DOWN to EARTH Coffee table Book (Eng)

DOWN to EARTH A story by Renata Heinen & Rolf Winters

Written by: Renata Heinen & Rolf Winters Photography: Renata Heinen Design: Hannah Fincham Produced by: The Down to Earth Collective

Š 2020, The Down to Earth Collective BV Unless otherwise indicated, all material in this book is copyrighted. No part of these pages, either text or images may be used for any purpose other than personal use, unless explicit authorisation is given by The Down to Earth Collective BV.

DOWN to EARTH

For our children and the next seven generations

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Down to Earth was born out of an open and unconditional quest for a new perspective, a new way of life.

It originated from listening to the Keepers of the Earth: those who still live a connected life with nature and the Earth, with the source of our existence. It is the result of letting go of our primarily rational path, our conditioned mind-set and embracing a confidence in a greater ‘knowing’.

Trust in the connection to a higher consciousness not only carries the magic of life within it, it also gives us direction for the turnaround that we all need to achieve in order to safeguard a livable world for future generations as humanity.

When you dare to rely on that and really learn to ‘listen’, the possibilities are truly unlimited. We could not have dreamed that we would make a film that would have such an impact.

There is much to be thankful for. The experience we have had as a family and the development we have gone

through. The people we met during our journey, but also those who came on our path after the journey. All who guided and supported us in realizing our vision. Without their trust and support, Down to Earth would not have become the great movement it has. We have already reached hundreds of thousands of cinema-goers and this is just the beginning. Our experiment with a highly unorthodox cinema release, which included in-cinema dialogues after every screening, was an unprecedented success. In addition to several awards, the film broke several records, including the longest-running film in Dutch cinema history. The fact that the film has grown into such an unprecedented phenomenon is mainly because we invited the audience to be part of the Down to Earth adventure from day one and that invitation landed on fertile soil.

Audiences immediately sense that Down to Earth is more than a film.

It touches something in our deeper 6

essence, a profound realization that we are part of a larger fabric, that we can do things differently, live a more purposeful and connected life. Yet also that we are not powerless with regard to the major challenges we face as humanity, that we ourselves – in togetherness – are at the helm.

And so we now have the common challenge of bringing the minds of the Earth Keepers to life. We look forward to taking this journey, this challenge, with you. Thank you for your support. We hope that this book will be a lasting source of inspiration for you. If you want to have access to further inspiration and deepening and / or want to remain involved in the continuation of the Down to Earth journey, please register at www.downtoearthfilm.com.

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REFLECTIONS ON OUR JOURNEY Renata Heinen & Rolf Winters

SEEKING We were simply not satisfied with the way things were and felt. That’s why we became ‘seekers’. Not seeeking someone else’s truth, but our own. Just as Nowaten would tell us four years later. But what exactly were we looking for? We had a very good life. We were ‘successful’, measured by the standards of our society: we were independent, we had a well-running company, we were busy with meaningful matters, we had plenty of creative freedom and we lived in a beautiful spot in Amsterdam with our three healthy children. But what does someone else’s yardstick mean when something gnaws inside,

a sense of unrest resides within? What is success worth in a system where you feel less and less at home?

It was like a 3D picture; the longer you look at it, the more layers you start to discover. For us, that meant becoming aware of being part of a crucial generation, a generation that cannot afford to hide behind a smoke screen of conventions and learned beliefs. The whole framework of the society in which we participated began to falter before us. How can you continue to believe in a linear transactional growth model while it systematically undermines the basic conditions for life on Earth? As we 8

enjoyed a cosmopolitan life in the heart of Amsterdam, and before that London, we became increasingly aware of the shortcomings and the venom of our society. Like many others, we looked with more and more concern into the future of our children, not to mention the generations after them. Because when you see how destructive our collective pattern is and how stuck the system is in its own spiral, every extrapolation leads to desperation.

An eye opener for us was that we realized that we ourselves were players in this bizarre play. We considered ourselves free-thinking, progressive and conscious people, who made informed choices in our lives. But the more we thought we were distancing ourselves from the system, the more we saw that we were entangled in its tentacles. Our world has become so complex that every day you easily and almost unnoticeably get involved in processes that seriously threaten our

living environment. The comfort of the global economy is that we notice very little of the source-devastating back end of the system. We still don’t feel the hard consequences of our ‘progress’ and obsession with ever-growing.

So we started to wonder, what can we do as parents? What are we meant to do here as humans - in this life?

How can we not only contribute to a better world, but above all how can we prepare our children for their future and the significant challenges they will face?

ROAMING Incorporating our growing children into the school system was perhaps the push we needed. We had found a good school, but with all the goodwill of special education, schools are primarily geared to deliver “system participants” rather than the “system questioners” and thinkers this generation will have to produce. It just didn’t feel right to let our children get sucked into a system that focuses 9

on the dominance of rationality and that gradually but clearly diminishes the intuitive and sensitive qualities that we naturally have. How can their generation become a match for this time if they are taught the same way we were.

It was not just education, but the whole rhythm of the over-structured city life. We had a relatively large amount of leeway as self-employed people and were in charge of our own agenda. But we also felt how the trap of unconscious parenting lurked everywhere; the push to fill every pause with carefully planned activities, fueled by a lucrative sector that eagerly responds to the vulnerability of parents who wonder if they are doing well enough.

What we envisioned was a picture of our children roaming freely in nature, with space to explore and marvel at the magic of the world around them. But how do you do that when you live in the city?

How do you give children space to discover things freely, without taking irresponsible risks? And what about our own roaming as parents? What has happened to us since childhood?

How inspiring are we ourselves in that sense? How do you create the feeling of adventure and wonder in the city, without having to watch over your own children as a police officer?

It was the combination of all these questions and our own quest for meaning and awareness that prompted us to broaden our horizons. Before we could really answer all the questions we were struggling with, we felt the need to free ourselves from the yoke of a system participant, to get rid of our conditioning. If you remain within the old perspective, how can you hope to get a view of a new one? As an experiment, we wanted to withdraw from the maelstrom of the system for a long period of time. It felt as Nowaten would later put it: “Life is simple, but we have made it complicated 10

Europe, but we encountered people who lived in a completely different way and who, by their very nature, were a vast source of inspiration. The decision to leave everything behind HOME COMING and build a whole new life was made After two years of diligent but within a week. unsuccessful searching for a new living Breaking free from our familiar environment in various rural places life was certainly a leap of faith. in Europe, in 2004 we decide to stop We were used to living in the heart searching. We expressed to each other of cities like London and Amsterdam, that we were not yet giving up on the cities with vibrant social and cultural dream, but that we may have to push life. Upper Michigan is literally at the less and that the place may just have other end of the spectrum; it is the to find us. Within a week, out of the same size as the Netherlands, but with blue, a business associate introduced only 300,000 inhabitants it is one of us to a clan of Native Americans in the least populated areas in America.

