|
|
|
|
GreenSpirit Newsletter
www.greenspirit.org.uk
~ We are a network of people who practise loving our living planet ~
March 2024
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Are you having difficulties viewing this email? Or is it getting truncated? Click on the "view in browser" button at the top of your email:
|
|
|
|
Snowdonia 5 Day Retreat
At Cae Mabon, Fachwen, Llanberis, Gwynedd. LL55 3HB
www.caemabon.co.uk/
Friday 30th August to Wednesday 4th September 2024
|
|
|
|
|
Reconnect with your body and unwind in nature, walk with friends, breathe fresh air, listen to birdsong, wander in shady oak woods and wild swim in a glistening lake whenever you feel like it, to say nothing of sharing delicious vegan and vegetarian food, songs and stories round the fire and a hot tub beside the rushing stream.
This event is now open for bookings. For full details and how to book, go to:
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/snowdonia-retreat-2024/
|
|
|
|
Spring Equinox - online
Monday 18th March at 19:00 GMT
The Spring Equinox, or Ostara, is also called the Vernal Equinox and has long been celebrated as a time of renewal and rebirth. It marks the first astronomical day of spring in the northern hemisphere.
At the moment of the spring equinox, the sun passes over the equator and continues northwards, on the autumnal equinox the sun crosses over the equator and continues its southward declination.
We celebrate the renewed life of the Earth that comes with the Spring. It is a solar festival, when the length of the day and the night are equal. Maybe bring some thing that epitomises spring for you, and wear bright colours if you wish.
The facebook event is at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/400314039159747/
Join us on Zoom to celebrate the Spring Equinox. The zoom details are:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84079414983?pwd=cHFmYld6cFl6OUl0UkJlMnpYMEhndz09
Meeting ID: 840 7941 4983
Passcode: 413541
|
|
|
|
Beltane - online
Monday 29th April at 19:00
Summer is on its way! Everywhere is vibrant with colour and growth. Beltane, the beginning of summer, is a time for new growth and energy, births and abundance. Let’s meet to remember how & why our ancestors celebrated this time of the year. We will share some meditation and some divination using cards. If you wish, bring a seasonal story/ poem/ song/ tune to share. You may want to prepare by collecting some twigs or flowers for your Beltane altar, or even some vines & ribbons woven into May crown/wreath/garland.
The facebook event is at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/306020502004584/
Join us on Zoom to celebrate the Spring Equinox. The zoom details are:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84079414983?pwd=cHFmYld6cFl6OUl0UkJlMnpYMEhndz09
Meeting ID: 840 7941 4983
Passcode: 413541
|
|
|
|
Anam Cara – Online - Daytime
Fortnightly (1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month at 10am except sometimes in school holidays). Next meetings:
Wednesday 20th March 2024 10:00am
https://www.facebook.com/events/2272214786315816
Wednesday 3rd April 10:00am
Wednesday 17th April 10:00am
A gathering of souls who sense they are on a journey; for companionship and support.
Discover and behold one another at the level of the heart. Creating/developing friendships we will extend compassion and aspire toward an authentic, organic spiritual transformational connection of mutual empowerment and blessing — “giving by receiving” and “receiving by giving”.
We will begin each session with a check-in and the creation of sacred space, (with meditation, a reading or silence). Then, maybe with the help of some questions we will share from our hearts and witness the sharing of others.
The zoom link details are:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82932062741?pwd=MjBJcTUyOUhqd2lyYnZibjl4TjZ1QT09
Meeting ID: 829 3206 2741
Passcode: 834410
|
|
|
|
Conversation Cafe - online
Sunday 15th March 19:00 - 20:15 GMT
https://www.facebook.com/events/770701364931488
Jenny Joyce & Hilary Norton invite you to join our "Conversation Café" - a simple, hospitable, empathetic space where feelings & uncertainties about our future and the complexities of our world can be safely expressed. World events impact us all in many ways, and it can be hard to share our thoughts and feelings. We don't have the answers, but sharing helps us to build some resilience to deal with inevitable changes. This is an advice-free zone where all feelings are welcome!
