Events

2008 Eventz

In Cosmopolis, WA . . Sept. 5 - 7

SINGING ALIVE ~~ with the tribes of creation

A teaching gathering for ceremonial singing circles, dancing, and music
We change the world as we transform ourselves with songs of blessings, devotion, and gratitude.
Lillebakke @ 1778 Northriver Rd, Cosmopolis, WA

(see Singing Alive page for more info . .)

In Honolulu, HI . . . August 7th

Heart-Medicine: Invoking the Jewel in the Lotus

@ Studio Be (studiobehawaii.com)
63 N. Beretania Street, 2nd floor

Thursday nite - 7 - 9 +

By donation

In Portland, OR . . . Onglowing June, July, & Aug. 6, 27th)

Heart-Medicine: Invoking the Jewel in the Lotus

Every Wednesday evening, 7 - 9 pm
2926 NE Flanders, @ Common Ground Wellness Center, in the lovely 'Trillium Room'

the ever-evolving song circle in service to blossoming the garden within and without, a re-seeding of the mass consciousness with a fertile and healthy imaginal space that can accomodate the abundance of Nature's power to Save the Humans, and can allow us to build visionary experiences strong and intense enough to achieve the great personal and planetary transformations that increasing numbers of us are being called to perform.

by donation

In Ashland, OR . . July 27th

Heart-Medicine: Invoking the Jewel in the Lotus

@The Mystic Garden Party ~~ http://www.mysticgardenparty.com/workshops.html

In Seattle, WA . . July 25th

Heart-Medicine: Invoking the Jewel in the Lotus

@ Samadhi Yoga Center
1205 E. Pike St. #1B
206.329.4070
www.samadhi-yoga.com

Friday nite - 7 ~ 9 +

In Olympia, WA . . July 22th

Heart-Medicine: Invoking the Jewel in the Lotus

@ 3732 wesley loop ~~ take 101 N from I-5, take the Evergreen Parkway exit, go through the round-a-bout to Evergreen, and all the way to the light at Copper Point. Turn Left, go to 36th (look for the big yellow sign), left on to 36th, the second street on the right is the entrance to Country Club Estates, follow it around to the left and down the hill, The H`OM`stead is the 2 story white house with all the rhododendron trimmings in the drive.

Tuesday nite ~ 7 - 9 +

In Fairyland . . June 28 - 30

@Skalitude Retreat Center, North Cascade Mts., WA
go to http://www.fairycongress.com for directions

Songs from the Garden ~~ 6:30 am Fri., Sat. and Sun. morns:
Wake up! Start your day with a morning cup of breath-work, visualization, tones, sones, and songs. We sing ourselves Alive as we journey thru the Story of Creation, weaving the double helix of the devic and de'human whirleds into a flowering of the heart, into the promise of heaven as earth. Those humans who have yet to discover their birthright as a singing species are encouraged to come, and let the fairies help you blossom your voice . .

Tribal Talk ~~ somewhere in the evening . . .
Tribal talk is variant of 'soning', which explores the fertile spaces between toning and singing. While soning encompasses the full-range of sounds, syllables, melodies, and breaths in a kind of free-form, primordial excavation of human voice possibilities, tribal talk is more structured, and most importantly, more conversational. In this session, we begin with soning as a warm up, and then direct the creative flow to the formation of inter-dimensional languages, and dialogues. Tribal talk is the art of being very articulate in speaking words with no meaning, i.e. no 'apparent' meaning, for all the nuances of intonation, phrasing, timing, the give and take of speaking and listening, etc., all that makes for good conversation, are highly present, for they carry the stream of meaning. A well-executed tribal talk session helps cleanse our vibrational palate, gets us on the 'felt' wavelength of communication, creates space for other beings to converse with us and thru us, and is good, mystical fun!

China Bend, WA . . June 13 - 15

N.E. Washington Healing Gathering
Traditional Healing, Metaphysical, and Green Ways of Living on the Earth
In the mountains overlooking the Columbia River and Canada

I be doing a lot of singing, voicing, and ceremony here . . .

Call Feather @509.732.4301 for more info and directions.

In Santa Rosa, CA . . June 8th

A Gaian Creation-story Song Circle

@ Harmony Festival
Sonoma County Fair Grounds
www.http://harmonyfestival.com/

Sunday afternoon ~~ 2:30 pm in the earth temple dome

In Seattle, WA . . May 30th

Invoking the Jewel in the Lotus

@ Samadhi Yoga Center
1205 E. Pike St. #1B
206.329.4070
www.samadhi-yoga.com

Friday nite - 7 ~ 9 +

In Portland, OR . . . May 27th

Maintaining Imaginal Hygiene in Late-Stage Consumerist Culture
Tips on cleaning up the mythic mess in your head, and converting the energy to Gaian-centered awareness and practicalities
@ Awakenings (first floor yoga studio)
1016 SE 12th Avenue
3-5 pm

A workshop of the Village Building Convergence ~~ http://cityrepair.org/wiki.php/projects/vbc8

In Seattle, WA . . May 2nd

@ Samadhi Yoga Center
1205 E. Pike St. #1B
206.329.4070
www.samadhi-yoga.com

Friday nite - 7 ~ 9 +

Heart-Medicine
An Invocation of the Jewel in the Lotus

You are invited to a guided, Gaian creation story, communally sung (and breathed, toned, spirit-languaged . . .) in the tradition of shamanic medicine circles. This multi-cultural song-circle event effects spiritual healing thru blossoming us beneath the Sunlight of our opening Hearts. Those who don't think they can sing are encouraged to come and claim the birthright of a singing species!

by donation

In El Cerrito, CA . . April 27th

8301 Buckingham Drive (at the END of the LONG driveway going DOWN from the left side of the cul de sac that marks the end of Buckingham)
El Cerrito, CA

Sunday, begins @ 8 pm (or soon thereafter)~~

Heart-Medicine
An Invocation of the Jewel in the Lotus

by donation

In Seattle, WA . . April 11th

@ Samadhi Yoga Center
1205 E. Pike St. #1B
206.329.4070
www.samadhi-yoga.com

Friday nite - 7 ~ 9 +

Heart-Medicine
An Invocation of the Jewel in the Lotus

by donation

In Portland, OR . . . Beginning April 2 (no circle April 23rd!)

The Jewel in the Heart
Every Wednesday evening, 7 - 9 pm
2926 NE Flanders, @ Common Ground Wellness Center, in the lovely 'Trillium Room'

the ever-evolving song circle in service to blossoming the garden within and without . . .

by donation

In Olympia, WA . . March 23rd

7 pm ~~ Human Flowering Song Circle
@ Mike G.s house on the East corner of Cedar Flats and Delphi Rd.

In Seattle, WA . . March 21st

@ Samadhi Yoga Center
1205 E. Pike St. #1B
206.329.4070
www.samadhi-yoga.com

Friday nite - 7 ~ 9 +
A Human Flowering Song Circle ~~ This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing a Creation story. Thru the imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs, we awaken our Creation-body, and cultivate a Garden within. This resonance with our ancestoral heritage passes to us impulses of transformation, of shapeshifting. These culminate in a self-transcendence that 'flowers' us beneath the Sunlight of our opening heart. Those who don’t think they can sing are encouraged to come and claim the birthright of a singing species.

~~ by donation

In Portland, OR . . March 13 & 20th

Thrusdays, March 13 & 20th, just following sunset (approx. 7:15)
@ 1932 SE 44st and Harrison (Ruby's, behind the 'Dub-house')
Human Flowering Song Circle ~~

followed by (for those who wish) ~~ Jesse ma is going to be holding space for the rieki to flow through as well as deep ancestral healing channels open and accessible to all through purity of our own intention and willingness to give and receive. Please bring instruments that you feel would be appropriate and used for healing as we all co-create the atmosphere and rhythmic journey of this meditation

by donation

In El Cerrito, CA . . Mar. 9th

8301 Buckingham Drive (at the END of the driveway going down from the left side of the cul de sac)
El Cerrito, CA

Sunday, begin promptly @ 7:30 pm ~~

A Human Flowering Song Circle ~~

by donation

In Santa Cruz, CA . . March 7th

Virginia Satir Center
10880 Alba Road, Ben Lomond (Go right at the pullout, down the driveway at the 1st mailbox, past the water tank.
You will pass two small houses, pass a totem pole (0.15 mile from turnout) where the road forks, to the right is a basketball court to the left are 2 geodesic domes. Park at the basketball court. We will be singing in the dome(s).)

