Julian of Norwich’s Theology of the Essential Goodness of Nature & Creation
Read below to find out about Julian of Norwich With Matthew Fox & Mirabai Starr
Mirabai Starr
& Renowned Spiritual Pioneer
Matthew Fox
Participate in readings, chants, and meditations using Julian’s own words — to reframe these tumultuous times, step into her positivity, and look ahead to a more hopeful future.
These uncertain times can feel like one upheaval after another — rapid climate change, social unrest, divisions between us that seem to run deeper than ever. And of course, a global pandemic... and the fear, illness, isolation, and grief that come along with it.
While this sense of heaviness can feel like the result of this unique historical moment, similar challenges were faced long ago by Julian of Norwich, the renowned 14th-century Christian mystic and theologian who lived in a time marked by war, social unrest, and the deadliest pandemic in human history.
These days, more spiritual seekers than ever are turning to the profound wisdom found in Julian’s writings from the 1300s, to navigate our modern culture and climate — and reframe these times, and all of life, as what they truly are: a dance of awakening to the truth.
Though sadness and grief permeated Julian’s life, she was radically optimistic. Throughout her heartbreaking circumstances, she maintained that suffering is not punitive, it is only for a time, and joy endures...
Julian knew that joy is our origin and our destiny in this life, and part of the eternal scheme of everything that happens around us. She is the ideal teacher to show us how we can find joy again, even as we live in times of sorrow and brokenness.
Her timeless wisdom is calling us to roll up our sleeves and change the culture from the inside out... to recover our true sense of goodness, embrace non-dualism, stand up to the patriarchy as we embrace the Mother-God, and more.
Julian knew that every element of creation — even suffering — is infused with a divine spark. It’s time we learn this for ourselves and bring it into our daily lives...
If you’re feeling called to explore this deeply rewarding and challenging journey, you won’t have to walk this path alone — you can be guided through your own transformation by two celebrated spiritual thought leaders who will share their deep knowledge of Julian’s work, help you apply it to your own life, and remind you of the world’s goodness along the way...
Join us for a powerful new 7-part course with mystic scholar Mirabai Starr and spiritual pioneer Matthew Fox as they unveil the spiritual treasures buried within Julian’s profound revelations.
Like so many of us, Julian longed to truly know God, to be “oned” with Him...
In one of their divine encounters, God told her, “All will be well, and all will be well, and every kind of thing will be well...”
How could all be well, Julian wondered, with all the pain and suffering in the world?
Through this encounter with God, Julian learned a powerful truth that often gets overlooked in our modern times — that it all comes down to love... the divine, supreme powerful love that encompasses everything.
With Mirabai and Matthew leading the way, you can allow yourself to become awe-filled, astonished, and grateful — not only for the Earth and Cosmos all around you, but also for your own struggle as a human being... and for both the joy and distress within you and around you.
You’ll come away knowing that despite our past and present sufferings in a turbulent, violent world, Julian’s wisdom resonates across the ages. It’s as true today as it was in 1373...
All shall be well.
In this powerful 7-part course, you’ll discover:
- How Julian of Norwich invites us not to solve the great mystery of life, but to rest in it — and why this is the starting point for any spiritual breakthrough
- The many ways that suffering can be a path to finding joy
- How to see the big picture so you don’t let the circumstances of the moment lead you to despair
- The timeless truth behind Julian’s assertion that “God is the same thing as nature”
- Contemplative prayer as a raft that “ones” us with the Divine
- Ways to recognize your pain as God’s pain, and vice versa
- How to resist dualisms — including wellbeing and distress, victim and perpetrator, soul and body
- The wisdom behind Julian’s conclusion that God had to be female — because only a mother would break herself open and pour herself out for her children
- How to partner with God in the mingling, weaving, and joining in every aspect of your life
- Julian’s teaching that you are unconditionally loved, in the fullness of your humanness, by an endlessly loving Mother-God
- How to recognize love as the response to the good — and since goodness and love are inextricably linked, how important it is to cultivate goodness and recognize it in beings all around us
- Julian’s teaching that love and goodness truly charge us to do the work we are called to do — and that evil can only be overcome with love
What You’ll Discover in These 7 Modules
In this 7-part transformational intensive, Mirabai and Matthew will guide you through the fundamental body-mind-spirit skills and competencies you’ll need to reframe these tumultuous times, step into Julian of Norwich’s positivity, and look ahead to a more hopeful future.
