2012 Magic Love Bus Journey

I’ve been seeking the elusive “magic bus” ever since I  read the book “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” many years ago. This book tells the story of some far out hippies (the “Merry Pranksters”) who tripped across America in the 1960’s in a day glow school bus – spreading music, acid and love in their wake.

Having missed the 60s, I felt I’d missed the magic bus. But in recent times, I’ve come to know a reincarnation of the original magic bus and become good friends with its owner, Scotty Miller. This year we are journeying across America, coast to coast, to spread love and light and act as a vehicle for free speech and open discussion. Join us on the bus and or online at MagicLoveBus.org.

The original magic bus from the sixties, called “Further”, is rusting and decaying in a field in Oregon. But its soul searching joyous journey lives on in Scotty’s bus and the magic that is created by the ebb and flow of its passengers.

View more of the Magic Love Buses amazing adventures below:

The Magic Love Bus leads the annual Love Parade in San Francisco.

The Magic Love Bus camps out at the 40th anniversary of Woodstock (Woodstock Flashback).

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Magic Bus Ride from the movie “Across the Universe”

Thanks to our crazy good friends for being the primary ingredient in our delicious mad hatter dinner, which according to the recipe we used required “a varied assortment of three dozen odd and colorful characters dressed accordingly”.

For your reference we’d like to share our full recipe below:

Pat and Laura’s Recipe for a Mad Hatter Dinner –

Ingredients:

–             Varied assortment of three dozen odd and colorful characters dressed accordingly

–             One vintage cottage perched amongst raven filled trees

–             One massive candle lit table

–             1,000 plus bright green fairies to dance about in the trees

–             Ample cordials, elixirs, wines, liquors, party favors and herbs

–             A touch of madness, some jokes and a few riddles (or one great prank)

–             One strolling guitar minstrel and an iconoclastic drummer

–             One dozen light torches, three dozen candle lights

–             100 twinkling lights

–             A ridiculous amount of sugar

–             One hot tub heated to 104 degrees

–             Numerous beds and air mattresses

Instructions:

Lubricate assorted characters in cordials, elixirs, wines and party favors and then flavor with herbs. Mix characters together and sprinkle in a touch of madness, a few riddles and jokes and or a prank. Once characters are making loud out bursts of laughter seat them together at candle lit table. Pass extravagant sugary food about table.

Note – Be careful during dinner not to fall into a rabbit hole or the party could fail to rise to its full potential.

After dinner, provide guests with magical desert candies to enhance their appreciation of the green fairies dancing in the trees. Invite characters to lay down and cuddle on the various beds and mattresses and or soak in the hot tub.

Those who were at the party know that this recipe was not carefully followed as one of the hosts, namely the mad hatter, took a tumble backwards down into a rabbit hole during dinner – or as the paramedic described it to the hospital “he fell ass over tea kettle down a hill” (no kidding).

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The Mad Hatter later reported that before his deep plunge “Everything felt very unstable -the table, the people around it and the ground behind me.” Apparently his view of the table became skewed, which he attributed to something he’d consumed. But then when his gaze tilted up into the night sky he knew he was going to fall backwards off his stool and down into a deep rabbit hole.

The Mad Hatter later shared that “the fall and tumble down was exhilarating”. But the abrupt stop when his back smashed into a wall at the bottom of the hill knocked the wind out of the joyful tumble and the party.

His guests raced to his aid, with several of the finest healers laying their hands upon him. The healers felt evidence of broken ribs and possible damage to his internal organs. The Mad Hatter’s lovely kitty cat, also a Reiki healing master, was at his side and loving treating him along with the other talented healers. She’s confident that this immediate healing dramatically reduced the severity of his injuries.

After being dusted off and reattaching his hat to the top of his head, the Mad Hatter reported feeling a deliriously ecstatic mix of pain, love, shock, adrenaline and irony. His friends carried him up to the cottage as the Mad Hatter deliriously muttered nonsensical things about seeing green fairies and wanting to stay and party.

The paramedics were summoned and some how managed to get past Alice and a few other flirtatious guests who began feigning injuries as the paramedics made their way up the steps. They entered the Mad Hatters bedroom and found that he was in a state of shock, white as a sheet and shaking. When they asked him what happened the Mad Hatter told them that he had “fallen down a rabbit hole”. They then strapped the Mad Hatter down on a stretcher and carried him down the steps, through the party and into the ambulance.

