In this issue: Symposium success; new writers' group; upcoming events, Board news and more

Imagine Creates Joyful Community

The Imagine Retreat and Symposium in Nova Scotia Sept. 16-20 was a rousing success for The Guild and for the 93 people who attended either online or at the White Point Beach resort.

At followup meetings, participants offered feedback. They were also asked to offer three words that described their experience, and "joy" was the top reaction!

Guild grads Leigh Fletcher and Leslye Colvin blogged about the experience afterward. Their posts included an incident that embodied several of the mind-blowing concepts our presenters introduced, and information about the retreat's origin.

"Before we completed the Apprenticeship Program of The Guild for Spiritual Guidance in the fall of 2024, my friend, Kate Kristiansen, presented her nascent thoughts for Imagine! It has been inspiring to accompany her as she brought this vision to fruition. From across Canada and the United States, we came together to immerse ourselves in the wisdom of the speakers and each other," Colvin, AP XXII said. Read her entire blog by clicking this Substack link. "The lineup of speakers included some I had known previously and many who were new to me. They included: Bayo Akomalafe, Cynthia Bourgeault, Fanny Brewster, Ilia Delio, Andrea Davis, Mary Anne Donovan, Ezekiel Fugate, Jeremy Johnson, Owen Ó Súilleabháin, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Boris Worm, Matthew Wright and members of the Mi’kmaq First Nation. With unique gifts and from different disciplines, each contributed to the weaving of a lifegiving tapestry of perennial wisdom that will long inspire 'new ways of imagining our shared future.'"

"…Understanding the Atlantic to be dark and cold, and light and warm, all at once, requires a little bit of ontological fugitivity, which Bayo suggests is when beings, identities or reality itself expand beyond the frameworks we use to define them," wrote Fletcher, AP XXII. "That evening, Ezekiel Fugate was talking about evolutionary cosmology and what becomes possible when something outgrows its framework. He contrasted two ways an acorn might become a tree — one carefully tended but limited by a greenhouse pot, the other buried in rich soil by a squirrel. As he said the word "squirrel" a small red squirrel bounded in the door...…It was as if his words manifested a red squirrel. We all laughed because that doesn’t really happen, right? Then I thought: ontological fugitivity! When I stood to leave, my toe nudged a rounded beach cobble, and I discovered a white poem inked on it. Later, I found another on the coffee table. Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer scattered rock poems around the retreat all week, challenging my assumptions about where poetry belongs and how it speaks with the world. Her poems often hold two opposing truths, asking us to remain with the paradox. Jeremy Johnson sees the same tension in nature’s unending cycle of death and resurrection; one does not exist without the other. When disaster is happening, so is resurgence, even if we cannot perceive it. In the words of my grandmother, only God sees around corners."

Posting on Substack afterward, Johnson told his many readers, "In a word, the Imagine symposium was a re-enlivening for me. I must also note the wealth of brilliance and wisdom amongst the whole group of presenters: Dr. Ilia Delio and Dr. Bayo Akomolafe joined the symposium via Zoom, while Dr. Ezekial Fugate, Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, Owen Ó Súilleabháin, Dr. Boris Worm, Dr. Fanny Brewster, and of course Cynthia Bourgeault and I were attending in-person. I found myself in the company of philosophers, artists, poets, and scientists, and together we were all gently encouraged to weave (quite literally, at certain points) and be woven in the course of our conversations. And it feels like that conversation has only just gotten started."

During the retreat, Trommer posted this poem to her followers:

Praise the Positive Deviants

written in response to the Imagine Retreat, inspired by Boris Worm, Cynthia Bourgeault

I want to remember how this morning

a man stopped us on the road to tell us 

of the yellow mushroom ahead, 

how his hands trembled like startled wings

in his thrill to share the strange polka-dotted beauty.

Want to remember the woman who companioned 

a sphinx caterpillar across the road. 

And the man who stands in the ocean every day, 

teaches hope through data, and knows himself 

not as the ocean’s custodian but as the ocean’s lover. 

Something in the daily way they live their love 

ignites brighter love in me, a primal love that splashes

in puddles and weeps salty tears at the side of the sea,

a love that refuses to be restrained 

even as we grieve the harm we commit

against this fragile, resilient, changing planet. 

Bless those who offer their hearts to the world

even in a state of alarm and despair. 

We think hope can’t survive, but it does.

Bless these humans and their contagious, rebel love, 

their mycelial love, their wild-flowering love, 

may it spread in us, too, growing faster than kelp, 

reproducing like rabbits, adapting like mangroves,

a love that bids us to live toward the mutual flourishing of all, 

not out of fear for ourselves and our world, 

but for love, because love, because love, because love.  

