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The Holy Wild with Victoria Loorz: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Victoria Loorz
Join author and founder of the Center for Wild Spirituality, Victoria Loorz, as she explores the possibilities of restoring beloved community and sacred conversation with All That Is: human and more-than-human.
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- 1 weeks ago57 min
Mentoring In Relationship with the More-Than-Human World with Jon Young
In this conversation, Victoria Loorz speaks with Jon Young, award-winning wildlife tracker, storyteller, mentor, and author of influential books including What the Robin Knows. Since 1979, Jon has researched a single theme: why do some social groupings of people consistently facilitate deep nature connection, while others do not? Drawing from Indigenous wisdom traditions, mentoring lineages, and his own lifelong relationship with the living world, Jon has spent decades exploring how humans cultivate deep connection with nature, self, and community.Together, they explore the lost art of mentoring and the ancient discipline of bird language as a doorway back to the connected mind. Jon reflects on the grandmothers and elders who shaped him, his decades of work with Indigenous communities including the Naro people of the Kalahari, and a vision from his annual self-reflection practice — one that carries an urgent message from future generations about what this moment is asking of us.Connect with Jon:Website: jonyoung.orgBook: What The Robin KnowsMentioned in the episode:Book: Last Child in the Woods by Richard LouvBook: The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis WellerBook: Guiding Lights by Eric LiuConnect with the Center:Website: wildspirituality.earthVictoria's Website: victorialoorz.comEmail: hello@wildspirituality.earthLinktree: linktr.ee/ctrforwildspiritualityInstagram: @center_for_wild_spiritualityTimestamps:00:00 — Introduction03:59 — Interview Begins05:07 — The Land Who Raised Jon08:08 — An Enclaved Family12:06 — Grandmotherly “Tricks”14:10 — 10 Year Old Jon Meets Tom Brown18:46 — The Naro People22:34 — The Lifetime of Mentoring26:37 — The 5 Needs For Mentorship28:04 — The 10 Stones of Connection36:24 — Needed Reflection37:56 — Deep Bird Language45:58 — Restoring Our Connective Capacity49:05 — The Message from Future Generations53:41 — Wandering Invitation55:49 — Credits
- 3 weeks ago44 min
Liturgies, Myth, and the Age of the Wolf with Martin Shaw
In this conversation, Victoria Loorz speaks with Dr. Martin Shaw, mythologist, storyteller, wilderness rites-of-passage guide, and author of seventeen books, including his latest New York Times bestseller, Liturgies of the Wild: Myths That Make Us. Dr. Shaw is the director of the Westcountry School of Myth and founder of the Oral Tradition and Mythic Life courses at Stanford University.Together, they explore the tension between wildness and discipline, myth and religion, exile and return. The conversation wanders through Dartmoor folklore, Orthodox liturgy, the role of beauty and ritual in a disenchanted age, and the deep hunger many people feel for forms of spirituality rooted in mystery, embodiment, and the living world. Martin reflects candidly on what has quietly shifted in him since reconnecting with the Christian story the spiritual consequences of disconnection from land, and a story that didn’t make the final cut of his book — one that illuminates the challenge of this moment: how to ride the "age of the wolf" with courage and faith.Connect with Martin:Website: drmartinshaw.comWebsite: schoolofmythopoetics.comBook: Liturgies of the Wild: Myths That Make UsBook: ScatterlingsMentioned in the episode:Book: The Great Emergence by Phyllis TickleVideo: Ivan and the Grey WolfConnect with the Center:Website: wildspirituality.earthVictoria's Website: victorialoorz.comEmail: hello@wildspirituality.earthLinktree: linktr.ee/ctrforwildspiritualityInstagram: @center_for_wild_spiritualityTimestamps:00:00 — Introduction06:03 — Interview Begins10:56 — Re-exploring The Old Stories13:47 — Living Fidelity of Place18:24 — Discipline of the Wild20:42 — What’s Our Current Story?24:41 — The Age of the Wolf28:31 — The Religious Has a Place31:22 — Eastern Orthodox Expressions34:06 — How Jesus Changes Love39:05 — Martin’s Wild Threshold42:03 — Wild Invitation43:36 — Credits
- Apr 25, 202655 min
The Grief and Grounding of a Climate Scientist with Dr. Peter Kalmus
