Events List

MESP 2013 Main Events
Saturday 23 February - Sunday 17 March 2013

On-Line Booking


Event: 2-Day Retreat: Sufi and Native Middle Eastern Healing:
An Experiential Approach to Inner and Outer Ecology.

Facilitators: Saadi Neil Douglas-Klotz and Natalia Lapteva, senior leaders of the Dervish Healing Order (DHO) in the UK.
Venue: Skye Room, The Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB.
Dates: Saturday 23 February – Sunday 24 February 2013.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Retreat Days: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: In the Native Middle Eastern traditions, healing begins when we find our way back to an earlier relationship with nature and the consciousness behind creation itself. We connect with an earlier, more whole relationship with all of the beings of the natural world, which are experienced as living "subjects" rather than "objects." This was the original way of understanding a relationship to the elements - earth, water, fire and air.

This workshop will focus on healing resources from the rich treasure of the pathways of the heart found in these traditions, ranging from the ancient Egyptian, Babylonian and Hebrew, through the Aramaic language teachings of Jesus through to the Sufi practice of the '99 Beautiful Names.'

A major focus of the weekend will be self-healing practices using Middle Eastern approaches to breathing and body awareness. A major portion of these practices will be in the form of walking meditations that can be used in everyday life. As additional resources we will use chant, heart meditation and prayer, teaching stories, and forms of sacred movement and body awareness common to many Middle Eastern mystical traditions. The workshop will include a modern form of interspiritual devotional movement called the Dances of Universal Peace.

We will also experience the healing ritual of the Sufi Hazrat Inayat Khan (1886-1927), a group meditation to send healing to those who have requested it. This workshop will serve as an introduction to the Sufi healing ritual for those who would like to pursue further training in it.

Neil and Natalia are the senior leaders of the Dervish Healing Order (DHO) in the UK (www.dervish-healing-order.org). The Dervish Healing Order, a sister branch of the Sufi Ruhaniat International, focuses its worldwide work on training conductors for the Sufi healing ritual, which sends healing energy to those who have requested it. As part of this work, the DHO shares practices of self-healing that increase health, well-being, magnetism, embodiment and compassion. Neil is the author of several well-known books on Middle Eastern mysticism, including Desert Wisdom and The Sufi Book of Life. He also co-founded the MESP with Neill Walker. Natalia is a life-coach and psychotherapist; she is also doing healing work as a DHO healing conductor/initiator, as well as through other alternative systems of healing. 

Cost: £125/£100 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Alice Fateah Saunders, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , +44 (0)131 664 6206.

Event: The 2013 Middle East Festival Forum on Spirituality, Equality and Community.

Speaker: Dr Lesley Orr, feminist historian, theologian, writer and activist.
Title: Demonstrably Happy: The Positive Potential of Same Sex Marriage.
Chair: Tim Hopkins is the Director of the Equality Network, a national organisation in Scotland working for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) equality.
Forum on Spirituality, Equality and Community.
Forum Panellists: Nathan Young Gale, Scottish Transgender Alliance Development Worker; Maruska Greenwood, Director, LGBT Centre for Health and Wellbeing; Siobhan Reardon, Acting Programme Director, Amnesty International Scotland; Rev Maxwell Reay has been a minister with Metropolitan Community Church since 1993. Maxwell has worked within the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community for over 20 years; Nancy Russell has been involved with the LGBT National Youth Council for a number of years and Nancy has been involved as an elected Member of the Scottish Youth Parliament for the last year and has played a passionate role in the LGBT NYC Me2 for Equal Marriage campaign and SYPs Love Equally campaign.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 23 February 2013.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: The practice of marriage as a social institution has been complex, diverse and subject to change for thousands of years. This [Lesley's] presentation will explore the historical and theological evolution of marriage - from biblical times to the present day - and positive developments in Scotland from patriarchy towards equality, as we anticipate the legal right  to celebrate loving, faithful and lifelong marriage partnerships, regardless of sexual orientation.

