Vision Magazine November 2011 Modern Culture by Vision magazine

C ata ly s t f o r C O N S C I O U S Li v in g November Theme: Modern Culture ®

Cover art by Matthew Attard “Rainforest Residence” www.priteeboy.deviantart.com.

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Contributing Writers

Adrienne Abeyta, Dr. Toni Galardi, Michael Raysses, Daphne Carpenter, Brennan Largesse, D’vorah Swarzman, Craig Tapscott, Brian Jones. Erin Tagan, Matthew Attard, Irene Margolis, Salima Adelstein, Brian Patton, Stacey Cohen

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Listings: Online & Print Sales sales@visionmagazine.com Vision Magazine® is a ® registered trademark of Vision Global, Inc. published on a monthly basis and distributed free of charge. Subscriptions are available for $27 for 12 issues (one year). All rights reserved. Advanced written permission must be obtained from Vision Magazine for partial or complete reproduction of any part or whole of Vision Magazine, including advertising material contained in its pages. Opinions expressed in Vision Magazine do not necessarily represent those of Vision Global, Inc., its employees or representatives. Vision Magazine disclaims any responsibility for claims made by its advertisers. Artwork, fiction, letters to the Editor, and manuscripts are welcome, however, unsolicited manuscripts without SASE will not be returned. Copyright © 2011 Vision Magazine

community resources

34 vision café maps: 25 dk hair and and david Valencia 38 holistic reviews We Moon 42 calendar 45 visionary artist Matthew Attard www.priteeboy.deviantart.com.

11-15 mindstates raw spirit festival 2012 and the current financial crisis fat cat and the occupy movement 16-17 culture when will the herd be disturbed?

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18 astrology november 2011 forecast 20 culture thanksgiving: the next generation is all ok with your world? 22

healing arts stay connected

24-27 features dreaming bhutan occupy wallstreet

If you have a comment on any of these articles e-mail us at editor@visionmagazine.com or visit us on Facebook or Twitter! December 2011 Theme: Random Acts of Kindness

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Why Can’t Respect

M odern Culture I ndigenous Culture? by Brennan Lagasse

n October 12, 2011, indigenous elders and medicine people came together on a conference call with several representatives of the federal government. The purpose of the call was to continue an ongoing dialogue centered on the protection of indigenous sacred sites that continue to be comprised under federal leadership. It was a very relevant exercise in where the modern day power culture of the federal government still stands in regards to respect for the well-being of indigenous peoples. Although several governmental representatives took part in the call, the clear and salient message received by those not affiliated with the federal government was, firstly, that sacred site protection is not important enough for Secretary Tom Vilsack to be a part of the call—the one whom all indigenous elders and medicine people were planning on being involved. And secondly, that it is not important enough to honor the request of those who hold these places as central to their wellbeing and way of life, to hold this conversation in person. What progress has been made in the many years of working to protect sacred sites through executive orders, rules, laws, regulations, policy, and court cases if the present-day reality remains the same today for indigenous peoples as it has since any repatriation work first began?

When will the federal government respect that in order to seek a lasting solution to this dire problem, that dialogue must happen in person, and those that make the ultimate decisions, like Secretary Tom Vilsack, must be present and fully engaged in order for lasting work to take place? Without representation like his, as was articulated to indigenous elders and medicine people that he would at least be on this important phone call, what message does this ultimately send? That any “progress” will be filtered through other representatives, continue as nonbinding, and that overall, this engagement is merely business as usual. What more can indigenous peoples do to have non-Native leaders understand their perspective? It has been articulated time and time again, and does not stray in any way from the following system of beliefs as articulated last March: “The Creator gave the Aboriginal Indigenous Nations of the People Laws to follow and responsibilities to care for all Creation. These instructions have been passed down from generation to generation from the beginning of Creation. It is the Law that no one can overpower the Creator’s Law, you are a part of Creation, thus if you break the Law, you are destroying yourself. We speak on behalf of all Creation: the four legged/those that swim/those that crawl/ those that fly/those that burrow in the Earth/the plant and tree Nations. This one life system includes the elements of fire, water, earth and air, the living environment of ‘Mother Earth.’ The Sanctity of the Creator’s Law has been broken. The balance of life has been disrupted. You come into life as a sacred being. If you abuse the sacredness of your life then you affect all Creation. The future of all life is now in jeopardy. We have now reached the crossroads. As Aboriginal Indigenous People we ask you to work with us to save the future of all Creation.” —Aboriginal Indigenous Nations of the People’s Message (March 11, 2011) The perspective of those fighting is to save their sacred places, the most holy places on earth, is clear and succinct. It has been since day one. What must be honored is this path, as a way forward to try and help agencies like the US Forest Service understand the sincerity and importance of this dialogue, and to prevent future desecration to these places that have been compromised spiritually and environmentally for years. Indigenous elders and medicine people have asked that the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People be included in any binding documents moving forward. How is that not clear at this moment in time? Furthermore, without mentioning the Creator’s Law in such documents, a Law that is binding to indigenous peoples that speaks to all life and creation being sacred, oppression continues. This Law cannot be altered or manipulated and is unchangeable from the perspective of indigenous peoples. Again, it can’t be much clearer than that. The federal government continues to respond to indigenous concerns in a manner that does not honor continued on page 40

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he increasing trend of “East meets West” is a phenomenon that I have been fortunate to witness since I began practicing Thai massage in 1993. Thai massage has become more popular worldwide in the past decade than it has in the past 100 years. Even though this ancient healing art dates back over 2,500 years to the time of the Buddha in India, this “best kept secret” has really only become popularized recently. I traveled to Thailand at the age of 23, fresh out of college, looking to let go of my lifetime of being in a classroom and embrace the “learning of life” experience. There is nothing like traveling to unfamiliar territory to awaken new perspectives. I spent over a year in Thailand, India, and Nepal “unlearning” all I had been indoctrinated with while growing up in a privileged family, in a sheltered suburb in Southern California. I found Thai massage the same day I touched down in Thailand. I had never heard of it, but when I ventured into a Thai massage spa, I came out a transformed person. I did not know that, in that moment, that experience would shape the rest of my life. I signed up for a basic 10-day class, and have been practicing Thai bodywork ever since. Upon my return from Asia, I completed my formal Western massage education at Heartwood Institute in California and obtained my license in Oregon. I return regularly to Thailand to deepen my training and freshen up my practice, as well as bring my students to meet my fabulous teachers and immerse themselves in the cultural hub of Thai massage, Chiang Mai. Thai massage, like yoga, actually stems from India. Brought to light from the practices of the hermits known as Ruesi, a doctor named Jivaka Kumar Bhaccha took the learned wisdom of herbal medicine, meditation, and assisted yogic stretches and formed practices that he used to keep the Buddha healthy as he traveled the lands delivering his Dharma (teachings). Dr. Jivaka, also pronounced as Dr. Zhivago in Thailand, began to train the monastics of the time how to perform these healing practices on the lay-people, who were suffering not V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

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just physically, but also spiritually, emotionally, and psychologically. The human condition of suffering and feeling disconnected was as prevalent back then as it is now, but I imagine it may have gotten more complicated in our modern world, as the modern world seems to have become more complex. So what has happened in these past 10 years with Thai massage, and why has it exploded in popularity around the world? I believe Nuad Bo Rarn, the ancient Thai massage, has become so popular in the West because we are hungry for something that touches us deeply. Thai massage has the capacity to reach our soul in a way that I haven’t found in any other bodywork modality. The other modalities each have pieces for me of what I long for; however, the Thai bodywork has it all for me. My experience of receiving and giving Thai massage is a blend of passive yoga, continued on page 40

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Birth Sanctuary by Shannon Nies

any women who are others describe the process of giving birth as something that was absolutely horrible. When my mother was pregnant with me, for instance, she went through 19 painful hours of labor (for me?) and after all of that, she had to get a C-section. Not exactly an experience a woman would want to go through again, let alone once. Fortunately, there is a unique birth center in Los Angeles that gives people the opportunity to have a different kind of experience, from prenatal to postpartum care. This special center, Birth Sanctuary, provides its clients with a more holistic and individualized type of care, for not only pregnant women, but also for their families and even for women who are not yet pregnant. Recently, I spoke with Aleks Evanguelidi, midwife and co-owner of Birth Sanctuary. She told me about the special services that the Sanctuary offers, and how the center hopes to change modern culture’s view of the birth process, from a traumatic experience to one that is positive, remarkable, and like nothing else in the human experience. Vision Magazine: Could you please talk about Birth Sanctuary—its history, its purpose? Aleks Evanguelidi: The reason why my business partner and I were so committed to opening a center is that there just weren’t options in Los Angeles that met the needs of the community. So many people just didn’t want to give birth in the hospital because after Ricki Lake’s movie came out, they started to see the practices that ultimately would lead them to feeling unempowered. But for a lot of people, home birth still felt kind of on the fringe. For us, creating a birth center was kind

of that medium ground. Essentially, we wanted to create something beautiful that would be the gold standard in not just birth centers and birth options, but [also in] creating a new type of care that hasn’t really been offered yet. In countries where statistics are the best, midwives and doctors work together; there’s a collaborative model. But in this country, we don’t do that, which is silly because we’re spending twice the amount of money on every pregnant woman in their prenatal period than any other developed country. We rank about 40th in the world for perinatal, neonatal, or maternal mortality. That’s The Birth Suite terrible. We’re basically over-medicalizing birth. So what our practice has done is, we’ve combined obstetric care and midwifery care, and we’re collaborating together, so we’re actually on the same team. We also bring in all these other models, like acupuncture, chiropractic, cranial sacral, massage therapy. We have medical hypnotists on staff, which is amazing, and marriage and family therapy, lactation support. We have all these things working under one roof, to really support the needs of pregnant women, of families, of husbands, so that the whole care is complete. And they can get it all under one roof with care providers that are experts in the field of pregnancy, or preconception, or postpartum. When you go to a doctor and you get standard obstetric care, you’re getting a very small slice of the pie. Your average appointment with an obstetrician is 7 minutes long. You’re waiting an hour for that appointment. You spend—real face time with the doctor—actually about 3-4 minutes. And there’s so little care that can be offered in that moment. There’s no relating, there’s no intimacy. Hardly any time to talk about how people are feeling, or what their concerns are, and it’s not built into that model. With a midwife, you spend an hour, you get to really go into the other issues that are lingering. It’s part therapy, part nutrition, personal coaching. We delve into all those other aspects of the human consciousness, of the human psyche. It’s called the human experience, to be able to unveil some of the fears and concerns and beliefs, so there’s more freedom and more opportunity to be a participant in your experience. We see ourselves as partners in the care versus we’re in control of it or we’re dictating how it’s going to go. It’s very much about individualizing based on uniqueness—what does one person need versus what does another person need. VM: How did you become interested and involved in more holistic birthing processes? AE: I was a nutritionalist and an herbalist, but just kept asking the question, what am I supposed to be doing here? How can I best bring my gifts? And I came across a book called “The Red Tent,” and it was so beautiful and set in the biblical period. It’s kind of the feminine perspective from that time period. [After] reading each birth in the book, I was sobbing. It was like, oh my God, if midwifery is still around, this is for me, and I found that it was. But prior to just kind of diving into that education, I became a doula first. I ended up apprenticing at a high-volume birth center in Hollywood. And it was just awesome. Probably about 11 years ago I began that journey. VM: What is your hope for the future of the Sanctuary? AE: We really would like more of the Sanctuary to become a more widely accepted model of care. We absolutely see the benefits in the statistics in the care we provide, and we would like to see this model being adopted in other cities continued on page 44

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“S

ometimes to stand up all you have to do is sit down.” —my Uncle Tasso on the Occupy Movement

Technology is one of those things I tend to keep at arm’s length for reasons that haven’t always been clear to me. Recently, though, I had an experience that shed some light on my misgivings around all things technological. Standing in line at a local café, I fell into one of those mindless conversations you get into when you’re in line with nothing to do. I can’t remember the conditions that were responsible for my dilemma beyond this: I recall a couple of meaningless shared observations between me and the man next to me about the weather and the beauty of nature. The next thing I knew, he whipped out his cell phone. (I believe it was a Smartphone, but I am unwilling to ascribe attributes to inanimate objects when doing so gives them traits their owner doesn’t necessarily possess.) Suddenly, I was awash in a torrent of pictures from his latest vacation, replete with extensive extemporaneous captions for each. With each passing image, the glaze over my eyes hardened until my face froze into a mask of supplication—I just wanted out. Now in the old days, if I was going to be exposed to pictures of dubious value, there were necessary red flags that forewarned me of my sorry fate. When I was a kid, for instance, my family spent the occasional Sunday afternoon visiting my Aunt Du-Du. Her apartment was a tribute to plastic. All of her furniture was wrapped in it, which made for considerable misery in the summer when I found myself literally stuck to her sofa because of the heat and humidity. The plastic motif was heightened by the polyurethane runners on her carpets, de facto runways that were there to keep kids from soiling her rugs. Crammed onto her couch, Aunt Du-Du would bring out boxes of old pictures from her youth; I felt like a bug that had been impaled and left dangling to die. But I knew all along I was going to be thusly stuck; a lengthy drive into Gary, the long walk up to her second floor apartment, the hushed exchange of greetings so as to not awaken the mysterious boarder who slept in the room at the end of the hall, were all prelude for what was to come. But thanks to technology, the heads-up that once signaled imminent exquisite boredom no longer exists. Anyway, after the phantom photo-flasher claimed his drink and exited, I made a note to myself to write a monologue that would allow me to escape any such situation should it ever arise again. And though I have yet to finish that piece, I have been preoccupied with its message ever since. Did you ever use a word and have it resonate with newfound meaning the minute you did? Because since September 17, using any form of the word ‘occupy’ gives me pause. Occupy Wall Street is a people-powered movement for democracy that began in New York City on September 17 by squatting in an encampment in the financial district of Wall Street at Zuccotti Park. It seeks to end what it perceives as the moneyed corruption of American democracy by the corporatocracy. It is the result of the combined efforts of the Vancouver based anti-consumerist magazine, Adbusters, US Day of Rage, a collective of activist groups that is mainly Internet-based, and Anonymous, a group that exists within the Internet, fomenting active civil disobedience, while attempting to maintain the anonymity of its members. The prism that focused these energies into the movement itself is the New York City General Assembly. But that description barely traces the outline of a group that in a little over a month has gone from a faint blip on our culture’s radar to a national crusade that has spawned Occupy movements in over 149 cities domestically. Though the Occupy campaign may have hoped to inspire similar action elsewhere, no one could have foreseen that within four weeks, more than 900 cities around the world would host coordinated protests directly or loosely affiliated to the Occupy cause. Not surprisingly, the movement hasn’t gone uncriticized. It’s been attacked for not having clear-cut goals, as well as for its lack of articulated leadership. Personally, I V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

g r e e k don’t find either of these criticisms valid. Right now the movement gets to take the time to frame its outrage beyond its sheer viscerality. As a group, they know that they have been abused, neglected, and marginalized by the very powers that have benefitted from doing so. That they have yet to delineate how they plan to combat that arrangement on a practical level makes sense to me. Effective action takes time to formulate. As for the denunciation for its lack of specific leaders, I think that may be a stroke of inadvertent brilliance. The movement’s nonhierarchical structure rotates people through positions of leadership, thus ensuring that in the event any one person should be jailed or neutralized in some fashion, the movement won’t lose momentum for that loss. The movement’s message is simple: the 1 percent on Wall Street has taken advantage of the 99 percent of the rest of us. This rings truer for me than any meme I have heard since the economic fire storm of 2008, of that I am 100 percent sure. The irony for me is that though I haven’t been able to actively participate in any of the movement’s efforts, technology has allowed me to support and stay abreast of it. Because of the movement I am going to have to reconsider my technology monologue. From this point on, I am no longer merely preoccupied—I am now fully occupied. And that’s something I can wrap my arms around. For information about Occupy Wall Street, go to www. occupywallst.org Michael Raysses is a writer/NPR commentator/actor living in Los Angeles. E-mail him at MichaelRaysses@hotmail.com.

