LIVING IN A NEW CONSCIOUSNESS
HARIS & DONNA DE LORY
ON THEIR JOURNEY WITH MADONNA AND BEYOND
by Reena Kumarasingham and Andy Tomlinson
MEET OUR TEAM
Maryam Morrison
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JSquared Photography @j2pix
Nikki Pattillo Artin Mardirosian
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Greg Doherty
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Joe Santos, Jr.
Philip Smith
Edward Hakopian
Susanna Schroadter
Emilie Macas
Polly Wirum
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EDEN
Since 2010
The Eden Magazine is a free online publication is your guide to healthy living, spiritual awareness, compassion and love for all living beings, holistic lifestyle, mindfulness, organic living, positive thinking, sustainability, and personal development
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Maryam Morrison
Executive Editor/Contributing Writer
Dina Morrone
Contributing Writers
Sadhguru, Isha Foundation
Dulce Garcia-Morman
Susanna Schroadter
Dr. Rob Moir
Emilie Macas
Nikki Pattillo
Polly Wirum
Joe Santos, Jr.
Guest Writer
Philip Smith
Contributing Stylists + Makeup Artist
Edward Hakopian
Lisa Joy Walton
Graphics & Photography
JSquared Photography @j2pix (Los Angeles)
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325 N. Maple Dr. Po Box 5132 Beverly Hills, CA 90209
by Reena Kumarasingham and Andy Tomlinson
Peter Soloman
54
AN EPIC ALIGNMENT IN THE COSMOS: WHAT DOES IT MEAN? by
Dulce Garcia-Morman
58
A CELTIC CHRISTIAN'S FIGHT FOR HUMANITY AND NATURE by Dr. Rob Moir 64
HITCHING A RIDE ON THE RIVER OF TRANSFORNATION by Polly Wirum 72
THE 27TH ANNUAL BROASWAY BARK HOSTED BY BERNADETTE PETERS & BETH LEAVEL
76
PRESENTING MOBINA NOURI
86
FINDING YOUR FLOWHOW TO TRANSFORM STRESS INTO SACRED MOMENTUM by Christy Whitman
94
TOP 7 LATINE HERBS FOR A HOME HERBOLARIA (APOTHECARY) by Losellev "josie" Castañeda
Cover by: Nick Spanos
Designed by Artin Mardirosian (Nexision)
Photo
Living in a
New Consciousness
by Reena Kumarasingham and Andy Tomlinson
In a time when humanity is facing both unprecedented challenges and extraordinary opportunities for transformation, Between Lives by Reena Kumarasingham and Andy Tomlinson offers a profound and timely exploration of the soul's journey beyond the physical realm. The excerpt "Living in a New Consciousness" invites readers into a visionary reflection on the emerging global spiritual awakening. As Kumarasingham and Tomlinson describe, this rising consciousness is not merely a shift in thought but a deeper reconnection with our eternal selves. It encourages us to move beyond fear, ego, and division, and to step into a collective vibration rooted in unity, compassion, and purpose.
This powerful passage is not only an invitation, it's a reminder. A reminder that within each of us lies the wisdom of lifetimes and the ability to co-create a more conscious, awakened world.
Periodically, humanity undergoes significant changes, which may be related to a shift in the Earth's axis, causing it to point towards different heavenly bodies. The time it takes to change the direction of the Earth's axis is slow, with a full precession rotation taking approximately 26,000 years. Subdivided by twelve for the different signs of the zodiac, every 2,160 years brings in different heavenly energies and a new age. During the time of Moses, approximately 4,000 years ago, the age of Taurus shifted to Aries. Approximately 2,000 years ago, during the time of Jesus, the zodiac sign of Aries shifted to Pisces. We are now stepping into a new era from Pisces to Aquarius.
During the time of Moses, we transitioned from the pagan era of the Egyptians to the concept of the one God. This was a new belief system from which Judaism emerged. Then, the time of Jesus brought the feminine and masculine together, as well as the divine. His teachings were significantly different from those of Moses, allowing him to also shift people's consciousness.
We are now not only moving into a new age from Pisces to Aquarius, but we are starting a whole new precession rotation. Very high vibrations are bombarding Earth and are shifting its consciousness. And because people's consciousness is part of the Earth, we need to shift to be in resonance.
The high vibration energy coming into Earth will amplify the frequency of even the most minute particle. It will intensify everything around us and within us: our thoughts, our emotions, and our physical body that holds our consciousness. So, if we carry a lot of anxiety, this will be amplified. If we carry a lot of joy, this, too, will be amplified. We can see this at a global level where polarity and divisiveness are being stirred to an extreme. The levels of fear, anxiety, and stress we are witnessing are high. People are more disconnected from nature and from each other. What we are witnessing is more and more breakdowns of the old systems.
Reena Kumarasingham and Andy Tomlinson are psychologists and regression therapists and lead new consciousness retreats. And more about moving to the New Consciousness is in their new book, BETWEEN LIVES - Past Life Regression, Near-Death Experiences, and the Evolution of Consciousness
The new vibrations are also breaking down long-held illusions and bringing to the surface what has been previously hidden. This is happening at both a global level and a personal level. While some of the unveilings can be shocking or disturbing, they are being brought to the forefront of our awareness so that we can see exactly what's been happening and can make our own decision whether we want to continue to stay in the old consciousness or change and move to the new. This will allow for new systems that are aligned with the new vibrations of expanded consciousness to be created and upheld.
It is an individual choice, and making the shift into the new is difficult and will take a lot of courage. However, staying with the old will progressively get uncomfortable. We are still newborns, and our umbilical cords are still attached to the old world. Soon, they will fall off, and we sail freely into a new cycle.
What will living in the New Consciousness be like
It's dropping the ego consciousness and moving towards embodying a soul consciousness that is a wise, unconditionally loving, creative wholeness and represents our most authentic state of being beyond our conditionings, fears, limiting beliefs, wounds, and ego fixations. It helps us realize that the divine is right here inside each life breath, inside each heartbeat, inside everyone and everything around us. It makes us feel that there is a divine purpose, divine aim, divine ideal, and divine goal. Within soul consciousness, everything is constantly expanding and growing into a higher and more fulfilling light.
Some
Tips to Start Moving to the New Consciousness
1 Breaking Illusions
It's about embracing what's real
and breaking away from the illusions of the old consciousness. When finding the truth in information and events around us, we need to take a step back beyond political sides, polarity, and ideologies, and keep a sense of neutrality. Embracing uncertainty gives us the state of mind of being able to ask better questions. We can then act as a sacred scientist, truly seeking to understand why something happens without bias stopping our inquiry.
2 Detaching from Old Programming
Cultural conditioning happens throughout our lives. As young children, our parents influence us, then we play with other children and adapt to their way of behaving; the type of school we attend affects us, then our relationships with the other sex, the working environment, and the power of relatives or groups of colleagues. It comes from the media and social media, and the information we read. We need the courage to change even if those around us don't understand.
3 Relationships
We will find it increasingly challenging living with a partner, relation, or business colleague still in the old one. It will not feel right. It is a soul choice to stay in the old consciousness or wake up and move on to the New Consciousness. It is not about trying to fix the issue but about respecting the free will of the other soul and letting go. New relationships with those in a similar vibration will happen quickly, and it will feel right being with them.
The New consciousness is about people understanding that we are divine and that we can actually do quite a lot with the Earth and with the energies of the Earth that we haven't been able to tap into for such a long time.
by Sadhguru, Isha Foundation
MIND YOUR FOOD
DR. MARK HYMAN, AMERICAN PHYSICIAN, SCHOLAR, AND NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR, AND SADHGURU DISCUSS VARIOUS DIMENSIONS OF HEALTH.
Mark Hyman: One of the questions that came from the audience is about the connection between our mind, our mood, our emotional state, our mental health, and the food we eat. Everything from ADD to bipolar disease to depression could be linked to that. So, what is the connection between our body and our mind?
Sadhguru: The Yogic system does not identify body and mind as two different entities. Your brain is part of your body. It is just that what we generally refer to as the mind is a certain amount of memory and intelligence. Between the rest of the body and the brain, which has more memory, and which has more intelligence? If you look at it carefully, your body’s memory goes back millions of years. It clearly remembers how your forefathers were. The mind cannot claim that kind of memory. When it comes to intelligence, what
is happening in a single molecule of DNA is so complex that your whole brain cannot figure it out.
In the Yogic system, there is a physical body and there is a mental body. There is an intelligence and memory running right across the body. People generally think the brain is everything just because it handles the thought process. And because of this separation of body and mind, a large number of people in the West are taking antidepressants at some point in their lives.
The Effect of Meat on the Mind
The type of food we eat has a huge impact on the mind. An average American is said to consume 200 pounds of meat per year. If you bring it down to 50 pounds, you will see that 75% of the people will not need antidepressants anymore. Meat is a good food to survive if you are out in the desert or the jungle. If you are lost somewhere, a piece of meat will keep you going because it provides concentrated nourishment. But it should not be a daily food that you eat when there are other choices.
“ If everyone realizes that their physical and, particularly, their mental health improves when they change what they eat and how they eat, we will also change the politicians.
There are many ways to look at this. One thing is that animals have the intelligence to know in the last few moments that they are going to get killed, no matter how cunningly or how scientifically you do it. Any animal that has the capacity to express some kind of emotion will always grasp when it is going to be killed.
Suppose all of you come to know right now that at the end of this day, you are going to get slaughtered. Imagine the struggle that you would go through, the burst of chemical reactions within you. An animal goes through at least some fraction of that. This means when you kill an animal, the negative acids and whatever other chemicals are in the meat. When you consume the meat, it creates unnecessary levels of mental fluctuations.
If you put people who are on antidepressants on a conscious vegetarian diet, in about three months’ time, most of them will not need their medication anymore. We have seen this with many people who have come to the Isha Yoga Center.
For most of those who have become mentally ill, the illness has been cultivated – there is nothing pathologically wrong with them. Such a large percentage of people cannot be mentally sick unless we are cultivating it within our social fabric. We should never let commercial forces determine the quality of our lives. Commerce is there to serve humanity. But right now, we have structured the economic engine across the world in such a way that human beings are here to serve the economic and commercial process. When I was at the World Economic Forum a few years ago, everyone was referring to India, China, and other places as emerging markets.
I said, “Please don’t refer to people as a market. If you saw them as human beings, maybe you would get the right idea as to what to do with
them. If you see them as a market, you will do a different thing! This is not a market. These are people.” If you do not see people as people, if you do not see life as life, you will not care what you stuff into them. You will want to sell something that makes the maximum money for you.
Mark Hyman: Yeah. It’s true. A number of years ago, I wrote a book called The UltraMind Solution, which is about how the body affects the mind. I had seen that a lot of mental illnesses and cognitive problems were shifting as I began to treat people’s overall health. What I do is something called functional medicine. It is about the science of creating health, which is very much what Sadhguru teaches.
When I began to do that, and I saw people’s depression go away, and their ADD and their bipolar disease improve, and I looked at the underlying causes, it was most often the food they were eating. In fact, most people are not eating real food –they are eating food-like substances that masquerade as food. If we just stuck to real food, downsized our meat consumption, as Sadhguru says, and had a mostly plant-based diet, I think most of our chronic diseases, including mood and neurologic disorders, would go away. I have seen this over and over again.
Often, I was not actually treating the mental problems, and yet, they went away as a secondary effect. I think it is really a shame that in this country, we do not have an understanding of this connection, and that doctors are still challenging the idea that food actually has an impact on our health other than making us overweight, that it can be used as a tool for healing. But it really is the most powerful tool. The quality of the food we eat, and how we eat it is more important than anything else.
