An intentional gathering of Wisdom Keepers, Future Leaders and Visionary NGOs · 10 to 15 November 2012 · Yarrabah, Far North Queensland
Coinciding with the total solar eclipse on November 14th 2012, the Rare Earth Foundation and Para PachaMama ~ Spirit of Earth assisted the Gungganji Council of Elders in facilitating a five-day Global Elders Gathering in Far North Queensland, for elders, wisdom keepers, future leaders, visionary NGOs and community workers to come together and share their vision for the future.
Modern society is facing a time where it needs guidance from the Indigenous peoples of this Earth, and the younger generations need guidance too. We have global problems affecting our lives and the life of the planet, and we believe that by connecting with Indigenous cultures we can restore balance to our society. This is the time. People are ready to listen. The Solar Eclipse is a moment in time to focus our intentions, share our hearts’ visions, and bring forth the dances, songs and storylines that allow us to bring the vision of a New Earth into being.
Focus of the Gathering
• To honour and acknowledge the Story of the Land in Yarrabah that foretold of this Gathering during the Solar Eclipse.
• To open a space that honours Earth-based Cultures from Australia and around the world, where Song, Dance, Story and Wisdom are shared.
• To respect the ancestors who have continued to “sing the new songs, dance the new dances and bring the tribes together”.
• To create a space for young people to connect with the Elders and cultural leaders, deepening their understanding and appreciation of Traditional ways and knowing.
• To connect Indigenous nations with NGOs, philanthropists, fundraisers, captains of industry and community development workers, to bring sustainable solutions into being together for the many issues of our time.
• To create the first chapter of a digital message stick from Indigenous Nations, exploring solutions to the problems facing the planet and humanity.
The Digital Message Stick
The message from Indigenous nations created at this gathering travels across the globe as a “digital message stick” to many different Earth-based tribes, communities and individuals, to hear their story and share their message. The message stick then returns to Australia to be shared at the next Gathering, where, through video conferencing, participants in this global message link up with Australia to explore ways of sharing this unified message with the world. Once complete, the digital message stick becomes a united global message from our Indigenous peoples, shared with the whole world.
The Calling: ancient story of the Land
From the Land of Yarrabah, Uncle Bob, Binyarabi, called out to support this Gathering, bring our energy to it and help as many Elders and Wisdom Keepers as possible come and gather in full in Yarrabah. Bound in Sacred Story, this Gathering is part of an ancient Yarrabah prophecy storyline. It speaks directly of the Solar Eclipse and is dreamed as a Gathering where the vision for a new future is brought together and shared with the world at large. His calling became Part 1 of the Digital Message Stick, the calling from the Council of Elders.
A free energy event
Everyone donated their time and energy so this gathering could take place, and we were humbled and amazed by what manifested through our collective energy. This Gathering is an anchor point for the restoration and acknowledgement of the Gungganji Council of Elders, with important stories to share.
The Gathering’s Indiegogo campaign, “Global Elders Gathering 2012” (10 September to 26 October 2012), reached its goal with Meleuka Morton-Masterman of the Rare Earth Foundation, Sjoerd Aardema, Ciara Bridgland and April Mondragon on its team. The Rare Earth Foundation is a non-profit organisation that empowers young people to preserve and promote Indigenous culture through media, technology and the arts. Para PachaMama also sought funds to bring Wisdom Keepers from the Waitaha of Aotearoa, Kahunas from Hawaii, Shamans from Peru, Mayan Priests, the Hopi tradition and other Wisdom Traditions to Australia, and Permaculture FNQ crews restored the beachfront at the gathering site through the “Permaculture in Yarrabah” project, completed on the day of the eclipse.
The next gathering: the Water Carriers of Aotearoa
The bond with the Waitaha of Aotearoa that Para PachaMama reached for in 2012 grew into the next great gathering two years later, when the Waitaha Nation opened its fifty-year Waitaha Water Gathering at Waitangi to the world for the first time in October 2014, with Para PachaMama holding the organising around it, and that thread of Elder gatherings later carried on into the Wānanga of Love in Bali. The same eclipse that held the Yarrabah gathering also bathed Solar, the Australian Crystal Skull, in its rays.
From the Para PachaMama journal
Australian Elder Gathering: The Calling, 25 July 2012
Global Meditation: We Need Your Support, 6 November 2012
Hosted with the Rare Earth Foundation (ref.org.au) and Para PachaMama ~ Spirit of Earth, from the original globaleldergatherings.org, September 2012.