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L i f e Q u a k e ™

Ask the

Dear John: What exactly is wife material? You don’t articulate here what you think a wife is, so I am going to take a leap and suggest you mean, traditional wife. You want someone who is neat and keeps an orderly home—is that right? Did you two talk about your must-haves when you first started dating? Did you discuss your deal breakers? What do you want your wife to do that you cannot hire someone to do for you, and enjoy your girlfriend for the love

LifeQuake Doctor ™

Dr. Toni Galardi

n January I am starting a teleclass to assist you in designing your life so that it truly reflects passionate purpose. As we move into the end of the year, you might want to start reflecting on what worked and didn’t work in your current life design. Come join me in this empowering opportunity to truly discover what you are passionate about and create a breakthrough in having a life that truly feels alive and vital. November is the month that gives us an opportunity to contemplate gratitude. What are you grateful for in your life? Although we set aside one day in America to celebrate this, I invite you to do that every day this month. Write down three things every day that you are grateful for and may your Turkey Day truly be a day of giving thanks. Dear Dr. Toni: I am a 57-year-old executive who happened to be sitting at a café and picked up Vision Magazine. I have never written to an advice columnist before and am not sure why I am now. Maybe it’s because I have some time to kill, so what the hey. So, I am in love with a woman who drives me crazy. She is scattered, disorganized, and barely making a living as a “ life coach.” We have a great sex life. She has a beautiful heart. I just don’t think she is wife material. I just don’t know what to do. I can’t seem to let her go. John A.

and pleasure you receive from her? In every relationship, we have differences. There are always things that two people get annoyed with one another about. The thing I know as a psychotherapist is that you can’t fix chemistry. If you never were really turned on to her, you never will be. If you never were in love with her, you can’t make your heart feel that. However, if those two things are in place, I would ask you to look at how influenced you are by who your mother was as a wife. This idea you have about what a wife is may be coming from a program you have in your subconscious. If you are absolutely sure you want a wife and she doesn’t have the goods, love her enough to let her go. Be courageous and do it with kindness and compassion. Dear Dr. Toni: I am a healer and a life coach. I self-published a book that hasn’t gotten me very far. I’m barely making ends meet. I did enjoy being on the radio as a guest and was wondering if that is something I should revisit. I think I could make a great radio talk show host, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to support myself. Do you have any ideas as to what to do? Jenna Dear Jenna: I would suggest that you get on as many shows as possible and sell the heck out of your book and coaching. Be the best guest you can possibly be and look for an opportunity to be a recurring guest expert. This might turn into a co-host position—you never know. It never hurts to take a risk. Staying stuck and miserable is the bigger risk to feeding your soul. Good luck! For those seeking personal guidance from Dr. Toni, she can be reached through her Web site, http://www.lifequake.net, by e-mailing DrToni@LifeQuake.net, or by calling her office at 310.890.6832. Discover a new, passionate life direction through a soul blueprint reading or her career repurposing coaching called The LifeQuake Method. Contact Dr. Galardi today and give yourself the gift of a special offer for Vision Magazine readers to work with Dr. Galardi so you can expansively move into 2012.

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Good for You Good for the Planet

Raw Spirit Festival Comes to Phoenix for New Year’s Eve

or the first time, the Raw Spirit Festival is bringing in the New Year in a lush desert setting just north of Phoenix, Arizona, in the most elegant, sweetly-spiritual, healthful, cutting-edge, funloving, conscious, abundant, musical, interconnected way imaginable. The festival will run from December 30, 2011 to January 1, 2012 at Arizona’s most magnificent five-star resort, the JW Marriott Desert Ridge. It features 300 Audubon Society approved acres, lush lawns, mountain views, trails, 4 acres of heated palm-lined swimming pools and rivers, plus a gilded Wildflower Ballroom reserved exclusively for the Raw Spirit New Year’s Festival. With a theme of “Inspiration, Education, Meditation & Celebration,” participants can expect to have plenty of fun while learning the latest information in health, eco, and spiritual living via dynamic presentations and musical performances, including educational sessions by an eclectic array of doctors who are also research authors on natural health. Plus, raw vegan chefs will offer organic raw vegan demos and tastings, amidst a plethora of playshops on yoga, dancing, meditation, singing, and more. Meanwhile, attendees can sample organic raw vegan dishes and shop at vendor booths.

According to festival founder Happy Oasis, “This is much more than a vibrant vegan festival. Our vision is to integrate healthy living, eco-sustainable solutions, music, art, and world peace while creating a community of fun-loving kindness, because together these comprise a comprehensive strategy for positively addressing current global challenges. We feel that our Raw Spirit Festival belongs to the entire everexpanding, international community.” Billed as “the world’s leading, largest and longest-lived raw vegan-eco-peace celebration,” the Raw Spirit Festival is a 501(c)(3) educational non-profit that offered its first festival in Sedona, Arizona in May of 2005. The non-profit has offered more than 200 celebrations since its inception, most of them entirely free to the public. Raw Spirit organization gives freely to several other non-profits and groups in need, including Women’s Shelters, VA, Native Groups, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and more. Raw Spirit welcomes sponsors and donors so that it can continue to serve for many years to come. The December 30-January 1 weekend celebration is only $125 until December 1, and $150 thereafter, or $75$85 per day. The group hotel rate is $149 per room. To register, and for more information, call 928.308.2146 or e-mail info@rawspirit.com. Tickets are limited, so pre-registration is recommended. The schedule can be viewed at www.RawSpirit.com. See ad on page 4. V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

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2012

and the Current Financial Crisis What Is It About? What Will

Happen? What Can You Do? By Craig Tapscott

GROW

TRANSFORM

CELEBRATE

Located at Los Caballeros Health Complex (Main building / 2nd floor)

17272 Newhope St., Suite J Fountain Valley, CA 714.963.3516 www.occsr.org Rev. Paula Swavely

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odern culture is now filled with the 2012 phenomena, from the news, to the History Channel, to Hollywood blockbusters. Many people believe that life as we know it will be transformed on December 21, 2012—at the end of the Mayan Calendar. I asked professional psychic detective and astrologer John J. Oliver for his perspective on the doom and gloom. Craig Tapscott: What is the significance of the Mayan Calendar ending on December 21, 2012? John J. Oliver: There are several Mayan calendars. One of them points to December 21, 2012 as an ending date of a great cycle of approximately 26,000 years. The Mayans also believe that December 22, 2012 is the first day of the next great cycle. The new cycle will bring the development of human beings into God-Beings. CT: Does 2012 relate to the world economic situation? JO: We are seeing a collective effort to bring change to the current financial system. It is a system that is perceived as unfair economically to the majority. Big populations of citizens are under much pressure. This pressure is driving the conflict and social unrest we are seeing in the world. The upheaval mirrors perfectly what is going on with the 2012 fervor. Money is one way that we define ourselves in the physical world. It is natural for economics to adjust according to the new spiritual frequencies. There are dates and cycles leading into 2012 that I will lecture about when I come to California this December. These are “power points.” CT: What do you feel will be the major changes happening at the end of 2012? JO: We will see a new age of consciousness dawning. It makes sense that this newly awakened consciousness needs new structure to express itself through. It means a total restructuring of life as we know it. We see this restructuring foreshadowed in what has been happening with large corporations, car manufacturers, and banks. We have the opportunity to make 2012 a springboard to advance humanity to a new level of consciousness awareness. CT: Do you believe there is “no accident” that there have been massive riots and demonstrations worldwide over the past few years as we approach 2012? JO: There is no coincidence. The force of Divine Evolution is guiding the whole process. When you are “asleep” in an antiquated structure, you do not realize that you are in a prison. It is very easy for a “sleeping” public or an individual to accept structures and systems that are no longer working. The moment that a critical number of people start to awaken, a new world is born. CT: How do I prepare for the coming changes? JO: Include some form of spiritual practice in daily life. Become more educated about what you can do to awaken your own Light body. Begin to activate yourself as a spiritual being and relate to your reality from the perspective of Spirit living in a Light body. You will experience that the physical is the less “real” and less important aspect of your total being. When you emerge from this transformation, you will have a superior brain and an activated pineal gland, which is the spiritual center manifest in the physical body. CT: Can groups do anything to prepare for 2012? JO: Meditate and pray deeply together. Begin to really know yourself so you can heal. Connect to or create a spiritual community beyond your ego’s interest. Take interest in healing your local community and pray for the whole of humanity. Metaphysical principles are not just about influencing situations so that you can get a bigger house or earn more money. The Mayan tradition refers to this New Age of Aquarius as the age of ether or the humanity of Spirit. I know we are entering very exciting times in our history and that we have amazing emergences to look forward to in the coming years. Financial and economic healing is one aspect. John J. Oliver is a professional psychic detective and star of the hit Court TV series, Haunting Evidence. He also stars in FBI Psychic Investigator on Japan’s Nippon Network, with over 23 million viewers. Oliver is a channel and an oracle in the tradition of Jane Roberts, Edgar Cayce, and the Oracle at Delphi. He is also a spiritual teacher who presents programs for awakening and enlightenment. For more information, please visit www.johnjoliver.com. V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

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Devin Grace: An Anecdote for Modern Life by Sydney L. Murray

evin Grace is more than a client. She is a friend and a teacher. I am blessed to have the opportunity to work with her on some health and personal issues. I have been awed and amazed by her insight. I am grateful for her presence in my life. Recently I had the opportunity to discuss our November theme of Modern Living with her. Vision Magazine: Our theme this month is Modern Culture. What part of our culture here in America do you believe is the most detrimental to our well-being? Devin Grace: I don’t necessarily believe that any part of our culture is detrimental to our well-being, because everything in this world in this form is a contrast, being used as a contrast, to help people awaken to the memory of who they truly are, which is their oneness with God. So we’ve met the goal, our own mind, forgetfulness of who we are, on culture, on addiction, or on electronics, or whatever it might be. But the truth is, is that the culture is just a response to what’s already going on in our own minds. Is that detrimental? What’s detrimental to all of us is not the culture, but how we may or may not take responsibility for our own thought systems, which then create the culture around us. What’s most detrimental to our culture is our own misguided thought systems, our own misperceptions. VM: What would be an example of misguided perceptions? DG: Not necessarily misguided perceptions, but misperceptions. So, everything other than your oneness with God, your experience of peace within yourself, within the world, is a misperception. Everything. Whether it’s a child dying, whether it’s an addiction, whether it’s an abusive relationship, or abuse on animals, this is just simply our misperception, our belief that we have separated ourself from the love that is. That’s the cause; everything else is an effect. So what’s most detrimental is that we believe that all these effects are the cause, which is in our own mind, believing that we are separate. And with that belief that we’re separate, we feel guilty and we feel punishable. But we’re not. We’ve never been separate. We’re completely innocent, we’re completely whole. We’ve never left that love. VM: What would be a way that people might reconnect with the oneness? DG: One way to really connect is: start to feel. A lot of people block deep feelings that have been stored inside of them for ages. They act out from that place of stored memory, stored data, that is just stored in there, and it acts out in their daily life. So starting to feel that stuff you don’t want to feel. Feeling is a great way to start to slowly and gently remember who you are and remember your innocence. Because feeling is the first thing that might get shut down or certain emotions might get shut down, so starting to open to that is a way to start opening back up. And then that opening leads to kind of an experience of, wait a second, I’m not this anger…wait a second, I’m not this greed…I’m not even this happiness. They’re all just symbolic. They’re not the true experience of who we are. They’re still symbols. I see a symbol in my life, whether it’s anger, fear, happiness, joy, it’s still symbolic whether we want more of the joy and happiness than most because that shows that we’re closer in our right-mindedness. But still, settling with just that little bit of happiness or that little bit of joy, you don’t even want to settle for that because you don’t want to see that it’s just symbolic. That’s just a grain of sand in the happiness and bliss that could be experienced through awakening to the memory of who you are. VM: If there were one aspect of our society that you feel is very positive at this point in history, what would it be? DG: I think the most positive thing in our culture right now is that we are starting to get the tools literally delivered to us on how to start to awaken. Two books that I find incredibly powerful are: “The Disappearance of the Universe,” which I mentioned in my last interview, and “Zero Limits,” which is a direct guide on how to use a spiritual approach that quickens your remembering, who you are. It’s a Hawaiian spiritual practice, called Ho’oponopono healing: I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. And “Zero Limit” is very accessible continued on page 44 V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

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Joseph the Fat Cat and the Occupy Movement by Daphne Carpenter

ou have to use a certain psychology with animals (in this case, our pets) when it comes to keeping them happy. They need to be in their natural state—to walk, to sit in the sun, to feel the earth on their bellies. When they’re in harmony with the natural environment, they are free. They climb, they dig, they rub around in the dirt and get their fur (or scales) all dirty. No longer constrained to their cage or to the house, or you dictating when and where they can eat, they instinctively know how to take care of themselves and their young. How does this fit in? I wrote a story about what I felt to be an inaccurate and/or biased corporate media press coverage of the Occupy Wall Street/LA Movement, but I got stuck without an intro. I just couldn’t devise a beginning (which I usually always write last anyway). Just now, though, things suddenly became so clear. Here’s how: my brother’s super fat and lovable diabetic cat, Joe, broke the rules today. He went outside with me—yes, outside—to where he usually spends hours gazing longingly towards from inside the glass back door. So tired of hanging out in the stuffy ol’ house all day, obeying the rules that are not his truth, Joe took a stance today. He suddenly got up, and with a gusto of conviction, holding his head high, he followed me outside. While in the yard, Joe didn’t try to act rowdy or try to run (like my well-meaning brother is afraid he’ll do). Joe didn’t have a diabetic freak-out, nor did a million fleas jump on him, no, not at all. This pleasurably-plump-fuzz-ball-of-joy just instinctively walked outside into the fresh air. After scratching his claws at a palm tree for several minutes, he took to bathing in the dewy grass and snapped his

mouth in ecstasy at the gnats. There was nobody there to decide what was “best for him” or “just how things had to be.” In simple terms, I can relate to Joe’s plight to want to play outside, to the Occupy Movement. But first, a little more background on Joe. He is really overweight and unhealthy, and is subdued by twice-daily injections of insulin to stabilize his illness. He’s “on a diet.” The people who had him before my brother never let him go outside to play, although he badly wanted to, and deserved to. They just kept feeding and feeding him, so that he’d forget about his natural desires to want to go outside, and also just to feel liberated from irrational restraints and from rules that he inherently perceived to be unjust, through his own cat-reasoning. Well, just like Joe, the people of the Occupy Movement have stepped outside and have taken a stand against injustice. They want the power back, not out of greed, but out of the inherent desire for their human and constitutional rights to be met—to live peacefully, to have jobs, to not feel helpless against police brutality and corporatocracy or against unjust laws that support the wealthy and exploit those with less money, etc.

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2012 and The Current

Financial Crisis. WHAT DOES IT MEAN? WHAT WILL HAPPEN? WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Although the Occupy Wall Street Movement is said to have been in the works unofficially for the last 18 or so months (or theoretically, for decades), it says it was greatly inspired by this year’s Arab Spring—the Egyptian and Libyan Revolutions, as well as smaller ones in other places. You can bet that it was only a matter of time before the incitement mushroomed out into the rest world. After so many years of oppression by the hands of the 1 percent elite, the 99 percent have taken a stand. It’s an uprising, like the Bob Marley song and album. On a chilly night at Occupy LA, a young woman handed me a flyer titled, “Welcome to the Liberation of the American Spirit.” It starts off, “We, as a sovereign people, recognize that our constitutional rights have been compromised, ratified and denied in order to effectively perpetuate constitutional heresies, both domestic and abroad.” It later goes on to say, “We the people have no recourse” but to “take direct action” to establish a system that is “truly representative of the American people.” Although this isn’t an official Occupy Wall Street mission statement, those involved in the movement can attest to the fact that this is an overall sentiment of the people.

