more snapshots this week. What is science? Who first talked about the "biosphere"? Is music a form of knowledge too? The big question come up when the topic is Lynn Margulis. She was "fearless" her son Dorion Sagan says in Digital Journal. That's how she invented a new episteme, a new interpretation of what life is, from cell to cosmos.
Martin Brasier, of Oxford University, explains how specialization leads to mass extinctions in the history of life s evolution. Oh my! The we really need scholars whose horizon is the entire system. Have you been wondering what science is? Brasier explains, with a pinch of British humor: "A unique system for the measurement of doubt." Just in case you'd confuse it with religion or other belief systems shamefaced enough to offer prepackaged "truths."
Douglas Zook, of Boston University, compares Lynn Margulis to Alexander Humboldt, a 19th century American scientist, pioneer of ecology and biosphere. Like Morgan, he was a defender and advocate of indigenous people who saw the need to merge disciplines to look at the cosmos as a whole.
Flute music as audacious as Lynn, at the Ayurvedic lunch entertainment. Because, yes, science is also music!
Dear Earthlings:
Education is the heart of democracy. And that includes education to love. It comes in many forms. Including learning about Lynn Margulis, the role of collaboration in evolution, and Gaia theory.
Did you enjoy the post? Let us know! Yours truly appreciates your attention. The comments box is open. Come back! And stay tuned for more wonders.
Namaste,
Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, PhD
Gilf Gaia Extraordinaire
Author of Gaia,Eros, and many other books about love Professor of Humanities
two more snapshots this week. Astrobiology: the science that studies the life of astral bodies. Oh my! These are big questions for yours truly. I'm an earth sign and my imagination doesn't travel that far in space. But yes, if Gaia, the third planet, has a "life," a "biography," so must other astral bodies too. Lynn Margulis made contributions in this area too.
Lynn Rothschild explains what Astrobiology asks: where do we come from? Where are we going? Are we alone? In a cosmic way. Rothschild was inspired by Lynn Margulis who understood how important astrobiology would be for the future. Now we know that stars have planets too. The search for "intelligent life" continues.
Penelope Boston speaks of extant life, extinct life, and everything in between. Could extinct life, as in rocks, Mars, become extant again? Is extinction an interlude, as in the tale of Rick Van Winkle? Microbes exist in rocks and on Mars too! Finally yours truly gets what astrobiology is. It could be compared to the genre of science fiction if it were literature. "Yes," says Penelope, "when I teach astrobiology I often ask students to read a science fiction novel and evaluate how plausible it is from a technical, scientific point of view." Evolution only makes sense in the context of astrobiology, or is it vice versa? And in any event, is it fair to define life as what feels like life if you are a human? Again, you hit the big question when around Lynn Margulis.
Dear Earthlings:
Education is the heart of democracy. And that includes education to love. It comes in many forms. Including learning about Lynn Margulis, the role of collaboration in evolution, and Gaia theory.
Did you enjoy the post? Let us know! Yours truly appreciates your attention. The comments box is open. Come back! And stay tuned for more wonders.
Namaste,
Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, PhD
Gilf Gaia Extraordinaire
Author of Gaia,Eros, and many other books about love Professor of Humanities
The year of wonders is what 2012 is supposed to be. Yours truly offers snippets of her favorite books. All on yesterday's forbidden themes. Let's see if their mysteries are revealed.
Eros is a story that staved the loneliness of her first years in the Caribbean, when she was missing her former Matrias, California and Italy.
What is mentoring? Who are our mentors? Who are our disciples? Is this way of learning based on love? That's one of the main themes. Mentors and disciples have fallen in love with each other since time immemorial. Yet the very question has become a taboo. Why? We love ourselves in another that comes to resemble us as a disciple whose knowledge we've mentored. We protect that resemblance, we protect that love. Isn't that a win-win? A world where it is safe to learn is a world where it is safe for disciples and mentors to love.
