“Caroline Fang and the Train to Eden”

“Children’s Climate Change Video”

New Myth #51 / Myth Lab #10 by

Willi Paul, NewMythologist.com

Momentum: eBook 14 - New Alchemy
By Willi Paul, New Mythologist.com

ESSAYS & VIDEOS

Download: Momentum: eBook 14 - New Alchemy

Blister: Our Long, Final Season on Earth by Willi Paul, NewMythologist.com

“To me ritual is the sacred art of stopping, listening and being. Whether we gather as a group to celebrate and connect, to share the inspiration of tribe or dance in the insanity of personal connection and vision. Ritual allows the humdrum of perceived normality to collapse beneath delicious connection as we reach out to our inspiration, to our ancestors and the spirits of place. Ritual is that place outside of time where we express the connection between tribe and land.” Kris Hughes

Please don’t tell me the seasons are gone?

*******

“A season is a subdivision of the year, marked by changes in weather, ecology, and hours of daylight. Seasons result from the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of revolution. In temperate and polar regions, the seasons are marked by changes in the intensity of sunlight that reaches the Earth's surface, variations of which may cause animals to go into hibernation or to migrate, and plants to be dormant.”

In a very few years, when the planet is de-oiled, super-parched, and seed toxic, our Gaian lover will turn into an unforgiving “blister master”, and the notion of four romantic seasons, including the fall harvest and the Thanksgiving celebration, will be deleted from our post-digital brains.

The Endless Dry Season

Given that the traditional four seasons are tied to the Growing Cycle: Composting, Seed Planting, Weeding / Watering and Harvest, a dry parched planet will no longer express or support this organic dance. A terrifying mono season is coming that is only dry and hot. Any artistic ritual that boils up from this egg fry might include displays of shedding, cave dwelling and theatric stages with mock cooling winds.

A Sun-torched planet will cook our eyes, ears, throats and skin forcing us to “hide from the fireball”, the Blister Season will force mankind to hunt and peek under cooler Moon-enlightened spaces. If inter-community war is still needed to capture resources, Blister will make obtaining and stock piling water the end game.

Blister Season Mythology?

With Nature out of the spiritual equation, the Blister season will be separated in two camps: scavengers vs. resourcers. Since there are no seasons to guide Post-Chaos Era human farming and soul searching, only survival stories and clubs will rule. This tricky and final dry chapter in our ritual evolution could exterminate mythology all together, given that we use it so infrequently today anyway.

Moon glow lipstick and hand printed cave symbols will not save you here.

********

"Seasonal ritual is always directed to securing the well-being of both the community and the individual." Seasonal rituals assume that life is a "series" of leases that must be renewed each year.”

 “Rain Dance @ Soul Food Farm on 2/1/14.” Pre-Event Interview with Owner / Farmer Alexis Koefoed. By Willi Paul, NewMythologist.com

Mother Earth is the sentience or soul of our planet. A sentience is that which is conscious or aware of itself and its purpose. A sentience is more like an emotional response and less like an intellectual process. Gaia sentience (or Mother Earth) animates the planet, gives it purpose and makes life on Earth possible. Our past is deeply rooted in the earth and our future depends upon our ability to recreate a relationship with our sentient planet. We hope that you will accept Mother Earth's invitation to open your heart and change the world by honoring all moments with respect, partnership and peace.

*******

Interview with Alexis by Willi

Praying for rain requires help from Mother Nature; while a worthy goal, it would seem that praying for conservation tools and community work to save water might be a smart companion goal? Thoughts?

Yes, of course, those are important. And I hope that this crises is raising that awareness in each and every one of us to implement conservation goals. But, this dance is specific to asking for rain and offering up gratitude for the gifts Mother Nature has always been so generous with.

One of the synchronicities here is my soon to be released New Myth 51 featuring Mother Nature. What are your ideas and hopes for Mother Nature today?

The hopes for Mother Nature are that her children, human kind, will begin to see how powerfully we are all connected to each other and every living thing. Nature is not separate from us. My ideas stem from my work as a farmer and my everyday life watching the changes in the natural world around me. The ideas I hold are based on my immediate surroundings. "Change begins at home" as the saying goes. And that is all I can do. Honor Mother Nature here on this little spit of land.

Are you building a new Garden of Eden at Soul Food Farm?

Yes, so to speak. A new kind of farm based on form, beauty and function. Plant material is the new focus and moving away from large animal production for food.

What spiritual help, if any, can you get from Permaculture?

I don't know anything about Permaculture though I have recently bought some books. I have a feeling there is something important for me to learn about Permaculture that would be good for the farm.

Please explain the possible components and stages of your Rain Dance on 2/1?

The day will begin at 11 am welcoming everyone to the farm. At 12 .30 pm there is a woman who has been studying Shamanism for 10 years that will lead everyone (who will be standing in a circle) in a prayer of intention. Then a Native American Indian, Jack Falls-Rock will lead the drum circle for an hour. We have been asking everyone to bring drums or rattles. Then from 1.30/2 to 3 pm we have fiddlers playing Scottish and Early American reels so everyone can dance in joy and wild abandon.

I would love more details on your alter, please.

At the moment we are just building it. It’s under an old tree on the farm near the drum circle. I have a friend helping me who is well versed in what Gods are known for abundance and what animals and feathers are known for bounty or good harvest. She is coming this weekend to help me with that as well as guide me to gather all the materials I need to so people can make intention sticks at the Rain Dance.

You ask folks to wear blue as: “American Indians use to wear turquoise jewelry to represent water during the rain dance.” Are there other symbols or themes that you can share with us?

(See Alekis’ last response – WP)

Please explain how the gates at Soul Food Farm are magical?

Ah, that’s not so easy to explain. From the moment we bought this place it has spoken its own language to us. You feel a sort of magic as soon as you step onto this land. I've lived here almost 15 years and still smile, when people say" I don't know what it is about this place. I love it here".

Magic is not something that I can describe. It’s something that happens to you.

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About the Rain Dance –

“Everyone is thinking about the weather and now it’s time to dance to Mother Earth and ask for rain. On Saturday, Feb. 1, 2014 from 11 am to 3 pm we are coming together at the farm as a collective to share our intention for a healthy earth and the desire for rain. Bring food, blankets, chairs, hats, water, drums, rattles and your ground stomping ass kicking dancing boots. There will also be an alter under the oak tree for you to bring an offering for rain. Wear something blue to represent water. American Indians use to wear turquoise jewelry to represent water during the rain dance. There will be music all day and a moment of unity at 1 pm. So, come walk through the magic gates of Soul Food Farm, dance in an open field and raise your voice for rain and Mother Nature.”

About Soul Food Farm –

“Fields of lavender and olive trees inspired our first dreams of farming. As with most stories, this one had its twist and turns, but here we are 15 years later involved with planting lavender fields and herbs and making essential oil, culinary herb salts and bath products. Soul Food Farm and Morningsun Herb Farm have joined resources and talents to make this project a success. Rose starts the plants at Morningsun Herb Farm nursery and when they are ready to plant are brought over to Soul Food Farm to set in the ground. Next year when the lavender and herb fields have matured and filled out, Rose will be conducting workshops. Sitting out in the fields with Rose, you will learn about the benefits of lavender and herbs, take wreath making classes and learn how to design your own herb garden at home.”

Connections –

Alexis Koefoed
Soul Food Farm
6046 Pleasants Valley Road
Vacaville, Ca 95688
soulfoodfarm at gmail.com
707.365.1798

“Storms, Extreme Tides, and Sea Level Rise.” Interview with Author and Climate Explorer John Englander by Willi Paul, Planetshifter.com Magazine

. . . . . . .

Some of them were dreamers
And some of them were fools
Who were making plans and thinking of the future
With the energy of the innocent
They were gathering the tools
They would need to make their journey back to nature …

Some of them were angry
At the way the earth was abused
By the men who learned how to forge her beauty into power
And they struggled to protect her from them
Only to be confused
By the magnitude of her fury in the final hour
And when the sand was gone and the time arrived
In the naked dawn only a few survived
And in attempts to understand a thing so simple and so huge
Believed that they were meant to live after the deluge

Now let the music keep our spirits high
And let the buildings keep our children dry
Let creation reveal its secrets by and by
By and by --
When the light that's lost within us reaches the sky

"Before The Deluge"
JACKSON BROWNE

. . . . . . .

Interview with John by Willi

It seems that slow environmental impacts require a different mindset and preparedness vs. fast catastrophic events, like flooding or fire? Correct?

Slowly rising sea level does require a different mindset than catastrophic events, but it's more nuanced that most would likely realize intuitively. To start we should distinguish three things which tend to blend together for most people: storms, extreme tides, and sea level rise.

We know what a storm surge is and how to prepare, even though there is no long term prediction for the event. "King Tides" are different in that the extreme water heights at certain predictable days of the lunar and astrologic calendar are now flooding low lying areas in most coastal cities from the Bay Area to Miami Beach, to Bangladesh to Australia. Slowly rising sea level worsens the effects of storm and extreme tides, but is hard to notice because by itself, it is so small and slow to change. But in the long term, it will be like the parable of the tortoise winning the race.

The simple fact is that sea level has not been higher than at present for 120,000 years, the last "warm spot" in the repeating ice age cycles. So we have no recall of that in our culture. Then it got about 25 feet higher than at present. But sea level is now headed even much higher than that level. We just cannot know for sure whether it will happen in a few centuries or a few millennia.

Sea level is a function primarily of the size the ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica and to a smaller degree the glaciers all over the world. Usually the amount of ice adjusts over thousands of years. Now it is happening quickly. Three figures make clear that we have no awareness in human history for what has now started to happen. For about 6,000 years, sea level has been rather stable, essentially the time span of human civilization. 20,000 years ago, at the maximum extent of the most recent ice age, when the ice sheets extended rather far down the northern hemisphere, global sea level was nearly 400 feet lower than at present, illustrating the range of movement that is possible. Now carbon dioxide levels and global temperature are creeping up and sea level is going in the same direction as it always has for five hundred million years.

There is a lag time for the ice to melt and the ocean to get higher, particularly at the extremely fast rates of warming over the last century. If we look at the big picture, it was about 15 million years ago, when CO2 levels were at the present level of 400 ppm. Then global average temperature was about 5-10 degrees F warmer and sea level was about 75 feet higher than now. That is why geologists realize we are headed for MUCH higher sea level. We just don't know how quickly that can happen. Could be three hundred years; could be three thousand years. It depends on how warm the planet get over the next century or so, which will be determined by such factors as population levels, how much energy we use and how we make that energy. No one can possibly know the exact answer to those questions for the rest of this century.

But that is no reason not to being preparing. Rather than arguing about the accuracy of models and predictions for how many inches it will rise by 2050 or 2100, I advocate starting to plan for three feet of rise, which is already inevitable. If the worst happens and that occurs this century we will be prepared. If we can slow the rate of rise by doing all the right things to reduce greenhouse gases, then we might delay it until the next century. But it gives us a clear target for our planning, engineering, and architecture. Planning with the long term picture in view will challenge us greatly, but it can also inspire us to do great things. It should also give us a better ROI "return on investment" - the usual economic metric, since our designs will anticipate three feet and then more.

