Olympic insights - of spirituality, oneness, and inclusion

Picture from here

Thoughtful Networker Junitta who lives on a mountain top in Gippsland, Victoria has sent me this. I publish it with her permission.

Picture from  here

This 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony is undoubtedly the most insightful, spiritual one in my memory - and I have seen quite a few and attended one.Whoever designed it is well versed in sacred knowledge, it was all about Oneness. Following are a few observations.

There was much symbolism, metaphors and sacred geometry incorporated within it including Yin and Yang balance. So many more women were Flag Bearers and were in the forefront of the Ceremony - some Middle Eastern countries had women athletes competing for the first time.

The design of the Stadium had circles within circles, often lit up and moving. The halogen lights were all triangles with inner triangles around the top of the stadium and each Nations Flag was taken up the helix and placed in alphabetical order on the miniature Glastonbury Tor with the Tree of Life on top. Their progress up the spiral was a sacred ceremonial act.

The forging of the Rings was an alchemical act that resulted in the firing up of the rings into a stunning red gold with breathtaking showers of light emanating from them. The layout of the rings design was different, 4 rings in a curve below and one to bind them nestling on top with the Vesica Piscis connecting them all ie balance.

As each nation entered the arena, accompanying them was a volunteer who held a miniature copper 'cauldron' (a Celtic Tradition) It was wonderful to see the break with tradition of only one person lighting the Flame when 6 young athletes - 3 women and 3 men who symbolised our future - held their lighted torches to 6 of the 'cauldrons' (all of which represented each Nation) had been inserted into tubes that became stems and the flame travelled down each stem to lighting up as it progressed. As the 'cauldron buds' rose, they became a magnificent Lotus Flower that ejected showers of golden light when the flames became ONE, an awesome sight.

It was also great to see some humour 

ie Queen Elisabeth and James Bond!

There was much much more to interpret, 

maybe you will share your impressions too.

Love & Light

xooxoxoxoxox  

Junitta

PS The technology that designed and created the Flame 

came from South Australia.

Related articles

• London 2012 Olympics: Flame's unique cauldron was built in a 'shed'
• Olympic Torch Cauldron Lighting History,
• London 2012 Olympics: Secrets of a world-dazzling cauldron
• Olympic cauldron's 'peace' design

Community engagement may be alive and well and living in South Australia - after a close election!

Fresh Water Embassy: Clayton Bay: June 17, 2010

Visit from Paul Caica  - The Minister who was there.

            

4.30pm he said and there he was. The e Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for the River Murray, Minister for Water stood at the regulator at Clayton Bay with locals. He listened. He asked questions. He responded. People had travelled from Mannum, Murray Bridge, Langhorne Creek, Milang and Finniss to be at Clayton Bay for the meeting.

“We are making history here today. This is the first time a Minister for the Environment has visited the community. We are all too familiar with the photo-op visits of Ministers to our shores but no minister has been so accessible”, said Prof Diane Bell to the some 40 people gathered around the fire drum at the Fresh Water Embassy at Clayton Bay.

The Minister (call me Paul) was candid, clear about his responsibilities and set out his new regime in a measured manner.

We asked that he address four keys issues.

1. Wellington (Pomanda Island) weir
2. The Regulators  - Clayton Bay and Currency Creek
3. The Water Allocation Plan for the Eastern Mount Lofty Ranges
4. Consultation and communication with the local community.

These will be ongoing conversations and the Minister gave an undertaking to respond promptly. Highlights were

1. There will be no permanent weir across the River Murray below Wellington
2. The silt from the removal of the Clayton Regulator will not be put into Lake Alexandrina.
3. An agreement to pursue the WAPs and get back to us
4. A pledge to engage in respectful communication with the community and a willingness to countenance respectful disagreement.

Helen Griffith, Mannum, spoke for the too often overlooked non-agricultural sector and stressed that the river must come first.  Kathryn Rothe, Murray Bridge, emphasised the need for the River Murray and Lakes Alexandrina and Albert to remain connected.

John Treganza, Chair, Finniss Catchment Group spoke of the failure of the ‘ecological refuge’ created by the regulator and the need to pay heed to local knowledge.

Karyn Bradford, Milang Old School House Community Centre Co-ordinator, explained the social dislocation caused by the regulators and Marie-Claire Levi, Langhorne Creek asked that we be informed of Ministerial visits.

Liz Yelland of Point Sturt presented the Minister with a copy of her book Rory about the travels of a river beacon and Diane Bell presented the Minister with the Fresh Water Embassy “Award for the Minister who was there”. Remember the one who wasn’t?

The light was failing, but the wind had dropped, so we showed the Minister the displays of maps, photographs and literature on which we had been working. The materials covered the activities of the Fresh Water Embassy at Clayton and in Adelaide, a scale model of the weir below Wellington (Pomanda Island) and banners.

Of course, we concluded with tea and scones from the kitchen of Gloria Jones topped off with fig jam from Diane’s.

The rain has refreshed the country. Environmental flows into Lake Alexandrina have raised the level and lowered the salinity.  The poorest quality water is now in the Goolwa Lake - the so-called ecological refuge. It is time to remove the regulators.                 

 

For further information contact Diane Bell 0427 554 194

Visit www.hurrysavetheMurray.com for information about the Embassy.

