Fellowship of All Life

(Image : The Sanctuary, soul card, SG, 2005)

…Personally, I think that “Ecopsychology” is another name for Neo-Druidry. Some may not agree of course, and that is OK, they say that among 10 Druids there are 11 opinions! Lol.

In general and very roughly, there are four groups of so-called “Druids”, and I think that it is very useful to learn how to distinguish them, because they show vastly different ways of being in concrete reality, and also vastly different aims.

The Old Ones, of which practically nothing is known. They didn´t write down their teachings,have never built a temple in stone,  and have not left a mark in History, apart from some really faint traces that have been handed down the long corridors of Time. I list them because they are the genesis, the origin, true or false, of the other three groups.

The Romantic Ones, which are a re-creation of what a past century felt about the subject, a century in which there was no electricity, no highways, no Internet – and in which nothing was really verified. That´s where you can find the robed Druids and Druidesses who know all about casting spells and calling to the ancient gods, though they often dine at McDonald´s; those are the ones that are traipsing through the new forests, or even public parks sometimes since not so many forests are left, in flimsy fake-medieval robes, and trying very hard to look ancient, though most of them haven’t even got to the ripe age of 50. (No offense meant, it is just a passing remark, that happens to be true.)I think that these people are compensating the harsh reality of modern life, the very hardship of what our society has become, through happy dreams.

The Reconstructionists, who are very serious people who think that intuition is a valid way to perceive History, (particularly “His-Story”, lol), and are very precise about a lot of rather vague stuff,

And then there is a new group, which is still largely a sort of seed-group, which is pushing through the earth, straining towards the Sun, like a very modest plant still, – The Future Druids, the Gaian Druids, or Neo-Druids.

Our Druid Grove is part of this last group. We do believe in intuition, use it a lot, but do not think that it is really a valid way to “re-construct” the past, because such an enterprise as rebuilding an imagined past according to non-verified present beliefs distorts what is happening in the present, and sometimes even veils what should be happening if we are to correct past facts that have brought us to this collective disaster of a present, (yes, a long sentence, read it again, lol); we don´t need robes and wands and staves, but yes, we care about the Future of Earth, and in midst of this preoccupation for the becoming of the human species of which we are a part, absolutely, we understand that humanity needs a new Myth, for “without a Vision the people perish”, so, having gone through a real Druid training (OBOD), we might as well be called “Druids”, OK, Neo-Druids, if you will.

…This Vision that we have been so clearly a-creating in our far away valley these last few years, is that of a Humanity that would finally consciously acknowledge the simple fact that we human beings are Children of Planet Earth. Whatever our nations pretend to be, first and foremost we are Gaians, Earthlings. From all Internet users down to Eskimos and Bushmen.

(Sorry to draw such a scale, I actually do not mean to imply that people who are not Internet users are not human, lol.)

Yes, we envision a number of people starting to live the Gaian vision, very discreetly at first, inside themselves to begin with, people living with the clear knowledge that some things have to stop, like the desecration of the planet. I´m talking about people who would truly understand, because they have been coolly trained, that things cannot go on like they are, running around in stupid circles, that something must change, and that this “something” is the very structure of the patriarchal ego, which is an extremely limited historical view, even of physical reality: since man walked on the moon  (at the very least) and invented quantum physics,  we do have a pressing need to get out of the Freudian back alley:

Everything in our lives can be aligned to prosperity, agape *and abundance of intelligence, which is how Nature really works. There is no real necessity to botch human evolution.

We could, yes we could. We could do it, you know. Difficult ? Yes. Impossible ? No. Anyway, what with Climate Change and Peak Oil, we may be forced to change. Change into what, is now The Big Question.

If you find it difficult to accept the idea that our civilization is still barbaric, and that we DO have to evolve as a species, don´t change anything except this basic understanding, which you have to “grok” with your very bones : we are Earthlings, and we will have to deeply acknowledge this fact. Or we will disappear. Easy choice. And a long long process. Do we really have the time?

It all boils down to the fact that all of us are collectively responsible for the welfare of all of humanity, and of the entirety of the planet.

War is a boorish, unrefined, uncultivated, churlish way of facing collective problems. Warriorship as a patriotic demonstration can best be used on an entirely different  level : I mean, a mental way of tackling problems, of grappling with reality. I do think that we have enough enlightened brains on this planet to create an entirely new game.

