Friends, couples, co-parents and family can clear up discord through this method.    They used a clear protocol when dealing with relationship issues.

It creates a safe space for two people to take turns to speak and listen respectfully. Listening deeply to each other’s point of view can bring understanding and healing to the relationship.

When two people make peace between them they bring peace to the world.”

People can use “Clear Relationships” to resolve conflict, talk about difficult issues and clear blocked energy.   A session lasts about an hour and a half.

An intention of the journey is to support each person to move deeper into eldership in as much fullness as possible.

Another  key arrow of intention is manifestation – ie. to support each person to express their unique gift and sacred dream in the world.  Of course!   This is exactly what our world is calling for!   To move back into balance it needs us to step forward with the beauty of who we are and what we offer.

This concept of eldership is not about being a specific age.  It is for anyone who is holding a vision to bring our collective world into balance and seeking to manifest this vision.

We will use the Medicine Wheel as our map of consciousness.  It will enable us to see and grow eight aspects of our allied power as well as our access to the Sacred Self at the centre of our circle.

On this journey we will meet for a ceremony once a month for eight months.   Between the ceremonies we will practice putting our discoveries and realisations into daily life.

How can the path of intimacy lead us to more awakening, beauty and power?

The focus of this ceremony is growing our consciousness through our relationships.  The first relationship to tend is our relationship with our Self, the Universe within.  Intimacy with the Infinite Self is a foundation for harmony with others, and when we bring our Self into balance we bring balanced energy to our relationships with partner, family, community and the world.  So in this ceremony we’ll look at how our inner relationships affects our outer relationships, and how they in turn reflect the inner.

We will learn Earth Wisdom tools for compassion, awareness, dreaming and transformation.  We will use the medicine wheels of Balance and Self-Relationship and of Intimate Relationship and advanced practices for Stopping the Internal Dialogue, Transforming Personal History, Conscious Prayer-thought and the Full Spectrum of Love.

These will help us learn from those parts of us that may get us into trouble in relationship with others and heal them so that we bring more harmony to those relationships.   By bringing ourselves more fully into wholeness we bring more wholeness into the world.  We are more able to keep our hearts open while listening or speaking which is a primary way of growing on the path of relationship.

This will be helpful whether or not you have a partner at the moment.

Details:  7.00pm Friday to Sunday afternoon; non-residential; simple food provided; cost £130; group size up to ten people.

Enquiries and further information – info@earthwisdomteachings.co.uk

2012: a year of great potential for change – at the personal and collective level. Ininto the new year this ceremony we will review the past year to fully reap its harvest of learning – and dream ahead into the new year.

In the “kiva time” of midwinter darkness our power to dream is especially strong. This is an opportunity to look deeply at what we want to co-create with the Universe in the next cycle and to send the power of our dreaming thoughts forward into the year.

One of the teachings we’ll use to open this dreaming time is a Medicine Wheel called “The Wheel of Balance and Self-Relationship”. This old map enables us to look deeply into eight aspects of our Self and to choose how to nurture all of them. What gifts will we give to our Self to create more harmony, health and fulfilment?

We will also create seed bundles to represent these dreams. This will empower the dreaming we’ll carry through the winter and the shoots of new growth in the spring

In Earth Wisdom tradition the four moons from November 21st to spring equinox is called “kiva time”. A kiva is a ceremonial chamber that is half underground, and it has the sense of a more inward, introspective energy. The old people of the tradition thought of this as more a time for being than doing.

They honoured the Earth’s cycles and rhythms in order to be in harmony with her. They saw that the Earth is covered with a blanket of leaves or snow at this time and that animals retreat to their dens and burrows to sleep and dream; that the energy of trees goes down into their roots, and seeds of new growth lie dormant in the dark earth. So like the animals the old ones gave themselves time to go into silence. They allowed the energy of the void, of pure potential to inform them and bring renewal. Thus the ground of all potential, the feminine void of Great-Grandmother Wakan would bring them dreams of who they would be and how they would manifest in the spring.

So this ceremony is an opportunity to connect with our own void of pure potential and renew ourselves on the inward aspect of our journey.

