The Life, Death, Rebirth Cycle in Individuals in Society
Daniel Pinchbeck will offer an analysis of current events, including the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, opening the possibility that we are passing through a death and rebirth passage in our own culture. He will suggest this is a model of individual responsibility and a new civilization based on compassionate action, that must be supported by new social institutions. Holotropic Breathwork facilitator Stacia Butterfield will discuss Stan Grof's work on the holotropic model of the psyche, and the life, death, birth cycle as it is reflected in his study of non-ordinary states of consciousness in which his subjects reexperienced aspects of their birth traumas.
An open discussion of these issues will follow, on how to integrate the personal and the social dimensions of this process.
Daniel Pinchbeck is the author of "Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism" (Broadway Books, 2012) and a regular columnist for Arthur Magazine. His second book, "2012: The Return of Quetzlcoatl," on indigenous prophecies and consciousness transformation, will be released by Viking-Penguin in April. His feature articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Wired, The Village Voice, and numerous other publications. A founding editor of Open City, a literary journal, he is currently launching a new membership and media company, Evolver (www.evolverproject.com), offering a new paradigm for a planetary culture.
Stacia Butterfield is a graduate of Grof Transpersonal Training, and a Holotropic Breathwork Facilitator based in New York and California.