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Peace Talk January/February 2010

Peter Calhoun Workshop January 29-31

Peter Calhoun and Astrid Ganz will present for the first time
Peter Calhoun
 
 
The Sacred Path of the Four Elements
 
Astrid Ganz
 
 
Join us for this life transforming experience!
 
Featuring Fire Walking; Air, Earth, and Water Ceremonies; Drumming; Music; Chanting; Dance; Guided Meditations; and powerful “Doings” and “Non-Doings” for opening portals to the energetic world to develop deep enduring connections with the Nature Elements and the Primal Forces of Creation.
Dates: Friday, January 29, to Sunday, January 31
 
Time: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm daily
 
For directions: visit www.centerforpeace.us or call the Center at 865-428-3070
 
For information on the workshop: call Peter at 865-414-2091
 
Cost: $375 ($395 after January 15)
 
Please note, registration will be limited. Register online using PayPal or mail your check (payable to “Center for Peace”) to:
 
Center for Peace
(Four Elements Workshop)
880 Graves Delozier Road
Seymour, TN 37865
 
•    Bring food to share for lunch each day
•    Feel free to bring any drums, rattles, flutes or other instruments
•    Wear comfortable and warm clothing and dress in layers; we will be both inside and outside during the workshop
•    Out-of town-guests, please note that Sevierville, TN, is a 20-minute drive and offers numerous motels and restaurants.
 
Peter Calhoun may be one of the very few in the West to have awakened the siddhis (soul powers) and developed what traditionally has been called a command over the Elements or the primal forces of Creation. He has demonstrated these abilities before groups numerous times, especially during outdoor programs and ceremonies.
 
Peter is author of the Hay House book Soul on Fire, an account of the miraculous experiences that accompanied his journey.  Peter and his equally talented partner Astrid have conducted workshops throughout the United States and Canada and are currently working with small groups of apprentices.
 
The Path of the Four Elements
 
In both Vedic Tradition and cross cultural shamanism, The Path of the Four Elements has been understood to be an impeccable path to self-mastery and Enlightenment. It has been the path of many of the masters.
For the first time Peter and his talented partner Astrid will offer an in depth three-day seminar on this path. Much of the time will be spent in learning how to connect energetically with these Primal Forces of Creation and the wonderful beings that work with these powers and who have so much to teach us.
In both shamanic and Vedic traditions, mastery over the four elements reflects self-mastery within. Mastery over a single element has been seen as an accomplishment, but mastery over all is extremely rare.
Peter may be one of the few in the West who has come close to achieving this mastery. Within the last few years, however, his partner Astrid has also demonstrated many of these same abilities. Together, Peter and Astrid promise to teach these methods that work so extraordinarily for them and which they believe can work for all.
These abilities are within each of us, they maintain, and by letting go of the limiting belief systems that have shackled us, and by changing our perceptions of the world and who we are, these powers begin to unfold and the limitlessness of our true nature becomes transparent for all to see.

Information and Registration for Four Elements Workshop

Beading Workshop

Beading Workshop at The Center for Peace
Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 1pm – 3pm
 
Taught by Dian Garrett
 
 
There is an opportunity at the Center for Peace to learn the ancient art of beading.  We are very fortunate to have Dian Garrett, an experienced teacher who first learned this art at the age of 16 from her native Cherokee mother. She will be available to help you with your various projects and to teach you the correct manner in which to proceed.
 
It is hopeful that this will be an ongoing event where we can continue to work on our beading skills. Dian is very gifted and has studied and mastered the beading styles used to identify the various Native tribes.
 
So often we have talented artist in our midst and do not take advantage of all they are willing to offer.  Dian lives in Maryville, TN and has taught this craft for years to her family.  She has graciously agreed to teach anyone who is interested in this skill.  Most important is her teaching style which is encouraging and patient and allows her students to choose and successfully complete the type of project they would like.

Here is a list of materials needed:
1. needles for beading.  (Dian recommends using “quilting” needles)
2. quilting thread
3.seed beads for the project you would like to complete
4.wax for your beading thread
5.cloth or similar material if you want to bead a picture or image
6.containers for your beads
7.needle threader (like the little ones in sewing kits)
These items can be found in local craft stores.
 
