Heartbeat transitions to Earth & Soul
I invite you to visit our new website www.earthandsoul.org. This marks the beginning of the transition from Heartbeat (our 501c3 which will be dissolved at the end of 2020) into Earth & Soul which will be the ongoing expression of my work as a wandering teacher. It also marks the shift from the School of Celtic Consciousness into what will now be called the School of Earth & Soul (A Celtic Initiative of Study, Spiritual Practice, and Compassionate Action).
“What’s in a name?”, you may ask. Not everything. My teaching events in Canada and the United States, like the pilgrimage weeks on Iona, will continue much the same. The big difference is the decision to travel as lightly as possible in this season of my life. So, there will be no organisation behind me. Nor will there be the responsibility to fundraise and keep an organisation afloat. After the pandemic I will hire a colleague to help facilitate these teaching events and pilgrimages with me. And already we have a gifted communications manager, Erin Acheson, to look after the new website and our social media communications. But apart from this there will be no organizational structure to maintain. I intend simply to fly like a bird!
There are some important developments that the new website highlights, such as my forthcoming publication Sacred Earth Sacred Soul (to be published by Harper One in July 2021) and my recent decision to relinquish ordination in order to stand simply as a teacher in the ancient stream of Celtic wisdom, witnessing to the sacredness of the earth and every human being.
It isn’t of course clear when physical gatherings of the School and Pilgrimage Weeks will resume. I have been offering a few livestream sessions, here and there, and will continue to do so over the coming months. I look forward to welcoming you to one or more of these, as well as eventually back to Iona and one of the School locations.
Thank you again for your support of Heartbeat over the years. It vitally prepared the way for the work that is now Earth & Soul.
With my gratitude to you and blessings,
John Philip Newell
