Wednesday, April 20 at 7:30 pm

For the Next Seven Generations

by Carole Hart

–  Audri Scott Williams and Mary Margaret Woods

appearing in person

This remarkable documentary reveals the importance of Indigenous knowledge in our world today.  Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers who are wise elders, shamans, and medicine women, from all four corners of the world share their timeless wisdom to help us make a difference in our every day lives in service of peace, of Mother Earth, and healing in the world.  In 2004, these dauntless Grandmothers, moved by their concern for our planet, came together at an historic peace gathering where they decided to form an alliance which became The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers.  The purpose of the Council is to use prayer, healing, ceremonies, and plant medicine to stop the destruction of Mother Earth and to restore balance and harmony to the world.  It is obvious that the scope of the grandmothers’ purpose is vast.  The grandmothers advocate for the inherent rights of all women;  for the well-being of their children, the fertility of their land, and the survival of their culture and ways of prayer.  The grandmothers gathered to fulfill a long-standing prophecy, responding to a call to action from the Grandmothers of the Spirit World.  They began their quest to remember all the ancient prophecies and the sacred paths of traditional healing, and to open a window to the sacred love that is there for all of us.  They travel around the globe to promote world peace and share their indigenous ways of healing.

This film tells their story.   Each Grandmother tells her individual story.  Then they share with us their common visions of healing and a call for change now, before it is too late.  Hear the collective wisdom of the Grandmothers as they guide our thoughts to prophecy, women’s wisdom, sacred relations, Mother Earth, oppression, nature’s pharmacy, and prayer.  Their advice is simple, direct, from the heart, backed by the Spirit ancestors, and backed by the practices of indigenous communities around the world.  Through their teachings, they are lighting a way to a peaceful, sustainable planet.  These thirteen intrepid women were brought together by a common vision dedicated to sustaining indigenous ways of life through cross-cultural spiritual practices, education, and commitment to peace and unity for all peoples.

They are currently on tour across the U.S., showing their film everywhere! Their tour is called 13 Moon Walk 4 Peace and began on 10/10/10 and will conclude on 11/11/11.  Their Vision Keeper, Audri Scott Williams, and their coordinator, Mary Margaret Woods, will be on hand this evening to talk about the film and facilitate discussions about it.  All 13 grandmothers are in process of walking to more than 42 cities — awakening the heart of America, bringing visibility to the invisible, and voice to the voiceless to affect healing and transformation in the way that we relate to each other and Mother Earth.  This walk and film screening is sponsored in part by The Spirit of Truth Foundation.

Donations Gratefully Accepted

http://www.grandmotherscouncil.org/

Film evenings begin with potluck refreshments and social hour at  6:30 pm,
followed by the film at  7:30 pm, followed by a discussion after the film.

To learn more about Film Series held

at Humanist Hall

click here

Friday, November 12 at 5:30 pm

Awakening to the

Ancient Sacred Feminine

Presented by Elena Loboda

The centuries-old suppression of feminine wisdom and power has brought us to our current urgent need for rebalancing.  Women are colled to reawaken the feminine force, not only archetypally, but on a physical, energetic, and consciousness level.  Ancient knowledge recognizes access to the womb where we can create new life in which there is a balance of body-energy-consciousness.  The womb is a channel of universal energy and consciousness for personal transformation.  The sequence of awakening, purifying, and cultivating sacred feminine energy is Love, Wisdom, and Power.  Practicing with these three main principles, women can balance, rejuvenate, and transform all levels of the whole organism:  their bodies, their energy, and their consciousness.

In intensive workshops over three days, women will deepen their connection to ancient heritages that include the Veddik, Buddhist, Hindu, Bon,  Yogic, Shamanic, Taoist, Sufi, Hyperborean, and Native American traditions.  With the guidance of Elena Loboda, who synthesizes these ancient traditions and scientific knowledge, women will learn and practice meditations that access wisdom of the feminine;  movements, self-massage, and energy exercises to promote the awakening of the womb;  breathing of the womb;  methods to draw on universal energy for healing and transformation of the whole multidimensional female organism (the harmony of body-energy-consciousness);  and magical power of lunar circadian rhythms.

For information and registration, contact Jamie Lantz at 415-285-9552.

http://humanisthall.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/AncientFeminine.jpg

Friday, August 24 at 5:30 pm

Women’s Ecstatic Dance under the Full Moon

Presented by Donna Carroll

Move with the Magic of the Divine Feminine in a blessed, candlelit space! Celebrate yourself, the sacred feminine, and the full moon in an all women’s dance with Sasha Rose! Come at 5:30 pm and create adornments to wear during the dance.  Dancing begins at 6:30 pm and the doors close at 7:00 pm.  The dance ends at 9:00 pm with a closing circle.  Then we have a sharing of wonderful potluck food.  Please bring delicious, healthy food to share!

Only 100 tickets are available.  Please get your tickets early online at our website at:

http://ecstaticdance.org/women/

Wednesday,  February  24  at  7:30  pm

Double Feature:

• Shellmound

• In the Light of Reverence

Presented by Corrina Gould

Corrina, a Chochenya Ohlone and co-founder of Shellmound Walks,

will facilitate discussions.

Shellmound

This local film tells the story of how one location in Emeryville was transformed from a center of pre-historic cultures to a commercial mecca for modern people.  Before modern developers transformed this site, it was host to a decrepit paint factory that leaked toxic waste into the San Francisco Bay. This important film examines the decisions made during the toxic cleanup, excavation, and construction through the eyes of the City of Emeryville, the developer, the archaeologists, and the Native Californians who worked on the site.

