Earth & Soul Annual Retreats

In 2016 John Philip Newell began the Earth & Soul initiative, including a series of annual retreats (now called Sacred Earth Sacred Soul – Celtic Wisdom) to help reawaken awareness of the sacred in all things through the recovery of Celtic wisdom for today and to help translate this awareness into compassionate action in our lives and world.

In 2022 he began a second series of annual retreats (called The Quest for Healing and Home – The Great Search) to address the deep spiritual yearnings of this moment in time and to help give birth to new beginnings in our lives and world. 

Both these series follow a three-year cycle of teaching and spiritual practice in the context of annual retreats. Participants may join at any stage in the three-year cycle and attend any of the Earth & Soul venues across the country.

Sacred Earth Sacred Soul – Celtic Wisdom Series
(Reawakening to the Sacredness of Earth & Soul through the Recovery of Celtic Wisdom for today)

Celtic Wisdom 1
The teachings of this retreat are based on John Philip’s award-winning book Sacred Earth Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World (especially Chapters 1, 2, and 7 drawing on the wisdom of Pelagius, Brigid, and Teilhard de Chardin).

Celtic Wisdom 2 
The teachings of this retreat are based on John Philip’s award-wining book Sacred Earth Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World (especially Chapters 3, 4, and 6 drawing on the wisdom of John Scotus Eriugena, the Carmina Gadelica, and John Muir).

Celtic Wisdom 3 
The teachings of this retreat are based on John Philip’s award-wining book Sacred Earth Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World (especially Chapters 5, 8, and 9 drawing on the wisdom of Alexander John Scott, George MacLeod, and Kenneth White). 

The essential text for the three-year program is John Philip Newell’s Sacred Earth Sacred Soul. The shared prayer book for this program is Sounds of the Eternal: A Celtic Psalter.

The Quest for Healing and Home – The Great Search Series
(Turning to Earth and Soul in the Quest for Healing and Home)

The Great Search 1
The teachings of this retreat are based on John Philip Newell’s forthcoming book The Great Search: Turning to Earth and Soul in the Quest for Healing and Home (especially Chapters 1, 2, and 3, drawing on the wisdom of Thomas Berry, Nan Shepherd, and Martin Buber).

The Great Search 2
The teachings of this retreat are based on John Philip Newell’s forthcoming book The Great Search: Turning to Earth and Soul in the Quest for Healing and Home (especially Chapters 4, 5, and 6, drawing on the wisdom of Carl Jung, Julian of Norwich, and Jelalludin Rumi). 

The Great Search 3
The teachings of this retreat are based on John Philip Newell’s forthcoming book The Great Search: Turning to Earth and Soul in the Quest for Healing and Home (especially Chapters 7, 8, and 9 drawing on the wisdom of Rabindranath Tagore, Etty Hillesum, and Edwin Muir). 

The text for this three-year program is John Philip Newell’s forthcoming book The Great Search (releasing August 2024). In the meantime, his The Rebirthing of God is the recommended reading. The shared prayer book for this program is Praying with the Earth.