First you have to take them into your heart as your own child. Then the strength comes out of you to protect them. Anuradha Koirala, founder of Maiti Nepal.

Preventative activities and initiatives carried out by transit homes are an important apect of the tireless work done by Maiti Nepal. Interception, rescue, counseling, dealing with cases of missing girls, rape and domestic violence are a part of everyday life for workers in these homes. They also provide information on safe migration to individuals.

Maiti Nepal networks extensively with other groups who work actively in the field, often acting as a resource and also helping form important connections with each other. They initiate programs that help with education and prevention, establish and run shelters for survivors and offer programs for healing and rehabilitation. These programs include therapies aimed at mental, spiritual and physical relaxation such as yoga, bead work and other crafts. 

It has helped me to relax my mind and soul which was wandering in my past sufferings and misery. I am able to concentrate more and have become strongly determined now. ( survivor in MN shelter ).

The need to tackle the problems at the source has resulted in the initiation of prevention programs at the grassroots level. Ignorance is one of the biggest problems and so strategies have been developed to combat the issue by disseminating information, involving the communities at risk and educating them. It is vital that the girls, their families, teachers and leaders of community groups learn about trafficking. This way, girls at risk will not be tricked by strangers who come to their villages to lure them away.

Working directly with the public in 10 districts, Maiti Nepal involves young people as educators through plays, talk programs, discussions, songs and real life stories. This gives trafficking a human face and helps reduce stigma and discrimination by providing a forum for community members to discuss the issue and build shared accountability for preventative action. To date 4 safety net programs have been established along the Nepal India border. In this program girls at high risk of being trafficked, and concerned agencies, have become safety net members with the aim of establishing surveillance systems and other preventative measures to protect potential victims. 

Alongside their grassroots work, Maiti Nepal runs many different awareness raising programs, forming women's pressure groups and running workshops. Community outreach programs are established that provide public information campaigns, consultative workshops, development of awareness materials which also ensure increased media coverage of issues and community sensitisation, legislative reform, strengthening of border securities, sharing information, and exposing the perpetrators publicly. 

Since 2004, Maiti Nepal has been exploring new livelihood opportunities for the survivors of  trafficking and children and women at high risk, according to their aptitude, market demands and availability of employment opportunities. They also provide seed money for individuals to start their own enterprises. Maiti Nepal are an organisation that leaves no stone unturned in their efforts to eradicate human sex trafficking and to offer healing and a future to survivors. They have also established hospices to provide holistic care for the women and children who are terminally ill or suffering from HIV/AIDS, Multi Drug Resistance, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis and  other chronic diseases, emphasising palliative rather than curative treatment.

The Emancipation Network.

After volunteering for a year with Maiti Nepal, musician Sarah Symons founded The Emancipation Network. TEN then initiated the project Made by Survivors. Motivated by the movie The Day My God Died, which highlights survivors of trafficking grasping their power, Sarah was moved to take action. She saw survivors taking rescue agencies and police back into the brothels to rescue other kids, or stopping every car at border stations between Nepal and India, and with the help of border police, stopping trafficking situations in progress. These survivors were also particpating in public awarenss progams. Seeing people standing up against slavery and putting their lives on the line to fight it - with limited resources, with emotional and physical scars from years of abuse, Sarah felt that if they could do it she could find a way to help.

While in India as a volunteer for Maiti Nepal she asked founder Anuradha Koirala what kind of help she needed the most. Anuradha suggested working on self sufficiency for the older survivors.

Formal education is not a real option for many survivors because many are over 16 and have never been to school. 44.3% of women enter prostitution as children.

Sarah had seen survivors making beautiful crafts as a part of the informal education and rehabilitation programs run by Maiti Nepal and a vision began to form. She and husband John developed Made By Survivors - selling the products made by the survivors at home parties and other events, which also created the opportunity to raise awareness about human trafficking. Today they partner with 18 anti trafficking shelters in 9 countries including Nepal, Cambodia, Thailand, India, Ukraine, Uganda, the Philippines, Tanzania, and the United States, as well as other abolition groups. TEN visits and communicates with their communities regularly ensuring that ethical standards are met and as the program has developed and grown many people have come on board to help and home awareness parties and community events have continued to grow.

The mission of TEN developed: to improve the lives of survivors through empowerment and education, to assist rescue shelters by offering job programs and funding for rescue and after care, school sponsorship and work training, to improve rehabilitation and reintegration giving survivors tools to rebuild their own safe, slavery free lives, and to prevent trafficking in high risk communities such as red light districts and refugee camps. TEN also works to raise awareness about slavery and engage people to action and their programs are not only supported by donations but also by the efforts of the survivors themselves who design and create their own unique fair trade jewelry, bags and gifts. 100% of profits are donated to survivors and shelters.

