Walking the Labyrinth of the Soul: St. Teresa’s Inner Castle
I began to think of the soul as if it were a castle made of a single diamond or of very clear crystal, in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions.
St. Teresa
You are lovingly invited to embark on this online 8–week spiritual journey to the center of your soul where, like a diamond, all shines forth with beauty and truth. Our way in will be the labyrinth for we know that the way there is not straight but, rather, circular taking us in ways often unexpected yet always ever closer to the center. And, there may even be a pause approaching the labyrinth for our journey for, indeed, the soul knows what’s coming in that very moment of not knowing. Yet, love compels us and so we step. Ah, but this is no ordinary love for, as we move ever closer to our interior center where the diamond shines brightest, we discover that this love will require the ultimate sacrifice: the gift of our self so we may experience our birth in Christ. But we don’t know yet, as the little butterfly in the last mansion, the ecstasy that comes from the death of all that has stood in the way of us walking with our God. We don’t know so we step reverently holding fast to St. Teresa’s assurance, “Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All passes away except God and God alone is sufficient.”
Come and join our sacred circle for it’s such a blessing to journey with others where we may both give and receive support, care and love. We’ll explore together with interactive reflection, Christian mantra practice, and experiential exercises. Come and catch a glimpse of the butterfly within. It just may compel you to wonder at the joy—the joy St. Teresa says will make the soul forget itself, forget everything, except that which proceeds from this joy—namely the praises of God.
Text: “Interior Castle: St. Teresa of Avila,” Translated and Edited by E. Allison Peers
Tuesday, 6:00 – 7:30 PM, February 2nd through March 23rd, 2021
Fee: $75
I began to think of the soul as if it were a castle made of a single diamond or of very clear crystal, in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions.
St. Teresa
You are lovingly invited to embark on this online 8–week spiritual journey to the center of your soul where, like a diamond, all shines forth with beauty and truth. Our way in will be the labyrinth for we know that the way there is not straight but, rather, circular taking us in ways often unexpected yet always ever closer to the center. And, there may even be a pause approaching the labyrinth for our journey for, indeed, the soul knows what’s coming in that very moment of not knowing. Yet, love compels us and so we step. Ah, but this is no ordinary love for, as we move ever closer to our interior center where the diamond shines brightest, we discover that this love will require the ultimate sacrifice: the gift of our self so we may experience our birth in Christ. But we don’t know yet, as the little butterfly in the last mansion, the ecstasy that comes from the death of all that has stood in the way of us walking with our God. We don’t know so we step reverently holding fast to St. Teresa’s assurance, “Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All passes away except God and God alone is sufficient.”
Come and join our sacred circle for it’s such a blessing to journey with others where we may both give and receive support, care and love. We’ll explore together with interactive reflection, Christian mantra practice, and experiential exercises. Come and catch a glimpse of the butterfly within. It just may compel you to wonder at the joy—the joy St. Teresa says will make the soul forget itself, forget everything, except that which proceeds from this joy—namely the praises of God.
Text: “Interior Castle: St. Teresa of Avila,” Translated and Edited by E. Allison Peers
Tuesday, 6:00 – 7:30 PM, February 2nd through March 23rd, 2021
Fee: $75
SAVE the DATE for these exciting programs coming in the spring and fall of 2021!
As soon as Rolling Ridge has published them, I'll include a registration button!
Chanting and Dancing the Holy! Sing . . . Dance . . . Praise . . . Love
Let them praise his name in the dance Ps 149:3
In this day away in-person retreat, we’ll repeat the sounding joy as we step light to journey deep and embody the sacred mantra practices from across faith traditions. Using simple circle movements, we’ll join together, hand in hand, breath by breath, footstep by footstep to journey into the center of the holy to discover what the Greek philosopher Empedocles knew: “The nature of God is a circle of which the center is everywhere and the circumference is nowhere.” Welcome Home.
You’ll want to bring a notebook and, perhaps, some drawing materials for the silent reflective times between dances to record the lingering echoes that may seek expression. Not to worry if you don’t consider yourself a dancer! The steps and movements are simple so as to easily express the beauty.
