‘Only if one loves this earth with unbending passion can one release one’s sadness’ Don Juan in Carlos Castaneda’s “Tales of Power”

Gratitude; Honouring our Pain for the World; Seeing with New Eyes; Going Forth; Gratitude.

John Seed brings his decades of deep ecology and work that serves to help those present " see with new eyes"- becoming animal, a vision quest for each of us to find a non-human ally who wants us to speak for them in the Council. This involves make a mask to represent that ally, and then pass through a ritual gate into the Council of All Beings. You will then be  part of an astonishing  conversation where you will definitely hear things you’ve never heard before.

The  Council  of All Beings is a series  of  re-Earthing  rituals created  by  John  Seed and Joanna Macy to  help  end  the  sense of  alienation  from  the  living Earth that  many  of  us  feel. This workshop will   renew the spirit and vision of those who serve the Earth  and connect  participants with deep sources  of  joy,   and
inspiration.

Many  people INTELLECTUALLY realise that we are inseparable  from Nature and that the sense of separation  that we feel is  illusory. These rituals enable us to deeply EXPERIENCE our  connection with Nature, in our hearts and our bodies. Rediscovering  our  "deep  ecology"   -   our  interconnectedness with   all   beings  - we  find  empowerment  as agents of healing  change.

Through  interactive  exercises,   we  practice  letting  go of the socially constructed,  isolated self and come home  to our interexistence with all  forms of life.  We  retrace
our  steps through our evolutionary journey and allow other  life forms to speak through us. We shed our  solely human identification  and feel deep empathy for the myriad species and  landscapes of the Earth.

This   gathering   also  provides tools   for   practicing   deep ecology  in  our daily lives. As many participants in  this  work have  discovered, alignment with our larger  identity  clarifies, dignifies and heals our personal conflicts. We see that the  pain of the Earth is our own pain and the fate of the Earth is our own fate.  The Council of All Beings empowers us to act on behalf  of the Earth and gives us clarity and direction for this work.

This workshop will be hosted by our local legend and forest fairy, Takesa Franks. 25% of John's takings for this workshop go to support Southeast Forest Rescue.

John  Seed is a name that needs little introduction for those working hard for forest protection. He has worked for worldwide rainforests since 1979.

As he says, although many of our efforts succeeded, for every forest saved 100 have disappeared.

Clearly, you can’t save the planet one forest at a time. One green Earth or a bowl of dust.  Without a profound change of consciousness, we can kiss the forests goodbye, the ones we’ve "saved" alongside the rest.

Deep ecology is a key to the change we need. To deep ecology, underlying all the symptoms of the environmental crisis lies a psychological or spiritual root – the illusion of separation from the rest of the natural world which stems from anthropocentrism or human-centeredness.

Conditioned since the Old Testament to “subdue and dominate” nature, the modern psyche is radically alienated from the air, water and soil which underpin life and this is reflected in the rapid shredding of all natural systems in the name of economic development. Deep ecology reminds us that the world is not a pyramid with humans on top, but a web. We humans are but one strand in that web and as we destroy this web, we destroy the foundations for all complex life including our own.

While we maintain a self-image created in the matrix of anthropocentric culture, a shrunken and illusory sense of self that doesn't include the air and water and soil, we will experience nature as "outside" our self and fail to recognise that the nature "out there" and the nature "in here" are one and the same.

John’s presentation will include poetry and a couple of short processes that allow us to experience our ecological identity.

Enjoy this evening at the beautiful Barn on the Ridge with simple food and drinks available at the bar.