January 28th, 2012
A Country Where All Colors Are Sacred and Alive
an interview with Geoff Oelsner
Geoff Oelsner has built a following as a performer both of his own songs and of poems which he sometimes sets to music or chants and recites to the accompaniment of guitar, harmonica, dulcimer, autoharp, harmonium, and the shruti box (a drone instrument from India). He has released 2 CD’s of original songs, Morning Branches and Ordinary Mystery with musician friends, including Kelly Mulhollan and Leslie. Geoff has published a collection of his poetry, Native Joy: poems songs visions dreams (1963-2003) (2003, Trafford) and his work has been featured in several other books, including Writing Poetry from the Inside Out by Sandford Lyne (Sourcebooks Inc., 2007). His new book, A Country Where All Colors Are Sacred and Alive, A Memoir of Non-Ordinary Experience and Collaboration with Nature (2012) is now available from Lorian Press.
A Buddhist meditator since 1974, Geoff founded the Buddhist Meditation and Spiritual Support Group in 1995. As a licensed certified social worker in private practice of psychotherapy in Arkansas since 1982, Geoff also utilizes poetry therapy with selected clients in psychotherapy. He is committed to sharing the healing and inspirational power of poetry, music, and story with the community.
A long time environmental activist and researcher, Geoff co-authored a book titled Fighting Radiation and Chemical Pollutants with Foods, Herbs,and Vitamins (1992). He is presently involved in several environmental initiatives, including the Psi-Sci Alliance project, which brings together established climate scientists with highly qualified intuitives to innovate new approaches to addressing and ameliorating climate change.
Geoff Oelsner speaks with Joanna about his deep love and connection with the natural world, transpersonal experiences in Nature, the emergence of a spiritual form of environmental activism…
Music: “The Sacred Hoop” (from Morning Branches) by Geoff Oelsner.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
When Barretto Point Park opened in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx in 2006, it marked a major accomplishment —becoming the only riverside park in the neighborhood and one of the few greens space in the heavily industrialized area. But Misra noted that there was no transportation to and from the park and that pedestrians had to endure a smoggy walk through a key transportation route that serves some 15,000 heavy trucks daily. Misra and her teen advocacy group, ACTION, lobbied the New York transit authority (MTA) for a bus route to be extended to include stops at the park. Misra’s campaign was successful, and a seasonal city shuttle bus now serves the park in the summer, taking 4,000 Bronx residents to green space they might not otherwise be able to access. Misra is a 2010 Brower Youth Award recipient.
Graham Hill, a serial Designpreneur, holds a degree as a Bachelor of Architecture from Carleton University in Ottawa and has also studied Product Design at Emily Carr in Vancouver. In 1995, with his cousin, he grew (and later sold) the web-developer SiteWerks to 60 people, doing work for clients such as Microsoft. In 2003 he founded both TreeHugger.com and a ceramic cup business (WeAreHappyToServeYou.com). TreeHugger later became part of Discovery’s Planet Green initiative and is where Hill currently places his efforts. Past business ventures include fashion, viral email and plant-based air filters. Hill speaks English, French, German and Spanish and loves kitesurfing, squash and snowboarding. From his New York home, Hill schemes daily about how he can help humanity avoid rapid extinction.
Ben Hewitt is a best-selling author and farmer whose book The Town That Food Saved, published by Chelsea Green publishing, chronicles a rural Vermont town’s attempts to implement a local food system. Hewitt speaks frequently on the subjects of regionalized agriculture, relocalizing economies, and reframing America’s values to promote positive change and a durable prosperity that is not dependent on extractive industry. With his wife and two sons, he operates a diversified 40-acre livestock, dairy, berry, and vegetable farm in Northern Vermont. He lives in a self-built, off-the-grid home that is powered by wind and solar energy. To help offset his renewable energy footprint, Ben drives a really big truck.
