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The art of listening is demonstrated by ‘Wilson’ Tom Hanks’ faithful volleyball in the movie, Cast Away.
Who do you tell your innermost secrets and struggles to? Who listens without offering any advice or attempts to fix you? This is not cocktail party listening; this talk will explore the art of “Holy listening” in hopes that we can occasionally offer it to one another in times of need.
Jeff has been a long time, committed member of The Celebration and he lives in Velarde New Mexico, where he is working to recover a beautiful old farm on the Rio Grande.

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Speaker, spiritual teacher and newly published author, Kevin G Blackwell returns to speak at The Celebration for the first time since summer, 2013.  He will share how his multiple experiences with dying and death have provided him with a unique understanding of our multidimensionality and how that knowledge can impact how we live our lives in this timeline.   His first book is Harnessing the Power of Mindfulness for Self-Discovery  –  Everyday Enlightenment Volume 1.
  Kevin is a New Age practitioner with over 30 years of experience in a variety of areas.  He has worked as an intuitive and spiritual counselor who utilizes a variety of traditional and nontraditional therapeutic techniques in conjunction with tested coaching methods to help people connect to their deeper selves and to live more fulfilling lives. More info at his website: Kgblackwell.com

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George is an educator who has led group discussions for over 60 years. He’s worked in school districts, agencies, corporations, and even the New Mexican State Penitentiary. He has conducted the Kitchen Conversation for The Celebration for over eight years. His talk, focusing on “Goals Along the Spiritual Path” will draw from several disciplines and explain their relevance to his life.

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  Harriette will share about a useful code for life which is simply how to live life in a way that enhances your spirit.
  Harriette King is a gifted speaker, an evolutionist, and the author of “Crimes of the Spirit” and “The Divine Bitch Handbook.”  She is a mother and grandmother who resides in Santa Fe.

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Earlier this year, Arthur (aka, Brahman) went on a spiritual journey to India to be with his teacher and guru Amma, “The Hugging Saint.” He lived in her ashram in Santa Fe, New Mexico for about 8 months, which helped him grow spiritually. He created many pieces of artwork to bring to India and wrote more than 30 poems and stories. The ashram in Keral is in Southern India and it is a tropical jungle on the Arabian Sea.
Part of his journey in life has been to work with the Divine Feminine of all cultures of our planet and he creates art that reflects this. He has embraced Hinduism, Buddhism, Native American spirituality and Eco feminism.

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Spirit is the spark that ignites the generator of the Soul and flows naturally through ‘streaming consciousness,’ a frequency that exists outside the body, non-locally – and beyond time and death. Louise shares how she has learned to yield to her timeless Spirit that moves her through difficult moments and to unexpected joy.
  Louise had the gift of ‘sight’ since childhood and began her spiritual quest following the loss of her parents in her late teens and early adulthood. While exploring ways to refine her abilities and use them effectively to empower others, she approached physicists with questions, seeking answers to better understand how she’s able to see clairvoyantly beyond the illusions of death and linear time. She was gathering some interesting information when a few special individuals came forward to caution her, ‘You do not need physics or science to define your work! Let it stand alone!'” They were the late Willis Harman, Gary Zukav, Peter Russell, and Dr. Larry Dossey.
  Louise delights in discovering new, innovative ways to empower clients and help apprentices access their own intuitive abilities. She and her husband recently moved to Santa Fe, and she loves sharing the story of how they met, a tale she feels is wonderfully metaphysically instructive!
  Louise Hauck is an author and ‘Time-traveling’ Intuitive Spiritual Counselor. Learn more about her work at www.louisehauck.com.

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  Celeste Yacoboni is passionate about bringing people together to experience the sacred in their daily lives. In her book How Do You Pray? She asks 129 religious leaders, spiritual guides, healers, activists & other lovers of humanity to share their prayers. It’s been a fascinating journey since she woke up with the vision and followed it, opening her home to what became known as “prayershares” where people of all religions and spiritual traditions came together to experience each others’ prayers and rituals. This book encourages the reader to contemplate the intention of prayer in their own life.
  This is the 10 year Anniversary of How Do You Pray? and Celeste is still asking! Read more

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  Gail recently cleaned her garage, providing the opportunity to reflect on the many risks, rewards, losses and heartbreaks of a 50 year professional career and the lessons learned. Now she celebrates how listening to her soul—often reluctantly!—instead of operating primarily from strategy has created an unusual but fulfilling path.  Her listening for what’s next continues in her 79th year.
  Gail Larsen serves a global clientele through her Transformational Speaking Immersions in Santa Fe and her Online Academy.  Her book Transformational Speaking: If You Want to Change the World, Tell a Better Story (Random House/Brilliance Audio) was described by Fast Company as “transforming your relationship to your voice via the deepest stirrings of your soul.”  More at www.realspeaking.com.

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The two recipients of this year’s scholarships, will speak to us about what receiving the scholarship means to them and how it will support their educational journeys.
Justin Garcia is a native New Mexican and a recent graduate of New Mexico Highlands University with a BA in social work. As an intern at Gerard’s house, he experienced the joys of supporting young people in their grief journeys after losing a loved one. He decided to continue working with children and young adults experiencing trauma and loss. He has been accepted into the Advanced Standing program at NM Highlands which will enable him to get a master’s degree in one year instead of two. The scholarship is greatly appreciated and will enable him to pay for summer classes toward that end.
Raimy Engel is a student in Southwestern College’s Counseling and Art Therapy MA program. She is presently co-facilitating an adult grief group at Gerard’s House and interning as a student therapist at the Santa Fe Adult Detention Facility. Society labels those caught up in our justice system as criminals and with that label comes stigma and shame. She feels passionately that justice-involved people deserve the same care and regard as anyone else. There is much work to be done to improve societal attitudes and systems so people have safe and supportive places to go upon release. She is grateful for the scholarship which will be applied toward her coursework at Southwestern College.
Nicole Maes-Gonzales is the Executive Director of Gerard’s House and has been instrumental in helping to identify this year’s scholarship recipients.

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How the current crises on the planet are the birth pangs of the third turning in human consciousness.
  Ananda Forest was born George Emery Vaillant in Boston in 1959.  He went to Andover, Oberlin and Yale Law School and later taught English at St. Ann’s School in Brooklyn.  In 1994, he left the city for upstate New York where he worked as a carpenter and mechanic and started seriously following his bliss.  
  For the next twenty-five years, he worked as a carpenter, but never stopped teaching: twelve years guiding students of shamanism at Spirit Hollow, the nature and spirituality center he co-founded, and the last thirteen years and counting as an adjunct instructor of anthropology, history, and mythology at the Community College of Vermont.    He lives with his wife, iishana Artra, in northern New Mexico.