Celebrating 250 years of..."Perma"-Culture? :)

Have we got a treat for you...!

Good Medicine
for these uncertain times...

Mind-magic
for this mixed-up, magnificent millennium...

Homage to 
great humans & great art past, present, future! :D

Here, in an environment focused at different points as a home for artists as well as a goddess sanctuary, and priding ourselves on welcoming diversity, we define the notion of  “community” in various ways...

Yes, it can indicate intentional batches of humans hopefully harmoniously sharing home & hearth, but it can also mean folks gathering at local farmer's markets...or sharing in-person &/or long-distance time/wisdom amongst (& far beyond) one's own race/religion/gender/generation...

But most importantly: “community” should equally mean establishing genuine connections between not just human beings but also plants & animals...

Which we've come to think of as “Perma-Culture,” i.e. the (hopefully harmonious as well as “permanent”) interspecies “culture” of cooperation...which can actually be just plain old individuals anywhere simply making a point of figuring out (& then living!) solutions to the world's  problems...together.

What do you think? :)

In that vein, we received this letter:

Hello Friends and Neighbors (excerpt slightly paraphrased & condensed),

The possible discontinuation of the Annual Gathering of the Tribes after the recent “The Last Powwow” is more than the ending of an event. It is a call for all spiritually minded communities to reflect on the sacred responsibility of preserving Indigenous culture, elder-guided wisdom, traditional ceremony, ecological knowledge, and intergenerational identity. We appeal to communities of good faith to stand together in respectful support of Indigenous tribal continuity. Let us not allow sacred customs to fade through neglect. True unity does not erase diversity; it protects and harmonizes it. A healthy forest contains a wide variety of trees. A healthy human family contains many nations, languages, songs, and sacred traditions. Let this moment not be a final farewell, but a seed of renewed cooperation. (https://www.amazon.com/Permaculture-Ecovillages-Step-Step-Sustainable-ebook/dp/B0DFXFK1K8)

Well, as those who've followed the Kulana Artist/Goddess Sanctuary journey for years know: we have no intention of allowing sacred customs to fade through neglect! So in that vein, want to let you know that the latest -- & likely final -- Gathering The Dreamcatchers “community”-based novel PIPSQUEAK & THE OLD MAN: WWTWD? featuring an intergenerational friendship between one aged pueblo retiree + one ex-street urchin has been born...since Somebody, Somewhere kept indicating that there was at least one further full-length story infused with diverse perspectives to tell. ;) Can't wait to hear what you think! (And no, none of the other GTD books need to be read first.)

A Bit of Summary:

Being an old First Nations man and a formerly homeless new adult, the  main characters in PIPSQUEAK & THE OLD MAN: WWTWD? are no strangers to Life's storms, so it is unsurprising that a tip 'o the hat came in the direction of once-upon-a-time gentler human realities such as those depicted within The Waltons 1970's television show. 

Just as the fictional Walton family explored dynamics with each other and the larger community of neighbors amidst economic depressions + fights for human civil rights: if someone's going to be any kind of steward for soil, animals, trees, mountains, other human beings (including, say, mass TV viewers &/or fiction book readers!), well, that someone surely must learn to survive not only the happy times...

...but also the kind of unsettling events being experienced by people right now in the 21st century.

So the creation for this particular novel was quite a multi-media affair.

It involved flute playing. Drumming. The hand-crafting of Native American dreamcatchers. 

Beyond time spent on native lands in New Mexico, there was the blending of imagery, paint, photography, and other art forms right here in Hawaii.

Explorations were also taken in dreamtime...

In the researching of long-ago writings from fellow scribes...

In the locating of old pictures, and the taking of new ones. 

Experiments were made with numerous potential titles & book covers.

A whole bunch of stuff got sacredly framed, and there's been a whole lot of watching and animated analyzing of historic + current television shows from the perspective of this book's older & younger main characters.

Even as humanity itself spins evermore wildly, especially regarding potent questions such as: can young women and old men -- or native people and white folks -- ever actually BE friends in light of what's gone down over the centuries? still there was comfort to be found in the process of appreciating & creating art which takes a look at things from fresh perspectives.

Perhaps readers will find this true as well?