Dr. Mark Hyman
Infrastructures to Raise Human Consciousness
Experience Yoga in its classical form at Isha Yoga Center Los Angeles and Isha Institute of Inner-sciences. Established by Sadhguru, the centers serve as powerful spaces for inner transformation and raising human consciousness. Located in northern Los Angeles County and Tennessee, the centers offer an array of yoga and meditation programs in a vibrant and conducive ambience.
You are invited to Free Yoga Day, a monthly open-door event a t the center. On this day, we offer a variety of free sessions dedicated to educating and empowering individuals to take charge of their well-being through simple but powerful practices sourced from the Yogic tradition.
Learn more at ishausa.org/la
Making The Right Choices
Sadhguru: We need an effective campaign for food, like the anti-smoking campaign in the US. In the 70’s, in any public place in the United States, you had to wade through smoke. Then they started an active and successful campaign that cleared the air. Today, you can walk into a restaurant, and there is no smoke. But still, there is carbon dioxide in the drink! At one time, smoking was not just a necessity for a whole lot of people; it was fashionable. It was the right thing to blow smoke into other people’s faces.
With the right kind of campaign, within one generation, this situation has changed completely. Today, you see less tobacco smoke in America than in many other countries in the world. A similarly successful campaign is needed about what we eat and what we drink.
Mark Hyman: Yeah. Each of us making those choices and talking to our local politicians makes a big difference. But the problem is the kind of impact the food industry has. It is a one-trillion-dollar industry that determines a lot of policies. To a large extent, food guidelines and the FDA recommendations [Food & Drug Administration in the United States] and guidelines are actually governed by lobbying. This means we are not getting adequate information; we are not getting the truth. In fact, we are not getting policy changes.
Sadhguru: Actually, it is a 4 trillion industry – one trillion food and another 3 trillion medicine.
Mark Hyman: Exactly. It’s huge. Michael Bloomberg tried to change some policies in New York when he was the Mayor. For example, the soda tax1 – he could not get it passed. He also wanted to do a study to see what happens when you limit the use of food stamps for soda. Food
stamps pay for four billion dollars in soda every year for the poor in America – on the front end. And on the back end, the government is paying for Medicare and Medicaid [due to medical conditions resulting from the consumption of soda]. The USDA agriculture department would not even let him do a pilot study.
So, he has gone to Mexico to help them with some key policies, such as a soda and sugar tax, junk food taxes, and food labeling, so you can actually know if food is good for you or bad for you: green – good; yellow – caution; red – probably it is going to hurt you. They also aim at emptying schools of any foods that harm kids, and at ending the marketing of what is not real food.
These are policies that could work across the globe, in different ways in different countries. But we are allergic to such changes in this country because of the food lobbying. Yet if each of us advocates for it and makes changes in our own family, in our own communities, among our own friends, we can begin to see a global change.
Sadhguru: It is not solely in the hands of politicians and policymakers. If everyone realizes that their physical and, particularly, their mental health improves when they change what they eat and how they eat, we will also change the politicians.
Mark Hyman: Absolutely. We have to change our food system because the solution for health is not necessarily healthcare– it is actually our food system. I think addressing both together, that is, creating a mindful nation and changing the food system, is the answer.
1.
Tax on soft drinks to discourage unhealthy diets and offset the economic costs of obesity
GO VEGAN
“Animals Have Souls Don’t Put Them in Your Bowl”
LIGHT LEGS, LIGHT LIVING: A CONSCIOUS APPROACH TO CIRCULATORY WELLNESS THIS SUMMER
By Dr. John Chuback
NNeglecting blood circulation in the legs can lead to discomfort, fatigue, and a decline in overall vitality over time. In this article, Dr. Cuback highlights the risks associated with poor circulatory health and offers practical strategies to mitigate them, drawing on both lifestyle choices and localized clinical studies.
"Strong circulation isn't just about staying active, it requires consistent whole-body care," says Dr. Chuback, certified cardiobascular surgeon and founder of VistasupportMD. Ignoring simple practices, such as incorporating vital nutrients like vitamin C and flavonoids, can hinder longterm health. Even small, overlooked decisions can have a significant impact on circulation and overall well-being.
Dr. Chuback goes on to stress that a nutrient-rich diet high in fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and
healthy fats can contribute to vascular health. Specific foods to consider include:
• Berries: Rich in bioflavonoids.
• Leafy Greens: Sources of magnesium and antioxidants.
• Citrus Fruits: High in Vitamin C.
Supporting healthy blood flow in the legs naturally involves a balanced combination of physical activity, mindful hydration, nutrient-rich nutrition, and the potential addition of supplements featuring clinically studied ingredients. Through consistent daily habits and thoughtful wellness choices, individuals can help promote vascular comfort and overall well-being. As always, consultation with healthcare professionals is recommended when making significant changes to diet, exercise routines, or when considering new dietary supplements to ensure strategies are personalized and aligned with individual health needs.
The arrival of summer invites a slower, softer rhythm—a time to reconnect with nature, enjoy more daylight, and feel more at ease in our bodies. Whether you're spending time by the ocean, exploring new places, or simply savoring quiet mornings outside, it's a season that gently encourages us to become more present.
With warmer weather often comes more skin exposed, especially our legs. While we may think of skincare and fitness as the main routes to beautiful legs, there's a deeper layer of care that matters just as much:
Supporting your circulation and vein health. How your legs feel light, comfortable, energized—directly influences how you move through your days.
Fortunately, with a few mindful habits, you can support your circulatory wellness and help your legs feel vibrant and refreshed from the inside out.
1. Move with the Season: Gentle Activity for Flow and Vitality Summer naturally calls us outdoors— and that's a gift to your circulatory system. Physical movement, especially walking or stretching in the fresh air, stimulates the muscles in your legs that help move blood and lymphatic fluid more efficiently. This reduces fluid buildup, helps prevent swelling, and keeps your legs feeling energized and at ease.
The beauty of summer movement is that it doesn't have to be intense to be effective. A relaxed walk at sunrise, a few moments tending to the garden, a peaceful bike ride through the neighborhood, or swimming a few laps all promote healthy circulation. Even small bursts of movement—walking the dog, playing with your children, or choosing the stairs—can create flow in both your body and your energy.
Photo by Youa Batiushyn
2. Hydration for Inner Balance and Outer Glow
We often hear that water is essential for glowing skin, but it's equally vital for healthy blood flow. Dehydration thickens the blood, putting more pressure on your veins and making it harder for fluids to circulate efficiently. In the summer, this issue is compounded by heat, which naturally causes your blood vessels to expand.
Stay intentionally hydrated throughout the day, especially if you're in the sun or drinking alcohol or caffeine. Filtered spring water, mineral water, and naturally infused waters (with cucumber, mint, or citrus) are beautiful ways to stay replenished and support your circulatory system. Your legs—and your whole body—will thank you.
Photo by Getty Image
3. Nourish Your Legs with Conscious Nutrition
What you eat has a profound impact on how your body functions—and that includes your circulation. Nature provides what we need: summer produce is rich in antioxidants and other plant-based compounds that help strengthen blood vessel walls and ease oxidative stress and inflammation.
Seasonal favorites like berries, leafy greens, beets, cucumbers, and citrus fruits are filled with nutrients like vitamin C and flavonoids, both of which support healthy veins and circulatory vessels in the legs.
Dr. John Chuback is a board-certified cardiovascular surgeon and the founder of Chuback Vein Center
With a deep commitment to patient care and medical excellence, Dr. Chuback has been at the forefront of treating venous diseases for many years. Along with his Paramus, NJ vein center, Dr. Chubacke established a state-of-the-art vascular imaging center on-premises, Chuback Vascular Imaging. Both Chuback Vein Center and Chuback Vascular Imaging are accredited by the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC). Dr. Chuback is an accomplished author, speaker, and educator dedicated to advancing the field of venous disease. He is also the founder and owner of VitasupportMD, a nutraceutical company specializing in dietary supplements that support healthy circulation.
Dr. Chuback and his wife, Diane, live in Upper Saddle River, NJ.
To learn more, visit ChubackVeinCenter.com, VitasupportMD.com, and lymphcastnetwork.com
In addition to wholesome food, many people choose to enhance their wellness with natural supplements. Supplements that contain time-tested ingredients such as micronized purified flavonoid fraction (MPFF), Vitamin C, and butcher's broom. These supplements support healthy vein tone, lymphatic drainage, and overall circulation, offering another layer of support for those wanting to feel their best during the active summer months.
4. Refresh with a Cool Evening Rinse
At the end of a long summer day, a simple ritual like rinsing your legs with cool water can bring comfort and calm. This helps gently constrict surface vessels, reduce mild swelling, and refresh tired legs. It's a small but effective way to care for your body with mindfulness.
You might pair this moment with a short period of leg elevation—lying back and placing your feet up on a pillow or folded towel for 10–15 minutes while listening to music or prac-
ticing deep breathing. These simple, soothing acts are a powerful way to restore your body's natural rhythm.
5. Support Circulation with Comfortable Style
Extended periods of standing, walking, or traveling can place extra demands on your circulation. Lightweight, breathable compression wear—like gentle leg sleeves or support socks— can be a valuable tool for reducing swelling and improving blood flow.
Today's designs are discreet, comfortable, and summer-friendly, making them easy to incorporate into your everyday wardrobe without sacrificing style. Whether you're sightseeing or attending a long outdoor event, supportive garments can help you feel comfortable and grounded.
Embrace Summer with Ease and Vitality
Supporting healthy circulation is an act of care that benefits your entire body—not just your legs. With a few daily rituals rooted in nourishment, movement, hydration, and mindful support, you can create a more balanced inner environment that reflects outward in how you look and feel.
This summer, let your wellness routine align with the rhythm of the season. Gentle movement, clean nutrition, supportive supplements, and moments of intentional rest can help you step into each day with lightness, beauty, and renewed energy.
Because when we care for ourselves with compassion and consciousness, we move through the world with more ease, grace, and love.
Photo by VD Photography
From Stage to Soul. The Artistic Journey of Two Iconic Voices
HARISNiki
&
Donna DE LORY
For decades, Niki and Donna's voices have lifted hearts, stirred souls, and inspired audiences across the globe. As longtime backing vocalists and dynamic performers alongside the Queen of Pop, Madonna, Niki Haris and Donna De Lory helped shape the soundscape of some of the most iconic tours and performances in music history. Their harmonies, energy, and undeniable stage presence became synonymous with an era of bold artistic expression and empowerment.
Yet their brilliance extends far beyond the spotlight of pop stardom.
Individually, both women have forged deeply meaningful
paths rooted in authenticity, spirituality, and service. Niki Haris, multifaceted, has made her mark in jazz, gospel, and dance music while using her platform to advocate for health, justice, and creative freedom. Donna De Lory has evolved into a celebrated solo artist, known for her ethereal fusion of world music and devotional chants, which touch hearts with her message of inner peace and conscious living.
Together again, united not only by history but by heart, Niki and Donna continue to radiate light, reminding us of the healing power of music, friendship, and purpose.
In this exclusive conversation with The Eden Magazine, they open up about their shared journey, the lessons of the past, and the beauty of what lies ahead.
Growing up with Gene Harris as your father—how did his artistry shape your musical path?
Growing up with my father, Gene Harris, meant Music was always part of my life. He taught me that Music is about emotion, not just notes.
What are some of your most memorable moments touring and recording with Madonna?
Working with Madonna was like stepping into a masterclass in performance and perseverance. Also, that fame isn't all that it’s cracked up to be.
Several of your songs have been featured in film soundtracks. What does it mean to hear your voice on the big screen?
Hearing my voice in a film is surreal. One moment that stands out was watching Whoopi Goldberg and Ray Liotta dance to my voice in Corrina Corrina. That was surreal.
What was it like touring with your father, and how did it shape your approach to performance?
Touring with my dad was a continuous reminder of humility and excellence. He treated every performance with reverence and expected nothing less from me. He also instilled in me the importance of honoring the elders. I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me, and I stand humbly, gratefully, and respectfully on those shoulders. As the gospel hymn states: "I sing because I'm happy; I sing because I'm free."