"And so when I arrived at the university I was looking for a mentor, an interlocutor who would also function as a portal to the worlds I did not know. . . . I found what I wanted even though I sometimes wished I had not because the challenge was often too strong. Gnosis is a mode of knowledge based on love, and it sometimes demands unconditional love. It is often practiced in response to the dysfunctional medicalization of love produced in mainstream psychotherapy discourse. I received the knowledge I wanted and found the self-knowledge I was looking for, even as I learned to surrender to this practice in the process" (79).
The narrative continues as Gaia proceeds to become a mentor in her own turn. Oh blessed be!
Dear Earthlings:
Education is the heart of democracy. And that includes education to love. It comes in many forms. Including learning about Eros and journeys of multiple loves.
Eros: A Journey of Multiple Loves was a Lambda Finalist in 2007. It is now being considered for translation in to Spanish by a press in Madrid. Access to this memoir would be a great gift to Spanish speakers across the globe. If you agree, leave a comment and we will let the publisher know. Gracias!
Did you enjoy the post? Let us know! Yours truly appreciates your attention. The comments box is open. Come back! And stay tuned for more wonders.
Namaste,
Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, PhD
Gilf Gaia Extraordinaire
Author of Gaia,Eros, and many other books about love Professor of Humanities
It is with much joy that yours truly brings the good news.
Ecosexuality is on the rise with tidings of sexual fluidity and amorous inclusiveness. The noosphere massages Gaia with effervescence from the social media. Will love prevail? Violence feeds on fear. But schools of love do educate in courage and unity. Our most compersive partner, planet earth, is moved and reciprocates with glee.
Research on how to practice love inclusively has received a major recognition. The University of Connecticut Humanities Institute selected for funding a project by yours truly: "Amorous Visions: Fluid Sexual Moments in Italian Cinema." She will be one among several Fellows in residence at the Storrs campus for the 2012-13 academic year. What a joy to be part of such effervescent, trailblazing group! Not to speak of the gift of spinning the energies to the social fabric, the region, its diverse communities that practice love sustainably, fluidly, and inclusively. Oh my! A spell is broken. It's a dream come true. Learn all about the project from the Press Release.
Anna and Giulia in The Conformist, 1970
Funding humanities research on "amorous inclusiveness" and "sexual fluidity" would have been unthinkable a few years ago. The radiant aura these code words wrap around bi and poly styles of love offsets many taboos and prohibitions. So academe finally realizes they're not a sickness fit to study in medical school. But rather, the mettle of what makes us human: imaginative, artistic, productive, generous, ingenious, beautiful. What captured the imagination of major filmmakers in Italian cinema, and what yours truly promises to unravel in her Fellowship year. It was persistence, team work, and faith in the vision. Thanks to all who made it possible, and much, much love to you!
A special thanks to Imani Mamalution and her family who welcome yours truly in their raw food, tantric home for the period. We anticipate much joy, sharing, enthusiasm, and outreach to local communities.
BTQ, 2011
Also in line with fluidity is a literary recognition. The volume Bisexuality and Queer Theoryis a finalist with the Lambda Awards this year. Bisexual nonfiction. The first year the bi category existed yours truly was there with Eros, a book of personal history. BTQ is a labor of love in a much wider sense: a collaborative effort of many contributors, including co-writer and editor Jonathan Alexander. Yours truly is graced with the Ceremony and Gala on June 4 at CUNY, and a BiLines reading on June 3Nuyorican Poets Cafe. Join us in NYC as we celebrate the beauty of bisexuality. Encourage loved ones and social circles to come! Lammy tickets are for sale as we speak. Bi Lines is $ 8 at the door. All details in the Press Release. Yours truly spends the whole month of June on a study residency in Brooklyn.
Oh yes, and as an added treat, a May 11th book reading for Lambda finalists in the New York area is planned for 7PM at the Bluestockings Bookstore, 172 Allen St. Good company and a favorite neighborhood full of old and new reminiscences. How exciting for yours truly! Come one, come all, and learn all about what's new in LGBTQ literature. Yours truly's reading is at about 7:15-30.
