And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom

~ Anais Nin

Nature and Eros (for CIIS Students)

We live in an extraordinary time. Western industrialized culture has conditioned us into the assumption that we are separate selves living upon the earth. Yet across disciplines we are awakening to the knowledge that we are living organisms intricately woven into the ever-evolving vibrant web of life. Coming to understand and, most importantly, to live from this knowing requires a profound shift in our perception of the larger web as well as a recognition of our deepest identity as an inextricable part of the cosmic unfolding that brought us forth.

Beginning with explorations into the wonders of the cosmological story itself, Nature and Eros aims to initiate and support this shift in consciousness – a shift that encourages the movement from alienation to intimate connection; from striving to active surrender. Through mutually reflective encounters with the larger Earth community, with our own rich interiors and with each other, we will begin to dissolve our borders and discover our deepest belonging, both to ourselves and to the larger whole. Rather than being passive, the invitation is to a deeply embodied and sensual way of listening to the world and its constant beckoning.

Our time will organically weave between dialogue about the fundamental nature of the universe and gleanings from the quantum world, solo time on the land, and group time designed to deepen our individual experiences. Through intentional wanderings in the exquisite valley and sun-laden hills of Tunitas Creek Ranch, we will open to the cry of the red-tail hawk and brilliance of the late spring full moon. Together, we will engage in nature-based practices, ceremony, soul-oriented dreamwork, council, movement and other processes designed to lift the veil between our everyday self and the larger mysteries that permeate us. By opening to the more-than-human world while simultaneously drawing from the mysteries within the quantum realm, we will be mirrored and reflected in our own deepest nature and drawn toward the fertile meeting ground between our unique creative expression and the universal unfolding from which it is sourced. Ultimately, our aim is to explore what it is to shift from “trying to move through the world” to “allowing the world to move through us”!