The Trail Teller

MOUNT HAMILTON: EXPLORING OUR SPACE IN THE UNIVERSE

At Mt. Hamilton, we gathered to walk the land in mindful presence, listening deeply to the silence around us, connecting with the spirit of life on the mountain. Before European settlement of the California landscape, the 25,000 acres surrounding Mt. Hamilton was never occupied by more than 100 people at the same, more frequently less than 60. Near Grant Lake, the sloping hills of a secluded valley create a container that lets senses extend to touch that solitude, feel the mystery of living in community with the plants, the animals.  Spacing ourselves out of sight of one another, as we walked we listened to small animals rustling in the dry grasses, heard bouncy castle birds warning one another that we were on the way, and opened our senses in unfamilar ways to the beautiful surroundings.

Near the lake itself, 2 bare-branched valley oaks on a hillside drew our attention. Bare branches created geometric configurations against the blue sky; lying on the new-green grass beneath them, in mind’s eye we journeyed through the energetic portal the trees created, each of us following a personal thread. We shared our experiences, honoring each one as a piece of a puzzle, creating a mini global community growing out of  individual experiences of life forms, of the unique place and the moment.

It’s interesting to think about how we’d arrived at the trees that formed a portal for us. It’s worth mentioning, because  an experiment is under way to develop our global consciousness. It’s not just about hearing birds and animals, experiencing a sense of seclusion, or responding to an aid plea for helping in a needy situation; it’s about hearing one another moment to moment, as well.

When we’d left the secluded valley, we walked toward the parking lot, intending to go directly into the main part of Grant Park.  But someone in our group – Carissa, I think – pointed out the trees on the hill, and commented on her attraction to them.  We changed our trajectory, and responded to that pull (which Drake had also experienced), and walked to the hill. It was a moment of expanding our group’s consciousness of the site; rather than just acknowledging her reaction, we let it matter – acted on it. We altered our trajectory, because she was aware of her response to the trees. If we’re truly trying to experience being present on the land in a different way, it’s great to be able to explore more fully someone’s unique perceptions.

We’re flushing out a new way of being present in nature and with one another. Why is that not part of how we function now, even as we know that we’re trying to live together more harmoniously?  Maybe part of it has to do with agendas – we have intentions, destinations in thinking or in accomplishing things, and if a new piece of information doesn’t fit the schedule of progress toward that destination, it’s easy to be impatient and not give time or full attention to that new information.

So how do we hold the original intent (or do we?) and incorporate the new experience? It’s an ongoing process of discovery – but in this case, the trees with their one cluster of mistletoe introduced an opportunity to share a Norse story of the god of truth and light that I’d intended to share farther down the road, and it happened to be feasible to work with the tree “portal” as well as the mistletoe as “portal”.

In the Bay Area, the pace of life is so fast that it’s very valuable to have this kind of time out of ordinary time to experiment with another mode of being present together – so hurray for the sacred sites on the mountains around us!

Later, in Grant Park, we moved among ancient oaks, coming finally to the small plateau open to the sky, where monthly star parties are held on dark nights. I told the story of the role of the Pleiades in the centuries-old Hawaiian festival Makahiki festival that annually returned the communities to peaceful co-existence. It made me think of the well-being of the land and people of Haiti; I had an image of the potential of the survival struggles there as being a potent force of the collective consciousness of all castillo hinchable nations, setting aside warring and pettiness to respond to deep need. What if we were all able to focus on planetary, ancestral, and human healing, as much for the profound suffering of the planet as for the immediate suffering of the people of Haiti? The internet coverage has provided a great seed, but maybe we can take it farther, as we hold that image of reaching out to them as we proceed with our process here.

So there on the mountain, on the star party plateau, we created a despacho, the Andean-inspired offering to the Earth and to all the spirits of nature and the universe. Weaving the beautiful pieces of the offering together -  flowers, foods, coyote leaves with seeds ready to fly, and incense – we called on our own visionary capacity, our deepest feelings and willingness to act  in order to weave and maintain a connection among all beings, including the events in Haiti.

Mt. Hamilton maintains the living memory of human relationships to the stars, to the land as it has been from time immemorial, and to the ancestors whose presence continues to shape our relationships with the Earth and with the sacred space of life in the Bay Area.

Books that came up during our visit:

2 by Naida West – River of Red Gold, and The Eye of the Bear

Lester Brown – Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization

Betty Goerke – Chief Marin: Leader, Rebel and Legend

UNSUNG HEROES, 2016

During the week of May 21, 2016, The Midpen Media Center will honor the winners of the 10^10h annual Local Heroes Awards.

