Events
Mosaic presents a variety of events
and organizes intercultural
projects.
Check frequently for updated information on events.
Paths of Initiation A Mentoring Retreat for Younger and Older Men Mendocino, California ~ August 17-22, 2010
Mendocino Woodlands Camp, Mendocino, CA ______________________________________________ Through stories, poems and the compelling speech of the soul, through the suddenness of ideas and the surprise of ritual we will seek the spirit of practice and the life of the soul. ______________________________________________
The soul begins its initiatory path at birth, each birth initiating a particular life story. Awakening to one's inner story and finding life-long initiatory paths comprises the "real work" and genuine opus of our lives. Although each soul is naturally gifted and secretly aimed, many aspects of modern culture lead us away from the very paths of knowledge that the soul would have us take. Inside, the dream of our life keeps trying to awaken us from the sleep of the daily world.
Join us on this path of discovery as we approach the territory of initiation with a diverse and surprising faculty who will present ideas and elements of initiation from tribal traditions, spiritual practices, psychological perspectives, and a rich array of personal experiences.
The Ecstatic Soul A night of ecstatic poetry and sacred music with Michael Meade and the Qadim Ensemble
Seattle, WA ~ Wednesday, July 7, 2010
All Pilgrims Church, 500 Broadway E Portland, OR ~ Thursday, July 8, 2010
First Unitarian Church, 1211 SW Main Street
You are invited to an evening of ecstatic poetry and sacred music, a combined song that voices the longings of the heart and whispers the nature of the soul.In dark and troubled times ancient peoples turned to the poets and mystics, not to escape reality, but to find solace, understanding, and inspiration. The mystics say that something that turns within us helps to make the world turn. They say that there is a "light seed grain inside; you fill it with yourself, or it dies." Come fill yourself with poetry and music.
Mythologist and storyteller Michael Meade will weave ecstatic poetry with ancient "wisdom tales", while The Qadim Ensemble offers devotional music of the Middle East. Qadim celebrates the rich spiritual heritage found in traditional Arabic, Jewish, Turkish Sufi, Greek, and Moroccan music.
Listen to Im Nin'alu from Eastern Wind
Mythic By Nature A residential retreat with mythologist and author Michael Meade May 13-16, 2010
Pema Osel Ling Retreat Center, Watsonville, CA ______________________________________________ CE Units are available for this event. Contact the Mosaic office at 206-935-3665 for more information.
Despite deepening crises in both nature and culture the individual soul still carries its gift of imagination and its burden of story to the world. We give from the story given to us and inwardly live in myth because myth lives in us. Myth is second nature to us, both the essence of our inner nature and the source of "uniqueness" etched in our souls. In learning to live and express the mythic pattern within, a person more fully descends into the natural world and more meaningfully contributes to community and culture. In times of great loss the "lost soul" in us would find again the pathways of destiny and the hidden dimensions of the mythic mind.
Living Myth is at the core of each soul's great experiment in life; we are its invention and we must invent our own way of becoming it despite and because of the conditions of the world. We either learn to live the mythic pattern or else our lives become an unconscious and distorted version of it.
Creative Mentoring in Portland, OR An intensive workshop with author and mythologist Michael Meade
Saturday, May 1st ~ 9:30am to 5:30pm
Friends Meeting House 4312 SE Stark St, Portland, OR, 97215 Registration via phone or our online store is now closed. You may still register in-person starting at 9:00 AM at the venue
CE Units are available for this event. Contact the Mosaic office at 206-935-3665 for more information.
Creative Mentoring offers orientation and training in the core ideas and purposes of mentoring. The character named Mentor first appears in The Odyssey where he acts as guide and teacher for a young prince facing cultural devastation. From the beginning mentoring involves healing culture as well as guiding youth. Creative Mentoring assists nature to heal and culture to renew while helping youth encounter their own genius and unique spirit for life.
