Saturday, June 2, 2012

62. LANDING IN A SPACE OF LOVE



Gathering at the Space of Love

The trip is behind us and we are now at Zuvuya farm.

We came up a few days earlier because zuvuya (Rainbow Homestead) is hosting a Space of Love gathering and I was curious about this. It was a soft landing, just a group of like minded people getting together and thoughts and food. It is very much a family friendly affair and people bring their own musical instruments and we make our own noise.

Part of the plan of action is also to teach people some green skills, this weekend we ended up building a Rocket Stove with cob. The cob process is definitely different from area to area, it mostly depends on the type of soil and other materials that are available. In this case there is all this beautiful clay soil and all you need to add to that is some straw and you can built. The soil and straw mixture goes through a “rolling” process until it is nice and sticky and workable and then you built, let dry and use. You place the soil and straw on a plastic sheet and add water. You work this mixture with your feed and every now and then you fold the sheet and foll the mix over, then you step on it some more, repeat this process until the mix is nice and sticky. 



Making cob



Rocket Stove and Shine

This was the very first Space of Love gathering here as Rainbow Homestead. There is no entry fee and you do not pay to pitch your tent and the food is all communal meals, prepared by the group for the group. You bring what you have, you add and we all share. This makes so much more sense than each little group looking and cooking for themselves, it also creates a feeling of sharing and caring.

These gatherings are based on the ideas in the Ringing Cedars Series and I have to (shamefully) admit that I have not read these books, but I am aware of them, the whole series was at KD.  The way I see it, it is an introduction space for people seeking to get out of the rat race, a place to learn and a place to experience and to  use a compost toilet and make a donkey and built a stove, things like that. You also get to meet the people that live here and some very interesting people called volunteers, (basically people on working holidays, they are for people from all over the world).  It is a good place to start for those people that are looking for cleaner, more self sustainable ways to live and to practically experience it.

It is also a space where you can talk about your process, everybody is on some stage of realization or the other about what is really going on in this world. The unfairness and inequality of it all can make you angry, but I found that the people I met this weekend have stopped being angry about this gross obstruction of free will (capitalism) and are looking for solutions, a way out of the one way rat race.

These are people that stopped worrying about keeping up with the Jones’s for long enough to look up and see the brick wall at the end of the one way street.

Obviously they want out, but as soon as you run against the main stream, you become a “problem”, you just don’t fit in anymore. There are suddenly “Comms” or Eco Communities and Sustainability centers popping up all over the country.  By attending a Space of Love gathering you can get a very good feel for the whole way of life and you will realize you are not alone.

As Sam puts it “There is no point in complaining, yet you support and benefit from a system you bitterly complain about”.

We are planning the next Space of Love gathering for the Solstice weekend at the end of June. I am looking forward to that.

More about the farm and the homestead and the weather and the garden and all that next time, right now I am too cold to think.


3 comments:

  1. Hello
    I am a professional Sculptor and have recently returned to SA I have spent most of my time over thye last 15 year5s ao so working and living on eco communities around the globe and am currently looking at what is happenning here. I have lived and worked/studied/taught at the Center for Creative economy in Israel and am looking to do the same here if there is opportunity.
    How does one go about volunteering? working? or just basically dropping round for a visit?
    I have a few slide presentations that you may find interesting as well as the possibility of hosting/helping with workshops
    Thank you
    Jon-Pat Myers

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Jon-Pat
    I am so sorry I missed this message of yours. It is a few months later. I am doing some editing and found this.
    I am also no longer at Zuvuya, but you can make contact with them via their face book page https://www.facebook.com/RainbowSustainabilityCentre?ref=ts&fref=ts

    There are also quite a few other eco communities in South Africa.. https://www.facebook.com/groups/117367541637645/?fref=ts

    My apologies again for only replying now..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Yolinde here, I read the ringing cedars 10 years ago and it had such a PROFOUND AFFECT on me, my perspective on life and reality completely changed!

    Since then, I've dreamed of being a part of a loving, healthy, nature based community. I almost jumped out of the skin I'm in, when I came across this page! What does it take to become part of this community? Egarly waiting for your reply!

    Love and light many blessings

    ReplyDelete