Global ideas
Originating in Germany, they say that, “We are an intentional Christian community of more than 2,700 people living in twenty-three settlements on four continents. We are a fellowship of families and singles, practicing radical discipleship in the spirit of the first church in Jerusalem.”
Some view them as a cult. Links to their official site and one that is critical.
Burning Man Festival – a city in a desert in the USA. A unique space and experience. Check it out.
Camphill communities. They provide opportunities for children, young people and adults with learning disabilities, mental health problems and other special needs to live, learn and work together with others in an atmosphere of mutual respect and equality.
There are more than 100 Camphill communities in over 20 countries in Europe, North America, southern Africa and India.
A struggling, but innovative eco-experiment a metro ride out of Barcelona in Spain.
They say: “In Collserola National Park, an ecologically lush area has been reclaimed for an autonomous experiment called Can Masdeu. It was once a hospital to treat leprosy, but its mansion and broad grounds sat idle for half a century. Its co-owners were likely speculating on the growing land value. 15 years ago a group of squatters, activists and environmentalists, both local and international, ascended into the space.”
Links to their main site and an article about the community.
Born in Scotland in Melrose in 1812, but made her name as an Australian communitarian and visionary Utopian. Earliest Australian female politician (though oft thwarted). Famous for books, especially ‘Handfasted’ and ‘A week in the Future’. In her time, she was regarded as ‘socialist and dangerous’. Died in 1910.
Link to the Wikipedia entry.
C.A.T. Physically based in Wales, UK, but a useful on-line resource for all. Lots of practical information on renewable, alternative technologies and sustainability.
Innovative eco-artist and architect. One of the founders of environmental art. Art, housing and nature intertwined. Born on Lanzarote and a lifelong advocate of living in harmony with the natural landscape. His Foundation continues to allow access some of his fantastical creations including his studio-home, the Cactus Garden and the underground caves at Jameos del Agua. He died in 1992.
Link to the foundation hub site. And a video which shows some of his landscape architecture.
This is a term that supposedly originated from a meeting between Peter J. Carroll and Ray Sherwin in Deptford, England in 1976. It uses shifting belief structures and altered consciousness as ‘tools’ in the performance of chaos magick.
Since then it has been used as an umbrella term to bring together many ideas from the occult through to science fiction and fantasy.
Austin Osman Spare’s ideas and art, Michael Moorcock’s ‘Book of Chaos’ and Peter J. Caroll’s books ‘Liber Null’ and ‘Psychonaut’ are key texts.
Here are links to a couple sites where you can find out more.
Charles Eisenstein and the Next Step Story. Influential, but sometimes controversial author and public speaker. He says: “When any of us meet someone who rejects dominant norms and values, we feel a little less crazy for doing the same. Any act of rebellion or non-participation, even on a very small scale, is therefore a political act.”
A link to his main site and their Facebook page, ‘The More Beautiful World’, which is a closed group.
Charles Fort (1874-1932)
The American eccentric writer and researcher whose name has become the ‘byword’ for all things odd, paranormal and hard to explain.
The Fortean worlds are like something out of ‘X files’, but have also spawned some serious quasi-scientific discourse and investigations. Worlds of ‘strange phenomena’.
The link here is to many of his writings.