Presenters — Schedule — Register — What is it? — Fact Sheet

— Education Conference — Volunteers — Hotel — Transportation — Vendors —

Early Bird Sessions of movement and dream sharing

Water - Life, plants, baptism, holy water, wine, Torah, Tao, cleansing, blood, menses, womb, sound, feelings, unconscious, descent, yielding, the sea, fish, Pisces, Atlantis, Davy Jones' Locker, rain, flood, waves, rhythm, 70% of our bodies, the Grail, communal

9 am
The Big Story
Waters of Life
Michael Meade
The Return of Sophia
It used to be said that each person is a philosopher at heart, each elder a carrier of some form of medicine and every soul a living repository of beauty. A name for this presence that unites wisdom, healing and beauty was Sophia formed of the Greek roots- "philo" and "sophe," or love and knowledge. Living philosophy thus involves the love of knowledge as well as a knowledge of love and healing occurs where those two coincide.

Before a light bulb became the common image of sudden inspiration, Sophia was the dove of understanding which would descend on a person as he or she struggled along the road of life. This bird of wisdom flew on two wings, one dark and one light, for it knew both the gifts and the wounds of life, it traversed both the heights and the depths before it came to rest in the human soul.

11 am
Big Conversations

• Sacred Service and the Grail Myth
  Cheryl Sanders-Sardello and Robert Sardello
  Meditative practices for embodying the three Grail Questions: What ails thee? How can I help? Whom does the Grail serve? Entering these questions through mythic awareness, rather than awareness of myth.
• Inside the Beast
  Betty Sue Flowers, Anita Sharpe
  A huge percentage of the power and energy of the world is held by corporations. How can we bring soul, ethics, poetry, and a wider sense of the human inside the corporate world?
• Tikkun Olam
  Deepak Chopra, Michelle Nunn, Sobonfu Somé, Ellen Kushner
  There have always been hard times, but there have also always been people to take up Tikkun Olam, the repairing of the world, across cultures and traditions. This healing is both inside and out, spiritual and worldly. It's about freeing the spark of divine light to restore the world rather than escape it. Is this just the work of saints and world leaders or is this something anyone can do in their hectic lives? How does one take up this call today, in the face of seemingly intractable social, economic and political resistance?
• Truth and Reconciliation
  Tom Blue Wolf, Andres Botran, Duncan Campbell, Gertrud Muller Nelson
  The South African commission on Truth and Reconciliation created a new form of justice that attempts to begin the healing of deep and irresolvable wounds within individuals and the entire society. Through the simple opportunity to tell the truth, participants reconcile — without necessarily needing to forgive — past deeds, and foster a willingness to live alongside one another. How can this humane and courageous method apply elsewhere? What other injustices can telling the truth begin to reconcile?
• Home and Exile
  David Abram, Maureen Eke, Rabbi Yossi New, Gayle Ross, Ari Berk, Derek Kayongo
  From the ancient to the post-colonial world, we inherit stories of exile and return — mythic, personal, political. What does it mean to be "Indigenous?" "Exiled?" "Colonized?" How do stories about the travels and travails of families and cultures shape the way we see ourselves today? How can myths of the winding road and the loss of home help us to find ourselves and our place alongside our fellow human beings? Can the myths help us live side by side at last?
• Living the Questions, Loving Uncertainty
  Chungliang Al Huang, Coleman Barks, Michael Green, Sharif Horthy, David Spangler
  Logic tells us that facts are not ambiguous, that things are either one thing or another, not both at once. And yet, quantum physics recognizes indeterminate states, where phenomena only become one thing or the other once an observer witnesses them. Certain forms of spirituality, such as Taoism and Sufism, foster ways of being that engage the spacious moment when questions remain unanswered, when instead of "either/or," we think in terms of "both/and," accepting "maybe" instead of "yes/no." How is this done and what benefits do we gain by living uncertainly?

