Well, I thought
the bus would be there any minute. After
posting the last report I looked at my phone, saw it was 6:00 pm (a half hour past dinner) and dashed over to
dining area. No one was in sight. I was joined first by Luz, one of the
translators (with whom I had worked when Tata was here last year), and then Fr.
James Channon. They had both stayed here
due to not feeling well, but were doing better.
Finally, around 7:00,
the bus arrived and very tired folks started straggling in. I sat with Luz and Fr. Channon. We were joined by Marianne and Bart. Bart and I chatted about the CC he has with
Morgana. He knew about different
Traditions of Wicca and asked if Morgana and I are in the same one. As it turns out, we are – Gardnerians, but
descending from different Priestesses of Gardner. I asked if he had seen my article in the
latest issue of Morgana’s online journal, the Wiccan Rede (which they pronounce
“raid”). (http://wiccanrede.org/2014/05/harran-last-refuge-of-classical-paganism-part-i/) He hadn’t read it yet, but knew about it as
he and Morgana had talked at length about her own trips to Harran.
Both Bart and Marianne said that the Americans talk to fast
to be understood. I was surprised, since
they both speak English very well. We
had an interesting conversation about the difference between “constitution”,
“statutes”, and “bylaws”, and about words that do not easily translate from one
language to another.
After dinner was the “URI
Café”, with reports / performances from the Regional Leadership Teams from
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAandC), South East Asia and the Pacific
(SEAPac), and our own Multiregion. I
confess that I didn’t get to appreciate mist of what LAand C and SEAPac did as
our Multiregion RLT was scrambling to get our act together… literally. Unlike the geographically contained Regions,
we have few chances for real conversations and so had little opportunity to
prep a show, but it all came together at the last minute.
Meanwhile, LAandC and SEAPac were leading songs and
dances, doing video presentations, telling jokes, and more that was making us
fear more and more that we would look second rate. A highlight for me was the last “act” before
we went on… Potre, one of the RCs for
SEAPac, had done research on everyone’s given names and read off the
results. As most folks came from nominally
Christian countries, most of the given names were Biblical or related and meant
things like “Messenger of God” or “God is my strength” or “Purity” and things
like that. Three that stood out as
non-Biblical were Alejandrino = “Defender of Men”, Donald = “World Leader”
(that got a few “oohs” and “ahhs”), and Victor = “Victor”.
When it was our turn, Rachael, as Multiregion Regional
Coordinator (RC), was our MC. She got us
all up on stage and introduced us to the crowd.
I went first.
____________________________________
“Even people in the URI
sometimes have trouble explaining the concept of the Multiregion to
others. (For the record, it’s all CCs
that have members in more than one Region, or have a focus that covers more
than one Region (like “the Environment”), or who just want to be in the
Multiregion.
Part of the problem has been our name. Multiregion.
We’ve never liked it. Our own
members would ask, “Am I in the Multiregion Region?” It was confusing. The name that has always made the most sense
to all of us is “Global”. We are the Global Region. But the word “Global” was already taken. We didn’t want confusion with the Global
Council, and the Global Support Staff, etc., so we’d try alternates:
Virtual Region? That
sounds like we don’t really exist.
Non-Geographic Region?
That sound like we’re nowhere, when in fact we are everywhere.
Cyber-Region? We do tend to communicate electronically,
but not all of our members have internet access.
So then we started dreaming big. Instead of “Global Region”, how about
“Planetary Region”? Or why not “Galactic
Region”?
And so we have plans t contact NASA to see if the crew of
the International Space Station would be interested in becoming a Cooperation
Circle. And
you can bet that we’ll be talking to the crew of the first Mars mission before
they go. If we can get the URI
established on Mars, where would they fit in the URI? In the Multiregion, of course!
So, in the spirit of “coopetition”, we look forward to the
day when we have established the Perseus Cluster MCC
– made up of several Planetary CCs – and can look back and wave at all the
little Regions back on Earth.
Lest anyone doiubt the commitment of the Multiregion to
pushing boundaries, we offer a short video clip. The men you’ll see are in a Multiregion CC
and are: Ali Bushnaq (Muslim / Palestine),
Dudu Yifrah (Jewish / Israel),
Sele Selamolela (Christian / South Africa),
and Lance Trumball (Buddhist / USA)
and our current webmaster.
Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifLrzlXe4y8
(Start at :53.)
(People were in tears.)
To find out what happened next, Lance would usually say, “Buy the DVD.”,
but after a dramatic rescue effort, Sela was saved with only the loss of some
fingers.
This demonstrates the commitment and vision of the
Multiregion. When humanity moves out
into space, we’ll be there!”
__________________________________
This went over much better than I had expected. People laughed at the right places, expressed
awe and sadness at the video, and were enthusiastic about the Multiregion.
Rachael explained about the Multiregion and our 39 CCs – up
by nine in just the last year, with another sitting in the audience waiting to
be approved. She did a wonderful
stand-up-comic-esque routine telling how the Multiregion was often overlooked
because our CCs are also in geographic Regions.
Mussie’s Golden Rule CC is associated with Africa,
but it’s a Multiregion CC. Our work at
the UN is associated with North America, but the URI
at the UN CC is a Multiregion CC.
Our work is also often invisible. In the LA&C presentation, Alejandrino
showed video of his work in the Andes, but the digital
video camera and training in its use was provided by the Think Peace
Communications CC, a Multiregion CC.
Alejandrino’s lessons in English – as well as those of former indigenous
Trustees Rosalia Gutierrez and Raul Mamani – were provided by the Spirituality
& the Earth CC, a Multiregion CC.
Rachael asked everyone in the room who was in a Multiregion
CC to stand up, and it was about a third of the room! It’s amazing how we can be so
overlooked. (Kind of like how Pagans can
be the fourth largest religion in the US,
and so overlooked and little understood.)
Audri told everyone about the upcoming Global Indigenous
Initiative meeting and asked for everyone’s prayers. Folks were stunned at the list of
attendees. Check it out at:
Vrajapati showed a video about the annual Science and Religion
conferences his CC hosts in India,
with hundreds of attendees, including India’s
President.
The crowd loved our presentation. We closed with gathering all the folks in the
room who are in a Multiregion CC for a photo.
I’ll get a copy soon and post it.
A tired crowd staggered across the campus to our dorm. I walked with Genivalda and Enoe. Genivalda speaks Portuguese and some
Spanish. Enoe understands some
Portuguese, speaks Spanish and English.
I understand some Spanish.
Between us, Genivalda was able to ask about getting involved in the
Multiregion. We talked about a CC
joining a Multiregion MCC like the Earth
Wisdom MCC vs. her joining a Multiregion CC, like Enoe’s and my Spirituality &
the Earth CC. All the latter takes is
her asking Enoe and me and us saying “Yes.”
She will think about it.
Back in the dorm, I exited my shower and put on a galabia, only to discover two of my
suite-mates Vrajapati (Hindu / India)
and Patrick (Hindu / Germany)
discussing their dietary restrictions and how well the university was
accommodating them. We were joined by
our last suite-mate Sherif (Christian / Egypt)
and got into a discussion about how one of my coveners discovered a test for
the presence of pork in food down to the molecular level. Eventually, the conversation turned to
questions about Wicca and their desire that we had more time to lean about each
other’s practices. They had seen my
travel altar – with a stone from Coventina’s well – and wanted to know more. Sherif was especially interested in
connections between Wicca and Islam. I
promised to send him my paper on the subject – the result of working with
Muslims in interfaith for 29 years. It
now being midnight, we decided to
continue the conversation tomorrow.
And so, to bed…
Blessed Be,
Don Frew
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