“Unclear expression and unclear thinking make for confused living.”
–Isaac Goldberg from “The Wonder of Words: An Introduction to Language for Everyman”
Here’s the link to 42 new photos from Assembly 2016 on Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/146928620@N03/albums/72157673818969275
Monday, September 5, 2016 – 5:45 p.m. I’ve just looked down at my phone, there is a text message, that just said “Thank you for this life changing weekend.” I smile, I am feeling the exhaustion from all that had lead up to and during the Assembly weekend. I felt touched that someone would text to acknowledge, that they had gained greater insights into the tools, and would make changes to their life. I took another sip of my fruit tea drink trying to get hydrated after the Sunday night wine, excellent food, and festivities of the night before at the Prosperos banquet. Rob Klopfenstein on the piano was a wonderful addition to the evening.
My attention returning to my fellow guest at this annual Bar-B-Que party hosted by internationally known music teacher and singer Carver Cossey and his partner Tim Mountain. I found myself in conversation with several noted Librarians from various cities and Universities that I have known over the years, Tim being one of them. While switching off my phone, the conversation turns to a new book by T.V. screen writer Steven Bochco, called Truth is a Total Defense. What perked up my ears was a quote from the book “… Most of us, at some point in life, have the opportunity to reinvent ourselves – to allow our better, or stronger, natures to prevail. It takes courage and hard work, but it’s possible.”
I felt that the last two days of Assembly was about that. I laugh within myself thinking that here is yet another incident of synchronicity – This conversation, the text, the Prosperos Assembly, the E Hula Mau Hula& Chant Competition at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, and our co-guest at the Westin Hotel … So much activity, it is no wonder that I am tired.
Sunday, September 4, 2016. This was the 2nd full day of activities for Assembly attendees. The central focus for many presenters was the better understanding and stewardship of; Identity, Ego, Creator, and creation. The morning session opened with the Song “Pure Imagination” sung by Gene Wilder. As emcee, my opening greeting for the Assembly were to reflect on: “[the] I Am [of ourselves] the ability to create govern and manifest thought.”
Heather Williams, H.W., M., was introduced and came to the lectern with her presentation called“Drawing with Empathy.” Heather, besides being a Mentor and teacher for the Prosperos, is also an educator within the Southern California’s middle school system, in San Diego. Heathers School is part of a pilot program, looking for teaching innovations that will encompass a child ability to use critical thinking. Heather’s teaching method includes the use of Art as part of the pilot program to explore critical and creative thinking for the 21 century and beyond.
Heather told us that some of the concepts she was sharing with us, were from her book “Drawing as a sacred activity.” available from online book sellers, as well as further information found on her website –http://www.drawingtogether.com. She took us through the creation process of drawing, by having us draw a hand. This came after, explaining some basics of creating a drawing, beginning with the understanding that there are three different ways to approach creating an art piece. To be aware of the kinds of differences in learning and visual Thinking [i.e. Left and Right Brain Seeing and Thinking taking place within all of us] necessary and available for our use to combine and/or balance in Empathy. She described Empathy as a feeling of connectedness with ‘Other’. Heather suggests when issue arise in our life, call upon your fair witness and: 1) Relax. 2) Tolerate not knowing what to do. 3) Focus on knowing that back and behind appearances is a fundamental Reality that is Whole, Complete and Perfect. You will be Translating the situation from the language of duality to the language of Oneness. Know that out of this situation, only GOOD will come. Furthermore, remember that a greater understanding is ready to reveal itself to you. Heather in her classes, teaches students to listen to the deeper part of themselves. The artist within us who knows how to temporarily suspend judgement and just BE … loving and accepting themselves exactly as they are right now in the midst of change. Know you are the artist in the midst of change, awakening to the artist within. “Our children’s future depends upon our becoming more conscious of our inner life. The Arts can help us do this. The Power is within YOU. Draw it out!”- Heather Williams.
After the short break and medley of music playing the last song being from the musical RENT called “Seasons of Love.” The bell was rung to settle down.
Alana Fennie, was our next presenter and a bit of a surprise. Alana, is a known Instructional Designer that travels for business at various conferences around the world and is considered on the leading edge of ‘next generation’ communications – usually working in developmental environments for University, Non-profit, and Corporate based firms, doing such task as writing static outcomes, assessment evaluations, and/or in discussions on competencies, and “backward” design theory.
