The Ojai Post

Memorial Day Weekend

Demitri Corbin — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:44:31 +0000

Libbey Park will be quite busy this coming Saturday with Art in the Park and a concert by Lissie. Mark your calendars and look out for an interview with Lissie exclusively on the Ojai Post.

Twenty-Five Concepts of Photographic Composition to be Illustrated at Ojai Photo Club Meeting

Myrna Cambianica — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:55:20 +0000

Ojai, CA) Ojai Photography Club President Dean Zatkowsky will lead a discussion of photographic composition at the organization’s May 21^st meeting, 7:00 PM, at Help of Ojai’s Little House, 111 Santa Ana Street, in Ojai. Monthly presentations are part of the Ojai Photography Club’s community service outreach and visitors are welcome to attend.

John McCutcheon performing at the 2013 Ojai Storytelling Festival. According to Zatkowsky, an understanding of composition helps a photographer lead the viewer's eye into and through a photograph. McCutcheon image by Dean Zatkowsky.

Using the “Rule of Thirds” and “Golden Section” as points of departure, Zatkowsky will share simple concept illustrations from Welsh photographer Martin Turner, and then display club member photos that further illustrate the concepts.

A longtime marketing executive and current Communications Manager for the Santa Barbara-based Orfalea Foundation, Zatkowsky is an accomplished photographer whose dance and theater work is regularly featured in local publications. His wit, writing and photography may be viewed on a regular basis in his “Camera Club Confidential” blog: cameraclubconfidential.com

The Ojai Photography Club, which is devoted to education, inspiration, and camaraderie, meets on the third Tuesday of each month, February – November. Only members may submit images for critique. For more information, please visit ojaiphotoclub.com.

The Dance of Story and Prayer ~ Sacred Feminine Gathering

asaraha — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:32:41 +0000

THE DANCE OF STORY & PRAYER ~ a women’s day of re-storying our lives ~ through dance, expressive voice, and sacred circle. A day to share in the celebration of women’s culture, our sweet and sacred bodies, the expressiveness of our voice, and the ancient soul of wild and sacred wisdom alive in our veins…

Saturday, May 18th : OJAI, CA
At THE WELL ~ 214 West Aliso Street, Ojai, CA
$85 for the full day, including optional kiva fire ceremony

Welcome Women! We are so looking forward to a luscious day of celebrating together, of movement and prayer and reconnection… …and of mirrors and reflection ~ as we will use the wisdom of the circle to reflect, inspire, and cultivate one another’s soul story. Yes, we will dance ourselves awake to all those goodies we hold inside, and bring them to life! We will prepare the fertile grounds of our being, and have a fantastic time dancing and singing our way back to the vibrancy of our soulful selves!

Come! Dance with us! Enter the mysteries of the sacred feminine, as rooted in her primordial womb, the birthplace of all creation… We have prepared a temple for you, both ancient and new, on the soil of this ancient earth, in the voices of these wisdom stones. Come, listen, hear the wind as she sings through us, the water as she runs through our veins, the earth as she begs us to dance, the fire that ignites our wild selves! We await you…

SATURDAY May 18th 9:30am – 5pm, workshop
SATURDAY NIGHT, 8-10pm Kiva Fire Ceremony
(optional)SUNDAY MORNING movement practice ~ free and open to the co-ed public!

Ixeeya will also be available for PRIVATE SESSIONS on Sunday (Womb Sessions, Abdominal Massage, Shamanic and Earth Centered Ritual Healing). Email Ixeeya for details and to book yours…

About Ixeeya:
Ixeeya is a Sacred Dancer, Shamanic Healer and Facilitator. Ixeeya is passionate about bringing women together to remember heal and transform through Dance, Ritual, Circle and Womb Centering. Trained extensively in South Indian Temple Dance, Shamanism, Yoga, Somatic Healing, Women’s Culture and Dance,her offerings are a journey home to authenticity devotion and wild creative life force! www.womenstent.org

Ariana Saraha, mystical songstress, in concert with sacred dancer, Ixeeya

asaraha — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:08:46 +0000

Join us for an evening celebrating the sacred feminine…
With mystical world-songstress Ariana Saraha, and shamanic dancer Ixeeya

Friday, May 17th, 7-9pm
At The Well, 214 West Aliso Street, Ojai
$15 at the door supports the traveling gypsy arts!

