The Soul-Directed Life

Third Container of Love: Sacred Space When we hear "sacred space," we tend to visualize external spaces such as altars and temples. But before we can sanctify the space around us, we must sanctify and connect with the power within. Our guide for this internal exploration of our Caves of Power is the world-renowned Mexican healer, Sergio Magaña. Sergio was initiated in the Toltecayotl, the Nahua lineage of ancient Mesoamerica. We won't just talk about these Mexican healing traditions-we will experience a few!

I offer an astrology forecast every Epiphany. This year I invited Michael Lennox to give us a peek into the wisdom of the stars for 2017. Well! Not only did he explain the wild roller-coaster ride we experienced in 2016-and the continuing chaos in 2017-but he also gave us the solution. Ten guesses what we must have in place for the next nine years? Prayer-a daily, powerful, practice of prayer. But what kind of prayer will hold us upright in the storm? That's the big question I want to ask Michael.

Second Container of Love: Mystical Prayer Everything Cynthia Bourgeault writes is a revelation. The Heart of Centering Prayer is a double revelation. First, she demonstrates that centering prayer is far more than a Christianized form of meditation. But then, she enters the heart of centering prayer to show what actually happens when we pray this way: Our mind switches to a new operating system-a nondual operating system. And-here's the really exciting part-this is exactly what the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing was talking about!

Second Container of Love: Mystical Prayer When I asked Andrew Harvey who he recommended for the First Container of Love, he said, "Go to Banafsheh Sayyad's website!" I did. I sat stunned watching the most glorious videos of ecstatic mystical dance I've ever seen. Banafsheh couldn't be with us in January because she went to Washington, D.C., for the Women's March, but the Second Container may be an even better space for her, as she invites us to experience the Sama. Join us as we move our human-divine bodies in rhythm with the Beloved within!

Second Container of Love: Mystical Prayer The Second Container of Love is prayer-mystical prayer. So, who is a model of mystical prayer? Who prayed so richly that he could say, "The father and I are one"? And who better to bring us into the heart and mind of Jesus, than Dr. Neil Douglas-Klotz, the greatest living translator of Jesus in his native Aramaic? Join us for a rich exploration of Neil's important book Original Meditation: The Aramaic Jesus and the Spirituality of Creation. Not only will we talk about how Jesus prayed, we'll get to chant his prayers in Aramaic with the brand-new CD Sofia: The Beatitudes.

First Container of Love: The Divine-Human I love speaking with Rabbi Rami Shapiro. Each conversation is a revelation-not because he gives us some external information, but because he opens our hearts to the divine presence and wisdom and beauty and grace pulsing within. Rabbi Rami will close our exploration of the First Container of Love by holding the truth of who we really are-divine humans-and discussing his beautiful new book, The World Wisdom Bible: A New Testament for a Global Spirituality. The first container isn't news; traditions have been pointing to this truth for eons.

First Container of Love: The Divine-Human Meghan Don is an initiate of the Sophian Lineage and founder of the Gnostic Grace Circle. After a personal encounter with Mary Magdalene, she began a lifelong mystical walk with the Divine Feminine. Meghan is an award-winning author, spiritual mentor, and retreat leader. She guides her mentees and retreatants to recognize themselves as the connector between earthly wisdom and heavenly wisdom. Her books include the exquisite The New Divine Feminine, Meditations With Teresa of Avila, and Sacred Companions Sacred Community: Reflections With Clare of Assisi.

First Container of Love: The Divine-Human Welcome to the fifth season of The Soul-Directed Life. This show has always been an experiment. Each year we follow a big, circle theme. This year we are taking the experiment to a whole new level. The Soul-Directed Life will be the first radio show that is a prayer! Our theme is The Nine Containers of Love, a mystical prayer given to me this past August. The first container is the truth of who you truly are: a divine-human. And who better to kick off this mystical prayer adventure than Andrew Harvey and Karuna Erickson, mystics and practitioners of the divine-human yoga practice, Heart Yoga!

Big Question: What beauty am I now carrying in my heart? For weeks leading up to the election, I had nightmares about being stalked. I woke the morning of November 9 in shock. My whole body reeled as I watched America appear to choose hate over love, exclusion over inclusion. I begged Sophia for help. That night I had an intense 12-hour dream. At the end of the dream I was handed a playing card, the 1 of Hearts. I knew I was being asked to create a global community to shower Washington with unconditional divine love to feed the voice of love in "We the People" and protect the vulnerable. I contacted Mirabai Starr and John Welshons to ask them to launch this global community of prayer with me. Join us for a deep meditation to awaken the light within and send it to Washington. The prayers of love and healing begin today!

Big Question: What beauty am I now carrying in my heart? When Thomas Moore was on the show with The Gospel of Matthew, he said his next book was about the true meaning of Christmas, The Soul of Christmas. I looked at my schedule. I had one opening left for the year, December 8! Join us for a deep dive past the crass commercialism or the old-time religious story, and rediscover the soul at the heart of the ancient and universal story of the infant, the manger, and the star-an archetypal story of hope and promise. Your experience of Christmas and all winter celebrations of Light will be transformed.

Big Question: What beauty am I now carrying in my heart? Hank Wesselman, Ph.D., is a rare cutting-edge scientist who walks between worlds. He is a highly respected research paleoanthropologist and a shamanic student, teacher, and practitioner. In addition to scientific publications, his books include the Spiritwalker series, Awakening to the Spirit World with Sandra Ingerman, and his newest, The Re-Enchantment: A Shamanic Path to a Life of Wonder.

Big Question: How can I recognize and honor the time of harvest in my life? I read more than 100 spiritual nonfiction books a year. Each year, I find 10 at most that speak to me at such a deep level that I turn into an evangelist for their message. Belonging to God is one of those books. In fact, I have placed it on my "essentials" shelf. Nestled among Hafiz, Rumi, Meister Eckhart, and John O'Donohue, William Keepin will be a primary resource for my spiritual life and my books from now on. I've long loved the intersection between science and spirituality. From the moment I first saw photographs of fractals in the 1980s, my heart told me "this is important." But only reading William Keepin, did I finally understand what my heart always knew. If you listen to just one conversation on The Soul-Directed Life this year, let it be Belonging to God.

Big Question: How can I recognize and honor the time of harvest in my life? Cliff Seruntine practices deep ecology by living harmoniously with the sacred earth-a spirituality he articulates with elegance in The Wildwood Way. Cliff was scheduled to be with us in the spring but nature gave him a different assignment: to follow tracks in Maritime Canada to prove that cougars had returned. In perfect synchronicity, he joins us in November, the time we celebrate the harvest. Cliff will guide us into Mother Earth's precious wisdom at this time of year to learn how we, too, can celebrate our harvests.

Big Question: How can I recognize and honor the time of harvest in my life? Polly Campbell blew our socks off two years ago when she spoke with such sweetness and humor about her first book, Imperfect Spirituality. The queen of living and honoring life as it is, she returns with a delightful new book filled with small practices that make a big difference: How to Live an Awesome Life.

Big Question: How do I find the courage to sing my song? Dan Millman's The Life You Were Born to Live has a treasured spot on my reference shelf. When Dan was with us in January to talk about The Four Purposes of Life, we only had 10 minutes to talk about his life path number system-but they were sparkling minutes! I asked him to return and devote a full show to how to calculate your life path and use it to find the courage to live the life you are here to live.