Upper Michigan. He had thought we That is less than 2% of the population would really click, and he was right. density of the Netherlands. Located During our first meeting, a spark between the largest lakes in America jumped. We hadn’t had our sights on and bordering Canada, you find real North America at all, but there we wilderness. It is a place where black found an environment that suited the bears, wolves and cougars have a experiment we envisioned. Not only natural habitat. No noise, other than did we find the plentiful untouched the rustle of the wind, and endless nature that was difficult to find in forests where you can easily get lost. with our thought patterns. There are no freethinking people anymore. We are all under control of someone. And that’s how we get ourselves into trouble.”

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We really didn’t know what the effect of such a radical switch would be, but it felt like the adventure we were looking for.

We bought a piece of woodland on Lake Michigan adjacent to the Hiawatha National Forest. We had to cut down trees to make room to build our house. It gave us a special feeling to build a new life from scratch: besides a house, we built a log cabin that would serve as a school for the children. We devised our own curriculum for the school, and we started a garden where we began growing our own vegetables, herbs and fruits. After a few months, not much of the city people we were was left. The adaptation to the new environment went much faster than we had thought.

It seemed as if nature cherished and embraced us.

How is it possible that we did not miss the social and cultural aspects of the big city at all? How can you feel so at home when everything is so

different? The Native Americans who were our link to this new land and adventure felt like long lost relatives.

We felt adopted as their extended family. The move to Upper Michigan gave us a tremendous sense of recognition, a sense of coming home on multiple levels. That deep sense of homecoming - on more than one level – was something that would overcome us again a few years later during our journey around the world.

GAAWIIN GEEGO The change of our living environment was huge, but it was the change in the rhythm of life, and in particular the absence of any agenda or schedule, that actually had the most impact on our ‘internal world’. The simplicity of everyday life, focused on basic needs, contrasted sharply with the hectic pace of the cultivated world we had left behind. Not having a plan was one of the great lessons of our U-turn.

In our modern world how quickly do 12

we become trapped in our mind, in tomorrow instead of today. How hard it is to really let the moment happen, to let it unfold without paving over it with our plans.

The Ojibwa talk about ‘Gaawiin Geego’, which literally means both ‘everything’ and ‘nothing’ and it relates to a way of life also referred to as ‘living in nothingness’. For the natives it is the highest state of being one can achieve. Not living from a place of any wanting or needing, but living in total acceptance, without judgment, without expectation, so that you can truly ‘be’, with full awareness and in connection with everything in the moment. That is how the magic of life can manifest, and how you can optimally receive the support of the spirit world. In other words: if you don’t want anything, you get everything. Or as our dear friend Mukwa Ode (Bear Heart) puts it: “The trick is knowing when to get out of the way, so we don’t mess it up”.

The first meeting with Nowaten and his wife Akeekwe helped us to really understand Gaawiin Geego. There we experienced the power of ‘living in nothingness’. This encounter, three years after we landed in Upper Michigan, was the seed from which Down to Earth germinated. We had seized the invitation with both hands.

Nowaten was the teacher of our native friends and even though we had heard many stories about him, we had never really met him. After a three hour drive through the Upper Michigan woods, we stood in front of Nowaten and Akeekwe’s mobile home. A small vegetable garden was beside it, and next to that was a large run for Muk Tazi, Nowaten’s wolf.

We arrived around noon. There was no social protocol. From the moment we arrived it was like we had been coming there for years. We sat around the kitchen table and together we ate the food we had brought. We would sit there almost continuously 13

for the next twelve hours, listening to his stories. In most situations it feels long to listen to someone for an hour, with Nowaten time seemed to stand still. There was so much to take in, so much food-for-thought, yet Nowaten seemed to have a built-in equalizer to keep it light, alternating profound insights with light-hearted annecdotes that made him laugh at himself. Most intriguing was his narrative style. He continuously formulated questions; deep and often surprising questions, which he usually left unanswered. It made it feel like a universal conversation. There was a certain serenity that radiated from him, and yet he was also very accessible. His earthly calm, his inner peace, his connectedness, could make you envious. How beneficial must it be if you can accept everything in life as it is and people as they are? How healing must it be if you experience such an inner peace that there is nothing that can upset you. His being

had an effect on you. You felt light in its environment.

His name Nowaten (He Who Listens) was initially difficult for us to understand, because it was he who usually did all the talking. It was only after a few visits that the meaning of his name became clear to us. From thereon ‘listening’ took on a completely different meaning for us. He listened on a completely different level. How many levels of listening are there? It felt like he could scan you effortlessly, read your soul without even asking you a question. Sometimes he seemed to ignore or not hear a question you’d ask, but over time we realized that he did answer the deeper questions that you had not even asked, questions that were still locked in your heart, questions that you hadn’t yet even been able to formulate. It seemed as if he had access to an infinite source of knowledge, tapping into an invisible web of wisdom, as it were, that he could log into from his chair at the kitchen table. The 14

source he had access to did not give him factual information, but insight into how everything fits together and how things are related to each other.

The questions he asked himself had the most and longest lasting effect.

Many visits later, we began to see that it was part of his listening. He asked questions to which he somehow got an answer, from whatever dimension. He was able to ‘hear’ that, because he was absolutely clear, without judgment and without his own agenda. His listening came from Gaawiin Geego.

Gaawiin Geego was also the big challenge of our journey. To what extent is it possible to make a film, traveling around the world, without expectations, without focusing on results? Were we able to travel “in nothingness” and really let the journey unfold? Not planning, directing, judging or thinking that we know what we are going to experience and what we are going to record? It was clear from our departure: we went out into the world to observe, to listen.

In retrospect, it’s fair to say that we had been preparing for the journey THE KEEPERS OF THE EARTH for four years. The four years we lived Then came the calling: What happens in the forest, the time we spent with when you travel to the ends of the our Native American friends, the world and listen to the Keepers of the ceremonies we participated in.

