Original Reconnection Project - Phase 1
Donation protected
Honoring the ancestral heart of the Earth
"I, Joanna Macy, who has been the root teacher of the Work That Reconnects. To my great joy and benefit, I see enormous value and promise in the project Original Reconnection of Adrián Villasenor and look forward to its realization and broadening impact."
- Joanna Macy
Our time is characterized by a disruption of the natural processes that sustain life, to the extent of taking the whole planetary system beyond its operating limits. This unprecedented situation puts in peril the viability of countless life forms, resulting in the serious multidimensional crisis we face as a human family. Nonetheless, within the ancient chambers of the human heart dwells an equally enlarged potential for transformation and regeneration.
At the core of the current planet-wide predicament, there's a need to recognize the many ways the Original peoples have been systematically decimated, alongside with their territories, amidst the claws of industrial “progress.” One way to uphold and celebrate the ancestral gifts of the Americas is to allow their conscious, respectful interaction with contemporary developments dedicated to dream into being life-affirming societies; such is the case of the group work methodology of the Work That Reconnects.
The Original Reconnection project is envisioned as a (perhaps minuscule) form of "pagamento" or symbolic offering to those that have been historically repressed, thus making way for the revitalization of the precious diversity of life.
The Project
The goal of Original Reconnection is to engage with leaders and organizers of indigenous communities throughout the Americas—particularly Latin America—to listen to the threats to their livelihood and culture. Witnessing the pain, hardship, and overlooked gifts of the Original peoples and their landscapes is the driving force behind the project. An honest intention of openness and respect that honors the past while rooted in the present paves the way toward potential reconciliations, creative understandings, and synergistic alliances.
Our hope is to bring into dialogue the Original teachings of the Americas with recent life affirming, scientific developments and the insights of spiritual traditions of East and West, represented by Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects (WTR). One of the aims of such dialogue is to explore possibilities for activating healing processes and to cultivate personal and cultural resilience in the face of ecological destruction and social injustice.
Why?
The Original Reconnection project’s essential intention is to contribute to the much-needed effort to tend the historical and ongoing oppression and destruction inflicted upon Original communities and the Earth by entering into intercultural dialogues.
By way of openhearted, diverse encounters, the possibility of discovering respectful, inclusive, and Earth-honoring ways of moving forward is considerably augmented. In addition, the encounters will respond to the growing demand of cultivating personal resilience and cultural empowerment.
Concretely, the inner resources we aim to cultivate through the different intercultural dialogues are:
* Potentiate a sense of emotional management in the face of constant change.
* Recognize and celebrate cultural legacies that serve as a guide for good living.
* Recover the necessary inspiration to act on behalf of the Earth.
* Rediscover the values that guide a truly dignified, healthy, and satisfying life.
* Rethink our daily lives as a function of nature's wellbeing.
We, the inhabitants of industrial societies, are in need of turning our attention to our roots, to what truly matters in this precious life. Amidst the twisted alleyways and confusion-laden tendencies that are now taken as reference for the industrial way of life, the ancestral gifts of the Original communities of the Americas serve as a wake-up call to return to what’s essential; the sound of Earth’s drum at the center of the heart.
How?
The project is broadly divided in two phases, each involving setting in motion 7 three-day intercultural encounters in 7 different Original communities, making a total of 14 dialogues.
Where permission is granted, the intention is to produce an audiovisual capsule for each of the encounters in order to vividly convey the gifts and reconnective experiences of the 14 encounters.
Click here to check out the first intercultural dialogue with the Mayan communities of México.
Some of the Original communities under consideration for the intercultural, reconnective dialogues are:
- Maya (Mexico, Guatemala) (see link above).