In the Light of Reverence

Ten years in the making, this important documentary explores American culture’s relationship to nature in three places considered sacred by native peoples:  the Colorado Plateau in the Southwest, Mt. Shasta in California, and Devils Tower in Wyoming.  Rich in minerals and timber and beloved by recreational users, these “holy lands” exert a spiritual gravity which pulls Native Americans into conflicts with mining companies, New Age practitioners, and rock climbers. Ironically, all sides see themselves as besieged. Their battles tell a new story of culture clashes in an ancient landscape.

This film juxtaposes reflections of Hopi, Wintu and Lakota elders on the spiritual meaning of place with views of non-Indians who have their own ideas about how best to use the land. The film captures the spiritual yearning and materialistic frenzy of our time.

Our DVD (released in January 2003) includes seven additional scenes, an extended interview with Lakota scholar Vine Deloria, Jr., a new, eleven-minute short film on Zuni Salt Lake and Quechan Indian Pass, and interviews with the filmmakers.

The film is narrated by Peter Coyote and Tantoo Cardinal. It premiered in San Francisco on Saturday, February 17, 2001 at the Palace of Fine Arts. It received the Best Documentary Feature Award at the American Indian Film Festival in San Francisco. It was nationally broadcast on the PBS series P.O.V. on August 14, 2001 and was seen by three million people.

http://www.shellmoundthemovie.com/

Water at Humanist Hall

We at the Fellowship of Humanity believe that it is not gods or money that are sacred but such things as food, water, and community.  There cannot be life without liquid water, which is one of the many unique things about the Earth.  The Earth lives in that planetary “Goldielocks” zone between searing Venus and frigid Mars.  Venus and the other inner planets are too hot for liquid water – Mars and the other outer planets are too cold.  In the search for life on the moon, or Mars, or far out in the universe, the main indicator is the presence of water.  Deprived of water, people die in a week or so, one can go much longer without food.

So why do Americans disrespect water?  Why do they use it to carry away excrement or wash their cars?  This madness that disregards the essentials for life and overvalues the products of the consumer culture, has led us to the brink of oblivion.  The evidence is everywhere, a billion people go hungry, the biosphere is experiencing a mass extinction, the oceans are tanking, economies are tanking – the list is endless.

So what can we do here at Humanist Hall to express our reverence for life, for nature, for the whole planet?  One answer is to respect water.  That is why we focus our humble resources on three fronts: rainwater catchment, greywater, and drought-tolerant plants.

Rainwater Catchment

We are slowly developing a rainwater catchment system.  Our friends at DIG Co-op, Ingrid and Tondre, are helping us put the pieces in place.  They have been very patient with our trickle of resources used to support their work.  This fall they delivered a 3000 gallon tank to store the water.  This happened before the Grassroots Economic Festival, so that we could promote rainwater catchment at that event.  Recently, they prepared our gutters to deliver to one downspout, most of the rainwater hitting the North-facing part of the roof.  When we have more money, they will set the tank in a bed of pea gravel and install the plumbing to deliver the water from the roof to the tank.

Initially, we planned to use the water on the landscaping during the dry months, but it became clear that we could get much better utilization if we used the water all year long to flush the toilets.  Otherwise, our tank would quickly fill up at the start of the rainy season and most of the water hitting the roof would flow towards the storm drains.  Our water utilization is about 10,000 gallons/month, so our 3,000 gallon tank, would only supply the Hall for about 10 days! Of course, here we are using our sacred water to handle excrement, but we still have to live in the world, and dry toilet systems would be very challenging given the large crowds that come to the Hall, some 10,000 people/year.  Hopefully, future caretakers of the Hall will be in a position to create dry waste systems, with the full support of City officials and new kinds of infrastructure, and water could be used exclusively for drinking or left in the source habitat, where it belongs.

According to Tondre, one problem that he has run into is that asphalt shingling does not produce potable water.  So Matthew Richardson, our new handyperson, is investigating steel or tin alternatives.  If the economy is going through a Soviet-style collapse, then we think it will be very important to be able to produce potable water ourselves and not have to rely on a lot of complex and shaky infrastructure.  There is also the moral issue of robbing distant watersheds to meet our needs here in Oakland.  We don’t want to prosper at the expense of life elsewhere.

After the basic pieces of the rainwater catchment are in place, we plan to create an overflow pond to support the local wildlife.  This will have to be away from the Oak trees which don’t like too much water near their surface roots.  Fish will be used to control mosquito larvae.  It would be preferable to have potable water for the sake of any wildlife that rely on this pond.

Greywater

Our friends at Greywater Action, Laura and Andrea, are constructing greywater systems here at the Hall.  This past summer, they gave a five-day course to licensed contractors wanting to expand their skills in a green direction.  The hands-on part of that course involved creating a greywater system using the faucets in the two bathrooms.  This system carefully waters the plants in the yard nearest the Hall.  They plan to conduct a second similar course in March which will deliver water to the front of the property on 27^th Street.

Drought Tolerant Plants

This is the third part of our water plan.  We have been evolving our gardens toward native and draught-tolerant plants.  We were turned onto native plants by Louise Lacey, native plant author and expert, who continues to advise us on our native plant affairs.  The East garden on 27th Street now contains succulents, poppies, and other wildflowers needing little water.  What water that they do need will come from the kitchen at some point in the Hall via another part of the greywater system.

The West garden, which is currently a lawn, should also be replaced by greywater and drought tolerant landscaping during the Greywater Action course in March.

Thank you to anyone who has taken the time to read this.

by

David Oertel