As for us as a group, as a Project, as a Neo-Druid Grove, we have made that choice already. Actually, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, we are deep into the consequences of it. As a group we have touched the brass tacks of what it means. This sense of consciously  “being on the side of the woods” (as Tolkien says through Treebeard), is what makes us Neo-Druids. We may even, if the Myth becomes as necessary as bread, sew some nice white robes and dance through our very own woods. We may as well, since we so deeply feel part of the Great Fellowship of Life on this Earth.

In this deep sense, we have the Vision of a huge Rainbow of Consciousness/Energy spanning thousands of years, from the Old Ones right down to us, the Druids in jeans. A new Ark of the Covenant, if you will. Or a new lease on our renting this planet from our great-great-grandchildren.

…Rivendell lives! Long live Rivendell!

 ;-)

 PS.- Agape  : Christianity. Love as revealed in Jesus, seen as spiritual and selfless and a model for humanity.

1. Love that is spiritual, not sexual, in its nature.
2. Christianity. In the early Christian Church, the love feast accompanied by Eucharistic celebration.

In the New Testament, the fatherly love of God for humans and their reciprocal love for God. The term extends to the love of one’s fellow humans.

Going global

(Image : Children of Gaia, soul card, collage on paper, SG, 2005)

“Think globally, Act locally.”

New Age (so-called New Age) people sometimes, often, forget the second part. I have found that my real way of “going global” is to celebrate the land under my feet and around me. I don´t think of the Sanctuary as Catalan, though Catalans would most probably disagree, lol, and hit me over the head.

The land around me is part of Her, Gaia, the planet, our Home.

These are Gaian trees, I´m a planetary citizen, we are Humankind, Children of Gaia. It doesn´t look like it, but we are One Family. Oh how far away we are, as a species, from reality: we have to work from the ground up, not from the clouds down!…

We are, all of us, planetary citizens, – as long as we do not forget the real trees, the real land, this concrete Project lives in Spain, no doubt about it; though Catalans will scream bloody murder, it is so, even for them.

There´s a process, a whole personal development, a Path, pathworking, between “I´m Swiss” and “I´m a Gaian”, and let me tell you, it´s no easy Path, though we can board a plane to Bali any moment, even at low cost!…

What a stupid arrogant species we are when we are perverted by our collective past. The dark cloud from Iceland has downed thousands of flights,  and I don´t want to think about the volcano rageing beneath Yellowstone Park, which could erupt any time! Lordy, are we arrogant or what!

The more I hug my own trees, appreciating them more because I know the pain I had to go through to “liberate” them, the more ”planetary” I become. This is my planet, folks. Right here, in my garden.

Mmm…Yodini?

One of my dear Readers asked for a pic of this author, (…whatever for?), so I thought, what the heck, why not?

So here you are…

…May the Force be with you! …

Our daily bread

(Image : Mika´s wholegrain bread)

It´s been a month and a half since we last bought bread! Look at the pic, that is Mika´s work. She also makes yoghurt now. What with nuts and vegetables from the garden, herbs and fruit, and eggs from our very own chicken coop, olive oil and meat from the village, we now have the basics to survive. Not that the diet wouldn´t become boring rather quickly, but as for basics, we don´t depend on supermarkets. OK, OK, we still need the grain and the milk, but one step at a time…We still have reduced our plastic waste by 80%, and shopping at the supermarket by 70 %. A very nice result as we see it.

And psychologically, a very interesting experience…

We´re going deeper into transition.

Transition Mode at the Sanctuary

(Image : Biosphere 2030, MDG, 2009)

…Do you know about peak oil ? No? Well, you had better Google Wikipedia for it, otherwise  it could be a rude awakening if you don´t!…

Do you know about the Transition Movement ? No? Same thing. (Have a look at Wikipedia, there are lots of Spanish websites, too).

We know about all that jazz, have been into it for a good number of years now, and are slowly changing the basic gears of our community to “go into transition” (=post peak-oil mode). Yes, we have been recycling for quite some time , but hey! it could become worse, and it´s later than we think.

The Sanctuary is quite litterally carbon-neutral  (two cars and one van for 100 acres of woodland), which means that our trees give us more breathing space than what we waste with the cars. This last week we made the experiment of consciously writing down all the plastic stuff that comes out after shopping in a supermarket, and I mean all, well, my dears, just becoming totally conscious about this (and actually writing down every bit of plastic that we throw away, then thinking about alternatives), we have been able to spare 80 % of plastic trash in one week!

