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Earlier this week, spring arrived suddenly and with great gusto here in the Beauteous Vale. Tuesday was a happy day, after I spotted the first fledgling leaves of wild garlic down by the riverside. The oystercatchers have been out in full force, curlews have been seen up on the fell, and hopefully the lapwings are on their way. Then on Friday we woke up to thick snow – and, bizarrely, the first of the winter – and four hours later it had largely gone again. Go figure; that’s the North for you. But although I’m caught somewhere between dazed and delirious as I try to recover from a lingering lurgy of the kind that I haven’t had for over six years, I’m delighted to keep the spring renewal theme going, and to be able finally to announce to you a project which I conceived of last October, and which I’ve been working hard on ever since. It’s a big one, and so this month’s newsletter is devoted to it. Welcome to the Nostos Institute.

In the rest of this article, I’ll tell you something about how it came to be, and about my vision for the project – but for those of you who want to cut right to the chase and see what’s on offer, here it is in a nutshell. The Nostos Institute offers a program that has an online base, but also a physical home for events at the beautiful thousand-year-old Broughton Sanctuary in North Yorkshire. In it, I’m joined by author-philosopher-psychotherapist , and artist-spiritual director-practical theologian . You can visit our brand new website here, join our community network and learning portal – the heart of the Nostos project – here, subscribe to our free newsletter here, and follow us on Instagram here. If you join the Nostos Network (find out more about it further down the page), you’ll have early-bird access to our first five-night retreat at Broughton in November – booking now. And there’ll be much more to come.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote an article here in which I said a little something about how the Nostos Institute came about; it was originally for paid subscribers, but I’ve removed the paywall for now, for those of you who are curious to know more about how all this emerged. And I’d also like to reassure those of you who’ve been following my work at The Art of Enchantment, and especially those of you who arrived here because you love my books on myth, fairy tales and reclaiming women’s stories, that this work will certainly continue – both here and in books still to come.

Nostos is an old Greek word which indicates a homecoming, the return to a home that was lost – usually after a long journey. It’s most often used in association with Odysseus’ quest to find his way back to Ithaka, after many years lost at sea following the Trojan War. At the Nostos Institute, we wanderers are retracing our own steps, coming home to a beautiful old spiritual tradition steeped in myth, creativity and the imagination – which also happens to have been a defining thread in the complex weave of our Western lineage for more than two and a half millennia. Our flotilla of coracles sets sail today.

We’re gathering a community of the curious: learners and seekers who would like to integrate ancient and influential Western wisdom traditions (in particular, ideas from Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophy) with tools and practices from contemporary (primarily Jungian and post-Jungian) depth psychology and related mythopoetic disciplines. Because wisdom is born from the depths, and from an ability to discern what lies beneath and beyond the surface both of consciousness and of physical reality. Wisdom comes from curiosity, from embracing creativity, from an understanding of myth, dreams and the rich symbolic languages that saturate our surroundings and reveal the world of meaning that always seems to lie just out of reach. It also arises from a perception of the world as alive and just as full of soul as we are: a world infused with the anima mundi, the omnipresent World Soul of our ancient European philosophical traditions. Above all, our unique curriculum will offer up a practical wisdom to live by: a mythopoetic, contemplative, mystical wisdom, rooted in nature and the wild beauty of the sacred cosmos.

Our aim is to trace a living spiritual desire path that’s rooted in both imaginal and embodied practice. It’s a path that responds to the challenges and opportunities of today’s world: an exploratory path that passes through and beyond personal transformation, opening into a dancing, animate cosmos saturated in the divine. Because the old mythologies and cosmologies of the West – and especially those embedded in the writings of Classical philosophers like Plato and Plotinus – are rich, complex and beautiful. They reveal to us a world in which everything is not only alive but has purpose and intentionality of its own. A world into which each soul chooses to be incarnated, for a reason, and to express a unique way of being human through relationship with and participation in that intimately entangled, animate universe. These ancient wisdom traditions communicate timeless truths which help us to understand our place in the cosmos, and to uncover the deeper meaning of human life. They show us how the powers of imagination, creativity and contemplation can connect us not just to our own souls and the natural world, but also to the divine – while furnishing tools to live by and a system of ethics that’s free of cant and dogma.

It seems to me that we’ve never needed these mythologies and cosmologies more than we do now, when so many of us are searching for a firmer footing in this rapidly shifting world. We might be very familiar with the spiritual void at the heart of the contemporary West, but we – and in this I wholeheartedly include men as well as women – can’t find the answers we’re looking for in patriarchal religions that are wedded to an excess of dogma, embedded in institutions that are often difficult to trust or respect. On the other hand, it’s hard to find alternative traditions from our own lineage that are coherent and authentic, and which offer us the rigour and depth we yearn for. That’s why I’m launching the Nostos Institute today. To explore precisely such a coherent, authentic, rigorous and deep tradition – and one which has been foundational here in the West for millennia.