Earth? People like Nowaten who still It probably all contributed to the live in full connection with nature, mindset with which we started our those who are not conditioned by journey. As a family we were already our man-made rules, beliefs and fairly in tune with the life of indigenous systems. What could they tell us about communities. the status quo of humanity and our Without sharing a language, one current life on Earth? becomes dependent on different levels 15

of communication. We did not work with professional interpretors, but had to make do with the guides we found locally. So patience was important.

We had already been slowed down quite a bit in the four years we lived in the woods of Michigan, but the pace with these tribes was still a few teeth slower. On our journey, we had no guarantee that we would get access to the communities we wanted to visit.

It was a matter of connecting, talking to people and gaining trust over and over again. First with the ‘gate keepers’, the tribal members who maintain contact with the outside world and who would usually speak some English or Spanish. Once we were allowed to visit the village, they would be the ones who accompanied us and acted as interpretors. The friendships that we fostered as a family with these gate keepers would become one of the most memorable aspects of our journey.

A special part of this process was the role of the children. If we were

hesitant before the journey whether we could embark on such an adventure with three small children, during the journey it turned out that they were often ahead of us in making connections. They would already be playing with the kids of the tribe, whilst we were still making introductions.

The fact that we traveled as a family made us ‘equals’. In the first instance we came as a family, and only in the second place with the question whether we could also make film recordings.

Had we come in as a film crew, we probably wouldn’t have been able to visit most communities. We were often overwhelmed by the way and the hospitality with which we were received. In some places it was like walking in old footsteps, as if we had known the people for years. When we said goodbye to our Native American friends before the journey, they said: “You will be tracing back footsteps of another time.” We have often thought back to that comment.

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WALKING YOUR PATH What are the lessons we can learn from the Earth Keepers? There are many and this book containing the full text from the film is meant to remind you of their collective wisdom, helping you to unlock doors to a fuller and more purposeful life.

During our journey it was very powerful to experience the great similarities in our conversations and encounters with the various shamans and tribal leaders. It often felt as if a conversation was just continuing on a next stop, when visiting a completely different tribe, with a few thousand miles in between. You could almost say that the whole journey felt like one and the same conversation, with one person with thirteen different faces.

One of the most striking similarities is that almost all Earth Keepers talk about the essence of “walking your path�. Whether the conversation was about finding your happiness, how to stay healthy or how to make the

best contribution to a better world, walking your path kept coming back as the answer.

If this appears to be the universal key that fits in the mentioned doors, it is something to dwell on. The power lies in the simplicity of the message, but also in the acknowledgement that you yourself hold the key when it comes to your happiness, your health and the change you want to see in the world. But how do you walk your true path? There is no script, because every path is unique. And everyone has their own compass, their own inner knowing. To retrieve the workings of that compass is our challenge in today’s over-rationalised world. We have to unlearn to always follow our mind and learn to follow our heart.

Do you dare to follow that intuitive feeling inside? Do you dare to open up to the direction and wisdom you can receive from another dimension, from an intangible world? Listening to that internal compass is a continuous and 17

endless learning process that requires courage, patience and a lot of faith.

But the more you experiment with it and experience that it works, the stronger that faith becomes.

For us that is the crux and also the magic of life. It cannot be reasoned or controlled on a rational level, but you can experience it. That’s what matters: your own experience, and the truth you derive from it. We experimented with this consciously and unconsciously during and after our journey, and we are convinced that Down to Earth could only have manifested in this way. It only worked out because we have walked our own intuitive path, and because we have managed to keep our head and heart in a good balance. We have been working on the film for no less than seven years. We never thought we would be working on it for such a long time. Equally we could never have imagined that the film would touch so many and actually start a

whole movement. One thing is certain, if we had made a plan and followed it, things would never have unfolded like this. And so the movement that is now emerging is in itself a beautiful example of one of the core messages of Down to Earth.

We hope that you derive inspiration and joy from this book, that it may help you in your quest for the Earth Keeper that lies within you. Because in the end that is all that matters, what you do yourself with what you are given. Or as Akeekwe puts it: We are here for a short while.

We are only passing through. So what are you going to do? What are you going to do in this life?

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We didn’t inherit the Earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children

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DOWN to EARTH A story by Renata Heinen & Rolf Winters 21

This is the story of a family who went off the beaten path, to find a new perspective on life and the world we live in.

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ROLF – Moving out here is probably the most irrational decision we ever took in our life. But now looking back, it’s amazing to see how one intuitive decision led to another. We never set out to make a film. We just felt like breaking away.

And not that our life wasn’t good. We had everything we ever wanted. And more.

But that was kind of the problem. I felt I was buying into a system that tells us that more is better. I felt I was plodding along with everyone else, as if in a state of hypnosis.

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RENATA – What changed me and my thinking was becoming a mother.

I asked myself: What is it that I’m trying to achieve? What do I contribute to the world they grow up in? I knew I had to break the pattern. I didn’t just want to exchange the city life for a life close to nature. But I wanted to learn, learn from people, who live a connected life. A life more down to earth.

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Hiawatha Forest, Upper Michigan, USA

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RENATA – I loved our years in the woods. The simple, uncomplicated life.

Living a day at a time, living with the seasons. At the time we had no idea that our move to the woods was only the start of a much bigger journey.

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ROLF – In the four years we lived in the woods, we learned so much from the Native American way of life. But what inspired us most, was the way of thinking, the way of being of some of the elders. Especially Nowaten.

Meeting this medicine man had a profound impact on us. He triggered something in us. A longing to explore the ancient ways of looking at life.

And gaining a deeper understanding of the old teachings, which seem now more relevant than ever. It was meeting Nowaten that inspired us to go on a journey to find people like him. People who have held on to a connection with the natural world, wisdom keepers, who might hold the key to renewal.

We decided to travel the world, together with our children, to find these keepers of wisdom. The Keepers of the Earth.

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I’M CONCERNED ABOUT ALL HUMAN LIFE. I FIND IT SAD FOR HUMANS FOR NOT KNOWING WHO THEY REALLY ARE. THAT’S WHY I CALL IT THE ILLUSION. BUT THIS IS THE CHANGING OF TIMES. NOWATEN –

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NOWATEN – We had a beautiful way, at one time. How we viewed the world, and all of the creation within. Because, you know, we talk about creation.

What is it we all like about creation?