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(Special thanks to the shameless paparazzi, Tracy, for taking these compromising photos.)

A particularly mad guest had the audacity to call out “You’re such a drama queen”. To clear up any rumors that this incident was a dramatic prank or elaborate ruse to garner attention, the Mad Hatter would like to report that the CAT scan revealed two broken ribs.

Although it could be argued that when the Mad Hatter pleaded with his friends to let him live or die with them and the green fairies rather than in hospital under fluorescent lights that he was indeed being a “drama queen”.

Fortunately the Mad Hatter and his lovely kitty cat were rescued from the hospital that same night by a charming and debonair pimp daddy and his lovely fiancé and escorted back to the party in a convertible sports car. Unfortunately, upon their return at 3am the party was found dead, with only the twinkling lights wrapped around the naked little water boy with purple hair to guide them up the stairs. This was a disappointment to the Mad Hatter, who with a new lease on life and a full load of morphine, was ready to jump back into a raging party.

While the Mad Hatter escaped death from internal bleeding this time, he reports that when he does die he wants to be deliriously happy on joy, drugs and love and laying flat on his back looking up into the loving faces of his friends who are back lit by dancing green fairies in the trees above them as the love of his life holds his hand and looks lovingly into his eyes. But he has no immediate plans for such a going away party.

The Mad Hatter and his lovely kitty cat look forward to inviting all the Mad Hatters to return again some day to complete the recipe in its entirety. The Mad Hatter promises that the next time he trips it won’t be down a hill. Meantime, remember that according to Alice “All the best people are truly mad”.

Feel free to add your own commentary below.

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” –Albert Einstein

There is a place near the ocean in a redwood forest where witches gather once every summer. I was guided to this place one night under a full moon by a beautiful loving witch named Laura. A few months earlier she had conjured up a powerful love spell, which I had fallen blissfully under. Laura exudes love for life, spirit and all God’s creatures, including me. She is a living Goddess, witch, healer, nurse and great lover.

Laura – a force of nature, love and the Goddesses

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This year would be her 13^th year at “Witch Camp”. The witches gathering in this forest were her tribe with whom she had grown in spirit, while teaching others about spirit, nature, the elements and magic.   She assured me that given my love of nature, spirit and my sense of magic that I was already a witch who was finding his way home in the forest. In any case, I would be with Laura and immersed in her world, if not mine. But given the joy, wonder and magic that this vagabond and witch were experiencing together, I trusted I would feel at home among the trees, stars and other witches.

Modern Witches

Over the previous weeks, I’d learned from Laura that these modern witches cherished mother earth as sacred and dedicated their energy to protecting and healing it. Like their predecessors of old who had special knowledge of herbs and healed the sick villagers, these witches believe in healing our bodies, spirits, mother earth and all her creatures. These witches believe in the power of shaping and guiding the elements of air, fire, water, earth and spirit. They believe in creating magic.

Is Magic Real?

But did I believe in magic? I’d always been taught that magic did not really exist. That magic was not in the realm of possibility. But during my week at witch camp, I came to accept their definition of magic, which is –   “Changing consciousness at will.” By this definition, I now believe that we all create magic within ourselves and in the world and people around us.

As Laura and I drove through the trees under a full moon a skunk, a fox and a huge mountain lion crossed the road. Laura almost leapt out of the passenger side window to follow the mountain lion up the hill as it slipped away into the shadowy forest. I pulled over to the side of the road and Laura called out “I love you” to the mountain lion.

Laura’s Spirit Guide – the Mountain Lion

She has loved mountain lions deeply ever since a black mountain lion followed her mother home as she carried baby Laura in her arms while walking a trail in the Appalachian Mountains. For months and then years that black mountain lion would return to Laura’s house and peer in her bedroom window every day until her mother would chase it away. When Laura grew old enough to walk she would join the mountain lion outside and even follow it into the woods. Some times she’d curl up on the lion and nap.

The mountain lion continues to be her animal spirit guide. When I see Laura move like a sleek powerful cat, or avoid water on her face, or purr when she’s happy – I feel and see the influence of this beautiful black cat. I thank that black cat for instilling such feline beauty and power into this fabulous woman.

