. This document committed the Catholic Church to the recognition of truth existing in the other religions and to a desire to explore a new relationship with them.
Click here to read the rest of this article.
Vista Author: Arthur Zajonc
Arthur Zajonc (his last name rhymes with “science”) is a practicing quantum optical physicist, a professor at Amherst College, one of the participants in the dialogs between the Dalai Lama and Western scientists, the former President of the American Anthroposophical Society, a long-time student of Western Hermeticism, and a contemplative practitioner. He is also one of my colleagues in the Lindisfarne Fellowship. In the following article, he outlines the steps of a “contemplative inquiry” that is almost exactly the pattern I follow in my own inner perceptions and connections with the non-physical worlds of spirit. I was very excited when I read this and knew I wanted to share it widely. It is the basis of a new book he has written, published by Lindisfarne Books, titled Contemplative Inquiry. If you would like to read more of his writings, including material on pedagogy and an epistemology of love, I recommend his website, www.arthurzajonc.org. –David Spangler
What can we know?
Knowledge between Science and Spirituality
by Arthur Zajonc
Physics Department, Amherst College
Director, Academic Program, Center for Contemplative Mind in Society
Co-Founder, Barfield School of Graduate Studies, Sunbridge College
Lecture given at the systemic constellations conference, “Coming Together”
Cologne, Germany, May 27, 2007.
Let me begin by expressing my thanks to Wilfried Nelles for inviting me to this Congress. And also express my amazement that so many of you got up in time for an 8:30 am lecture!
I am here not as a constellation worker, but as a fellow traveler in a much broader sense. I think that my experiences will be relevant to your work. As a quantum physicist with long-standing philosophical interests, I have found myself situated between science on the one side and spirituality on the other. The “Spannugsfeld” or field between these two has been filled with controversy and misunderstanding. In 1925 the British-American philosopher Alfred North Whitehead wrote:
When we consider what religion is for mankind, and what science is, it is no exaggeration to say that the future course of history depends upon the decision of this generation as to the relations between them. (Atlantic Monthly)
Nor has the tension or importance faded in the 80 years since Whitehead wrote these words. One need only read the recent best-selling books by biologists Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion or Francis Collins’s personal testimony, The Language of God, to see how passionate and unproductive the debate remains. There is hardly any topic that is more important for us today than finding the right and fruitful relationship between science and spirituality.
Click here to download the rest of the article.
Vista Author: John Michael Greer
John Michael Greer is a friend and colleague who writes a brilliant blog, The Archdruid Report. Yes, that’s right, he’s an Archdruid, the Grand Archdruid in fact of the Ancient Order of Druids in America. He is also a prolific writer in a wide variety of areas, as befits his degree in the history of ideas, whose latest book is The Long Descent: A User’s Guide to the End of the Industrial Age. Indeed his blog itself mainly focuses on the phenomenon of peak oil and the coming de-industrialization of the world. But he has also written with wide knowledge and deep insight about the Western Hermetic Tradition, Druid spirituality, and various elements of cultural history. This article is from his blog (http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/) and I am adding it here for two reasons. One it is a succinct and compelling analysis of the situation we find ourselves in with the collapse of the financial markets around the world, and two, it resonates with something my own inner colleague John told me thirty years ago, that the world as a whole but Western culture and the United States in particular were becoming increasingly detached from the living earth and increasingly caught up in what he called “an imaginal state, one existing purely in your minds with little connection to the actual world around you.” This, he said, would have consequences. I believe we are seeing some of these consequences now, for reasons that John Michael eloquently recounts in his article below. –David Spangler
THE FLIGHT TO ABSTRACTION
by John Michael Greer
My decision some two and a half years ago to launch a weekly blog on the future of industrial society has had its share, or more than its share, of unexpected results. The original plan was to start a conversation about the future within the contemporary Druid community, which is not precisely one of the largest religious movements in America these days, and I would have considered the project a success if the blog’s total readership topped fifty. That The Archdruid Report somehow failed to stop there still astonishes me.
Just as unexpected has been the impact on my own writing process. Some writers, like the hero of Edward Gorey’s wry tale The Unstrung Harp, have orderly habits: on November 18th of alternate years, with the creaking predictability of an old orrery, you can be sure that Gorey’s protagonist Mr. Earbrass will start a new novel. By inclination, at least, I fall on the other end of the spectrum, and it happens as often as not that I sit down at the keyboard Tuesday evening with no notion what my next post ought to be about. What astonishes me is that the muse has always come through, though there are times I can almost see her distractedly pulling down random volumes from the bookshelves of Parnassus, looking for scraps to toss me.
