May Newsletter

SPRING | May 2024

Loving Life... Just as It Is!

“Our purpose here is simply to love life.” So said a talented young man in a men's program a few weeks back. And to love life means to love it exactly the way it is and not merely if it meets our wants, expectations, or demands, whether for comfort, prestige, or justice. The way it is – really is!

In the poem “The Wild Geese,” Mary Oliver says, “Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese -- harsh and exciting -- over and over announcing your place in the family of things.”

The world as it is -- Nature... reality -- is harsh and exciting! Nature is beautiful, magnificent, creative… and harsh. Nature is not “nice” -- things are hunting each other down and consuming each other everywhere. The rain seeps into the ground; it germinates seeds that take root, push through the soil, and reach to the sun, making the landscape fertile and green... while downstream floods rip away the banks and topple trees. Creation and destruction walk hand-in-hand.

For 37 years Circles of Air and Stone has been committed to bringing programs that help people open to, encounter, and thrive in the world as it is. We provide trainings, tools, and teachings that promote the strength, wisdom, and resilience to live in this harsh and exciting world.

Carlos Castaneda once said, “We can make ourselves miserable, or we can make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.”

Below you’ll find descriptions and information about our upcoming vision quests, trainings, and workshops, as well as tools and teachings to cultivate the seeds planted within us, bring us joy, and make ourselves strong. Consider joining us!

QUESTS AND WORKSHOPS

VISION

QUEST

CHAMA RIVER WILDERNESS, NM

JULY 16TH - JULY 26TH

* * REGISTER NOW * *

The stunning Chama River Wilderness embodies the classic mesa-canyon country associated with the Southwest.

Vertical rock cliffs striped in Georgia O’Keefe pastels frame the river’s course as summer brings bright sunshine and brilliant stars, the singing of canyon wren and cicadas, and an occasional afternoon thunderstorm.

The canyons in this area are diverse… becoming more lush and forested the farther in one journeys -- pinon and cedar giving way to tall ponderosa pines. Wildflowers thrust themselves up amidst fields of sage as barrel, prickly pear, and cholla cactus bloom. Night hawks plummet in noisy dives at dusk; owls call in the dark; coyotes howl in early morn. Pre- and post-quest time takes place at a camp along the river. No campground fee. Hiking assessment -- easy.

VISION QUEST

SHAMANIC

JOURNEYS

PUTNEY, VT

JUNE 14TH — JUNE 17TH

WEEKEND WORKSHOP

In this workshop we'll use. . .

the tools of shamanic journeying and breath work to access this vibrant and mysterious realm.

Shamanic techniques have been core implements in humanity's spiritual toolkit for millennia.

Breathwork began as a way to access the mystical states reported in psychotropic sessions. Combining powerful and evocative music, darkness, and specific breathing techniques, the windows to the unconscious are flung open, revealing immense vistas with other possibilities for engagement.

We'll investigate the promise... and lure of the unknown -- that mysterious and magical expanse of the soul -- and summon help from outside the normal sphere of our psyches. Having a rich encounter with the numinous world, we'll examine ways we might invite this vital energy into the dream of daily life.

SHAMANIC JOURNEYS

2024 WORKSHOP & VISION QUEST SCHEDULE

WRITING | (Books, blogs and more). . .

THE DANGEROUS APE

"I’ve been rereading Yuval Harari’s book, Sapiens, which explores the transformation of our species — Homo sapiens — from an ordinary mammal somewhere in the middle of the food chain into a dominant life form that has split the atom, walked on the moon, and changed the face of the planet.

Animals, much like today’s humans, first appeared 2.5 million years ago. At that time, there was nothing special about them. Though different-looking and walking on two legs, they engaged in the same kind of behaviors — gathering food, raising children, competing for status in their group — as most other animals of their time...".