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| We have just two days left to raise $13,000 to reach our goal of $50,000 in our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign. If you haven't already, now's the time to pitch in for success, right here. The campaign has great incentives for participating, including a "The Beginning is Near!" bumper sticker that we just added, and much more. http://www.indiegogo.com/birth2012 |
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The Joy of Getting Your Hub on the Map
By Byron Belitsos, Managing Editor
 "Hubs are where the Shift becomes real," as our own Stephen Dinan writes in this issue of the Catalyst. In her video, Barbara points out that Birth 2012 hubs "are linked to a transcendent purpose that has no ego." I would add that hubs are where the evolutionary rubber hits the road to the new era.
That's why we are happy to announce new resources to get your hub show on the road. This includes getting on our new hub map that debuts with this issue. If you go to the map, you'll see that many hubs are now registered. You too can joyfully sign your hub up here.
To make our complex lives simpler, we have also defined a hub in a more straightforward way. A hub is now any group of any kind (in person or virtual) that is committed to celebrating the Birth on December 22. And that can include a group that has other purposes, such as reforming health care (one of the twelve sectors of the Wheel), or awakening folks to the perils of global climate change. Our new "Create Your Hub" section at Birth2012.com explains this more fully, while also offering you optional recommendations for growing your hub. Finally, we are delighted to offer you the official and long-awaited hub toolkit, now available here.
Hub with Catholic Roots Plans Rite to "Repair the Earth"
  Lynn Fleming's spark of inspiration began when she heard Barbara speak earlier this year at the Well Spirituality Center in LaGrange Park, Illinois. And the result is a unique plan for a seven-week ramp up to their Birth celebration that concludes with an all-night vigil punctuated by two fire rituals.
Lynn is a member of the Well, one of many spirituality centers founded by the Catholic Sisters of Saint Joseph (SCJ). Her group has teamed with Franciscans at the Tau Center in nearby Wheaton to pursue an innovative vision for celebrating the planetary Birth Day. On the evening of December 21 at the Tau Center, her hub's members will post images and messages on a large paper scroll, each item referring to "what no longer serves life." They will then roll up the scroll and offer it to a "solstice fire" for transformation. This rite will be followed by an all-night vigil, during which time they will ponder the question: "What serves life?" In the early morning . . .
Read more...
Don't Miss Next Hub Call
 You may recall that hub calls now occur the fourth Saturday of each month at 10am (Pacific) / 1pm (Easter). The next one will include with Barbara, Suzanne Hubbard,
Deborah Olive from Unity Church, Victoria and Ron Friedman of the Vistar Foundation, Angel of Birth 2012 Tucson, and our hub facilitator Nadirah Adaye. These calls are an opportunity for you to connect with other hubs and learn more about resources, event production, and facilitation of resonant circles. The registration link is here.
"Origins" Conference Will Shed Light on Human Destiny
 The Catalyst recommends the SEED Institute's impressive and timely conference entitled "Wisdom from the Origins: The Mayan Calendar and Other Prophecies on the Future of Humanity," that is convening on September 13-17 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Prominent names in the lengthy list of speakers includes our own Barbara Marx Hubbard and James O'Dea along with Marianne Williamson, Gregg Braden, Kenny Ausubel, plus numerous Native America and other indigenous elders and wisdom keepers. This conference follows upon a previous cycle of thirteen dialogues convened by SEED that sought mutual understanding between indigenous ways of knowing and Western science. According to the SEED Institute, this year's conference "brings together prophecies and teachings from Mayan and other cultures regarding the changing times which are now upon us. Indigenous elders, social visionaries, ecologists, philosophers, and healers are all coming to one place. And we have asked them all to be in service to the people in reaching a state of readiness for the future."
Can Women "Have It All" in the New Era?
Women's quest for ultimate fulfillment and their changing roles in the new era are increasingly prominent factors in the Birth 2012 process. The current cover story in The Atlantic ("Why Women Still Can't Have It All") on women's elusive search for personal fulfillment caught the eye of our own Devaa Haley Mitchell, our "chief transformation officer" here at The Shift Network, which she cofounded with her husband, Stephen Dinan. Devaa also offers various courses through TSN, including the Soulful Women programs and the Inspiring Women Summit. The story in the Atlantic led her to write the following in her blog:
For as long as I can remember, I've been told "you can have it all." And this conversation usually centered around having both a thriving career and a rewarding family life, not to mention an intimate relationship, a healthy body, and all the rest. Yet as women like me have attempted to live into this paradigm, many of us have realized that we have to become a "superwoman" to do it. And though we've tried very hard, living as Superwoman has been very elusive and even impossible. It has always felt it was just out of reach.