How many public agency impacts can you foresee involved as the waters rise on the coast of California? Who will be in charge?

I can't answer that. I have met with several groups in the Bay Area, including the Bay Conservation and Development Commission and the Joint Policy Committee, who are definitely focusing on the issue. In fact that question of who will be in charge is something that California is asking. Earlier in December I was interviewed by the staff of a state group known as the "Little Hoover Commission" who are mandated to report on the effectiveness of the Executive Branch of State government. They were discussing that very question of whether restructuring will be necessary to deal with rising sea level. Their report is still are in process.

Define preparedness?

It is a little similar to earthquake preparedness, which everyone accepts and may have some level of experience, but at the same time is totally different. As I explained above, sea level has not been higher than the present for 120,000 years and is thus the extreme challenge for preparedness and public understanding.

Preparing for sea level will effectively never be finished, because there is the possibility that sea level will rise by ten feet in as little as a decade if we get a collapse of sections of the West Antarctic ice sheet -- something we simply do not know at the present. We need to hope that does not happen this century, and many scientists think it is a very low probability. But it is very real possibility so we must continue to prepare for higher and higher sea levels. But even if the collapse happens, that ten foot rise will likely happen fairly slowly, perhaps over a decade. So there will be time to evacuate. But the sooner we plan for it the better. Let's start with 3 feet. Planning groups in the Bay Area like SPUR are now looking at this issue.

How do you propose to teach the average citizen about sea level rise and climate change?

It is so radical that it is going to take extraordinary effort, coordination, and time. For the first time in human civilization the shoreline has started a slow move inland, as sea level gets higher. This will continue for centuries. Since this has not happened EVER before to our species, it is a big challenge that cannot be minimized. Fortunately the awareness is starting. There are more and more articles in the media, including print and video. My book: "High Tide on Main Street" Rising Sea Level and the Coming Coastal Crisis", is selling much better than I expected both in print, e-book, and audio versions. So there is interest. Your blog reader’s right here are an example of unconventional thinkers who are starting to tune into this issue and looking at the planet shift that it represents.

Share a myth (story) about Typhoon Haiyan with us?

I have no direct experience with Haiyan. Often I have been asked, even on television, as to whether it represents an example of human-caused climate change. To most people's surprise, my response is that it is very hard to say that with certainty, even though the higher levels of ocean heat over the last century can be correlated with increased storm activity. Here is an analogy. Imagine a basketball player who typically got twenty points a game and then suddenly started getting 50 points. They test him for drugs and find steroids. Was the last point he got due to the steroids, or was that one of the 20 he was getting previously? Impossible to say. It sounds academic, but it illustrates the trap of saying that a specific storm was due to warming ocean temperatures.

But here is an effect that was evident with Haiyan. Sea level in that area of the Pacific is about a foot higher than a century ago. Whatever the storm surge of that typhoon, its impact was considerably worse due to the higher sea level. Storm surge is on top of the base sea level. And each foot of higher sea level can move the ocean about three hundred feet farther inland as a global average. That is the example of the hidden effect of slowly rising sea level on the extreme tides and storms with which we are all familiar.

Tell us about geoengineering? Are you a fan of manipulating weather?

We should recognize that things are going to get pretty strange this century, just given the elevated CO2 and temperature levels at present. It will be hard to not try to do something in the face of more and more catastrophes. But certainly we have to be very careful with efforts to intentionally tinker with the planet's "HVAC" (heating ventilating & air conditioning) to use the term for our homes and buildings. In fact I think we have been geo-engineering for thousands of years. For example, centuries ago when we discovered antiseptics and reduced natural infant mortality from about ninety percent to less than ten percent we changed the population dynamics. Nutrition and medical technology have also allowed us to alter population levels. Seven billion people on this planet headed to ten billion by mid century could be considered geo-engineering. Everything we do amounts to changing the planet's natural state. It happened even before humans, as other flora and fauna evolved, changing the eco system. To some degree it is a natural process. I know I am digressing, but it is important to put the ominous term "geoengineering" into perspective.

Now we use the term GEOENGINEERING to mean purposeful ways to reduce the amount of solar radiation reaching the earth, or ways to remove the excessive carbon dioxide that is causing the warming. Given what is happening with our climate, and now melting the glaciers and ice sheets, I think there will be some efforts to try to slow the effects, though it is hard to say when or how. Suffice to say, we need to proceed VERY cautiously due to the possibility of unintended consequences, the "side effects." So I am not a "fan of manipulating weather" as you say, but as our weather goes more and more whacky, and the ice sheets melt, raising sea level, there will almost certainly be some efforts to try to slow things.

In fact as I explain on my blog site and in my book, even if if we all became perfectly "green" and sustainable, if we stopped all greenhouse gas emissions today, sea level would still rise due to the excess heat already trapped in the ocean. The ocean is about 1.5 degrees F warmer than a century ago. As a result it is simple physics that the ice sheets will continue to get smaller. We can slow the process but not stop it this century. So it seems to me that some country in the world is going to try to reverse things even if it is a "rogue effort."

New islands are being created from volcanic activity in the oceans more and more. What is the big picture?

In the middle of the last century, we understood continental drift and seafloor spreading, the mechanism where new ocean bottom is generally created in the mid Atlantic and a similar amount of earth's crust disappears from the Pacific. We realized that the land area was dynamic, a very natural geologic process. In a few places like Hawaii and to a lesser degree in the Caribbean and elsewhere there are some new islands being created when enough lava spews forth and breaks the surface, creating or expanding an island. But that phenomenon will be tiny compared to the amount of land that will disappear as sea level rises.

For centuries we assumed that sea level was generally fixed, meaning the shoreline was rather permanent, except for some erosion. Geologists did not fully understand the ice age cycles until the 19th century. Even today, most people believe that coastal land is permanent. It is not. The ice age cycles gave us the knowledge that sea level moves up and down about four hundred feet roughly every hundred thousand years. Most of the public still does not understand that. But that was not a problem until a few decades ago, when we realized that we were starting to melt the great ice sheets on Greenland and Antarctica very quickly, way outside the natural patterns of the ice ages. At the current rate of warming and melt, we now face a totally new dynamic in terms of the limited duration of most coastal property, even if that duration is more than a century. This is a game changer. It means re-thinking our entire coastal use.

While really disruptive and potentially catastrophic, it will happen almost in slow motion. This is a huge planetary shift. It means changes in government policy, in architecture, finance, accounting, law -- indeed for our entire society, and our consciousness. It is a new reality. We must begin adapting to this new reality, while we also try to slow the warming (sometimes referred to as "mitigation"). We need to see this as a huge challenge. It can be the glass half full or half empty. If we just focus on the negative, we will become 'frozen' like the deer in the headlights. I believe there is time to adapt. But, there is no time to waste.

. . . . . . .

Mr. Englander’s Bio -

John is an oceanographer and global ocean explorer with expeditions under the polar ice cap, deep dives in research submarines and visits to Greenland and Antarctica. His mission is to be a clear voice on our changing climate and oceans. Mr. Englander's broad marine science background coupled with majors in Geology and Economics allow him to see the big picture on climate and look ahead to the large scale financial and societal impacts, particularly as they relate to sea level rise. For over 30 years, Englander has been a leader in both the private sector and the non-profit arena, serving as CEO for such noteworthy organizations as The Cousteau Society and The International SeaKeepers Society, and The Underwater Explorers Society (UNEXSO).
He is now President of the Sea Level Institute, working with businesses, government agencies, and communities to understand the financial risks as increasing severe storms and long term sea level rise challenge us to adapt to a shoreline that will move inland for centuries. Mr. Englander is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine, Engineering, Science and Technology, and The Explorers Club. He is a member of the American Geophysical Union and several other scientific societies. He blogs at www.johnenglander.net

Connections –

John Englander
johnenglander1 at gmail.com
www.johnenglander.net
+1-954-684-5859 cellular
Skype ID - johnenglander

"Copyright by John Englander and used with the author's permission. www.johnenglander.net"

//

5 New Nature-based Rituals for the Permaculture Transition.

Vision by Willi Paul, openmythsource.com

Shared Work / Experience > Result + Evaluation > Celebration / Reflection / Lesson / Prayer = Ritual

* * * * * **

Prelude

‘A ritual is a stereotyped sequence of activities involving gestures, words, and objects, performed in a sequestered place, and designed to influence (unusual) entities or forces on behalf of the actors' goals and interests.’ Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community…. Rituals are characterized by traditionalism,… sacral symbolism and performance and are a feature of almost all known human societies, past or present.’

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual

“… one of our most ancient methods for bringing people together is through rituals. When stepping into a sacred space, such as a festival or community garden, you pass through a certain threshold. You are able to step outside of your individuation and participate as one part of a greater whole; the community. The very nature of shared experience requires a certain level of communion.”

http://permaculturenews.org/2013/08/28/festival-culture-the-importa...

“Certainly a great deal, perhaps even most, of religious ritual has arrived at mere rote routine or even emptiness after a couple of thousand years. The ritual itself had replaced the sanctity of the real events it was meant to represent. However, ritual is valuable and can have great depths of meaning, can even be a gateway to inspiration, even enlightenment, … and from my observation, the principal ceremony to mark Quaker milestones is a meal: baby and new member welcomings, newcomers’ brunch, graduation, Friendly sevens — all revolve around a table where Friends are gathered to share food. These are not very complex events, but nevertheless, in their regularity and simplicity, maintain the meal as an important ritual celebration.

http://lightwithspirit.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/ritual-among-friend...

“Ritual is meant to inform, educate, and care for the soul and spirit in such a way that inner energy can blossom forth. Rituals encourage people to express their creative potential fully and also connect people with a sense that they are on a team which includes both other human people (in the form of community), and unseen forces of the Other world (like ancestors and allies and nature). It is not a technical, or engineered, chain of logic which connects a ritual to any effectiveness – it is an attempt to enroll whole systems in alliance for healing, movement, birthing the new life that wants to join this world.”

http://mythicnature.com

“The mythic images associated with the winter solstice help us shift our identification from the individual human condition to that which is eternal, bringing us into alignment with the powers of nature that operate in the universe, and in ourselves—thus generating harmony between macrocosm and microcosm. Amid the dark and cold of the long night, we celebrate the birth of hope.”

JCF MythBlast - Winter 2013 Solstice Edition

“Ceremony and rituals have long played a vital and essential role in Native American culture. Often referred to as “religion,” most Native Americans did not consider their spirituality, ceremonies, and rituals as “religion,” in the way that Christians do. Rather, their beliefs and practices form an integral and seamless part of their very being. Like other aboriginal peoples around the world, their beliefs were heavily influenced by their methods of acquiring food, – from hunting to agriculture. They also embraced ceremonies and rituals that provided power to conquer the difficulties of life,….”

