A month as a staff at Kalikalos

The past month I have been a staff member at Kalikalos in Kissos and it has been a fantastic experience.  Not only is the place wonderful, situated in the Pilion with warm weather and clear blue local beaches, it also has a lovely atmosphere created by the constantly shifting groups of people and the community feeling that it creates.  Within the community there is a sense of learning, understanding and achievement in overcoming the obstacles that arise when people come together.  We spend some quality time working, doing various jobs such as preparing meals, cleaning and gardening, both staff and guests and it definitely has broaden my understanding on working as an individual and as member of a group often on the same task.  


The past 3 weeks have been dedicated to the family experience workshops and the atmosphere has been very different having all the children around.  It has been a great experience, full of fun activities such as Kalikalos talent show, a puppet show and trips to the beach.  


The work has been relaxed and each member of staff can up to an extent work what suits them and it never feels forced which results in a great working atmosphere and a more positive will to work.  The community is also very understanding and there has been a sense of team work between staff and guests, for example the kids did some signs and instructions needed around the place as an art project.  I was also very pleased to see that when I arranged a community meeting about an issue that was very dear to me that there was a very good attendance and interest shown.


Overall the experience has been very pleasant, widened my horizon and I have learnt a lot from the few difficulties that I have faced during my stay.  Open mind and positivity is all that is needed to enjoy the stay at Kalikalos.


Tinna 

Earth Awareness Day at Kalikalos

Here is a photo of our third week in this summer session of the Kalikalos Family Experience, each one so totally different from the last, as new people come and those who have completed their time depart. The community here at Kalikalos is a kaleidescope of constantly changing colours and patterns, yet always maintaining its circular shape as we meet in a circle each morning to attune together and create our daily rhythms. Workshop, lunch, beach & swimming, evening jobs such as tending the garden, feeding the baby ducklings, preparing dinner, then all meeting up for a wonderful meal every night under the stars in a perfect climate, 1500 feet up the verdant mountains overlooking the azure blue Aegean sea. Could it be more perfect?

The picture shows Ida from Cameroon with her French husband Gilles and children, Joahhan and Ilse, who all live in Paris; Serena Gaia, an Italian professor of Humanities from the |University of Puerto Rico; and my own kids, Anya, Rose and Michael from Forres. This week we also have the serene and sensitive Giacomo from Italy, Kathy from Omega Institute in NY, Lilian from Norway, Tinna from Iceland, partner Callum from Scotland, Hernan from Argentina, Patch from Glasgow, and of course founder Jock who calls himself a new-age Gypsy. You get the picture! An international holistic summer school inspired by Findhorn principles, in the land of the Heroes & Gods of Greek mythology. We have created our own myths from our life stories and inhabited them with Argonauts, dragons fairies and angels, constructed puppets of super powered creatures and turned them into improvised plays. We sang, danced, laughed and performed a hilarious show at the end of our first fortnight and look forward to the magnificent life size marionette show this final week.

Suffering a slipped disc and sciatica, I came here three weeks ago in a wheelchair with packs of morphine and am leaving at the end of this week, walking, dancing even, and drug free—a testament to the healing power of Pelion, the mountain where the healer Chiron the Centaur brought up Achilles in safety.  As I have healed myself in the sunshine, healthy food and hearty company, we send our invocation for the world to be healed itself. May the healing power of the community we have formed here radiate outwards as in the paintings we made of the planet on Earth Awareness day—pictures of the globe surrounded by love, flowers and healing prayers.

It has been a beautiful time for my own family to bond together in an idyllic setting with the friends they made last year, our own Achilles and others who Facebook each other all year and then arrange meetings in different countries until we meet again and swim, sing and dance together in our family experience, a family ever greater and wider than the smaller ones we were born into. As Rose said, “I don’t feel I come from any country, I just come from Planet Earth.”

Family experience weeks in Kalikalos and its sister community Anilio, will run though the school holidays next summer. Travel here is getting easier ever year as Ryanair and Monarch Air are now serving Volos, and the journey itself is an adventure.  You are welcome to join us!  

Dorota Owen, Forres  

kalikalos for kids!

hey this is rose here! im 14 and this is my second year coming to kalikalos and staying as a community and guest, i love it so much that i beg my mum to come every year. You make lots of new friends and keep old ones too, so every year you come back sometimes its the same or new people and its great catching up and seeing everyone and also meeting new friends. during the day we go down to the beach, its so great! the sea, sun & sand just looks like a holiday from heaven! and then after a relaxing swim in the sea or ice cream from the bar, its a car journey up the mountains and home again. the view from the building is gorgeous! the sunrise and sunset is like no other in greece, for we are very high up! its a great place to learn about community and service, the kids all get to help out and cook and wash up sometimes gardening too! the food is brilliant too, very healthy and nutricious. Every Tuesday its taverna night! one of my favourite nights! because every body gets dressed up and goes to the taverna to have an evening meal, usually the kids sit on a table and have yummy chips and meat! then we split from the adults (doing there usual chatting and dinner gossiping) and go for a run around or a place of our own to chat. we also have puppet making and art time and there are a few computers (if you donate some money) to catch up with friends and check your facebook! so over all im having a great time and i recomend it to just about everyone and anyone! over and out!

Gaia and Amorous Resources

Hi everyone!

This is Serena, a.k.a. Gaia, writing from Kalikalos, a holistic community in Kissos, on Mount Pelion, Greece.

This is a stop in my journey for two main reasons: wanting to become acquainted with the mythologies of my childhood, and wanting to bring the ideas and practices of poly-amory, multiple loves, to people and communities already attuned to holistic styles of living.

