A New Focus for This Blog
This is my first posting in over two months. During that time I’ve been traveling: Pennsylvania for an S/M run, England and Scotland to help facilitate a gay men’s week, and finally Las Vegas for the second class of the 2012 Mystery School for Diving Mastery. Read more.
A Sexual Chakra Network
I have long been aware that I can connect with others on the level of their Higher Selves. As I’ve prepared for the workshops and retreats that I’ve lead, I’ve sensed a group Higher Self guiding my actions. Read more.
Awakening a Partner’s Chakras
I had three hours of great sex with my boyfriend. Then we slept with our bodies pressed against each other. In the morning, we used this method to awaken each other’s chakras. Read more.
Blessings
On Independence Day, I attended a session that was part of Gay Freedom Camp at Easton Mountain. It was called “Writing Prayers with (and for) Our Bodies.” This series of blessings grew out of that experience. Read more.
Brotherhood and Diversity
This past weekend I participated in an Advent retreat at Easton Mountain. We wrestled with the questions of what does it mean to be a gay Christian and how can we heal the wounds inflicted upon us by homophobic leaders in various branches of Christianity. Read more.
Can a Creed Foster a Spiritual Life?
The word “creed” comes from the Latin credo – first word of the Nicene Creed, usually translated “We believe.” A creed is thus a statement of common belief. Putting aside the question of the truth, I have three objections to creeds: Read more
Circles
Humans have probably been sitting in circles to discuss both trivial and important matters since spoken language was first developed. Native Americans developed a technique for insuring that everyone in the circle had a voice – Read more.
Creating an Altar
Earlier this month, volunteers painted the inside of The Temple at Easton Mountain. As part of this process, all items on the altar were removed. These were a collection of things that many people had placed there over the eight years since the temple was built. Last Friday I recreated the altar. Read more.
Easton Mountain Resident Agreements – I
This is the first of a series of articles on the agreements that the residents of Easton Mountain have made – Read more.
Easton Mountain Resident Agreements – II (Mission)
In the first of fifteen agreements that the residents of Easton Mountain have made with each other, we have agreed “to support the mission and vision of Easton Mountain.” Our Mission Statement has five sentences Read More.
Easton Mountain Resident Agreements – III (Values)
While the Mission of Easton Mountain provides a clear and brief statement of the goals we have promised to support as residents of Easton, the statements of values provide, for me, a clearer picture of how Easton Mountain relates to my personal values. Read more.
Easton Mountain Resident Agreements – IV (More on Values)
For the past few weeks, I’ve been presenting thoughts on Easton Mountain’s statement of values, because support of these values is one of the primary agreements of those who live at Easton Mountain. Read more.
Easton Mountain Resident Agreements – V (Creativity at Easton Mountain)
In the past few weeks, I’ve posted thoughts on Easton Mountain’s statement of value, the values that we who live at Easton Mountain have agreed to support. Our sixth value affirms our support for “Creativity, celebration, fun and gaiety.” Read more.
Easton Mountain Resident Agreements – VI (Celebration, Fun, and Gaiety at Easton Mountain)
My posting two weeks ago covered creativity at Easton Mountain. I was commenting on the phrase in our statement of values that says that we value “Creativity, celebration, fun and gaiety.” Read more.
Easton Mountain Resident Agreements – VII (Our Seventh Value)
Our seventh value affirms “Respectful honesty and the peaceful resolution of disagreements.” Read more.
Easton Mountain Resident Agreements – VIII (Community)
Our eighth value affirms “Community, the support it provides, the strength and love it brings.” Read more.
Easton Mountain Resident Agreements – IX (Social Justice)
The ninth statement in Easton Mountain’s list of values states that we value “Work for peace, non-violence and social justice: ending oppression and healing the impact it has had on all people.” Read more.
Easton Mountain Resident Agreements – X (Hospitality)
The last of Easton Mountain’s vision statements says that we value “Hospitality that welcomes all others as sisters and brothers.” Read more.
Easton Mountain Resident Agreements – XI (A Mutually Supportive Community)
On January 25, I started a series that explored the agreements that the residents of Easton Mountain have made with each other, the first of which reads – Read More:
Embracing Difference in Religious Traditions
“Bring a torch, Jeanette Isabella, …” This French song from the 17th century, was my mother’s favorite Christmas carol. Read more.
Examining Beliefs
Last week I wrote, “The only purpose I can see for a creed is as a statement that you must question to grow spiritually. If you or I adhere to a group that has no formal creed, we must still question their basic assumptions.” But spiritual growth requires not just questioning the beliefs of groups but also our individual beliefs. Read more.
Family Nude Yoga
I have received an email from a woman who identifies herself as married and the mother of two daughters age 19 and 18. She wrote saying that the family has individually practiced yoga in the nude. She was wondering about doing it together. Read more.
Mudra of the Heart Chakra
Last week I posted a response to a woman who asked about doing nude yoga with her family. She said, “I wouldn’t mind even if there is a bit of erotic involved. Read more.
The Orange Blob
“There’s a performance going on out on the lawn.” I grabbed my smallest video camera and my oldest tripod and headed for the lawn north of the Lodge here at Easton Mountain. Read more:
Our Need for Interdependence
In 1992 the film maker Abigail Child said, “Airports reserve for themselves the anatomy of the future, steel tubing and military directives.” Reading this now almost two decades later, I’m struck by how the end of cheap fossil fuel may be the salvation of the human race. Read more.
Partner Chakra Activation
Here’s a video I recently made showing a technique used by Ian Ellington to activate the chakras. View video.
Purification by Fire
One of the summer volunteers at Easton Mountain brought with him some papers from a painful part of his life – with the intention of burning them as a way of releasing the emotional energy of his experiences. He approached Easton Mountain’s resident artist, Hunter Reynolds, who helped him create a fire ceremony. Read more.
The Real GIft of Christmas
I attended two Christmas Eve services this year. The first was at the small Quaker meetinghouse in the town of Easton. Read more.
Reflection on Holy Week
I’m writing this on the day when Christians commemorate Jesus’ death. Like any other day, some people will feel joy; some will feel pain, sorrow and anger; and many will drown their feelings with food, drugs, TV, loud music …. Read more.
A Ritual for a Garden
For thousands of years, spring has been the time of planting gardens. For most of that time, cultivation was accompanied by rituals to assure favorable growing conditions and a good harvest. We lost something when these earth-centered traditions were abandoned. Read more.
Ritual in Red Rock Canyon
Last year I wrote about visiting Red Rock Canyon as part of The Mystery School for Divine Mastery. Today, in another session of the same school, we again visited this beautiful National Conservation Area. While there, we did a healing ritual for the Earth. Read more.
Volunteers at Easton Mountain
Marshall Roseberg, in his writings on Nonviolent Communication, lists seven categories of needs we all have: autonomy, celebration, integrity, interdependence, physical nurturance, play, and spiritual communion. Read more.
