Poly Planet GAIA | ecosexual love | arts of loving | global holistic health | eros | dissidence: Happy Solstice Season from Serena

Hi lovely Earthlings,

A Joyful Holiday Season to You!

Leighton: Return of Persephone

Solstice weather is with us and yours truly is reminded of a legend from ancient Rome and Greece that explains why the Earth is sad in the winter, with short days and bare trees. Ceres, the goddess of harvest, lost her daughter Proserpina to the Underworld with her kidnapper Pluto. The mother's mood explained the seasons for the Greeks. Ceres was sad because she couldn't see the beauty engendered by her fertility. When Proserpina came back in the Spring, Ceres became beautiful and abundant again with leaves, flowers, fruits. It's a simple reminder of how our metabolism and the Earth's metabolism are linked. Ceres, Demeter, Persephone, Proserpina, Kore, Isis, Gaia, Hestia, Hecate, Artemis: different names to imagine the sacred feminine and its magic to invoke Eros, the force of love, within. Honor that primal bond that links genealogies of life givers and you will engender joy and abundance.

How can we all participate in this? Ecosexual Love is the love that embraces all of life as a partner with equal rights. It's the gist of Gaia practice and theory. Let's acknowledge love as the ecology of life. Here's an option offered by yours truly:

Photo by Teri Ciacchi

Does the practical aspect of EcoSexuality intrigue you? Join us in Portland, OR, for an enchanting summer course, July 17-21, 2013. Many agree that EcoSexuality is the art of loving beyond genders, numbers, orientations, ages, races, and species to embrace all of life as a partner with equal rights. It’s the art of becoming a resource of love for Gaia. With EcoSexuality: Becoming a Resource of Love, you will learn how to generate all the love you want in your life and the lives of your beloveds, families, and communities.

Photo by Mina Bast

Here's a summer program is designed for those ready and willing to become resources of love. Hosted at the White Oak Retreat Center in the Portland North Hills. Facilitated and anchored by Reverend Teri Ciacchi and yours truly. The Arts of EcoSexual Love are designed to expand the range of sensations one experiences as pleasure and the range of emotions one experiences as love. We'll explore the resonance of our inner landscapes with forces of nature. We'll get energy centers in our bodies to resonate with waters, lands, mountains, forests, bacteria, the animal world, air, winds, astral, aural, and energetic bodies. We'll practice various forms of sexual fluidity and amorous inclusiveness as we open to the planetary embrace of EcoSexual Love.

Mina Bast

Intrigued? More details in the blog description. Space is limited. The first three registrants get 50 % off tuition. Sign up now! The offer expires on February 1st. Meals and residential arrangements are an added $ 200 payable in full by May 1st. We look forward to welcoming you at the Bartlett Retreat Center in July!

Serena's new car

When the first travelers from Europe reached the evergreen shores of the Caribbean in 1492, they must have imagined that Ceres' ban had been lifted in that new eternal Spring. And perhaps it had? This season of adjustment to New England has been quite momentous for yours truly. Two minor disasters manifested an inner resistance to being out of the comfort zone of cozy Playa Azul. Can one be too surprised? Trying to adapt to a system where possessing fire arms is considered less dangerous than owning tidbits of Cannabis requires a big stretch of the imagination. It's a bit beyond the pale of those accustomed to Puerto Rico. Let's hope to ban the weapons soon, so education can fulfill its promise of peace. Let the President know here! I lost a car and a computer, and in the process of getting back on my feet, found many new friends, hosts, collaborators, groups, colleagues. It was really an amazing adventure of connection and renewal. And yes, I am now equipped with new versions of those dependence-producing machines!

UCHI: 2012-13 Fellows

Amorous Visions

A major joy of this semester has been participation in the Fellowship Program at UCHI. The group brings great conversations, direction, synergy. At U Conn, Institutes and Centers are spaces for dialogs where disciplinary discourses meet. Now I know what it feels like to build bridges between disciplines, designing the education Gaia would wish to host for our future. Thanks UCHI for welcoming me this year! It feels really good when others believe in one's projects and support their coming to fruition. My public presentation at the Institute is for February 28 at 4:00 PM, CLAS # 301. It's free. "Amorous Visions: Fluid Sexual Moments in Italian Cinema." You're welcome to attend if you're in the area and feel drawn to the theme.

Generous hospitality has met me in Connecticut too, with good company at Karen and Dave's home in Glastonbury, the love of sweet animals, and beautiful decorations to invite the Holiday Season. With a whole wing of the home for me, I can to focus on writing projects and am happy to welcome visitors. If you're in the area, please let me know when I can have you over for dinner! New York state is also quite generous in the ways of polyamorous communities. Thanks to all who welcomed and embraced me. It's good to meet new people and share experiences and wisdom.

From Cindy Baker's Ecosex Pride Flag

The course I'll be teaching at U Conn in the Spring is another piece of good news. Ecosexuality and the Ecology of Love will be hosted in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Department for a nice group of students. How did Ecosexuality come about and why it matters? How does the concept help to explore intersections between ecology and sexuality, science and the humanities, global and personal health, and love? What is "nature": an enemy, a mother, a hostess, a lover, all of the above? Intrigued? Ask me about it. More details in the blog description.

Isis Phoenix

Acknowledging plants and animals as sources of love for humans is an EcoSexual thing. Stones, rocks, mountains, minerals, rivers, seas are there for us too. One inspiration for this is sensual shaman Isis Phoenix, a gifted writer and healer who hosts Sensual Woman's Soirees in New York City. We plan a day event on EcoSexuality sometime in the Spring. Stay tuned as we announce more details and let us know of your interest.

Karen, Emma, Rusty

As I reflect on EcoSexual Love, I am reminded of my dog Eliot, the fluffy papillon from East Berlin who accompanied me for fifteen years. How synchronized was he with my biorhythms. How ready for a walk when he heard me shut down the computer. What did I learn from that? A dog's love is unconditional. I wish I could imitate it, even minimally! A gift of my home in New England has been welcoming pets in my life again, with hostess Karen's permission. The joy of their love is really rubbing on me.

Linghzy

Can one fall in love with plants too? One got me recently. Fortunately, it's legal. It's called Linghzy. It's actually a Chinese mushroom. A royal food of the Mycelium phyla. It kept me in balance in the whole transition. It offers calm, vitality, nourishment. It's available to you. It comes in veggie caps from Alphay, a company one can join to get one's own provisions. Interesting? Find out more here. Or ask me!

Dear Earthlings,

As the year draws to a close, let's cherish love and radiate warm wishes for a joyful Holiday Season. Sadness is part of joy, and we mourn those who perished while learning at the Sandy Hook school. Ignorance is the only sin. Gaia invites education that's true to its meaning. How else can we learn to respect our hostess and all the life that resides within her? Bringing out the best in each student. Hosting a space for trust, abundance, peace, is what allows talents to become expressed artistically. True education involves the whole person, transforms the inner being, instills love for love, wisdom, peace. It can offset desire for violence, inviting fairness and prudence in.

A shift in perspective is called for here. Let's invest in knowledge, education, wisdom. Let's invite laws that make the world a safe place to live for all species.

Yours truly sends warm wishes from the winter days of New England. Let's hope that Proserpina comes back to her mother soon! Our offering in EcoSexuality is open. Spaces are limited. Register quickly for your 50 % tuition. Education is the heart of democracy, education to love. Stay tuned for more wonders and come back to see us. Let us know if we can answer any questions or be of further assistance.

Super Early Bird: 1st 3 Sign-Ups at 50% Tuition
Ecosexuality: Becoming a Resource of Love, Portland, July 17-21
Namaste,

Serena