Exploring Death, the After-Life, and the Soul

with Laura Winds MA, LMFT

Thursday, April 15th, 7:00 – 9:00 PM RE Sources’ Sustainable Living Center

Every living thing dies. This we know, yes? But what is death?
Do we just disappear into nothingness, or is there an afterlife?

We’ll spend an evening together, looking deeper into these provocative topics of death, afterlife, and soul. We’ll view a film offering studies and explorations by experts in the field, and we’ll have the opportunity for our personal exploration through sharing and discussion. Hopefully, we’ll leave the evening with lighter hearts and perhaps, even more questions. And for starters, here’s something to ponder: How differently might we live our lives if we knew and lived from the knowledge that we are all immortal souls of light? What might life on planet Earth look like then?

Laura Winds is a licensed counselor and a trained IADC (induced after death communication) therapist. She has taught college level courses in the field of psychology and has been a counselor for over twenty-five years. With the death of her son in 1982, Laura embarked on a personal journey of grief and loss. She has found her recent work with IADC to be deeply affirming and healing on many levels. It has addressed her lifelong interest in understanding death, dying, and conscious living.

 

March 2010 Event

What Artists Can Bring to Leadership
with Skye Burn and Doug Banner

Thursday, March 18, 2010 7.00 - 9.00 PM

You are invited to explore what art offers leadership in this experiential and informative workshop.

Who is missing in the following scenario? The U.S. President has called in advisors to help figure out how to respond to an urgent situation. Clustered in the Oval Office are trusted military advisers, political advisers, economic advisers, and legal advisers. Privately, before the meeting, the President sought religious counsel.

Artists are absent from the meeting. Few leaders recognize artists as a source of expert advice in responding to situations that arise in their communities and organizations. Society values artists for the objects and entertainment they create, but the knowledge and experience of art are generally considered irrelevant to solving 'real world' problems. The practice of art is not known for having practical applications.

Today humanity is facing situations - economic instability, terrorism, religious discord, food insecurity, water shortages, climate change, pollution, and eco-system collapse - that are not entirely amenable to political, economic, and military solutions. We need creative solutions.
Learn how the experience and knowledge of art can help leaders develop creative solutions to the situations we face globally.

Skye Burn and Doug Banner work with The Flow Project, centered in Bellingham. The Flow Project works with artists to identify principles of art and artistic practices common to the artistic experience across mediums, and works with leadership educators to translate the principles of art into principles of leadership and leadership practices.

Skye Burn: Executive Director, The Flow Project, integrating art and leadership by giving leaders access to the experience and acumen of art; and giving artists a voice in creating a well-led global community. Skye is internationally published in the field of cultural research, an award-winning poet, illustrator, woodworker, seasoned community organizer, and consultant to organizations in leadership and vision development; Fellow, UNESCO Chair for Comparative Studies of Spiritual Traditions, Their Specific Cultures, and Interreligious Dialogue, housed at St. Petersburg Branch of the Russian Institute for Cultural Research; board member, Center for Intercultural Dialogue, University of Oregon, home of the UNESCO Chair for Transcultural Studies, Interreligious Dialogue, and Peace; a founding member of the Bellingham Compassion Movement; and a board member of the Compassionate Action Network, Seattle.

Doug Banner: Flow process Team Leader
Doug has been an advocate for positive change during his entire career as an Educator and community activist. Now retired, he continues to teach at Western Washington University. He works in community with groups such as the Bellingham Compassion Movement, The Bellingham Storytellers Guild, and the Nu Wa International Peace Delegation. Doug's knowledgeable use of story to promote change at all levels of our lives is well recognized, and he often is called upon to give keynotes and workshops.

www.bions.net
www.awish.net/projects/north-america/flow-project.html
Contact: cyndy.sheldon@comcast.net

February 2010 Event

Why IONS?

With Jun Akutsu

Jun was born in Tokyo, moved to Seattle in 1978. He was in graduate school studying ethnomusicology at the University of Washington in the 80’s, but reading more philosophy, psychology, quantum physics, Joseph Campbell, etc. He worked as an interpreter, consultant and writer in agriculture in the 90’s. He has been involved with music business, alternative health, and film production companies since.

He is also very active on Facebook. He created a Facebook group, Imaginal Cells in Dec, 08, which has over 2400 members worldwide.
Contact: jun@indrasrainbow.org

 

January 2009 Event

How to Take Back Your Power During this Economic Crisis

with Francis and Lia Ayley of Fourth Corner Exchange

January 15th, 7.00–9.00 p.m., doors open at 6.30 p.m. Wise Awakening, Orca Room

Francis, founder of our local alternative money system Fourth Corner Exchange, and Lia, his wife, local psychotherapist and BIONS Team member, will present information about the bigger Economic Picture and what we can do to help ourselves and others during these coming times.

Themes they will include are:

· Money and Spirituality

· Money and Social Justice

· The unsustainability of our current economic system

· What we can do here in Bellingham

This presentation will be followed by a lively discussion!

(December 2008 - Cancelled due to weather)

 

November 2008 Event

Catalyze The New Dream Emerging
Community, collaboration, life enhancing, earth honoring.

When: Thursday, November 20, 2008, 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Where: Wise Awakening's Orca Room, 314 E. Holly St., Bellingham

We are living during what may be the largest social movement of all time -- millions of people and organizations around the world are recognizing that our current ways are not working. People are coming together to create a new world defined by environmental sustainability, social justice and spiritual fulfillment.

November's BIONS meeting looks at a potent tool that is available to catalyze our broader community into directed conscious actions that create and support a new collective vision.

Over a decade ago, the unlikely joining of several North American business people with a remote “dream culture” tribe living deep in the Ecuadorian jungle created a venture crucial to each party. This joining, The Pachamama Alliance, continues to birth many initiatives and deep change.

The Pachamama Alliance has developed a Symposium that is now being presented world-wide. Called Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream, the Symposium is the topic of this evening's BIONS meeting. Stunning audio/visual material and interactive processes provide insight into the depth and breadth of the Symposium as a resource and catalyst.

We are fortunate locally to have eight Facilitators trained by the Pachamama Alliance. These facilitators are available (on a volunteer basis) to help organizations raise awareness and create change through presenting the Symposium in your living room, your business, church, synagogue, classroom, club, or organization.

Come participate in this overview of the Symposium and open your imagination to how and where you might invite collaborative vision and change into your life.

The evening will be presented by:
Tom Magnussen, Phyllis Shacter, Lynnette Allen, Cindi Landreth, Kathryn Fentress, Leslie Shankman and Deb Cruz.

Further information available at: www.pachamama.org and at www.awakenthedreamer.org

 

October 2008 Event

Vicki Robin: Feeling Free in a Finite World

When: Thursday, October 16, 7pm

Where:Center for Spiritual Living, 2224 Yew Street Road, Bellingham (across from KGMI)

We live in the era of limits. Food and energy prices are going up. Climate's changing. Resources are strained by the demands from a growing population. What's an American used to freedom to do? Celebrate!

