Renowned artists, healers, wisdom keepers, scientists and changemakers will be among the participants in a unique transformational gathering that celebrates its 16th encounter with “Embrace of the Amate” in Tepoztlan, Morelos — returning to the place where it was born.  The Vision Council has been carried out for more than 30 years and “has been […]

For those of you who joined us this weekend for the epic Call of the Turtle Mini Vision Council, and indeed for any of the brilliant EcoSapiens who shared their stories and insights with us during the monthlong Restoring Sacred Culture in the Americas Convergence, we are so grateful to you. You, in fact, are […]

The Call of the Turtle, a Mini Vision Council Sun. Aug 7, gives a small taste of this south-of-the-border phenomenon that has transformed lives and communities throughout the continent.

This monumental monthlong convergence features conversations with indigenous visionaries and activists, eco-elders in the fields of bioregionalism, ecovillage design, permaculture, earth-regeneration and humans we see as helping us connect to our animist roots while restoring elements of sacred culture. 

Para leer este artículo en Español ir a Defendiendo lo Sagrado en Colombia: Un Llamado a la Acción Today I write to you from the “Heart of the World,” the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Colombia, where Indigenous communities—the Arhuaco, Kogi, Wiwa, and Kankuamo peoples—are facing intensifying violence after decades fighting to defend their land and […]

Dear readers: As you may have noticed, it’s been a long dry spell. We just sent our first newsletter since June; while Mother Earth has been busy prodigiously giving fruit, cereal, root and seed for human and non-human sustenance, this land has been lying fallow. But harvest time brings the fruit of that period of […]

The Kunagua Network in the mountains south of Bogotá hosted the 17th edition of this gathering, a Colombian version of the Vision Council, this time with the purpose of preserving and regenerating the Colombian paramos. Text by José Aristizábal G. with editions from Tracy Barnett and Angélica Almazán. SUMAPAZ, COLOMBIA — On the cool, rolling […]

By Tracy L. Barnett and Angélica AlmazánWith collaboration by Noelle Romero and Martín Buen Viaje Alberto Ruz Buenfil, the inspiration for The Esperanza Project* and many other initiatives to create the better world we know is possible, passed away on Dec. 7, 2023, after a courageous three-year “transit through the Tropic of Cancer” as he […]

This past year has been a tough one for many. Devastating wars in Gaza and the Ukraine have taken their toll far beyond their excruciating epicenters. Climate change is no longer a future foretold but a reality unfolding before our eyes. An uncertain economy has been further fueled by tens of thousands of layoffs spurred […]

I learned the news when I was in the middle of a meeting. The notification sounded and I checked my screen – I could only see the last words from a dear friend, “…he was suffering so much.”

In a heartbeat I knew. Alberto was gone.

Last year was a tough one, on many counts. A pandemic that wouldn’t let go; devastating heat waves, wildfires, storms and floods around the globe; spiraling inflation and economic hardship; the war in Ukraine, with heavy worldwide impacts. Sometimes it was hard to see the silver lining.  But behind the headlines, good things were happening […]

In a green valley of Central Mexico, below the distinctive humpbacked mountains that stand like guardians over the itinerant ecovillage that was taking form in the forest near Tepoztlan, the resonant call of the caracol, or conch shell, rang out from the sacred fire before sunrise: It was time to begin the activities of the […]

Luix Saldaña has been the artistic pillar of the Vision Council – Guardians of the Earth almost since its inception; he is the magician and convoker who brings together the creative community space and performance series that is the Art and Culture Council during each week-long transformational event.

Liora Adler is a visionary social actionist, educator, facilitator, mentor, event organizer and dancer. Raised during the ’60s social movements in the US, she came to understand that protest alone was inadequate for making substantive societal changes. Consequently, throughout the ’70’s and ’80s she explored supportive community building that provided both for physical needs and the basic human need for belonging.

One of the principal founders of the Vision Council – Guardians of the Earth is also an icon for the World Rainbow Community since the seventies. “Coyote” Alberto Ruz Buenfil is a visionary revolutionary who has been planting seeds of change in every step of his way.  Alberto, a native of Mexico born in 1945, […]

Arun Ruz Acosta was born into a magical world of caravans, permaculture workshops and interaction with indigenous communities. He grew up in an ecovillage in rural Mexico co-founded by his own family. It was a social environment where different regenerative movements were born, focusing on promoting the development of human consciousness through art, ecology and […]

There’s nothing like a talk between sisters — especially sisters with a common vision and dream — to inspire action. This talk with Earth Sky Woman Tami Brunk, the astrologer, dream nurturer and world-changer who is my fourth of seven sisters, was just the first of a whole series of inspiring conversations with eco-elders, indigenous […]

Select Recordings of Event AND Resources Will be Uploaded Soon! Cheryl Angel is an indigenous leader, Lakota (Sioux) elder, mother of five children, and devoted water protector who helped initiate and maintain the Standing Rock camp from April 2016 until its forced dismantling. She was vital in the nonviolent resistance to the Dakota Access and Keystone XL […]

In the best Vision Council tradition, we closed The Call of the Turtle with a “Cosecha” or harvest of the group wisdom. In the context of the real, week-long transformational event that is the Vision Council, this closing ceremony takes the form of a pilgrimage from one Council Space to another, where each council shares […]

Since the turn of the century humans have been building communities structured on technological and industrial practices that are steadily destroying the ecosystems that support life on this planet.  “Retrotopia”** is an alternative vision that supports the re-emergence of sustainable community living focused on ecosystem regeneration and restoration. Register HERE to join us for this weekend’s lineup […]