Soul in Nature: Experiencing the Connection

Soul in Nature: Experiencing the Connection

Course starts Monday May 14-25, 2012

Visit: http://www.schumachercollege.org.uk/courses/soul-in-nature-experiencing-the-connection

Teachers: Princess Irene van Lippe Biesterfeld, Satish Kumar, Jonathan Horwitz, Stephan Harding

This course is open for bookings.

Humans are part of nature, but few people in modern society really feel this connection – with the result that the natural world is exploited and abused in ways that would seem incomprehensible to indigenous people who see the earth as their life-giver or mother. Many in the environmental movement believe that the outer challenges of sustainability can only be effectively addressed if we understand and experience our interdependence with the myriad life forms we share this planet with. Sustainability can only be truly sustainable, when we feel and experience nature as our partner.

This course provides an opportunity to connect deeply with the natural world using a variety of traditional and transformational practices.

Week 1: May 14 – 18

Inter-being, an all encompassing worldview – Princess Irene van Lippe Biesterfeld and Satish Kumar

During this week, you will work with guided meditations, walks and other exercises in nature which will help you open your heart and senses to interspecies communication. You will walk on your own with an exercise on the subject of the day, and reflect with others on their experiences. Each day will focus on a different realm – stone, plant, animal and human – and what we can learn by getting to know these elements and beings intimately. One day will be spent on the stunning and tranquil surrounds of nearby Dartmoor, experiencing its open moorland and granite tors.

The exact nature of the exercises and meditations will emerge from the interactions with nature and each other. The main object is to help you re-)connect on a deep level with nature and to revalue on a personal level your place in the global ecosystem – Earth.

Teachers:

Irene van Lippe-Biesterfeld, Princess of the Netherlands, has spent her life working as a social educator in Europe, South Africa and the US. For over 24 years she has facilitated transformational processes, working with groups and individuals. This goal now encompasses the vision that all of creation has a right to its own personal space and power. In 2001 she founded the Lippe-Biesterfeld NatureCollege which runs educational and training programmes designed to revive the relationship between humans and nature at all levels of awareness. She has written several books on this subject: ‘Dialogue with Nature’ (1995) was a bestseller in the Netherlands and was translated into five languages, and her latest book is ‘Science, Soul and the Spirit of Nature’. In 2000, she founded the Bergplaas Nature Reserve, a 7000-hectare area of wilderness which hosts retreats, training courses and healing. www.bergplaas.com and www.natuurcollege.nl

Satish Kumar is a former monk and long-term peace and environment activist. He has been quietly setting the Global Agenda for change for over 50 years. He was just nine when he left his family home to join the wandering Jains and 18 when he decided he could achieve more back in the world, campaigning for land reform in India and working to turn Gandhi’s vision of a renewed

In 1973 Satish settled in the United Kingdom taking up the post of editor of Resurgence magazine, a position he has held ever since, making him the UK’s longest-serving editor of the same magazine. During this time, he has been the guiding spirit behind a number of now internationally respected ecological and educational ventures including Schumacher College. Read more

Click here to download his full biography

Click here to read about Resurgence, which Satish edits

Week 2: May 21 – 25

Shamanism, Science and Soul – Jonathan Horwitz and Stephan Harding

The shaman was the first scientist, but unlike many of today’s scientists, shamans engage with both the physical and non-physical aspects of the world they live in. Many important medicines have been discovered by indigenous shamans, where the initial knowledge about a plant’s use came not from scientific analysis, but from a shamanic communication with the plant itself. Hard science studies that which can be measured. Social science accepts that which can be observed. To this the shaman adds that which can be experienced. What they all have in common is that they are interested in finding out more about the planet we live on, and how its inhabitants connect and interact.

During this week, participants will be introduced by Jonathan to some basic shamanic techniques that enable them to directly contact different layers and forms of Nature. Working both inside and out of doors with traditional shamanic practices, participants will learn how to shift their consciousness so they are able to see different aspects of the web of life. The foundation of shamanic practice is animism, and this course will give participants access to the soul and spirit in all living things, to discover another type of knowledge and encourage a more holistic science.

To complement the shamanic work, Stephan will show how scientists today have come to see the Earth as a living, animate being. Together, Jonathan and Stephan will weave these two strands into a journey to the soul of Nature.

Teachers:

Jonathan Horwitz has studied and worked with shamanism since 1972. For eight years he was on the staff of The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, USA. Jonathan has an M.A. in anthropology, and is a shamanic counselor (HMSC). He has taught courses since 1986. He runs the Scandinavian Center for Shamanic Studies, whose activities include practising, teaching, and research into shamanism, as well as shamanic grassroot networking.

This course is for anyone who feels touched by the environmental, ecological, spiritual and economic questions facing us today. The aim is that people will leave knowing how to communicate directly with Nature, feel able to receive its power and knowledge, and look deeper into the interdependence of ecological and spiritual systems.

Stephan Harding is Programme Coordinator of the MSc in Holistic Science and resident Ecologist at Schumacher College teaching on the MSc core modules and as part of several of the short courses at the College. He is a close associate of James Lovelock and an expert in the study of Gaia theory and deep ecology. He is the author of Animate Earth and Grow Small, Think Beautiful: Ideas for a Sustainable World from Schumacher College.

Course Fees

Any One week £750
Any Two weeks £1,400 (Save £100 over weekly course price)

All course fees include accommodation, food, field trips and all teaching sessions.

For further information about Schumacher College please see About the College

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Contact:

Tel: +44 (0)1803 865934
Fax: +44 (0)1803 866899
Email: admin@schumachercollege.org.uk