Category: Happenings

Call to Participate in Prayerful Silence – Sunday Feb 26th

A Global Call to Participate in Prayerful Silence on the Eve of United Nations- Commission on the Status of Women on Sunday, February 26, 2012 was announced by the www.womenofspiritandfaith.org
On the eve of the opening of the 56th Session of the UN-Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), women of all spiritual traditions are invited to join in prayer and silence for the good of the world’s women and girls -wherever they are and at any time that day.
Women of all spiritual traditions are invited to join in prayer and silence, to hold in their hearts the hopes of those who come to the CSW: for homes and a world without violence and fear, where there will be good food, air and water,
education and medical care, for women’s empowerment and gender equality, for consciousness, voice and choice,
for circles with a sacred center to support the wisdom and courage of women in them, and for there to be a UN 5th World Conference on Women.
Other sponsoring organizations include:
U.N. WOMEN’S CIRCLES
Anglican Women’s Empowerment www.anglicanwomensempowerment.org
Circle Connections www.circleconnections.com
Earth Child Institute www.earthchildinstitute.org
Gather The Women Global Matrixwww.gatherthewomen.org
Global Room for Women www.globalroomforwomen.org
Imagine The Good Foundationwww.imaginethegood.org
International Public Policy Institutewww.ippiun.org
Millionth Circle www.millionthcircle.org
One Voice Alliance of Women (OVA)    www.onevoicealliance.org
Pathways to Peace  www.pathwaystopeace.org
Peace X Peace www.peacexpeace.org
Ways Women Lead  www.wayswomenlead.org
Women’s Intercultural Network  www.win.org
Women of Spirit and Faithwww.womenofspiritandfaith.org
Women’s Perspective www.womensperspective.org
Women’s World Summit Foundation www.woman.ch

Susu Jeffrey – Community Elder Marks Seventy Years at Coldwater Saturday

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Highway 55 encampment, Susu's birthday 1999

Susu Jeffrey is an elder in many spheres, and in our Pagan community. She is a visionary, writer, and poet. She is a percussionist, singer, and ritualist. A social activist and advocate for human, water, environmental, and Native American rights. Once a reporter for a major daily, she has contributed to PNC-Minnesota. This month Susu turns seventy and invites you to join her celebration!

Come to Susu’s 70th Birthday Party at the entrance to COLDWATER SPRING Sat., Dec. 10, 2011, from 2-4 PM.
Bring a biodegradable vision gift for the last natural spring in Hennepin County-to tie onto the 30-foot locked fence. Coffee, hot chocolate & ice- cream-cake: Full Moon-traditional group howl!

Coldwater is between Minnehaha Park & Fort Snelling, in Mpls. From Hwy 55/Hiawatha, turn East (toward the Mississippi) at 54th Street, take an immediate right, & drive South on the frontage road for a half a mile past the parking meters, to the cul-de-sac. Dress for the outdoors.
www.FriendsofColdwater.org  … BYO Chair !

I interviewed Susu today. Many know her, but many also don’t know much about her. Susu can be maddeningly irritating, persistent, loving, and deeply profound all in the same conversation. However she makes you feel, you know she has wisdom. I usually include my questions, but with Susu just state a subject, and she will share her thoughts!

Susu:

I have three degrees, five books, and thirty or forty non violence civil disobedience arrests. My first Pagan gathering was in 1979. It was a Pan Pagan gathering and it was like coming home, ya, this is what I believe. I asked my mom when a child, “What do you believe in?”, and she said, “I don’t know honey, I guess the sun”. My parents didn’t believe in a deity, you would call ‘god’, but they did believe in social justice. My father was in Congress, and I am very proud of what they both did, particularly my father. He was in Congress in 1942-44, one term, and he was one of the authors of the GI Bill of Rights. He was a poor kid, his parents were gypsies. They had no social standing at all. He put himself through school and became a lawyer who always remembered his roots. He always said, “You know honey, if you haven’t given away more money that you are allowed to on your income tax, you haven’t given away anything.” I grew up in the era of being part of a community, with the ethic of accepting obligations in being a part of a community.

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Empowerment Training Day for OccupyMPLS

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Tuesday, Dec 6th, OccupyMpls sponsored Empowerment Training Day at Walker Church in S. Mpls. It was a day to focus on skill sharing. training, and discussion around the core issues facing OccupyMpls. It was designed to build a respectful and empowering culture within the movement.

Afternoon round table discussions

I participated for a few hours in both the morning and the afternoon. The event had a full schedule from 8am – 5pm.  I arrived about 10am to a room of about 60 people. Starhawk was going over the principals of meeting facilitation and consensus process.  Many present had some experience with these subjects before, and so the depth of the discussion during the presentation was directed at the particular problems facilitating a ‘general assembly’ presented to occupy organizers.

About 10.25 am the meeting was interrupted by an announcement the Plaza security had ‘raided’ the camp earlier that morning as about 8.30am and had taken all unattended items from the Plaza. Several county commissioners phone numbers, who were reported to be meeting Tuesday, distributed and calls were made in rotation as the workshop training continued.

The importance of incorporating core values into the consensus, and general assembly processes was emphasized, as well as the need to select the best decision-making process for each issue the group faced. Consensus Process is not needed for many movement decisions, just the major ones where core values are being defined.