In this conversation, Victoria Loorz speaks with Dr. Peter Kalmus, astrophysicist-turned-climate scientist, NASA researcher, author, and activist. Peter's radical integrity has taken him from searching for gravitational waves to growing his own food, refusing to fly for twelve years, and chaining himself to doors in acts of civil disobedience.Together, they explore the layers of grief that come with truly loving a planet in crisis and the spiritual disconnection underlying ecological destruction. What does it mean to love the planet not as a cause but as a being? What might it look like to move from the urgency of fixing into the slower, harder work of reconnection? The conversation also wanders into meditation, ego death, the empathy required to grieve a forest, and the strange fertility of not knowing — inviting us to consider that staying in the unknowing may itself be a spiritual practice. This conversation is for anyone sitting with the unknowing of this moment, and wondering if that might, somehow, be exactly where they need to be.Connect with Peter:Website: peterkalmus.netBook: Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution by Peter KalmusSubstack: Climate HumanMentioned in the episode:Movie: Don't Look UpConnect with the Center:Website: wildspirituality.earthVictoria's Website: victorialoorz.comEmail: hello@wildspirituality.earthLinktree: linktr.ee/ctrforwildspiritualityInstagram: @center_for_wild_spiritualityTimestamps:00:00 — Introduction05:16 — Interview Begins09:07 — The Choice To Not Fly12:50 — Integrity Through Life Experiment15:54 — Layers of Integrity Under Systems17:11 — Civil Disobedience22:33 — Unmoored23:52 — The Discipline of Meditation26:09 — Disconnection Belongs In The Cycle28:12 — The Holy Local Tribe30:20 — Aging Into Eldership33:18 — Grounding Practices39:33 — Loving Kindness For Yourself42:57 — Trail Encounter with the Universe45:36 — Encounter with Ego Death48:51 — Expansive Meditation Encounter53:08 — Wild Invitation54:50 — Credits
- Apr 11, 20261h 15m
Listening Across Species: What Animals Know with Dr. Vanessa Wijngaarden
In this conversation, Victoria Loorz speaks with Dr. Vanessa Wijngaarden, social anthropologist and founder of ANICOM, a European research project exploring intuitive interspecies communication across cultures and contexts. Vanessa reflects on her years living with Maasai communities in East Africa, where immersive fieldwork cracked open a radically relational way of seeing the world, rooted in the cosmology of Osotua, a word meaning "umbilical cord," in which who you are is defined entirely by your relationships. Together they explore what it might mean if animals, land, and the more than human world have something urgent and necessary to say to us right now, and whether we still have the capacity to hear them. Vanessa's research brings together indigenous knowledge holders, professional animal communicators, and hard scientists to ask whether other beings might be participants in knowledge making rather than objects of study. The answers emerging are surprising, humbling, and full of hope — and why recovering our ancient capacity to truly listen across species may be one of the most profound spiritual and scientific invitations of our time.Connect with Vanessa:Vanessa's Website: vanessawijngaarden.comANICOM's Website: anicom.uliege.beFilm: Maasai Speak Back (Trailer)Article (osotua): Wijngaarden, V. & Paul Nkoitoi Ole Murero. 2023. Osotua and decolonizing the academe: Implications of a Maasai concept. In: Curriculum Perspectives 43(Suppl 1): 33-46. Special Issue: Narrowing the Gap Beyond Tokenism: Transdisciplinary Search for Innovative Approaches in the Integration of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Epistemologies in Higher Education. DOI : 10.1007/s41297-023-00190-2. Abstract and full textArticle: Wijngaarden, Vanessa In print. Secularization and decolonization of the academe: In conversation with African faiths and knowledges. In: The Palgrave Handbook of Decolonising Knowledge in Africa.Article (lion and cat): Wijngaarden, Vanessa 2023. Interviewing animals through animal communicators: Potentials of intuitive interspecies communication for multispecies methods. In: Society and Animals 32 (5/6): 519-539. DOI: 10.1163/15685306-bja10122. Full textMentioned in the episode:Wiki: Maasai MaraBook: The Little Soul and the Sun by Neale Donald WalschConnect with the Center:Website: wildspirituality.earthVictoria's Website: victorialoorz.comEmail: hello@wildspirituality.earthLinktree: linktr.ee/ctrforwildspiritualityInstagram: @center_for_wild_spiritualityTimestamps:00:00 — Introduction03:58 — Interview Begins05:39 — The Land Who Raised Vanessa08:30 — Osotua11:19 — Building Trust in Relationship16:56 — Humpback Whale Encounter17:52 — Wallaby Encounter18:26 — Fasting During Deer Encounter20:23 — Normalizing Relationship21:13 — Research in Animal Communication25:17 — Starting with the Experiential26:31 — Unseparating Professional and Personal31:05 — ANICOM34:44 — Lion Says36:09 — The Theme of the Alive World38:38 — Intuitive Interspecies Communication or IIC39:23 — Conversation with a House Cat43:08 — Restoration of Trust and Earth Power51:01 — Victoria Falls Tourists54:12 — Wonder in the Mountains55:24 — Elephant Encounter57:24 — Changing the Ethics of Relational Research61:39 — Reciprocity of Approach66:03 — Next Threshold68:51 — Real and True71:49 — Wild Invitation74:38 — Credits
