The game of golf links with alchemy and Jesus

Thomas Moore has contributed an Afterword to a book about ritualistic activities associated with alchemical elements: Golf's Three Noble Truths: Lessons on Growth by James L. Ragonnet. Moore says the book, available in March 2007, "has wisdom that will help both your game and your life." Iron is one of the seven metals of alchemy - its symbol represents "Man" and the planet Mars in astrology. About.com introduces neophytes to irons and their uses while answering questions about golf practices for the uninitiated. The game's settings may remind us of sacred sites, as representations of alchemy’s green tablet, but also golf links directly with Jesus through his disciple Andrew.

Golf's Three Noble Truths: Lessons on Growth
by James L. Ragonnet
Hardcover: 196 pages
Publisher: New World Library (March 28, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN: 1577315804
Afterword by Thomas Moore

St. Andrew's Day is celebrated November 30.

Mayo Clinic sponsors talk by Thomas Moore

Katie Brandt filed a story for KTTC Television describing Thomas Moore's presentation sponsored by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota yesterday. According to Brandt, Moore "addressed the importance of integrated, holistic medicine," reinforcing ideas he wrote about in Care of the Soul. During yesterday's session, Moore talked about the need to include the soul and spirit when considering bodily healing. Brandt writes that "by treating patients' spirits" the emphasis stays on humanity. Otherwise, "Moore suggests the patient becomes just another body - a thing." Moore reminded the audience also to honour the soul of the Mayo Clinic.

Tonight, Vision TV presents the first part of the 2006 production The Blue Buddha- Lost Secrets of Ancient Medicine: The Journey of the Blue Buddha. The film "takes its name from the Tibetan Medicine Buddha, known as Sangye Menla, the master of remedies. He is traditionally portrayed as having a body of radiant celestial blue, the colour of healing." The documentary says that even as Western interest in alternative medical philosophies increases, Tibetan medicine is becoming more like allopathic systems, with the inclusion of it's holistic Buddhist underpinnings growing fainter.

"Spirituality seminar set" featuring Moore

Today's Pioneer Press published an announcement for tomorrow's event featuring Thomas Moore in Minneapolis:

The University of Minnesota's Center for Spirituality & Healing is hosting "Healing Through Illness," an event designed for anyone facing illness or loss, Tuesday at the Ted Mann Concert Hall. Keynote speaker is Thomas Moore, author of the New York Times' best-sellers Care of the Soul, Soul Mates , and The Re-enchantment of Everyday Life. Moore will focus on his essay, "How to Be Healed by Your Illness."

The event starts at 7 p.m. at 2128 Fourth St. S., Minneapolis.
It's free. Registration is required. To register, call 612-624-9459.

Wednesday 18 October, 2006
The following day, Thomas Moore participates in a special presentation with the same title, "How to Be Healed by Your Illness" between 12 noon and 1 p.m. at the Kahler Grand Hotel, Heritage Hall, 20 2nd Avenue SW, Rochester, MN. This event is sponsored by the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

Conscious Creating features creative guests

Earlier this year, Thomas Moore and Joan Hanley were separate guests on a one-hour radio talk show, Conscious Creating that celebrates "the art of inspired living by exploring the lives of highly creative individuals," hosted by Sara Robinson.

On May 4, 2006 Robinson spoke with Thomas Moore, described as a writer and musician who lectures in the areas of archetypal psychology, mythology, and the imagination. "He lives soulfully with his wife and two children in New Hampshire where he composes music and writes." After the interview Moore is quoted, "My experience with Conscious Creating was a rare pleasure. Sara truly turns an interview into a conversation. You know she's bursting with ideas, but she treats her guest with respect. I felt understood and accepted. She also understands something lost in our pragmatic, fact-dominated society: the crucial role of the arts in preserving our humanity and unleashing our creativity at a deep level."

On July 13, 2006 Joan Hanley [Hari Kirin] was introduced to listeners as a visual artist "whose paintings, prints, and public art are inspired and informed by her life as a mother, wife, teacher, and yogini." Hanley is quoted, "I aspire to make images that, in the traditional language of religion, temp the gods to come dwell in them and reveal our world to us." Hanley has practised yoga for more than thirty years, and she teaches and lectures about art and yoga.