- Mazatec (Mexico)
- Mapuche (Chile)
- Wixáritari/Huichol (Mexico)
- Kogi (Colombia)
- Kamëntsá (Colombia)
- Aymara (Bolivia)
- Q’ero (Peru)
- Shipibo (Peru)
- Kaxinawa (Brazil)
- Lakota (USA)
- Hopi (USA)
- Inuit (Canada)
Each encounter will be loosely based on a three-day structure that tends to the challenges and gifts of the inhabitants of Original communities by procuring an experiential, intercultural dialogue and harvesting lessons that cultivate inner resilience and cultural empowerment.
The completion of the first phase, 7 dialogues, is planned for the end of 2019, starting between September and November of 2018. The second phase (7 dialogues) is projected to culminate at the end of 2020.
The estimated (subsidized) total cost for each dialogue is $2,000 USD, making a total of $14,000 USD for phase 1 of the project, seven dialogues.
Donations will be primarily allocated to:
- Donations to the original communities visited
- Traveling expenses
- Food and accommodation during the dialogues
- Filming crew
- Edition, production, and distribution of audiovisual materials
Joanna Macy & The Work That Reconnects
The Work That Reconnects (WTR) is a group work methodology developed by planetary elder Joanna Macy that aims to rekindle the fire of inspiration for people to reconnect with their true nature as Earth in human form and act on behalf of the welfare of all beings. After more than forty years of its inception, the WTR has proven to be a faithful ally in the movements for peace, justice, and ecology (more info here and here).
Macy writes about a timely confluence of three rivers taking place in our time: ancestral teachings, scientific breakthroughs, and an unprecedented pain for what’s happening to the Earth. It’s the auspicious meeting place of these three life-giving currents that nurtures the Original Reconnection project.
About Adrián
Adrián Villaseñor Galarza, PhD, is an integral ecopsychologist, author, practitioner, and educator dedicated to explore the sustainable and regenerative depths of the human potential. His work focuses on Earth education, eco-ritual, soul tending, ecopsychology, and ancestral healing. He has studied directly with Macy for close to 10 years. More info on Living Flames, Bioalchemy Institute , and WTR-LatinAmerica.
"I, Joanna Macy, who has been the root teacher of the Work That Reconnects. To my great joy and benefit, I see enormous value and promise in the project Original Reconnection of Adrián Villasenor and look forward to its realization and broadening impact."
- Joanna Macy
Our time is characterized by a disruption of the natural processes that sustain life, to the extent of taking the whole planetary system beyond its operating limits. This unprecedented situation puts in peril the viability of countless life forms, resulting in the serious multidimensional crisis we face as a human family. Nonetheless, within the ancient chambers of the human heart dwells an equally enlarged potential for transformation and regeneration.
At the core of the current planet-wide predicament, there's a need to recognize the many ways the Original peoples have been systematically decimated, alongside with their territories, amidst the claws of industrial “progress.” One way to uphold and celebrate the ancestral gifts of the Americas is to allow their conscious, respectful interaction with contemporary developments dedicated to dream into being life-affirming societies; such is the case of the group work methodology of the Work That Reconnects.
The Original Reconnection project is envisioned as a (perhaps minuscule) form of "pagamento" or symbolic offering to those that have been historically repressed, thus making way for the revitalization of the precious diversity of life.
The Project
The goal of Original Reconnection is to engage with leaders and organizers of indigenous communities throughout the Americas—particularly Latin America—to listen to the threats to their livelihood and culture. Witnessing the pain, hardship, and overlooked gifts of the Original peoples and their landscapes is the driving force behind the project. An honest intention of openness and respect that honors the past while rooted in the present paves the way toward potential reconciliations, creative understandings, and synergistic alliances.
Our hope is to bring into dialogue the Original teachings of the Americas with recent life affirming, scientific developments and the insights of spiritual traditions of East and West, represented by Joanna Macy’s Work That Reconnects (WTR). One of the aims of such dialogue is to explore possibilities for activating healing processes and to cultivate personal and cultural resilience in the face of ecological destruction and social injustice.
Why?
