• Would your organization benefit from a dynamic speaker?

• Someone who can engage and entertain?

• Someone who can provide that "WOW!" factor your audience demands?

• Someone exceptional and uniquely qualified; someone who has the credentials, has actually done, and can speak authoritatively about what others only only dare to dream?

​Look no further. You've found him! R.E. Kretz, The Stoned Templar.​​​​

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What topics can Kretz speak about?

• Spirituality: Folks often wonder about the existence of God, why they must endure pain and suffering, and what their purpose is. Let me put it to you this way, Kretz probably should have died more times than a cat has lives. He's beaten Parkinson's, survived a heart attack and a stroke; had his leg shattered and was told he'd never walk again, has fractured vertebrae, broken ribs, a plethora of other injuries and health issues, and has endured various forms of abuse. Yet, he's still here. Why? His is a truly remarkable uplifting story of faith, belief, determination, survival, and success in the face of overwhelming odds. If anyone can tell you if God exists, why we must endure pain and suffering, and what our purpose is, Kretz can. He's also practiced meditation for over 50 years, and investigated comparative religions and consciousness.

• Freemasonry, the Knights Templar, and the Occult: Kretz has held leadership positions as a Mason, Knight Templar, and Rosicrucian for 20 years and has a lifelong familiarity with the occult. There's a lot of overlap in these topics, yet each is unique. Collectively they're misunderstood, contributing to cognitive dissonance. Kretz's quest has been to uncover the truth: the secrets of Freemasonry, the modus operandi of the Templars, what they did with the treasure, who Hugues de Payens really was, and how alchemy, the Philosophers' Stone, and the meanings of symbols factor in with these and other groups. What Kretz has discovered is contrary to the popular narrative and therefore controversial. It's an intriguing multifaceted tapestry comprised of many colorful threads woven together on the loom of time, making for a dynamic presentation full of surprises. Kretz has presented to numerous Masonic bodies in Virginia and Tennessee.

• Shamanism: There's a growing "return to nature" movement. It's more than just a weekend hiking and camping. It's about being in-tune with nature, becoming grounded and one with it like in the movie "Avatar". It's about expanding our sense of awareness and consciousness. Kretz spent 3 years on Clinch Mountain with a Native American shaman named Charles learning the "old ways" and going on vision quests. What he experienced, what he encountered, what he learned, forever changed him. Charles was a raven, Hermes, a messenger of the gods and guardian of the mountain. Richard became the little snake, the keeper of knowledge and protector of the flower of wisdom. Join him to hear fascinating shamanic tales of adventure on Clinch Mountain!

• Nature: Kretz is a Master Naturalist, Past Chairman of the Clinch River Preserves, member of the The Clinch Coalition (TCC) Advisory Board, a past President of the Appalachian Cave Conservancy, member of several regional birding clubs, and is a beekeeper. Van Gogh famously once said: "If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere." This is certainly true of far southwest Virginia and upper east Tennessee. All you need do is open your back door and step out! Did you know that in the 1980s The Nature Conservancy (TNC) identified this region as "one of the last great places on Earth" because of its ecological and biological diversity? Southwest Virginia west of the Interstate 77 corridor contains approximately one million acres of national forests, state forests, wildlife management areas, natural area preserves, parks, and protected lands within three physiographic provinces. Watersheds from the Clinch, Powell, and Holston rivers rise here to form the headwater drainages of the Tennessee River system. The region also has large areas of karst topography, famous for having many caves and sinkhole systems. It’s here that we find the longest cave system in Virginia, the almost 29-mile long Omega Cave System near Big Stone Gap in Wise County. Omega has a vertical depth of 1,263 feet, making it the deepest cave east of the Rockies and north of Mexico in North America. Sixteen of Virginia’s seventeen peaks exceeding 4,500 ft. are found in southwest Virginia. Until decimated by logging and then blight in the early 1900s, the American Chestnut tree at one time comprised as much as 25% of the region's forests. Today roughly 1,900 species of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants are documented in far southwest Virginia, including approximately 130 species of trees, 76 species of fern and fern allies, almost 40 species of orchid, and 2 dozen violet species. In the Clinch, Holston, and Powell rivers about 18 species of rare and endangered fish are found, including the Paddlefish. Further, there are roughly 55 threatened freshwater crustaceans that include Crayfish, Isopods, and Amphipods. These rivers also support the world's greatest concentration of Freshwater Mussels, of which 26 of the remaining 45 species are globally rare, including 13 listed as federally imperiled. Reptiles and amphibians found in southwestern Virginia include approximately 9 Frog, 4 Toad, 17 Snake, 3 Lizard, 11 Turtle, and 35 Salamander species. In one 2,000 acre plot on Mount Rogers and Whitetop Mountain, 20 species of Salamanders are known, the largest concentration of Salamander species in an area that size on Earth. All 16 species of Virginia's Bats are protected and there are more than 50 known unique, rare, and endangered cave organisms such as the Unthanks Cave Snail and Lee County Cave Isopod. Southwest Virginia is one of the few places in the east where both Bald Eagles and Golden Eagles can be seen. A birding hotspot, the region is located in the midst of the migratory flyway. Each year during September thousands of Broad-Winged Hawks and other raptors are meticulously counted from a fire tower above the town of Mendota as they migrate south. Also in September, birders from around the country gather at a home near Grundy to observe and photograph upwards of 70 avian species inclusive of 30 species of migrating fall Warblers. Six different Woodpecker species, several species of Vireos, Wrens, Cuckoos, Tanagers, and many more are found in this area. In all, perhaps 175 species of birds, not including waterfowl, occur here, and several of these are listed as threatened. Invertebrates are some of the most uncelebrated creatures found in far southwest Virginia. These include Insects, Centipedes, Millipedes, and Spiders. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries estimates Virginia has between 18,000 and 20,000 species of invertebrates with approximately 150 species listed as endangered or threatened. In total there are approximately 500 known rare and endangered species of flora and fauna found in southwest VA. Kretz's efforts in exploring and photographically documenting southwest Virginia has led to improving the environmental sensitivity of public officials and agencies, allowing them to make informed decisions. He's given presentations to the TCC, numerous birding clubs, Virginia Master Naturalist classes, etc.

