WellSpring :: Links

Links

Spiritual direction:

YouTube has a series of recorded interviews on the subject of Spiritual Direction (click on the links below to open the videos in a separate window):

Other YouTube resources:

Other web resources:

Richard Rohr – Centre for Action and Contemplation – Daily Meditations, thoughts and homilies. Following the mystics post conference handouts and study guides on Rohr’s teachings.
Christian meditation:
Spirituality and practice e-courses

Eco-spirituality:

For hundreds of years, those who have been interested in the spiritual life have found that exposure to the beauty of the Earth is a way to make God powerfully present. Recently, a growing number of Christians have become interested in the ecological movement and a new awareness of the transcendence of the Cosmos. Concern for the present ecological crisis has become more than a cause; it involves, too, a spirituality that supports activists and even simple lovers of nature to be caretakers of the Earth and stewards of God’s creation.

Just as Christian spirituality focuses on one’s relationship with God in the Trinity, God is revealed to the person in diverse ways. Eco-spirituality teaches that divine life extends to all reality, and the Cosmos is an integral part of God’s self-revelation. In eco-spirituality, we explore our relationship with God in the context of our relationship with the whole Cosmos with God in the centre as Creator of this masterpiece.

While the term, “eco-spirituality,” is a relatively new one, the psalmists sang of God’s presence in nature and often called on the entire Cosmos to join in celebration: “Let the Heavens rejoice and the Earth be glad…” (Ps. 96) Theologians and contemplatives, past and present, have experienced the hand of God in the magnificence of the Cosmos.

Resources:

YouTube videos:

Useful Books:
- Dream of the Earth by Thomas Berry
- The Universe is a Green Dragon by Brian Swimme
- Phenomenon of Man by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Celtic Spirituality:

Celtic Spirituality is centred around a deep love and respect for nature, for stories and for art and poetry. The name ‘Celtic’ refers to an ancient people who settled in Europe between Asia Minor and the Atlantic. Indeed, the letter of Saint Paul to the Galatians is addressed to a Celtic group living in Asia Minor. These Celts were a warlike people with their own rich mythology. With the rise of the Germanic tribes in the North of Europe and the Romans in the Mediterranean world, the Celts were pushed further and further North.

Celtic Spirituality was based on an oral tradition where most people were illiterate but loved memorizing stories and myths. Within the Celtic tradition, there developed the idea of Soul Friend or Anam Cara which helped formed the Spiritual Direction traditions.

Resources on YouTube:

Enneagram:

The Enneagram consists of 9 distinct personality types and is one of the newest personality systems in use. It emphasizes psychological motivations. Its earliest origins are not completely clear - the circular symbol may have originated in ancient Sufi traditions, and was used by the esoteric teacher George Gurdjieff (1866-1949).

The Enneagram is mainly a diagnostic tool of one's emotional outlook on life. It will not cure one's problems, but may help point out their underlying fixations. It is also useful as a guide to how other people see the world differently.

Resources:

Children’s Spirituality:

There has been a growing interest in the area of children’s spirituality over the past decade or so. Increasingly, parents, ministers and carers have begun to look with interest at the role spirituality plays in young lives. Children often seem to have an innate ability to be in touch with the sacred whether it be through their image of God or Jesus, their ability to prayer, their sense of the present moment or their ability to grasp large concepts such as life and creation.

Below are some useful resources: