Last week I wrote about an experience I had recently of being in a unified field of consciousness with a group of people who had come together for an experiment in living together for a week as a Transformative Adaptation Village as part of the Green Gathering.
When we make the shift into unified consciousness, we leave the world of “me”, “my problems” and “my limitations” and enter a world of wholeness and interconnectedness with the enhanced meaning and purpose that goes with it. Or to put it another way, my physical, human being becomes aligned with the universal values of love, harmony, creative flow, beauty, compassion, and so on. This is vitally important, not only because it’s a state of well-being but because we can only create a new culture aligned with life from this interconnected consciousness. It is not possible to do so from egoic, separated consciousness.
When we make this shift it may appear that something magical is happening to us but, as I pointed out last time, this more expanded and unified consciousness is the result of many small choices made by individuals. I feel motivated to explore and understand what some of these choices are.
Those of us who facilitate transformational work in groups talk about the importance of “building the container” in which transformation can happen. Today I’d like to suggest three elements that contribute to a transformational container: taking authority; a beautiful, harmonious environment; respect for differences and diversity.
Taking Authority in the Transformational Container
You may be surprised that I begin with the word “authority” because this is a word many of us have trouble with when we see it as something imposed upon us from outside and confuse authority with authoritarianism. I’m using authority here in the sense of “standing firmly within authentic values”, or “acting upon the inner knowing of authentic values” or “being the author” of your story. When you stand firmly in authentic values you create a space in which others can too. Authentic values are not just “what’s right for me”. Authenticity is always rooted in interconnectedness and the good of the whole. A transformational container needs to strongly and clearly embody these values and invite people into a lived experience of them.
The Green Gathering conveys these values through its website and programme, which starts… “We are so lucky to be here…..The Green Gathering can transform lives. Maybe it’s a slow process, one person, a handful at a time. Dive in. Be inspired. You’ve come home.” The programme continues with an invitation to explore four themes: Reconnect, Earth Magic, invites us to bridge the gap between the mystical and the everyday and to blend love, reverence and grief for the Earth as a deep knowing in our guts. Rise: Practical and Tactical , invites participants to explore our deep desire for better, kinder ways of organising our world. Release: Let it Out, recommends joy and celebration as “an antidote to climate grief”, a chance to party before waking up to create a better world. Recuperate: Safe Space, Self-Care, names community, inclusion and well-being as key elements crucial for a liveable future.
These authentic values are then backed up by practical rules , guidelines and actions for a successful off-grid festival. In other words, it’s not a free-for-all. You need a ticket, there are rules about car access and safety rules, backed up by composting toilets and a well-managed sophisticated recycling system, guidelines about noise and dogs and where to get medical aid. And then there’s a fabulous full programme of music, workshops, talks, food, merchandise … involving many hundreds of people offering their gifts.
I’m sketching a picture of how much thought and how many choices have gone into shaping the collective container even before anyone steps onto the land. The authority of the container lies in the clear description: this is who we are, these are our values, this is what we offer, and these are some rules and guidelines we ask you to comply with so that everyone can have a good experience.
In any group, whatever the size, if there is an intention for the transformation of consciousness and action for change, the container needs to be set for inspiration, safety and contribution.
A Beautiful, Harmonious Environment
The festival site at Piercefield Park just outside Chepstow, on the Welsh/English border, is an area of outstanding natural beauty with rolling hills and mature woodland above vistas of the Rivers Severn and Wye. Our TrAd village nestled within the curve of a hillside and presented a lovely picture of white canvas tents, tipis and a dome spaciously gathered around the hearth. Village members took care to further enhance the community space with natural art works. The fire burned 24/7 and was the place where we ate together, talked together, made music and held our community meetings. People from the festival at large dropped by for cups of tea, food and comfort. One villager swept the hearth every morning. Others slept by the fire in case any late-night wanderers came by. Living outside amidst all that green beauty was uplifting and relaxing and the benign weather enhanced the sense of natural creative flow and connection.
Respect for Differences and Diversity
It can be comforting and inspiring to come together with “like-minded” or “like-hearted people” and create a common language and understandings. Yet when we get beneath the surface, we are all unique individuals with our own stories and perspectives. Any eco-system is only as strong as its diversity and any group or village needs to work at seeing, respecting and accepting the different views and needs of its members. Otherwise, these differences are shunted off into the shadows, where they undermine the well-being of the group.
Within a community of predominantly white faces, TrAd village has established The Sacred Crows Nest, a space where those racialised as non-white can meet free from white gaze to connect with each other, find comfort and celebrate. In the programme this year there was also an opportunity to explore the experience of being a white, heterosexual man or to reflect on our own sexism and racism. We began to lift the lid on the experience of living in an older body. We can never know what another human being experiences inside their skin, but we can listen and be open to learn. The ecosystem of any group works best when everyone feels free to bring themselves, their stories, their truths and their gifts and to give others the respect of space, listening and empathy.
Taking authority, a harmonious environment, and respect for differences are three of the factors that contribute to a transformational container, whether in a festival of many thousands or a village of 70+. The same applies when we meet together in smaller groups and when we do our own solitary inner work. When we create safe, intentional, sacred spaces the expansion of consciousness becomes easy, natural and flowing. Back in our everyday lives many of us move in and out of more expanded fields, in this moment I may be living in a whole world and then I may move back into a separated world. We can practise together making the unified field of consciousness our permanent home and create islands of coherence and peace within a fragmenting world.
I’d love to hear your experiences and what the important elements are for you.
See also https://www.tribeintransition.net/how-to-build-an-inner-container-for-your-transformation/