We invite you into the intimate heart of the sacred feminine, to experience her most raw, primordial, precise and delicate form. Distilled down to its essence, you will see the intricate weavings of this exquisite and soulful artistry; as it expresses in the fingertips and undulations of Ixeeya’s storydance, in the spiraling crescendos and evocative whispers of Ariana’s song. You will feel the pulse of life, as it echoes through the rhythms in the hands and feet of these two women. Together, Ariana and Ixeeya have been creating an alchemy of sound and vision for many years, drawing audiences into the deep wilds of the ancient soul through their enchanting and transformative gifts… A sensual and sacred feast, not to be missed!

About Ariana:
At once earthy and ethereal, Ariana’s lush voice and exquisite compositions take the listener on a mystical and soulful journey. Most often compared to Celtic singer Loreena McKennitt, Ariana is a spellbinding artist, escorting audiences into realms untouched by the day-to-day. The exotic fusion of sounds that inspire her music draw upon her gypsy roots, traditional music of India and the Middle-East, and Celtic and Spanish flavorings. Through her entrancing melodies, sultry grooves, and compelling lyricism, Ariana becomes a siren for the soulfully seeking. She does so in the most enchanting way, through the uncommon passion and lush purity of her angelic voice. www.arianasaraha.com

About Ixeeya:
Storydancer/sacred dancer, Ixeeya seamlessly weaves the roots of her training in South Indian classical dance (bharatanatyam), Oriental (“belly”) dance, Flamenco, yoga, and her understanding of the ceremonial arts, and has danced on such diverse stages from sacred ceremony to touring extensively with the shamanic rock band Kan’Nal. Don’t miss her eclectic and powerful invocation to the wild wisdom that is woman embodied. “My dance became the elements, she became the goddess, the warrior, the gypsy, the mother. When the women saw me dance they remembered something ancient, something that is awakening in all of us.” www.womenstent.org

Ojai Day Vendor Applications Now Available

Tyler Suchman — Wed, 15 May 2013 18:05:06 +0000

press release from the City…

Applications are now available for vendors wanting to be a part of Ojai Day 2013. Traditionally held on the third Saturday in October, which falls on October 19 this year, the annual street fair will include its usual mix of vendors, musicians and entertainers on Ojai Avenue and in Libbey Park.

Vendors and groups who would like to participate in the annual street fair and community festival will find the vendor applications at the Recreation Department office in Sarzotti Park, City Hall, and on the Ojai Day website, www.ojaiday.com.

Applications submitted with all associated fees by July 15 will receive a 10% reduction. A 15% late submission fee will be added to applications postmarked after September 2, and a 25% late submission fee will be added to applications postmarked after September 30.

Each year this event attracts artists, businesses, and non-profits who come to Ojai Day to sell their wares, raise funds for their groups, or provide information about their organizations. Thousands of visitors come to downtown Ojai on this special occasion to take part in everything from the street painting of the colorful, mandala on Ojai Avenue to the festivities of Ojai Night. It’s an event that is uniquely Ojai.

For more information, please contact the Ojai Day coordinator at (805) 646-5581 ext. 304 or at coordinator@ojaiday.com.

“There’s another threat to the area’s wildlife, a completely silent one, deliberately created by many homeowners.”

Suza Francina — Wed, 15 May 2013 15:15:02 +0000

Guest Editorial by Sholom Joshua

Signal Street, north of Grand Avenue, is a gateway to two of Ojai’s most popular trails. On any given day, cars (including motorcades), hikers, people with children, dogs, or horses—all come up the Signal Street hill on their way to the trails. It’s like a pilgrimage of sorts.

I wonder how many outdoor-bound people think about the wildlife that live in the greater area surrounding the trails.