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Ultimately, the corporate system does not respect the people, the earth, or the ecosystem. Did you know that as a result of the greedy exploitation of the earth’s resources through the perpetuation of consumer culture by the corporatocracy, we consume, in 12 months, the resources it takes the earth 16 months to regenerate? That is not sustainable. We’re headed for disaster. “The economics being taught in most universities [today] represents a closed system that has no relations with any other system.” These are words from a chapter in an economics book I came across that was copied, and unfortunately, did not credit the author. It continued, “It is just a flow of goods and services through the market…that has no relation to the environment, and ignores physical impacts and consequences of economic activity.” This is a concern for protestors. Through the direct democratic process, the Occupy Movement came together, and, according to the group’s Principles of Solidarity statement, those involved are “autonomous beings, engaged in nonviolent civil disobedience and building solidarity based on mutual respect, acceptance and love.” The corporate media would like to portray the activity in the movement as only a circus. Yeah, you do get those hippied-out, drum banging, smoking-weed-all-day individuals who some Occupy organizers refer to as “non-contributors,” but what can you say or do? Those guys are everywhere. I saw a sign on someone’s tent the other day that read, “If you’re just HERE TO PARTY, you’re in the wrong place. THIS IS A PROTEST.” David DeGraw, author of “The Economic Elite Vs. The People of the United States of America,” wrote, “When you go to Liberty Park, into the heart of the occupation, you will see a very diverse group of people with opinions across the entire political spectrum. It’s the very essence of a ground-up, grassroots

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continued on page 44 V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

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When Will The Herd Be Disturbed? Musings on Biomimicry and Our Future by Brian D. Jones

e see it all around us. We see it within the atomic structure and the design of our solar system. We see it in our history books, our microscopes. Some say we see it when we pass from this living plane. They say the next plane is similar to this one. It is biomimicry, nature’s grand evolutionary design where specific design, form, and function, time-tested through millennia, is duplicated throughout nature’s micro and macro living realms. Governed by specific natural laws that ensure its evolution and further refine its development as time unfolds, nature’s designs are seen over and over again in all of Earth’s systems. We experience these designs in something as simple as a gaze into the air with the curiosity and wonder of why and how does a bird fly—leading to the grand machines we glide in from coast to coast. It makes sense. We reason, it looks like it can do what we believe it can do, and the mimicry continues with each generation, adding improvements and following the grand design. Industry grasped this natural imagining concept long ago and fabricated functional, useful designs in which our species lives, works, and travels. Nature duplicates this biomimicry design down to the most minute level—that of bacteria, viral and fungi, families of each forming colonies that offer so much good and can offer such distress, all part of the balance that must be maintained in order to flourish. They live in something called biofilm, and conforming to the millenniatested form and function, much of the biofilm looks just like a bird’s nest. It protects them, offering a home to permit them to do what they need to do, whether it is disease-causing crusades like Lyme disease or other more protective ventures, like probiotics in our gut as the first line of our defense against disease. These designs are working and have been working through the ages. They are governed by specific laws that, when broken, cause specific changes to be set in motion that are sometimes not able to be corrected because they became too far out of balance. The design is further governed by natural laws of evolution in that, if these designs are flawed, continually flawed, as in genetic damage that is altered by carcinogens or other simple, continually flawed food intake, the cellular design is programmed to destroy itself, thereby preserving the larger design. In the case of a cancer cell that is replicated, our cellular laws can call for its destruction should it threaten the host (us). Are we are seeing this process occur presently within our human species and the relationship we have with the larger design—Earth? When continually flawed through all that we can plainly see that flaws this design—toxins, chemicals, hatred, flawed thinking—nature will program its death. In health realms, the cell undergoes cellular death, apoptosis, the genetic limitation of the lifespan of cells. Is the human species inhabiting Earth similar to the cells inhabiting our body? Have we become flawed?

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Will we continue to replicate this design, much like cancer and the spreading cells that, governed by programmed death so as not to threaten the larger design, can simply experience programmed death and necrotize—cease to exist? Perhaps we believe that we are in control of this process. But when will the herd be disturbed? What critical mass will dictate a larger, more massive human drive to act in order to correct this? Earth has shaken us, flooded us, and like a silent, grazing herd of buffalo on the Great Plains awaiting the approaching storm, some lightning bolt will disturb our herd. It is coming soon, very soon. It must come, or the form in which we are now may change significantly, by design. How might we be able to heal these wounds, correct these flaws, conquer cancer, and prevent a possible exclusion of our species in the grand design? Is the task too large, the wounds too deep, the cancer too complex to begin to sort this out? As a health practitioner charged with sorting out seemingly complex health issues, a prerequisite to true healing involves the empowerment and knowledge of those being healed. Do we believe that we hold no ownership on development of healing answers, that someone else is to do the job? Are we on our own self-centered human odyssey where we can simply go it alone, not needing others? Our human species has encountered this before, and the events and history are embedded at our cellular level. Our world knows how to do this, our body and mind knows how to do this, we already know how to do this. We have recovered from dire events. We know how to heal; we remember it. We can let it happen. Let our body and mind heal in the manner in which it knows how. Let the Earth heal in the manner in which it knows how. You see, our behavior and our health are familiar with patterns. And like our morning cup of coffee, our mind is familiar with patterns. We keep old, negative patterns by practicing old, negative patterns. They are patterns that we are used to, patterns of how we take care of the Earth and ourselves. We rebuild new Earth restoration patterns by practicing new Earth patterns. The positive, beautiful, natural state of grace that is us and the Earth is its natural state of grace. Can we simply assist it in doing what is has known how to do for millennia? As a health practitioner and soil, rebuilder, one is able to simply give the body, give the soil what it needs to do, what it already knows how to do. It knows the behavior patterns. Can we begin to build the behavior, health, and Earth restoration patterns and watch them grow so that major change takes places as more and more thought, intention, and emotion build behind the efforts, until, just like the Berlin Wall could truly no longer stand, what we do to each other, what we do to the Earth, can no longer

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c u l t u r e stand? Science knows this phenomenon as morphic resonance, which is when there is a greater degree of similarity between objects, the greater the resonance, which leads to a persistence of particular form and function being repeated. Can this phenomenon be repeated with other behavior and other living systems? Science says it can. Can this be the form and fashion in which we can be healed? Is this how biomimicry is applied to heal ourselves and the Earth? Perhaps it could be as simple as a smile to another person, a smile in our mirror, holding the door for another, a phone call to a friend to ask for forgiveness or to give it, giving a random gift, giving a seat to another, sending light to a wheelchair victim or an accident victim. The wall will come down. It is the way it is supposed to be. We deserve it—now. Are we now being presented with the presence of models of how to do this, due to our thoughts that the need is now? Is there a mental shift, a thought shift that actually creates the reality of the models’ presence as more and more of us establish that the need exists? Similar to the increasing wind speed and energy near the eye of a hurricane, our human species presses closer to one another as we move closer to the vortex of change itself. Is it the vortex gateway that we must pass through in order to experience the calm? Does this calm become our reality once we recognize that we have more in common than we have differences, and, like the calm in the eye of the hurricane, we must pass through the turmoil of the eyewall prior to our own calm? Again, biomimicry in action—does the healing of our species and the Earth mimic the method of healing our very being at the cellular level, from the inside out? The fusion of science and medicine is now occurring as we see this mimicry unfold. We now know that disease and sickness begin with negative shifts in emotional thought followed by shifts in energy, often a lower vibrational energy at the cellular level, followed by actual physical shifts in well-being. We see this when we become ill. We are tired at first, and then our emotional self takes over and thoughts of selfcare become evident, often followed by full physical symptoms for which we seek professional care. Like the cells within our body that become ill, can our entire human species become sickened through shifts in thought, followed by shifts in energy as millions adopt the same shifts in thought, followed by actual physical changes that further degrade the host (Earth)? Morphic resonance says it can. Is that what we are experiencing now as Earth’s movements—its physical symptoms—are awakened? Through the knowledge of biomimicry, might we see a model for healing? In my practice, I have not seen true physical healing regained without mental and emotional shifts first. It is as if the body will not permit true health and healing without first dealing with the negative thoughts, beliefs, and actions that created the negative energy shifts of cellular disease. Positive healing words and energies have been seen to shift beings to a healing mode. It has always been a precursor to physical healing. Is the answer to Earth’s healing, our species healing, right in front of us? Science supports this healing. Spontaneous healings have taken place in hospital corridors throughout the world through positive affirmations and prayer. The first two weeks are difficult as we make a loving gesture, a kind gesture, a smile where once a harsh word or frown occurred—mental and physical patterns not wanting to change. However, something happens after two weeks that makes it easier. We realize that our gestures toward another are really happening to our being. It is happening at the cellular level. Like the feeling we get when we give a gift, not just when we receive. These shifts can and will heal us. We use this healing mode every day with various approaches in our holistic health practice. So has the herd been disturbed, and is it moving, sparked by the lightning bolt of healing need and hope from the masses who simply wish for this to occur? The herd is recognizing what it has known all along. We are shifting, and the Earth and our species shall never be the same. Brian D. Jones is a traditional naturopath in Santa Barbara, CA. He works at restoring Earth balance with a company directing natural, organic soil systems as well as using organic and natural means to restore human health balance involving common and chronic conditions. He is a naturalist, surfer, writer, TV fitness expert, and public speaker. He can be reached at 610.587.4198, brianjones@theshineonhealth.com, or www. theshineonhealth.com. V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

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forecast

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Adrienne Abeyta presents a unique forecast blending the tarot with astrology. A gifted reader of intuitive arts, she offers private consultations and psychic entertainment for parties and events. AdrienneAbeyta.com. To set up an appointment, she can be reached at 619.917.0998 or Adrienne@AdrienneAbeyta.com.

Aries: Temperance (5 of Pentacles) 3/21 – 4/19 Life is a delicate balance in which you’re constantly readjusting your position and perspective. It’s often difficult to feel peaceful when transfixed by fear, particularly when that fear revolves around security or thoughts of what you’re “supposed to” do. If your worries didn’t contaminate your intentions, you would be able to see the natural harmony in all things. You wouldn’t mistake opposition for obstacles or become victim to your grievances. Although some things may be more challenging than others, rather than focusing on what you don’t have, remember what you do have! Adopt an attitude of gratitude, and each time you find yourself in an awkward position, try again.

Libra: Hierophant (2 of Swords) 9/23 – 10/23 Peace of mind may have been in short supply last month, but the tide has changed and so will your mindset. The first thing to do is to get off your throne, couch, or chair and get moving. Explore different spaces, both internally and externally. There is an emphasis on learning, so it’s a great time to connect to mentally or spiritually stimulating people, activities, or studies. Someone you least expect will offer answers to the questions you’ve been asking. This is not a time to overanalyze the meaning of events—it’s a time to give meaning to the events. Scorpio: Emperor (Knight of Cups) 10/24 – 11/22 Power is not something that can be measured by status or possessions, control is not a result of managing your environment, and intelligence has more to do with your heart than your mind. A recent shift in the direction you’re heading, whether internal or external, will provide a new sense of ambition. It is important to follow your dreams right now and trust that your vision will not lead you astray. Focus more upon spiritual matters than worldly ones and you’ll discover a reservoir of untapped creativity that you can utilize for future gain.

Taurus: Hermit (Ace of Pentacles) 4/20 – 5/21 Time alone can often be the best way of finding answers. Within the silence of your own solitude, you’re better able to hear the advice of your inner voice. Feeling empty and dissatisfied is a good reason to search for deeper meaning in something greater than yourself. This month, a work opportunity for future growth, finance, and/or health will prompt you to focus more on what you want to achieve. See what’s in your heart, not just from your mind, and keep the desire to yourself. The winter will bring the results you seek. And remember, if you’re vague, then your desired outcome will be, too.

Sagittarius: Devil (7 of Cups) 11/23 – 12/21 Illusory goals will get you nowhere fast. Time will pass, and before you know it, you’ll end up where you began. Sound confusing? Abstract as it may be, you’re caught in the wrinkles of time, and you must face your darker side. Begin by examining your deceptions, delusions, and addictions, for therein lies the treasure of your lighter side. Unmask the phantoms and you’ll find the magic! Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing as you look for validation. Affairs of the heart are also susceptible to flattery, so be sure to look beyond fleeting pleasures.

Gemini: Tower (4 of Pentacles) 5/22 – 6/21 Naturally, you add a great deal of yourself to what you do, attaching personal value to what you do or don’t achieve. When your accomplishments in the outer world are the only measure of your personal worth, you’re always subject to disappointment, because nothing is permanent and often compared to another. Unfortunately, loss is an inescapable lesson in the school of hard knocks. This month, ask yourself if what you’re giving your energy to is worth it. If it is, great—you’ll be rewarded well beyond physical pleasure. If not, there’s certain to be a collapse of more than just your ego.

Capricorn: Judgment (King of Swords) 12/22 – 1/20 A burst of new energy inspires you to move in a more intentional direction. However, you must be the one calling the shots and taking the necessary risks in this process. Hesitation or procrastination is only an excuse. This is a serious time to evaluate your current position in life. An important person who you respect could provide a more objective perspective if you ask. Do not hesitate in pursuing matters that relate to business, and be shrewd in all your dealings. If something slips through the cracks this month, there will be a big price to pay.

Cancer: Wheel of Fortune (7 of Wands) 6/22 – 7/22 When opportunity knocks, it’s best to answer. If you’re too caught up in chasing pleasure and avoiding pain, you’ll miss out on what’s being offered. Working to attain what you think you want may simply be a way to avoid what you don’t want. Being mindful of your intention is crucial for success. What is your goal? How will you know you’ve achieved it? And what are you currently doing to create it? Ask yourself these questions; you might be surprised that you are actually moving in the opposite direction, or that you’ve already achieved the results you wanted.

Aquarius: Moon (6 of Pentacles) 1/21 – 2/18 The gift you received last month may include strings you were not aware were attached, or that great opportunity could become more like a thorn in your side. Careful consideration is required as you readjust your routine. Be prudent not to take on more than you can handle, as you’re probably close to your limit. Guard against the desire to save others. If you’re feeling drained by your commitments and your energy is waning, spiritual pursuits can revitalize you. If possible, take a journey, even if it’s an imagined one through some form of meditation or guided imagery.

Leo: Fool (10 of Cups) 7/23 – 8/23 Experiencing emotional peaks can be exhilarating, especially when you’re with ones you love. There’s something about family, close friends, and partners that provide fulfillment and strength. It is often during times of unexpected pleasure or pain that we need a shoulder to lean on, a high-five and a smile, or a loving gesture. An emotional relationship will take a drastic turn this month. It’s likely that this shock will stop you in your tracks, making you question ulterior motives. Good or bad, trust yourself to follow your heart. There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

Pisces: Strength (Queen of Wands) 2/19 – 3/20 True strength cannot be measured by force, but rather by grace and humility. Your feelings are powerful allies that can be channeled in directions that ultimately change your life. This month will offer an experience that challenges your faith, and though you may question the path you’re on and the over-arching theme of your life, it would be wise to trust the divine plan. Replace feelings of fear with self-love and devotion, and review past dilemmas for the resulting triumphs or lessons. You have the remarkable ability to see beauty through the gloom; gracefully perform your magic.

Virgo: Death (Queen of Pentacles) 8/24 – 9/22 Although life is full of numerous opportunities for re-creating yourself, people tend to hold on to their favorite roles. Children learn behaviors that are either enforced through praise or reprimand. This standard influences how you relate to the world. Behaviors become masks that, when identified with too strongly, separate you from your own essence. Consequently, during major transitions or crises, these facades are stripped away, exposing new and sometimes uncomfortable parts of you. It’s time to shed those extra pounds and let go of stifling roles. You’re so much more than what you give yourself credit for.