These two programs are available on CDs in .wav or .mp3 format for $10.00 (U.S.) each plus shipping and handling through the Conscious Creating site. If you're interested in purchasing CDs, please indicate the segments you would like, on the email form.

Moore answers questions in recent Q&A session

The book site Wisdom Hunter hosts a question and answer session with Thomas Moore, posted June 5, 2006. The interview includes these responses, though not presented in this order:

"WH: As a child, what did you think you'd be doing as an adult? How close is it to what you are doing today?
TM: As a child I thought I’d be a priest. Today a lot of church people think I’m their enemy because I [write] favorably about pagan religions and Eastern religions. But I’m doing the work I thought I’d do, only not in the specific form I envisioned in my youth. I couldn’t be happier with my calling.

WH: What stresses you out and how do you relax?
TM: Many things make me feel stress, chiefly the state of the world. I was a mess in the first days following 9/11, until I got some perspective on what was happening. Politics and government insanities stress me. Driving is too stressful. Not having time enough to do all the creative projects I envision (I give away too much of my time). I relax by walking, playing the piano, giving massages to my wife and daughter daily, watching bad old movies, focusing on my breathing, having dinner with family and friends, visiting my friends in Ireland.

WH: What global issues are you most passionate about?
TM: I feel most passionate about the state of the children in the world. I wish we could stop turning to the military for solutions to conflict. I hate to see families not having what they need to live happy and creative lives. I worry that we’re killing our planet and ourselves through unnecessary stresses on nature.

WH: What other writers or experts have you collaborated with or would you most like to collaborate with?
TM: I have collaborated with James Hillman, Marion Woodman, Robert Sardello, David Whyte, Satish Kumar, Hari Kirin (Joan Hanley), Marianne Williamson, and Johnny Cunningham. I’d like to work with Bono, Bill Clinton, and Nicole Kidman, all of whom I admire.

WH: Aside from reading books like yours, what activities or practices would benefit your readers most?
TM: My readers would benefit most from being more engaged with the arts, reading only the best of literature and not pop psychology or pop spirituality, finding ethical and rewarding work, being engaged in some kind of service activity, staying close to nature, cultivating the ordinary joys and pleasures of life, keeping friends and family close, and loving their children no matter what."

The United Nations has just released its study Violence Against Children by Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro. The press release outlines the findings and offers additional links:

"The Study, which combines human rights, public health and child protection perspectives, focuses on five ‘settings’ where violence occurs: the home and family, schools and educational settings, institutions (care and judicial), the workplace, and the community. Extreme violence against children may hit the headlines but the Study concludes that for many children violence is routine, a part of their daily reality."

Physician of soul talks to theologian of soul

On Friday, September 8, 2006, World Talk Radio host Gabriel Cousens, in Arizona, conducts a telephone interview with Thomas Moore. The show is promoted as Physician of the Soul interviews Theologian of the Soul: Gabriel Cousens and Thomas Moore. This program is available in three segments for listening or download.

Moore contributes to psychospiritual handbook

In 2005, Haworth Press published The Psychospiritual Clinician’s Handbook: Alternative Methods for Understanding and Treating Mental Disorders with a foreword by Thomas Moore. Sharon G. Mijares, PhD and Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, PhD edited the book and their Introduction is available as a free 30-page PDF file. Rev. Dr. John Bauman reviews the handbook in the June 21, 2006 issue of PlainViews, "an e-newsletter for chaplains and other spiritual care providers," at the bottom of the page. This summer, on June 13, 2006, Moore spoke at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville about "Humanizing Medicine."

About the book, according to the publisher:

"Increasing numbers of people are moving beyond psychological therapy to seek alternative spiritual perspectives to medical and mental health care such as yoga and meditation. The Psychospiritual Clinician’s Handbook: Alternative Methods for Understanding and Treating Mental Disorders provides the latest theoretical perspectives and practical applications by recognized experts in positive and integrative psychotherapy. Leading clinicians examine and re-examine their therapeutic worldviews and attitudes to focus on the right problems to solve — for the whole person.
This essential handbook is a window on the quiet revolution now sweeping the field of psychology, that of locating the whole human being in the center of the therapeutic process..."