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There are those of us who believe that it is a greater
good to move from receiving wisdom to creating it. We have lived by
the values of retrieving our power and of consciously manifesting our
intentions, and we have learned the skills to do so; but now it is our
direction to endow the earth with our gifts. This is, for us, the call
of Spirit: not only to live in gratitude and humility regarding our
creatureliness, but also to release compassion and loving kindness through
us; not only to appreciate, but also to create; not only to sing, but
furthermore to will to be sung through; and having moved from receivership
to wellspring, not only to manifest, but from hereafter to endow. This
shift in our relationship to Spirit is an enterprise that gathers a
different kind of community, a community of co-creators. | back to top| James Lawer, MDiv and MA, jameslawer@softcom.net, wrote those words more than fifteen years ago and they guided a small group of practitioners in San Francisco for a period of time in the early 1990's. Through their respective healing practices and musicianship, they offered a safe zone for healing relationships, making personal shifts and tapping into a sacred, collective unconscious. They were asked to play for religious services and invited a half dozen times to Grace Cathedral for various events. But over time, each person developed individual practices in other locations and their collaboration ended. The WakeWater Project curled up in hibernation until now when it breaks out into the greening world of current possibilities. Jim's potent vision inspires me and speaks to many others. I know it guides my choices...how do I want to spend my time, what seeds do I want to sow, how can I help awaken other humans to this amazing time of potential on the planet. The WakeWater preamble focuses my sacred activism. Jim and I invite your personal responses to WakeWater. I offer mine below...as well as ideas for a weeklong gathering in late September, 2007. | back to top| Deborah's Dream — "Less Than a Quarter Turn and You're on the Right Track" I read and reread WakeWater’s preamble and this time, the umpteenth time, tears surface for the enormous shift WakeWater asks of me. On the other hand, WakeWater simply asks me to stand for something which is totally natural and grounded in essential wisdom... asks for a minor change in attitude from searching for more whatever to offering back...to choosing an expansive, creative response to life’s uncontrollable unfolding.. Such a slight shift and yet it is everything – Cultures will literally change. A dream image from 15 years ago surfaces: I’m crossing a trackless desert, the Nevada desert, trying to escape both toxic smoke from oil fires and radiation from another nuclear test explosion. My car is being driven by my son, an inexperienced driver, but I choose to trust him and am horrified to see two army officers standing in our way ahead of us. Though there is nothing but desert all around us, no road, we have no way to go around these men and we stop the car. One of them is U.S. army and the other is a Middle Eastern, bearded, turbaned and robed man. The Middle Eastern man gently picks up our car and with utmost kindness changes the direction we’re headed by less than a quarter turn. "Now you’re on the right track," he says. WakeWater is the name of that right track for me. There’s no guide post telling me the name of the destination but now I know what to call the road. And that makes a huge difference. I feel my entire being is now headed in the right direction, the road of my destiny. Every foot fall, every decision, every thought has a context I have not known before. I experience WakeWater happening everywhere I go. It’s as if the vision itself has cleaned the glasses I wear, expanded my hearing, and liberated my expression. The shift, so basic and elemental, yet life affirming and boldly challenging, leads me into the unimaginable future. Though I hardly recognize it as a ripple in my interior, the vision is so potent as to alter my sense of Self. Somehow this relates to a friend’s comment. She had just experienced death due to an allergic reaction to anesthesia administered for a routine medical exam. About the fine line dividing life and death, "It’s just a slip," she said, "just a gentle slip between the two." WakeWater asks me to slip gently into acknowledging the fragile brevity of this thing we call living by making the most of my own, risking everything to experience a more loving, humble, passionate aliveness. I know life not as a puzzle needing to be solved but as a mystery to be embraced. WakeWater asks me to know NOW that I am enough. I am enough as I am to inspire