Ginny Anderson is among this year’s winners. The Midpen Media Center kicks off the event with a reception and free, public screening of highlights of the interviews with the Heroes at the Media Center.  This will be followed by a week 365toy of programs about the winners, to be aired on the Midpen Media

Center’s cable channels and web site.

Reception information:

Where: The Media Center, 900 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto

When: Saturday, May 21, 7:00pm – 9:00 pm

RSVP: Louise at 650-494-8686 ext 36 or louise@midpenmedia.org

Seating is limited and refreshments will be served so we would appreciate an RSVP before Saturday, May 7.

Who are the real heroes of a community?  Are they only those who repeatedly appear in the headlines?  Or, perhaps, those who devote their lives bravely and selflessly–but silently–outside the limelight?  The Midpen Media Center has many such people who are quietly committing acts of heroism on a daily basis.  The Midpen Media Center is honoring five of these unsung heroes from its service area.  The winners will be showcased in a series of interviews that will air on the cable channels throughout bouncy castle the week of May 21 (further details to come).

Long before the days of the Internet, all life in the Universe was interconnected in another way. People looked up and saw an uncountable number of stars in the sky.

As was the custom, a storyteller created a tale to explain this natural wonder.

The god Indra was regent of the heavens. He managed this enormous responsibility for every act, every event, and every person throughout the Universe by creating a magnificent silver net that hüpfburg kaufen stretched infinitely in all directions.  At each connection of the net’s threads, a brilliant jeweled mirror reflected everything happening at every other location.

People felt securely held in this net. It was clear that they were connected to all other beings and to every place on the Earth, and that every thought and every action had an impact.

But every fisherman’s net frays at times, and as artificial light has dimmed our nightly awareness of the movement of stellar bodies on their paths through the Universe, we have lost our sense of occupying a place in universal light. The vitality of places of power on the Earth have begun to fade without our appreciation, awe, and care. Humans have begun to suffer from the lack of soul food our connection to such special places provides.

Now, you’re invited to take part in mending the net.

In the course of your life, you’ve probably had one or more peeks at the net.  Describe an experience that made you feel part of the larger whole of life.  Where did you experience that moment? What had you brought to that moment –perhaps gratitude, adventure, surrender, or sorrow? Remember how it began.  Did it take you totally by surprise? Call up the structure gonflable sensations of being there – the physical sights, the sounds, the fragrances. What happened?  What have you carried forward in your life’s journey from that experience?

Wherever you live in the world, whatever your journey, you occupy a node of Indra’s net.

As we relive these moments, we remember that we are children of the Universe, guardians of the Earth, nodes in Indra’s net.   Share your story, and a photo if you like. You can either comment on this blog, or send an email to Ginny.

What do we do with the heaviness and helplessness, often unspoken, that comes to us in the wake of events far away?  The Shadow’s energy on the planet is widespread – homeless refugees on the move, Syria demolished, age-old treasures destroyed -

A centuries-old tool from the Andes puts heavy energy to use, as darkness afoot becomes compost for Mother Earth.  We can shift our own capacity inflatable water slide to deal with the Shadow.

Be supported by the impetus of time’s movement through the dark of the year, and of the monthly turning of the tide. Hone your capacity to use the shadow within, moving into the light.

Wednesday, November 25, at 11:00 AM, as the full moon brings high tide to Bayfront Park in Menlo Park, explore the practice and its place in our own life experiences.  Then walk along the crest of the hills overlooking San Francisco Bay, as we “Eat Hucha”. Taking in the shadow in multiple forms, through intention and the guidance of this spiritual practice, we’ll offer this energy to Mother Earth and fill ourselves with Light.

Email Ginny Anderson for more explicit directions.  Share this invitation with others you know, and find a way to lighten the shadow’s burden on your mind and heart.

11:00 AM on Wednesday, November 25

Bayfront Park in Menlo Park

Cost: $25

Join award-winning author and Bay Area eco-psychologist, Dr. Ginny Anderson, for an enlightening series of five 1-day gatherings for women elders to learn how, in this particular stage of life, we can best contribute to the world around us just as a feathery plant called “horsetail” has contributed to the planet for more than 270 million years.

