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Sixteen Principles of the Reunion of Condor and Eagle
Thinking about ethical, economic, ecological 13:20 communities
The Ecovillages Newsletter is very helpful in listing communities and necessary information and updates. The Rainbow Caravan, strategic ally of our Movement now stationed in Ecuador, represents a creative edge of the Ecovillage Network - contact: elenapianc@aol.com.
Because we call for a return to natural Earth time, we also have much to learn from the Indigenous people, their elders and ways. it was our good fortune to meet with Phil Lane Jr. in Venezuela. For many years Phil has pioneered in evolving basic sets of values and principles to guide the restoration of a sane and sober Indigenous life among the native peoples of all of the Americas. The work of the reconciliation of the American Indigenous peoples is known as the "Reunion of the Condor and the Eagle." This work is guided by sixteen principles which, like the Rinri precepts, can be coordinated with the sixteen cube positions and studied accordingly during each Cube journey. The following principles are taken directly from Phil's work with the Four Worlds International Institute, e-mail: 4Worlds@uleth.ca The only words I have added are the Cube positions in parentheses. Sixteen principles of the Reunion of The Condor (South) and the Eagle (North), with their Cube position coordinates for daily Cube journey study.
Sixteen Principles:
1. Human beings can transform their world (Dragon)The web of our relationships with others and the natural world, which has given rise to the problems we face as a human family, can be changed.
2. Development comes from within (Wind)
The process of human and community development unfolds from within each person, relationship, family, organization, community, or nation.
3. Healing is a necessary part of development (Night)
Healing the past, closing up old wounds and learning healthy habits of thought and action to replace dysfunctional thinking and disruptive patterns of human relations is a necessary part of the process of sustainable development.
4. Justice (Seed)
Every person (regardless of gender, race, age, culture, religion) must be accorded equal opportunity to participate in the process of healing and development and to receive a fair share of the benefits.
5. No vision, no development (Serpent)
A vision of who we can become, and what a sustainable world would be like, works as a powerful magnet, drawing us to our potential.
6. Authentic development is culturally based (World-bridger)
Healing and development must be rooted in the wisdom, knowledge and living processes of the culture of the people.
7. Interconnectedness (Hand)
Everything is connected to everything else. Therefore, any aspect of our healing and development is related to all the others (personal, social, cultural, political, economic, etc.). When we work on any one part, the whole circle is affected.
8. No unity, no development (Star)
Unity means oneness. Without unity, the common oneness that makes (seemingly) separate human beings into "community" is impossible. Disunity is the primary disease of community.
9. No participation, no development (Moon)
Participation is the active engagement of the minds, hearts and energy of the people in the process of their own healing and development.
10. The hurt of one is the hurt of all; the honour of one is the honour of all. (Dog)
The basic fact of our oneness as a human family means that development for some at the expense of well-being for others is not acceptable or sustainable.
11. Spirit (Monkey)
Human beings are both material and spiritual in nature. It is therefore inconceivable that human community could become whole and sustainable without bringing our lives into balance with the requirements of our spiritual nature.
12. Morals and ethics (Human)
Sustainable human and community development requires a moral foundation. When morals decline and basic ethical principles are violated, development stops.
13. Learning (Skywalker)
Human beings are learning beings. We begin learning while we are still in our mother's wombs, and unless something happens to close off our minds and paralyze our capacities, we keep on learning throughout our entire lives. Learning is at the core of healing and development.
14. Sustainability (Wizard)
To sustain something means to enable it to continue for a long time. Authentic development does not use up or undermine what it needs to keep on going.
15. Move to the positive (Eagle)
Solving the critical problems in our lives and communities is best approached by visualizing and moving into the positive alternative that we wish to create, and by building on the strengths we already have, rather than on giving away our energy fighting the negative.
16. Be the change you want to see (Warrior)
The most powerful strategies for change always involve positive role modeling and the creation of living examples of the solutions we are proposing. By walking the path, we make the path visible.
These sixteen principles are summarized as four "guiding principles" essential for the formation and functioning of any community. Adopted to our needs, these principles are:
1. "Starting from Within" - Development comes from within; take responsibility yourself for your relationships; vision is the basis of development; culture is the basis of all healing and development. To make culture real practice time is art, learn from your elders and from nature.
2. "Working in a Circle" - All community, like the path of nature, forms a circle. Make a daily circle and dissolve into one. A circle is a whole system. All approaches must be used and balanced. A circle is unity. A circle means we all share and participate. A circle means we are all equal and maintains the justice of our equality, regardless of age, sex, race, religion, etc.; make decisions from consensus - move the circle, and keep the circle moving.