TEN supports long term interventions. Many survivors need intensive care in a residential setting for 2 or more years. The youngest children may need shelter care until they reach adulthood.

Survivors in all the TEN programs receive medical care, counseling, education, clothing, recreation, clean and comfortable room and board, vocational training, loving care, respect for privacy and dignity.

TEN focuses their work in the most at risk communities including children born into red light districts. They sponsor children living in red light districts to go to boarding school to keep them safe, as they face grinding poverty, terrible stigma and are at extreme risk of being trafficked into slavery alongside their mothers,

Education is the best means of recovery and reintegration for survivors and TEN endeavors to ensure that it is provided for all children in their programs, including children of their adult survivors, and, where possible, the adults as well. Currently they are sending over 100 children to school through sponsorship programs in India and Nepal and their Freedom School in north India. The Freedom School is for children rescued from slavery in quarries and agricultural work in Firojpur. They have been born into families that have been enslaved - many for decades, to pay off debts often less than $100. Violence and their belief that they are legally required to fulfil their debts through forced labour keeps these families enslaved.

Although many of these children experience a myriad of problems in their first few months, after a time of loving care where they are nurtured and nourished, they begin to blossom. 

One of the biggest problems that shelters face is that the survivors have no where to go. They are often not welcome back in their communities, especially if they were sold into prostitution.Typically they were trafficked at a young age and have never lived independently. Some were so young when they were sold or stolen that they can’t remember where they came from. As a result shelters are faced with the issue of not having good options for survivors which leads to the problem of not having space available for newly rescued survivors.

As a result of the success of the sales of the Made By Survivors project TEN has established The Destiny Centre in Calcutta, with plans to open another centre in Mumbia. The Centre provides equipment, resources and teachers to train the young women in skills such as sewing, block printing, silver and gold smithing. The Centre is a haven where the women experience a safe and dignified working environment. The ability to provide for themselves means these women are able to take a step further in the realisation of the dream of freedom and independence.

Initially their focus was rescuing children from traffickers but they soon realised that they needed to prevent children from entering the sex trade in the first place. As a result, alongside their rescue work they have developed a prevention program which supports projects in the villages where children are at the greatest risk.

Currently the organisation supports three villages in Thailand with various projects which have an emphasis on education and family assistance, linking this assistance to a child’s progress in school. For example, Grey Man provided seed money to build a trekking lodge in one of the Lahu villages of northern Thailand. Two years later the lodge and trekking venture provides a rotating income for 25 of the villagers who assist with the trekking as well as a percentage going to the community fund.

The Grey Man organisation was founded by an ex Australian commando who initially worked undercover, rescuing children from brothels. Now he, along with others who have joined the organisation, pose as pedophiles to infiltrate trafficking rings and rescue children before they are passed into the brothels. The operations also aim to capture the traffickers and hand them over to the authorities. There are now many others who are involved in these undercover campaigns and who work behind the scenes with organising, fund raising, etc.

The work of the organisation is endorsed by several international groups as well as the Thai authorities. The Grey Man adopted the name from the commando/spy world - as the infiltrator, or on ground person, has to blend into the background and is therefor known as the grey man.

It is cutting edge work and as a result over 2,000 children have been rescued to date.

For more information watch The Grey Man Charity or visit their website.

She has discovered that these girls can be trained in numerous trades that were once seen as the domain of men, such as carpentry and welding. In restoring their dignity and gaining confidence, they can thrive in a male dominated world and not be afraid.

As an anti trafficking worker Sunitha has been beaten up 14 times and is herself a survivor of gang rape. She has lost staff who have been murdered. She finds the biggest challenge to helping victims of sexual trafficking is the way society blocks the knowledge of what is happening to these children from as young as 3 years old. Many of the young children she finds have been abandoned, cast aside as useless, their bodies mutilated. Too often these little people, broken beyond repair, die of Aids and horrific injuries.

Of the trafficked survivors she works with she says, they need your compassion, they need your empathy, they need your acceptance. Ply your mind for one way you can break your culture of silence. Accept them as human beings who deserve our support.

The culture of silence is one that haunts all acts of sexual abuse and violence.

Please contact us with any questions you may have.
Price, Registration and further details will be provided upon application.

Cath and myself are privileged to present The Art of Celtic Spirituality. During this dynamic session we will share spiritual insights of the Irish and Scottish ancestors through music, story telling, prayer and ritual. We will draw from the Sean Nós tradition of west Ireland and the traditions of the Celtic Church as we weave an experience of the living spiritual pathway of our ancestors. This rich spiritual and cultural legacy is an ancient continuous wisdom that is available, alive and more vitally relevant than ever in our modern day.