The world is in a state of major flux, and the human 365toy race needs our wisdom. At the event, we will:

• Share a mix of wisdom, stories and laughter, journeying and meditation, and playful creativity in a safe place.
• Experiment in a sacred space with transforming your brain’s capacities to meet the challenges of surviving in a global community so reliant on electronic communication.
• Explore how you can best contribute to the transformation of life as we’ve known it on this planet, drawing upon your decades of life experience.

Remember the children’s story, “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” in which people were afraid to say the obvious? This series will offer a safe place for speaking our truths. We’ll provide form and space for exploring how personal life experiences may create unique perspectives and contributions.

LOGISTICS: This series will start with a day-long event on Saturday, September 12, from 10 AM to 3 PM in a comfortable mid-Peninsula setting in the San Francisco Bay Area. Feel free to come for just the first session to see if this series is a good fit for you. After this, the group will be closed.

• Meeting dates and times: Saturdays: September 12 structure gonflable and 26, October 10 and 31, and November 14, 2015, from 10 AM to 3 PM each day.
• Location: Atherton, CA . Address provided upon registration.
• Cost: $75 for 1st session alone, or $300 prepaid for series (1 session FREE! A $75 savings)

Register by September 5 by sending a check made out to series leader Ginny Anderson at 19 Irving Ave., Atherton, CA, 94027, along with your hopes and intentions for participating, and any other information you may wish to share about yourself. You may also use this link to register.

Take this guided meditation of a shaman’s journey on the Inca Trail, gateway to the Mysteries of the Inca tradition.

Meditations on the arduous four day journey of the Inca Trail are preceded by preparatory ceremonies with water and with fire.

Follow these guided visualizations; travel in castillo hinchable mind’s eye, in spirit body, to work with the elements and with the spirits of nature to transform your energy, and help shape your personal destiny.

Walk in beauty, receiving the support you need to meet today’s challenges. Centuries of travelers have used these trails to shift their availability to the guidance of Spirit, to shape their personal responsibility and attention to walk in a sacred manner.

Journey into other realities that overlap our time and space. Choose the highest possible destiny, and in Machu Picchu, experience empowerment to help manifest your dreams.

Available for download on CD Baby.com

As the long winter nights envelop us, spreading their mantle of cozying down after holiday bustle, come listen to and take part in the Grandmother’s tales of laughter, of how to do life journeys, of adventures waiting and the reason and bouncy castle courage to do them.  There was rhyme and reason embedded in their choices of tales,  There were the antics of Coyote, trickster god and teacher. There were clever travelers on quests; there were encounters with the shadow, native teachings of Wisdom in Place.  Teachings happened in contexts of story, rather than through rules and regulations, comfort extended in ways that nourished the soul, salved fears.

Traditional storytellers observed the passing events in the community,  developed awareness of blessings, of fears, of forces at work in the community; they told stories that helped to open doors to dreaming solutions, tapping the kernel of a problem without necessarily naming it, leaving the listener to connect with the clever character in the story.

Let’s see whose energy shows up – naming the things on our minds, we can comb memory for relevant tales.  Inanna’s the one who’s calling to me at the moment, and there’s a sweet way to play with the story, making it ours.  She – or someone who inspires your own wandering thoughts -  could be your companion in the particular kind of journey she inspires. Maybe it comes in the hüpfburg kaufen form of a Soundworm – a song that’s come into your head that doesn’t want to go away until it has had its due.

Popcorn, hot chocolate, chocolate chip cookies, cider, tea.

Bring a comfy blanket, find a space on a long and  cozy couch, sit in front of the fire (provided it’s not a Spare the Air Day).  Listen to what comes along, and if you’d like to share a story of your own, please feel free.

Donation: $25   7:30-10 PM

Call Ginny Anderson at 650-323-4494.  Or email silkythree18@gmail.com

Address near Menlo Park/Atherton provided when you call.

As winter’s darkness prepares to give way to light, join us creating a tule spirit boat with offerings of gratitude for the many blessings that nurture our lives. Those very gifts of Nature and community empower our intentions for the coming year.  In that partnership, we become the voices, the hands and feet – expressing the Life Force.

For many centuries, tules lined most of the shores of San Francisco Bay; growing, their structure helped deal with toxics in the water.  Harvested, they offered housing and boat materials for the Ohlone people.  Early in December, at the edge of the Bay, we’ll inflatable water slide gather the tules in ceremony. When the reeds have rested and dried, ready for their next incarnation, we’ll shape the boat and fill it with offerings, talking story  – of the Bay’s past, of the Ohlone people, of our blessings this year. We’ll tell stories of the power of hibernation and of dreaming, of resting and visioning.

