Invitation to an Inquiry about the Divine

A lot has been on my mind lately. This month's Solstice weekend marks a
year anniversary of my weekend training with Andrew Harvey who coined
the phrase "Sacred Activism" http://www.andrewharvey.net/. I have now
thought for more than a year about creating a series of
classes/workshops around the concept of Sacred Activism. So far this is
the framework for what would occur in such a course: 1) It would involve
having people create a daily spiritual practice for themselves of 15-30
minutes in duration. The purpose is to have the daily experience of the
presence of the Divine in one's life. This would create an inner
reservoir of knowing the Divine to be present. Knowing not as an
intellectual exercise but as a kinesthetic reality. 2) People would then
track their ability to identify with their own Divinity/ capital "S"
Self as to see if it expands. 3) People would create a project in their
community that allows others to have similar experiences. It can be any
kind of project but it needs to be something that allows the people
involved to do what they love to do or be their deeper more connected
Self.

In reading the works of the teachers I have found such as bell hooks
"All About Love"
http://www.education.miami.edu/ep/contemporaryed/Bell_Hooks/bell_hooks.html
< http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQUuHFKP-9s >

Eckhart Tolle "The Presence of Now" and "A New Earth"
www.eckharttolle.com/ -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPg9DnMP2D4

John Wellwood "Perfect Love Imperfect Relationships",

I am always searching for exercises and experiences that will give
people access to self-love. If we each had developed our own daily
spiritual practice that put us in touch with our inner sense of Divinity
and we strengthen our association/identity with that over our
association with our ego identity we could help move our human
consciousness forward. I believe we could begin to have daily
experiences where we intentionally exercise our sense of ourselves as
connected, peaceful, loving and complete. It might make a shift in our
ability to sustain life on the planet.

I recently have been looking at videos on the TED website ( Thanks
BettyKay!) and saw both one on a woman brain scientist who was aware
when she was having a stroke and another by a brain researcher who sees
that intelligence is a function of prediction. We are very close, I
think to a scientific breakthrough in our ability to choose to identify
and possibly consciously shift to our right hemisphere functions where
we experience a sense of oneness and the dissolution of the ego. I
believe, having looked into this for a while that it is in our right
brain that the experience of Immanence occurs. Look at the videos and
let me know what you think.
Here is the link to the ted.com video called "My Stroke of Insight" by
the Jill Bolte Taylor : http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229

And here is the talk on brain science.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/125
From the introduction: "Jeff Hawkins urges us to take a new look at the
brain -- to see it not as a fast processor, but as a memory system that
stores and plays back experiences to help us predict, intelligently,
what will happen next."
He actually quotes RC theory saying that the brain looks at each new
input, matches it with old/similar input, makes predictions, and acts
accordingly.

If you enjoy these two, you can search for "brain" in Ted.com and find
more.

The Divine not as transcendent, out there but as immanent, in here. One
of my most recent experiences of this Knowing Immanence occurred during
a phone call to my mother shortly after my return from visiting her in
Cleveland last month. I was sitting outside on my patio facing the 15 ft
tall Camilla Tree that lives there. The tree has deeply glossy dark
green leaves and was filled just then with magenta blossoms. The sky was
quite blue and luminous. I sat there with my Blackberry phone to my ear,
speaking to my mother about her activities at the North Ridgeville VFW
hall and her Tuesday night bowling league and how she was coping with
the transition of my Grandmother's recent death. Two Rufus humming birds
began to flutter and dart around the tree. I gasped with wonder and
delight as I then saw three swallows also come in and begin swooping
around the tree. Suddenly for several minutes a golden glow cast itself
over the whole scene and the birds and the tree and my mother and I were
in a Holy moment. Time slowed down, I described what I was experiencing
to her on the phone.