The Book of Witches

Before we arrived at Witch Camp, Laura gave me a beautiful old notebook. It was bound in wood and its cover, attached with metal hinges like a door, was coated with a gold colored metal plate that was embossed with an image of a male deer with a large rack of antlers surrounded by leaves. Inside the paper pages were brown and fragile.

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On the first inside page was inscribed in old dried ink –   “A witch party? Well . . . aren’t you lovely? Millicent is making a potion at home on 1^st score. Herbal remedy for sore throat.” On the next page it read, “Halloween Party   – 1948, Witches names are listed here below.”

Below this was listed the names and signatures of some twenty people. Given that the practice of witchcraft was illegal in the United States (land of religious freedom?) until 1978, this book of named witches was not only taboo but incriminating.

Beyond those first two pages the book was full of empty dry brown paper pages. This book, signed in 1948 by twenty some illegal witches, had awoken from it’s long slumber in my hands – a vagabond writer on his way to Witch Camp. Laura, acting as an agent of fate and destiny, had given it to me to complete its yet unfinished pages. Into the pages of this book I wrote of my one week at witch camp deep in the redwood forest. I share with you my raw notes from these dry fragile pages, now transcribed into the realm of computer text living in the ether of the Web:

Notes from a Witch in Training at Witch Camp

Day One

“On our first night at Witch Camp we gathered in a circle surrounded by tall pines and redwoods, light by a blazing fire in the center. Those giving the invocations invited us to feel our bodies planted on the soft earth, to breath the cool night air deeply and to let the static and frantic noise of urban life be burnt up by the blazing hypnotic fire. I took off my boots and socks, which had bound my feet, and pressed the balls of my free feet down into the cool soft dirt. Then musicians, drummers and dancers moved amongst the hundred or so participants – stirring our bodies and energies into motion.

We all held hands and moved together in a spiraling circle of faces as we sang a mesmerizing chant. The complexity of our intricate electronic age gave way to a world of earth, water, air and fire. Like primal creatures in a world no longer encumbered by electronic shackles we danced and sang under the trees light by the raging fire.

Later that night as we settled around the fire, an experienced male witch invited all of us to consider the wound mother earth was suffering as she hemorrhaged thousands of barrels of toxic crude oil into the gulf as we sat here deep in the woods. He asked us to call out our feelings. In the night air dozens of voices from around the fire cried out expressions of despair, anger, dreams, wishes, incriminations and solutions. I called out “Will it take a sea of change to save the seas?” We are all complicit in the wounds of mother earth, some perhaps more than others. But she continues to heal herself and nurture us anyways.

Laura took me by the hand and guided me away from the fire to a gigantic redwood stump. We crawled up into it and laid down on a bed of soft redwood bark and needles. Looking up into the night sky we were ringed by several redwoods that had grown up in and around the base of this fallen giant. These newer trees, perhaps 100 to 150 years old, now towered four to five stories into the night sky. The muscle of man, ax and saw in hand, had cleared this ancient giant from the land. But the force of nature had sprouted new life out of the decay of the old wounds. Time heals and hope springs eternal. Mother Earth, in her timeless patience forgives her selfish children and heals their wounds.”

Day Two

As a novice witch in training, I chose the recommended “Elements of Magic” as my learning “path” for the week. The course description for this beginner path read in part –

“You will learn the art of how to create sacred space, invoke the elementals, the Goddess and God, basic spell-crafting, how to ground and direct energy through our bodies and out into the world. This is the path of practice: create and manifest basic rituals, explore trance, work with your voice, music and drumming. We will also create magic with our core tools (the athame, cup and cauldron) in service of the Goddess we love.”

Witchcraft 101 – the Elements of Magic

Over the next four mornings we gathered around a fire pit near a bubbling creek – surrounded by tall trees illuminated by the sun rising each morning up into the clear blue sky. Each day, led by two dedicated witches, we focused on one of the four primary elements of life and magic – earth, fire, water and air. On the fifth day we focused on “Spirit” which encompasses all of these elements, the Universe and us.

Each day I gained a more profound connection to the elements of earth, water, fire, air and to the all pervasive “source” from which we come and return back to. With all the complications, distractions, and fabrications of modern life far out of sight and mind – I connected deeper each day to the source of beauty, harmony and joy that is in nature and in all of us. Such a mystery can’t be contained or conveyed by thoughts and words. It must be felt in our heart and soul.