This course will feature teachings, training sessions, and experiential practices with Mirabai and Matthew. Each session will build harmoniously upon the previous ones, so you’ll develop a complete holistic understanding of the practices, tools, and principles you’ll need to open your heart and access your spiritual gifts.
Module 1: Embracing the Sacred Dark — The Beauty of Not Knowing (December 2)
A pandemic is a terrible thing to waste.
— Matthew Fox
Like the great mystics of every tradition, Julian of Norwich points us to the center of the mystery, where she invites us not to solve it but to rest in it...
In this opening class, Matthew and Mirabai will share why this is the starting point for any spiritual breakthrough.
With her clear-eyed gaze into suffering, Julian shows us how to be with what is, whether reality includes “mirth or mourning.” By cultivating open-hearted presence, you’ll be able to discern what is yours to do and be and give in this world.
In this module, you’ll:
- Practice showing up for the truth of what is with open eyes and heart
- Resist the impulse to flee the darkness, and instead become curious about it
- Examine why you are here and how you may contribute
- Explore what the mystics mean when they say “die before you die”
- Do grief work and stay connected to joy
- Embrace the personal and collective transformational power of the dark night of the soul
Module 2: Cultivating Goodness, Joy & Awe — Falling in Love With the World (December 9)
Even though Julian lived through multiple waves of the Black Death — the pandemic that swept through Europe in the Middle Ages, decimating nearly half the population — she ceaselessly celebrated the miracle of life.
During this class, you’ll explore how Julian developed the capacity to perceive and praise the beauty of the created world — not in spite of, but rather as a result of, her own trauma and the suffering around her.
In this module, you’ll:
- See the big picture so you don’t let the circumstances of the moment lead you to despair
- Find ways to drink in the goodness of nature
- Dwell on Julian’s assertion that “God is the same thing as nature”
- Contemplate what Julian means when she says that we’re all born into a “birthright of never-ending joy”
- Connect to your work as a form of prayer
- Value awe in the face of the supreme beauty of the Divine
Module 3: Tasting the Elixir of Oneing — The Non-Duality of Human & Divine (December 16)
Expect to be confused.
— Matthew Fox
Julian recognizes that life is a tapestry of “well and woe” and encourages us not to let either state sweep us away. Instead, she invites us to plunge inward where we may taste the ineffable unity of our souls with the One we love...
During this session, you’ll explore the profound truth that we’ve never been separate — and never will be sundered from that love.
As you’ll discover, this life is a dance of awakening to the truth that every element of creation is infused with the divine spark.
In this module, you’ll:
- Practice the Shema chant from the Jewish tradition and the Shahada from Islam as a path to embodying the truth of Oneness
- Allow yourself to believe Julian’s insistence that “we were created luminous and noble” and that we we’re “known and loved from without beginning”
- Engage contemplative prayer as a raft that “ones” us with the Divine
- Recognize your pain as God’s pain, and vice versa
- Resist dualisms — including wellbeing and distress, victim and perpetrator, soul and body
Module 4: Shifting Toward the Divine Feminine — The Motherhood of God (January 6)
As her visions unfolded, Julian came to the conclusion that God had to be female — because only a mother would break herself open and pour herself out for love of her children, as is the nature of the Incarnation.
“This beautiful word ‘mother’ is so sweet and kind... it cannot be attributed to anyone but God,” Julian once wrote. “Only (s)he who is our true Mother and source of all life may rightfully be called by this name.”