Check out the new slideshow on our 2009 pilgrimage page. These wonderful pictures were taken by Bonnie Jenkins, artistic photographer and participant in our October 2008 pilgrimage.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions you may have!

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chief Rajendra Pachauri at last weeks climate conference in Copenhagen after new findings were presented. (1)

The notion of global climate change has taken on a new meaning for many people in the state of Victoria after our recent extreme temperatures (day and night) and devastating wildfires where losses far outweigh other catastrophic fires in our history, Ash Wednesday and Black Friday.
I have yet to talk to someone in Victoria who was not touched by these fires last month.

The recent climate meeting in Copenhagen has revealed that key people involved in decision making regarding climate have not been armed with the full picture. They have not taken into account critical facts such as the impact of the melting of the Greenland Glacier, the rapid heating of the poles and the subsequent release of massive amounts of carbon into our atmosphere.

This year during traditional ceremonies on the west coast of Greenland near the ice cap, the elders will hold council on how to bring the message to the world about the spiritual implications of the melting of the big ice. ( Angaangaq, Eskimo-Kalaallit Elder, Icewisdom )

We are facing critical environmental impacts that will change our world far more profoundly than the politicians have thus far let on. Impacts that we have constantly been warned about by environmental scientists and activists such as Vandana Shiva.
The public has constantly been fed misinformation that has lulled many into a false, and very strange sense of security. How many people have been content to continue on as normal with the thought that climate change in all its implications could be 10 or 20 years away. Advocators for the environment have been crying out that this change is much closer.

In Monbiot’s report on the recent IPCC meeting in Copenhagen, he points out that only now are leaders beginning to acknowledge some very grim facts as everything is undeniably accelerating.

Leaders have underplayed the impacts of global warming in three important respects:

The panel took NO account of the impact of meltwater from Greenland glaciers, so the rise in sea levels this century could be 3 times more than forecast.

Two degrees of warming in the Arctic ( which is heating up much more rapidly than the rest of the planet ) could trigger a massive bacterial response in the soils producing billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide and methane which could catalyse one of the worlds most powerful positive feedback loops ( warming causing more warming ).

Four degrees of warming could almost eliminate the Amazon rainforest with appalling implications for biodiversity and regional weather patterns, and with the result that a massive new pulse of carbon will be released into the atmosphere.

The understating of the environmental situation was underlined for me last year when I attended a lecture by activist and physicist Vandana Shiva where she explained how we are being fooled into thinking that we have more time with the greenhouse effects as the information is being manipulated. “We have been told the damage of a 2 degree rise in global temperature but,” she said, “we are gearing toward 6 degrees because nothing is being done and so we are advancing more rapidly.” Vandana Shiva.

We are in crisis. It’s not coming. It is here. Even with the relief that many felt at the release of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth it was obvious that he was being very conservative. Understandably, as it was so important to get the information out to the public that he couldn’t risk being too forthright or he and the information would have been buried. A sad but true indication of the toxicity of our modern world.

When I read Scott London’s blog posted 15th March and realised that at last leaders were prepared to say we are in crisis - not change, but crisis, and that time is running out, I began to feel a new optimism as the truth is becoming manifest in the world. The sooner we can accept what is happening the sooner we will find solutions.

More and more people I work with and interact with are experiencing different symptoms as a result of the stress caused by what is happening in our world. Feeling scared, overwhelming grief, depressed, powerless, low energy levels, exhaustion, run down immune systems. As more and more respected environmentalists, scientists and writers are shouting out to pay attention there is little recourse but to ask “ what can we do?”

When ever I feel overwhelmed by the facts I do several things:

Try to have the most up to date facts that reveal the real situations we face. I learnt about the power of knowing where I stand at the age of 32 as I faced the death of my first husband when he was diagnosed with cancer and was prescribed a treatment of chemo therapy to ‘help’ him feel better as there was nothing else doctors could do.

Watch a TED talk and feel inspired by some of the great creative thinkers we have in our world and restore my faith that there are people out there with the intelligence and insights to help get us through this time with inspiring and creative solutions. Then, bouncing off this, continue to write for my website and my forthcoming book.

Gather more stories to me - precious jewels of experience and wisdom, and immerse myself in the wisdom of my ancestors. In keeping the stories alive, and in rejuvenating their wisdom, begin the process of co creating new myths for our new world.

I believe that we have the capacity to get through the current crisis that we face globally and as a race. It is our great intelligence, our capacity for spiritual insight, growth and compassion and our creative force, that can see us though - and can create a new and harmonious world.