You support causes such as AIDS and Cancer Research, as well as Camp Harmony. What drives your commitment? AIDS and Cancer research are personal—I've lost loved ones to both. Supporting these causes is a way to honor their memory. Music can heal and unite, and I use my platform to inspire change and raise awareness for those who need it most.
Your performances at benefit concerts are deeply meaningful. Is there one event that stands out as especially powerful or transformative for you?
One benefit of The HRC (Human Rights Campaign) was particularly powerful. I sang Let's Stay Together, and the whole room was dancing and singing along; I started to see and feel all of this raw emotion. People were crying and embracing one another. It reminded me again of the power of a song and Music's ability to heal.
As a passionate advocate for music education, why is supporting programs like Music In The Classroom so important to you personally and professionally?
Music gave me a voice and confidence, and I want every child to have the same opportunity. Music education nurtures creativity, discipline, and teamwork—qualities that extend beyond the Classroom and shape future leaders. As we see educational programs being removed from schools and stories erased, its my responsibility to use my platform whenever possible.
You're also involved with Rockers Against Drunk Driving. What message do you hope to convey through your work with that organization?
My message is simple: one choice can save a life. Music brings people together, and through Rockers Against Drunk Driving, I want to inspire people to celebrate "responsibly" and make life-saving decisions. I experienced the tragic consequences of a person driving under the influence.
You've participated annually in the Season for Nonviolence. What does this movement represent to you, and how do you incorporate its values into your Music and life?
The Season for Nonviolence reminds me that peace is strength. I had the opportunity to travel all over the world, from India to Africa, China to Russia, and I have come to know the healing power of Music. Whether you speak the local language, Music is universal. Though we are nurtured from different plants, we all come from the same garden, and Music is something that makes us all grow.
How has the landscape of television and media exposure influenced how you share your Music and message?
The rise of Social Media and Streaming has made it easier to connect directly with fans. It's empowering but also a responsibility. I can now share my Music and messages of love, justice, and self-expression with people globally in real-time.
What message or feeling do you hope your next work will leave with your audience?
I hope my next work empowers listeners to embrace their truth and find joy and strength within themselves. Music has the power to heal and transform, and I want my audience to walk away feeling uplifted and connected to something greater than themselves.
You've devoted much of your time to charitable work. What has been the most personally meaningful cause for you, and why? How do you feel Music can catalyze social change and healing?
Music has always served as a catalyst for change, from the Freedom Riders, Arlo Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Kendrick Lamar. Music has always been a directive and mandate for change in my life. I pray my Music can do the same.
As a passionate advocate for Music Education, why is supporting programs like Music in the Classroom so important to you personally and professionally?
Music education shapes young minds—it fosters creativity, discipline, and confidence. Personally, it gave me a voice, and professionally, I see it as vital for nurturing the future leaders and artists who will shape our world.
Fans are excited about your upcoming collaboration with Donna De Lory. Can you share some insights into the project and what we can expect?
I am super excited as well! This collaboration with Donna is truly special. We teamed up with longtime friend Grammy Award-winning DJ/Producer/Composer Tracy Young. This collaboration has been years in the making. "T N D" Tracy, Niki, & Donna, The Next Dimension, I can only say that we've been working really hard and having a lot of fun creating. What can you expect? Expect the unexpected.
You and Donna share a long history of per-
forming together. How has your friendship and creative partnership evolved?
We've shared so much history, both on and off stage. There is this shared deep musical connection between us. We were kids in our early twenties when we met. We've worked and traveled the world together more than a few times. We were pregnant and gave birth to our first child together. Our friendship and creative partnership have deepened over the years. We've grown through challenges and successes, and now there's an even greater level of trust and understanding. Our Music feels more aligned with who we are today, both as individuals and as a duo.
You've balanced a career in mainstream entertainment with a strong commitment to humanitarian causes. How do you stay grounded and maintain that balance?
Staying grounded comes from remembering that I am a vessel, my true purpose being to use my platform to create change. I prioritize self-care and stay connected to my roots. When I stay true to my mission of making the world better, the balance comes naturally.
“ Music has always been a directive and mandate for change in my life. I pray my music can do the same.
~Niki Haris
Your Music blends pop, world, and devotional influences beautifully. How do you approach creating a sound that resonates both spiritually and emotionally?
The sound that I create is a natural evolution after having done Pop Music and wanting to incorporate my spiritual path into the Music. Much of the sound that people find spiritual in my Music comes from the ambient textures and diverse instrumentation that I use. I began playing the harmonium, an Indian devotional instrument, in the mid-1990s. At that time, I also started collaborating with a cellist. Additionally, I began to incorporate a wide range of world percussion and other traditional instruments used in devotional Music, such as tablas, tamboura, esraj, and African drums. With all of my production, there are many layers, including hypnotic electronic beats, as well as acoustic instruments.
Having toured with Madonna and built a successful solo career, how has your journey in the Music Industry shaped your artistic vision?
Touring with Madonna all those years gave me the inspiration and confidence to write and produce my Music.
Having had an experience signed to a major label in the early 90s, I realized that I needed to leave the big company and find my unique sound as an artist.
All of these experiences in the Music Industry led me to a place of being an empowered independent artist. At that time, when I was working on my own independent Music, the rapid growth of the internet made it possible for independent artists to release Music without major labels. This gave me the freedom to make Music that was truly coming from my heart and soul, not trying to please a record company. When you're signed to a company like that, there is so much
pressure to have "hits." You get one chance with your first or second single if you're lucky. If you don't have a radio hit, the company often loses interest.
What inspires the themes and messages behind your Music?
Personal experiences that I'm going through in my life inspire many of the songs that I write. I also discovered Sanskrit mantras in the mid 90's. The repetition of the mantras with Music can be a great meditative tool for bringing people together in community, stilling the mind, and opening the heart. I was initially drawn to the mantras by their powerful sound vibration. Before I knew what the mantras meant, I could intuitively and physically feel the effect they have on the body. I first began incorporating mantras into my pop songs, and that's how I started creating this eclectic Music. In 2004, I released my first album of mantras.
How has your spiritual practice of yoga and mantra chanting influenced your approach to songwriting and performing?
I realized that people want this experience of connecting with one another where they feel safe singing together. I feel like I'm there to facilitate this experience by playing expansive Music that can allow them to discover their own divine nature. For me, Music is an excellent tool for connecting with my heart and soul. As an artist who uses Music as a healing tool, it helps the people at my concerts to reach that same place, allowing us to have a shared experience such as celebrating life, being more grateful, more forgiving, and feeling more compassion. I realize that when I'm taking a yoga class, the Music that I'm hearing is such a great tool to take me deeper into my practice. I'm so happy to be creating this Music for others.
Donna De Lory
How do you balance honoring your past work while continuing to grow and explore new creative directions?
First and foremost, I am a singer and songwriter. I open myself up to different styles and collaborations, knowing that my greatest joy is to be able to sing. My greatest gift is to sing and to share my joy. I am currently working with Niki, and we have a long history of making Music together. When we sing, it always flows with ease and grace. Niki and I have a beautiful history of touring the world, singing, and dancing, and I feel like we'll always collaborate because we share the same intention.
Your Music has touched listeners worldwide. Is there a particular fan interaction or story that stands out as especially meaningful to you?
I was back East on tour, and a man came up to me to share that his son was killed in an accident and that they had played my Music nonstop for a year. It helped them find a place of peace to help them get through their sadness and loss.
Is there a particular artist you hope to work with someday? And why?
I love Trevor Hall. He's a great songwriter and a fellow truth seeker on a spiritual path, and he incorporates those experiences into his Music. I would love to collaborate with him!
How do you hope your listeners feel after experiencing your songs?
I hope listeners feel more at peace, more grateful, more forgiving, more kind, more open, and more vulnerable. I always say that when I play Music it helps me to be more at peace with the uncertainties in life. No matter what happens, it's all good; we are always taken care of.
How do you see the role of Music in fostering unity and understanding in today's world?
I feel that Music and film can help us remember where we came from when we were children - our innocence, our joy, our playfulness, and our inclusive nature.
“ The repetition of the mantras with Music can be a great meditative tool for bringing people together in community, stilling the mind, and opening the heart. ~Donna De Lory
As life goes on, we can become too heavy-hearted and too serious. Music and film are such great tools for people to wake up now to what's most important. Last night, I watched a new film about the Dalai Lama. His message of compassion is so powerful. Today, I'm thinking about it, and I'm still feeling that message, still hearing the beautiful Music from the film, and how much hope there is for humanity.
As you look ahead, what is next for you in terms of new projects, collaborations, or personal growth?
I continue to work on collaborations with other artists. One of the places where I find inspiration and take personal retreats is the Esalen Institute in Big Sur. This is a very special place for me to step away from my daily life and focus on my personal growth. I feel healed while bathing in the natural hot springs there. I always say this is Heaven on Earth.
Although home for you is California, is there another place that you've traveled to or lived in that holds special meaning and inspires you?
I spent a lot of time in Taos, New Mexico, many years ago. I'd love to go back there for a creative writing retreat. I'd also like to spend time in Tuscany, Italy and experience the quality of life there.
Besides Music, what are some of your other passions?
Being in nature! I love being active, playing tennis, skiing, bike riding, doing hot yoga, and swimming. I love to read spiritual books by Thích Nhất Hạnh, Joseph Campbell, and Louise Hay. I'm also really into autobiographies of other artists and the extraordinary lives they have lived.
Is there an artist from any era with whom you would like to collaborate to perform in a Hologram duet? Who would that be?
Peter Gabriel! I love his Music. He's been one of my biggest influences, incorporating world music instrumentation into his sound. I discovered world music in the 1980s and 1990s through the records he released on his private label. I share the same intention to explore consciousness with sound.
As our conversation with Niki Haris and Donna De Lory comes to a close, we're left with a resonant reminder that music is far more than entertainment; it is a bridge between souls, a vessel for healing, and a voice for truth. Their bond, born from shared stages and spiritual growth, is a testament to the power of authenticity, sisterhood, and unwavering faith in the transformative power of art.
Through their continued creative paths, both individually and together, Niki and Donna invite us to listen more deeply- not just to the world around us, but to the voice within. Their stories echo a timeless truth: when we lead with love and align with purpose, harmony will always find its way.
At The Eden Magazine, we celebrate the light they share and the inspiration they continue to offer. May their journey remind us all to sing our own truth, with courage, compassion, and grace.
Special Thanks to: Niki Haris
Donna De Lory
Photography: Nick Spanos
Editing: Dina Morrone
Artist Liaison: Amanda Jo Nagle
Photo
TYRANNY TECHNOLOGY OF THE
THE INCREDIBLE SPEED OF TECHNICAL ADVANCES HAS OUTPACED HUMANITY'S SOCIETAL AND POLITICAL ABILITY TO MANAGE THEM
By Peter Solomon
DDuring the last 200 years, science, technology, and medicine have produced amazing advances in human comfort, transportation, disease cures, and communication. The advances result from five technologies: fossil fuels technology introduced in the 18th Century; nuclear technology and social media in the 20th Century; and genetic engineering and artificial intelligence (AI) in the 21st Century. But the incredible speed of technical advances has far outpaced humanity's social and political ability to safely manage them. Think of the tortoise and the hare. The hare, representing science and technology, races into the 21st Century, while the tortoise, representing politics and society, remains stuck in the 19th Century. It was the dangers of these technologies that caused astrophysicist Stephen Hawking to predict in 2017 that humans would become extinct on planet Earth in 100 years. Will the hare ever catch up? We must Make Earth Great Again. The clock is ticking.