Dr Lesley Orr is a feminist historian, theologian, writer and activist. She has worked at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, in the voluntary sector and with the Scottish Government’s Strategy to Address Violence Against Women. She has been active for many years in movements challenging gender-based inequality, abuse and violence, and discrimination against LBGTQ people in faith communities and wider society. She was consultant for the World Council of Churches project: ‘Overcoming Violence Against Women’ (2000-2005) and is a member of the ecumenical Iona Community, which actively supports Equal Marriage. Lesley was named ‘Woman of Influence 2012’ by Action for Children Scotland.

Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.

Event: 'The Gift of Story': a Storytelling Performance and Workshop.

Facilitators: Michael Williams (Lead Facilitator), Paula Cowie, William Docherty, David Francis, Nici Long, Daru McAleece, Russell McLarty, and Alette Willis.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Sunday 24 February 2013.
Time: Registration: 5.30pm-6pm. Workshop and Performance: 6pm-9.30pm.
Event Description:  Story coach Michael Williams brings together a troupe of talented storytellers to share their 'gift of story' in this unique public performance and workshop dedicated to peace and spirituality. Come and listen to their tales then join the storytellers for an opportunity to learn the art of storytelling yourself. No previous experience is necessary, just an open heart and an adventurous spirit.

This is a chance to listen to and learn from some of the country's rising stars in the world of storytelling: Paula Cowie, William Docherty, David Francis, Nici Long, Daru McAleece, Russell McLarty, and Alette Willis. Along with Michael, they will share with you their passion for stories and storytelling and offer you the chance to explore the Festival's themes of diversity, peace, spirituality, and transformation.

The 'Gift of Story' performance and workshop begins at 6pm (registration from 5.30pm) with a performance, followed at 7pm with a special storytelling workshop. The performance will resume at 8.45pm and conclude at 9.30pm.

Who are the Storytellers?

Paula Cowie – As manager of the self-sufficient and environmentally-friendly housing project Earthship in Fife and co-founder of Kingdom Krack storytellers, Paula is passionate about the environment and storytelling. She is also trained in Compassionate Communication and regularly invokes this in her work with children, young people and adults.

David Francis – Musician, storyteller and dance caller, David is best known for his musical partnership with wife Mairi Campbell in the internationally-renowned duo, The Cast. He is also network officer for the Traditional Music Forum and currently directs Ceòl Mòr, a youth big band, and Distil, a professional development project for traditional musicians wishing to develop their skills.

William Docherty – William is a dynamic and humorous storyteller who works as a curator at St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art in Glasgow. Comfortable with all ages, he enjoys sharing myths and legends which reflect humanity's great feats of selflessness and selfishness.

Nici Long – Nici is a psychologist and storyteller with a keen interest in therapeutic storytelling. She believes story and storytelling can promote healing and well-being. “I believe in the creative potential of every human being and am committed to providing opportunities to enable people to unlock their creative potential and believe that positive health comes through this process of self-expression.”

Daru McAleece – Daru is a Druid Storyteller, Forest Schools practitioner and artist. The tales he tells are influenced by nature and often have transformation at their heart. He believes individuals are supported by woodlands and creativity, as they support social, material and imaginary arenas and magic is inherent in such places.

Russell McLarty – As a Church of Scotland Minister, Russell  has an interest in a whole range of stories from world faiths. He has developed storytelling with teenage clubs and in a drug rehabilitation group in prison; and worked for 21 years in Blackhill-Provanmill one of Glasgow’s most disadvantaged communities with involvement in ongoing youth work, in the development of an ambitious community arts project and a community drug-counselling project.

Alette Willis – Alette is a Canadian teacher of creative writing, an author and academic now living in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is also the creator of ReStorying the Earth, a website dedicated to the power of story and storytelling. As she states, "It is my hope that these stories will inspire and thicken other ones, and that collectively we will open up many positive possibilities for living here on Earth."

Michael Williams – Michael is a professional storyteller, story coach and narrative consultant who works with individuals and small groups as well as community and corporate organisations. He is the co-editor of 'Therapeutic Storytelling' at the All Things Healing online community and co-facilitator of the 'Narrative Approach to Transformational Leadership' programme for the Aberdeen Leadership Forum. His work has taken him around the UK, Europe, Canada and the Middle East.