IN ADELAIDE - INNOVATION; HEAVY RAIN AND FRUSTRATION

Co-ordinator of the Australian Water Network, Bernard Eddy, has this to say to-day:

IN ADELAIDE - INNOVATION; HEAVY RAIN AND FRUSTRATION

Anyone wanting a clear insight into the central issues of the nation’s witless water work could do no better than keep a close eye on developments in Adelaide.

·        It has the lowest annual rainfall of all major population centres.

·        It’s the only city to opt for privatised water supplies and legal problems are brewing over alleged excess billing arrangements by United Water.

·        United Water’s contract is up for renewal next year.

·        The place is on the wrong end of the bitterly contested water from the Murray River.

·        High Court and constitutional challenges are either in progress or brewing in the four state squabbles over water allocations and buyback deals.

·        Recent groundbreaking innovations in Adelaide’s central plains could benefit all Australians by making innovative use of water stored in aquifers.

Once again, as in the case of Peter Andrew’s natural sequence farming, the lateral thinking has come from years of innovation, hard work and instinctive common sense: sadly foreign to mainstream federal and state water management.

Colin Pitman, former farmer, shearer and abalone diver has created 53 wetlands on the Salisbury Plains based on ideas inspired by a project which effectively purified storm water, freeing it of potassium, phosphorous and heavy metals.  Inspired by the successful installation of a series of catchment ponds, Colin discovered that most impurities can be removed in a very short time. The idea grew to creating wetland storm-water catchment areas and then pumping the part processed water into aquifers for later retrieval for industrial use, and, more recently as potable water.

Colin’s vision is the adoption of this process by other council’s: a national take-up is the obvious end goal.

A recent media release dated Monday, September 21^{st by} Mark Parnell (SA Greens MLC) headed ‘Yesterday’s Rain – today’s Lost Opportunity’ lends further perspective.

Heavy rain in urban South Australia over the last few days has filled both major storage dams. But a huge amount has simply drained into the sea.

"Every downpour is another forceful reminder that we are not doing enough to capture the precious rain that falls on the Adelaide plains," says Mark Parnell.

"We need to dramatically lift our sights and embrace this world leading technology as major part of our water future. In just one hour yesterday enough rain fell on Adelaide to reduce our annual draw from the Murray by 7-8%,"

Approximately 25mm was dumped on the city in just one hour yesterday.  According to Colin Pitman from the Salisbury Wetlands, yesterday's rain equates to about 7-8 of Adelaide's yearly consumption from the River Murray.  The critical need is for a decent network of wetlands to capture and store the rainwater.

Just last week the CSIRO announced that storm water from the Salisbury wetlands is clean enough to be bottled for drinking. 

Speaking on the ABC Radio National programme Innovations, Colin Pitman said “Adelaide sits on a huge aquifer system with lots of potential storage.” The Parafield Airport wetland is one of eight wetlands in the area connected to aquifers.

‘To actually pump the collected storm water underground is groundbreaking.”

The project developed by Salisbury Council is attracting good business. Mitchells, a wool processing mill uses 60,000 litres per day. Nearly all the water is supplied by the Council from recycled storm/groundwater. The impurities have been removed by organisms in the aquifer which remove 90% of the pathogens in the first few hours.

The price structure is equally refreshing. It costs about 70 cents to a dollar a kilolitre for storm/ground water (depending on volume). This is half the average cost of standard water supply operations ( $1.80 - $2.00).

As a further step, residential developments at Mawson Lakes operating on a two pipe water supply system (purple denoting storm/groundwater) is now being built catering to 10,000 dwellings.

The point is Adelaide’s total annual storm water run-off is in advance of annual usage; hence the potential to allow the city to become independent of the Murray River is achievable.

The water saved would then be available to flow to the mouth of the river which is facing total environmental obliteration.

 

The success of the Salisbury Plains project has attracted world attention: sooner of later our elected caretakers will see the benefit of long-term investment in sensible solutions and abandon ad-hoc panic attacks which see billions of dollars handed  to corporations which ignore our water sovereignty and the environment. 

 

Bernard Eddy
Australian Water Network
Mobile: 0447 605 057

RALLY FOR THE RIVER: SAVE AND RESTORE THE MURRAY RIVER

COALITION OF CONCERNED 

RIVER MURRAY COMMUNITIES 

(CCR)

is coming to BERRI, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

RALLY on the RIVERFRONT

Thursday 1 October 2009 at 2-3:30pm

THE COALITION OF CONCERNED MURRAY COMMUNITIES (CCR)

Formed on Grieger’s sandbar on 19 August 2009 and attended by hundreds of River Murray community members, the Coalition is reaching out to the communities of the Riverland to join them campaigning for treatment of the River Murray as one living system. The CCR intend to work their way along the River ultimately taking their message to Canberra at a strategic time.

The failings of the ‘historic’ River Murray handover deal have now been demonstrated, and the deal needs to be scrapped and State and Federal Governments forced back to the drawing board to fix the system once and for all.

For more information contact: 

David Peake 0428 836 317

PS. The Fresh Water Embassy from Clayton Bay will be there and is looking forward to building the coalition as we take the message to Canberra: Australia's River knows no state borders. Join us. Diane Bell - 0427 554 194


Further reading:
Clayton Bay - Fresh Water Embassy
HURRY Save the Murray