If you are not sure what you would like to do, basic stitches will be taught to help us get started. We will meet in the Center for Peace kitchen where there are tables and plenty of light.
 
The cost is $25 per session
For information please call Nan Citty at 405-6809
 
 
“I find working with Dian a delight. She is very positive and always encouraging. I hope we can get enough people interested so that we can meet on a monthly basis.”   Nan Citty

Beading Workshop Information

Level I - Mystical Numerology February 20

Introduction to Mystical Numerology
Level I
February 20, 9am -5pm
with John Pehrson
 
John PehrsonFor more than fifteen years, John has been creating and developing a new system of numerology, together with a new 13-month calendar. His Mystical Numerology is an extraordinary process by which one can, through the wisdom in your name and the numbers of your birth date, delve deeply into one’s own life patterns to reveal your highest Purpose, Life Path and direction.
 
Key Benefits of this 1-Day Workshop:
•    Find your Purpose and Path numbers
•    Learn the mystical qualities of the numbers
•    Learn a new 13-month calendar that can help stabilize your life
•    Learn to track your “Daily Numbers”
 
In addition to his many years of previous experience with traditional “western” Numerology and Tarot, John has also integrated concepts from the Kiche Mayan system of Day Lords, and drawn inspiration from the Hebrew Kabbala. He also builds on the work of Joseph Rael, Beautiful Painted Arrow, who taught about the use of the vowel sounds as the principal energies of creation. He takes this work a step further by looking at the mystical qualities of the consonants and numbers, how they relate to the vowel sounds, and their place on the Native American “Medicine Wheel.”
 
Requested Donation: $75 per person. (Discounts available for students and couples)

"Messiah Training"

 “Messiah Training”
 
By Perry Robinson
 
Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 7 pm – We shall resume the weekly seminars, which I am guided to name “Messiah Training”.  
 
All of my adult life I have known that, when Jesus said “Follow me”, he was inviting people not into a religious organization but into a way of living and being.  In other words, he was not “showing off” as some mystical “savior of the world” so much as he was calling together the saviors of the world – people whose one desire is for the healing of the world, all its people, and all its life forms.  [I believe that there are millions of these people alive today of all countries, races, and religions.]
 
Each week a group of people gathers – actually two groups at the same time:  one at the Center for Peace and the other at the home of Alison Holmes and Jamie Allen in Charlotte, NC, connected by Skype [audio and video conference program] on the internet by computer – gather around that idea and discuss what that means, how that looks and feels, and decides on a part of that, which we shall practice during the intervening week.  
 
It is fun and it is serious – sometimes rather emotional.  For me, it seems to be drawing from all the teachings of Huna, my spirit guides and teachers, Jesus, shamanism, and Native American spirituality to which I have been exposed for twenty five years and blending it in ways that I find surprising!
 
Donations are accepted and all are welcome.

More Information on Messiah Training

Fire Ceremony

7th of each month, 7 pm
           ~ led by Katy Koontz

The purpose of the FIRE CEREMONY is to heal and purify both the planet’s physical oceans and the oceans of cosmic thought.

At 7 pm local time, fire elders light ceremonial fires at  each of the Peace Sound Chambers around the world. Those present watch the fire in silence until it burns out, giving to it what we want to transmute in our lives and staying open to the messages and teachings it brings. All are welcome. We suggest you arrive around 6:45 pm.

Donations are appreciated.