Come and join the circle where, like the mountains and the hills, our one heart will burst into song and, I’m quite certain, all the trees of the field will clap their hands. (Isiah 55:12)
Sunday, May 23, 2021: 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM
Lovers in the Wilderness:
Awaken Mystical Unity & Create a Joyful Life with Mantra Prayer
Mystical unity. Poets dream about it. Scholars analyzed it. Saints and Avatars across faith traditions have lived it. And, throughout time, ordinary seekers, like you and me, have yearned for it. Now just imagine . . . what if that yearning led you deep into the unexplored wilderness of your inner soul to discover a secret passage into a place where silence speaks of all there is to know—a place to which you can only point—yet, once discovered, know better, trust more, than any other place you could possibly conceive of or imagine? What if, beyond all you’ve ever feared, beyond all your doubts, even beyond all your questions, there was a simple answer waiting, waiting for just the right moment, to cut through all you thought you knew to, imperceptibly, lay at your feet the one truth that informs all the others—that right there, within you, all along, was the treasure you’ve been so desperately seeking? What if you finally understood that this treasure could not be found or created—only allowed—for, in truth, it is already you? Welcome to Mantra Prayer—where you create the conditions to experience that which is beyond understanding, moments of mystical unity, and where, at last, your deepest yearning can be satisfied.
In this 10–week online class, we’ll explore together just what mystical unity is. You’ll be given concrete instruction in how to create a Mantra Prayer spiritual practice and shown how to navigate the challenges as they arise. You’ll learn how to become co–creators with your God through the dance of will and surrender. And, each week, we’ll practice key mantra practices from across six faith traditions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism, known for their ability to help cultivate healing and forgiveness, courage and focus, and living with an open heart.
Come. Join with other lovers in the wilderness. Who knows? You just may be left silent and ecstatic with awe.
This class is an important vision seed for a larger body of work I am visioning about how we cultivate the inner conditions to experience mystical unity across eclectic meditation and prayer modalities.
Text: Lovers in the Wilderness: Awaken Mystical Unity and Create a Joyful Life with Mantra Prayer by Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt being released by Wipf and Stock Publishers in March-April 2021.
Tuesday, 6:00–7:30 PM, September 14th through November 16th, 2021.
Previous Programs
At the Water's Edge: A Reflection into The Cloud of Unknowing
Online Program Offered by Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center, North Andover, MA
An 8-Week Journey, September 29th - November 17th, 2020, Tuesday Evenings, 6:00 - 7:30 EST
Text: The Cloud of Unknowing & the Book of Privy Counseling, Forward by Huston Smith, edited by William Johnston. You'll want to have this by the first class to begin your reading!
I drank the silence of God from a spring in the woods.
-Georg Trakl
How fitting that the author who wrote this classic text in the 14th century remains anonymous for he tells us that to know God we must take the apophatic road to nothingness and nowhere, let go of all we 'think' God is to, just perhaps, in a blessed moment of forgetting, come to 'experience' what God truly is. Gratefully, we’re told not to worry if we can’t grasp it as, surely, such moments can’t be explained—but may be revealed in response to our humble, loving, heart. So, we come to our practice to gently pull back our wandering minds and yearning hearts to create a kind of inner crucible, silent and empty, most fitting for our God’s visit. And, over time, something quite sweet begins to happen—more and more, as we walk out into our days, we notice, suddenly now, that there is nowhere God is not! There is God moving in the wind, speaking through stones, budding the dandelion, cooing the mourning doves, and, most graciously, there, looking back at us through the eyes of our neighbors, next door and around the world. Having dared to lose ourselves in nothingness and nowhere, we have found ourselves to be everywhere, like one of those dandelions in the field, unique yet an integral part of all that is—the glorious body of Christ. Welcome home.
In this 8-week class, we’ll journey together toward nothingness and nowhere delighting in interactive sharing, Christian mantra practice, and engaging in many experiential exercises. You’ll receive an accompanying study guide with questions for reflections to guide our focus each week and with ideas for further enrichment during the days between our meetings.
Come. Journey with us toward nothingness and nowhere. You just may find yourself at the water’s edge drinking in the silence of God.
The cost of the course is $60 for the eight weeks.
Walking the Labyrinth of the Soul: St. Teresa's Inner Castle
Online Program Offered by Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center, North Andover, MA
Wednesday, November 4th, 2020, 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM
Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you.
All passes away except God and God alone is sufficient.
-St. Teresa
We often pause approaching a labyrinth. It’s as if the soul ‘knows’ what’s coming in that very moment of ‘not knowing.’ Yet, love compels us and so we step. Ah, but this is no ordinary love for, as we move ever closer to our interior center where the diamond shines brightest, we discover that this love requires the ultimate sacrifice: the gift of our self so we may experience our birth in Christ. But we don’t know yet, as the little butterfly in the last mansion, the ecstasy that comes from the death of all that has stood in the way of us walking with our God. We don’t know so we step reverently holding fast to St. Teresa’s assurance, “Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All passes away except God and God alone is sufficient.”
