Soul writing is the name I have given to a writing practice with introspective, visionary, poetic, and experimental qualities—a form of writing that anyone can practice alone or in a group, a writing that aims to explore inner worlds and to observe life in search of meaning and, above all, of the soul’s perspective.

At this point it is necessary to define what I mean by soul, a term I love to use precisely because it escapes any single definition and evokes multiple associations, all directed toward the invisible.

I conceive of the soul as that part of our being that sees the totality of the events and processes that make up our life, recognizes their essence, and holds the blueprint that governs the unfolding of our existence.

This view of the soul corresponds to an inner feeling that has accompanied me for most of my life. From this arose the idea that an art oriented toward the soul should be an expression of the tension toward meaning, but also a tool for healing and for celebrating the complexity of our lives.

Usually, however, it is not the soul that writes; it is the small ego, which gives voice to the psyche and sometimes recounts the vicissitudes of an incarnated soul. Writing thus becomes a search for that point of transition between what is intimate and what is universal.

Yet at times the soul communicates directly, and the small ego serves as a humble translator. Something then comes into being that resembles a postmodern version of mystical poetry or a kind of poetic channeling. But soul writing does not consist only in letting the soul speak; it consists in giving voice to all parts of ourselves, without forgetting the unity of our being. For this reason it is a form of writing made up of myriad fragments that come together in meaningful constellations.

It is therefore a kind of writing that takes a step beyond intimism, creative play, and literary writing in the strict sense.

It is also a practice that combines and blends genres and experiments with different forms to create hybrid, evocative texts. Introspective or (auto)biographical texts can coexist with fantastic and visionary texts, with poetry and short prose (flash fiction). Mini philosophical essays or meditative and contemplative writing can also be soul writing, and much more besides. One experiments with forms until finding those that resonate most deeply.

Soul writing is not a therapeutic practice in the strict sense, although the aims of introspective work that opens onto spirituality are always indirectly therapeutic. What I seek, however, is not a practice with an extrinsic purpose, one that serves something other than translating—always partially and approximately—the tension between ego, psyche, soul, and spirit.

Everyone finds their own way of defining these terms. Each of us lives within the tension generated by their coexistence within us. Writing becomes a tool for keeping the dialogue between them alive.

I think of this writing as something different from a mere process of self-discovery. I do not want it relegated to practices of ego self-promotion, in which writing and introspection turn into tools for self-improvement, for discovering one’s potential and everything that obstructs its manifestation.

We always think it is only about us, but we truly begin to exist when we decide to collaborate with forces that transcend us. The ego struggles, constantly trying to (re)construct itself, but at times it listens to the wrong voices; it is corruptible because it was born in and for this dimension, which seems so limited until we learn to see through it transparently.

Thus soul writing, too, will be a form of writing that loves the ego and does not mortify it—at most, it deconstructs it.

But now let us try to be a bit more practical: what do I mean concretely by soul writing?

Stated in very reductive terms: a particular form of creative writing.

There are no specific techniques. One can draw on the thousands of techniques invented in the field of creative writing, but use them with a different intention—less aimed at purely creative expression and more at the unveiling of successive layers of meaning that gradually take on a complete form, revealing something that had until then remained latent.

Creative techniques are further integrated with meditative, imaginative, and psychophysical practices. Above all, the aim is to create a space that fosters the production of texts whose purpose is not only expressive but also transformative.

The goal is to create a textual corpus, that is, a collection of meaningful texts.

One writes texts that have a particular function and value for us. These may be texts intended for ourselves or texts that will be shared and, if desired, even published.

What matters is that the writing, in some way, expands consciousness and allows us to intuit the higher order that presides over our lives. There is always a beauty in lives, one that we sometimes fail to recognize; for this reason we also seek to write texts that satisfy subjective aesthetic criteria.

The texts must acquire a somewhat magical quality, be condensed energy, contain mini-revelations, be small treatises or fantasies that make things happen within us and, at times, even around us.

Even if these texts position themselves outside literary discourse, this does not mean they should be amateurish. Care for form is an integral part of the process. But we do not rely on any particular stylistic rule; each person slowly finds their own criteria.

After practicing soul writing for some time, we will have at our disposal a series of short texts to which we can always return, perhaps writing other versions that express the next step in our tortuous evolutionary path.

They will be texts we can always reread, and perhaps each time they will tell us something else. They will be the tangible form of a process of soul making. This is an expression taken from archetypal psychology and refers to immersing oneself in inner images until experience is transformed into psychic depth, allowing the world to acquire symbolic thickness. I would go even further and say that the process of soul making is a true expression of the soul—that part which presides over our being in the world and safeguards its meaning.

So is soul writing a slow embroidery that ultimately reveals a meaningful image? Perhaps. The metaphor of weaving feels very close to the work of writing, in addition to being one of the richest and most evocative images of creative work as such.

All of this may seem much more difficult than it actually is. Those who wish to try soul writing can enroll in my course Gates of Light, or contact me ([...]). I also offer individual accompaniment for those who wish to practice this kind of writing on their own.