We live in the most challenging and therefore creative of times. We can transform our relationship with limits and liberate vast amounts of energy for change. Understanding, embracing and transforming limits can make the difference between dithering and mastery in our personal and collective work. It's not left wing or right wing, it's up wing - a frame that encompasses polarities. Expanding on the principles in Your Money or Your Life, Vicki will talk about this new work on liberating limits.

Vicki Robin is the coauthor of the international bestseller Your Money or Your Life: Transforming Your Relationship With Money and Achieving Financial Independence and a cofounder of many social enterprises, one of which is The Turning Tide Coalition, a socially innovative think/feel tank which has inspired many initiatives, among them Conversation Cafes and The Pachamama Alliance's Awakening The Dreamer symposium.

Sponsored by Bellingham Institute of Noetic Sciences and the Center for Spiritual Living, co-sponsored by Sustainable Bellingham and Cascadia Training & Mediation

 

September 2008 Event

A Blueprint for Living
Lummi Wisdom and Values

When: Thursday, September 18, 2008, 7:00 p.m.
Where: Wise Awakening's Orca Room, 314 E. Holly St., Bellingham

Pauline Hillaire, a renowned Lummi Elder, comes from the oral tradition. At the age of 79, she says, "I need to share all the knowledge I have." Her passion for what is happening to our world is profound. Pauline will be speaking to us about A Blueprint for Living, based on the Lummi value system, something she is eager to share.

Pauline has authored a couple of books, taught at numerous places, including Northwest Indian College, and is a storyteller, basket-maker, historian, philosopher, genealogist, and interpreter of totem poles. And she sings, dances and writes poetry as well. And perhaps there is more! We hope you will join us for this special evening.

 

June 2008 Event

The Great Turning is Happening Now!
A Discussion and an Experiential Evening

When: Thursday, June 12, 2008, 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Where: Wise Awakening's Orca Room, 314 E. Holly St., Bellingham

Most of us are aware, on many levels, of the many changes we and our world have begun to experience.

THE GREAT TURNING IS HAPPENING NOW!

This evening Betty Kellow will highlight our BIONS Theme for this past year, "Awakening the Dreamer", focusing on our presentations about environmental awareness, social justice and spiritual fulfillment.

Cyndy Sheldon will talk about the important social, spiritual and ecological movements that are emerging during these times, with a profound story coming out of Russia.

Following this we'll facilitate a Joanna Macy** practice about the Great Turning. Details are secret! Come and be surprised!

**Joanna Macy, "has developed an international following over the course of 40 years as a speaker and workshop leader on Buddhist philosophy, systems theory and deep ecology. She is the author of many books, the most recent being: COMING BACK TO LIFE: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World". Joanna coined the concept The Great Turning some time ago, and her friend David Korten used it as the title of his important book.

Joanna Macy

 

May 2008 Event

BIONS presents a video evening - Eckhart Tolle

What: Eckhart Tolle video: Freeing Yourself from Identification with Your Mind
When: Thursday, May 15, 2008, 7:00 PM (doors open 6:30)
Where: The Orca Room at Wise Awakening, 314 E. Holly St

Following the viewing of this video there will be discussion about Eckhart Tolle's message and how it relates
to the times in which we live.

More at Eckhart Tolle's website:

www.eckharttolle.com

Eckhart with Oprah on YouTube video: The webcast classes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYyHghlHs1k

 

April 2008 Event

Human and Fairy Relations Congress Preview
Mary Getten and Diana Gay Pepper

When: April 17, 2008, 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Where: Wise Awakening?s Orca Room, 314 E. Holly Street, Bellingham

For the past 7 years people have been gathering at the Human and Fairy Relations Congress to celebrate and renew our connection with the spirits of the natural world. Our specific mission is to increase communication and cooperation between humans, nature spirits, devas and the fairy realm. All ancient earth-based religions are founded on this concept of cooperation and gratitude for our interdependency on each other.

This presentation includes two past and present Fairy Congress presenters. They will give an overview of what goes on at the Congress and will share some of its history and give information about current presenters. They will also share their own personal work with the world of nature.

The Congress is a relatively small gathering in a secluded basin in the beautiful Methow Valley. It's mostly a campout event including vegetarian food, music and dancing, a fairy parade, a children's area, and a multitude of workshops. The Congress is held June 27-29.

Mary J. Getten is a telepathic animal communicator, flower essence practitioner, naturalist and author of?Communicating with Orcas: The Whales Perspective. www.MaryGetten.com

Diana Gay Pepper has been communicating with devas and fairies for years. She is co-oowner of Tree Frog Farm on Lummi Island and is a lecturer, spiritual healer and producer of flower essences. www.treefrogfarm.com

March 2008 Event

What: Alan Seid presents an introduction to a unique, exciting leadership training program for youth he has brought to Bellingham - SGLA,
Sustainable Global Leadership Alliance

When: March 20, 2008, 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Where: Wise Awakening's Orca Room, 314 E. Holly St

If you are interested in the future of humanity and the planet . . .
If you want to be involved in an incredible organization and program for our community?s young leaders . . .
or
If you know any young adults (16-22) who are interested in making a difference and participating in the world . . .
then this presentation is for you!

SGLA - Sustainable Global Leadership Alliance produces a cutting edge leadership program for young adults, with a focus on sustainability work and consciousness transformation. Alan Seid, SGLA Director for Bellingham and Whatcom County, will present about SGLA, including its history, purpose, and curriculum. A couple of short video clips of students who recently completed the SGLA program will be shown, and there will also be Q&A and an open discussion, time permitting.

http://www.cascadiatraining.com/about/alanseidbio.html

Alan Seid has been a student of sustainability and spirituality since 1989. The breadth of his studies and experience covers a wide variety of tools, processes and methodologies, of which he has achieved depth and mastery in a few. Alan owns Bodhi Creek Farm, an aspiring Integral Sustainability learning center in the Mt Baker Foothills. He is currently the Bellingham-Whatcom County Director for SGLA:

http://www.sgla.org/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

February 2008 Event

Video Presentation: THE COLOR OF FEAR
Directed by Lee Mun Wah

February 21, 2008, 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Wise Awakening?s Orca Room, 314 E. Holly St., Bellingham

"The Pachamama Alliance's Awakening the Dreamer, the BIONS theme for this year, focuses on three concerns enviornmental sustainability, spiritual fulfilment and social justice. This month's video presentation, The Color of Fear, shows how a group of men, dedicated to reaching across racial barriers in an open and honest way, can work through the eons of social injustice that has happened in their lives and histories.

Eight North American men - two African American, two Latinos, two Asian American and two Caucasian were gathered by director Lee Mun Wah for a dialog about the state of race relations in America as seen through their eyes. The exchanges are sometimes dramatic, and put in plain light the pain caused by racism in North America. -F. Guerini

Out of their confrontations and struggles to understand and trust each other emerges an emotional and insightful portrayal into the type of dialogue most of us fear but hope will happen sometime in our lifetime. 1994 & 1997.

It turns out that much of what the group in the film talks about in the context of racism is actually fear. "I come from this real strong belief that anger is not a primary emotion. I think hurt is," Wah says. "When hurt is acknowledged and validated, it turns into anger."

