The Seven Valleys through Creative Arts Exploration focuses on studying Bahá’u’lláh’s The Seven Valleys through creative arts expressions such as drawing, writing, photography, crafts, music, and/or dance. The Seven Valleys focuses on spiritual development.

This is a practicum class that emphasizes active regular individual and group participation. Intended outcomes for this class include spiritual insight, personal transformation, and diversity awareness based on an intuitive rather than an academic or informational approach.  Much like language learning, the learner gains facility and development through regular practice, in this case, through weekly artistic postings based on the readings and resources.  The weekly Zoom sessions, while optional, foster a sense of community as well as provide the opportunity for group creative practices on quotes, in five-minute segments for the practice itself and additional time for reflections.

No previous art experience is necessary. This is not a course for artistic development per se, but rather a course that depends upon the creative process to increase spiritual understanding and personal development. The course methodology draws upon creative instincts of heart and spirit to access and express elements of these mystical texts that resonate and have meaning for the learner. While the actual time commitment per week can be minimal, the learning process depends on regular personal involvement with the materials and art postings (one per week) as well as reflections on the postings of another learner’s art that represent the experience and meaning the reader derives.  This reflection process acts both as a support for each learner as well as a way to expand their awareness beyond their own individual perspectives. The basic course text is The Call of the Divine Beloved, which contains both The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys, including an updated translation of the Seven Valleys.