A Training for Living in the 5th World – On the Land
We meet on the land and on zoom the Saturday before Daré. See dates and times here.
We begin by inviting the spirits. We cultivate the intelligence of the heart. We call together the community of humans, non-humans, the elementals and the spirits. We commit ourselves to bringing forward a viable future for all beings.
Recognizing the tragedy and anguish of these times and the threat to all life, we gather to do the work that is commensurate with the great need. This is a rigorous training directed toward extracting oneself from the forms and values of EuroAmerican / Western / Imperial mind and culture. We offer ourselves to radically change our minds to attune with an earth based, spirit-based community consciousness that sincerely honors Indigenous wisdom and all beings in all ways. Imagine yourself as a complex ecology intersecting with other complex ecologies. The fundamental practices of the 19 Ways call us to bear witness to these times, to engage in deep honesty and self-scrutiny of our conscious and unconscious participation, to divest from supporting those forms, institutions and values which act against all life, to restore the old, old values of community and to vision and enact new ways of living.
The work is based on the 19 Ways to the 5th World. Exploration and action. Translating ideas into life practices. Land and spirit-based instruction and guidance coupled with the study of various texts and books at the edge of the emerging consciousness. We work through Story, dream telling, ceremony, Council, to build community with ourselves, each other, the animals, the spirits and the land. This Training asks for commitment to the work.
The work focuses on understanding and incorporating the 19 Ways so as to meet the crises of these times and to change our minds and ways of life so as to reverse extinction, climate dissolution and rampant, global social and political chaos. Together we find the courage and will to bear witness to the destructive aspect of our lives and so to discern what must be radically changed or discarded in our lives on behalf of integrity. The task is to change our minds and lives down to the cellular level focusing on the crucial practice of moving from understanding to action.
Though we will seek to become adept in the several Ways that call to us particularly, the ultimate goal of the training is the integration of all the Ways, so that each breath radiates the possibilities of new life, of cultural and social changes that promise a future for all beings. The training seeks to meet the various challenges and difficulties in our lives with new reflexes and responses that presume the presence of spirit, honor the wild, respect the lineages of different wisdom traditions and Indigenous mind. At the core, we seek to live according to the myriad ways of the intelligence of the heart and in concrete ways to honor and sustain the land where we can as a village sanctuary for a viable life for all beings.
If you are just joining, consider that it requires at least three-years to integrate this work and so is a very serious commitment on behalf of one’s own development and the Earth. Please write a letter of intention with some details of your life indicating how you came to wanting to do this work and your willingness to devote yourself on behalf of a future for all beings.
To apply please contact Jude Weber.
Click here for fees.
Send your letter of intention to Deena Metzger.
See the reading list at the bottom of this page.
