Wisdom Ways Serves Spiritual Seekers

Beginning of article

Pam Keul annually attends a half-dozen events offered by Wisdom Ways Center for Spirituality, a resource sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. One of Keul's favorites was the 1999 summer institute on Celtic spirituality. She described the extraordinary ritual at the chapel at the College of St. Catherine: "They used big puppets from Heart of the Beast Theatre [a Minneapolis arts organization and event partner]. They marched in with these puppets in the procession at the beginning of the service, including a bare-breasted Wisdom/Sophia and all these animals!"

If Keul, a lifelong Catholic and member of St. Olaf Parish in Minneapolis, found the experience a bit "startling," she also found it inspiring. "Feminine energy isn't banned in church? Natural animal energy isn't banned in church?" she said. "It was like, 'Wow!' Sometimes Catholicism has been wound so tightly and I think there is a little fear mixed in there. If we loosen the strap a bit, it can be more inclusive. There is more celebration and gratitude and joy and connections." Later that day, Keul, a publisher of Turtle River Press, listened raptly to John O'Donohue, author of Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom. "I hung on every word," Keul said. "Every word."

Another Wisdom Ways regular, JoAnne Rohricht, agreed that many Wisdom Ways events are memorable and transformative. "Whenever they do an institute or major event they use the arts, including color, movement, light, as well as the spoken word," said Rohricht, who holds a master's degree in religious studies from United Theological Seminary in …