Dear World Family,
My thoughts have been with many of you, as we ride the tide of change in this transformative time, and find new ways to reach out to help our brothers and sisters and Mother Earth.
As you remember in my last newsletter, the World Wheel has committed to support our own indigenous peoples for the Gathering of Condolence, Strength and Peace, a planned healing gathering of Elders and traditional leaders at the Mississippi River Headwaters on June 18 – 23, 2012.
“The Elders say when someone shares a dream or vision with you, and you listen to it, you accept the responsibility for doing your part to actualize that vision. The late Tekaronianeken, Jake Swamp, Akwesasne Mohawk Elder, has shared a beautiful dream and vision with us all. The vision of a great condolence ceremony for representatives of all Red Nations from the Americas at the Mississippi Headwaters to address and hopefully extinguish once and for all the grief of colonization and genocide so that the Indian people can lead all people forward in peace with Earth and each other.” (Eric Noyes, Director of Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth)
Last May, the World Wheel held a joyous gathering in Santa Fe where we were able to raise $1,000 for this condolence gathering. I trust that many of you will be able to donate for the travel expenses of these Elders to be able to come from South and Central America, as well as different parts of the United States. Thank you for doing your part in support of this dream. (Make checks to: Seventh Generation Fund and on your check put “for Gathering of Condolence, Strength and Peace”. Send to Vickie Downey, PO Box 596, Tesuque, NM 87574 vickiedowney@hotmail.com
I am delighted to announce that the World Wheel Project and the Ancient Ways Project will be collaborating in our respective work. We are hoping that the first site will be in Ladakh this coming summer, in the high Himalayas of northern India. I will be continuing to create sculptures in the environment and move toward making stone altars for peace and compassion while addressing, through the arts, the hopes and problems of each community.
Peter Gold, the founder of Ancient Ways Project will be working with his global music events in consecration of the altars with the participation of local villagers and Buddhist monks.
In order to continue our work I am holding a number of events in my home here in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The first will be a salon recital, Spirit of Song, by Peter Gold the founder of Ancient Ways Project, to be held on Sunday, February 5th, 2012 at 3 pm. It is a celebration of Peter’s 50th anniversary of making music. My address is: 662 Alta Vista Street, Apt. D18 / Santa Fe, NM 87505 ( just east of St. Francis Drive. It will be the second driveway on your right at the sign “Civic Housing.” Section “D” is at the back).
Since his initiation into world music during the urban folksong revival of the early 1960’s, and later in ethnomusicological field studies on three continents, Peter Gold has developed a virtuosic and spiritually-illuminating style of global vocal fusion music. His songs range from Native American, Tibetan and European traditional songs to the music of Bach, Beethoven, Ravel and Satie in fusion with classic works of poetry. Peter’s musical experience ranges from years of performing and teaching Western and traditional musical styles and instruments, and leading “Sacred Hootenanny” and “Spirit of Song” workshops, to directing folk choruses and recording two CDs of his songs. During a half century of musicmaking he also did anthropological work and activities under the aegis of his Ancient Ways Project. I am happy to invite you to celebrate Peter‘s 50th year of musicmaking with an intimate and meditative, afternoon “salon” recital of his songs of illumination. They draw upon the world’s timeless music and poetics, as well as his own imagination in composing lyrics and musical themes. There is no admission charge but donations are of course welcomed. A percentage of donations will be applied to World Wheel/Ancient Ways Project joint initiatives. Please RSVP regarding your plans to attend as seating will be limited. For further information please visit Peter’s website: www.ancientwaysproject.org On another exciting note, Peter and I will be leading a pilgrimage into Navajoland’s Canyon de Chelly and on the Hopi Reservation. I hope that you will join us from May 17 through the 23rd 2012. It is our offering toward a spiritual transition for the beginning of a new life of connectedness on this planet. Here is a description of our pilgrimage:
IN THE LAND OF RAIN AND BEAUTY
A Creative Pilgrimage into the Sacred Realms
of the Navajo and Hopi Indians
Join anthropologist, author and musician, Peter Gold and environmental artist, ceremonialist, and author, Vijali Hamilton on a special excursion in the Four Corners region of America’s High Southwest and into the ways of life, expression and spirit of the Navajo and Hopi Indian people.