While mentoring naturally involves youth, it also helps to re-imagine meaningful roles for elders. The role of the mentor can be seen as a bridge which helps youth find their way into life, while also preparing the olders to act as elders in the community. Mentoring also involves rites of passage and other traditional practices that help people survive crises and enter new stages of life. Thus, Creative Mentoring can help veterans return from war, addicts recover from dependence, and youth awaken from violence and apathy.
Through Creative Mentoring people can discover and clarify what they have to offer in the way of teaching, guiding, and mentoring others. Typical outcomes of this workshop include: a deepened sense of identity as a mentor; greater awareness of inner resources within individuals and groups; an increased understanding of the spiritual components of mentoring; new frameworks for understanding how learning works. The process of Creative Mentoring can be applied to existing organizations and agencies and also used to fashion new forms for developing community based projects.
CREATIVE MENTORING BENEFITS TEACHERS AND COUNSELORS, PRACTITIONERS OF TRADITIONAL AND SPIRITUAL ARTS, AGENTS OF CULTURAL HEALING AND CHANGE, PARENTS, SOCIAL ACTIVISTS, AND THOSE WHO WORK WITH NATURE AND VALUE COMMUNITY.
Proceeds support Voices of Youth and Intercultural Projects
Suggested Donation for Vashon is $12 Tickets for Portland are $12
Genius, Koures and the Old Mind A Mentoring Retreat for Younger and Older Men Mendocino, California ~ 2009
Mendocino Woodlands Camp, Mendocino, CA
______________________________________________
Join storyteller and mythologist Michael Meade, social activist and poet Luis Rodriguez, activist and community builder Orland Bishop and a talented group of additional teachers for a retreat based in the living practices of many
cultures, the traditional arts, and the honesty of genuine conversation. ______________________________________________
While the culture at large enters a dark time and a troubling
economic recession, youth suffer a "recession of cultural
imagination." Modern, mass cultures increasingly diminish
the value of the individual and this devaluation falls heavily
upon youth who are naturally seeking to find their value in
life and become of service to the world. Both the violence and
the alienation increasingly found in youth involve a separation from their inner nobility as well as a rejection of their natural genius or spirit for life.
Meanwhile, genuine "maturity" does not occur simply by
aging, but by finding connections to timeless qualities of the
soul which alone can seed the wisdom required to deal with
great cultural problems and troubled times. If a person matures
in meaningful ways, they can also find ways to sustain the
invisible threads that hold this troubled world together with
the eternal world behind this world.
In troubled times both the genius of youth and the wisdom
of the old soul are needed. For the wise sage and the eternal
youth both find a home in the depths of the old soul and in the
practices of the Old Mind. While the troubles deepen something
ancient and knowing secretly tries to catch up to us.
The retreat is currently full. To get on the waiting list, please email info@mosaicvoices.org.
Voices of Youth Poetry from the Edge Thursday ~ July 23rd, 2009 ~ 7pm
Magnuson Auditorium (Bldg 47) Sand point Naval Base 7400 Sand Pt. Way NE, Seattle
You are invited to a special evening in which local "at-risk" and "homeless" youth express their experience of living in these troubled times. Voices of Youth brings young people together through intense workshops to craft an artful expression of their inner dreams and outer concerns. On this night, the community gathers to witness and bless the aspirations, struggles, and efforts of its young people.
Youth are not "the problem;" rather, their lives are a reflection of issues troubling the culture at large. Viewed this way, youth become valuable agents of change who play a necessary part in cultural awakening. Join us to witness the expression of youth and hear the voice of the soul seeking to make community again.
Join local "at-risk" and "homeless" youth and author, mythologist Michael Meade Donation Suggested ~ Everyone Welcome
Sponsored by Youthcare and Mosaic Multicultural Foundation
Branches of Mentoring
An intensive workshop with storyteller & mythologist Michael Meade
Oakland, CA ~ Saturday, May 2, 2009 ~ 9:30 am to 5:30 pm
The Bender Room at Mills College
5000 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland, CA
Online and Phone registration is now closed for this event. You may still register in-person the day of the event at 9 AM. Speak with the parking attendant at Mills College for a free parking pass and directions on campus.
