At View from the Pew Keli takes a look at Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality a spirituality ministry of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Paul Province. Much of the site is all too familiar if you have explored the web sites of progressive sisters before. They default links to the UN Earth Charter and Green Peace and the headquarters of most of these orders – the United Nations.
Q: On your website I noticed that about once/month there is a drum circle and sometimes drum making offered. Why do you celebrate a Native American tradition? Thank you, Samantha.
A: Dear Samantha,
It is interesting that you ask about drum making and the drumming circle we have each month. It is true that we associate this with the traditions of our Native People…However, you might be surprised to know that all cultures at one time created their sacred drums. So, when you make your own drum you are taking that which has died (the elk or deer and the maple tree) and using your energy to stretch and shape a new creation. When we beat our drums, we create new energy of healing and life. Prayer, meditation, Tai chi, reflective walking–these are all ways in which we connect with God, the Sacred, the Love that unfolds all creation. Drumming is another way to connect with and spread this Love.
Wow I wish I would have know that when I was a kid. When told to stop banging on some bongo drums I could have replied that I am using my energy to stretch and shape a new creation and not just making noise. The only problem with this stuff is that even when I do what should be obvious parodies on my Thoroughly Modern Mary progressive nun parody blog that too often people can’t differentiate parody from what is written on these sites.
And no the CJ is not Curt Jester, this is one of their rotating banners for the Sacred Circle Dance "All are welcome–no epxerience [sic] necessary!" Wow who would have thought that you didn’t require experience to walk around in a circle. ‘Are we done yet! No just a little farther we are almost at the end.’ I have heard of circular reasoning, but not circular meditations.
And of course what is a modern spiritual retreat center without a labyrinth. There they give you instructions on how to create your very own personal five foot square hand-painted floor labyrinths. I wonder if any of them manage to get lost in a five foot square labyrinth. If you have your own personal labyrinth maybe they can have Paul McCartney come and sing "Baby, I’m a maze."
Update: Roman Catholic Blog has a post on Where Have All The Sisters Gone?
26 comments
When we beat our drums, we create new energy of healing and life.
When I smash my head against the wall after reading this, I create new energy of pain and dizziness.
Thanks for the morning chuckle. I needed this 🙂
This probably explains the holy lifestyles of people like Ringo Starr and Gene Krupa.
I can take it even one step further. Though not strictly a community of Catholic religious sisters, it is run by one, and staffed by a mixture of lay sisters, Jesuits, and various people from other liberal denominations.
http://www.e-livingwater.org
The Living Water Spiritual Center in Maine. They even offer The Earth Mass, or Missa Gaia, named after the Greek pagan Earth Goddess! And what’s more, they dedicate it to St. Francis of Assisi!
And of course, they have a labyrinth.
Oh my dear God.
When I was growing up, the Sisters of Saint Joseph (Philadephia, PA) taught at my school (Saint Rose of Lima, York, PA).
Those were some FEARLESS nuns. I look back at many of them as some of the most dedicated teachers I’ve ever met. SOme I remember to this day for the positive impact they had in our life.
My father helped build their convent at our church.
To see a group who only a few short years ago (Well, maybe more than a few in my case) had such a positive impact on so may catholic youths reduced to a band of left wing harpies with no discernable catholic mission is just depressing.
I hope that the wonderful nuns who taught me are not around to witness this spectacle.
Greetings.
I really hate the complaints about the labyrinth, as there is one in the Cathedral at Chatres. I find it not a way of prayer conducive to me, but it is legitimate or the floor at the grand cathedral will need to be removed.
Andy, you raise a good point. I’ve visited Chartres twice, and you’re exactly right, there’s a giant round labyrinth in the middle of the floor (black tile on an otherwise white floor, IIRC).
You know, I never thought to associate that with the ones that religious sisters seem to be so fond of. What was its purpose back in the day?
It is hard trying to be a satirist these days, isn’t it? You think you’ve come up with something great and then you find something in real life that’s almost exactly like but even better. How’s a humorist to earn honest bread?
But still, you do pretty good, Jeff!