Very often, though, it’s her more improbable tidbits that bring the most unexpected insights. I can think of no other excuse for this week’s post, for the idea at its core came out of a moment of mental collision hard to describe in any other way. That moment arrived on the weekend just past, when I looked up from a paperback copy of Giambattista Vico’s New Science to the surreal skyline of Las Vegas at night.
Click here to download the rest of this John Michael Greer article
Masters Thesis Library
The mission of Lorian states that it is, "...first to be a spiritual research center that explores a contemporary spirituality, in particular the sacredness of incarnation and a re-imagination of self, Sacred, and the world."
To fulfil this mission, Lorian offers two master's degrees: Masters of Spiritual Direction (MSD.) and Masters of Contemporary Spirituality (MCS.).
On this page you will find links to a selection of the Master's Degree theses that have been written.
Ruby Webber, MCS, 2008, Incarnational Spirituality and Creativity
Kiri Saftler, MSD, 2009, Group Spiritual Direction and Peace Circles: Birds of a Feather
Freya Secrest, MSD, 2009, Principle and Foundation in Spiritual Direction
Minor Lile, MSD, 2009, Relational Space and the Practice of Spiritual Direction
Sáraswati Rain, MSD, 2009, Spiritual Direction in Paganism
Lucinda Herring, MSD, 2009, The Gifts of Spiritual Direction at the Threshold of Death
Susan Sherman, MSD, 2009, Compassion in the Practice of Spiritual Direction
Jeremy Berg, MCS, 2010,Whole Views: From the New Age into a New Vision
Recommended Books
The following are books we recommend for our classes or because we know and collaborate with the author and respect his or her work:
Books by David Spangler not published by Lorian Press
Apprenticed to Spirit; Riverhead Books, (forthcoming in 2009)
Blessing: The Art and the Practice; Riverhead Books (2002)
The Call; Riverhead Books (1998)
The Laws of Manifestation; Weiser Books (February, 2009)
Parent as Mystic, Mystic as Parent; Riverhead Books (2000)
A Pilgrim in Aquarius; Findhorn Press (1997)
Books on Energy Hygiene:
Psychic Protection, by William Bloom; Fireside Press (1997)
Feeling Safe, by William Bloom; Piatkus Books (2002)
Psychic Shield, by Caitlin Matthews; Ulysses Press (2006)
Books on Felt Sense
The Power of Focusing, by Anne Weiser Cornell; New Harbinger Publications (1996)
The Radical Acceptance of Everything: Living a Focusing Life, by Anne Weiser Cornell; Calluna Press (2005)
Books on Spiritual and Energy Work
The Endorphin Solution, by William Bloom; Piatkus Books (2001)
The Druid Magic Handbook, by John Michael Greer; Weiser Books (2007)
On Becoming An Alchemist, by Catherine MacCoun; Trumpeter (2008)
Kything, the Art of Spiritual Presence, by Louis M. Savary & Patricia H. Berne; Paulist Press (1989)
The Sphere of Art, by R.J. Stewart; R.J.Stewart Books (2008)
Contemplative Inquiry, by Arthur Zajonc; Lindisfarne Books (2008)
Books on Working with Inner Forces
Experiences with the Dying and the Dead, by Claire Blatchford; Lindisfarne Books (2007)
Soul Companions, by Karen Sawyer; O Books (2008)
Books on Expanding Consciousness
Extraordinary Knowing, by Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer; Bantam Books (2007)
The Intention Experiment, by Lynne McTaggart; Simon & Schuster (2007)
The Three “Only” Things, by Robert Moss; New World Library (2007)
Books on Civilization, Culture, Consciousness, and the Future
Soulutions, by William Bloom; Hay House (2004)
The Way Beyond the Shaman: Birthing a New Earth Consciousness, by Barry Cottrell; O Books (2008)
The Long Descent: A User's Guide to the End of the Industrial Age, by John Michael Greer; New Society Publishers (2008)
Recommended Links
These are individuals who have their own organizations or are teachers in their own right working to enable a more holistic and planetary consciousness to emerge in the world. They have been friends and collaborators with Lorian for a number of years. We want to acknowledge their unique work and encourage you to visit their websites. (For other teachers who are colleagues of David’s, please see Colleagues under David’s Page.