other humans; I am enough as I am to speak for the voiceless; I am authentic enough as I am to awaken realness in others; and I know that communion with any being other than myself expands my own vibrancy, my own gratitude. WakeWater asks me to use myself as a tuning fork – to vibrate and give forth ululations...to be the canary in the coal mine. May my human voice add meaning to the chorus of the Northern Hemisphere’s wild things – wolf howl, eagle song echoing off cliffs, cougar snarl, bee buzz, canyon wren's trill trolling dark slot canyons, infant's cry, winds’ whisper and rivers’ burble, may all our voices sing to what is fundamental to wellbeing – a world rich with surprises, sacred by its very nature, plump with paradox and complexity, where everything is recognized as intrinsically valuable, inextricably intertwined. | back to top| Jim and I invite you to write to us with your own responses to WakeWater: Deborah@AthanorArts.com or jameslawer@softcom.net. I'd love to know for instance:
Your comments are important to us and bring you into this network of kin. The more we can "gaialogue" the more we can build programs and manifest dreams co-creatively. Maybe our shared words will co-create a book, performance art, an installation, who knows... | back to top| Working Title: WakeWater - A National Collegium of Practitioners and Facilitators for Healing and Personal Transformation. WakeWater sees itself as an on-line presence for
information, inspiration and referrals and also envisons being a place...a
special, sacred, intimate space where teachers, healers, artists and
prophets can come for their own renewal; where they get the attention
they need, even if it is the profound, gentle silence possible close
to nature. We invite you to come to Athanor Arts, where in collaboration
with other nearby practitioners, retreats, and a B & B, we can begin
to nurture each other.
| back to top| For those of you who respond to the energy of the WakeWater Project, we might consider getting together for a weeklong retreat of envisioning, growing into our passions, our authenticity as vitally alive human beings and bringing our own unique legacy into manifestation. As a community of gifted souls we can co-create something far greater than we can possibly do alone. Deborah offers the following outline for further crafting. For all those who:
Join us for a weeklong immersion in all that is lovingly humane and robustly regenerative about being here on the planet now. Offering the process as a mythic journey to greater aliveness, including Ecstatic Wisdom Postures, opening the body’s voice to being sung by spirit, sacred connecting to the land, mask-making, dance, authentic movement, music making, engagement with each other, expanding consciousness, meeting the body’s mind, and cutting through the veils with exploratory questioning. Jim and I could craft the cauldron for all this, offer a compass on the voyage, but really, truly, deeply we would co-create our experience together with everyone present. Would you be interested in this retreat? Would summer 2008 be a possible time for you to come to Montana? Please contact either Deborah@AthanorArts.com or jameslawer@softcom.net. | back to top| Workshops that Support WakeWater's Vision: BodySinging - An Opportunity to Sing for your Life with Deborah One course, six sessions,* This course is for everyone, even those who think they can't sing. If you are interested in feeding your soul, bringing forgotten dreams to life, discovering purpose, enhancing creativity, and feeling more alive, this course is for you. When we choose NOT to judge and choose instead simply to be present, authenticity flowers and aliveness quickens. Without judgment and with gentleness and ease, we will explore our body/mind's innate longing to sing out that which is truest about ourselves. Using a variety of playful exercises, each participant will expand his freedom to give voice, to sing her own spontaneous song, by experiencing: the naturalness of breath, By exploring the energetic terrain of BodySinging, we will
fall far beyond the possibilities provided by normal speaking to discover
our authentic selves where spirit and soul sing us more fully into being
and we discover our innate wisdom. Deborah Jane Milton, PhD, has been singing
her truth for more than twenty years. What began as wordless chants
inspired by the land, has become the spirit singing the depths of her
soul, ...or is it the other way round? Her