6.00 Storytelling performance I
6.45 Short break
7.00 Storytelling workshop with audience (90 mins)
8.30 Short break
8.45 Storytelling performance II
9.30 Finish

Cost: £14/£12 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.

Event: 2-Day Retreat: Brokenness and Wholeness: A Sufi Journey into the Universe of the Self.

Facilitator: Sarida Brown, student in the Sufi tradition for 37 years.
Venue: Arran Room, The Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB.
Dates: Saturday 2 March - Sunday 3 March 2013.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Retreat Days: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: ‘Wherever there is a ruin, there is hope for treasure – why do you not seek the treasure of God in the wasted heart?’ Rumi

Just like the pulse of the breath’s inhale and exhale, we need the psyche’s pulse of breakdown and breakthrough when we are seeking to be more spiritually alive – more ‘whole.’ In the Sufi tradition this is described as the journey of the heart in transforming the ego and finding its wisdom, freedom and the Real in its depths.
‘Out of the shell of the broken heart emerges the new-born soul.’ Hazrat Inayat Khan

This weekend we will explore the journey into wholeness as it is inspired by the spiritual heart psychology of the Sufis and as we are experiencing it in our lives. Can we find a relationship between our inner and outer self? And between our self and our wider community? Where do we find outer and inner support to live through the pulse of sacrifice and resurrection? What is ‘wholeness’?

We will be making this journey through practices with breath, energy and sound, soul imagery, meditation, wazaif (sacred words in the Sufi tradition) and zikr (a traditional Sufi practice), and sharing of experience.
‘The whole of life in all its aspects is one single music. The real spiritual attainment is to tune oneself to the harmony of this perfect music.’ Hazrat Inayat Khan
 
Sarida Brown has been a student in the Sufi tradition for 37 years, first with Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, and now with Pir Zia Inayat Khan. She focuses the activities of the Sufi Healing Order worldwide, teaches meditation and healing and guides retreats and is on the faculty of Suluk Academy. Currently she is creating and co-teaching an international two-year Healing Training Course in Germany. She has been practising as an acupuncturist since 1974, founded and edited Caduceus Journal, and has completed the Body-Soul-Rhythms Programme with Jungian analyst Marion Woodman.

Cost: £125/£100 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Alice Fateah Saunders, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , +44 (0)131 664 6206.

Event: Evening Workshop: Esoteric Philosophy and Peacebuilding in the Middle East.

Facilitator: Dr Thomas Clough Daffern, Director, International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 2 March 2013.
Time: Registration: 5.30pm-6pm.Workshop: 6pm-9.30pm.
Event Description: This workshop will explore the esoteric commonalities of the great Middle Eastern and Indo-European spiritual teaching systems. What do Kabbalah, Sufism, Esoteric Christianity and ancient Pagan traditions have in common? What clues and signs are there that point towards a common overarching unity on which peace can be built?
 
This workshop will be sharing some of the esoteric wisdom teachings of the universal Kabbalah and give participants practical tools to help make sense of their life as a result. It will then be comparing and contrasting the Kabbalistic teachings with the wisdom implicit in ancient Druidry (Celtic) and ancient Norse pagan teaching systems, as well as Sanskrit and Indian wisdom systems. How can the wisdom of the Runes, or the Ogham script be reconciled with the teachings of the Kabbalah?
 
The workshop will explore how different understandings of the divine energy can be reconciled through mapping the sounds of the Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Sanskrit and Gaelic alphabets, and learning to follow the journey of the ancient sounds themselves, to the primal source of peace and wisdom.
 
In ancient teachings, Cadmus was sent from Phoenicia to find his lost sister Europa, and incidentally brought the alphabet to Europe from its home in the Middle East. This workshop will explore how the alphabet can serve as a clue for all spiritualities, all cultures, all systems of thought, to regain the primal unity that was “lost at the Tower of Babel.” According to Druid traditions, the language of that primal unity of the original speech of mankind was preserved in the Druid schools founded by Fenius Farsaidh, ancestor of the Celtic Druids, and this workshop will try to reconstruct something of that primal and original unity of inner language and thought from which we have since been scattered.

