Sky Meadow Institute

12/11/2025

Join Dr. Theo Dawson of Lectica for the first in a series of explorations of Lectica's revolutionary new tool, MindLog. MindLog uses Lectica's Computerized Lectical Assessment System (CLAS) to measure the hierarchical complexity of your own written work! Track your own growth and learning in different domains by scoring essays, journal entries, blog posts, and other written content.

In this video, we discuss how to use MindLog for best results and what pitfalls to avoid. Dr. Dawson goes over some of the background and mechanics of MindLog, with discussion following.

In a few weeks, those who'd like can gather with us again to talk about our results/findings after getting our scores from MindLog. What did we find surprising? What new questions do we have? If you've been interested in hierarchical complexity and the Lectical Scale in particular, there's no better way to get an understanding of it all than through your own learning history. Understand what the scores mean through reference to your own lived experience! And set yourself up to continue growing and complexifying through tips for virtuous learning cycles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3hfp1x0WcE

10/27/2025

Another metamodern spirituality lab has wrapped here at Sky Meadow! Thanks so much to everyone who came out for some "deep hanging out" and inquiry into metamodern perspectives on Love.

10/07/2025

🔊Don't forget to sign up for the Fall '25 Metamodern Spirituality Lab October 24-26

09/24/2025

The '25 Fall Metamodern Spirituality Lab is happening next month! October 24-26 (or starting the 21st for the pre-retreat). Register here: https://www.skymeadowinstitute.org/events

09/20/2025

Watch the 10-part video series, A Universal Learning Process, free on our website.

"Is meaning purely subjective—a matter of personal taste—or can anything be objectively meaningful? Why does it matter so deeply to our well-being, and what happens when it’s lost? Drawing on psychology, philosophy, information theory, and big history, this work excavates the origins of meaning from the deepest strata of existence. Beginning with the fundamental dynamics of energy and information, it traces how meaning emerges in the universe—from matter, to life, to mind, and into culture. Along the way, it explores the vital connections between meaning, viability, and flourishing, revealing an ongoing learning process woven into the fabric of cosmic evolution. With clarity and depth, this videobook situates human meaning within a much larger evolutionary story—one that stretches from the birth of the cosmos to the evolution of culture and the sacred. If you’ve ever wondered not just what is meaningful, but what meaning is, this is your invitation to explore."

Is meaning purely subjective—a matter of personal taste—or can anything be objectively meaningful? Why does it matter so deeply to our well-being, and what happens when it’s lost? Drawing on psychology, philosophy, information theory, and big history, this work excavates the origins of meaning...

08/23/2025

"There’s a certain kind of quiet you can only find when you're surrounded by tall trees, wildflowers, and people who are open to simply connecting with each other..."

There’s a certain kind of quiet you can only find when you're surrounded by tall trees, wildflowers, and people who are open to simply connecting with each other. That’s what we experienced during A Vegan Adventure in Vermont this July. We gathered together on land that seemed to breathe with us...

07/08/2025

NEW FROM SKY MEADOW PRESS: 'A Brief History of God: From Nature Spirits to Cosmic Consciousness' by Nish Dubashia

A Brief History of God: From Nature Spirits to Cosmic Consciousness is a thought-provoking journey through the evolution of humanity's spiritual understanding. In this compelling exploration, Nish Dubashia traces the arc of religious and spiritual thought, from the earliest tribal beliefs rooted in ancestral spirits, to the modern search for unity and connection in a fragmented world. With clarity and depth, Dubashia reveals how our concepts of God, the self, and spirituality have shifted through the ages, shaped by culture, power, and the quest for meaning.

This book is for anyone curious about the profound transformations in human consciousness that have guided religious evolution. Whether you're interested in the psychology of belief, the interplay between science and spirituality, or simply looking for a fresh perspective on the future of faith, A Brief History of God offers a holistic and integrated approach. With a unique blend of history, philosophy, and personal reflection, Dubashia invites you to not only understand but also reflect on your own spiritual journey—offering a roadmap to a more interconnected, harmonious future.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FH28Q63K

07/05/2025

SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE

Every year, Sky Meadow Institute aims to host a promising early-career scholar for an extended live-in residency, during which learning occurs across a host of domains from the intellectual to the pragmatic to the spiritual. Residents live in the Pond House cottage for a duration of up to three weeks, learning homesteading skills, discussing philosophy, exploring meditative practices, and developing other capacities.

