Celebrating our Helions - Creating New Festivals to Heal the Earth

Coming up next:

[Details are still tentative. Join the planning process. Contact ]

Eco-Spirituality Celebration:
Aphelion Attunement
Saturday, July 5th, 10am-4 pm

Commune with the deeper patterns of nature and our predicaments, at this time when earth is furthest from the sun (aphelion).

At North Park Village Nature Center
5801 N. Pulaski; Chicago
Turn left at the 1st T intersection. 312-744-5472
(Having an additional night event at a different site is being discussed)

Both will focus on differentiation, biodiversity, and achieving the best expression of our particular constellation of gifts

Celebrating...
all beings
the creative transforming powers of nature
the evolution of science, wisdom, consciousness changing and creativity
the emerging attunement between the deeper patterns of Nature and those influencing our behavior

Inspired by Thomas Berry, John Seed, Joanna Macy, and the need for resolving our growing sustainability emergency.

The story of these celebrations is at http://helioncelebrating.blogspot.com/2004_06_01_archive.html

posted by Rael  # 9:07 AM 0 comments

Coming up next:

Eco-Spirituality Celebration:
Perihelion Possibilities
Saturday, January 5th, 1-4 pm

Commune with the deeper patterns of nature and our predicaments, at this time when earth is closest to sun (perihelion).

At North Park Village Nature Center
5801 N. Pulaski; Chicago
Turn left at the 1st T intersection. 312-744-5472

PROGRAM
An earth-healing communion sandwich...
A coming closer with three acts:

Act I - Sharing Circle - Up to now
Act II - Earth Healing Action
Act III - Sharing Circle - Future Synergies

PROGRAM DETAILS
Act I - Sharing Circle - Updates
What have we done
(concerns/solutions/patterns/relationships learned/extended,
food/energy seeded/cultivated/harvested...)
since we were last this close to the sun
Act II - Earth Healing Action: Ecosystem Restoration
Seeding & removing invasive species (weather permitting)
Act III - Sharing Circle - Future Synergies
Mingling of visions; Exploring ways of helping each other
empowering our next system passage

Bring instruments, songs, poems, visions...
Dress for working outside in the preserve,
and possible drizzle or light showers.

SHAPING THE PROGRAM
Below are some of the motivational/visioning ideas that informed the creation of this eco-spirituality celebration. ADD YOUR SUGGESTIONS for fertilizing these perihelion possibilities INTO THE COMMENT SECTION AT THE END.

Celebrate the increasing understanding of our predicament and what needs to be done.

Integrate personal and planetary transformation with restoring our local ecosystems and establishing more sustainable urban communities (ecovillages).

Update our worldviews to resonate with the growing concord between spiritual and scientific findings.

Contemplate:
<> We face multiple challenges of climate change, energy constraints and resource depletion.
<> Recent surprises in these areas have increased our concerns. Proposed solutions usually focus exclusively on changes in laws and technology, ignoring the influence of our underlying worldviews.
<> Our way ahead is primarily an eco-spiritual endeavor, drawing together insights from cosmic evolution, ecology, human nature, and glimpses into the greater mysteries.

Explore the potential of a globally shared celebration to aid us in reintegrating our experiential and conceptual basis.

The story of these celebrations was published in the Winter 2003 Permaculture Activist. A slightly revised version is here. At that time, changes in our orbital eccentricity were highly correlated with the onset of our continental glaciations. Now they are considered the major drivers of the Ice Ages. Recently they have also been implicated in the warming 55 million years ago.

Eco-spiritual considerations are receiving increasing attention:
<> Ecovillage Design Education integrates spirituality & worldview.
<> Eco-spiritual book series (Ringing-Cedars) inspires numerous new eco-villages in Russia and beyond.

Info: Rael Bassan, 773-756-5033, raelearth at yahoo.com

Coming up next:

Saturday, July 7, 10am - 3:30 pm, Spiritual Ecology Celebration

Celebrate and energize emerging opportunities at this time when earth and sun are furthest apart (aphelion). Seek ways of overcoming the spiritual and political inertia that are impeding our transition toward more desirable futures.

MORNING
<> Cosmic Walk (Created by Small Waters Education, Harvard, IL)
Grounded and inspired by the cosmic story,
we are better able to deal with the flows of where we are
and shape the futures we can influence.
<> How Will the Story Continue?
Facing the challenges of the future.

POTLUCK LUNCH
Includes a meditation on metabolism
and the nourishment and evolution of metasystems.

AFTERNOON
Bring in other lifeforms at our Council of All Beings to help show us the way.

Morning and afternoon sections can be attended separately. Free.

At North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N Pulaski, Chicago. 312-744-5472

Info: raelearth(no spam)yahoo.com

Coming up next...

