posted November 02, 2005 05:55 PM         

On a global level there is an increasingly urgent need for positive models which demonstrate a viable, sustainable human and planetary future. Ecovillages or sustainable communities address this need, looking at sustainability not only in environmental but also in social, economic and spiritual terms.

Ecovillage principles can be applied equally to urban and to rural settings, to both developing and over-developed countries, and provide solutions to human and social needs, while at the same time protecting the environment and offering an enhanced quality of life for all.

Ecovillages are communities with tightly-knit social structures, united by common ecological, social and/or spiritual values. Working with the simple principle of not taking more away from the Earth than one gives back, ecovillages are consciously diminishing their ecological footprint.

"Ecovillages restore, honour and celebrate the four elements and their interconnected
processes in Nature and in people."

Ecovillages move toward sustainability by putting a high priority on:

» local organic food production
» ecological building
» renewable energy systems
» cooperative, social economies
» inclusive decision-making processes
» cultural and spiritual diversity
» integrated holistic health care
» global networking
» holistic and whole person education

"The study and application of the ecovillage model is not only for ecologists. The model must be presented to the public in a systemic way, in a non-linear methodology, to generate a critical mass and a point of transition.

Ecovillages can take people out of poverty and create jobs through the sense and spirit of community. They can restore human dignity in a profound way."

Fritjof Capra, Fundacao Gaia

what are ecovillages?

findhorn ecovillage
. ecological building
. renewable energy systems
. biological waste water treatment
. organic food production
. sustainable economics
. complementary currency & lets scheme
. inclusive decision-making processes

ecovillage education

contact us
. ecovillage team
. ecovillage tours
. ecovillage consultancy
. how you can help

Findhorn Ecovillage
The Park, Findhorn
Forres IV36 3TZ Moray
Scotland, United Kingdom . Phone: +44 1309 690311
Fax: +44 1309 691301
Email: ecovillage@findhorn.org

posted November 03, 2005 02:35 PM         

quote:

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Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS) and Schemes are local, non-profit exchange networks in which all kinds of goods and services can be traded without the need for money. A LETS network uses an interest-free local credit or currency so direct swaps do not need to be made. A LETS member may earn local credit by doing childcare or computer work for one person, and spend it later on food, hiring equipment, plumbing, or carpentry with another person on the same network. A LETS is sometimes also referred to as a mutual credit system.

LETS can help a wide cross-section of the community -- individuals, small businesses, local services and voluntary groups -- to save money and resources and extend their purchasing power. Other benefits include social contact, health care, tuition and training, support for local enterprise and new businesses, and a revitalised community.

One goal of this approach is to stimulate the economies of economically depressed towns that have goods and services, but little official currency: the LETS scheme does not require outside sources of income as stimulus.

An estimated 20,000 people are now trading in over 400 LETS networks in cities, towns, and rural communities across the UK. LETS currencies have their own names, and often reflect local distinctiveness: Readies in Reading, Locks in Camden Town, Groats in Stirling, New Berries in Newbury, Berkshire, Piers in Southend-on-Sea, Hearts in Birmingham.

The basics of LETS
Local people set up a club to trade between themselves, keeping their own record of accounts.
A directory of members' offers and requests--goods, services or items for hire, priced in local LETS units--is compiled and circulated.
Members use the directory to contact one another whenever they wish. They pay for any service or goods by writing a LETS cheque or credit note for an agreed amount of LETS units, or by exchanging printed LETS notes.
If applicable, the credit note is sent to the LETS book-keeper who adjusts both members' accounts accordingly.
Unlike direct barter, with LETS members can earn credits from any member and spend them with anyone else on the scheme.

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posted November 12, 2005 03:12 PM           

quote:

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Unfortunately Findhorn is right next to a U.S military base, and I think the two things rather cancel each other out.

---

Cancel each other out how?
Energetically?

posted November 12, 2005 10:05 PM         

are you black and white, hehe

funny, when I saw your name I saw a zebra

posted November 14, 2005 10:13 PM         

i've changed my screen names
several times....

i always do announce it though.....

and i only post under one name at a
time.

i changed my last name, Hedgewitch, to
salome just recently...

before that i was Saffron, talaith,
and desert-rain...

sorry for the confusion.

posted November 15, 2005 12:03 PM         

thanks so much for posting that site....
i'll get that book next time i have some extra $$.....

i love learning all i can about permaculture and sustainable agriculture.

i have an interest in biodynamics too...do you have any
experience with that subject?
it's a part of the anthroposophic philosophy.

i thought of you the other day when i was at a
second hand bookstore, and found a
treasure trove of books, and bought
Starhawk's book The Earth Path. beautiful!
i was so excited to find it there.

thank you for your inspiring ways, dear goddess woman.....i hope that
you and your baby goddess are well...i'm sure that magical babe
is spreading her magic in your life already.

love, salome

------------------
i have a universe inside me
where i can go and spirit guides me
there i can ask oh any question
i get the answers if i listen
i have a healing room inside me.

posted November 15, 2005 12:22 PM         

quote:

---

The Findhorn community presents an idea that things would be so much easier for us if we allowed the veil to come down that exists between man, beast, and the spirit world. According to them, the Universe is full of helpful entities who genuinely WANT life to continue and for us to create heaven on Earth.

