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GreenSpirit Newsletter
www.greenspirit.org.uk
~ We are a network of people who practise loving our living planet ~
August 2024
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We live in a world of beauty and joy, but also in turbulent times with suffering among humans and in all of nature. Green spirituality reminds us that creation and transformation are part of the journey and that we can unfold into every moment: how can we co-create with nature?
Alan Heeks – the speaker – will guide us through a process to help us explore this, in Shallowford’s gardens if weather permits. He will draw on his new book “Natural Happiness: Use Organic Gardening Skills to Cultivate Yourself.”
We begin with recovering our sense of rootedness and unity with nature, then composting our difficulties, we will seek guidance from our souls, from our spiritual guides and from the wisdom of nature on how to deepen our presence in the unfolding of a positive future.
We will also have time for conversations about the world we want to see and how we can develop our creativity and resourcefulness in the face of uncertainty.
The weekend will start at the evening meal on the Friday and will end after lunch on the Sunday. During the weekend we will also have a chance to connect with each other and the natural world with some ceremony and meditations, creative activities, informal conversations, and, after our AGM on Sunday, have the chance to share what we are taking away from the weekend.
For full details about the weekend, go to:
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/annual-gathering-2024/
This includes the booking page.
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Celebrating the Autumn Equinox - online
Monday 23rd September 2024 19:00 - 20:15
Here is another point of perfect balance on the journey through the Wheel of the Year, (like Ostara/Spring Equinox). Night and day are again of equal length and in perfect equilibrium – dark and light, masculine and feminine, inner and outer, in balance. We are on the cusp of transition and from now the year now begins to wane and darkness begins to defeat the light. As the harvest is safely gathered in from Lammas and reaches completion, we enjoy the abundance of fruit and vegetables at this time. We thank the waning Sun for the wealth of harvest bestowed upon us. Please bring any readings, poems, or songs you would like to share.
The facebook event is at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/1701645037335189
Join us on Zoom to celebrate the Autumn Equinox. The zoom details are:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84079414983?pwd=cHFmYld6cFl6OUl0UkJlMnpYMEhndz09
Meeting ID: 840 7941 4983
Passcode: 413541
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Anam Cara – Online - Daytime
Fortnightly (1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month at 10am except sometimes in school holidays). Next meeting:
Wednesday 18th September 10:00am
https://www.facebook.com/events/8608367855843089
(No Anam Cara on 21st August or 4th
September)
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
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Conversation Cafe - online
Wednesday 18th September 19:00 - 20:15
https://www.facebook.com/events/379459881764076
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
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by George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison
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Reviewed by Ian Mowll.
The authors provide a devastating critique of neoliberalism and how it has eroded much which is precious in our society such as equality, community and empowerment. The book defines neoliberalism as like – but more than – unfettered capitalism. And as George Monbiot is one of the authors, not surprisingly, much of the content in the book aligns with the green agenda with its emphasis on the collective rather than the individual; a good example of this is the need to reduce pollution as it can be produced by the individual but affects everyone.
Click here for the full review.
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Reviewed by Ian Mowll.
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881 – 1955) was born in the Auvergne region in France and became a Jesuit Priest. He was deeply committed to his spiritual journey and, throughout his life, he did not waver from his vision of a loving divine presence embedded in the world. However, his scientific work, particularly in palaeontology where he became an advocate for evolution, put him at odds with the dogma of the Catholic Church.
Click here for the full review.
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Reviewed by Ian Mowll and Stephen Wollaston aka Santoshan.
Ten minutes’ walk from London’s Kew Gardens Station are the botanical gardens themselves. Founded in the late 19th century, Kew is London’s largest UNESCO World Heritage Site, which holds the world’s largest collection of living plants and consists of various well-known glasshouses that are surrounded by expansive green areas where such things as a Bamboo Garden and large Rock Garden can be found.
Click here for the full review.
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GreenSpirit Book
By Greg Morter and Niamh Brennan
Everyone has a life story. Cultures too have stories about how the world and its creatures came into being. We call those ‘mere myths’ but had nothing to put in their place until science gave us the contemporary story of our Universe. This book retells that awesome story, the span of which covers billions of years of evolution, and considers its implications for the future development of human consciousness.
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/
And see the book series facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/greenspiritebookseries
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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.
Grow Your Own
Food production is globally the biggest cause of many of the planet’s problems: deforestation, pollution, soil degradation, carbon emissions, chemical use, packaging, transport and so on. Growing some of your own food will reduce the impact of all of these issues, plus give you healthier, fresher food with the added benefits of the fun and exercise you get from growing it in your garden or allotment. Even if you only have a small garden, turn it over to fruit and veg growing rather than lawns/borders. If you only have a patio, grow in pots. Every food item you grow for yourself reduces your impact on the Earth. We have a separate Grow Your Own page with instructions for growing a selection of crops at home.
You can explore a whole range of other possibilities in our Green Action Toolkit at:
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/saving-life-on-earth/
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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/
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August Image and Quotation
Photo © Jan Waite
Knowing that you love the earth changes you, activates you to defend and protect and celebrate. But when you feel that the earth loves you in return, that feeling transforms the relationship from a one-way street into a sacred bond.
Robin Wall Kimmerer
https://www.greenspirit.org.uk/community-calendar/
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Ryedale and Ryedale & Yorkshire Coast
Mabon
This will be on the 22nd of September in Malton. 4pm - 6pm.
