Click here to send me a text message ... With every new war and with every new natural catastrophe, we are being driven to consider new ways of being human on this planet. This search is not new, but perhaps it's never been so critical. Celtic spiritual teacher John Philip Newell has collected nine prophetic voices in his latest book, The Great Sea…

Click here to send me a text message ... How many of us emerged from the last US presidential shaking our heads and saying,"There's gotta be a better way." There is, and there has always been. The Way of Council is the time-honoured method of gathering soulfully that doesn't leave the heart at the door. Psychotherapist and soul guide Peter Scanlan …

Click here to send me a text message ... Does religion have a role in "The Great Turning," where humanity is rediscovering what it means to be creatures of the earth? Or are its own wounds and divisions too deep to allow it to see beyond its protective walls? Sarah Arthurs is both an earth activist and a religious peacemaker. Her answer, depending …

Click here to send me a text message ... The Indigenous culture that European colonizers encountered here in the New World, and then so brutally suppressed, is the very repository of wisdom we now need. Elizabeth Buller Page knows this personally. Deep into a midlife descent, Liz turned to her family's Indigenous roots to discover not only the heal…

Click here to send me a text message ... Out here, on the far side of conventional religion, no path is more compelling than the one that leads us to know our natural place within the larger earth community. And there may be no better modern guide than Bill Plotkin, the author of four books on the subject and the founder of the Animas Valley Instit…

Click here to send me a text message ... We dwell within a realm of spacious possibility; and it dwells within us. The mystic experiences this firsthand. So does any seeker alert to the subtle movements of the heart. Cynthia Bourgeault knows the territory well. She's lived it, and she's written about it. But, being human, she's also continuing to l…

Click here to send me a text message ... Soul has only one agenda--that we live into who we really are and offer our unique gifts in service to the world. Soul is less concerned about the obstacles that that may plant in our path. So, for rugged mountain guide Bruce Howatt, the call to finally show up in the world--as Julianna--must have felt like …

Click here to send me a text message ... Intuition is our portal to knowing everything. What our rational mind doesn't know, and can't know, is available to us through those flashes of insight that solve problems, give us direction, and suggest meaning and purpose for our lives. Kim Chestney, author of The Illumination Code: 7 Keys to Unlock Your Q…

Click here to send me a text message ... By the time an author scores a major publishing deal they are usually beyond the reach of mere mortals. So, when it happens to a friend, there is a unique sense of privilege watching the process unfold from the inside. Such is the case with Jessica Waite, whose memoir, "The Widow's Guide to Dead Bastards" is…

Click here to send me a text message ... So many writers hide their light under a bushel, thinking they don't deserve the term "writer." But writing groups can put the lie to that fear, coaxing us and our words out from hiding. The UnderStory Collective is the writing group I belong to. I invited them to the Cave to share the reassuring and embolde…

Click here to send me a text message ... You can hear it in her voice. This is a woman who knows herself and her place in the universe. But fortunately for us, she believes that that place is to help others find their voice too. "Writing by Heart" is Meredith Heller's invitation to find the inner path to yourself ... through poetry. It's a book. Bu…

Click here to send me a text message ... Psychedelics can show us what's beyond our ordinary consciousness. Meditation can help us to live day by day from that place. But in the end all practices fall short: the spiritual journey requires a letting go, not a holding on. Zen teacher Ryushin uses words only to point beyond those words ... to the actu…

Click here to send me a text message ... The Ordinary Reality we experience every day may not be the only reality there is. It may not even be the real one. Non-Ordinary Reality is a fantastical cosmos populated by Spirit Beings—plants, animals, and people—who are devoted to our health and wholeness. It's the job of shamans like Wade Prpich to trav…

Click here to send me a text message ... It's like we're walking around blindfolded. We feel we are alone in the universe while spirit guides hover close by, waiting for us to acknowledge them. We feel it all comes down to our wills and to our efforts while energy pours into our hearts from a cosmic Source. Reiki Master Jan Thompson knows those spi…

Click here to send me a text message ... There's something encoded in our souls that seeks hope even in the face of hopelessness. That spark, that gene, that impossible dream is what allows us to discover new stories to replace the old ones and to usher in the new world we seek. Activist, storyteller, and writer Gareth Higgins, in his book, How Not…

Click here to send me a text message ... Teresa Hanlon was doing ministry within her church long before she was ordained. But when she became a priest, her Church excommunicated her and inhibited her from doing the work she loved. Providentially, for her and the other women priests ordained within the Catholic tradition (if not in the Roman Catholi…

Click here to send me a text message ... Everything we do reflects Soul. Because Soul is about what's inside. How we dress is one way we let our inner self out, to be seen. Barry Foster, known by some as "the best dressed man in church land," knows that our sartorial choices are so much more than fashion statements. They are about who we are. Resou…

