Is this tree shouting loud enough ?
Is this tiny lichen beautiful enough ?
And when we get close enough we might see a miracle ....
Or a nature spirit tending it ?
Today we started with a design project. Each group of 3 were given a task. Ours was:
You are an eco village study group deciding to go forth and create a settlement’. My partners were an American woman who has been teaching community design for many years, and a Permaculture designer from Sweden ! So I was in great company !! We created a project plan starting with gathering people to create a: VISION...SURVEY OF VALUE AND PURPOSE...MISSION STAEEMENT....GOVERNANCE
2 nd group :
You are re-inhabiting an Italian Village:
The group takes a trip to visit. Checks out conditions, surveys what is needed, estimates a budget, decides on how many people can live there, involves the local population.
3rd group :
is given ONE MILLION sterling. The group decides to buy land in Sweden close to two larger towns. 60% of women are part of the governance. They explore the government structure before they move ahead.
4th group :
is a SOCIAL ACTIVISM PEACE GROUP. They research where to place themselves, establish Purpose and Planing
5th group :
are given a DISUSED MILITARY PROPERTY. They can rent it for 100 years. They create AGREEMENTS for COMUNICATION first, explore their community NEEDS for LAND, FOVERNMENT and LOCAL structure
6th group :
is given a run down local DAIRY FARM from distant relatives. They decide to REBUILD the SOIL with
local resources. Take INVENTORY, research the HISTORY of the land, plan to terrace the land based on the contours to increase planting, meanwhile live on a small garden.
Next we were shown slides of the following communities:
ZEG focused on education and consulting
AAWAROAE in the wilderness of a tropical area...(I can’t remember where)
IBC in Cerrado, Brazil, ...a Research Institute, NGO
NARARA in Australia, started by one woman, now 145 members, formed a coop
REQUIREMENT of SUCCESS
LAND ATTUNEMENT....GROUP COHESION, very clear agreements,....ATRACT SUFFICIENT RESOURCES.... TRANSPERSONAL VISION ( values creates attraction !)....INTELECTUAL and SPIRITUAL CAPITAL....CREATE RELATIONSHIP WITH LOCAL ZONING BOARD
The afternoon we spent in the woods, learning about good woodland stewardship from a Findhorn Old Timer ! We also played GAMES !!! Blindfolded we walked ....guided through difficult terrain, climbing, crawling, unseeing on sand, stones and heather...all to build trust and confidence in our sensory awareness. I loved being blindfolded ! my feet felt like they were talking to the earth and the earth was welcoming me, the wind was blowing through my hair, it was a grlorious warm day. My young partner from Basel Switzerland was an expert trustworthy guide who made sure I was safe at all times....we were not allowed to talk !!! ! When we switched she took off her shoes and sox !!! And navigated the terrain easily. She wants to take me on a night walk to the beach next ! I think I will be in good hands !
6 of us also ‘skied’ across the grass on 4” by 6” railroad tires pulled up by strings and held by another pole to grab...hard to explain, you should have been there. Our group leader started a chant...Left...righ...left...right in a drawn out sing song chant at which point we would all lift the appropriate foot and pulled the ‘ski’ forward...if one of us had lossed their footing we would have had to go the whole way (maybe 30 yards) back and start all over. I DID LOOSE my footing, but luckily at the very start...no big deal hallelujah ! Our group got to the goal way ahead of the others because of our silent agreement to start the rhythmic instruction song ! It felt ancient and right...and so good in my body sensations to be connected to others doing the same difficult task.
At the end we build a perfect circle all holding on to a long rope, and BLINDFOLDED again ! There was a lot of negotiation on how to do it, we had 20minutes to complete, but did it in the fastest time of any previous groups !! 22 SECONDS ! well that just felt buddy marvelous !
It was such a good day...we finnished in the beautiful Universal Hall with a world wide meditation that was streamed all over the world to connect our hearts and feel the LOVE.
Whisky Barrel House ....from the magnificent to the mondane ?