In this class, Julian’s wisdom will invite you to fully rest in the unconditional love of God the Mother as you:
- Nurture a personal and intimate relationship with the Sacred Feminine
- Recognize love as the energy of creation
- Consider the feminine quality of wisdom in the Western traditions
- Generate a list of all the attributes of the feminine, from forgiveness to ferocity
- Ponder the connection between the motherhood of God and the wellbeing of the earth
- Stand up to the patriarchy with its emphasis on vengeance, transcendence, and individual salvation
Module 5: Reclaiming the Roots of Creation Spirituality — The Oneing of God & Nature (January 13)
So much of Western religion, especially since the Black Death, has focused on fear and redemption, and has ignored our profound relationship with the sacred nature around us.
In this session, you’ll discover how our habit of ignoring this relationship gave way to the crisis of climate change — which in turn is primarily responsible for coronavirus and other viruses to come.
You’ll explore how in Julian we have a champion of that lineage of creation — spirituality celebrated in the Hebrew Scriptures as the wisdom tradition (and the prophets also) from which the historical Jesus derives...
It’s found richly developed in Benedict and his descendants, including Hildegard of Bingen. It’s also found in the wisdom of Francis of Assisi, Thomas Aquinas, Mechtild of Magdeburg, Meister Eckhart — and Julian of Norwich, who says “God and nature are one.”
In this module, you’ll:
- Ground yourself in the archetype of the Cosmic Christ (or “Image of God” in Judaism and “Buddha Nature” in Buddhism) as a lens for recognizing the sacredness of all things — just as Julian did
- Find balance in the “wondrous mixture of well and woe,” “mirth and mourning,” that life offers
- Recognize that, as Julian once said, we’re all accompanied by the “precious oneing” and a “true oneing between the Divine and the human”
- Partner with God in this “mingling, weaving, and joining” in every aspect of your life by finding a rhythm that renders you “peaceful and at ease, harmonious and flexible”
Module 6: Trusting Our Sensuality — The Oneing of Body & Soul (January 20)
Julian understood that difficult things will happen, but she urges us to trust that, as she was assured in her visions, we “will not be overcome.”
During this class, Mirabai and Matthew will explain how this is not blind trust she’s asking of us. Instead, it’s a radical optimism forged in the fire of loss.
You don’t access this knowing beyond the realm of this world, but directly in the heart of it.
Rather than view our bodies and our embodied experience as obstacles to our ultimate liberation, we’re invited to recognize that every particle of being is penetrated by the love of God the Mother.
In this module, you’ll:
- Reclaim the holiness of your body
- Recognize the holiness of the bodies of others
- Engage in regular moral inventory and not dwell on your mistakes
- Enter Julian’s awareness of our “twofold” nature, “sensual and spiritual,” and the coherence of our sensuality with the “Motherhood of God”
- Take refuge in Julian’s teaching that you are unconditionally loved, in the fullness of your humanness, by an endlessly loving Mother-God
- Connect the reverence of our sensual nature with active climate justice
Module 7: Embodying Wellness — The Power of Love Over Evil (January 27)
We were made for Love... God wants to be thought of as our Lover.
— Julian of Norwich
As we know, there is plenty of suffering, injustice, racism, classism, grief, and suffering in the world...
In this class, you’ll discover how the spiritual teaching of Julian instructs us all to contribute — to the spread of love, justice, and compassion in the spirit of a Mothering Godhead.
Mirabai and Matthew will invite you to think through questions like, How do we contribute to the healing of the planet and the whole of creation that is suffering so much in this time of climate change and pandemic and anger and hostility? and Can love truly conquer evil?
Is Julian being overly optimistic when she tells us that in the long run, “all will be well and every manner of thing will be well”? What is this wellness that she promises?
In this closing module, you’ll explore these questions — and think through the answers with Matthew and Mirabai — as you:
- Recognize love as the response to the good — and since goodness and love are inextricably linked, how important it is to cultivate goodness and recognize it in beings all around us
- Stand up to the evils of matricide and misogyny that are occurring today on the planet
- Take a stand against the evils of patriarchy — and the fatalistic self-hatred that goes with it
- Respond to Julian’s teaching that love and goodness truly charge us to do the work we are called to do — and that evil can only be overcome with love
The Julian of Norwich Bonus Collection
In addition to Mirabai and Matthew’s transformative 7-part virtual course, you’ll receive these powerful training sessions with leading visionaries and teachers. These bonus sessions complement the course and promise to take your understanding and practice to an even deeper level.
