The Day I Felt Called to the Land (But Had No Words for It)
Why I’m teaching EcoSpirituality starting March 2026
The first time it happened, I was on the Aubrac plateau in south-central France.
Walking the Le Puy route of the Camino de Santiago. The same path I’m offering in my 2026 Contemplative Walking Retreat. Mile after mile of high rolling grassland, ancient stone villages, endless sky.
Something shifted.
I felt called. Not to God, not to any deity or religious framework I knew. Called to the Land itself. To the Earth under my feet. To the more-than-human world surrounding me.
But I had no words for it.
No language to describe what was happening. No framework to understand the experience. Just this overwhelming sense that the land was speaking, and I was finally, after decades of walking through nature, actually listening.
That was my first Camino walk that made me feel at home. That moment on the Aubrac is why I return to that route every spring. Why I’m bringing four people there next September. Why I spent four years studying something I couldn’t initially name.
Tomorrow night at 5:00pm Eastern, I’m co-hosting a Q&A about two certificate programs at Cherry Hill Seminary. One of them is the EcoSpirituality Certificate I’ll be teaching starting in March 2026.
This is the story of how I got from that wordless calling to teaching others to find their own.
What Capitalism Stole From Us
Here’s what I’ve learned in the years since that first Camino walk: I’m not unique.
Thousands of people have these experiences. Maybe you’ve had them too. That moment in the forest when time stopped. That morning when the light hit just right and you felt connected to something vast. That walk when the trees seemed to acknowledge your presence. Need I even mention a walk on the beach, a visit to a National Park, or watching baby bunnies?
We’ve been taught to dismiss these moments. Romanticize them. Pathologize them. Explain them away as pleasant feelings, brain chemistry, or stress relief.
But what if they’re real?
What if modern capitalist society has simply separated us so completely from the land that we’ve forgotten we’re already part of it? What if we’ve never been told that this relationship is possible? What if we’ve been so distracted by consumption and production and screens that we’ve stopped noticing what’s always been there?
That’s the work of EcoSpirituality. Noticing the separation. Naming what was stolen. Reclaiming the relationship. Taking action with it.
What EcoSpirituality Actually Is
Four years ago, I took my first EcoSpirituality course.
The people in that course came from everywhere. Christian pastors. Spiritual-but-not-religious seekers. Pagans. General spiritual folks. People with no religious affiliation whatsoever.
That’s when I started to understand that EcoSpirituality isn’t a religion. It’s a spiritual connection with the earth that doesn’t require you to adopt any belief system or tradition.
It’s about being WITH the land, not just studying it.
It’s about direct, embodied relationship with the living earth, waters, and more-than-human beings. It’s about place-based connection, bioregional awareness, and kinship with specific ecosystems. It’s about reciprocal relationship where nature isn’t only a resource to be managed or backdrop, but partner and kin.
We learn FROM Indigenous wisdom with deep respect. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass is foundational to this program because she models this beautifully. Learning from Indigenous perspectives on earth connection while developing our own place-based practices, not appropriating ceremonies or traditions that aren’t ours.
This matters enormously. We’re not doing ceremonial magic systems. We’re not practicing Paganism (though Pagans are absolutely welcome). We’re not taking what doesn’t belong to us and calling it our own.
We’re learning to listen to the land itself. To the place where we actually live. To develop practices informed by Indigenous wisdom, deep ecology, ecopsychology, and systems thinking.
What EcoSpirituality Is Not
Let me be crystal clear about what this program is NOT, because Cherry Hill Seminary serves Pagan and Nature-based communities, and there’s sometimes confusion.
This is not ceremonial magic. While ceremonial magic may honor nature, this program focuses on direct earth connection, not formal ritual systems.
This is not cultural appropriation. We learn from Indigenous wisdom with respect while developing our own place-based practices. We don’t take ceremonies or traditions that aren’t ours, rather learn from others and use them to inspire our own (re-)connection with the Land.
This is not indoor classroom learning. This is about being present with the land, not just studying it. However, since the Land is all around us, and quite literally under us, we never have to go far to engage or practice anything.
This is not nature worship as religion. This is earth-based spiritual practice rooted in direct relationship with the living world.
You don’t need to be Pagan. You don’t need to leave your current spiritual tradition. Christian pastors have taken this work and deepened their ministry. Secular folks have taken this work and found meaning they’d been seeking. Spiritual-but-not-religious people have taken this work and finally found language for experiences they’d been having alone.
If you’ve ever felt called to the land, this is for you. Whatever your background. Whatever your beliefs. Whatever you call sacred.