Feel free to bring a cuppa, biscuits, etc.
For the zoom link, contact Hilary Norton at: hnorton@greenspirit.org.uk
|
|
|
|
|
Click here for the webpage.
Part of GreenSpirit’s vision honours wisdom
traditions of all ages, especially Earth-centred teachings. This webpage is a
selection of past and present quotes from various people about our
interrelationship with the natural world.
The webpage also has informative links to other websites connecting with the themes of the page, and a leaflet with all the quotations on our webpage that you can download, print and distribute.
With
thanks to Stephen Wollaston (Santoshan) for creating this page.
|
|
|
|
2024 is the 25th Anniversary Year of GreenSpirit Magazine
|
|
|
|
|
2024 is the 25th Anniversary Year of GreenSpirit Magazine, which is free for members, and is published in both print and electronic format. Every issue includes essential topics connected with Earth-based spirituality.
For more information about the magazine, see:
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/magazine/
and
https://www.facebook.com/greenspiritmagazine
We will have a special 25th Anniversary edition of the magazine with the Spring 2024 edition which will be published later in March.
To get your copies of the magazine, either buy the most recent magazine as an individual copy here (but wait until the end of March if you want the Spring 2024 anniversary edition) or join GreenSpirit here and also enjoy all of the other benefits of membership.
|
|
|
|
Book Reviews
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/bookreviews2/
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
by Alan Heeks
Reviewed by Piers Warren.
The author, Alan Heeks, has decades of experience of helping people with their wellbeing through Nature. He is also an experienced gardener, has run an organic farm, and aptly subtitles this book ‘Use Organic Gardening Skills to Cultivate Yourself.’ As an organic gardener for many years myself, I appreciated his description of techniques such as composting, crop rotation, mulching and so on in relation to our own states of mind and how we mentally approach our lives and the various challenges that may arise. As the title suggests, this book is about cultivating happiness in the same way we cultivate our gardens, but it certainly doesn’t shy away from difficult and sometime overwhelming issues such as climate change and possible future societal breakdown.
Click here for the full review.
This title will be released on 29th March 2024.
Addendum: The author is Alan Heeks, not Weeks as advertised in the previous newsletter.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
by Victoria Loorz
Reviewed by Chris Holmes.
This book is a wonderful mix of personal experience, of theology, a deep love of Nature and a thorough dislike of patriarchy and the damage done by the religious hierarchy. Victoria writes that my personal spirituality is rooted in the Christ tradition – a term I prefer over Christian, which is a label I find difficult to swallow these days. She calls herself an ‘edge walker’ travelling the narrow space between the religious tradition she credits with having forged her soul and her direct and very personal experiences in Nature that have revealed a truth of their own.
Click here for the full review.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
GreenSpirit Book
Compiled by Santoshan (Stephen Wollaston)
A meditations book of profound and inspiring quotations on green spirituality. Drawing from a variety of GreenSpirit publications, this little book of reflections gathers together numerous key insights in nine essential categories that can be seen as the core of Earth-centred wisdom.
Click here for more details of this book and how to buy it.
Browse all of the titles in the GreenSpirit book series here:
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/books-greenspirit-book-series/
|
|
|
|
|
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/saving-life-on-earth/
Make a Difference One Small Step at a Time
There are so many little things we can all do to reduce our impact on Planet Earth, live more ethically and lower our carbon footprint to help reduce climate change. It may seem overwhelming but by tackling things one small step at a time we can all make a difference. In each newsletter we’ll focus on just one action you can think about tackling today.