His grass roots approach to ending racism, one person at a time, has never been tried before. Its goal is to change people's core beliefs first, hoping positive actions will follow.

Lee concentrates on using the film for diversity training in the workplace.

A group called World Trust brings friends of friends together in their homes. For many of them, the film acts as a catharsis, especially when they see the film's central character, the white man, transform. "I'm deeply hurt that you would consider my race as the oppressor," he tearfully tells the group in the film.

What the film does is open doors. "I don't think that there is a way to solve racism as such," one home viewer says. "I think all we can do is exactly what we are doing: work heart to heart."

The story of these men and their journey has so far been seen by half a million people. Producers plan to take the story to a worldwide audience.

January 2008 Event
Linda Adler: Memories of a Dream Change Journey
A 9-Day Expedition to Ecuador with John Perkins, co-founder of The Pachamama Alliance

When: January 17, 2008, 7:00 p.m. (doors open at 6:30)
Where: Wise Awakening’s Orca Room, 314 E. Holly St., Bellingham

“In August 1993 I accompanied John Perkins on a Dream Change Coalition Journey that combined ecological studies, the preservation of the rain forest and the learning of shamanic techniques. We visited mountain villages, the world’s highest active volcano, and hiked deep into the Amazon through ancient forests to a Shuar home. A similar expedition followed when Bill and Lynne Swift accompanied John, after which the Swifts and John co-founded the Pachamama Alliance.

“During this awesome adventure to the Andes and Amazon, we had the privilege of participating in the unique healing practices of four different shaman and learned techniques for understanding dreams and turning them into reality. Experience the beauty of this exotic land, its people, and the magic and wonder of these shaman – ordinary people with extraordinary power. Join me as I share memories and photographs of this exciting, spiritual, life-changing experience.”

LINDA ADLER, LCSW (retired) moved to Bellingham in August 2005 after closing her 20-year psychotherapy practice in Miami. Linda is Past-President of the International Association for Research and Regression Therapies (IARRT) and is certified as a Past Life Therapist by the International Board for Regression Therapy (IBRT). A student and teacher of multi-cultural shamanic practices, Linda has traveled extensively to participate in the healing methods of North and South American shaman. She was given the name “Moon Daughter” and initiated as a ceremonial pipe carrier and teacher.

Linda combines past-life regression and shamanic techniques in her private sessions and workshops. She has presented at conferences in Peru, Egypt, Bali, Greece, Tuscany, the Islands of Malta, Gozo and St. Croix, and on cruises to the Mediterranean, Alaska and the Caribbean. She can be reached in Bellingham at 360-714-8905 or email: lindadler@aol.com.

 

December 2007 Event

Journey to Croatia: The Praxis Peace Conference
with Paige Gronhovd

and

Music for Peace with Dean & Dudley Evenson

Empowering our intention for personal and planetary peace through music, movement and meditation

December 13, 2007
Wise Awakenings Orca Room
7 p.m. - Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Note: Remember this is your last chance to become a member and be included in the drawing for the $25 gift certificate to Wise Awakening.

In Paige’s own words: “I am a community member who felt called to Croatia, and attended a peace conference there in June of 2007. The event was organized by the Praxis Peace Institute and cosponsored by IONS. It was my first conference, my first time in Croatia, and my first acquaintance with Praxis. I felt strongly that although I attended for my own personal reasons, I had a responsibility to my community to represent them well and report back my experiences once I returned home. I met and heard some amazing people during that week, and am pleased to share my experiences with the IONS community. I am a local business owner and believe in making global issues, concepts, and movements relevant to people in their own local communities. This talk is intended to further such ends.”

The Praxis Peace Institute is dedicated to radical inquiry, deep dialogue, creative problem-solving, and informed action. The 2007 Conference was “Transforming Culture: from Empire to Global Community”.

For more information about the Praxis Peace Institute and this incredible conference, go to http://www.praxispeace.org/
The Evenson’s website is Soundings of the Planet, http://www.soundings.com/

 

November 2007 Event

A DVD evening with Van Jones:
Spiritually Fulfilling, Ecologically Sustainable AND Socially Just?

Wise Awakenings Orca Room
314 E. Holly Street - Bellingham
7 p.m. - Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

Van Jones is the founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, a racial justice organization based in Oakland, California, that works for positive alternatives to incarceration and violence in urban America. He is also a passionate advocate for the environment and for responsible business. Van has served on numerous governing boards, including Rainforest Action Network, WITNESS, Bioneers, the New Apollo Project, and the Social Venture Network. His efforts have earned him many honors, including the Reebok International Human Rights Award, the Ashoka Fellowship, and the Rockefeller Foundation “Next Generation Leadership” Fellowship.

See the New York Times interview: Van Jones' The Green Collar Solution

Highlights from Van Jones speech at the the Pachamama Alliance Awakening the Dreamer Global Community Gathering. Reprinted with permission from the Pachamama Alliance.

So we live together in these bubbles that touch, and we call that diversity, but we don’t know each other. And when that bubble breaks for just a second and we’re face to face with each other, it’s very, very hard to hear that reality.

Spiritual practice & environmental commitment
Now, it is literally impossible for most white people to hear people of color speak about our pain, just literally impossible. The only people who have a chance to pull it off, are people who have a spiritual practice, who have a meditation practice, who have a contemplative practice, who have the ability to stay present, even when it’s difficult and know that if I can just stay present, if I can just keep my mind calm and at peace and still through this painful moment, some wisdom is going to emerge. And there’s going to be some insight that I had no idea was out there for me, if I can just stay present. So your spiritual practice and your environmental commitment, are the two rocks, the two anchors, the two pillars that will let you move through this.

What I’m saying is that when you really get what it’s going to take to turn this thing around, the politics of inclusion, of solidarity, of love, of empathy—it’s not optional, it’s the only way we’re going to survive.

What’s next: giving up our ignorance
There’s a pathway back to community that we have to walk. I have to give up something, I have to give up my right to be mad at white folks, ‘cause that’s not going to make a difference for my child. But white people have to give up something too, which is their right to stay ignorant about all of this. You have a perfect right to be ignorant about all of this and you’ll be great people, honestly. You could lead big environmental organizations, you could lead spirituality retreats, you could do all kinds of stuff and you will get cookies and congratulations and people will cry at your funeral. You have a perfect right to not care about any of this. There just won’t be any human family left.

Nov 7, 2007 - Pegasis Conference - Seattle

Multiplying Our Impact - Van Jones

In the last century, the model change agent was the powerful speaker, as exemplified by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and John F. Kennedy. In the new century, the model change agent will be the powerful listener. By being truly present, deeply listening to others, and intently trying to put ourselves in their reality, we can transcend our differences and find a “third way out” of our common challenges. Drawing on his experience in building powerful coalitions against social injustice and environmental degradation, Van will share his thoughts about what it takes to amplify our power through meaningful connection with others.

http://www.leveragepoints.com/pc07/keynotes.html

October 2007 Event

Pachamama: Taking a Leadership Position
Presented by Donna Peach, Vancouver BC IONS Coordinator

Wise Awakenings Orca Room
314 E. Holly Street - Bellingham
7 p.m. - Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

After last month’s program about the work of the Pachamama Alliance, we were left with questions - What can we in our community do to make a difference? What are the tools available to us in BIONS to take a leadership role?
Frequently when an initiative is started and spreads rapidly to many communities, there is some diffusion of focus and number of attempts to move forward in order to create meaningful results. This evening is intended to create a focussed approach to making a difference and to serve as a model for other communities to follow.