Because if outpourings of creativity + human-to-human kindness still exist, the world can't be all bad or entirely "going to hell in a handbasket," right?

As a gift to our global perma(nent)-culture, kulana-joy-from-within community, here's an excerpt from the newly birthed novel PIPSQUEAK & THE OLD MAN: WWTWD? along with info on where to obtain it + some of the classic material it references...

PIPSQUEAK & THE OLD MAN: WWTWD?

Excerpt (paraphrased/condensed):

The Old Man:

I follow the kid as she continues placing one foot in front of the other, heading into the field where the grasses easily reach her waist. When we near the center, far from where stray potato chip bags or other refuse discarded out car windows is likely to be, I stop and remove from my bag a pouch of blue corn meal mixed with fine tobacco. Holding a pinch towards the earth, and then raising it to the sky as well as offering it to each direction, I finally touch it to my chest and make up a prayer partly in English so she'll get the drift, and partly in what Tiwa words I recall, alongside some random song lyrics. 

My maternal line is probably shaking its collective head from the Great Beyond, but these days, those of us still here on earth do what we can.

When the kid hears my voice, her earth walking stops and head turns my way.

"Yíyá', mother, Tádá, father," I intone. "Tewhá Than, house of the rising sun. Phéndi', Ts'ą'i', Ts'áyyi', P'î', black, white, yellow, red. Khųų, łáne, we offer this corn and tobacco in thanks for your many gifts. Holding to what is good as a handful of earth, holding true to what Great Spirit teaches, even as a solitary tree standing alone."

"Whoa, are you a shaman?" the kid whispers.

"About as much as you are," I roll my eyes, lowering my body to place the prayer offering onto the ground.

"What are we doing here?" she asks.

"We're here to harvest," I respond, straightening my old bones upright.

"Harvest what?"

I gesture to the field surrounding us.

"Grass?" the kid says doubtfully.

I shake my head. "Not just grass. Don't you recognize it?"

She looks around.

"Imagine it as a braid..." I suggest.

She looks around again. "No way. Really? Why's all this sweetgrass growing out here?!"

"Some folks consider it one of the four sacred plants." I reach into my bag for a trowel and scissors. "Other folks call it a weed. Seeing how it's useful, and seeing as how areas clean enough to harvest from are becoming rare, we're going to cut some to dry and braid, but we're also going to dig out a few plants by the roots to grow at home."

In back of my brain, a voice is reminding me how sweetgrass was the first plant gifted to The People by the Creator, but I keep this thought to myself because I am really just not one of those kinds of Indians, or those kinds of old men.

"By 'we,' you mean me, right?" the kid grins, reaching for the tools in my hand.

#

Pipsqueak:

"Did you know when Will Geer got blacklisted, he and his family were homeless for a while? Their friends had to help," I tell The Old Man, carefully trimming off blades of sweetgrass low to the ground but still high enough that the plant can regrow itself, just like he showed me, making sure to cut the right batches of grass because there are other types here too.

What we want are the shiny ones, that smell a certain way.

According to The Old Man, there are thousands of types of grass, even some other sweetgrasses like a vanilla one which some people pass off as if it's the real thing, but that one actually came from Europe. 

There's really only one Native American sweetgrass.

And some of it happens to grow right here, walking distance from The Old Man's house.

What are the chances?

Later, after we've processed the haul and moved into his living room for dinner and TV, I think about that. What are the chances this old dude has fields of the sort of sweetgrass people want to pay good money for growing wild right near his house? And what're the chances he's got pueblo friends around here who hunt f-ing elk, and bring him some?? And what are the chances somebody like me is now sitting here eating it???

This is like the juiciest steak ever. It's almost a little sweet. And who doesn't like mounds of mashed potatoes dripping in melted butter? Or three-colored asparagus slathered in oily pan gravy?

When The Old Man asks if I want seconds, I totally nod.

"Help yourself," he says, gesturing towards the kitchen. "And get me a bit more while you and your young legs are at it."

He holds out his plate.

I tuck the plastic silverware into my shorts, and when I return to the living room, we go through the whole taste-testing process one more time, which now seems a bit silly because I've gone to fetch both plates of seconds...