My housemate Stuart pulled up his car and moved toward me and the tree
and I was able to show him what was happening and he entered the moment
without disrupting or dispersing it and then as he turned to look at me
and acknowledge what we saw, it ended. I said goodbye to my mother and
the experience faded but I was able to keep the glow of awe and
appreciation going for about an hour afterwards. Last summer I was on a
major quest to expand my ability to have a sense of oneness and knowing
Immanence outside of the realm of sexual experiences. I have experienced
sex as a pathway to the Divine for many years and had come to see that
this set me up for attachment in relationships in a way that was not
always in my best interest. In other words, because I so craved to know
the Divine and could easily experience this during sex with another, I
got very attached to my sexual partners and quite "hooked in". Thus when
a relationship transitioned away from sexual intimacy I would be very
grief stricken and have withdrawals. I was not able to maintain the same
level of ecstasy in my solo sex. I wanted to expand my access to the
Divine so I went to see Andrew Harvey and his workshop on Rumi the
Divine Beloved and then I attended the 10-day Vipassana retreat with
Jude.

I am not ready to teach Sacred Activism yet, I am still working towards
it. So I am inviting all of you to look into yourself and share with me
the answer to this question: "How do you access the Divine? What
activities and environments bring you to the space where you know your
own immanence? I want to understand all the paths to God/dess that
people walk in their everyday experiences. I want to help myself and all
of us have access to our own internal resources of Divinity. Please feel
free to email your responses to this inquiry.

You will be revealed by your actions

Let it be Known

To the person(s) who sent me the anonymous letter dated 5/16/08 mailed from a 981 zip code. You are engaging in the following legally defined crimes; libel, slander and harassment, (feel free to look it up if you need to be sure). I am filing a third police report. I want you to stop spending your time and energy trying to upset me. Everything you do is transformed into positive action that strengthens my resolve to be completely self-expressed and empowered in my work. I will gladly meet you and engage with you in person or on the phone to discuss your concerns. You clearly know my address and phone number. Although your letter ends with an offer for me to call you, you forgot to leave any identifiable contact information.

Let it be known that I am open to clearing anything from the past with any person(s) who will meet with me and agree to non-violently communicate their issues and concerns. I am willing to openly negotiate and behaviorally define “non-violent” in advance of our meeting. I urge anyone who has incomplete, unresolved communications with me to get in communication with me as long as that communication comes from an authentic clearly identified source and is held to my definition of “non-violence”. Show yourself. Identify yourself. Have the courage to come forward and be as open to scrutiny and opinionated judgment as I am. Stand behind your concerns and speak your mind freely and deal with the consequences as I do. I commit myself to investigating whatever shadow part of my own inner nature has helped to manifest your behaviors. If I have offended, upset or hurt you, then openly communicate your grievances to me. Allow me the opportunity to make amends. I am willing to look at and listen to any injury I may have caused you. I am human. I make mistakes. Please forgive me.

To any and all people who have engaged in the anonymous and repeated attempts to interfere with my work and my peace of mind and my financial success and my stable housing since Monday May 6, 2008:You will stop harassing me immediately. You will stop calling innocent workers whose time and energy you are wasting by sending in fake requests for services and help. You will stop using the anonimity of the internet to trick people by falsely responding to their requests in my name. You will immediately stop interfering with my life work by calling any one I am doing business with and lying about me.

Let it be known that I am doing everything I can to identify you including considering hiring a private investigator. If I choose to do this I will follow up this action by hiring a lawyer to sue you for defamation of character, libel, slander and harassment. I will make my decision by the next dark moon.

I affirm that we are connected in a common humanity. I surround you in light. I pray that the miraculous and healing power of love that guides me will enter you and transform your upset into compassion. May the energy you have been spending to interfere with me be transformed into a powerful urge to become self-aware. I declare that you will stop your projections of self-loathing and fear and refocus on self-actualization and liberation. May you come to know the true power and protection of living by the guidance of your inner divinity instead of the fears of your ego.

I exist within in a Circle of Divine Protection,
I operate in accordance with Universal Law,
In the names of Aphrodite, Isis, Hecate, Minerva and Lord Ganesha
I declare that all persons acting with the intent to harm me have been stopped.
As I Will it So Mote it Be!