Charles III, King of the United Kingdom, ob-
served, "There is no doubt that we live in an age of unprecedented, and sometimes terrifying, technological advances where the speed of advance so often outstrips the necessary ethical considerations." And Albert Einstein said, ”We will hope that future historians will explain the morbid symptoms of present-day society as the childhood ailments of an aspiring humanity, due entirely to the excessive speed at which civilization was advancing.”
A video produced for our 100 Years To Extinction project called The Tyranny of Technology outlines the dangers of the five technologies.
FOSSIL FUELS: Humans have been using fossil fuels for centuries: first for heat, then transportation, electricity generation, and industrial processes. Coal was first burned in fireplaces 10,000 years ago. Then in the early 18th Century it was employed in steam engines. The first gasoline-fueled engine was built in 1876, and coal was first used to generate electricity for homes and factories in the 1880s.
The increased use of fossil fuels over the last two centuries has led to a 60% increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 captures the heat that is trying to escape Earth and sends half of it back, resulting in today's increase of global temperature of 1.6°C. In 2100, predictions are as large as a 4°C increase.
If Thwaits and other glaciers melt, and the ice shelf below Thwaites is lost, it will cause the global mean sea level to rise nearly 11 feet. Flooding of large areas of our current landmass will cause world chaos. Our history suggests that our civilization will not have the capacity to deal rationally with the famines and population displacements caused by crop failures and sea level rise. It would create world chaos and possibly lead to nuclear war.
At age 17, Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg said, "Adults keep saying we owe it to the young people, to give them hope, but I don't want your hope. I don't want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if the house is on fire, because it is."
NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY: Nuclear technology may be the greatest boon and the greatest threat to human existence. Nuclear medicine is one of the boons. It is used to detect, diagnose, evaluate, and treat many diseases, including cancer, heart disease, gastrointestinal, endocrine, and neurological disorders.
Einstein's Theory of Relativity explains nuclear energy. On one hand, we've created nuclear fission power plants. And nuclear fusion reactors, if successfully developed, offer the potential for limitless, pollution-free energy. But on the other hand, we've built enough nuclear bombs to annihilate the planet.
Nine countries, some with adversarial relations, possess close to 13,000 nuclear warheads. The largest hydrogen bombs have a radius of destruction of 150 miles. Their use can be in the hands of just a single individual. A few dozen such weapons used in war could destroy civilization. Could global warming and overpopulation cause the chaos that would trigger such a war?
After witnessing the first atomic bomb test in 1945, Robert Oppenheimer said, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."
Photo by Galina
Nelyub
by
THE INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA:
The Internet gives us immediate access to all the world's information. Social media provides a platform for personal communication and the posting of ideas. But some conspiracy theory websites are examples of how our low political and social IQs allow them to be used for spreading lies. It has allowed the formation of new tribes that have outlandish ideas and get their news of the world from their closedoff reality bubbles, it has provided a forum for violent action to be coordinated, and cyber-bullying and screen-time addiction can be destructive to our children's mental health and development.
Like the human respiratory system is the conduit and multiplier for disease viruses, the Internet information system is the conduit and multiplier for fallacy viruses, lies that can sicken a democracy. The lies enter our information system, which circulates them and multiplies them through news feeds, retweets, reposts, forwarded messages, podcasts, and websites. While the press and broadcast media can be sued for libel or slander, the Internet is the Wild West. How can it be regulated?
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI):
In 2014, Stephen Hawking predicted, "The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race." Surveys of thousands of professionals in AI were taken in 2022 and 2024. Half of those surveyed believed there was a 10% chance of AI leading to outcomes as bad as human extinction.
One of the current dangers of AI is deep fakes, realistic-looking videos, images, and audio recordings that can make it appear as if someone is saying or doing something they never said or did. Another danger is user-engagement algorithms. These AI programs for social media are designed to attract users by linking them to videos and stories that interest them. It is obvious from the selection of crime, fire, and medical emergency programs on television that the public is more engaged in stories of mayhem and chaos than peace and tranquility. So, AI delivers such stories to social media users. Facebook's AI helped to fuel the Rohingya humanitarian crisis in Myanmar in 2017.
Geoffrey Hinton, Nobel Prize-winning Godfather of AI, warned, "It is hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things."
GENETIC ENGINEERING: Genetic engineering is our wonderful new tool to create vaccines in record time. The mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were developed in a few months, compared to the years required for previous vaccines. And genetic engineering will likely provide many cures for cancer and genetic diseases. But this wonderful tool has terrible risks. Gene editing using CRISPR technology is now so easy to do that hobbyists have used it to modify frogs to improve their jumping ability. A doctor in China used CRISPR to alter the DNA of human babies. Genetic modifications in agriculture may have negative impacts on ecosystems and biodiversity.
Photo
Galina Nelyub
Dr. Peter Solomon is a physicist, educator, entrepreneur, and author. His current mission: to warn the next generation about the threats posed by unchecked science and technology. For more information about his project at https://100yearstoextinction.com/
CRISPR gene editing technology could be horribly destructive and impossible to control. Will it be employed to create bioweapons, designer babies, giant soldiers, and a new humanoid superspecies? Could that new species eradicate homo sapiens, like our species annihilated the Neanderthals and Denisovans? And will that superspecies eventually be annihilated by AI robots?
Jennifer Doudna, Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry for CRISPR-Cas 9 editing technology, said, "The idea that you would affect evolution is a very profound thing." Fellow Nobel Prize winner, Emmanuelle Charpentier, cautioned," It is our responsibility as scientists... to make sure that the technology is applied safely and in strongly regulated frameworks." But no such regulations have been implemented.
OTHER DANGERS: Stephen Hawking also warned of dangers to humanity's existence from asteroid impacts, epidemics and overpopulation. However, NASA is dealing with the asteroid danger in its DART program, which has demonstrated the use of a rocket to redirect a potential killer asteroid aimed at Earth. And genetic engineering is our new powerful weapon against epidemics. The danger from overpopulation may be solved by young people who do not have children.
CORRECTIVE ACTION: One of the most important parts of corrective action is education to make the general public and children around the world aware of the technology threats. This subject should be added to school curricula, from grade school through college, and should be given much more attention in the media. Earth Corps—like the Peace Corps established in the 1960s—should be created by nations around the world to support the activities of young people in spreading awareness of the technology threats and corrective actions.
The other important piece is harnessing the power of organizations. While there are many organizations working to combat the oldest technology threats of climate change and nuclear security, there are many fewer devoted to controls on social media, genetic engineering, and AI. The large number of organizations worldwide devoted to climate change mitigation and nuclear security should cooperate in their outreach and should add the other threats to their messaging and agenda. National governments and International government organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the United Nations must be encouraged to cooperate to create national and international controls on other technology threats. Non-governmental organizations and charities such as Climate Action Network (CAN), Greenpeace, Environmental Defense Fund, Earthjustice, Fridays for Future, 350.ORG, WWF, The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative should expand their message to include the threats from social media, genetic engineering, and AI.
Only a strong international movement for education and activism can control the threats that could lead to human extinction. We must Make Earth Great Again. The clock is ticking.
Please visit our website https:// 100yearstoextinction.com/ for more information on technology threats to human existence and for information and links to organizations fighting these threats. Also, please consider reading my novel, 100 Years To Extinction, in which three young people devote themselves to mitigating the threats to humanity. It is scheduled for publication in September 2025.
Welcome to Our Contributor Writers’ Neighborhood
An Ecology of Ideas
By Dulce Garcia Morman, Ph.D.
An Epic Alignment in the Cosmos:
What Does It Mean?
AAs someone who follows astrology to some degree, I’ve become very interested in the planetary influences on global issues and on the evolution of consciousness. I wrote a piece a few months ago on the entry into the Age of Aquarius and all the possibilities that shift holds, especially in building a more compassionate and heart-centered vision for the world. And now that entry into Aquarian energy patterns of light, hope, rebellion, social justice, and community is punctuated by a remarkable astrological configuration in the skies. All the outer planets are changing signs, and it is remarkable because it hasn’t happened in the recorded history of astrology. It is very rare for this alignment to occur within such a short period of time (Nov 2024 – July 2025). Four of these planets transit very slowly through the astrological houses, so the shifts are expected to be quite potent:
Pluto (~248yr cycle - 12-30yrs per sign) Capricorn to Aquarius November 19, 2024
Neptune (~165yr cycle - 14yrs per sign) Pisces into Aries March 30, 2025
Uranus (~84yrs - 7yrs per sign) Taurus into Gemini July 7, 2025
Saturn (29.5yrs - 2.46yrs per sign) Pisces into Aries May 25, 2025
Jupiter (12yr - 1yr per sign) Gemini into Cancer June 9, 2025
Most astrologers appear to agree that, taken individually, these shifts point to significant changes in the evolution of consciousness and social upheaval. Taken together, it suggests the possibility of a profound impact on the world as we know it. Of course, no astrolo-
ger alive today has ever been confronted with such a phenomenon, but they base their prediction of radical change on what the planets and their house placements represent, as well as looking back at points in history when these individual placements took place. The thought of a major world shift, such as the fall of Ancient Egypt, the European Renaissance, or the world wars of the 20th century, can be frightening. However, as astrologer Brian Allemana explains, “as these planets ingress into their new territories, they will be aligned at important geometrical degrees. These particular alignments are referred to as ‘aspects of flow,’ meaning that the energies these planets represent are in harmony with each other rather than in conflict.”
All major upheavals in world history have entailed some degree of destruction, and that can feel very unsettling if not frightening. We are already seeing a level of uncertainty and violence in the world that is difficult to bear, but the confabulation of planets in harmonious aspects to each other brings a silver lining -the changes may be difficult and the birthing pains intense, but there is an unprecedented level of cosmic support. Even Jupiter, the major benefic, has ingressed into Cancer for a year, a house where it feels at home and exalted. Astrologers such as Steve Judd regard this time as so consequential that he views our actions as a global community in the next 36 months as determining the fate of humanity for the next 50-100 years.
Dulce Garcia-Morman, Ph.D, is the founder of Life-Is-Art Equine Assisted Learning and Coaching. She has facilitated learning and therapeutic experiences through the horse-human connection for the past 17 years. Dulce's practice draws from different wisdom traditions and is strongly oriented toward a Jungian approach to the restoration of the authentic Self. For more information, visit https://life-is-art.us/
It might be tempting to dismiss this as hyperbole, but I think that many of us are feeling that an inevitable and radical change is in the air -not gradual, not half-baked, or softly murmuredbut disruptive and life-changing. We can only hope that the celestial bodies are providing a space of possibility as has not been seen for thousands of years if not millennia. In that space of possibility, perhaps more and more humans will be waking up and demanding a kinder experience on this planet. According to Allemana, “To throw in one more impressive factor, when Neptune re-enters Aries in 2026, it will be accompanied by Saturn, the two planets meeting at 0º Aries. This is a highly symbolic point as it is the first degree of the zodiac, corresponding with the Spring Equinox, the moment that represents the fate of the world for the year.” Whatever the degree of skepticism about astrology, it appears that 2025-2027 are 36 months of epic cosmic potency, perhaps urging humanity toward a more compassionate vision and a greater unity. It almost feels like our survival as a species depends on it!
This is a very brief description of what a couple of these placements could mean:
Uranus in Gemini: July 2025 –March 2033
This transit symbolizes revolutionary ideas, social disruption, leaps in technological advancements, as well as disruptive technologies. This placement was active during periods of innovation in communication and technology (a Gemini quality), such as the steam engine, the telegraph, the transcontinental railroad, and the radio transistor. Given the mind-boggling acceleration of AI, we can look forward to huge developments in the AI field. In the natal chart of the USA, this transit has also coincided with difficult periods such as the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and WWII. Since these alignments are now in very harmonious aspects to each other, we must remain opti-
mistic that a peaceful revolution for the betterment of the planet may be in the cards.