This talk will be followed by showing and discussing excerpts from the August 2007 IONS International Conference, which will link us to the direction being taken by the larger community of which BIONS is a part. Interactive discussion will follow.

Donna Peach has a background in the sciences and system and software development for commercial applications, engineering and wireless communications. Ms. Peach has been a senior executive and high tech manager in both entrepreneurial and large companies such as Motorola where her career path ranged from Software Development Manager to International Business Manager for Europe, Asia and the South Pacific. She has a proven ability to visualize future products and systems as well as the ability to manage and bring these to fruition.

Donna leads the Vancouver, BC, IONS group and is also one of the three coordinators for the NW IONS Community Leaders.

September 2007 Event

Exploring The Trance We Are In:
An orientation and introduction to the Pachamama Alliance's
Awakening The Dreamer, Changing The Dream Symposium that will be coming to Bellingham on Saturday, October 27th.

http://woodsidespiritualcenter.org (Scroll down to see invitation)

Where: Wise Awakenings Orca Room
314 E. Holly Street - Bellingham

When: Thursday, September 20, 2007
7 PM - doors open at 6:30 PM

Who: Mara Mitchell, Cyndy Sheldon and Lynnette Allen will present.

This will be an evening to see a short film (12 minutes) and learn more about the symposium. Cyndy will facilitate an engaging guided meditation process and group sharing around the theme of the Symposium. Discussion afterward
http://awakeningthedreamer.org

Special Notice

David Korten recently presented a vision of “The Great Turning”…transforming our collective agreement from Empire…to Earth Community.

Everyone is now being invited to take part in transforming that collective agreement.

Please consider attending:

The Pachamama Alliance Symposium:
Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream

Saturday, October 27
9:00 to 5:30 (Doors open at 8:30)
Woodside Spiritual Center
2224 Yew Street Road, Bellingham WA

Cost: $25.00

To register go to http://woodsidespiritualcenter.org

The aim of the Symposium is to come to grips with the assumptions that underlie the way we see the world, our place in it, and with what each of us can do - both individually and cooperatively - to move the world in a new direction. The Symposium explores the link between three of humanity’s most critical concerns: environmental sustainability, social justice and spiritual fulfillment.

Collectively, it seems we are living inside a dream; sleepwalking in a trance. We live in an outmoded worldview - a way of seeing the world in which unthinkable acts appear reasonable, sensible, and even intelligent. The indigenous Anchuar people of Ecuador, who still live in earth honoring ways, have urged us, for the sake of all life, to “change the dream of the North.”

Our root crisis is a crisis of consciousness. Changing our collective dream will be a do-it-yourself-together project that will be accomplished by committed individuals working in concert with one another; tens of millions of us, each willing to think and act in a whole new way. This is one of the generating principles behind the Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium.

Using video clips from some of the world's most respected thinkers, along with inspiring short films, leading edge information and dynamic group interactions, the Symposium allows participants to gain a new insight into the nature of our time, and the opportunity we have to shape and impact the direction of our world with our everyday choices and action.

If you are ready to be disturbed, inspired and moved to action, if you are ready to be introduced to a thriving community of like-hearted, deeply committed cohorts who are actively engaged in awakening from and changing the dream of our modern industrial culture, we invite you to come to the Symposium.

For more information about the program:
http://awakeningthedreamer.org/

The video on site: “A New Dream, The Story of the Pachamama Alliance”, offers a quick and comprehensive overview of this remarkable project.

For more information about the event itself:
call Leslie, 360-733-4356

Cosponsored by: Woodside Spiritual Center,
Sustainable Bellingham, and Bellingham IONS

 

June 2007 Event

Barbara Gilday - Reflections on Being a Global Citizen

Thurs. June 14th, 7-9 - doors open at 6:30
at Wise Awakening

Enjoy multimedia presentation of projects in West Africa

Contemplate issues of: generosity and joy, poverty, women and violence, children- education– emigration, health and sanitation, religion and culture.

Reflect on such questions as: What is our community? Who are our neighbors? What can we learn from such encounters- how do we need people from developing countries? What are some of the issues around aid in developing countries? Can grass roots initiatives create meaningful change?

www.BarbaraGilday.com
Global Citizen Journey, Ghana - www.globalcitizenjourney.org

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

May 2007 Event

BIONS is co-sponsoring this David Korten in Bellingham event as our May event.

FACING THE FUTURE TOGETHER!

“We stand at a critical time in Earth’s history; a time when humanity must choose its future.”

DAVID KORTEN, author of The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, and When Corporations Rule the World, is coming to town!

There is a sense of urgency now—with global warming, peak oil, the rising cost of gasoline, shrinking of the middle class, political upheaval, pollution, the unstable economy, the war and on and on. Our community needs to work more closely together as our future concerns are becoming present ones.

Thus we at Sustainable Bellingham, along with other organizations, are hosting David Korten to come talk with us on May 15th. His inspiring talk provides hope for us all during these unpredictable times.

For more information about David Korten’s books and community organization work go to www.sustainablebellingham.org, www.thegreatturning.net, and see the other attachment.

David Korten Presentation and Community Discussion

Tuesday, May 15, 7-9PM
First Congregational Church
2401 Cornwall St, Bellingham

$5 Donation Tickets can be purchased at the Food Co-op,
Whatcom Community College, Village Books or at the door

We Hope You Will Join Us & Bring Your Friends!

Sponsored by Sustainable Bellingham

Co-Sponsors: Community to Community Development, Fourth Corner Exchange, Whatcom Community College, Bellingham Institute of Noetic Sciences, Wise Awakening, Village Books Literature Live, Fairhaven College, Community Food Co-op,
Ad Hoc Peak Oil Group, First Congregational Church

The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community

A multi-media presentation and discussion with author David C. Korten

“We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose it’s future…We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.” – The Earth Charter

Empire or Earth Community? That is the choice before us. At this defining moment we face both the opportunity and the imperative to choose our future as a conscious collective act. We can no longer deny the need nor delay our response. A mounting perfect economic storm is fast approaching. A convergence of climate change, peak oil, and the financial instability inherent in an unbalanced global trading system will bring an unraveling of the corporate-led global economy and a dramatic restructuring of every aspect of modern life.

We can, however, turn a potentially terminal crisis into an epic opportunity to bring forth a new era of Earth Community grounded in the life-affirming cultural values shared by most all the world’s people and eloquently articulated in the Earth Charter.

The Great Turning is an essential resource which cuts through the complexity of our time to illuminate a simple, but elegant truth. We humans live by stories. We are held captive to the ways of Empire by a cultural trance of our own creation maintained by stories that deny the higher possibilities of our human nature—including our capacities for compassion, cooperation, responsible self-direction, and self-organizing partnership.