The Branches of Mentoring, the Roots of Elders offers
orientation and training in the core ideas and purposes
of mentoring.The word "mentor" first appears in an old myth where a culture has been devastated by war
and rattled by lawlessness and corruption. The character
named Mentor acts as guide and teacher for a young
prince having to face the devastation. From the beginning
mentoring involves healing culture as well as guiding
youth. Creative mentoring is the way culture becomes
renewed as well as a process through which youth
encounter their own genius and unique spirit for life.
Each mentoring situation becomes a story in which both
mentor and youth face issues of change and growth and
can find inspired ideas as well as ways to contribute more
fully to their communities. Being more art than science,
mentoring requires that the mentors develop ways of
being creative as well as practices for the art of survival.
While mentoring naturally involves the youth of a
community, it also extends to re-imagining meaningful
roles for elders. The role of the mentor can be seen as a
bridge which invites youth more fully into life, while also
preparing the "olders" to step up to becoming elders.
Voices of Veterans
A Welcome Home Ceremony Veterans Day in Portland, OR
A Welcome Home Ceremony November 11th, 2008 ~ 6 PM First Unitarian Church
1011 SW 12th Ave
Portland, OR
~ Everyone Welcome ~
This Veterans Day ceremony brings together veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the local community. It intends to help heal the distance between the warriors and those they protect and bridge the gaps between war and peace, trauma and renewal, pain and understanding. Such a welcoming involves a community conversation that moves beyond politics and goes deeper than the rhetoric of war; it requires courage and is too-often avoided. It begins with tragedy and loss in the aftermath of any war and requires the language of poetry and story, as well as the dignity of ceremony.
Join author Michael Meade, veterans, and their families for an evening of poetry, stories, and cogent commentary on the realities of war and the difficulties found upon return. Healing only happens when the burdens of war can be shared by the greater community. A public gathering allows citizens to be compassionate witnesses to the stories of war and the need for conscious and genuine acts of welcoming. As one veteran writes in a poem: "Can we create a village as strong as a war?"
A Welcome Home Ceremony and Voices of Veterans will draw upon intensive work with veterans that begins in a five day retreat that focuses upon healing from the effects of combat and dealing with the post-traumatic stresses that follow exposure to modern warfare. The retreat will be facilitated by author Michael Meade, a Vietnam era veteran, noted mythologist, author, and storyteller, along with experts in the field of trauma recovery.
"The suffering and sacrifice of veterans must be acknowledged at a genuine human level just as quality medical treatments must reflect the nature of physical wounds. A genuine rite of return for veterans involves an open and compassionate community that fully acknowledges the courage and the wounds of those who return from battle as well as fully grieves those whose lives ended in the unforgiving fields of war." ~ Excerpted from Michael Meade's introduction to the new book of poems by veterans and their families: Voices of Vets, A Bridge Back to the World.
To make reservations and donations to support Voices
of Veterans over the phone, contact Mosaic Multicultural Foundation:
800-233-6984 ~ info@mosaicvoices.org
Voices of Youth Poetry from the Edge
Join local "at-risk" and "homeless" youth, along with author and mythologist Michael Meade Friday September 26th, 2008 ~ 7 pm
The Black Box Theater
The Washington Center for the Performing Arts
512 Washington Street, Olympia, WA
~ Donation Suggested ~ Everyone Welcome ~
Proceeds Support Work with At-Risk Youth
______________________________________________________________ A culture that rejects the spirit of its youth will come to lack spirit and imagination when faced with life's inevitable challenges.
______________________________________________________________ You are invited to a special evening in which local "at-risk" and "homeless" youth express their experience of living in these troubled times. Voices of Youth brings young people together through intense workshops to craft an artful expression of their inner dreams and outer concerns. On this night, the community gathers to witness, to discuss, and to bless the aspirations, struggles, and efforts of its young people. In this approach, youth are not simply "the problem;" rather, their lives are a reflection of serious issues troubling the culture at large. When viewed this way, youth can be seen as valuable agents of change who play a necessary part in cultural awakening, healing, and transformation. Amidst multiple threats and increasing fears, all are invited to witness the expression of youth and hear the voice of the soul seeking to make community again.