Perihelion Possibilities Celebration
Saturday, January 6, 10am - 3:30 pm

Celebrating the potential of eco-spirituality to move us closer to sustainability, at this time when earth is closest to sun (perihelion). Commune with nature's deeper aspects, and their expressions within yourself and our community. Explore some of the universe's underlying patterns and principles, and the possibilities for inspiring "fire souls" through stories, art and dance. This year, we focus on the health of our planet and its future.

A mix of deep stories, music, games and meditation.

Dress for a walk in the preserve (weather permitting).
Potluck lunch. Morning and afternoon sessions can be attended separately. Free
MORNING: Grounding - Where are we? AFTERNOON - Evolving our Future

The event's central focus is the 13th Tipping Point, the needed "...shift from personal denial to personal responsibility when it comes to climate change."
The subject was featured in the November/December 2006 Issue of Mother Jones, which proclaims "Evolve or Die" on the cover. The associated article considers that "...12 global-warming tipping points are approaching, any one of which, if triggered, will likely initiate sudden, catastrophic changes across the planet.

Bring a short inspiring poem, sentence/paragraph, vision, comment...

At North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski; Chicago
Turn left at the 1st T intersection. 312-744-5472

Info: raelearth (at ) yahoo.com

Coming up next...

Still in the planning stage.
Our 7th annual Apheilion* Attunement Celebration,
fueled by the universe story and other cosmic and earthly inspirations.
(* The apheilion is when earth and sun are furthest apart)

We are looking for additional participants
willing to explore the potential of celebration
to help empower a more positive future.

Prospects will submit their own unique contributions...
stories, music, art...
or whatever resonates with the process.

Tentative Schedule Note:
Most of the evolution stories will probably be in the morning,
leaving lunch and afternoon for powering the future.

THE NOTICE COMING OUT IN THE NATURE CENTER'S NEWSLETTER:
Spiritual Ecology Celebration
Saturday, July 8, 10am - 3:30 pm
Contemplate the growing stresses to our planet and celebrate our ability to empower a positive future, at this time when earth and sun are furthest apart (aphelion). Explore the potential of a spiritual ecology approach using deep stories, music, games and earth focused meditation. Potluck lunch. Morning and afternoon sections can be attended separately. See http://helioncelebrating.blogspot.com/ for more information.

At North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski, Chicago.
Info: Rael, 773-907-1465, raelearth(no spam at)yahoo.com

For more information on the background and motivation of this event, see New Festivals for the Future? Introduction to Celebrating the Helions near the bottom of this page.

A recent audio (and book) of interest is
http://wgnradio.com/shows/ex720/audio/index.html (04/27/06)
An conversation about cosmology, physics, and the universe with Joel Primack, professor of physics at the University of California Santa Cruz, and his wife Nancy Abrams. They are the co-authors of the new book The View from the Center of the Universe: Discovering Our Extraordinary Place in the Cosmos (April 2006).
* Cosmology (87:33)

Coming up next...

Communing With Your Cells:
A Cosmic Closeness Celebration
Sunday, January 8, 10am - 3:30 pm
Is eco-spirituality relevant to sustainability? Find out through celebrating the perihelion (earth closest to sun) - coming closer to nature's deeper aspects, and their expressions within yourself and our community. Explore some of the universe's underlying patterns and principles, and the potential for inspiring "fire souls" through holistic, ecological science stories. This year, we focus on the ways edges and boundaries unify our existence, and enrich our experiences. A mix of deep stories, music, games and meditation. Free and open to the public. Dress for a walk in the preserve (weather permitting). Potluck lunch. Morning and afternoon sessions can be attended separately.

Confirmed presenters include: Chicago author/activist Bryan Brickner; and and author/educator Valerie Busch-Zurlent, (pseudonym Ottilia Robers)

At North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski, Chicago.
Info: Rael, 773-907-1465, raelearth(no spam at)yahoo.com

For more information on the background and motivation of this event, see New Festivals for the Future? Introduction to Celebrating the Helions near the bottom of this page.

Our 6^th annual Aphelion Attunement Celebration,
An experiment in spiritual ecology...

Sunday, July 3, 9:30 am - 1 pm Nature/Culture Specialness Celebration
Exploring the relevance of the evolutionary story as an aid to achieving sustainability. Celebrating the specialness of our place and time, when earth and sun are furthest apart (aphelion). Contemplating emerging stories of biological and cultural evolution. Evaluating our unique capacities, and their best use in attuning our culture to nature. Motivating necessary change.
At North Park Village Nature Center, 5801 N. Pulaski, Chicago.

