Genesis Farm website

November/December 2024

Dear Friends of the Farm,

I hope you are well and have the support you need to navigate your lives in these challenging times.

We are in very new times! What has fundamentally changed is the greater availability of a sense of “deep time”. What we mean by that is the relatively new sense of the 15 billion year process of the origin, and evolution, of our Universe. Equally important is the realization that our human existence is intertwined in this process.

This letter is to update you on the last few weeks at Genesis Farm as we approach an ancient astronomical observation of the time between the autumn equinox and the approaching winter solstice. In some Gaelic cultures living above the equator, it was called Samhain. It marked a radical seasonal change transitioning from autumn to winter.

For peoples living below the equator, it heralded a transition from spring to summer. But these times and events are still dominated by “western” cultures of the recent classical period of history. Until recently, we weren't aware of anything else. Our cosmologies were invented out of what we knew about time and space which, for many of us, were based on the biblical narrative of creation.

Samhain is a recent western commemoration of the “mid-time” between autumn and winter. While peoples of non-western cultures were also aware of the changes, their interpretations were often quite different, and often cruelly suppressed during the period of colonization.

On another note, this past August, Genesis Farm piloted a new program exploring the "fundamental elements of a new cosmology”. It was created because it was requested and organized by young adults living within this bioregion. It was designed as "an introduction or a refresher" on the basics of Earth Literacy, which has guided our educational mission since our founding in 1980.

The basics of Earth Literacy , as offered here, were rooted in the works of cultural historian, Thomas Berry, mathematical cosmologist, Brian Swimme, Albert Einstein and the scientific evolutionary story of the Universe.

This new “Earth Literacy" emerged through the pioneering work of McGregor Smith in his work in higher education at Miami-Dade college in Miami, Florida. Equally important, it was funded by the Foundation he established there to further these new understandings.

With the collaboration of St. Thomas University, in Miami, Fl and the creative foresight of Dr. Joseph Iannone of St. Thomas University, 'Earth Literacy’ was given legitimacy through accreditation in higher education.

Integral to this was the 'deep-time' collaboration of a grassroots movement originating at Stanford University in Palo Alto, CA. This movement, created by Emilia and Harry Rathbun, gave birth to Creative Initiative, which morphed into Beyond War. This movement, with its spiritual depth, provided what was needed to give further substance to the evolution of Earth Literacy at Genesis Farm. It flourished here , especially through the efforts of Jean and Larry Edwards and countless other members of the Beyond War movement.

Primary and integral to this history was the vision and efforts of Gerald and Patricia Mische, founders of Global Education Associates (GEA). Their efforts gave early recognition to the thinking and writings of Thomas Berry. They published his writings in their Whole Earth Papers. Their work was essential to analyzing the inadequacies of ‘the national security straitjacket’ through their publications and grassroots organizing. Juxtaposed with the sentiments of the first astronauts, they clarified the inadequacies of the prior cosmology, which was simply stuck in a worldview no longer adequate to further life on this planet.

All these threads are woven into the story of Genesis Farm. The efforts to integrate them have given the context and perspectives we hope to provide to the young people of this region. Their lives depend on the transformation of inadequate cosmologies which they believe are at the root of so much addiction, hopelessness and violence.

Since August we have offered three sessions on “Introducing or Refreshing the Foundations of a New Cosmology". More sessions are desired. This season, between autumn and winter, provides new opportunities to explore more deeply into the inexhaustible depth of our origin and identity with the Universe itself.

The retrieval of memory, embodied in the Universe itself, is integral to our mission. Memory is in danger of being erased and replaced by robots and artificial intelligence at a scale hardly imagined when Genesis Farm first came into existence in 1980.

We are a tiny core of committed people and volunteers who are working toward the restoration of the lands, infrastructure, archives, and history of Genesis Farm.

We are deeply grateful for your support. Right now, we would benefit greatly from your financial assistance, or in any ways you can contribute, to the maintenance and restoration of Genesis Farm.

For Earth,

Miriam MacGillis
Founder and Interim Coordinator