"At this juncture in human history, urgent global crises challenge us to learn to live sustainably, in harmony and gratitude with one another and with the living universe. The changes required of humanity are broad, deep, and far reaching. Only by acting swiftly and creatively can we birth a planetary culture that will bring well-being to every form of life in the Earth community."

 
PLANETARY STATEMENT
made by the Evolutionary Leaders

Obama Administration 

 

"To direct consciousness that it may do good"  
 
That was what Barack Obama told me was his mission in a most vivid dream a few weeks ago.  I found myself in his Oval Office with so many issues clamouring for his attention, but when my few minutes came I asked what he was really about and that was what he said.  And, he added, "and work with tirelessness". 
 
He needs our support.  And, in less awesome ways, isn't that the purpose of all Forum associates?  As the world faces inevitable ecological reckoning of systemic patterns of our consumption, the breakdown of fixed systems of all kinds, we learn to dance on a shifting carpet.  Like President Obama, we need the skill to move beyond enmity or despair and collaborate our way out of chaos.  No one individual or group can go it alone.  Each conversation and connection is a creative contribution to the great shift underway.
 
Janice Dolley

 Ravi Ravindra

 

 

We very much look forward to seeing many of you at the Annual Round Table (RT9) at Hawkwood College, Stroud, on 18-20 September.  The programme has now been finalised (click here) and in addition there will be a range of optional presentations on Saturday afternoon, which include an update on the Youth Project from Roger Orgill, a session with Rev Peter Dewey, and an opportunity to focus on "Human Membership of the Natural World" with Noel Charlton of GreenSpirit.

 

There will also be an introduction to the technique of Theta Meditation with Anthony Deavin, and to Sound and Colour Healing with Ingrid Hennze.  We shall be introduced to Cosmograms with Karen Bishop, and 2012 and the Mayan Prophecy with Moyna Lynch, while Jeffrey Gale will tell us about a plan to introduce diverse creativity into schools in Rajasthan as a way to bring more spiritual values into mainstream education. 

 

It is hoped that the rich range of choices will contain plenty to appeal to everyone - the only problem may be choosing which sessions to attend. 

 

Accommodation at Hawkwood College is now almost fully booked, but there is still space available on a non-residential basis for those who might wish to camp or stay in a local b&b.  If you have not already booked but would like to come, please contact Carol immediately (!) on 0845 017 9029 or email connect@wrekinforum.org.   

A Transformative Journey 

 
"The journey or pilgrimage has been a constant theme since the times of earliest man.  Embodied within the landscape are traditional places of pilgrimage which can help us experience and appreciate the encoding of memory, history, heritage, and what the ancients called 'genus loci' - the spirit of a locale. 
 
How is such memory carried on to us today?  Why have certain sacred sites long been viewed as powerfully cathartic and transforming to human consciousness?  Where are some of these key sites and what might their legacy teach us today, as we move into our own 21st century - a quantum leap forward?  Come and explore the face of the land, and the blessing of tradition and historical legacy as we celebrate the 'soul power' of place....and time."

Dr Karen Ralls will be one of the presenters at the Round Table on 18-20 September.  She is a medieval historian, author, and international speaker based in Oxford, obtained her PhD from the University of Edinburgh, and was Deputy Director of the Rosslyn Chapel Museum Brydon Exhibition (1996-2001).  A musician, she also plays the flute and wire-strung Celtic harp.  www.ancientquest.com 

 

 

Many of you already involved in Wrekin Forum regional activities are coming to the Day for Local Connectors arranged for Friday 18 September at Hawkwood College, immediately prior to the Round Table weekend.  The programme will include the opportunity to meet and work with people from other parts of the country who are also engaged in organising Regional Round Tables and spiritual cafe gatherings, or hosting small groups of like-minded people.        

 

We shall also have with us William Bloom and Nigel Anthony of the Foundation for Holistic Spirituality, who will give us a preview of the exciting new Holistic Mapping project which is in the course of development.  This is potentially an area of close collaboration between Wrekin and the F4HS, and we are looking forward to finding ways in which we can work together in the regions on this worthwhile project.

 

Meanwhile, Janice is keeping busy with a new series of Regional Round Tables which are booked to take place over the coming months.  Those planned for the immediate future are on 1 October in Forest Row (contact Janice Dolley, 01452 840033, info@wrekintrust.org ), 15 October in collaboration with Mangreen Hall, Norwich (contact Janice), and 15 November at Farleigh Hungerford, near Bath, (contact Caroline Totterman, 07770 380691, caroline.totterman@inspecs.com ). 

 

Ongoing groups wil be meeting on 3 October in Swansea and 25 October in Penarth (contact Sam Jarman, 07919 418341, samjarman1@yahoo.co.uk), and the Southern Region group on 31 October, hosted by White Eagle Lodge at Liss, near Petersfield (contact Carol Duncan, 0845 017 9029, connect@wrekinforum.org ). 

 

Dates are also being arranged in the New Year for RRTs in Reading, Bath, and the Bexhill and Hastings area.  If you know anyone in any of these areas who might be interested, do please let Janice know.

 

Anyone, anywhere can celebrate Peace Day.  It can be as simple as lighting a candle at noon, or just sitting in silent meditation.  Or it can involve getting your co-workers, organization, community or government engaged in a large event.  The impact of millions of people in all parts of the world, coming together for one day of peace, is immense.

International Day of Peace is also a Day of Ceasefire - personal or political. Take this opportunity to make peace in your own relationships as well as impact the larger conflicts of our time.  Imagine what a whole Day of Ceasefire would mean to humankind.

 

www.internationaldayofpeace.org
 

 

David Lorimer reviews:

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NEW RELIGIOUS MOVEMENTS

edited by Peter B. Clarke
Routledge, 2009, 686 pp., £26.99, p/b.
 
An amazing resource for students and those interested in the scope and impact of new religious movements.  The coverage is worldwide, with 300 entries not only on the movements themselves, but also on broader classifications such as the new age movement, cyberspace religions and the whole brainwashing debate.  A more general feature is inner-directed spirituality based on contact with the Self and postulating that self transformation is essential for a more general social transformation.  There are entries on a great many individuals - including Sir George Trevelyan - as well as techniques, groups and concepts.

 

At a time of spiritual emergency, with good support through skillful awareness, crisis can be transformed from tragedy to opportunity. 

 

Kaia Nightingale of the Spiritual Emergence Network, Canada, author of Journey through Transformation and director of the documentary Spiritual Emergency, will be visiting South Wales in December.  In collaboration with Breakthrough, she will present a training in Spiritual Emergency over two weekends at the Glantawe Riverside Park Conference Facility, Pontardawe, which will be open to all health and wellbeing professionals. 

 

This will deal with skills for support during spiritual awakening, shifts in consciousness, emotional clearing and profound internal transformation.

 

Weekend 1, 5-6 December, addresses Professional Issues, and

Weekend 2, 12-13 December, Practical Approaches

 

For further information or to book, please call Breakthrough at 07919 418341, or email samjarman1@yahoo.co.uk