(muttering to self: “crazy old sisters . . . “)
Here is some info, no idea how true it is. I have some tour books at home that I bought at Chartres, I’ll look them up when I get home tonight.
http://www.lessons4living.com/chartres_labyrinth.htm
The longer I live, the more firmly convinced do I become that a sense of humor is incompatible with doing New Agey stuff. The sight of a bunch of middle-aged women solemnly walking around and around in circles would remind me too much of the Victorian undertakers sketch on Monty Python, and I’d keel over laughing. I’d be thrown out before I knew where I was.
It is not that labyrinths are inherently bad it is that almost always they are acompanied by new age thoughts and ideas. Though I can’t think of a single saint who advocated labyrinths as a means to grow in holiness. The existence of a labyrinth in a Church does not mean that they are a good tool to grow in holiness. Past centuries have also had fads that might not be the best use of your time spiritually.
Pilgrimages were very important in the medieval days. Some of the most important sites for this were Rome, Chartres, Bari, Compostela, and, of course, Jerusalem.
Pilgrimages were more than just holy tour packages, they were also a way to do penance. Sometimes people confessing serious sins, such as murder, would be given pilgrimages as part of their penance. It was fairly common to do these with added rigors, such as walking there barefoot as well.
A highlight of medieval pilgrimages to Jerusalem was walking the Way of the Cross, on the same places that Jesus did. This practice goes way, way back, and is reported by Egeria in the 4th century.
People found it essentially impossible to get to Jerusalem during some centuries, but they still wanted to experience its rigor. Walking to Chartres and then walking the labyrinth there on their knees was one way to approximate this.
Modern day labyrinths probably are not walked on hard, stone floors, on their knees. They probably are also not often done out of penance (assuming the New Agers even believe in sin and penance).
This new age nun stuff is so ridiculous that it should be funny… and it is, but I also feel a bit sad looking at how confused and lost these poor people are.
As for labyrinths, the only one I liked was David Bowie’s movie The Labyrinth, which I really enjoyed (yes, I was only a child, but still).
Dear Albertus,
Thanks for the info on the labyrinth. Yes, like Jeff said, it tends to be with more wacko crowds, but, now that I know more of its background, maybe I’ll use ours here during the hot summer months on my knees.
You never know what you learn in these conversations, eh?
Like JoeB above, I was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondolet, whom I remember with mostly fond memories except for my second and seventh grade nuns. Even then, the nuns were great. Tiny, old Sr. Gertrude Joseph could cause terror in boys well over six feet tall. And when she called you, “boy” you knew that you were in big trouble.
Somehow as Morloch seized upon the 1960s, so many of these sisters became totally pixilated. How else can one describe the regression of adult Catholics into the bizarre antics noted on their site.
We should not be too hard on these poor souls. Many otherwise functional liberals pass their days in New Age fantasies. In fact, creating labyrinths is totally unnecessary for liberals, whether secular or religious minded. Their entire lives are lived out in labyrinths. It comes with the ideology.
I have to laugh, or I’ll cry! Now we know how the CROP CIRCLES got there!!! I particularly locked in on that one nun wearing the blue hooded sweat jacket and fanny pack… is that a 21st century monk habit? As if the Jeff’s post wasn’t funny enough, Elinor goes and writes: “The sight of a bunch of middle-aged women solemnly walking around and around in circles would remind me too much of the Victorian undertakers sketch on Monty Python, and I’d keel over laughing. I’d be thrown out before I knew where I was.”
Now it’s all got my mind wandering to that scene in “The Music Man” where the town hens put on “Ode to a Grecian Urn.” Another graphic depiction of middle-aged women thinking they’re grand and they just look farcical.
Again with the CSJ.
They have a school next to my college in Toronto. I went to their Mass for St Joseph’s Day. Here I was thinking it “Hmm, feast day, things must be a-goin’ on.” It was the most sterile Mass of my life. Really quite sad.
I’ve been caught in the elevator with the Superior who, seeing my books, says, “So, you read Latin,” or “So, you’re a Medievalist,” and not as an encouragement, methinks. [BAD LATIN! BAD MIDDLE AGES! BAD AUGUSTINE! BAD STUDENT!]
From their website (my emphasis):
Sisters don’t say Mass or become priests because the Roman Catholic Church does not ordain women as priests at this time. Sisters frequently lead Communion services when a priest is not available for Mass.