From our base camp at glorious Canyon de Chelly (America’s second largest and perhaps most sublime canyon), centrally situated on the Navajo Nation, we meet artists, medicine people, herders and farmers, taste their Native foods and experience their sense of place, as we participate in their ways of life and spirit.
For the Hopi, the purpose of life is to exist in a healthful partnership with the universe leading to the marker of its success: maintaining an abundance of the staff of life, which is embodied in the spiritual metaphor of rain. For the Navajo, the universe exists in a dynamic state of balance called Beauty, a state that must be maintained within one’s own thoughts, expressions and actions via the Beautyway path of life.
In our quest for inner and outer rain and beauty, we live close to the Earth visiting sacred sites while our minds and spirits are released to soar skyward. We create works out of our deepest inspiration in various expressive media such as visual arts, essays, poetry, photography and song inspired by the vast land and lives of the Hopis and Navajos. Then, through communal ceremony we become infused with the useful inspiration which we each will have acquired on our pilgrimage.
In the process we are empowered by these wonderful people and landscapes to harness our inspiration, healing powers and knowledge in order to meet the challenges of life back home at this time of transformation on our planet.
(A note on the disposition of the fees for this trip. A major portion of the fees accrued on this trip will be going back into the Navajo and Hopi communities, both as honoraria for our presenters and fees for other individuals in their communities.) For more information please email: vijali@worldwheel.org
And our bios:
Peter Gold’s personal journey into anthropology, music and spiritual studies ranged from serving as a research associate at the Museum of New Mexico’s Laboratory of Anthropology and Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, teaching on the anthropology faculty of the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco and Indiana University, to serving as a research assistant to the eminent anthropologist, Dr. Margaret Mead at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. He is a retired university museum curator and directs the Ancient Ways Project, a public educational and media endeavor on world indigenous and spiritual cultures. Peter Gold is author of four books on Tibet and Native America, including Navajo and Tibetan Sacred Wisdom: The Circle of the Spirit. He was editor/translator of the Dalai Lama’s prayer poem: The Words of Truth and co-produced the video documentary: In Beauty I Walk: The Navajo Way to Harmony . Peter has led Southwest and Asian study trips for the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Naropa University and the Pacifica Graduate Institute, among others.
Vijali Hamilton has worked and taught around the world for the past twenty-five years as an artist/peacemaker. She collaborates with diverse communities utilizing her skills as a sculptor, filmmaker, poet and musician. Vijali started the World Wheel Project to explore how community-based art can aid in building a world at peace. In 1986 she founded the first World Wheel Project, a seven-year spiritual and artistic pilgrimage in which she circled the globe on the 34th latitude creating monumental stone sculptures and community-based performances in twelve countries. In 1999 she began the second World Wheel, Global Peace through the Arts, which continues until the present. Vijali also has worked with the Homeless Youth in Los Angeles for a number of years. Over one thousand of her artworks are in museums, public places, and private collections. She gives seminars and retreats on meditation and the creative process, both internationally and at her retreat center home in the Canyonlands of Utah. Vijali’s latest book is: World Wheel, One Woman’s Quest for Peace. She is producer-director of the film: The World Wheel Journeys: One Woman’s Quest for Peace. I will be at the World Wheel Retreat in Castle Valley, Utah, in the Canyonland area in the Spring and available for giving private retreats at that time. Please email and we can arrange the dates. For more information:
www.worldwheel.org/Wisdom_Retreats.html
Finally, I am happy to say that I have created some new small sculptures having low Christmas prices. 25% off on all items during the month of December. Money received from their sales will be applied toward World Wheel Projects. For images of work go to: www.worldwheel.org/Artworks.htm
And now I leave you, dear family, with these opportunities for 2012, and with prayers that all people on this planet may have adequate shelter, medical attention, and food, may be surrounded with loving friends that are family, and may walk on this earth with joy and happiness as we honor each other and our precious earth.
In Peace and Love,