Friday nite - 7 ~ 9 +
A Human Flowering Song Circle~~

~~ by donation

In Portland, OR . . February

Wednesday evenings, 5:30 pm ~ omward
@ 1932 SE 44st and Harrison (Ruby's, behind the 'Dub-house')
Human Flowering Song Circle ~~ followed by potluck and various healing activities

~~ by donation

Spring Song Circles ’08

In Portland, OR . . Jan. 30 Wednesday evening, 5 - 7 pm
@ 1932 SE 44st and Harrison (Ruby's, behind the 'Dub-house')
Human Flowering Song Circle ~~ followed by a Reiki and sound healing circle, and sauna and more songs thereafter. Yay! In Boulder, CO . . Jan. 20 Sunday evening. 7 - 9:30 pm
7196 bluegrass ct. ... off jay rd.call Johnny @ 303.579.3877 for more infoHuman Flowering Song circle, w/ meditation and sacred songs by donationIn Boulder, CO . . Jan. 12 Saturday evening. 7 - 9:30 pm
@280 Devon Place: East on Baseline, Left on 20th, Left on King,
House is on the SE corner of Devon and King, look for the prayer flagsHuman Flowering Song circle, w/ meditation and sacred songs "...an activating meditation, where we breath, tone, 'sone' (the whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing our way through a story of Creation. Through imagery of Gaian evolution and the teachings of the songs, we awaken our creation-body, and cultivate a garden within."by donationHosted by Kristin McLean and Rebecca 'angelblissmama' Finnhoff

Please contact Kristin with questions: kristinsong@msn.com
303.641.8901
In Portland, OR . . Jan. 10

Thursday evening, 5 pm omward
@ SE 44st and Harrison (Ruby's, behind the 'Dub-house')
Human Flowering Song Circle ~~ followed by a Reiki and sound healing circle, and sauna and more songs thereafter. Yay!

2007 Eventz

In El Cerrito, CA . . Nov. 11thSunday, begin promptly @ 8:30 pm ~~
8301 Buckingham Drive (at the END of the driveway going down from the left side of the cul de sac)
El Cerrito, CAHuman Flowering Song Circle ~~ This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing our way thru a story of Creation. Thru the imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs, we awaken our Creation-body and cultivate a Garden within. This resonance with our evolutionary heritage passes to us impulses of transformation and shape-shifting, which culminate in a self-transcendence that 'flowers' us beneath the Sunlight of our opening heart.by donationIn Santa Cruz . . Sept. 28 -29 Virginia Satir Center
10880 Alba Road, Ben Lomond (Go right at the pullout, down the driveway at the 1st mailbox, past the water tank.
You will pass two small houses, pass a totem pole (0.15 mile from turnout) where the road forks, to the right is a basketball court to the left are 2 geodesic domes. Park at the basketball court. We will be singing in the dome(s).) Friday nite - 7 ~ 9 +
A Human Flowering Song Cycle ~~ This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing a Creation story. Thru the imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs, we awaken our Creation-body, and cultivate a Garden within. This resonance with our ancestoral heritage passes to us impulses of transformation, of shapeshifting. These culminate in a self-transcendence that 'flowers' us beneath the Sunlight of our opening heart. Those who don’t think they can sing are encouraged to come and claim the birthright of a singing species.Saturday morn - 9 ~ 12
A Human Flowering Creation Story ~~ This discussion expands upon the story told in the songs. We map an esoteric understanding of the life stages of a flowering plant onto the human life cycle, including the larger cycles of the human collective. This allows us to see archetypal organismic forces at work in evolving us thru what I call Cosmopolitan (gross mind/body-identified) culture, Sylvapolitan (suble mind/life current-identified) culture, and into surrender to the light of Love that is the human flowering response, or Spiritual culture (no self-identity). There is currently a kind of log-jam at the borderlands of 'Cosmopolis' and 'Sylvatica', as forces invested in the status quo of increasingly dysfunctional humans work at cross-purposes with the flow of Gaian healing processes that urge humanity to move enmasse into another order of maturity. We will plot ourselves, and the world situation, in this frame-story, and discuss how to best fertilize our flowering thru it all.by donationIn Cosmopolis, WA . . Sept. 7 - 9 (go to Singing Alive page for more info)

SINGING ALIVE ~~ with the tribes of creation

This event is about bringing people together to sing and dance in circular devotion to the regeneration of humanity and the earth. We focus on songs which embody the re-emerging consciousness of love for the planet and for world peace. The old paradigm of domination, exploitation, and war is gradually being replaced by cultural forms of peace, partnership, respect, and reverence for all life. Over the past 30 years a new genre of songs have (re)emerged that reflect and celebrate this new paradigm. Our intent is to invite singers and musicians who can share songs of this genre which work in the format of communal singing. This is not an entertainer / audience gathering; rather it is a participatory event where we all sing together, and work together to make this happen.

A Teaching and Sharing Gathering
Whole-Group Singing Circles & Small Song-Circles
Dances of Universal Peace,
Playing Musical Instruments,
Voice & Breathwork,
Midwiving New Languages & Reclaiming the Ancient Ones,
Bardic Legacies and Storytelling,
Creating & Sharing Songbooks & Songbook Art Traditions (Song Tribes)
Rainbow, Rasta, Shamanic, Daime, Native American, Orisha, Osho, Amma, Sufi, Gospel, Kirtan, and omward . . .Themes and Invocations
World Peace, Divine Mother, Planetary Accupuncture, the Devic Realms, Human Flowering, and Harmonic Toning

We aim to keep the event affordable and accessible to all who wish to attend. To this end, we ask everybody to volunteer their time and talents. Everyone is asked to bring food to contribute to the community kitchen. Everyone is requested to help cook, clean, and do the necessary tasks to keep our village running smoothly.Circle conductors may sell their CD’s, songbooks, instruments, whatever, and, depending on our net gain, will be compensated travel expenses. There will be a craft vending period on Sunday in which all are invited to participate.$60 at gate, $50 pre-registered (send to Morgan Brent @ below address), $20 per day, ½ price for teens 13-17 with parents, children under 12 freeThe idea for this gathering was conceived on July 16, 2005 by Michael Pilarski (Skeeter) and Morgan Brent.
Skeeter is the founder of many gatherings, such as the Okanagon Barter Faire, the Northwest Herbal Faire, and the Human & Fairy Relations Congress.
Morgan is a participant at many gatherings, often speaking on plant teachings and culture change, and facilitating human flowering singing circles. please contact ~~
Morgan Brent
POB 6418, Olympia, WA 98507
xen@tribesofcreation.com (for pre-registration)
www.tribesofcreation.com
or
Michael ‘Skeeter’ Pilarski
POB 253, Twisp, WA 98856
541-386-6052
friendsofthetrees@yahoo.com
www.friendsofthetrees.net

Outside of Deadwood, OR . . . Aug. 24 - 26 14th Annual Creation Festival @ Aerious-YewWood
http://www.aerious.org/ ~~ (541) 964-5341Human Flowering Song Meditation ~~ 8:15 to 9:30 am on Friday and Saturday mornings. In Cosmopolis, WA . . Aug. 18 - 19Lillebakke @ 1778 North River Road, Singing Alive site We are having a work party @ the site of Singing Alive. For those who come Friday nite, you can stay over at Wild Thyme farm (and sing and sauna if you wish), and the next morning, about 9 am Saturday, we migrate 25 minute down the road to 1778 North River Road, Cosmopolis. We'll do firepit placing and digging, rock relocating, some pruning, firewood hauling, reburbishing structures, things like that, for Saturday and Sunday. You are invited to stay over Saturday nite at the site, and we'll sing and envision and such. You are welcome to come for all, any, or part, of this weekend. Directions ~~ Travel on I-5 (15 - 20 minutes S. of Olympia, 90 minutes N. or Portland)~ get off at the Tenino/Rochester/Soundsouth speedway exit 88B (if heading North), exit 88 (if heading South); go West on Hwy 12
2) go West about 12 miles, thru and past Rochester until you come to BLOCKHOUSE RD. If you've come to Oakville the town you've gone to far.
3) take a LEFT on Blockhouse rd, go to intersection, then straight (slight rt actually) on CEMETARY Rd. It T's into another Rd. (SOUTH BANK Rd.) take a LEFT
4) go a mile or so until crossing a big, big river, then take first LEFT onto GARRARD CREEK Rd
5) Follow it (if you are coming to Wild Thyme farm you make a LEFT on MATTSON, and there we B on your RIGHT.), and it will Y after a few miles, but go straight on it, to and thru the non-town of BROOKLYN and you will see 1778 North River Road on your left.
6) The gate may or may not be open, but open it and park. Then walk thru a gate across from the entrance, which goes into a horse pasture, follow the path/dirt road to the right, cross a bridge (which has a gate across it) step around the gate (and don't fall in the river!), then walk 1/5 mile or so along the river and there is the place where we will be, a big beautiful meadow. Bring a tent, water, flashlight, food, digging or pruning tools if you have them, gloves, whatever.