Read more...
Barbara Marx Hubbard Featured in GaiamTV.com Debut
 Gaiam—the well-known LOHAS lifestyle products giant—is now moving into digital TV in a big way. Their new venture, GaiamTV.com calls itself "the first online video library dedicated to helping you discover new perspectives for our changing world." GaiamTV.com is now offering viewers a 10-day free trial to find out more about this ambitious new service. You can watch Barbara's free in-studio interview with GaiamTV host Lisa Garr on Wednesday, August 1 at 7 pm EST. Find more info here.
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Hubs are Ground Zero for the Shift
By Stephen Dinan, founder and CEO of The Shift Network
Our Indiegogo campaign has $13,000 to go in 2 days (participate here)
 If you're on this list, you've probably heard a lot about the "Shift," and I realize that it can sometimes sound a bit grandiose.
So allow me to simplify the discussion by offering a familiar analogy: humanity is upgrading its "operating system," just like a computer often needs to do.
In other words, the old programs are breaking down and are incapable of handling our current crises. And what is required is a shift to a new operating system that doesn't pit us against each other but instead unites us as a global family that is committed to building a peaceful, sustainable, and healthy society.
Read more...
ACE Mentor Spearheads Birth Presence on Facebook
 Dr. Julie Krull has a big heart for the Birth. Not that she isn't already busy as a soul care practitioner, life coach, therapist, and speaker. Now she's become a certified ACE mentor, and just this past few weeks has stepped up to turn our Birth 2012 Facebook page into a collaborative nerve center for the movement. Don't miss it: http://www.facebook.com/birth2012
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Leading Scientists: "We Are Hard-wired for Peace"
We are grateful to Cassandra Vieten, PhD, the director of research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, for organizing and hosting Science of Peace week. Cassandra guided these conversations to help make the latest scientific research on peacemaking more accessible. While some hold the premise that we are an intrinsically aggressive and warlike species, the scientists she interviewed maintain that humans are "hard-wired for peace." While we do have potential for fight or flight, Emiliana Simon-Thomas of the Greater Good Science Center at University of California at Berkeley pointed out, we also have innate capacities for empathy and compassion as well as for cooperation and collaboration. In the conversations, Cassandra Vieten urged the scientists to consider how their research can help the frontline peacebuilder understand how their peace efforts work and how to improve them. She pointed out that scientists can play a critical role in furthering the quest for peace. Unlike politicians and religious figures, who at times can be perceived as polarizing, scientists are respected for being unbiased.
We believe that the scientific study of peace is a frontier that holds vast potential. To listen to the Science of Peace recordings, and the rest of the Summer of Peace tele-summit, click here.
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Featured free SOP teleseminar this week:
Understanding Nonviolence
Monday, July 30th, 12:00pm to 1:00pm
Pacific
Arun Gandhi |
Justice Week – An International Overview
This coming week we will explore the relationship between justice and peace as we feature speakers from India, Brazil, Sierra Leone, and the United States. Plus, our Spirituality and Peace session opens Sunday with a spiritual leader from Mexico.
Summer of Peace schedule for the week of July 29th: (All sessions are at 12:00 noon US Pacific except where noted.)
- Sunday at 9:00am: Spirituality & Peace Sunday with Jorge Nájera: House of the Net with Jorge Nájera
- Monday: Understanding Nonviolence with Arun Gandhi
- Tuesday: Walking Towards Conflict: How Restorative Systems can Bring the Justice Scales to True Balance with Dominic Barter
- Wednesday: Fambul Tok (Family Talk): Healing the Wounds of War with Libby Hoffman
- Thursday: Growing Up Spiritually with Kenny Johnson
- Friday: Peace in the Middle of the Storm: Inner City Gangs, Rebuilding Peace with Nonviolence with Demirea Perry
Sign up here to participate for free in the Summer of Peace.
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Evolve Yourself, Evolve Our World with Shift Network Courses
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