Council of All Beings
Friday 26 November (evening) to Sunday 28
November
Deep Ecology Intensive
Monday 29 November to Wednesday 1 December
at Commonground, Seymour, Victoria,
with John Seed & Ruth Rosenhek
For more details contact:
Cinnamon 9381 2330
cinnamon@replicant.apana.org.au
Liz 9481 2954 elizabeth_scarfe@watsonwyatt.com
Ruth 9531 7570 ruthyeatman@alphalink.com.au
Come gather for a Council of All Beings and Deep Ecology Intensive, facilitated by John Seed and Ruth Rosenhek, at Commonground, Seymour, Victoria.
Council of All Beings
Friday 26 November (evening) to Sunday 28
November
The Council of All Beings is a series of re-Earthing rituals created by John Seed and Joanna Macy to help end the sense of alienation from the living Earth that most of us feel, and to connect us with new sources of joy, commitment and inspiration that follow from union with Earth.
Many people INTELLECTUALLY realise that we are inseparable from Nature and that the sense of separation that we feel is socially conditioned and illusory. These rituals enable us to deeply EXPERIENCE our connection with Nature, in our hearts and our bodies.
Through personal sharing, meditation, mask making and ritual, we will explore the depths of our concern and love for Earth in this time of crisis. Rediscovering our “deep ecology” our interconnectedness with all beings we find empowerment as agents of healing change. The central feature of the workshop if the Council of All Beings itself, where we step aside from our solely human identification and let other life forms speak through us.
Deep Ecology Intensive
Monday 29 November to Wednesday 1 December
The Deep Ecology Intensive will include a variety of themes associated with deep ecology, including deep time, gender and deep ecology, and workshop facilitation.
The Timeline of Light is a new deep time workshop form created by John Seed, Ruth Rosenhek and John Fowler, which grounds us in the reality of our evolutionary journey. It helps us extend back to the primal flux from which we arose and then reach forward from there, through and including all the webs of living systems that have ever existed. We weave an experiential four-dimensional tapestry to the crossroads where history, science, spirit and poetry meet.
The Gender and Deep Ecology workshop will explore the overlap between gender issues and what’s happening to Earth. Healing the ecology of human relations is fundamental to healing humanity’s relationship with Earth. This workshop provides an opportunity for women and men to come together to foster a renewed communion between the human family and Earth.
The Facilitator Training workshop will include exercises to empower facilitation as well as real-time exploration of group dynamics, individual challenges and discussion. John and Ruth (sometimes working with Joanna Macy and others) have conducted a number of Facilitator Training workshops for folks wanting to offer deep ecology and deep time experiential workshops. They have offered Facilitator Training workshops in the US, UK, Chile and Russia as well as Australia.
John Seed and Ruth Rosenhek
John Seed has written and lectured extensively on deep ecology and has been conducting Council of All Beings and other re-Earthing rituals around the world for many years. He is also the founder and director of the Rainforest Information Centre in Australia.
Ruth Rosenhek is an international environmental activist, organisational consultant and performance artist. In addition to Ruth's work to protect forests in developing countries, she is actively launching the GoldBusters campaign, an awareness raising campaign that exposes the unecological mining of gold. Ruth is a pioneer in organisational consulting, bringing a deep ecology context to her work with environmental and social change organisations in the areas of vision, planning and conflict resolution. Ruth spends several months a year touring the United States leading deep ecology workshops and rainforest roadshows, all proceeds to benefit Earth projects.
Gathering Funds for Rainforest Projects in Ecuador
Funds raised from these workshops will go directly to the Panacocha rainforest protection project in Ecuador.
The Panacocha Reserve consists of 56 000 hectares of primary rainforest, containing Jaguars, ocelots, seven species of monkeys and 500 species of birds. It harbours a network of waterways including the spectacular Panacocha Lagoon, home to the endangered Amazon River Dolphin. The Reserve connects 2 much larger areas, the Yasuni Reserve to the south (982 000 hectares) and Cuyabeno Park to the north (600 000 hectares), both of which have been impacted by oil drilling. By strengthening protection for Panacocha, we are helping to establish a huge contiguous park in the headwaters of the Amazon.