Join us and walk the inner labyrinth as it weaves through the seven mansions in St. Teresa’s interior castle, progressively revealing the many facets of the inner diamond. Explore with interactive reflection, Christian mantra practice, circle dance, and experiential exercises. Come and catch a glimpse of the butterfly within. It just may compel you to wonder at the joy—the joy St. Teresa says will make the soul forget itself, forget everything, except that which proceeds from this joy—namely the praises of God.
Online Program Offered by Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center, North Andover, MA
Wednesday, November 4th, 2020, 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM
Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you.
All passes away except God and God alone is sufficient.
-St. Teresa
We often pause approaching a labyrinth. It’s as if the soul ‘knows’ what’s coming in that very moment of ‘not knowing.’ Yet, love compels us and so we step. Ah, but this is no ordinary love for, as we move ever closer to our interior center where the diamond shines brightest, we discover that this love requires the ultimate sacrifice: the gift of our self so we may experience our birth in Christ. But we don’t know yet, as the little butterfly in the last mansion, the ecstasy that comes from the death of all that has stood in the way of us walking with our God. We don’t know so we step reverently holding fast to St. Teresa’s assurance, “Let nothing disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. All passes away except God and God alone is sufficient.”
Join us and walk the inner labyrinth as it weaves through the seven mansions in St. Teresa’s interior castle, progressively revealing the many facets of the inner diamond. Explore with interactive reflection, Christian mantra practice, circle dance, and experiential exercises. Come and catch a glimpse of the butterfly within. It just may compel you to wonder at the joy—the joy St. Teresa says will make the soul forget itself, forget everything, except that which proceeds from this joy—namely the praises of God.
Journey to the High Places:
Themes from Hinds' Feet on High Places
by Hannah Hurnard
Online Workshop Offered by Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center
Wednesday, May 20th, 2020, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Free to the public with optional donation to Rolling Ridge!
“It is so happy to love,” said the Shepherd quietly. “There is pain too, certainly,
but Love does not think that very significant.”
Join us as we journey with MUCH AFRAID on her quest to follow the Good Shepherd to the high places where the Kingdom of Love resides. On the way, we, like MUCH AFRAID, will taste the eternal wisdom revealing just how we too may triumph over fear and darkness, that weeping that endures in our darkest nights, to know joy that comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5).
We, too, will begin to taste freedom from those ties that bind when we discover how every challenging circumstance, when seen through the eyes of love, can be transformed. And we, too, just might begin to see ourselves as God sees us.
On this online Day Apart retreat, we’ll blend interactive discussion of the major themes from this beloved allegory with Christian mantra practice, creating the conditions to hear in God’s own contemplative language: silence. We’ll journey into our interior landscapes to discover there twelve stones which just may reveal their secrets to us if we could hear—secrets we need to know to reach the Kingdom of Love. And we, too, like MUCH AFRAID, will be brought into the humble stillness as Love has its way with us, transforming us into Grace and Glory.
Join us.
Who knows? You, too, may just find yourself singing, "It is so happy to love."
Themes from Hinds' Feet on High Places
by Hannah Hurnard
Online Workshop Offered by Rolling Ridge Retreat and Conference Center
Wednesday, May 20th, 2020, 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
Free to the public with optional donation to Rolling Ridge!
“It is so happy to love,” said the Shepherd quietly. “There is pain too, certainly,
but Love does not think that very significant.”
Join us as we journey with MUCH AFRAID on her quest to follow the Good Shepherd to the high places where the Kingdom of Love resides. On the way, we, like MUCH AFRAID, will taste the eternal wisdom revealing just how we too may triumph over fear and darkness, that weeping that endures in our darkest nights, to know joy that comes in the morning (Ps. 30:5).
We, too, will begin to taste freedom from those ties that bind when we discover how every challenging circumstance, when seen through the eyes of love, can be transformed. And we, too, just might begin to see ourselves as God sees us.
