SCHOOL OF LOST BORDERS FALL NEWSLETTER October, 2014

Dear Friends with Lost Borders,

Apologies for the delay of the Fall Newsletter. Joseph and I just returned from 3 incredible weeks in South Africa, where we were invited by Lawyers for Natural Justice to do an introductory Rites of Passage program at the Khoi San Cultural Centre !Khwattu before we went on to attending the 6th International Guides Gathering south of Cape Town.

Our time in Africa has been rich, and colored by the complex realities of a people trying hard to move forward and build up their country under increasing socio-economic hardship and violence. At the same time, the unwavering and wholehearted presence and commitment to the ceremony from fasters and guides alike that we had the pleasure of sitting with simply blew us away.

We were not the only staff members that were half-way around the world this month! Both Meredith and Nancy Jane got back to the US only a few days ago, Nancy from the gathering in South Africa, and Meredith from her most recent teaching trip to Europe. Meanwhile, Gigi Coyle, Win Phelps, and Will Scott were in Findhorn to attend the New Story Summit and are now traveling on to Greece, Italy, and Croatia to bring 'The Nature of Council' and 'Rites of Passage Ceremonies' to local organizations and communities. We hope to share some of our global adventures with you in our next newsletter, once we are all settled back in - so stay tuned.

Returning from the South African Spring to the Owen's Valley Fall, we found the 2 Week Training in full swing. As a matter of fact, this morning 11 shiny faces will cross the threshold in the Eureka Valley to return to break fast food and welcome back hugs, after their 4-day solo. Blessings to them!

We hope this finds you and your families well, and enjoying the beauty of autumn. As all which was stirred in our psyche earlier in the year now slowly sinks into the fertile soil of our living, to gestate over the next few months, we'd like to share some pearls with you, that emerged from the Incorporation Month-Long program in June.

'Best Practices for Incorporation' is a collaborative submission from the group, followed by some personal reflections of individual participants. Incorporation continues to remain a cutting edge topic in the Rite of Passage community and we hope to be able to offer other programs of this kind in the future.

With fall blessings and a grateful heart,

Petra Lentz-Snow

NEW!

SA Guide Network

No doubt, the biggest news from the gathering is the birth of a

South-African Wilderness Guides Network, which aims to connect individual guides as well as the various ROP organizations such as Educo Africa, I Am Somebody and Usiko as a way to support one another and and spread the word about the value of ROP!

SA network, we cheer you on!!!

A big THANK YOU goes to all of you who have donated to our Global Fund Drive earlier this year and made these trips possible!!!

None of these trips would have happened without you!

BEST PRACTICES FOR INCORPORATION

Created in SOLB month long June 2014 ....With our guides and participants

Wilderness Rites of Passage - 24 hour renewal fasts

Extended time in Nature - Wilderness - "back country"

Nature awareness - present moment perception using 5 senses

Simply Wander - awaken curiosity

Daily silence, meditation, sit spot

Movement practice/yoga

Dance like no one is watching

Walking and running: do it when you least want

Evoke a circle of support - build your network

Council practice with self, nature, friends, family , and of course your "enemies" etc.

Recognize greatest teachers in those who trigger you

Living council - listening to the community of all beings

Trusting and being awake to the Ceremony of life...... "I am guided"

Make an offering before taking, cutting, killing of any kind

Maintaining and cultivating relationship with the Four Directions

- connection with the elements

Presence: being with something, someone , a place

Dreamwork

Morning pages - flow of consciousness writing

Art, color experiment - be with emergence

Gratitude!

Wake with gratitude, list all you are grateful for at the end of the day

drink a glass of water with gratitude, say thank you

Take a moment for blessing/grace before a meal, a journey, a decision

"4 breath" practice before responding/reacting

Share concerns at times of border crossings

Mark beginnings and endings

Debrief any happening

Witness the energy of emotions - ebb and flow

Ask for what you need: Offer what you can

Suspend judgment, opinion, advice

Establish a field for sharing cringe factors with partners

Declare a banter free zone - allow space for teasing and the play of words/truth/feelings