Plant Trees
Deforestation is one of the major causes of climate change and is associated with many other problems such as biodiversity reduction, habitat loss, increased flood risk, soil erosion and so on. As well as being careful that any wood product we buy comes from a sustainable source (The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) runs a global forest certification system) we should all be planting more trees. Every leaf on every tree removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and locks the carbon in its wood, so any tree, no matter how small, will make a difference. Even if you only have a small patio you can have a few dwarf trees in pots, and nearly all gardens could do with more trees. Fruit trees will have the added benefit of providing you with fresh, organic food: apples, pears, plums, almonds, apricots and cherries are all commonly available and suitable for small plots.
You can explore a whole range of other possibilities in our Green Action Toolkit at:
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/saving-life-on-earth/
|
|
|
|
Join GreenSpirit
Including the magazine, GreenSpirit calendar: living with the seasons, GreenSpirit members email newsletter and many other advantages.
£24 per annum or £12 for internet (paperless) subscribers or concessionary rate in the UK.
Click here to find out more and to join
Plus:
Free book when you join GreenSpirit!
Join GreenSpirit and you will receive a free copy of What is Green Spirituality? along with the GreenSpirit magazine, calendar and all of the other advantages of membership. See all of the advantages of membership here:
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/join-us/#benefits
What is Green Spirituality? describes and illustrates, through the well-blended voices of thirteen writers, the basic concepts and expressions of this growing kind of spiritual attitude in today’s world – what it is, where it comes from and who practises it. More details at:
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/books-greenspirit-book-series/#wigs
To join GreenSpirit, click on the link below:
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/join-us/
|
|
|
|
|
March Image and Quotation
Photo © Piers Warren
We are creators at our very core. Only creating can make us happy,
for in creating we tap into the deepest power of self and universe and the Divine Self.
~ Matthew Fox
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/community-calendar/
|
|
|
|
GreenSpirit Annual Gathering 2024
Date for your diary
18th - 20th October 2024
Shallowford House, Shallowford, Stone, Staffs. ST15 0NZ
https://www.shallowfordhouse.org/
More details in due course.
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
East London
Dawn Walk
Sunday 17th March 2024: 5:30am - 8:00am
Wanstead Park, London, E11.
We are going for a (nearly) Spring Equinox walk and hoping to see the sunrise at 6am-ish. Meet at Wanstead Park 5.30am, where Wanstead Park Avenue meets Northumberland Avenue. We'll have breakfast together afterwards. For more info call or text Hilary 07957318501. The facebook event is here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/869743135162068
Beltane …a fireside Celebration
Saturday 4th May 2024 at 19:00. 33 Park Rd., Stratford, E15 3QP
Summer is on its way! Everywhere is vibrant with colour and growth. Beltane, the beginning of summer, is a time for new growth and energy, births and abundance. Let’s meet around the fire to remember how & why our ancestors celebrated this time of the year. We will share some meditation and if you wish, bring a seasonal story/ poem/ song/ tune to share. You may want to prepare by collecting some twigs or flowers for our Beltane altar, or even some vines & ribbons woven into May crown/wreath/garland. The facebook event is here:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1154051299339587/
More details of the East London group are here:
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/localgroups2/east-london/
https://www.facebook.com/EastLondonGreenSpirit/events
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
Ryedale & Yorkshire Coast
Spring Equinox
Sunday 17th March 4pm - 6pm.
Friends Meeting House, Greengate, Malton. YO17 7EN
The day of balance and harmony, as the day and night are of equal length. Spring has Sprung! Bring and share tea: Veggie/Vegan please. For info, contact Chris or Janice on 01653 693913.
And click here for the facebook post for this event.
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
Southampton
GreenSpirit Earth Service
Sunday 24th March at 2:00pm
At: Edmund Kell Unitarian, Southampton
We would like to warmly welcome you to a celebration of New Life and the Coming of Spring on the Celtic Festival of Ostara. This festival celebrates fertility, rebirth, and renewal. Ostara is thought to be an Anglo-Saxon goddess and believed to be responsible for the Coming of Spring.
For more details, go to:
https://www.facebook.com/events/3070829789718548
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
Reading
Spring Equinox - 17th March
Spring brings rainbows and fledglings are hatching out. Day and night equalise all over the planet balancing darkness with light. Meeting at Debbie’s. For contact information and more details of this group, click here.