In Oakville, WA . . Aug. 17th @ Wild Thyme Farm (35 minutes SSW of Olympia); 7:30 pmHuman Flowering Song Circle ~~
This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing our way thru a story of Creation. Thru the imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs, we awaken our Creation-body, and cultivate a Garden within. This resonance with our evolutionary heritage passes to us impulses of transformation and shape-shifting, which culminate in a self-transcendence that 'flowers' us beneath the Sunlight of our opening heart.

With wood-fired saun afterwards, and an introduction to the gathering of the Song Tribes happening Sept. 7 - 9Wild Thyme Farm, 72 Mattson Rd., Oakville, WA ~~ http://www.sonic.net/~wildfarm/ (email me for directions if you haven't been here before, as mapquest gets it a bit wrong)

Singing Alive update . . Aug. 11Greetings All,
What follows is the current (Aug. 11, 2007) vision of how Singing Alive will exist and progress. I was just at the site last evening. There's been a relatively lot of rain recently, so things are green and lush. So far the schedule I have sketched out in last Singing Alive update (July 2, see below) is holding up. Depending on a few things, we may do less, any maybe more than the 30 small circle workshop plan. We are still guessing between 100 - 150 people will attend, but it could be 200, or even up to 250 (the maximum). So, at this point I am taking people's requests to facilitate circles, and they are slowly filling in. We currently have (in various degrees of commitment):1) Sommer Mousel - Santo Daime (background and songs)
2) Rob Tobias - Hebrew spiritual, freedom, peace
3) Rachel Bruton - 1 circle of sacred toning; another of children songs
4) Lea Clara Linda - direct from israel, in Euro-Rainbow genre, w/ Hebrew & Brazilian flourishments; 1 or 2 circles
5) Maria Mango - loveolution rainbow goddess energies with a Haight-Ashbury accent; 1 or 2 circles
6) Sarik Shine - S. American curandero style
7) Eli Clemons - Orisha drumming
8) Skeeter - dances of universal peace
9) Morgan B. - Human Flowering, spirit languaging, and could do circles of Peace songs, Water songs
10) Mary Gold - Blessing Songs
11) Huckleberry - Chakra AumingThere are many others that are circling about with their offerings (goddess songs, monkey chanting, Native American, etc), that i will let you know of when they are more solidified. I would like to have somebody who is into songbooks volunteer to run a songbook sharing circle. Also looking for a sweat lodge person(s)Some logistics - the power source is off of solar batteries (for the most part, if not all), and seems to be adequate for our needs, which appears to be night lights, and recording instruments and powerbooks. Drinking water is less easy. there is none there (though plenty of river water), so we need to bring in drinking water. this leads us to wish list ~~ Wish list - remember this is a inexpensive gathering depending on communal, co-operative energies to make it happen well. We have drinking water down the road, but need some BIG plastic containers to get an optimal amount into the site. We also need canvas-kind of structures (teepees anyone?) to put up to cover the singing sites (ideally), registration, and the CD recording/burning site. We ask that you bring your own plates. cups, and silverware and keep them for the duration. We'll have a dishwashing station set up. I think we are covered with pots and burners, but could use a few more propane tanks. We'll have a tea kitchen set up in the evening, that could use donations of teas, chai's, coffees, etc. What else - we have both posters and flyers that I can send you either by email, or physical mail, if you ask me. Dogs can come, but only as far as the camping area (which means you'll have to leave them to come into the main meadow). We will have a firepit out by the camping area for some gathering, but its got to stay mellow in the nighttime for obvious reasons. Also know that we will do another work party the labor day weekend before the gathering, and there maybe space to stay there or posdibly Wild Thyme farm (where I live) if you'd like to not have to leave and come back. and . . I want to reiterate a guiding vision of this gathering, (as balance to all these details). This is really about creating a good-sized focal point of positive intention. We are gifted with many spiritual resources, among them many songs and prayers, to ride and transmute the often chaotic energies swirling about us for the collective good. When we engage with these resources, especially when there are a lot of us doing it together, we can more easily open our hearts, which gives space for greater aspects of ourselves to expand their presence into this world, to set another vibration, another story, another reality, into motion, into being. This is how we seize the opportunity of these times . . a way to do our human-sized part for the great spiritual forces to do theirs. The event is about supporting people who like to sing and pray in these ways, or who may want to but haven't had the encouragement or resources (those who don't think they can sing are urged to come!), and to network them/us and strengthen the web of beneficial visions which, as I like to say, 'is circling the world like pearled necklaces of evolutionary heat'. And this is from Michael 'Skeeter' Pilarski ~ "At this time of great changes we gather together for inspiration, empowerment and strength. We often feel separate, lonely and isolated in our work to help the world through these great changes. Singing Alive offers us a chance to be with a loving support group and at the same time do something useful for the world. Although humans obviously include an incredible range of consciousness there is a composite, planetary human mind. There are also national consciousnesses, cultures, tribes, etc. These group "psyches" are in the ethers, so to speak and they affect all of us to some degree or another. One influences all. The most conscious and illumined humans help set a template for others to tap into. They make the path easier for the rest of us. A group of people singing together with intent is a way to affect the group mind. Singing Alive is not only for the participants' joy and fun; Singing Alive can be a real contribution to world peace and love. We are helping sing into being a more loving way for humans to be in the world. We sing for freedom, for compassion, spiritual illumination, Earth-awareness, etc."Again, please bring food to share, especially food from your gardens. Contact our kitchen coordinator, Aera, if you can bring larger amounts of food items. 541-400-0098.

This is a camp-out, so come prepared with tent, bedding, flashlights, water bottle, etc. Bring your bathing suit since the site in on the North River. Bring songbooks and CDs for show and share. We wish to create lists of songs, singers, songbooks, CDs etc. CDs, songbooks, musical instruments and the like can be sold/traded throughout the weekend, and there will be a barter period on Sunday morning for people to trade and sell other types of wares.In Ashland, OR . . Aug. 4th @ the Mystic Garden Party (http://www.mysticgardenparty.com), Jackson Wellsprings Saturday, 10-12 am
in the Big DomeHuman Flowering Song Meditation ~~ a mellower, morning version of the song circle . . .

In Portland, OR . . July 26thThursday, 7:30 pm ~~
4144 SE Foster and 60th, PortlandHuman Flowering Song Circle ~~ This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing our way thru a story of Creation. Thru the imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs, we awaken our Creation-body, and cultivate a Garden within. This resonance with our evolutionary heritage passes to us impulses of transformation that culminate in a self-transcendence that 'flowers' us beneath the Sunlight of our opening heart. Those who don’t think they can sing are encouraged to come and claim the birthright of a singing species.you might want to bring cushions to sit on as I haven't been to this space and don't know what they have in that waySinging Alive update . . July 2
Greetings All,
What follows is the (July 2, 2007) vision of how Singing Alive will exist and progress.

Note that this event is somewhat experimental and we will go with the flow thruout. Like the river that runs thru the site, we must have shores and banks to keep it all moving together and in (relatively) the same direction.

The Site
The land is not public land, but in private hands, those of a couple with two children, all of whom will be attending as well. It is located at 1778 Northriver Rd, Cosmopolis, WA. Cosmopolis is less a town than an area, located in SW Washington, not to far from the coast. It is rain-forest, but early Sept. is about the driest time of the year – nevertheless, unexpected rains should always be expected!

Coming into the land off the road, you will be ushered into a big meadow, often used for grazing horses, surrounded by river, that you can camp in. From there, it is a walk across a bridge and down a trail, to another (main) meadow, which is where the Singing Alive event will take place.

The Schedule
We will convene at 9 am Friday morning in a big circle. There we will open the event, do some songs and dances, and speak of things to come, such as the smaller circles scheduled that day, lunch, and whatever else.

Then comes 9:30 am circles. Currently there will be 5 to choose from, all in the general main meadow area. Those will go from 1 – 2 hours.

At 11:30 am we eat brunch . . . yum yum

At 2:00 pm begin the afternoon circles

At 5:30 we do big circle to introduce dinner, and what is to come in the evening.

