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 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 create space for discernment, exploring 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 and the wild.

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:

• 0:00 Introduction
• 2:34 Welcoming in Our Neighbors
• 5:08 Reflecting on Season 1
• 11:27 Languaging About Language
• 20:39 Seminary of the Wild
• 25:24 Midroll
• 25:57 Rhythms of the Seminary
• 34:09 Discerning the Call of the Holy Wild
• 40:23 Stephen’s Dream of White Crow
• 53:07 Sacred Invitation
• 54:32 Credits

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.com
• Flicker WC Website: flickerwildchurch.org
• Instagram: @greatlakeswanderers
• First book: Speak with the Earth and It Will Teach You: A Field Guide to the Bible
• Next book (Pre-Order, 1 May 2026 Release): Live Each Season as It Passes

Mentioned in the episode:

• Holy Wisdom Monastery Website: holywisdommonastery.org
• Book: The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
• Book: Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard
• Book: The Overstory by Richard Powers
• Book: Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

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:

• 00:00 — Introduction
• 05:09 — Interview Begins
• 06:37 — Daniel’s Ecological Conversion
• 08:58 — Inviting In Daniel’s Neighbors
• 10:14 — Hearing the Call of Seasonality
• 14:06 — Welcoming Victoria’s Neighbors
• 14:46 — Flicker Wild Church
• 15:51 — Cathedral and Campsite Thinking
• 19:39 — Holding Space with Mortality
• 23:32 — Availing and Allying
• 27:10 — Kinship All the Way Up and All the Way Down
• 27:47 — Midroll: Wild Church Network
• 28:41 — The Waves of Possibility
• 31:52 — Ancient Wisdoms Integrating with Technology
• 35:14 — Finding and Becoming Indigenous
• 38:28 — Re-Story-ing Our Place
• 42:45 — Engaging the Rituals of Aliveness
• 46:01 — A Sabbatical of Water Spirituality
• 49:02 — Closing
• 50:48 — Wild Invitation
• 52:58 — Credits

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.org
• Podcast: Crossing The River

Mentioned 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 Communication
• Organization: CETI
• NYU Article: Marine Biologists Are Using AI to Decode Whale Speech. NYU Law Scholars Are Exploring What That Means for Animals’ Legal Rights
• The New Yorker Article: Can We Talk To Whales?
  • Plus: The New Yorker Companion Video
• NYU Article: MOTH Unveils New Framework for Nonhuman Animal Communication Technologies
• PEPP (Prepare, Engage, Prevent, Protect) Framework: Nonhuman Animal Communication Technologies
• City of Ojai Ordinance No. 940
• Book: An Immense World - How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong

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:

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 07:35 – Interview Begins
• 08:16 – Formed By Columbia
• 10:52 – Spiritual Formation
• 11:50 – Learning the Language of Sperm Whales
• 14:44 – Expanding The Understanding of More Than Human
• 18:41 – Letting the Whales Testify For Themselves
• 21:17 – The Birthing Rings of Sperm Whales
• 26:28 – Gentle Technology and Ethical Guidelines
• 32:19 – Imagining the Future of Multispecies Justice
• 38:59 – How To Connect
• 41:45 – Wild Invitation
• 43:37 – Credits

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.com
• Talk Video: The Children's Fire

Mentioned in the episode:

• Organization: The Earth Elders theearthelders.org

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:

• 00:00 – Introduction
• 05:15 – Interview Begins
• 12:09 – Embercombe
• 18:57 – Finding the Teachings We Need
• 24:30 – Letting the Gurus Go
• 26:58 – The Cycles of Human Becoming
• 29:53 – Born Into Cosmic Ceremony
• 32:14 – The Grief of Worldview Shifts
• 34:48 – Visited by Earth Elders
• 40:22 – A Benediction for Being Human
• 44:11 – Wild Invitation
• 46:12 – Credits

In this conversation, Victoria Loorz is joined by Barnaby Steel, artist and co-founder of Marshmallow Laser Feast, an experiential art collective devoted to awakening the senses and expanding perception through multisensory exhibits. Together, they explore how art, science, and imagination engage the illusion of separation, and how even controversial technologies like AI might be held in ways that deepen relationship rather than fragment it. In a time when technology often distracts and numbs, the conversation asks a different question: what if our tools could help us remember how to sense, feel, and belong in relationship?

Barnaby reflects on the roots of his creative life, shaped by deep observation, risk, and a willingness to let go. He shares stories about the collaborative experiences created when artists work with advanced technologies to translate scientific insight into lived experiences that extend our senses beyond their usual limits and inviting a felt experience of interconnection with breath, trees, sound, and the human body. Weaving themes of perception, ritual, grief, and awe, the episode considers immersive art as a modern rite of passage, not as an escape from the world, but as a return to it with softened defenses and renewed devotion to relationship.

Connect with Barnaby:

• Website: marshmallowlaserfeast.com
• Instagram: @marshmallowlaserfeast
• LinkedIn: @marshmallowlaserfeast
• Newsletter Signup: mailchi.mp/marshmallowlaserfeast/newsletter-signup

Mentioned in the episode:

• Book: Existence, A Story by David Hinton
• Video: Richard Feynman's story of "What's the name of a bird?"
• White Mirror - The Sensory Wellness Agency Website: whitemirror.studio
• Video: Samuel Barber - Adagio for Strings

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:

• 00:00 — Introduction
• 06:57 — Interview Begins
• 08:24 — The Land That Raised Barnaby
• 11:17 — Existence Tissue
• 15:19 — Marshmallow Laser Feast
• 23:01 — Physical Reality Is Spiritual Reality
• 32:51 — How Experience Shifts Us
• 37:34 — Caring for Self Is Caring for All
• 41:40 — Virtual Reality & Expanding Empathy
• 45:56 — Changing Perception
• 49:26 — Patterns of Consciousness
• 53:19 — Falling in Love
• 57:11 — A Wild Invitation
• 58:58 — Credits