From Spiritual Direction to EcoSpirituality
I completed the Spiritual Direction Certificate at Cherry Hill Seminary before agreeing to teach EcoSpirituality.
Spiritual Direction taught me to hold space for individuals and small groups to discover their own spiritual paths. It’s process-focused. How do people discern? How do they listen to their own inner wisdom? How do I witness without directing? How do I hold space for them?
That training is essential for teaching EcoSpirituality.
EcoSpirituality asks people to experience and come to understand their experiences on their own terms. I offer prompts and invitations. I hold space for what emerges. I help people notice what they’re noticing.
But the commonality in EcoSpirituality is the Earth and the more-than-human others. The focus isn’t only on individual spiritual process. It’s a relationship with the living world. On kinship that transcends a human-only community or human dominance over all life.
That’s the bridge. Spiritual Direction skills applied to earth-centered content. Holding space for people to discover their own relationship with land, water, plants, animals, ecosystems, seasons, place.
The Year-Long Journey
This transformative year-long journey moves participants from disconnection to deep belonging.
From spiritual seeking to embodied earth practice. From personal healing to community engagement. All while honoring the ancient wisdom that we are not separate from nature but intimately woven into the sacred web of all life.
The course itself We meet live via Zoom. Wednesdays for 90 minutes, noon Eastern time. This is a synchronous course. You need to be able to attend in real time. The sessions are recorded, but this isn’t something you can take asynchronously. Presence matters.
Small group sessions meet on off weeks. You’ll have a cohort community. People walking this journey with you.
Seasonal modules align with nature’s own cycles. Equinoxes, solstices. The turning of the wheel of the year as pedagogy itself.
You’ll cultivate a deep ecological relationship. You’ll embody earth practices. You’ll emerge as a grounded spiritual practitioner capable of guiding others into a reverent relationship with the more-than-human world.
These are the course logistics:
Program Start Date: Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Program End Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2027
Course Length: 48 weeks
Live Meeting Times: Wednesdays, 9:00am Pacific / 12:00pm Eastern / 6:00pm Central European
Session Length: 90 minutes
Format: 20 live sessions total (5 sessions per module) + 16 small group meetings (on alternate weeks)
Frequency: Weekly meetings (Wednesdays) with contemplative practices and small group (Council) sessions between sessions
What I Hope Someone Asks Tomorrow
Tomorrow night’s Q&A starts at 5:00pm Eastern.
I’m co-hosting with Rev. Amy Beltaine because we’re discussing two certificate programs. Some people will ask about Spiritual Direction, while others will ask about EcoSpirituality. They’re related but very different in outline and intention.
The questions I’m hoping someone asks:
What is EcoSpirituality? Because even after all these words, I know it’s hard to grasp until you feel it yourself.
Aren’t Environmentalists, Pagans, or Nature-Lovers already doing this? Because the answer is nuanced. Some are. Many aren’t. This program offers something specific that even experienced practitioners find new.
What will this accomplish in a year? Because transformation takes time. Because this isn’t a quick fix or weekend workshop. Because a deep relationship with the land requires seasons, cycles, and return.
But here’s what I most want people to understand by the end of tomorrow’s session:
EcoSpirituality brings together many aspects of connecting with the natural world. It helps name experiences you’ve already had but couldn’t explain. It provides practices to deepen connection with something you’re already part of but have forgotten, never been told about, never noticed, or been distracted away from.
It helps us be more human. More connected. This is the right of all living beings. It’s not connected to religious systems. It’s about reclaiming what capitalism stole.
Join Us Tomorrow
If any of this resonates, if you’ve ever felt that wordless calling to the land, if you want to understand what EcoSpirituality actually offers, join us tomorrow.
Tuesday, November 19
5:00-6:00pm Eastern
Free Q&A via Zoom
Register for the Zoom session here
You don’t need to know if you’re signing up for the certificate. You don’t need to have it all figured out. You just need to be curious. To wonder if there’s language for what you’ve been feeling. To want to learn what’s possible when we remember we belong to the earth, not the other way around.
I’ll be there. Holding space for questions. Sharing what this journey offers. Inviting you to consider if this year-long exploration is calling you the way the Aubrac plateau called me that first time.
Sometimes the land speaks. Sometimes we finally learn to listen.
Maybe tomorrow is when you start learning the language.
Walk With Me
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Each week I share reflections on contemplative walking, ecospirituality, and deepening kinship with the more-than-human world for seekers moving from digital overwhelm to grounded presence.
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Walking beside you,
Jeffrey
Thank you for this articulation of eco spirituality. Very helpful to know what it is and isn't. I hope we can all approach our ability to hear nature with curiosity.