Part 1 Looking Back
The stars are aligning to reveal a cycle in our collective myth creation that was highlighted and brought into collective prayer at the Grand Conjunction (‘conjunction” in astrology means two or more planets very close to each other in the sky) on the winter solstice of 2020. The specialness of this conjunction is the once in roughly 30 years meeting of Jupiter and Saturn together in the sky. It was a time for connecting seven generations of ancestors (Saturn) and seven generations of descendants (Jupiter) and to listen to what they were communicating to each individual around the fire. The felt sensation in the group was that of clarifying and vibrating with the vision of an Aquarian Society of radically free and responsible interdependent beings within a framework of coordinated relationships of “Self”, “Other-Self”, and the “Land”. The link with the Aquarian vision was that Jupiter and Saturn were in the first degree of Aquarius and so many of us have been waiting for this mythical dawning of the “Age of Aquarius”. The intention of the openers of this prayer space was to ground and allow a connection point for the Spirit that resides in all of us to have a space to co-create on the Spiritual, Mental, and Physical planes in deep harmony with Nature. Everyone who was there contributed and were recognized for their gifts that they brought.
That night around 70 people sat around a fire under a crystal clear sky witnessing the majesty of the stars and sharing the prayers that were received in the space that would later be the first communal structure. This became the home of so many mystical gatherings of indigenous elder teachings, Taco Tuesday celebrations, meetings to birth the constitution of the DBC and the creation of the Costa Rican Collective Association Asociación Puente Diamante Collectiva, Root Camp, and a large list that continues to touch the hearts of many around the world wherever they find themselves now.
This morning at 4:15 there was a full moon in the last degree of Capricorn (just one degree away from where the Grand Conjunction was in 2020). There is so much that could be said about the nature of full moons, and for the benefit of brevity, I will describe it as a time for reflection and viewing our creations/intentions. With the full moon at the Last Degree of Capricorn we get the highest/deepest vantage point for the longest view. As the moon is reflecting the light from the region of the sky that was so alive for us then, I feel inspired to give a super concise recap of some of the highlights and low points on the journey of the last 3.5 years.
We have planted and done our best to care for about a hectare of food forest with the help of many hands. We have guided and helped more that 200 Hands on the Land participants to reconnect with their mother earth and their breath through reverent and mindful action/inaction. We have had epic experiences of collective coordination while planting, building, and celebrating. We have supported many people through different threshold moments in their lives, including one special soul who asked to receive our support while he was leaving his body due to a brain tumor. We have given sanctuary to those who just need a little love and a space to reconnect to their center in very trying times in their lives. We have built beautiful simple spaces with bamboo and have learned much about the care, maintenance, and harvesting of bamboo clumps. We have inspired many to find their path to interdependence and have connected a large network of earth aligned activists and projects. We have put the land into Trust and set aside a portion of the land as a collectively stewarded commons for coordinated regeneration to be operated by the DBC. We have been developing our culture of giving first and are finding clarity and alignment within the current contributors.
And we have started to receive our 1st fruits from these planting of seeds (metaphorically and physically). The food we have eaten from the land includes, yucca, sweet potatoes, bele hibiscus, chaya, turmeric, ginger, katuk, limes, lemons, lemongrass, mint, oregano, malanga, tiquisque/taro, bananas, sesame, chan, biriba, guanabana, cacao, avocado, jackfruit, and soon to be tarap.
The amount that we have accomplished including all of the relationships with our local and regional neighbors and coordination systems has been very prolific. We have done our best to be very fair and transparent and we make improvements to the systems through feedback and iteration. We are maturing and growing, without a doubt.
We have also experienced lack of communication when frictions arise, we have witnessed and participated in breakdowns in integrity, and sometimes downright lies have been uncovered, many times to ourselves first and then it spills out to the community. We have worked with people who feel that their expectations were not met, and that the words and actions of the founders have been called into question. We have had outbursts of anger and yelling. We have invested in people and financial opportunities that turned out to be learnings on what not to do. We have made decisions that have been second guessed and utterly blamed when these decisions were not “successful”. We have been co-dependant within the living arrangements at the land and at times we have been downright abusive to each other verbally and emotionally. We have made decisions without following our own created processes because there was time sensitivity or a sense of urgency to “just get something done”. We have felt restrained and blocked from simple solutions because of inability to come to an agreement. We have come to agreements just in time for people to change their mind or leave or just not do what they agreed to for good and not so good reasons. We have cleaned up mountains of unwanted items (mostly trash) that people left while living here. We have experienced one of our founding partners going through the uncovering of his past actions that were criminal in the eyes of society and dangerous in the eyes of many, and the process of him trying to heal those actions with his family has him in jail in the states.
And with all of these things, gratitude is so present today on this day of reflection. This is absolutely the best training ground in the world for integrating and testing your dreams and your willingness for inner work. The shadow cannot hide in the light of the inner work that is required in this process of coordinating our relationships with Self, Other-self, and the Land. So much gratitude for the witnessing of so many people improving their lives by taking part in this journey. It has not been easy but it has been so worth it to have the experience and to have the goo-ification process. The reforming into the next iteration of “land ~healing~hand~hand~healing~land” is quite the blessing as it is unfolding.
We have had such a full power journey and with that, inspiration to share a quote from Padmashambava, the great Tibetan Yogi, as he said, “Enlightenment happens in an instant, but deconditioning is a process”. May we all be looking backward and forward to see where we are on our path of awakening. Here is the invitation for you to do the same assessing of the structure of your life and actions you have taken in the last 3.5 years. Look with humility and sobriety at where you are and what you are creating as you step forward now.
Part 2 - How the Myth relates to our Evolution - Re-membering the Narrative… coming soon