This ceremony is to open to the Universe and invite it to dream through us. This will enable vital energy to come into human consciousness, energy that will help humanity to move forward. While this may help our personal processes the primary focus is empowering the collective consciousness.

There have always been groups of people accessing the power of the Dream field to benefit humanity’s journey on this planet.

By imaging how things will be when we humans are back in balance and alignment with our Selves, Life and each other, we influence and shape how the future will be. What we see is true, on one level. So we are dreaming for us, for the children and for seven generations to come.

We are in a time when Life is calling us to expand our consciousness, and this ceremony is part of this great transformation.

On Friday we will clarify our intentions and create a beautiful dreaming lodge with greenery and prayer. We will have lunch and dinner together. Dreamers are welcome to stay at the venue or in local accommodation on the Friday night.

Early on Saturday we will enter the dreaming lodge. During this phase of the ceremony we will sleep, dream, wake and dream. We will be in the dreaming state of consciousness and will eat only berries and drink only water or herb tea. We will also be in silence apart from specific times when we will speak of the dreams that have come through us. We will also keep a vigil fire burning.

This will continue until Sunday morning when we will hear from each other in a “stringing of the beads” and break the fast. We will then gently and gradually move towards closing the ceremony after lunch.

We will be a group of about ten dreamers. It is important for each of us to be physically grounded and centred.

The cost of this event will be £150. However no one is turned away for lack of funds: if you are called to this ceremony and fees are an issue, please contact me.

Introducing Earth Wisdom Teachings and how they can help with practical issues such as relationships, community, self-care, work strategies and so on.   And how can they prepare our consciousness for 2012?

7.30 pm Birdwood House, Market Place, Totnes.  by donation

22nd December   Sweatlodge Ceremony.   10.30am to approx. 6.00pm

Connecting with the raw energy of fire, water, earth and air in the deep midwinter; sending our prayer thoughts; and cleansing and readying for 2012

1st January  New Year Ceremony  1.00pm – 9.00pm

Planting the seeds of renewal; using the Medicine Wheel to see deeply into eight aspects of our Self (such as Creator, Explorer, Healer and Strategist) to see what each of them need for our fulfilment, wholeness and balance in the coming year.

20th – 22nd January   Dreaming Ceremony

“Dreaming” is an aspect of our creative power.   We’ll create a beautiful space in which to access powerful dreaming consciousness to shape the future – for us, for the children and for seven generations to come.

Fear is a primordial energy that has a vital function in arousing us to danger.  But when it becomes a habit it can be bad for health as well as our life experience.

It may be there’s no more of it about now than there was before, but in this “recession” many people feel uncertain about the future – of the economy, climate, politics and so on.  In this atmosphere of worry it’s difficult to see how to  respond to the situation, to image the future we actually want rather than the one we don’t.  So it’s important to lift our consciousness out of the clouds of stress to the clear sky above.

Deep regular breathing clears stress from the body; meditation reassures the fearful ones in our thoughts.   Activating the heart-mind brings us courage and more expanded awareness to meet the challenges.  With the heart open we can respond to the fear rather than be run by it.

Many cultures recognise the vital part the heart plays in consciousness.  Japanese, for example, has two words for heart:  shinzu means the physical organ, while kokoro is the heart-mind.

An easy method of activating the heart-mind is to breathe into it.  I place my hand and attention on that area in my chest and breathe steadily, aware that oxygen feeds me from the blue veil that surrounds our planet.  After a few minutes I feel more alignment in my whole system: there’s synergy between my heart, brain, guts, will and spirit.

I spoke of this tool at a conference in Vermont.  The next day a woman approached me at the break:

“I did what you said, and it worked,” she exclaimed.

“Oh, great, what did I say?”

“You told us about breathing through the heart, and feeling love for everything around.

“I was running late this morning and I got pulled over for speeding.  Usually that would throw me right off centre, and I’d feel really mad at the cops.  But I just sat there and tried to emanate love towards them, and it was amazing.”

“Oh, so they didn’t book you?”

“No, they still gave me a fine, but it wasn’t as much as it should have been.   And the energy was so different: I didn’t lose it, I felt fine about the experience.”