Alana’s surprise for us, was that her presentation was on the “Astrological implication of this Assembly for The Prosperos Community,” and to point out key factors for its future. A Prosperos Chart was casted and diagramed for the time when the Assembly began. Alana presented her diagram of the collective constellations based on the Assembly start date and time. and Alana with participation from members in the group were able to spot some insights into long-range processes which seems up for review or reintegration within the Prosperos organization, as well as some therapeutic inner developmental issues both as a group and as individuals highlighted where such areas as: inertia, fantasy, and restriction. The analyses of our community chart reminded me to watch the logic of our emotions, to do straight thinking in the abstract, and together as a community look for techniques that will raise the standard and effectiveness of our School.
William Fennie, H.W., M was our next speaker, the title of his talk was “Walker Between the Worlds.” William is a member of the Prosperos executive council, and developer of the Prosperos Audio Center Website [and the wonderful developer of my personal website}. He is currently an information specialist for the University of Maryland Population Research Center.
William was a member of Thane Walker’s (Dean and Co-founder of the Prosperos) staff during the latter part of Thane’s life in Hawaii. Thane, during that time period, was in development of a class called Metonymy Translation, in which William was in involved.
William over the years since, through continued investigation and honing of Metonymy Translation, continues to encourage others to use the technique in their practice to illuminate the reality of the Self.
Metonymy is a journey of consciously paying attention to everyday hunches, tips, intuits which is to say that understanding yourself as something more than just the information in your head. It means to know or understand (something) because of what you feel or sense rather than because of evidence: to know or understand (something) through intuition. More in line with a Somatic understanding of yourself. Thane is reported as using this technique often and had an intuit come as just a word – ‘hitchhiker.’ He told one of his assistants, while doing errands on the Big island, to be alert for a ‘hitchhiker.’ That hitchhiker became one of the more efficient and effective staff members in Thanes household. While Metonymy is to shift the balance of believe in what we think we know, likewise the concept Ego needed a second look. William in his talk did a great job of exploring the concept of “Ego” and its function in our life. What I took away from his talk is that most folks are of the belief that Ego is the ‘opinion’ you have about yourself. That idea could lead some to believe that Ego is not necessary and may need getting rid of. William gives a clearer definition of Ego as the vehicle in which we operate in a three-dimensional world. Ego is also that part of the mind that senses and adapts to the real world.
For the Prosperos I would interpret that Ego as that intersection between the unconscious [Caliban], the conscious [Prosperos] and the Supra conscious [Ariel] Reality Self. Ego then is the somatic expression of Consciousness – manifesting, organizing, clarifying, illuminating, mediating and orbiting between that which is so – (Reality) and the 3-dimensional misperception, projection and adaptation to reality. Understand your role as The Creator and The Author of your story. Not anyone else’s but yourself! YOU (local ego self and Essential Self) are the sole author of your reality. When ego alone is authority, someone is above and someone is below. When Essential Self is authority, you recognize yourself in the “other” and you dialogue to find the shared center space of Beingness. Thus Ego is the tool, we use to maneuver though the intersections of narratives in our world, and with the use of Metonymy Translation, our somatic journey leads us to the “I Am” dialogue of the Indescribable Reality Self.
As with most conferences/events of this nature, we find that the Lunch period has to be adjusted as our program has run over a bit. We are instructed that after lunch, to go to the break out areas/and group assigned.
Once back from lunch and in our break out groups, our task was to, with our groups recorder, review, clarify, add and perhaps identify more action items form RHS/ECT process. We, at an appoint time, re-assembled and discussed our finding and summations and about 3:45 pm, adjourned for free time and preparations for our evening Banquet.
It’s 6:45 p.m. I’ve come into the Shoreline Room of the Hotel for our celebratory dinner of the Prosperos 60th year. Rob Klopfenstein has gotten here and is already on the piano playing. I smile and view my Companions, I think yes, but not at the Crossroads, more on a path to our next chapter. The line from Auntie Mame came to mind – “Live, Live, Live, Life’s a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death.” Yes, we are here together to celebrate Life. … Everything in life that has happened, has become as a gift, If we choose to accept it as a gifting. Thus allowing us to do more than survive. To thrive. I think I am a somatic being engaged in the story of life. A conscious transition between one condition and another – clearly a movement away from anxiety, inertia and toward freedom in matters relating to everyday life.