I’m delighted to be joined in the project by writer, psychotherapist and philosopher , who will offer monthly philosophy circles in our online community, and with a focus on philosophy as a way of life, not just an intellectual exercise. Spiritual director, artist and practical theologian will offer monthly spiritual accompaniment sharing circles. And for sure, there’ll be many more as we get properly underway.

Our physical home base for events is at the thousand-year-old Broughton Sanctuary, in North Yorkshire: a centre devoted to conscious living, personal transformation and ecological renewal. Here, the practical and the soulful are inseparable. The historic Broughton Hall has been lovingly restored into a ‘House of Transformation’, where guests come not only for nourishment and respite, but to rediscover their most authentic selves. Roger Tempest, the current custodian of Broughton Sanctuary, is the 32nd generation here, in a recorded line dating from the 11th century – making the Tempests one of England’s oldest Catholic landed gentry families. More recently, figures closely associated with Broughton include Mother Theresa of Calcutta, as well as Bede Griffiths and Cyprian Smith, whose work incorporated Platonic elements. Broughton, then, blends innovation and imagination with long-established spiritual tradition.

Although I’m as committed as I ever have been to the work I’ve been doing for over two decades, as I weave my way (frighteningly rapidly!) through my sixties, it’s time now for that work to evolve and become deeper and richer. The Nostos Institute’s program is very firmly rooted in my longstanding work on myth, enchantment and cultivating the mythic imagination; it springs from my commitment to the reinvigoration of our own Western traditions, in ways that are authentic and grounded. It’s firmly rooted in our relationship with place and this beautiful, animate Earth that we’re part of. If there’s a departure, it’s that it’s more overtly focused on our spiritual journey than my work usually is. It addresses the big questions: why are we here, and what can we do that serves? And although for many years I’ve taught extensively on the soul’s journey and the nature of calling in the Western philosophical tradition, there’s so much more depth and beauty in that tradition that I want to explore and to share with you all.

So – if you too find yourself longing for an authentic path of self-discovery and spirituality which has a long lineage here in the West and which is steeped in both tradition and innovation, do come and join us in our online community of the curious. The program is focused around an in-depth, live online teaching program led by me, with other expert guest teachers and contributors joining in at various points along the way. It’s rooted in a love of knowledge and learning, but it’s also very much about kindling the imagination – and developing a practical and grounded wisdom to live by. Our aim is to guide participants along a path of awakening and inner transformation through our unique and alchemical blend of philosophy and psychology, of creativity and contemplation. Our ongoing study program is carefully planned, and will be coherent and structured – but it will also invite an open, spacious and reflective exploration of ideas.

The Nostos Network is hosted by Mighty Networks, which allows us to properly focus on growing community – and that’s why this is a private membership program rather than just another newsletter. We want privacy and safety for this deep work, as well as focus and clarity.

– March: An introduction to the philosophy and psychology behind Nostos– April: The soul’s journey: why are we here?– May: Active and guided imagination, and the practice of reverie– June: Mythology: the nature of myth; why myth matters; cultivating the mythic imagination– July: Spiritual ecology; psyche and nature; a psyche the size of earth– August: Synchronicity and spirituality: the nature of reality and wider patterns of meaning

The Nostos Network is now open for membership, and our work there will begin right away. You can of course join at any time, as it’s an ongoing program – though the curriculum does follow a clear temporal thread, so there are advantages to being there from the beginning. Membership costs £30 a month – or for now you can join for a year with two months free, at £300. Although I’ve always worked hard to keep my online programs affordable (and have recently come across other yearlong programs which include much less content than we’re offering here but are charging over US$2000 for a year!) I do understand nevertheless that this will be a significant investment for many of you. Our setup and running costs are significant too, though, so this is the best we can do for now – and we will be offering a good deal of high-quality content and value wrapped up inside a unique and groundbreaking program.

If you choose to become a member of the Nostos Network, between now and Sunday March 15 you’ll have exclusive access to bookings and accommodation choices for a retreat at Broughton Sanctuary. It’ll run from November 15–20, and I’ll be joined by Mark Vernon and other members of the Nostos team. You can find out more here. Bookings will open up to the public in a week’s time.

Once we’re up and running, we’ll be announcing some online events too, for those of you who can’t travel to England to be with us in person.

Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter to keep up to date!

Although I’ve always loved the work that I do, there’s something very special about this program, which from the very first glimmer of the earliest idea has been thoroughly joyful to dream into being. For me, it feels very much like the culmination of my life’s work. I’d really love to have you join us as we embark on this brave new journey.

In the meantime, as ever, I’m wishing you all the blessings of whichever season you find yourself in, right now.