- Mar 28, 202655 min
A Year of Sacred Conversation with Victoria Loorz
In this one-year anniversary episode of The Holy Wild, Victoria Loorz is joined by producer Stephen Henning for a reflective conversation marking the close of Season One and the threshold of what’s next. Together, they revisit the heart of the podcast, sacred conversation as a living practice, and explore how a year of dialogue has deepened their understanding of relationship with the more-than-human world. Along the way, they reflect on the challenge of language itself, and how learning to speak, however imperfectly, about encounters with the holy and the wild is part of restoring those relationships.The conversation then explores the Seminary of the Wild Earth journey and the invitation it offers, not as a program to complete, but as a container for transformation through practice, community, and deepening relationship with place. Victoria and Stephen reflect on the process of discernment for those considering entering this immersive year of rewilding. They explore what it means to feel the pull toward this work, what it asks of those who say yes, and how to recognize whether this is the right season to step more fully into a life shaped by the holy wild.Connect with the Center:Website: wildspirituality.earthVictoria's Website: victorialoorz.comEmail: hello@wildspirituality.earthLinktree: linktr.ee/ctrforwildspiritualityInstagram: @center_for_wild_spiritualityTimestamps:0:00 Introduction2:34 Welcoming in Our Neighbors5:08 Reflecting on Season 111:27 Languaging About Language20:39 Seminary of the Wild25:24 Midroll25:57 Rhythms of the Seminary34:09 Discerning the Call of the Holy Wild40:23 Stephen’s Dream of White Crow53:07 Sacred Invitation54:32 Credits
- Mar 16, 202653 min
Wild Seasonal Rituals of Aliveness with Daniel Cooperrider
In this conversation, Victoria Loorz speaks with Daniel Cooperrider, writer, ecotheologian, and pastor of Flicker Wild Church in Madison, Wisconsin, and author of Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You and the forthcoming Live Each Season as It Passes. Daniel reflects on what he calls his lifelong “ecological conversion” and on the growing Wild Church movement, which is reimagining wild spiritual with community through outdoor gatherings rooted in the land, the seasons, and relationship with the more than human world.Together, they explore what it means to practice a “liturgy of the land” through outdoor spiritual community, seasonal ritual, and what Daniel calls “campsite thinking,” a way of gathering that embraces impermanence and presence rather than institutional permanence. The dialogue also reflects on earth empathy, mortality, and how sacred practices like communion and baptism might be reimagined through deeper relationship with water, landscape, and place, inviting us to rediscover our place within a living Earth.Connect with Daniel:Personal Website: danielcooperrider.comFlicker WC Website: flickerwildchurch.orgInstagram: @greatlakeswanderersFirst book: Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You: A Field Guide to the BibleNext book (Pre-Order, 1 May 2026 Release): Live Each Season as It PassesMentioned in the episode:Holy Wisdom Monastery Website: holywisdommonastery.orgBook: The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter WohllebenBook: Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne SimardBook: The Overstory by Richard PowersBook: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall KimmererConnect with the Center:Website: wildspirituality.earthVictoria's Website: victorialoorz.comEmail: hello@wildspirituality.earthLinktree: linktr.ee/ctrforwildspiritualityInstagram: @center_for_wild_spiritualityTimestamps:00:00 — Introduction05:09 — Interview Begins06:37 — Daniel’s Ecological Conversion08:58 — Inviting In Daniel’s Neighbors10:14 — Hearing the Call of Seasonality14:06 — Welcoming Victoria’s Neighbors14:46 — Flicker Wild Church15:51 — Cathedral and Campsite Thinking19:39 — Holding Space with Mortality23:32 — Availing and Allying27:10 — Kinship All the Way Up and All the Way Down27:47 — Midroll: Wild Church Network28:41 — The Waves of Possibility31:52 — Ancient Wisdoms Integrating with Technology35:14 — Finding and Becoming Indigenous38:28 — Re-Story-ing Our Place42:45 — Engaging the Rituals of Aliveness46:01 — A Sabbatical of Water Spirituality49:02 — Closing50:48 — Wild Invitation52:58 — Credits
