People of Permaculture I am an activist for change.  This world has become quite scary and, yes, dangerous. With the world in turmoil, it is a huge relief  to find creative vision and ethical new directions discovered within my little circle of humanity. Good things are percolating and popping all over in bright and positive ways. These discoveries and breakthroughs may never show up in the main stream media. Still, new waves keep cresting over my head, changing my awareness and opening the door to a sustainable future a bit wider. These people of permaculture and their visions keep my hope for the planet alive. My faith in the rightness of the universe is renewed. On the short grass prairie of northeastern Colorado, I met with a small group of women. We were but four women and yet a multitude was within the four. We were four teachers, four naturalists, three gardeners, three mothers, three dog lovers, two environmental activists, two singers, a shaman, a minister, a dancer, hiker, crone, weaver. We were all these women. Walking the flat land, pimpled by cacti, pocket gopher mounds and vole holes we took care as we stepped upon the one hundred and twenty acres of prairie grass. ³Welcome to Prairie Star,² friend Linda greeted us. ³I¹ve seeded in more wildflowers. Last year it was beautiful.² This was her land, her dream. The land is allowed to lie fallow and ripen. A wistful aloneness settled in as I gazed into forever and I was held fast in the great presence of the land under the bowl of the sky. We walked to a rise where the previous equinox was celebrated; a medicine wheel lay under the vault of blue sky, marked by stones and dotted with items of intimacy and importance. Each woman gravitated to a direction on the wheel:  South, West, North and East. Linda laid back to feel the land beneath her. Evolution can continue to happen here unleashed from man¹s command. We were silenced and quieted in the great boom of silence in the vastness of the flatlands. The huge pull of the prairie sky held us for a moment in eternity. Then we prayed for, sang to and affirmed the land. The next morning, rain began. Joyous rain and thick mists soaked into the soil. A gloriously feathered pheasant came to pick and peck in the drippy morning at the bird feeding site. Mists moved in and out. We discussed society¹s issues from a woman¹s perspective. We spoke of trust, truth, love and integrity. We talked about animals, both wild (whale, wolf, mouse) and domestic (dog, goat, chicken.) We talked of plants under our stewardship. We talked of wilderness and intrinsic rights of the natural world. We talked of natural law. We talked land. We talked about the planet. We felt urgency in our words. We found hope. Together we participated in furthering Linda¹s plan for sustainable practices upon the land. We poured forth new ideas, drew on paper and gave her our best. Linda loves her land and came here to immerse herself in that land and find a new way of being on the planet. She finds a certain peace that leaves the city, and society, behind. Prairie Star ... a little piece of heaven. People of permaculture seek to sooth the wounds of the planet and to live consciously, without harm to the natural world. My friend Larry and I spent a weekend in Crestone where he, and another builder and friend, Skillet, are building an off the grid biosphere and greenhouse. ³Our economics, our economy, pushes to a consumptive chant.² Larry said, wanting nothing to do with it. Society asks us to colonize as a bee hive, a business that continues to grow. Like Edward Abbey said: ³Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.² Larry and I would both agree that our society is out of balance and not just with nature. We work to survive with the trade beads of our times: money. People can¹t become active to change the system because the system keeps them working simply to stay afloat. No time to work for positive change; no time to resist. Standing up for what we believe becomes a time-burden. All the more important that we do stand up for change and a chance to change the future. We need the time to work for a better future. Eco-touring around the Crestone community with another friend of mine, and personal tour guide, Roni, I saw many custom natural construction homes. I saw earthships and the eco-efficient dorms at the Ashram. Houses of straw bale construction were going up on everywhere, befitting of a desert scene. The earthiness of adobe walls, yurts and earth-bermed homes were around every bend. We passed a pyramid house that was all roof, just one renegade house of many. Thoughtful design, artwork and nature¹s sculptures were displayed everywhere we turned. A spiral-roofed house, very visually appealing and interesting, curved skyward, drawing the eye with it¹s energy, a testimony to the builder¹s intention. I wondered about the flow of water off just such a roof. We walked past a pile of ³test bricks² of lava rock and lime with silt. An intriguing idea that wasn¹t successful. Even ³failures² further our understanding of the world. Making bricks. Making mistakes. Making headway. Larry philosophized, ³We need to come forth and start teaching the children about the ego. Ego, and polarization caused by ego, is the white man¹s disease. We are manifesting exactly what we DON¹T want in the future. If everyone could rid themselves of ego, the society would change immediately.² People rush along, not caring about the environment or the impacts of what they do on the rest of the world. Many feel privileged to take what they want (not simply what they need.) Still others are numb and paralyzed by this man made world. Society moves along, consuming frantically, yet ever fearing shortages, fretting terrorism, lying to the young people and ignoring the old. We don¹t know our neighbors, we fear the government and its incessant appetite to ³control and rule.² It¹s so easy to forget about what really matters. Life matters. All life matters. Mankind can live here, create an Eden and stop the craziness. One simply needs to make the choice. It all starts with one.We are the light we¹ve been looking for. Permaculturalists are moved to live by a code of ethics and I would hope to ³die with honor² for the planet rather than give up this visioning of a better future. Joseph Campbell¹s hero journey is happening for activists in our society today. Brave seekers work to manifest a better way of living, a way of living without harm. Pursuing permaculture is fodder for a hero¹s journey. How does one live with one foot in the system that keeps us captive in destructive consumptive living (where one makes one¹s sustenance;) while the other foot knows the truth lies in the sustainable path? How do we heal the system? If we change ourselves, the world will change. A group of co-housing inquirers becomes a strong group of ECO-housing seekers who want to build a community within the larger community. I feel fortunate to be in their company. A richer life can be realized as an extended family; shared costs, shared chores, shared gardens and shared vision with people who want to better their lives. Within the community are natural builders, teachers, healers, gardeners and farmers, musicians, inventors, students of life and permaculturalists. Most of us are gray haired and no longer young. Of course the group wants children to be within this village. One of the circle is pregnant. Children are the future and complete a village. The creation of Shining Mountain is important. So the group meets again and again, perfecting the vision and arranging the many agreements. A mission statement reveals our hearts: ³We are the people of Shining Mountain, actively building a peaceful community grounded in the commitment to living sustainably. We lovingly embrace the sacred Earth and living on it with integrity. Our community feeds our souls as well as our stomachs and serves as a joyful demonstration of cooperative, spiritual life.² Suddenly the future seems to hold more promise. Answers to unasked questions are found in these meetings. We need one another to help sort out the truth from the jumbled, contradictory messages we receive. That¹s the purpose of these conversations on ³where are we going?² It is important that all people begin to visualize the future for themselves. It is important to talk with each other. It is important begin new traditions. There is a bright future for society to move towards, if the people can dream it. Once we have the dream, we can go there. Each day the people of this planet are faced with decisions. Each day brings a new opportunity to choose. Sustainable living can bring us into alignment with the rest of the living world. People can live in balance with the natural systems if we can allow ourselves to let go of those things that bring harm into play. Soil, water, plants and animals will enter our awareness in new ways. We need to comprehend the web of life and the idea that we humans fit into that web. Once we look for answers we will discover interwoven natural laws and inherent responsibilities. Living with integrity and honor. We do not live outside the web of life. This organic blue planet will bring us to a oneness with the natural world. We belong. We belong in this sacred unfolding and enfolding of life. We will come face to face with the Creator. c    becky elder   4-2004