On our first day, guided by our teachers Willow and Riyana, we dozen students of the elements cast a circle after calling upon the elements of earth, fire, water, air and of spirit. Willow then declared that we were “between the worlds and what happens here affects all the worlds”.

Burning our Limitations

We then performed a ritual in which each of us wrote on a piece of paper what we wanted to purge from our lives. Then, one by one, each of us stepped forward to the fire in the center ring and cast our paper into the cleaning fire as we called out what we wanted to purge. Words such as fear, self hate, doubt, judgment, ego, clutter and many more limitations of life and beauty were burned and dissipated into the air as smoke.

The Making of Magic

Many witches have adopted a definition of magic that describes it as “changing consciousness at will“. In our fire ritual we cast a magic spell upon our own minds that we will carry into our daily lives to make real. Such a conscious change – empowered by a ritual that engaged not just our minds and intentions but our emotions, bodies and spirits – is a magic that is well within the realm of possibility. It is real life changing magic.

For most of my life I’d thought of magic as the make believe and impossible abra cada bra instant magic where a toad becomes a prince with a wave of a magic wand. But real world magic is often not instantaneous. It may begin with setting a conscious intention. But it might take an entire lifetime to be realized. By this definition of magic we all have the capacity for conjuring up magic. We are all forces of magic. We can change consciousness at will and redirect ourselves, others and the elements around us in our own cauldron and thus create and shape the world around and within us.

Some people perform black magic without even knowing it, by using their consciousness to destroy nature and transform it into a parking lot. Some can turn gold into shit, while others with the “magic touch” can transform virtually everything they touch into gold.

For some the magic they practice may be conjuring up an amazing dinner or perhaps creating “movie magic” by marshalling an army of actors, equipment and crew to create the magic reality of a movie. By that definition I’ve been practicing magic all my life, including “movie magic”. Some of my magic has been black, some gray, some white and some golden. What magic are you practicing?

Day Three

I awoke and crawled over Laura, who was curled up and sleeping like the beautiful cat she is. I stumbled out of my motorhome and followed the stream to my open air classroom among the towering redwood trees. Today we would explore the element of water.

I had always loved water – drinking water, swimming in water, bathing in water . . . But I’d never spent an entire morning contemplating this changeable substance that composes most of our physical being, that keeps our bodily fluids flowing and cleans us inside and out.

Sacred Water

Our teacher Willow filled a beautiful bowl full of water from the stream flowing next to us and brought it into the center of our group. She invited each of us in the circle to hold the bowl of water, make a prayer, and then pass it to the next student of the elements.

I had dipped my hands in “holy water” inside many Catholic churches as a child. But it never felt holy or sacred. But when I dipped my hand into this clear cold water and touched it to my forehead and heart – I felt its sanctity and holiness for the first time.

As a “recovering Catholic”, I realized that perhaps I’d thrown the baby out with the bath water when I completely renounced Catholicism. Deep beneath its trappings, traditions and rituals flowed water that was truly holy and sacred. This holy water did not need to be anointed by a priest and kept in a basin in a church. This holy water was all around me and in me.

Trance Dance

Later that evening a circle was cast around a carefully constructed bonfire around which moved dozens of mysteriously costumed witches. They moved amongst us in between the shadows as the drummers stirred the movement around the blazing fire. These mysterious figures uttered questions for our minds and spirits to ponder. One solemn face, painted white and black, came forward from the firelight and looked into my eyes and asked “Are you truly awake?”

The face turned away and drifted off into the dark, leaving me to ponder whether I was truly awake. If I was in a dream would I still believe I was awake? Awake to what – All of life’s possibilities? Can any human truly be fully aware and awake to all things? Days later, I’m still not sure I’m truly awake or in but a dream.

Day Four

In my golden witch book “day four” is a blank sheet of old brown paper, as is day five, six and seven. Did we ponder the earth that day in class or was it the air? Weeks later as I write this story, I just don’t know. Did I get lazy and stop taking notes? Or did I become so immersed in the flow and magic of the week that I stopped stepping outside of it to take notes?

I’m no slave to literal facts. As the say goes, “No Irishman ever let the facts get in the way of a good story”. But I’ll try to recall at least the spirit of those last few days at Witch Camp.

