Dear Friends of Earth & Soul, 

July greetings to each of you. I invite you to pause for a moment, place your hand on your heart, and take a few slow deep breaths. May you know the light within you. You are a blessing in this world.

In his forthcoming book, The Great Search, John Philip Newell writes, “The light of the divine can be looked for everywhere, in every moment, and deep within every encounter and relationship of life.” Now, perhaps more than ever, we are being invited to look for this light everywhere. Our communities, nations and world can begin to heal when we look to the light within one another, when we love the light that is in Earth, and when we honor the light within our own being.

The Great Search is available for pre-order and releases on August 20 in the US (HarperOne) and mid-August in the UK (Wild Goose). We invite you to join the book launch celebration at Montreat Conference and Retreat Center on October 24 in person or via Zoom. The celebration will include wine, music, and song as well as readings from the book by John Philip and the opportunity to have your own copy signed. Please join us for this exciting moment of celebrating a profound vision for the way forward today in our relationship with Earth, with one another and our own true depths.

There are several things happening this October and we would love to have you join us. Two retreats in the Celtic Wisdom series are being offered. Celtic Wisdom 1 at Bon Secours in Baltimore, MD and Celtic Wisdom 3 in Montreat, NC. The Great Search series begins at Roslyn Retreat Center in Richmond, VA. In addition to these retreats a day retreat will be held in Brevard, NC and an evening talk in Black Mountain, NC. All details and a full list of events can be found below. Our complete list of 2024 retreats, pilgrimages and events are listed on our Events Page. Please note we are always updating the events page so check back often.

We are grateful for each of you in the Earth & Soul community as we share together in teaching and spiritual practice and listen both as individuals and collectively to how we are being called to compassionate action.

Let us pray together for our world, communities, families and for those who are working to bring healing in places of great conflict. We are one Earth community. May we live and act in this way that all may know peace. 

You are above us, O God,

you are within.

You are in all things

yet contained by no thing.

Teach us to seek you in all that has life

that we may see you as the Light of life.

Teach us to search for you in our own depths

that we may find you in every living soul.

-from Sounds of the Eternal, a Celtic Psalter

Blessings to you.



Peace,

Cami Twilling 

Director of Earth & Soul

July 12-14

Hartford International University, Hartford, CT

The third of a three-part series of annual retreats (Sacred Earth Sacred Soul) led by the Celtic teacher John Philip Newell and his colleague Cami Twilling in which we explore the sacredness of the imagination, the sacredness of compassion, and the sacredness of reshaping the world. This retreat is part of Earth & Soul’s Celtic initiative of study and spiritual practice with the aim of further enabling compassionate action in our lives and world. It can be taken as a stand-alone retreat or in conjunction with Celtic Wisdom 1 and Celtic Wisdom 2 which can be attended in any order and at any of our retreat centers across the country.

July 19-21

Genesis Spiritual Center, Westfield, MA

This weekend retreat will be based on the major themes of John Philip Newell’s award winning book, Sacred Earth Sacred Soul. Teaching will be offered by John Philip Newell and spiritual practice will be led by his colleague, Cami Twilling.

October 11-13

Bon Secours, Baltimore, MD

The first of a three-part series of annual retreats (Sacred Earth Sacred Soul) led by the Celtic teacher John Philip Newell and his colleague Cami Twilling in which we explore the sacredness of every human being, the sacredness of the feminine, and the sacredness of Earth. This retreat is part of Earth & Soul’s Celtic initiative of study and spiritual practice with the aim of further enabling compassionate action in our lives and world. It can be taken as a stand-alone retreat or in conjunction with Celtic Wisdom 2 and Celtic Wisdom 3 which can be attended in any order and at any of our retreat centers across the country.

October 15-17

Roslyn Retreat Center, Richmond, VA

The first of a three-part series of annual retreats (The Quest for Healing and Home) led by the Celtic teacher John Philip Newell and his colleague Cami Twilling in which we explore the search for expanded vision, the search for intimacy with Earth, and the search for spiritual presence. This retreat is part of Earth & Soul’s initiative of study and spiritual practice with the aim of further enabling compassionate action in our lives and world. It can be taken as a stand-alone retreat or in conjunction with The Great Search 2 and The Great Search 3 which can be attended in any order and at any of our other retreat centers across the country.

October 19

Brevard College, Brevard, NC

Join John Philip Newell and Cami Twilling for a one-day retreat at Brevard College (35 miles south of Asheville), hosted by the Center for Spiritual Wisdom. This retreat will focus on themes from John Philip Newell’s forthcoming book The Great Search: Turning to Earth and Soul in the Quest for Healing and Home.

October 20

St. James Episcopal Church, Black Mountain, NC

Celtic Spirituality: Why It Matters Now, in which the internationally renowned spiritual teacher John Philip Newell presents on Celtic Wisdom for this moment in time in relation to Earth and the human soul. Newell calls us to be aware of the sacredness of Earth and every human being as key to the way of transformation and healing in our lives and world today.

October 23-25

Montreat Conference and Retreat Center, Montreat, NC

The third of a three-part series of annual retreats (Sacred Earth Sacred Soul) led by the Celtic teacher John Philip Newell and his colleague Cami Twilling in which we explore the sacredness of the imagination, the sacredness of compassion, and the sacredness of reshaping the world. This retreat is part of Earth & Soul’s Celtic initiative of study and spiritual practice with the aim of further enabling compassionate action in our lives and world. It can be taken as a stand-alone retreat or in conjunction with Celtic Wisdom 1 and Celtic Wisdom 2 which can be attended in any order and at any of our retreat centers across the country.

October 24

Montreat Conference and Retreat Center, Montreat, NC

Montreat is honored to announce that John Philip Newell's new book, The Great Search: Turning to Earth and Soul in the Quest for Healing and Home, will be officially launched at Montreat on Thursday evening October 24th 2024 (both livestreamed and in person). The celebration will include wine, music, and song as well as readings from the book by John Philip and the opportunity to have your own copy signed. Please join us for this exciting moment of celebrating a profound vision for the way forward today in our relationship with Earth, with one another and our own true depths.