Spiritual Direction and Dream Work Resources (Jan 2026)

• A guilt-free resource for (re)engaging your spiritual practices
• Danielle Shroyer on “Healing our Pathological Adolescence”
• Exploring the Archetype: Janus/doors/new beginnings/endings
• Corey Keyes writes about creative depthplay
• Upcoming Haden events and opportunities:
  • (Feb 1) Deadline for summer dream conference workshop proposals
  • (Feb 11) Haden Virtual Social Hour
  • (Feb 19) Free Webinar Series … “Poetry and Personal Revelation: How poetry guides and awakens us” featuring Haden Poet-in-Residence, Mary Ellen Lough
  • (March) Brian Relph’s year-long Tarot Practitioner Apprenticeship program begins

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 evolving (wait till you hear what’s happening in the dream work program). And we’re rising to meet out moment, together.

I’m glad you’re here. Send me questions, feedback, or things you’d like to see in this space each month: communications@hadeninstitute.com.

~Michael Dechane, for the Haden Institute

Speaking of Danielle Shroyer, she’s also written the latest blog post for the Haden community. She offers some insight about where the collective is stuck right now and explores some potent ideas about ways we can respond. Read the article here.

The large image of the double-faced figure at the top of this post is a rendering of Janus, the ancient Roman god of beginnings, endings, transitions, doorways, and time. Janus is the namesake of January, of course … but also of janitors. Read more about that and why doorways and gates were so important to the Romans in this article (and don’t skip the video at the top!). Oh, and if you want to see a remarkable film about a janitor that deeply embodies this archetypal energy, go watch Perfect Days (2023).

Here’s another way to look for resonances with this powerful archetype—an offering of poems that step through doorways they’ve created from the imaginal matter.

The silence clanging
This side the threshold …

— from “Entering Doorways” by Daniel Hoffman

… this isn’t
a contest but a doorway
into thanks …

— from “Praying” by Mary Oliver

Maybe there is more of the magical
in the idea of a door than in the door
itself. It’s always a matter of going …

— from “Doors opening, closing on us” by Marge Piercy

My whole life
I’ve been opening inner doors,
always surprised to find
another, always surprised
how big the worlds are
in a space the size of me.

— from “Ode to Opening a Door” by Rosemerry Trommer

Corey Keyes, executive director at the Haden Institute, regularly offers potent reflections on culture, art, soul-work, and all the real stuff at the heart of the Haden community. In a more direct response to what we’re all enveloped in right now, Corey writes this month:

“Don’t ignore these aching, half-formed longings. All the half-hearted hobbies, red sports cars and destructive flirtations you can throw at them won’t help, either. The sooner in the second half of life we turn to the work of the Self, the more energy and resources we can marshal to become who we truly are.”

Read more on Corey’s Substack now.

Here’s a quick rundown of things on the near horizon we don’t want you to miss.

Workshop Proposals for Summer Dream Conference
Will you be attending this year’s Summer Dream and Spirituality Conference (May 27 – June 1)? Would you like to offer a workshop? We’d love to see your proposal. The deadline to submit those has been extended to February 1, 2026. Here’s the form you’ll need to complete to submit your proposal.

Our Next Haden Social Hour
This is a new offering for graduates and current students in our certification programs. This is a space to (re)connect, share ideas about what’s resourcing you right now, and let some of those Haden friendships deepen. We’ll meet through Zoom at 7 PM (EST) on Wednesday, February 11. Register for this virtual event here.

Poetry and Personal Revelation: How Poetry Guides and Awakens Us (Free Webinar)
We’re delighted to say that Mary Ellen Lough, Haden’s Poet-in-Residence, will be leading the next installment of our free webinar series. Here’s a tiny preview of what she has in store for us:

Adrienne Rich called poetry “the arts of the possible.” When dominant language creates the categories with which to think, poetry reconnects us to a deeper well of revelation through inner dialogue. In this webinar, we will read a few select poems together in a contemplative spirit, and you will have the chance to respond in writing or conversation. Allowing poetry to guide our dialogue takes us out of our normal modes of thinking and into a much more spacious and restorative conversation. 

Tarot Practitioner Apprenticeship
Haden faculty member Brian Relph will be leading a year-long apprenticeship for those interested in exploring ways to use tarot in their lives and work as spiritual directors, therapists, healers, and dreamworkers. In this training, you’ll join an intimate cohort of fellow seekers and practitioners for a transformative path of personal growth, intuitive awakening, and practical skill-building. In this immersive process, you’ll cultivate a living relationship with the Tarot, deepen your connection to the Divine, and learn how to hold sacred space for others with clarity, compassion, and integrity.

My favorite film, all-time, across any genre, hands-down, is the documentary Rivers and Tides. The film is about Scottish sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, who works exclusively in found, natural material (stone, ice, leaves, etc.).

The film is one part exploration of how he makes his works; one part interview and teasing out why he makes his works; one part showcasing his finished works. It’s a remarkable, timeless film that always makes me want to make something (and the score is wildly good).

Goldsworthy travels around the world, creating new art and commissioned installations. In one of the opening scenes, he’s traveled to Nova Scotia, a place he’s never been (“I’m a stranger here.”) for a new commission and, as is his practice, he sets to work as soon as possible. “I’ve shook hands with the place, and begun,” he says.

That’s some of the feeling I’m carrying into (and now beyond) this new month of our New Year. The turning of the calendar makes me somehow feel a stranger here, even in my own dining room. And all my winter quieting, all my intentions for intentionality and a slowness in my goings and doings — none of that has held the work to do back. The needs of the day come barking before I’m out of my dreams, much less out of my bed.

Still, I’m not rushing, not wishing away this liminal bit of life where the possibilities for renewal and what’s next are surfacing; where the window remains open for the backward gaze and what still needs to been seen, heard, learned, carried forward. Here’s to the thresholds, the doorways, and the ever-present new beginnings.

~Michael