The movie Lost Horizon, came to mind again. Looking around I see my fellow students that put forth the effort to be here, no matter how arduous or difficult it seemed. Their efforts were not to escape from fear, danger or death or even about securing safety–that is not why we were here. It was the effort to be in fellowship with likeminded students, to take the action of dropping our masks, thereby being delivered to a very different and unexpected reality. The Transformative power of unlearning in action through fellowship and courage to move forward together, and tonight is our celebration of that journey.
Rob is on the piano, playing a melody of the song, many we have heard from our time together this weekend. “Pure Imagination”, “Love Song”, “Seasons of Love”, “For Good,” and then finally at the end of our evening together he played “To You Sweet Heart Aloha.”
Its morning Monday, September 5, 2016 – 6:43 a.m. I’m not awake yet, just looking for a drink of water. And then pull the cover up and close my eyes for another hour. I think of Al Haferkamp H.W., M., who had after every evening event, conference, dinner or counseling session no matter how late it was, had to rise and be ready in the meeting room by 7 a.m. to provide physical exercise in the form of Qigong, Tai Chi, what we called somatic body breakfast.
It’s 8:43 a.m. and I am in the meeting room awaiting Heather Williams workshop which is the final presentation for the event. As I scan the room I am surprised at the number of students still here for this Workshop. Many times after events of this kind, students are so busy trying to get on their way, that attendance on these last day’s sessions get lost–but not this time. This participant representation chose to be engaged, and were supported by reliable allies from the instinctual side of life present here.
Heather Williams, H.W., M., was introduced and came to the lectern in workshop form with her presentation called “Big Ideas, Essential Questions – Touchstone for Teaching.” Heather went around the room and in break out group fashion, put us into small groups to use a group dynamic approach for coming up with ideas that were one word or one short sentence. Then in a Translation format we process those ideas into critical steps that will be used by us in future session in the understanding and presentation of our teaching.
The Assembly adjourned with Love Song.
Postscript:
Michael Zonta H.W., M., was not able to be with us but sent this message:
“Here’s the talk I would have given at this year’s Prosperos Assembly held over the recent Labor Day weekend. It’s short and sweet:
“We are so privileged to have this teaching (Translation, Releasing the Hidden Splendour, Crown Mysteries, 4th Way, Find Yourself and Live, Lucid Dreaming and so on), to know ourselves (to the best of our ability through self-observation and self-transcendence) as unique expressions of Infinite Mind, unique expressions of God Him/Herself, unique expressions of Life Itself (and not just as reflections, as some have suggested).
“We are not just doddering, old, gray-haired 60- and 70-somethings celebrating our ability to still perambulate around the room.
“We need to take this moment of reunion as an opportunity to refortify our efforts, wipe clean our glasses and resume (or assume) our ministry, directly or indirectly, with the youth (and the youthful) of this country, or whatever country we are part of, with renewed vigor because . . . that’s why we’re here.”
Blessings and Aloha
Calvin
Aloha all, Translation is an intimate relationship with the absolute, connecting, bridging the conscious and unconscious in a alterable relationship which is our innate right, capacity, and responsibility and it goes without saying an extreme organically radical pleasure.
Groups sense testimony; Organizing one’s responsibilities allows plenty of play time.
Conclusions : 1) Truth is a coherent unity whose only function is the call and response (the male and female) of (weightless) play.
2) You have all the time in the universe.
3) There is one powerful knowing presence of Truth I Am fully playing permitting agreeing pleasing all there is.
4) Truth captivates the imagination being incomprehensible, immeasurable, androgynous identity, prioritizing it’s own all and everything the universal playwright in motion.
The Night Circus is a 2011 fantasy novel by Erin Morgenstern. It was originally written for the annual writing competition NaNoWriMo.