And really maybe it's extra silly since this senior citizen has already told me he had a great wife and is actually not interested in me like that at all.

But better safe than sorry.

It'd be just like some creep to get a person all comfortable believing they're nice, only to later catch you unawares once you've let your guard down.

Not that I'm saying this old guy is a creep. 

I maybe don't think he is.

I also really don't want him to be because that would change everything; everything that's going great right now. So I hold out both plates for him to sample, and then pass him one, taking the other back to where I'm sitting on the other side of the fake-leather, cushiony coffee table thing. Removing the plastic knife, fork, and spoon from the pocket of my shorts, I dig in again, licking my lips after each bite.

When I get rich, I am going to eat like this all the time.

This idea surprises me. 

(Where did it come from?! Hello. I am probably the least likely person to ever make mansion-style megabucks.)

Me and The Old Man watch episodes six, seven, and eight as new characters appear in the Walton world: six-year-old Elizabeth rescues a raccoon...a kid from the CCC country correctional camp or something like that shows up, causing trouble...and so does a preacher, who keeps talking about sin.

There are also two old ladies making illegal moonshine from their dead father's secret "recipe." It's really something called sour mash whiskey, The Old Man informs me. (This, of course, reminds me of stupid Timothy Daniel O'Sullivan telling me and my housemates how Irish people make moonshine out of potatoes.)

At the end of the last show we're watching tonight, the youngest Walton kid asks the oldest if flowers talk. He says: "I don't know Elizabeth, why?" And she tells him: "I kissed a hollyhock today, and I thought I heard something whisper. What do you think?"

Her brother says: "I think if we learned to listen, we could hear all kinds of miracles."

"Goodnight, John-Boy," six-year-old Elizabeth says.

This does make me wonder why these Waltons think it's okay to earn money with a sawmill which makes firewood and railroad ties by killing trees? They seem like people who would care about the environment. Then again, I guess the way everything was set up in the 1970s (or 1930s when this series is supposed to be taking place), they would have to make a living somehow. 

I don't mention these thoughts to The Old Man though, since it's probably not anything people from his generation worried about, and I don't want him thinking I'm knocking his show. 

***

As Pip and The Old Man discover, some of the creative folk who brought The Waltons television series to life now in the 21st Century choose to live privately. 

Some are still public. 

And some are no longer with us. 

Episodes of the original series can be viewed via DVDs (https://www.etsy.com/listing/4425986553/the-waltons-complete-series-dvd;

https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Waltons-The-Complete-Series-DVD/20617421340)

or online at MeTv:

https://www.metv.com/shows/the-waltons

And for a blend of goodness between The Waltons characters as spice and metaphor to what's happening with contemporary folks in the Gathering The Dreamcatchers novel, that can be found here:

PIPSQUEAK & THE OLD MAN: WWTWD?

Good Medicine for uncertain times!
Mind-magic for a mixed-up, mercurial, magnificent millennium!
Homage to great humans/great art past, present, future!

 

* E-edition ISBN: 978-1-105-08083-8.

Can be purchased here: 

https://www.lulu.com/shop/cristina-salat/pipsqueak-the-old-man-wwtwd/ebook/product-nvnm4gm.html?q=Cristina+Salat&page=1&pageSize=4 

or here: 

https://livefromthevolcano.ecrater.com/p/48909201/pipsqueak-the-old-man-wwtwd

* Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-105-08075-3. 

Find it here:  

https://www.lulu.com/shop/cristina-salat/pipsqueak-the-old-man-wwtwd/hardcover/product-rmkryvz.html?q=Cristina+Salat&page=1&pageSize=4

 

* Paperback ISBN: 978-1-105-08072-2.

Obtain it here:  

https://www.lulu.com/shop/cristina-salat/pipsqueak-the-old-man/paperback/product-p645v7r.html?q=Cristina+Salat&page=1&pageSize=4

Happy "Perma-Culturing," Everyone!

Can You Relate?

