When the Earth Speaks: Synchronicity, Story, and the Sacred with Dr. Craig Chalquist

In this episode of The Holy Wild, Victoria Loorz speaks with Dr. Craig Chalquist as they explore how to live through collapse with open hearts, grounding in love and relationship with Earth. They speak of healing false separations between spirit and matter, human and nature, psyche and place, and how imagination, story, and synchronicity can guide us into deeper belonging. Craig shares how dreams, fiction, and encounters with the more-than-human world invite us into sacred conversation rather than despair. Together they remind us that even in times of unraveling, new stories are already emerging and calling us to co-create them.

Craig Chalquist, Ph.D., Ph.D. is program director of Consciousness, Psychology, and Transformation at National University and a former associate provost and several other administrative and leadership roles. His background includes public presentations, group counseling, depth psychology, mythology, ecopsychology, terrapsychology, and philosophy and wisdom studies. He presents, publishes, and teaches at the intersection of psyche, story, nature, reenchantment, and imagination. He has published more than twenty books, including the hopeful Lamplighter Trilogy. His motto is: “Converse with everything!”

Connect with Craig:

• Website: Chalquist.com
• Books: The Lamplighter Trilogy
  • Soulmapper
  • Heartlander
  • Lamplighter
• Book: Storied Lives

Mentioned in the episode:

• Article: Tolkien on the Secondary World
• Video: Jungian Synchronicity: Meaningful Patterns In Life
• Romans 8
• Albert Camus Quote: “It happens that the stage sets collapse. Rising, streetcar, four hours in the office or the factory, meal, streetcar, four hours of work, meal, sleep, and Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday and Saturday according to the same rhythm – this path is easily followed most of the time. But one day the “why” arises and everything begins in that weariness tinged with amazement.” 
• Book: The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
• Craig's Mentors:
  • Joanna Macy: joannamacy.net
  • Lionel Corbett: psycheandthesacred.org
  • James Stark: regenerativedesign.org/instructors/james-stark
• Book: The Fourth Turning Is Here by Neil Howe
• Book: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
• Book: Belonging Without Othering by John A Powell
• Film: The Wild Robot
• Film: Flow
• Film: The Truman Show
• Article: Val Plumwood Prey to a Crocodile
• Book: The Cloud of Unknowing by Anonymous
• Nadia Bolz Weber nadiabolzweber.com

Connect with the Center:

• Website: wildspirituality.earth
• Victoria's Website: victorialoorz.com
• Email: hello@wildspirituality.earth
• Linktree: linktr.ee/ctrforwildspirituality
• Instagram: @center_for_wild_spirituality

Timestamps:

• 00:31 Intro
• 05:31 Doing Spiritual Work In This Time
• 09:07 Fiction's Place In The Wisdom Path
• 12:11 A Sign Of Real Interconnection From A Teardrop Shaped Leaf
• 14:50 Healing The False Separations
• 18:10 Stage Settings Collapse
• 20:53 The Place Of Resistance
• 23:37 The Cycle Of The Human Story
• 27:13 Relationshiping Is Aliveness
• 29:37 Mythic Hero vs Savior
• 31:18 The Storied Life Needs Hope
• 34:56 New Stories Can't Be Stopped
• 36:56 The Wild Balance Of Nature Goes Beyond Good And Evil
• 43:02 Sacrifice Runs Deep
• 45:10 Drawn Toward Reality Laboratories
• 49:15 The Search For Certainty
• 51:59 Religion As Reconnection Is Necessary