Changing our future begins with changing our stories. A work already underway, it ultimately calls out for the participation of every person on the planet. The Great Turning points the way to the inspiring outcome within our reach.

David C. Korten is founder and President of the People Centered Development Forum, and is co-founder and chair of the Positive Futures Network, publisher of “YES! A Journal of Positive Futures.”

Book praise:

"Employing history, psychology, economics, spirituality, and common sense, Korten not only critiques the dilemma we are in as a species, he also shows us doable and workable ways out of our morass. He has created a tour de force -- a call to compassion as much as a blueprint for survival.”

- Matthew Fox, theologian and author of Original Blessing

"If you read only one book on how to address the looming ecological and social crises facing humanity, make it this one! ...he outlines a positive and realistic plan for actually creating a just and sustainable global society." - David Cobb, 2004 Green Party United States Presidential Candidate

"...a masterpiece of big thinking to help us find our way in this death-or-life historical moment..."

- Frances Moore Lappe', author of Hope's Edge and Democracy's Edge

"a masterpiece! Fascinating, compelling, wonderfully readable, and broad reaching in its arc of history and significance." —Thom Hartmann, author of The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight

More info can be found at www.sustainablebellingham.org, including links.

April 2007 Event

Moving To Shalom: Field of Peace
- an interactive presentation

with Cantor Ira Fein

Thursday, April 19, 2007
at Wise Awakening
7pm, doors open at 6:30pm

It's a half block West, (down Holly) from the Community Food Coop, on the left side. (On Holly between N. Forest and Railroad) more directions: http://www.wiseawakening.com/home.php?var=location.html

In this event we will explore healing Hebrew mantras, powerful sounds that hold within themselves the energies of peace, wholeness and healing.

Together we will uncover the stillness, field of peace, within and around us all. And, through meditative movement and sound, enter this sacred field to be healed and made whole.

Here is an introduction to Ira Fein:
http://www.healingmusic.org/IraFein/index.asp

and here is an excerpt from an article he wrote:

Through the Still Portal
by Cantor Ira Fein, CMP

Over the years, I have witnessed many miracles in my work as a therapeutic musician and sound healer...

...People get separated from their consciousness for a variety of reasons. One cause seems to be overstimulus. The noted author and speaker, Wayne Muller, has suggested that this society is tuned to the speed of the mind, whereas previous generations were attuned to the tempo of the heart. We are wired into the sound of the machine- the hum of the refrigerator, lawn mover, lights and, of course, our automobiles.

Just a hundred years ago, these sounds were not present. Life was quieter and we could more easily attune to the sound and stillness of nature and her wondrous, soothing cadences. Life was simpler too, with less to propel our lives forward and fill our hearts and minds.

Today we are literally assaulted by stimulus from TV, magazines, movies, computers and the pace that we maintain in our lives. This pace takes its toll on our bodies, minds and spirits. It is my belief,

based upon my experience, that dementia is a survival mechanism that we humans are using to escape from the overstimulus that pervades our society and the sped-up velocity of our lives.

The more I do this work and see the effectiveness of stillness in helping others, the more I am convinced of this. Stillness is an antidote, as it were, to overstimulus. In the safe, sage and secure environment of stillness, fear is transcended, overactivity in mind and body ceases, and we relax into sweet recognition a wink and a smile.

This wondrous potential to return exists within us all. Our precious souls with dementia can return with the quiet we provide and come home, through the still portal.

March 2007 Event

"The View from Space - A Message of Peace"
Edgar Mitchell's new DVD

WHEN: Thursday March 15
WHERE: Wise Awakening
TIME: 7:00-9:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:30
WHAT: viewing the DVD with discussion following

On January 31, 1971, Navy Captain Dr. Edgar
Mitchell embarked on a journey into outer space that
resulted in becoming the sixth man to walk on the
moon. The Apollo 14 mission was NASA's third manned
lunar landing.
This historic journey ended safely nine days
later on February 9, 1971. It was an audacious time
in the history of mankind. For Mitchell, however, the
most extraordinary journey was yet to come.

Come to hear IONS Founder Edgar Mitchell share his
epiphany from space and his words of hope for
humankind.

Directions to Wise Awakening: 314 Holly St. Bellingham
It's a half block down Holly from the Community Food
Coop, on the left side. (on Holly between N. Forest
and Railroad). More directions: www.wiseawakening.com

More info: http://www.edmitchellapollo14.com/

February 2007 Event

Attuning to Spirit - An Evening with Dorothy Maclean, co-founder of Findhorn
Where: Garden Street Family Center
When: Thursday, February 15, 2007, 7-9 PM, doors open at 6:30 PM

Tuning in to the intelligent consciousness within plants, animals, and other manifestations

Dorothy will share with us experiences and stories distilled from decades of communicating with devas and angels.

In 1962 Peter and Eileen Caddy, their three children and friend Dorothy Maclean were unemployed and living in a caravan park near the seaside village of Findhorn, Scotland. They decided to make ends meet by planting vegetables - no easy feat with dry sandy soil, and a cold and windswept location that enjoyed only twenty-six inches of rain a year.

Then Dorothy discovered she could contact the nature spirits or devas. They instructed her how to make the most of the poor soil, and over time sixty-five different vegetables, forty-two herbs and twenty-one types of fruit flourished in this soil. The forty pound cabbages, eight foot high delphiniums, and roses that bloomed in the snow, attracted horticultural experts near and far, and the internationally acclaimed spiritual community of Findhorn was born. When IBM research scientist Marcel Vogel visited Findhorn he commented, ‘This garden isn’t growing from the soil, only in the soil. The plants are fed by the consciousness of the community.’

As the community grew, Dorothy also attuned in to groups, organizations, cities and countries, and has for years been helping others to make similar attunements.

Now, Dorothy travels teaching attunement skills to people in many parts of the world. In times of social and political turbulence, participants will benefit from this opportunity to learn how to tune in to the inner aspects of our human experience. Dorothy's wit, humor, and informal approach spices up her precious gifts of spiritual wisdom.

Deva Translations by Dorothy Maclean

"This small planet too is turning into its place of rebirth. Each planet at its appointed time and place responds to, and gives form, itself a new outburst of life, and this is now your time. All around you creation reflects the Oneness of life but what of the human mind? What a marvel if it were aiding the great energy release of the time, playing its part in fullest expression." "You humans have a part to play in this [evolution of the planet] because you are the innovators of change....With full cooperation between our kingdoms, developments are beyond imagination. We will play our part. will you play yours?.... Our evolution and yours depends on it."

"This concept of Oneness is being stressed everywhere...we emphasize the practical side, the fact that your bodies are one with the environment and that you cannot abuse the Earth without harming yourselves. Oneness is not just on the high or inner levels where God is but is right here and now. Disturbing the pattern of the Earth, the balance of the seasons... is cutting through the ordained outworking of the One and ruining prospects for the future of man. We must repeat and repeat this, we cannot urge it strongly enough. The violence of the elements will be much more violent unless man picks up and acts on this truth [of Oneness]. Love all of life and so join up with it."