Thoughts 

From

Kindred

Spirits

Though cultivating joy-from-within, it's also always so lovely to come across others working with some of the same thought processes & practical realities experienced here, such as these folks exploring how (and why!) to live with and without money:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrMfufkq0Yk

...along with realizations posited by Katherine 'Kittu' Riddle Parker, author of A Nourishing Life (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-nourishing-life-dorothy-riddle/1030028352; + https://www.ebay.com/p/1211273), one of the founders of the Nourishing Space community.

Check out this excerpt from pages 174 - 175 of her book: 

“Nourishing Space was an entity in the process of becoming an organism requiring a great deal of attention. Daily, we experienced the tension of working for her emergence while maintaining the land....Keeping the show going was a difficult juggling act....Being in transition ourselves, the questions we faced related to conflicting demands on our energy....The land itself helped us keep our perspective....She offered both rest and challenge, nourishing our inward and outward journeys.”

Whether you're birthing any type of ”community” yourself, or something else entirely, such resources from kindred souls are well worth a watch and a read.

An Aloha Blast From The Past

 

A Her/Historical Hello!

Isn't it funny to sometimes take a look back at where you've been?

Those of you who've been part of this little worldwide “community” over the years know we generally tend to send out a hello 1x-2x a year some times (and every once in a “blue moon” at other times)...

Here's excerpts from one recently unearthed hello of many years ago. (Thanks for the memories!)

Has this been an incredible year of change and growth, or what?!

Wow. I’ve had to sit down!

Someone mentioned that this was the year of radically transforming what no longer works, making room for what is more right…and they were not kidding!

Here on our isle of blossoms (where life expectancy is higher than the national average, perhaps due to the bounty of nature and spirit?!!), we have begun celebrating something on the cellular level that has been coming into focus and making itself known: the concept of “showing up.”

i.e. wonderful surprises from the Universe showing up (which of course we always love!)…AND the idea of showing up with deep commitment, again and again — even when it’s not easy — for ourselves, our path, our planet, our goals, our promises, our challenges, the people we choose to love, and those we choose to share time and life’s adventures with.

It has been amazing the many ways this concept has shown up over the year!

All the goosepimple, laughing, crying, incredibly joyful and painful dialog and changes that have been born from continuing forward in the direction of “showing up” for the things and people most important to us…and the changes precipitated by choosing to hold firm to this ideal, its gifts and its responsibilities.

On the physical plane, what’s new is: we not only finished the dramatic short “Dragon” and began getting it out into the world, we also got contracted to create a travel short featuring the Big Island and 3 other unique places, of which our artist sanctuary got to be one! (Big smile!) It’s been so fun collaborating with other budding and eclectic filmmakers, singer/songwriters, etc…a particular highlight being Anna from the U.K. and I creating/recording a chant as soundtrack for the film up in the library!

Meanwhile, maintenance on the old homestead continues (thanks for sharing a crazy working-&-laughing in the rain adventure goes out to another musician, Corrine!)

In terms of community, starting with the holidays last year, I am delighted to say we’ve been busier this year, with more full house times than any other in our herstory so far (yea!) We’ve also begun creatively fashioning & utilizing country-quirky office/work/art studio space here…and are trying a new concept of mid-to-longer length visitors being able to “hire out” their share of Care Projects and household purchases, if they prefer. Though most folks still choose full participation in the cooperative experience, the option has worked out well for those with ability limitations or those with super busy schedules who still want support the sanctuary, so it’s a new thing we’ll most likely continue.

And…how has YOUR year been?!!!!

Warm aloha to all…and HAU’OLI (happy, happy) Next New Year right around the corner!

May beautiful gifts show up at your door…and may you enjoy the wellspring inherent in deep commitment to what you most cherish.

Manifesting Dreams Coming True

Many years ago, a favorite activity was attending creative conferences and music festivals held somewhere in glorious, wild Nature, a selection of which went on for a good week or at least a full weekend long. 

Sometimes these involved "work," i.e. being invited to share one's unique gifts with the world there. Other times it was pure R&R vacation solo, with friends, or beloveds.

Besides days and nights spent out under a vast sky dancing or singing along with awesome, often newly-discovered musicians, there were also tented crafts fairs, rustic cabin writerly group readings, and sometimes swimming holes, rivers, or pools nearby to immerse in with friends and friendly strangers alike.