Teri Dianne Ciacchi aka TerraFire
Tuesday May 20th 2008
(206) 612-3511

Ballard Odd Fellow's Hall "Does the Right Thing"

Here is the copy of the Press Release issued by Bob Duniway the Grand Lodge Master I hope I got that title correct) of the Odd Fellow's. Please feel free to send him a thank you note.

Ballard Odd Fellows

Contact: Bob Duniway For Immediate Release
Phone: (206)372-4164
Email: rduniway@seattleu.edu


COMPLAINTS RECEIVED ABOUT KINKY CARNIVAL EVENT IN BALLARD
Ballard Odd Fellows Respond to Controversy


On the evening of Saturday, May 10th the 4th Annual Kinky Carnival is taking place in the Ballard Odd Fellows Hall on Market Street. While the event is advertised as “A delightful and safe playground for the secret (or not so secret) hedonist in you.” at least a few individuals don’t see it as delightful. The Ballard Odd Fellows have received a few phone calls from upset individuals threatening to disrupt the event with protests and by calling the police.

The Odd Fellows, who are not involved with organizing or sponsoring the event, but merely renting out their hall, were taken by surprise by these messages. “When this group approached us about renting the hall, we had a clear conversation with them about respecting our neighbors and not being willing to rent if the event would be disruptive,” said Bob Duniway, past President of the lodge, “so we were initially concerned that they were violating that agreement with their advertising.” Specifically, the lodge representatives had been assured that advertising would be tasteful and low key, and that nothing in the advertising would imply that the event was being sponsored or endorsed by the Odd Fellows. “From all the advertising material we have seen so far, there isn’t any association between this group and our lodge. So some individuals or a group went to extra effort of finding our hall rental phone numbers and called us to complain and threaten action.”

The fact that the lodge rented the hall for this event was not viewed as a judgment about the nature of the event on the part of the lodge. “We have a hall available for rent, and a community organization approached us wanting to hold an event. We signed a rental agreement after discussing the nature of the event, and being assured it would not involve any illegal conduct, endanger the building or anyone in the building, and wouldn’t disturb the neighbors. The Ballard Odd Fellows are not a particularly judgmental group, and we didn’t make a judgment either condoning or condemning what people were going to be doing in this event. Apparently there are a few people who feel differently, and who are going to some trouble to try to prevent or disrupt this event. At this point there is some danger that protests may disturb the community when the event itself otherwise wouldn’t.” Duniway observed. “Hopefully it won’t turn out that way.”

Harassment of the Kinky Carnival

Harassment

On Tuesday morning I called the Seattle North precinct Police Department to request that a report be taken for the following harassments: 1) various limousine and taxi cabs were called and reserved in my name and with my phone number, My count is that there were 9 of these reservations made. The first call I received from a limousine waiting outside my house to take me to the airport occurred on Monday may 5th at 6:15am PST, at the time I was with my mother at her eye doctor appointment in Cleveland Ohio 9:15am CST. The last call I received from a taxi service that was reserved by someone else in my name was on Tuesday morning around 9:30am. By this time I was apologizing and asking the taxi dispatcher for information about the person who had made the reservation. Susan Alhadeethy (a lovely helpful person who was sorry I had been harassed), of the Airport Limousine service (206) 551 9477 told me a woman using my name and phone number had placed the call. This kind of blew my theory as I was imaging that the person making the phone calls was the same guy that had started stalking my friend Rosemary just two days earlier.

The second form of harassment I experienced was also a fake identity over the phone situation but this one took more time and involved the use of Craig's list. I received a call from a man named Jay who said he was calling me because I had responded to his ad on Craig’s list. This man was kind enough to read the text of the email to me, it was " I need you, I want you , Call me right now!" with my name and phone number. I am grateful that this man was brave enough to talk with me for a moment. I explained that while the contact info was mine, I had not responded to his ad on Craig's list. I apologized for the inconvenience and wished him well. It was 11:20pm and I was at SeaTac airport I had just gotten off a delayed flight from Detroit, MI. Through out the day I had been receiving phone calls from blocked numbers and private numbers, I would say I received about 6 of these calls. When I answered the phone I said, Hello this is Teri Ciacchi can I help you and the person on the other end of the phone would hang up. I do not know it this is the same person or many people but I do think it possible that they could have been other people, like Jay , who had been given my information as If I were responding to a Casual encounters ad on Craig's list. Fits in with the stalker dude profile I think, I wonder if it's that guy?