Reprinted with permission

And you're going to want to read all of her poem "What Comes Next", which includes these lines:

Tonight, I gathered in a small room 
filled with glorious, basic humans.
We sang about unity, we sang 
about wonder, we sang about 
community and the beauty 
of the world. And I felt something
something of survival in it.

Ó Súilleabháin said afterward, "What a beautiful disappearing island we created and shared for those blessed days." You can watch a version of the W.B. Yeates poem Ó Súilleabháin performed at the retreat here on YouTube.

Imagine: The Ripples Continue

It’s been a whirlwind month in Nova Scotia since Imagine! The weather is still fantastic, the brightly coloured leaves are taking their time to fall gently, and the fluffy bunnies are still hopping about, enjoying the green grass. Like me, I suspect they’re missing you all!

Nearly 100 people, both in person and online, joined us for our first Imagine Retreat and Symposium. It was the first gathering of its kind for Engaged Wisdom and an important opportunity to connect, reflect and begin imagining the path forward beyond our Jubilee year. (Don’t worry recordings are still being edited for each session and will be on their way soon to registered guests. Thank you for your patience.)

What a journey it was! A wonderful flurry of volunteers, including several Apprenticeship Program graduates who enthusiastically stepped forward, helped bring this vision to life. Once again, a heartfelt thank you to our entire volunteer team. Your generosity, enthusiasm and willingness to be part of something new made this gathering possible.

One of our intentions was to expand the reach of our programming, creating space for artists, environmental and ecological scientists, cosmologists, community builders and social innovators to join the conversation. Something that is foundational for Engaged Wisdom. Together, alongside the wild Atlantic, we gathered at a threshold moment, exploring ideas and possibilities that reached beyond our individual imaginations.

The ripples of Imagine appear to be far-reaching, and may they continue to travel! Our hope was to refresh and renew the light within each of us and discover ways of carrying that light forward into the world.

We want to extend an enormous thank you to everyone who helped bring this vision to life. Each of you contributed to transforming this gathering into a unifying force of love. While we were unable to secure organizational sponsorship, the generosity of individual donors who contributed financially made Imagine possible. We are deeply grateful to everyone who believed in this vision and helped us bring it into being. 

Perhaps the greatest gift of Imagine was the reminder that we are not separate in this work. Through our conversations, creativity, listening and shared experiences, we began to glimpse what might become possible when we imagine together.

You each embody the force of love.

May the connections continue, the ripples reach far and wide, and the light we rekindled together find its way into the world.

With blessings and deep gratitude,

The Engaged Wisdom Team

Guild Honors Delio

Please join us on April 14 at Fordham University’s Rose Hill Campus for a special gathering formally conveying The Guild's new, honorary Ewert Cousins Chair award to theologian and author Ilia Delio.

We’ll come together in the spirit of Cousins’ vision and the wisdom, conversation, and relationships that continue to shape our shared work. It will be a meaningful opportunity to reconnect, celebrate what we are building together, and imagine what may be possible in the years ahead. Cousins was a Guild Cultivator, Teilhard scholar and author of "Christ in the 21st Century."

The time will be announced soon. We hope you’ll be there!

Unleafing

by Dora Odarenko, AP XXI

That time of year we must receive

when colors shed the splendor

that we glut upon, that burnished us.

Flame-triumph subsides

to russet, yellow drabs to dun,

Armatures protrude

for winds to clothe and tatter,

gilding gone. A leaf blows, cupped

like a baby’s hand, abandoned.

Acres now stretch vulnerable.

We touch smoothness of birches,

raw-weathered silk of hickory.

Smells, foraging, and sounds

speak brown, kindle, ember

ingathering of light.

Peer Into The New AP Program

Wondering what it might be like to be in The Guild’s Apprenticeship Program? Or are you an AP Grad seeking to deepen your understanding? Check out our next mini-class.

Engaged Wisdom: Growing with the Universe

Teilhard’s Evolutionary Cosmology

Mondays, Feb. 1, 15 and March 1, 2027

This informative class is for anyone who is interested in exploring what a Guild Apprenticeship Program (AP) experience might be like. It specifically speaks to the topic of evolutionary cosmology, an essential component of The Guild’s Apprenticeship teachings.

The learnings and implications of Teilhard de Chardin’s Christocentric cosmos will be considered via readings, videos and sharing in the classic Guild experience of a Sacred Community in small groups.

This mini-class also invites Guild Graduates to join in to review and deepen their Apprenticeship experience.

It is facilitated by Dorothée Caulfield, AP XIX, Graduate Circle Co-Coordinator, and Jean Blackie, AP XXI, Guild Board Chair. Three weeknight sessions over six weeks - 6:30 to 8 pm ET - $50 for all three sessions.