The author has been a student of the mysteries of philosophy for many years. He is the Peace Druid of Britain, and has a PhD in the transpersonal history of the modern search for peace 1945-2001 from the University of London. He directs the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy from a castle on Loch Goil in Argyll, Scotland. See www.educationaid.net for details.

Cost: £12/£10 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.

Event: The 2013 Middle East Festival Forum on Inter Independence, Scottish Self-Determination and Constructions of National Identity.

Speaker: Gerry Hassan, writer, commentator and thinker about Scotland, the UK, politics and ideas.
Title: State of Inter Independence: A Vision for Scottish Self-Determination and Constructions of National Identity.
Chair: Dr Scott Hames, Lecturer, School of Arts and Humanities, Division of Literature and Languages, the University of Stirling. Currently completing a monograph on Scottish literary nationalism, and recently edited a collection of essays by writers on Scottish independence.
Forum on Inter Independence, Scottish Self-Determination and Constructions of National Identity.
Forum Panellists: Alan Bissett is a writer and performer, who was Glenfiddich Scottish Writer of the Year 2011. His novels, plays and short films have been shortlisted for various awards, including a BAFTA. He is currently active in the Yes Scotland campaign for independence; Kate Higgins, passionate campaigner and commentator on Scottish social justice issues; Dr Lorna J Waite is a writer and researcher, author of The Steel Garden and one of the editors of  'Rethinking Highland Art: The Visual Significance of Gaelic Culture/Sealladh as ùr air Ealain na Gàidhealtachd: Brìgh Lèirsinn ann an Dualchas nan Gàidheal.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Sunday 3 March 2013.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: Gerry Hassan is a writer, commentator and thinker about Scotland, the UK, politics and ideas. Hailed by the Sunday Herald as ‘Scotland’s main public intellectual,’ Gerry has written and edited a dozen books in the last decade on Scotland and the wider world: from the setting up of the Parliament, to its record, policy, indepth studies of the Labour Party and SNP, and looking at how we imagine the future. Gerry’s activities include facilitating events, discussions and conversations which bring people together in Scotland and across the world.

Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.

Event: 2-Day Retreat: Old Wisdom for New Futures:        NB: This one event will not now take place.
Facing the 2020s with help from the Aramaic Jesus and the Desert Nomads.

Facilitator: Alan Heeks, practical visionary and expert on sustainable living.
Venue: Islay Room, The Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB.
Dates: Saturday 9 March - Sunday 10 March 2013.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Retreat Days: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: It can be hard to be hopeful about the next decade, with problems like climate change, peak oil, social injustice, banking/debt crises and lots more. Yet these crises could help us move to a more mutually supportive, humanly connected, less materialistic way of life. This participatory workshop treats spiritual and material issues as part of one unity, as Middle Eastern cultures have done for centuries.

We will explore facts, fears and hopes for the 2020s, drawing on Alan’s research project, Facing the 2020s.  And we will experience Middle Eastern wisdom which can help us discern how to improve our wellbeing and quality of life despite the challenges. Jesus’ teachings in the original Aramaic offer many insights for our times, and we will use traditional Middle Eastern practices like walking meditation and sound mantras to understand them. And if we seek a role model for living in extremes of uncertainty and simplicity, the relevance of the desert nomads is clear: concepts like the Caravan of Creation help us to link past and future into our present.

Alan Heeks is a practical visionary and expert on sustainable living, who has sought for many years to integrate spiritual values into the mainstream. After a Harvard MBA and highly successful business career, he has spent the past 21 years leading retreats and workshops, and creating three unique land-based teaching centres, all aiming to help people connect with spirit, nature and sustainability in practical ways. In 2011 he initiated Facing the 2020s, a research and communication project to help understanding of the future challenges and propagate positive responses to them, working with partners such as the New Economics Foundation. His book The Natural Advantage: Renewing Yourself was published in 2000, and he has recently written Men Beyond 50: Lost and Found, Enjoying it Now. For more information on all Alan’s work, including Facing the 2020s, see: www.living-organically.com.

Cost £50 (Both Days). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.

Event: The 2013 Middle East Festival Forum on Ecocide, Culture, and Peace.