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-cermonies3.html

Earth Activist Training Permaculture Design Course: “This unique permaculture design certificate course has an additional focus on earth-based spirituality, organizing, activism, and social permaculture. Learn how to heal soil and cleanse water, how to design human systems that mimic natural systems, how to use a minimum of energy and resources to create real abundance and social justice. Explore the strategies and organizing tools we need to make our visions real, and the daily practice, magic and rituals that can sustain our spirits. This course is participatory, hands-on teaching with lots of ritual, games, projects, (and) songs… .

http://www.earthactivisttraining.org/jan_2014.html

Introduction

Rituals have been invented and enjoyed by humans for eons. There is much connective tissue here including historic trends, sacred rites, religious routines, myths and laws.

The 5 new rituals in this work are synchronistic with ideas from my vision: tribes, the new mythology, in thePost-Chaos Era. Tribes are approximately 20 – 25 humans and their animals and plants are best viewed as the sustainable and spiritual unit for survival in the future.

Some rituals are fading (like classic myths) while new ones rise as our notion of the sacred evolves. At base, rituals are time-based and Nature-grounded. Finally, one could argue that there are major and minor rituals.

* * * * * * *

Key Permaculture & Transition Values

It’s time to gear-up permaculture and transition principles with the tools of the new world:

• Appreciation for land preservation and environmental sensitive crops (non-GMO)
• Saving and sharing seeds
• Knowledge Sharing
• Inclusivity (Youth to Seniors)
• Resilience (back-up systems)
• Localization (local food and alt economic systems)
• Re-use & Re-cycle
• Alternative energy sources & practices
• Social justice
• Obtaining and using the Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC)

Seek the Archetypical

Archetypes are very powerful images or dreams in our creative tool kit that can offer insights and guidance on our journey:

• Growing Season / Cycle
• Spiritual Healing
• Visioning
• Giving Thanks

Preparing for New Rituals?

Here is a checklist to reference when you are testing the ritual waters:

• Who is leading the event?
• How long is the ritual?
• When does it take place?
• What are the words?
• What is the foundation for the event?
• How is it integrated with others vales, ethics, events, practices?
• What are the symbols and songs?
• What materials / space are required?

New Symbols for Rituals

Here are six new symbols from my work in sacred permaculture that can be utilized in the new rituals:

• Diversity (Soil)
• Growth (Seeds)
• Harvest (Basket)
• Transformation (Fire + Smoke)
• Stewardship (Compost Pile)
• Localization (Community Well)

Stirring New Alchemy & Ritual

Alchemy is the spiritual driver for the new world. Here are some types of alchemy to consider when building new myths and rituals:

• Imaginative Alchemy: This alchemy excites and creates our ideas, conflicts and even prayers in our brains.

• Eco Alchemy: Seeds, soil, plants and animals living, birthing and dying in an inter-related system pulsed by eco alchemy.

• Shamanic Alchemy: This is alchemy transmutates healing through ceremonies and rituals lead by a trained spiritual leader.

• Sound or Sonic Alchemy: The ancient alchemic power of song from cave rants to classical music and rock’n’roll.

• Digital Alchemy: Electronic learning and feeling working with computers including chat text, email and documents.

• Community Alchemy: People working with people: transforming attitudes, sharing ideas and making plans.

• Earth Alchemy: Planetary consciousness building and human evolution on a universal scale.

5 New Nature-based Rituals for the Permaculture Transition

Abundance Dance (Celebrating Nature)
Winter
Multi-stage art & music festival

Compost Festival (Seed Sharing & Harvest Share)
Spring & Fall
Planting Tools, Dirt and Food Meet-up

Annual Cascadia Convergence (Concert)
Late Fall
Big Education and Networking Event

Food Forest Work Trek Weekends (Caring for the Earth & People)
Early Spring
Multiple Community Work Actions with Evening Pot Lucks

Resilience Expo – Practical Seminars and Clothing Share
4 times per year
Local Community Education and Support for Basic Needs

Conclusions

Fair to say that the modern rock concert is about big money, big egos, big security, big noise, big lights, big stages, big separation; big banality. But are these scenes a ritual? In contrast, Post-Chaos Era rituals can be hosted through reduced fee / barter exchanges, Nature-centricity, camp fires, mini-community theatre, bottom up and kid focused, not top down corporate profit chasing, not idol worship, but with community- based values, organizing and storytelling.

Integrated sacred action, new myths and rituals can start to each Tribe and then their networks.

Are your traditions - rituals?

* * * * * * * *

Additional References

“New Sharing & Return Rituals & Their Symbols in Transition...

"Transition Prayer Percussion Ritual" by Willi Paul, NewMythologist...

"Cascadia Dream & Rituals" - Children’s Video by Willi Paul, Ne...

Instinct, observation and tribal wisdom Interview with Bron Taylor,...

Permaculture Teaching Video #3 - Sacred Alchemy & Symbols for the Permaculture Transition by Willi Paul. Filmed & Edited by claroscura.com

Building a new sound symbol library for global community storytelling. 

Videos (3) + Lesson Planning + PDF. By Willi Paul, NewMythologist.com

Project Outline

Introduction

Building with Sound in Phases

Archetypical Sounds and the Symbols Library

Integrating Alchemy, New myth, Nature and Sound?

SoundTrack Videos 1 -3:

Mythic Soundtrack 1 – Primitive Man Era – Nature
http://youtu.be/IQ2D8wmE5-E

Mythic Soundtrack 2 – Industrial Era – Oil Profiteers
http://youtu.be/VEOJsbFcbv8

Mythic Soundtrack 3 – Rock & Roll Era – Up Consciousness
http://youtu.be/dJr40D4dQAA

A New Sound Symbol Library for Global Community Storytelling

Lesson Planning:

Questions for Teachers & Students

Additional Educational Resources

* * * * * * *

“The alchemical process is a physical ritual that projects an inner state onto physical elements.” “Yes, I believe I understand how alchemy can work in the sound and visual arts; what’s just as clear is that today’s technology has definitely upped the ante.”

From: “Journey into Joseph Campbell Rising.” PlanetShifter.com Magazine Interview with Stephen Gerringer, Community Relations @ Joseph Campbell Foundation

Introduction

‘As many writers have discussed in PlanetShifter.com Magazine interviews, this sound is an alchemical or transmutation process, where the recombining of elements and the interactive process is more important than the product. Also examine myth as soundscape – or how the imagination of each listener both creates and recombines a story and how the meanings evolve as each collaboration changes the forces. These fragments can be re-mixed as each new group is created.

Differing from other musical composition, here sound is no longer the background but the foreground as the evolving sound collage drives the listener experience; sound is now a new story that we process and interpret individually and collectively.’

Sound as Myth: Initiation and Journey at the Sonic – Human Interface

Building with Sound in Phases

Integrating sound symbols and short soundtracks into longer pieces could take multiple phases. There are many ways to go and relationships to consider. Three phases to consider include:

Phase One: Sound fragments > new interpretations > Alchemic Translation > Sound Symbol Recorded > Collected Symbols > (Story Buildings) New Myth > New Ritual

Phase Two: Building an Integrated soundtrack with new sound symbols via group collaboration

Phase Three: Joining the soundtrack(s) into a story or new myth (as in hearing the three SoundTracks in this study consecutively.

Archetypical Sounds and the Symbols Library

natural sounds
wind, fire, water, storm, lightning + thunder

animal sounds
bark, howl, scratch, chew

human sounds 1
pain cry, grunt, laugh, shriek, baby born

human signals
scent
hand gestures
symbolic language

human – nature sounds
building shelter
damming stream
planting crops

human sounds 2
machine / industrial sounds
formal languages
storytelling

electronic sounds
rock music + live concert ritual
sampling
personalized stereo + equalization

Integrating Alchemy, New Myth, Nature and Sound?

The sounds that we hear in Nature or play in our devices are embedded in our educational and cultural experiences to name two. The following new story foundation values and ethics are recommended as we integrate and act on many of the critical environmental issues like nuclear power, fracking, and climate change.

8 Key Elements in the New Mythology include:

1. Localization – back to sustainability and community; self-sufficiency
2. Nature- Centric
3. Spiritual
4. Future-based
5. Universal themes(s) and message
6. Para-Normal in conflict or characters
7. Initiation, Journey and Hero
8. Permaculture & Transition: values and principles

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SoundTrack Videos 1 -3:

The three short project videos support sounds for the new library and include 4 – 12 pairs of Sound Symbols with a corresponding Alchemic Translation. Each pair is approximately 4 seconds with no graphics and has a theme (Era) and a subtitle:

Mythic SoundTrack 1
See Video: Primitive Man Era – Nature

SOUND SYMBOLS
stream + crickets
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
hydration + food + bathing

SOUND SYMBOLS
Wind + Fear
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Storm Coming + The Unknown

SOUND SYMBOLS
Lightning + Thunder
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Wonderment + Hysteria + Fire Starter

SOUND SYMBOLS
Fire + Fire Pit + Warmth
ALCHEMICAL TRANSLATION
Safety + Cooking + Community

Mythic SoundTrack 2
See Video: Industrial Era – Oil Profiteers

SOUND SYMBOLS
Factory Production Noise
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Sweat + Labor + Profit

SOUND SYMBOLS
Train Whistle + Wheels on Tracks
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Settlements + Stolen Land + Capitalist Exploitation

SOUND SYMBOLS
Digging + Shovel
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Diamonds + Slaves

SOUND SYMBOLS
Bubbling Gas + Machinery
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Fracking + Poisoned Land + Community Lost

SOUND SYMBOLS
Ocean Drilling
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Greed + Pollution

SOUND SYMBOLS
Nuclear Plant Siren
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Planetary Warning + Poison

Mythic SoundTrack 3
See Video: Rock & Roll Era – Up Consciousness

Alchemic Sound Fragments from: Robyn Hitchcock, Yes, Jackson Browne, Neil Young, Richard Butler, Steve Tibbetts,
Pink Floyd, & Bruce Cockburn

SOUND SYMBOLS
Guitar
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Running thru the grass + sunshine

SOUND SYMBOLS
Drums, guitar & Synth
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Bridge to another place

SOUND SYMBOLS
Drums, Guitars, Bass & Samples
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Dreaming – then Awake!

SOUND SYMBOLS
Complete Rock Band
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Proclamation

SOUND SYMBOLS
Organ
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Hover, Reflect, Claim

SOUND SYMBOLS
Percussion
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Run, Wave Chant

SOUND SYMBOLS
Synth & Voice
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Hold hands, kiss & smile

SOUND SYMBOLS
Machine Samples + Guitar
ALCHEMIC TRANSLATION
Sirens & Ghosts

A New Sound Symbol Library for Global Community Storytelling

The proposed sound database or symbol library should have creative commons support, with collaborative tools for members to upload, transform and produce new soundtracks solo or together. It is envisioned that these musical works could assist in the development of new rituals and storytelling. The vision for this new sound symbol library is not the same as SoundCloud.com or Freesounds.org because of its innovative alchemy + myth engine.