Neptune in Aries: April 2025March 2039
The more recent transit of Neptune was in Pisces, where it was amplified. Some of its hardest aspects -delusional ideologies, deception, global disease, and mass death- have been gravely felt around the world. But as Brian Allemana notes, “These terrible events have generated a great deal of pent-up need for clarity, moral courage, and higher purpose that will drive the events of Neptune in Aries. New spiritual leaders, some of them martyrs, will arise. New visions for the future of the world will be articulated, and renewed battles for clarity and truth will be fought in the media.”
For perspective, the last time three outer planets changed signs within months of each other was 1737, the peak of a time that historians call the Great Awakening. There was a revival of Christianity in opposition to what was viewed as a growing scientific materialism. I like to entertain the thought that perhaps the time is right for a revival of humanistic values in the coming decades. Another period with similar transits was 1478-1479, which was the height of the Renaissance in Florence, Italy. This was a period of enormous advancements and radical shifts in art, architecture, philosophy, music, science, technology, politics, religion, and many other dimensions of intellectual inquiry. When we look at the current astrological phenomenon in the larger context of the entry into the Age of Aquarius, one can only suspect that “something is up” and perhaps in ways that will radically change our lives. Amid the fear that can come up during this time of extreme cultural and socio-political instability, I remain hopeful for a better future and a kinder life experience in the years to come.
for Humanity ACeltic Christian's Fight and Nature
TThe fall of Rome did not happen at the feet of an enemy. There was no battle of Waterloo. It came from within its vast territory when women no longer spun spindles, blacksmith hammers no longer fell, and people refused to suffer the lash of indentured servitude. The efficiency of the civil administration collapsed. The fall began with the most misrepresented Christian teacher of all time.
Pelagius (ca. 360-430) was a Celtic Christian from Wales who argued with St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) about separating people from nature and consolidating Caesar’s rule over Mediterranean Christians. The church responded to Pelagius’s critique indirectly with three misrepresentations. They said none of Pelagius's writings are available, so scholars must rely on Augustine’s account of what he wrote. Pelagius was a one-off heretic, rather than one with the vision at the heart of the Celtic mission. Third, Pelagius preached that we do not need grace and that humanity has the capacity to save itself. He was also criticized for eating too much “Scottish porridge,” which was said to make him stupid.
The radical priest was a noteworthy teach-
er and a spiritual advisor to some of the church's prominent families in Rome. The first complaint involved Pelagius teaching women how to read and interpret the scriptures, as imperial Christianity relegated women to work on “spindles and wickerwork.” Celtic Christians celebrate the sacredness of women and honor their role in the study of wisdom.
Pelagius seized on imperial religion’s greatest fear when consolidating power through his hairstyle. The Roman clerical tonsure involved shaving the top of the head, leaving a ring of hair to symbolize where the crown of thorns had been placed on Jesus. Pelagius opted for the Celtic tonsure, featuring long hair on top with the sides and back shaved to reflect the placement of the crown of thorns. Drawing on pre-Christian Celtic customs, Pelagius appeared to be a pagan because he seemed to wear the Druid tonsure.
Pelagius's primary criticism was his belief that in the face of a newborn child, we see the face of God freshly born among us. The dignity of human nature is profound, and our sacredness overrides our sinfulness. What is deepest in us is of God, not opposed to God.
According to Pelagius, Adam chose to leave the Garden of Eden as an act of free will. Adam was mortal, innocent, and not created holy. Without a moral compass, Adam could not sin. Eve and Adam needed a garden of their own to raise a family. Eventually, they would die physically regardless of whether they ever sinned. “Sin is not born with man but is committed afterwards by man. It is not the fault of nature, but of free will." Truth is not dispensed from above; it is mined from within in conversation with others.
Meanwhile, in 413, Augustine formalized a religion that suited imperial power through the doctrine of original sin: at birth, we are corrupted, not sacred. Instead of honoring people's divine dignity, their worth was assessed by baptism and allegiance. Disobey, and you’ll be thrown out of the garden. In 415, Augustine had Pelagius tried for heresy in Palestine, where he taught. Two church synods examined Pelagius’s teachings and found him innocent because they were in line with Eastern Christian beliefs. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates human nature as sacred and blessed at birth. The following year, with Augustine preaching in northern Africa, two African synods found Pelagius guilty of heresy. The bishop of Rome was petitioned to have Pelagius excommunicated. Zosimus found Pelagius innocent. With a Greek name and likely influenced by Eastern Orthodox perspectives, he wrote to Augustine: “Love peace, prize love, strive after harmony.”
Thwarted by the church, Augustine went to the emperor and had Pelagius banned from
the empire on a charge of disturbing the peace. A few months later, Zosimus died, and the new pope promptly excommunicated Pelagius.
Far from Roman control in Wales and Ireland, Pelagius continued writing. With a Celtic sense of humor, he often wrote under the name Augustine to enable his pieces to circulate freely throughout the empire.
Pelagius had been disturbing the peace with his teachings on the sacredness of nature and humanity. The bread and wine of the Eucharist, the grace of God, are shared widely. So too should the bounty of the earth be shared equitably. “A person who is rich,” he said, “and yet refuses to give food to the hungry may cause far more deaths than even the cruelest murderer.”
Nature is sacred. “Narrow shafts of divine light pierce the veil that separates heaven from earth.” Divine light emanates from within every creature, every life-form, every human being.” God’s spirit is in all things, he said, “and if we look with God’s eyes, nothing on the earth is ugly.”
Pelagius taught the sacredness of compassion. Like Christ, we must feel another’s pain as if it were our own. “When Jesus commands us to love our neighbors, he does not only mean our human neighbors; he means all the animals and birds, insects and plants, amongst whom we live.” Pelagius called on the Roman Empire to treat the body of the earth and its resources with reverence and to ensure they are equitably shared.
Dr. Rob Moir is a nationally-recognized and award-winning environmentalist. He is president & executive director of Cambridge, MA-based Ocean River Institute, a nonprofit providing expertise, services, resources, and information unavailable on a localized level to support the efforts of environmental organizations. For more information. please visit www.oceanriver.org
Rome was not pleased. In 421, an imperial edict banned followers of Pelagius from coming within 100 miles of Rome. Still threatened, in 428, another edict prevented followers from being anywhere in Italy. One hundred years later, in 529, another church council condemned Pelagius’s teachings, lest there be any doubt. Finally, the bishop of Rome in a papal encyclical of 640 complained that Pelagius’s “pernicious” teachings were still rampant in Ireland and demanded the Irish “expel the venom of this wicked superstition” from among them.
Today, in our secular society, the white robes of sacrament have been exchanged for the black robes of academia. Instead of a Bible, something is considered true if it is published in the most esteemed science journals. Scientists who publish in top-tier journals are the first to receive federal funding. There are financial incentives to cleave to publishers' beliefs and not challenge their understanding of the truth.
Often, only the Abstract is publicly accessible. Since science is a language foreign to the ordinary person, those outside the ivory tower cannot fully know the researchers' findings, only the spin put on by publishers. For example, findings in a recent paper on the global temperature rise were not made clear in the title and abstract, likely because the authors noted that bestguess estimates of climate drivers, including greenhouse gas emissions and El Niño, fell far short by about 1.2 degrees Kelvin in explaining the 1.5-degree temperature rise.
Less cumulus cloud cover led to a record-low planetary albedo, the reflection of solar energy away from the planet, causing nearly all of the abrupt global warming observed in 2023. The rise in carbon dioxide accounted for only 10% (0.2 kelvin) of the warming. Water vapor was
responsible for more than 80% of the warming. Climate scientists at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies have found that the world’s cloud cover has shrunk by a small, yet significant degree on a global average over the past two decades. Cumulus clouds that once reflected light away now allow more light to warm the Earth, enhancing global warming. The climate change balance was tipped when cumulus cloud cover fell to less than 50% of planetary coverage. 1
We are told that burning fossil fuels is the greatest sin. Yet, the science of clouds (nephology) is clear. Cloud formation depends on the aerosols of bacteria and fungi released by plants, which are carried in water vapor and condense. Landowners who convert vegetation and soils into impervious hard surfaces are eight times more responsible for the rise in global temperatures. In New England, we suffer from terrible floods caused by torrential stormwater overflow. While the annual rainfall has not increased, it is the profits for developers that prevent rainwater from infiltrating the ground where it falls. They know how to build rain gardens, French drains, and cisterns. Instead, municipalities are burdened with the costs of sewage-laden stormwater abatement while people in the miasmic lowlands suffer.
Pelagius's question remains: Will we awaken to the sacredness of the earth and of all people, regardless of gender, race, and religion, to act responsibly with compassion?
Cited reference
1. H. F. Goessling, T. Rackow, T. Jung, Recent global temperature surge intensified by record-low planetary albedo. Science 387 (6729), 68–73 (2024), https://doi. org/10.1126/science.adq7280
A Guide to High-Vibrational Living
By Polly Wirum
Hitching A Ride on The River of Transformation
by Jimmy McNevin
If you have ever wanted to experience a transformation in your life, this article is written for you. I'm sharing a recent adventure that offered the opportunity to recognize what I most value. Discover the faraway river of transformation that takes you to a place where all else falls away.
How It Began
I could say my recent self-exploration journey began several months ago, when I signed up with an Alaskan guide company to float down the mighty Alsec River. In truth, this adventure was just one of many calls to check in and see if my life was aligned with my greatest dreams, or if I was allowing fear to guide my decisions.
We began our river journey in the Yukon, slowly made our way into Northern British Columbia, and eventually crossed the general area of the Canada / USA border into Alaska, where, funny enough, bald eagles greeted us. This primitive landscape, which began in the interior and stopped just short of the sea, promised spectacular views, adventure, glaciers, wildlife and rapids. The personal transformation that unfolds along the way is an added bonus.
Getting There
It was about a two-day journey to the remote Alaska town where two guides and three paying passengers met up for quick introductions. We also double-checked our gear list, passports, dry suits, and other protection needed against the bugs, rain, waves, cold, and a possible unplanned swim if you fell out of the boat.
We packed clothing options that offered many choices of layers for unpredictable weather. This included multiple coats, shirts, pants, socks, shoes, sunscreen, bug repellent, and your favorite unscented lotions and potions. All of this needed to fit in a dry bag that was light enough for each of us to shlep on and off the boat daily. We also had separate dry bags for sleeping gear and tents.
The guides managed the two big rafts, all the food we would eat in the next 13 days, water, the kitchen set up, their own gear, and everything we would need on our journey into the wild and unknown. A satellite phone was packed in case of emergency, as cell service would become unavailable before we made it to the river.
Photo by Colin Arisman
The skills needed to be a good river guide are the obvious, reading the river and keeping us safe, but also rigging the boat and keeping everything dry, secure, and balanced.
People skills are also a necessity, as they are not just steering the boats.
On the day of departure, we met around 6:30 in the morning. One truck carried the two rafts and some gear. The other carried our group and more supplies. We had access to our last flushing toilet just after crossing into Canada.
Eventually, we slowly drove down a four-wheel road that took us to the put-in. Here we unloaded everything, and then the guides reloaded onto the boats. Finally, we began our adventure unsure of what exactly our days and nights would look and feel like.
THE GROUP OF FIVE
The five people on the trip each shared something magical that helped us easily connect; this gradually brought new insights and even shifted energy that offered personal healing.
One of the guides we nicknamed Captain Yeti because of his fondness for Yeti gear, the company that possibly used him for a model at one time. He was the youngest on the trip, a mere 42 years old. His humor and occasional bright clothing with tiger prints brought color to every camp.
Captain Yeti was our fearless trip leader, who smiled when he spoke of his wife and dog at home. His energy is like the water that bumps up against the muddy bank, always seeking a place to call home, mastering the technique of taking with him the powerful imprints of where he has been, storing the best in
the layers that make up his thoughts, all to be shared when the time is right.