Speaker: Polly Higgins, Earth Lawyer and Founder of the Wish20 Global Citizens Initiative.
Title: Ecocide: the Missing 5th Crime Against Peace.
Chair: Fiona Watt.
Forum on Ecocide, Culture, and Peace.
Forum Panellists: Eleanor Harris, Co-ordinator of Eco-Congregation Scotland, 2005-7, and Web Editor of the European Christian Environmental Network, 2005-10; Osbert Lancaster, consultant, facilitator and educator for sustainability; Eurig Scandrett is an educator and activist who, after an initial career as an environmental scientist, spent 15 years in community education and campaigning on environmental, peace, gender and trades union issues.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 9 March 2013.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: In April 2010 Polly Higgins, international lawyer and award-winning author of Eradicating Ecocide, proposed to the UN Law Commission that a law of Ecocide stand alongside genocide as an international Crime Against Peace. Since then, Polly's work as a lawyer for the Earth and world expert has catalysed support and brought governments, faith leaders and business together. Polly shall be speaking about her journey and about who is speaking out as a voice for the Earth.

Polly is an Earth Lawyer, Founder of the Wish20 Global Citizens Initiative to catalyze a global momentum for an international law of Ecocide. Her books, Eradicating Ecocide and Earth is our Business are used throughout the world to inform and engage people of all backgrounds about the law of Ecocide. See: www.eradicatingecocide.com

Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.

Event: The 2013 Middle East Festival Forum on Conflict Resolution, Radical Disagreement and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.

Speaker: Prof Oliver Ramsbotham, Emeritus Professor of Conflict Resolution at the University of Bradford, Chair of the Oxford Research Group, and President of the Conflict Research Society.
Title: When conflict resolution fails - managing radical disagreement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Chair: Dr Michelle Burgis-Kasthala is a lecturer in the School of International Relations at the University of St Andrews.
Forum on Conflict Resolution, Radical Disagreement and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.
Forum Panellists: Nancy Adams, is member of the Scottish Palestinian Forum and a student of Mediation and Conflict Resolution; Christine Bell is Professor of Constitutional Law, the University of Edinburgh; Dr Thomas Clough Daffern, Director, International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy; Charlie Irvine, Chair, Scottish Mediation Network‏.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Sunday 10 March 2013.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: Oliver Ramsbotham will be talking about his work on what can be done in intractable conflicts when negotiation and dialogue do not work. He will present his ideas on how conflict resolution approaches need to be adapted in general, and will illustrate this through the experience of putting it into practice in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past five years. This will be an opportunity to discuss the ideas in his book 'Transforming Violent Conflict: Radical Disagreement, Dialogue and Survival' (2010) and to see how far they may apply more widely.
 
Oliver Ramsbotham is Emeritus Professor of Conflict Resolution at the University of Bradford, Chair of the Oxford Research Group, President of the Conflict Research Society, series co-editor of the 'Routledge Studies in Peace and Conflict Resolution' and on the editorial board of the new 'International Journal of Conflict Engagement and Resolution'. He has written extensively on conflict resoluition, humanitarian intervention, and Islamic and Christian approaches to war and peace. The revised third edition of the well-known 'Contemporary Conflict Resolution' came out in 2011 (Polity Press).

Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.

Event: Day Workshop: Health, Wellbeing and Healing Through Spiritual Dance and Movement.

Facilitators: Sarah Bonner-Morgan (Wu Chi to T’ai Chi and back again - Yin and Yang in everyday life); Stella Cranwell (Dances of Universal Peace); Merav Israel (The Feldenkrais Method: Awareness Through Movement); and Linda Wyman (An Introduction to the Alexander Technique).
Venue: Islay Room, The Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB.
Date: Saturday 16 March 2013.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Workshop: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: Join us for a joyful day of sharing spiritual dance and movement for health, wellbeing, healing and peace. We will all be together throughout the day, building community and celebrating diversity through spiritual dance and movement.

9.30am-10am: Arrival and Registration.

10am-11.20am: Linda Wyman: An Introduction to the Alexander Technique.

A simple and effective way of regaining natural balance and ease of movement improving physical and mental wellbeing. It is a learning process which teaches you how to best use your body helping you to increased energy and more efficiency in all you do.