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Lesson Planning:

Questions for Teachers & Students

a) If we can get the power of myth from storytellers and the printed page, then why not from SoundTracks?
b) Can a “Sound Myth” be a series of integrated sounds that combine to have a universal themes and message?
c) How do we translate or transmutate sound into visual cues, messages, initiation and global meaning?
d) How do we map the sound alchemy (transmutation) process as it supports other elements of the New Myth?
e) Describe the relationship between sound alchemy and initiation?
f) What is initiation in the Myth Lab process as Joseph Campbell describes it?
g) Are sound symbols or fragments connected to memories and new feelings?
h) Is initiation like a meditation? How?
i) What is a mythic experience?
j) Does a Sound Myth require a new language, code, or key?
k) Can silence be a sound symbol?

http://www.planetshifter.com/node/2018

Additional Educational Resources

water sound symbol myth: building new nature-based myths (Video). willi paul, openmythsource.com

Mixing alchemy and Mythology – Symbols and Spirit. A PlanetShifter.com Magazine [ open myth source ]

“Transition Prayer Percussion Ritual” by Willi Paul, NewMythologist.com

sound symbols, archetypes & the power of myth: an alchemic journey with Nature begins, Willi Paul, openmythsource.com

“THE TALISMAN”. INTERVIEW WITH MYTHOLOGIST WILLI PAUL BY DEREK JOE TENNANT, EARTHEVOLUTION.INFO

“Collapsed Time Stress Disorder & Mythic Time” by Willi Paul, Planetshifter.com Magazine

“Time is a dimension in which events can be ordered from the past through the present into the future, and also the measure of durations of events and the intervals between them.” WIKI

But most of us have had some unusual experiences in between, in combination of, and/or beyond past, present and future time. If we can choose the right time for the purpose at hand, we may be more effective readers, writers and collaborators and have a more effective long-term life experience. What about Mythic Time?

Four Categories of Time

[A] Past Time –

Full of memories, past time is represented to a large degree by photos, diplomas and special events. As with Future Time, Past Time fades in our consciousness as we age to nothingness or “no time”.

[B] Current Time –

Current Time, aka Project Time, is a short-term, linear, “plan - go - stop - evaluate - repeat” experience. Current Time is dominated by 24/7, 7:00 AM, the calendar date, “everythingness” all at once.

[B.1] Searching (Internet) Time

The computer and Internet is a combination of Current Time, Past and Future Time. While suspension of a linear experience is possible, Searching Time can include the first two stages of *Mythic Time: we usually have some overt need to satisfy and some initiation to undergo during the search.

[C] Future Time –

Future Time is Fictional, filled with our hopes, dreams, desires; expectations and plans. Future time integrates the other time categories but eventually fades to nothingness or “no time” like Past Time.

[D] *Mythic Time –

Mythic Time owes a debt to Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s vision; a non-linear or looping experience that incorporates stages that can often blend or support (benefit or distort) Past Time, Current Time, & Future Time. An artistic, spiritual and / or community practice can result from Mythic Time that transcends the profit and loss; a timeless multi-culture hero figure is a potential result.

Categories of Mythic Time

• Need: We first need to understand what we need and our goal(s)

• Initiation: Alchemy and trust play a large role in our transformational journey in Mythic Time

• Trek: Walk up the hills and in the swamps; it’s a “marathon for wisdom”

• Overcoming: Tackling and conquering obstacles is critical; patience rules the way

o Learning: Keep notes in your tablet; study the journey; teach others with your wisdom

• Feedback: Back home, whether a blog or a community event, Mythic Time requires your evaluation and outreach

Points to Consider

Experiencing Past, Current and Future Time at same time is Collapsed Time Stress Disorder (TCSD). A confused voided time space (think day dreaming or being high on marijuana). In this state we are easily manipulated consumers, unproductive and uncommunicative.

Isn’t life experience a synthesis or continuum of all of the types? Remember that “those destined to repeating history…” mantra?

Don’t we need some amount of Past Time to fuel the other two? Are we not a product of our short-term and long-term memories?

Mythic Time returns us to a vision-drenched, open-ended path that prioritizes and harmonizes our way in contrast to many corporate jobs and their single minded, trickle-down politics and limited, pigeon-hole experiences.

* * * * * * *

Willi Paul
New Mythologist & Transition Entrepreneur
newmythologist.com | PlanetShifter.com Magazine | openmythsource.com
@planetshifter @openmythsource @newmythologist
415-407-4688 | pscompub at gmail.com

New Book: “We Are All On Flight 93: Bringing Spirit to R Evolution” * Interview with Author Derek Joe Tennant by Willi Paul, Planetshifter.com Magazine

“This book aims to ignite in you the fire that the passengers of Flight 93 felt when they took the only action they could think of: storming the cockpit and attempting to take back the plane. We speak here of rebellion, my friends: driving a stake into the heart of this vampire economy and refusing any longer to let the dominant culture exploit our fear and isolation to keep us pacified and docile while it sucks the life out of each and every one of us.

Let’s storm our civilization using creative actions and bring it back to human-sized before it is too late for life on our Mother Earth. Please join our resistance: work in your neighborhood to raise awareness, funds, comrades, and energy. Share your new story with us all. And keep striking back… it works!” pp. 21-2

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Interview with Derek by Willi

What are three of the biggest challenges today as some try to accelerate human evolution?

Denial. There are still so many people who don’t see a problem, who are too distracted by toys and media to notice what’s happening, or who are too comfortable to worry that life won’t stay like this, only bigger, as time goes on.

Inertia. Even for those who are awake it is nearly impossible to act in 100% alignment with our principles and values. A system has been constructed that separates us and isolates us, making our ability to connect with other humans or with Nature difficult if not impossible. Divide and conquer: the oldest trick in the book used by those on top. Their power resides primarily in the stories told by this dominant culture; our voices that are trying to tell different stories are drowned out. Additionally, the dominant culture is founded upon violence; and as those of us who want change tend to crave nonviolent solutions, again we find it difficult to stop a system that thrives on violence. *Polite and reasoned requests* hold no sway over brutal systems.

Resources. Not only do we need to find the resources to start up new ways of living, many of us who are on the fringe of the dominant culture don’t want to participate in that culture enough to gather the resources necessary to step out and do something completely different. How do we build something radically different while using the same tools and materials of the old dysfunction? And also, many of those on the fringe, who see possibilities for change, found themselves on the fringe because they had troubles (medical, work, relationship) that have stripped them of most or all of the resources they had at one time. They become focused on their own survival, rather than building and creating something new.

Let me also point to a fourth: Spirit. Every human I’ve ever known, in their most private moments, asks *Who am I?* and *Why am I here?* If we begin to explore answers to these two questions, we learn more about our core, inner being. That core almost always points to ways of living that contradict the dominant American culture, based as it is on genocide, violence, patriarchy, and exploitation of other beings and of Nature. Few people can overcome that dissonance between their inner understanding and the world in which they live, in order to accomplish anything. This may be the greatest challenge, and thus the best skill, that we activists need to cultivate in order to be successful.

Lora Zombie’s “little red riding hood” graces your book cover. Are you reading any new folklore?

In short, no. I do feel that art is an essential part of any new consciousness; both in order to conceive of a new way of living, and as a validation of possibility, when the old system screams *there is no alternative!* I just haven’t had the time, nor has that been a big part of my path. Maybe that should be my next project! Also let me point out that the first section of my book looks at how indigenous cultures see the world. I paint with a broad brush, but still we have access to enough different tribes who remain relatively untouched by the American model that we can get some idea of the *radical* ways they structure their lives. And after all, it may not be *new folklore*, but it is a way of life and a way of telling the meaning of the world so different from our own that it can be called folklore, and it is new to me.

You speak about getting out of our “dominant culture.” What values are propping-up the status quo and what alternative ones can we implement?

Let me point to these values that hold up this paradigm:

Profit. As long as corporations are mandated, by law and by custom, to make a profit for shareholders, profit will continue to trump life and Nature in any decision-making process. And since economy is the primary way in which we interact with people and Nature, profit is a strong impediment to change. Alternatively we can strengthen our commitment to the *Commons*, to taking care of one another (as we used to, before Capitalism), and to begin to address profit not just by lowering our consumption and hence our need to trade, but also by gifting more, instead of purchasing or selling what we want.

The dominator model. Whether it is patriarchy, keeping males and so-called male characteristics the primary standard operating procedure; or endless war and global hegemony of the economy that spends more on its military than the rest of the world combined; or the racism that helped found this nation four hundred years ago that persists today; this dominant culture fears the *other* and attempts through force and psychological manipulations to keep the other at bay.

Individuality. As long as I feel separate, one in seven billion, I doubt my own power to make a difference. I surrender when I no longer have the energy or resources to struggle against the system. I deepen my fear of others and distance myself from anyone who of might be of assistance, if only because I buy the argument that I should take personal responsibility and care for myself without complaint. I can throw hurtful words at my brothers, I can pollute without consequence if I can believe that I gain from the effort, I can steal out of a sense that I am entitled because I have worked hard, it’s just that the breaks have gone against me through no fault of my own. There a myriad ways more in which the sense of isolation is problematic…

One of my models for capturing the current sceneis this: Pre-Chaos Era, Chaos Era, and Post-Chaos Era. Your thoughts?

Wow. I’d really like to spend just a bit more time on this one, but much of what you point to in the graphic is addressed throughout my book. Let me offer a few brief comments here; this question alone could engender an evening’s discussion just to get people thinking about their own responses.

Time frames. Two quick thoughts: 1) no one can predict. Will it be soon, economic collapse, social unrest, war, or political chaos? Longer term, climate chaos? Looking back in history, these things happen unpredictably, usually due to a Black Swan event. 2) I am more of the mind that collapse, or chaos, will not necessarily be a sudden and complete, stand-alone moment, that we can ever point to and say, “That’s the day we collapsed.” I think we are already in chaos, already collapsing. There are parts of the Gulf Coast and New York City that will never be rebuilt following damages from Katrina, Deepwater Horizon, and Sandy.

There are parts of the country like Detroit where it is hard to imagine the city ever being like it was in its heyday. The extended drought in the Midwest is reshaping the farming and livestock industries, and beginning to limit our access to resources. We are rapidly approaching a time where resources for rebuilding will be too expensive or even nonexistent. This is what I point to in my book: let’s work to collapse the system while we still have the resources left that we will need to rebuild something in its place.

Preparations. This is one of the areas of dichotomy were a useful skill is holding opposing ideas in mind and heart at the same time. I don’t feel we can put all of our efforts into bringing down the system; at the same time, neither can we put all of our efforts into building something new outside the system. It takes both. Remember, Dr. King was fighting the existence of alternate systems for blacks and whites, and for good reason. Also, as mentioned above, if your only tools are provided by the old system, how do you build something with new roots?

Taking sides. I’m not sure what this points to. I see the need for us each to do the inner work to raise our consciousness, the passive work of taking what the systems allows us in terms of resistance to remain in our own integrity, and the active work where we become the sand in the oil of the system to literally cause it to seize up. I guess the side I want to take is the side of Nature and human beings, standing against the corporate machine.