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PeaceLink 11.11.11 An Interview With Michael Beckwith

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by Sydney L. Murray

ur theme this month is Modern Living. And what is astounding is that we are living in such complex yet amazing times. The amazing organization of Agape and Rev. Michael Beckwith are gathering together with other like-minded people on 11.11.11 at Agape to celebrate and create PeaceLink. I wanted to know more and spoke with Rev. Beckwith as he took time out at an airport headed to Philadelphia. Yes, we do live in a modern and technological world. Vision Magazine: What is the inspiration behind PeaceLink? Michael Beckwith: It’s a number of people coming together to create a vibration and coherence all around the world in which individuals will stop and celebrate the infinite possibilities that lie within each and every one of us as spiritual beings and the human incarnation. There’s so much attention being portrayed in the mass media which is disruptive, that shows parts of society which have fallen apart. Yet all at the same time there’s a whole pattern of energy emerging so peacefully, brought about by individuals that are sending out a call to place our attention on that which is seeking to emerge in us, in the human family, and to come together and articulate that—to feel that, to express that, to celebrate that, and to anchor that on the planet on this particular day. We will have an array of artists, speakers, visual artists, dancers, singers, and we will come together and adopt the highest for our planet and reach out to other places [cities] and release that powerful work and joy. VM: If there is one thing, what have you changed in the way you lived in the last year? MB: I would say that, probably, I’ve up-leveled my spiritual practice and acknowledge that I’m always seeking to have it evolve. So my time in my meditation and yoga practice has probably increased. And the other thing that we’ve changed is, we did “Pressing the Reset Button” at the Agape community, in which we stopped as a community, and as a staff, and as a board of trustees, and ministers, and reevaluated everything that we would do, and began over so that anything that’s not working, we took a hard look at it, and removed it if necessary as we are now preparing for the next 25 years of our community. VM: And what came out of that reset button? MB: A lot of healing for everyone. Our staff members had really powerful moments of healing and connecting to the vision of why they first began this spiritual practice and why they first began to attend and participate in the Agape community. And then, embracing the next step of our community, really going to the next level of excellence and service to our worldwide, global congregation as well as to each other. So there’s really a strong birth of passion and love, and

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releasing anywhere within us where things had become stale. VM: Our theme this month is Modern Living. What does that term mean to you? MB: First of all, it’s the right use of technology. I think technology has invaded our experience of the last two years. And we wanted to embrace technology and use it in a way that is inspiring, uplifting, healing, life-transforming, and release the inertia and the time-wasting aspects of it. In the modern world, we want to embrace the sacred quality of living, but allow technology to help us, so it becomes inspiring, beautifying, and transforming. And if we do that, then we evolve as a species. If we just get stuck in entertainment, we’ve devolved. VM: How can one person change the world? MB: When one individual makes a stand for excellence and releases inferiority and mediocrity, changes their internal environment, and also changes the environment they live in, it begins to create a wave of energy that changes every environment they go into. That whole power that they begin to emit draws to them other people of like-minded [world of ] thought and vibration, and it creates a ripple effect throughout the world. The three kinds of people, or three kinds of ways people think or act are: Inferior, in which people are constantly complaining or tearing things down. There’s mediocrity, where people are just trying to maintain the status quo. And then there’s excellence, where people are progressing and evolving, tapping into [their] creativity. So when a person makes continued on page 40 Specializations Include:

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Thanksgiving:

The Next Generation by Brian L. Patton

hile we are brought up to believe that Thanksgiving is based on that “first” feast shared between the pilgrims of Plymouth and the indigenous Wampanoag tribe in 1621, the actual origins of this holiday and how we celebrate it today are not quite that precise. Thanksgiving’s existence is more of an evolution, molded by an aggregate of occurrences throughout our history, instead of a direct extension of a single event. In the early 1600s, settlers arriving in the New World would hold a “day of thanksgiving” to God to celebrate their safe journey. Native American tradition, as well as English tradition, also dictated regular feasts in celebration of successful harvests. And the feast in 1621 between the Wampanoag tribe and the Plymouth settlers was no different. Squanto, who resided with the Wampanoag and learned English during his enslavement and travels in Europe, acted as an interpreter, teaching the settlers how to catch eels and shellfish, and how to grow corn. With the help of the Wampanoag, the settlers survived their first winter and had their first successful harvest. And, as many did before them, they celebrated with a feast. In the ensuing decades, these kinds of “thanksgivings” or “days of prayer” occurred sporadically, and at all different times of the year. Whether it was to celebrate the end of a drought, the arrival of colonists, or a military victory during the Revolutionary War, there were similar feasts offering thanks to God for their good fortune. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress declared that the individual states should conduct at least one day of thanksgiving per year. And after the war, President George Washington proclaimed the first Thanksgiving Day, designated by the national government in 1789. This, however, did not solidify Thanksgiving as an annual, national holiday. That didn’t happen until Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in 1863. (Man, they sure did a lot of proclaiming and declaring back then. At least those leaders were doing something. I’m not sure what ours are doing now. Seems more like kids fighting in the sandbox.) Speaking of silly political sparring, a funny thing happened in 1939 during

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Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency. That year, November had five Thursdays. Since the country was still suffering through The Great Depression, Roosevelt decided to keep Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday, giving store owners and merchants an extra week to advertise their Christmas goods (since it was not acceptable to do so before Thanksgiving). Republicans did not like this, however, calling it an affront to Lincoln’s memory. Because of this, there were two Thanksgivings celebrated in 1939. November 30 was known as the “Republican Thanksgiving,” and November 23 was known as the “Democratic Thanksgiving” or “Franksgiving.” Smartly, Texas ended up taking full advantage of the dispute, and took both days as government holidays. Roosevelt, then, kept the official Thanksgiving day on the penultimate Thursday of November (for the same economic reasons) for the next two years. Then in 1941, Congress took care of the issue once and for all, by passing a joint resolution stating that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the last Thursday in November. Later, to avoid future confusion, the Senate passed an amendment declaring that the holiday be celebrated on the fourth Thursday. This brings us to today—where Thanksgiving has evolved from scattered celebrations to an annual, national holiday. But what about the food? Believe it or not, those early celebrations did not consist of turkey, gravy, bread stuffing, and mashed potatoes. And they definitely did not have any cranberry sauce out of a can! What they did eat was fish and shellfish, like eel, cod, clams, and lobster, which were abundant in the region. Also very common was venison, or deer meat. There were birds such as duck, geese, swan, and turkey that were also consumed, but they were by no means the centerpiece of the feasts. The emergence of turkey as the main dish of Thanksgiving dinner was part practical and part cultural. Like the holiday itself, it was an evolution. As time progressed, turkey became the most sensible option for large feasts for a number of reasons. Deer, while abundant, was difficult to hunt and time-consuming to slaughter. Fish and shellfish were also not practical because a great deal of it was required to feed a large group. Turkeys, on the other hand, were easy to catch and slaughter, and by November, spring-born turkeys were big enough to feed a crowd. Furthermore, in 16th century England, it was common to serve geese and swan during celebrations. So serving large fowl during a celebratory feast was a part of English culture that the settlers brought with them. By the time Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday, turkeys had taken hold as the go-to entrée for the celebration. Even further solidifying the turkey’s place on the Thanksgiving table was the 20th century’s industrialization of the food system, which made them bigger, cheaper, and easy to obtain. The 17th century settlers ate deer, fish, and fowl because that was all that was

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available to them. They had vegetables, too, but variety was limited by region and season, so they did what they needed to do to survive. We of the 21st century no longer have these limitations. The American food system is such that we can get an endless variety of vegetables, whole grains, and legumes in every corner of the country. Like ourselves and everything around us, the Thanksgiving that we celebrate today arose by way of evolution. And as we know, evolution is a constant. The ability that technology affords us—to easily gather and disseminate information—is accelerating our culture’s evolution. Never before have we had such access to information about how our food is grown and how it gets to our plates. Until relatively recent years, we could only believe what our culture had taught us. So knowing all that we know now about our food, why do we still eat Turkey on Thanksgiving? Some may say, “It’s tradition!” But I say, “It’s advertising!” Turkey became the tradition out of the necessity of our ancestors. And since there is no longer this necessity, the “tradition” is no longer valid. The evolution of our society has taken us from having to be sustained by what was immediately around us, to having an endless selection of wholly nutritious, plant-based sources of protein, vitamins, and minerals, all at arm’s reach. Through advertising, the companies who produce animal products have done a spectacular job of making us believe that our very lives depend on eating “incredible edible” eggs for breakfast, beef for dinner, and turkey at Thanksgiving. Our good sense has been blinded by a cornucopia of billboards, print ads, and TV commercials voiced by gruff cowboy-sounding guys. If you look at it from an evolutionary standpoint, eating turkey (or any animal products, for that matter) no longer makes sense for humans. The species of animals that inhabit our planet today evolved because their ancestors figured out how to stay alive. It seems we have been led astray from our natural evolutionary road, and have actually begun devolving. While eating meat was once vital to the survival of the settlers, factory farming and over-consumption has completely turned the tables on us, and now it contributes to our illness and death! But somehow we don’t make any changes. And instead of becoming a healthier, stronger species, we’re contracting bone disease at 60, dying of heart disease at 50, and being diagnosed with diet-related illnesses before we hit puberty! There’s even been a re-emergence of gout. That’s right, gout! It’s not a surprise, really. Most of our meat is irradiated and injected with an amount of chemicals and hormones that would make Charlie Sheen say, “Whoa, maybe you should slow down a bit.” If then, you take into account the toll that industrial meat production takes on the land, sea, air, and overall energy of the universe, it is clear that there is not one remaining shred of value in eating a turkey on Thanksgiving. Okay, so maybe there’s no inherent value to eating turkey, but at least it tastes good. Right? As I remove my history hat, and don my chef ’s hat, I struggle to remember exactly what turkey tastes like. And that’s probably because it tastes like chicken, which, if you think about it, tastes like nothing. Why else would we have to douse it with gravy and scoop mashed potatoes onto the same forkful before we eat it? Every other food item that graces our Thanksgiving table is superior in flavor to the meat of a turkey. V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

c u l t u r e So how do we get our evolution back on track? We start with our plate! Get rid of the things that are holding us back, and fill those spaces with what will take us forward. Take, for instance, Vegin’ Out, a vegan home delivery service in Southern California, where I just happen to be Executive Chef. Each year we offer the Thanksgiving Dinner for Two, consisting of things like roasted shallot mashed potatoes, green beans with caramelized onions, stuffing style quinoa, and some sort of “turkey replacement” item, like seitan. When you put that all on a plate, I’ll be darned if it doesn’t exactly resemble that Thanksgiving feast we all grew up with. And it tastes pretty darn good, too, if I do say so myself. And that’s just one option! If you’re not in our area and want to make it all yourself, every side dish related to Thanksgiving can easily be made without animal products, and be as equally, if not more, delicious than its “ancestor.” There are also plenty of faux turkey items that you can pick up at the store. And if you’re so inclined, you can take a look at TheSexyVegan.com for the Thanksgiving side dish recipe series I did last year. I know, shameless. Finally, if you really think about it, we can even look at the Thanksgiving table as a microcosm of our world. We are surrounded by so much good and potential in our periphery, but we’re too distracted by the dinosaur in the middle of the room. The socalled “traditions” and old ways of thinking in regards to religion, politics, business, economics, and, of course, food, are blinding us from the new and exciting things that are surprisingly within our reach. It’s like how the symphony of fresh, vibrant, nutritious, and delicious food making up our Thanksgiving side dishes is brushed aside in favor of a big, pale, flavorless, monolith that not only adversely affects our bodies, but our entire planet. If we take one thoughtful look around the room, or the table, or the world, it’s obvious what needs to go and what needs to stay. It’s up to us to steer humanity’s evolution. And we can start with Thanksgiving. Brian L. Patton is executive chef of Vegin’ Out, Southern California’s premier vegan delivery service, and author of The Sexy Vegan Cookbook: Extraordinary Food from an Ordinary Dude. For more information, please visit www.VeginOut.com and www. TheSexyVegan.com.

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Stay Connected By Erin Tagan

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12 Nov 2011: Evening with Louix: 7:30 p.m. Louix will offer a discourse, followed by a Q&A session, wherein you can receive direct personal guidance from Him. Seaside Center for Spiritual Living, 1613 Lake Drive, Encinitas, CA

17 Dec 2011: Louix’s 50th Birthday Celebration: 6:00 p.m. This event will feature devotional singing with Pranam, delicious vegan food, and Louix will be giving darshan on this special day. Seaside Center for Spiritual Living, 1613 Lake Drive, Encinitas, CA

New Year’s Eve Retreat — Sedona, Arizona Thu., 29 December 2011 - Tue., 3 January 2012

During this residential retreat at world-renowned Enchantment Resort, you will experience the transformational power of Louix’s darshan, ecstatic singing, direct personal guidance, gourmet vegan cuisine, and nature hikes over the course of six love-filled days with this spiritual Master. * All events, except the retreat, are by donation *

To register for the retreat or for more information, please contact Samantha: phone: (888) 288-3735 • e-mail: samantha@Louix.org To register online, go to: www.LouixNYE.org All attending these events consent to having their names, voices, images, and likenesses recorded and used for commercial purposes. All proceeds from these events will be used to support the Louix Dor Dempriey Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization.

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ou know what I love?” Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters invited an arena full of fans to speculate during their show Monday night, “Is when you go to a concert…where it’s just people, onstage, playing music. That’s why we’re here. Who wants to come out and watch a bunch of computers doing things that humans can’t?” This observation reflects a pressing issue in modern culture. We’re living in a time of perpetual technological development that calls for us to find the line between the outcomes it yields, to distinguish between what’s beneficial to advancing our society and what’s inhibiting us from natural growth as humans. Music, as an art form, proves fascinating by virtue of the natural talent, sense of rhythm, and ambition it demands from the musicians. To employ the use of computers in music is to downplay the ability of the artists who had to work meticulously toward achieving the perfect sound, a sound that computers are capable of producing effortlessly. Just as in any art form, the beauty of music lies in the drive of the artist to continuously improve his or her work. To embrace the work is to embrace the human passion behind it. Living in a world where technology is ever-growing and revered so highly, we find too often that we are unimpressed by the human potential for growth. This is not to say that technological advances are a turn for the worse, because they definitely do offer plenty of rewarding benefits. But it’s our responsibility to determine what these benefits are—to initiate control over what we need in order to adapt to change—and what we’re taking too much advantage of. With the rapid increase in the development of technology, our culture has been exposed to a haunting demand for convenience. We’re spoiled by conveniences like instant international communication and the choice of the “drive thru” option. We don’t have to leave the house to shop or flip through books to find information, thanks to the Internet, which we don’t even need a computer to access because most of us have it on our phones. We crave the constant stimulation of text messages or “Words With Friends.” But when we’re surrounded by friends, we avoid having actual words with them, because we’re too busy playing with our phones! Having become so accustomed to the benefits of instant gratification, we’ve been conditioned to expect it all the time and lose our patience when it’s not granted. We get caught up in the hurry of the world around us and forget how privileged we are to have access to these luxuries. As a result, it’s become our nature to feel constantly rushed, so much so that if our agenda gets slightly pushed back, we’re frustrated. This conditioned impatience is not exclusive to American culture. Many other countries are equally as technologically evolved, and any modern culture is subject to the effects of its own development. I took a trip to London about a year and a half ago, and while riding the tube (a subway designed for the convenience of commuters), a voice came over the intercom to announce that one of the connecting lines would be temporarily closed because a person had been caught under one of the trains. The woman across from me, who was initially inconvenienced to take the earbuds out of her ears to hear the announcement, proceeded to roll her eyes at the setback this person, stuck helplessly under the tracks, had imposed on her morning commute. The image of this woman stuck with me grotesquely, hounding me with the question, how do we sacrifice human compassion for the need for convenience? Are we so accustomed to the benefits of a technological society that, instead of viewing

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h e a l i n g this occurrence as a tragic accident concerning the well-being of another person, we only see that something has gotten between us making it to work on time? How disconnected are we with others that we can’t explain to our bosses—confident that they will sympathize—that the reason we’re late is because, regardless of our individual obligations, the world is constantly moving, constantly surprising us (whether good or bad), and there are beautiful coincidences and terrible accidents that are out of our control? Can we not honestly express to another human being that, unfortunately, someone died today on the way to work, and it could have been us or them, and then think for a moment about how lucky we are to be alive and able to understand one another? It’s important to find a balance with something as influential as technology, so that we can exercise it in efforts to enhance our quality of life rather than letting it control our lives. It’s vital for us to keep up with ever-changing times and adapt to advances, but at what point are we losing our ability to resort to nature, to fall back on more primitive practices? Yes, electricity provides us with most modern necessities and it would be very difficult to live in any modern culture without it. On the other hand, if we’re without it for a day, will we be at a loss for how to entertain ourselves without TV or cars or phone service? More than likely, yes, implying that we are, in fact, letting these modern conveniences control our lives by depending on them too much. We should be utilizing these advances to our advantage as a society, (i.e., the progression of education, screening for illness, developing medical procedures)

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rather than taking them for granted and using them as an excuse to avoid natural, human contact. So, how do we find the balance between the natural and the technological that we need in order to live productively in today’s society? Let there be a distinction between them. When you’re enjoying an afternoon at the beach, reading a book, spending time with friends or family, turn off the technology. Don’t feel compelled to lean on exterior stimulation; enjoy the time you’ve set aside for relaxation from the constant obsession. Allow yourself to let go. We’re letting our relationship with technology replace our real relationships, when we should be implementing it as a tool to sustain relationships, keeping in touch with those who are far away. Share pictures, music, conversation, things that keep us connected, not distant. There is no avoiding the byproducts of technological advancement during such a revolutionary time in its development. But we have to remember that no matter how quickly we’re accelerating in terms of electronics and industrial science, nothing supersedes our capacity for human connection. Originally from San Clemente, CA, Erin Tagan moved to San Diego five years ago to attend SDSU. She received her bachelor’s degree in English and is now working as an intern for Vision Magazine. Please contact her at eetagan@ gmail.com.