Julian of Norwich & the Powerful Wisdom She Brings to Our Challenging Times
Video Dialogue With Matthew Fox and Andrew Harvey
In this video “rendezvous”, Matthew Fox and Andrew Harvey (celebrated author, religious scholar, and teacher of mystic traditions), connect to discuss Julian of Norwich — and how her lessons from a lifetime of surviving pandemics are applicable to us today.
Prayer-Poems to the Divine Feminine
Audio Collection From Mirabai Starr
This special audio collection includes poetry, prayers, and jewels of lyrical prose from an array of women mystics — from Hildegard of Bingen and Julian of Norwich to Our Lady of Guadalupe and the Black Madonna — as well as Mirabai’s ecstatic reflections on the wild heart of the Divine Feminine and the call to embody her in our own lives.
Mystical Wisdom for Hard Times: Aquinas & Julian of Norwich on Spirituality of Crisis, Pandemics & Social Injustice
Video Dialogue With Matthew Fox and Michael Stone
In this powerful dialogue, Matthew Fox and Michael Stone (teacher, writer, and co-founder of the Quantum Consulting Group that combines quantum theory with mystical shamanic wisdom), discuss the pre-modern wisdom of Thomas Aquinas and Julian of Norwich, which has much to say to us as we move out of the modern era and into a challenging time of climate change, coronavirus, and protests and awakenings around racial and social injustice.
In this session, you’ll discover:
What Graduates of Mirabai and Matthew’s Courses Are Saying...
“... deeply touched and profoundly moved...”
I am so deeply touched and profoundly moved, and spiritually enriched in our circle together... Mirabai was beautiful, graceful, knowledgeable, humble while open to the Great Mystery in our midst, and funny too! The course was a gift of inspiration and a call to deeply reflect personally with each of the aspects of the Divine Feminine, and how that resonates with my gifts and call to service. I am fortified in my knowing and passion of the importance of circling up and sharing together.
— Arianna Husband, Half Moon Bay, California
“All the courses I have taken with Mirabai have deepened and supported my spiritual practice.”
— Linda, Maryland
“[Mirabai] gives us many tools to help us cultivate our own deep connection with the Divine.”
This is my fourth course with Mirabai and each one takes me deeper into my own inner wisdom. Mirabai is a wonderful, generous teacher who creates a sacred sanctuary for each class that allows for vulnerability and exploration of the Divine. She also shares with us the gifts of other wise teachers. Her own deep work, her chants, her prayers, her personal sharing, allow us to bloom in a new and mystical way. She gives us many tools to help us cultivate our own deep connection with the Divine. In addition to having us think about how we can use our personal gifts in the world, we are reminded that each encounter is a holy one, and making ourselves better creates better relationships and better communities.
— Linda, Long Beach, California
“... helped me to see and gently remove some of the walls of patriarchy that had been preventing me from having a fully spiritual experience.”
Mirabai helped me to see and gently remove some of the walls of patriarchy that had been preventing me from having a fully spiritual experience. She carved out a space for me, as a woman seeker, to blossom, to grow in beauty and love. I am humbled and grateful for the experience.
— Anonymous
“... such powerful women and saints... guiding us through these turbulent times.”
My life feels enriched through the stories of such powerful women and saints that have been so deeply understood and brought forward through Mirabai’s interpretation and translation. I feel they are now a part of our collective story and are guiding us through these turbulent times
— Sharon
“I have shifted from resistance to activism.”
I have shifted from resistance to activism. Big difference in how you approach what is going on in today’s world and how I can facilitate change in progressive movements.
— Christine Betts, Denver, Colorado
“... immediate access to [Matthew’s] vision for transforming toxic aspects of our society — facing difficulties with courage.”