The Night Circus is a phantasmagorical fairy tale set near an ahistorical Victorian London in a wandering magical circus that is open only from sunset to sunrise. Le Cirque des Rêves, the Circus of Dreams, features such wonders and “ethereal enigmas” as a blooming garden made all of ice, acrobats soaring without a net, and a vertical cloud maze where patrons who get lost simply step off and float gently to the floor. The circus has no set schedule, appearing without warning and leaving without notice; they travel in a train disguised as an ordinary coal transport. A network of devoted fans styling themselves “rêveurs” (“dreamers”) develops around the circus; they identify to each other by adding a splash of red to garb that otherwise matches the characteristic black and white of the circus tents. The magical nature of the circus is occluded under the guise of legerdemain; the illusionist truly transforms her jacket into a raven and the fortune teller truly reads the uncertain future, and both are applauded for their ingenuity.
The circus serves a darker purpose beyond entertainment and profit. The magicians Prospero the Enchanter and the enigmatic Mr. A.H— groom their young proteges, Celia Bowen and Marco Alistair, to proxy their rivalry with the exhibits as a stage. Prospero teaches his daughter to hone her innate talents by holding ever larger and more complex magical workings in her mind. Celia takes her position on the game board as the illusionist who makes true transformations, adding tents and maintaining wondrous aspects from the inside. Mr. A.H— trains his orphan ward with books in the ways of glyphs and sympathetic magic and illusory worlds that exist only in the mind of the beholder. Marco takes a position as an assistant to the producer of the circus; he works from the outside in, connected to the circus via a magical link to the central bonfire, but not a part of it. The two beguile the circus goers and each other with nightly wonders, soon falling in love despite being magically bound to a deadly competition with rules neither understands.
As the competition continues, straining both competitors with no sign of a conclusion nor of how a winner will be determined, others connected with the circus start to notice strange events connected to it; the blueprints disappear from the designers’ offices, and the performers appear bound to the circus and can never fail, leave permanently, have accidents, or even age. Two children – Poppet and Widget – born to a performer on opening night were the last members of the circus to be born, and have developed magical powers. The producer of the circus has his memories erased and one of the initial investors is murdered by Mr. A.H- when they begin to discover the underlying truth. When the building tensions between Prospero and A.H- and the jealousy of Marco’s ex-girlfriend spurned for Celia result in an innocent “rêveur” being accidentally stabbed in a circus tent, Celia begins to search for a way to end the game as quickly as possible while preserving the circus and those involved with it.
Celia learns from Prospero that the game must continue until one of the participants is unable to go on, which usually means their death; and that the circus contortionist, Tsukiko, is a magician herself and the winner of a previous contest in which her opponent committed suicide. After Celia and Marco’s negotiations with their mentors fail, Tsukiko declares that she can no longer stand the contest continuing and plans to magically kill Marco to end the contest, believing him to be less important than Celia because he was not part of the circus. At the last moment, Celia rushes to save him, resulting in both of them being ripped from reality and becoming incorporeal spirits bound to the circus. With its magical keystones removed, the central bonfire goes out and the circus environment begins to break down; Celia and Marco preserve the circus by magically rebinding Poppet, Widget, and their new friend – a keen circusgoer called Bailey – back to the circus, relighting the fire and bringing back the spirit of the circus .
With Celia and Marco both existing only as ghosts, unable to compete but content to haunt the circus together forever, the contest is declared complete via stalemate with no winner. Poppet and Widget negotiate the release of the remaining circus properties from the former producer and Mr. A.H-, and the book ends with the revelation that Poppet, Widget, Bailey and the circus still exist in the modern day, preserved for a century and more.
(Recommended by Hanz Bolen, H.W., M.)
This Full Moon is quite close to the Earth and is considered a Supermoon, in addition to being a lunar eclipse. This is a very subtle eclipse known as a penumbral eclipse, where the Moon passes through the edge rather than the center of the Earth’s shadow, visible from the Eastern Hemisphere. Since the Moon is beneath the horizon as it becomes exactly full, those of us in the Northern Hemisphere will not be able to see it. For those living in the Eastern Hemisphere, the experience will be very subtle and you may not see it at all as it will appear only as a dark shading of the Moon.
Even though, visibly, it is a very subtle lunar eclipse, its gravitational and electromagnetic influence will be profound. An Eclipse creates a reset or re-calibration of consciousness while it interrupts the normal or consistent flow of electromagnetic energy to earth, which affects us all. When it is dimmed or blocked for a time, our perceptions change and we have the possibility to see things anew. This happens with a lunar eclipse on a subconscious and/or emotional level. This can bring to our awareness that which needs to be addressed that we may not have seen before. It can also represent emotional disturbances coming forth from our shadow side, below the surface of our awareness. This gives us the opportunity to take positive steps moving forward with a greater depth of knowledge and understanding.