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Dreaming Bhutan: A Passage Into Grace Dreaming Bhutan: A Passage Into Grace A Conversation with Nicole Grace by Sydney L. Murray

vital force: (n.) the force that animates and perpetuates living beings and organisms

t has never stopped astounding me, the words that Nicole Grace offers in her teachings, which have always resonated so deeply within me. From her new poetic book, “Dreaming Bhutan,” and speaking with her today, I am reminded once again, she is an incredibly important teacher. Her demeanor and, again, her words are a balm to my soul and actually have revived me to once again seek my center, my vital source. Vision Magazine: Our theme this month is modern culture. How do you think we can live in our modern world and live a fulfilling life? Nicole Grace: I am glad you asked. I would say that is one of the fundamental teachings I have been trying to teach people about for years. This idea that everyone can have a spiritual life, a fulfilling life which is not beyond some personal pathway [or] spiritual evolution. Or that you have to have a certain kind of life [or] a certain set of circumstances, and that usually entails living outside of the modern world. So [in a] monastery, in a loincloth, on a mountaintop in some place in India living apart from civilization and removing oneself from the stress and distractions of life. But in fact, that is a misunderstanding in where enlightenment is and how to access it. Or just fulfillment and how to access it. And once you discover the secret living anywhere, any kind of life circumstance can be even more fulfilling because of the magic of discovering that perfection, and beauty and ecstasy is everywhere. My teacher was fond of saying, “Wherever you go, there you are.” And I love that because you can be in hell in a monastery and in ecstasy on Wall Street. Which some people in Occupy America are convinced is hell on earth. I found ecstasy there. Not because of Wall Street, but because of me. You can go into some perfect environment, in nature, with no sign of modern culture, no sign of cars, no sound of human life and you can hear birds chirping and, of course, you can be very much in touch with what we consider spiritual life. But what I find so fantastic is that you can be in the middle of San Francisco and see the entire teeming city melt into gold light and you can watch all of it dissolve and you can dissolve into it. And there is just as much enlightenment there (in the city) as there is in the Himalayas. So when you see that, and experience the ecstasy and that magic in the midst of the loud city, that is something. Not the conflict with the honking horns, not some kind of inner escape from them, or inside your mind away from them, but rather with the honking horns and the screaming people and the sirens and all of that as the landscape encompasses you. Enlightenment is when you can be in the midst of that and see the enlightenment in it. I find that magical. You can’t really put relativity in context, but I am moved by the idea of [it] and I V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

think it is such a powerful teaching when you speak to someone who is in the middle of whatever life circumstance that is challenging, stressing, frustrating, and there is this need to escape and they don’t. I want to be somewhere else, anywhere else—some other life circumstance—because this one isn’t working. And I totally support change. Blow everything off and do something different tomorrow—that is exciting in itself. We should never feel trapped; you can always change. Right here, right now, in whatever circumstance, there is perfection and peace, and peace is a total escape from pain. Peace is not the same as ecstasy, although there is ecstasy in peace. Peace is just that—a silent communion with the source of everything called life. And there is no escape in our modern world. In traffic in LA there is just as much worry [as] if you were sitting in Chartres [Cathedral] in that cool place with the cool air on a hot day. VM: How can each one of us lead a better life? NG: I think leading a better life, that better means different things to different people, but more peaceful, more fulfilling, less stressful. I think the number one thing that can bring peace is getting outside of yourself, because it is focus on the self that causes suffering. The ultimate separation, my pain, I am feeling this, I am going through this, poor me. So the ultimate shift from that is, what can I do for someone else? How can I serve someone else’s happiness or how can

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I serve an ideal? If you don’t know how to get there, gratitude is the bridge. So if you have a moment of gratitude, then it’s a very short step to selflessness. You can feel gratitude for something, anything. Even in the darkest moment, there is something to be grateful for, however small. And in that you find a bridge to do something for someone else’s benefit. If you think every day when you get up that before the day is out you will do one thing that benefits someone else or something beyond yourself, and then do it, when you go to sleep you always have that one thing that you did for someone else. It changes you and it makes you feel fulfilled. You do more and more and all of a sudden, days later, not even weeks, you are happy, you are fulfilled no matter what condition your life is in. It stops mattering because there is always someone worse off. VM: What would be the most common negative affliction, in your opinion, in our modern society here in the United States? NG: I would say the most negative affliction in a sense—and [for] probably all mankind, but we definitely suffer from here [in the United States]—is narcissism. Part of it is a sense of entitlement. I have traveled in so many parts of the world and many Americans haven’t. When you are in Europe, so many people take a year off after high school to travel (before college or work). What an education. Americans tend not to travel and just stay here. And what a metaphor that is: our minds tend to be provincial. But the moment I leave America, even in Europe—I love Europe— they don’t live like we do. We are incredibly spoiled. And it’s wonderful to live here, and I enjoy the amenities V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

here in the United States, but it’s not the way the rest of the 7 billion people live. So it’s very important not to ignore the privilege of having an incarnation where we are so fortunate. And instead of taking that to a place of anger and feeling even more self-righteous and even more entitled, rather have that be, “I have perfect circumstances,” relatively speaking. Just travel to India and tell me your life isn’t an absolute fairytale no matter how bad it is. VM: What would you consider positive about our society today? NG: I would say [a] large number of Americans are living in pain because of the change in the past 10 years in our economy. I would say the people are reaching a level of outrage. Attention is being called to people who are suffering. And a volume is growing with the Occupy Movement among others where I think in this greater darkness there is potential for change, where light is being shined on the darkness and the direction, the arc [of where] we have been on culturally and economically. Where the most privileged have been getting the most privileges to the detriment of everyone else. And we’ve seen this progression, this cycle before, throughout history, before reaching that point where there is shift, and sometimes it becomes more painful before it gets better. I hope that we are getting to that point where change will be made and perhaps start caring a little bit more about each other. VM: In your travels around the world, what would you say is the most surprising aspect of other cultures? NG: I read the news from four to five different sources to find the kernel of truth, but nevertheless I pay attention to the news because I like to look at the larger pattern and understand what is happening and see the cycles. And sometimes [I] step outside the country or outside of the cultural background, and what is absolutely stunning to me, wherever I have gone, is how much love people [have given me] and how much less paralyzed they are than they are here [in the United States]. I do sometimes think that because of the way the news is [written here] that people have a kind of distaste for us. In the heart of Egypt, I met people who were so kind and so sweet and who just loved so many things about America. And I understand that they or some of their countrymen may disagree [with our politics] but with the person to person [interaction] it was different. I came up to this kid in a store in a small town in Egypt and he was just the sweetest kid. It wasn’t about politics; we met person to person. He was asking me about Disneyland and telling me, I love America, and he talked to me and he was just an open heart and love. It is we Americans; we are the ones that separate ourselves. It’s not the other way around. I found that everywhere you go, people are welcoming and people have hospitality and are happy to show their culture. One thing I like to do wherever I travel is learn at least three words: hello; please; and thank you—in

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by Stacy Cohen

n Saturday, September 17, 2011, approximately 1,000 people congregated in Zuccotti Park in New York in protest of corporate greed, economic and social inequality, and government lobbyists. What this resulted in was something they had only dreamed of. This was the start of Occupy Wall Street, which now reaches across the globe. That night, nearly 200 hundred people camped out under umbrellas and in cardboard boxes, preparing to continue their peaceful assault on Wall Street. By Monday, seven people had been arrested, and Keith Olbermann of Current TV started his coverage. With Olbermann taking an interest, the rest of the news agencies began to take notice of the group of mostly passive, yet vocal protestors. By day seven, The Colbert Report was starting to get involved by satirizing the protests. Unfortunately, that’s where some of the peace ended. On September 24, thousands of protestors began to make their way uptown, forcing the closure of several streets. The police responded by arresting over 80 people. Soon videos began to surface, and people proclaimed police brutality, particularly in the case of a video showing a young woman being maced by a police officer. This caught the attention of the hacker group, Anonymous, mostly famous for hacking Bank of America and releasing several documents and the like. Anonymous posted a video on YouTube, threatening to take down the police if they heard of brutality in the next 36 hours. The next evening, filmmaker/ activist Michael Moore addressed the crowd. Occupy Wall Street was on its way. Occupy Wall Street soon lent itself to a rally by postal workers protesting a five-day delivery week instead of the six we’re accustomed to. Two days later, protestors in San Francisco attempted to occupy a Citibank, Chase bank branch, and the Charles Schwab financial institution. They became the first of the many breakaway groups. In October, police arrested over 700 protestors as over 5,000 made their way across Brooklyn Bridge and into traffic lanes. Traffic was essentially stopped for over two hours. This was not the first time the protestors had become a hazard to the citizens of New York. In a dramatic turn, October 3 brought around the zombie walk. Hundreds of the protestors dressed as zombies and walked past Wall Street with fake dollar bills. Just days later, Occupy Wall Street got a huge boost. Union members, students, and the unemployed joined the Occupy Wall Street movement, and the number swelled to over 10,000 people who marched from Foley’s Square in Manhattan to Zuccotti Park. They remained peaceful until nightfall when scuffles broke out and some 200 tried to storm the barricades that

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kept them from accessing Wall Street. October 6 held the largest day yet. While the crowd in New York dwindled to its usual few hundred, 5,000 protestors marched in Portland, Oregon, and demonstrations were held in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Tampa, Houston, and Austin. The Occupy Wall Street message had now spread across the country. Even the president got involved, stating, “I think it expresses the frustrations the American people feel, that we had the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression, huge collateral damage all throughout the country…and yet you’re still seeing some of the same folks who acted irresponsibly trying to fight efforts to crack down on the abusive practices that got us into this in the first place.” Two days later, protesters in Washington, DC were pepper sprayed as they attempted to enter and take over the National Air and Space Museum. Meanwhile, in New York, a thousand protestors marched to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village amid rumors that the protest would now be centered there instead of Zuccotti Park. On day 24 of the Occupy Wall Street movement, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg implied that he would not use resources to dissuade the group from their protest, as they were peaceful and had the right to demonstrate. By mid-October, the Occupy movement had spread from East Coast to West Coast and beyond the nation’s borders. Around the world, thousands protested corporate greed and the financial system. Many of these protests were not done in the peaceful manner of the US protests, and reports of injuries from around the globe have been pouring in through the media. Occupy Wall Street began with a couple hundred souls who had nowhere to go for answers about what is happening in our country. They were fed up with promises made by the government, the private sector, and the banks. With no money, no jobs, and months or even years of pent-up frustration, they struck the only way they could—by protesting. “We are the 99 percent” became their motto as they began their crusade against the injustice they perceived. But what is it they want? To change our system? To create new jobs? The problem is, nobody really knows. This large, leaderless group wants change, but they don’t know how to go about it. While many groups of people find the protestors to be wasting their time and ours by expressing dissatisfaction with the nation’s unemployment rate and our economy in general, many rally to support the group for the exact opposite reasons. They believe that, while change doesn’t come overnight, the Occupy Wall Street Movement is engaging a new generation of people, a new generation that will become more involved in government and

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f e a t u r e politics where it counts, and be able to make future changes. But what might those changes be? The Occupy Wall Street movement, or the 99 percent, as it is now sometimes being called, has no real leader. Without a leader there is no way to “behead the beast” or start talks to end the protest. For some, this has become very frustrating, as there appears to be no end in sight. How does one satisfy what is basically a civilized mob? They aren’t burning cars and ransacking buildings, but they are indeed a mob of sorts. One match could set it off into becoming one of the seemingly largest angry throng of people, hell-bent on changing the world by any means necessary. What would happen in this case?It is estimated that over $3 million dollars have been spent on overtime alone for the New York police force to ensure the protesters are safe, and to protect city buildings and the local populace from frustrated protestors who may decide the peaceful protest isn’t enough for them. For a group concerned about the way money is being spent, it seems that they are truly going about this the wrong way. I suppose a national letter writing campaign doesn’t have the same media-grabbing attention, but it may make a bigger social impact if hundreds of thousands of letters written by the concerned citizens of the nation were to rain down over Congress. But then again, one of the things being protested is, of course, the money lobbyists spend convincing our governing bodies to do their bidding. What would the world look like without the lobbyist and large corporations throwing their money and weight around to make sure the laws that are passed are favorable to them? Would it be better for America? If a lobbyist could present their case to a congressman, but couldn’t promise them a certain monetary value towards a pet project or a reelection campaign, how would it affect us? Would things stop getting done? Or would Congress listen more to the people they represent to make the world better for them? And if big business no longer supported part of the government, or different political parties, and that money dried up, would the government do more for the people instead of being happy with the status quo that lines their pockets while thousands lose their jobs and go hungry because of that simple greed? But how many jobs are won with that greed? Big business may change zoning laws so they can build more stores—more stores mean more jobs. But what if those jobs only paid minimum wage? Not living wage, but minimum wage. Yes, hundreds of people are now employed when they weren’t before, but they still can’t make a living. Now, if big business stayed out of it, Congress could raise the minimum wage. But then again, businesses may suffer and have to let employees go because they could no longer afford them. Then there are more people out of the workforce, while those who are in it can make ends meet. What does this do to our economy? The Occupy Wall Street movement wants to end the lobbyists and the big businesses that currently help run America, but is that really in our best interests? In addition to ending the current system of lobbying, job creation is on the forefront of the Occupy Wall Street movement. But how do you create jobs in a failing economy? It’s not as easy as it sounds, especially with so many businesses having to cut corners or close down. With the current legislation in Alabama chasing many immigrants away, it is opening up hundreds of jobs, jobs that aren’t being filled by the same Americans saying there are no jobs. Granted, the pay isn’t great, and the hours are long and the work is hard, but there are jobs out there that aren’t being filled. Many Americans feel they are above this sort of work. But what if the jobless Americans took these jobs? Isn’t that one part of their goal down—job creation? I feel that, while bringing attention to the current state of affairs is admirable, the money being wasted to protect protestors and the city from the Occupy Wall Street movement could be better spent elsewhere. Instead of spending that money on overtime for the police, the money could be used to fund a homeless shelter or a soup kitchen to provide warm beds and hot food to the homeless people of the V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

city, a small thing to be sure, but much more helpful in the short run for the people in the area. How does Occupy Wall Street hope to change what’s currently going on? Bringing attention is certainly part of it, but without a plan of action, an idea of how to fix the problem, how do they expect to succeed? I feel that they should come up with a list of what they want to accomplish—how does one expect to accomplish anything without a list of goals? A plan of action is needed. Without an actual leader, there is no negotiating or satisfying the group, and if you anger them, there is no one to rein them back in. It poses a potential threat to the safety of the cities where the protests are going on, particularly New York City, where the main protest is set. And this threat to safety could spread to all the other cities currently hosting mini-movements of their own, including on a global scale where we’ve already seen that it takes very little to inflame the masses, and the arrests and injuries are numerous. I admire the participants of the movement for standing up for what they believe in and trying to make a change, but instead of coming up with ideas to present, using the resources available and coming up with a plan of action to further their cause, they are ignoring what’s available and acting like children throwing a temper tantrum because they didn’t get their way. How does that help anyone? And change is the idea behind this protest. This country needs change, and if this protest will lead to it, then I am all for it. This movement is just the beginning, and it’s setting a precedent for the future, but future movements may not be so peaceful, thereby placing the general public in danger. Hopefully I am wrong. Hopefully this will lead to changes in our government, and the way our economy works changes for the better. For more information on the Occupy Wall Street movement, visit their official Web site, www.occupywallst.org. Stacy Cohen graduated from California State University, Channel Islands with a bachelor’s degree in English. She is currently a freelance writer in her spare time.

the de e r a a s u r e c r “W hei me t a n c a e g d. b e b 99%” otto as they they perceive their m t the injustice agains 27