Sweat Lodge

Sweat lodgeA sweat lodge or "Purification Lodge", is an intensely rewarding experience. By entering the womb of Mother Earth (the lodge), we seek purification and a deeper spiritual awareness through prayer.
Generally speaking the experience is to deepen spiritual awareness. The steam, heat, and darkness intensify prayers and personal introspection. The lodge leader (pourer), with help from the fire tender, hold an energetic space of safety and security while setting the intent of the lodge. The medicine of the lodge leader and of each participant helps to enrich the lessons of the lodge.
There are composting toilets in the meadow. You may change clothes in these toilets or at the Peace Sound Chamber. There is no nudity in our lodges.
Suggested Items to Bring:
• Two Towels
• Men are requested to wear swim trunks, gym shorts or something similar.
• Women are requested to wear a skirt or dress. (Something for inside the sweat that is modest and you don’t mind getting muddy.)
• Change of clothes (Preferably long sleeve and covers all of the legs to keep from getting the feast area dirty).
• Covered Dish for the Feast.
It is appropriate to bring tobacco, a small gift, or monetary gift for the fire-keeper and lodge master, both of whom offer their services to the people as a gift.
Cash donations are used to support the Sweat Lodge.  We use lots of wood for the fire; supplies like herbs (sage, tobacco, cornmeal, etc.), drinking water, and more. If you are feeling abundant, a donation would be appreciated. 
There is never a charge for Ceremony. If you are not feeling abundant, PLEASE do not allow this to prevent you from coming.
 

Drumming Circle

Every Friday @ 7 pm
~led by José and Tamy

Drumming is a powerful, sometimes dramatic, way to break into other levels of our mind.  Sensitive instruments can measure the way that drumming affects the brain waves.  That’s the reason for tens of thousands of years the shaman has journeyed with the drum.

This drumming is not specifically for journeying; but you get to use it whatever way you wish – including having a good time doing it!
So, on Friday of each week, bring your drum, and come join us.
Donations are appreciated.

BOOK REVIEW- Fingerprints of God

Sometimes a book comes along at just the right moment and says something so profoundly needed, that I go "Wow!".  When I first picked up FINGERPRINTS OF GOD:The Search for the Science of Spirituality by Barbara Bradley Hagerty, I had just that reaction.  This journalist/author catalogs a multi-year search of scientists studying cutting edge research on consciousness and spirituality.  Using brain wave studies, functional MRI, as well as many personal accounts from people who had  numinous experiences that were inexplicable by what is considered "normal"consciousness, scientists are studying those who transcend normal functioning to discover what sets these people apart.  In almost every instance, whether because of a near death or paranormal experience, lives are changed in an instant.  Does that change leave a permanent rewiring of the brain and can it be proved?  The answer is mostly "yes", depending on what you would accept as proof.  
 
Andrew Newburg studies  two groups of people that he calls "contemplative brains" and "rowdy brains".   Contemplatives include Buddhist and Christian monks and nuns who meditate many hours a day, which causes the front part of the brain to light up in a particular way indicating a deep focus, "one-pointed"as meditators say.  Other parts of the brain having to do with discrimination and object positioning grow dark.  Newburg theorizes that this aspect of the brain is responsible for the feeling of oneness that meditation or contemplative prayer is known for. The other group of brains, the rowdy ones, belong to Pentacostal Christians who speak in tongues and are called to dance or move when the  Spirit rises up in them.  The frontal lobes actually shut down and allow another part of the brain, the cortical part, to take over, which is why language doesn't make sense although it sounds like it should.  People who experience this consciousness feel as if they are surrendering to Spirit and have no control.  (To me this sounded a lot like what I experience during ceremonial dances.)  When discussing this, Newburg states "their spiritual practices have little in common, both in the brain and outside it--which is not to pronounce one right and the other wrong, but rather to suggest that there do appear to be many routes to transcendence."
 
The author, who had been raised in Christian Science as a child and later discarded it's beliefs, found herself returning to belief in the miracle of prayer.  After following people who had  near death experiences and sharing their stories, her own faith was restored in a much broader, more accepting form.  "But it seems to me that Jesus' words suggest what we do and not what we proclaim... that means trying to live as He did--feeding the poor, helping those who cannot benefit you, loving your enemies, sacrificing rather than promoting yourself, living as if every moment on earth as if it counts..."CRose

Perry's Ponderings

2010
 
By Perry Robinson
 
Here it is 2010.  Are you afraid?  As changes progress, it will be more and more important to pay attention to what is happening and how you feel about what is happening, to listen to our heart for guidance, and to respond to situations with integrity.  
 
