In this latest episode Christine talks with John Philip Newell and they discuss his interest in Celtic spirituality and the sacredness of Earth. He shares his background growing up in a conservative evangelical tradition and how his experiences in nature led him to explore Celtic wisdom. Newell talks about the significance of the island of Iona in the Celtic tradition and its role as a thin place where heaven and earth meet. He also emphasizes the importance of recognizing the sacredness of all things and the divine essence within every human being. Newell discusses the power of poetry and prayers in Celtic spirituality and the need to embrace wisdom from various religious traditions.
John Philip Newell is a Celtic teacher and author of spirituality who calls the modern world to reawaken to the sacredness of Earth and every human being. Canadian by birth, and a citizen also of Scotland, he resides with his family in Edinburgh and works on both sides of the Atlantic. In 2016 he began the Earth & Soul initiative and teaches regularly in the United States and Canada as well as leading international pilgrimage weeks on Iona in the Western Isles of Scotland.
His PhD is from the University of Edinburgh and he has authored over fifteen books, including his award-winning publication, Sacred Earth Sacred Soul. His new book, also with HarperOne, is The Great Search (August 2024), in which he looks at the great spiritual yearnings of humanity today in the context of the decline of religion as we have known it.
Newell speaks of himself as ‘a wandering teacher’ following the ancient path of many lone teachers before him in the Celtic tradition, seeking the wellbeing of the world. He has been described as having ‘the heart of a Celtic bard and the mind of a Celtic scholar’, combining in his teachings the poetic and the intellectual, the head as well as the heart, and spiritual awareness as well as political and ecological concern.
More about John Philip Newell can be found on his website https://www.earthandsoul.org
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