Alice McDowell, Ph.D., is an author, spiritual director, workshop leader, retreat guide and founder of the Hidden Treasure Program—a three-year training in personal and spiritual growth. She co-founded Light on the Hill Retreat Center in 1991 where she continues to guide individuals and groups on their spiritual journeys. She is author of Hidden Treasure: How to Break Free of Five Patterns that Hide Your True Self (She Writes Press, 2017) and Dance of Light: Christian, Sufi and Zen Wisdom for Today’s Spiritual Seeker (Wisdom Editions, 2022). As a professor of religious studies at Ithaca College for eighteen years, she taught courses in mysticism, world religions, depth psychology, and women’s studies, and received the Dana Fellow for Excellence in College Teaching. McDowell has her doctorate in theology from Fordham University and has trained with Sufi and Buddhist teachers, Christian contemplatives, and humanistic and transpersonal psychologists. She is a mother of two, the grandmother or four and lives at Light on the Hill Retreat Center in Van Etten, NY with her husband and two cats.
Alice’s Journey
When I was 11 years old, my father suddenly died of a heart attack. I started questioning everything. Why did this happen to me? What is the purpose of life, anyway? Why am I here? This set me on a path of discovery.
I decided to go to college where I could study philosophy and religion, hoping this would give me answers to my questions. Being practical, however, and following others’ advice, I majored in math, not religion. I then worked for two years as a statistical analyst in the NYC financial district.
At the end of those two years, still not satisfied, I defied all sense of practicality and went to graduate school for religious studies and upon graduation began teaching religious studies at Ithaca College where I taught courses for 18 years in mysticism, world religions, depth psychology, and women’s studies.
Knowing that while academics could orient me towards—but not actually give me—what I was seeking, I started meditating and working with a spiritual guide—a Catholic priest and mystic. I became an initiate in the Inayati Sufi Order founded by Hazrat Inayat Khan a path dedicated to deepening the spiritual life, regardless of faith, belief, or non-belief. More recently, I’ve studied with Adyashanti, a contemporary American spiritual teacher, who trained in the Zen tradition. I’ve also studied with energetic healers and transpersonal psychologists.
Recognizing that I grew most during retreats, and wanting others to also benefit from this profound process, I co-founded, along with my husband, Light on the Hill Retreat Center which officially opened in 1991. Light on the Hill gave me a wonderful place to guide others. I love the deep connection that takes place between guide and seeker during the retreat process, when both are transformed.
My journey led me to the IM School of Healing Arts where I learned about the five personality patterns—called character structures. Impressed with the changes occurring both within my classmates and myself, and building on my prior studies, I developed a three-year program of five weekends a year called Finding the Hidden Treasure, which I taught for twenty-one years and now serve in a mentoring capacity. My first book, Hidden Treasure, explores these five structures and gives exercises to help free you from their strong grip so you can discover your true self.
After decades of teaching, guiding others, and continuing my own spiritual growth, I awoke one morning to an inner voice. “Write down the wisdom you’ve gained over the years.” Dance of Light: Christian, Sufi and Zen Wisdom for Today’s Spiritual Seeker is my heartfelt response to this sacred directive. It’s a lifetime compilation of spiritual insights and sacred teachings.
I’ve taken you to the present. I hope you’ll be part of my future.
To learn more about Alice, see her blog 20th Anniversary of Light on the Hill.
Peter Fortunato Introduces Alice and her Book
Listen to an interview with Alice on the WRFI radio program, The Made of Clay Report, with Eric Clay, M.Div., Ph.D., host of the program and founder of Shared Journeys.
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