An Evening With Francis Weller: Facing the World With Soul and Why It Matters

We are living in a time of radical change and uncertainty on this beautiful, beleaguered planet. It is a season of descent, of breakdowns and collapse. We have entered what could be called the Long Dark, a necessary time when old calcified systems are breaking down and potentially composting into something life-sustaining. How well we respond to these evolving circumstances will determine the shape of the coming decades.

James Hillman, the brilliant archetypal psychologist, wrote, “The world and the gods are dead or alive according to the condition of our souls.” In other words, the vitality of the animate, sensuous world and our encounter with the sacred depend on our souls being fully alive! What would a soulful response to these circumstances look like? What practices and perspectives can support us leaning into the world? How can we register, deep in our beings, the profound entanglement between the world “out there” and the world “in here,” recognizing that the widening symptoms of collapse are also being felt and experienced in our bodies and souls? How do we keep our souls alive?

We will touch upon ways to cultivate a robust interior life rooted in imagination, creativity, fertile stories, ritual, self-compassion, and the vital necessity of friendship and living community. Join us for an evening of exploration as we wonder aloud,what facing the world with soul might look like in these tenuous, uncertain times.