Because we are all things of creation, as humans. Somewhere along the way, I think the original teachings got lost among all people.

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NOWATEN – I woke up from a dream this morning. I went to a place, it was a run-down building. It reminded me of an old army barrack somewhere.

Long rooms, upstairs, floors were sunk from age. Anyway, many, many medicine people were arriving at the same place. I decided I would go up them stairs, because of the medicine men, medicine people coming there to help. It seemed so real, that it was actually happening. And I went upstairs and started looking around to see what needed to be done. The floor was covered with litter. So I started looking for brooms to start cleaning up. And that dream was telling me those medicine people are willing to start helping all over. Now they are all emerging.

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Loita Hills, Kenya

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ROLF – January 21st. We are on our way. On the road, for a year.

One backpack, and a camera each.

It’s exciting, but the first month has not been easy. Nothing has worked out to plan. And despite the months of research, we are not getting to the right people.

We feel we have wasted a lot of time.

And on top of that, we’ve all been really sick. Levy is still refusing to eat after two weeks.

I worry. Is this really all worth it?

We wonder: Have we been too optimistic, that we could pull this off by ourselves as a family, without any crew or support?

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RENATA – We knew that finding Earth Keepers wouldn’t be easy. But I think we’ve been trying too hard. Trying to follow a plan. I know we have to let go, and stop worrying about the outcome.

We simply have to follow the stories and trust we will find the people we are looking for.

Our only obstacle is our own worry and fear. It’s these little voices coming in. ‘What if we don’t find these people?’, and, ‘What if it doesn’t work out?’

I wonder, if these tribal communities have the same problem with fear.

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MOKOMPO OLE SIMEL – You mean fear of death, fear of diseases, fear of the lack of food, or fear of people?

We don’t carry fear.

ROLF – And how do you see that the absence of fear is related to your people being content, being happy?

MOKOMPO OLE SIMEL – It is true, we as a people are happy, despite having few material things. We are happy because of our relationships, our close social ties, and our unity.

Every tribal member identifies with each other across our land. Love binds us together.

ROLF – Your way of life seems all centred around community. Our world is based much more around the individual, which is also what has brought us progress. How do you view this progress?

MOKOMPO OLE SIMEL – Now listen, my sons, this is becoming interesting. Because this so-called 50

progress has killed many nations.

Tell him I like this discussion and I am happy because it is very relevant today. We all love money, but money can be evil. It’s consuming our world, destroying our land, people and environment. Money is just paper but it has been given a lot of power. What destroys people is selfishness. Egocentrism has led to the exploitation of others, especially by those in influential positions. That’s how the world is suffering today.

Everybody is for themselves. People don’t love each other anymore. Wealth kills. Poverty is wisdom. A hungry stomach is full of wisdom. You will know how to take care of yourselves, your environment and have peace.

FILM STILL

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NOWATEN – You know, I remember‌ things in my childhood days. To me, what became great teachings from my dad, my mother. Simple, little things that some people would not even consider as something great.

Like learning to live with the seasons, and what these seasons produce.

Sometimes, there is an abundance with the seasons and other times not.

You simply learn to live with what is provided. Living within that framework is a simple life, of taking only what you need.

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I WAS GIVING THANKS TO THAT WATER. SO, WHEN WE GIVE THANKS TO THE WATER, WE GIVE THANKS TO OURSELVES, BECAUSE WE ARE PEOPLE OF WATER. IT’S A PART OF SHOWING RESPECT FOR CREATION. MUKWA ODE –

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MOKOMPO OLE SIMEL – People wonder why my forest has survived while others have been depleted.

When you lose nature, including land and forest like this, then there is no purpose in living. You will be as good as dead. The Earth reacts by refusing to give us rains and making conditions harsh for us. The Earth becomes uninhabitable. It will also bring a lot of spiritual poverty. We depend on nature, on forests, for spiritual connection.

Without it, there will be nothing. That’s why people are lost.

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MAN CANNOT DETACH HIMSELF FROM NATURE, BECAUSE HE WILL BE DESTROYED. WE ARE JUST MEMBERS OF NATURE. MOKOMPO OLE SIMEL –

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Bos van het Verloren Kind, Loita Hills, Kenya

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LEKITI (MOKOMPO’S SON) – This forest is named after its protector, a child who got lost while herding.

He slept, disappeared and was never found. It feels good. It is cool and I feel there is a special attachment.

It is full of life, you can hear the birds sing. Columbus monkeys are playing, there is medicine and it’s so much fun. This is for if you have an upset stomach. You scrape from the inside of the bark, put it in water and boil it to make tea.

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MOKOMPO OLE SIMEL – Look at the wisdom of the bird. Have you ever seen a bird building a nest in the air?

Are you getting what I am saying?

A bird builds its nest in the top of a tree. That’s how important trees are.

Who will speak for the birds when forests are destroyed?

NOWATEN – Who speaks for those birds and animals and the trees? They have the same rights we do. They are a part of creation. Mankind has messed up everything. And how much more longer is it going to go before man will finally admit that; that we’re the cause of all the troubles of the world.

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THE AMERICAN DREAM IS AN ILLUSION. I USED TO HEAR THEM OLD PEOPLE LONG AGO, WHEN I WAS A CHILD. THEY USED TO TALK ABOUT: HOW HIGH IS UP? HOW HIGH CAN THINGS GO? WHERE DOES IT STOP? WHERE’S LEFT FOR IT TO GO? ONCE IT PEAKS IT CAN’T GO NO FURTHER. IT STARTS TO COME DOWN. NOWATEN –

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Tokyo, Japan

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I UNDERSTAND THE DESIRE TO HAVE A NICE DRESS, A HOUSE. BUT THIS DESIRE FOR A NEW DRESS, A NEW CAR, A NEW HOUSE, IS LEADING TO THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EARTH. HARUZOU URAKAWA –

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THE REAL PROBLEM IS THE LIFESTYLE OF CONSUMPTION.

HARUZOU URAKAWA –

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IT IS PROBABLY THE SAME EVERYWHERE. IN TODAY’S SOCIETY PEOPLE SEEM TO HAVE BECOME EGOISTIC. HARUZOU URAKAWA –

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HARUZOU URAKAWA – Look at people in the city. They always more or less have a job, and by making money, they think they succeed in life. But they lack purpose in their life.

That explains how they look.