Click here for the facebook group which will show further details in due course.
Click here for details of the group including contact phone number.
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Talks about GreenSpirit and Green Spirituality
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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/
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Nature is in us and everywhere and in everything. Even in the heart of the city, Nature is not just the pigeons and rats and cockroaches and mice and the slivers of living green that grow up in the cracks between the paving stones, but all-pervasive.
~ Marian Van Eyk McCain.
Quotation from All Our Relations: GreenSpirit – Connections with the More-than-Human World edited by Marian Van Eyk McCain.
Second 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.
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A six week course in London starting in September
Join us for an exciting new course hosted by Kincentric Leadership at St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation & Peace in London in September.
The programme focuses on re-awakening our bond with a living, intelligent Earth and includes modules on ancestors and belonging; animal and plant intelligence and communication; art and music as doorways to kinship; wayfinding from within the web of life; grief as a portal to bonding with Earth, and envisioning a future rooted in kinship.
Click here for full information
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St Bede's Pastoral Centre - York
Saturday 16 November from 10am to 3.30pm.
Cost: £20
A day to get to know Thomas Berry CP (1914-2009) and his massive contribution to Creation Centred Spirituality for the 21st Century. We learn of and pray with some of his key writings including ‘The New Story of the Universe’, All creation as a ‘Communion of Subjects’ and ‘The Great Work and the future of Humanity’.
Paul has read and re-read Thomas Berry for over 20 years and has been endlessly inspired and awed by the breadth of his vision and scholarship for who we are and how we might be on the earth. If you know him well or not at all, feel free to come and share in this day.
Paul Golightly is Director of St Bede’s and an ordained Methodist Minister who is committed to offering a myriad of ways into the divine life and love, within all we do, at St Bede’s and as national co-ordinator for the Capacitar Wellness network.
Click here for a webpage and to buy tickets.
Click here for a flyer for the day.
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Window on Lindow
This year marks 40 years since of the finding of the body of Lindow Man, now recognised as Britain’s most famous bog body. To celebrate this special anniversary, charity Transition Wilmslow, together with the newly formed Lindow Moss Landscape Partnership, the Friends of Lindow Moss and the Guild for Lifelong Learning, is organising a programme of activities from May to December; all details on www.discoverlindow.org
An important component of Discover Lindow will be an Art Trail around Lindow Moss: Window on Lindow.
Initiated and organised by ecologist, artist and friend of the Moss, Phil Barton
(https://philbartonartist.c4cp.net), the Trail will include works by children from five local primary schools and students from Wilmslow High School, as well as installations by Phil and other professional artists (Liz Ellis, Steve Sutton, Juliet Hamilton and Rupert Randall). The work will be on and around the cut over peat bog and will stay in situ from mid-June to late-October.
For full information go to:
https://greenspirit.org.uk/pdf/discover-lindow-2024.pdf
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The Willows Lakeside Retreat (Dyke Farm) Event
The Willows Lakeside Wellbeing Fest
The Willows Lakeside Retreat (Dyke Farm), RH20 2EE
Friday, 6th September 2024
Relax, recharge and revel a while in the essentials...
Come for a day or camp with us for a weekend of festival and togetherness at the beautiful Willows Lakeside Retreat, nestled in the Sussex hills.
Details and booking are here.
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A reflective day
Saturday 9th November 2024
With Alan Heeks and Simon Lockett
How can we find our steady centre in these uncertain times? Where do we place our faith and our hope? This day of exploration and support will include times of prayer, meditation and sharing, with periods outside for walking contemplation as a micro pilgrimage, and for communing with Nature as a micro vision quest: recognising the power of space and silence.
Our venue is Garn Farm, a conservation smallholding and woodland near Longtown, in a beautiful valley overlooking the Black Mountains. See more at www.warmthandwonder.co.uk.
Alan Heeks has many years' experience exploring Nature and faith as sources of resilience, and is deeply interested in how communities can deepen to help us adapt to climate change.
Simon Lockett is a pioneer in re-introducing pilgrimage to Herefordshire, and has a long-standing love for contemplative prayer and spiritual connection with the natural world.
Practicalities
• Cost: £40, concessions £25. Bring lunch to share.
• Timing: Arrive 9.30am for 10am start. Finish 4.30pm.
• Bookings/enquiries: Contact Alan Heeks, alanheeks@gmail.com, 07494 203014. Group size limited to 12 people.
Click here for full information about the day.
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Resurgence Festival of Wellbeing
Saturday 5th October 2024 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM BST
Online, Zoom
A day of speakers
Click here for more information and tickets.
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Beyond Eden: Rewild with nature - Awaken to play
with: The Way of the Buzzard
Thursday 26th - Sunday 29th September 2024
Cae Mabon - North Wales
Click here for full details.
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The Deeptime Cafe
A chance to connect with other Deeptimers
July and August are free and open to all.
Second Thursday, 7-8 pm ET; Third Friday, 12-1 pm ET
(That is Eastern Time, USA)
Full details at:
https://dtnetwork.org/product/deeptime-cafe/
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Spiritual Ecology Workshop Carousel
3 speakers and all day event
14th September 2024
St Ethelburga's - London
Click here for full details.
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GreenSpirit
137 Ham Park Road, Forest Gate, London
United Kingdom
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You received this email because you signed up on our website or joined GreenSpirit.
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