The creative retreats, with their attendance being somewhat smaller, often provided better food ... but the large music festivals -- especially those aimed exclusively for women and young children -- often had outdoor showers and the ability to roam through fields and woods topless (if not bottomless as well).

Where else in the world can women safely be au natural in the great outdoors?

The feelings of freedom this engendered!

The camaraderie ... the peace!

Gosh, now THIS is living! those who participated often thought at the time. The whole world should be like this!!

Cut to years later, when -- after researching quite a number of living-on-the-land opportunities -- Kulana's Founder went on to create her own racially (and otherwise) diverse version of the experience on the Big Island of Hawaii. 

(See photo-illustrated book DOING INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY: Expanded 2023 Edition if you want to know more about that! Color print version: https://www.lulu.com/shop/cristina-salat/doing-intentional-community-color/paperback/product-qrjv8p.html; e-version: https://books2read.com/u/breABE)

Now there are many ways to "do" Hawaii...

One certainly can immerse in hotels, condos, timeshares, resorts, tourist packages, and the like.

Kulana's goal was different:

Freedom ... camaraderie ... peace ...

Time to do whatever one had actually come to Planet Earth to do, while living amongst and sharing an appreciation for Nature at its unconquered best.

Which is where we learned to live the "kulana" principle towards practicing manifestation of "joy from within," no matter what else happened to be going on in the world.

In fact, eventually here at Kulana, we even custom-created a journal for humanly-spiritually working on this process, in the form of 236 beautiful blank pages accompanied by 13 months of quotes and images taken from our adventures building this magical, mystical, eco-friendly, artistic-spiritual community (... along with honing our more joyous, self-actualized selves!)

https://www.amazon.com/Kulana-Joy-Journal-Practicing-Goddess/dp/1689429836

Description: A color photo-illustrated journal for practicing the art of living joyously via the Hawaiian principle of "kulana" (manifesting happiness from within), with plenty of room for your own daily musings, intentions, drawings, and joyful manifestations. 

Months are not pre-labeled, so writing in the Kulana Joy Journal can begin anytime.

Best of all, while this journal we made is supporting you, by purchasing it you are also supporting us ... and as we all know, what is supported is what continues to exist.

So, a lovely win-win. :)  

Thank you so much!

https://www.amazon.com/Kulana-Joy-Journal-Practicing-Goddess/dp/1689429836

Join us in spirit,

as the process

of making

your OWN dreams

come true,

unfolds! :)

Whatever you're here on this planet to do is as -- if not more -- important now, than ever.

Global Group Meditation -- FREE!

Project Park Bench

Free Worldwide Co-Creative Meditation

every 2nd & 4th Sunday

11 AM PDT/2 PM EDT U.S.A. Timezone

beginning Sunday, July 14th

Update:

Here's where you can now catch the most recent bout of free, monthly, worldwide peace meditations known as 'Project Park Bench' (until they perhaps once again resume...)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLL8aA2Rjh9SIb-EEVgzAiNWrkse9G-em

Here's how the organizer describes it:

"We've been asked by the Teachers of Light to end our pause and gather again. It's been requested that we take the next step together now and anchor the landscape, environment, and architecture of the new realm.  It's time we focus on what is possible and create a world of wellbeing and respect. Together.

WE'RE STEPPING OFF THE 3-D GAME BOARD

INTO WELLBEING

This is not a teaching of Truth (capital T). It is a focused alignment from the heart to hold an intention from a place of wellbeing, peace, and ease.

Today many are looking for a way to contribute, participate, and remember what they already know but may have forgotten.

Home.

It's time to return to the Park Bench.

(Or to the rock or log or wherever you like to quietly sit)."

Update:

Here's where you can now catch the most recent bout of free, monthly, worldwide peace meditations known as 'Project Park Bench' (until they perhaps once again resume...)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLLL8aA2Rjh9SIb-EEVgzAiNWrkse9G-em

We'll be there.

Hope you will too! :)

Community Here, There, & EVERYWHERE: An Excerpt from What We've Learned

(https://www.redbubble.com/i/notebook/DREAM-A-NEW-WORLD-by-LiveVolcano/160026555.WX3NH?asc=u)

So, you know that besides exploring various in-person versions of intentional community we also co-created/compiled a book of words & images to encapsulate what we learned along the way right?