I do recollect a sensual evening towards the end of the week involving chocolate, witches, kisses, touching, music and dancing. Given that witches are fond of saying that “all acts of love and pleasure are my rituals” this sensual night of chocolate and partying was a perfectly appropriate ritual. God, I love the way the witches worship.

I also remember drumming in the woods one night with a few sweet friends and lighting our individual candles from the same flame in our center. We shared our heart felt thoughts, hopes, fears and feelings. We bared our souls in the dim light of our candles and then we extinguished the flame together.

I also recall an amazing talent show one night – filled with music, comedy and dramatic performance art. This showcase of magical and amazing talent was followed by an auction to fund scholarships for witches to attend the next years witch camp.

During this auction many who love Laura bid generous amounts to assure that Laura would be given a beautiful photo book that chronicles life at Witch Camp – created by award winning photographer, Michael Rauner.

As fate would have it, this beautiful book of visual poetry ended up in Laura’s hands – a fitting keeper of these memories to which she contributed greatly over the past 13 years.

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Beyond all the details of what occurred that week in the woods, I’m left with a profound sense that we are all stirring the pot and combining the elements of fire, water, air, earth and spirit to make magic in our inner and outer worlds. So what magic are you cooking up?

Learn More about Witch Camp and the Reclaiming Tradition

To learn more about Witch Camp visit http://www.californiawitchcamp.org

To learn more about the core principles of the Reclaiming Tradition of witchcraft, which was founded by Starhawk and others in the late 1970’s in San Francisco, read the “Principles of Unity” and “The Charge of the Goddess” below. To learn more about the Reclaiming tradition of witchcraft and its history, current events, politics, publications, rituals and gatherings visit the Reclaiming Website.

Principles of Unity

“My law is love unto all beings…”
– The Charge of the Goddess

The values of the Reclaiming tradition stem from our understanding that the earth is alive and all of life is sacred and interconnected. We see the Goddess as immanent in the earth’s cycles of birth, growth, death, decay and regeneration. Our practice arises from a deep, spiritual commitment to the earth, to healing and to the linking of magic with political action.

Each of us embodies the divine. Our ultimate spiritual authority is within, and we need no other person to interpret the sacred to us. We foster the questioning attitude, and honor intellectual, spiritual and creative freedom.

We are an evolving, dynamic tradition and proudly call ourselves Witches. Honoring both Goddess and God, we work with female and male images of divinity, always remembering that their essence is a mystery which goes beyond form. Our community rituals are participatory and ecstatic, celebrating the cycles of the seasons and our lives, and raising energy for personal, collective and earth healing.

We know that everyone can do the life-changing, world-renewing work of magic, the art of changing consciousness at will. We strive to teach and practice in ways that foster personal and collective empowerment, to model shared power and to open leadership roles to all. We make decisions by consensus, and balance individual autonomy with social responsibility.

Our tradition honors the wild, and calls for service to the earth and the community. We value peace and practice non-violence, in keeping with the Rede, “Harm none, and do what you will.” We work for all forms of justice: environmental, social, political, racial, gender and economic. Our feminism includes a radical analysis of power, seeing all systems of oppression as interrelated, rooted in structures of domination and control.

We welcome all genders, all races, all ages and sexual orientations and all those differences of life situation, background, and ability that increase our diversity. We strive to make our public rituals and events accessible and safe. We try to balance the need to be justly compensated for our labor with our commitment to make our work available to people of all economic levels.

All living beings are worthy of respect. All are supported by the sacred elements of air, fire, water and earth. We work to create and sustain communities and cultures that embody our values that can help to heal the wounds of the earth and her peoples, and that can sustain us and nurture future generations.

Provided from – http://reclaiming.org/about/directions/unity.html

Charge of the Goddess

Traditional by Doreen Valiente, as adapted by Starhawk:

Listen to the words of the Great Mother, Who of old was called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Diana, Arionrhod, Brigid, and by many other names:

Whenever you have need of anything, once a month, and better it be when the moon is full, you shall assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of Me Who is Queen of all the Wise.

You shall be free from slavery, and as a sign that you be free you shall be naked in your rites.

Sing, feast, dance, make music and love, all in My Presence, for Mine is the ecstasy of the spirit and Mine also is joy on earth.

