Whatever you see in the sky has meaning for you

Listen to Janet Conner interview Thomas Moore today for The Soul Directed Life on UnityFM. The episode:  Thomas Moore — Radical New Translation of the Gospel of Matthew is currently at the top of the Program Archives on the linked page. Moore discusses his new book, GOSPEL The Book of Matthew: A New Translation with Commentary, Jesus Spirituality for Everyone.

At the beginning of the conversation Moore reads "The Rune of St. Patrick."

At Tara today in this fateful hour
I place all Heaven with its power,
And the sun with its brightness,
And the snow with its whiteness,
And fire with all the strength it hath,
And lightning with its rapid wrath,
And the winds with their swiftness along their path,
And the sea with its deepness,
And the rocks with their [steepness],
And the earth with its [starkness]
All these I place,
By God's almighty help and grace,
Between myself and the powers of darkness.

Titan sun god Helios

Conner asks the week's question, "How do I recognize my personal sun?". Moore responds that nature is a portal to the transcendent — the sun is "in us and leads us beyond ourselves." When talking about his translation of the Book of Matthew, Moore wants people to see Jesus as a role model for living rather than as a figure for adoration. He is open to the story of Jesus before 2000 years of Christianity.

Barque coverage
7 Aug 2016 "Listen to Moore podcast, August 25 at 2:00 EDT"

See the physical imaginatively for its full vitality

Thomas Moore's blog post today "Your Body is Not Physical" at Patheos continues his focus on the body, also the theme of his recent column "Angels and the Brain" in Spirituality & Health magazine. Today he says:

"I have a strong mother complex, which means that I look at the world and identify with its suffering. Accordingly, I write a book called Care of the Soul. Care is a maternal word. Thanks to the strong presence of the Great Mother, I became a psychotherapist, channeling my innate maternal nature into the work I do. I don’t look at the world plainly and directly, but through a deep set of images that I could call my own mythology, my own stories and memories that shape my approach to life.

I’m not saying that the world isn’t physically out there but that I can’t participate in it without my imagination coloring everything I see. It’s the same with my body and with the world of things.  All of it is both real and imaginal. The objects I encounter, whether they are people or the things of the natural world, are meaningful. I relate to them emotionally and understand them in the light of my particular imagination."

He urges, "It might be better simply to allow the world to be alive, of its own accord: To have a personal relationship with the things of the world. To suspend your disbelief in the world’s soul. To grant the things of the world their full vitality."

Another helpful, related article by Moore is "Reclaim Your Spiritual Growth" from Spirituality & Health, March-April 2014:

... I discovered that I had a body that was not just physical but one that manifested emotional pain and symptoms associated with meaning. Now when I see ancient paintings that depict the yogic “subtle body” — maps of human physiology that represent different planes of spiritual and emotional existence — I know what I’m looking at. I know from experience that I can get sick in my soul and in my spirit."

Meaning, interiority, and poetics within the body

Spirituality & Health magazine shares Thomas Moore's column "Angels and the Brain" from the July-August 2016 issue. Moore laments the mechanistic metaphors we use to describe the human body: "The trouble with our contemporary metaphors is that we talk about ourselves as though we were machines or objects. Our metaphors betray the extent to which our very idea of ourselves has been affected by the influence of modern science, technology, and psychology."

After quoting the artist Edward Burne-Jones, "The more materialistic science becomes, the more angels shall I paint. Their wings are my protest in favor of the immortality of the soul," Moore concludes, "I’m going to follow Burne-Jones: every time I hear a mechanical metaphor, I’m going to speak the language of angels."

Watch Moore recommend the contemplative life

Contemplative Journal's new three-part video series with Thomas Moore is now available: The Contemplative Soul: Developing a More Soulful Life Using Contemplative Practices. Registration is US $29.99 either through PayPal or credit card.

Part I – Soul and Spirit in Contemplation
Moore introduces basic differences between spirit and soul as delineated in ancient texts, mentioned by Carl Jung and more prominently contrasted by James Hillman in his essay Peaks and Vales (1976). Moore talks about the soul value of home, a longing described by the Renaissance magus Marcilio Ficino (1433-1499). He keeps together our need for spirit and soul, suggesting we tend to neglect the latter in our daily lives. For Moore, contemplation is rooted in soul.