On this online Day Apart retreat, we’ll blend interactive discussion of the major themes from this beloved allegory with Christian mantra practice, creating the conditions to hear in God’s own contemplative language: silence. We’ll journey into our interior landscapes to discover there twelve stones which just may reveal their secrets to us if we could hear—secrets we need to know to reach the Kingdom of Love. And we, too, like MUCH AFRAID, will be brought into the humble stillness as Love has its way with us, transforming us into Grace and Glory.
Join us.
Who knows? You, too, may just find yourself singing, "It is so happy to love."
Haden Institute -
Summer Dream & Spirituality Conference
Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt offered two sessions at this year's Summer Conference which was held during the week of May 27, 2018
Mantra Prayer: Doorway to the Sacred
All faith traditions sound the Holy One. In this workshop, based on the book Doorway to the Sacred: Transform Your Life with Mantra Prayer (available on Amazon), participants are invited into the experience of the Holy through key mantra prayer practices from across faith traditions. Specifically, practices long used for cultivating healing, forgiveness, single-pointed courage and living with an open heart are highlighted. In addition, seven key guidelines for creating with mantra are explored and how to create and sustain a spiritual practice using mantra prayer is detailed. Along the way, participants discover that, by creating a joyful noise without, a silent sacred space is created within echoing connection and unity with all. To embody this sacred space, a variety of meditative forms are included such as walking, movement and dance practices and participants are invited to record their personal reflections through journaling and drawing. Come and sound the Holy One and discover the inner sacred echoing across faith traditions.
Living the Prayer of Jesus: An Introduction to the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic
Many of us have long known and recited the Lord’s Prayer. Yet, when studied through the lens of Aramaic, the language of Jesus, new vistas of understanding and experience emerge. Prepare to be surprised, delighted and, perhaps, even challenged. As one nun of over thirty years exclaimed after a recent workshop, “I’ve said this prayer every day for thirty years. And, now, I will never say it the same way again!” On this special journey through this well-known prayer, participants will learn the prayer in Aramaic, inviting the language itself to awaken ever deeper levels of awareness. In addition, for each line of the prayer, simple circle dances are introduced to celebrate the prayer’s hallowed treasures in community. Please bring a journal to record the inner treasures discovered on this sacred journey. This workshop is based on the book, Living the Prayer of Jesus: A Study of the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic (available on Amazon) and participants will have access to a sound recording of the prayer in Aramaic to use for continued practice. Come and re-discover the prayer of Jesus. It will leave you not where you began.
Haden Institute
Asheville, NC
828-693-9292
Summer Dream & Spirituality Conference
Rev. Dr. Stephanie Rutt offered two sessions at this year's Summer Conference which was held during the week of May 27, 2018
Mantra Prayer: Doorway to the Sacred
All faith traditions sound the Holy One. In this workshop, based on the book Doorway to the Sacred: Transform Your Life with Mantra Prayer (available on Amazon), participants are invited into the experience of the Holy through key mantra prayer practices from across faith traditions. Specifically, practices long used for cultivating healing, forgiveness, single-pointed courage and living with an open heart are highlighted. In addition, seven key guidelines for creating with mantra are explored and how to create and sustain a spiritual practice using mantra prayer is detailed. Along the way, participants discover that, by creating a joyful noise without, a silent sacred space is created within echoing connection and unity with all. To embody this sacred space, a variety of meditative forms are included such as walking, movement and dance practices and participants are invited to record their personal reflections through journaling and drawing. Come and sound the Holy One and discover the inner sacred echoing across faith traditions.
Living the Prayer of Jesus: An Introduction to the Lord's Prayer in Aramaic
Many of us have long known and recited the Lord’s Prayer. Yet, when studied through the lens of Aramaic, the language of Jesus, new vistas of understanding and experience emerge. Prepare to be surprised, delighted and, perhaps, even challenged. As one nun of over thirty years exclaimed after a recent workshop, “I’ve said this prayer every day for thirty years. And, now, I will never say it the same way again!” On this special journey through this well-known prayer, participants will learn the prayer in Aramaic, inviting the language itself to awaken ever deeper levels of awareness. In addition, for each line of the prayer, simple circle dances are introduced to celebrate the prayer’s hallowed treasures in community. Please bring a journal to record the inner treasures discovered on this sacred journey. This workshop is based on the book, Living the Prayer of Jesus: A Study of the Lord’s Prayer in Aramaic (available on Amazon) and participants will have access to a sound recording of the prayer in Aramaic to use for continued practice. Come and re-discover the prayer of Jesus. It will leave you not where you began.
Haden Institute
Asheville, NC
828-693-9292