[Matthew’s] course gave immediate access to [his] vision for transforming toxic aspects of our society — facing difficulties with courage. His personal struggles with patriarchy have yielded hard-won wisdom, which he shares in these very personal videos. I am sure I will go back to the lectures multiple times.
— Patty McGrath, Potomac, Maryland
“Matthew Fox provided an avenue to the birth of my prophet’s voice.”
Matthew Fox provided an avenue to the birth of my prophet’s voice. The readings and challenges were new to me. I feel blessed, in particular, with the discovery of St. Hildegard’s music. She has become a new guide on my journey.
— Christine, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
“I feel more connected to the earth, and all of creation...”
I appreciated how Matthew’s teaching honors the sacred in all, and in all world religions. I feel more connected to the earth, and all of creation from having taken this course.
— Mary Kay, York, Pennsylvania
“[Matthew’s] teaching leads us to deeper connection with God and each other.”
Matthew Fox is solidly grounded in both academic knowledge and practical experience. His teaching leads us to deeper connection with God and each other.
— Edwin Miller, Oklahoma City
Here’s What You’ll Receive
Seven 90-Minute Recorded Class Sessions With Mirabai Starr and Matthew Fox
Experience a unique opportunity to learn from mystic scholar Mirabai Starr and renowned spiritual pioneer Matthew Fox — from the comfort of your own home. Each class session includes a video teaching and guides you to discover specific skills and abilities to reframe these tumultuous times, step into positivity, and look ahead to a more hopeful future.
Seven PDF Transcripts of Class Sessions
In addition to the high-quality videos and MP3 audios, you’ll also receive the entire class transcription in PDF format. You can then review, print, and highlight the most important insights and practices you were given.
Exercises and Questions for Each Lesson
Between class sessions, you’ll have the option of completing related exercises, practicing new tools, and answering questions to accelerate your learning and integrate each lesson.
The Julian of Norwich Bonus Collection
- The Face of the Holy One: The Unconditional Love of God-the-Mother
Video Teaching From Mirabai Starr - Julian of Norwich & the Powerful Wisdom She Brings to Our Challenging Times
Video Dialogue With Matthew Fox and Andrew Harvey - Prayer-Poems to the Divine Feminine
Audio Collection From Mirabai Starr - Mystical Wisdom for Hard Times: Aquinas & Julian of Norwich on Spirituality of Crisis, Pandemics & Social Injustice
Video Dialogue With Matthew Fox and Michael Stone
An Unprecedented Opportunity to Join the Julian of Norwich Online Training
We feel honored that Mirabai Starr and Matthew Fox have chosen to partner with The Shift Network to offer this exclusive online training. This is a rare opportunity to learn from a mystic scholar and a renowned spiritual pioneer whose powerful insights and pioneering work are helping us heal and awaken ourselves and our world.
If you’re serious about reframing these tumultuous times and stepping into positivity and a more hopeful future, then you owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and our world to take this one-of-a-kind training.
If you’re ready to take the next step in evolving yourself, click the register button below to reserve your space now.
Your Satisfaction Is 100% Guaranteed!
Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed! If you don’t absolutely LOVE Julian of Norwich — or don’t feel that it meets your needs — please submit your refund request form on or before December 16, 2020 and we’ll happily issue qualifying customers a refund.
More Praise for Mirabai Starr and Matthew Fox...
“Mirabai will help open up your heart to love.”
Ever since I met her when she was a teenager at the Lama Foundation, Mirabai Starr has been absorbed in the teachings of the great mystic saints, especially the women. Like her namesake, the poet-saint Mirabai, she brings to her work an intense love of God and a passion for the Beloved. My Guru said, “Love is the best medicine.” Mirabai will help open up your heart to love.
— Ram Dass
“… exactly the mental, emotional, and spiritual vaccine we need now.”
Thanks to Matthew Fox, we can find a friend in Julian of Norwich, exactly the mental, emotional, and spiritual vaccine we need now.