Linda Wyman trained at Fellside Alexander School in Cumbria for three years and did her post graduate term at the Institute for the Research and Development of the Alexander Technique in New York in 1991. She currently teaches in Edinburgh and East Lothian. www.lindawyman.co.uk

11.20am-11.40am: Break.

11.40am-1pm: Merav Israel: The Feldenkrais Method: Awareness Through Movement.

Merav Israel is a certified Feldenkrais Method practitioner, somatic movement teacher, dancer and choreographer, www.lanua.org,

www.tomovefeldenkrais.lanua.org

The Feldenkrais Method was developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais – scientist, physicist, engineer and martial artist, who synthesized insights from physics, motor development, bio-mechanics, psychology, neurology and martial arts.

The method offers a process of learning through movement, sensing, thinking and imagining to free us from habitual patterns and allow new possibilities to emerge. Through this work we can improve mobility and increase energy and enjoyment in our activities.

The method has two strands: Group lessons called Awareness Through Movement and Functional Integration which are one-to-one lessons. The lessons consist of verbally directed movement sequences, which are comfortable and easy and which gradually evolve into movements of greater range and complexity. Through the learning process you will be able to find new ways of moving while increasing sensitivity and improving efficiency. This workshop will offer an introduction to the method and a practical experience. Please bring enough layers of warm clothes and a blanket/mat to lie on.

Merav has been studying movement and somatics for 20 years and integrating her experience and understanding in her work as dancer, dance maker and teacher. Though usually her teaching approach combines somatics, improvisation and contact improvisation in her own unique way and experience, in this workshop the focus will be on The Feldenkrais Method.

1pm-2pm: Lunch.

2pm-3.20pm: Sarah Bonner-Morgan: From Wu Chi to T’ai Chi and back again - Yin and Yang in everyday life.

All martial arts provide a tremendous practice for bringing us back to the present moment and the reality of a situation. By quietening our minds of the ‘ten thousand things’ which jangle our lives and nervous systems we return to a state of Wu Chi or emptiness - a space for presence, a chance for our spirits to rise and our awareness to grow. The traditional flowing movements of T’ai Chi emerge from Wu Chi and Wu Chi is the place we return to.

Sarah has been studying the Taoist martial arts for over 25 years, initially T’ai Chi and latterly Pa Kua and Hsing Yi. Her fascination, which spills over into her work as an Alexander Technique teacher, is with Wu Chi – the condition of emptiness which precedes all movement.

3.20pm-3.40pm: Break.

Cost: £25/£20 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.

Event: The 2013 Middle East Festival Forum on Debt, Accountability and Community.

Speaker: John Rogers, storyteller, teacher and specialist in community economic development.
Title: Who owes the Earth? The Story of People, Planet and Debt.
Chair: The Rt Revd Brian Smith, former Bishop of Edinburgh.
Forum on Debt, Accountability and Community.
Forum Panellists: Lorraine Currie is currently the Head of International Programmes at SCIAF; Alastair McIntosh, campaigning academic, speaker, writer, poet and broadcaster; Alys Mumford, Campaign Director, Jubilee Scotland.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Saturday 16 March 2013.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: Accelerating climate change, loss of species, population growth, energy and finance crises: what on earth is going on?

We only have one habitable planet that we know of. What do we owe to life? What is healthy or unhealthy growth? How can we understand debt in the context of real limits to growth? What kind of economics is possible in a ‘no-growth’ world? What’s the problem with most money?

What do various traditions have to say about these questions: ecological science, economics, native cultures, religious and spiritual wisdom?

John Rogers, a storyteller, teacher and specialist in community economic development, conjures up mystical exponentials, mad economists and magical mycelia to ridicule the naked emperor and break the spell of growth.

Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.

Event: Mindful Peace Walk.

Venue: The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR.
Date: Sunday 17 March 2013.
Time: 9.30am-11am, meet at West Gate entrance to the John Hope Gateway, Arboretum Place, at 9.30am.
(Introduction to mindful walking at 9.45am and walk begins at 10am). No access from East Gate.
Event Description: This silent walking meditation is an open event. It will be led by the lay members of the Edinburgh Sangha of the Community of Interbeing, who follow the practice and teachings of Zen Buddhist Master, Thich Nhat Hanh. The walk begins at the John Hope Gateway of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Before the walk begins there will be a brief introduction to mindful walking as meditation practice. This is not a protest or a campaigning event, so please do not use any banners. Children are welcome when accompanied by adults. Please remember to wrap up warmly.
‘We walk just for walking. We walk with freedom and solidity, no longer in a hurry. Let us enjoy every step we make.’ Thich Nhat Hanh.