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
Talks about GreenSpirit and Green Spirituality
|
|
|
|
|
Want to find out more about GreenSpirit and green spirituality? 3 people offer talks which can be done in-person or often online.
To find out more, click on this link:
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/talks/
|
|
|
|
|
We are the Universe, changing and renewing,
constantly flowing, enfolding, enriching, sustaining.
~ Joan Angus.
Poem extract from Anthology of Poems for GreenSpirits compiled by Joan Angus. 11th title in the GreenSpirit Book Series, which is a low-cost series that offers ebook editions ‘free’ for members of GreenSpirit.
For more details of this book visit the GreenSpirit Book Series web page here.
Or find out about the whole book series on the facebook page here.
|
|
|
|
|
A two-part interview with GreenSpirit member, trustee and current chair of GreenSpirit's publications team has been posted on Green Party Councillor Leslie Stuart Tate's website, who interviews creative and community-active people weekly for the website.
|
|
|
|
From Punk to Interfaith Minister - The GreenSpirit of Stephen Wollaston
|
|
|
|
|
In Part One of his interview, Stephen talks about his creative and spiritual development, including his time playing bass guitar for an early punk rock band, The Wasps. Click here for the interview.
In the second part of the interview, Stephen talks about psychosynthesis, GreenSpirit and eco-justice. Click here for the interview.
|
|
|
|
Natural Happiness: Use Gardening Skills to Cultivate Yourself
Facilitated by Alan Heeks
19 - 21 April 2024 at Hawkwood Centre for Future Thinking, Stroud
https://www.hawkwoodcollege.co.uk/event/natural-happiness/
In these uncertain times, this workshop will help you deepen your roots and grow your resilience. With sessions in Hawkwood’s gardens, you’ll experience how organic skills like composting, mulching, and co-creativity can feed your wellbeing amid daily stresses and big issues like climate change. Based on Alan’s new book, which harvests his work in organic farming and forestry.
Alan has been exploring resilience with people and nature for many years, and has led many groups on this theme, drawing on experience of resilient natural systems from creating an organic farm and setting up Hazel Hill Wood, near Salisbury. For more info and bookings click here.
|
|
|
|
Soil to Soul - Reconnect to Nature & Rewild Your Soul
15th June 2024 – £90 per person
Join farmers and eco-therapists Tom Mettyear and Mark Sparrow on their organic, regenerative & nature-based Dorset farm, enhancing your connection with nature, farming, food, health and the vitality of your soul.
|
|
|
|
|
On this immersive day on an inspiring farm, you will have the chance to move into a still and peaceful space where you can begin to understand more intimately your relationship with nature and your own true nature. Through sensory experience, nature walks, guided observation and supported meditation, you will have the opportunity to absorb the health & vitality of the land and the chance to sink into a new relationship with the more-than-human world around you. Along the way you will enjoy fabulous food grown, foraged & prepared on the farm.
For a truly immersive experience, the farm campsite will be open on the nights before and after this event exclusively for participants. You can either pitch your tent for free or for £15 per person hire one a beautiful bell tents (you will need to bring your own bedding).
To book please visit www.angelcottageorganics.co.uk or email angelcottage@runbox.uk
|
|
|
|
Spring Forward 2024: An Inside/Outside Retreat
28th – 31st March 2024
At The Barn in the Dyfi Valley, Near Machynlleth, Mid Wales, UK
With Facilitator Guides/Artists: Fern Smith & Philip Ralph
|
|
|
|
|
Spring Forward 2024 is a respectfully held, spacious, guided, small-group retreat intended to support an intentional decision to: ‘Step into the Light, Marking the Moment, Making an Intention.’ The retreat takes place to coincide with that special time in the UK when the clocks are turned forward one hour and we mark the start of ‘British Summer Time’.