Sponsored by Community Youth Services and Mosaic Multicultural Foundation
Voices of Veterans A Ceremony for Veterans September 6th, 2008 ~ 7 PM First Congregational United Church
1126 SW Park Ave, Portland, OR
~ Donation Suggested ~ Everyone Welcome ~
"I walked up my ramp alone - to a reception of none...
no welcome home party, because like so many others
I'm not home.
Expose emotional silence, so your wounds
can finally be healed.
Give yourself that precious gift.
Let the self-inflicted guilt die, instead of you."
Excerpt from a veterans' poems.
Mosaic wishes to announce an evening of stories and original poems from veterans of wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Vietnam and their family members.
This gathering will bring together veterans and the community in an attempt to heal the distance between the warriors and those they protect and bridge the gaps between war and peace, trauma and renewal, pain and understanding. This conversation requires courage and is too-often avoided. It begins with tragedy and loss, the aftermath of any war, and requires the language of poetry, theater, and art as well as the dignity of ceremony.
Join author Michael Meade, veterans, and their families for an evening of poetry, stories, and cogent commentary on the realities of war and the difficulties found upon return.
Help celebrate the release of the new book of veterans' poems: Voices of Vets, A Bridge Back to the World.
Healing only happens where and when the burdens of war can be shared by the greater community. A public gathering allows citizens to become compassionate witnesses to the stories of war and the need for conscious and genuine acts of witnessing and welcoming. As one of the veterans put it in a poem: "Can we create a village as strong as a war?"
Holding the Thread of Life A Mentoring Retreat for Younger and Older Men Michael Meade ~ Luis Rodriguez ~ Jack Kornfield ~ Orland Bishop Mendocino, California ~ 2008
Mendocino Woodlands Camp, Mendocino, CA
Registration is now closed as the retreat is full. To be placed on the waiting list, please call the Mosaic office at 206-935-3665.
______________________________________________________________
Join storyteller and mythologist Michael Meade, social activist and poet Luis Rodriguez, meditation teacher Jack Kornfield, activist and community builder Orland Bishop and other teachers in an intensive retreat based in the living practices of many tribal, traditional, and contemporary perspectives.
______________________________________________________________ The essential relationship between youth, mentors, and elders can be seen as a "living institution;" one that becomes increasingly important as spiritual chaos and cultural confusions grow. Mentoring arises from mythic traditions; it traces roots back to nature's ways and draws upon animal intelligence. In a time when nature is threatened and culture seems about to unravel, "creative mentoring" provides both "natural" practices and knowing ways to survive and to contribute to a troubled world.
The "genius of mentoring" depends upon finding the thread of one's own story, on shedding old skins of the self and awakening to a deeper sense of meaning. Each person is mythic by nature, each a meaningful story trying to be lived in a world that often seems meaningless. A sense of story is needed to extract meaning from experience and reveal purposes hidden in the soul.
Voices of Youth Poetry from the Edge
Join local "at-risk" and "homeless" youth,
along with author and mythologist Michael Meade Wednesday June 11th, 2008 ~ 7 pm
Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center
104 17th Ave South, Seattle, WA
~ Donation Suggested ~ Everyone Welcome ~
Proceeds Support Work with At-Risk Youth
______________________________________________________________ A culture that rejects the spirit of its youth will come to lack spirit and imagination when faced with life's inevitable challenges.
______________________________________________________________ You are invited to a special evening in which local "at-risk" and "homeless" youth express their experience of living in these troubled times. Voices of Youth brings young people together through intense workshops to craft an artful expression of their inner dreams and outer concerns. On this night, the community gathers to witness, to discuss, and to bless the aspirations, struggles, and efforts of its young people. In this approach, youth are not simply "the problem;" rather, their lives are a reflection of serious issues troubling the culture at large. When viewed this way, youth can be seen as valuable agents of change who play a necessary part in cultural awakening, healing, and transformation. Amidst multiple threats and increasing fears, all are invited to witness the expression of youth and hear the voice of the soul seeking to make community again.