These adventures in co-creating a shared live/work/mystical environment from the early years on up through more recently were set down in the photo-illustrated "DOING INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY: Expanded 2023 Update."

In this day & age when the idea of "community" has grown to encompass kindred spirits globally via a variety of technological means, there's also significant value to be found in savoring experiences IRL (In Real Life).

Here's a little paraphrased taste from our IRL "community living" project:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/doing-intentional-community-cristina-salat/1143737977

Available in color print, ebook, + b/w paperback editions

"I am so blessed to have met you and shared so many wonderful memories, ideas, and meals. The kindness you offer and your vision here have the power to change lives and the world. I go into my next life cycle with a lovely, clear, refreshed mind and joyous, nurtured heart thanks to you and this wonderful fruit of your dream time."

Christina, teacher, painter, drama coach 

Every location has its own flavor, which will impact the kinds of experiences that can be enjoyed &/or grown from there.

Here, on the Big Island of Hawaii, there is a layer of ice that never melts on top of Mauna Kea, one of our locale's five volcanoes, which may have formed, scientists theorize, back in the Pleistocene era.

On Kilauea — the most currently active volcano — startled humans often describe the appearance of Goddess Pele as either a young, mysterious woman or older, crone-like figure who materializes into view...and then disappears in the blink of an eye; sometimes with a specific message to impart; other times not.

Mystical lights and other unexplained phenomena also occur on this island regularly.

When the "Kulana" (joy-from-within) community first birthed in this magical, mystical place, the fact that vehicle electrical systems would for no apparent reason just shut down out of the blue when driving up Saddle Road was well-known. In fact, car rental companies at that time forbid their rented vehicles from traversing this road, theoretically because back then all of it was not yet paved...(though rented cars were allowed in other areas which were also not yet paved).

Additionally, there were reports of people in cars being rocked in a way that felt different from wind gusts, and folks seeing things moved from one place to another without any human hands involved.

These days you don't hear about so many mysterious happenings on Saddle Road, though reports of Night Marcher spottings around ancient heiau sites continue.

Yes, the Big Island of Hawaii, home to much magic, is quite an interesting place to live. 

Gorgeous in many places...even "paradise" in some ways, and for some people. 

But also there are underlying realities — some mystical, some more socio-political — that most people arriving to take advantage of time in paradise don't realize.

Now, each of the Hawaiian islands has its own energy...with Kauai being the oldest, most "stable," smaller-sized island in the chain...Maui being mid-size and more developed...Molokai being tiny and the most reminiscent of what old-time Hawaii used to be (only 1 traffic light, last we heard!)...Oahu, with the city of Honolulu, being more urbane...and the Big Island being the largest and most energetically volatile location in the chain, what with being home to an active volcano & all.

How we chose to cope:

Here at our little version of "community," we instituted smoke/drug/alcohol/drama-FREE guidelines right in our first year. However, no amount of good boundaries and avoidance can really dilute the intensity of the red molten energy that's here, which may be par for the course when you choose to live on an active volcano (!).

And seeing the destructive/creative force & flow of new earth/new possibilities/new realities being born is incredible...

Beautiful to behold, but also it is an energy that's not always particularly easy to live with and be immersed in or around full-time...though that's not something which necessarily affects anyone all that much if they are just here for a few weeks of vacation.

What those of us who've spent significant time in this locale noticed is: whatever qualities, quirks, flaws, emotions, or baggage someone came to this particular island with, over time (and sometimes it did not take very long!) those qualities and emotions tended to intensify.

This meant: if you came here ready to create, your creativity was likely to EXPLODE.

I watched (& personally experienced) whole soundtracks being born in a day...!

Yet as the Founder of Kulana, I & subsequent stewards-in-my-stead also saw the qualities of procrastination, disorganization, insecurity, fear, and ineptness take hold, bringing occasional misery to the reflector of those qualities...and everyone else with whom they needed to interact.