This is an extra special year in that the Spring Forward retreat also coincides with the Easter weekend. This gives the retreat a particular focus of also being available to noticing and marking what is ‘dying’ and what is ‘being born’ in you.
Click here for more information.
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome to @SoulPodHarmony a new channel packed with positive and empowering spiritual video content, exploring multi-dimensional sacred living, our connection to nature and how to be in right relationship with Gaia, the Cosmos and each other.
@SoulPodHarmony was co-created by Interfaith Minister and Sacred Journalist, Rev. Helen James @revhelenjames8349 and her friend, Crystal Therapist Teacher and Intuitive, Kelly Peacey.
In this first episode, they visit the magical small hamlet, The Whiteleaved Oak in Herefordshire which is steeped in storytelling. It sits in a valley at the southern end of The Malvern Hills between Ragged Stone Hill and Chase End Hill where the 3 counties of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire meet. This convergence of the Shires may have been a place of neutrality not beholden to any one shire but an important spiritual liminal space offering passage to unseen dimensions to access information in order to make important decisions that might affect the land and relations in the Shires.
|
|
|
|
|
Changing our Minds: Learning to be Ecozoic
A season of free on-line conversations from St James' Piccadilly, London.
We are living in a polycrisis that threatens to overwhelm us. We need profound change in our understanding and behaviour if future generations are to have a liveable future. The ancient Greeks’ had a word for this kind of change: Metanoia, a transformative change of heart or spiritual conversion.
Thanks to the generosity of our conversationalists these events are offered free of charge. Each session starts at 6.00pm UK time and lasts about 75 minutes.
Our final conversationalists:
In conversation with Sandy Bigtree, Mohawk Nation, and Prof Philip P Arnold
Sunday 14 April 6pm BST
Changing Our Minds
In conversation with Dr Lyla June Johnston, Diné nation
Sunday 21st April 6:00 PM BST
Indigenous sciences of sustainability: ancient native food systems and their lessons for the future
For full details and how to register, go to:
https://www.sjp.org.uk/earth-justice/changing-our-minds/
|
|
|
|
|
Creation Spirituality Communities
Reimagining our Story, Hope for the New Humanity
~ The Gathering 2024 ~
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
|
Exhibition: The Goddess, the Deity & the Cyborg
Murray Edwards College, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge. CB3 0DF
8th March - 8th September
Including art work by GreenSpirit member Juliet Wimhurst
Click here for details.
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
|
Deepening the Roots of Resilience
Alan Heeks
Wednesday, 20th March 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Free online event
Sharing insights from Alan's new book and community resilience research
For more details and to book, click here.
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
|
Spiritual Ecology Conference
29th June 2024 - all day
St Ethelburga's 78 Bishopsgate, London. EC2N 4AG
Join us for a 1-day conference exploring the connections between spirituality, ecology and peacemaking.
Keynotes by: René August, Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee, Dekila Chungyalpa and Clare Martin and more to be confirmed.
Click here for full details.
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
|
Cana Conscious Conversations
Saturday 20th April 2024, 10.30-12.30 by zoom
Diarmuid O’Murchu
‘Exploring spirituality today’
Click here for more details.
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
|
Luminosity 2.0 The Evolution
A Music-Alchemy Journey into the creativity of the cosmos, the wonder of the universe and the miracle that is your human life.
21st April 2024 7:00pm
St Peter's Church, Northchurch Church Terrace, London N1 4DA
https://garyalbertmusic.com/tickets
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
|
Shamanism & The Shamanic Journey
a free course
by The Way of the Buzzard
Click here for more details.
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
|
Back to the future: Gift logic and sacred responsibilities to our plant kin
by the Plant Initiative
Tuesday, 9th April · 6 - 7pm GMT+1
Click here for more details.
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
|
|
|
|
GreenSpirit
137 Ham Park Road, Forest Gate, London
United Kingdom
|
|
You received this email because you signed up on our website or joined GreenSpirit.
|
|
|
|
|
