Hey You Gaias!

The 1^st Gaia Festival was born this past weekend on the sacred land called black oak ranch where hundreds of thousands have gathered over the last thirty years. From the Hog Farm Pignick to Camp Winnarainbow, to Kate Wolf Festival, Northern Ca Women’s Herbal symposium and Earthdance. Many have kicked up the dust in Laytonville’s hot sunshine and wondered at the moon in the cool starlight.

Producer, Susy Barsotti had the big idea to take the best of all their years of festival production and the occasion of masses of people gathering together to put some strong intention around it. While it is altogether delightful to celebrate with food, dance and music, with that many people the time has come to gather our energy and turn it toward action, beauty, sustainability, network, connection and healing. It was with that intention that the Barsotti’s gathered the most diverse profound artists from near and far, multicultural, young and old to join us together at the heart. The indigenous presence was deep and quite moving from the Native Pomo dancers, to John Trudell and Bad Dog, youth and elder councils met at the medicine wheel lodge put together the women of the herbal symposium, all of the stages were adorned with sacred creatures, bear. Owl, Raven, each evening we joined in enormous circles and sang down the sun with the voices of Bobi Cesbedes of the Yoruba tradition, Zili Misik bringing Haitian sounds and spirited longings of Ma Muse.

I had the truly extraordinary privilege of being the Mother of Ceremonies on the Earth and Sky Stage along with the inimitable presence of Visionary Activist and Weaver of Context Caroline Casey. . She benevolently mentioned President Obama’s birthday and asked us to see him to live up to his name, the translation of which is “bless the good” and see him in ancestors cloaks, innocent as the day he was born as if in his “birthday suit”.

Her lightning storm dispensation of ancient cosmic consciousness and present day reclamation was enough to make our heads spin and spiral and we both unglued the language and put it back together to fit with the quality of life that we would much prefer. One where we are called Gaias instead of Guys, One which we add the missing l to words like peacefull and beautifull, to fill our mouths and psyches with the completion of our ideals. One which we are willing to give up our addiction to having an enemy visualizing a global community called, Imagine Nation. We repeated the Gaia dream of zero waste, toasted every band with a prayer for the water and constantly reminded everyone that we are in mercury retrograde for another two weeks

Mercury retrograde is a challenge of communication which may lead to confusion and chaos and when one finds themselves in mercury’s mayhem it’s helpful to employ words that start with re- Remember, recall, relate, rehearse, realize, retreat, reorganize, rehabilitate.

We had a birds eye view of the festival audience from that robust Main stage position and could literally see people awaken with new thought and direction. Here’s one of the offerings we made from the stage. Close your eyes. Now imagine you are a dandelion gone to seed, so your head is completely full of the puffiest of puffs giving you the most marvelous hair do. Ok. Fill each seed with the loving message you like to send into the world. Every seed jam packed. Now, feel the wind in your puff, just gently blowing you to and fro. Now you realize you are surrounded by thousands of other dandelions just as poofy. And at the count of three we’re going to blow. Just the look on their faces was priceless was consciousness rising. We counted to three and blew…..and the laughter filled the bowl as we could surely see those delicate envoys sail away with the gentle winds. We remembered that Joy is power and laughter is the antidote to so much toxicity.

The consciousness at the festival included a stage for the children and bands sent there to perform specifically for the little ones. Usually it’s just a play area, but these were main stage artists singing for the children. Paul Stamets was there with his fungi magic mindfulness. We were offered A cannabis forum with Sheriff Allman and John McKowen and others. A psychedelic medicine forum and the morning mystic physical healing of Qi Gong. The Gaia invitation was to play and re imagine our world at the very same time Gov. Rick Perry gathered his minyans at Reliant Stadium in Texas to pray for God’s interference in a women’s right to choose and gay lovers to marry, Caroline advised us to inhale leadership and suck the g out of the word kingdom.

All within the sound of our broadcast were moved and brought to their senses. It was an awakening of a new festival in the heart of Pagan celebration of lamas, the harvest. In answer to the madness, the lies and twisted consciousness that is flooding the mainstream with terrible noise, piranha consciousness and the illusion systems of Dow Jones and Standard and Poor’s ,we laid ourselves down on the Gaia, our mother, and held her as she held us and we knew it was the truth, that we call come from the mother and to her we shall return. Re-member

Anarchists Rule!