Clear clutter - care for space

Create an altar - Physical reminders from Quest and nature

Grow food for yourself and others

Practice a spirit of inquiry - find the gift and/or opportunity

Connect with another without doing / no agenda, no multi-tasking

Become a role model (on the road)

Listen to inspirational and supportive talks

Remember

Your mantras, your intention , your purpose circle

Confirm a way you make decisions that you trust no matter how things turn out

"It will change, and this too will pass"

Bear witness to all around us

Personal Reflections from participants of the Incorporation Month-Long

Incorporation: a month of living into, for, and through the wheel of the world, a time of reflection, alignment, learning, practice and preparation. We gather together, the voices of many generations and lands, in the research of what it is to be a human being in this world at this time, to find our way between the seemingly incompatible realms of modernity and wilderness, and to live into the practices that lend truth and power to this place in between. We live into the question of service and healing for self and planet.

As one of the youngest participants, Incorporation was a big step into the embodiment of my womanhood, my passion for community and service, and my quest for active hope in a world of uncertainty and despair. This month-long was an opportunity to cultivate relationship with the sacred elements that compose and sustain all things, to find my place and my work in living the dream of the healing for this world, to walk in trust of my voice and my story, to forgive my past and find the power and teaching in the darkness.

Working through the wheel, living in the medicine of each direction and the stories instilled in me a trust in the knowing that all things change. My perpetual work is to find the beauty in that movement, to trust in its teachings, and to practice fully the art of loving the imperfections of myself and the world.

I am already experiencing the unfolding of these big teachings. I live in curiosity, waiting to see what truths of this time the future will reveal. I go forth a more alive, awake, and inspired woman, a life-long researcher of beauty, love, community and forgiveness, a pilgrim, a witness, a truth-seeker and peaceful warrior, in fullest gratitude for the teachings of the land and the water, the wind and the stars.

Justine

To be part of a collective group of individuals the program or rather the experience of the month long has allowed me to learn from each individual present. I felt that the time allowed for a real deepening within myself of the integration of being in the natural world and it broadening out into a different way of being with myself that is he same but different,, like an expanded version of myself. The guides by practising and being part of the group in the processes modelled and demonstrated their own celebration and struggle which was integral to individualising the training for me.

I really enjoyed the space in the program fo integrating and being within the community of big pine and bishop and be part of three creekck an amazing place to just be and transformational in itself. I walk away with a broader understanding and appeciation and love of myself and others, and a sense of offering service towards my community, I also have a greater determination to the ongoing mastery of eldership and being an elder in my community. I loved the individuals present and walk away reflectihg that these individuals represent any person i may meet in futur

Reijer

This thing called incorporation, this is the real Hero's Journey. Sleepless night out alone is nothing compared to the sleepless night at home with the ten year old throwing up throughout the night, then heading to work for the day, only to return to find out that there's lice in the house. No sunset, no wind, no stars, no flapping tarp, no gnarled tree beside me, no boredom to move me more deeply into the moment. How do I find Spirit in this?

Yet, the month long training on incorporation is still with me. I step out on the lawn to take four breaths before re-entering my home. I call for presence, invite spirit, remind myself that all life has the potential to be a gift. I feel the pace of my day slow and the pace of my own true nature become a bit more evident. I look at the altar by my door made of reminders of the beauty and sacredness of this earth.

These few seconds outside my home I flash back to my month long and see the perfection of what it was. The 14 of us together sharing our journeys, our stories, our prayers, our fasting, our silence while also going into town to do our shopping, our dinners out, our potluck dance parties, our laughter, our heaviness. I smile at the brilliance of taking this month to create an opportunity where both culture and nature were interwoven together so seamlessly, while still staying in ceremony. We lived best practices in hopes that our practice would return home with us.

And it's only been a short month since I was down at Three Creeks, but I do feel differently about this return. I know I will need to leave again to find solace in nature, but for now, I am creating more space in my life to stay tapped in. Tomorrow I fast and this weekend I'll take my weekly hike. This life is just one big ceremony. One that I can mark anytime with my breath, with my song, with my smile, with my tears, with my hands, with my own short ceremonies.

With much gratitude for our month and the School of Lost Borders,

James

School of Lost Borders P.O. Box 796, Big Pine, CA 93513