For My law is love is unto all beings. Mine is the secret that opens the door of youth, and Mine is the cup of wine of life that is the cauldron of Cerridwen, that is the holy grail of immortality.

I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal, and beyond death I give peace and freedom and reunion with those that have gone before.

Nor do I demand aught of sacrifice, for behold, I am the Mother of all things and My love is poured out upon the earth.

Hear the words of the Star Goddess, the dust of Whose feet are the hosts of Heaven, whose body encircles the universe:

I Who am the beauty of the green earth and the white moon among the stars and the mysteries of the waters,

I call upon your soul to arise and come unto me.

For I am the soul of nature that gives life to the universe.

From Me all things proceed and unto Me they must return.

Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.

Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you.

And you who seek to know Me, know that the seeking and yearning will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without.

For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I am That which is attained at the end of desire.

Provided by http://www.reclaiming.org/about/witchfaq/charge.html

The 6th Annual Raindance Campout in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California.

June 4^th to June 7th several hundred hippies, vagabonds, musicians, artists, visionaries and a few witches camped under the redwoods for three days and nights of music, electric light and partying in the water. Laura and I dove in deep.

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To learn more visit www.raindancepresents.com

The first Bohemian Ball and Masquerade Party – Sacramento California
Saturday, April 10^th, 2010

“Bohemian” – a person with artistic or intellectual tendencies, who lives and acts with no regard for conventional rules of behavior – often a wanderer, adventurer, or vagabond.
– American College Dictionary

The immortal bohemian spirit raged all night and into the dawn as San Francisco’s alternative arts scene converged with local bohemians in the state’s capitol to create a night of sensual music, dance, art and magic.

Set in an antique Edwardian mansion along the river front, the sensually light atmosphere was cloaked in smoke from hookas and fire dancing as live and exotic DJ music filled the air, while cabaret and burlesque acts performed seductively. Bohemians sipped on liquid love elixirs while savoring art, fashion, passion, dance and conversation.

This feels like the beginning of hot romance between Bay Area Bohemians and their kindred spirits in the Capitol. Long live the Bohemian spirit and Ball!

Visit www.BohoBall.com for future Bohemian Ball events and a list of all the talented performers.

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But after almost three years of roaming across the amazing continent of North America, I’ve finally found a place I can call home – Fairfax, California.

Fairfax, California

It has a small town friendly feel yet a global outlook. It is nestled in and around tree covered hills near the Pacific Ocean forty minutes North of Golden Gate Bridge and   San Francisco.

Fairfax, California (population 7,400 eclectic and open minded people) has solitude and stimulation, a yoga and meditation center as well as a honkytonk bar and jazz lounge, plenty of great food, including an organic food store. It has a cultural bias towards raising consciousness rather than dumbing it down. I’ve come to think of Fairfax as an intentional community with the facade of a small town.

The area is also a great vast playground for Destiny to roam – from the Pacific coastal drive to the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

I’ve explored the outer world in search of knowledge, adventure and inspiration. I found plenty of it. But now it’s time for the inner journey. To look within and explore the inner universe in this sweet and fertile place.

I’ve settled into a rustic cottage in the wooded hills – a short walk into downtown Fairfax. My new place is quiet, cozy and simple. I look forward to sharing it with friends and family.

My Cottage in Fairfax.

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Yes, I know there is no paradise on earth since Eve and Adam ate the apple. But Fairfax is the sweetest most livable spot for me that I’ve found in our flawed and mortal world. I’ve already made some wonderful friends who I look forward to getting to know better.

People of Fairfax and Nearby

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Fairfax has a sense of humor.

Perhaps as much as the natural beauty, it’s the colorful people and quirky character of Fairfax that makes me love it. This town also knows how to laugh at itself. Tune into “Fax News” online for facetious local reports and brilliant satires on new age life in the village of Fairfax. Some of my favorite episodes include a report on the local “New Age Economy” and a shocking report of a man involved with something called a “full time job”. Visit “Fax News” at http://www.faxnews.blip.tv

Fax News – Providing Fairfax and the world with self effacing humor and satirical news!

For more information on Fairfax, check out short documentary below – “Mayberry on Acid”. This short was screened at the annual Fairfax Documentary Short Festival, in which the entries are created within a two day period.