For more information and to register, click on this link: https://spiritualguidance.org/engaged-wisdom-mini-class/

Quarterly Free Film Discussion

The Guild for Spiritual Guidance invites you to join us for a free and engaging discussion of the acclaimed film:  "Daughters of the Dust" (1991), a landmark drama written, directed, and produced by Julie Dash, making history as the first feature film directed by an African-American woman to receive a general theatrical release in the United States. 

WHEN: Sunday, Jan. 24, 2027 from 6:30 8PM ET via Zoom

Set in 1902, the film centers on three generations of Gullah (or Geechee) women from the Peazant family on Saint Helena Island, South Carolina, as they prepare to migrate from the rural South to the North.  "Daughters of the Dust" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2004, being deemed culturally and historically significant. It was restored and re-released in 2016 by the Cohen Media Group to mark its 25th anniversary. 

The film is available for free viewing at this link. Registration will open soon.

Your hosts: Bernice Marie-Daly, AP III and Leslye Colvin, AP XXII.

Our book discussion facilitators are donating their time, but we still have an administrative cost of $250, which needs to be paid to keep this discussion free to the public, our Greater Guild. Please consider a donation.

Semi-Annual Graduate Circle Retreat In June

The Art of Spiritual Direction

Spend an evening with author Paul Burgmayer discussing his new book, The Making of Modern Spiritual Direction, in which he tells a story few have told: spiritual direction as we know it is largely a 20th-century creation -- forged in the tension between tradition and innovation, theology and psychology, authority and personal experience.

In Chapter 13, The Guild for Spiritual Guidance is featured as an important innovator in spiritual direction. Drawing on a decade of research, rare archival discoveries, and interviews with key voices, including Guild Graduates Bernice Marie-Daly, AP III, Carolyn Nicosia, AP II, Christina Carlson, AP XIX and Cari Keith, AP VII, Burgmayer introduces the pioneers who reimagined spiritual direction and asks what their legacy means for us now.

He will speak about the history of The Guild and where he sees the art of spiritual direction heading in the coming years. He is looking forward to meeting you and answering your questions.

We hope to see you at this FREE event 6:30-8 p.m. Nov. 30. Register here.

Burgmayer’s book is available in paperback or e-book at your favorite book store, public library or at bookshop.org. (Purchasing using this link supports The Guild.)

The Gift of Love

Giving and Recurring Giving

There are so many ways to express love to and engage in wisdom with The Guild for Spiritual Guidance! We understand everyone has their own unique set of circumstances, so we want to offer a few different ways to help support The Guild financially, if you are able. Any level of giving or recurring giving is greatly appreciated. Please use the “Donate” button below to show your love for The Guild!

When you go to the Donate webpage you will see a new feature: An option to give a one-time donation or to make your donation recurring. Recurring gifts can be made monthly or annually and before you choose a recurring giving level, we invite you to indicate your relationship to The Guild: either Friends of The Guild – that’s our universal community of everyone – or the Graduate Circle, our sacred community of those who have traveled through our Apprenticeship Program (“AP”).

Another option you will see is to give a donation to a specific program.

We thank you for your gifts of love. If you cannot donate at this time, we thank you for your other expressions of love and the many ways you engage with us in wisdom. It all matters, greatly. 

Warmly,  

The Guild for Spiritual Guidance Board

Support the Guild's Apprenticeship Program

Thank you, graduates of The Guild for Spiritual Guidance, for helping to bring The Guild’s strands -

• Depth Psychology
• Mystical Spirituality
• Evolutionary Cosmology
• Sacred Community

to life in the world.

And thank you for supporting The Guild over the years—by praying for us, by staying engaged through our newsletter, and through your generous donations.

We are deeply grateful for your faithful friendship. Because of you, The Guild is where we are today.

And so, we are coming to you at this time with a special request. Emerging from a Jubilee Year of soul-searching, listening, and creative thinking, we realize that the world needs the Apprenticeship Program (AP) now more than ever

The Apprenticeship Program cultivates the deep listening skills that are crucial for healing the division and scapegoating that pervades our nation and our global society.

Cari Keith, AP VII

We are planning to welcome a new cohort of apprentices in 2027. A huge Thank You to everyone who has responded to our "Help Launch the AP" campaign.  

We are aiming to raise $15,000 to underwrite the AP Director’s stipend until we collect sufficient tuition to sustain the program. We're just a few thousand dollars short of our initial goal, and this is allowing us to begin recruiting the new director. And anything we raise over our goal will help us offer scholarship opportunities.

You can make an online donation via credit card or online banking transfer payment by clicking here:

https://spiritualguidance.org/help-us-launch-the-apprenticeship-program/

(You may mail a check payable to “The Guild for Spiritual Guidance,” to PO Box 16, Dunmore, PA 18512. Please write “AP Launch” in the memo section of your check.)