Part II – Practicing Dreamwork
Moore describes how paying attention to our night dreams can help us reach the depth needed "for a soul-oriented contemplative life." He is more focused on how a dream may influence the dreamer than on its interpretation or analysis. In this video Moore offers practical ways for us to capture our dreams so they may continue to nourish us.

Part III – A Contemplative Way of Life
In the final video Moore segues from dreams to art, since dream images also may appear in fine art (painting, sculpture, architecture, music, dance, etc.) and we have an opportunity to allow the art to work on us, to seep into us. He talks about catharsis, nature and the value of solitude.

Bonuses with Registration
– 23-page PDF workbook that contains activities, questions and links to related online resources;
– Email access for one week from today to Thomas Moore to answer questions about the course. The specific email address is included with the first video.

The study platform includes a discussion area where participants may post topics of interest and contribute comments, and a listing of participants where you may introduce yourself.

Moore's The Soul of Christmas available for Kindle

The Kindle edition of Thomas Moore's new book, The Soul of Christmas, published by Franciscan Media, is available for US$7.58. Amazon shares the Table of Contents and a brief preview. The book version is out 30 September 2016 and may be ordered now.

From the Introduction,
A New Day for Spiritual Practices
"I will try in many ways here to say that Christmas is a natural rite connected with the passing of seasons and having certain emotional and spiritual qualities. It also has deep roots in the story of Jesus, which is not the same as political and historical Christianity. It's a story of human evolution and utopian vision. Think of Jesus not as the founder of a religion but as a visionary who understands that the transcendent and eternal play an essential role in our humanity."

File Size: 365 KB
Publisher: Franciscan Media
Publication Date: August 8, 2016
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B01K33HZXI
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray: Not Enabled
Word Wise: Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled  

Barque coverage
24 Mar 2016 "Child in the manger may be most radical reformer"

Attend a Thomas Moore event near you in Oct.

Thomas Moore is on the road this October. Plan to meet him at one of his public appearances.

Salt Lake City, Utah
Friday 21 October 2016 Lecture
Saturday 22 October 2016 Workshop
Host: Jung Society of Utah

Seattle, Washington
Sunday 23 October 2016, 3:00 p.m. 
Care of the Soul in the 21st Century
Venue: Seattle Public Theater, 7312 W. Green Lake Dr N., Seattle WA 98103
Host: C. G. Jung Society, Seattle
General Admission: $40
Seattle Jung Society Members: $30

Monday 24 October 2016, 7:00 p.m.
Aging with Soul (Scroll down)
Venue: Seattle First Baptist Church, 1111 Harvard Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98122
Hosts: Seattle First Baptist Church and Elliott Bay Book Company
Admission: Free

Dallas, Texas
Friday and Saturday, October 28-29, 2016
Fifth Annual James Hillman Symposium —Alchemical Psychology
Venue: Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture,
2719 Routh Street, Dallas, Texas
Host: Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture
Earlybird pricing until 18 September 2016:
Non-members: $75
Members $65
Member Teachers $25
Students $15

Listen to Moore podcast, August 25 at 2:00 EDT

On 25 August 2016 at 2:00 p.m. EDT Janet Conner interviews Thomas Moore on UnityFM. This episode of The Soul-Directed Life focuses on Moore's new book, GOSPEL: The Book of Matthew.

Conner writes, "Thomas Moore has always written extraordinary books like Care of the Soul. His newest is the most extraordinary. It is a radical new translation of the Gospel of Matthew stripped of all the theological agendas, religious moralism, and dogma added over the centuries. I’m on fire to read this book and speak with Thomas Moore on The Soul-Directed Life. When we read Matthew with clear eyes, will we see our ‘sun’ — our ‘son’?"

Register for James Hillman Symposium in Dallas

Earlybird registration is now open for the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture's 2016 James Hillman Symposium: Alchemical Psychology to be held Friday 28 October 28 and Saturday 29 October, 2016. Earlybird registration ends September 18, 2016. The program is is Friday: 3:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Thomas Moore, Fellow of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, is a featured speaker.

“It is not the literal return to alchemy that is necessary but a restoration of the alchemical mode of imagining. For in that mode we restore matter to our speech — and that is our aim: the restoration of imaginative matter, not of literal alchemy." — James Hillman, Alchemical Psychology

Earlybird registration:
Members ............... $65
Non-members ....... $75
Member Teachers... $25
Students ................ $15
All tickets include Friday dinner, Saturday continental breakfast, lunch, and closing reception.