William Bloom: William is a major spokesperson for the holistic movement in the UK. He is the originator of Core Energy Management and founding partner of Holistic Partnerships. William's many books include The Endorphin Effect, Psychic Protection and The Penguin Book of New Age and Holistic Writing (ed). He works and teaches internationally. He co-founded and directed the Alternatives Program in London and has been on the faculty of the Findhorn Foundation for twenty-five years. Visit www.williambloom.com
Rue M. Haas: Rue is a long-time friend and support of Lorian, a one-time staff member of the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland, and an intuitive mentor, counselor and coach using EFT techniques. Her book Opening the Cage of Pain with EFT is available from the Lorian Bookstore. Her website is http://www.intuitivementoring.com/.
Dr. Lee Irwin: Lee is also a long-time friend and colleague of Lorian. He is Director of the Religious Studies department at the College of Charleston specializing in Native American spirituality and Western mystical traditions. He sits on the board of the Association for the Study of Esotericism. Lee is the author of many books including The Dream Seekers: Native American Visionary Traditions of the Great Plains, Visionary Worlds: The Making and Unmaking of Reality, and Awakening the Spirit: On Life, Illumination and Being. His book, Alchemy of Soul, is published by Lorian Press and is available through our bookstore. For more information, you can go to http://www.cofc.edu/~rels/irwin3.htm.
John and Caitlin Matthews: John and Caitlin are two of the most prolific writers in the area of Celtic spirituality, the Western Hermetic Tradition, the Arthurian Tradition, and shamanism. Two of John’s books, The Sidhe and A Constant Search for Wisdom are published by Lorian Press and are available through our bookstore. For further information about their work and books, please go to http://www.hallowquest.org.uk/.
R.J. Stewart: Robert is one of the most knowledgeable and wise teachers currently practicing in the area of Western Hermeticism. A scholar of Celtic traditions and folklore, the Hermetic path, and the Faerie Traditions, he is also a musician and a prolific writer, as well as an old friend and colleague of Lorian. His website is http://www.rjstewart.org/.
Dr. William Irwin Thompson: William is the Founder of the Lindisfarne Association and the Lindisfarne Fellows, as well as being one of Lorian’s oldest collaborators and colleagues. He is a poet, a cultural historian, and a prolific writer on themes of cultural transformation and planetary consciousness. You can read more about his work and about the Lindisfarne Fellowship at http://www.williamirwinthompson.org/.
William Wittmann, M.Ed., LMP: William supports people in living the lives they were meant to live. He uses his experience of over thirty years in various body therapies including CranialSacral Therapy, Visceral Manipulation, and in life coaching to inspire and aid people on their journey. You may contact him at (206)328-2073 or e-mail: William@VitalArts.net, or see his website: http://www.vitalarts.net/.
Organizations and Services
There are a number of organizations and websites whose goals, services, or activities parallel or complement our own; some of them have been started by friends and colleagues. We’d like you to be aware of them; for it’s in collaboration with places and services like these that our boundaries truly expand and become more inclusive and engaged.
The Seven Pillars House of Wisdom.
This is an educational and cultural project growing out of the work of Sufi teacher Pir Zia Inayat-Khan, the grandson of Hazrat Inayat-Khan, the founder of the Sufi Order of the West. It's mission is dedicated to the fostering of beauty and depth in human culture. It seeks to cultivate awareness of the unity of existence and the qualities of heart that naturally arise from this awareness: nobility of character, genuine civility, and creative optimism. It organizes dialogues, media, courses and events to enhance the ability of individuals to actively participate in the flowering of a world civilization grounded in the awareness of the unity of existence, a purpose deeply shared by Lorian. Their home website is http://www.sevenpillarshouse.com/. They publish an online journal, to which David Spangler is a contributor, at http://www.sevenpillarsreview.org/.
The Attitude of Gratitude
In each of us there is a spark that can reverse the trends of violence and depression spiraling within us and in the world around us. By setting in motion the spiral of gratefulness we begin the journey toward peace and joy.
- Gratefulness is the key to joy.
- Gratefulness is a universal human value.
- Gratefulness has power to change and heal society.
