When the Earth Speaks: Synchronicity, Story, and the Sacred with Dr. Craig Chalquist
In this episode of The Holy Wild, Victoria Loorz speaks with Dr. Craig Chalquist as they explore how to live through collapse with open hearts, grounding in love and relationship with Earth. They speak of healing false separations between spirit and matter, human and nature, psyche and place, and how imagination, story, and synchronicity can guide us into deeper belonging. Craig shares how dreams, fiction, and encounters with the more-than-human world invite us into sacred conversation rather than despair. Together they remind us that even in times of unraveling, new stories are already emerging and calling us to co-create them.Craig Chalquist, Ph.D., Ph.D. is program director of Consciousness, Psychology, and Transformation at National University and a former associate provost and several other administrative and leadership roles. His background includes public presentations, group counseling, depth psychology, mythology, ecopsychology, terrapsychology, and philosophy and wisdom studies. He presents, publishes, and teaches at the intersection of psyche, story, nature, reenchantment, and imagination. He has published more than twenty books, including the hopeful Lamplighter Trilogy. His motto is: “Converse with everything!”Connect with Craig:Website: Chalquist.comBooks: The Lamplighter TrilogySoulmapperHeartlanderLamplighterBook: Storied LivesMentioned in the episode:Article: Tolkien on the Secondary WorldVideo: Jungian Synchronicity: Meaningful Patterns In LifeRomans 8Albert Camus Quote: “It happens that the stage sets collapse. Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep, and Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday and Saturday according to the same rhythm – this path is easily followed most of the time. But one day the “why” arises and everything begins in that weariness tinged with amazement.” Book: The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert CamusCraig's Mentors:Joanna Macy: joannamacy.netLionel Corbett: psycheandthesacred.orgJames Stark: regenerativedesign.org/instructors/james-starkBook: The Fourth Turning Is Here by Neil HoweBook: Sapiens by Yuval Noah HarariBook: Belonging Without Othering by John A PowellFilm: The Wild RobotFilm: FlowFilm: The Truman ShowArticle: Val Plumwood Prey to a CrocodileBook: The Cloud of Unknowing by AnonymousNadia Bolz Weber nadiabolzweber.comConnect with the Center:Website: wildspirituality.earthVictoria's Website: victorialoorz.comEmail:
[email protected]: linktr.ee/ctrforwildspiritualityInstagram: @center_for_wild_spiritualityTimestamps:00:31 Intro05:31 Doing Spiritual Work In This Time09:07 Fiction's Place In The Wisdom Path12:11 A Sign Of Real Interconnection From A Teardrop Shaped Leaf14:50 Healing The False Separations18:10 Stage Settings Collapse20:53 The Place Of Resistance23:37 The Cycle Of The Human Story27:13 Relationshiping Is Aliveness29:37 Mythic Hero vs Savior31:18 The Storied Life Needs Hope34:56 New Stories Can't Be Stopped36:56 The Wild Balance Of Nature Goes Beyond Good And Evil43:02 Sacrifice Runs Deep45:10 Drawn Toward Reality Laboratories49:15 The Search For Certainty51:59 Religion As Reconnection Is Necessary