Notice: Dorothy wll give an all-day workshop hosted by Wise Awakening, Saturday, February 17th, 10.00 am - 4.30 pm at Wise Awakening, 314 East Holly Street, Bellingham,

About DOROTHY MACLEAN
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dorothy Maclean was one of the founders of the Findhorn community in Scotland. Her contacts there with what she came to see as the devic or angelic realms that over-light all aspects of existence, helped its legendary gardens bloom on most unpromising soil.
Many of the messages from the devas were first published in a number of books and pamphlets from that community, some still in print. Dorothy's earlier autobiography, To Hear the Angels Sing, now republished, contains many of her communications with not only the essences of plants, but with minerals, animals and groups of humans too.
In her new book, Choices of Love, Lindisfarne Press, Dorothy talks in a more detailed way about her own inner practices and attunement to the Beloved. She gives suggestions for the reader's own practice, and for the first time in print, information she has received from the over-lighting presence's of cities and countries.
Born in Guelph, Ontario, Dorothy is still a Canadian, though living in Washington State.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Maclean - biographical sketch
http://spiritinthesmokies.com/interviews/dorothym.html - an interview
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Findhorn_Foundation - about Findhorn

 

January 2007 Event

Conversing with the Soul using a Symbolic Language System

with Chris Brewer

Thursday, January 18, 2007
7 PM, doors open at 6:30 PM
Wise Awakening in Bellingham

Chris Brewer will present the MARI symbol interpretation system that functions as a language to communicate at a deep, spiritual level of consciousness. The system is based upon many cultural and societal representations, including Carl Jung's symbol and color interpretations. Chris' PowerPoint presentation provides examples of how this interpretive system reveals insights into ones' current mental, physical and emotional state. It includes interpretations, cultural design examples and mandala drawings demonstrating how the symbol system uncovers subconscious and spiritual levels. Chris will also speak about the use of symbols as a life-guidance tool and how our American society has used these symbols.

Chris Brewer, MA FAMI is a practitioner and trainer with the Mandala Assessment Research Institute, MARI, with a Jungian-based system using colors and symbols as a "language" that Carl Jung called 'a cryptogram--a coded message from the soul.' She also works with music and imagery and has implemented vibroacoustic music programs into medical facilities. Chris is the author of eight books and has worked with IONS founder, Edgar Mitchell as his biographer.

Wise Awakening
314 Holly Street

December 2006 Event
Notice: This event has been postponed until later on in the year, due to storms.


November 2006 Event

DVD screening and discussion of:
The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community with David C. Korten, Author, Lecturer, Engaged Citizen

When: Thursday, November 16th, 7 - 9:30 PM, Doors open at 6:30
Where: Senior Activity Center

Two members of the BIONS steering team heard David Korten give this presentation in Vancouver, BC recently and his vision is so compelling and catalyzing that we are wanting to see if there is interest for forming a BIONS book-study group around his book and DVD, in preparation for bringing him here for a larger community event, possibly in May.

David Korten has been organizing, researching, and developing resources for years and his site
www.thegreatturning.net is a treasure of these resources. See http://www.thegreatturning.net/Organizers.php

See also online interviews of David Korten, The Great Turning of the World
and Global Security with Jonathan Granoff. An excellent interview referencing the Earth Charter.
at http://www.pierreterre.com/mostviewed.asp

Note: David C. Korten will be in Bellingham in January, at an event sponsored by Sustainable Connections for their members. For the details watch their website at http://www.sconnect.org/

Korten is author of

The Post Corporate World,
When Corporations Rule the World
The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community

“My intellectual passion is to apply my knowledge of how culture and institutional structures shape human behavior and to search for ways by which we humans can do a better job of supporting one another in achieving the higher order potentials of our nature.

Following September 11th,… the administration… began a campaign to build support for an invasion of Iraq and spoke openly of using the full power of the US military forces to impose imperial order on the world. These actions made overt a larger imperial agenda and triggered recognition of the extent to which contemporary relationships between people and nations are shaped by the same dominator patterns that became established with the rise of the first empires in the Tigris Euphrates and Nile river valleys some 5,000 years ago.

I decided I must write a book that would reveal the nature and implications of this connection. The result is The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, which places the step we humans must now take to a new level of species maturity and a creative balance with one another and the Earth in the larger context of the overall sweep of the human experience.

 

October 2006 Event

Beyond The Secret: Tools for Manifesting Your Dreams
a presentation by Ariana Khent

When: Thursday, October 19, 2006
Where: Garden Street Family Center, 1231 N. Garden
Time: 7:00-9:00. Doors open at 6:45

How do we use the concepts that are so brilliantly presented in the movie, The Secret, in our daily lives? What tools do we need to shift our perspectives? What tools are useful in accessing our emotional guidance system to let us know what is going on in our lives and find the feeling place of what we really want?

These questions and many more, as well as the scientific basis of many of the concepts presented in the film, will be explored in an interactive, lively discussion format. It is not necessary to have seen "The Secret" in order to gain full value from this presentation.

Presenter, Ariana Khent, is an educator/consultant on the leading edge of the human potential realm. She has an MA in Counseling and Educational Psychology. Her background includes counseling, social work, seminar facilitation, professional organizational consulting, and she is the co-author of Journey Into Wholeness: A Map for Living Life Fully.

 

September 2006 Event

Sex, Ecology, and Spirituality

with Alan Seid

When: Thursday, September 21, 2006
Where: Garden Street Family Center, 1231 N. Garden
Time: 7:00-9:00. Doors open at 6:30

Spend an evening with Alan Seid who will give us a guided tour of Ken Wilber’s AQAL Model (All Quadrants, All Levels) a theoretical and practical framework which attempts to honor and include the knowledge and wisdom from as many
sources as possible. Wilber is considered the most widely read and influential of contemporary American philosophers, having been described as "the Einstein of consciousness." His framework attempts to integrate
the wisdom from East and West, as well as from pre-modern, modern and postmodern cultures.

After covering the basic layout of the integral model,
we will discuss it’s applicability to our own growth and development, as well as to the fields of education, politics, medicine, and sustainability.

Alan has spent much of his life studying various tools, processes and practices. He has been studying Wilber’s work since 2000, and completed Integral Institute’s Integral Ecology and Sustainability seminar in
November 2004. Alan offers trainings in various areas, including Marshall Rosenberg’s model of Nonviolent Communication, as well as counseling and conflict mediation. More about Alan at: http://www.ic.org/nica/

 

June 2006 Event

The Secret, a film from Australia

When: Thursday,June 15, 2006
Where: Wise Awakening, 314 E. Holly
Time: 7:00-9:00. Doors open at 6:30

Please join us at Wise Awakening to view The Secret, a film created by Rhonda Byrne and produced by Australia’s Prime Time Productions. Here is a quote from the synopsis on the website:

"The Secret has existed throughout the history of mankind. It has been discovered, coveted, suppressed, hidden, lost and recovered. It has been hunted down, stolen, and bought for vast sums of money. Now for the first time in history, The Secret is being revealed to the world over two breathtaking hours.

A number of exceptional men and women discovered The Secret, and went on to become known as the greatest people who ever lived. Among them: Plato, Leonardo, Galileo, Napoleon, Hugo, Beethoven, Lincoln, Edison, Einstein and Carnegie, to name but a few.