Nonviolence. This is one of the hard discussions we have to be able to have. Too often in progressive circles, NV is used as a litmus test: if you want all options on the table, a diversity of tactics, then you are shunned. I argue in my book that, while I do stand against killing people, I do not see property damage as violence. I do not see someone resisting being lynched as a violent response, no matter what they are doing to stay alive. Those who say that we can’t use violence against property because it *hurts* the owner are buying the lies we have been told by this culture. I also argue that the oppressed cannot be limited in their attempt to gain their freedom by the values of the oppressor. If we stick to only what the system lets us do, then we can never hurt the system.

And if you think that if we just raise our consciousness this system, based on fear and brutality, will one day *decide* that you are right and change itself, I feel you are mistaken. It is difficult to claim that Gandhi, for instance, successfully used nonviolence against the British. Their Empire was collapsing; they ran out of time and needed a way out of India. Gandhi was the most palatable option, yes partly due to his nonviolent stance, but also because compared to other more active and revolutionary groups that we don’t hear about in our western history books, he was easier to negotiate with. It is hard to imagine he would have lived long enough to make it into history books at all if he had tried nonviolence inside Germany in order to stop the genocide there or bring down the Nazi government.

Avoid chaos? Again, we are already in chaos. Evolution, or personal and societal growth, works because of chaos, not usually conscious decisions to change. I am afraid that chaos will lead to people dying. I am afraid that avoiding chaos will lead to people dying, but for different reasons. I vote for chaos.

You write: “So we are severely challenged to live in integrity when there are so many issues with the rational thought process our culture expects us to use.” Do you find it paradoxical (or worse?!) to uphold your minority view and face the hate, anger, greed systemic in America? How do you stand it?

Sorry to repeat myself once more, but I feel that one of the most important skills we must cultivate as activists is the ability to hold multiple viewpoints in mind at once. No matter how much you may ridicule or despise a *climate denier*, there are valid truths that they are acknowledging that need to be addressed as part of any *solution*. You may not like what they have to say, but they are right about some facets of the problem. I do try my best to live in my integrity, or wholeness, but I recognize that I don’t have all the data or all the answers. I can stand the hate and anger as long as I am not killed for my position.

The hate, anger, and greed are just the manifestations of the dysfunction of the underlying patriarchy, domination, and violence that this system is founded upon. As long as I see that, then those who profess these emotions can be seen as clueless, or entranced, I suppose. Also, I came across a Buddhist concept years ago: If you can change the situation, why be upset? And if you can’t change the situation, again, why be upset? Don’t misunderstand, please! I have good days and bad, cycling between feeling empowered and feeling powerless. But it helps to separate the pain from the suffering; and then deal with the pain and let go of the suffering.

Where would you send us for a non-Chaotic experience?

Find a tree that you can visit daily. Spend at least ten minutes, if not an hour, every day sitting with and touching the tree. Watch as it changes throughout the year. Feel into the connection this tree can offer you into the natural world that we are so disconnected from in the modern, American Dream.

You do not mention permaculture in your book. Not a solution?

I don’t intend to slight this movement; but it just hasn’t been much on my radar. Again, I think that building alternate structures is useful, but can’t be the only action we take. I fear that if your permaculture is taking place in a city, that you will be overwhelmed by the chaos should the dominant culture, or your city, experience a rapid collapse. It helps to see front yards turned into vegetable gardens, to disconnect from power and water grids, to share the bounty with neighbors and friends. If your plan is to use permaculture outside the city, then land selection is critical and in some cases, prohibitive.

There is definitely a place for permaculture in our world today. My book however is focused more on the motivating side, the roots side if you will, and less about bullet points that give you a to-do list of actions you can take to save the planet. I suspect that if I were more thoroughly versed in permaculture I would be able to point out the ways in which that mindset matches what I am trying to accomplish. Different path, same goal, in other words. I should look to learn more and speak to this in my next book, whatever that turns out to be.

You write: “We live in a sea of energy and consciousness. This energy is like water: its best work is when it is moving, vibrant and cleansing, alive with possibility.” Please offer us some examples.

I like the water metaphor because we have all experienced foul, stagnant pools of water, and most know how that is just a breeding ground for disease. And we have spent time around clean, flowing brooks. In human lives, think of hoarders: people who collect goods, which are really just manifestations of energy, and fill their space with them. This too is a breeding ground for disease, both physical and psychological. From a different angle, think now of generosity: how good it feels to give to another, no strings attached.

Altruism has been demonstrated in animals even. Whether it is volunteer work or giving of money or goods to one who is in need, letting our energy flow to another brings rewards that we usually value more highly than what we gave away. And clearing our space; either by giving away possessions or performing service, makes room for new energy to enter our lives. Again a perspective I learned years ago: if my life and mind and heart are filled I won’t be able to allow new energy into my life; I will stagnate. Another perspective, regarding consciousness: in contemplative prayer or meditation, the idea is to let go of my own limited and worldly thoughts and be open to what energy or awareness wants to arise from within. In other words, I try to free up some space by letting go of my thoughts so that there is movement, and so that possibilities I have yet to contemplate can enter my field of vision. As long as I clutch to what I have already thought, my energy stagnates and I limit myself, often breeding psychic disease.

You write: “Remember our history lessons: eventually, people found better things to do than obey feudal lords. Perhaps the transition from capitalism to some new economic system will occur in a similar way. Or not.” What system do you want?

Great question. I will point here, in this short response, to two aspects: first, I want us truly question what it means to *work* for our *living*. By that I mean, can we question the need for people to work in order to live? Only 15% of workers today provide all of our food, water, and housing. Could we find a way to increase the use of technology and cut even that small number in half, and then let everyone have life’s necessities for free? Then if you decide you want more than a minimal existence; if you want the latest tech toy, or a new car, then you would have to take a job. This calls into question many deep-seated prejudices about responsibility, wealth, and even technology itself. But tech seems to have the ability to diminish our need to work in order to survive, so let’s examine that aspect of our latest societal evolution.

Second, I favor a gift economy. In some of my previous books I have explained the methods and dysfunctions of this monetary system; suffice it for now to say that money needs increasing use of resources and increasing debt to survive. On a finite planet, that eventually breaks. A gift economy, on the other hand, is not prone to the same reasons for collapse. I tried an experiment last year with friends. I do taxes for a living; I asked my friends to evaluate their means, their ability to pay some amount for my expertise, and to weigh the value they felt they had received from my work and to offer me a fair compensation, such that they would feel good about returning to me next year. You may not find it hard to believe if you try to calculate this in your own situation: only one person was truly able to complete the calculation and make an offer. We are so trained in this culture that everything has a price, and we can try to get a discount but ultimately we choose to buy or not buy based on the quoted price, but what we do not have to do is determine the value of something in our own eyes.

Long way around saying that the current model is so deeply ingrained that I don’t feel competent to offer a perfect plan for a new economy; I only know I want it to not depend on money created from debt, nor do I want human beings to not be able to sleep except in particular locations (bedrooms or hotels) as prescribed by law. The idea that someone cannot sleep in their car or in a tent on public land is unfathomable to me. Sorry, I might have gotten off track on this one!

I do not see much discussion on morals in the media or family. How do propose to create better ones?

Spirituality. Not religion, systems of belief that give our power over to intermediaries who then exploit us, and not scientific materialism wherein everything can be broken into its constituent parts and graphed and thus be understood, because it can’t. We have all had moments when we have felt connected with the Universe in profound and miraculous ways; we have all heard the small inner voice inside our heart urging us to lean a little bit towards an awe-full experience that has changed us in fundamental ways. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could live there more often? If we do, morals come along as part of the package.

If we work to overcome our separation and instead build connection, then family becomes our path to service and love, again bringing our sacred values into our actions. I don’t trust media solely because it is so dominated by the very corporations that exploit us today; some new paradigm that helps spread this meme and invites us to taste deeply of new myths is welcome! Of course it would be instrumental in shaping not only the discussion but the morals that will arise from our new paradigm.

I suppose this is a good question for you, my friend: how can we better spread myth and storytelling that bypasses the existing paradigm? What is the future of myth as it leads us on our evolutionary path?

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Author Bio -

Derek Joe Tennant is a citizen-economist, a self-published author of several books, and is deeply committed to volunteer work. As an Enrolled Agent he prepares tax returns part of the year, and he has worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) eight times in the last ten years, always during or after the larger storms such as Katrina, Tuscaloosa, and Sandy. He has worked in disaster relief also as a volunteer, both in the U.S. and in Haiti. When volunteering as an English teacher in a school for Burmese refugee children in Thailand in 2008, he met a few dozen kids who had left their homeland because of Cyclone Nargis. During the last decade, he has spent several months each year in Thailand, enjoying the chance to step out of the American dominant culture and to taste what it means to live differently, and to be outside the propaganda bubble. He happily offers his work as free downloads on his website, and welcomes your comments and questions. And no, he is not aware of any FEMA camps being prepared for American civilians.

Connections -

Derek Joe Tennant
derek at derekjoetennant.net

“Words, Color, Sound Samples: Symbols for Kids Art”, Video Short by Willi Paul, openmythsource.com

art lesson with colors, sound samples & words for children

Video: http://youtu.be/2AYNpe7wc2Q

Words:

house
rules &
kids
& hope

hands
& sky
& dirt

“Three Monoliths & the Crystal Triangle Network”, 2066 A.D. New Myth #50, Myth Lab #9 by Willi Paul, NewMythologist.com

“Just before his death Joseph Campbell was interviewed by Bill Moyers and that interview was later turned into the documentary, “The Power of Myth.” In this interview he postulated the idea that humanity was in need of new mythologies. Ones that were not rooted in the ancient world as all our current ones are. But myth’s that would help us navigate this new and strange world we are creating.”

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Myth Lab #9

The Myth Lab #9 process model that follows includes discovering an Artifact andmythic imprinting.  The goal is to integrate permaculture, transition, Nature and sustainability with the emerging values and struggles in the Chaos Age. Myth Lab is designed as an interactive, open source and iterative experience. One goal is clear: we need to build new values and myths to support new post-occupancy food and governance systems.

Key Terms:

Artifact – The New Myth Artifact is a Nature-Human symbol; examples include graffiti, a bill board, film clip, and a permaculture garden, with special powers and messages to both present and future.

Monolith as Artifact for Myth Lab #9

(From Kubrick’s 2001 A Space Odyssey)

Mythos – The pattern of basic values and attitudes of a people characteristically transmitted through myths and the arts. What is the mythos of the Post-Chaos Era?

New Mythology – Is a call for new Nature-based, globally integrated stories without allegiance to any classic mythologies. New Mythology incorporates new symbols, alchemy and rituals with an eye on the future.

The Transition Movement includes new business exchange schemes where waste is used by another business; garden sharing that allows neighbors to re-use barren land. The movement encourages people to choose local food, including support for smart transit and sharing / barter.

Mythic Imprinting – Imprinting is defined as a two-way interaction with a selected Artifact that has generates synergistic meaning for both creators and the reader. This iterative and transmutative process is grounded in the initiation, journey and hero work from Joseph Campbell and is one way that neighborhood artifacts can help participants generate new songs, poems and myths.