The third form of harassment has been much more alarming as it intentionally incited fear and upset. People made calls and sent emails to the Caretakers of the Ballard Odd fellow’s hall complaining about the Kinky Carnival being held there and intentionally misrepresenting my work. Below is part of the text of an email send to the caretakers by a man claiming to be writing on behalf of himself and his wife. The email address given is: "Jim Stuart"
And this is the partial text that I am most concerned about:
" This woman, Teri Ciacchi openly advertises a sex business on the Internet (pretty stupid), seems to have a house of prostitution, but calls the staff "sacred intimates". Lt. Eric Sano, commander of the Seattle Police Department's vice unit has been aware of her operation for sometime and had already received numerous other complaints about this public sex event you are having May 10th. I think you will be getting some press on this that will not be favorable."

Now I immediately want to defend myself. And refute each part of these false accusations and I may do that here in my blog if I have time later today but I am pretty busy trying to get the Carnival together in the middle of all this harassment. Those of you who are familiar with my work as an internationally known sexologist and sex positive therapist and know how that differs from prostitution can immediately see why this type of harassment alarms me. I am going to file a second police report today based on the contents of this email ( which I received last night). I also now have a partial log of the phone calls that were made. It seems that people giving the following names called the caretakers on Monday afternoon May 6th, same day as I got the taxis and limos sent to my home: an alleged George Houser called on behalf of himself and his wife, an alleged Serene Jacobson called and then a woman calling herself both Mary Skyler and Mary Carter and giving the phone numbers 425-455-8820 and 206 555-9822 called the caretakers twice on Monday and again yesterday morning. She also placed a phone call to an officer of the Odd fellows Hall on Monday afternoon. In addition to making the accusations about me being a prostitute and running a show of live sex acts and besmirching the community of Ballard with my dangerous sexy self, these people claimed to have received a flyer sent to their homes. What I believed actually happened is that they found this blog and read it out loud to the caretakers as if it were something they had received in the mail. I have not seen an actual flyer and I did not mail anything to anyone’s home.

The callers have promised a protest and to call the police etc. ad finitim ad nauseum. I have called the police and called the reporters. The Caretakers of the Odd Fellows Hall have been informed not to take any more of these calls if possible. The Lodge master of the Odd Fellows hall has assured me they will not pull the event. The Grand Lodge master has issued a press release in support of my renting their venue. I am giving an interview on KIRO radio with Erin Covin this afternoon. I am going to stop typing this email in order to do a couples counseling session and then I will return to the work of generating the Kinky Carnival.

It's Kinky Carnival TIme!

Wow, It's almost here: The 4th Annual Kinky Carnival!
Saturday May 10th $25 at the door

It's being held at the Ballard Odd Fellows Hall at 1706 NW Market.

Check out this article about last year’s Kinky Carnival
"Kinkfest provides a room to romp If your curiosity, um, is aroused"
By ATHIMA CHANSANCHAI
P-I REPORTER


We have 2 new booths: Bite: Receive a bite on your area of choice
Ask: No question too Kinky, no non Kinky question too strange.
in addition to all the regulars: Kiss, Cuddle, Pierce, Whack,
Sensation, Rope, Submit, Zap, Yum, Pierce, Confess, & Ground.
We are so organized this year! And the performances are better
than ever, Moorea Mallatt, Adra, WIll Wright with D,J, Lui Ying.
Tickets are available at Babeland, WIld at heart and on line at
Brown Paper TIckets!