6:00 pm we eat dinner . . delicioso

Then come the evening events. I’m feeling the evenings will be more free-form, with an open circle(s) where anyone can share, jam sessions, and things varying from dancing, to more ethereal, spirit languaging sessions, and to degrees performances, fire spinning, slide shows . . . Since camping is down the trail, whatever is happening in the main meadow should not interfere with anyone’s sleep.And so it goes for three days, ending with the Sunday afternoon circle and dinner.

There will also be one or two early morning singing circle for those inclined, likely starting at 6:30 or 7.

The Food
The food vision for this event is to run it as a great potluck, with us, the focalizers/organizers, providing some staples, such as grains, condiments, cooking oils, and the kitchen infrastructure. Since it will be harvest season then, there should be much abundance out there. Bring what you can to feed the Family! At each large circle before the two meals a day, it would be good for those who brought something we are going to eat to introduce the food, and possibly its history, where it came from, etc. Everything will be vegetarian, and as organic as possible.
Bring your own bowls/plates/utensils as well.

Jobs
As this is largely a community run event, there is technically no ‘staff’. This means that we need to be well organized, no easy task! And that each person attending, if they are able to, offer a block of their time to a task that needs to be done. We will have time-offering coordinators that will work with the major tasks, which right now include:
1. front gate registration and parking
2. kitchen, including food preparation, clean up, receiving and keeping track of food. etc
3. recording circles and burn CDs
4. child care
5. site restoration (cleanup) afterwards
6. barter faire coordination (there will be a trading circle Sunday morning)
7. first aid
8. and whatever else, including making signs, attending to the schedule board, firewood, and so on
9. we also need a riding sharing coordinator. Anybody out there interested? The Circles
There will likely be 5 small circles twice a day, with evening possibilities, and a few morning circles. That is 30+ circles available for facilitators to attend to. They are just beginning to fill, so those of you out there who are interested in running a circle, let me know . .

Wish List
Because this is a teaching gathering as well, each, with the permission of the facilitator, will be recorded, so the bringing of blank CDs, high quality mp3 compatible recording devices, and laptops that can burn CDs, or even print them, will all be appreciated. Also bales of hay to sit on, firewood, and LOTS of food bounty.

Thatz it for now . . As this is a work in progress, send any suggestions my way, or to Skeeters. Stay tuned . . Om Shanti~~morgan

Thursday, 7 pm ~~
8301 Buckingham Drive
El Cerrito, CAcontact Tyler Gage @ 925.963.9825; Tyler_Gage@brown.edu, for more info

Human Flowering Song Circle ~~
This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing our way thru a story of Creation. Thru the imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs, we awaken our Creation-body, and cultivate a Garden within. This resonance with our evolutionary heritage passes to us impulses of transformation and shape-shifting, which culminate in a self-transcendence that 'flowers' us beneath the Sunlight of our opening heart.With an introduction to the gathering of the Song Tribes happening Sept. 7 - 9In Fairyland . . June 22-24@Skalitude Retreat Center, North Cascade Mts., WA
http://www.fairycongress.com Songs from the Garden ~~ 6:30 am Fri., Sat. and Sun. morns:
Wake up! Start your day with a morning cup of breath-work, visualization, tones, sones, and songs. We sing ourselves Alive as we journey thru the Story of Creation, weaving the double helix of the devic and de'human whirleds into a flowering of the heart, into the promise of heaven as earth. Those humans who have yet to discover their birthright as a singing species are encouraged to come, and let the fairies help you blossom your voice . . Tribal Talk ~~ somewhere in the evening . . .
Tribal talk is variant of 'soning', which explores the fertile spaces between toning and singing. While soning encompasses the full-range of sounds, syllables, melodies, and breaths in a kind of free-form, primordial excavation of human voice possibilities, tribal talk is more structured, and most importantly, more conversational. In this session, we begin with soning as a warm up, and then direct the creative flow to the formation of inter-dimensional languages, and dialogues. Tribal talk is the art of being very articulate in speaking words with no meaning, i.e. no 'apparent' meaning, for all the nuances of intonation, phrasing, timing, the give and take of speaking and listening, etc., all that makes for good conversation, are highly present, for they carry the stream of meaning. A well-executed tribal talk session helps cleanse our vibrational palate, gets us on the 'felt' wavelength of communication, creates space for other beings to converse with us and thru us, and is good, mystical fun! In Oakville, WA . . June 12, 20 @ Wild Thyme Farm (35 minutes SSW of Olympia)Human Flowering Song Circle ~~
This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing our way thru a story of Creation. Thru the imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs, we awaken our Creation-body, and cultivate a Garden within. This resonance with our evolutionary heritage passes to us impulses of transformation and shape-shifting, which culminate in a self-transcendence that 'flowers' us beneath the Sunlight of our opening heart.

With an introduction to the gathering of the Song Tribes happening Sept. 7 - 9Wild Thyme Farm, 72 Mattson Rd., Oakville, WA (35 minutes SSW of Olympia) ~~ http://www.sonic.net/~wildfarm/Tuesday, June 12; Wednesday, June 20
7 p.m. ~~ omward

In Portland, OR . . June 8Human Flowering Song Circle ~~
This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing our way thru a story of Creation. Thru the imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs, we awaken our Creation-body, and cultivate a Garden within. This resonance with our evolutionary heritage passes to us impulses of transformation and shape-shifting, which culminate in a self-transcendence that 'flowers' us beneath the Sunlight of our opening heart. Those who don’t think they can sing are encouraged to come and claim the birthright of a singing species.

followed by a discussion forum on: The Power of Songs in the Regeneration of Humanity and the Earth. With an introduction to the gathering of the Song Tribes happening Sept. 7 - @Awakenings (big ground floor studio)
1016 SE 12th avenue; (bus #15 &17)
Friday, 7 pm ~~ omward
by donation

In Portland, OR . . May 18 - 28th @ Village Building Convergence (http://www.cityrepair.org/wiki.php/projects/vbc/) Human Flowering Singing Circle
This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing our way thru a story of Creation. Thru the imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs, we awaken our Creation-body, and cultivate a Garden within. This resonance with our evolutionary heritage passes to us impulses of transformation and shape-shifting, which culminate in a self-transcendence that 'flowers' us beneath the Sunlight of our opening heart. Those who don’t think they can sing are encouraged to come and claim the birthright of a singing species.
When: 1-2:30 pm, Tuesday May 22nd
Where: Disjecta

Tribal Talk
Tribal talk is done in the tradition of ceremonial singing circles. It explores the fertile spaces between toning and singing, directing the creative flow to the release of inter-dimensional languages. Tribal talk is the 'dialogue' carried on with these languages. It encompasses the art of being very articulate in speaking words with no meaning, i.e. no 'apparent' meaning, for all the nuances of intonation, phrasing, timing, the give and take of speaking and listening, etc., all that makes for good conversation, are highly present, for they carry the stream of meaning. A well-executed tribal talk session helps cleanse our vibrational palate, gets us on the 'felt' wavelength of communication, creates space for other beings to converse with us and thru us, and is good, mystical fun!
When: 12-1:30 pm, Wednesday May 23rd
Where: Disjecta Indigenous Consciousness
We are inheritors of a culture of separation from Nature so severe that to be "normal" is to act contrary to our own survival as a species. The primary guidance offered us by the original instructions encoded in our body, the "old language" of spirit and its teachings, have been largely forgotten. The earth, however, is calling us to re-member. Whispers awakening us from the trance of modernity are everywhere. This talk identifies and clarifies these whisperings, giving voice to a perennial indigenous consciousness. We will explore the Gaian metabolism, the "dharma" (teachings) of its functioning, and the transmission of this dharma into mythic archetypes. These myths, have birthed lineages of ceremonial and transformative wisdoms. As the Empire building of predatory capitalism begins to crumble beneath the weight of its excesses, and many First Nations people disappear or become radically changed before the ongoing forces of colonization, we find these wisdoms sprouting anew from a compost heap of social possibilities. We will discuss this 'neo-indigenous' movement, and its implications and potentials for personal and cultural change.
When: 12-1:30 pm, Friday May 25th
Where: Disjecta

In El Cerrito, CA . . May 14 Monday, 7 pm ~~
8301 Buckingham Drive
El Cerrito, CA contact Tyler Gage @ 925.963.9825; Tyler_Gage@brown.edu, for more info A Human Flowering Meditation (the frequency) ~~ This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing our way thru a story of Creation. Thru the imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs, we awaken our Creation-body, and cultivate a Garden within. This resonance with our evolutionary heritage passes to us impulses of transformation and shape-shifting, which culminate in a self-transcendence that 'flowers' us beneath the Sunlight of our opening heart. Those who don’t think they can sing are encouraged to come and claim the birthright of a singing species.

