Earth & Soul Retreat

Name: Earth & Soul Retreat
Start: 2025-10-22
End: 2025-10-24
Location: Montreat Conference Center

Celtic Wisdom 3

October 22–24, 2025 Adult

Sponsored by Earth & Soul in cooperation with Montreat Conference Center

In 2016 John Philip Newell began the Earth & Soul initiative, including a series of retreats to help reawaken awareness of the sacred in all things through the recovery of Celtic wisdom for today and to help translate this awareness into compassionate action in our lives and world.

Celtic Wisdom 3 is the third of a three-part series of retreats led by the Celtic teacher John Philip Newell and his colleague Cami Twilling in which we explore the sacredness of the imagination, the sacredness of compassion, and the sacredness of reshaping the world.

The teachings of this retreat are based on John Philip’s award-winning book Sacred Earth Sacred Soul: Celtic Wisdom for Reawakening to What Our Souls Know and Healing the World (especially Chapters 5, 8, and 9 drawing on the wisdom of Alexander John Scott, George MacLeod, and Kenneth White).

The essential text for the three-year Celtic Wisdom program is John Philip Newell’s Sacred Earth Sacred Soul. The shared prayer book for this program is Sounds of the Eternal: A Celtic Psalter.

Celtic Wisdom 3 can be taken as a stand-alone retreat or in conjunction with Celtic Wisdom 1 and Celtic Wisdom 2 which can be attended in any order and at any of our retreat centers across the country or online.

Sign-up to be notified by email when new information about the Autumn School of Earth & Soul at Montreat in North Carolina is available.

Leadership

John Philip Newell

John Philip Newell (b 1953) is an internationally renowned 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 also Scottish, he resides with his wife Ali in the ecovillage of Findhorn in Scotland. 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, which was the 2022 Gold Winner of the Nautilus Book Award for Spirituality and Religious Thought of the West. His new book, also with HarperOne (and published in the UK by Wild Goose), 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 world, ‘wandering Scots’ (or scotus vagans as they were called) 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. His writings have been translated into seven languages. In 2020 he relinquished his ordination as a minister of the Church of Scotland as no longer reflecting the heart of his belief in the sacredness of Earth and every human being. He continues, however, to see himself as ‘a grateful son of the Christian household’ seeking to be in relationship with the wisdom of humanity’s other great spiritual traditions.

In 2011 John Philip was awarded the first-ever Contemplative Voices Award from the Shalem Institute in Washington DC for his prophetic work in the field of spirituality and compassion. In 2022 he received the Sacred Universe Award from the Well Center for Spirituality in Chicago, IL in recognition of his significant work in furthering humanity's relationship with the sacredness of Earth.

For more information see earthandsoul.org

Cami Twilling

Cami Twilling, based in Colorado, is the Director of Earth & Soul. As well as heading up the overall work of Earth & Soul, she facilitates the spiritual practice component of the Earth & Soul Retreats. Previously she was the Director of Contemplative Spirituality and Youth Ministry at Trinity UMC in downtown Denver. She has studied meditation in the Tibetan Buddhist Tradition of Shambhala and received Spiritual Direction certification from the Hesychia School of Spiritual Direction in Tucson, Arizona. In addition to leading mountain and urban retreats, she has led international pilgrimage groups to Iona in the Western Isles of Scotland and work teams to Guatemala to build houses in communities that have suffered from political strife and economic hardship. Cami is passionate about the relationship between spirituality and action and believes that spiritual vision and practice can play a vital role in helping to heal and transform our lives both individually and together.

Rates & Registration

Comprehensive Rate

Comprehensive rates below include the program fee, a room (Wednesday and Thursday nights), meals in the Galax Dining Room (Wednesday dinner through Friday breakfast), plus a $2 community service fee per adult for public services provided by the Town of Montreat and the fire district.

Room check-in AFTER 3:00 pm on Wednesday. Room check-out BEFORE 11:00 am on Friday.

Assembly Inn
Single Occupancy Private Bath	$658.00
Double Occupancy Private Bath	$548 ($1096 total)

Glen Rock Inn and Apartment**
Single Occupancy Shared Bath	$563.00

**Glen Rock Inn and Apartment is a modest housing option that offers single and double occupancy with shared bathrooms. It not ADA compliant and is about a 5 minute walk to Assembly Inn.

Commuter Rate

Commuter rate is $416. This rate includes the program fee, plus Wednesday dinner, Thursday lunch and dinner in the Assembly Inn's Galax Dining Room, and a $2 community services fee per person for public services provided by the Town and the fire district. This rate DOES NOT include room accommodations.

Other Housing

If you opt for non-conference center housing, Montreat suggests considering our neighbor, the William Black Lodge. The William Black Lodge is a convenient two-minute walk from the Assembly Inn, which houses the main plenary space for this conference, as well as the Galax dining room for the lunches and dinners included in commuter registration. Full details about accommodations and how to make reservations can be found on their website or by calling 828.669.6314.

Refund Policy

Cancellations must be received by September 10 in order to receive a full refund less a $25 service charge. Cancellations received after September 10, but on or before October 8 will receive a 50% refund of the conference fee and payments made toward room and meal charges (if applicable) less $40. No refunds will be issued after October 8. All requests must be in writing and received via email, fax, or U.S. mail.

Questions?

If you have questions regarding registration, please contact the conference registrar, Sarah Akin, at 828.419.9813 or saraha@montreat.org.

Program Format and Tentative Schedule

Each day begins and ends with meditative prayer and chant. John Philip teaches from the wisdom of Celtic prophets over the centuries, applying this ancient wisdom to the most critical challenges of today. Cami Twilling invites us into spiritual practice bringing our inner attention to the presence of the sacred within us and within all things. In the early afternoon there is silence and free time for resting and walking. Our meals are shared in common.

The schedule below is tentative. An updated one will be sent to participants closer to the event start date.

Wednesday, October 22
*asterisk indicates entering meeting space in silence
2:30-4:30 pm	Registration/Check In (Room check-in begins at 3 pm)
*4:45 pm	Evening Prayer
5:30-6:30 pm	Dinner
*7:00 pm	Sessions 1 & 2: Welcome & Introduction + Teaching I
9:00 pm	Sacred Silence (until breakfast)
Thursday, October 23
7:30-8:30 am	Breakfast (if staying in Assembly Inn)
*8:30 am	Morning Prayer
9:00 am	Break
*9:15 am	Session 3: Teaching II
10:15 am	Break
*10:45 am	Session 4: Spiritual Practice I
12:00-1:00 pm	Lunch
1:30 pm	Siesta/Reading/Walking
*3:30 pm	Session 5: Spiritual Practice II
5:00 pm	Break
5:30-6:30 pm	Dinner
*6:45 pm	TBD
7:00 pm	TBD
9:30 pm	Goodnight and sleep well!
Friday, October 24
7:30-8:30 am	Breakfast (if staying in Assembly Inn)
*8:30 am	Morning Prayer
9:00-9:30 am	Break/Room Check-Out (if necessary)
*9:30 am	Session 7: Teaching III
10:30 am	Break
*11:00 am	Session 8: Thanksgiving
12:00 pm	Departure