Zev Friedman grew up in Sylva, NC and received his B.S. in Human Ecology from UNCA. Zev’s specialty is forest agriculture; he now runs the Forest Cuisine Project, which helps land owners to start forest farms and to market their products. He is particularly passionate about assisting landowners in setting up mushroom farming operations and in using fungi as remediators for damaged environments. Zev also specializes in urban permaculture design and installation, including many private residences, as well as consulting on the design of the Mars Hill town hall and grounds; he is an active member and teacher in Transition Asheville, helping to plan for Asheville’s future as an abundant, self-reliant city in the age of petroleum decline.
Riki Ott, PhD, is an activist, author, marine toxicologist, and former commercial fisherma’m who experienced the Exxon Valdez oil spill first-hand. Her latest book on oil spill impacts is Not One Drop (Chelsea Green). She starred in Black Wave, an award-winning feature film. Ott received Huffington Post’s Game Changer 2010 Award for her volunteer work in the Gulf, empowering local residents to take action after BP’s disaster. She co-founded Ultimate Civics, a project of Earth Island Institute, and teaches value-based community organizing from fifth grade to university, sharing practical skills for sustainable living and ending corporate rule: 
Kari Fulton is an award winning Climate Justice advocate and new media journalist. Fulton works to amplify the voice and concerns of communities most impacted by Climate Change and Environmental Injustice. Through her work she connects local and global grassroots movements and supports youth leaders in becoming long-term environmental advocates. She is the Co-founder of ChecktheWeather.TV and the Interim-Director of the Environmental Justice and Climate Change Initiative. Fulton is a native of Denver, Colorado, a proud alumna of the Howard University, and a resident of Washington, DC.
Laurie David is an environmentalist, author and a producer of the 2006 Academy Award winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth. She also executive produced the HBO documentary Too Hot NOT to Handle and the TBS comedy special Earth to America!. Over the past decade, Laurie has produced many projects to shed light on the issue of global climate change – including the bestselling Stop Global Warming: The Solution is You! and co-authoring The Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming, written for kids of all ages and published in eleven languages. Her newest book is The Family Dinner: Great Ways to Connect with Your Kids, One Meal at a Time: an inspirational, practical—and, of course, green — guide to the most important hour in your family’s day, dinnertime.
Jean Shinoda Bolen, M. D, is a psychiatrist, Jungian analyst, and an internationally known author and speaker who draws from spiritual, feminist, Jungian, medical and personal wellsprings of experience. She is the author of The Tao of Psychology, Goddesses in Everywoman, Gods in Everyman, Ring of Power, Crossing to Avalon, Close to the Bone, The Millionth Circle, Goddesses in Older Women, Crones Don’t Whine and Urgent Message from Mother, and Like a Tree: How Trees, Women, and Tree People Can Save the Planet.
Former monk and long-term peace and environment activist, Satish Kumar is the editor of Resurgence, the longest-running environmental magazine in Britain. He is the guiding spirit behind a number of ecological, spiritual and educational ventures in UK.
Martha Elena Llano Serna is a graphic designer, documentary photographer, and expert in strategic thinking for environmental conservation. She is the founder of “SENTIR”, an educational project about endangered species and ecosystems that has become a Foundation which promotes sustainable development in Colombia. She has lived in the Colombian Pacific (Pijiba), helping to identify photographically the Humpback Whale. She lives in El Robledal Nature Preserve, where she works in environmental conservation, ecotourism and actively supports local networks.
Toby Herzlich is a facilitator and trainer with a focus on leadership, sector enhancement and organizational excellence. With Nina Simons, Toby is co-designer and facilitator of “Cultivating Women’s Leadership,” a program for women working toward social change and environmental sustainability, and has created networks of emerging women leaders in war-torn areas of the Middle East and the Balkans. Also a Senior Trainer with the Rockwood Leadership Institute and on the faculty of the Center for Whole Communities, Toby is currently developing Biomimicry-inspired programs to integrate nature-inspired innovations and perspectives into social change leadership.