I watched people come to this location intending to bike everywhere around an island where the elevation ranges from sea level to 14,000 feet, when they hadn't even biked around the block back where they lived...and saw them receive a rude awakening around their ability to achieve this goal.

I saw people assume they would be able to quit smoking and drinking alcohol instantaneously, just because they chose to arrange time at a sacred substance-use-free space...and fail to do so.

I read with disbelief hastily scrawled notes from people in whom much time had been invested, as they darted off to what seemed to them a better or easier opportunity...without honoring their commitments...without even saying goodbye.

I watched people with no financial resources arrive in a locale where things likely cost more than where they'd come from, assuming somehow money, food, transportation & whatever else they might need would just magically appear...or that someone else out of the various nice people they'd just met would be willing to pick up their costs.

I consoled those who chose to get on a bus without bothering to look at a bus schedule...which, at that time, offered island-style service infrequently enough that this person wound up having to walk many angry miles back to the sanctuary.

I listened to people whose rich histories of relationships-gone-wrong were immediately followed by a wish to exercise their kundalini prowess and join forces with a next new beloved here in the tropics, where surely (they believed) things would work out differently. 

Then again, I also witnessed publishable novels taking shape in a year...

And the putting together of enough new paintings for a longed-for professional gallery show within a concentrated stretch of only six weeks.

And witnessed impossible-seeming problems, healed.

"Yeah!! Kulana Joy Within!! Thank you for your giving heart and your kindness. Kulana was perfect for me at just the perfect time. It's been a time of learning, great creativity, spiritual learning, and healing. I have always wanted to come here and here I am! Kulana will always be in my heart."

Michelle, playwrite, comic, teacher 

Want to hear more about our adventures firsthand?

Read: "DOING INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY: Expanded 2023 Update"

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/doing-intentional-community-cristina-salat/1143737977

(Available in color print, ebook, + b/w paperback editions)

OR

— especially if you happen to be forming

some sort of community

or mini-retreat center yourself — 

reach out to connect directly

with Kulana's original Founder

via the SIDEBAR BUTTON on this site! :)

(How connecting this way works: Signing up is quick, free, & you only have to do it once. Then we can chat for as briefly or as long as you like anytime that's available. $5 credit applied to first-timers. Charges only apply once chat begins.)

 

Where Are My Peeps?!

  

Well, well...here's something NEW!

For ages, folks in various circles have been asking for an easy & quick (or expanded/expansive) way to further connect on:

* how to co-create enjoyable, win-win relationships of every kind, even when not every aspect of Life is mutually agreed upon (along with knowing when it's time to let go!) ... 

* how to manifest (or harmoniously sustain) a large or small artistic/health-&-wellness retreat center ... 

* how to apply metaphysics to human, 3-D experiences ... 

* along with how best to navigate these unusual times on Planet Earth! 

Kindred Spirits ... Interaction ... Answers!

As the Founder of Kulana's mini "intentional community" creative/spiritual retreat (which later morphed into a private women's mystery school) -- with all the relationship-building, guidance, boundary-setting, friendships, & magic that entailed -- I've intimately explored the ins & outs of human connection for many years now. 

There can be distinctly different eras, including quiet plateaus; especially these days! 

One year, we even wrote a book about it. ;)

Do you find yourself earnestly seeking your soul kin, soul mate, soul friends, or true soul tribe?

Yearning for authentic relationships where problems get solved, & relationships generally feel "win-win" good??

Let's talk.

I've lived all these realities & more ... and am delighted to have discovered a way to practically & metaphysically address whatever questions anyone near or far might have via a new streamlined way to interact, now that dialoging with interesting strangers that land in our living room isn't what we're doing!

Happy to connect whenever I'm online & available.  :) 

Or we can schedule a specific time: https://premium.chat/TropicalCreatrix/278784

Looking forward to embarking on conversational adventures, large & small, regarding this topic which is so vital to humanity especially through times of global upheaval & change.

(Here's how it works: sign-up is quick, free, & you only have to do it once ... then you're on my chat page, it's a per-minute charge once we start chatting, & we can interact for as short or as long as you like.)

https://premium.chat/TropicalCreatrix/278784

"Creativity is the language we use to communicate
the urgency of our dreams for a better future."

Audre Lorde