In this conversation, Victoria Loorz is joined by Rachel Fleming, climate scientist, former Environment Agency policy advisor, writer, educator, and part of the Animate Earth founding circle. Together they explore modern animism, the remembering of the “common wild tongue,” and what it means to rebuild intimacy with a living, intelligent world. Rachel shares her journey bridging climate science, holistic ecology, and spiritual practice, reflecting on the limits of purely technical or policy-based responses to ecological collapse. Through stories of place, trees, and faithful return, the conversation traces the long human exile from belonging and the quiet emergence of a different way of being human rooted in listening, love, and relationship. Weaving themes of grief, beauty, ancestral memory, and hope, this episode invites listeners to remember that transformation rarely begins with grand solutions, but with simple, devoted acts of attention that restore our capacity to speak with and listen to the living world.

Connect with Rachel:

• Website: animate-earth.org
• Substack: The Common Wild Tongue

Mentioned in the episode:

• Stephan Harding pioneering Holistic Science
• Colin Campbell: colincampbell.co.za
• Monica Gagliano: monicagagliano.com
• Anna Breytenbach: animalspirit.org
• Oxford Real Farming Conference: orfc.org.uk
• Nathanial Hughs & The School of Intuitive Herbalism: schoolofintuitiveherbalism.weedsintheheart.org.uk
• Patrick MacManaway-The Land Whisperer: patrickmacmanaway.com
• Dr. Lyla June Johnson: lylajune.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:

• 07:26 – Interview begins with invocation
• 10:18 – The mountain that raised Rachel
• 14:37 – How Rachel comes to this work through science
• 19:57 – Holistic science
• 21:33 – Animate Earth
• 25:59 – The common wild tongue
• 31:10 – Bridging “woo”
• 35:09 – It is actually simple
• 38:20 – Evolution is a spiral
• 42:49 – The importance of subtle work
• 44:48 – Needed medicine
• 47:19 – Interconnection goes so deep
• 48:42 – The heart field
• 51:55 – Neighbor ash tree
• 55:38 – Rachel’s work
• 57:54 – Invitation to advocacy
• 59:53 – Credits

In this conversation, Debra Rienstra, PhD, author of Refugia Faith and professor of English at Calvin University, joins Victoria Loorz to explore refugia, a biological term for small pockets of life that survive widespread environmental stress and become sources of regeneration after collapse. Debra invites us to imagine these protected pockets are also in our communities as forms of sanctuary amid increasingly uninhabitable social, spiritual, and ecological conditions. Together, they reflect on how small gatherings rooted in love for the land can counter paralysis in the face of global crisis and rewild our sense of vocation and voice. They explore the spiritual risk of loving places we may not own or keep, while naming how restoration begins through intimate, connected acts of care that allow life to persist and return.

Connect with Debra:

• Website: debrarienstra.com
• Book: Refugia Faith: Seeking Hidden Shelters, Ordinary Wonders, and the Healing of the Earth
• Newsletter: refugianewsletter.substack.com
• Upcoming Book: Refugia Church (January 2027)

Mentioned in the episode:

• Book: Great Tide Rising: Towards Clarity and Moral Courage in a time of Planetary Change by Kathleen Dean Moore
• Organization: blackchurchfoodsecurity.net
• Book: Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization by Bill McKibben
• Encyclical Letter Laudato Si' of the Holy Father Francis on Care For Our Common Home
• Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti of the Holy Father Francis on Fraternity and Social Friendship

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:

• 00:00 — Introduction
• 03:48 — Refugia
• 08:58 — Finding My Small Work
• 11:44 — Deciding the Work Based on Context
• 14:33 — Examples of Human Refugia
• 20:21 — From Passivity to Citizenship
• 24:21 — Loving Places That Are Only Yours for a Time
• 29:36 — Choosing to Belong
• 31:59 — Grieving Reality Together
• 34:18 — Mitigation and Adaptation
• 40:02 — A Kalo Farmer in Relationship With the Land
• 43:04 — The Book of Nature & Pantheism Paranoia
• 46:30 — The Wild Edge
• 50:03 — Wild Invitation
• 53:24 — Credits

In this conversation, author of Earth and Soul: Reconnecting Amid Climate Chaos, speaker, retreat leader and longtime spiritual formation guide Leah Rampy joins Victoria Loorz to explore spirituality as a lived relationship to the natural world—where trees are kin, not symbols, and reciprocity replaces extraction. Leah reflects on her journey from corporate life into a decolonizing spirituality & leadership rooted in ecological belonging, sharing stories of black walnut trees, Wild Church as a practice of community and communion, and the slow unlayering of protective armor. Together, they reflect on how awe and grief must be held together, how the deepest forms of communion exceed language, and how remembering ourselves as part of a living, interwoven world can restore wholeness in a time of collective unraveling.

Connect with Leah:

• Website: leahmoranrampy.com
• Book: Earth and Soul
• Book: Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees

Mentioned in the episode:

• Shalem Institute

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:

• 00:00 — Introduction
• 02:57 — Interview begins
• 04:36 — Leah’s background
• 07:30 — A calling to educate
• 11:38 — The power of storytelling
• 13:20 — The black walnut tree
• 17:05 — Decolonizing the soul
• 20:33 — Communication in community
• 23:26 — Seeking to know how we cause harm
• 27:05 — Bearing witness
• 28:39 — Church of the Wild: Two Rivers
• 33:59 — Love beyond words
• 35:08 — Communion
• 37:26 — Trees as ancient teachers of life
• 41:34 — Giving and receiving
• 46:33 — A wandering invitation
• 48:38 — Credits