Feature Stories
Tibet, China and the Olympics-
The Last Requiem
Article and Photography by Tim O’Rielly
As we approach the opening of the XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing, China, the event brings with it —more than any other in recent history—a reason for pause. As nearly 1.3 billion people represent the largest nation on earth as a place of progress and modernity, human rights abuses, environmental disregard and gross materialistic consumption have reached levels of grave concern.
The Urban Aesthetic and
its Sway on Suburbia
Wal-Mart, McDonald’s and Starbucks are pervasive in overtaking the street corners of every city in every major country around the world. Public institutions with cultural bearing, historical significance and classic architecture are demolished in favor of parking garages and bigger buildings. People crave luxury and convenience, merely a quick fix away at liquor stores, strip malls and fast food restaurants—hardly metropolitan pleasures considering their inextricable suburban appeal.
Astrology August 2008
Leo: Wheel of Fortune
(Knight of Wands)
7/23-8/23: What started as a small inspiration is on its way to a grand vision. The solar eclipse on the 1st is an auspicious omen of future gain; however, the thoughts you give attention to will grow, whether or not they are positive. If you’re motivated by fear or lack, that’s exactly what you’ll create. Channel your feelings into productive behavior that supports you. Most importantly, take this time to explore exciting ideas and experiences. From this, a new phase of life and a new image of yourself will emerge.
Viewpoint
The moment I stepped onto the grounds of the Joshua Tree Retreat Center, I could feel a shift. It wasn’t an earthquake, but rather, a shift in energy. It was as if the physical landscape became some kind of portal to the inner landscape of my higher mind. Coming from the hubbub of the city, the silence was so deep that it awakened me. I felt an impulse to search my soul and experience the world as it truly is, uncluttered by the clamor of urban life.
Mind States
Living Arts
Agricultural Landscapes:
The Question of our Food Future
by Elyssa Paige
“What’s for dinner?” What was once a simple question has become a complex matter loaded with consequences. The choice of what we put at the end of our forks affects our personal health and goes beyond to have a lasting impact upon the earth. Our agricultural landscape is changing fast. Family farms are disappearing. They are being replaced by corporate mega-farms that are heavily dependent upon fossil fuels in the interest of maximizing profits. But those profits come at a cost.
Humanity Unites Brilliance:
Providing solutions for our
Greatest Global Challenges
by Stacy Steel
Our landscapes are changing—not just our environmental landscapes, but our social landscapes as well. Never before has a generation been faced with such monumental planetary demands. Nor have they been given the opportunity to step forward and unite to answer the call of the world—and it is a mighty call indeed. The needs of our planet are great, and they present us with even greater opportunities for growth and advancement. Water’s Indelible Landscape:
The St. Francis Dam Disaster
by Michael Cervin
Landscapes assume many forms: peaceful undulating hills, jagged mountain scenarios, the benign oceans at twilight, the cold hardscape of cities. But landscapes can also be reflective spaces that serve as memorials, places of quiet respect for those who have died. In 1928, near what would eventually become the amusement park, Magic Mountain, the St. Francis Dam collapsed, killing nearly 600 men, women and children.WISDOM FESTIVAL:
Converging World Views of Science and Spirit
Wisdom. We immediately think of an old person who has wizened over the years, gaining understanding, knowledge, insight and good judgment through a lifetime of experience. When applied to an entire culture, we think of wisdom in terms of an older society and such schools of thought as the Wisdom of the Elders, the Wisdom Teachings, or Ancient Wisdom. LifeQuake™
Dear Dr. Toni:Holistic Products
EarthFX offers an antidote to modern living and when I can’t have a barefoot connection with the earth, I discovered great products from EarthFX that offer the same benefits of receiving direct contact to Mother Earth’s energies. 
I like to think of our bodies as complex electrical systems. When we function smoothly, we experience health and balance, but when we are challenged by our daily lives, our electrical systems overload, short circuit, or sometimes even shut down. As a result, aches, pains, and inflammation manifest. Bliss in a Bottle’s flower essences address the disturbances in our electrical system underlying the symptoms, which cultivate vibrant health and wellness by offering relief from many common complaints.