• Stories for a Thousand Years
  Peter Beagle, Ari Berk, Heinz Insu Fenkl, Ellen Kushner, Delia Sherman, Midori Snyder, Charles Vess, Terri Windling, O.R. Melling, Kristen McDermott, Robert Walter
  Did the person who wrote Gilgamesh know that college freshman everywhere would be reading the tale 4,000 years later? What would Mallory think of a film version of his Morte d'Arthur, let alone the video game? How can anyone know which myths will stand the test of time, crossing the boundaries of time and culture to endure and inspire even now? In what is sure to be an epic adventure of speculation and debate, we will try to predict the stories of our time that might still be around in a thousand years. Make your best guess and join in the fun!
• True Exchange
  David Abram, Caitlín Matthews, Tim Murphy
  When we hear that we must preserve the Amazonian forest because of its priceless pharmocopia, it is evident we have become immersed in commerciality and the worth of things rather than being thankful for their unfailing gift, beauty and essential dignity. Does the gratitude of offerings that irrigate the spirituality of traditional societies need to find a way into our lives? Where is the place of true exchange? How do we live without always taking? Can we afford to live with such ingratitude in our hearts?
• Alliance for a New Humanity: Constellation
  Arsenio Rodriguez and Friends
  The Alliance for a New Humanity has come together in response to what it believes to be the most urgent need of our time — the need to unify all of the individuals and organizations currently committed to the various movements to improve our humanity, as one species, with a common origin and destiny.
  
  Out of this emerging consciousness of oneness we need to work together to co-create a big picture, a whole systems approach to answer the biggest questions of our time:
  
  How do we help 6.6 Billion people thrive?
  How do we help heal our home, planet Earth?
  How do we recover collective serenity and joy?
• The Art of Translation in Spiritual Teaching
  Coleman Barks, Sharif Horthy
  It's difficult enough to convey spiritual teachings in one's own language, but how does one handle the additional difficulty of translating them from one language into another? What are the especial difficulties of translating spiritual teachings into English, a language that seems to have less vocabulary for the mystical dimensions of life? Coleman Barks, who has translated the Persian poems of Rumi, and Sharif Horthy, translator of the Indonesian works of Bapak Subuh, discuss the ways words can open the heart.
• Emergence
  Betty Sue Flowers
  During the conference there are ideas and intuitions that have emerged from what has been experienced these last few days. Betty Sue Flowers will facilitate a gathering to process and share what has been happening and help participants understand where they might want to go next.
• Building Your Mythic Toolbox: An Introduction to the Study of Myth
  William Doty
  Recently, at the conclusion of a course taught by Dr. Doty on myth and ideology, he asked for student responses, especially to what had been most surprising or new to them. To his surprise three or four stressed two points: that myth could still be taken seriously by thinking people, and that they had never thought about finding mythological parallels in popular culture (Madonna, Harry Potter, The Matrix). This workshop will start with those two points, noting especially Joseph Campbell's success in arguing both of them. We will look further at several of the various ways myths and rituals are indeed studied and enjoyed today, helping the participants to assemble their own collection of approaches to this lively subject — their own mythic toolkit. Come and share your own questions and parallels!
• Manifestation
  David Spangler
  Manifestation is the art of crafting synchronicities. But it is also an art of crafting your self and the "shape" of your life. Manifestation is not just something you do. It is something you are, as well. It is an expression of your presence. This workshop with David Spangler introduces principles of manifestation that are powerful tools for making life choices. Do you wonder how to shape a life reflecting your deepest calling? Would you like to add to your toolbox of skills that support you in making aligned choices? The workshop is based on the book and card deck by David Spangler, "Manifestation: Creating the life you love."

4 pm
Closing Ceremony
Closing thoughts from Deepak Chopra. Ekiwah poems. Music. Carolyn Dunn and Gayle Ross, Nester Torres tell us the butterfly story. Perhaps, with apologies, a farewell from The Fairy Godmother Trollops. Could we see when and where we are to meet again, we would be more tender when we bid our friends goodbye. - Ouida.

• Wednesday (In-Depth Conference)
• Thursday (In-Depth Conference)
• Friday (In-Depth Conference)
• Saturday (Main Conference)

Presenters — Schedule — Register — What is it? — Fact Sheet

— Education Conference — Volunteers — Hotel — Transportation — Vendors —