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Sydney, Australia

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BALNGAYNGU MARIKA – People don’t have patience in the city. There’s no patience. I see a lot of people running, running on time. The time is very important for people who are running. Where you have to go to work, you have to run. Come back home, you have to run.

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IT’S A CITY OF PEOPLE RUNNING. YOU DON’T HAVE TO RUN THERE, TAKE YOUR TIME. BALNGAYNGU MARIKA –

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BALNGAYNGU MARIKA – We are more laid-back people, you know, we don’t run. No, why should we run, where there’s nothing to run? It is there, we’ll get there.

ROLF – I know why these words of Balngayngu resonated so much with me. Because she was really talking about me. When we moved to the woods, it took me a really long time before I really slowed down, and was truly grounded. But it’s not the answer for all of us to go back and live in nature. I think the real challenge is how do we live a connected life in our fast paced world? Meeting these urban Earth Keepers made us see that it is possible. Even in an urban landscape.

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BALNGAYNGU MARIKA – The land is everything to me, how I have been brought up. I carry that within me.

I feel like I’m a mother, imitating Mother Earth on the stage. Every day she is creating. She’s making new hills or fountains or small things like grass. That is something so special.

Everywhere I go I feel that energy.

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BECAUSE I AM THE LAND. BALNGAYNGU MARIKA –

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BALNGAYNGU MARIKA – We come from Northern Territory, the North Coast. The people call it Arnhemland.

We call it Yirrkala, and that’s where I was born. We had beautiful parents.

Not only loving us, but sharing the knowledge, and teaching the knowledge of survival. To be aware of what’s around the land. Where not to go there or to go there. Not to eat, to eat. Not to swim, swim.

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Arnhemland, Northern Territory, Australia

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RENATA – We are now on our way to a remote island off the North Coast.

We’ve heard a story about Laklak, an aboriginal medicine woman who has dedicated her life to raising troubled kids in the old ways. We are excited to be allowed onto the island which is normally sealed off to outsiders. Laklak apparently made the exception when she heard we are a family travelling with children.

The gatekeepers were strict about the conditions of the visit. Two nights only. Bring your own food and shelter.

And no filming. But when we arrived on the island, things turned out quite differently.

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LANGANI MARIKA (LAKLAK) – Me, my sister and the children we have been living on this island for quite some time. Boys who keep getting into trouble, we look after them, when they are sent here. It’s a good place to live. These boys have never been to school because they spent their time wandering around in town, in the jungle, getting into trouble.

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LANGANI MARIKA – When you plant a tree and it almost dies, it comes back to life when you give it water. If you don’t give it water, the tree will die. It’s the same in life. If you don’t listen and ignore the guidance you receive, the same happens as with that tree.

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WE TEACH THE BOYS TO LIVE OFF THE LAND, HOW TO LOOK AFTER THEIR BODY AND THEIR MIND. HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO LOOK AFTER THE LAND, AND NOT DESTROY IT. WE ARE THE CARETAKERS OF THE LAND. LANGANI MARIKA –

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EVERYBODY HAS A GIFT BUT DOESN’T ALWAYS SHOW IT. HOW WILL WE KNOW WHAT GIFT THEY HAVE? WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNED? WE WILL KNOW BY WATCHING AND OBSERVING. LANGANI MARIKA –

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NOWATEN – It was always the women that had total control of all the children. They were already witnessing, uh, certain traits.

LANGANI MARIKA – You can smell…

NOWATEN – And if they saw that, in one of them boys, they would tell that to the elders: ‘Keep your eye on this one, he shows promise’.

LANGANI MARIKA – Let’s walk back.

Go! NOWATEN – That’s how the great leaders, all the chiefs of the history here, that’s how they were raised. They were watched from the time they were little boys. There was leadership among the women. They were watched in the same way.

LANGANI MARIKA – I tell the boys the story about the past about how our people lived. I tell them, you have to listen, as I am the only elder of the Rirratjinu clan.

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LANGANI MARIKA – So what will the future hold for us? We can’t turn back the clock and go back to the old ways. Everyone has to find out for themselves where the best place to live is, and how to live in harmony. It’s like you going around, finding out from people how we can get together. Yolgnu (Aboriginal) and Ngapaki (European), be one and live in unity.

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LANGANI MARIKA – When you and your family came here on the island for the first time, I felt something deep inside. I felt like we have met before somewhere. That’s how I felt: close to you and your family. I met you somewhere, a long time ago. But this is first time that I met you here.

Two weeks ago. Is it? Two, three weeks ago? We might have met in spirit, or somewhere. That’s what I’m feeling.

ROLF – Probably.

LANGANI MARIKA – No, not probably. We met in spirit! We gave you a name and adopted you into our family.

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RENATA – June 21st. I feel at home here.

On the island there is no yesterday.

No tomorrow. Only today. One thing I’m learning from my aboriginal family is that time doesn’t exist. Two nights have become two weeks. Two weeks have become two months.

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ROLF – In the West where I grew up, it’s all about going to school to gain more knowledge. But somehow I don’t see people become wiser.

LANGANI MARIKA – I have seen it a lot. Smart youngsters, Aboriginals and Europeans, go to school, college, learn, learn, learn, right up to university. And then they go wherever, you can name it. But it is always the same: If heart and mind are not connected, nothing comes out. I see that all the time. You have to study and really concentrate on that mind-heart connection. Only then will you be ready to take on the responsibility to lead, and use your knowledge. Just walk smooth, on the straight path, and everything will come.

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WALK THAT STRAIGHT ROAD. LET NOTHING BLOCK YOU. WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT, YOU WILL WALK UP TO YOUR DESTINY. LANGANI MARIKA –

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LEKITI – We are the three elder brothers. Each of us has been adequately prepared. Any of us can take over. He is continually passing on his wisdom to us. We all have different talents. The best will be picked. Unlike other leaderships, it’s not determined by education.

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IT IS ABOUT WISDOM AND SKILLS IN PROTECTING THE LAND, YOUR ABILITY TO WORK WITH SPIRIT AND WAYS YOU CAN PREVENT EVIL FROM HAPPENING. LEKITI –

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NOWATEN – The youth of today has the hardest task of every one of us.

It is up to the youth to bring about a change. It has been said that if they succeeded, they would be the ones that created eternal peace. I think that’s what’s happening now. Slowly.

If it catches on one place, it is going to catch on at other places. People will follow suit.