In the same way, we have been able to save 70% of supermarket shopping. We do not buy new furniture (what´s wrong about good second-hand?), are not travelling on planes, and haven´t had a real “holiday” for years. Why go to the Bahamas, or to the Seychelles, when we can have a “holy day” every single day just by going down to the vegetable garden ? (We bought this property as a group, as an investment for a sustainable future, and have gone through a long and sometimes painful process to really make this project a healthy alternative.)

OK, and we are now into Trash Art, recycling stuff into Artwork (like paper beads to make curtains made out of old magazines), baking our own bread (very symbolic), and planting our own vegetables. And we are planning to buy a good wood stove, as soon as possible.

We have wood in abundance for the fireplace, and lots of water (our own, fortunately).

All symbolic gestures and not much more than that, I know – but at least we are concretely and above all psychologically ”processing” the hard truths of our times!…

I would encourage you to start doing the same. Who knows? We might yet survive…(Not funny, I know).

PS.- Plus, we do have the methodology of the Psychology of Change, elaborated over two decades of group processing too (see Pages right-hand corner up the post), so at long last, we might even come in handy, seeing the sorry circumstances… If we want to survive the long night, lol, we will have to learn how to live together, after all.

Two must-see DVDs (At Amazon, no problem):

- The Age of Stupid, Why Didn´t we save ourselves when we had the chance, “Think  “An Inconvenient Truth” but with a personality” (lol),

and…

- A Crude Awakening, The Oil Crash, Basil Gelpke and Ray McCormack, “We´re running out…and we don´t have a plan”.(Gulp.)

Both are eye-openers!…(Gulp again.)

Have fun, if you can.

The Trees Are Not Looking At You!

(Image : The Book of Vivian and the Book of Merlin, OBOD, Druid Grade, SG 2008)

…How ever many projections you send out, seeing fairies and gnomes everywhere, elementals and whatnot, dryads and stuff, one thing is as sure as death (pun intended), and it is that when you are out there in the woods, the trees are not looking at you!

That is what is so wonderful about nature. Nature doesn´t  judge, doesn´t plan, doesn´t really care about the human species, only if we get to be much of a nuisance (the case now!), in which case we will probably be swept from the planetary map at some time in the future, along with  dinosaurs and the dodo! One day, there will be nobody to even notice the beauty (that is our task, ours, the human pest, lol). Indifferent to all our great schemings, Nature will go on and rebuild itself.

When you are seated at the foot of a tree, don´t ever think that the tree is looking at you. That is what is so restful about it all. No camera, no sly evaluation. Just a great peace, and a vibration that comes and goes and breathes from your relaxed heart.

The Prajnaparamita Sutra

(Image : A snowy day at the Sanctuary, MDG)

…I am re-reading The Dancing Wu Li Masters, by Gary Zukav – a little gem of a book about the New Physics.

Read this : (…)” The neutral K meson decays into a positive pi meson and a negative pi meson. The lambda particle, and this is the interesting part, decays into the original two particles (a negative pi meson and a proton!). It is as if we smash two toy automobiles together and instead of shattering into bits, they come apart into more toy automobiles, some of which are as large as the originals.

Subatomic particles forever partake of this unceasing dance of annihilation and creation. In fact subatomic particles are (author´s emphasis) this unceasing dance of annihilation and creation. This twentieth-century discovery, with all its psychedelic implications, is not a new concept. In fact, it is very similar to the way that much of the earth´s population, including the Hindus and the Buddhists, view their reality.

Hindu mythology is virtually a large-scale projection into the psychological realm of microscopic scientific discoveries. Hindu deities such as Shiva and Vishnu continually dance the creation and destruction of universes while the Buddhist image of the wheel of life symbolizes the unending process of birth, death, and rebirth which is a part of the world of form, which is emptiness, which is form.”

“…form is emptiness, emptiness is form.” (Prajaparamita Sutra, The Heart Sutra, Mahayana Buddhism).

Other extremely interesting books in the same line :

- The Tao of Physics, Fritjof Capra

- The Quantum self, Dana Zohar

- The Physics of Consciousness, Evan Harris Walker.

PS.- Every time the wind blows hard up at the Sanctuary, the lights go out, power lines go too, so no computer, no DVD, no warm water (the heater has gone too!), no nothing, lol, and I´m reduced to reading a book, in my bed (for warmth!) in the light of candles!… For others a nuisance, for me…heaven!