The 2025 Scholar-in-Residence is Nathan Foote:

Nathan graduated from Wesleyan University in 2024 with a BA in Religion. He will be a candidate for a Master's of Divinity at Harvard Divinity School in the fall of 2025. Nathan’s main academic interest is studying Plato and the Platonic dialogues as a literary genre that embeds a lived relationship to Truth and Goodness. He aims to study the relationships to Truth and Goodness that were practiced and articulated by Socrates, the literary character, and his literary dialogue partners, given the context of Plato’s relationship to his real-life teacher. Nathan is also interested in the transformation of philosophy as a literary genre in the wake of Plato’s literary corpus—across the Middle Platonists, into Neoplatonism, broadly through Enlightenment philosophy, and finally in the tripartite move of modernism, postmodernism, and metamodernism. When he isn’t learning to read Attic Greek or speak metamodernist philosophy, Nathan enjoys playing the electric bass, writing fiction, and gardening.

​During his stay at Sky Meadow, Nathan will be engaged in intensive study of ancient Greek and reading Jason Storm's Metamodernism: The Future of Theory while learning the ins and outs of tending an organic garden and discussing apophatic mysticism.

https://www.skymeadowinstitute.org/residencies

03/28/2025

The audiobook version of The Evolution of Meaning: 1. A Universal Learning Process, read by Layman Pascal, is now out!

A Universal Learning Process: The Evolution of Meaning, Book 1

03/18/2025

Metamodern philosopher and political thinker Hanzi Freinacht is coming to Sky Meadow. Join us for a 3-day gathering August 28-31 to explore transformation in a time of chaos.

"Meaning crisis?" asks Hanzi. "If you can’t find meaning in the midst of a fascist takeover, on the brink of another world war, while an emerging techno-feudal oligarchy stands ready to stamp on a human face for-ever—then you were probably never going to find it anywhere.

So. Is the so-called “liminal space” just another toothless meditation club, a therapy group for the epistemically exhausted? Or is it something far more potent—a slumbering tiger, waiting to be unleashed upon history?"

Join Hanzi for a 3-day gathering on metamodern politics in the glorious beauty of northern Vermont.

03/13/2025

Come join us this spring for the next metamodern spirituality lab, hosted here at Sky Meadow in Vermont and led by Layman Pascal. Just 9 weeks away!

May 16-18, 2025 (Pre-Retreat Starts May 13)
As usual, we’ll gather for rich discussion, emergent ritual, and the opportunity to deepen bonds of community and intimate connection with friends, land, and the sacred.

This lab's orienting theme will be the metamodern perspectives on “the subtle.”

The lab runs the weekend of May 16th to 18th, but as usual there will also be the option to arrive earlier, starting on the 13th, as part of an extended experience during which we’ll work the gardens together and co-create the weekend's opening and closing ceremonies.

If you're interested in metamodern spirituality and keen to deepen relationships with our liminal tribe in person, beyond the screen, consider joining us on Sky Meadow's 115 acres of rural sanctuary for campires, discussions, practices, food, and of course always lots of fun.

You can register for the weekend event HERE. Price: $550

If you’d like to join us early, don’t forget to also sign up HERE. Price: PWYW

03/02/2025

Throughout March, Brendan Graham Dempsey, Jim Palmer, Rob Zahn, and Kevin Crouse will be exploring the prospect of a reconstructonist Christianity. This includes ideas related to the Emergent Church movement, Metamodern Spirituality, and Peter Rollins’ Church of Contradiction, among others.

These events will challenge us to think the contradictions of recent progressive Christian movements, the challenges of both deconstruction and reconstruction, the role of metamodern philosophy in thinking God, as well as open us to a personal relation to both church and religion.

If you sign up, you will have access to four live events which will last approximately 3 hours in duration, as well as lifetime access to the recordings through a private website hosted by Philosophy Portal. The entire month-long event is just $50. Would love to see you there!

It starts today! 2:30 pm EST
Zoom link and other information to follow registration.

Regsiter here:

A month-long, 4-event offering through Philosophy Portal with Brendan Graham Dempsey, Jim Palmer, Rob Zahn, and Kevin Crouse for $50.