Click here to send me a text message ... Here's a song I wrote a few years ago that has become special to me. I often use it to close my performances of music and storytelling. This version is just a demo, meaning the song is still in development. But I wanted to share it with you as is, as a small gift at New Years. Enjoy! Song Credit: Music and l…

Click here to send me a text message ... Set in 1995, when people still smoked and few had cell phones, this retelling of the Christmas story imagines a young couple overwhelmed by circumstances larger than themselves and by a dark and inhospitable world seemingly incapable of welcoming their newborn. Until the city utility truck arrives, and then …

Click here to send me a text message ... After days, weeks, even years of preparation, each Vision Quester headed off for a three-day solo fast on a mountainside in Southwestern Colorado. Every experience was unique. But everyone had an experience, a Soul Encounter, that awakened us to our place in the Universe. Here, Vincenzo Falone and I tell our…

Click here to send me a text message ... Eleven days camping on a Colorado mountainside, three of those days a solo fast, seeking an encounter with Nature that might grant us a vision of our mythopoetic identities, our unique place in the Universe: it would have been an ambitious undertaking for someone half our age. But somehow Vincenzo Falone, fr…

Click here to send me a text message ... A few gurus and spiritual leaders have given all the others a bad name. But yoga and meditation instructor Vickie MacArthur has a story to tell about Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Zen Master, whose gaze was all it took to change her life, filling her with divine love. It's a story we may need to hear. Vick…

Click here to send me a text message ... We might deny it, but we're all creative. We might not make a painting, but we might make a garden or a business or a home. Visual artist Jan Handy speaks with me about the challenges and the joys of following our Muse. It's everyone's calling. Resources Jan's email address: jajhandy@gmail.com Books mentione…

Click here to send me a text message ... Is our spirituality shaped by our sexuality? Or are we shaped more by the social constructs of that sexuality? Counselling psychologist and professor emeritus Kevin Alderson has spent his career specializing in LGBTQ+ issues and helping people to accept themselves, whatever their sexuality. Only when we love…

Click here to send me a text message ... What if our place in the Universe isn't a job, or a role, or anything the world might recognize as useful? What if it's more subtle and more fundamental than how the world sees us? What would that look like? And how would we even know if we'd found it? Celia McBride's memoir, O My God: An Un-becoming Journey…

Click here to send me a text message ... Jesus told a parable about a wealthy man who increased his holdings and expanded his storage facilities for all his goods, until the day came when he was informed that his soul was required of him. Would that he had cared for his soul before it was taken away. James Hollis has been counselling, writing, and …

Click here to send me a text message ... Prophets don't call themselves prophets. They speak their words or write their books until people start to notice. Then they may open a wisdom school or create magical live events or succumb to interviews with podcasters. All this describes Stephen Jenkinson. When he writes, or speaks, or performs, you feel …

Click here to send me a text message ... Out here on the far side of conventional religion it is important that the seeker find a few guideposts. Otherwise the open landscape can feel overwhelming. Thomas Moore has been a seeker's lodestar for over thirty years, ever since he reintroduced us to the language of “Soul” in his best-selling book, “Care…

Click here to send me a text message ... Darold Black loves people and he loves pictures. So it's no surprise that our conversation about wisdom turned into personal stories about life. Wisdom doesn't come to us as lofty ideas. It comes to us as images from the heart. Darold is working on a documentary series called "E5," an attempt to capture the …

Click here to send me a text message ... Some would prefer to say spiritual "companionship" rather than "direction," and that would probably be more accurate. Because it's not about directing anyone anywhere, except, that is, to pay attention to the subtle movements within your own heart and soul. And that's what spiritual directors do. My guest on…

Click here to send me a text message ... Words fail us when we try to speak of the mysteries of life and death and the other soulful experiences of our lives. Except, that is, for the words of poets. In the modern age we turn to poetry as if to holy scripture, searching for the images and metaphors that help us express our deepest fears and our hig…

Click here to send me a text message ... Many men, having inherited the cultural expectations of former generations, feel they are being shamed in the modern age. Traditional male traits, such as protectiveness, leadership, and strength, are now denigrated for their toxic potential rather than celebrated for their social value. It's a difficult tim…

Click here to send me a text message ... If we're searching for a connection with our souls, we needn’t look any further than our voice. Quite apart from the words we use and the intentions behind those words, our voice reveals the state of things within. Are we anxious, are we confident, are we restful? The voice knows. Consequently, so does the w…

Click here to send me a text message ... Some say before we could sing, we drummed. Whether or not that's accurate, drumming is one of our most primitive forms of communication. Perhaps, it once helped us to "talk" across great distances. Perhaps, it brought us together to unify and strengthen the community. Perhaps, it was just ... fun. Julien Lep…