Osprey Orielle Lake, MA is an artist, writer, and lifelong advocate of social and environmental justice issues. She is the Director of the Women’s Earth and Climate Caucus and on the governing Board of Praxis Peace Institute. She is the Founder/Artist of the International Cheemah Monument Project, creating 18 foot bronze sculpture monuments for locations around the world, where people can ponder a better future for the earth and humanity. Her themes concern new cultural narratives and the way public imagery and stories either enhance or distance our relationship with the Earth. Osprey studied Ancient History and Biology at Reed College in Portland, Oregon where her focus was on an Ecological Impact Study of the Oregon river system. She holds a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz where her reports on the use of phenoxy herbicides and alternative methods for pest management played a central role in Santa Cruz County’s re-evaluation of herbicide use. She received her MA in Culture and Environmental Studies from Holy Names University in Oakland, California. Her recent book, Uprisings for the Earth: Reconnecting Culture with Nature (2010), delves into a new kinship with nature while acknowledging the treasures of urban life and the unique stake each person has in resolving critical and timely challenges.
Derrick Jensen is an American author and environmental activist. Jensen has published several books questioning and critiquing modern civilization and its values, including 
Dr Hugh Wheir graduated from Texas A&M University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1979 and operated a successful and innovative veterinary practice in Santa Fe for many years. A pioneer in animal acupuncture and natural healing, Dr Wheir was trained by Sensei Nakazono in the Kototama School of Japanse acupuncture and practiced on humans with many remarkable healing successes before he turned his full attention to animals. Dr Wheir has been an advocate for humane population control of domestic animals and wildlife and the protection of endangered species, including Mexican sea turtles and African elephants. He has conducted hundreds of spay-neuter clinics in the US and Latin America through the organization he founded, Animal Alliance, and has lectured widely, collaborating with the Humane Society of the United States, Humane Society International and many other foundations and institutions. He now serves on the board of Alliance for the Earth, Elephants in Crisis, and The Biosphere Foundation – and is excited to be a hands-on veterinarian once again!
Tata Erick González, also known by his Tolteca-Azteca name OmeAkaEhekatl and his Haida tribal name Gaada (supernatural light). Tata Erick is a lineage-holder and Daykeeper of the Cakchikel Maya of Guatemala. He trained in the ceremonial way for 32 years with indigenous healers and medicine people from North, Central, and South America and was ceremonially initiated as a Mayan Aj Qij (staff of light) in 1994. He is founder of 
Raina Atareta Ferris is a member of the Māori Ngāti Kahungunu iwi (tribe) of Aotearoa (New Zealand). Tracing her heritage through a lineage of warrior women, Raina lives rurally in the small township of Porangahau. From an early age, Raina learned the rituals entrusted to her family, caretakers of the local marae (meeting grounds). Today she is helping her people reclaim their ancestral wisdom which had been watered down by several generations of colonization and missionary presence. Her particular emphasis is on the role of Māori women in the spiritual welfare of the marae and the community.
Nora Bateson is a media producer and educator. Her work includes documentaries, multimedia productions, magazine columns, and developing curriculum for elementary and high school students. Central to all her pursuits is the idea of utilizing media and storytelling to encourage cultural understanding, social justice, and environmental awareness. Ms. Bateson has a steadfast dedication to the possibilities of human evolution, starting with encouraging young children to see the interrelatedness of the natural world with that of the “human-made” world using all media.
Tim Ward is the author of the newly released Savage Breast: One Man’s Search for the Goddess. This is the first book that explores the Goddess from an explicitly male perspective, and how the loss of the feminine divine has affected men and women’s relationships. Tim believes it is in men’s enlightened self interest to work together with women to move beyond patriarchy, and this is the conversation he will engage his audiences in as he shares his experience of exploring Goddess sites and ruins of the ancient Europe throughout 2006-07.
Diane Wilson, a fourth-generation shrimper, began fishing the bays off the Gulf Coast of Texas at the age of eight. By 24 she was a boat captain. In 1989, while running her brother’s fish house at the docks and mending nets, she read a newspaper article that listed her home of Calhoun County as the number one toxic polluter in the country. She set up a meeting in the town hall to discuss what the chemical plants were doing to the bays and thus began her life as an environmental activist. Threatened by thugs and despised by her neighbors, Diane insisted the truth be told and that Formosa Plastics stop dumping toxins into the bay.
Brad Lancaster is a dynamic teacher, consultant, and designer of regenerative systems. He is the author of the award-winning, best-selling books Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond, the information-packed website 
