Six On-Line Seminars. Wednesdays, March 23 - May 4, 2016.

I created Fire Chats because I believe we all need on-going guidance and support when it comes to living an empowered life, both spiritually and in every other way. Fire Chats is a continuation of the rich teachings introduced in the Reflections Spiritual Direction classes last year. The focus is more expansive, as it should be. That is, the art of Spiritual Direction is aimed at stimulating the right questions at the right time, of introducing wisdom reminders, of re-introducing truths that need to be discussed once again but within a new life context. We never reach the end of needing inner direction. Every day we wake up in a new world and in a slightly new body, one that may be ill or one that may have healed. We are never in the same world twice. We are always facing the challenge of bringing ourselves back into balance or reminding ourselves that we have what it takes to make clear decisions with our life.

For these reasons and so many more, we need the constant reinforcement of sacred teachings, spiritual truth, and moments of holy listening. And we need the support of our spiritual community. Like returning home for good food and a long rest, truth and guidance sustain us as we go about the business of life. It is all too easy these days to lose your inner balance or to feel disconnected from your soul. As I always remind everyone – myself included – Spiritual Direction, that is, learning how to direct the power of your inner nature and spirit, is an on-going devotion. While this rich process of self-examination begins in the sanctuary of sublime privacy, eventually who you are in the privacy of your spiritual sanctuary needs to be congruent with who you are in your world.

As I developed the outline for each Fire Chat session, I envisioned all of us gathering together each Wednesday evening to participate in a sharing of spiritual wisdom. Many of us have been together a long time now so this community is a warm, loving and familiar spiritual home to so many of you. All of you share prayers for each other, news of family and friends, favorite poems and inspirational messages. You have become a genuine global spiritual community. At the same time, I feel that I am speaking to each of you one-to-one from the privacy of my office-sanctuary to yours. I light my candle and place around my desk all my notes and my few treasured sacred objects and I imagine each of you in your quiet place for our time together. This is our time to go down deep and examine the reasons God has given us life, purpose, the capacity to love, to create, to generate life. How do we direct the spirit within us that is the engine of all that we create?

I love the element of fire, as it represents inspiration, illumination, and grace to me. I love the sound of wood burning and the fragrance it releases. I love the warmth of a wood fire. And the visual of all of us gathering around our inner fire suggests a sharing of a web of grace.

In scripting these classes, I asked myself, “What did I need to hear when I was feeling most alone?” and “What did I need to know when I needed to trust myself?” and “What did I most appreciate being told that I would never have figured out?” I asked myself many more such questions, but that is an example of how much each class reflects the path I have walked and others I know so well. I will add that I maintain these practices that I plan to introduce because, like eating good food, you just know they bring you back to balance.

New students welcome!
No doubt many of you will want to know whether the three previous series on Spiritual Direction are a prerequisite. No. Not at all. I, of course, recommend them (Pebbles in the Well, Jewels at the Well, and Drinking from the Well), because these classes are just so good. Among the many gifts they offer is the introduction of the vocabulary of the soul. Said differently, if you really want to appreciate another culture, learn its language. Otherwise you are an outsider sampling the goods. You will speak as if you are an expert because you visited for a week and show a few snapshots of where you’ve been. But the truth is, you would never be considered an “insider” by anyone who truly knows the culture. Ditto for the soul.

I hope you will join me for this exciting next series.

All my love,

Caroline

P.S. As with our three previous series on Spiritual Direction, this will be a profoundly powerful set of classes. Each class will begin and end with a prayer I have either chosen or written specially for that night. A special Facebook page (Spiritual Direction – Caroline Myss) has been created to help support this growing Reflections online community, and is available to all students taking these classes.