It is imperative that we seek ecologically harmonious, sustainable and creative solutions. That we share indigenous wisdom to bring about inner peace and greater understanding of each other. It is essential that we create new myths that will light the way.

From my own perspective I see that our ancestors have left so much in place for us - that despite the breakdown of many cultures traditionally, the signs are still there for us - seeds that are contained in the stories and myths, kernels that have been protected for us to take up and grow into new stories that will guide our way forward. This will enable the magic in our lives once more and help to ensure the continuing mystery that ever unfolds and our place in it.

Al Gore was quoted in The Guardian last week, saying that he believes we’ve reached a “political tipping point” regarding global climate change and that “a very impressive consensus is now emerging around the world that the solutions to the economic crisis are also the solutions to the climate crisis.” In short, he said, more and more business leaders now recognize that addressing this global crisis will require “a change in business practices.” (2)

First though we must accept the story that we have helped to co create here and now on the planet.

Now, as we face economic crisis and are being forced to face the truth of our climate crisis, surely, not far behind will follow acknowledgement and solutions for the other impending issues - and electro magnetic pollution is at the forefront. The increase of fake electro magnetics is now blanketing Earth’s natural electro magnetic field. The consequences of this are enormous and are affecting all life on our planet. Just as with our climate, we don’t yet know the outcomes and long term effects. We do have, however, bizarre occurrences in nature that are illustrating the pending disaster caused by the destruction of a process of evolution that has taken Earth billions of years.  Birds falling dead from the sky at the same time in both hemispheres (3), 100s of whales beaching themselves at a time, human auto immune systems failing, and the news that the illnesses being precipitated by fake electro magnetic radiation are altering our genes and that such conditions are becoming hereditary. (4)

While it is great to feel better by being inspired by great minds, like we see on TED talks, we must go further and be motivated by what action is then being taken. There are many such individuals and organisations - and from them I take heart and inspiration. And most importantly I take my own action.

Last year I wrote about the inspirational work of Vandana Shiva and her courage in taking on the Monsanto corporation, establishing an organic gm free seed bank in south India and tirelessly working to raise awareness about the environmental catastrophe we face. I continue to be inspired by her and the organisation she founded, navdanya.org. This organisation has a foundation that can be applied to many areas of life that are jeopardised.

Their mission is to protect nature and people’s rights to knowledge, biodiversity, water and food.

They are committed to creating living economies based on living democracy, with producers and consumers shaping their food culture through participation and partnerships, through cooperation and caring. To promote organic fair trade, based on fairness to the earth and all her species, fairness to producers and fairness to consumers. To foster respect for diversity, local production and food quality. To creating a future of food and agriculture in which small farmers prosper and biodiversity and cultural diversity thrives.

Navdanya is actively involved in the rejuvenation of indigenous knowledge and culture. It has created awareness on the hazards of genetic engineering, defended people’s knowledge from biopiracy and food rights in the face of globalisation.  While avoiding environmental harm, biodiverse organic farming is also an insurance in times of climate change.

Navdanya means nine crops that represent India’s collective source of food security. The main aim of the Navdanya biodiversity conservation program is to support local farmers, rescue and conserve crops and plants that are being pushed to extinction and make them available through direct marketing. It has its 46 seed banks across the country and an organic farm spread over an area of 20 acres in Uttranchal, north India.

Navdanya promotes peace and harmony, justice and sustainability. They strive to achieve these goals through the conservation, renewal and rejuvenation of the gifts of biodiversity we have received from nature and our ancestors, and to defend these gifts as commons. The setting up of community seed banks is central to their mission of regenerating nature’s and peoples wealth. Keeping seeds, biodiversity and traditional knowledge in people’s hands to generate livelihoods and provide basic needs is their core program for removal of poverty.

Their vision of Earth Democracy is translated into a mission of creating biodiversity and seed sovereignty, food sovereignty and water democracy.

From such action we can take heart. From such action we can be inspired - to ask ourselves, how can we make a difference? It is time to follow the calling of our passionate hearts, this means having courage in the face of adversity, taking risks, working to overcome our own fears that hold us back from our creative expression and standing for what we believe in.

Now is the time on Earth to embrace our potential to be more. This is a challenging time and within every challenge there is opportunity. This is, I believe a time of great opportunity. Just as we must embrace the global crisis, we must embrace our own capacity to take up this challenge and find solutions.
If you haven’t already, check out TED. There are hundreds of inspirational talks on making a difference. Here we can share a sense of our future.