The Meridian Dance with Jyoti SaeUn Learn this simple and elegant 'dance' of the meridians - the energy pathways that feed and serve every part of your body. You will experience an enhanced sense of well being as you balance the flow of yin & yang energy. You will learn the themes of each meridian as you follow the natural flow of this life current through your body. The dance can stand alone as a daily practice of toning and revitalizing the energy pathways. A meridian chart with positive themes and directional flow is included for home practice. Space limited to 18 participants. Please register directly with Jyoti by March 20th
with your check for $50 mailed to:
The Essence of Druidry Crafting Sacred Relationship with Kevin Emmons April 21-22, 2007 10am -10pm Saturday, 10am - 4pm Sunday Fee $150 Feel free to pay full fee or nonrefundable deposit $35 with secure Pay Pal, check or cash Contact Deborah@AthanorArts.com for more information on payment options Druidry is the indigenous spirituality of the British Isles. Crafted as a way to connect to the people to the land and the Gods, it is still relevant and vibrant today. As a religion of Nature, it teaches how to live in flow with the tides of change in our environments. Druidry is sometimes referred to as a natural philosophy but for those who wish to delve deeper, it is an ecstatic religion where we interact directly with the powers of Nature and the Gods; basking in the Awen (a Welsh word for Divine inspiration or more literally, "flowing spirit") that comes from crafting soul deep, sacred relationships. This workshop will present the fundamentals of Druidry, its history and how it is practiced in today's world. We will talk about the three traditions of modern Druidry, the Bard (the Listener), the Ovate (the Seer), and the Druid (the Shape-shifter), looking the underlying spiritual gifts of each craft. We will explore the defining element of Druidry, the quest for Awen. We will look at how we can reach for Awen every moment of every day, and how we can use that inspiration for healing and creativity. And as we gift the expression of it back to the world, we complete the cycle. We become a force for positive change in the world. Much of the workshop will focus on living our spiritual aspirations. We will look deeply at the concepts of the sacred, animism, ritual, Awen, Ancestors, the powers of Nature, and the Gods. Using meditation and journey work we will work on finding our feet under us as we explore our relationship with the Earth. This workshop will offer us the opportunity to address core issues in our life as we work directly with the divine in Nature, learning to find our own freedom and to express our own soul truth. Please join us for a weekend of learning, exploration, ritual and inspiration as we explore the religion of sacred relationship, inspiration, and creativity that is Druidry. Kevin E. Emmons is a native of Maine. He is 40 years old and has been on the pagan path for more than twenty years. His pagan studies started with Shamanism studying cross-cultural shamanic traditions including, Peruvian, Japanese, Hawaiian and Native American teachings. He began exploring the Celtic traditions which has led him to his life path, Druidry. He refers to his craft as animistic shamanic Druidry. His is a student and colleague of Emma Restall Orr, full-time druid priest, teacher, author, and Head of the Druid Network based in the UK. Kevin's other interests include martial arts, music, photography, and exploring the sacred with his other grove-mates. He lives in rural Maine with his succulent wild-woman wife of 10 years. They live with two cats and two very pushy house bunnies. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________ Trance Drumming and Intuitive,
Self-exploration Workshop with Patrick Marsolek
Making the
Most of your One Precious Life with Dr. Deb* at The Women’s Club—2105
Bow St Soul centered guidance and creative inspiration
Fee for each session: $7.00 for Women’s
Club members, Topics and date1. January 27th - Will the REAL YOU please stand up?
2. February 3 - Empowered by Authenticity 3. February 10th - Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf? Demystifying fear and making it our ally...yes, really. 4. February 17th - Relating to FEAR in even more positive ways. Meeting our fears in a friendly fashion and learning from THEM the whys, the wherefores, and the WHY NOTS??? 5. March 9th - I don’t have a creative bone in my body and don’t
try to tell me I do, ...except Dr. Deb will 6. March 16th - Loving our creative juice and relating to our inner fires which are first cousins to hot flashes and totally cool! Experiencing the power of our creative fire and learning to love the sweat. 7. March 30th - Pulling it All Together and Back to Basics...How authenticity,
befriending fear and creative juice Develop a sense of personal power while enjoying crumpets and camaraderie. For more info: 406-207-3485 or The Women's Club
- 728-4410
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