---

amazon has several used copies starting at around $2.

i think this is the book you're looking for....thanks for mentioning it..

salome

------------------
i have a universe inside me
where i can go and spirit guides me
there i can ask oh any question
i get the answers if i listen
i have a healing room inside me.

posted November 16, 2005 02:50 AM         

if you have time and/or inclination, i'd
be happy to email my birth statistics
to you, or my birthchart from astro.com,
if you'd care to glance at what's
going on with my gemini, among others....

salome

------------------
i have a universe inside me
where i can go and spirit guides me
there i can ask oh any question
i get the answers if i listen
i have a healing room inside me.

posted November 16, 2005 03:14 AM         

I just sent you and email. I'd love to take a peek!

26

posted November 16, 2005 01:26 PM         

due to it being near a military base
seems odd
are both government experiments
to see if it could work???

posted November 16, 2005 02:39 PM         

you know what respect i have for you .

i always enjoy your contributions here....

if findhorn is there as an antidote
to those energies, then isn't that
a good thing?

i enjoyed a very spiritual place a few years back, a
compound devoted to spiritual
pursuits such as yoga....its main purpose
was as a macrobiotic center....serving
only purely vegan, organic macrobiotic
meals daily....
a wonderful place.

i later discovered that the location of
this place was previously a slaughterhouse!
the choice to locate there
had been deliberate, an act of cancelling
out those negative energies, of death,
with higher ones of life.

admittedly, i felt uneasy about this....in
a sense, about being amidst all that
lingering energy of terrified death and fear....
but in essence, i think the intention
was a noble one....

as for the knowflake known as
Lost In A Strange World....she too
has changed her screen name -- to Listens
To Trees. before that she was Esoteric Em.
Nephthys mentioned remembering her from
long ago. she's pregnant with her second
child....and i'm envious!....
i think another babe would be a divine blessing
from goddess....*winks at Harpyr*.

she lives in England, i think....and i'm here in the U.S.....
and not lost, at least not at the moment.... .
i have enjoyed
her posts though, and i hope she
returns soon.

yes, i know my name changes are many,
more than i care for, but they've
always seemed necessary at the time.
i'm still me though!

and i still love you all!

love and blessings

posted November 16, 2005 11:47 PM         

A mighty fortress, built of false ideas and unfulfilled promises, stood guard over the people. From within, rulers and bankers demanded tribute from the world. Where people were starving and thirsty, they raised the price of food and water. They turned children out of their schools, and the sick out of hospitals. Even in the rich city where the fortress stood, children went hungry. And though the people might try to rebel, the fortress was guarded by many soldiers and stocked with armaments.

But its most powerful weapon was a subtle haze of hopelessness and apathy which it spewed out into the atmosphere, an evil enchantment that kept the people going about their daily tasks and following their accustomed paths, never asking, "Is this where we want to go?" And when enemies attacked, and made the people fearful, they clung to the fortress because they could see no alternative, even when the rulers led them down the path of war.

The fortress seemed invincible. But in deep and subtle ways, it was flawed. Every broken dream, every cry of despair, opened a new crack.

And finally, the people said, "stop." At first it was just a few voices, mostly the youth and some of the wild old women. They went out into the streets, halted the people in their work, and said, "Open your eyes! Look at where we're going? Is this the road we want to walk down?"

In that moment, strange elemental beings appeared. With skin of mud, hair of leaves, brilliantly colored wings and eyes on fire, they wove and danced through the city, cutting through the web of lies and awakening the winds to blow away the fog of despair, reminding the people of what is far more real than gold piled in a vault -- the living powers of earth, air, fire, and water, and the love and care human beings can give to these and to one another.

Their songs and cries are the voice of the earth. They call on you, friend, to stop and ask:

"What are my deepest dreams and desires, for myself, my family, my people? And why should I ever settle for less?" For we too are earth, air, fire, and water, and we too are love.

There is another way to live. There is a new web we can weave. Another world, an otherworld, is possible, if you too will dance with us, speak your truth, add your voice to ours.

What serves life will stand,
What does not will fall.
The power is in your hands,
Love changes all.

http://www.starhawk.org/activism/activism-writings/evilspell.html

posted November 17, 2005 02:26 AM         

I just checked my email and your chart expired (astro.com charts do that often). If you could send your stats, I can do one up myself.

MM/DD/YY and time - AM or PM
and location, of course.

Looking forward to 'looking'.