The Human Flowering Response (the story) ~~ This discussion expands upon the story told in the songs. We map an esoteric understanding of the life stages of a flowering plant onto the human life cycle, including the larger cycles of the human collective. This allows us to see archetypal organismic forces at work in evolving us thru what I call Cosmopolitan (mind/body-identified) culture, Sylvapolitan (life-current identified) culture, and into surrender to the light of Love that is the human flowering response, or Spiritual culture (no self-identity). There is currently a kind of log-jam at the borderlands of 'Cosmopolis' and 'Sylvatica', as forces invested in the status quo work at cross-purposes with Gaian healing processes that urge humanity to move enmasse onto a higher octave of life-current. We will plot ourselves, and the world situation, in this frame-story, and discuss how to best fertilize our flowering thru it all.

In Portland, OR . . May 5th @Awakenings (big ground floor studio)
1016 SE 12th avenue; (bus #15 &17)
Friday, 7 pm ~~ omward
by donationTeacher Plants ~~ and visions of transformation
The premise for this discussion forum is that plants have been actively engaged in guiding humanity since our emergence as species, and that we would do well to wake up to this fact and take advantage of it, as we need all the help we can get at this critical juncture in our collective story. We will frame our exploration with the ‘Myth of the Uneven Return’, which tells us that humanity is undergoing an archetypal hero(ine) journey. We have left the family of Creation, and traveled thru the realms of ego-based identities in search of the Holy Grail of self-awareness. Many of us are returning home with this boon, while others are lost in the glamor bardos of mind-possession, causing severe planetary disturbances. However, Nature in her infinite wisdom and compassion provides much guidance for coming home. Among the guides are a neurotransmitter-rich class of plants found in the edge zones of human cultures. Often called ‘Teacher Plants’, their medicinal effects tend to be telepathic and visionary. We will discuss common themes in their messages to humanity, and their generative effects on personal and social transformation.

This event will be preceded by a ceremonial singing circle . . .

In Woodstock, NY . . . April 21 @ Bliss Yoga Center (http://www.blissyogacenter.com/)2-6 pmA Human Flowering Meditation (the frequency) ~~ This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing our way thru a story of Creation. Thru the imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs, we awaken our Creation-body, and cultivate a Garden within. This resonance with our evolutionary heritage passes to us impulses of transformation. These culminate in a self-transcendence that 'flowers' us beneath the Sunlight of our opening heart. Those who don’t think they can sing are encouraged to come and claim the birthright of a singing species.

The Human Flowering Response (the story) ~~ This discussion expands upon the story told in the songs. We map an esoteric understanding of the life stages of a flowering plant onto the human life cycle, including the larger cycles of the human collective. This allows us to see archetypal organismic forces at work in evolving us thru what I call Cosmopolitan (body-identified) culture, Sylvapolitan (life-current identified) culture, and into surrender to the light of Love that is the human flowering response, or Spiritual culture. There is currently a kind of log-jam at the borderlands of 'Cosmopolis' and 'Sylvatica', as forces invested in the status quo of dysfunctional humans work at cross-purposes with Gaian healing processes that urge humanity to move enmasse onto a higher octave of life-current. We will plot ourselves, and the world situation, in this frame-story, and discuss how to best fertilize our flowering thru it all.

In Providence, RI . . . April 14 - 15 @ Brown University Saturday workshop: 5 pm; 79 Transit St. - sponsored by the Contemplative Studies Initiative at Brown (www.contemplativestudies.org)Human Flowering Response (the frequency) - This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), chant, and sing our way thru a story of Creation. Thru the imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs, we awaken our Creation-body, and cultivate a garden within. This allows us to shapeshift our way thru our evolutionary heritage, which passes to us an impulse of self-transcendence that flowers us beneath the Sunlight of our opening heart. Those who don’t think they can sing are encouraged to come and claim their birthright, for we are a singing species.

The Human Flowering Response (the story) - Who is this flowering human? As the Empire building of predatory capitalism begins to rapidly crumble beneath the weight of its excesses, and many First Nations people disappear or become radically changed before the ongoing forces of colonization, we find the world awash in cultural fragments and detritus. It is out of this broth of identity nutrients, this compost tea of social possibilities, that an archetype of human renewal is arising. I call this the 'sylva' (of the forest, and in its expanded sense, Nature) 'politan' (citizen of). The sylvapolitan is a bridge figure, a full-spectrum human, alchemizing balance, and often synthesis, between the colonizers and colonized; the techno-rational mind of modernity and perennial wisdoms; reason (eagle) and spirit (condor), male and female knowledges. The sylvapolitan is the future of humanity if we are to survive this era of great extinctions, and we can only do so if we surrender to the evolutionary forces of Transformation, already hard at work, both thru and with us, to effect the rapid maturation we need to flourish as a species. The human flowering 'story' explores the role of other life forms (e.g., fungi, plants, and animals) in the cultivation and education of the sylvapolitan, its lineage and attributes, the significance of its current proliferation, and its potential to help us understand culture change in these transitional times, and align to positive outcomes.Sunday talk: "An Origin Story of the Modern Drug War," will explore our divided legacy towards Nature's efforts to midwife the maturity of our species, through a discussion of the politics of consciousness in an era of ecological crisis.

MacMillian 117; 11:30 - 12:30 sponsored by SSDP (Students for Sensible Drug Policy) Northeast Regional Conference In Portland . . . Springthyme@ Tryon Farm (http://www.tryonfarm.org), 1640 SW Boone's Ferry Rd. Sylvapolitan Rising ~ a plant-inspired creation story for living the future-healed earth nowa ceremonial singing circle, and discussion forum . . . Beginning @ 3 pm, every other Saturday (or so) March, and April, 2007. If your first time, email me for when the next one is happening Tryon Farm has an 8 pm sauna and sing planned on those Saturdays in their cob steamwomb, which you are welcome to stay for as well. Bring food is you'd like for the time inbetween