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New Delhi, India

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ROLF – July 13th. Travelling to Asia, one thought keeps coming back. How is this change Nowaten talked about going to happen when the majority of the people on this planet are only just embarking on the journey of the American or the European dream? Aspiring to prosperity in a similar way our parents and grandparents did.

But who are we to tell anyone that that aspiration doesn’t lead to happiness?

And that the planet cannot sustain a lifestyle of mass consumption.

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ROLF – What totally amazes me on this journey is how Earth Keepers in other parts of the world speak with the same voice as Nowaten. And how they all share the same, rather optimistic vision about the current state of the world. They all see the hardship and the chaos in the world today as a sign that we’re on the brink of a huge global transformation, brought about by the common people, who start walking their true path, and start working together.

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Central Tribal Belt, India

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IF EVERYBODY’S DEEDS ARE PURE, THE ERA OF TRUTH WILL COME AGAIN. PEOPLE WHO PLOUGH THE LAND DON’T HAVE ANY MONEY BUT EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO OFFER. IF WE WORK TOGETHER, WE WILL GO FORWARD. IF WE DON’T, WE WILL STAGNATE. MOTIRAM BAIGA –

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LIFE IS A GIFT OF MOTHER EARTH. BE SATISFIED WITH WHAT MOTHER EARTH PROVIDES YOU. MOTIRAM BAIGA –

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MOTIRAM BAIGA – My grandfather was a medicine man. After him, my father was a medicine man. After my father, I inherited the knowledge.

Though my father is dead, he is still with me. And he guides me. He tells me which shrub, which root will give me different medicine.

All medicines are available in the jungle. The herbs and roots in the jungle are for everyone. They are there for the treatment of people.

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ROLF – We see more and more people who want to take responsibility for their own fate, including their own health. What’s the key to living life without major disease?

MOTIRAM BAIGA – Look at it yourself, when you walk on your way you might step on a thorn that brings disease. But when you walk your true path, nothing will happen to you. Disease exists in everyone’s body. When you get a major disease, you might have developed the disease because you haven’t walked your true path.

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MOTIRAM BAIGA – I teach as much as I can. To move forward, people need to gain an understanding. Having faith is crucial. If you have faith, you can be healed.

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NOWATEN – It’s not only knowing the medicines. The best healer or doctor in the world cannot totally heal anything, without your help. The patients furnish half, through your own faith of believing.

MOTIRAM BAIGA – Be without fear.

Don’t bind your heart in any way.

Go with an open heart wherever you go, like an open door.

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MOTIRAM BAIGA – What you will do after you leave, I do not know.

But remember, when we walk, we might crush many insects. They also have a life, just like us. So what, we are bigger than insects. Bigger than us are elephants. The elephant is wary and respectful of the little ant.

Before it steps, it blows its path clear.

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NOWATEN – We are all the same basically. Whether we’re plants, or animals, or what. It seems like there’s a kinship there, when you look at things a certain way. The only difference is, we look different. Some fly, some crawl. But we can never say that we’re the only ones that we should be concerned about. That’s why life is really simple. When you come right down to it, life is simple.

But we make it complicated ourselves.

With our thought patterns, and what other people have put in place that controls all of the people. You know, that changes… individuals in how they think, once that is done. There are no free-thinking people any more. We are all under the control of someone, and we find ourselves in trouble.

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Amazon Rainforest, Ecuador

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PEOPLE FROM THE WESTERN WORLD WORRY TOO MUCH BECAUSE THEY NEED TO CONSUME. ALL THESE WORRIES MAKE THEM SICK. SUMPA –

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THEY ALSO WORRY TOO MUCH ABOUT THEIR STUDY AND THEIR CAREERS, AND THAT’S WHY THEY GET SICK IN THEIR HEARTS. THE WAY MANY PEOPLE LIVE THEIR LIVES, IS HOW THEY CREATE THEIR OWN DISEASE. SUMPA –

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SUMPA – We live in harmony in our forest together with our family and brothers. We are only preoccupied with hunting and fishing, building our houses and caring for the land.

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WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE NEED IN THE FOREST. SUMPA –

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RENATA – I couldn’t sleep last night.

Everything is awake. Also my mind.

I am in awe of the abundance and total harmony of the forest. The beauty, but also the ugliness that goes on, the destruction of it all. But I’m just passing through, observing. Have I become the tourist? I wonder what it feels like to be truly part of it all. Like the Ashuar.

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CRISTINA – The little ones are called Tamarin monkeys, okay? Little ones, this big.

SKY – I saw a little black thing jumping down!

CRISTINA – Yeah.

LEVY – And I didn’t see anything!

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ROLF – The kids loved the rainforest.

Today they caught me off guard, asking me about its destruction. ‘Dad, did you know that we lose 80,000 acres per day, an area the size of England every year?’, ‘and we lose more than 50,000 plant and animal species each year as well?’. ‘Why dad, why don’t people get it?’. ‘Why are people spoiling it for us?’ ‘Can’t anyone stop this?’ How can I possibly answer these questions, without being a hypocrite?

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SUMPA – We don’t want to lose our forest, and our ability to hunt and fish. But you know how the oil companies work. How they destroy.

I think this is why you came here, to support us. To live better, it starts with everyone on this planet having a spiritual connection to the source.

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SUMPA – I work with the power of my ancestors. I have the power of the source, Arutam. We are born with that power. I use it to heal people.

When I drink the Ayahuasca plant the powers of my ancestors work through me. When I connect with the spirit of the plant, the Ayahuasca shows me visions. This is how we do research and diagnose illnesses. I’m going to take the sacred plant tonight. I will have many visions, and learn from the whole world, seeing what is out there.

RENATA – Taking part in this ceremony, was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.

I deeply felt homecoming, a deep feeling recognizing where I came from.

I see how the plant is like a portal to a whole new dimension, connecting me with my subconscious mind.

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THE ONLY GIFT GIVEN TO HUMAN BEINGS WAS THE POWER TO HAVE DREAMS AND VISIONS. NOWATEN –

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NOWATEN – I remember when I was on that hill, fasting. It came to me that faith is the most important thing, above all other things. Without that, we have nothing. It’s the greatest force that can be had.

And from that, I envisioned a man, living way out in the woods somewhere. That man never went anywhere. But he had all the answers that I needed. And I think that there is a person such as that.

Again, that’s faith, that there’s someone like that out there. The whole thing, what I am saying, we can create a faith, on our own, without going to any book, there’s nothing that we cannot do with that ability. It’s a natural ability that we all have.