Sponsored by YouthCare and Mosaic Multicultural Foundation
Voices of Veterans A Memorial Day Ceremony for Veterans
May 26th, 2008 ~ Angus Bowmer Theatre, Ashland, OR
Mosaic wishes to announce a community centered welcome home program for veterans of foreign wars and their family members, in particular those from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Healing only happens where and when the burdens of war can be shared by the greater community. A public gathering allows citizens to become compassionate witnesses to the stories of war and the necessity of a conscious and genuine return.
A public Memorial Day Ceremony will bring together veterans and the community in an attempt to heal the distance between the warriors and those they protect and bridge the gaps between war and peace, trauma and renewal, pain and understanding. This conversation requires courage and is too-often avoided. It begins with tragedy and loss, the aftermath of any war, and requires the language of poetry, theater, and art as well as the dignity of ceremony.
A retreat prior to the ceremony will involve both men and women soldiers, and will focus on creating a "community of veterans," encouraging their expression and healing through storytelling, writing, and meditation. Families of soldiers are encouraged to attend. This preparatory part will be primarily facilitated by Michael Meade, a Vietnam era veteran, noted mythologist, author, and story-teller, along with veterans from other wars and experts in the field of trauma recovery. Sponsored by The Welcome Home Project and Mosaic Multicultural Foundation
The Koures Symposium
Youth, Poetry, Practice Sun., Feb. 24, 2008 ~ 3:00 - 6:00 p.m. Public Presentation at the Brava Theater
The Mission District of San Francisco, 2781 24th Street
Amidst the great uncertainties that arise from the fraying of the web of nature and the unraveling of the fabric of culture the sense of eternal youthfulness can become lost, leaving even young people feeling older than they should.While culture suffers a loss of vital imagination; young people feel less needed, less valued, and more at risk.
The ancient Greek word Koures means "youthful;" it refers to the vitality and innate imagination of young women and men, but also to the essential spirit that keeps the elders "young at heart." Symposium refers to a gathering amidst potent ideas and vital imaginations, a communal sipping at the well of knowledge. The public presentation of this symposium follows an intensive period of study and practice and will feature the writing and speaking of diverse students and at-risk youth as well as offerings from a faculty of authors, teachers, and agents for cultural healing.
On this day, the community gathers to witness, to discuss, and to bless the aspirations, struggles, and efforts of its young people. Please join this "sudden community" in a forum and ceremony that celebrate youth and the eternal imagination that is the common inheritance of humanity.
For retreat information or to offer scholarship support contact Mosaic:
Phone: 800-233-6984
Email: Mosaic
The Branches of Mentoring, the Roots of Elders
An intensive day long workshop with storyteller & mythologist Michael Meade Saturday, October 6, 2007 ~ 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Akron Urban League
440 Vernon Odom Blvd, Akron, OH 44307 To register or for more information email kwame222@msn.com or call 330-665-5920.
The Branches of Mentoring, the Roots of Elders offers orientation and training in the core ideas and purposes of mentoring. The word 'mentor' refers to 'lived knowledge,' it comes from an old myth in which Mentor acts as guide and teacher using inspired ideas and a keen knowledge of survival.
The mentoring process involves passing on living skills and essential arts for surviving traumatic experiences and the challenges of contemporary life. Through The Branches of Mentoring, the Roots of Elders people can discover and clarify what they have to offer in the way of teaching, guiding and mentoring others.
Each mentoring situation depicts a story in which both mentor and youth find their own way and even exchange places on occasion. Mentoring involves stories longing to be heard and waiting to be told. For, mentoring is the way the story of culture is fashioned, exchanged, learned and reinvented.
Voices of Youth, Voices of Community
7:00 pm - Thursday, July 19, 2007
~ Richard Hugo House ~
1634 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122 ~Free and Open to the Public~
You are invited to a special evening in which local "at-risk" and "homeless" youth express their experience of living in these troubled times.
Voices of Youth, Voices of Community brings young people together to craft an artful expression of their inner dreams and outer concerns. On this night the community gathers to witness, to discuss, and bless the aspirations, struggles, and efforts of its young people.
