Catalyzing the Vow Field: Imaginal Practice for a Second Renaissance
April 11 and 12 from 9am-6pm // at Journey Space in Glen Echo, MD
Led by Sam Hinds in collaboration with The Nectary
There are many ways of conceptualizing the “imaginal realm,” none of them exhaustive. For the purpose of this retreat, the imaginal will be approached as the subtle space where every individual’s Vow expresses its own living and autonomous presence.
“Vow” is just one word we could use to affirm the idea that a unique array of potentials lives within you, and no other. That there are tasks that are yours to carry out and gifts that are yours to give, and that these gifts and tasks flow from what your soul is already most deeply and naturally devoted to serving. Many other names have been given: “mythopoetic identity” (Bill Plotkin), “soul’s calling” (Ria Baeck), “spiritually sensed task” (Jean Gebser), “individuation task” (Marie Louise von Franz), or “mystic vocation” (Henry Corbin).
Modern culture has largely lost touch with soul-focused practices intended to clarify Vow, such as vision quests and other initiation rituals. This seems to be a significant part of what has been called the “meaning crisis,” where growing numbers of people struggle to find a deep and stable sense of purpose and belonging in our rapidly changing world.
The intention of this retreat rests on the premise that as everyone gradually awakens to their own Vow, a Vow Field begins coming into view, and we discover that our Vows do not exist for the sake of ourselves alone. Rather, they exist for the sake of the greater whole to which we all belong, humbly serving cultural transformation and restoration—what some have called a “Second Renaissance.”
Through relational practices, energy body exercises, and forays into collective imaginal attunement (Communal Reverie), this retreat will focus on experimenting with protocols for imaginal mutual aid, supporting humble and gentle encounters with Vow in a field of mutual witnessing. We encourage you to attend this event with close friends, collaborators, and those with whom you may already feel deeply entangled and committed.
Participants will leave the weekend with a deepened connection to their soul's uniqueness, and with new techniques for supporting the flourishing of friends' Vows.
About the Facilitator
Sam Hinds is a poet, scholar, psychotherapist, and imaginal practitioner. His core work lies at the intersection between integral philosophy, we-space practices, and the imaginal realm. He is the sourcekeeper of Communal Reverie, a modality of collective practice designed to support the capacity of collective imaginal attunement. Part of Sam’s Vow is devoted to assisting others in cultivating a relationship with the imaginal realm, with the intention that all beings may bring forth what is within them.
Registration: Coming soon.