84: Navigating the Way of the Rose with Clark Strand & Perdita Finn

Clark Strand and Perdita Finn are cofounders 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. They live with their family in the Catskill Mountains. Their latest book, The Way of the Rose: The Radical Path of the Divine Feminine Hidden in the Rosary was published in November.

Clark Strand

Clark is a writer, poet, environmentalist, teacher at a weekly haiku challenge, and columnist. He has written seven books and articles with varying themes such as religious, spiritual and ecological. His works have been published in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, New York Times, Newsweek, and many more.

Perdita Finn

Perdita is an author and also a coauthor of Suzan Saxman for the book ‘The Reluctant Psychic’. She began her career as a writer teaching and training teachers at Columbia University and helping students free their voices and tell their stories. Her book that focuses on a love story about our souls, taking back the magic, and getting to know the dead will be released this fall in September 2023.

Motherhood is a challenging yet rewarding journey. As a form of meditation, some mothers pray the rosary to contemplate more on life and its mysteries. 

For today’s episode, we have Clark Strand and Perdita Finn of a community called ‘The Way of the Rose’ to enlighten us more about their community, their experiences, and everything about the rosary. 

A vision for a group of parents to support each other in the business of parenting through prayer

25 years ago, Perdita, having two children, kept having a vision of a group that she refers to as “Mothers Without Borders” wherein parents get together to support each other in the business of parenting through prayer.

Back then, she didn’t know how to make that vision happen but now, that group exists in the name of The Way of the Rose, which Clark and Perdita started 12 years ago. It is a nondenominational, fairly feral group devoted to the Earth, the lady by any name of one’s preference, and the rosary which is the group’s container.

People in their group come from all different traditions and are of different ages. In fact, some grandmothers bring their grandchildren or vice versa. There are many young mothers who visit and join the group to pray the rosary together.

Why is the rosary so ubiquitous?

The rosary is a ubiquitous form of prayer and devotion and is popular among many religions worldwide. The rosary has a long history, dating back to the Middle Ages to count repetitions of prayers. In fact, every religion has a tradition of using beads for prayers even dating back to 120,000 years ago where bead-making was already done in Morocco.

The rosary is a simple and accessible form of prayer that can be practiced by anyone, regardless of education or social status. It can be done anywhere, at any time, and only requires a set of prayer beads and the ability to recite a few prayers.

Many believe that the rosary has many spiritual benefits, including strengthening one's faith, increasing devotion, and obtaining spiritual graces. It has become an integral part of religious traditions, with many families passing down the practice from generation to generation.

Meditation and the hormone prolactin in the body

According to Perdita, praying the rosary makes her feel better, similar to when she is nursing her child. The gesture of holding the bead is the gesture the baby makes when they’re...

Clark Strand and Perdita Finn are cofounders 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. They live with their family in the Catskill Mountains. Their latest book, The Way of the Rose: The Radical Path of the Divine Feminine Hidden in the Rosary was published in November.

Clark Strand

Clark is a writer, poet, environmentalist, teacher at a weekly haiku challenge, and columnist. He has written seven books and articles with varying themes such as religious, spiritual and ecological. His works have been published in the Washington Post, Huffington Post, New York Times, Newsweek, and many more.

Perdita Finn

Perdita is an author and also a coauthor of Suzan Saxman for the book ‘The Reluctant Psychic’. She began her career as a writer teaching and training teachers at Columbia University and helping students free their voices and tell their stories. Her book that focuses on a love story about our souls, taking back the magic, and getting to know the dead will be released this fall in September 2023.

Motherhood is a challenging yet rewarding journey. As a form of meditation, some mothers pray the rosary to contemplate more on life and its mysteries. 

For today’s episode, we have Clark Strand and Perdita Finn of a community called ‘The Way of the Rose’ to enlighten us more about their community, their experiences, and everything about the rosary. 

A vision for a group of parents to support each other in the business of parenting through prayer

25 years ago, Perdita, having two children, kept having a vision of a group that she refers to as “Mothers Without Borders” wherein parents get together to support each other in the business of parenting through prayer.

Back then, she didn’t know how to make that vision happen but now, that group exists in the name of The Way of the Rose, which Clark and Perdita started 12 years ago. It is a nondenominational, fairly feral group devoted to the Earth, the lady by any name of one’s preference, and the rosary which is the group’s container.

People in their group come from all different traditions and are of different ages. In fact, some grandmothers bring their grandchildren or vice versa. There are many young mothers who visit and join the group to pray the rosary together.

Why is the rosary so ubiquitous?