In this approach, youth are not simply "the problem," rather, their lives are a reflection of serious issues troubling the culture at large. When viewed this way, youth can be seen as valuable agents of change who play a necessary part in cultural education, healing, and transformation.
Join Michael Meade and local mentors in this evening that celebrates youth and community.
Voices of Youth, Voices of Community
7:00 pm - Thursday, June 28, 2007
~ Black Box Theater, The Washington Center for the Performing Arts ~
512 Washington Street SE, Olympia, WA 98501 ~Free and Open to the Public~
You are invited to a special evening in which local "at-risk" and "homeless" youth express their experience of living in these troubled times.
Voices of Youth, Voices of Community brings young people together to craft an artful expression of their inner dreams and outer concerns. On this night the community gathers to witness, to discuss, and bless the aspirations, struggles, and efforts of its young people.
In this approach, youth are not simply "the problem," rather, their lives are a reflection of serious issues troubling the culture at large. When viewed this way, youth can be seen as valuable agents of change who play a necessary part in cultural education, healing, and transformation.
Join Michael Meade and local mentors in this evening that celebrates youth and community.
Voices of Youth, Voices of Community Friday, March 2, 2007 ~ 6:30 pm
Self Help Graphics and Art Community Center
3802 E. Cesar E. Chavez Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90063
(corner of E. Cesar E. Chavez and Gage) ~Free and Open to the Public~
You are invited to a special evening in which youth from the community express in their own words their experience of living in these troubled times.
In Voices of Youth, Voices of Community young people craft the artful expression of their inner dreams and outer concerns. On this night the community gathers to witness, to discuss, and bless the aspirations, struggles, and efforts of its young people.
In this approach, youth are not simply 'the problem,' rather, their lives are a reflection of serious issues troubling the culture at large. When viewed that way, youth can be seen as valuable agents of change who play a necessary part in cultural education, healing, and transformation.
Voices of Youth inspires and empowers local youth, fosters ongoing cross-generational dialogues and leads to the development of unique local forms of mentoring. Amidst changing times and all too-common violence, all are invited to witness the expression of youth and hear the voice of the soul seeking to make community again.
Symposium 2007 The National Network for Youth: A Place to Call Home
Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DC
February 2nd, 2007 ~ February 7th, 2007 Join hundreds of youth-serving professionals, advocates, and young people as we come home to NNY to reflect and celebrate 32 years of services and programming for youth. We will explore new information, innovations, and skills to strengthen our practice and professional development. Symposium 2007 will provide opportunities to reflect on the accomplishments of the past and focus on the future of our youth-services profession.
The Genius of Youth, The Wisdom of Elders
with author, mythologist and storyteller Michael Meade
Sunday, February 4th, 2007 ~ 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Genius refers to the unique spirit that tries to reveal itself through critical events in the lives of youth; while wisdom combines insight with experience and vision with maturity. Traditionally, the wisdom of elders tends to recognize and value the genius trying to surface in youth. Currently, the importance of both youth and elders goes unrecognized or undervalued. The absence of understanding elders and lack of meaningful guidance contributes directly to the increase of violence and apathy amongst youth. Traditionally, stories are a way of evoking symbolic language and touching threads of genius that can recast the meanings of our daily experiences. Through old tales and fresh insights we will pull at the threads of meaning in both personal lives and cultural events.
The Branches of Mentoring, the Roots of Elders
with author, mythologist and storyteller Michael Meade
Monday, February 5th - 10:30 am - 12:00 pm
The Branches of Mentoring offers orientation and training in the core ideas and purposes of mentoring. The word 'mentor' refers to 'lived knowledge,' it comes from an old myth in which Mentor acts as guide and teacher using inspired ideas and a keen knowledge of survival. Through The Branches of Mentoring, the Roots of Elders people can discover and clarify what they have to offer in the way of teaching, guiding and mentoring others.
The Ecstatic Soul
Events
Mosaic presents a variety of events and organizes intercultural projects.
Check frequently for updated information on events.