3. "In a Sacred Manner" - Spirituality is the center of healing and development. Practice daily salat prayer and/or vipassana meditation; make ceremony that integrates the natural elements in natural time with our mind, prayers, and needs. Connect with the Creator. Cultivate a heart-centered approach in all matters. Listen to spirit. Know with whom you are speaking and act and behave accordingly. Walk in balance. Do not violate ethical or moral boundaries. Think before you do anything. Work from principle. Let your principles reflect the order and plan of the universe. Do not sacrifice principle, but remain flexible.
4. "We heal and develop Ourselves, our Relationships and World." - Learn to live in ways that promote life and uplift others in your environment. Practice sustainability and non-codependence. Do not be afraid to be humble. Seek help when you need it. Respect all living systems and relations. Move to the positive. Be the change you want to see!
If we begin to learn and practice these principles in our communities and integrate them with our Earth Wizards practices, we will become successful and attractive to others dissatisfied with the 12:60 world. Community thrives on intimacy of all as one together. Let us learn to practice intimacy with self-respect! In sum, as Earth Wizards, we wish to develop an ethic that can be characterized as:
Whole Person - that we are each committed to the care and maintenance of our own autonomy in mutual respect of the autonomy of others.
Whole Family - that we recognize that our family, clan or group bonding will become whole only as each one of us becomes whole
Whole Earth - the wholeness you attain as a person extends to the wholeness we attain as a family which then reflects the wholeness of our relation to the Earth, for it is the Earth which needs us to be whole.
Do not be afraid to admit your weaknesses. If you are not participating in the circle and extending the circle into all you do, then the community is not functioning.
Drugs, stimulants or alcohol are no substitute for true community sharing and love in the Circle. Be aware before you indulge. The world will be watching our communities. The use of drugs - even marijuana - in a public manner can destroy our work. Let us be sensitive and discrete. Let us free ourselves, and free ourselves more every day! Seek nothing and let the truth know you.
Once we have understood the ethical principles and know the circle is One, then we can turn to the other two factors, Economics and Ecology.
Of course, these cannot be separated from our ethical community values. Ideally and ultimately the community is based on absolute autonomy. Everyone needs their own space. And everyone needs a space in which they can be a community. Eating and meeting determine the communal space. The garden is in common, and all craft and artistic activities are best executed autonomously and anonymously as a collective whole. We each breathe and live in the same common space. Who is to say where the inspiration comes from? The cook in the kitchen cooks the beets which make the soul of the poet come alive. Was the poem in the beet and the love of the cook before it became a song in the mind? Give thanks to all beings and take credit for nothing. The Creator sustains the flow. Barter and exchange are better than money and help cultivate our ethical character and resourcefulness.
To have something to barter we must all tend the garden together. To sustain ourselves we must learn permaculture, biodynamics, greenhouses. Study your environment. Know your local flora and fauna and what is possible where you live - what are the growing seasons? Learn about dry compost toilets, lime for latrines. Learn about solar panels, alternative energy, and building techniques that manifest energy conservation. Zero residue in energy consumption! Waste free is Earth way.
There is much to learn. But if we are not ethically attuned, nothing will matter. If we learn and live by such principles as are herein enumerated, nothing will sway us from our path. Let the circle grow. Let the Circle move us. Love is vast, everywhere, and in everything - but belongs to no one. Let the circle move us. We are ONE.
snow falls
cold axe splits wood
where is mind of fire
to be found
if not here?
This is by no means a discourse on anything, but some suggestions for how we must pull ourselves together. Enlightenment really is no farther away than the kitchen sink! In addition to the information concerning the Ecovillage Network and the Four Worlds Institute there are some books that may be helpful both practically and philosophically as we orient to building our 13:20 communities.
One of the pioneers in intentional community was Sun Bear and the Bear Tribe, so it is only natural that we suggest as a very practical beginning, The Bear Tribe's Self-reliance Book, by Sun Bear, Wabun and Nimimosha (New York : Simon & Schuster, 1988).
For gardening and Sustainable Earth knowledge there is the National Academy of Science's Alternative Agriculture(New York: National Academy of Science Press, 1989),
and in Espaņol, Miguel Angel Nuņez, Manuel de Tecnicas Agroecologicas (Merida, Venezuela, 1997),
and for the simplest level of ecological practice, there is Giomar Sarmiento's Reciclaje, una Solucion a Nuestro Alcance (Caracas, Pachamama Art - Ecovillage Network of the Americas, 2000).