John Phalen

Some of us must make the spiritual journey through the "dark night of the soul" outside the metaphorical and symbolic imagery of the traditional religious villages. So it has been with John Phalen. He is well versed in those traditions, especially Christianity, through master's and doctoral studies at the best of American graduate schools, complimented by concentrated studies in the philosophical and psychological interpreting underpinnings of the spiritual journey. His writings in poetry, plays and meditation reflect on the dissolution now broadly recognized of the Euro-American culture that has dominated global affairs for the past five hundred years. "Pathways Through the Night" provides a poetic reflection on his journey through the "dark night of soul" as cracks were beginning to show in the Euro-American domination of global affairs. His plays, "Wastelands", "Midnight Video', "Choir Without Song" and "Beneath the Eyes of God" are prophetic in their assessment of the outcomes of that dissolution for humankind. Having survived the journey through the "dark night of the soul", his play, "Second Sunday: John 20 Church/Chancel Drama", his book on meditation practice, "Recovery Meditation for Gifted Misfits" and his most recent work "God/No-God: A Global Era Poetic Grail Quest", provide both liberating guidance and empathetic support to those on a spiritual journey who would touch (or be touched) but the Ultimate Essence that is the ground of all that is.