Cost: Admission Free. Just come along on the day. For further information:
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.

Event: Day Workshop: LOVINO – the Game of Exchange.

Facilitator: John Rogers, storyteller, teacher and specialist in community economic development.
Venue: Islay Room, The Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB.
Date: Sunday 17 March 2013.
Time: Registration: 9.30am-10am. Workshop: 10am-5pm.
Event Description: LOVINO is an interactive, experiential workshop designed to lead us from our personal daily experiences of exchange to deeper reflections on the role of the gift, money and economics in our lives and societies.

Participants work with these four words: LOVE – FAVOURS – MARKET - CASINO

We start with the challenge of meeting our daily needs by offering something in the MARKET and reflect on how that causes us to act in line with our values or in conflict with them. We think about how the global CASINO economy of speculation has grown out of the market and how it distorts or destroys beneficial economic activity. Then we consider how the market and casino could not exist without the world of the gift or FAVOURS in family and community. Finally, we consider LOVE as the free gift of life itself and the call to universal compassion.

Participants are encouraged to ground their reflections in personal experience, avoid theorising and grow together into new possibilities for compassionate living in the gift.

John Rogers has worked as an actor, storyteller, teacher, trainer and consultant for 30 years. He has a special interest in local community development through local currencies and is co-author with Margrit Kennedy and Bernard Lietaer of “People Money – the Promise of Regional Currencies,” published by Triarchy Press in June 2012. He lives in Germany where he runs the People Money Workshop, tells stories in German and English, writes books, tells bad jokes to his wife Sitara and plays with his dogs Hanni and Lilo.

Cost: £25/£20 (Concessions). For a Registration Form:
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.


Event: The 2013 Middle East Festival Forum on Honour, Shame and the Military in the Middle East and North Africa.

Speaker: Dr George R Wilkes, Director, Project on Religion and Ethics in the Making of War and Peace, the University of Edinburgh.
Title: When armed forces kill civilians: Honour, Shame and the Military in the Middle East and North Africa.
Chair: Prof Douglas Cairns, Chair of Classics in the University of Edinburgh.
Forum on Honour, Shame and the Military in the Middle East and North Africa.
Forum Panellists: Megan Bastick is a Gender and Security Fellow with the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces; Hilary Cornish, Doctoral Researcher, Politics and International Relations and Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World, School of Social and Political Science, the University of Edinburgh; Dr Claire Duncanson, Lecturer in International Relations, the University of Edinburgh; Keith Hammond teaches Philosophy and Middle East Studies in the Open Studies of the University of Glasgow.
Venue: Sanctuary, Augustine United Church, 41 George IV Bridge, Edinburgh, EH1 1EL.
Date: Sunday 17 March 2013.
Time: Registration: 6.30pm-7pm. Discussion/Forum: 7pm-9pm.
Event Description: Why are armed forces killing civilians in the Middle East and North Africa today? Is this a political, cultural or professional military problem? This forum looks at attempts to address this, through political and judicial processes, through ethics education, and through a focus on culturally significant codes of behaviour. Do religious, professional or other traditional codes of honour and shame make a difference to the behaviour of military personnel? Are professionals asking the right questions about the breakdown of protection for non-combatants - and how much do the answers beg questions about our own understanding, or misunderstanding, about armed conflicts in our neighbourhood?

George Wilkes directs the Project on Religion and Ethics in the Making of War and Peace at the University of Edinburgh, and has lectured at Cambridge, Leuven and Birmingham universities. He was a Fellow at St Edmunds College, Cambridge, from 2005 to 2010, and is engaged with a range of organisations involved in humanitarian, peace-building and interreligious relations.

Cost: £5/£3 (Concessions) on the door on the night.
Contact: Neill Walker, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , 0131 331 4469.