Fragments of The Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation which will be life transforming for all who experience it.

Some of today's greatest teachers will be presented in The Secret and will impart this special wisdom that has been known by so few. They include some of the world's leaders in the fields of business, economics, medicine, psychology, history, theology and science. Each of these teachers is living proof of The Secret; each of them a walking marvel of achievement and success...

Included are; 'Miracle Man' Morris Goodman, who tells his awe inspiring story of how he recovered from paralysis by using The Secret. Dr. Denis Waitley, who used various aspects of The Secret in training Olympic athletes and Apollo astronauts to reach new heights of human endeavor. Best selling authors and philosophers including Bob Proctor, John Assaraf, James Ray and Joe Vitale, explain how they have created lives of phenomenal success utilizing The Secret. Doctors in the fields of medicine and quantum physics explain the science behind The Secret.

The Secret reveals amazing real life stories and testimonials of regular people who have changed their lives in profound ways. By applying The Secret they present instances of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles and achieving what many would regard as impossible. "

For more information about this film go to http://thesecret.tv/home.html

 

May 2006 Event

Renaissance in Education in Rural Cambodia
with Ham Hayes

When: Thursday, May 18, 2006
Where: Garden Street Family Center, 1231 N. Garden
Time: 7:00-9:00. Doors open at 6:30

The people and work of BIONS are inspirational in many ways. The Bellingham Cambodia Rural Schools Project is an example of how seeds planted in the BIONS garden several years ago germinated into a "spirit acting in the world" experience.
Hear from current and former BIONS members how they were inspired to build a school in rural Cambodia, and their experiences meeting the villagers, teachers and students at the official dedication of the school in January.

*****************

April 2006 Event

Spiritual Callings Forum: A Panel of Four Local Presenters

When: Thursday, April 20, 2006
Where: Garden Street Family Center, 1231 N. Garden Street
Time: 7:00-9:00. Doors open at 6:30

We are sometimes prompted by Spirit to stretch beyond our ordinary lives to travel to take up a mission or project that leads us into the unknown. How we receive these messages and the gifts and challenges of such callings will be addressed by a panel of four presenters from our community.

Susan Bradbury, acupuncturist and sound healer, was inspired to travel to Mongolia and has since set up a small school and a tree planting project.

Tim Costello struggled with a life threatening illness and out of that journey was moved to establish the Slum Doctor Program which funds medical supplies and services to AIDS victims in Africa.

Betty Kellow is a social worker who traveled to Kenya and now supports a project for aids orphans.

Kathryn Fentress is a mental health counselor who never climbed a mountain in her life until spirit called her to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Each of the presenters will tell their stories and answer questions from the audience.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 2006 Event

The Brain Exchange: Tapping into the Collective Mind
with Phyllis Shacter

When: Thursday, March 16, 2006
Where: Garden Street Family Center 1231 N. Garden Street
Time: 7:00-9:00. Doors open at 6:30

Tap into the group's creativity and synergy when you attend this BIONS meeting. The Brain Exchange is an effective problem-solving tool that utilizes the creativity of every participant. It builds cooperation, involvement, and enthusiasm among participants. It is an inclusive process, and differing points of view and backgrounds are welcomed.

In many meetings, too much time is spent exploring problems instead of developing solutions. The purpose of the Brain Exchange is to provide a safe and spirited environment for actually solving problems -- personal, spiritual, community and global -- for an individual or a group. It is fun, lively, non-threatening and productive. When a group engages in the Brain Exchange Process, the possibilities expand for taking action to improve one's self, one's community, and the world.

Bring a personal, business, or community issue to the March BIONS gathering if you want to have it Brain Exchanged. When you leave at the end of the evening, you will have solutions to explore; you will know how to do a Brain Exchange, and you can take it into the other circles in your life. You don't have to bring an issue in order to participate.

This Brain Exchange will be facilitated by Phyllis Shacter, a local BIONS member, who has facilitated groups and taught communication and problem solving skills for 30 years. She has been a school educator and a consultant to businesses. She is very enthusiastic about group problem-solving tools as a means to improve ourselves and our community.

February 2006 Event

Working with the Opposition
Skye Burn and Don Mihaloew

When: Thursday, February 16, 2006
Where: Garden Street Family Center, 1231 N. Garden Street
Time: 7:00-9:00. Doors open at 6:30

The world we see is largely of our making: not the earth, clouds, oceans, mountains and earthquakes, but the cities, gardens, and highways. If we don't like what the world has become, if we don't like seeing children starving for no good reason or people dying from toxic pollution or mangled bodies in Baghdad, there rises in us a passion to change the world. The problem is how.

How do we help create a better world without adding to the tensions that already are more than the world can bear? This is the problem confronting social leaders of good conscience in the twenty-first century. In the 1960s and 70s many of us fought the system. Yet now with more wisdom we know it won't work to combat the situation. We need to find the way of peace to create a world where people enjoy life and their hearts are at rest. The question is "How?

Today, those of the leftward persuasion are challenged by right-wing opposition, and vice versa. Especially troubling is opposition from the religious right. This BIONS presentation will help you understand where the religious right opposition is coming from and how to respond to the situation effectively without polarizing the opposition, without hardening the opposition, and without increasing the tensions already so rampant in the world.

First, Skye Burn will present a brief overview showing how fundamental opposition fits into the big picture from a systems perspective. Skye is director of the International Network for Peace and is currently a student of Jean Houston's in the Masters in Leadership in Social Artistry program offered through the Graduate Theological Foundation.

Then, Don Mihaloew, Ed.D., LMFT will briefly explain the difference between positive and negative opposition and how we social leaders can carry balanced energy and the vision to help create a world conducive to respect-full human process and satisfaction. Don is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Eugene, Oregon, and an adjunct professor at Portland State University where he teaches in the Counseling Psychology department. Finally, the evening will end with a group discussion.

 

January 2006 Event

Beyond the Edge and Back: Integrating Spiritual Gifts
with Rev. Elke Siller Macartney

When: January 19, 2006
Where: Garden Street Family Center, 1231 North Garden Street
Time: 7-9:30. Doors open at 6:45

Do you perceive things, foresee events, or intuit ideas that others don't seem to know about? Ever wondered why those things turn out to be true, real, and valid? Thought you were simply hallucinating, or worse, just plain nuts? Perhaps your spirit is simply awakening. Perhaps you've been given a gift. Clairvoyance, clairaudience, "second sight",what do we do with these abilities? How do we integrate images and psychic experiences that are disturbing or unsettling? Denial is not a genuine option. You are what you are. And there are many others like you. Through support and knowledge, help is available.