It’s not just the cars as they speed up and down the hill, or the noise of people holding gabfests at their parked cars. There’s another threat to the area’s wildlife, a completely silent one, deliberately created by many homeowners. It’s the walls and fences that have gone up on so many residential properties. Walls of stone, fences of wire, neatly wedded to the earth so completely that even a frog or lizard can’t get through. Where wildlife used to roam, now they are left to fend for themselves on the edges of the street. They get hit by cars, they panic at having nowhere to go.

The situation is not only inhumane, it is totally contrary to the idea of low density housing, that idea being to coexist with nature. And yes, I know that rattlesnakes pose a threat to family pets in this season. So create a protected play area for your dog, preferably one that can be removed in the fall. But to close off an entire multi-acre property to wildlife is plain wrong.

Nature is more than open space and trees. It is also where many wondrous animals live. People who live in the foothills should be especially sensitive to not creating impassable barriers for wildlife.

Note: Featured Letter, Ojai Valley News, May 15, 2013: “Cars and people aren’t the only danger to wildlife in the foothills of Ojai.”

Sholom Joshua
Ojai
646-0458
sjoshua@ojaimail.net

Second Annual Gathering of the Ages; 8 World Cultural Leaders Converging at The Ojai Foundation

adamrumack — Tue, 14 May 2013 17:31:09 +0000

MAJOR 3-DAY GATHERING OF WORLD INDIGENOUS CULTURAL LEADERS AND REGIONAL YOUTH AT THE OJAI FOUNDATION LAND SANCTUARY

OJAI, CA, MAY 12, 2013: From June 14-16, 8 major spiritual & cultural leaders from indigenous traditions around the world will converge at The Ojai Foundation’s Land Sanctuary in Ojai, CA. This second annual “Gathering of the Ages” will mark the 2013 Summer Solstice and bring together keepers of various wisdom traditions, youth, elders, and people of all ages to share brilliant ideas, heartfelt dialogue, and cultural ceremony.

The program begins at 4 PM on June 14, 2013 with a tour of the Land Sanctuary, a light dinner, and an opening/welcoming ceremony. The program continues through Sunday, with multiple concurrent indigenous teaching sessions, group Councils, Qi Qong/Yoga sessions, music, shared meals, a presentation by Generation Waking Up, and more. Youth sponsorships are available and being offered to regional youth in need.

Featured guests include Chief Arvol Looking Horse, Spiritual Leader of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nation (Friday night only); Uqualla, Havasupai Tribal Member (people of the blue-green waters, of the Grand Canyon), Medical Intuitive, Sacred Orator, and Storyteller; Sobonfu Some from the Dagara traditions of Burkina Faso, West Afrika, Julie Tumamait-Stenslie, Matriarch, History and Tradition Keeper of the Chumash people of the Awhai (Ojai) Valley; Tat Ome Aka Ehekatl Erick Gonzalez and Nan Heddi Neale, Mayan Ajq’ij (Daykeepers/Timekeepers), Founder/President of Tinamit Junan Uleu- Earth Peoples United; Ladamira, Slavic Siberian Shaman; Art Cisneros, Sacred Firekeeper and Elder of the Chumash Nation and Storyteller; and Venessa Kay, Bayesmana Kewanyama (Hopi Water Girl from the High Mountain), Sacred Plant Ethnobotanist, Puebloan Native, indigenous trader, and advocate for rainforest sustainability.

The Ojai Foundation (TOF) is a 501c3 non-profit organization committed to fostering practices that awaken connection to self, others and the natural world. Council, the practice of listening and speaking from the heart, is TOF’s core offering.

Council practice draws from cultures around the world and throughout time, employing a range of communicative contexts and forms. In addition to Council, TOF promotes sustainable community through intercultural exchange, seasonal celebrations, and permaculture education and land management practices.

For more information about The Ojai Foundation’s work in Southern California and around the world, please contact Adam Rumack at 805-646-8343 or email outreach@ojaifoundation.org.

For retreat center reservation, booking, or program information, please email contact@ojaifoundation.org.