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wenty-five years after its founding, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is preparing for the future of psychedelic medicine and visionary culture by hosting an exciting and educational four-day conference and celebration from December 8-12 in Oakland, California. People interested in learning more about visionary art, as well as psychedelic therapy and research, are encouraged to attend the event, entitled, “Cartographie Psychedelica.” This unique event includes lectures and workshops with internationally acclaimed leaders in the fields of psychedelic and medical marijuana research, visionary art, and public policy. A tribute dinner will honor the contributions of transpersonal psychologists Stan and Christina Grof to the rapidly growing field of psychedelic research. MAPS is a non-profit research and educational organization that explores health and consciousness through innovative clinical studies and scientific analysis. Its ongoing mission is to develop psychedelics into legal prescription medicines, to create a network of therapeutic clinics, and to educate the public honestly about the risks and benefits of these drugs. Prior to their criminalization for recreational use, therapists around the world used LSD, MDMA, and other psychedelics to assist in psychotherapy. These therapists found that when used carefully under the right circumstances, psychedelics could safely enhance the therapeutic process. The criminalization of these substances, along with exaggerated claims about their risks, led to a near-complete halt on legal studies into their possible benefits as therapeutic tools. Harvard graduate Rick Doblin, Ph.D., founded MAPS in 1986 to reinvigorate research into the risks and therapeutic benefits of psychedelics. MAPS is now planning or conducting research in six countries and on four continents, including the United States, Canada, Switzerland, Israel, Jordan, Mexico, and New Zealand. MAPS’ current highest-priority project is MDMA-assisted psychotherapy research for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), including for survivors of sexual assault and combat veterans. MAPS also recently received permission from the US Food and Drug Administration to conduct the first ever outpatient study of marijuana for

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PTSD in veterans of war. MAPS is funded by individuals and family foundations. Individuals support MAPS programs by making generous contributions, joining as members, volunteering, and by purchasing books and artwork. Artists and musicians have made a significant contribution to MAPS’ programs by donating their works and performing at events. The work these artists produce is often called visionary or sacred art. Attendees of the MAPS event in December will have many opportunities to explore visionary art and culture. Friday evening’s “The Kaleidoscope Vault: An Experiential Benefit Celebration” includes presentations by Alex and Allyson Grey, Charles Shaw (FractalNation Village), Android ‘Andrew’ and Phaedrana Jones, and Daniel Pinchbeck (Reality Sandwich). Performers include David Block (The Human Experience) and Random Rab, accompanied by visual artist Jonathan Singer. Performance auctioneer Elias Arjan will auction art, travel packages, and healing and educational experiences. The Medicine Ball on Saturday is an electronic dance party featuring music and continued on page 46

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dk hair A Conversation With David Valencia

ne of the reasons I love dk hair is the people that work there. They are all amazing. I enjoy my conversations with co-owner David Valencia. He is a very talented and thoughtful man. He is always reading a new book or thinking about a new way of running his business or just living in the world. Recently I e-mailed him a few questions. These are his answers. Vision Magazine: What, in your opinion, is modern hair? David Valencia: These days, most people wear many hats, or should I say, many hairstyles. Versatility is the key, especially for women. Guys can wear their hair very short or shaved. VM: How do you think our hairstyles define us as a culture? DV: I think we take good care of our hair. In part, because we can afford it. VM: Why is hair so important? DV: Because we wear it 24/7 to every single function that we attend and with every outfit we wear. VM: Moving into the New Year, what is on the horizon for dk hair? DV: I see growth in our future and I hope to expand our team with new talent/like-minded people. I would also like strengthen our “lifestyle resource” part of our mission statement, by making people aware that we offer skin care services as well as hair. VM: What is the most important sentiment in living in our modern world? DV: Transparency. Things cannot be kept hidden anymore. You can see what’s going on in the stock market in Japan as it is happening, or watch the sun rise on the east coast in San Diego. Knowledge is very powerful! VM: As a father, how do you contribute to a positive interaction with your children in our modern world? DV: Keep working on myself. As a friend once said, “Keep my side of the street clean.” To stay healthy and have goals, keep positive, to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. VM: If you had one hope for the world, what would it be? DV: Respect and harmony. With an urban and edgy feel and a uniquely artistic mood, the dk hair environment is conducive to creativity. Surrounded by functional art, even the stations are reminiscent of an artist’s easel, with the client acting as the canvas for dk hair stylists. Visit www.dkhair.com or call 619.546.4550 for more details. They are located at 3785 6th Ave., Suite 100A, San Diego, CA 92103. V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

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Knowing the Power Within by Irene Margolis

n our modern culture, we have become a technology-oriented society where people have become accustomed to communicating by texting, e-mail, and Facebook, and relying on Google to find the answers. On a deeper level, when you go beyond cyberspace, people really have the desire for a more human connection with others. This is why there are so many varieties of online dating services— Match.com, Christian Singles Meet, Senior Singles Meet, etc.— all with the goal of helping people create relationships with other like-minded people, and people within their community. But in search for that perfect companion, I believe many people have overlooked a very important aspect of being, which is their own personal power, or as Deepak Chopra mentions in the Law of Pure Potentiality in his book, “The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success,” “Your power is that of bonding…a bonding that comes from true love…” What is it that makes us feel empowered? Self power—the love and awareness that you can create your physical world and connect with everyone in it. Creating reality comes from knowing you have the power to do so. The power within you has the ability to attract to you, situations, opportunities, people, and circumstances on a daily basis—forever. When you fully understand that power, you learn to control it and shift your attention into a progressive direction that

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will help you bask in all life has to offer. You are the most powerful creator in the world. Your thoughts can literally shape your future, and this is why it is good to be aware of that fact, because if you are thinking, “I don’t want to do that,” then you are literally attracting “that” in which you don’t want because you are giving power to it. Why focus on that which does not serve you, when you can be playing in the field of creative infinite consciousness, building your internal power? Would you not then begin to realize how incredible you truly are and how silly it was to think anything less than that? Life is a playground, and we are all here playing in the same realms of existence together. Knowing our power within allows for the funnest games, for real power is love of all that is. Irene Margolis is a certified Chopra Center Primordial Sound Instructor and has been involved with Dr. Deepak Chopra and the Chopra Center for over 14 years. Several years ago, she created the Seven Spiritual Laws of Success Transformation Circle, a fun and informative workshop, which is presented on Sundays each month at the La Costa Resort and Spa. For more information, visit www. mytransformationcircles.com.

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A Journey into Knowing Your Heart By Salima Adelstein

e spend so much time in our heads. Our heads always have “this thought” and “that thought,” and “should’s,” and “oughtto’s.” Our hearts, however, have a deep secret that’s hidden. Part of the journey is lifting the veils that cover our hearts, the defenses and the protections that we put on our hearts through many life experiences. The journey of Sufism lifts these veils of protection from our hearts, so that our hearts are protected only by the One who protects us. Our hearts are supported by the One who is the greatest support of all, and our hearts have the wisdom and intellect that allow us to know the true meaning of who we are. This allows us to have true peace and true happiness. Our hearts open their doors for us to know ourselves and to feel the light inside. This divine love is different than human love because it embraces everything and melts the sorrows. These places of darkness within us get a chance to just melt and wash away through this divine love, so that our hearts become clear mirrors, pure reflections of the divine within us. This leads to our complete happiness and joy and a sense of purpose in life. This journey opens the door for us to be all that we can be. It sets our life on a course of seeing what’s real and what’s important, not the illusions and separations. It opens the door and allows us to feel the wholeness and the connection with our brothers and sisters, so we have more compassion, more mercy, more support, more love, more guidance to help us through whatever difficult times we encounter. It opens the door for us to explore all the wonders and the glories. In my past, I used to explore the world and visit this holy place and that holy place, looking for something that was already in my heart. This journey of Sufism helps us to come home, to come home to the place within our heart where we can rest in God’s love. November Sufi Weekend Retreat For those seeking the guidance and love that Sufism has to offer, there is an opportunity to learn more at a Sufi weekend retreat this November. “Calling All Souls to the Heart of Sufism” will be held November 11-14 at the Del Mar Hilton in San Diego. Salima Adelstein is one of the featured speakers of the upcoming event. She is the

Department Chair of Spiritual Ministry at the University of Spiritual Healing Sufism, which opens its doors to all people who seek to be healed or to be healers and are searching for the truth in the way of God. It is for all people who love truth and justice, all who want to embody the spirit of God in their daily lives, and all who love God regardless of their religion or beliefs. Majors include Peacemaking, Spiritual Leadership, and Spiritual Healing in the Sufi Tradition. The honored speaker of the event is Sidi al-Jamal, Head of the Higher Sufi Council in Jerusalem. He will be speaking four times: Friday evening at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.; and Sunday morning at 9 a.m. There will also be Sufi University faculty members who will teach classes throughout the day, both Saturday and Sunday. Attendees are encouraged to come for the whole event, if possible, to get the most out of it. The goal of the Shadhiliyya Sufis is to work in the world while immersed in the Divine. It is to keep God’s name on the tongue and in the heart and to act from that place. The Shadhiliyya centers teach the Sufi techniques of dhikr, or remembrance of God, and healing methods that help to purify the heart. Dhikrs or circles are held weekly on Sunday evenings in the San Diego, Tucson, and Los Angeles areas. All are welcome to attend. These Shadhiliyya Sufi Centers of the Southwest Region have joined together to put on this November event and to invite you to sit with the guide, to taste the fruit of the holy tree. As Sidi al-Jamal explains, “The way is ancient and everlasting. All who are of the way are possessed by the way and carried by the way, even while they carry the way.” “You will see me with the eye of your deepest yearning, if you see me at all. And if you are searching for me, it is because I am searching for you. If you understand what I mean, then let us meet face to face, hand to hand and soul to soul.” —Sidi al-Jamal For information about dhikrs and healing clinics held in the local San Diego area, for links to circles in Los Angeles and Tucson, and for more information about the upcoming weekend retreat with the guide from the Holy Land, please visit www. SufiCenterSanDiego.org.

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For more information, or to try a free sample, visit vinoprin.com/vision or call 877-484-6664 Vinoprin is proudly made in the USA from hops grown in Oregon and Washington. V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

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Modern Culture and the 2012 We’Moon Calendar, As Timely as Ever

am enthralled by the passage of both the sun and moon on a its almost monthly cycle. But in the last few years I have been expanding my knowledge with the WeMoon desktop calendar. This is so much more than a calendar. It is a resource for our lunar calendar which is updated each year with magnificent art and the current year’s lunar rhythms. The women at We’Moon honor the moon and all of her faces. Acknowledging the feminine side of the moon as the original “womyn’s” calendar, We’Moon celebrates the feminine in their art and the quotations that adorn this book. There are astrological predictions, astrology basics in the year many have called to notice, 2012, and lunar calendar theme pages. I was particularly intrigued with the introduction of the astrological overview of the new year: Astro-Overview 2012 Stay alert, awake, aware and involved this year as a new ear grows in its chrysalis, breaks out and begins to take

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flight. This year is a turning point. It is not an end as some predict; we cannot get out of our evolutionary homework that quickly. Time spirals; it’s the beginning of a new cycle, a new circle as the axis of the earth points towards the center of its galaxy. We saw a great deconstruction of old structures from 2008 to 2011 as Saturn opposed Uranus and squared Pluto. In 2012 Uranus, now in pro-active Aries, squares Pluto, electrifying the ground and seeding new forms, speeding up history through 2015. If you really delve into this book, you find a way of focusing the direction of your days on positive living, of acknowledging the rotations of our earth. The poetry and art always inform, inspire, and profoundly impress upon me the many different cultures in our world as they highlight the art from women. The We’Moon calendar is printed on recycled paper using soy inks. Look for the wall calendar and greeting cards at www.wemoon.ws, or e-mail at weorder@wemoon.ws or call 877.693.6666. $18.95 - SLM

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“Modern Cuture” continued from page 6

“PeaceLink” continued from page 19

excellence, they change their internal environment, the environment in which they live, and they create a field that draws other people [to them] that do the same thing. One person can do that. We have seen that with Mother Theresa. We’ve seen that with Nelson Mandela, we’ve seen that with Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. King. VM: Why do you think spiritual community is so important to our world right now? MB: A spiritual community not only provides the space where people are encouraged to tap into excellence, but it also provides the place for practicing it, as well, with each other, and becoming strong in it [excellence]. And so spiritual community is a place where, one, it’s a hospital where people come and heal, it’s a hospice where people lift that which is within them that needs to die, and where the gifts that need to emerge, can also be nourished to come forward. The spiritual community provides those particular places, a place of healing, a place of letting go to that which doesn’t work [in their life], and a place of birthing that creative urge, that divine urge, which is within all of us [and] within the community that encourages us to have spiritual practice and spiritual goals. The world is mediocre. The mass, corporate media, television—it’s the mediocre mediums that keep people at the status quo. Shopping, consumerism, materialism, fear, doubt, worry, prejudice, and separation. Those are normal ways of living based on the television programs we view. We need a spiritual community to encourage us to go beyond what society demands of us so that we can move beyond the societal standards that are basically our minimal standards for living. VM: In your opinion, do you believe peace is possible? MB: Absolutely. I’ve had visions for a long time of peace. And first of all, peace is not simply the absence of war or conflict. Peace is a quality, all of its own. I describe it as the dynamic of harmonizing good. So peace is possible; peace is everywhere except where it’s being suppressed. Spiritual communities, individuals who have a spiritual practice, are providing the template and the vibrational field for peace to continue, to be amplified on the planet. I think it’s the next stage of our evolution as a species. You have systems that are falling apart right now, whole systems that are falling apart, and the new systems are trying to be born. As we foster these new systems being born, peace is imminent. I’m not saying it’s easy, I’m not saying we’re not going to go through tough times, I’m not saying the birth pangs aren’t going to be difficult, but I do believe there’s a beautiful baby at the other end of that. VM: Where do you think we go from here? MB: We need to articulate the vision of what’s possible. Right now, individuals are very good at articulating what doesn’t work. And right now, we need to articulate what does work. That needs to be our conversation now because the conversations the world has are held together by a synergetic network of conversations that ultimately become our beliefs that become our perceptions that become our experiences. So we need to have a conversation about what’s possible, and then as these conversation become embedded with us, then our beliefs change, our perceptions change, our actions change, and our experience changes. That’s where we have to go from here. Right now, the corporate media lets us know exactly what’s wrong in the experience of what’s wrong. Now we need just as much and more conversation about what works and what’s emerging that works until that world becomes more real to us than the world that’s dying. VM: Is love the most important choice we can make (to love other beings, love ourselves, etc.)? MB: To love is described as absolute presence of God, however we define that word. If the total giving-ness of the spirit is without any sense of withhold and one chooses to love at that level, they become a very, very powerful force in the world. It is not something we can do with our mind. It is something that we evolve to continued on page 47 V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

indigenous concerns in a manner that does not honor the merit of indigenous peoples’ respect and connection to their sacred places. It can’t be said much more simply, that there are no lasting, meaningful safeguards in place to protect sacred places. Even still, a path of unsustainability continues under a guise of “progressive conflict resolution.” Harmony can and must be achieved, but respect of perspective, tradition, and spirituality must be acknowledged for its profound and lasting nature if actual balance between “public land” and sacred sites is to be realized. If federal entities are to truly accept the wrongs of the past, but cease to take meaningful steps forward, how can indigenous peoples trust not only their role in the process, but be led to believe ultimately that cultural genocide by way of killing language, traditional ways of living, and holy places to pray are not going to continue as they have for hundreds of years? Many efforts have been made to heal from the past, but if you listen to indigenous peoples, they will tell you that not only are they still feeling the burdens of the past, but their way of life also continues to be undermined by current work that is viewed by federal entities as “progression.” This is a glaring, major issue that consistently gets glossed over. Much work is still needed, and even with all that has happened on indigenous sacred lands in years past, elders, medicine people, and all vested stakeholders continue to be willing to attempt to find a sustainable solution now, and for future generations to come. That is of the utmost concern and directly reflects the Creator’s Law, that when formally acknowledged and honored by federal entities, may allow for a solution to come forth. Perhaps the most amazing fact in this ongoing issue is that indigenous people continue to be willing to sit down and work on solutions, even with continued acts of disrespect, like Secretary Vilsack skipping out on the vitally important March 2011 phone conference. However, no future progression can happen without honoring these words. A meeting must be set, to take place in person, where faceto-face dialogue will ensue between indigenous nations and the leaders of federal entities like the USDA that have the power to create legislation that can honor the concerns, traditions, and beliefs of indigenous peoples. The federal government’s modern culture continues to disrespect indigenous culture. People of modern culture, even those who wield power, do not have to be so oppressive and disrespectful to argue their perspective of “modernity” to those that live differently from the status quo. The only question that remains is, will the USDA and others involved accept this invitation, and will they actually come to the table with an open mind and an open heart, ready to listen and make the necessary changes all parties know must come forth in order for work on the ground to be felt by those most affected? Brennan Lagasse is a writer and environmental consultant living in Lake Tahoe, CA. He is also the backcountry reporter for Unofficial Networks, www.unofficialnetworks. com. Brennan can be reached at brennanlagasse@hotmail.com. “Thai Massage” continued from page 7