@ Portland State University. Sponsored by: Program for Culture, Ecology, and Leadership
Speakers Series ~~ http://www.piiecl.pdx.edu/Sylvapolitan Rising: Plant-inspired Teachings on Gaian Evolution, Culture Genesis, and the Flowering of Humanity
Friday, 7 - 9 pm
Free Public Lecture - @ PSU, SBA #190 in Business/Education Building, 631 SW Harrison St.
As the Empire building of predatory capitalism begins to crumble beneath the weight of its excesses, and many First Nations people disappear or become radically changed before the ongoing forces of colonization, we find the world awash in cultural fragments and detritus. It is out of this broth of identity nutrients, this compost heap of social possibilities, that an archetype of human renewal is arising. I call this the 'sylva' (of the forest, and in its expanded sense, Nature) 'politan' (citizen of). The sylvapolitan is a bridge figure, alchemizing balance, and often synthesis, between the colonizers and colonized; the techno-rational mind of modernity and perennial wisdoms; reason (eagle) and spirit (condor), male and female knowledges. The sylvapolitan represents our potential to survive this era of great extinctions, to act as co-creative partners with the great Evolutionary intelligences of the planet, and flourish as a species. This talk explores the role of elder life forms (e.g., fungi, plants, and animals) in the cultivation and education of the sylvapolitan, its the lineage and attributes, the significance of its current proliferation, and its potential to help us understand culture change in these transitional times and align to positive outcomes.
Saturday workshops - $15 for one, $25 for bothWorkshop I - 9:30 - 11:30 am
Singing Alive the Creation-Body - the 'frequency' of the sylvapolitan (likely at City Repair headquarters, 2122 SE Division, Portland)
Learning thru books and their visually absorbed symbols of conceptual abstractions is but a blip on the historical screen of human development. More universal to humanity are the oral traditions of learning, those that use the voice to create felt engagements with information. Songs are especially effective in helping us to resonate with teachings, to become that which we seek to know, and thereby open ourselves to be more fully changed by them. This workshop introduces the 'frequency' of the sylvapolitan, in an energetic encounter with the archetype. By way of communal breath work, toning, spirit languaging, simple chants, prayers, songs, and visualizations, we move thru an origin story of the sylvapolitan. Beneath the sunlight of an opening heart, our embodied evolutionary heritage awakens and thrives, eventually passing to us an impulse of self-transformation, the same one that creates crystals out of rock, and butterflies out of caterpillars. How we fertilize the soil of our incarnation (vitality practices), tend the garden of our relations (love thy neighbor), attend to the weather of our emotions (surface and clear), and improve the climate of our mind (imaginal hygiene and meditation), determines the extent to which this impulse matures and blossoms in each of us. Such organic understandings of 'living for a living', defines the Way of the sylvapolitan. Workshop II - 1 :00 - 3:30 pm
Sprouting Thru the Cultural Compost - discussion forum on enacting the sylvapolitan story (likely at City Repair headquarters, 2122 SE Division, Portland)
If indigeneity is understood as a way of life, a heritage of human-nature relationships that is ever evolving in form but unified in substance, then the sylvapolitan represents a re-indigenization of humanity. However, this is not a retro 'back to the land' phenomena, but a cyclic spiral around to a new engagement with the society of Nature, one tempered by the crucible of our historical passage. This workshop is a discussion forum for us to identify sylvapolitan characteristics in our lives, to develop an eye for noticing them as sprouts thru cracks in the proverbial road of progress, and to apply this archetype to understand the power of Nature to act thru us in generating culture change. We will go over ways to shed the conditioning of corporate-sponsored reality and the various 'consensus trances' beneath it, to bring into activation our 'original instructions' revealed by this shedding. As we shape the sylvapolitan world view, we will engage in a few activities which I feel help root the experience, and facilitate its flowering. Among these can be: enlivening the world thru discourses of familiarity and kinship; exploring the languages of Nature, such as flower fragrances, and other 'signatures'; doing exercises to move the locus of learning from the head to the radiant 'feeling body'; exposing unconscious judgment patterns in our inherited ideologies and daily conversations and replacing them with organic metaphors and frame stories; immersing ourselves in visualizations that effect change in the world by bringing things together (synergy) rather than taking things apart (analysis); and ways to respectfully and artfully feed on composting cultural forms (and avoid their toxins), and transmute them into their more expansive potentials. In Olympia, WA. . . Nov. 6Pro-Active Health and Gaian EvolutionMonday, 6:30 pm. @ Evergreen State University (Seminar 2, C2109) sponsored by the Healing Arts CollectiveCosmopolis, WA . . . Sept. 9thOrganizing Gathering for Singing Alive ~~ @ Rivermeadow, 1778 Northriver Rd, Cosmopolis, WA 98537 This is an invitation to attend a gathering to share our circle songs, dances, and music, and work with the vision and logistics of putting this ceremonial village together for a weekend sometime next summer (2007). We will meet around 12 noon at the planned site for the event, a beautiful ribbon of meadows along the Northfork river of SW Washington, on Sat., Sept. 9th. We will do our work and play over the rest of the day and into the evening, and you are encouraged to stay overnight. Bring food, water, instruments, songs, camping gear, etc.directions:
From Olympia, take 101 towards Aberdeen. Go S. on Hwy 8, which turns into Hwy 12. Take the Montesano exit and turn left on 107. Turn left when it hooks back up with 101 (approx 7 miles). Immediately after the town of Artic, there will be a bridge over a river. Turn left onto North River road. Follow it approx 11 miles to 1778 (Next to Blue Mountain goat ranch). There will be a blue garage there. Rivermeadow is approx. 3/4 miles in. Follow the path across the bridge until you get there.for more info contact: Morgan Brent (xen@kevcom.com); Michael ‘Skeeter’ Pilarski (friendsofthetrees@yahoo.com) ~ 541.386.6052In Tacoma, WA . . . Sept. 76:30 - 9:00 pm @ Crystal Voyage - 2601 East "D" St. - Suite 201, Tacoma, WA
www.crystalvoyage.com
WA state chapter of the American Herbalist GuildHerbalism and Culture Change
The premise of this talk is that what we do to nature we do to ourselves (and visa versa), and that this can be cogently understood in our relations with medicinal plants. This talk uses competing models of herbal efficacy to understand competing models of human culture, and points to their resolution in a balanced ecology of knowledge, exemplified in integrated, or 'global' herbalism.

The active constituent (AC or pharmaceutical) model of herbalism is materialistic, mechanistic, and reductionist; it seeks to identify chemistries in plants with biological potential to act upon specific structures and functions in the human body to positive effect, or attack agents presumed to cause disease. Therapeutic relevance takes place on the level of molecules, usually in microscopic battles of dominance and exclusion. In contrast, the whole plant (WP or ecological) model is inherently vitalistic, holistic, and extends into animistic understandings of relationship; it necessitates an intact inner plant ecology to then 'teach' organizational order, impart life force, or otherwise nourish and balance the inner human ecology. These two models validate different medical ideologies, reflect different ways of knowing the world, and affirm different cultural ethos. In this talk we will use the AC metaphor to understand the forces of modernity, (e.g., patriarchy, scientific materialism, Protestantism) that have been crucial to the generation of Western culture, and by extension global industrialism. We then turn to the whole plant (WP or ecological) model of herbal efficacy, and apply it to understand cultures that are cosmologically and physically interactive with the productive forces of the land, that lack extensive social hierarchy and private property, and that value social elements that constellate around the procreative and nurturing principles associated with the feminine. We use these models to critically analyze modern history, illuminate the modern cultural wars (however we might define them), and discuss their integration in synergistic ‘bridge cultures’ appearing worldwide.In Abadiania, Brazil . . . August 15 - 28John of God (Joao de Deus)I'm taking a small group to see John of God, a trance medium who, via the 'Entities' that work thru him, presides over a hospital in Brazil, free, and staffed by volunteers. The place is known for psychic surgery, and bringing about miraculous cures, and spiritual awakenings. People from all over the world make the pilgramage to Abadamia for this reason, and to be here is to be immerged in an international cultural of spiritual healing. Let me know if you'd like to accompany us . .
In Mosier OR . . . August 5-7@Metapoesis ~~ http://www.cityrepair.org/wiki.php/wow/mainSpirit Languaging and Ceremonial Voicework - Communiversity Workshop
This session is a encapsulation of how the spirits and intuitions accessed thru various plants (and fungi), taught me to use my voice for various empowering, devotional, healing, and mystically fun ends. We begin with Taoist-influenced warm up exercises, with which we cultivate awareness of the body as a musical instrument, one that can project a voice that charges ourselves (and those around us) with harmonic life force each time we use it. We then move into the fertile spaces between toning and singing, known as 'soning' or 'tribal talk'. This is where the groundswells of spirit languaging arise, a free-form, primordial broth of sounds, syllables, melody riffs, breaths, animal utterances, plants whisperings, and elemental voicings, that nourishes our re-creation. This allows us to get free of english language patterns, and social acceptability issues about what comes out of our mouth, surfaces embodied understandings, clears blocks, cleanses our vibrational palette, and gets us on the 'felt' wavelength of communication shared by all tribes of existence. From there we voice our rebirth into communion with the Ancestors, singing ourselves Alive as we journey our way thru the story of Creation. Thru the imagery of the journey, the teachings of the songs, and the resonance of community, we awaken our body to its structural destiny to flower into its Divine potentials. Those who don’t think they can sing are encouraged to come and claim their birthright! Prescribed for those suffering from left-brain dominance, and unintegrated neocortexes. Sat, late morning . . . Surfing the Wave of Whatz going On - Communiversity Workshop
This is a medley of a few of my raps - the culture of Nature, the Gaian agenda for humanity, plant teachings, the human flowering response, and the rise of the sylvapolitan - all weaving a kind of unified field theory of indigenous consciousness, a visionary understanding of the zsigns of the times. From all this come some juicy directions HOME, and ways to enjoy the journey. Sun., late morningIn Pleasant Hill, OR . . July 22-23@ NW Herb Fest
http://www.herbaltransitions.com/Classes.htmlHere I will be doing a talk on lessons (tough love!) from the Amazonian Teacher plants, and a morning Song Circle (or two) . . . In Oakville, WA . . July 12-13 @ Wild Thyme Farm (35 minutes SSW of Olympia)
http://www.wildfermentation.com/
http://www.wildthymefarm.com/

Wild Fermentation and WildfoodCrafting
This event is being co-produced by Shari Trnka and I Foraging and kitchern witchery. Email me for more info . .