Some of my favourite ted talks are: Jill Bolte Taylor, Ken Robinson, Elizabeth Gilbert, Michael Pollan, Isabelle Allende, Barry Schwartz.

There are many, many more.

References

1. George Monbiot, 12/3/09 The Guardian: George Monbiot: Time to Change “Climate Change”
2. The Guardian:World Will Agree New Climate Deal, Says Al Gore by Leo Hickman
3. www.hesse-project.org
4. BEES, BIRDS AND MANKIND

My recent reflections have led me to contemplate the messages I received about 2008. The strongest message was that we were in a time of openings. I feel, like the Rebirth of the Hawk, that we no longer wear blinkers - the hood is off. We know what it is like to live in captivity of the heart and soul - going against the flow of nature. We know now that it is time for change, to take off the shackles of pollution, of unconscious living - of disconnection from our natures. With the recovery of this awareness our wings are free - to fly and soar and know the clouds, the mists, the forests, the oceans. There is no going back.

Solstice is, for me, the turning of the year. Julian Lennon was quoted recently on the Whale Dreamers website saying that “Indigenous wisdom has never been more relevant for humanity than now.” I think there is a growing awareness of this and something I am very proud of is my own indigenous wisdom - the wisdom of the Irish and Scottish people, the Gaels.

What is incredible to me is the fact that in some parts of Ireland there is still an authentic continuous living tradition stretching back as far as anyone can remember. This tradition is known as Sean Nós, which translates as the Old Ways. You can read more about it my article, Sean Nós.

Such a tradition is a rare and endangered thing in the west. Something that we must regard as precious and nurture back to a full bodied expression of our life here on Earth. In west Ireland we have holy sites that predate the Egyptian pyramids. We have evidence of monastic type culture, especially on our islands off the west coast, that predate Christianity. Many of these sites of pilgrimage - on the islands, the mountains and elsewhere in the country, are still living places of pilgrimage and worship. The veneration of water has been an integral part of Irish culture since time immemorial. We have thousands of holy wells that are still venerated - not just on the odd occasion but constantly - many, such as Tobernalt in Sligo are visited daily as a place of prayer and healing. They are living places of pilgrimage and solace for the soul.

The ancient faith of Ireland and Scotland is alive and continues to flourish.
The spirituality of the people is a celebration of their life - that is expressed through song, dance, music, story telling, poetry and prayer. In fact, they are prayers and healing practices.
Traditionally, the Irish and Scottish people understand that music and poetry are languages of the soul, that the story teller, the seanachie, carries the wisdom of old, and that within these ways are bound the essence of our culture, our mystical lore and the understanding that we are in everything.

The Irish in the west have that secret - or if they don’t, it is at their finger tips. For in traditional areas of Ireland, especially the Gaelteacht areas ( Irish speaking as the first language ), this living tradition of the Sean Nós thrives. This ancient tradition that expresses the individual and the collective spirit - and how we flow with the rest of nature. The constant expression of the Sean Nós has kept the feeling of the spirit of the place and people alive - their aboriginality survives - in some ways it thrives and it is incredible to experience and assist others to experience an authentic continual, traditional culture that is western.
That is my greatest grief when I leave - aside from the glorious landscape - which is like living in a painting, the feeling of the loss of real community, and the connection to the land and the past, is huge. Leaving Ireland this November - gosh it was hard - all the dark half traditions were cranking up - the Sean Nós dancing lessons and the Irish speaking classes were beginning along with the gatherings in people’s homes. The sean nós performances, such as the awesome Cunningham Family performance which dazzled us in Clifden with song, dance, all manner of traditional instruments and story telling. The best part of all was the audience. The building rocked for the entire performance. In true traditional style everyone clapped and stamped their feet and called out encouragement and affirmations of the brilliance of it all. “Good Man, Good Woman, God be with Ye!”

The pull of my other home here in Australia was mighty powerful though with the bright days, early sunrises, the time of the most southerly path of sun and the work of organising the veggie patch, the joy of the late golden light. My home since I was 5, the landscape and spirit of place is awesome. The feeling of freedom and expansion is irreplaceable. It is so relaxed, so abundant. I always feel torn between the two worlds and my wish for western culture that is outside of their traditions is that we develop real community in that deep and enduring sense. I have come to realise that this is part of my story, and my work, to have both these worlds and part of my vision is to foster real community that draws from all our wonderful and diverse traditions. Living in both worlds has given me authenticity in my understanding of our traditions including the cycle of the seasons and our place in that. The sense of how things evolved through the nature of things, the light half and the dark half. And this has been assisted greatly by growing up in a country that has taught me great irreverence towards all things conservative, too many rules and anything oppressive. My rebel archetype and sense of individuality has been able to flourish.

