ReUnion

Each culture has its Gifts to all of us, developed through the unique story of its emergence. The Soul of humanity is continually shattered and scattered into many Peoples who each specialize in their own paths of art, knowledge and skill. When these varied paths reunite, the sacred gifts at the heart of each culture can become a blessing to all who are willing to partake.

The distinctive threads of each tradition are preserved by those who have undertaken the noble task of a lineage of discipline. There is also now the opportunity for a weaving between those threads. Each culture has its special strengths and sensibilities as well as its limitations. When several cultures celebrate their gifts together, all are opened to senses and insights that they may not have yet discovered.

The story that brought us all to this moment is filled with both beauty and sorrow, with divine art and with vicious conflict. While the mutual oppression of the members of the body of humanity continues, there is also a growing movement of those who wish to awaken within the dream, accept the unifying Self-hood of all people, and appreciate the deep medicinal gifts that the heart of each culture offers.

This is Reunion.

The harsh challenges that confront us in this century can be met if the fragments of our divine awareness, enshrined within all sacred traditions, can recognize each other and work together toward something greater than mere dominion over the Earth. Much of this may happen through pain, yet much can happen through joy. It is this reunion that we are celebrating.

At this confluence of cultural streams there is much opportunity and much confusion. Whereas people were once born into precisely defined sets of traditions and expectations, there are more and more of us in this age who identify with and experience ourselves through a variety of cultures. Learning how to dance within and between these sometimes very different sets of expectations and sensibilities can be tricky. To what extent can we sincerely understand a world-view into which we were not born and raised? Is this not the exact skill, however, that humanity needs most of all? If our incomprehension of each other persists, the tribulations of mutual human disrespect will only escalate. Many of us on Earth are learning this through tremendous pain...can we not learn this through joy? If we focus on the best and most life-affirming within each tradition, can we not attempt to overcome this?

There are those of us who wish to participate in a world that is enriched by the treasures of every culture within humanity. Saying "no" to all of the undesired realities within human history becomes exhausting unless we have an alternate vision to say "yes" to. Imprinting the values of this positive vision through moments of highest joy is a method preferable to being scarred by the horrors of war's consequences.

There are many other levels through which we must work to effect lasting change in the human situation. Yet this long-term work requires bodies and souls that have been fed upon the strongest blessings. These blessings are to be found in the sacred music, ecstatic dance and multi-realm artwork that arise from the many-hued jewel within humanity's heart.

Celebration is a vital facet of wellness, an upwelling of life from our souls and into our bodies. What can we possibly be celebrating during these times of conflict and suffering? Through joy we offer energy to those visions that we seek to affirm. What is best in human nature? How has this been expressed in the many cultures of the world?

Can these qualities be shared between them to weave the emerging tapestry of sacred art that can outlive the culture-wars? We dance our gratitude for those things that we wish to magnify in the human experience. This is one level at which to work...within our own bodies, minds and souls. This should overflow into our shared experience upon the dance-floor and in circles of musical rapture.

From these sanctuaries the current must flow out into the world throgh the lives of all whom we touch in our work and play. These events should be an oasis of refreshment that empowers us in our journey through the world's challenges, not an escape from it. The most conscious of them include many opportunities to learn of ways through which each of us can engage the type of life that can contribute to the well-being of more than just our immediate circle.

Through dance we experience the harmonious and joyful relationship between the facets of which we are composed. We then discover those with whom we share the moment on the dance floor, our sacred space of mutual recognition. What happens when all of these individual energies experience each other, moved by the music each in their own way? We learn as we go.We are called out of ourselves into a shared present. Self meets the Other in Joy. We become ecstatically aware of Others as Selves passing through the same world of birth, life and death, yet each in a dream all their own.