Program (times are estimates)

9:30 am - Introduction and Motivation
10 am - Present - the specialness of where we are, and the problems
Nature experiences - with Wayne Swiboda, Emeritus Chemistry Professor, NEIU, Nature Center Steward.
BREAK
11 am - Relevance of the Past - presentations on deeper patterns, the new evolutionary story
Time in the Eye of the Beholder - by Edwin McCullough, lawyer, environmentalism activist
Albert Einstein's approach, the Timescales of the Universe, and How Modern Americans use their Time.
Evolutionary Leaps - by Greg Rajsky - Restoration and ecology instructor, Morton Arboretum
The emerging story of life on earth suggests that mass extinctions may have preceded significant leaps in
evolutionary development. What might this portend for the future of humanity . . . and the planet?
Nature, Culture and Civilizations - by Ed Berggren - Adjunct Professor, Wright College
Jared Diamond's "scientific" and historical approach to nature, culture and civilization, sustainable and
non-sustainable cultures/civilizations (including our own), and his proposed solutions to our global crises.
Noon - Futures Sharing Circle - attuning ourselves and our culture to nature's possibilities.
Explore our unique capacities. Contemplate the coming differentiations and questions such as…
How can we speedup the transition to sustainability? How can we better prepare for the coming changes?
1 pm - End & Evaluations

See the bottom of this page for more information on the background and motivation of this event.

[The following is a sample of the handout material]
Contemplate the Context… The core of these celebrations is the emerging story of many names:
The New or Great Story, the Universe Story, Epic of Evolution, or Evolutionary Epic.
Its multiple functions include: "... an inclusive history of everyone and everything ... a meta-religious contribution that can enrich the world-relational experience of all peoples and philosophies. ... [a resource] for GUIDING AND INSPIRING our personal and cultural choices. " http://www.thegreatstory.org/what_is.html

Cultural historian and geologian Thomas Berry has inspired many to look to "The Great Story" for guidance in the necessary individual and collective "Great Work of Conscious Evolution" -- the need for us to move from being a disrupting force on this earth to a nurturing and benign presence. His view is that due to the enhanced extinction rate..." we, along with the rest of the integrated Earth community, are at a critical point of our development. We are in a transition out of the Cenozoic Era, that has lasted for the last 65 million years, into a new era. This new era will be either: a Technozoic Age (the mindless application of technology in pursuit of a wonder-world); or an Ecozoic Age in which the human and non-human live in mutually enhancing relationships." http://www.rainforestinfo.org.au/deep-eco/earth%20jurisprudence/Earth%20Justice.htm

"In his book "The Great Work", Berry identifies the four human institutions that need to change to facilitate the transition to the Ecozoic Era -- government, religion, the corporation, and the university. [He] ...discusses the necessary reforms in all of these ... observed that the single most devastating document for the nonhuman world has been the American Constitution, with its exclusive emphasis on human rights." -- Andrew J. Angyal http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/GreatWork.html

The universe is shaped by three primordial expressions or creative principles.
"According to Thomas Berry, "differentiation" is the primordial expression of the universe. Out of the fiery violence of the "Big Bang" came radiation and differentiated particles that through a certain sequence of events, found expression in an overwhelming variety of manifestations.
...The second primary creative principle of the universe as identified by Thomas Berry is that of increased "subjectivity". Together, every reality that makes up a part of the universe is not just a collection of objects but is a community of subjects. As subjects, we all have an inner dimension, an interiority or inner reality
...Thomas Berry's third creative principle of the universe "is the communion of each reality of the universe with every other reality in the universe." http://www.larkinarchitect.com/PDF_files/earthprine_architect.pdf

All evolutionary developments can thus be considered the interplay between varying opportunities for differentiation and communion, which in a hospitable field, eventually result in increased "subjectivity".

Finally - Beyond Evolution/Creation James Gardner, in his book BIOCOSM: The New Scientific Theory of Evolution, claims our universe was deliberately designed by a super-intelligent being or beings in a prior cosmic cycle. Scientific supporters cite the scientific rigor of his presentation, including potential falsifiability and compatibility with current theories. He gives us additional reasons to reconsider how we are shaping the future of our planet and the cosmos. http://www.biocosm.org/

Act - Promote Glocalization and Smart Mobbing - Become an I-Neighbor! Build "neighborhood social capital".
Create a free community website. Meet and communicate with neighbors to share concerns and nurture local solutions. Promote service exchanges and other efficiencies. Leaflet your block/neighborhood to jump-start the process. http://www.i-neighbors.org/

React - Watch http://freedomfromoil.com/watch_the_animation/ and sign the Declaration of Independence from Oil to help put us on the road to a peaceful energy revolution and an oil free future!

Keep up with recent web publications of interest:
<> Transpersonal Ecology and Spirituality. - P. Mark O'Loughlin cfc. January 2005
http://www.geocities.com/echinoderms1935/Spiritual_Essays/Transpersonal-Ecology.html
<> Sustainability Science - and What's Needed Beyond Science
http://ejournal.nbii.org/archives/vol1iss1/communityessay.reitan.html