Economic changes and pressures have generated a great deal of uncertainty and anxiety for a lot of people, deepening the divisions between those who “have” and those who “have not”.  Increased violence at home and abroad has led to deep distrust and fear between people.  
 
Fear is a healthy response to some situations and serves to make us alert and ready to respond to threat and danger.  In the same way that pain serves to focus our attention upon a wound, encouraging us to protect it during the healing process, fear focuses our attention upon a potential danger, until steps are taken to solve or contain the source of that danger.
 
When anxiety and danger are prolonged there is a tendency to do one of two things:  one is simply deny it, as in “that wouldn’t happen to me” or “if I hide my head in the sand, it will go away”; the other is to seek help from others to “keep that from happening to me” or to “protect me, if it does come my way.”  The former is sort of silly and we can leave it at that.  The latter gives positive minded people an opportunity to draw together and pool our strength.  Failing that, we sometimes opt for engaging the services of those who are better able to “take care of it” for us.  This can be extremely costly; but it is usually worth it.  In so doing, however, we give up some of our effective oversight concerning what is being done.  “Don’t worry about it; we’ll take care of that for you” very often comes with a surprisingly large price tag!
 
We pay for health insurance, Medicare, health care services, military defense, Banks, traffic, and police departments – to name just a few – to protect us from “what might happen”.  And I hope you realize how our fears and anxieties created and maintain these services.  Am I saying that these are “bad”?  No way!  I only wish to point out that, when those who provide these services need more money from us, fear is usually what “shakes the money tree”.  
 
Look how much the words “terrorist” and “war on terrorists” have cost us in the past decade not only in dollars but in the lives of those who have died and in personal rights and freedoms we have given up and in respect for our nation among the peoples of the world.  Look how much money “economic collapse” is costing us.  Notice how much of the “health care reform” talk is about health insurance, rather than about quality, scope, and effectiveness of health care.  
 
Notice also how even this article, calling some of these things to your mind, can help you feel anxious, threatened, and unprotected.
 
Fear and anxiety are gifts of the Creator to help us solve and move through danger and threat.  Usually the fear is temporary, lasting only long enough to carry us through.
 
Part of our problem is that, when we erect systems to “take care of” the threatening situations, the fear and anxiety do not go away, they are simply removed a step away from us.  The farther they are removed from us, the less personal they become to us and the less power we have to do anything about that which causes the fear.  Sometimes trust is broken and we question whether those who run these organizations are serving our best interests. Then we are really in a bind.
 
From religionists, who seek to save people’s souls by “scaring the hell out of them”, to politicians using fear to sell [or defeat] their bills, people have used fear as a means of “controlling the masses” for a very long time.
 
[Did you notice, for one example, that the US Senator, who had screamed the loudest about how the high cost of health care reform would bankrupt the nation, was the one who wheeled the dolly stacked with “pork barrel” bills onto the US Senate floor, laughing and joking about how much fun they were about to have.  Enough “pork” was approved [with little debate] to more than cover a year’s worth of the more far reaching medical reforms!]
 
Ever since the Center for Peace has been in existence, I have heard over and over about what horrors might come forth on 2012, as if the end of the Mayan calendar cycle and the “end of time” were the same thing!  The first major event the Center for Peace hosted was the Harmonic Convergence in August, 1987.  The big talk then was about great earth changes coming – probably by 2012.  Well, golly, believe it if you wish!
 
Make no mistake:  those who use fear tactics to control people WILL use them, as long as they work.  
 
When parents are raising children they make difficult choices about nurturing and discipline.  Many books and movies dwell on the resulting “horrors”, which result when parents go too far one way or the other.  However, sometimes we are fortunate enough to have the books and movies reflect to us the beauty and richness of loving family life.
 
The winter season is a time for reflection, staying warm, gathering around the fire, telling stories, dreaming dreams.  Let’s do a lot of that this winter.
 