The Rainforest Information Centre and its Ecuadorian partner, the Centro de Investigacion de los Bosques Tropicales, have been actively supporting the protection of Panacocha since the early 90s, and now have an opportunity to purchase a 50 hectare backpacker style eco-tourist resort surrounded by the Reserve. The Quicha people of Corazon de Jesus are very supportive and will be trained as caretakers and eco-tourist guides. Half the profits from the eco-tourism enterprise will go to protecting the Reserve and half to community development projects for the impoverished traditional owners.
Food
Yummy vegetarian (and where possible organic)
food is included in the registration cost for both events. The Council of All Beings will
be fully catered.
Participants in the Deep Ecology Intensive will be
encouraged to participate in a cooking and washing up roster for the 3 days.
Accommodation
The Council of All Beings and Deep Ecology Intensive will be based in and around “The Octagon” at Commonground, Seymour, Victoria. The Octagon has a gas stove and fridge, and limited solar electricity. There are bush toilets and wood-fired showers, but please be mindful of water use.
There is indoor accommodation for 12 people in 3 mud brick huts, each with 4 beds. Sheets and doonas are provided for these beds. If you prefer indoor accommodation please indicate this on the registration form, and be willing to pay at the higher end of the sliding scale (see below). If you have a preference for sharing with particular people, please indicate this on the registration form.
There is ample space for camping in the open grassy woodland surrounds. Please bring your own tent and bedding.
Sliding Scales and Scholarships
The costs for the Council of All Beings and the Deep Ecology Intensive are on a sliding scale, recognising that people have different incomes and can therefore afford to pay different amounts. We ask that you pay the amount most appropriate to your income/financial situation. The higher amount applies to those on a full-time wage and the lower end to those who are unwaged. Our ability to provide scholarships and labour exchanges is dependent on other people paying at the higher end of the scale. We have attempted to keep the costs to a minimum and all the organising is done voluntarily.
A certain number of partial scholarships/labour exchanges are available for those who need them. This work is important for the healing of Earth and we do not want to turn anyone away for the sake of money. We encourage people wishing to apply for a scholarship/labour exchange to enclose a letter with the registration form, with some information about your financial situation, your current work for Earth, and how much you are able to pay.
We will know how many scholarships/labour exchanges are available mid November (after close of registration at the end of October), and we will let people know if a scholarship/labour exchange has been granted.
Registration Form
Name
Address
Postcode
Phone Home
Phone Work
I would like to attend (please tick)
? Council of All Beings
Fri 26 Nov to Sun 28 Nov
$150 - $220
? Deep Ecology Intensive
Mon 29 Nov to Wed 1 Dec $200
- $300
Funds raised from these workshops will go directly to the Panacocha rainforest protection project in Ecuador.
I can pay $ for Council of All Beings and $ for Deep Ecology Intensive
If a scholarship/labour exchange is requested, please enclose a letter with some information about your financial situation, your current work for Earth, and how much you are able to pay.
Preferred accommodation (please tick)
? Indoor (sheets and doonas provided)
? Camping (please bring your own tent and
bedding)
If you prefer indoor accommodation please be willing to pay at the higher end of the sliding scale.
Do you have any special needs (including food allergies)?
Have you been to a Council of All Beings before?
Have you been to a Deep Ecology Workshop before?
Please email or snail mail this form and a $50
deposit by the END OF OCTOBER to:
Liz Scarfe, 16 Eastment Street, Northcote, Vic,
3070
(Please make out cheques and money orders to
“Deep Ecology Collective”)
For more details contact:
Cinnamon 9381 2330
cinnamon@replicant.apana.org.au
Liz 9481 2954
elizabeth_scarfe@watsonwyatt.com
Ruth 9531 7570
ruthyeatman@alphalink.com.au