Join peace builders and conflict resolvers in 2013

The Alliance for Peace Building promotes the 7th annual Association for Conflict Resolution, Spirituality Section Retreat featuring Thomas Moore, Friday 1 February to Sunday 3 February, 2013 at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) in Petaluma, California. Moore will be present throughout the weekend. Registration, open to section members and general ACR members, may be completed online.

Friday 1 Feb, 3 p.m. to Sunday 3 Feb, Noon
Section members: $495
General ACR members: $595
Single occupancy: Add $100
R/t shuttle to IONS: $40

According to conference material, prices are intentionally low so participants can enjoy stepping away from work and recharging themselves. Prices include meals, lodging and all retreat events.  

Barque Coverage
13 Apr 2012 "Moore at retreat for Spirituality Section of ACR "

An alchemist who plumbed a philosophy for life

The month after celebrating his father's 100th birthday, Thomas Moore writes "The Philosophical Plumber" to commemorate his father's death on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday 22 November, 2012. Moore includes reflections, memories and lessons learned centering on his dad:

"He had one of those two-word philosophies, like Albert Schweitzer’s "Reverence for Life." My dad’s version was: "Respect for People." He honored people of all races, creeds, ages and genders. He spoke to them with respect and good humor. He had a constant ready laugh and a big smile. He had his faults, but I can’t remember any right now." . . .

"My father was a mystical plumber. He developed what they call sidhis in India, special powers known only to those who really live life at its center. My father knew what’s important and what isn’t. He also knew the absolute importance of a good sense of humor and the capacity for play. Out of those insights he lived a remarkable unremarkable life."

Yesterday Moore's tweet: "You can pray for the dead and talk to them in the midst of mystery. Don't be limited by the fact-based myth of our time." @thomasmooreSoul, speaks to our continuing relationships with those we love.

Lift up your lyre: Register for tomorrow's webinar

On his bog site Thomas Moore offers "Finding Your Depth" that promotes Saturday's live webinar at 1:00 p.m. through the New York Open Center. Moore writes, "I’ll also explore myths of deepening: Odysseus, Psyche and Eros, Orpheus, Persephone, and Dante, all as sources of insight into our own fall into the soul. I think this fall happens frequently but is often misread as a life problem rather than an invitation." At the end of this post he shares his translation of Rainer Maria Rilke's (1875-1926), Sonnets to Orpheus, Book I, Number 9.

Moore recommends the following in the Open Center's description of his program:
C. G. Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections,
Patricia Berry, Echo’s Subtle Body,
James Hillman, The Thought of the Heart,
in addition to his own books:  
Care of the Soul,  
Dark Nights of the Soul,  
Original Self,  
Soul Mates.

Moore leads a meditation on Igor Stravinsky's ballet Orpheus. Isamu Noguchi designed the costumes and sets for New York City Ballet's 1948 premiere. Orpheus' lyre
represented the ballet company until 2008. 

Learn care for soul and spirit with Thomas Moore

Thomas Moore offers the weekend program Care of the Soul and Spirit at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, from May 3 to May 5 2013 in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts.

This workshop is for everyone:
"Spirit yearns for meaning, transcendence, and fullness. It asks for dedication to life and a mystical connection with all that is above and beyond us. Soul, on the other hand, is our ordinary life of deep connections, emotions, thoughts, and important attachments. Both soul and spirit need our attention. We are at our best when they work closely together."

According to the center description, this workshop teaches how to be soulfully spiritual and spiritually soulful:
• Engage with life and also be spiritually detached;
• Contribute to society while also taking time for retreat to establish a vibrant spirituality;
• Meditate and also pay attention to dreams.

Program tuition is U.S.$250. Additional room and meal pricing is based on selected accommodations. Register online now.

Honour the virginal, private woods within you

Spirituality & Health magazine offers Thomas Moore’s "An Altar to Artemis" in its November-December 2012 issue. Moore writes:

"I’ve always felt like an Artemis man. I’m not woodsy and I don’t enjoy camping and I’ve never been a runner, but in subtle ways I feel at home in her virginal, private world. I like to think for myself and go out of the way not to be influenced by my culture’s ideas and language. I enjoy being alone, and the few times in my life I had an ordinary job, it’s been a disaster. For the past 14 years, I’ve written all my books in the company of a dog, who sits under my desk and is one of the animals closely connected to Artemis. Others are deer and bears."

He suggests ways to keep Artemis in our lives, including, "You could read the stories of the followers of Artemis: Daphne, Actaeon, Hippolytos, Atalanta, and Britomartis. Each offers a slightly different way to embody this goddess in daily life."