Unity Center for Spiritual Growth to host award-winning author for online one day retreat

The Unity Center for Spiritual Growth at 54 River
Road in Windham is hosting an online retreat with
award-winning author Mirabai Starr from 10 a.m. to
4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21. COURTESY PHOTO

Many are experiencing a global “dark night of the soul” as we face a barrage of stressors. As a result, there is a deepening hunger among people of all genders and faiths for the nourishing elixir of feminine wisdom.  

To expand generosity of life, spirit of community and a renewed sense of humanity, Unity Center for Spiritual Growth, 54 River Road in Windham, will host an online retreat with award-winning author and internationally known speaker, Mirabai Starr from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21.

“I am drawn to Mirabai Starr for many reasons, some of which include her authenticity, humor, compassion, empathy and brilliance,” Unity Minister Rev. Patricia Bessy said. “When I experience her, the feeling I have is I am the only one she is talking to. She creates a safe container to trust her to show the way into your deepest reality which is love. It is for these reasons we have invited her to lead this retreat.”

As traditionally male-dominated structures topple across the landscape of the human community, the feminine is rising, carrying cups of mercy and spreading flames of truth-telling. Long-buried wisdom teachings and previously ignored women mystics are revealing themselves to be urgently relevant as we pass through a global dark night of the soul and into a radically renewed humanity. With its emphasis on relationship and inclusivity, its tolerance for ambiguity and its intimacy with mystery, the feminine reclaims the body as holy ground and blesses the web of interbeing that sustains us all. The feminine speaks in poetry and song, she worships the earth as cherished relative, she embraces ultimate reality as lover. In this talk, “mystical feminist” Mirabai Starr shares the fruits of many years of investigating, excavating and lifting up female voices in all the world’s religions.

Mirabai Starr is the author of creative non-fiction and contemporary translations of sacred literature. She taught Philosophy and World Religions at the University of New Mexico-Taos for
20 years and now teaches and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and inter-spiritual dialog.

A certified bereavement counselor, Mirabai helps mourners harness the transformational power of loss. Her latest book, “WILD MERCY: Living the Fierce & Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics”, was named one of the “Best Books of 2019” by Spirituality & Practice. Mirabai is on the 2020 Watkins List of the “100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People of the World.”

To register for the event: https://unitygreaterportland.org/register-for-retreat-with-mirabai-starr/

Unity Center for Spiritual Growth is joined in sponsorship of this retreat by the following organizations: Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, The Bertha Crosley Ball Center for Compassion at the University of Southern Maine, Pax Christi Maine, CHIME: Chaplaincy Institute of Maine, Abbey of HOPE.<