The other guide is a mostly retired swarthy boatman, whose quest for great adventure may never be satisfied. He has years of working on the river, where he has mastered finding great hikes, and always shares tales of past river trips that hint at behavior only experienced by those free of inhibitions.
The swarthy boatman is always quick to tell a joke, and he jerry rigs the best hot showers, with water heated up on the campfire. He is at a fork in the river of his life, deciding what adventures await him and who he will share his boat with.
One of the three passengers was a woman who brought laughter to every situation. Her political commentary was graphic and somehow fit into our conversations, even though we had no media or news for two weeks. I loved her Haikus, which she released like prayers for all to experience.
She comes across with strength and a little bite, but a gentle light shines through when no one is looking. This light is like a small stream, steadily gaining momentum, as it merges into a larger body of water that promises new adventures, only requiring her to let go and trust a new way of being.
The next guest was a woman who sported the best river clothing, always looking pulled together even in mud and rain. Her level of courage is enough to keep a small town thriving. She has lived an adventurous life, being highly successful in a male-dominated career, small in stature, she carries the energy of a big ship that moves steadily through the waves, nimbly avoiding anything that might slow her down. She's now finding a way to move with grace and strength, picking up the pieces of her life where grief created unplanned diversions.
Photo by Joan Sizemore
Polly Wirum is a psychic, life coach, and writer. Years ago, she experienced a health crisis that led to a complete spiritual and life transformation. When she thought her life was crumbling, the universe was easing her grip on everything, distracting her from the truth. The healing helped her discover the beauty of a joyful and uncomplicated life.It is here that she connects with wisdom and magic. She shares this with her clients through life’s coaching psychic readings and spiritual retreats. visit Pollywirum.com
I'm the third paying passenger, actively saying "yes" to adventures as they appear in my life. Much like the Swarthy Boatman, I am figuring out what I want my life journey to look and feel like. Part of me is in the rapids, wondering if it's time to surrender and trust a partner; another part of me feels the churning energy of a strong current that is bringing up unfinished life stories. Can I make it through my emotional rapids with a relationship intact?
THE DAILY RHYTHM
Each morning, we would wake up in our tents and decide how many layers of clothing were needed for our trek to the fire and coffee. We always knew if it was raining or sunny before unzipping the tents. I usually had three upper body layers on, a hat, and two or three layers on the bottom. I wore one coat at night in my sleeping bag, using the other with my lifejacket for a pillow.
We would learn the plan for the day while eating breakfast. Most days, I was able to meditate outside, sometimes in my tent, other times floating down the river.
It took over an hour to break down the tents, kitchen area and the simple bathroom, affectionately called the groover. We could pee in the bushes, but we used a metal container for other human waste. This container was loaded back on the boats daily. The content was eventually disposed of at the end of the trip.
Once on the river, we would learn of geological facts and the history of recent changes on the river. It was not uncommon to see where landslides had created natural dams and lakes. This caused changes in the flow and route of the river. The cliffs are unbelievably tall and the river wide, making the rafts look very small. It would be easy to feel insignificant in this great landscape, but
somehow it didn't have that effect on us.
We stopped most days to bundle up firewood, which would be strapped to the end of the rafts. The large, haphazard-looking collection of wood combined with the very wild landscape reminded me of a National Geographic expedition.
We also stopped to get fresh water from clear running creeks or waterfalls. The river was muddy-looking and filled with silt, leaving a gritty feeling on everything it touched.
We usually pulled to the shore for lunch, and on the best days, this allowed us to explore a new area by foot. Eventually, we would arrive at our campsite. Here we would be shown where the fire, groover, handwashing, and kitchen would be set up. Everyone took part in carrying the gear up to the communal site. The bear spray and bug repellent were always nearby.
We usually saw moose, bear, and wolf prints in the sand or mud, where we set up. One day, we saw wolverine and otter tracks.
Our days always ended with us by the fire, dodging smoke and mosquitoes. We would connect by sharing stories, personal challenges, and our desire for a world that values nature and peace.
Sometimes the guides would tell stories of mishaps involving grizzly bears or boats flipping in the rapids with dire results. These stories mostly came after we made it through the questionable campsite or the particular rapid.
h The daily routine and recognizable changing waterway, worked in unison, to help the group of five release worries and unnecessary thoughts. Personal transformations were underfoot, this and more to be continued in September's issue.
THE 27th ANNUAL BROADWAY BARKS
THE STAR-STUDDED DOG AND CAT ADOPTION EVENT HOSTED BY BERNADETTE PETERS and BETH LEAVEL
There was no shortage of heart, hope, and humanity at the 27th annual Broadway Barks, and The Eden Magazine was honored to be invited to cover this deeply inspiring New York tradition. Held once again in the iconic Shubert Alley, the event brought together animal lovers, Broadway stars, and rescue organizations with one shared mission: to find loving homes for adoptable dogs and cats.
Co-founded by the legendary Bernadette Peters and the late Mary Tyler Moore, Broadway Barks has long stood as a shining example of how art and compassion intersect for the greater good. This year’s event, produced by Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, welcomed throngs of visitors to meet and greet animals from numerous NYC-based shelters and rescue groups. Guests mingled with charming pups and curious cats, each full of personality and patiently waiting to meet their forever family.
The magic truly took center stage as the furry stars made their Broadway debut alongside an impressive lineup of beloved performers. The red carpet may have been traded for paws and leashes, but the glamour remained intact as Broadway’s brightest names lent their voices—and hearts—to these deserving animals. From heartfelt introductions to playful moments of unscripted joy, the presentations were a testament to the community’s dedication to animal welfare.
Over its 27-year history, Broadway Barks has helped over 2,500 animals find homes, with an astounding 85% adoption success rate. This year promises to
add significantly to that total, continuing the event’s legacy of lifesaving results and joyful beginnings.
Free and open to the public, Broadway Barks is more than just an adoption event—it’s a celebration of love in its purest form. The Eden Magazine proudly supports its mission and applauds all the rescue organizations, volunteers, performers, and supporters who make this unforgettable day possible.
Love, compassion, and Broadway—the perfect trio for a brighter future for all living beings.
Instgram: https://www.instagram. com/broadwaybarks/?hl=en
BARKS will feature adoptable animals from the following New York City area animal shelters and adoption agencies: 1 Love 4 Animals
Abandoned Angels Cocker Spaniels Rescue
Adopt A Boxer Rescue
Animal Care & Control (ACC)
Anjellicle Cats Rescue
Best Friends Animal Society
Bideawee
Bobbi and the Strays
Catstoria Cat Rescue
City Critters
Francis’s Friends
Hearts and Bones Rescue
Husky House
Linda’s Cat Assistance
Little Shelter
Long Island Bulldog Rescue
Mid-Atlantic Great Dane Rescue League
North Shore Animal League
Pet ResQ Inc.
SaveKitty Foundation
SPCA of Westchester
Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue
CONTEMPLATING CHAOS
A Metaphysical and Scientific View on the Uncertain
by Peter Canova
CONTEMPLATING CHAOS-A Metaphysical and Scientific View on the Uncertain by Peter Canova, the thought-provoking first installment debuted in the July issue of The Eden Magazine. Now, in Part Two, Canova delves deeper into the dance between order and chaos, the primal forces of nature, and the magnetic pull of human attraction. Discover how we can respond to chaos with clarity, resilience, and insight.
OF ORDER AND CHAOS
Our world is both orderly and chaotic. Newtonian mechanics can predict the planetary motions, and gravity produces predictable universal effects. In this sense, science speaks of deterministic conditions or predictable sets of outcomes. But in many other instances, what starts as determinism gives way to chaos or unpredictability. Roll a ball down a hill, and the deterministic law of gravity is in effect. But you can't determine the exact trajectory of the ball or exactly where it will come to rest. You might be able to approximate the vicinity in which it lands, but that's probability, not predictability.
Chaos theory concerns itself with variances in initial conditions of deterministic systems leading to uncertainty. Our ball can start under deterministic conditions, but it morphs into chaos as a result of minute changes in wind or ground conditions as it moves downhill through time and space. A hurricane's path can be predicted to a certain extent, but then variables such as water temperature, proximity to land, ocean depth, and ambient air pressure come into play, making the point of landfall unpredictable. The best we can do is speak of probabilities. Speaking of probabilities, the quantum field from which our world arises is chaotic in the sense that quantum motions can only be described in probabilistic terms and can never be absolutely determined.
FORCES OF NATURE
Fractals-- Chaos theory is about ordered actions producing chaotic (differing) results. Science has noted natural and mathematical patterns related to chaos called fractals. These are similar, repetitive (recursive) patterns occurring at differing scales. Like a hologram, each fractal segment is a similar but slightly different reflection of the whole of which it is part. Mathematically, minute changes in the initial creative conditions produce similar but unpredictably different fractal patterns.
A common example of fractals in nature is a close-up of a Romanesco cauliflower. Each small segment looks like the whole cauliflower.
On a scaled basis, you can say the small gives rise to the large or the large reduces to the small. This recursive generation process of similar but different forms is exactly described in the Gnostic creation story in Part I. The parts or created spiritual beings looped back on the whole to co-create or generate new beings of differing vibrations. Vibrations, in this case, can be defined as levels of consciousness.
Entropy--Even speaking of seemingly embedded, predictably deterministic laws like gravity and Newtonian mechanics, we must acknowledge that chaos is the ultimate outcome. Why? Entropy. Entropy is the degradation of the matter and energy in the universe to an ultimate state of inert uniformity. Nothing is permanent in this world. Everything degrades—our bodies and ultimately all features of the universe. We are like a bubble, a ripple in the quantum energy field from which we arose, and bubbles eventually burst.
AN ATTRACTIVE PROPOSITION
Chaos theory is really about understanding how dynamic objects move through space and time. All movement mathematically occurs through phase space, which can be plotted as vectors on a Cartesian X and Y axis. The forces that control the patterns of movement are called Attractors. The Attractors create the three basic patterns of movement in the pictures below.
The first pattern shows the objects rotating into a single point or singularity at the axis center. The second pattern is like a rotating loop around the center point. The third pattern forms a continuous loop where no point or object ever repeats the same trajec-
tory or touches another point. This is a fractal pattern. At a certain juncture, depending on the initial number input (the initial condition), it displays the organized butterfly pattern shown, or it flies off into uncharted infinity (chaos). No wonder it's called the Strange Attractor.
Human beings are dynamic objects moving through space. I submit that our attractors are levels of consciousness, the force of our minds that govern our actions either consciously or unconsciously. To understand the significance here, let's go back to where we started with the Gnostics.
GNOSTIC REDUX
Human Attractors--The Gnostics identified three types of human beings as defined by their levels of consciousness or spiritual awareness. These were the pneumatic, psychic, and hylic. Translated from Greek, this would be the spiritually-oriented, the mind-oriented, and the materially-oriented. Let's match this information to the graphics above.
Most spiritual traditions and religions believe in a higher power in a dimension of harmony and unity. People of this orientation actively work toward that state according to their best comprehension. This type of Attractor would lead to the tightly focused singularity depicted in the first graphic. The mind-oriented are those who are unsure but questioning or seeking with a feeling that something greater may exist beyond material appearances. Their consciousness would graph as a looser but organized rotation around the center point, Attractor in the middle diagram. The materially oriented are those completely taken in by material appearances with no belief in any consciousness beyond their own. That is ultimately chaotic and so relates to the last chaotically expanding graphic.
I don't want to oversimplify or attach any judgment values to the speculations above. Every consciousness type will experience what appears to be randomness and chaos in their lives. An old popular TV show called Kung Fu was about an Asian monk in the Wild West. All kinds of bad things happened around him. The theme of the show was built around how he maintained his inner equilibrium. His awareness of higher forces enabled him to bring personal order to the chaos around him. That bubble of order and equilibrium is spiritual consciousness in action.
