In this issue …
- Corey Keyes on the value of Spiritual Direction for this moment
- A free webinar for prospective students (March 11)
- Using Tarot for Personal Growth and Collective Insight
- Courage for the Work, Change for the Collective: Echoes from Black History Month
- Summer Dream Conference Keynote Previews
- Three pilgrimage opportunities
Spiritual Direction in Days Dark by Design
Let’s speak plainly.
Key Republican operatives Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon talk proudly of the current administration’s deliberate “flood the zone” strategy, wherein we are hit with so much awful news each day that we are completely overwhelmed. Paralyzed. Once dispirited, the radical agenda moves forward in spite of rising opposition.
Let this sink in:
The openly stated goal of the party currently in power in the United States is to drive more than half their own citizens to despair.
This goes way beyond politics. This is spiritual warfare.
Spiritual Direction – It’s How the Light Gets In
Listen.
That’s the trick, isn’t it? To help ourselves and others move beyond the raucous stimulus-response hamster wheel of these fractious, overloaded days.
Stop.
Center.
Breathe.
Abide.
And then help others to do the same.
While the term spiritual direction suggests someone directing another spiritually, that is the opposite of what we do. A Haden-trained spiritual director hosts a container for others to enter. It’s a place for those they work with to uncover the deep wisdom they already carry. It’s a place for discerning directions their spirit longs to travel. A good spiritual director leaves no footprints while companioning another’s long walk of the soul. It is a delicate, beautiful craft that the world needs right now.
Spiritual Direction – It’s How the Light Spreads Out
We do not defend our principles by abandoning them.
The antidote for cynicism is trust. Anger is extinguished by joy. Wanton destructiveness is best countered with unfettered creativity. Cruelty finds no place in expansive beloved company. Yes, it is hard to stick to these practices in the face of targeted violence, slander and derision, but that is precisely when we most need them. It requires a certain faith in ourselves, in humanity, and in all of life. Sometimes it requires great sacrifice. It always requires supportive community. You have that at Haden.
Haden has recently modified its intensive training model to this end. Realizing how troubled our participants often are as they step in from the chaos, we have made our opening sessions as quiet, gentle and beloved-community-affirming as possible.
Stop. Center. Breathe. Abide.
Let’s be open and honest about who we are and what we are doing. The primary difference between virtue signaling and authentically living as beacons of principle is in the doing, the living it out. So, let’s redouble our energies in learning, practicing, teaching and expanding this blessed craft.
Together, dear friends, let’s shine amidst the darkness.
— Corey Keyes
Executive Director, the Haden Institute
Free Webinar: What does spiritual direction have to offer our current moment?
If Corey’s letter and invitation are stirring any sense of curiosity or calling to pursue the spiritual direction training we offer at Haden, there’s still room for you to join one of our virtual or in-person cohorts starting in early April. Learn more and apply here.
Next Wednesday, March 11, at 7 PM (EST), we’re inviting prospective students who want to look more deeply at the value and urgency of this work to a free webinar. Corey will offer some potent reflections about the difference this training and work is making in the world. Register here for that conversation.
Using Tarot for Personal Growth and Collective Insight
Brian Relph, Haden’s resident faculty expert on Tarot, has created an amazing new offering for our community. In our most recent blog post, Brian includes an extended video demonstrating how he has begun to use Tarot as a tool for understanding and responding to the collective. There’s also an interview transcript in this article that covers some of the common questions about Tarot that beginning practioners have.
Are you curious about Tarot but don’t know where to begin? Join Brian Relph at one of his free webinars in March to learn a few basics and see this sacred practice in action. If you’re interested in the upcoming Tarot Apprenticeship, this is a great opportunity to learn more.
Free Tarot Webinars in March
Thursday, March 5th – 7 PM (EST)
Saturday, March 7th – 11PM (EST)
Register for one of the free webinars here.
Do you feel called to the Tarot Apprenticeship training but find it financially out of reach? Brian is offering a limited number of need-based scholarships. Apply for one of those here.
Courage for the Work, Change for the Collective
Echoes from Black History Month
As Black History Month 2026 was drawing to a close, we recognized again that this year’s celebrations were only the beginning of a new year of re-sourcing ourselves through the ongoing potency of Black voices working for healing, systemic change. Here are some remarkable gifts from the deep pools of wisdom and profound inner work in the Black community that could nourish our deepening community at Haden.
Howard Thurman — “The Sound of the Genuine” (1980) This baccalaureate address to Spelman College was one of Thurman’s last public appearances and speaks directly to the inner life and authentic selfhood. Listen here. Read the full text here.
James Baldwin — Cambridge Union Debate (1965) This debate includes some potent analysis of the psychological damage racism inflicts — on both the oppressed and the oppressor — and speaks powerfully to anyone interested in depth psychology. Watch the debate here.
Toni Morrison — Nobel Lecture (1993) Her lecture is a meditation on language, story, and the construction of meaning that touches on archetypal themes with extraordinary grace. Read or listen to a recording of the lecture here.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution” (1968) In Dr. King’s final Sunday sermon, delivered at Washington National Cathedral just four days before his assassination, he deals directly with the expansion of moral consciousness and community. Listen to the sermon here.
