In this issue … 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 […]
News
Using Tarot for Personal Growth and Collective Insight
How can the Tarot be a helpful tool for our inner work? What are some of the potential dangers of engaging with Tarot carelessly? What can Tarot offer the collective right now? These are some of the questions that the Haden Institute’s faculty Tarot expert, Brian Relph, fielded in a recent interview. In this blog, […]
Spiritual Direction and Dream Work Resources (Jan 2026)
In this issue … Doing New Things In this inaugural issue of what I’m calling (for now) the Haden Resource Guide, we’ve pulled together inspiration and things you can put to work (in big ways or baby-step ways) as you continue the journey. The Haden Institute is deeply rooted (almost 32 years and counting). It’s […]
Healing Our Pathological Adolescence
by Danielle Shroyer, Haden Institute Faculty & Mentor In our Western understanding, teaching information was the proper path to spiritual understanding. Particularly in Christian contexts, we want people to know things: Bible verses, Bible stories, creeds, theological concepts. In a culture drunk on Enlightenment, we put all of our eggs in knowledge’s too-small basket. And […]
Embracing the Divine Within
Soul work, like being born, moves through the dark. Spiritual direction is to hold space and time for the one who is giving birth and for the one who is being born. For thousands of years mystics have discovered and refined practices that develop a relationship to God (or Spirit or Presence) and that deepen this connection within an individual.
Greetings of Gratitude from Megan Lyon, Iona Pilgrimage Leader
Greetings Haden Friends, As Thanksgiving approaches I have a deep awareness of the gratitude I have for the Haden Institute community. To have such compassionate soulful seekers to call friends is one of the greatest riches of my life. We provide rest for each other’s souls, present attention for each other’s stories, and encouragement for […]
Earn Your Doctor of Ministry Degree at the Haden Institute
We are pleased to announce that all current students, as well as those who have graduated within the past three years can now earn a Doctor of Ministry (D.Min) degree in two areas at the Haden Institute through our new partnership with the Graduate Theological Foundation (GTF). The D.Min program is open to both clergy and lay people.
My Haden Journey at Kanuga
By Jeanne Schul Haden Institute’s Spiritual Direction Training Intensives are held at the Kanuga Retreat Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina: What if we were to imagine our journey to Spiritual Direction Training Intensives as a pilgrimage . . . The natural beauty of Kanuga invites us to discover a sense of the sacredness of place. […]
The Rev. Robert L. Haden Jr. (1938 – 2023)
Our beloved founder and teacher, Bob Haden (the Rev. Robert L. Haden Jr.), died April 17, 2023, following an extended illness. He was surrounded by his beloved family; wife, Mary Anne, sons Jimmy, Robert, Will, and many others. Jimmy serves as executive vice president for mission at Kanuga, a place Bob loved so much that he and Mary […]
when we were birds
a poem by Chris Skoczynski Chris is a spring 2022 graduate of the Dream Work program. Shesays, “This poem and many others were included in my final project for the Haden Dream Work Training – an altered book containing all the poems that came to me during the program. The name of my book is: […]
Graduate Spotlight: An Interview with Tallulah Lyons
There was a dreamer in my church group, and she got a diagnosis of end-stage cancer. So we witnessed and companioned her through her end-of-life dreams. The dreams meant so much to her, and I was just blown away by how powerful the whole process was for us all.