In Veneta, OR . . July 7-9 @ Oregon Country Faire
http://www.oregoncountryfair.org/I be doing a couple talks at the Spoken Word performance venues. They are (tentatively) titled "What the Plants Teach: cultural evolution", and "What the Plants Teach: human flowering". They will be at The Rabbit Hole (Friday @ 1pm), and Chez Rays (Sat @ 2 pm). If enough quiet time and space can be found, we will also do one or two ceremonial singing circles as well . . . In Portland, OR . . July 6 @ Portland State University. Program for Culture, Ecology, and Leadership
http://www.piiecl.pdx.edu/From 4-6 pm I will be doing a guest lecture on Indigenous Consciousness. Education and Business Blding (corner of Broadway and Harrison), Room 314.
In Fairyland . . June 23-25@Skalitude Retreat Center, North Cascade Mts., WA
http://www.fairycongress.com Songs from the Garden ~~ 6:30 am Sat. and Sun. morns:
Wake up! Start your day with a morning cup of breath-work, visualization, tones, sones, and songs. We sing ourselves Alive as we journey thru the Story of Creation, weaving the double helix of the devic and de'human whirleds into a flowering of the heart, into the promise of heaven as earth. Those humans who have yet to discover their birthright as a singing species are encouraged to come, and let the fairies help you blossom your voice . . Tribal Talk ~~ in the evening . . .
Tribal talk is variant of 'soning', which explores the fertile spaces between toning and singing. While soning encompasses the full-range of sounds, syllables, melodies, and breaths in a kind of free-form, primordial excavation of human voice possibilities, tribal talk is more structured, and most importantly, more conversational. In this session, we begin with soning as a warm up, and then direct the creative flow to the formation of inter-dimensional languages, and dialogues. Tribal talk is the art of being very articulate in speaking words with no meaning, i.e. no 'apparent' meaning, for all the nuances of intonation, phrasing, timing, the give and take of speaking and listening, etc., all that makes for good conversation, are highly present, for they carry the stream of meaning. A well-executed tribal talk session helps cleanse our vibrational palate, gets us on the 'felt' wavelength of communication, creates space for other beings to converse with us and thru us, and is good, mystical fun! In Fairfax, CA . . June 7th@FlowMo Pilates Studio (http://www.flow-studio.com), 85 Bolinas Rd, Suite 9.7 pm - by donationDreamtime singing - a voice jam in the key of Creationthis gathering will likely be followed, depending on time and energy, by a discussion of "Sylvapolitan Rising - an emerging archetype of cultural evolution". . . . In Portland, OR . . May 24th@ Village Building Convergence (http://www.cityrepair.org/wiki.php/projects/vbc/) Disjecta ~~ 230 E. Burnside (cross street is 3rd)
enter from SE 3rd St. Time tbaSylvapolitan Rising: on pro-active identities in transitional timesIn Okanogan, WA . . . May 6-7@Okanogan Family Barter Faire Volunteer Summit http://www.okanoganfamilyfaire.comCeremonial singing - a voice jam in the key of flowering - 7 am Sat. and Sun. mornings

In Oakland, CA. . . April 16Sylvapolitan Rising ~~ in song and story
Rumi-nations on the emerging Tone Age. As many of us make the choices to come to know and inhabit our imaginal bliss, we create pools of vibrational nourishment in which we can spawn ourselves anew, recreate ourselves as Sylvapolitans. The Sylvapolitan inherits the lineage of indigenous elder wisdom, the lifeways harmonized with the ecological intelligence of the mountains and forests, the deserts and rivers, with the metabolism of Gaia. The Sylvapolitan is a perennial figure, ebbing as civilizations rise, and flowing forward again as they inevitably crash, to then receive the 'nutrients' (art forms, technologies, spiritual insights, and such) released by their composting. We will explore the tides of the times, and how to best utilize our Sylvapolitan instincts to effect graceful passage thru the rapidly rising waters@8801 Skyline Blvd, Oakland, CA
beginning at 7:00 pm, Sunday,
RSVP requested: contact Ali (earthmemory@yahoo.com)
by donationIn Fairfax, CA. . . March 27Soning Alive - a shamanic voice jam
Thru breath, visualization, toning, ‘soning’ (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), and singing, we will journey thru the story of Creation. The imagery of Gaian evolution, and teachings of the songs helps us cultivate a garden within us, and so awakens our body to its structural destiny to flower into conscious identification with the Divine. From flowers follow fruits, which will be offered to any of the tribes of creation that wish to join our circle of shapeshifting sound and movement.

@ Laughing Mama Multi-Cultural Center
12 School Street Fairfax, CA
beginning at 7:30 pm, Monday
by donationIn Portland . . . SpringtimeWhat the Plants Teach
an attunement to Gaian Wisdom and the Power of the GreenMarch 7 ~ Intro: How Things got to be the Way they Are
March 21 ~ Our Legacy of Indigenous Consciousness
April 4 ~ Perennial Herbalism and Teacher Plants
April 18 ~ Active Constituent (AC) Culture and its Discontents
May 2 ~ The Composted Cosmopolitan and the Fertilized Sylvapolitan
May 16 ~ The Wave of Whatz going On, and How to Surf it to Shore@Awakenings (big ground floor studio)
1016 SE 12th avenue
(bus #15 &17), Portland, OR
Tuesdays, 6:30-9 pm
by donationIn Olympia . . . March 2-3 Synergy, the fifth annual Sustainable Living Conference
March 1-4, at Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA
http://www.evergreen.edu/events/synergyMarch 3, 10-12 am
Workshop - The Human Flowering Response (the frequency) - This is an act-ivating meditation, inspired by a variety of traditions, including Taoist movement arts, Amazonian Plant-based healing, and anthroposophy. Seated in a circle with eyes closed, we breath, tone, 'sone' (the liminal whirled between toning and singing), and sing our way thru the story of Creation. Thru the imagary of the journey and teachings of the songs, we cultivate the 'plant within' and so awaken our body to its structural destiny to flower into conscious identification with the Divine. Those who don’t think they can sing are encouraged to come and claim their birthright! This workshop is linked to Shari Trnka's procession of the flowersMarch 2, 2 -3 pm
Lecture - The Human Flowering Response (the story) - We can understand our spiritual life to begin when we feel the gravity of Union pull our spirit into deepening relations with the world around us. This gravity can be felt in the world within us as well, as our embodied evolutionary heritage awakens and thrives beneath the sunlight of an opening heart. As our resonance with the Divine increases, the impulse of self-transformation carried thru this lineage, thru all the tribes of creation, activates itself thru the plant-like nature of our nervous system. How we fertilize the soil of our incarnation, tend the garden of our relations, attend the weather of our emotions, and improve the climate of our mind, determines the extent to which this impulse matures in each of us. To cultivate oneself with the intention to flower defines a way of life, one previewed in sacred cultures of the past, and given new forms and urgency in modern life. . This workshop is linked to Shari Trnka's procession of the flowers.

Songs of Awakening
November 5 and 12 ~~ 10am to 1pm
8801 Skyline Blvd
Oakland, CA
RSVP requested
contact: Ali @ 415.722.1840; 510.530.8907
earthmemory@yahoo.com
~~ $10 suggested

Part I ~~ Nov. 5, Saturday 10am - 1pm
What the Plants Teach I: the Human Flowering Response
The frequency: Thru breath, visualization, toning, ‘soning’ (the liminal world between toning and singing), and singing, we will work with whole body breathing and voicing, tuned to the organizing intelligences of heaven and earth. Organic 'framesongs' of blessing, devotion, celebration, and appreciation will then be used to cultivate the plant within. Check out here for examples: http://www.tribesofcreation.com/newsite/pages/songs.html
The story: This expands upon the story told in the songs. The structural destiny of the body is to flower into complete and conscious identification with the Divine. Spiritual life can be understood to begin as the sprouting of the divine seed in our bellies, aka dan tien, or hara. There it is warmed, and drawn to root, rise, branch, and bloom beneath the radiance of our heart. How we fertilize the soil of our incarnation, tend the garden of our relations, and purify our heart, determines the extent to which this impulse awakens and matures in each of us. To cultivate oneself with the intention to flower defines a way of life, one previewed in sacred cultures of the past, and given new forms and urgency in modern life.Part II ~~ Nov. 12, Saturday 10am - 1pm
What the Plants Teach I1: Our Birthright as a Singing Species
The frequency: The will again take us thru a plant-inspired journey of voicework, this time with even more songs!
The story: Plant teachers can restore our awareness of many primary qualities of humanness, among them our innate disposition to sing. Here we explore the evolutionary dimensions of singing and languages of resonance. We will touch on a web of subjects including: singing as interspecies communication, using the voice to move and dissolve energy blocks as well as to surface intuitions, the intentional language of spells, organicizing our metaphors to enliven our reality, the importance of verbs, why new tribes need new songs and how Spirit provides, the perennial 'bard' tradition of oral teachings, and the creative potential of chanting worlds into (and out of) existence.