It is helpful to understand the energies of the Pisces/Virgo axis (12th and 6th houses). This is called the serve or suffer axis which means that if we don’t serve humanity in some way, we suffer. This is an important message for us at this chaotic point in humanities evolution. We were each born with special gifts that can be helpful to others and to the planet. We were born at this profound time of awakening to interject our gifts into the matrix. Large or small interplay is needed now. some of us have an easier time for large participation, while others can only make small contributions. Whatever we can manage to put on the altar of these shifting times is beneficial. Remember there is no contribution too small or insignificant. This Full Moon lunar eclipse is a powerful reminder of our obligation to serve in some way.
There are other powerful influences pulling at us now. Mars in Sagittarius is in a T-square with the Moon and Chiron in Pisces and the Sun in Virgo. Mars represents the challenge point and pushes us to act and serve with courage if awake and conscious, or to war like aggression and destruction for those still blinded by deception. Chiron influencing the Moon in Pisces represents our core wounds and the betrayal that we have felt of late as our eyes have been opened to so much deceit. Chiron helps us to learn from pain as Pisces helps to compassionately heal our wounds through service and love.
Jupiter has finally left the sign of Virgo (where it wasn’t very happy) and moved into the creative and pleasing sign of Libra. We can expect a much more creative year moving forward. All you Libras out there can expect a boost of some needed good fortune and progress.
Both Pluto and Mercury have been retrograde and will be changing direction soon. Mercury turns direct on September 21st at 15 degrees Virgo and Pluto turns direct on September 26th at 15 degrees Capricorn. This will be a pleasant shift for many who have been struggling with these potent retrogrades.
And last but not least, Uranus in Aries is in a trine to Mars in Sagittarius and in opposition to Venus in Libra. This is a quirky configuration and can mean sudden actions and explosive and aggressive behaviors but with hope for creative solutions. Fortunately, the Mars component doesn’t last too long!
Written by Wendy Cicchetti
A Full Moon symbolizes the fulfillment of the seeds planted at a previous New Moon or some earlier cycle. Each Full Moon reminds us of the seeds that may be coming to maturity, to their fullness, to fruition, to the place where the fruits or gifts are received. It may seem that fulfillment of our goals takes a long time. Some intentions may manifest within the two week phase prior to the next New or Full Moon. Some however, depending on their complexity, may take a much longer time. Just remember that our thoughts and emotions set Universal Action in motion and much work takes place behind the scenes as everything is orchestrated for fulfillment. Keep visualizing your goals as though you have already attained them and they will eventually manifest. Do not concern yourself with current conditions or worry about controlling it. The universe takes care of those details. Just keep seeing what you want, and move in that direction with your actions, and give no energy to what you don’t want. Patience is required.
‘Morning Dew' by The National, from ‘Day of the Dead’, a tribute album to the Grateful Dead curated by Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, with all profits going to Red Hot Organization. ‘Day of the Dead’ is released on 20th May via 4AD.
Pre-order CD: http://smarturl.it/DayOfTheDead_4AD
Pre-order from iTunes: http://smarturl.it/DayOfTheDead_i
Pre-order from Amazon: http://smarturl.it/DayOfTheDead_a
Pre-order from Google Play: http://smarturl.it/DayOfTheDead_a
Stream on Spotify: http://smarturl.it/DayOfTheDead_Spotify
Find the full line-up and more about the project: dayofthedeadmusic.com
Matt Berninger – vocals
Aaron Dessner - electric guitar
Bryce Dessner – electric guitar
Bryan Devendorf - drums
Scott Devendorf - bass
Sam Cohen - electric guitar
Conrad Doucette - drums
Josh Kaufman - piano, synth, electric guitar
Walter Martin - organ
Produced by Aaron Dessner and Josh Kaufman
Recorded by Jonathan Low (Dreamland Recording Studios – West Hurley, NY)
Mixed by Jonathan Low (Miner Street Recordings – Philadelphia, PA)
By Michael Brown
Copyright Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI); used by permission.
(Dobson / Rose)