In gratitude,

AP Launch Team:  Paul Carbone, AP XVIII, Shawn Cribari, AP XVI, John Deuel, AP XIX, Denise Tangney, AP XII

The Guild is an organization exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and contributions are deductible to the extent allowed by law. You will receive a receipt for your donation to include in your tax records. 

Dream Circle coming in January

Our Dream Circle is a sacred container for honoring the light, shadow and wisdom of our psyches. Together we will hold one another and the dreams that are shared with reverence and confidentiality as we listen deeply to discern from our dreams what we’re releasing, integrating, and midwifing into being.

Depth Psychologist Dianne Frost, AP XXII will lead the Dream Circle on Zoom using a variety of approaches. She will guide participants in learning the art of Dream Tending, originated by Stephen Aizenstat, founder of Pacifica Graduate Institute. Dream Tending is a blend of Western modes of dreamwork (largely Jungian) and Indigenous understandings of dreamwork. Additionally, dreamwork processes originated by Jeremy Taylor, co-founder of International Association for the Study of Dreams, will be used. Active imagination and dream amplification via creative arts will be encouraged as well. 

The Dream Circle will be intimate with a limit of 10 participants who will hold the sacred container together for four months, meeting twice monthly, January through April. Re-enrollment may continue for continued participation following the first four months. Our dreams await our tending! 

Register here.

News from the Board

Please welcome the Guild's new Administrator, Brenda Sperry, whose background and interests are bringing new strengths to the office.

"For more than three decades, I have been dedicated to serving others through a career in human services, advocating for individuals and families with compassion, empathy, and respect. My work has always been rooted in the belief that healing begins when people feel seen, heard, and supported.

"My personal spiritual journey led me to discover the transformative power of meditation and mindfulness. As a meditation teacher, I guide others in cultivating inner peace, self-awareness, and emotional well-being. By blending my experience in social work with spiritual practice, I create a compassionate space where individuals can heal, grow, and reconnect with their authentic selves.  I have over 12 years of experience as an administrator with a passion for technology.

"My mission is to inspire others to live with greater balance, purpose, and compassion—embracing both practical support and spiritual wisdom on the path to wholeness."

---------------------------------------

The Guild seeks to hire a director for the Apprenticeship Program. Dianne Disston, who led the AP starting back in 2010, retired with the completion of AP XXII in October of 2024.

This remote, part-time contract role is ideal for someone who is passionate about and capable of building and guiding a learning community of spiritual seekers. 

We're now taking applications for the next AP Director, and will begin interviewing soon.  If you or someone you know might be interested in applying for the AP Director position, check out the We're Hiring page on our website: https://spiritualguidance.org/the-guild-is-hiring-2/.  If you have any questions about the position or the process, email info@spiritualguidance.org and we'll get them answered.

While we are finding our next AP leaders, we're also going to begin taking applications for apprentices, so that we can get the program launched hopefully in the first half of 2027.  Check out and share the updated AP program page with anyone you know that might be interested: https://spiritualguidance.org/apprenticeship-program/.  

Learn more on The Guild website here.

Let’s Talk Guild!

We welcome you and your Guild friends to our Temenos Meditation Times – 9-9:30 a.m. ET on Mondays, and to our Let’s Talk Guild!  Lunchtime Drop-in Discussions on the first Friday and the third Tuesday of each month from noon-1 p.m. ET.

Our next ‘Let’s talk Guild’ drop-in lunchtime discussions will be Friday, Nov. 6 or Tuesday, Nov. 17. Please join us for a stimulating discussion.

Start each week with silent meditation with Guild friends. Then, twice a month, share what’s on your heart and mind and hear what others are thinking about these days at our lunchtime drop-in discussions.

Here is the Zoom link for all our Temenos and Let’s Talk Guild gatherings.

Communicate with the Board of Directors

If you have any suggestions or questions for the Board or wish to speak
personally with me, please email info@spiritualguidance.org or jeanblackie@att.net 

I'm happy to answer your questions, discuss ideas and suggestions, and share more of what we're going to be doing in the days, months, and years ahead! Many opportunities to experience Engaged Wisdom with The Guild for Spiritual Guidance are found throughout this newsletter and also on our website.

Jean Blackie, AP XXI

About The Guild

Who we are and our Purpose: The Guild for Spiritual Guidance is an open and affirming, lifelong contemplative community, immersed in holistic learning and providing empathetic, compassionate responses to the evolving spiritual hungers of our time.

What we do: We help spiritual seekers become whole in a fragmented world—through practices that unite cosmic story, psychological depth, wisdom traditions, and authentic community.

To support The Guild's work of practicing intentional integration as a way of healing the deepening divisions of our world, please make a tax-deductible donation via the donate button below or send by mail to The Guild for Spiritual Guidance, PO Box 16, Dunmore, PA 18512.