Report for Cosmology/Environment working group : South African Province (The Congregation)
July 8, 2014
I have been asked to represent our South African Province on this working group even though I am not really very active in this field. I have a very deep interest in the life of the Earth and helping to promote her health.
Sr Marie McIntyre and I have worked with our staff of seven people to promote recycling and they have taken this on in a big way. We have a lot of recycling to do as we run a retreat/guesthouse on the Indian Ocean and can have 28 people staying with us at a time. We are also committed to using organic compost from our wormery instead of artificial fertiliser
I have always had a keen interest in First Peoples, their relationship to Creation and their spirituality. Consequently, after some research and also spending time in the Kalahari Desert and with a Bushman/San family, I have written a series of 24 meditation cards based on Desert Spirituality, with the aim of letting the desert both teach and speak to people with its own unique wisdom. The set of cards are still very popular and seem to touch people’s lives.
From time to time I run a training workshop with young leaders in our local communities, incorporating “The Fourfold Way” and its teachings, in the workshop. “The Fourfold Way” was designed by Angeles Arrien, a South American Cultural Anthropologist, and is based on the rites of passage of First Peoples. The course incorporates a strong call for the trainees to go back to nature to find the energy needed for a particular archetype to move from negative to positive action and thought. Our property is ideally suited for this type of work as we have a large garden with trees and are 5 minutes from the sea. To date we have trained 30 young people and our next workshop, 3 – 7 June, we will be training another 18 people.
-Marilyn Brown rsm