Real Druids

(Image : Freedom, soul card 135, SG, 2009)

(Real Druids, my favourite topic!…)

People seem to think that being a Druid is some sort of a joke.

I´ll have you know that I studied a total of four intense years, on top of 22 years of learning about the management of big groups, and that these years were not only about academic subjects, but also about the state of the world and about my own inner spiritual Journey.

The Celtic part I had to learn afresh, that much is true, I had to learn many things like the Celtic names of the Wheel of the Year, Solstices & Equinoxes, lol, and a long etc. of Celtic concepts, among them the concept of the Anam Cara (soul friend) and the Ogham (a tree alphabet), for example. All the rest, apart from learning the Celtic name of a lot of things, lol, has been one big roller-coaster of experiences, inner and outer, one heck of an eco-psychological journey, since I investigated in depth about the psychological relationship of the human species (to which I belong, lol) to the natural world, (or rather its NON-relationship since it seems that we are destroying the world bit by bit), and about the why and the wherefore of things; the center of my investigation (why we destroy the world that sustains us) has been a wonderfully chaotic “learning curve”!

Besides, I need to state this again and again, I´m not “a Druid” (=a fantasy character), I´m a graduate of OBOD, (Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, UK and worldwide), and OBOD, in my humble opinion, is a most serious matter. I have not been studying “Druidry” (no real Druids left, so everything is invented OR re-created, I agree with that, no problem!), I have been creating my own brand of Neo-Druidry, in the context of OBOD – which has more to do with ecology and psychology (transpersonal psychology) than with Celtic “g.o.d.s” and role-playing fantasies.

I´m not holding that OBOD is entirely free of fantasy, but I am saying that you certainly can create your own Path within the context of the Course, you are actually invited to do just that!  What you bring to the Course is what you get at the end, and I certainly brought a lot of  previous experiences to it when I started in 2004.

At this point I am creating a working synthesis between ecology (our group here maintains 108 acres of woods and four houses) and psychology (most concretely, psychosynthesis). My objective is to create a School, because I  think that this is the Path of the Future, for many generations to come.

(There are three generations active and working together at the Earth Sanctuary).

Not bad, for a beginning. (A beginning after 30 years of studies should be something quite interesting, lol.)

Birdsong

(Image : Baba Yaga and the Gift of the Eagle, soul card 129, SG, 2005)

…Do you remember this book by Rachel Carson, Silent spring ?

I remember that it was published in the Sixties, and helped launch the protect-the-environment movement, which, at that time, really caused a general hue and cry. I also remember telling my mother “We have to do something”, and she laughed at my face, and said “You´re crazy, get a haircut and forget about your fantasies!”

That was approx 45 years back. Since then, environmental movements have gone mainstream, of course, and now the movie industry is getting into it, too. Movies like “An Inconvenient Truth”, “The Eleventh Hour”, and lately “Home”, are giant successes. It seems that we the people understand their message even before our governments.

I comment this because this morning as I was having tea on the terrace, I suddenly heard the birds. The Sanctuary is chock-full of birds. Their happy chirping is the background of our days. It has even become a background sound that we don´t hear anymore. It is just there, part of our everyday lives. A humming, a trilling, a sweet song that we identify with joy, enthusiasm, all things good and vibrating with energy.

…What if  next spring was silent ?

Not a nice thought.

The IAO Survival Strategy

(Image : Druid´s Egg, soul card 197, SG 2002)

…In which IAO stands for: I-mprovise! A-dapt! O-vercome!

Improvise : in terms of survival strategy we don´t always (read: almost never, lol) get the circumstances that we would need to comfortably pass to the next evolutionary phase in our lives. Change is cathartic. So, since the old strategies mostly won´t work anymore, we have to improvise. Be clever enough to trust our spontaneous inner wisdom.

Adapt : Since we mostly cannot choose in which circumstances this next step wil become possible, let´s just become aware of what surrounds us here and now, and adapt to the new circumstances (=be flexible).

Overcome : If we have been able to become aware of the new possibilities that surround us (instead of moaning about the loss of the old way), and if we have been smart enough to be flexible, we will certainly overcome whatever enlightening obstacles life throws our way.

Then the cycle can begin again.

My hunch is that, in these interesting times that we are witnessing, this time around it will not be survival of the fittest (=big muscles), but survival of those of us who have been smart enough to understand that we must now cooperate. Our very best chance now, is to work together for the good of all.

Mmm…Food for thought today. Thanks, Mika, you handsome soul.