Our Mission
We are a center for experiential education, rooted in the Gospels, encouraging the transformation of human consciousness through contemplation, and equipping people to be instruments of peaceful change in the world.
Nature and the Human Soul
Speakers: Bill Plotkin, PhD & Richard Rohr, OFM
Location: Santa Ana Pueblo, New Mexico
Date: January 19 - 22, 2012
Conference Evaluation| Presenters| Suggested Resources| Music| Acknowledgements
Overview
The process of becoming fully human – developing as nature and soul would have it – entails a radical shift in worldview and values.
Bill Plotkin, PhD
Nearly everyone senses the richness and mystery of the soul and longs to bring this depth more fully into their lives—and their lives more fully into that depth. But few know how to begin or to quicken this process. In this conference, psychologist and wilderness guide Bill Plotkin, PhD and Franciscan Fr. Richard Rohr examined ways of going deeper, and offered an engaging map to the paths and pitfalls of the lifelong journey to wholeness and maturity.
Conference Highlights
- Approximately 950 people attended
- 45 U.S. states were represented, along with attendees from Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Ireland, Singapore, and Austria.
What Attendees Said About This Event:
"The Nature and the Human Soul Conference was a true gift!"
"Felt a wonderful sense of communion with nature and want more of this practice."
"Nice combination of presentations, group sharings, walks and solitude."
"Enjoyed the conference tremendously."
Conference Evaluation
Thank you for sharing your feedback with us on this brief survey.
Presenters
Bill Plotkin, Ph.D. is a depth psychologist, wilderness guide, and agent of cultural transformation. As founder of western Colorado’s Animas Valley Institute in 1981, he has guided thousands of women and men through nature-based initiatory passages, including a contemporary, Western adaptation of the pan-cultural vision quest. Previously, he has been a research psychologist (studying non-ordinary states of consciousness), professor of psychology, psychotherapist, rock musician, and whitewater river guide. In 1979, on a solo winter ascent of an Adirondack peak, Bill experienced a “call to adventure,” leading him to abandon academia in search of his true calling. Bill is the author of Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche (an experiential guidebook) and Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World (a nature-based stage model of human development through the entire lifespan). His doctorate is in psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. To read more on Bill Plotkin, please visit www.animas.org.
Richard Rohr, OFM, internationally known author and spiritual teacher, is a Franciscan of the New Mexico province and founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation. He considers the proclamation of the Gospel to be his primary call and the related themes he addresses include eco-spirituality, the integration of action and contemplation, peace and justice issues, male spirituality, and the Enneagram. He is a regular contributing writer for Sojourners and Tikkun magazines. Some of his best known books include: Everything Belongs; Radical Grace: Daily Meditations; Adam’s Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation; The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective; From Wild Men to Wise Men: Reflections on Male Spirituality; and On The Threshold Of Transformation: Daily Meditations for Men. His most recent books include Wondrous Encounters: Scripture for Lent, and Falling Upward: A Spirituality for the Two Halves of Life, both of which are available now. Fr. Richard has also been a featured essayist on NPR’s “This I Believe” and a guest of Dr. Mehmet Oz on the “Oprah and Friends” radio show; he also appears in the 2006 documentary, ONE, featuring spiritual teachers from around the world. Visit the Mustard Seed Resource Center for all Fr. Richard's works.
Music
Music for the conference provided by Michelle Grubert, Gerry Aylward, and Joel Blunk. Contact Michelle Grubert: michellegrubert@gmail.com.
Mirror My Soul by Michelle Grubert
One Small Drop by Michelle Grubert
War is Over by Joel Blunk
Music and Poetry provided by Bill Plotkin
Suggested Resources
From Fr. Richard Rohr:
- Christ Cosmology & Consciousness:
A Reframing of How We See (CD/DVD) - Soul Centering Through Nature:
Becoming a True Human Adult (CD/DVD) - The Soul, the Natural World, and What Is (CD/DVD)
- A New Cosmology: Nature as the first Bible (CD/MP3)
- The Cosmic Christ (CD/MP3)
Richard Rohr recommends the following books:
- ANYTHING by Teilhard de Chardin, John Muir, Wendell Berry, Annie Dillard, Fr. Thomas Berry, Joanna Macy, Belden Lane, Brian Swimme, or Gary Snyder!
- The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram
A masterpiece that can change your life!
- Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
“Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder”
- Radical Amazement by Judy Cannato
“Contemplative Lessons from Black Holes, Supernovas, and other wonders of the universe”
- The Body of God: An Ecological Theology by Sallie McFague
Heavy but solid and groundbreaking for most Christians and sincere seekers.
- The Emergent Christ or Christ in Evolution by Ilia Delio
Sr. Ilia joined us here last year, and brilliantly combines good cosmology with the best of Catholic/Christian theology.
- The Solace of Fierce Landscapes by Belden Lane
Brilliant and Belden will here with us!
- The Wisdom of Wilderness by Gerald May
The last book this personal friend wrote, so readable, insightful, and lovely!
- Renewal in the Wilderness: A Spiritual Guide to Connecting with God in the Natural World by John Lionberger
Very good, practical and spiritual at the same time, and he is attending this conference!
- St.Francis of Assisi and Nature by Roger Sorrell
Scholarly but very readable.
- A Time to Plant: Life Lessons in Work, Prayer, and Dirt by Kyle Kramer
A warm, real, and readable book!
- Awake in the Wild: Mindfulness in Nature as a Path of Self-Discovery by Mark Coleman.
Does just what it says!
- Embodied Spirituality in a Sacred World by Michael Washburn
Psychological, philosophical, and theological all at the same time.
Both of these books are by Bill Plotkin:
- Soulcraft: Crossing into the Mysteries of Nature and Psyche (an experiential guidebook) By Bill Plotkin and Thomas Berry
- Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World (a nature-based stage model of human development through the entire lifespan) By Bill Plotkin
www.natureandthehumansoul.com
Below are handouts for the conference:
Stages and Tasks of Soulcentric Development
The Soulcentric Wheel of Eight Stages
The Egocentric Wheel of Eight Stages
Journaling Ideas
- Where are you in your life right now─psychologically, socially, spiritually?
- How would you describe the developmental stage you’re in, in your own terms?
- What are the challenges of your stage? Joys? Tasks?
- What is calling you─even if you’re ignoring it?
- Where are the conflicts inherent to your stage?
- What archetype would you name as most powerful in your life right now?
- What values do you hold most deeply at this stage of your life?
- What (if anything) is ending in your life? Beginning?
- What is your deepest longing?
Acknowledgements
The Center for Action and Contemplation offers our sincere gratitude to all the staff members, volunteers, presenters, musicians and attendees from all of the world who made this conference possible! Special thanks to the Hyatt Tamaya staff and these generous donors for the gift bags:
J. Knipper and Company
Carmelites: Society of the Little Flower
Hyatt Tamaya