IN THE FACE OF CHAOS
We spoke about Attractors or forces that create mathematical patterns that I correlated to human behavioral patterns. My neighborhood was recently devastated by two monster hurricanes days apart. We took in some families from lower-lying homes who might have drowned. One of those families later helped us after the second storm when we were sheltering elsewhere, waiting for water and power to come back on. They noticed that water had flooded into the upper level of our home from wind-driven rains. They laboriously mopped the floor with towels, thereby saving us from further damage.
This was one of many examples of neighbors helping neighbors many of whom had lost everything. All my neighbors kept a remarkable sense of resilience and equilibrium during the surrounding chaos. The consciousness of unity and willingness to help others was palpable. That was the operation of the spiritually inspired Attractor amid wider chaos.
Returning to the Gnostic creation story, chaos and the material world arose out of the organized, static, deterministic dimension of the Fullness. Chaos flowing from order—this is the essence of chaos theory. Like so many other aspects of modern science, the Gnostics got there two thousand years before us. But they said the material world was imperfect and impermanent. Like a ripple or bubble in the sea of infinity from which it arose, it would eventually dissolve to its ground state (entropy).
Life resembles a pocket or limited expres-
sion of energy like a limited TV series that plays out its course. Eventually, this energy will dissipate, but I don't mean to say it is lost. I think rather that it transmutes back to its source and adds a new quality of experience to the totality. This is similar to the way a TV series ends but continues on in the conscious experience of its creator or viewers.
So, the phenomenon of chaos is more an impermanent appearance than a base condition, but it is necessary for the function and existence of an apparent (actually an illusory) physical reality apart from the infinite spiritual whole. The Gnostics believed that this world was a shadowy imitation of the infinite dimension, meaning it contained elements of the Whole—order and predetermined outcomes, combined with uncertainty, unpredictability, and randomness. Spiritually, this is what Jesus meant by learning to separate the wheat from the chaff, the eternal from the perishable.
Chaos is necessary for physical reality, but it is not reality. Chaos, like this finite world, is an experience of potentialities that are based on the initial conditions we set in our minds, both individually and collectively, the former being more controllable, the latter more unpredictable. This may explain why siblings from the same family can produce both the pinnacles and dregs of society. Another way of saying this is that we have some control over our lives, but we are still subject to plenty of uncertainty. The ratio of order to chaos is a matter of degree just as our growth in consciousness occurs by degrees. Like the monk in the old Kung Fu TV series, our inner equilibrium can serve as a counter to the mass mind chaos surrounding us.
I think the best way to navigate life is with Jesus's advice. Learn to focus on the eternal, however you conceive that. My book, Quantum Spirituality, explores the concept of connecting with higher consciousness. It covers the topics of this article in depth. If this article has given you any perspective on the nature of our reality, please think about it and use it to further your own understanding of the world around us and how we experience it.
The Language of the Soul
Nouri Mobina
on Art and Inner Freedom
At The Eden Magazine, we are thrilled to feature Mobina Nouri, a multidisciplinary artist whose work transcends cultural, temporal, and conceptual boundaries. With a foundation in performing arts, design, and a Ph.D. in Creativity Science, Nouri brings a deeply intuitive and scholarly approach to art-making that seamlessly bridges the ancient and the avant-garde. Her practice invites viewers into a richly woven world shaped by Persian mysticism, myth, and the lived experience of a female immigrant navigating multiple identities.
Through intricate hand-drawn ink work and mixed media on canvas, Nouri reclaims and reimagines archetypal stories, drawing from global mythologies to explore women's identity and collective memory. Her evocative series, such as Cosmic Dance and 1001 Nights, uses symbolic and surreal compositions to challenge traditional gender roles and awaken the timeless power of storytelling. Circles, movement, and multiplicity animate her visual language—poetic echoes of the cycles that connect us all.
Mobina Nouri's art moves fluidly across mediums—from immersive performances like Between Realities at the Venice International Performance Art Week to visionary couture that blends ancestral motifs with AI-driven designs. Each expression of her creativity becomes a portal, guiding us between past and future, imagination and insight. Her contributions to contemporary art have earned her international recognition, including honors from MOZAIK, the Future Art Award, and the de Young Museum.
Nouri's work doesn't just challenge perception—it transforms
it. It calls on us to remember who we are, where we come from, and what we have the power to become.
Mobina received the 2023 Djerassi Artist Residency, Woodside, CA
2020 Juror's Choice, Special Mentions, Mozaik Future Art Awards
2020 Juror's Choice, Art Saves Humanity
Competition juried by Jerry Saltz, Marine Tanguy, Christine Cuan, and Poppy Simpson
2019 Juror's Choice, SF Women Artists, San Francisco
Photography by Darya Orlova https://www.instagram.com/daryaorlova
Image Credits:
1. Freedom, 2019
Rumi poetry
Handwritten calligraphy
2. Freedom, 2019
Rumi poetry
Handwritten calligraphy
3. 9th night, A thousand tales series, 2020
4. The Dance of Enlightenment, 2024
Your work beautifully weaves myth, memory, and mysticism into a contemporary context. What draws you to these ancient narratives, and how do you see them speaking to our present moment?
Ancient narratives hold deep symbolic codes that transcend time and culture. They carry the collective memory of humanity, echoes of our shared longing, fears, and hopes. As an artist, these stories are portals into the subconscious, ancestral wisdom, and our evolving identities. Myth and mysticism convey truths that logic alone cannot articulate. In today's fragmented, hyper-digital world, these narratives reconnect us to meaning, to soul, and the cycles of nature and the cosmos. They invite reflection and offer a sacred language to decode the complexities of now.
As a female immigrant and artist, how has your personal journey shaped the visual language and symbolism in your work?
My personal journey as a woman who has navigated the landscapes of Iran, the UK, and the U.S. is deeply embedded in every aspect of my work. There's a tension and beauty in navigating between worlds —between tradition and modernity, freedom and con-
straint, East and West. My art often becomes a space where I reclaim women's freedom, explore my inner world through themes of femininity, identity, and belonging. As an immigrant, I'm not rooted in one place but in the space between, and that in-betweenness is where transformation begins.
In series like Cosmic Dance and 1001 Nights, you explore the feminine through archetypes and storytelling. How do you approach reclaiming or reinterpreting these narratives from a modern, empowered perspective?
These stories were often told about women, not by them. My approach is to re-enter these tales as a participant, breathing new life into the feminine archetypes they contain. In Cosmic Dance, for example, I embody celestial feminine energy as a living force, not a distant ideal. In 1001 Nights, I reimagine Shahrzad not as a passive storyteller but as a radical force of resistance, imagination, and survival. Reclaiming these narratives means rewriting them with new values, centered around voice, vulnerability, sensuality, and sovereignty. It's a way of healing not just personal wounds, but collective ones.
You've integrated artificial intelligence into your fashion concepts, blending heritage with futuristic forms. What inspired this fusion, and how do you view technology's role in artistic expression today?
AI is a modern oracle. It reflects back our collective consciousness, filtered through patterns and data. By integrating AI into fashion, I'm not rejecting tradition, I'm extending it. Persian motifs, mythic forms, and ancestral symbols become alive again when they interface with generative algorithms. This fusion isn't about novelty, it's about dialogue: between the ancient and the emerging, the past and the future. Technology, when used mindfully, can be a tool of poetic expansion. It's not the antithesis of spirituality; it can amplify it.
These AI-generated creations, if brought to life in physical form, will be crafted using natural, repurposed, or recycled materials, underscoring a commitment to sustainability and environmentally conscious design. My goal is to bridge innovation with responsibility and protect our planet, says Mobina.
Your performances, such as Between Realities, offer immersive and multisensory experiences. How do you translate inner, often spiritual, landscapes into something tangible and collective for an audience?
I begin with sensation, how it feels in the body to experience longing, silence, or transcendence. From there, I translate those emotions into material: movement, sound, light, fabric. In Between Realities, I employed mirrored masks, thread, and improvised gestures to invite the audience into a liminal space, where reality bends and presence deepens. The goal is not to explain a concept, but to evoke a state. When we bypass intellectual interpretation and engage through the senses, we touch something primal. We remember that we're not separate; we're part of a larger field of resonance.
As someone who teaches multisensory creativity and holds a Ph.D. in Creativity Science, how do you define creativity, and how can it serve as a tool for healing, transformation, and deeper connection in today's world?
Creativity is the act of becoming whole again. It's not just about making art, it's about generating new ways of seeing, being, and relating. In my teachings and research, I explore creativity as a multifaceted intelligence, a profound inner technology that we all possess. When we activate it, we reconnect to parts of ourselves we've forgotten or suppressed. Creativity is a bridge: between body and mind, self and other, trauma and integration. In a world of increasing disconnection, it is one of our most potent tools for healing. It doesn't just transform ideas, it transforms lives.
Mobina Nouri’s fashion design collection “Rooted in Time” blend tribal influences with a futuristic edge. Crafted from natural threads and reused fabrics, her work is both visionary and environmentally conscious, honouring tradition while embracing forward-thinking design.
How to Transform Stress into
SACRED MOMENTUM FINDING YOUR FLOW
by Christy Whitman
Photo by mohsen
HHave you ever lost yourself so completely in an activity that time seemed to disappear? Maybe you were painting, writing, gardening, or simply having a deep conversation with a friend, and suddenly hours had passed without you noticing. If so, you've experienced what I call the Flow Factor: that magical state where everything feels effortless, inspired, and deeply aligned.
As spiritual seekers, we often talk about "going with the flow," but what does that actually mean? And why does it sometimes feel so elusive, especially when life gets challenging?
After twenty-five years of teaching energy mastery and coaching thousands of people worldwide, I've discovered that understanding flow—and more importantly, learning how to access it at will—is perhaps the most practical spiritual skill we can develop. In fact, it's the difference between just surviving life and truly thriving in it.
The Energetic Truth about Flow
Flow isn't just a pleasant feeling or a lucky
coincidence. It's actually your natural state of being. You are, at your core, pure energy—the same intelligent energy that orchestrates the planets and grows a single seed into a mighty oak tree. When you're in flow, you're aligned with this universal life force that creates and sustains all things.
Think of it this way: There's only one stream of energy in the universe, and it flows in only one direction—toward infinite expansion and well-being. When you're in harmony with this stream, you experience what we recognize as flow: clarity, inspiration, synchronicities, and that delicious feeling that life is supporting you. When you're out of harmony with it, you feel stuck, frustrated, and unsupported—like you're pushing a boulder uphill.
But here's where it gets interesting for us as conscious beings: We are all born with free will. This means, in every moment, we get to choose whether to align with this stream or to resist it. And this vitally important choice happens not just in our minds, but throughout our entire being, at the level of our perceptions, thoughts, emotions, words, and actions.
When Survival Hijacks Spirituality
Now, you might be wondering: "If flow is my natural state, why don't I experience it more often?" The answer lies in understanding our primitive survival instincts and how they can unconsciously run our lives.
We're born with an incredibly sophisticated nervous system that's designed to keep us alive. When this system perceives any threat—whether it's a saber-toothed tiger or a critical email from your boss—it automatically activates one of four survival responses: fight, flight, freeze, or fawn.
In fight mode, we become aggressive and defensive, trying to control or overpower whatever we perceive as threatening. Flight mode urges us to escape, avoid, or distract ourselves from discomfort. Freeze mode reminds me of one of the many wild rabbits I encounter in the high desert in Scottsdale, where I live: we shut down and become paralyzed by overwhelm. And in fawn mode, we abandon our own needs to please others, hoping to stay safe through accommodation.
These responses are ingenious, but they were only designed to help us temporarily, just long enough to outrun a predator or hide from danger. But in our modern world, most of us are living in chronic survival mode, reacting to everything from traffic jams to social media posts as if our lives depended on it.