I have thought a lot about the idea of new year and what it means - for most in the west it is a holiday and time of consuming copious amounts of food and drink. Many people from my culture believe that the new year is at Samhain - which is the doorway to the dark half of the year. I am not even sure about this. There is no mention in any of our old stories in Scotland or Ireland that indicate this, though it has some merit in that it is the celebration of the ancestors, the time when the veils between the worlds are at their thinnest. It is the time of the gathering of the souls of those who have died in recent months, to be ushered to the mystical isles of the western sea.
What I understand is that there are 2 halves - the dark half and the light half.
These doorways, honoured with celebrations of life and the cycles, usher us towards the solstices. Both these doorways are known times of magical occurrences - another indication of their power and importance. In the northern hemisphere the dark half begins at the end of October ( Samhain ) and the light half begins at the start of May ( Bealtaine ) - well that’s these days - but I am quite sure, as with any of our festivals, these celebrations would have been perceived by the signs of nature - the snow beginning to thaw, the first primroses and snowdrops appearing, or the bracken and bog browning off, the ice creeping into the wind, etc.
The solstices are a different matter though - they are the shortest and longest days of the year, period. Our ancestors observed them very carefully, indicating their importance, as these moments indicate the turning of the tide of time. Here in the southern hemisphere we are approaching summer solstice. The time of awakening, of dancing in the light, fertility, growing our crops and celebrating our abundance. ( Traditionally in Ireland it was also the signal to move the livestock to the high pastures on the mountain sides and live in the summer dwellings - the boolies ). In the northern hemisphere it is the deepening of the inner time, opening within - to the deep work of the radiant dark, one’s inner story and preparing the new vision for birth into the light half and the outer world. The time of the Ceildhe and sharing in the “ceildhe house;” your house tonight, mine tomorrow - and all who came would share their way - music, song, dance, story. Here’s a link of some great ceildhe performances.

The solstices were so important to our ancestors that they had many sacred places that were aligned, most particularly, to the mid winter sun - either sunrise or sunset. The day that the tide of light changed from deepening into the dark, to gradually moving back to the light was also the signal that the deepest part of the cold was yet to come, although the bright is returning. These places are so well designed that one can tell that winter solstice is approaching by the way that the light strikes certain rocks or aspects of the passages, such as Newgrange for example. This means that no matter how overcast the days might be leading up to the solstice, as soon as there is any sunlight, it highlights where we are in time and how many days there are to the solstice.

However we measure time, we now find ourselves deepening in to an era of enormous change. Many of the guises of this change are causing fear, but really they are the greatest opportunity that we face. Opportunity to find balance, peace and harmony. Opportunity to be more. To bring our passions more fully into our world. So what are you passionate about? And what are you doing about it? I invite you to spend some time asking your heart what you are passionate about and what - or how - you would manifest this into the world. I challenge you to dare to dream your dream and if you believe in new years resolutions then put it out there as your intention for 2009 - a pivotal time for humanity and the beginning of restoration of our harmonious place on Earth. The new president elect of the US, Obama, is a clear signal that we are entering a time of great opportunity, so take those dreams in hand and prepare to create them in the world.
For me the solstices are the great turning points of the year. Here in the southern hemisphere we are dancing in the light, growing our summer crops, enjoying the long evenings and the joy of relating with the outer world, feeling expanded and embracing the sense of growth and expression of our story. In the northern hemisphere there is delight and opportunity with the deepening time of the dreaming, the going within, finishing with old patterns that no longer serve us, telling your story freeing you up to gestate the new one in preparation for the light half.

We need our stories and our mythologies - in fact we also need new mythologies for our changing world - without myths we will become as Deepak Chopra says, “more sterile and bereft of meaning and soul.” Knowing our story puts us back into the narrative of our people - of a continuous living tradition - whatever that will come to mean in future times. Having a vision will carry us forward in a positive way and enable us to live fully and consciously in the world.

So what is your story? What are you passionate about and are you endeavouring to honour your passionate heart and bring your story and vision into the world?

“....Over here!
Can’t you see where the memories are kept bright?
Tripping on the water like a laughing girl.
Time in her eyes is spawning past life,
One with the ocean and the woman unfurled,
Holding all the love that waits for you here.
Catch us now for I am your future
A kiss on the wind and we’ll make the land
Come over here to where When lingers,
Waiting in this empty world,
Waiting for Then, when the lifespray cools
For Now does ride in on the curl of the wave,
And you will dance with me in the sunlit pools.
We are of the going water and the gone.
We are of water in the holy land of water
And all that’s to come runs in
With the thrust on the strand.”
The Jig of Life, Kate Bush.

