Alchemy of Permaculture with Blair Carter and David Ulansey

Our relationship to the vital earth we inhabit is inherently alchemical. But at this moment – evidenced by the looming planetary ecological crisis – the vessel of that relationship is on the verge of shattering. A crisis of this magnitude demands that we respond to the situation from a perspective that honors both exterior and interior landscapes. Our task is to examine how we have reached this critical point and to explore the possibilities of creating a more sustainable crucible for life. This ten day off-site residential field course (in Southern Oregon's Applegate Valley) will investigate the psycho-cultural origins of the planetary crisis and pursue direct practical solutions to it.

Utilizing the ethic and practice of deep ecology and permaculture, we will aim to envision, create, and live a sustainable way of being. Activities will include lectures, discussions, wilderness field trips, hands-on experience with bioremediation, permaculture design principles, water-catchment, wild food and medicine foraging, organic dairy production, practice in sustainable community, and – most importantly – exploring our playful and joyous kinship with the wild and natural world. Readings will include E.O. Wilson on the ecological crisis, C.G. Jung and others on alchemy, and a variety of readings on permaculture and deep ecology.

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Cosmology and Consciousness in the Ancient World: The Mysteries with David Ulansey

This course investigates the evolution of cosmology and consciousness in antiquity through an exploration of the ancient "Mystery Religions." Topics include the earliest cosmologies, the archaic experience of the self and personal identity, rituals and symbols of initiation, the origins of the idea of the human soul, speculations on life after death and immortality, the rise of the spherical universe and the geocentric cosmos, the relationship between cosmos and psyche, images of the realm beyond the universe, the emergence of ancient esoteric traditions, the beginnings of astrology, alchemy, mysticism, and magic, myths of transformation and rebirth, the roots of self-reflective consciousness, the relationship between cultural transition and spiritual metamorphosis, the processes of myth-formation, and the birth and development of new religions and world-views. Among the traditions covered are the Eleusinian and Orphic mysteries, the Pythagorean and Platonic traditions, the Hellenistic mysteries, the mysteries of Isis, Cybele, and Mithras, and the Gnostic, Hermetic, and Apocalyptic movements. Particular attention is paid throughout the course to parallels and relationships between the course material and developments in our own time.

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Nature and Eros with Brian Swimme and Kerry Brady

We live in an extraordinary time. Western industrialized culture has conditioned us into the assumption that we are simply individual selves living upon the earth. Yet across disciplines we are awakening to the fact that we are living organisms within a living earth, intricately woven into the ever evolving vibrant web of life. To come to understand and, most importantly, to live from this knowing requires a profound shift in our perception of reality and an inherent recognition of our deepest identity as an inextricable part of the larger cosmic unfolding that brought us forth. Nature and Eros, as a series, is concerned with evoking this shift in consciousness, a shift that is fundamental to answering the central planetary challenge of our time – the move from an attitude of "control over" to a deep sensual and erotic engagement with the earth and her inhabitants.

In order to do this essential work we come together in community. For five days we live close to the land – in the Spring at Ocean Song, several hundred acres of rolling coastal hills that reach out to the sea an hour and a half north of San Francisco, and in the Fall at Tunitas Creek Ranch – a hundred acres of forest and brush nestled in California's coastal range an hour and a half south of San Francisco. The primary teacher in each course will be the combination of the particular eco-system where we gather, the gifts of the Season when we meet, and the distinct configuration of people who come together. In this way, each course is unique and therefore open to new students as well as those seeking to continue or deepen previous journeys taken with us. As we bring ourselves into a more intimate and immediate connection with the larger Earth Community around us, we invite the deep magic of the place and season to evoke our hidden sensitivities and capacities, re-discovering and re-membering who we are as planetary beings. In opening to all that seeks to awaken us, we will consciously explore the mysterious and fertile meeting ground between our own creativity and the larger unfolding and discover the way our unique expression fits into the deep needs of our time.

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Psyche and Cosmos with Richard Tarnas and Stan Grof

This course examines an emerging understanding of the relationship between the human psyche and the cosmos, based on observed correlations of the timing and archetypal character of psychological conditions and transformations with specific planetary alignments. Lectures will set forth both the practical applications of this research and its larger philosophical implications. The course begins with a presentation of the map of the human psyche suggested by modern consciousness research and experiential therapies, followed by case histories and analysis of birth charts and planetary transits in relation to particular psychological states and syndromes. Topics include precise descriptions of the archetypal patterns and correlations observed, specific transit correlations with various biographical, perinatal, and transpersonal experiences and the stages of psychospiritual transformation, and the relevance of this work to the larger depth psychology tradition begun by Freud and Jung, as well as to the cultural emergence of a new, cosmically integrated world view.

This course is a ten-day intensive, with the same number of teaching hours (45) as a full semester-length course: Monday through Friday afternoons, for two weeks.

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Psyche and Spirit with Sean Kelly

This course explores the relation of the psyche – that is, the field of human experience, both individual and collective – to "spirit" – which is to say, to religion and spirituality, to spiritual philosophies and worldviews – through a consideration of the development which leads from classic representatives of the psychology of religion to the principal paradigms of contemporary transpersonal theory. Readings include primary texts – set in their appropriate contexts – by William James, C.G. Jung, Stanislav Grof, and Ken Wilber.

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Spiritual Mission of America with Robert McDermott

This course has an emphasis on the inner character and destiny of America, including its promise as well as its history and shadow. The course arises from the instructor's conviction that since its founding America has exercised a profound influence on world history and continues to do so in ways both positive and negative. It assumes that an influence so significant must have a spiritual meaning even if that meaning has not been, and might not be, realized. This course explores some of the more prominent expressions of the distinctive mission attributed to America, and particularly its characteristic ways of thinking, by some of its most influential spokespersons, including the Founding Fathers, Emerson, Whitman, Douglass, Lincoln, Holmes, James, Peirce, Dewey, King, Thomas Berry, and American feminism.

This course is highly participatory. There is a great need for student presentations and for guided group discussion on controversial historical developments – such as the founding of the Republic, the Civil War, slavery and racism – and transformative ideas such democracy, manifest destiny, pragmatism, feminism, and the rights of nature.

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