Podcast: Perdita Finn and Clark Strand

This week, Rabbi Rami speaks with Clark Strand and Perdita Finn. They are the co-founders of The Way of the Rose, an inclusive fellowship of rosary friends dedicated to the earth and to the Lady, “by any name we wish to call Her.” Strand is the author of numerous articles and books on spiritual practices, including Seeds from a Birch Tree: Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey and Waking Up to the Dark: Ancient Wisdom for a Sleepless Age. Finn is a children’s book author and former high school teacher. Their most recent book is The Way of the Rose: The Radical Path of the Divine Feminine Hidden in the Rosary.

While rosary beads are often associated with Catholicism, Strand and Finn are not Catholic. They maintain that the rosary is for all people, of many spiritual pursuits. Most of the world’s religions have included beads, or worry beads, over the past 100,000 years, Perdita explains. “Holding onto the rosary is like holding on to your mother,” Perdita says. The couple note that it is a way of calming down.

Perdita is a children’s book author who has written for the “My Little Pony” stories, in fact, and talks about how there is a similar message of radical inclusivity with their work on the rosary. “It’s about tremendous diversity and getting along with each other. What would it mean to create spiritual community without hierarchy? ... That was a big goal with us for writing The Way of the Rose.”

The rosary is a story that invites you to share your own stories, Clark says.

For other writings from and about Clark and Perdita in Spirituality and Health, click here. Also, be sure to subscribe, for free, to “Essential Conversations” at any of your favorite podcast sources.