This is a really delightful sequence if you like poking in the mud, adventures in nature, celebrating community, sacred play, connecting with the ancestors – and feasting!

Joyous to do – and so helpful to orient ourselves in alignment with the universal powers that help us shape our own desires for living harmoniously with Nature.

Join us for either event, or both

Saturday Dec. 6  11 AM Ceremonially collecting tules near the shore of the Bay

Sun. 21  10 A.M. at Bayfront Park, at the bayshore end of Marsh Road in Menlo Park.

Building, blessing and launching the boat on the high tide, helping pave the path for the return of light, for the highest and best relationship to the evolving web of life next to the Bay. Carried by 365toy the boat, biodegradable offerings of flowers, prayers, foods, sweetness, and incense will make their way toward the open sea.

COST of  the 2 events – $75
separately,  Dec 6  $35, Dec. 21, $45

Location:
TBA among various west Bayshore locations for tule collection
Bayfront Park in Menlo Park for the ceremonial building and launching

For further information, or to reserve a space, contact Ginny Anderson, at 650-323-4494, or email Ginny at silkythree18@gmail.com

Radical Joy for Wounded Places is a worldwide community of people committed to finding and making beauty in wounded places. Reconnecting with these places, sharing our stories of loss and despair, and making acts of beauty there, we transform the land, reconnect people and the places that nourish inflatable water slide them, and empower ourselves to make a difference in the way we live on Earth.

On June 21 at San Bruno Mountain (Summer Solstice), Mountain Watch is sponsoring a cleanup of several critical habitat areas. Buckeye Canyon leads into a 5000 year old shell mound; next to it is Owl Canyon. Nearby is a critical mating area for Pacific tree frogs, but was once part of the quarry on the mountain.

Gathering at the edge of Quarry Road, we’ll help with the cleanup, have lunch, and make a despacho – an Andean offering to the land. We’ll create a symbolic bird with leaves, sticks, and other objects found on the site – contribute its photo to an international website collection. We’ll share mountain stories and meet the people who live and breathe the mountain.

Help put San Bruno on that worldwide map of wounded places being tended and honored. Contact www.mountainwatch.org for more details of the cleanup location.

I’ll be meeting people who are coming at 11:00 at Quarry Park in Brisbane. Email Ginny Anderson if you’re able to do a short walk, work some, then join in creating the bird and in doing the despacho. Quarry Park is at the corner of San Francisco Ave. and Inyo. (map)

In Norse mythology, the Norns are female figures who work with past, present and future, pouring waters on the Tree of Life so that life of the tree is sustained.

The Norns spin their tapestry at the roots of Yggdrasil.

These figures become our allies, as we explore the role of elder women in today’s culture.  Using the inspiration they provide, we’ll bouncy castle explore our own journeys – how we’ve come to be at this unique place on the planet just at this time. We’ll explore how we can continue to weave the threads of destiny out of the experiences of our contemporary lives and lineages. We’ll discover what it means to find ourselves in the amazing privilege to be in this unique and luscious part of the world. The Norns help us shape our quest for being elders when there is a “Great Turning”, to use Joanna Macy’s phrase.

Another important guide in our journey will be San Bruno Mountain, whose very existence maintains numerous endangered species, plants as well as butterflies.  Using movement, shamanic journeys, writing practices, and guided meditations on the mountain, we’ll be experimenting with learning how to listen to Nature’s voice, as She speaks through the environment.

The story line of our own destinies is entwined with the wisdom of these elder figures – the Norns, the mountain, and the endangered species who live on San Bruno.

A gift of being elders in this present time -  the latest discoveries of brain research can actually help us shape the ways our brains function and the way our lives unfold. Ancient stories describe the Norns coming to babies’ births to forecast how their lives will unfold – and now we are able to share the Norns’ opportunities by putting into 365toy practice the amazing new tool provided by recent brain research.

Come join us in this pilot project blending ancient story and newly acquired modern wisdom; take part in creating what shall be, in the culture and in your lives as elders.

Check out the offering on the calendar – see if this journey is for you!

Here are some of many good resources:

Macy, Joanna: “Active Hope”

Hanson, Rick, “Hardwiring Happiness”

Sturluson, Storri: “Prose Edda”

Clebsch, Carolyn – Valley Moon Qigong and Meditation Practices