Spirituality Resources
We are people of all ages, people of many backgrounds, and people of many beliefs. We are brave, curious and compassionate thinkers and doers. We create spirituality and community beyond boundaries, working for more justice and more love in our own lives and in the world.
Unitarian Universalism affirms and promotes seven Principles, grounded in the humanistic teachings of the world’s religions. Our spirituality is unbounded, drawing from scripture and science, nature and philosophy, personal experience and ancient tradition as described in our six Sources.
Caroline W. Casey is the host-creator, weaver of context for “The Visionary Activist Show” on Pacifica Radio Network Pacifica station KPFA (94.1) in Northern California , replayed on L.A.s KPFK (and can be heard live on the web: www.KPFA.org at 2pm PT on Thursdays, and by pod-cast subscription.)
The Show is dedicated to: anything we need to know to have a democracy; critique and solution; and the acknowledgement that we humans cannot solve the innumerable rude crises we’ve imposed on our planetary kin – by ourselves. It’s “by ourselves” that got us into this pickle. Let a willingness to cooperate with everything emerge from the smoldering ruins of dominance. Hence Democratic Animism. Her guests are leading contributors to a culture of reverent ingenuity, all teased into pertinence, and has been called “one of the best radio shows in America.”
Rabbi Lerner began his search for meaning in life at a young age and found a mentor and guide in Abraham Joshua Heschel, meeting him at the age of 12 and studying with him for over decades. Cornel West, professor of African American Studies at Harvard U. and author of Race Matters wrote: “Lerner is one of the most significant prophetic public intellectuals and spiritual leaders of our generation. Secular intellectuals and those who yearn for a major change in the direction of American society can learn a lot from reading his books.”
The World Pantheist Movement’s basic orienting beliefs (known as Scientific Pantheism) are set out in the WPM belief statement.
The central viewpoint is that the Universe and Nature should be regarded with the deepest reverence and wonder, and Nature should be treated with the deepest love and respect and care.
Similar views are shared by many people who use other terms, such as religious humanist, religious naturalist, religious atheist, and many other combinations. The WPM is a natural home for those who have this same orientation, whatever terms they use to call themselves.
Nature worship is any variety of religious, spiritual, and devotional practices that focus on the worship of the nature spirits considered to be behind the natural phenomena visible throughout nature. Nature worship is often considered the primitive source of modern religious beliefs and can be found in theism, panentheism, pantheism, deism, polytheism, animism, Totemism, shamanism, paganism, and sarnaism.
The Pagan Federation has been in continous existence since 1971 and has published its journal Pagan Dawn, and its previous incarnation as The Wiccan, since 1969. Over this time it has grown to have a readership of more than 5.000 quarterly. These facts make the Pagan Federation one of the largest and oldest organisations of its type in Europe.
The Center for Spirituality in Nature provides opportunities for deepening spirituality through nature and for nurturing loving relationships with the Earth. Through spiritual re-awakening, re-grounding and re-orientation, we mindfully participate in the healing of the Earth community of which we are called to be a loving part.
Sparrow Hart, founder of Circles of Air and Stone, began his deep exploration of nature and wilderness in 1971 with a 5-month solo pilgrimage through the Cascades and Canadian Rockies — and undertook his first vision quest in 1980. Over the last 30+ years he has studied with a variety of native and non-native “medicine teachers” in the United States and Mexico, and taught and practiced both modern and indigenous approaches to healing.
Psychotherapy and shamanic healing are wonderful ways to help people live lives of authenticity, meaning and joy in a modern world that can make this challenging. Because each one of us is a beautiful and complex collection of thoughts, emotions, beliefs, memories, actions, relationships, a body, and a soulful/spiritual self, I work holistically with each individual and incorporate a range of therapeutic techniques. These techniques encompass both highly researched, evidence-based practices, as well as more creative, intuitive, and spiritual practices, including:
The Center for Earth Ethics envisions a world where value is measured according to the sustained well-being of all people and our planet.
We work to cultivate the public consciousness needed to make changes in policy and culture that will establish a new value system that is based on this vision of the world.
Spiritual Naturalism (also called religious naturalism) is a worldview, value system, and personal life practice. The term appeared by at least 1895, but as a concept it has been around for thousands of years. A religion to some, philosophy to others, Spiritual Naturalism sees the universe as one natural and sacred whole – as is the rationality and the science through which nature is revealed. It advocates principles and practices that have compassion as their foundation, and it finds wisdom and inspiration in innumerable rich traditions and ethical philosophies from around the world.
The magic and beauty of the natural world is all around us no matter where we call home. So often, we feel we need to travel to remote wilderness areas or visit sacred places in other countries in order to find and nurture our own deep connection to nature and the world of spirit. While being deeply immersed in wilderness areas or exploring new lands can definitely be inspiring and life changing, I have developed Nature-based Spiritual Arts for the expressed purpose of enlivening, discovering, and nurturing our sacred connection with the wildly amazing earth, plants, animals, landscapes, seasons, and spirits that we live with each day.