Events, events are also coming up very quickly. May 4-6 is the ISTA Conference in Sedona, named Phoenix Rising as a way to recognize the resurrection of Temple Arts from past incursions of Swat Teams. Annie Sprinkle is keynoting and a panel will discuss the legal issues. Why criminalize love? What's the gain of controlling people by fear? Ecosexuality has answers, and yours truly will teach a class on the theme: "Ecosexuality: The New Orgasmic Revolution on Planet Earth."Yes! Life can be orgasmic when we connect with the metabolism of our source, Gaia, the most compersive lover there is. Death? A "smooth landing" that recycles us to another state of being, a pause in the grand scheme of things. Join us in Sedona. A gathering of inspiring artists of love and ecosexual beings.
Allen McPhee Teaching Tantra
May 13 is the "Tantra Goddess Empowerment Workshop"in Western Puerto Rico with Allen McPhee. A pure joy of this season is bringing an expert tantra teacher and metaphysician to Playa Azul. In this Introduction to Tantra, Women of all tongues and colors will be empowered to discover the goddess within. We will translate, practice, and complete the evening with raw foods. Se habla espanol y el en dia de las madres considera lleval tu mama tambien! A unique opportunity Allen offers at no charge to activate our region. Join us in Playa Azul! All details in the Description.
"Saving the Earth is Sexy," and the Ecosex Symposium III in Portland Oregon, has invited some fabulous speakers, including Deborah Anapol, Christopher Ryan, and yours truly. It is planned for June 29-July 1st. Let's build the funding base for this event to come true.
What other ecosexual tidings does love bring? The biosphere teems with life and radiates energy to the noosphere. Cyberspace opens up to host the creative effervescence of our era. Horizontal, participatory, collaborative: it occupies planetary consciousness with new styles of fame, interactive, intimate, inclusive. On Facebook and other social media, attraction brings together cyber communities that land on Gaia and adopt a piece. IT workers have laid the terrain in the past thirty years. Now new life comes to the third planet from the mind-field created by this interactivity. Yours truly feels blessed to share about Ecosex Sexecology and Sustainable Love, an inspiring group whose extensive, open-heart conversations are especially nurturing. Join us! It will be a pleasure to converse with you!
Posta: A Collage
Updates come in this wake too. For those interested in the PostaHouse project, we have news. John Overton is a thoughtful resident-in-charge with resilience and enthusiasm. He is bringing his care to the place, exploring potentials and getting to know people and region. We are focusing on the intentional community. No events are planned for 2012. PostaHouse is open for residencies. All ecosexuals and others interested are encouraged to join John for the upcoming summer period. Read the blog news and "like" the Facebook Community. Email postahouseitalia@gmail.com with your timeline and ideas. We will respond promptly. We hope to be open as holistic vacation center in the summer of 2013.
Another update is about Playa Azul, the enchanted beach where yours truly is blessed to live. It's a Gateway to Gaia, a place of retreat where this compersive lover kisses you when the moon wake caresses the beach. Completely furnished and equipped, a three and one half hour flight from NYC. The apartment is available August through June. You can rent it on AirBnb. Pictures and info on the listing. Make an offer soon.
Dr Lynn Margulis in her Laboratory
As a way to complete, yours truly wishes to remember those who've accompanied us for a stretch of the journey and are back in Gaia's womb. The loss of a dear one is always a reminder of one's own mortality, of the passage, the journey, the precarious gift from nature that life is. Many are remembered this year: from Rome, Puerto Rico, New Jersey, Massachusetts. Lynn, scientist extraordinaire, is one of them. We mourn the violence of this. We miss the loved ones and invite their energies to reside within us as the cycle of life absorbs them into another form of being. We vibrate with the loss and grief of others and salute the divine in them with a namaste.
Yours Truly wishes you a wonderful summer. The best things in life are free. You are loved. Violence can poison, torture, maim, humiliate, divide, kill. The challenge is to hold ourselves to a high inner discipline. Occupy the Eheart with courage. Hold the space of love within. Your most compersive partner Gaia is always with you. Enjoy every moment and imagine a life enchanted with Earth as your lover.
At 3WayKiss we love you!
Your questions and comments are a gift to us. Please do not hesitate to ask.