The Basilian Curia is right next door.
“At this time!!!” ??? I hope and pray I never do see a nun become a priest. Not at this time , or ever. My charity for this issue has come to an end.
Catching my eye: morning A through Z
Today I think I’ll specialize on humor (or at least wry bemusement). Here’s what’s caught my eye this morning: I see that moxie has finally shamed Glenn into linking to her. Tsk, tsk. Greedy, greedy. I mean, you’re on his…
BillyHW – ditto on your sentiments. LOL!
The picture looks to me like someone forgot to lock the door on the Alzheimer’s ward of the local nursing home.
“Code Red! Code Red! We need all medical personnel to report to the west lawn to help round up the escaped Alzheimer’s residents!”
I want to know who the nun is in the hooded outfit with the spandex shorts? Or was she just a runner that got sucked into the loop?
Check out Sister Spandex Fanny Pack’s arms and hands. Either she’s about to break out and do some Riverdance moves or she’s involved in electro-shock therapy somewhere inside the convent.
” …. It is not that labyrinths are inherently bad it is that almost always they are acompanied by new age thoughts and ideas. …” [Jeff Miller]
This is so true! Labyrinth promoters also have a plan. Betcha many Catholics don’t even know what it is … not even those that bring them to schools & institutions. At least, I am giving them the benefit of the doubt.
A few months ago I did some googling of names of people who promote Labyrinth constructions …. non-Catholics pitching Catholic churches & schools etc. I couldn’t believe what I found. One example was labeled:
“Labyrinth Project of Alabama” …. key personality: Annette Reynolds, MPS, Rn, A.T.R..-BC
Her resume is here: http://sacredlabyrinth.com/annette/Vitae.html
Besides what appears as an admirable career in healthcare, she tells readers that she has worked as a CPE Summer Unit Clinical PASTORAL Education, and is an Ordained *something* w/The Essene Universal Life Church.
The only thing I could find on the Essene Universal Life Church was this:
http://216.239.39.104/translate_chl=en&u=http://www.awarenessinstitute.com/&prev=search%3Fq%3DEssene%2BUniversal%2BLife%2BChurch%2BAL%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us
The Essene New Life Church has something to do w/ colon cleaning ….. okay …
She has been a “Circle of Life” counselor and facilitator – googling “Circle of Life” I got �
http://www.circleoflifefoundation.org/
CoL home page states:
“Circle of Life operates from a deep belief in the interdependence and interconnection of all life. Our commitment is to transform the way humans interact with the Earth and with all living beings. Circle of Life is a stand for peace, justice and environmental sustainability; and in that space, we create powerful events and meaningful opportunities for people and organizations to make a difference in the world we share. …”
Annette’s website: http://sacredlabyrinth.com/annette/
Under “Veriditas” facilitator, it links up to GRACE CATHEDRAL in San Francisco, home of another female Rev. Labyrinth promoter, Rev. Dr. Lauren Artress.
Back to Annette’s home page, clicking on “Articles & Writings” you can read her article titled: Walking a Path to Wholeness. Her she discusses the Catholic ancient history & Labyrinths.
Also note, not only does she have working association w/UU church & Grace Cathedral, but also with the NEW AGE Mega center in Rhinebeck, NY the OMEGA Institute.
She has been busy w/the Benedictine Spiritual & Retreat Center at Cullman, w/the Sacred Heart Monastery, and “The Catholic Labyrinth” lecturer at John Carrol High School & St. Peter’s Catholic Church etc. etc.
But more interesting is this website that promotes her:
http://www.soulinvitation.com/labyrinth/
I found here this profound statement (w/emphasis added) about Labyrinths �
“… Kay Torrez group in collaboration with Taffy Lanser and others working with the new national labyrinth organization (planning a national conference this year), put together this lovely illustration of how to use labyrinth convergence magnetic paths specifically to initiate communication with the elemental forces. We feel strongly that active collaboration with these elemental and gnome forces is survival related to making it thru the extreme magnetic compression approaching us with the solar maxima events (like Aug 11) associated with the millenium. Rapture is a name for non destructive survival of magnetic compression … This is discussed as the way home for the genetic memory at ../genehome (bottom) Elementals (The Sylph King Speaks on Elementals and other things) like in the movie ‘Fairy Tale’ can make themselves known to human only where magnetic convergence lines can braid approach each other more densely. It is this successful non-destructive infolding of magnetics which is PRECISELY THE PRINCIPLE OF HOW A LABYRINTH FACILITATES THE SORTING OF MAGNETISM INTO ‘the shareable’. …”
HELLO, Hello does anyone really know what “elemental forces” are?