Together we can provide online support for offline action to realize joy, build community, and transform our world. For more information visit www. gratefulness.org
[Note: The gratefulness.org website came into being as a result of the work of a friend of mine and a fellow Lindisfarne Fellow: Brother David Steindl-Rast, a member of the Calmaldolese order of monks. Gratefulness is a major element in working with spiritual forces through my teaching on Alliances, and this website helps to amplify an overall sense of this important spiritual discipline. For more inspiration about gratefulness, see his classic book, Gratefulness: The Heart of Prayer—D.S.]
The Findhorn Foundation is the educational and organizational cornerstone of the Findhorn Community, founded in Scotland by Peter and Eileen Caddy and Dorothy MacLean in 1962. It is a major international centre of spiritual education and personal transformation, offering many ways for people to visit, or to live and work in community. Those of us who created Lorian first met in this place in the early Seventies. The Findhorn Foundation is located in northeast Scotland, east of Inverness. Visit www.Findhorn.org
The Gaiafield Project: The Gaiafield Project weaves a multi-hub planetary network of subtle activists who participate in large-scale collective healing and global transformation programs following the Gaiafield Principles which are in alignment with the broad principles set out in the Earth Charter, namely:
- respect and care for the community of life;
- ecological integrity;
- social and economic justice; and
- democracy, non-violence and peace
Their work in subtle activism involving large groups of people in collective spiritual work on behalf of humanity and the planet complements our own work and teaching in energy activism, which focuses on what one or two can do using principles of energy hygiene on a planetary scale. Their website is http://www.gaiafield.net/
The Lindisfarne Association: Founded by cultural historian and poet William Irwin Thompson, Lindisfarne was an association of creative individuals in the arts, sciences, and contemplative practices devoted to the study and realization of a new planetary culture. Perhaps its finest work was the creation of the Lindisfarne Fellows, an international honorary society of individuals who, in the judgment of the Founder and Fellows, have made outstanding contributions to the expression of the new planetary culture. The Fellows come from all faiths, theistic and atheistic, and all professions; although they may share a common ethos, they do not share a common ideology. They continue to meet in annual conferences and through their friendships and shared vision continue to collaborate. David Spangler is one of the Fellows. For more information, please visit http://www.lindisfarne-association.org/ or http://www.williamirwinthompson.org/lindisfarne.html.
Mosswood Hollow is a sacred retreat center in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, 50 minutes northeast of Seattle. It includes 50 acres of forests, fields, and beaver ponds. Groups can meet in the spacious 30-foot yurt or around the stone fireplace in the cozy living room of the main lodge. Delicious gourmet meals and comfortable overnight accommodations are available in the main lodge or in a two-bedroom cottage. We’ve been doing workshops and retreats here for over a decade. 20215 320th Ave, N.E., Duvall, WA 98019 Phone: (425)844-9050, or e-mail: mosswood@mosswoodhollow.org.
Pomegranate Center—based in Issaquah, Washington—is an internationally recognized leader in developing neighborhood gathering places and is a leading nonprofit devoted to community-generated design and development. It was started by two of Lorian’s original founders, Milenko and Kathi Matanovic, and originally began life as a department within Lorian. As it grew and expanded and developed its own constituency and vital work, we spun it off as its own non-profit entity in 1987. Since then it has grown, embodying the essential spirit of Lorian and an incarnational spirituality and becoming an international leader in creating community gathering spaces. Please see their website at http://www.pomegranate.org/.
Whidbey Institute is a retreat center on Whidbey Island, Washington offering programs and events focusing on "Earth, Spirit and the Human Future.” Visit www.whidbeyinstitute.org. A number of us have been friends of the founders, Fritz and Vivienne Hull, for many years, and there has been a collaborative relationship between Lorian and the Institute going back to the Seventies.
We have been--and still are--in a time of alarms and noises, posturings and persuasions, tumult and tempest. To be of service in the world today, we must stand in a place of calm steadiness. In the midst of the storm, we must take time to look beyond to the mountains and the stars, the ancestors and the descendents and just appreciate the vastness of the world and of time and cosmos in which we live. Whatever happens tomorrow, the sun will rise, clouds will form, rain will fall, creatures will be born and die, and life goes on. We will love and create, our inner power undimmed, our spirit as Sacred as ever. "
David Spangler, from an online class, Election and Initiation
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