June 7-16

volunteer & resident staff - June 2014

Minor, Kelsey, Leonie, Laurie, Stephanie, Brandon, Alise & Emlyn

With the arrival of mid-June came the beginning of the annual Therapeutic Touch healer’s camps. First up were the TT Mentorship and Basic courses, which began on Saturday. The basic course ends tomorrow, with mentorship continuing through to Friday. 

T.T. Teachers Maria & Bev enjoy the afternoon scene

May 30 - June 6

As this is being written, Pablo Sender is in the library with 30 program participants exploring  theosophical approaches to meditation. Pablo is a national speaker for the Theosophical Society in America who lectures and writes on a wide array of theosophical themes and concepts. He and his wife Michelle arrived last Tuesday and will be here through the weekend.

Pablo

The beautiful late Spring weather also allowed an early season gathering under the apple trees for afternoon discussion.

Meanwhile, in the teepee Jeannie Chamberlain was engrossed in the restoration of the Grove bench pads. These pads are composed of canvas covers and rubberized horse hair stuffing. The horse hair dates back to the late 1940’s or early 50’s and has proven to be remarkably durable. To the best of our knowledge the canvas has been replaced once or twice. In recent years the horse hair had become badly bunched up inside the canvas and until we opened the pads up a few months ago we were sure that they needed replacing. But the horse hair seems to have a lot of life left in it and it is satisfying to see the pads being refreshed for another season of use.

Kelsey and Jeannie trimming a restored bench pad

Another exciting development this week was the first blossoming of the roses that were planted in the garden space that was recently dedicated to the threefold alliance of human, animal and faery (see the post for Sept. 16-22, 2013). 

three-fold alliance space

when the fire and the rose are one

May 22-29

This was the week of the annual Memorial Day Work Party. Attendance was off a little bit from the past several years, with approximately 40 people attending and helping put the finishing touches on many of the Spring work projects. On Saturday night, we had the first campfire gathering in the Grove, including a tribute to Bob Dylan noting his 73rd birthday; which included the impromptu Ahimsa choir, accompanied by two guitars and ukelele, singing “Blowin’ in the Wind.”

 Saturday morning breakfast crew: Laurie, Lars, Minor, David & Joe

Joe, David & Lars whipping up something good

leisure time after a full day of work

Friends representative Mark Ray (3rd from left) shares his thoughts at the annual meeting

On Saturday afternoon, the annual Friends of Indralaya meeting was held in the meadow. Reports were made, questions were asked and answered, and a spirit of goodwill prevailed. Topics that came up included the new residential internship, last year’s solar installation, the good physical appearance of the property, and the camp’s financial well-being. 2013 was summed up as a year of ‘smooth sailing on high seas’, with 2014 seeming to start out as a year of ‘just when you think you’ve seen it all!’ 

The big event of the week, however, was undoubtedly Monday’s celebration of Leonie’s 60th birthday. Most of my family came up from the Seattle area to surprise Leonie, while nearly all of her family was here too. The festivities began early with a rousing chorus of ‘happy birthday’ at breakfast, followed by an afternoon garden party at Arthur and Jeannie’s home. 

Lolly, Melanie, Leonie, Sue & John

  

Leonie and nieces Margot, Irena and Collin

beautiful madrona tree and full moon birthday pie

May 15-21

Jacob’s unexpected departure at the end of April left a vacancy in the kitchen right on the brink of the busy program season. That space has now been filled by Kelsey Patterson. Kelsey arrived in early May (see May 1-7) to begin a three week visit as a woofer. Within a day of her arrival, she had shown us that she had some chops in the kitchen and we were quickly won over. She is originally from Ann Arbor, MI, and worked for several years in the bakery at the Ann Arbor Whole Foods. She also has a B.A. in Business and enjoys yoga, hiking and baking. We feel fortunate to have her here.

Welcome to  Kelsey!

Over the weekend, people gathered in the meadow and teepee to practice Essence QiGong with teacher Kim Ivy. Kim is a wonderful teacher who is able to connect with people at all skill levels and make everyone feel welcome and included. Although this was Kim’s first visit to Indralaya, there was a natural flow to the program and it seemed like it had been happening here for years. We are already talking about having her return in 2015!

Minor, Kim & Leonie

May 8-14

new growth

May must be the loveliest of months. It has been a week of amazingly beautiful days and nights, culminating in the May 14 full moon, the Wesak full moon associated with the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha in certain esoteric traditions. The week felt blessed with surprise visits, the beauty of nature and a fresh infusion of volunteer energies.

Talitha, Leonie & Emmy under the Wisteria

In the picture above Leonie is standing with two classmates from the massage therapy school she attended in 2007-2008. On Sunday, Tessa and Alia arrived to begin camp fellowships.

Alia & Tessa arriving

The fellow below surfaced on Tuesday when I opened up one of the water system valve access boxes. An interesting little known fact about Indralaya is that beetles and salamanders seem to love hanging out in such places.  

salamander

May 1-7

The first week of May included various comings and goings, as well as a trip to Seattle for a presentation on the Residential Internship Program at the Seattle Theosophical Society. The slide show above was prepared for Sunday’s Seattle presentation. The song is “Lanterns” from the Australian group Birds of Tokyo.

Mike & Kelsey

Jacob departed on April 30 bound for we aren’t sure where. We wish him well. On the 5th of May, Michael and Kelsey arrived to begin a several week stay as wwoofers. After the Seattle workshop, Emlyn headed south for a series of Internship-related meetings, job fairs and presentations.

Thea

wisteria

April 23-30

here comes the sun

Just this week, the earth again came around in its perennial migration to the place where the morning sun hits the RMC straight on. And so for another season the window blinds are drawn to protect against the wash of the shafts of light that come pouring in from the east.

behinds the blinds

The first program of the season arrived on the weekend. There were almost 30 participants on hand for a meditation retreat with Jason Siff, who teaches a practice of Recollective Awareness Meditation that is very fresh and compelling.  We discovered over the course of the weekend that Jason is also fairly conversant with the Theosophical tradition. Having been a monk on Sri Lanka, he was well aware of Theosophical Society co-founder Henry Steele Olcott’s role in reviving Buddhism in India, and he has also taught at Springbrook, a theosophical retreat center in Queensland, AU, that is similar to Indralaya.

Tim, Lily & Angelique Boyd during our recent visit to Wheaton

We also learned over the weekend that Tim Boyd has been elected International President of the Theosophical Society (Adyar). Congratulations Tim! Our love and good wishes go to you, Lily, and Angelique as you all embark on this new chapter of your lives.