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Machu Picchu, The Andes, Peru

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DON JOSE QUISPE – Here is the accumulated strength and power of the Incas. They have already died and turned to earth, but their strength and energy remains with us. We see it in our children, it goes to infinity, until the end. The Incas, since a long time ago have been connecting with Mother Earth, and building with the stones in this place.

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OBTAINING ENERGY FROM THE SPIRITS, ENERGY FROM FATHER SUN AND MOTHER EARTH. WITH SO MUCH ENERGY FEEDING THEM, THEY COULD LIFT THESE BIG STONES. DON JOSE QUISPE –

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SOME OF MY PEOPLE WONDER AND SAY, ‘LET US LIVE THE LEGACY THAT THE INCAS HAVE TAUGHT US.’ BUT WE HAVE LOST THE ABILITY TO HANDLE ALL THAT POWER. SO NOW WE ARE ALONE AND HAVE TO RELY ON MACHINES. WE ARE NEGLECTING OUR POTENTIAL. DON JOSE QUISPE –

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FILM still on horses?

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ROLF – Today as I was standing in front of these immense stones, seeing the seamless way they’ve been put together, it made me wonder: How were the Incas able to do this, thousands of years ago? Something that seems impossible to us today.

The further we are getting into our journey, the more I begin to understand what Nowaten meant, when he talked about the limitless possibilities of human potential.

Could it be that those who are truly connected to the natural world and tuned into the different levels of energy, are capable of working with the force of nature, rather than against it?

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LET US WORK TOGETHER TO BE CONNECTED, WITH ONE SPIRIT, ONE HEART, ONE MIND! LET US GROW AND LIVE WELL. DON JOSE QUISPE –

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NOWATEN – I’ve been to places that were just as real as I am sitting here, by travelling in spirit. Kind of makes me think sometimes, knowing about that gift. I can leave at any time, which could be what has happened with great nations, that they were highly spiritual people. Not like us, we are common. Our spirit would probably have a blue light, where the highly spiritual ones are totally white. This is what I have learned.

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NOWATEN – This is all there is, when you realise that you’re not satisfied with the way things are, that you start being a seeker. Not somebody else’s truth, but your own. What is it people are talking about when they talk about star people? What’s that sky world, like, around all the other planets known to man? What is there? It cannot be all blue sky, the way we see it.

LANGANI MARIKA – The spirits are everywhere. The universe up there is the same as this land. For us Yolngu, the land and the spirits are united.

We are tied to the spirit world. That’s why we are standing strong.

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Kalahari Desert, Namibia

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KLUNTA BO – Sometimes it feels like a dream and sometimes it feels very real. Sometimes it happens when the day becomes cool. When you’re not feeling any particular spirit inside you. What we do, is not the same as other medicine men. Because sand is a different thing. What we are doing, doesn’t come from the plants. It comes from the sky.

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ROLF – October 7th. Driving through the Kalahari desert, feels like approaching the cradle of humanity. We are on our way to the oldest living tribe on our planet. The San or ‘Bushmen’.

Even though medicine people around the world use different medicines, and have different ceremonies, I’ve come to see that underneath, they are all doing the same thing. They tap into the same source, using their connection with spirit.

To understand this connection better, we have come to see the San. Because in this barren land nothing grows, they have nothing else to rely on, than their direct connection to spirit.

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THE WAY YOUR CHILDREN AND MINE PLAY TOGETHER WITHOUT ANY LANGUAGE, COMMUNICATING WITHOUT A PROBLEM, IT MAKES ME VERY HAPPY. QUI –

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WHEN WE SEE PEOPLE WITH AN OPEN HEART WE CAN OFFER THE SAME THING TO YOU. SO WHEN YOU GO AWAY FROM HERE, YOU HOLD ON TO THE ANSWERS WE GAVE YOU, AND WE HOLD ON TO THE QUESTIONS YOU ASKED US. KUNTA BO –

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RENATA – A child in the village has fallen ill, and the medicine men are preparing a healing, that will take place tonight. To the San, illness and therefore healing are going beyond the individual.

It involves the whole community, including the ancestors. What we are about to witness is probably one of the oldest forms of healing in the world.

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KUNTA BO – Because we see what happened and we see the spirits of the people who already died, we can always tell which person who passed on a long time ago is causing the problem. After having the vision, which feels like dreaming, when you wake up, the spirit is already inside you.

Once you are conscious, you can start the healing.

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QUI – My brother Kunta’s spirit and mine are connected. Whenever we dance together, we work as one.

When you heal alone, you are not able to go safely through all the levels. You always need somebody to help you. The reason we sing and dance in a circle is that the healing is for all the people, not just the sick.

When we start to get into a trance we become very hot, especially inside the stomach. It burns. That’s what makes you shake.

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QUI - When you are getting hot and your eyes can’t see anymore, it is like the fire is moving around you. You don’t see the fire and it’s easy to fall into the fire. The fire is like a torch, shining from the sky. Giving you that healing power, that vision.

NOWATEN - In order to be a complete medicine person, there must be a spiritual side to it. Or it’s incomplete.

There’s no healing without that.

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RENATA – I now see that healing goes way beyond curing a physical ailment.

But if healing takes place on the level of spirit, and if it’s our spirit that gets healed, does that mean that the impact of that healing goes beyond our life, beyond our death?

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Irish Sea County Louth, Ireland

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MARGARET CONNOLLY – Healing is removing an energy from events in the past, collective past, that’s causing that person separation from their essence. When I heal myself, I heal the world. And when I know myself, I know the world. Cause everyone is part of everyone else.

If someone’s ill here it affects someone here. Everything affects everything, we’re not separate really, we go to the energy of all beings.

NOWATEN – The love that goes with that, there’s a love that goes with being human, and caring about other people. We don’t have to express that worldwide, we only have to feel that for that to go out, with no thought of prayer even, but to have that thought hid in your mind, about caring about others.

That’s enough. That’s our potential.

To help others without ever knowing who they are. That is what has to be brought out among human beings!

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NOWATEN – I sometimes think that my thoughts are yours, and your thoughts are mine, without us ever knowing one another. It comes down to human nature, of how we all feel, regardless of colour, male or female.

That we are one. That’s when you see a great beauty, in understanding when you can come to those terms of seeing it like that. It makes you want to look forward to another cycle.