- Feb 28, 202644 min
Legalizing Kinship with César Rodríguez-Garavito
In this conversation, Victoria Loorz speaks with legal scholar César Rodríguez-Garavito, founding director of MOTH (More Than Human Life) at NYU School of Law and a leading voice in multispecies justice. César has led landmark climate change, rights of nature, and Indigenous rights cases, including serving on the Science Panel for the Amazon and as an expert witness before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.Together, they delve into César’s collaboration with Project CETI, which uses AI and non invasive technologies to study sperm whale communication. They explore the audacious possibility that whales might one day be heard in court not as property or evidence, but as subjects with legally recognized voices and interests. At its core, this dialogue is about dismantling human supremacy, crafting ethical guardrails for emerging technologies, and midwifing a shift from dominance to kinship.Connect with Cesar:Website: mothlife.orgPodcast: Crossing The RiverMentioned in the episode:Ecology Law Quarterly Journal (2025 Publication): What if We Understood What Animals Are Saying?: The Legal Impact of AI-Assisted Studies of Animal CommunicationOrganization: CETINYU Article: Marine Biologists Are Using AI to Decode Whale Speech. NYU Law Scholars Are Exploring What That Means for Animals’ Legal RightsThe New Yorker Article: Can We Talk To Whales?Plus: The New Yorker Companion VideoNYU Article: MOTH Unveils New Framework for Nonhuman Animal Communication TechnologiesPEPP (Prepare, Engage, Prevent, Protect) Framework: Nonhuman Animal Communication TechnologiesCity of Ojai Ordinance No. 940Book: An Immense World - How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed YongConnect with the Center:Website: wildspirituality.earthVictoria's Website: victorialoorz.comEmail: hello@wildspirituality.earthLinktree: linktr.ee/ctrforwildspiritualityInstagram: @center_for_wild_spiritualityTimestamps:00:00 – Introduction07:35 – Interview Begins08:16 – Formed By Columbia10:52 – Spiritual Formation11:50 – Learning the Language of Sperm Whales14:44 – Expanding The Understanding of More Than Human18:41 – Letting the Whales Testify For Themselves21:17 – The Birthing Rings of Sperm Whales26:28 – Gentle Technology and Ethical Guidelines32:19 – Imagining the Future of Multispecies Justice38:59 – How To Connect41:45 – Wild Invitation43:37 – Credits
- Feb 14, 202647 min
The Path of True Eldership with Mac Macartney
In this conversation, Victoria Loorz connects with speaker, writer, and mentor Mac Macartney, founder of Embercombe, a UK educational charity and 50-acre retreat and rewilding site dedicated to the flourishing future of all species. In Victoria’s words, Mac is one of our generation’s true elders. He speaks from decades of lived apprenticeship, shaped by not fitting the dominant culture, by failure that became a gift, and by a lifelong search for home. His voice carries the embodied wisdom of someone who has moved through exile, betrayal, and the seduction of power, and chosen integrity.Mac reflects on decades of learning and on the unlearning required to remember the value of the miracle we were born into. He speaks of decency over brilliance, of integrity in the face of power, and of offering one’s gifts for the sake of future generations. At its heart, this is a conversation about integrity, about remaining in the field as long as one is able, and about creating places where there is no hiding truth.Connect with Mac:Website: macmacartney.comTalk Video: The Children's FireMentioned in the episode:Organization: The Earth Elders theearthelders.orgConnect with the Center:Website: wildspirituality.earthVictoria's Website: victorialoorz.comEmail: hello@wildspirituality.earthLinktree: linktr.ee/ctrforwildspiritualityInstagram: @center_for_wild_spiritualityTimestamps:00:00 – Introduction05:15 – Interview Begins12:09 – Embercombe18:57 – Finding the Teachings We Need24:30 – Letting the Gurus Go26:58 – The Cycles of Human Becoming29:53 – Born Into Cosmic Ceremony32:14 – The Grief of Worldview Shifts34:48 – Visited by Earth Elders40:22 – A Benediction for Being Human44:11 – Wild Invitation46:12 – Credits
About The Holy Wild with Victoria Loorz
Join author and founder of the Center for Wild Spirituality, Victoria Loorz, as she explores the possibilities of restoring beloved community and sacred conversation with All That Is: human and more-than-human.
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