A major change has occurred in the human story this year as more than 50% of Earth’s population now live in cities.

Image courtesy of NASA.

Earth Hour is a project which was initiated in Sydney, Australia in March 2007. It is about simple changes collectively making a difference to global warming. By turning out the lights for one hour Sydney residents and businesses made an enormous statement about the greatest contributer to global warming - coal fired electricity. This action created a 10.2% energy reduction across the city. Consider the difference you can make by turning out lights that are not in use, or not necessary - from businesses turning out the lights when their offices are empty to households switching appliances off rather than leaving them on standby.

Earth Hour was conceived by WWF Australia which is part of the WWF International Network, the world’s largest and most experienced independent conservation organisation.  Their mission is to stop the degradation of the planet’s natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with the rest of nature.

The idea of Earth Hour has spread rapidly and this year 26 international Earth Hour flagship cities and 370 supporting cities participated in Earth Hour - literally millions of people joined together and turned their lights off to raise awareness about the issue of global warming. In Canberra, Australia’s capitol, 73% of the population participated resulting in an 11.4% drop in electricity consumption. This alone represents a reduction of 36 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

A special time for those living in cities - during this one hour you’ll actually see the night sky filled with stars instead of the orange haze of light pollution.

2009 is the International Year of Astronomy and GLOBE and Earth Hour have synchronised. Earth Hour coincides with the last night of the GLOBE project on the 28th March 2009 at 8.30pm. Take part - observe the night sky following the steps set out by GLOBE to observe certain easily seen stars and see the difference for yourself as the lights go out for Earth Hour. To get an idea of what happens follow this link and see the 2008 Earth Hour pictures from around the world.

Below is the guide for GLOBE 2009, 16th - 28th March.

Five Easy Star-Hunting Steps:

1) Find your latitude and longitude.

2) Find Orion by going outside an hour after sunset
(about 7-10pm local time).

3) Match your nighttime sky to one of our magnitude charts.

4) Report your observation.

Compare your observation to thousands around the world.

An exciting aspect of the internet is that we can participate in different kinds of communities that are working to make a difference and to educate - and best of all, through these web based communities we get to interact with people from all over the world. Here is something we can be involved in that is fun and will connect you with an ageless activity - linking you to your most ancient ancestors. It is also an important project in awareness on a personal and global level. In my last journal entry I wrote about the night sky here in the southern hemisphere.
Whilst researching for current solar activity as we move into the most powerful solar cycle in human history, I discovered GLOBE At NIGHT.

This worldwide project was initiated in 2006. There is a growing community which contributes to this project, observing our night sky, focusing on Orion. Orion’s Belt, here in Australia affectionately known as the Saucepan, is visible all around the world and is one sure constellation that we all know from childhood. 

To me there is nothing more magical, or mystical, than the night sky. In all the countries I have visited, none have a more spectacular sky than here where I live in Australia which, as a result, has made me appreciate it even more. There is a scientific reason for this ( link to last journal entry ) but there is also another reason - brought home to me by Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth - there is so much light pollution in the highly populated areas of the world that we are literally blocking our view of the oldest contact we have have with the rest of creation. The dark velvety night sky and the diamonds that fill it. My clearest moments of connection come when I lay outside on the cliff tops, watching and merging with the stars - they seem to rise out of the horizon - from where Antarctica lays due south,over the Southern Ocean, and arc up above and around me in a spectacular circular embrace. Best of all is when we get the southern lights - Aurora Australis and the northern lights, Aurora Borealis in the northern hemisphere. These lights have had major influence in creation stories everywhere not least with my ancestors in the Highlands of Scotland - who believed that the northern lights were the first daughters of creation. These lights shine through from the Dreamtime bringing the life force through to the earthly plane.

Join GLOBE for email updates and learn more about this inspiring project that draws from people of all ages and all walks of life from all around the world!

GLOBE at Night 2009 will occur in the latter half of March. It will be one of several star - hunting efforts connected to the “dark skies awareness” cornerstone program of the International year of Astronomy ( IYA ) 2009.

Information about the emerging global plans for the IYA 2009 is available at astronomy2009.org. “The classic GLOBE at Night program directs students, families, and the general public how to observe and record the number of stars visible in the constellation Orion, as seen from different locations. Observers report their results online by comparing their view of Orion with a set of template images on the program’s Web site, which shows the number of stars in the constellation for a range of visibilities from bright skies to very dark.”

GLOBE at Night is a collaboration between The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Program, Boulder, CO; the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) in Tucson, AZ; Centro de Apoyo a la Didactica de la Astronomia (CADIAS) in Chile; Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI); and the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA).

