Our Events & Gatherings

Make our path be pleasant as a garden,

And You, O Holy One, our goal.

—Rumi

The walled gardens of the Near East are places of great beauty and repose. They offer ease to the traveler, often in the forms of shade and flowing water, inviting us in. As we enter, we move from the outer to our inner world – a place where we might rest, reflecting on our relationship with our Source and Sustainer before we return to the ordinary journey of our daily lives.

We invite you to join us for four online sessions in the Garden as we explore perhaps new steps on the Sufi way. We will turn to parable, poetry, and the arts for some of the Islamic world’s responses to the eternal questions of Sophia Perennis. 

Each session will begin at 7pm EDT on Friday and end at 4pm EDT on Saturday (except July 2). Sessions will be held on ZOOM and hosted by Lynn Bauman and Michelle Akcar.

May 1-2

July 2 (evening only, 7-9pm EDT)

August 7-8

September 18-19

Donation: $50 per session.

Donation link:  https://forms.ministryforms.net/embed.aspx?formId=b7217faa-9964-4f80-a607-afbc09250588

To Register please contact Sally Roberts at orientalorthodoxorder@gmail.com

This year we reached the 1.5C increase in temperature, a planetary boundary. Climate catastrophe is now guaranteed. So is there no hope?

We live in a world beset with dystopian futures. We also live in a world promising a Utopia. Of course we will find a way to a promising future. The tech giants along with AI will surely chart a course that will fix all the existential disasters. And surely if we pray hard enough human consciousness will evolve to fix all the dystopian futures nipping at our heels. But if we are awake, our guts know that our future is nightmarish beyond imagining.

And yet in the middle of our chaos, a new vision is emerging. We need to leave the polarity between dystopia and utopia behind. Thrutopia— the middle way— escapes the nihilism of dystopia and the fantasy of an utopia up ahead. Thrutopia offers us a portal, a way through the crises, a way for humans to adapt to the disruptions, not simply to collapse. Thrutopia is at the threshold of the Underworld. This is a vision that is just now emerging and is asking us to become visionary pragmatists. 

During the recent annual gathering of the Order we explored becoming bridges of light. This thread will continue during the wisdom school. We will also explore the Abrahamic visions that emerged in times of breakdown. Our Abrahamic forefathers and mothers were the ancient explorers of Thrutopia. As a community of contemplative practitioners we will listen to what emerges among us during this wisdom school that shines light into this dark portal, this beginning.

We are hoping to host an in-person wisdom school at the Praxis Retreat Center in Elwood, Texas. Space is limited to fifteen people. However if the number is too small we will host this retreat on zoom. We aim to make the decision by May 1st. So please register before May 1st. Since we don’t know yet whether this will be an in-person, if you are flying in,  it might be advisable to get a refundable ticket. 

We are  planning to offer a follow up weekend retreat on zoom for those who were unable to attend in person and for those who attended the in person retreat (at no charge). We will cover the themes of the in person Wisdom School.

In person Wisdom school Sunday May 31st to Saturday June 6th. 

Registration link:  https://forms.ministryforms.net/embed.aspx?formId=081ce512-13ed-40f6-aa31-1fdbd41d7400

Embracing Archetypes of a New Humanity

June 14-20, 2026

Green Terra Sanctuary, Beaver Island MI 

Many of us sense that we need a new paradigm.  Yet, we can’t quite see how to get there.  As humans we are the bridge between the created world (3D reality) and the creative world (the Spirit and the angelic realms). Let's come together to explore, dream, write, draw, listen and move with the emerging new waves of archetypal energies as they wash up onto our shores.    We will invite the light of different wisdom traditions to open our eyes to see and our ears to hear the archetypes that can lead us back to the Garden.  

Costs for this in-person week long event is $400.00, inclusive of food and services.  Donations for the work of Green Terra Sanctuary gratefully accepted.

Contact Susan King at sbking@umich.edu for more information