And when we're in survival mode, we're cut off from flow. Our minds race, our consciousness contracts, and we lose access to our intuition, creativity, and connection to the divine. We become reactive instead of responsive, operating from fear instead of love.
The Sacred Space between Stimulus and Response
But here's the beautiful truth: Between every stimulus and your response to it, there is a space. And in that space lies
your power to choose flow over fear. Viktor Frankl, the Austrian psychiatrist who survived the Nazi concentration camps, said it perfectly: "Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way."
This is where your spiritual practice becomes intensely practical. Every time you pause in that sacred space—even for just a breath—you're exercising your divine free will. You're choosing to respond from your highest self rather than react from your wounded, scared animal self.
The more you practice widening this space, the more choices become available to you. Instead of being a slave to your automatic reactions, you become the conscious creator of your life experience.
Contrast as Your Greatest Teacher
I know what you might be thinking: This sounds great, Christy, but what about when really painful or unwanted things happen? How do we find flow in the midst of illness, loss, devastation, or betrayal? I call sudden contrasting events like these "bushwhacks" because they knock us off our vibrational footing like a machete cuts through brush.
But these contrasting experiences are actually your greatest allies in developing flow mastery because they show you exactly where your energy is blocked. Every uncomfortable emotion you feel in response to contrast is guidance, letting you know that you're currently more aligned with the problem than with the solution.
The discomfort isn't about the external event itself—it's about the constriction of energy inside you. And you can either continue projecting that resistance outward, through blaming, complaining, or feeling victimized, or you can use it as rocket fuel to catapult yourself into a higher state of consciousness.
Christy Whitman is a New York Times bestselling author and transformational leader. She has appeared on The Today Show, The Morning Show, TEDx, and The Hallmark Channel, and her work has been featured in numerous publications and magazines. Christy teaches the Law of Attraction, energy mastery, and personal development classes, meditations, and private sessions to help clients feel more aligned with the Divine Design of well-being, abundance, and success. She currently lives in sunny Arizona with her husband and two boys.
This is how contrast serves your evolution: It helps you clarify what you DO want by showing you exactly what you don't want. It forces you to dig deeper, to access latent resources, and expand beyond your current limitations. Every challenging experience contains within it the seeds of your next level of growth and flow.
A Simple Practice for Daily Flow
The beauty of flow is that it's always available to you, no matter what's happening around you. Here's a simple but powerful practice you can use anytime you feel yourself slipping into survival mode:
The Stop, Observe, and Flow Practice
1. Stop: The moment you notice tension, reactivity, or resistance, simply pause. Take one conscious breath.
2. Observe: Ask yourself, "What are the facts of this situation?" Imagine you're a neutral reporter, documenting only what's actually happening without any emotion or interpretation. For example: "My teenager left dishes in the sink," rather than "My teenager is disrespectful and doesn't care about our home."
3. Choose Compassion: Instead of judging the situation as "bad" or "wrong," send yourself compassion for experiencing this unwanted circumstance. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and imagine soothing, healing light filling your body. Remember: judgment creates resistance; compassion allows flow.
4. Visualize Your Preferred Reality: Ask yourself, "If I had a magic wand, how would I like this to be?" See it, feel it, and experience it as if it's already happening.
5. Connect to the Essence: Ask, "Why do I want this? How would I feel if this were my real-
ity now?" Allow yourself to feel those feelings—peace, joy, freedom, love—as if they're present right now.
6. Flow: Let this desired vibration fill every aspect of your being— mind, emotions, body, and energy field. Imagine this vibration radiating from you like an aura of light, filling your every cell and touching everything in your experience.
This practice literally rewires your nervous system over time. Instead of defaulting to survival reactions, you begin to automatically choose flow. It's like upgrading your operating system from fear-based to lovebased.
Moment-to-Moment Flow
Remember, you didn't come here to just survive this human experience. You came here to master your energy, to learn how to flow the creative force of the universe through your unique expression, and to remember your true nature as a divine being having a temporary physical experience.
Every moment of resistance is actually an invitation to go deeper into flow. Every challenge is an opportunity to prove to yourself that you can maintain your center, your peace, and your connection to Source regardless of external circumstances.
This is the real spiritual work—not just feeling good when life is easy, but maintaining your alignment with the flow of divine energy even when life gets messy. This is how you become a true energy master, someone who can create magic in any circumstance.
The flow is always with you. Trust it, allow it, and watch as your life transforms into the magnificent expression of love, creativity, and joy that you came here to embody.
Adopt Today
ECOLUXE Luxury Lounge
To benefit Marley's Mutts Dog Rescue Ranch
Hosted by veteran producer Debbie Durkin, the annual ECOLUXE pre-ESPYS Sports Lounge took place at the stunning gated estate in the heart of Beverly Hills. This exclusive event brought together celebrities, pro athletes, and Olympians for a day of wellness, entertainment, and philanthropy, benefiting Marley's Mutts Dog Rescue Ranch 501c3 non-profit and Dr. Melissa Brunson in support of animal rescue.
The Integrative Peptides Wellness Lounge, led by Dr. Kent Holtorf, MD, provided red-carpet-worthy rejuvenation through red light therapy, muscle-enhancing peptides, ozone shots, and more. DJ William Reed kept the energy high as guests explored luxury brands like Man Lab Skincare with celebrity esthetician Shekinah Garner and Sarper Guven, celebrity portraits by David Christopher Lee, and delicious bites from Sly Fox Pizzaiolo and Anita's Kitchen Co
To adopt a dog please contact Marley's Mutt Dog Rescue Ranch at: https://marleysmutts.org/
Guests sipped on Blowfish Tequila, stayed hydrated with Waiakea Water, and enjoyed intuitive sessions with psychic medium Lynn Darmon.
A glamorous gathering with heart, the ECOLUXE lounge once again proved that style and giving back can go hand in paw.
Photo by Jon Kopaloff / Getty Images
Top 7
Latine Herbs for a Home Herbolaria
Photo by Romina
BM, Anna Evans, Grayson Bell, Serhii
Kalyn,
Ly Le Minh, Angell
Guillén
By Iosellev “Josie” Castañeda
For all budding herbalists, there are three ‘must-haves’ in the journey into collaboration with the natural world. The first musthave is proper equipment. A double boiler, cotton strain bags, metal spoons, basins or large pots, and lots (lots!) of glass jars are a great start. The second must-have is a variety of oils and alcohols used for creating your botanical remedies, sometimes called menstruums. Lastly, the third must-have is the herbs themselves. While it depends on the remedy or the ritual you are doing, there are benefits to both dry and fresh herbs. A stocked home herbolaria (apothecary) brings a sense of completeness. Knowing that you have all you need at your fingertips supports your ability to create remedies and put together ceremonies easily. Here is a list of the top 7 herbs that as a Latine Herbalism always keep on hand with some ideas on how to use them.
Manzanilla (chamomile) brings up memories for many Latinx of all generations. We remember how abuelita used to make this tea before bedtime or to calm our nervous stomach with indigestion. Although it is a bitter herb, the smell is sweet. As a tea, it can be an incredible digestive ally after meals and bring deep relaxation to mind and body before bedtime. It is safe for animals and children when they need support in unwinding after unexpected or chaotic situations. To prepare a cup, steep dry chamomile for 3-7 minutes in 212°F water. Strain, adding sweetener if desired, and drink as warm as possible. For children and animals, offer tea at room temperature. *Never add honey as a sweetener for children under 2 years old.
Yerba Buena (peppermint) is probably my favorite herb. I grow it in my garden and keep it dry in my herbolaria. I blend it with chamomile or rose to make simple teas that relax and bring comfort to my heart. When blended with cacao shells and a dash of maple syrup, it makes a delectable tea that can replace coffee
anytime. On its own, it is a wonderfully effortless tea that calms the stomach and focuses the mind. During allergy, cold, and flu season, peppermint can support sinus health as well. Used in a steam inhalation method, peppermint can clear the sinuses and relieve pressure. If you want to try this, find a heat-safe mat and place it on your table. Set a large towel on the side. Bring 2-3 cups of water to a boil in a pot with a handle, add two tablespoons of dry peppermint, and place the pot on the heat-safe mat. Sit in front of the pot, use the towel to make a tent covering the head, shoulders, and pot. Take deep, long breaths of the steam that rises from the pot. This remedy can be done for up to 10 minutes. Remember to keep your eyes closed to avoid discomfort.
Rosa (rose) is considered one of the queens of the plant world. It opens the metaphorical heart and nurtures love & acceptance. In its botanical qualities, rose is a cooling herb used as a tonic for the entire body. It is a delicious, cool drink during summer. Try the following recipe if you want to wow your guests at the next summer soiree. Add 1/2 cup of packed dry rose petals to 1/2 cup of 212-degree water. Steep for 10 minutes. While still warm, add 1 1/2 cups of food-grade glycerine and mix well. Once covered tightly, place in a cupboard for 2-3 weeks, shaking once or twice a week. This will make an amazing syrup! To serve, dilute 1/4 cup with 1 cup of sparkling or still water over ice, add a squeeze of lemon or orange juice, and enjoy!
Canela (Ceylon cinnamon) can calm indigestion, warm the body, and prevent a cold at the first sign. It can make a wonderful antiviral tea by simmering for 5-10 minutes and diluting 50% with warm water before serving. Ceylon cinnamon can also be used in rituals to ignite and fire up the vibrational energies. A simple ritual to call on the fire element and energize the vibration of your home is to burn a pinch of cinnamon over incense charcoal. If mixed with frankincense resin, it can be a wonderful aromatic scent for festive dates that promote joy in your home.
Cacao is revered as a sacred plant in many Mesoamerican cultures. It is considered a connection to Mother Earth and the Feminine energy to the Masculine energy of Maiz, Corn. It has become very popular to hear the words cacao and Ceremony together, but the reality is that we can not always sit in Ceremony with this plant, and sometimes cacao is shared in community, bringing large groups of people into one frequency. Cacao paste makes a grounding drink that will support the cardiovascular system with the natural synergy of caffeine and theobromine. If the paste is too difficult to work with, cacao shell tea is just as aromatic, with similar benefits but just a little more caffeine. You can make a cacao drink at home with one tablespoon of chopped cacao paste dissolved in 8 ounces of hot water. Add sweetener to taste. Cacao shells can be roughly crushed and steeped for 3-7 minutes in water at 212 degrees. Strain, add sweetener, a pinch of cinnamon powder, and milk for a decadent drink.
Romero (rosemary) is a fragrant herb that is popular when doing rituals of release. It is believed it can cut through negative energy. Rosemary’s scent comes from a compound called eucalyptol. This pungent aroma opens the lungs for better breathing and wakes up the brain to improve memory. My favorite way to take advantage of eucalyptol is to use fresh rosemary. Take a handful, rub it in
between your hands, hold it close to your face, and breathe deeply. I do this 4-6 times, every time breathing deeper. This simple ritual will leave you feeling refreshed and focused. It is also good to use when congested or during allergy season.
Damiana is another wonderful herb to keep in your home herbolaria. It can be used as a nerve tonic and has a reputation as an aphrodisiac. Although I find it promotes more of a euphoric sense in the body instead of aphrodisiac effects. I have many times tried a variety of damiana-infused alcohols and found them all to be of a relaxing nature. For those of us who enjoy a libation, try this recipe of infused wine. Pick a dry, white wine like a Pinot Grigio. Blend 1 cup of dry, crushed damiana with 3 cups of wine in a glass jar. Let it steep for 2-4 weeks in a cupboard, shaking once a week, and checking on the flavor, until you find the concentration that pleases you. Once it is ready, strain, store in a glass, and place in a chill area. Serve with a twist of orange skin. You can also make an infused vermouth to make a Damiana martini. Follow the same process as the infused wine.
These seven herbs are a great start for a home herbolaria. Once you get to know them separately, you can begin to blend them and create unique formulas.
Photo by Annie Spratt