“Mayberry on Acid” – A twisted look at the town of Fairfax.

The Fairfax Village Network

For a more in depth look on the quirky nature of Fairfax, check out the local directory of services available for trade in Fairfax at the Fairfax Village Network. It lists over two hundred people offering such services as “Dolphin Energy Healer, Feng Shui Artist, Creator of Vortexes, Wiccan Priestess, Providing Space Clearing, Earth Acupuncture, Shamanism, Channel/Medium, Angel Communicator and of course “Life coach” . . .

Apparently there’s plenty of citizens available to unblock your chakras, realign your aura and heal your psyche. But who’s unblocking the clogged toilets and rewiring the houses rather than the neural pathways? For such mundane and terrestrial concerns check the local yellow pages.

Now that I’ve moved to town, I’ve decided to give back to my new community by creating my own profile on the Fairfax Village Network (see Digital Vagabond). I’m now available for consultations focused on empowering aspiring vagabonds to “Make the world their office and playground”. I’m currently offering a 100% discount off my normal $325 per hour virtual rate.

Come Visit

It’s been a long strange trip from the Midwest to Fairfax (see my “New Age Make Over” for details). But I feeling very at home in this funky wooded town. Come visit and let me show you this sweet slice of paradise lost.

We can dance our bliss at the dance center, swim in the ocean at night after steaming in a sweat lodge on the beach, build a bond fire in the woods during the full moon, relax in the hot springs in the mountains, or cross the Golden Gate or take a ferry boat from Sausalito and play in that adult amusement park known as San Francisco.

My new Backyard – Point Reyes National Seashore and West Marin

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My new front yard – Funky San Fransisco Bay

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Can the miracle of love transform a room full of strangers into intimate loving friends in only one weekend? Yes, it can. I know this after participating this past weekend in the Human Awareness Institute’s (HAI) workshop “Love is a miracle“.

Love is a miracle. Love can transform people’s hearts and minds and heal old wounds that years of clinical psychoanalysis can barely diagnose. But love requires us to be open to giving and receiving it. If we hide behind our walls because we fear rejection, shame or vulnerability love will not pass through.

I’ve come to realize that I’ve spent many years hiding behind the protective walls that I built. But recently my walls have begun to crack and fall down (see Born Again Burner for a glimpse of this heart opening). In venturing out beyond my crumbling walls I’ve discovered that love is abundant when we are open to making and receiving it. There is no shortage of love when we create and share it. It is a truly abundant and renewable resource when we let it flow.

During the HAI “Love is a Miracle” workshop many walls cracked and crumbled. Love, forgiveness, compassion and empathy flooded the room like water let free from a breaking dam. Its powerful currents washed away the residue of old hurt, dissolved blocks, and smoothed away our sharp edges.

Love is a miracle. It’s priceless and far more valuable than any material gift. What we all gave and received in the “Room of Love” that weekend was the ultimate present – to be present for each other. We were the ultimate gift.

In the “Room of Love” there were no clocks and no rushing past each other to complete the next task. The frantic treadmill of modern life was checked some where outside the door. We were fully present for each other. Listening intently and sharing compassionately. Wow, to really listen and be heard. What a moving gift the miracle of love truly is.

Forty strangers entered the room of love on Friday night and by Sunday night we were transformed into heart felt friends. It began with sharing our heart and soul with one other person, then with a small group and ultimately with the entire room.

Like ripples moving outward, the love and intimacy we shared became more expansive. Could such love and empathy ripple out and envelope the whole world?

When will the “Room of Love” become the world of love? When will we slow down, stop and take the time to look into each other’s eyes and see that we are one? When will we stop judging and start loving? When is the time to “Be Love”? Could it be right now?

Yes, Love is a miracle.

To read what others have to say about the HAI Love, Intimacy and Sexuality workshops, click here.

Human Awareness Institute (HAI) Workshops are held in the San Francisco Bay area, Michigan, Massachusetts, Toronto, the UK, Germany and Australia. To learn more visit www.hai.org

Always biased toward the dramatic, Hollywood portrays December 21^st, 2012 as the end of time predicted by Mayan astronomers over one thousand years ago. The Hollywood version of 2012 envisions most of California cracking up and sliding into the ocean, while the rest of the world fares little better. “2012” the movie is the ultimate disaster apocalypse movie, far out doing even the disaster movies of the anxious 1970’s.

