On Saturday 12th November, Alef Trust celebrated our 10th Anniversary with a gathering in Liverpool, UK, that brought together students, alumni and faculty from near and far. This was also an opportunity for us to consider how our stories connect and the collective myths that are unfolding among and beyond us… a moment to reflect on what we are doing and why, and how we can each participate in moving this forward.
A special painting was commissioned for the occasion by talented artist Sarah Jane Richards. Sarah is a part of the Creative Alternatives arts on prescription programme, managed by Alef Trust, and perfectly placed to express the “Myth of Alef” through her intuitive brushstrokes. As the painting was unveiled, the same invitation was extended to those present as it is to you now: to contemplatively sense into what this evokes for you.
Together, those present in Liverpool also co-created a ritual space to explore and honour the “Myth of Alef”… which somehow has brought us all together. A ritual with vocalisation and silence, movement and emotion, was woven along the thread of a powerful, symbolic text, written by Les Lancaster:
Myth of Alef
In the beginning … the very beginning
A beginning before time, and therefore “beginning” has no meaning … in eternity, ‘deep time’ … unnameable
There was nothing … nothing but light, light of the Absolute … Source of All.
No darkness … only sameness … no difference, and therefore light had no meaning, no reason to be.
In this beginning mysteriously, unknowable Will arose; the Will to bring difference … to end the endless unknowing that was light. Will to give … and to be known
And so … the Will created darkness, a space of absence … to introduce the dynamic of polarity,
Time was born … allowing movement to arise.
A single ray of light penetrated the darkness, the generative primordial act, harnessing the potential of polarity.
Forming a concentrated singularity, primal point.
And there was fashioned the archetypal plan of all that would come to manifest, the DNA of the cosmos … the Blueprint of manifestation. Microcosm and macrocosm.
Alef … first letter … Mother of all that is, holding the image of all that is real
Alef … fizzing with energy, power, yet pointing within … to the silence, the void which is eternally the Beginning.
Alef … paradox at the core of being.
Two hands, one giving, one receiving, and the creative third—the force of unification … that the gift might be received.
Yin, Yang … and relationship.
Unconditional giving; unconditional receiving.
Love
Love … the pulsing presence of Being
Alef … first letter: All and everything. Zero and nothing. Seed of paradox …
paradox that drives all knowing
What is the myth of Alef?
The opening—transition between nothing and something, myth of darkness and light
Necessarily embracing Shadow, darkness as source … nourishing womb
To aspire to Alef we must tread the shoreline …. Ocean and rocks … being and nothingness
We mirror the primordial Will that saw the need to act … to create a space, an absence …. Relieving the tyranny of sameness
We must create a space …. We hold the space …. We fashion within the space.
And we are not alone.
Watch … see the flow of synchronicity; The needs of the day, of the age, unfurl before the watcher.
Trust the Alef
Trust the hand that gives
Trust the power to receive
Trust the gift … and know love
First there is consciousness—the All
Then the space of absence—seed of unconsciousness
And now, again consciousness; awakened … knowing the gift.
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We transitioned into smaller groups to explore how our own stories and inspirations interweave with focal topics such as education, health, mental health and burnout, transpersonal ecopsychology and the environment, and transpersonal dimensions of motherhood. It felt that our individual and collective intentions to be of service in these areas were strengthened by this encounter, and our commitment to cocreating systemic structures through which these intentions can flow into the wider world was again renewed.
Members of our community also joined us online for a sharing circle that both acknowledged gratitude for the 10 years leading to this moment, and expressed inspiration and possibility for the paths ahead.
The celebration continued into the evening in a nearby pub with live music and dancing. Conversations and new connections flowed. And we all joined with a heartfelt Happy Birthday to Alef Trust as Jessica and Les blew out the candles on the cake, blowing many more good wishes into the future.
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