"A Greeting of the Spirit": Spiritual Counseling and Creative Encounter

This reflection considers spiritual counseling as a form of creative encounter by drawing parallels to poetic process, spiritual psychology, and mysticism. As a spiritual counselor and poet, Ben Tousley offers insights into "the holy time of annunciation" when dreams, pending fragments, or memories appear and client and counselor move them into fuller meaning and coherent narrative – much as the artist might greet the germ of a poem, song, or story. By enabling a "Soul Friend" relationship,...