8 Key Elements in the New Mythology include:

1. Localization – back to sustainability and community; self-sufficiency

2. Nature- Centric

3. Spiritual

4. Future-based

5. Universal themes(s) and message

6. Para-Normal in conflict or characters

7. Initiation, Journey and Hero

8. Permaculture & Transition: values and principles

Please enjoy all 50 New Myths.

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Process Model for Myth Lab #9

5 Steps Process Model for Myth Lab # 9

1. Discover the Artifact

“Monoliths are fictional advanced machines built by an unseen extraterrestrial species that appear in Arthur C. Clarke’s Space Odyssey series of novels and films. During the series, three monoliths are discovered in the solar system by humans and it is revealed that thousands if not more were created throughout the solar system, although none are seen. The subsequent response of the characters to their discovery drives the plot of the series. It also influences the fictional history of the series, particularly by encouraging humankind to progress with technological development and space travel.

The first monolith appears in the beginning of the story, set in prehistoric times. It is discovered by a group of hominids, and somehow triggers a considerable shift in evolution, starting with the ability to use tools and weaponry.

The extraterrestrial species that built the monoliths is never described in much detail, but some knowledge of its existence is given to Dave Bowman after he is transported by the stargate to the “cosmic zoo”, as detailed in the novels 2001: A Space Odyssey and 2010: Odyssey Two. The existence of this species is only hypothesized by the rest of humanity, but it is obvious because the monolith was immediately identified as an artifact of non-human origin.

The extraterrestrial species that built the monoliths developed intergalactic travel millions or perhaps billions of years before the present time. In the novels, Clarke refers to them as the “Firstborn” (not to be confused with the identically-named race in Arthur C. Clarke’s and Stephen Baxter’s Time Odyssey Series) since they were quite possibly the first sentient species to possess a significant capability of interstellar travel. Members of this species explored the universe in the search of knowledge, and especially knowledge about other intelligent species.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolith_%28Space_Odyssey%29

2. Incorporate the Artifact

In Myth Lab #9, the tall smooth rectangle monolith from the film is transmuted into a 16’ tall crystal. Consider:

“Crystals and gemstones are living formations that have been growing in our earth since the beginning of time.  Considered highly sacred and powerful, these beings have been used since the dawn of ancient civilization.  These ancient crystals have been used as encoded tableture by the lemurian civilization which dates back 30,000 years.  Crystals then and crystals now are used as aids in physical, emotional, spiritual healing, spirit contact, psychic development, holistic healing, and a vast array of much more.  In working with crystals, you embark on a journey of rediscovering and healing your true, inner self.”

http://spirituallifejourneys.webs.com/howcrystalenergyworks.htm

“The lands belonging to the gigantic continent of Lemuria included lands now under the Pacific Ocean as well as Hawaii, the Easter Islands, the Fiji Islands, Australia and New Zealand. Also lands in the Indian Ocean and Madagascar. The Eastern coast of Lemuria also extended to California and part of British Columbia in Canada.”

http://www.lemurianconnection.com/category/about-lemuria-and-telos/

"An accidental discovery by an American research scientist has demonstrated that exposure to light dramatically increases conductivity of crystals. The approach, called ‘holographic memory’, could dramatically increase the memory capacity of computer chips. Quite by accident, Washington State University researchers have achieved a 400-fold increase in the electrical conductivity of a crystal simply by exposing it to light. The effect, which lasted for days after the light was turned off, could dramatically improve the performance of devices like computer chips. Holographic memory, could lead to huge increases in information capacity.”

http://www.permaculture.co.uk/news/2211134072/scientists-discover-e...

3. Mythic Transmutation

Modern transmutation and alchemy are the same process. We are not “making gold.” Alchemy is an ancient process for changing states (higher, cooler, saner, more loving) and now plays a key role in elevating or destroying our global consciousness. The power of transmutation is available to all. Eco-alchemy is evident in severe changes in chemical, emotional, physical and spiritual changes in people and the landscape, especially in the effects of global warming, energy scarcity and war.

Consider the monolith in Kubrick’s film masterpiece 2001 A Space Odyssey. This artifact is highly mysterious, reactive, a huge change agent for uplifting the planet to a new consciousness. Key to Myth Lab #9 and New Myth #50 is analogy and our modern transmutation of the monolith. We can leverage, empower and transmute Kubrick’s idea by morphing it with a similar ideas:

• Totem Pole
• Light House and Glass Len
• Early Telegraph & Telephone (Pole) Networks
• May Pole

The triangle in New Myth #50 is also transmutable like the monolith above. What is similar?

• BermudaTriangle
• World Wide Web

4. Create the New Myth

Early Brainstorm

Fear – Analysis

Sunlight powers up lens

Beacon starts

Decoding hieroglyphs

Community initiations(s)

Speculation – Testing

Type of energy?

Translations

Transmutations

Connections

Renewed ritual of Light and triangulation

Tests, innovations, experiments, sharing and failing

Imprintation

Alchemic Lens

Results

Trading and knowledge network uses Light

Protection

Sharing Experiences

Mythic Records – life changing experiences or “finds” – technical and mythic data

The new “magical Town Square”

New Myths

New Spaces and Instruments

* * * * * * *

 Early Vision for New Myth #50

* * * * * * *

Three Monoliths & the Crystal Triangle Network. 2066 A.D. New Myth #50 by Willi Paul

Post-chaos Era:

After the last fossil fuels are fracked out of our Earth’s belly

After Monsanto shot itself in the hay loft

After the GeoEngineers take away our Sun (to slow global warming)

After the war b/w China and the west depletes souls and capitals

After the remaining ice in the poles scream for life

Our global water table rises shorelines beyond 10 feet

Earthquakes fracture nuclear storage facilities

Cataclysmic storms and fires explode communities from El Paso to Lake Superior

3 crystal alchemists dance in the frequency

Introduction

In 2066, most differences in culture of commercial regime and human survival world-wide were deconstructed, neutered. The exceptions were the places that developed and protected localized energy sources with HUGE fences before the collapse like solar, wind and wave technologies. Towns and farmlands alike were scraped clean-off and abandoned by the rich and their tumble weeds. All communities were fracked to death and sucked dry. Gas gone; coal is gone; Marshall Law stuck its bloody knife into our hearts by a corrupted United Nations.

Enter three locals, “light alchemists” as they later were called, from three very different histories and myths. They have the opportunity to connect up in a survival triangle with ancient technologies and modern day chutzpah.

* * * * * * *

Dal X. Smith

Mt. Shasta Resilience Clan

Smith is a scavenger by profession – of things and memories, anything she can sell. A former Transition scout and current fence jumper who lives in a dripping nose cave at the foot of Black Butte. She found her 16’ tall crystal monolith unearthed in the remains of the former 2025’s trading post on old Jefferson Street after a recent crazy ass rain storm.

Ponder

Oaxaca Trading Group

Ponder, 14 years old, is not your average post-apocalypse white bread artist. One of 7 children without parents (killed in the last Mexican civil war), who drives a tricycle taxi. She is a barter champ with dump stuff and runs the food forest with friends in a former heavy weight rural prison turned sustainable community near Monte Alban. Ponder found her Monolith in the cracked spire of a small village Catholic Church after an earthquake demolished the structure.

Salli Bannish, PhD.

Kaho’olawe Permaculture Tribe

Bannish is a recent refuge from the States – after the global economic crash of 2055. She is an infamous storyteller, beach digger, seed saver and coconut tree visionary. She found her monolith in a sunken fishing boat near the harbor. Bannish thought it was unexploded ordinance. Not a bad guess?

* * * * * * 

The Glow in the Dark 3

Ponder sat in front of the tall crystal, mouth agape. It was pulsing up and down its mass, a soft yellow orangeish light, with the cadence of a yellow traffic light at 2 am. Dal’s monolith sparked to life at the same hour in her cave. She went to investigate some writing or symbols that were now revealed toward the base. Salli got the third call and tried to rub the symbols with parchment, like a tomb stone, to see what they could mean.

The three post-chaos explorers did not realize that all three monoliths were the same, exact duplicates. Instructions included. But they were not to discover each other until the monoliths were in “triangle” mode and charged with sun light and hieroglyphics.

Hieroglyphics found on each monolith

In 2066, only a few had the ways and means to access data offline in what was formerly called the “internet.” The crew had only oral histories, books and their imaginations to decipher the simple glyphs on their crystal ‘liths.

Salli prayed.

Dal tried, with no luck, to barter the tall mono for booze and farming tools.

Ponder, well, pondered.

* * * * * * *

The Big Beaming

Then “event night” lit-up the crystals and the triad’s consciousness to a level never before believed by a human or Hominoid before or since.

Two solid beams of 7” light emanated from each of the crystal locations, arcing into the night sky in two different directions.

A crystal monolithic network is born.

Crystal Arc Network

Then another miracle. Each “crystalonaut” heard each other’s voice, a direct voice link x 3.

“Who is this?” cried Ponder!

“Salli Bannish, Kaho’olawe Permaculture Tribe!”

“Dal X. Smith, Mt. Shasta Resilience Clan. Where are you?”

“Oaxaca Trading Group.”

“Are the symbols on the base of your monolith glowing, guys?” cried out Dal.

How long is this connection gonna last? asked Dal.

Who else can see the beams?

What are the plans and expectations of the designers?

* * * * * * *

Send in your ideas to pscompub @ gmail.com

to contribute to part two of New Myth #50!

5. Share New Myth and Journey

              http://youtu.be/sVq1Ah46vXo

The Spell

sedona  spells

v o r t e x   h a z e

1   2   4

c a c t u s  p o t i o n s

p r i c k

s t r e a m  b a n k s

r e d  s a i n t s

ha!

you!

u p s i d e  d o w n  t r e e

b e  a  n e s t  n o w!

s u n 's

s o u l f u l

a r c h

u p  t o  o u r  k n e e s

f l o a t i n g  f o r e s t  k e y s!

u l t r a  t e r r a  s p a w n

r o o t s

o l d  w i n g s

t o w e r  s k i e s

t u n n e l  b o y s

c i r c l e  c l o c k s

r e l e a s e  u s

t w i n e

intro

Why are myths and stories so important to you?

Ironically, myths and stories are important because we have so few that have any value or integrity for today’s issues. I say that classic myths are burnt-out and Hollywood’s “big screens” are hopelessly redundant in themes and soap operatic in message. Game Boys and shoot-’em-ups are all the rage at home, but there are no valuable myths in the depiction of white soldiers shooting up Arabs or undergrads doing beer bongs! What spurs me to write my own new myths are the ethics and principles of permaculture. But this so-called new “soil design science” is down on the idea of a spiritual / culture kit, and desperately needs visionary and sustainable partners to widen and realize a “community-garden future” without electricity, gasoline and nation-sponsored war.

AN INTERVIEW WITH ‘NEW MYTHOLOGIST’ WILLI PAUL   by Sharon Blackie, Editor, earthlinesreview.org

Interview Index

Seeds & Ladders. A Conversation with Permaculture Designer Jenny Pell, Pacific Northwest.