Shiatsu, Rolfing, Deep Tissue, Breema, and Watsu all rolled into one. These are all my favorite forms of bodywork, and the Thai work somehow has touched on all of them. The techniques vary from slow, deep compression to stretching and traction, rocking and rolling, thumb line work, and joint mobilization. Thai massage is steeped in such an ancient tradition that it is a moving prayer and meditation that becomes a beautiful dance between the giver and receiver. Like any dance, one must be present enough to feel what is going on for the other person, and how best to respond to them. For the giver in Thai massage, it is a practice in every moment to deepen our listening skills. In such a distracting

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water purification

and busy world, I feel so blessed that my work calls me forth to slow down enough to listen deeply. When practitioners of Thai massage begin their day of working with clients or studying Thai massage, they pray to the ancestors of our lineage to support them and the recipient in the highest healing and transformation. This gives me the sense that I am never working alone; if I am feeling a void of where to go in the massage or what to do, I just relax a little bit more and I am then carried forth by my teachers and my teachers’ teachers. In our practice, which is not just a business but a spiritual discipline, we offer flowers, incense, candles, and fruit to our teachers, our Mother and Father for giving us life, the Buddha, the awakened one who awakens our true nature, and to the Earth Mother, Mother Earth, for sustaining us. With these rites of intention and ceremonial offerings, we nourish our connection to something bigger than ourselves and we create ancestral protection around us from bad energy or dis-ease. Thai massage is practiced on the floor on a cotton mat, and the recipient wears loose, comfortable clothing. This allows for freedom in the movements without worrying about body exposure, and also allows the giver to use her whole body. Body weight is used to soften the fascia and muscle tissue; this can be with the medium of the hands, feet, knees, elbows, forearms, and even the buttocks. We always move from our center and never force a movement. We let the muscles invite us in and we search for the path of least resistance. Sometimes we can sit for five minutes on the inner thigh to relieve chronic back pain, sometimes we just use our thumbs to walk the energy lines to get the wind (lom) moving in the body, and sometimes we spend a whole session applying chi gong to the abdomen to dispel old beliefs and emotional wounds and increase the circulation and digestion in the body. There are as many ways to work with the client as there are clients. Each session is individually tailored, and as a practitioner, we must enter without an agenda, and bring only out Metta, loving kindness, and Karuna, compassion. The modern culture is longing for connection. We want to be loved unconditionally for who we are, exactly as we are. Thai massage happens to be a modality that touches the heart at this most basic level and communicates intimately to the physical, spiritual, emotional, and psychological parts of the human spirit. I imagine one day that all people will learn how to care for one another in this way. In Thailand, in the olden days, the grandmothers taught the children how to massage, apply herbal compresses, and harvest and use herbs for medicine. I hold a vision for this to return to the people, as it has been lost with the money making business of Thai massage, as well as the lack of interest in the younger generations. I dream of a world where this village health care will return to Thailand, but more importantly, will spread worldwide and become part of our modern world. The needs and demands for health care are so pressing. I want all people to become empowered and educated in preventative health care and get back to the basics of hands-on healing. I love teaching couples, families, and friends how to care for each other, using simple yet deep techniques. This is sustainable, affordable, and dependable.

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D’vorah Swarzman is offering her Thai Massage Playshop for couples, individuals, family, and friends in Troncones, Mexico in January and February 2012, as well as at Breitenbush Hot Springs in Oregon in May 2012. Each of the Playshops is followed by a Thai massage class called the Dance of Thai Massage: Learning to Improvise Within and Without the Sequence. Swarzman is also available to teach a class in your town, your yoga studio, office, or to a group of your friends. For more information, please visit her Web site, www.ThaiTherapeutics.com, or Thai Therapeutics’ Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Thai-Therapeutics/438138045312. V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

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NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

NOVEMBER 6 SUNDAY Thai Style Sports Massage & Stretching. Includes Thai- Yoga, sprots massage, stretching, acupressure, and more! Sundays, skips 11/27. Natural Healing Institute, 760-943-8485, www. NaturalHealingInst.com NOVEMBER 7 MONDAY Energetic Vibrational Healing. Learn, experience different styles of energetic vibrational healing. Includes learning to literally see the aura, and much more! Monday nights. Natural Healing Institute, 760-943-8485, www.NaturalHealinInst. com

teachings directly from Sogyal Rinpoche, world renowned Buddhist teacher from Tibet and author of the acclaimed spiritual classic, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Three Options: Public Talk Saturday November 12th, Two Day Option November 12 – 14, Full Retreat November 12th – 20th. For more information call 619.906.4291 or go to USA.Rigpa.org NOVEMBER 13

PEACE LINK LIVE! November 11th at the Agape Spiritual Center in Culver City. Join us for a global celebration of connection, love, peace & social justice. Visit www. AgapeLive.com or call 310-348-1250

NOVEMBER 12 Evening with Louix: 7:30 p.m.. Louix will offer a discourse, followed by a Q&A session, wherein you can receive direct personal guidance from Him. Seaside Center for Spiritual Living, 1613 Lake Dr. Encinitas, Ca. www.Louix.org or call 888288-3735 V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

DECEMBER 3 Ayurvedic Nutrition. Includes learning nutritional programs for each dosha or constitutional type, more. Natural healing Institute, 760-943-8485, www. NaturalHealingInst.com Dec. 3-4th LIVING AS OMNIPRESENCE Weekend workshop with Peter Francis Dziuban, author of Consciousness Is All. Experience Life as Omni-Present-ness, and the ever-brand newness of All That Is. Universal Spirit Center, 3858 Front St. San Diego, 92103 Dec.3 Saturday 10 - 5:30 PM - Dec.4 Sunday 1 ñ 5 PM $150 Friday Lecture 6:30 - 8:30PM $5 Info/details: 928-759-9943 or Contact page at www.ConsciousnessIsAll.com Visit these powerful YouTubes http:// youtube.com/PeterDziuban?feature=mhee

NOVEMBER 11 SINGING BOWLS. Join us Friday 11-11-11 Harmonic Light Activation for Manifesting in Encinitas. Suggested donation $11. For more information, Visit www.Meetup.com/ lightworkers-meetup

NOVEMBER 11-14 Sufi School Southwest Weekend Retreat. Del Mar Hilton. www. SufiCenterSanDiego.org or Call 575-5385503.

NLP Practitioner Certification Scholarship Training. Dec. 1-5 Discover how NLP unlocks everything you need to know to succeed in any area of you life. Visit www.NLP.com or Call 1-800-8006469(MIND)

NOVEMBER 25 New Moon White Tantra Yoga with Dr. Corynna Clark: Meet local Orange County Tantrikas interested in a deeper connection with themselves and like minded others. Share panayama, mantra yoga asanas, mudras and meditation techniques. Strengthen your Self. For the finale, celebrate a sensual and healthy feast as we explore “food yoga”

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Dec. 8-12th MAPS- Multidisiplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies: Celebrating 25 years of research and education. Carthographie Psychedelica. Oakland Marriott City Center. 831-429-6362. www.MAPS.org/25 Dec. 17th Louix 50th Birthday Celebration: 6 p.m. This event will feature devotional singing with Panam, delicious vegan food, and Louix will be giving darshan on this special day. Seaside for Spiritual Living. 1613 Lake Dr., Encinitas, Ca. www.Louix.org or call 888-288-3735

Dec. 29, 2011 Thurs.-Jan. 1, 2012 Sun LIGHT & RENEWAL MEDITATION RETREAT Learn Sunburst Kriya I meditation. Discover a pathway to your own direct experience of the Divine. Energize your spiritual journey among a gathering of like-minded souls! Explore conscious practices to integrate your inner experience in your daily life. We provide beautiful vegetarian meals, yoga, meditation, and quiet time. Rest amid the oaks or hike with new friends. Leave rejuvenated and purposeful! Email contactus@sunburstonline.org, or call 805.736.6528 for more information and suggestion donation. Dec. 30- Jan.1 2012 Raw Spirit Festival. NEW YEARS EVENT. Bring in the New Year in a healthful, fun-loving and conscious way. Call 928-308-2146 or e-mail info@ rawspirit.com DEC 31- JAN 1 Got 2012? Dec 31st - Jan1 Sat - Sun. Light up the grids New Years Eve party & retreat at www.angelvalley.org (lodging & retreat location) in the Sedona, Az Vortex! Be part of this prophesy and partial fund-raiser to usher in the Golden Age of Aquarius. Workshops, music, dancing ,food, and more... For detailed information contact www.LaurieReyon.com LaurieReyon@yahoo.com (619) 271-9461 or Nancy at (619) 364-6591. Can’t attend? Unite with 144,000 spiritual people to send light, prayers, and positive invocations to the planet anytime on Dec 31st. Thank You

JAN. 2012

JAUARY 6 – AUGUST 12 2012 Raja Yoga Advanced Studies & Teacher Training. Jan 6-Aug 12, La JollaYoga Center. Michele Hébert & Mehrad Nazari, PhD. http://www.rajayogis. net/raja-yoga/training JANUARY 27 FRIDAY MATRIX ENERGETICS The Science and Art of Transformation Upcoming seminars and Training San Francisco, Ca. Levels 1& 2. Jan. 27 - Jan. 30, 2012. Alberquerque, NM. Levels 1 & 2. March. 2 – 5, 2012. Scotsdale, Az.

Level 3. March 31- April 1. 2012. www. MatrixEnergetics.com

Harmony Grove

JANUARY 28 SATURDAY Thai Therapeutics & High Desert Yoga Present: Thai Massage, kirtan & Yoga in Troncones, Mexico. Jan 28 - Feb 2/ Feb.2 - Feb.8/ Call 541-488-4006 and visit our website at www.ThaiTherapeutics.com

Incorporated and Serving ALL in California Since 1896

JANUARY 29 SUNDAY NEW YEARS EVE RETREAT with Louix Dor Dempriey. Enjoy 6 love-filled days at the Enchantment Resort in Sedona, Az. Dec. 29, 2011-Jan. 3, 2012To register please visit www.LouixNYE.org or call 888-288-3735.

ONGOING

FREE MEETUP GROUP with SPIRITUAL COACH John Abe. Learn Universal Enlightenment with “I Am Totality.” Build your life to order, do nothing to accomplish everything. Join Meetup.com to learn times and locations of “I Am Totality” Meetup Group. 1-800-584-1640, www.iamtotaltiy.com. SUNDAYS FIND THE CENTER OF DIVINITY WITHIN! Inspirational prayers, metaphysical teachings, music, social hour to follow. 10:30a.m.-11:30a.m. Teaching of the Inner Christ 1100 N. Second St. Suite 1114 El Cajon, CA 92021. 619.447.7007 10.11 SPICA – WAY OF LIGHT INSPIRATIONAL SERVICES 2nd Sunday of the month at 10am, 4th Sunday at 9am. Myztic Isle Bookstore, 8036 La Mesa Blvd, La Mesa, CA. 619.588.6483 for information. LOOKING FOR A SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY? You are always welcome at the Celebration of Light Church. Visit our website for program. www. CelebrationOfLightChurch.org. Vicente @ 23rd St. – San Francisco. THEOSOPHY CLASS IN JULIAN/SAN DIEGO, “What is Theosophy and How Does it Apply to Life?” 760.765.1090 619.283.0142 theosophy@theosconf.org www.theosophysandiego.org Sally & Jim Colbert Meets: 1st & 3rd Sunday Mornings 10:30 a.m. to Noon with cookies CALL FOR DIRECTIONS V I S I O N M AG A Z I N E

Spiritualist Association

Services

SaturdaysHealing 1:00pm Church 2:00pm Sundays Healing 10:00am Church 11:00am

Psychic Fair

1st Sat. of Month, 10:00am-4:00pm

Certification and Personal Growth Classes

• Mediumship • Healing • Ministerial • Ordinations

Private Readings Available Information about Speakers & Directions

760-745-9176

Escondido, CA www.harmonygrovespiritualist.org SOLAR RAIN WATER – Good for you and Good for the planet. Find out more. www. solarrainwatery.com. MONDAYS FREE PSYCHIC READINGS every FIRST Monday 7:30p.m. by students in Vessa’s INTUITIVE INSIGHTS Clairvoyant Program, 4455 Morena Blvd. #108, 858.509.7582 www.MyIntuition.Net 11.11 $8 BEGINNERS YOGA CLASSES Monday @ 6:00p.m. Tuesday @ 5:30 p.m. 2333 Camino del Rio South #240 92108 www.yogawell.com 619.917.0998 TUESDAYS CLINICAL NUTRITIONIST CONSULTANT (CNC)™. Introductory or full Certification. Special Discounts. Most comprehensive training from nationally honored Nutritionists. Revised! 7:00-9:55 pm. Natural Healing Institute, 760-9438485. www.naturalhealinginst.com WEDNESDAYS MIRACLE CIRCLE MEDITATION Connect with your inner divinity through deep meditation, inspirational prayers, and group discussion. 7p.m.-8p.m. Teaching of the Inner Christ 1100 N. Second St. Suite 1114 El Cajon, CA 92021. 619.447.7007 10.11

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CLINICAL MASTER HERBOLOGY (CMH)™. Introductory or Full Certification. Special Discounts. Most comprehensive training from nationally honored Master Herbalists. Revised! 7:00-9:55 pm. Natural Healing Institute, 760-943-8485. www.naturalhealinginst. com THURSDAYS FREE DETOXIFICATION AND WEIGHT LOSS CLASS 1st Thursday of every month. 6:30p.m. Easy and successful program. Register @ Body Basics Health Center, San Diego. 619.296.7390 11.11 FRIDAYS HAPPINESS CLASSES - Based on the life-healing teachings of VERNON HOWARD, Fridays - 8p.m.; Sundays - 10a.m. New Life Foundation, 5779 Westminster Blvd., Westminster, CA. 714.899.9300 Conquer stress, handle difficult people with ease, banish problems. Donation basis. 09.11

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“Devin Grace” continued from page 13

“Birth Sanctuary” continued from page 8

to anyone who reads it. The positive things in our culture that are coming through are literally delivered to us from our higher selves. And they come in the form of books, or maybe movies, or people. There are so many positive things because it’s our higher selves coming through and saying, you’re on the right track, two thumbs up, keep going. Anything that reminds us to take responsibility—100 percent responsibility—for ourselves. Anything that says, take responsibility, because it’s really time for everybody to just grow up. We’re so used to blaming the culture, blaming this, or blaming that, or blaming the president, or blaming another country, or blaming our parents. It doesn’t mean that you can’t say, understanding or recognizing, okay, this is here in front of me, for me to forgive, for me to clear within myself, because if it weren’t already in me, it wouldn’t be showing up in my life. So when I work with clients, the whole time I’m working with them, I am literally saying, I am sorry for the data and memory in me that shows up as this in you. And then I ask my guidance, please help me to forgive myself for thinking that I am separate from the oneness, from God. And then I thank God directly. It’s while we’re at the sessions, while I’m working with these clients, and I’m getting downloaded with all this information. But I know that this client is here with this issue because there’s something in me that’s also responsible for even showing up. If it’s their problem, it’s mine. It doesn’t mean that when you say you’re 100 percent responsible, that you’re guilty. It’s just, grow up, start to take responsibility for your own fact system. VM: How would you describe what you do? DG: It’s so funny because you’d think after all these years, that I’d be able to describe it, but even as I’m saying this, I’m filled with this gratitude in my heart that there’s almost no description. It’s literally being given information about a person, where they need to take responsibility in themselves. So I’m able to see things that are going on in them—data and memories blocked from their consciousness. I’m able to do this—it’s not because I’m special, not because I’m gifted—only because I’ve worked on it, I’ve always worked on it, since I was 17. It’s been my only focus. Again, I’m not gifted; we’re all equally gifted in this way. It’s just that I pay attention, I listen, and I have committed my life to it. I’ve committed my life to advancing the skill that was already there, advancing the skill to such a height that I’m able to see, literally see, what somebody is hiding, what data and memories are hiding in them I need to help pull out so I can forgive it in myself, help forgive it in them, and also bring it to their awareness so that we can literally shift. And shift out of that consciousness. I can see past life information— past life meaning, something just happening in the hologram of what we call time. I can see things that are going to get re-symbolized in this lifetime anyway, so I don’t really need to go into past life regressions; I’m just saying, for my work, if I can just bring what is getting re-symbolized in this lifetime, then great, we just nip it in the bud right there. VM: How has working with all of your clients over the years changed your life? DG: Mostly it’s changed my life by making me really aware of how responsible I am for my own thought systems. And how much I want to take that responsibility and heal it. So others and myself don’t have to suffer. I have really gotten over and over again that I have to do my own work on my own thought systems. And it’s also changed me in that hearing people’s stories and going into people’s data and memory and just loving people unconditionally. Let’s just deal with it. I am amazed in how many ways the ego can show up and I am so grateful to see these ways the ego shows up so I don’t have to fall for its stupid tricks anymore. It’s changed me and I have a lot of gratitude. My clients don’t even realize how much they help in my own awakening. And of remembering who I am. I love to be trusted to go with them into these places. I know how trustworthy I am because this work has shown me that I am trustworthy because I can go anywhere with them. I don’t care how deep or how dark, how shameful for them, because I go there in my own self. Devin Grace’s work is remarkable and I am in gratitude for her work. Please visit her Web site, www.devingrace.com. You can contact her by calling 1.800.980.7636 or e-mailing information@DevinGrace.com.