“soulinvitation.com” has some interesting “sacred geometry” for children too: http://www.soulinvitation.com/consciouskids/index.html
And at this site we learn about “Energy Keepers” �http://www.labyrinthsociety.org/
” … There are members who work to place labyrinths in schools and promote labyrinths for use in mainstream healthcare. There are members who write music to use while walking a labyrinth and others who are fascinated by the mathematical challenges labyrinths have to offer. …”
” … The Labyrinth Society has no office, there are no bricks or mortar, no footprint on the earth. Instead, we are grounded by the labyrinths found all over our planet and connected by the Internet. ..”
In the section titled Annual Gathering Great Success one is introduced to an Energy Keeper:
“… Toby Evans retired from her position as chairperson of the Energykeepers. Re-elected to …
Carol House, also new to the board, will be filling the position of the chairperson of Energykeepers.”
The Energy Keepers: A Circle of Loving Support
” … growing number of Energy Keepers who are spread out across the world. Energy Keepers are from every walk of life and are representative of all religious denominations.
As requests come in, Energy Keepers imagine the individual or situation in the center of the labyrinth envisioning him or her returning to his/her sacred center to connect to the Source of All that Is. This is followed by using individual preferred methods of energetic healing including Reiki, prayers, meditation, or surrounding the situation in Light as well as walking or finger walking labyrinths with the individual in mind. This is done in the Energy Keeper�s own time. There are no requirements but the Energy Keeper�s willingness to serve, and the inner knowing that the highest solution is already in place for each situation. ….”
There is more, but I hope I illustrated my point & illustrated the truth of what J. Miller stated.
Q � Is this Catholic? Do Catholic schools & churches know the ideology that is truly being advanced by these Energy Keepers? Do they present their lecturers to Catholics a “Catholic” wrapping only to initiative some young H.S. student to the very important job of Energy Keeper of the school Labyrinth? Can Catholic institutions keep their “Labyrinths” Catholic when so much New Age vision is so wrapped in it? Will Catholic women & their children who flock to them be able to discern carefully. Etc. Etc.
And, finally, now that the information has been posted …. what to do?
pml: Almost all Catholic institutions have a Board of Directors. Many of these directors are frankly ignorant on how to maintain Catholic identity, and they’re not always altogether cognizant of its importance. They’re just figuring they’re feeding the poor, or helping to provide health care, etc. In charity, that is where I start first. Then, if the matter isn’t put right, it goes to the bishop’s office (obtain a copy of the institution’s Annual Report/Report to the Community or other materials that indicate a confused message). All bishops have a specific office which addresses this.
Jeff, found your site while searching for the Church’s take on drumming circles. Thank you for being a voice of reason.
So who funds these new age nuts…I mean nuns? Does some of my titheing go into their coffers?
By the way, I am trying to formulate a good argument against dumming circles to present to my niece and her boyfriend. Any thoughts?
I happened upon this page and was really shocked and saddened by the comments posted here. It seems your thinking is severely restricted on what benefits you as a Catholic and what does not. Perhaps if took a medatative walk through a labyrinth you would understand it better. In my neighborhood there is a friary with a lovely labryinth I enjoy walking. Not built by “new age nuts” as you call them. http://www.s-s-f.org/old_site_files/Labyrinth.htm
Perhaps you can read this page and understand that labyrinths are a part of your religions history as well.
The Catholic Church has a long history of not listening to others beliefs or feelings. It seems you are on the same circular path.
Its the same for drumming. It is empowering and healing. Many cultures use them in their religious rituals, so unless you don’t accept other cultures it should not be a problem for you.
As for funding, many of these “new age nuts” do this work for small donations or at no charge.
Many of the posts on this page were very insulting to numerous people. I really hope that you do not represent any church or organized religious groups.
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