The Landscape of Our Fall 2020 Classes, Workshops and Retreats

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore voted one of the most beautiful places in The United States of America.

We hope everyone enjoyed a Happy Labor Day Weekend. First proposed in the late 19th century, as the labor movement grew, trade unionists proposed a Labor Day, a day set aside to celebrate… you guessed it… Labor. With so many peoples’ jobs and businesses being threatened during this wacky pandemic summer, it was good to get away and even better to be back, especially to the “work” we do here of a different nature.

Our Wednesday (Get Over The Hump) Day Noon Meditation Class brought out some new friends and students who’ll most assuredly be back, and you’ll soon “See” and “Hear” more about what a simple one-hour visit to The Higher Haven could do for you. We’re excited for our Fall Foraging Workshop and Wild Forest to Table Dinner with Anthony Blowers next weekend. And we’re happy to pass along Mindy’s experience below regarding attendance at a recent Ceremony, with an eye towards our next Way of The Contrary Workshop, available for registration this Fall 3 more times, a good Heyoka number. Several other options, including our Fall 2020 Noble Silence Meditation Retreat Weekend are available in October. And look for some late Fall, off-campus, and even Up North Workshops in the works. Until then, Toksha

"The Higher Haven is truly an oasis of peace, tranquility, and healing. Attending retreats has become an integral part of my journey on the spiritual path. After Ceremony, my spirit felt renewed and rejuvenated. The connections made with other people in attendance are meaningful and of substance. It is wonderful to connect with the natural world and like-minded folks and carry the lessons back out into the world." -MR

On Labyrinths, The Nebraska Heartland and Private Lesson Healings

See the sun rise over her skin… Dawn changes Everything… In this heartland Soil… Heaven knows this is a Heartland…”

Cheryl makes her way into the heart of the labyrinth of Yanney Heritage Park, in Kearney, south central Nebraska. Per Greek Mythology, the labyrinth was an elaborate, confusing maze. In the modern world, labyrinths have come to symbolize ancient structures related to wholeness. Combining the imagery of the circle and spiral into a meandering but purposeful path, the labyrinth used as a meditation or prayer tool represents a journey to our own center, out into the world, and back again. Because Cheryl and her husband Mark did just that, on a recent visit to Southwest Michigan, I’ll let her finish the story. In the meantime, take a look at our Retreats/Calendar Page for upcoming Fall offerings, consider scheduling your own Private Lesson or individual Higher Haven Visit, and enjoy a healthy, happy close to a clunky summer, transitions always made smoother by spiritual practice.

“Hello my name is Cheryl. About a month ago my husband and I had a private session with Paul. I was (and am) impressed with the information he shared with us. I have some physical limitations due to cancer treatments that make the typical poses during meditation difficult for me. Not only did Paul go out of his way to make me feel comfortable facing these personal but normal challenges to developing a practice, he showed me a walking meditation technique that I have found very effective and helpful. I would recommend working with Paul to further your own meditation practice and quest for healing.”

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On Nature, Death and The Spirit of All Things

“… Whispers from the long-departed, songs of stillness carved in silence, locked in time like wasps in Amber…”

Say Hola to Sphecius Speciousus, the Cicada Hawk or Cicada Killer, a large, solitary, digger wasp, aptly named as Cicadas bugs are their prey. Sometimes referred to as a Sand Hornet, this female Hawk paralyzed the cicada below her, held it upside down and tried taking back off toward her burrow. With the bug being twice the wasp’s weight, the flight proves difficult, as we witnessed this weekend, spending extended time outdoors under an impeccably blue August skyline. Solitary wasps behave differently than social wasps such as hornets, yellow jackets, and paper wasps, Cicada Killer females using their sting to paralyze their prey rather than defend their nests. Despite their size and ominous appearance, unlike most social wasps and bees, they don’t attempt to sting unless handled roughly. Wasps even lug their prey up into the nearest tree, gaining altitude for the flight to the burrow, Cicada Killers exerting a measure of natural control on bug populations and enjoying symbiotic relations with the deciduous trees that provide them a launch pad and head start.

As you have heard me say before and will hear me say again, just experiencing our natural, simplified environment offers said wondrous, engaging experiences with nature. Although it may seem a bit odd, maybe not so much in today’s world(!), I’m also fond of highlighting how we build up resources in the face of death here, knowing that Death, which is so a part of nature, isn’t an issue one solves but rather resolves. The visiting Cicada Killer during our Ceremonial overnight helped the cause, as did the words of Oglala Lakota Sioux sage Black Elk (Hehaka Sapa) below. Check out our full Fall offerings on our Retreats/Calendar page, with our next Ceremonial Overnight the weekend of September 12-13th & more info. & registration up soon on our Fall Foraging Workshop and Wild Dinner Saturday Sept. 19th.

“The rite of the Onikure (sweat lodge) utilizes all the powers of the Universe: earth and the things which grow from the earth, water, fire and air. The water represents the Thunder-beings, who come fearfully but bring goodness, for the stream which comes from the rocks, within which is the fire, is frightening, but it purifies us so we may live as Wakan-Tanka wills, and he may even send to us a vision if we are pure. When we use the water in the sweat lodge we should think of Wakan-Tanka, who is flowing and giving His power and life to everything; we should even be as water which is lower than all things, yet stronger even than the rocks.

The sweat lodge is made from sixteen young willows and these, too, have a lesson to teach us, for in the Fall their leaves die and return to the earth, but in the Spring they come to life again. So, too, men and women die but live again in the real world of Wakan-Tanka, where there is nothing but the Spirit of All Things, and this true life we may know here on earth, if we purify our bodies and minds, thus coming closer to Wakan-Tanka, who is all purity.”