But what did the Mayan’s actually predict would happen in 2012? What do today’s 2012 experts believe? Fortunately the truth may be far more hopeful than the Hollywood version.

While many see our present way of living and thinking coming to a head by 2012, some believe that we will move through this turbulent time and into an era of enlightened global human consciousness and a new harmonious world. How chaotic and traumatic this transition may be is not clear, even to 2012 experts. Some believe it depends on the willingness and ability of people to let go of the past and evolve a more enlightened consciousness that will transcend our past attachments and delusions.

Contrary to popular belief, December 21^st, 2012 does not mark the end of time in the advanced Mayan calendar. Rather this date is the end of the Mayan Calendar’s “Great Cycle” and the beginning of a new cycle that coincides with a galactic synchronization in which the earth and sun align with the center of our galaxy. Such a galactic alignment is confirmed by present day astronomy. Some “2012 experts” speculate that this galactic synchronization will have a powerful positive and evolutionary influence on human consciousness.

Is it possible that our modern era of ecological and human exploitation is fast approaching its day of reckoning? Are humans waking up to the idea of creating a new world in which love and connection push fear and greed into the shadows?

I suspect that most humans will not evolve past our current way of life until our current way of life is recognized as being unsustainable and bankrupt. But it appears to me that the veil on our unconscious illusions/delusions are being pulled back through out the world. Ultimately the choice is ours.

What are your thoughts about 2012 and beyond? Feel free to post your comments below.

For a more optimistic view of 2012 see below:

The 40^th Anniversary Celebration of Woodstock in San Francisco

When I was in my early twenties during the 1980’s era of Ronald Reagan, AIDS, “Peace Keeper Missiles”, and preppy conservative kids – I wondered what happened to “Woodstock Nation“. What happened to this great wave of peace and love that was going to wash the whole world clean of war, hate and poverty? What happened to the nearly half a million young people who celebrated love, peace and music near Woodstock, NY during 1969?

Had it been merely a fad that fell out of fashion like bell-bottom jeans and day glow? Or does Woodstock still impact us today?

I now believe that love – the very glue that holds us together – is a classic that never completely goes out of fashion. Love and the spirit of Woodstock certainly made a strong come back at “West Fest” the 40 year anniversary celebration in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. This free event drew over 70,000 people who came to listen to speakers and the 42 bands that played on 3 stages.

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The Magic Love Bus –

Some of the sweetest moments for me were on top of the Magic Love Bus, while basking in the sun surrounded by lovely people and an intimate birds eye view of one of the main music stages.

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Scotty, the Magic Bus Tripmiester, waved the flag of peace and love above the sea of people and invited others to also wave the flag.

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On this day of celebration, love and peace reigned supreme and the spirit of Woodstock could be heard in the park and seen on the faces of those who came to reincarnate Woodstock Nation.

Peace Out.

Now for a Woodstock Flashback Video –

The annual post Burning Man “Decompression” Party in San Francisco

Going back to the “default world” of traffic jams, strangers and the hustle and bustle can be a shock after living for a week in a utopia of human creativity and acceptance during the Burning Man Festival. To ease the shock many burners attend “decompression” parties a few weeks after the Burning Man Festival in various cities to get a one day fix of Burning Man creativity and culture.

While it’s not the full on Burning Man community that lives and thrives in the Black Rock Desert in Nevada for a week each year, it’s enough of a fix to keep most burners from spiraling into withdrawal.

The culture and spirit of Burning Man live on before and after this annual one week event. A “Burner” is still a Burner, even when returned to the “default world”. Most take the spirit of creativity and unconditional acceptance they experienced home with them when they leave the Burning Man Festival. Burning Man is far more than a one week festival. It’s a cultural phenomenon.

For those who want to tune in and get their fix of life in the Black Rock Desert, we’ve created Black Rock TV.org. This webcast will be feeding the good news from Black Rock worldwide through out the year. Highlights from Black Rock TV were projected during this years San Francisco Decompression party.

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Check it out at www.BlackRockTv.org, subscribe for updates and consider joining the Black Rock TV news team in the desert during next years Burn.

Be Well and Burn Bright!

Photos from the 2009 San Francisco Decompression Party

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