— Gloria Steinem, Journalist and social political activist
“Anyone who comes to [Mirabai] will find their cup will be filled.”
Mirabai is an authentic mystic, a true teacher, and a wonderful soul. Anyone who comes to her will find their cup will be filled. I recommend her as a person and as a teacher with great confidence and joy.
— Andrew Harvey, spiritual teacher and mystic scholar
“... a major teacher and guide.”
What Fox has done with Hildegard, Eckhart, and Aquinas makes him a major teacher and guide. Now in our parallel time of pandemic, he does it again with Lady Julian of Norwich — as we all ask “What does it mean to love and believe now?”
— Richard Rohr, OFM, Center for Action and Contemplation
“... Mirabai is blessed with the capacity to inspire others...”
It’s with great pleasure and delight that I endorse the work of Mirabai Starr, who I find to be a soul companion as well as a professional colleague. In addition to being a gifted author, Mirabai is blessed with the capacity to inspire others with her wisdom and understanding of mystical theology. I referred to her translations of Teresa of Avila’s great masterpiece, The Interior Castle, while writing my own book, Entering the Castle, because of the excellence of her work. Mirabai is a rare jewel.
— Caroline Myss, Author of Intimate Conversations with the Divine and Entering the Castle
“In the middle of a whirlwind of distress and chaos, this book will inspire in you courage.”
In this gorgeous, brilliant, and beautifully written book, Matthew Fox invites us into the heart of one of the greatest Christian mystics, Julian of Norwich. In the middle of a whirlwind of distress and chaos, this book will inspire in you courage. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Andrew Harvey, spiritual teacher, mystic scholar, and author of The Hope and Radical Regeneration
About Mirabai Starr
Mirabai Starr is an award-winning author of creative nonfiction 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.
Mirabai’s newest book, Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce and Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics, was named one of the “Best Books of 2019” by Spirituality & Practice. It’s essential reading for anyone ready to awaken the feminine mystic within and birth her loving, creative, and untamed power into the world.
Mirabai has received critical acclaim for her revolutionary new translations of John of the Cross’ Dark Night of the Soul and Teresa of Avila’s The Interior Castle. She is author of the poetry collection, Mother of God Similar to Fire, a collaboration with iconographer William Hart McNichols, and the award-winning book, God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The transparency of her journey through grief in her memoir, Caravan of No Despair: A Memoir of Loss and Transformation, is a gift to those who are struggling with unimaginable losses.
Mirabai is on the 2020 Watkins List of the “100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People of the World.” She lives with her extended family in the mountains of northern New Mexico.
About Matthew Fox
Matthew Fox is a prolific author of books dedicated to renewing the ancient tradition of Creation Spirituality, including Original Blessing and The Reinvention of Work. This earth-based mystical tradition is feminist, welcoming of the arts and artists, honors Indigenous wisdom, works with science, and is committed to interfaith approaches and eco, social, and gender justice.
Matthew’s effort to reawaken the West to its own mystical tradition has awakened awareness of Hildegard of Bingen, Meister Eckhart, and the mysticism of Thomas Aquinas, as well as the wisdom tradition that nurtured Jesus. His work helps reconnect science and spirituality by honoring the sacredness of the cosmos and interacting with contemporary scientists who are also mystics. He believes that “by reinventing work, education, and worship, we can bring about a nonviolent revolution on our planet.”
Matthew received his doctorate summa cum laude in the History and Theology of Spiritualities from the Institut Catholique de Paris. A member of the Dominican Order for 34 years, he established an Institute in Culture and Creation Spirituality that operated for seven years at Mundelein College in Chicago, and for 12 years at Holy Names College in Oakland.
He founded the University of Creation Spirituality in Oakland in 1996, and was president and professor until 2005, when he left to create a pilot project to reinvent the educational experience for inner-city teenagers.
Matthew is a recipient of many awards, including the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award; other recipients have included the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, and Rosa Parks. He is a visiting scholar at the Academy for the Love of Learning in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Frequently Asked Questions
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