I returned after lunch when open group meetings, now about fifty with many new people, were in progress. Five topics were under discussion at smaller round tables :

  1. Direct Action Strategy
  2. Visioning
  3. General Assemblies
  4. Guideline for “New Norms”
  5. Diversity within the Movement

Each group kept notes on its discussion with the aim of discovering insights, and gleaning items for later general assembly proposal and consideration. Every fifteen minutes or so, the groups paused and people rotated among them as they felt called. I participated in the visioning, direct action, and diversity groups. At the end of the session, spokespersons from each group summarized the discussion and outlined items that deserved further work to integrate the ideas within OccupyMPLS.  A contact person and email  was established for each work group and a sign-up for messaging within each group was posted.

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Starhawk Visit Schedule : Mon-Tues Dec 5-6th

Monday, December 5, 2011 at 5  PM
Mayday Books, 301 Cedar Ave. (downstairs), West Bank, Minneapolis
”  Empowering Tools for Challenging Times  ”

From Cairo to Wall Street, all over the world people are coming together to create change, organizing without top-down leadership or hierarchies. In thousands of voluntary groups everywhere, people work together to create everything from community gardens to media to new ways of living. Such circles can be enormously creative and empowering, but they can also be cumbersome and frustrating. Yet when they work well, they liberate our imagination and change the world.

In her latest book, The Empowerment Manual, A Guide for Collaborative Groups,  Starhawk draws on four decades of experience in circles and collectives to show us how to foster connection, clear communication and positive power in ourselves and our groups. She is well-known as a global justice activist and organizer, whose award-winning work and writings-translated into many languages-have inspired many to action.  She has lived and worked collectively for thirty years. 

Starhawk will sign copies of The Empowerment Manual and chat with folks informally.

Join us for a potluck.  Bring some food to share.  

Sponsored by OccupyMN; Women Against Military Madness (WAMM); & MN-WEB (Women’s Earth Brigade)

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Tuesday Dec. 6th:

Empowerment Training Day with Starhawk 8am-5pm. 
This day will be focused on trainings and discussion about core issues facing OccupyMpls, to build a respectful and empowering collaborative group throughout the winter.  The day will include an 8-9 a.m. Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser with a presentation from Starhawk. The rest of the day will consist of Facilitation Training, Teach Ins on various topics, and Open Space for discussing core issues facing OccupyMN. All at Walker Church, 3104 16th Ave. So, in south Minneapolis.  Sponsored by OccupyMN/Minneapolis. New website:  OccupyMinnesota.org.

If you would like to host a breakfast table and for questions Contact Malia at kochikaralove@gmail.com .

  • 7am: Prep for Breakfast-Fundraiser.  Table hosts arrive and help set up.
  • 8-9am: Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser.  30 minutes eat & chat.  30 minute presentation, with a short slideshow about OccupyMpls & Occupy around the world, a story or two from Starhawk, and a few testimonies from people involved with OccupyMpls.  Attendees will be asked to contribute what they can to help cover the cost of Starhawk’s plane-fare, and to OccupyMpls’s general fund.
  • 9:30-12pm: Facilitation Training: (All interested in becoming a facilitator for General Assemblies invited!) What is the Art of Facilitation? How do we improve our skills?  What are some current issues with General Assemblies and how can they be addressed?
  • 12-1pm: Lunch
  • 1-2pm and 2-3pm: Teach-ins:  On various topics, including “Anti-Oppression Awareness”; “Economics Unmasked”; “Art and Community Activism”; and more.  (TBA)
  • 3-5pm: Open Space: Discussion on various core issues facing OccupyMpls, including:
  1. What is the relationship of General Assemblies to Direct Actions? / How are we using Direct Actions as a movement? / Is there a framework for input or feedback pre- & post- actions?
  2. Visioning: What is our goal?  Do we have different goals? Are there Affinity-groups?
  3. Structure of General Assemblies: What is Consensus & how does it work?  What is modified consensus & when is that a better option?  What are blocks & how do address inappropriate use of blocking?
  4. Guidelines & Shaping of “New Norms”… how to build a culture at OccupyMpls that is empowering and respectful?  How do we address conflicts, violence and intimidation?
  • Dinner (location TBA)
  • 7-9pm: General Assembly (location TBA) The “GA” is the governing body of the various Occupy movements.

Sponsored by OccupyMN/Minneapolis.

Magus Books Co-owner to launch Blog Radio Show Saturday

Joseph A. Amara

“Edge Mysteries & Beyond” with Joseph A. Amara is launching this Saturday from 3-4pm on blogtalk radio.com . It is scheduled as a regular feature on the third Saturday of each month.

Join Joseph A. Amara, one of the owners of Magus Books , as he discusses the Mysteries of life and spirituality that serve to bring wonder and meaning into our lives. He will highlight new and popular book titles, as well as answer listener questions and conduct interviews with luminaries in the fields of Magick and Mysticism.

Joseph is a Gnostic Priest who has been practicing Ceremonial Magick for 20 plus years in a number of differing Orders and Covens. He is the former Prior of Ordo Astrum Sophia and Past Master of his Masonic Lodge AF&AM. He is versed in Kabbalah, Neo-Platonism, Hermeticism, Alchemy and Gnosticism.

Listen live and join in on the conversation at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/edgemagazine/2011/11/19/edge-mysteries-beyond-with-joseph-a-amara The call in number to speak with the host is (714) 364-4750.