The Original Reconnection project’s essential intention is to contribute to the much-needed effort to tend the historical and ongoing oppression and destruction inflicted upon Original communities and the Earth by entering into intercultural dialogues.
By way of openhearted, diverse encounters, the possibility of discovering respectful, inclusive, and Earth-honoring ways of moving forward is considerably augmented. In addition, the encounters will respond to the growing demand of cultivating personal resilience and cultural empowerment.
Concretely, the inner resources we aim to cultivate through the different intercultural dialogues are:
* Potentiate a sense of emotional management in the face of constant change.
* Recognize and celebrate cultural legacies that serve as a guide for good living.
* Recover the necessary inspiration to act on behalf of the Earth.
* Rediscover the values that guide a truly dignified, healthy, and satisfying life.
* Rethink our daily lives as a function of nature's wellbeing.
We, the inhabitants of industrial societies, are in need of turning our attention to our roots, to what truly matters in this precious life. Amidst the twisted alleyways and confusion-laden tendencies that are now taken as reference for the industrial way of life, the ancestral gifts of the Original communities of the Americas serve as a wake-up call to return to what’s essential; the sound of Earth’s drum at the center of the heart.
How?
The project is broadly divided in two phases, each involving setting in motion 7 three-day intercultural encounters in 7 different Original communities, making a total of 14 dialogues.
Where permission is granted, the intention is to produce an audiovisual capsule for each of the encounters in order to vividly convey the gifts and reconnective experiences of the 14 encounters.
Click here to check out the first intercultural dialogue with the Mayan communities of México.
Some of the Original communities under consideration for the intercultural, reconnective dialogues are:
- Maya (Mexico, Guatemala) (see link above).
- Mazatec (Mexico)
- Mapuche (Chile)
- Wixáritari/Huichol (Mexico)
- Kogi (Colombia)
- Kamëntsá (Colombia)
- Aymara (Bolivia)
- Q’ero (Peru)
- Shipibo (Peru)
- Kaxinawa (Brazil)
- Lakota (USA)
- Hopi (USA)
- Inuit (Canada)
Each encounter will be loosely based on a three-day structure that tends to the challenges and gifts of the inhabitants of Original communities by procuring an experiential, intercultural dialogue and harvesting lessons that cultivate inner resilience and cultural empowerment.
The completion of the first phase, 7 dialogues, is planned for the end of 2019, starting between September and November of 2018. The second phase (7 dialogues) is projected to culminate at the end of 2020.
The estimated (subsidized) total cost for each dialogue is $2,000 USD, making a total of $14,000 USD for phase 1 of the project, seven dialogues.
Donations will be primarily allocated to:
- Donations to the original communities visited
- Traveling expenses
- Food and accommodation during the dialogues
- Filming crew
- Edition, production, and distribution of audiovisual materials
Joanna Macy & The Work That Reconnects
The Work That Reconnects (WTR) is a group work methodology developed by planetary elder Joanna Macy that aims to rekindle the fire of inspiration for people to reconnect with their true nature as Earth in human form and act on behalf of the welfare of all beings. After more than forty years of its inception, the WTR has proven to be a faithful ally in the movements for peace, justice, and ecology (more info here and here).
Macy writes about a timely confluence of three rivers taking place in our time: ancestral teachings, scientific breakthroughs, and an unprecedented pain for what’s happening to the Earth. It’s the auspicious meeting place of these three life-giving currents that nurtures the Original Reconnection project.
About Adrián
Adrián Villaseñor Galarza, PhD, is an integral ecopsychologist, author, practitioner, and educator dedicated to explore the sustainable and regenerative depths of the human potential. His work focuses on Earth education, eco-ritual, soul tending, ecopsychology, and ancestral healing. He has studied directly with Macy for close to 10 years. More info on Living Flames, Bioalchemy Institute , and WTR-LatinAmerica.
Organizer
Adrián Villaseñor Galarza
Organizer
Placitas, NM
