Guidance for Groups

for Earth Awareness Day Meetings, 11^th December 2005.

Foreword:

Earth Awareness Day is our opportunity to come together as a global family and unite in our efforts to halt the environmental decline and heal the planet. Each group will have their own background and emphasis, so apart from the core meditation at 3 p.m., the following is offered simply as guidance that may be helpful.

1. Reaching others:

Quite simply, people cannot choose to take part in this event if they do not hear about it, so publicity has to be the first priority. There are many ways of doing this but cast your net wide! Here are just a few suggestions:

Close to home: You may already be part of a group that meets on a regular basis or perhaps you have friends or members of your family who would be interested in coming together for this event. If so, why not tell them about it or give them one of our flyers?

E-mail: Notify everyone on your address list and ask them to pass it on to their e-contacts.

Media: Contact radio and television stations and tell them about the Day and about any arranged meetings or invite listeners/viewers to set up their own. Do the same with local and national newspapers and body/mind/spirit and environmental/welfare publications.

Organisations: Don’t assume that national or local environmental, healing or religious/spiritual organisations already know about Earth Awareness Day! Make personal contact if possible and pass on information or put them in touch with this website.

Posters: Download the flyer from this website (or copy the one sent to you) and ask permission to put one up in your local library, college, health centre, recycling centre, shops and shopping malls, cafes and other public places. Ask others to do the same.

2. Arranging a Group: If you cannot find an existing group to link in with for this event, consider setting one up yourself. This does not have to be hard work and even a group of two or three meeting in your home will make a really valuable contribution.

On the other hand, if you wish to arrange something bigger then enlist the help of others - but remember that the larger the event, the more likely it is to need funding and this could be an important consideration.

Be clear with your invitations. Decide whether your meeting will be in the morning and afternoon or in the afternoon only and then state the times clearly. Most meetings are likely to be in the afternoon only, say from 2 to 5 p.m. It is suggested that longer meetings would need a definite agenda on environmental issues that would lead up to the main focus at 3 p.m.

Let people know in advance that although they will be warmly welcomed, this is a serious meeting with vitally important consequences for the planet.

3. Format: Guidelines are really helpful in focussing the mind on the purpose of the event; so ask your contacts to give their attention to environmental issues for the whole day, regardless of the amount of time you may actually spend together.

Decide whether you will ask group members beforehand to participate with discussion on environmental issues, or whether just one or two facilitators will lead the meeting.

Prepare your meeting room in advance, both physically and spiritually, so that it is peaceful and inviting.

Chairs arranged in a circle or semi-circle can be more relaxing than straight rows.

Avoid harsh lighting.

Sound is very important; so select music carefully for its resonance to guide sitters to a higher level of attunement. (If you do not already have such music, try logging onto www.caitlinsika.com where you can hear samples of didgeridoo and other appropriate music.)

Prepare a visual focus in the room, such as a small table with a candle or items from nature. If possible, construct & use the 3-sided pyramid that was intuitively given for this purpose, knowing that other groups around the world will also be using this as a focus at this time (see website or information pack).

4. The Healing Meditation: Keep it simple.

You will no doubt have your own particular issues but try to avoid getting into too much detail just before the meditation as this may overly engage the minds of those present instead of leading them to a deeper meditative state.

This information pack contains received guidance, some of which you may wish to read out in your group.

Allow 20 minutes or more for the group to relax in body and mind, sitting comfortably with eyes closed. This is also a time when the group energy will build.

Begin the healing as near to 3 p.m. (your time) as you possibly can.

It is clear from both spiritual guidance and the direct experience of many people involved in this work, that the living Earth has suffered greatly from mankind’s misuse and neglect. The first part of the meditation therefore needs to focus on our personal responsibility and regret for this.

Secondly, it would be helpful to acknowledge the connection with the group as a whole and with the many other concerned people around the world today.

Then acknowledge the connection with forces throughout the universe, for all exist within the same universal energy and are affected by events on Earth.

Having made these thought-connections, ask the group to visualise the planet suspended above the pyramid (or candle, etc) on the table and to open their hearts and allow a stream of love to pour out and surround the living Earth.

Ask the group to inwardly observe, or imagine, how the healing energy of love is taken and used. Then allow a lengthy period of silence for personal experience.

You are likely to sense when the work is done and the meditation ends.

Bring the group back gently and quietly – it may take a little while.

When everyone appears fairly alert again, ask them to stand and stretch to become fully grounded.

You may then like to invite participants to share their experiences of the meditation (be sure to have the equipment prepared in advance if you wish to record these).

5. Finally: Remind the group that much still needs to be done if Earth and life as we know it, is to survive. Both practically and spiritually, our work must continue.

Perhaps members of your group may have ideas on how this may be achieved.