Justice Begins with Seeds Conference - Interview #2 with GMO Educator & Presenter Pamm Larry, labelgmos.org. Presented by the biosafetyalliance.org. May 18 – 19, SF

AppleSeed Permaculture’s New Land Managers Program. Interview with Dyami Nason-Regan and Ethan Roland

Justice Begins with Seeds Conference - Interview with Presenter Katherine Zavala, IDEX. Presented by the biosafetyalliance.org. May 18 -19, 2012, SF.

A Regenerative Ag Incubator for Veterans – Interview with Deston Denniston, Vets Cafe Program (Pac NW).

Transition Man. Interview with John Steere, Environmental Alchemist / Planner.

Crowdfunding for Permaculture Now! Article / Interview with Christian Shearer of WeTheTrees.com.

“Shapeshift Threshold Reverie”. Interview with Maila T. Davenport PhD, AltarPlaces.org, Portland.

The Mythology of Lemmings. Interview by Willi - Article on New Mythology by Kari McGregor, Editor, Spirit of the Times.

“Pushing Away from Capitalism.” Interview with Kim Krichbaum of Eugene Gift Circles.

“AN INTERVIEW WITH ‘NEW MYTHOLOGIST’ WILLI PAUL“, by Sharon Blackie, Editor, earthlinesreview.org.

“A Million Seeds” – Interview with Permaculturist / Author Christopher Shein.

“Urban Land Scouts Interview with Founder Katie Ries”.

The Gratitude Code. Interview with Kindista.org Founders Nicholas Eamon Walker & Benjamin Crandall

“The Invisible Pedestrian.” Interview with Natalie Burdick,Walk SF.

“Oil and Water” : Interview with Pat Moran - Music Director, Writer, San Francisco Mime Troupe.

“Spiraling into Permaculture & New Mythology”- Interview with Shari Tarbet, PhD., OSHER Institute.

“Mythography & the Universal Human” : Interview with Allison Stieger, Principal at Mythic Stories (Seattle).

“Alley Allies Project” : Interview with Katie Hughes, Mill Street Community Planning, Portland, OR.

Hands on Resilience : Interview with Russell Evans, Director of Transition Lab.

See all of the interviews from this period

“Oh, PermaTrans, where art thou?” : Rant by Willi Paul, Planetshifter.com Magazine

 

Children! Are we passing the buck – and our kids – into crazy crowd funding bashes in the hope for the next best green thing?

A Unified Movement? Where? The Occupy Movement is fried, where are we going?

Getting beyond the listservs, pundits, and U Tubes: how about a new “national newspaper”? Transition Television? Where is permaculture’s mega hit rock band? I can’t hear you!

Spiritual Now?! Forget the religion block from “Permie control” in Australia; without this healing power, we are just farmers.

Capitalism vs. Transition? perpetuating profit lust while disguising our greed as global conscious change is ugly.

Heroes and Business Women? Too many expensive and redundant events, groups and classes; not enough grass-roots labs and initiatives, urgh?

Our Collective Consciousness. How do you define, measure, evaluate and shape this yack?

Where are our debated visions of the future? Big templates for change? Have you heard any feedback from the recent 2013 NorCal Transition – Permaculture Convergence?

Painful. Permaculturists are still using unpaid interns and volunteers to grow their markets!

Politics? How many of the runners for Fall City Council elections are including Permaculture or Transition ideas? I can’t hear you!

* * * * * * *

Get More: Permaculture 2012: Four Problems in Need of Integrated Solutions by Willi

 

“Meet Us at the Legal Café!” “Interview with Chris Tittle, Director of Organizational Resilience at The Sustainable Economies Law Center” (SELC) by Willi Paul, PlanetShifter.com Magazine

“We want to live in cities filled with a diversity of microenterprises, urban farms, community markets, transportation-sharing, cohousing communities, shared housing options, cooperative enterprises, and a wide variety of economic solutions developed at the grassroots level.”

Shareable & SELC’s Policies for Shareable Cities has 32 specific policy recommendations that enable communities to remove barriers to sharing and realize the full benefits of the sharing economy in food, jobs, housing, and transportation. Click here for the PDF.

* * * * * * *

Interview with Chris by Willi

What is community, Chris?

I like to think of community as both place and process. There are communities of place – geographically bounded communities where people share a common connection to a particular area and the experience of living there; there are also communities of passion based on a shared identity or set of values that extend across physical borders but are nevertheless bounded by something shared.

It’s important that we nurture both types of communities and that we are very clear about how we use terms like “community” in this type of work. Part of creating community resilience is extending decision-making and autonomy so people can define their own communities by what they have, rather than what they lack. And as a dynamic process, “community” is always being created or unraveled or adapting to change. Creating tools to strengthen community as both process and place is essential for resiliency.

What is resilience? How far does this idea extend in your life?

The concept of resilience is about learning from the natural world how to adapt and respond to change. In a time of so many converging transitions – in the regenerative capacity of the Earth, in the ways we meet our individual and collective needs, in how we relate to the larger web of life around us – how can we build our collective capacity to adjust and co-evolve in response to changing conditions around us? In the social and economic context, resilience is about creating more culturally appropriate and community-determined ways of meeting our needs, and re-embedding our economies in real human relationships. It’s also about distributing power and decision-making to the most appropriate scale so that people affected by decisions have the most say in what decisions are made.

At the personal level, I have a variety of practices that help me to stay grounded and balanced, like mindfulness meditation and Aikido. Having traveled quite a bit, living and learning from many different cultures from Japan to Nepal to Senegal to Spain, I have internalized a lot of different perspectives and cultural lenses. The capacity to continually learn, question my own assumptions about what works and what doesn’t, and develop practices that increase my personal and spiritual resilience has been invaluable. At the interpersonal level, I share my living space with a group of really supportive and creative people, and together we cook for each other, grow some fruits and vegetables, and share things through some cool online tools like couchsurfing, yerdle, and our local timebank – sharing these various things and responsibilities makes it possible for each one of us to live a richer life than if we needed to procure everything ourselves.

And at the systemic level, my work at the Sustainable Economies Law Center, as well as other projects in the community that I’m involved in, is enabling communities to meet their own individual and collective needs with the skills, knowledge, and passions that already exist close at hand. Ultimately, resilience is as psychological and cultural as it is physical – being able to hold different stories about the world and our place in it is as important as cultivating different ways of meeting our physical needs for housing, sustenance, and health.

What tools are you using to "build SELC’s internal resilience?"

As a small collectively-run organization, the health and wellbeing of each individual is in some ways a reflection of the health of the organization as a whole. So we’ve started an ongoing inquiry into how we as individuals can support each other and ourselves while contributing to the important work that SELC does as an organization. Part of this process is helping to create enabling structures that provide a balance of autonomy and accountability to each of us – for instance we use an organizational process called Holacracy that distributes decision-making throughout the organization, allows for self-organization within our different program areas, and uses overlapping circles of responsibility to keep everyone accountable to the organization as a whole. This creates clear ways to provide feedback to each other, rotate and distribute certain responsibilities throughout the organization, and keep an open and ongoing conversation going about where we are as an organization and where we’d like to go. And we just really enjoy working with each other!

Please tell us about SELC’s Community Currencies program. What models and heroes are in your vision?

The community currencies movement is going through an explosion of innovation and awareness right now. The way our current economy functions, most dollars spent in a community ultimately leak out of it as they go to out-of-town corporate headquarters. And because US Dollars are mostly created through debt, they also foster certain social values such as competition, scarcity, and anonymity. Community currencies, on the other hand, can be designed so they always circulate within a community, creating a multiplier effect for the local economy and giving local people a means of exchange when dollars are absent.

Monetary resilience may be one of the most essential aspects of economic resilience in the coming years, and has the potential to re-localize our economies in very direct ways. SELC is working to identify and remove various legal barriers to communities creating their own means of exchange, and providing legal advice and research on best practices for managing and governing currency projects so they foster values such as cooperation, democratic control, and mutual aid.

I’ve been inspired by models from all over the world that have sprung up in response to very context-specific needs: the Swiss WIR, for example, developed during the Great Depression as a way for businesses to continue exchanging between themselves when the national money supply dramatically dried up. It has been functioning since then, and serves as a counter-balance to the normal national currency – businesses use it more when the national currency is scarce, and use it less when national currency is abundant. I’ve also learned from pioneering electronic local currencies like the Bristol Pound in England, where the mayor recently announced that he is taking 100% of his salary in the local currency. There are also hundreds of timebanks popping up around the world, which are mutual aid systems based on the radical idea that everyone’s time is worth the same, whether you are teaching someone guitar or offering legal advice.

A really exciting project that we are collaborating on now is exploring how multiple currencies might fit together into a “monetary ecology” within a particular community. The central idea is that different currencies can be designed to meet specific needs within a community, thus creating multiple ways for meeting people’s personal and collective needs.

OK, I'll bite! Tell us about the "neo-liberal market paradigm" and your current alternatives?

Neo-liberalism, as a political and economic project, is both a process of restructuring entire societies around the duopoly of “the market” and “the state,” and a singular way of viewing the world. What is important to say is that this social organizing system is surprisingly new in the world and has arisen out of very specific cultural and historical contexts – namely modern Western civilization. The “Market Society” involves a process of turning living processes and beings into abstract commodities - or as the influential political economist Karl Polanyi said back in 1944, “disembedding economic activity from community.” A commodity is something with no inherent value of its own, something which only has exchange value - meaning it has value only in a market context.

The global market, as a way of viewing the world, also has a very specific internal value system – markets prioritize and thus promote efficiency, homogenization, and competition for scarce resources over other values like resilience, diversity, and cooperation. The spread of this worldview is destroying any sense of place or autonomy in cultures that don’t historically prioritize those same values (which is most of the world beyond the industrialized West). The result has been a massive concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, an explosion of global poverty and social inequality, and the very rapid erosion of bio-cultural diversity around the world.

What I’d like to suggest is that something very different is simultaneously happening around the world, seemingly in small isolated ways but increasingly in solidarity and harmony with one another - another story is unfolding right where this dominant system and story is collapsing. New economies are taking shape in myriad ways, and are often exploring new forms of ownership or stewardship of our common wealth (such as community land trusts that hold land in communal ownership), and new interpersonal relationships based on sharing and co-producing the things we need (such as worker owned businesses where those that create the value also make the decisions). These are both radical and commonplace ideas - radical in the way that they challenge the dominant economic paradigm, yet commonplace in that they are unfolding in neighborhoods and favelas and inner-cities and farm communities around the world by normal people. Worker cooperatives, land trusts, urban agriculture, community currencies, and local investing are all re-embedding economic relationships in the larger social fabric of our communities and bioregions, re-humanizing the economy if you will.

The growth of timebanking and other online sharing platforms are part of a movement to re-create non-market spaces and ways to meet needs outside of the so-called formal economy. I’m particularly inspired by movements, many from the Global South, like La Via Campesina, the Zapatistas, the Transition Movement, and Idle No More that are both articulating and creating alternative visions of what it means to live well, to exist as part of a larger community of life. Right here in Oakland, this is taking similar forms of self-help and mutual aid, such as community-based alternatives to the police and prison system, and the growing food justice movement that is reclaiming vacant land to grow organic and culturally appropriate food for people that lack access to nutrition and economic opportunity.