What the Plants Teach
Salt Spring Island talk with Morgan Brent
At The Salt Spring Center of Yoga (B.C., Canada)
Friday Sept 16, 7-9pm & Saturday Sept 17, 9:30am to 12

Part I - Friday 7 - 9
What the Plants Teach I: Indigenous Consciousness
We are inheritors of a culture of separation from Nature so severe that to be ‘normal’ is to act contrary to our own survival as a species. The primary guidance offered us by the original instructions encoded in our body, the ‘old language’ of spirit and its teachings, have been largely forgotten. The earth is calling us to re-member. Whispers awakening us from the trance of modernity are everywhere. This talk identifies and clarifies these whisperings, giving voice to a perennial indigenous consciousness. We will explore the Gaian metabolism, the ‘dharma’ (teachings) of its functioning, and the transmission of this dharma into mythic archetypes. These myths, have birthed lineages of ceremonial and transformative arts. Those are now alchemizing with the rational mind of modernity, cross-pollinating, and blowing as seeds across the planet. From these currents a world-wide neo-indigenous movement is shaping itself, sprouting out of the compost of predatory capitalism. Part II - Saturday 9:30 – 12
What the Plants Teach II: the Human Flowering Response
The frequency: The 1st hour will connect us to our birthright as a species of sound. Through breath, visualization, toning, ‘soning’ (the liminal world between toning and singing), we will cultivate whole body breathing and voicing, tuned to the organizing intelligences of heaven and earth. This will be used to cultivate the plant within.
The story: The 2nd hour expands upon the story told in the songs. The structural destiny of the body is to flower into complete and conscious identification with the Divine. Spiritual life can be understood to begin as the sprouting of the divine seed in our bellies, our dan tien, or hara. There it is warmed, and drawn to root, rise, branch, and bloom beneath the radiance of our heart. How we fertilize the soil of our incarnation, tend the garden of our relations, and purify our heart, determines the extent to which this impulse awakens and matures in each of us. To cultivate oneself with the intention to flower defines a way of life, one previewed in sacred cultures of the past, and given new forms and urgency in modern life
.
Suggested Donation $15
Sliding Scale

Evans Creek, Redmond, WA
Friday, Sept. 2, 7:00 pm {with overnight option}
Saturday, Sept. 3, 8:00 am

The Human Flowering Response - This class is as experiential journey into perennial teachings arising from the Mind of Nature. These upwell through any individual or community who seek deep communion with the divine through the bridges of the natural world. These include pilgrimages to sacred sites, and opening to the voice of the temple-body; communion with the devic realm, and meditations with the crystal kin-dom; ceremonial intimacy with medicinal plants, and peaceful interludes in gardens and forest glades;. Such experiences heal the wounds of separation between humans and the greater society of Nature, between ourselves and the ancestors. They serve to restore organicism to our spiritual life, to understand our instincts towards union, meaningfulness, purpose, expanded identity, prayer, and ceremony as natural acts of evolution. These draw upon our shared heritage with the tribes of creation, all essentialized in the human body. The human spirit is structurally destined to flower through the body that unfurls from it. Spiritual life can be understood to begin as the sprouting of the divine seed in our bellies, our dan tien, or hara. There it is warmed, and drawn to root, rise, branch, and bloom beneath the radiance of our heart. How we fertilize the soil of our incarnation, tend the garden of our relations, and purify the light of our heart, determines the extent to which this impulse awakens and matures in each of us. To cultivate oneself with the intention to flower defines a way of life, one previewed in various sacred cultures of the past. The great diversity of this inheritance has brought us sufi dances, tantric sexuality, yoga, Christ conscious service work, Tibetan sand paintings, digeridoos, African drumming, Native American sweat lodges, and a plethora of other ceremonial and transformative arts. These lineages are now alchemizing with the techno-rational mind of modernity, revivifying in new ways with new adherents, cross-pollinating, and blowing as seeds across the planet. From these currents a neo-indigenous movement is shaping itself, sprouting out of the compost of predatory capitalism as it globalizes its karmas into acts of self-destruction. Beneath the escalating crises we see in the news, another story is emerging, a cyclic story of death and rebirth. The perennial wisdom cultures attuned to the ever-evolving Gaian metabolism may have been colonized, Christianized, industrialized, and consumerized into the earth, and may have been bulldozed, burned at the stake, poisoned, and buried under concrete. But to the earth they have gone, and from the earth they arise. The earth is baring her belly before the onslaughts of deforestations, factory fishing, and strip mining; she is laboring beneath the cries of a civilization in its death throes, and the prayers for a peaceful world; she is giving birth, as so many prophecies have foretold, to a more conscious era of her life. The hue-man native to this era is maturing, like the earth herself, to the harmonic of flowering, to the songs of a culture come home to the family of creation. It is this, the frequency and the story, the song of awakening and the culture it describes, which we will explore in this class.The frequency: This 1st hour is designed to get us in touch with our birthright as a singing species. Through breath, visualization, toning, ‘soning’ (the liminal world between toning and singing), we will cultivate a yoga of whole body breathing and voicing, tuned to the great organizing intelligences of heaven and earth. This will be used to cultivate the plant within, to flower our voice and ourselves in songs of devotion, blessing, gratitude, and celebration. See:
http://www.tribesofcreation.com/newsite/pages/songs.html
for a sampling of the songs. The story: This 2nd hour expands upon the story told in the songs. It begins with a re-membrance of indigenous consciousness. From there we explore modernity, which like a great annual plant has flowered and is now dying, like so many civilizations before it, releasing the nutrients and toxins of its life into the womb of the earth, fertilizing and forming that which will follow it. How do we place ourselves in this cusp between the ages, one that threatens to exterminate humanity and much of the planet? We will create a space to discuss the teaching of the “Nature Channel” on this, giving much attention to how a planet-wide change in frequency urges itself through us in the impulses to purify and flower ourselves and our surroundings.Donation suggested
go to: www.communitythreads.net / events page for more information.
Call 253-677-7420 for registration and directions

10th Annual NorthWest Herbal Faire
http://www.nwherbalfaire.com
River Farm, outside Bellingham, Washington
August 19-21, 2005

What the Plants Teach I: Indigenous Consciousness
Plants are an elder life form to the human and have worked to keep us attuned with the society of Nature since our species began. They teach that to honor the body is to honor the earth, for it is thru the medium of the body that the land births spiritual traditions, ways that nourish our success as a species. We will explore indigeneity as a birthright of everyone, how to claim it, and what is to be claimed. We will cover our legacy of separation from Nature/Spirit, and the elements I feel are most useful in aiding our re-indigenization, including the Gaian dharma (teachings of the planet), archetypal myths of re-membrance, and eco-cosmologies of past and future.What the Plants Teach II: Cultural Evolution
This discussion begins with an exploration of the active constituent (AC or pharmaceutical) model of herbal efficacy and its application to culture, or, how things got to be the way they are. We use this metaphor to understand the authoritative God, the forces of monoculture, origins of the drug war, addictions and the culture of fear and alienation, and globalization and its discontents. We then turn to the whole plant (WP or ecological) model of herbal efficacy and apply it as a metaphor to understand the life cycle of cultural revitalization movements. These two models illuminate the modern cultural wars, and point towards their resolution in ‘bridge cultures’ sprouting thru communities of conscious evolution planet-wide.Singing Alive with the Tribes of Creation:
An opportunity to further and flower your voice thru breathwork, visualizations, toning, improvisations, prayer, and devotional singing. ~~ Every morning of the three day Faire at 7 a.m..

The 5th Annual Fairy and Human Relations Congress
http://www.fairycongress.com/
Riversong Forest Sanctuary - On the Hood River near
Mt. Hood, Oregon

Singing Alive with the Tribes of Creation:
An opportunity to further and flower your voice thru breathwork, visualizations, toning, improvisations, prayer, and devotional singing. ~~ Every morning of the three day congress at 7 a.m..The Human Flowering Response:
Within the plant is the potential of the human being, and within the human being is the underlying energy structure of the plant. This talk takes an anthroposophic understanding of the life cycle of a plant, and applies it to the development of human spiritual life and culture. This organic view of spirituality allows us to consciously participate with Nature's flowering impulse, and all the helpful attention this brings from the devic realm. ~~ Sunday, June 26th, 11:00 am