Friday, 15 May – Sunday, 17 May 2020 at 1pm on Zoom

Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors where there were only walls.  – Joseph Campbell

The events and challenges of our lives often leave us with a sense of confusion or incoherence, leaving us wondering where the Spirit is in our spiritual journey. If we reframe our stories through an archetypal lens – through the context of ancient myth and legend – we emerge with a new outlook that celebrates each of us as the main character in our own spiritual quest.

Joseph Campbell famously outlined the mythic path of the human journey that begins with a call to adventure and culminates with a transformed return to the world, a pattern exemplified by the lives of great spiritual leaders such as Jesus and Buddha. We can also see this pattern in countless other stories from fairy tales to novels and modern movies. Over our three weekend sessions, we will explore how our own stories vibrate with deeper meaning when we map our individual lives onto the archetypal mythic journey.

This online weekend retreat will include three sessions that examine of the stages of the hero’s journey, discuss what life changes help to facilitate our journeys, and the physical and mental practices that will help keep us on the path.

Zoom Session 1: Friday, May 15. An introduction to the pattern of the hero’s journey. We will discuss the archetypal hero’s journey as described by Joseph Campbell and how it relates to our lives. Suggested activity after Session 1: journaling.

Zoom Session 2: Saturday, May 16. Spiritual practice as hero’s journey. This session will focus on how we can train the mind to be a servant on our spiritual quest. We will discuss practices that help us become more aligned with our highest intentions.

Zoom Session 3: Sunday, May 17. Physical practice as hero’s journey. What role does the body play on our journey? Our third session will include some thoughts about how we can ground ourselves mindfully by focusing on our physical presence in the here and now. We will do some gentle, guided qigong exercises with a focus on mindfulness.

Please join Erika on Zoom for any or all of these three sessions, offered at 1 pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, May 15-17. Each session will last about one hour. We’ll post the link here the week of the retreat

We suggest a donation of $15/session for this retreat ($45 for the whole retreat), which you can offer at www.holycrossmonastery.com/donate or by mailing a check made out to Holy Cross Monastery to P.O. Box 99, West Park, NY 12493. Please put “spiritual journey” in the memo line of your donation. No one will be required to donate in order to join the sessions.

No preregistration is required for this retreat.

 

Erika Murphy, M.Div., Ph.D., teaches religious studies in Fairfield, CT. Her work in theology and spirituality has led her to explore the rich world of the mind-body connection through meditation and other mindfulness practices. In her academic work, Erika is often drawn to explore the theological resonances between vulnerability, transformation, and spirituality.