• Tales of Exploration and Adventure: Traveling the world with the military (Navy and Army), Kretz attended the University of Life and experienced history firsthand: bawdry tales of a young sailor in the Caribbean, the grift and graft and stench of Asia's wet markets  and the Marcos regime; the joyful reunion of families and a country when the Berlin Wall came down; the deep sapphire blue of a sea so calm that it looked like glass contrasting with raging black mountains of hurricane driven waves so tall they swallowed ships; the solitude of sitting on the fantail at night gazing in wonder up at countless twinkling stars and rainbow-like arc of the Milky Way. Europe to Asia, he's been to the gardens of Versailles and the gardens of the Japanese Emperor's palace; the Zugspitze and Mt. Fuji, Stonehenge and Buddhist monasteries, King Arthur's castle and Neuschwanstein, the island of Leyte and beaches of Normandy. There were death defying encounters with venomous snakes, bears, bobcats, mountain lions, and coyotes while tromping the mountains and hollers of Appalachia, and an impenetrable infinite darkness plumbing the deep dank recesses of caves where it's a whole other underworld. He's endured heat injuries and malaria in jungles and frostbite from frigid wind and snow. Kretz has done it all, earning him membership in the prestigious Explorers Club. 

• Photography: Kretz is a regionally acclaimed nature photographer. His images have been featured at exhibitions at the Railroad Museum in Saint Paul, at the Library at Wise, regional newspapers, and a multitude of other media. He's provided photography presentations at the High Knob Naturalist Rally and Russell County Photographers Club.​

 

Nature and cultural presentations and videos

• Southwest Virginia - One of the Last Great Places on Earth

• An Introduction To Virginia Caves & Cave Inhabitants

• The Rest of the Story: Shamanic Tales of Adventure on Clinch Mountain

• The Pinnacle NAP

• Hidden Valley Lake WMA

• Great Channels of Virginia WMA

• Clinch Mountain WMA (Big Tumbling)

• Saltville Salt Ponds

• Hungry Mother State Park

• Birds of the Tri-Cities area

• Virginia Creeper Trail

• Backbone Rock

• Mount Rogers (Grayson Highlands State Park)

• Whitetop Mountain

• Bays Mountain State Park (Kingsport, TN)

• Phipps Bend (Surgoinsville, TN)

• Laurel Run Park (Church Hill, TN)

• Clinch River and Sugar Hill in St. Paul

• Little Stony Falls

• Guest River Gorge

• Bark Camp Lake

• High Knob Fire Tower

• Devil’s Bathtub

• Flag Rock

• Natural Tunnel State Park

• The Breaks Interstate Park

• Burke’s Garden

• Roan Mountain

• Vineyards & Breweries in the Tri-Cities area

• Festivals in the Tri-Cities area

• Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail

• Quaint Appalachian Towns (Damascus, Abingdon, Big Stone Gap, Jonesboro, Rogersville, Greeneville)

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Esoteric & Masonic presentations and videos

• Changing Lead into Gold: An Intro to Alchemy

• The Philosophers' Stone and the Theory of Everything

• Templars in Southwest Virginia

• Masonry in Appalachia

• Secrets of the Freemasons

• The Operative Mechanics of Meditation and Prayer

• Inner Space: The Final Frontier

• Ancient Aliens

• Primal Theology

• Evolution

• You're Not Allowed to Ask That: Biblical questions you're not supposed to think about

• Why did they do it? The Templar modus operandi

• Will the Real Hugues de Payens Please Stand up: Who was Hugues de Payens, Founder of the Templars?

• The Templar Treasure: What was it and where is it?

• TBD​

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