The final excerpt of a spiritual account in a letter from a friend who gave permission but prefers that her name not be used. I find her story very stirring and real and a terrific demonstration of how the spiritual experience can be astonishingly entwined with the physical. She notes that she uses the masculine […] Read More

This is the third excerpt of a spiritual account in a letter from a friend who gave permission but prefers that her name not be used. I find her story very stirring and real and a terrific demonstration of how the spiritual experience can be astonishingly entwined with the physical. She notes that she uses […] Read More

This is the second excerpt of a spiritual account in a letter from a friend who gave permission but prefers that her name not be used. I find her story very stirring and real and a terrific demonstration of how the spiritual experience can be astonishingly entwined with the physical. She notes that she uses […] Read More

Part One…excerpt from a spiritual account from a friend who gave permission but prefers that her name not be used. I find her story very stirring and real and a terrific demonstration of how the spiritual experience can be astonishingly entwined with the physical. (She notes that she uses the masculine pronoun for God out […] Read More

(First published at Visionary Fiction Alliance) Last week, as guest speaker at a book club in Holly Springs, North Carolina, I talked my way to a new understanding of what kind of novel I’m in the midst of writing. My two-thirds-written story is one that many readers would consider a fantasy, because a couple of […] Read More

The deliciously physical expression of religion, of faith in the spiritual, surely reaches its height in Hinduism. We are now in Day 3 of the 5-day Hindu holiday Diwali, the festival of lights — of joy and blazing light — the triumph of good over evil. (photos from Audio Compass) My experience of Hindu celebration […] Read More

Some years ago I had the privilege of studying shamanism with my friend Kelley Harrell, author of the intriguing new book, Teen Spirit Guide to Modern Shamanism: A Beginner’s Map Charting an Ancient Path.   A shaman, I should probably explain, is someone who uses altered states of consciousness to interact with the spirit realms, often […] Read More

The scenes that can feel daunting to the writer— the story’s climax, sex scenes, the tsunami, the big confrontation, the spiritual experience—are no harder than the others to write. We just need to keep a few things in mind throughout. I’m offering a workshop on the subject that will cover all you need to know. […] Read More

Spiritual tattoos are so hip I can only conclude that belief in a higher power is a lot sexier than it used to be. Once upon a time, a tattoo was a sign of an outlaw or an outlaw wannabe. And at the same time — in this country at least — outward signs of […] Read More

Having a personality change here. I’ve decided to use some boldness rather than simply writing about it as I have for these last several years. With this change, I mean to follow more faithfully my calling, which I wrote about here this past February in my last post (below) before taking a break. At this […] Read More