My acupuncturist advised me that current events are taking a terrible toll on my psyche and body and it would behoove me to take a news fast for a few days. As I unwound from the headlines, I could clearly see the damage left in the wake. There are so many emotional, physical, and spiritual assaults in progress my trauma meter is on boing.

Yet, I still, in spite of everything, believe there are so many good people in the world who truly want to help, to make the world a better place and can. It is not because they are told to do so by a police officer, or the Board of Supervisors, or California Assembly member or a State Senator or a President. It is because, given the right circumstances and offered civility and respect, folks will behave themselves. Not only do we behave but, I find that we, the common people, (not to be confused with the small people) are better informed than anyone in those elected positions.

I'm always mystified when I listen to congressional hearings on any subject. Whether it be weapons of mass destruction, Wall Street collapses, global warming, the Gulf oil leak disaster, those who are in charge know considerably less than I do about the subject. Do they read newspapers, watch TV? They have enormous staffs that could do the research if they are pressed for time. Still, after creating reams and stacks of hearings and testimonies and records, they don't know what's going on.

I have a confession to make, I didn't vote in the last election. That's a first for me. I struggled with the decision for a while, thinking, how couldn't I? What about those unfortunate subjects who are ruled by dictators, and how people fought and died for my right to vote, and doesn't voting make us a democracy? How could I refuse my civil obligation? But today as I return to the headlines I feel vindicated because life is spiraling out of control and I am not impressed with Democracy. I am sick of it.

The recent installation of democracy in the Middle East has been possibly one of the most destructive events ever, as far as the cradle of civilization is concerned. Yet, news analysts are wondering why there are protests in Toronto at the G20 summit.

It is because the G20 power brokers of the world have failed us completely? According to the media, a lot of the trouble in Toronto is generated by the Black Bloc, the anarchists. They are portrayed as violent hooligans and though I have seen them engage in property damage, usually directed at giant multinational corporations, I've never seen them assault another person, unlike the police dispatched to disrupt the protests. Are the anarchists the instigators?Maybe. I suppose it has nothing to do with the five miles of perimeter fence protecting plutocrats. It has nothing to do with the billions spent on unprecedented numbers of RoboCops in downtown Toronto. It has nothing to do with the fact that we are looking at the end of the world as we know it.

I, myself, have been to a few of these summits and the only reason I've gone was to represent myself because not one elected officials represents me. I hate it when pundits speak about “what the American people want.” I don't know if they've asked you, but they sure haven't asked me and I've been knocking on their doors for many years. Haven't you?

I believe any one of you listening to this broadcast could have made better decisions in the name of our collective progress. I believe that anyone listening to me has a moral compass, a capacity for logic, compassion for the most vulnerable among us, and an ingenuity, that with the right backing, could create a darn near utopia.

Seems like anarchy has gotten a bad rap. But I like the truth of it. Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist and Christian anarchist said, "Government is an association of men who do violence to the rest of us." Dr. Marx E. Lazarus, an American anarchist, who said, "Every vote for a governing office is an instrument for enslaving me."

I experienced a downright upright example of anarchy this weekend at the Kate Wolf Festival in Laytonville at Black Oak Ranch. It was a gathering of thousands and not one police officer or elected person officiated at the event. There were rules, like no pets. Most agreed that was a good idea, what with all the little kids and bare feet. All weekend long folks were courteous, kind, and cleaned up after themselves. There were crews of volunteers who had their assigned tasks and carried them out with style and humor. Even the Porta-Potty guys had a good attitude. Folks smiled, danced, sang together, ate together, and not one incident of violence, although there was nudity, marijuana smoking, and even some wine and beer. Everyone governed themselves.

People do their best to be good folk, with nobody having to tell them this is right, and this is wrong. Still, if you make a mistake along the way, break someone's heart, or your own, you better look to yourself for the answers, for the solutions, and for the way to behave in a world full of dangerous hypocrisy. As Emma Goldman said " All government is tyranny.” Says Emerson, “It matters not whether it is government by divine right or majority rule. In every instance it's aim is the absolute subordination of the individual." I'm looking forward to Independence Day. Literally.