accepted model of care. We absolutely see the benefits in the statistics in the care we provide, and we would like to see this model being adopted in other cities and in other places in the country. We’re currently seeking funding for broader expansion. The other benefit of the model that we’ve created is that it actually produces sustainability for the care providers that function within it. VM: How do you think modern American culture’s view of how the birthing process should be is changing? AE: As soon as [women] get pregnant, [they] are starting to educate themselves more, versus, I think in the past, women were just accepting the status quo. You go see your doctor, you get your epidural, maybe you get your C-section, maybe you schedule your C-section. I think there is an awakening amongst individuals, once they start doing the education, that there’s something greater available to them by consciously choosing to be awake and present during this experience. Again, this is not everybody. Most people are still choosing to have drugs at their delivery, but more and more, I think, people are waking up in this country. I mean, it’s not just with birth, it’s with everything. It takes a lot of courage to do that [being present in the birth process] because everything that you’ve seen presented to you by society and in the media is that it’s horrifying. But upon further investigation, when you really look at what’s happening [and] once you’ve gotten past all the media-fed messages and pictures of what birth is, you can tap into something that’s far more mysterious, far more magical, empowering, ultimately the greatest initiation in life’s passage we’re going to experience, which is, the fullness of what it is to be a woman. And it’s incredibly rewarding. There’s nothing like giving birth to your own child. These are unique experiences that, when you consciously, purposefully walk through them without these medications, your life changes forever.

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For more information about Birth Sanctuary, please visit their Web site, www. birthsanctuary.com. You can also e-mail the Sanctuary at info@birthsanctuary.com or call 310.566.7690. “Joseph the Fat Cat” continued from page 15

decentralized movement.” Through DeGraw’s commentary and writings on the abuses of Wall Street, he “helped launch the 99% movement eighteen months ago.” He says that as he understands it, “The Occupy Wall Street 99% Movement is a decentralized, non-violent rebellion against economic tyranny.” It may seem radical to some that thousands and thousands of people are camped out with little resources and facilities at their disposal. Well, where else should they gather? At the Ritz? Of course not—they have a better strategy. They’re camped out at the very front door of the corporate elite. They’ve made noise and have gotten attention. They’ve risen up against greed and corruption on all levels. And just who is it that’s heated? The regular folk—laborers, teachers, welders, factory workers, farmers, civil servants, homeowners, students, people laid off in these mass-lay-off times, sweat shop workers. And these people ask, “Trillions spent on wars, what the f***?!” It’s through the exploitation of those who work at the bottom of the monetary pyramid—through their blood, sweat, and tears—that corporations have thrived and elite officials have been able to gift themselves exorbitant salaries and bonuses. Critics of the movement tend to avoid responding to the occupiers’ demands and focus on things such as “the lawn” at city hall, or the kitchen area not being “up-tocode” with Health Department regulations. Note to the Health Department—this isn’t a restaurant, it’s people eating in the park, hoards of protestors willing to fight, non-violently, for justice and equality. Outside groups and supporters are the ones donating large quantities of things like steaming hot rice, bean soups, bread, and pizzas. (Heck, even a soup kitchen continued on page 46

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v i s i o n a r y

Matthew Attard is a 23-year-old digital artist living in Australia. He has been drawing and painting for his entire life, going way back to childhood when art was his favorite activity. For much of his time, up until his late teens, he mostly did traditional art in the form of painting. In Matthewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s late teens, he decided that digital art was more suited to his lifestyle and gave him more freedom to experiment without the fear of wasting materials. This decision was heavily influenced when he first joined the popular online art community deviantART in early 2006, which has been a big influence on his creative hobby. The things he illustrates often reflect his interests; scenery, nature, plants, and the universe are the biggest ones. His art is also influenced by games and different forms of media. Matthew works as a freelance artist for the time being, doing commissioned illustrations for customers as they find and contact him about it. Matthew can be followed on deviantART.com under account name, www.priteeboy.deviantart.com. Or you can e-mail him at matthew.attard1988@gmail.com.

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a r t i s t

“Joseph the Fat Cat” continued from page 44

from Skid Row has been at Occupy LA, feeding people and inviting them to their hood.) If the Health Department is so concerned for public health, why don’t they donate food for the people—food that’s prepared to their standards? Good food and health (department) go hand-in-hand, am I wrong? Other critiques I’ve heard about the Occupy Movement is that the sites are dirty, messy, and trashy. At the LA site, there are actual committees that deal with waste and recycling. And don’t forget, it’s a conscious movement and most people clean up after themselves and after others. But sure, people in general are messy—just look at our trash-laden sidewalks. There’s also the issue about the porta-potties. (The existing ones at Occupy LA have, to my understanding, been paid for by donation.) And c’mon, City of Los Angeles Sanitation Department, in your quest to help keep things clean and sanitary ‘for the people,’ why not provide the extra toilets that you demand? (Recently the Occupy LA site was under heat from the Sanitation Department, which frequents the premises. The Movement needed more toilets, ones that are maintained twice a day, not just once. The situation was taken care of.) What else is being criticized? In regards to the occupiers, David N. Bossie, an outspoken ultra-right-wing Republican whose group, Citizens United Foundation, committed to promoting “free economics and a belief in God and Judeo-Christian values,” wrote, “The Occupy Wall Street movement is filled with a bunch of trust-fund babies, college students skipping class, ex-hippies, and anarchists.” He goes on to say, “Not knowing why they are there or what they stand for seems to be one hallmark of the Occupy Wall Street’s adherents.” What, as if you can’t read the signs, Mr. Bossie? “Another common theme is disrupting the daily lives of average Americans with their childish antics,” he continued. (Wall Street is now the “average American.”) Why is it that when critics fail to respond to or comment on the demands of the people, they like to try to shift the focus by passing moral judgments? I think it’s ignorant to try to reduce what David DeGraw referred to as a “non-violent rebellion

against economic tyranny,” to just a bunch of “ex-hippies and anarchists.” Try if you will, but you can’t cover up the fact that what’s happening here is occurring on a massive planetary scale, and know that it won’t stop. “Those of us who helped to initiate the Occupation Movement here in LA have said from the beginning that we are in this for the long haul,” said Kwazi Nkrumah, an African American civil rights activist in his address to the Occupy LA General Assembly on a Saturday night. “Our protests and our organizing will not end until the conditions that brought us together have been resolved.” Tyrants be warned—there’s power in numbers and the people are fed up. “It is time to bounce every single corrupt, unaccountable politician right out of office. It is time for the voice of the people to be heard. In all of this, in every step of the way, the Occupation Movement is founded on principles of social justice, and must always, everywhere, commit itself to fighting for those who have been most severely hit by the abuses of corporate power,” Nkrumah continued, reading from the affinity group Occupy the Hood’s mission statement. Anyway, back to Joe the cat. I really love that guy. And even though my brother got really mad at me and said that I was “disrespecting and disregarding his wishes,” I’d let him out again. He was so happy today, and now that he got his taste of freedom, he pushes harder at the back door.

Daphne can be reached at daph.occupylamedia@gmail.com and at www. paintzflwrs.blogspot.com. “MAPS” continued from page 44

interactive art exhibits. Performers include Sugarpill, ill-esha and Joey Mousepad, Mihkal, and VNDMG, Pha-droid, Serpentine, Cristina Castro, Jazzy Blue and Rocket Girl, and more. Art installations will be provided by False Profit, Psy-Education Teacher Bus, aerial and stage dancers, highlighted with video-mapping and intelligent lighting. Relaxation space will be provided by Oshan and Saraswati Tea Houses. Two visionary art workshops will provide a full day of exploration into the creative process. Alex and Allyson Grey will use meditation to ceremonially ascend the seven chakras. Participants will draw a nude yogini and envision the subtle field surrounding and interpenetrating the flesh. This class, primarily focused on drawing, will include a cross-cultural examination of the portrayal of the light body. Android and Phaedrana Jones will lead a workshop called “Universal Creativity Inside Us All: Visionary Art,” that will help participants connect with the wellspring of creativity from which we came. Other full-day workshops will address the principles of psychedelic-assisted therapy, the science and politics of medical marijuana, the past and future of psychedelic science, the Women’s Visionary Congress, psychedelic neuroscience, and current research on ayahuasca, MDMA, and medical marijuana. All proceeds from Cartographie Psychedelica will support MAPS’ ongoing research and education projects, and help build the foundation for the next 25 years of daring research into psychedelics and marijuana as safe and effective therapeutic tools. For more information on MAPS and its upcoming event, please visit www.maps.org and www.maps.org/25.

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“PeaceLink” continued from page 40

“Dreaming Bhutan” continued from page 25

as we have insight into that reality. And again, this is why spiritual practice is so essential, because it gives us insight and revelations into what love really is. And if we choose to act from that level, we can literally change the world. VM: And what about loving people that you don’t know? MB: Dr. Howard Thurman once said, we cannot love humanity—that’s abstract—we have to love humanity in particular. Which means, you have to love the people that surround you. Now, to say that I love humanity, the people that I don’t know, is somewhat easy because those people aren’t bumping against us, not stepping on our toes, not making us mad. And so, yes, we do have to love humanity. But we practice by loving the people in our families, the people we work with, the people that cut us off on the freeway, the people that imitate us. And there are different levels of love. There’s forgiveness, there’s patience, there’s kindness, there’s generosity, there’s compassion. Sometimes other people evoke some or one of those qualities and we have to choose to activate and practice those qualities until we become mature enough and enter into the art of loving to love. We grow, we mature, we can love to love. VM: Where, in your opinion, do you think that our modern world is heading? MB: Right now, we’re at the precipice of a dying culture and an emerging culture. We’re seeing destruction, or the falling of the banking system, Wall Street, these systems in our lifetime, that we used to be able to say, “You can take that to the bank.” That actually meant something. It meant the bank was trustworthy. Now you know today that the banking industry does not have the consumers’ interest at heart. It’s a system of greed and avarice that has very little desire to serve the public, and so that system is dying. And so, we’re involved in a moment in which things have fallen apart—our educational system, medical system, the banking system, and the economic system. These are all systems that have reached a state of maturity where they have to be transformed. Now, at the same time, there’s an emergence in business where people, society, and the earth are the bottom line for businesses. There are educational systems where creativity is the bottom line, there’s medicine where healing is the bottom line, not profits. And these are all emerging systems side by side with that which is dying. We’re the civilization; we’re the people who get to witness the actual death of a society and the birth of another society that challenges a dying culture. And the new media, which is reporting about the new culture, [is] speaking about what’s emerging. And right now, most of the people are so involved in listening to the [mass] media as it is being reported from a dying culture. VM: Do you have hope for our world? Do you believe that we will emerge in 2012? MB: When people meditate, when they pray, when they do the life visioning process, when they have their spiritual practice, what happens is, they come out of time. Time is relative; it’s not an absolute. It bends back on itself, as Einstein reminded us. And 2012 was the moment when a lot of people who are in spiritual practice, who have come out of time, [believe] that’s the end of time as we know it. And when normal people come out of time, [they are] into more of this timeless state of love and peace, harmony and creativity. That doesn’t mean everything’s going to change overnight. It simply means that a new wave is now beginning with some percentage of the population of the world.

every language, in every culture. To be respectful and interested, it serves as an offering. You are asking permission to enter their world a little bit. And when you approach it like that, I just found the most extraordinary welcoming. VM: If there was one moment in this last year creating your new book, “Dreaming Bhutan,” finishing your book, and being on the book tour that truly defined your work, what would it be? NG: There was a moment I am thinking of that I’ve been privileged to experience many times, and each one is special. I was signing books and a woman came up to the table and she was clutching “Bodhisattva” to her chest as if someone was going to rip it from her hands. And she stood there and was going to express something and she just burst into tears. And we just sat there for a moment together. I am never really in a rush signing books. I love having individual moments with people, and the lines are sort of long because I take a moment with everyone, because that’s my life. And so just for a moment we were quiet, and I waited until she collected herself. And she finally got out that she had gone through something challenging and that she had gone into the book [“Bodhisattva”] for guidance. The book was very worn from all of the use. She had read it to pieces. She was just trying to choke out how much it had helped her through the tears, and what I felt at that moment was a sense of overwhelming gratitude that I have allowed to flow through me that which has helped this other being. That is my life. If I could have that one moment, I wouldn’t need to live another day, and there will be more moments like that. And it was just spectacular and precious and it’s all I could ever hope for in life. VM: What is the origin of the prayer flags? NG: I don’t know the history, but I can tell you the philosophy is really beautiful. That as the wind blows through this prayer and someone has woven a prayer though cloth or the ones where the prayers are printed on it, they are lifted up with the wind. There is this material that the wind blows through, and there is sense of vibration of this energy of the prayer that, if someone were listening to you directly, it is being carried on the wind, and every time the wind blows, the prayer goes out. Energy often changes form, but you have this prayer and this thought and with the wind going through it as the prayer travels, and it’s beautiful. VM: When you go out into the world with your teachings, have you seen a shift in the world in the last year? NG: I think that while the world may change, the mind is the mind and it doesn’t change that much. I think freedom and enlightenment, eternal consciousness, whatever words you want to use, never goes away. It’s never more or less; it’s never closer for one person than for another—that is an illusion. So no matter how much fun you are having or how awful things seem, peace just roots itself, the source of all, it’s always there, it never leaves. There can be very dark times where you cannot perceive truth. Loneliness, confusion, depression can ensue. So that’s a time, if you can just remind yourself, that this too shall pass. And that goes for when you are in happiness, too. But peace is always there. And to just make that leap that we call faith in the happiest times and the darkest times, because you know when everything is horrible it’s hard to touch, or when everything is fabulous and you feel fulfilled by whatever material thing is doing it for you. It’s just as hard when things are great, but I know there are moments when, if you can just remember, there is this everlasting kind of peace and fulfillment.

For more information on the Agape International Spiritual Center in Culver City, CA, visit www.agapelive.com. To learn more about PeaceLink 11.11.11, visit www. peacelinklive.org. Also, Michael Beckwith’s new CD, TranscenDance, will be debuting at PeaceLink. Nine high-vibration tracks include, Adventure in Paradise, U R The Answer, Let It Be Alright, Who Loves You Baby, Energetic Shapeshifter, Life is Good, In This Love Together, One Day in Heaven, and Mystic Cord of Memory. Guest vocalists include Siedah Garrett, Niki Haris, Savory and Brenda Lee Eager. Get TranscenDance at www.agapemedia-international.com, iTunes, Amazon, and everywhere music is sold.

For more information on Nicole Grace’s teachings and her new book, Dreaming Bhutan, please visit www.likeswans.com.

DEVIN GRACE Psychic Consultant and Energy Healer

800.980.7636

For over two decades, Devin Grace has assisted thousands of people to wake up to greater professional, spiritual and personal success.

Qualifications

• Over 20 years of psychic consulting experience • Advanced degrees in Business and Psychology • Master’s degree in Spiritual Psychology

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How I work

“I am Clairvoyant (clear seeing), Clairsentient (clear feeling), and Clairaudient (clear hearing). I see, feel, and hear messages from your guides who are intimately familiar with you, your life, your lessons. During the sessions, vast amounts of blocked energy get removed and immediate healing begins.”

Psychic Consulting and Energy Healing Business • Personal • Spiritual

Client Testimonial Highlights

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