Inspirational teacher and spiritual counselor Elke Siller Macartney will share some insights, gleaned from 28 years of personal experience. She will also suggest ways to evaluate, interpret, and integrate what we, as spiritually awakening beings, are beginning to encounter. Elke is currently working on a book series sharing people's experiences with the Divine: Letters from God Dropt in the Streets. For more information about Elke: www.inspirationu.com

 

December 2005 Event

THE MARRIAGE OF SCIENCE AND SPIRIT:
AN INSPIRING VISION OF THE NEXT 250 YEARS
With Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow

When: Thursday, December 15, 2005
Where: Garden Street Family Center
Time: 7:00-9:00 p.m., doors open at 6:30

- An exploration of how "The Great Story" - the epic of evolution told as a sacred story - bridges science and spirituality, and how it provides common ground for spiritual seekers of all sorts.

- A way of thinking about God, the Cosmos, and All Our Relations that will touch, move, and inspire you to be in action in a grounded, peaceful, yet passionate way.

- An exploration of directionality in the cosmos (What God's been up to for billions of years and how evolution has led to greater complexity, cooperation, and interdependence over time) and a look at long-term evolutionary trends and short-term historic trends that are especially hopeful and inspiring for those of us committed to a just, healthy, beautiful, and sustainably lifegiving future.

Michael Dowd and his wife Connie Barlow, a popular science writer, live permanently on the road, teaching and preaching "the marriage of science and religion for personal and planetary wellbeing" to groups all across North America. Their website: http://www.TheGreatStory.org, is one of the best community empowerment tools in the conscious evolution / green spirituality movement, It is a non-commercial resource for those working to heal the rift between science and religion, and for those envisioning a just, healthy, beautiful, and sustainably lifegiving world for future generations of all species.

November 2005 Event

An Evening with Dean and Dudley Evenson

When: Thursday, November 17, 2005
Where: Garden Street Family Center, 1231 North Garden Street
Time: 7-9:30. Doors open at 6:45

Bellingham Institute of Noetic Sciences (BIONS) is pleased to present an evening with Dean and Dudley Evenson. They will be sharing reflections from the recent Noetic Sciences national conference, including videos of Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson, Fred Allen Wolf (What the Bleep) and others.

The Evensons are co-founders of independent music label Soundings of the Planet (Peace Through Music) as well as The Solutions Project. They have been active in the Greenways campaign and Saving the 100 Acre Wood. They will share their music and stories of over a quarter century of being media activists as they have worked together to bring wisdom and positive social action to their community and world. For additional information, go to these websites:

http://www.soundings.com
http://www.thesolutionsproject.org

 

October 2005 Event

Journeys through Nine Dimensions
with Barbara Hand Clow and Gerry Clow

When: Thursday, October 20, 2005
Where: Garden Street Family Center, 1231 North Garden Street
Time: 7:00 - 9:30. Doors open at 6:45

In 1994 Barbara Hand Clow received knowledge of nine realms of consciousness from a source she calls the Pleiadians. These insights became the basis of her bestselling book, The Pleiadian Agenda (1995), and for its exciting sequel, Alchemy of Nine Dimensions (2004). The Pleiadians say that we have to activate the nine dimensions in order to facilitate the acceleration of consciousness in 2012, the end of the Mayan Calendar.

In this workshop, discover the nine dimensions through teachings that stimulate your mind as well as your body. Barbara incorporates the latest scientific research with her explanations on each dimension, while her husband and partner, Gerry Clow, uses healing techniques to allow you to ground these new understandings without fear or denial. As a result, you will be able to navigate multi-dimensionality in your daily life, leading to richer spiritual practice, better health, and a more conscious existence.

Barbara Hand Clow is an internationally acclaimed ceremonial teacher, astrologer, and author. Gerry Clow is a Polarity Therapy and Craniosacral practitioner. Together they founded and directed Bear & Company Publishers in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for seventeen years. Currently they pursue their spiritual and healing practices in Canada and the Caribbean. For more information on Gerry and Barbara, visit www.handclow2012.com

September 2005 Event

Spiritual Autobiography: Living the Story
with Philip Damon

When: Thursday, September 8, 2005
Where: WECU Educational Building
Time: 7-9:30. Doors open at 6:45

Join us to hear Philip Damon talk about his Living the Story Workshop. “Living the Story can be thought of as a philosophical method, combining the core ideas of all sacred traditions with the classical principles of literary narrative. Together, the approach toward narrative journal writing we practice in the workshop (LSW) plus a universal, 'perennial-wisdom' view of the purpose of individual life, constitute a new kind of autobiographical mindfulness. The growth-purpose behind our story’s events is thus the inescapable path of inner transformation, a path we share with the most secular of literary heroes and the most profane of flesh and blood personalities.”

Philip Damon spent 34 years on the English faculty of the University of Hawaii, where he taught creative writing workshops and courses in spirituality, such as Mysticism in Literature, Man and God, and The Heroic Venture. He is an ordained minister, a “certified channel,” and has followed numerous mystic, holistic and artistic paths. His column, “Dancing on the Brink,” appears monthly in Organic Press, and his biannual seven-week workshop, Living the Story, begins its fall season on October 8 (cost $100) at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship. For further information he can be reached at 738-9337.

June 2005 Event

2020 Vision: Threshold of the New Age
Presentation by Karen Steen

When: Thursday, June 9, 2005
Where: WECU Educational Building
Time: 7-9:30, doors open at 6:45.

At the height of their art, Medieval Persian astrologers developed a very long range predictive technique for the rise and fall of religions, societies, and political rulers. Based on their technique, the Jupiter/Saturn Great Cycle demonstrates 800 year historic epochs composed of 200 year eras, with each era distinguished by a specific development theme.

In the year 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will meet in our skies at zero degrees Aquarius (Tropical Zodiac). Their meeting here signals a new 200 year era of social, economic and political developments that will emphasize the mind and ideas, communication and relationships. We may also regard the 2020 Jupiter/Saturn meeting as a threshold of the Aquarian Great Age (New Age). The Jupiter/Saturn Great Cycle and historic correspondences to our current period offer a valuable perspective for understanding current global events and issues, and a basis for effectively charting our way to a life-affirming planetary culture.

This presentation will address the following: a brief description of the astronomy/astrology of the Jupiter/Saturn Great Cycle; historic features of the prior and current Great Cycles, and the transition period of 1980 – 2020; and a consideration of the coming era that begins with the Jupiter/Saturn Mutation Conjunction in Aquarius in 2020. Considering also the current global phenomena of peak oil and climate change, we will seek to discern a positive vision and expectation for this formative cycle that carries into the 23rd Century. A period of small group discussion and visioning will follow the presentation.

Karen Steen is a consulting and teaching astrologer at Water Bearer Astrology & Consulting, Bellingham, WA. Karen is NCGR Level II-III Certified, and holds a Master of Nursing in Primary Care from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Louisiana State University. She has studied astrology since 1979, and practiced professionally since 2000. Current astrology articles and information about Karen's practice and services are available at www.WaterBearerAstrology.com.

May 2005 Event

Change your Mind, Change your Life:
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) with Alan Alberts

http://albertsassoc.com

 

April 2005 Event

International Mayan Calendar Researcher
Carl Johan Calleman

www.calleman.com

Thur Jan 20-An Evening with Fred Alan Wolf
Thur, Feb 3 - Star Dreams: A video documentary exploring The Mystery of Crop Circles

Helen Vandeman - March 10 - Intuitive healing. Her book is The Thresholds of Intention