Holistic Living
Changing the Landscape of our Bodies
by Karin Twohig
As a veteran body worker of over 25 years, I have discovered that it is completely possible to change the patterns of our bodies. Bowenwork, a revolutionary healing modality (named in July 2004 as one of “the most innovative body therapies” by O The Oprah Magazine) transforms the landscape of the entire body by reminding us of its original blueprint of perfect health. Bowenwork adjusts tension levels by working through the nervous system and releasing tissue memory that holds the structure restricted or frozen. This allows the structure itself to change its holding patterns that determine what the body landscape looks like.
Sustainable Harvest:
The Preservation of the Aquilaria Tree
by Elyssa Paige
Human exploitation of the earth’s natural resources is nothing new. In our quest for advancement, we’ve taken what we wanted, rendering countless plants and animals endangered or even extinct. Fortunately, we are now entering a new stage in our evolution in which we’re seeking a harmonious, rather than a parasitic, relationship with nature. 
We are fast approaching a critical point in our planetary shift in consciousness. I believe everything we do to awaken helps to propel us forward into this shift. Several times on our planet, entire civilizations have come and gone. There were the Atlantians, the Lemurians, and the Incans, to name a few. Perhaps this time we will not have to disappear in order to evolve to a higher consciousness. Not only are we remaining here as we progress, but the entire planet is doing this at the same time. This has never been done before.
Since the advent of the microscope used in microbiology almost 500 years ago, Western Medicine has overshadowed the incredible benefits of natural and indigenous medicine. At the time when western medicine began to focus primarily on the material body, the ancient knowledge of the subtle body began to lose its “reality.” 
Let’s do an experiment. Access in your mind everything you are wearing and what it’s made out of. Now think about the last time you bathed. What kind of soap did you use? Look at the paper you’re reading these words on. What is it made out of? Finally, what did you eat today? Was it organic and healthy? Did you answer “hemp” for any of these questions? If you did, kudos to you for saving the planet by just being yourself—you’re a remarkable environmentalist. We at Vote Hemp, a non-profit hemp advocacy group, salute your conscious consumer choices. You deserve a tax cut for all the savings to the planet’s ecosystems you are generating.
It is an amazing stroke of good fortune that I was born into a Greek-American family. Beyond enabling me to sit through countless viewings of the movie Zorba the Greek, it lent me an affinity for the ancient Greeks and their timeless aphorisms. “Know thyself” is one such adage, just beating out my second favorite ancient Greek saying, “Just Know Thyself.” This was actually my favorite until research revealed that it was the first slogan for what was the ancient Greek precursor to Nike. The expression was really nothing more than a marketing slogan for an emerging line of knee-high sandals. But I digress…
Tiny, bright blue dots with buzzing wings reflect off a peaceful pond in the twilight, while orange and opal fairy-like creatures come to greet them for a dance in nature’s nightlife. This really isn’t a fairyland and those creatures aren’t figments of the imagination. They are the mystifying dragonflies which have come to prosper in Mary Lyon’s new habitat: her green home.
We have all seen catastrophic weather in the last few years, beginning with Hurricane Katrina and the flooding along the Mississippi river, which was reportedly unprecedented for the last 500 years. Six Degrees Could Change the World, a 96-minute film narrated by actor Alec Baldwin, tackles global warming as only National Geographic could—with a brilliantly colored travelogue of the possible impact on some of the world’s most remote and fragile locales, from the pristine headwaters of the Ganges River, high in the Himalayas, to the tiny villages of Greenland. 
For more than 1000 years, the Shona and their ancestors have lived and died on the land of Southeastern Africa in what is now known as Zimbabwe. A generally peaceful people who farmed and raised cattle, the Shona have nevertheless struggled for survival and prevailed against armed invaders, natural predators, disease, drought, famine and political oppression.