Life in GreenLake

Last posting was in July after my Vipassana retreat. many many events since then. I was diagnosed with Endomitrial Cancer on Sept 9th and had a full hysterectomy on Sept 27th and was moved into a new house with roomates Beckie & Robyn on Oct 1st. SO many things so swiftly. Now it is the very end of November. Robyn has moved into a new house in West Seattle and Stuart is moving in with Beckie and I here in Greenlake. I have been immersed throughout my illness and recovery in the Landmark Education program called "Introduction to Leaders Program". This means that for 10-20 hours a week I study and intern to become a Landmark Home Introduction Leader. It is a new skill set for me that really calls for new behavior in many areas of my life.

I am struggling with medical bills as I had no insurance and still needed to get the operation that removed cancer from my body. I am grateful that they performed the operation without requiring money up front. I know I will find a way to pay for everything but honestly I am now strugggling to make sure that worry about money does not recreate the energetic place of being physically ill. I believe I am learning a great many things on a deep level of consciousness that I cannot articulate well. I know that I am learning these things because my behavior is changing and my reality is changing and I am keeping up with it. In Sept I was living in a studio apartment by myself on First Hill. Now I live in a luxurious house with a spa tub and a garden next to a big lake. The house is called The Center for Embodiment and it is definately a place where community occurs.

Stay tuned for more info soon.
Blessings,
Teri

Is it July already? Vipassana's Sacredly Activated

Summer, Blessed Summer is here! I am a Leo baby ( August 1^st ) and always feel my best in the summer!

I have some lovely experiences to offer you this week and sincerely hope you’ll join me: Holistic Peer Counseling Thursday, Temple of the Open Heart for Women Friday, Brianca’s amazing video on Saturday and Wicked Strip on Sunday! Sex Positive Community and Emotional well being for everyone, Hooray!

I am freshly mentally flossed from my 12 day Vipassana meditation retreat. Vipassana is a very pure, simple form of meditation which is believed to have come directly from the work of Gatama the Buddha.

My dear friend Jude went with me and we spent 10 days doing a rigorous routine that went like this: awake 4am * meditate 4:30-6:30am * breakfast 6:30 free time until meditating again 8-9am * meditate again 9am-11am * Lunch 11am-1pm * meditate 1-5pm * tea & fruit at 5pm * meditate 6-7pm * discourse video with S.N. Goenka 7-8:15pm * meditate 8:15pm-9pm * questions with teachers * lights out at 10pm Sleep. This was my schedule for 10 days. Oh yes and did I mention you cannot talk except: 1)to ask the manager for something when you have an emergency need such as a flashlight or 2) to have a private or public question with the teachers. For the first three days you are simply focusing on the natural flow of your breath in the small triangular space between your upper lip and around your nostrils. This is called anapanna. On the 4^th day you actually learn Vipassana which is focusing on physical sensations and becoming neutral about whatever cravings or aversions arise in your consciousness. On the 7^th day there begins a focus called “fierce determination” where for an hour on three separate occasions you attempt to not move your arms and legs or open your eyes.

I learned a LOT about how my mind works. I learned without doubt about all of my physical addictions and my overall levels of fear, desire, love and self-acceptance. I had one long experience of ecstatic bliss accompanied by a vision and physical shaking. I had many more hours of distraction and disappointment with my inability to focus on reality. I experienced my ability to overcome physical sensations and distractions. I got crystal clear on my flaws and my strengths.

I also enjoyed my amusing, bizarre and creative mind. There is quite the juke box in my head. I wrote a comic book, made up new Podcasts, redesigned my website, and came up with lots of new workshops. Such is the nature of desire in a human form. And hey, I survived and I feel really strong, maybe even a bit invincible, (anybody else hear a Helen Reddy song in there, geesh!).

I also had a wonderful time visiting my family in North Ridgeville, Ohio and deeply took in the 3 day Andrew Harvey workshop in New York. I am going to write about it all in more detail, so be ready to check out my blog again after a 2 month hiatus.

I’m glad to be back to my Seattle life. I am taking a deep look into my desire to have a stronger sense of family and thinking about intentional community again.