Whether 2012 marks a turning point in human evolution or a horror story depends on our point of view.  Of course, if we have done our spiritual work, it may be both. Certainly, the upward evolution and empowerment of the people WILL BE a horror story for those who can no longer control the masses through fear!  But, for the rest or us, it can be a down hill run toward our birthright, our freedom, and our heritage.
 
Please notice the “us” and “them” wording and attitude that keeps slipping into this writing.  When we really “get it right” there will be no “us” and “them”, simply we the people.  We are already seeing the signs that human evolution is happening – or has happened.  
 
I posted this on Facebook a few weeks ago; and I hold it to be true:  The True Messiah already has returned in the form of millions of people whose one desire is for the healing of Planet Earth and all the life forms which dwell upon it.  If that is your one desire, you are one of those people.  
 
I intend my life to be a blessing to all those people in 2010.

In This Issue

Peter Calhoun Workshop January 29-31

Beading Workshop

Level I - Mystical Numerology February 20

"Messiah Training"

Fire Ceremony

Sweat Lodge

Drumming Circle

BOOK REVIEW- Fingerprints of God

Perry's Ponderings

Calendar at a Glance
WEEKLY  
Tuesday, 7 pm
Messiah Training

Wednesday & Friday 10am
Yoga with Sandy Palmer

Friday, 7pm
Drumming Circle

JANUARY
 
January 7, 6:45pm
Fire Ceremony
 
January 16
Beading Workshop
 
January 21, 6:30
Thursday Night Sweat Lodge
 
January 29-31, 10am-5pm
Sacred Path of the Four Elements
Peter Calhoun & Astrid Ganz


FEBRUARY
 
February 7, 6:45pm
Fire Ceremony
 
February 13, 5pm-7pm
Monthly Council Meeting
 
February 18, 6:30pm
Thursday Night Sweat Lodge
 
February 20, 9am-5pm
Mystical Numerology
John Pehrson
 
February 26-28
Community Building Workshop
Work is Worship
“Work is Worship”
 
Work/activity is one very clear way to celebrate our selves as part of the community by which we are being fed spiritually. And it is always a lot of fun. Time seems to alter into a process rather than a taskmaster and friendships are born and nurtured by our community participation.
Bring gloves, appropriate clothing, water and an open willing attitude. If you have any special skills, please let us know so we can best use your talents. Of course, we will first take care of the pressing needs, but there is a lot of work to be done and all your talents are valuable.
We provide lunch. (So kitchen help is also appreciated.)
Contact:
Perry 865-428-3070 or
Steve 865-300-4424
Chanting in the Chamber
The Peace Sound Chamber is available for chanting, vision quests and ceremonies of many different types.
You are encouraged to come to the chamber and chant, drum, meditate or simply sit (the chamber Spirits love it); please check first that there is not something already scheduled.
 
Please call at least two weeks in advance to reserve our facilities as usage requires council approval.
Council Meeting
This is the gathering of the board of directors to discuss new ideas, future projects, and events.  Feel free to come with suggestions and comments.
 
December 13,  5 pm -  visitors welcome
For more information, call the Center at (865) 428-3070.
Directions to the Center
Directions
 
 
Council Members
The Center for Peace is a non-profit religious corporation in the State of Tennessee. Donations to the Center for Peace can be claimed as deductions from income for income tax purposes.

Active Council Members of the Center for Peace:

Candy Barbee
Knoxville
865-933-9327
 
Tamy Brown
Seymour
865-453-0447
 
 Nan Citty
Knoxville
865-405-6809

Steve Citty
Knoxville
865-300-4424

Margarita DiVita
Jefferson  City
865-475-3799

Al Fletcher
Norris
865-494-9950

Katy Koontz
Knoxville
865-693-9845

Cheryl Patterson
Seymour
865-453-3869

Dona Polero
Sevierville
865-805-8372
 
Jim Phillips
Knoxville
865-971-1959
 
Jeanne Robinson
Seymour
865-428-3070

Perry Robinson
Seymour
865-428-3070

Marcus Weseman
Clinton
865-463-1002
Center For Peace • 880 Graves Delozier Road • Seymour • TN • 37865

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