So your heart-mind can save you money!   And it can do so much to help us “walk in beauty” and enable us to pull through our predicament – individually and collectively.

When we gather in Earth Wisdom ceremonies we explore tools of consciousness like this.  It’s a way of training ourselves so we can use them in daily life, while feeling our spirit connection with the Mystery that moves in all things.

Forthcoming Ceremonies:

Samhain – Sunday 30^th October 10.00 am – 4.30pm

Connecting with ancestor-spirits, preparing for winter and using the heart-mind for healing and consciousness growth.

Cost £35      Enquiries: smmilner@onetel.com

Years ago I met Wallace Black Elk, a Lakota visionary. Not the BlackElk of “Black Elk Speaks”, but a relative. Tall with long braids of hair, his eyes dark as obsidian pools, Wallace stood out. As he visited London, the crowds turned round even in Oxford Street.

His stories were more of the spirit realm than of this world. He spoke slowly, searching for the English to translate from a dreaming state of mind, and his words wove a web that entranced my spirit.

He talked about the many changes that would take place in our world: “When the time comes”, he said, “The only thing we’ll have to hold onto is “Tunkashila”, the Great Spirit”.

As we now begin to hurtle through change, how can we hold on? How can we, as the other Black Elk (Nicolas) said, realize our oneness with the Universe and all its powers? The good news is that Great Spirit / the Universe is not far away, it’s inside us, closer than our breath. And all we need do is get out of the way to ALLOW it. There are many ways to let go of our sense of separation. Here is one simple tool that I have found useful:

Change the way you are looking to include your peripheral vision. See the whole field of vision by directing your attention on more than where your eyes are pointing. An easy place to start is while walking but ultimately you can do this any place you have your eyes open. Simply broadening the field of vision alters your consciousness.

How does it work? On one level it works because rods in the retina key to peripheral vision and have links to deeper parts of the brain. Focussing only on the cones at the centre tends to keep us in the restless rationality of our frontal lobes.

Another explanation is that directing attention to the senses deepens our presence, and presence is a doorway to the Mystery. Through this simple practice I feel more connected –It dissolves the boundaries that separate “me” from the whole.

It goes a long way to cultivating our connectedness with the Universe – “Tunkashila”.

Wishing you good connection with your inner strengths in this time of change.

Carlos

In future we may look back at this as the year in which the Shift took off.  Many people are saying this is a time of great transformation.  A recent message from the Hopi Elders said, “This is not the eleventh hour: this is the hour.”  And according to students of the Mayan calendars, this year is at least as important a turning-point as 2012 in the awakening of consciousness.

What is needed for us to help make this transformation as smooth as possible?

A door to expanded consciousness is presence.   As the Discipline of Peace says, “True Presence is the Doorway to the Great Mystery.”  And a key to this door is to put your attention on your senses.

One practice is to simply listen: spend a minute or two just listening to the sounds around you.  No need to think about them.  If you find yourself thinking, OK, but redirect your attention back to the sensation of sound.   Listen intently.

One guy recommended listening so intently you hear the stars.  I’m not sure that I’ve heard them yet, but this practice connects me to the Universe of Sound.  It certainly shifts consciousness – by interrupting the stream of thinking, we connect with the depths of our being.   And through regular use of this and other presence practices we find ourselves living with that door to the Mystery wide open.

What may stop us from doing practises like this is thinking we’re too busy, not enough time.  But here’s the secret: time expands or contracts according to your consciousness.  Thinking you haven’t got time shrinks time, but you can expand time by being more present.   So be present and learn to be a Time Lord.

Presence is one of the themes for our Midsummer Celebration.   On Sunday 19^th June the Solstice Ceremony has the south-east focus of Presence, Stillness and Awareness.  We’ll open other practices to train this aspect of our human intelligence.

The following weekend there’ll be a one-day Vision Quest.   We’ll be in an idyllic place in North Devon and will spend a day in preparation, a day and night on quest and the third day integrating.   (24^th- 26^th June)

In July is the opportunity for a three-day quest, also in an area of relatively pristine Nature.  Again with support throughout – more information from Carlos and on the earthwisdomteachings.co.uk website.  (25^th – 30^th July)