Dr. Barbara Holmes — Center for Action and Contemplation Dr. Holmes work on crisis contemplation in Black communities and her weaving together of African American mysticism with cosmology are threaded through the body of her work (including her podcast, The Cosmic We) housed at CAC. This daily meditation on her concept of “crisis contemplation” is a wonderful entry point, if you’re not familiar with her work.
13th by Ava DuVernay — This documentary on race and the criminal justice system explores, in part, how cultural narratives project “shadow” onto Black men — and how that projection has functioned historically and legally. Watch it on Netflix here.
Ruby Sales — “Where Does It Hurt?” on On Being Podcast Civil rights veteran and theologian Ruby Sales names a “spiritual crisis of white America” and proposes a “public theology of love” as the path forward. It’s one of the most profound conversations about the spiritual roots of racism you’ll find anywhere online. Listen, read, and explore related resources here.
James Cone — NPR Fresh Air Interview (2008) Cone, the founder of Black Liberation Theology, discusses his life’s work and the psychological and theological dimensions of racism, including his argument that distorted theological narratives enabled racism, and that reclaiming authentic spiritual identity heals both individuals and communities. Listen to the interview with Terry Gross here.
Jessie Jackson — DNC Addresses (1984 & 1988) As we mourn the loss of Reverand Jackson last month, it feels even more fitting to revisit his historic addresses at the Democratic National Conventions in 1984 and 1988. His calls to inclusion and work to counter the newly instituted Reaganomics that would shift economic and power dynamics so dramatically in our country are potentially even more vital in our current moment. Watch Jackson’s1984 address here, and his1988 speech here.
Lucille Clifton
won’t you celebrate with me
won’t you celebrate with me
what i have shaped into
a kind of life? i had no model.
born in Babylon
both nonwhite and woman
what did i see to be except myself?
i made it up
here on this bridge between
starshine and clay,
my one hand holding tight
my other hand; come celebrate
with me that everyday
something has tried to kill me
and has failed.
Read Robin Ekiss’ remarkable consideration of some of the depths in this poem, including the ways it’s in conversation with the Psalms and Whitman.
Summer Dream Conference Keynote Previews
Facing overwhelm and fear. Choosing compassion and community. Finding our way into the heart of what darkness can gift us.
These are just some of the emerging themes from this summer’s dream and spirituality conference, Cosmic Community, Sacred Hope. As a way of introducing you to some of the work and spirit of this year’s presenters, here is a pair of interviews with Leigh Ann Henion and Gareth Higgins, both keynote speakers this year.
“When people call me brave, in relation to Phenomenal, they’re almost never talking about how I stared down a lion, swam with sharks, or climbed a mountain to witness millions of monarch butterflies in flight. They’re almost always talking about how, in chapter one—before the story starts in earnest—I share some of the raw and difficult postpartum experience that set me on a pilgrimage to wonder.” — Leigh Ann Henion
Interview with Leigh Ann Henion, author of Night Magic and Phenomenal
“What I think we’re being invited to in terms of the process of growing up and evolving and being initiated into being more whole humans is to discern our place in the story that’s going on around us in relationship to terrible things and beautiful things and then to enact our highest gifts onto the world … not just let the world act upon me either through this terrible threat or waiting for something lovely to happen.” — Gareth Higgins
Gareth Higgins interview with Brian McLaren about his book How Not to Be Afraid
Pilgrimage Opportunities
If sacred pilgrimage is calling to you this year, keep these opportunities in mind.
Iona, Scotland (September 25-October 4, 2026)
Reclaiming the Sacred: Pilgrimage in Iona, Scotland
The official Haden Institute pilgrimage for 2026 to Iona is currently full. But you’re encouraged to read more about this trip steeped in Celtic tradition and join the waitlist in case spaces open up for this amazing return to a thin place.
Kenya (October 8-19, 2026)
Legacy & Landscape: Jungian Pilgrimage to Kenya
Journey with hosts Jeanne Schul, PhD and Miriam Smith on a 12-day, all-inclusive pilgrimage through Nairobi, the Great Rift Valley, on authentic safari, and into the ancient cultures along the Swahili coast. Read more about this pilgrimage here and contact Jeanne directly for more information: thresholdjourneys@gmail.com.
Baja, Mexico (November 11-15, 2026)
Journey at the Edge of Desert and Sea: A sea kayak, camping, dreaming, soul listening pilgrimage in Baja, Mexico, led by Haden graduate Karla Woggon.
From Karla: This pilgrimage is a slow journey along Baja’s desert–sea edge, where salt and stone conspire to wake the deeper self. Each day we paddle close to shore, reading tides, wind, and light. Each evening, we gather for dream work, soul reflection, ritual, and shared listening. Nights are spent camping under a vast, star-filled sky. This is not about self‑improvement, but soul awakening. We listen for the soul as it speaks through image, dream, longing, ache, and sudden delight. The wildness of the sea serves as our soul guide.
Read more about this opportunity here. Contact Karla directly for more information or to reserve your spot: soulsauntering@gmail.com.