Sky Coyote Wilderness boundaries

Millennium Twain — Fri, 10 May 2013 17:20:26 +0000

This week the Forest Service is taking recommendations on our new Los Padres Wilderness proposal.

As Matilija University is not permitted to engage in lobbying activities, we will simply advise on the process, and engage the Forest Service to block off a small section of the Divide Peak OHV road, from say Noon Peak East.

Meanwhile I will set up an information site for discussion of the needs/attributes of a Sky Coyote Wilderness … Anyone familiar with the territory can advise us, and direct us to Forest Service, OVLC, LPFW and other group individuals who can also advise us on the best or easiest boundaries to achieve. Bottom line, the greater Divide Peak, King’s Crest, Chismahoo, Heron Peak, White Ledge and Matilija Peaks area — aka “Eastern Santa Ynez Mountains” — ‘Steer’ Creek, Rincon (Roadrunner) Creek, Coyote Creek to Santa Ana Creek Watersheds, to Willis and Kennedy Canyons — must all be off-limits to vehicles, guns, alcohol, etc. and otherwise protected to the best of our abilities …

Boundary recommendations are being accepted from the public for the next few days, addressed to Los Padres Forest Supervisor Peggy Hernandez … http://www.fs.usda.gov/contactus/lpnf/about-forest/contactus

Invitation to the Krishnamurti May Gathering: The Meditative Mind

Suza Francina — Fri, 10 May 2013 15:17:45 +0000

We invite you to our Annual Gathering, May 11th and 12th, 2013, taking place at the Krishnamurti Educational Center (KEC) in Ojai. Friends both local and from across the United States come to listen to speakers, participate in discussions and dialogues, attend workshops, and simply hang out with friends old and new. The event will take place at the Krishnamurti Educational Center campus and the Pepper Tree Retreat, the location of K’s former home.

Program Schedule

Krishnamurti Educational Center
1070 McAndrew Road, Ojai, California

****

Journal Writing for Self-Awareness

“Writing down what one thinks and feels, one’s desires and reactions, brings about an inward awareness, the cooperation of the unconscious with the conscious, and this in turn leads to integration and understanding.” –J. Krishnamurti, The Book of Life

I’ll be reading some short passages from Krishnamurti’s journals (as well as my own) at my Journal Writing for Self-Awareness workshop this Saturday morning, May 11, from 10:30 till 12:15. This is a free event, part of the May Gathering.

I attended Krishnamurti’s talks at the Oak Grove, and also heard him in Saanen, Switzerland, one summer. Over the years I became friends with many of the people who came to Ojai to hear Krishnamurti, including Beatrice Wood, Alan and Helen Hooker of Ranch House fame, and Frank and Bennie Noyes, who started Live Oak School on Orange Road. There, while living in a tiny trailer on the edge of an orange orchard, I tutored, cleaned, cooked, and cared for my toddler son. Back then I had endless energy, and almost everything was great fun.

Alan Hooker used to walk into the kitchen, roll up his sleeves, and make multiple loaves of oat and prune bread. He would also show us hippie chicks how to grind and chop nuts, celery, carrots, onions, and mushrooms for nut burgers or nut loaf.

While I’ve been journaling for more than 40 years (50 if you count my high school and Haight-Ashbury diaries), I’m new at teaching journal writing to people who might feel inhibited when faced with a blank page. I’ll see if I can nudge those who want to journal into putting their innermost random thoughts and observations on paper. I’m filled with a kind of joyful trepidation, along with curiosity about who will show up.

The nature descriptions in Krishnamurti’s journal, Krishnamurti to Himself: His Last Journal, are so simple, timeless, and moving. The book consists of observations made between February 25, 1983, and March 30, 1984, toward the end of his life. We here in Ojai can walk the “little village” as well as the East End, Horn Canyon, and all the trails he took high up in the mountains, and see all the places that he described with such depth and sensitivity.

I remember now how many early evenings I would be in my garden on Thacher Road, picking zucchini squash or digging trenches for chicken wire in an endless battle to keep gophers at bay. Krishnamurti would walk by, and the neighbor’s little dog would come running out onto the street, yapping at his heels and threatening his companions. The dog would often follow them a little way down Thacher, and Krishnamurti would turn around, bend over, and, arms waving toward our driveway, tell the little nuisance dog, “Shoo . . . shoo . . . shoo. . .”