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WE’RE PART OF EVERYTHING. I MEAN, IS THE WAVE THE SEA, IS THE SEA THE WAVE? IT’S LIKE TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU WERE A GRAIN OF SAND. MARGARET CONNOLLY –

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MARGARET – We are the four elements, and in some rites of passage, people say, ‘Dust you are, and dust you will return.’ The rite of passage of death is beautiful, because in that space, once you’ve gone into a spirit journey, you’re not in the emotion, you’re not attached. This is timelessness.

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Lake Kitch-iti-kipi, (Mirror to Heaven)

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NOWATEN – I learned that, when I… I learned that I died. I felt my heart tremor, like, it squeezed. Like it’s hurt.

I saw something, like a giant tube, it came down all around me, underneath me. And I went up. As I was going up, that’s when my heart felt like… it hurt, three times, it really hurt. And I was taken to a place that looked like this silvery-white. That’s what that whole place looked like, where I was, where they took me. And, in a way, I’m kind of anxious to take that extra step into that other world, which is on the other side. I’m not scared of death. I have no fear of it. There’s a reason for that.

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Nowaten (hij die luistert) 1928 – 2010

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AKEEKWE – When Nowaten was here, when he was here in this world, I really really liked it, I really liked us living together in this world. But I also really like that I know he’s over there, watching out for all of us. There’s no end. There is not an end to our pastaway beings. They are with us. You know, they – it’s just a different life.

The connection that we have is like that. We still continue to work together in a spiritual way.

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AKEEKWE – It’s not mystical, folks, it’s not mystical! It’s like, if you stand in the woods and you feel, and you hear the wind, that’s communication. You know, if you walk on the moss, that really almost iridescent moss, that’s in these wetlands outside, and you feel that it’s almost carrying you, instead of you walking. That’s communication.

MARGARET – You need to trust your own self. And trust you’re not alone.

And that there’s a higher consciousness that’s not dictated by any desires. And no memory, it’ll always guide you.

Some people call it ancestors, some people call it the angels. Whatever, it’s within you.

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RENATA – Shortly after we returned from our journey, I lost four loved ones.

Being confronted with death, proved to be one of the biggest teachings. I realised that if I can accept death, only then I can accept everything that comes with life. Death no longer carries the same weight. To me death is more like the goodbyes on our journey; not able to see these people any longer, but knowing they are still there. Knowing I can still reach them.

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OUR HEARTS HAVE THE TRUTH. WHEN WE SEE EACH OTHER, WE SEE THE HEART OF ONE ANOTHER, YOU KNOW? AKEEKWE –

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AKEEKWE – That’s living in a prayerful way. You know, there’s a physical form, but you look at the heart. And, wow!

There’s some amazing, amazing people in this world. And you want people to know themselves. That’s the deal. To be able to connect, with their own hearts, their own spirit.

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HOW WE LIVE EVERY DAY, IS A CEREMONY. AKEEKWE –

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ROLF – Our journey of the past five years, has given me a rock steady faith in the workings of life. I feel part of an ever larger family and a true sense of belonging. No longer do I worry for the future of my children, because we have all the answers. If only, we dare to ask ourselves the right questions.

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I KNOW THAT IF I STAY CONNECTED, I HAVE ACCESS TO AN INFINITE SOURCE OF WISDOM AND GUIDANCE. IN THE END, WE ARE ALL KEEPERS OF THE EARTH. ROLF –

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DOWN TO EARTH With honour and gratitude to all Keepers of the Earth

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With thanks to:

Zoeli Winters, Sky Winters, Levy Winters, Nowaten, Akeekwe, Mokompo Ole Simel, Lekiti Ole Mokompo, Haruzou Urakawa, Balngayngu Marika, Langani Marika, Motiram Baiga, Sumpa, Don Jose Quispe, /Ui /Ukxa, K!unta Bo, Margaret Connolly, Sigvald Persen, Maria Juana Yamberla and family, Don Esteban Tamayo and family, Sadhu Amar Puri, Daitari, Samra Sisa, Mohan Kumar Raj and family, Parbati Raj, Dahn Singh Tamang, the Shamans and Villagers from Gati-7 Mandra - Sindhupalchowk, Prashant Maharjan and friends from PangaDhusi Kirtipur, Pat & Bruce Hardwick, Carol & Duane Kinnart, Aiesha & Earl Mechigaud, Van Archiquette, Deb & Bradley Nedeau, Sharon Hogue, Steve McCullough, Jessie Seronko, Tahnahga Yak, Aleena Ludke, Bennelong Carrol, Cedric ‘Uncle Mooda’ Barnes, Dylan Gadaman Gurruwiwi, Lucy Bawu Gurruwiwi, Jonah Manmunga Gurruwiwi, Ramsey Yilirrkminy Gurruwiwi, James Bunbuyngu Marika, Phillip Dhayipu Marika, Phillip Wedu Marika, Vernon Gadtjarrarra Marika, Frank Gitjakara Marika, Jayden Wuyunungu Marika, Ramo Djanga ‘DakiDaki’ Mununggiritj, Lewis Malakamburru Raymond, Tony Rrumiyala Yunupingu, Alex Gading Yunupingu, Joseph Garrkana Yunupingu, Roslyn Yurraynga Yunupingu, Djalinda Ularmari, Bangara Dance Theatre, Di//xao Jo/’o, N!ae, Jose (Pepe) Arancibia, Valentina Benavides, Rosio Achahui Quenti, Cristina Serrano, Mateo Shakai, Kanako Uzawa, Masami Hikiti, Keiki Kyuuno, Vishwavijay (Vishu) Singh, Satyendra (Sunny) Upadhyay, Harish Singh, Beebal Singh Limbu, Jo/o (Johnny) Tsamkxao, Oma (Leon) Tsamkxao, Daniel Salau, Rob & Wendy van den Akker, Chris & Carola van de Akker, Peter & Hermine de Leeuw, Bert van der Els & Lammie Nijssingh, Ann Wells, Michel & Ankie van de Bel, Erik Hallers, Arno van Poppel, Robert & Denise Zeilstra, Frank Oddens, Pieter Paul van Beek, Sahil Gill, Hannah Fincham and all our helpers and ancestors. Photo of Nowaten (p.34 & p.38) courtesy of Jessie Seronko, photo Balngayngu Marika (p.108) courtesy of Bangarra Dance Theatre.

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