End of the Year Gratitude

Hello Dear Friends of Earth & Soul, 

We are filled with gratitude as 2023 comes to a close. Gratitude for each of you and the chance to connect and go deep together through Earth & Soul retreats across the country, including two new locations in U-Cross, Wyoming and at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to the Celtic Wisdom series we began the new series, The Great Search, based on John Philip’s forthcoming book, The Great Search: Turning to Earth and Soul in the Quest for Healing and Home (August 2024) at Bishop’s Ranch in Healdsburg, CA and Holy Wisdom in Madison, WI. The first Online Celtic Wisdom Retreat happened in November and we are looking forward to Celtic Wisdom 2 online in January and Celtic Wisdom 3 in March. We also held our first Thresholds of Hope retreat at Montreat in October focusing on spiritual practice and sacred listening with one another in community as well as an evening fireside chat with John Philip. There were four Pilgrimage Weeks on Iona with John Philip and Ali Newell in which people from around the world gathered to experience a deeply nurturing and transformational week. In addition to the Retreats and Pilgrimages the ‘Threshold Communities’ using our House Gathering guide continue to deepen and develop our threefold vision of study, spiritual practice, and compassionate action. Together may we continue to enable the urgent work of healing and new beginnings in our lives and world.

We also celebrate our special initiative which some of you may have experienced this year in the film version of Hebridean Treasure: Lost & Found, the live-stage performance of dance, music, and song, written by John Philip and performed by some of the most talented young artists and musicians in Scotland. In addition to your generosity we also obtained Creative Scotland funding toward touring the performance in various parts of Scotland in the Spring of 2023, including Iona. We are looking forward to more opportunities for live-stage performance coming in 2024 including the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh in August 2024. 

Earth & Soul is a 501c3 non-profit and although we will not be doing formal fundraising, we very much welcome and appreciate your participation in the supporting our work by donating toward our ongoing expenses of administration, communication, and travel as well as special gifts to support Hebridean Treasure. If you would like to help support the work of Earth & Soul you can find a ‘donate’ link on the bottom of each page on our website www.earthandsoul.org or click here to be directed to the donation page. 

You are invited to join us on Iona or at one of the Earth & Soul retreats, Celtic Wisdom or The Great Search, over the four seasons of the year as well as online. Visit the Annual Retreats page on our website to learn more. 

Thank you for being part of our Earth & Soul community. We are grateful for you and the light you are in this world. We look forward to hopefully seeing you in 2024. With blessings to you.

Peace,

Cami Twilling 
Director of Earth & Soul
December, 2023