Are you a supporter of “anything Occupy?”

I think one of the lasting impacts of the global Occupy movement has been a new narrative of the possibility of change. Occupy mini-communities around the world have demonstrated the power of people coming together to not just demand change, but live it and create it in real time. This has helped shatter the really disempowering narrative that “there is no alternative” to the status quo. I was living in the UK when Occupy Wall Street first emerged and quickly got involved in Occupy London, one of the more thriving Occupy camps. Since then, I’ve contributed to one example of the ongoing evolution of the original Occupy model, called Occupy the Farm here in the SF Bay Area. OTF has moved beyond just occupying physical and political space to actually meeting real local needs through the power of collective direct action - in this case re-claiming historic farmland in an urban space and creating a thriving organic farm and community space.

Please evaluate your Legal Cafe program?

The Resilient Communities Legal Cafe is a pay-it-forward legal clinic and community-building space that we’ve been running nearly every week since February in Berkeley and Oakland, and have already provided support to well over 120 organizations and individuals working for community resilience. In addition to the pay-it-forward legal assistance, we often host themed conversations and teach-ins on legal topics such as starting a worker co-op or housing co-op, legal barriers to urban farming, participating in a lending circle, or forming a community energy project.

We’ve recently expanded these “cafes” to Richmond and are still very much cultivating relationships with other organizations that can help connect us with people who could benefit from these services. We realize this can be a slow process of building trust and co-creating with communities so that what we provide is culturally relevant and truly inclusive, rather than a bunch of outsiders coming in to “save the day.” We are pretty excited about the direction of the Legal Cafe and our vision is that they can be replicated in communities around the country by local groups wanting to meet the legal needs of the resilience movement.

Can SELC promote an alternative law practice -- given that most folks seem to be trapped in the capitalist one?

One of the areas that we are increasingly focused on is breaking down barriers to who can enter the legal profession. Currently in the US, 88 percent of lawyers are white, 70 percent are men, and 75 percent are over the age of 40 – this obviously does not reflect our society very well. Similarly, the average law school graduate leaves school with over $100,000 in debt. This debt burden forces new lawyers to find high paying corporate jobs, which reinforces the capitalist approach to law practice. But California happens to be one of only a handful of states with an alternative path to becoming a lawyer without going to law school, commonly known as a legal apprenticeship. This part-time, experiential process is open to nearly anyone and offers practical, community-based training at nearly no cost. We are actively working to raise awareness about this path and create resources to support apprentices and mentoring attorneys, particularly in communities that have traditionally lacked access to legal education and services. Knowledge is power, so empowering more people from traditionally marginalized communities with legal knowledge could really transform who the law is practiced for and by. Four of our staff, including myself, are on the legal apprentice path and we are keeping a blog about the process at www.LikeLincoln.org.

How is SELC funded and who are your partners?

SELC has partnered with over 40 different organizations working on different aspects of community resilience and new economics – from co-hosting workshops on food justice to co-authoring our policy recommendations on shareable cities to collectively working on advocacy initiatives that remove legal barriers to urban agriculture or worker cooperatives. We also have an active and growing community of volunteer attorneys and legal professionals that work with us to run our Resilient Communities Legal Cafe and outreach to different communities that they are part of.

At the moment, we are largely funded by small progressive family foundations and individual donors. We are actively working to diversify our funding sources, both through more grassroots fundraising efforts to get more people invested in this work, and by developing creative ways to generate revenue without limiting accessibility to our work. Some examples we are exploring include membership models that extend a wider sense of ownership in our organization into the community. We also barter for things like office space, and are part of some local currencies like Bay Bucks and the Bay Area Community Exchange. If you, dear reader, are interested in supporting our work, I’d love to speak with you!

* * * * * * *

Chris’ Bio - A recent transplant to Oakland, CA, Chris is passionate about exploring life-sustaining alternatives to the neo-liberal market paradigm. In his role as Director of Organizational Resilience, he is working to build SELC’s internal resilience and bring principles of social and economic justice into SELC’s funding strategy. Among his many other roles, he is contributing to SELC’s Community Currencies program and working directly in the community on issues such as access to land and local food sovereignty.

Chris recently completed an MA in Economics for Transition at Schumacher College, an international whole-person learning center near Totnes, UK. While in the UK, he was active in Occupy London’s Energy, Equity and Environment working group, and helped guide a community exploration of Totnes’ monetary ecology with Transition Town Totnes. His dissertation focused on alternatives to market-based ‘development’ in the context of climate change adaptation in the Global South. Chris has previously worked as an ecological educator, outdoor guide, and environmental journalist, earning his BA in Non-Western History and Poverty Studies from Washington and Lee University. His writing can be found on Shareable.net, MNN.com, and his blog at oaktreegarden.wordpress.com. He can usually be found on his bike, in his garden, in the hills, or fermenting tiny lifeforms in his kitchen.

Connections –

Chris Tittle, Director of Organizational Resilience
The Sustainable Economies Law Center
Oakland, CA
(760) 569-6782
chris at theselc.org

 

“Hands on Resilience : Interview with Russell Evans, Director of Transition Lab” by Willi Paul, Planetshifter.com Magazine

* * * * * * *

Transition Lab has developed viable alternatives to the 40-hour-a-week job that enable the underemployed to get to work doing what they love. First, we connect inspired and creative young people with hosts who are willing to put their empty guest bedrooms to use so their guests can do good work in their community. At the same time, we offer students a curriculum that covers everything from growing their own food to creating affordable housing, participating effectively in our democracy, starting their own business and bringing to life their deepest calling on this planet.

Empowered with a comprehensive skill set to build a resilient future, and with the ability to meet their basic needs in just 15 hours of work a week, our graduates become “Skilled Residents.”

Think about how radical this is: If you get all your basic needs taken care of in 15 hours a week by doing things that you would do in your free time anyway--things like running a community garden or becoming a green builder--you suddenly gain the freedom to do whatever you want with the rest of your week! One Skilled Resident paid off thousands of dollars in debt in just a few months, while another has reduced his life expenses to $50 a week and is putting his free time into starting a new business. Becoming a Skilled Resident gives you the freedom to do what you really want your life, while also making the world a better place at the same time.

* * * * * * *

Interview with Russell by Willi

What is your definition of transition?

I have always thought of "Transition" as an organic term that refers to nature constantly adjusting and evolving to co-create a world that we can all thrive in. At Transition Lab, we are excited about the possibility of building a resilient future and part of that is trying new things out. That's where the "Lab" comes into our name- because we know that we'll have to experiment a lot if we are going to be successful.

How do you balance the spirit vs. technology mandates at the Lab?

Do I pray and interact with Spirit every day? Yep. Do I use computers? Yep. That's just part of living in this age I guess.

How is the lab marketing its programs and vision?

Being part of Transition Lab is about being a storyteller that articulates a very different vision of the future. So many people have very apocalyptic views of what lies ahead because of the combination of traumatizing news and a scarcity of visible solutions. We have had the most success marketing our vision by simply living it and sharing our experiences in every way we can- whether we are talking on the phone to a friend, or a putting together a video. We tried to use paid advertising last year which failed spectacularly because it couldn't express the heart qualities of our program. Conversely, the folks that we've been able to sit down and drink tea with have been our best participants.

Define localization and share some examples in your work that address this critical Transition theme?

I think that Localization is really about having control over our lives. Gandhi had a term "Swaraj" which meant making the choice to live justly in all aspects of your life. This includes your job, your community, and yourself. When we look at globalization, it becomes impossible to have any say or control over many of our choices because the systems that are in place where never designed to give us power. Many were even designed to take away our voice. What localization does is to focus our energy into places that really matter- where we really have a voice and opportunity to be creative and responsible people. Good food comes out of that, as do good business practices, good governance, and good communities.

Who are the enemies of fixing climate change?

The only enemy of fixing climate change is old thinking that believes we will be able to solve it through using existing economic models. It's not that I don't believe in using tools like a carbon tax that would fit into our economic system. It's rather a question of creating economic models that can support people as citizens and not just as consumers. When this happens there will be thousands of people ready to engage as global citizens to demand the changes we need to see.

Another way of saying this is that there is no shortage of people who want our government to do something about climate change. But we are limited because those folks have mortgage payments and jobs that prevent them from taking the time to participate as citizens. In addition to not having the time to participate, most folks who do have the time have never trained in what it takes to be affective citizens.

Transition Lab was created by a unique set of folks who found ways pay the bills AND to engage as citizens. One of our teachers, Jim Branscome, taught at the Highlander Folks School in the 1950's, which trained Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr. and many others key civil rights figures in civic engagement. More recently, Jake Hanson and Ashley Sanders have been on the forefront of the Peaceful Uprising, Occupy, and Move to Amend movements. These people have also managed to pay the bills and created prosperity in their lives.

So we are have brought together models that can economically support folks to become active citizens, while also giving them training in how to be the best active citizens that they can be. As long as people show up and participate, I think we can create the kind of movement that we need.

What kind of values and experience are you looking for in Skilled Residents?

More than anything, we are looking for people who have realized that things are not going to work out if humanity maintains its current trajectory. At the same time, our students need to possess a radical self-respect that drives them to continue working for a more beautiful, just, and fun world that we know is possible. It's so easy to become apathetic, depressed, or cynical about the world. It's much harder to have the courage to think that we have a chance- but we also know that having the courage to move forward is a lot more fun.

What zone is most important for the Transition: the home or the neighborhood?

I don't think any zone is more important than any other. From every place - whether that is the self, home, or neighborhood, we need to act in creative and compassionate ways. We also need to build the models which will support this behavior. Like nature, it's all inter-related and we are just seeking to observe and interact in the ways that best serve us and others.

Please view and react: "Transition Visions from Parking Lots" : Premiere Video, The Sharing & ReSkilling Show

I'm always inspired to see folks trying things out. I think that's the key to the future- that we don't necessarily try to do everything at once, but focus on our own communities and the solutions we see there. In a sense I think every community does what it sees best for itself. What will need to unfold organically is for communities to radically alter their approach of what they believe is possible. I think that the Transition Visions for Parking Lots is a step in that direction.

How is the lab promoting new songs, poems and myths?

The storytellers of the digital age gather around Youtube instead of the campfire. So we're making videos all the time- each time refining our narrative a little more. Here's the latest. We are also sending out a monthly newsletter each month with all the fun stuff we are up to. Folks can subscribe to that here. Enjoy.

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Russell’s Bio –

Russell began teaching as Program Coordinator at Intercambio in Boulder, CO. He later taught high school Spanish for 6 years and earned a Master's Degree from Naropa University in Contemplative Education. He wrote his master’s thesis on Loving Kindness Meditation and how it could help relieve trauma in high-school students. This work was subsequently published in Shambhala Sun Space. He has also been recognized by various organizations including 350.org and The Huffington Post for his ideas and activism. He is the director of Transition Lab -- and when he is not teaching, gardening, or making ice cream, he spends time with his wife Heather, and their daughter Genevieve.

Connections –

Russell Evans- Director
Transition Lab
russell at transition-lab.com
(970) 433-2513