May 3 - Fritz Rauh Artist Reception
May 22-24 - Noetic Sciences Workshop: Alchemical Divination with Ralph Metzner, PhD
May 26 - Monthly Dinner Series with Deborah Jones of Nine Gates Mystery School
June 17-21 - IONS Conference in Tucson, Arizona
June 28 - Artist Reception
July 22 - Monthly Dinner Series with astronomy focus: The Sacred Beauty of Inner and Outer Space
August 27 - Monthly Dinner Series featuring local vineyards and wineries
September 13 - Retreat Center Art Auction

Photos on left: Emmi, oil on cardboard, 1974 by Fritz Rauh

Monthly Dinner Series, from 6-8 pm on campus here in Petaluma for dinner, with guest speakers. (Dinner is $25, or $35 with wine.)

The dinner evening on Tuesday, May 26 features a discussion with Nine Gates Mystery School Executive Director Deborah Jones. Deborah has studied with Dr. Gay Luce for nine years, and her spiritual initiations led her to Egypt, India, Greece, Australia, and the Orient, working with shamans and master teachers from many of the world’s wisdom traditions. Mystery schools are very mysterious and she will answer questions (such as What is a mystery school? What are the principal teachings shared by all wisdom trainings? How does Nine Gates build on this history of wisdom schools?) from her research and direct experience, and lead an experiential process. Register now.

We’re skipping our June Dinner due to our big 13th International Conference, Toward a Global Shift: Seeding the Field of Collective Change, and hope that you’ll be joining us in Tucson for this amazing gathering of like-spirited change agents, professionals, healers and others involved in the realm of positive change.

Photo on left: Starr Pass Marriott in Tucson, Arizona, site of the Institute's conference in June.

Please mark your calendar for our next dinner series on July 22.

Transformative Learning Workshops
May 22–24, 2009
Alchemical Divination: Remembering the Past, Envisioning Possible Futures
Ralph Metzner, PhD

Alchemical divination is a process of structured intuitive inquiry using light-fire yoga methods for a mildly expanded state of consciousness. In this workshop we will work in the spirit of the Roman deity Janus, god of doorways, passages, and transitions, whose two faces look in a balanced way into the past and the future.

Green for All is hosting their 9th annual Art in Action program to support its arts-based, transformative summer camp for about 25 inner-city youth from around the country, and these kids will be coming to camp here at the Retreat Center. Many are young artists, musicians, poets or dancers and are engaged by the arts more than anything else in life. Green for All was founded by Van Jones who was recently made Special Advisor to President Obama for Green Jobs (White House Council on Environmental Policy), is an IONS Fellow, founder of Green for All and co-founder of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.

All of the youth come from lower-income communities and are on full scholarship. It is a powerful model that helps provide hope and opportunity for our talented and resilient young people, who because of a lack of resources in their neighborhoods have been forced to survive some of the hardest challenges seen in our society.

We need your help in funding this transformative youth program, providing for many a first-time experience in a peaceful, rural country setting on our 200 acres of rolling hills. We have been blessed by an initial donation of $1,500 by IONS Board Member Betsy Gordon as a matching grant to get the ball rolling. It was very important to her to be able to provide this type of program for these challenged youth who are striving for ways to improve the world they face each day.

The cost per student is $72 per day. Please consider sponsoring a youth for 1, 2 or all 5 days of the program! Your support is graciously appreciated, and you can send a check (payable to the Institute of Noetic Sciences) with a note saying you want to sponsor a youth to our address listed below, attn. Lisa Vanderboom.

"I was in a very difficult place of my life, homeless and feeling hopeless about my future. Art in Action helped me transform my negative energy into powerful and positive action. The staff taught us that we could use our artistic talents as tools to change our (and the community’s) circumstances. With help from Art in Action, I was able to return to college and obtain my degree!"
Tee, Art in Action graduate, 2004

Golf Carts for Sustainability: "Name Your Cart"

The Retreat Center has recently purchased one new and two used golf carts for use by our housekeeping, facilities, and other staff for transport around the campus. These carts reduce the vehicle traffic on campus, and run on electricity. We’d like give these carts a name, and offer an opportunity for you to fund and name them. We prefer to call them "The Edgar" or "The Betsy," rather than simply the "old" or "new" golf cart. The used carts may be named for a contribution of $1500, and the new cart may be named for a contribution of $9000. If you’re interested, please contact Robert McDowell, Director of Development for the Property and Retreat Center.

Photo on left: The "new" golf cart driven by Retreat Center Site Manager Randy Evensen.

The Monroe Institute is a nonprofit education and research organization devoted to the exploration of human consciousness, based in Faber, Virginia. Over the last three decades, many people have attended thier residential programs, and/or used Monroe products (trademarked Hemi-Sync audio technology) for various purposes, including meditation, lucid dreaming, and remote viewing. In line with Monroe's intent that participants experience truth firsthand rather than merely accept it unproven, Monroe deliberately structures its courses to minimize perceptual distortion and limitation through preconception, a situation it refers to as "front loading of the experience." They explicitly state a policy of no dogma or bias with respect to belief system, religion, political or social stance. The highest profile aspect of the Institute's work is its Gateway Voyage® program, a training course that uses binaural soundtracks to facilitate exploration and replication of specific altered states of consciousness known as Focus levels.

The Monroe Institute has been hosting their events at the Retreat Center for over five years, and is one of our longest-standing clients.

Photo on left: Bob Monroe, founder

We host retreats, workshops and client events on an ongoing basis throughout the year at the Retreat Center. Please click here to see our detailed events schedule.

If you haven't eaten here before, you have to taste it to believe it! Feedback about our California-style cuisine, and its positive impact on attendees’ event experience is something we love to hear about.

"I have been bringing educational programs for nurses to the Retreat Center for two years now and in addition to the beautiful scenic location and comfortable accommodations, a primary motivator to return is the outstanding food. The dining experience is on the level of four and five star restaurants, offering a variety of fresh and beautifully presented fruit, vegetable, and protein selections. I eagerly look forward to every visit. The chefs and staff are also exemplary and willing to accommodate special requests. Thank you for offering such a wonderful place to relax and heal both internally and externally."
Retreat facilitator, Gannett Healthcare Group

"Thank you for preparing such healthy, delicious and beautiful meals and for offering us an inviting and warm place."
Attendee, California Courage & Renewal

"Saturday January 31 I was part of a retreat at your center and had a wonderful soul-enriching soup for lunch. As a former corporate chef I found it exquisite as well as something I would like to regularly incorporate into my diet. Do you share recipes? If not, know I am grateful for your culinary skills. Thank you!"
Attendee, Women's Initiative for Self Employment

If you’re not already signed up, please do join us for a reception celebrating Fritz Rauh's work on May 3rd from 3-5 p.m. here on campus in Petaluma, California. In collaboration with Lucid Art Foundation, we are pleased to be exhibiting Rauh’s bold and provocative paintings, now extended until June 15th. Register now

Mark your calendar for the June 28 artist reception and opening of our summer exhibit, The Sacred Beauty of Inner and Outer Space, featuring photography of cells and the Hubble photographs of outer space.