There has been a lot of rain and our valley is beginning to flood, the water birds are flocking in and the sense of peace is profound. Adjusting to being home has mostly been around the light. It is so pronounced at this time of the year - the darkness and the light. I am normally away from home until sometime in mid July when it isn’t quite so extreme. This year for many reasons I decided to come home in time for winter solstice. It is one of my favourite times - although I did have to tear myself away from Connemara. It is also beautiful there right now - the long days - light until 11pm and the short intense nights - that, at this time of the year are full of music, dancing, gathering. For Susan and I it was a deeply satisfying time of felting, cups of tea and slow walks through the bogs and glens, the rugged coast and mountain peaks, and most of all enjoying the spectacular late golden light. In all, continuing our pleasure and sense of connection with the land after a deeply satisfying time with the May pilgrims.

Here at home I find myself plunged into the mysterious radiant dark of mid winter. Mid winter in the the south of Australia, poised on the edge of the Southern Ocean and the Dreamtime. Wow! The night sky here is phenomenal. I often mention the brilliance of the night sky in the southern hemisphere and there is a scientific explanation - which I want to share with you. “The axis or the ‘wheel’ of our galaxy can be taken to cut the celestial sphere at the North and South Galactic Poles ( just as the Earth’s axis cuts it at the North and South Celestial Poles ). The NGP lies in Coma Berenices, the SGP in Sculptor. The sun and its planets lie slightly above the plane of the Milky Way, so we see more stars ( and more bright stars ) looking south than looking north. That is one reason why the skies of the Southern Hemisphere are so brilliant!” (David Ellyard & Wil Tirion, The Southern Sky Guide: 24 ).

Here in the Otways the stars are vivid, with the Southern Cross still high in the south west, but beginning to descend while in the north east a new bright star has risen, Altair in the sign of Aquila the Eagle. The Southern Triangle is about to cross the meridan and, in all, 6 zodiac signs span the the sky to the north west where Leo is setting. The north is full with Bootes the Herdsman, and the heroes Hercules and Ophiuchus and the south west is crowded with the constellations Vela, Puppis and Carina, and Canopis near the horizon.

Summer solstice is a celebration of creative fire, it is the time of the feminine, of music and poetry. It is also the time when the seed of darkness is born as we slowly begin to move toward the inner time - of the radiant dark - the time of gestation and rebirth. Winter solstice is when the light is born anew once more from the womb of Earth’s darkness. Ceremonies to welcome back the light date from the dawn of humanity. An important festival where people celebrated both divine love and human love and wrapped in this, the possibilities for the new year ahead. Winter Solstice has been celebrated since time immemorial. Brú na Boinne ( Newgrange ) in Eastern Ireland is older than the pyramids and is one of many Irish sites aligned to the midwinter. Brú na Boine is linked to the midwinter sunrise. As the sun rises rays enter the lintel above the entrance and light the passage all the way into the centre. Interestingly, the lintel is carved with a repetitive dagaz symbol. Dagaz is the rune of bright sunlight, of enlightenment and the crown chakra. This Hollow Hill was inherited by Oengus and his love, Caer, the swan goddess. There is a theory that Brú na Boinne is built in the image of the swan system, Cygnet,of which Caer is heiress (Ref: Mysticireland ).

These stories and mysteries are part of winter time for me. Winter is the going within time, the story telling time and the time of gestation. I delight in my home in the Otways as it does have the four seasons and I love to hunker down in the long nights with a blazing fire, my writing or a good book. I love to watch the storying of the land and right now it is about the first wattles bursting into bloom, showering the vibrant green of the land with their golden blossoms.  In Connemara the midsummer story this year was, for me, the most incredible season of bog cotton I have ever witnessed. And in the bog cotton I found an incredible sense of the gentleness and yet the powerful life force of the bog. Here, amongst the wattles, the bulbs planted by the early European settlers are beginning to show their heads, splashing the landscape with ribbons of colour - from wild iris to daffodils and tulips - as our seasons, even here in the south, are warmer than northern Europe and so the bulbs flower in winter rather than spring and summer. It is the time of the whales visiting our coast, of giant surf - yesterday was a 20 foot swell, and of setting intention for the year ahead. My dream for the coming year is to see growth of community - where we consciously foster a sense of support and interest for those around us. Of course our world has changed and we can’t live the way our ancestors did but I genuinely believe that we have to begin to develop ways of living in community and supporting each other in order to help create sustainable and harmonious lifestyles on our planet.

You can read more about the importance of community as our future in the journal entry on Vandana Shiva and in my recent article, Sean Nós.