Click here to send me a text message ... Yoga is not just about poses and posers. It's about a soulful engagement with our own lives that includes both our bodies and our dreams. It's about the rediscovery of the connection we have lost with the Earth, and about the purpose that the Earth itself is dreaming for us. Rebecca Wildbear is a soul guide,…

Click here to send me a text message ... "You can be so heavenly minded," the saying goes, "that you're of no earthly use." Ouch for all us lofty-headed idealists! But bringing together heavenly ideals and earthly resources--now that's useful! And that's what Howard Fischer is doing with Gratitude Railroad, his impact investment firm he started wit…

Click here to send me a text message ... Many of us fear aging. We suppose that the long slow slide on the other side of the hill is a negation of the one life we've been given to live. But what if it's the opposite? What if aging is our crowning glory, all that experience finally adding up to something: meaning, depth, and even wisdom? Judy Steier…

Click here to send me a text message ... What if the Earth is beyond saving? What if only the abandonment of hope will deliver us to the new world we seek? What if eco-grief is the portal we need to rediscover our role in the natural world, and in its healing? Jodi Lammiman is an eco-awareness counsellor and spiritual guide who connects our fears a…

Click here to send me a text message ... Bob had decided to lock Christmas out this year. Given the events of the past year who could blame him? But Christmas had other ideas and snuck in the back door instead, leaving the door ajar. As it must be, if we're to let the Christ Child in. Music Credits (under license by SOCAN 2022) "O Holy Night," from…

Click here to send me a text message ... It was indeed intense, but I was learning the ways of Soul and shedding the fears that prevented me from knowing and living out, fully, my purpose on the earth. As we camped in the woods and wandered and drummed and danced and dreamed, I knew something important was happening. I was becoming ... myself. Natu…

Click here to send me a text message ... Morning coffee with one's spouse? Listening to other people's stories? Reading whatever you want? This is spiritual practice? If you've been on the spiritual path all your life, then, yes. Because in the end spiritual practice is whatever works, not whatever others have told you to do. My conversation with r…

Click here to send me a text message ... Some forms of prayer seem to assume that we must capture the attention of a far-off God, like lassoing a star. Contemplation assumes God's already here, deep within, and not just within us, but within all created beings. Liz Rees, a contemplative teacher and guide, talks to me about how contemplative practic…

Click here to send me a text message ... When it comes to change in our lives, our rational minds can carry us only so far. Our bodies take us further. But rituals connect body and mind to Soul, creating transformative experiences that help us move through life's most significant passages. Sarah Kerr, death doula and ritual healing practitioner, sp…

Click here to send me a text message ... Don't we all want to belong? Don't we miss it, and yearn for it, when we don't? Out here, on the other side of church land, belonging to a community is what seekers miss most about their religious pasts. But not all community is good community, and not every community lasts. In this conversation with Janet H…

Click here to send me a text message ... Out here, on the other side of church land, how do we give voice to the deepest longings of our hearts? Might poetry help us? Reading poems, might they become our sacred texts; writing them, our personal prayers? Poet Richard Osler believes that poetry delivers us to the deep and holy places of our own souls…

Click here to send me a text message ... With this episode we launch a new season of The Mystic Cave, with a look at Thomas Moore's 2014 book, "A Religion of One's Own"--for seekers who don't want to give up religious practice just because they've given up religion! In fact, Moore would say, we cannot escape religion, even in the secular world, bec…

Click here to send me a text message ... As David prepares to leave for home, he knows there is no going back. There is only going on, to wherever life is leading him next. But now, he looks forward to that mystery unfolding before him. He's faced it already, and he's found, in the process, his own soul. Making Contact: Face Book: “The Mystic Cave”…

Click here to send me a text message ... David is breathing easier now. His days on the Coast are coming to a close and soon he will be heading home, and whatever that will mean. But first, he must face the one challenge that has eluded him. He is drawn one more time to the rugged shoreline. Making Contact: Face Book: “The Mystic Cave” Face Book gr…

Click here to send me a text message ... Forgiveness is one thing, but penance is something else altogether. David faces the consequences of his actions, but that means facing his own humanity, which is perhaps what lies at the bottom of our deepest descent. Making Contact: Face Book: “The Mystic Cave” Face Book group Web site: https://www.brianepe…

Click here to send me a text message ... David, desperate to regain some measure of control over his life, makes one last attempt to train his mind on his ministry. But it's futile. The darker forces of Soul will not be repressed by the lofty ways of Spirit. Inevitably, all hell will break loose. Making Contact: Face Book: “The Mystic Cave” Face Bo…