The rosary is a ubiquitous form of prayer and devotion and is popular among many religions worldwide. The rosary has a long history, dating back to the Middle Ages to count repetitions of prayers. In fact, every religion has a tradition of using beads for prayers even dating back to 120,000 years ago where bead-making was already done in Morocco.

The rosary is a simple and accessible form of prayer that can be practiced by anyone, regardless of education or social status. It can be done anywhere, at any time, and only requires a set of prayer beads and the ability to recite a few prayers.

Many believe that the rosary has many spiritual benefits, including strengthening one's faith, increasing devotion, and obtaining spiritual graces. It has become an integral part of religious traditions, with many families passing down the practice from generation to generation.

Meditation and the hormone prolactin in the body

According to Perdita, praying the rosary makes her feel better, similar to when she is nursing her child. The gesture of holding the bead is the gesture the baby makes when they’re first born and latching on to the mother’s chest.

As the baby holds his or her mom’s breast, a hormone called prolactin lets down both in the mother’s body and in the child’s body to create that cocooned feeling of calm and peace. It’s similar to when birds sit on their eggs.

The point of the rosary is to pray for our hearts desire

Many people often pray the rosary with specific intentions and petitions in mind. Some pray as a form of meditation as the repetition of prayers and the use of prayer beads serve as a gesture of comfort and peace for them.

As people recite their prayers and meditate, they tend to have a clear understanding and appreciation for life. Holding on to the rosary gives people immense hope that things are going to be better for them.

For Perdita, she imagines filling her two children with prayers and that one day, they can pass that on as well. Praying the rosary, for Clark, has been a meditative practice which helps one contemplate as it was a tradition that’s been alive in the Catholic Church for centuries.

The rosary is specifically designed by our medieval forebears to ease us into what some people call a liminal state – somewhere between dreaming awake in space in the middle of a visionary place where we get messages, and we feel comfort and connection.

What we need more than ever is a community of mothers

As has been mentioned by Perdita, mothers often feel isolated especially in their culture. And so, the idea of building a community of mothers is an important one, as mothers can benefit from the support, solidarity, and shared experiences that come with being part of a community. 

As we all know, motherhood can be a challenging and isolating experience, and having a supportive community can help mothers cope with the stresses and emotional demands of parenting.

Mothers who are part of a community can share their experiences and come together as a united community. By coming together, mothers can leverage their collective power to effect change and make a difference in their communities.

And more than that, building a community of mothers can be an important way to support and empower mothers, and to create a more nurturing and supportive society for families and children.

How Clark and Perdita’s devotion to the rosary came into flowering

The experience of the presence of what Clark and Perdita refer to as Our Lady of Woodstock is what made their devotion to the rosary flower. In fact, they have a shrine of Our Lady of Woodstock on their property and also on the roads and places where she appears. 

People all over the world come by to pray and ask for graces and favors. They also visit to pray for their healing as well as their loved ones’. And then, they come back when their prayers have been answered.

The darkness within us is where life grows

If there’s anything that Perdita wants to tell women, it’s that the darkness which has been used as a weapon against us and our bodies, it’s the same thing that causes our lives to grow.

We have let ourselves demonize the concept of darkness. The mystery of creation has also been demonized. But in reality, in a world filled with mystery, we have to step into that darkness if we want to return to the land of magic and miracles. 

We have to get out of our comfort zone, find a new road and continue to fight. Sometimes, it’s going to be frightening for us but then again, there will always be challenging moments for us.

Even from Clark and Perdita’s experience with their daughter’s illness, they were still grateful because life is full of mystery and darkness but we have to surrender sometimes, be brave and conquer those challenges.

What Rewrite the Mother Code means for Perdita

Perdita quotes Our Lady’s Christmas message – “I invite you, all male and female, young and old to join me in mothering the world. We, all together, we are all one mother in the world.” 

With that, Perdita dwells on what it would be like if teenage boys aspired to be good mothers like the image of St. Joseph and St. Anthony. And so, to rewrite the mother code is to make it not just biological motherhood, but more on what it means to be a mother in the world.

Join their community as they celebrate the 12th anniversary of the Feast Day of the apparition in Woodstock!

To learn more about Our Lady’s messages and praying the rosary, you can join Clark and Perdita’s community in The Way of the Rose (https://wayoftherose.org/). You may also connect with them through their Facebook group called “Way of the Rose”. 

Get Clark and Perdita's Books:

Waking Up to the Dark

The Way of the Rose

Watch out for Perdita’s book ‘Circles Not Lines: Spiritual Community Beyond Patriarchy’ coming out soon!