May this year meet you gently.

May you feel held in the places that feel tender.

And may you continue to discover the quiet friend within -

the one who knows how to walk with you, breath by breath,

into the unfolding mystery of being human.

Matt Licata

Dear Creative Friends,


I'm just back from Nepal. To say it was magical, is an understatement. Even shopping in Nepal is a spiritual experience! I think that is because every shop is individually owned, and every buying experience is an interaction with someone who is willing to unfold every scarf in the store so that you can find the exact one that is calling to you! If you ever have the chance to visit Nepal, especially with Lora Murphy of Essence of Mulranny as your host, don't hesitate. I've come back full of creative inspiration after interacting with the Nepalese artists and visiting a paper factory in Kathmandu. I found the perfect paper for some new creations I am playing with, and the cold weather has been perfect for staying indoors and experimenting with these new papers.


In April I'll be teaching for the first time at the Springbank Retreat Center in South Carolinal, so if you live down south, please join me, or drop by to say hello. The labyrinth at Springbank is situate under a live oak tree, so lots of special energy there!


I'm also immersing myself in preparation for Cosmic Creativity, the title of the Veriditas pilgrimage to Chartres in June, which I have the pleasure of teaching alongside Lauren Artress, author of Walking a Sacred Path: Rediscovering the Labyrinth as a Spiritual Practice, and The Path of the Holy Fool: How the Labyrinth Ignites Our Visionary Powers. Lauren has been a great inspiration and teacher in my life, and I consider her one of our wisest elders. If you've not yet had the pleasure of learning from Lauren, I highly encourage you to join us for this in person week. Our week will be a weaving of new ideas to expand the imagination, anchored by integration through the SoulCollage® process and an unforgettable private candlelight ritual walk in Chartres Cathedral. These pilgrimage weeks are a sacred pause in the fast flowing stream of life, and are transformative. If you are nervous about traveling to France, reach out to me and I can share all the ways I make getting to Chartres easy.


The poem "Accidental Prayer" by James Crews, which you will find at the end of this newsletter, reminded me of the small ways kindness ripples out in the world.


I hope you are finding ways to listen to your soul, to move at the pace of what truly matters, and to honor the quiet wisdom within you during these winter months.


With love and peace,

Catherine

www.creativepilgrimage.com

In any given moment, we have two options:

to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.

Abraham Maslow

Cosmic Creativity: Co-Creating the World We Live In - A Veriditas Sacred Path Pilgrimage

June 8 to 12, 2026

in Chartres, France


What if imagination is how the universe continues to unfold through us? In uncertain times, imagination is not a luxury. It is an evolutionary capacity. The same creative impulse that shaped stars, oceans, and living systems is still at work, expressing itself through human hearts and minds. When we imagine, create, or respond to beauty, we are not separate from the cosmos; we are part of its ongoing becoming.


In our time together we will explore creativity as the universe reflecting, dreaming, and evolving through us. We will integrate our learning experiences through daily SoulCollage® card making, and a private candlelight labyrinth walk in Chartres Cathedral.

More information available on the Veriditas website.

Being the Change: Supporting Your Life Path with SoulCollage® and the Labyrinth

April 9 to 12, 2026

at Springbank Retreat Center, Kingstree, SC


This retreat invites you into a spacious, creative, and embodied exploration of the labyrinth and the SoulCollage® process—two powerful pathways for navigating the sacred journey of your life. In a time that calls for deep soul-searching, clarity of purpose, and conscious participation in the world, we ask: How might I truly be the change I long to see in the world?

More information here

Symbolic Circles: Walking, Creating and Becoming through the Labyrinth

at Squam Lake, NH

June 3 to 7, 2026


This is a one day workshop as part of the Sacred Makers Soul Retreat which offers a variety of workshops. We will be exploring mixed media labyrinths, stitched labyrinths, and learning to create a walkable labyrinth in nature.

More information here


What the Hands Know, the Image Reveals: A SoulCollage® and Contemplative Photography Workshop

at Squam Lake, NH

June 3 to 7, 2026


This is a one day workshop as part of the Sacred Makers Soul Retreat. We will be exploring the theme of hands and their many ways of expression, both through photography and making SoulCollage® cards.

More information here


Living the Questions, Embracing the Unknown

July 19 to 23, 2026

at St Francis Springs Prayer Center, NC


In a world that prizes answers and direction, this retreat offers something different: space to be with your questions, to welcome mystery, and to trust what is emerging beneath the surface.

Through reflective practice, creative expression, soul dialogue, and embodied ritual, we’ll explore what it means to live from the unknown, listening deeply to the quiet invitations that arise when we release the need for certainty and allow the soul to speak.

More information and registration here

Accidental Prayer


You see someone helping

an elderly woman gather

the things from her handbag

that overturned on an escalator -

lipstick tubes, perfume bottle,

loose change - and you say

to yourself: I could do the same,

let a stranger know they matter.

Then the simple act of kindness

you witnessed becomes a prayer

that ripples out and out, touching

the far shore of your despair.


James Crews


James Crews website link

Follow James on Instagram @james.crews.poet