This gave me a bit more time to observe Krishnamurti, and sometimes I’d have to run to the street and scoop the dog up. Back then, at age twenty, I was still painfully shy, and never took the opportunity to say a friendly hello.Today, Krishnamurti’s journals serve to remind me how journal writing not only makes us ever more aware of our automatic thought processes and responses, but strengthens our powers of observation and awareness of ourselves, other people, nature, and all the rest of life.

***

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

Workshop Series to Explore Bau-Biologie® and Conscious Building Design Begins May 14

cgrier — Thu, 09 May 2013 16:16:43 +0000

Winston Churchill once said, “We shape our buildings, and afterwards, our buildings shape us”. Shaping a building is no easy feat, requiring a careful planning process by qualified professionals, followed by exquisite attention to detail by craft persons and skilled trades people.

We often forget how significantly a building can, in turn, shape us. With the average North American spending 90 percent of their life indoors, it would be prudent to create healthy homes, schools, and workplaces, free of toxins in our indoor air and tap water. In today’s world of wireless and radio frequency technologies, we need protection from electromagnetic pollutants as well.

Our homes and other built environments represent one of the biggest investments we will ever make of our time, energy, and money. They are a life long focus of concern, and have the opportunity to be a source of well being. Simple, often cost saving, strategies to consciously create a healthy home or workplace will be offered in an upcoming workshop series provided by Healthy Eco Home and EcoLogic Life – green design resource center, both located in the Ojai Design Center.

The first workshop beginning on Tuesday, May 14 is titled “Introduction to Bau-Biologie® & Conscious Building Design”. Bau-Biologie®, translates to Building Biology, and is a practice that was brought from Germany to North America by the renowned architect Helmut Ziehe. Following the principles of Bau-Biologie® helps to create built environments that support and encourage human health and wellness. These principles shed light on an understanding of the vital, complex relationship between the natural and built environments, and the means for merging these environments into greater harmony.

Using nature as the Gold Standard, sacred geometry and natural archetypes can inspire building design, allowing us to co-create with nature rather than conquering it. This workshop will include handouts of the 25 Principles of Bau-Biologie®, and a link to the online Healthy Home Quiz to help to identify issues in your own home or workplace.

The presenter for this workshop is Jon Cotham of Healthy Eco Home & Jon Cotham Construction, regionally recognized for his work around environmental inspections, building performance & energy audits, and healthy/eco/“green” building. Jon’s background is unique among Building Consultants and licensed General Contractors. Being a Certified Building Biologist Environmental Inspector & Consultant, trained by the Institute of Building Biology & Ecology (IBE), allows him to offer specialized solutions. Jon also has other extensive specialized training and certifications including Building Performance Institute (BPI) Building Analyst Professional, EPA Lead-Safe RRP Contractor, IBE Advanced Natural Building Training, and Infraspection Institute Level I Certified Infrared Thermographer.

Future workshops to be included in the series are;

Simple Solutions to Reduce EMF Exposure
Recipe for a Green & Gorgeous Kitchen Indoors & Out
Simple Solutions & Passive Techniques for Energy Efficiency
Color Harmony for Well Being – Evoke, Define, and Inspire
Simple Solutions to Identify & Prevent Mold
Healthy Growing Environments for Children and Precious Pets

The first workshop in the series, “Introduction to Bau-Biologie® (Building Biology) & Conscious Building Design” takes place on Tuesday, May 14 from 4:00pm – 6:00pm at the Ojai Design Center, located at 111 W. Topa Topa Street, Ojai, CA 93023. Space is limited to 11 participants, and registration is required either online at http://ecologiclife.com/workshops/ or by calling 805-648-2626. A registration fee of $10 is required in advance to reserve a space. For more information email info@ecologiclife.com.

http://ecologiclife.squarespace.com/storage/Flyer—Intro-to-Bau-Biologie-WEB