Here's a quick report from part one, an introduction to the relation between Gaia, the concept of a living planet, and amorous resources, resources of love that we can share amorously if we learn a little bit about what poly people do.

We had scheduled this intro for the Wednesday morning slot, on August 4, 2010, during the Family Experience Week, for participants in two campuses, Kalikalos, where I am staying, and Anilio, a nearby village in the same area. 

It was announced the previous evening at a wonderful taverna dinner, where people responded with a certain enthusiasm. Parallel activities for children and teen-agers were arranged, even though we also opened the option for their participation too. 

The next day almost the whole community showed up. We had prepared the Round House, a pretty summer building made of pine, canvas, and bamboo. Over twenty people showed up, everyone with their own dosage of curiosity and enthusiasm.

The conversation went very smoothly, with everyone responding eagerly. "When people mention Gaia, what comes up for you? What comes up when you hear polyamory? And, last but not least, the million dollar question: jealousy?" The presentation unfolded from the diverse responses the group generated. And at the end it was decided to offer another session, with bioenergetic exercises that help people experience 'compersion,' in little increments. It was amazing how quickly this group got the idea of what compersion is. It was a new word for them, initially proposed as 'the opposite of jealousy.' They came up with a parallel definition that compares it to the Buddhist concept of Maddhitta, or the joy of rejoicing in someone else's joy. 

Individual coaching sessions were also offered, and one was scheduled right after the meeting. It was a joy to share my knowledge and experience with this brave woman from the UK, a gift to listen to her story and empathize with her situation and predicament. Often, the internalized idea that monogamy is superior is the real obstacle to the unfolding of a happy and free amorous life. I do hope that obstacle was at least temporarily removed from her mind, at least for the time being . . . . so that her path of personal and spiritual growth can naturally unfold.

So this group really gave me a sense of wider possibility: I do feel that it is my mission on this planet to open up all kinds of holistic communities to the ideas and practices of poly love styles. One of my two purposes for being here in Greece is now very tangible and real. As for the other one, well . . . it was so magical to mention Gea, or Gaia, on the very land where this concept was created, in times so ancient that it is sometimes difficult to find their traces on the land that hosted them about three thousand years ago. Greece has been colonized and culturally reorganized various times since, by the Orthodox Christians, the Ottoman Turks, and more. 

Still . . . there was one participant in the group who is originally from Greece. She often functions as an interpreter for the English-speaking group with local people. When I mentioned the Titans, or first generation of Greek deities, that were not people but forces of nature that one would interpret, second, and revere rather than control, it was clear that she knew what I was talking about. She even gave us the name of Gea spelled and prononuced in Greek! I wish I could reproduce it here, but it will have to be for some other time, since I'm too ignorant to remember the letters of the Greek alphabet she used!

In any event, it was great to see that what I came up with in relation to Greek mythology made sense to a person who was educated in modern Greece. It must be real then, and not just a fantasy of yours truly. The day unfolded with people silently metabolizing the new ideas. Facilitator extraordinaire Dorota Owen showed great enthusiasm. One could observe the afterglow on people's faces at dinner. 

And on this note, my blog entry will come to a conclusion. I definitely will come back to Kalikalos for more summers and more groups. I also highly recommend these vacations. The cool air of a mid-mountain village, a nice residence, a cozy holistic community, access to fabulous beaches, moderate prices and the option of offering services, a sense of family, and healthy vegetarian food. What else could one expect from a vacation in Greece?!

For anyone reading this blog, and interested in knowing more about polyamory and holism, I recommend my latest book, Gaia and the New Politics of Love. Discount buy here.

For those interested in my life as Gaia, the experiment that lead to the Gaian awareness I have today, I recommend Eros: A Journey of Multiple Loves. Discount buy here.

Fianally, for those interested in fabulous holistic vacations in Greece, I recommend the Kalikalos Blog, http://kalikalos.blogspot.com, and Website http://www.kalikalos.com. Make sure you stay up to date on what's coming up and what they are doing!

Namaste,

Gaia,

a.k.a. Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio, PhD
author of Gaia and the New Politics of Love, a Silver Winner for the 2010 Nautilus Award in Cosmology and New Science, and of
Eros: A Journey of Multiple Loves, a Lambda finalist for Bisexuality in 2007

blog from Tracy

I arrived here at the Kalikalos Centre in Greece 23rd July to take part in a dynamic governance (sociocracy) training event with Emile Van Dantzig. So I found myself in a small community of people of all ages in the hills of Pilion a very short walk from the beautiful traditional village of Kissos. Immediately on arrival, I was welcomed and had a sense of connection with the place and the people.

During the opening circle of the whole community, which included our group, another group who were attending Liz Foster’s event “Loving your Shadow” and those staying here for community experience, we were asked by Jock,if we would like to share our talents with the group during our stay.

Reiki, Indian Head Massage, Language, guitar tutoring and magic were offered. I offered phobia cures and to lead a community Biodanza session for the whole group.

I received an overwhelming response from everyone that they would love to dance and also many spoke to me individually about their anxieties about expressing themselves freely in dance.

I felt excited and anxious. Excited at offering this wonderful way of expressing ourselves and coming together as a community group in the celebration of life and anxious as the group was large, over 25 people of all ages and abilities.
I sensed a need for fun, creativity, playfulness, coming together, sensitivity, with openness and engagement. I was taken to Spiti ton Kentavron (the House of the Centaur) which is the other centre here to see the wonderful open airy space for dance and movement. I plugged in my ipod and the music filled the space beautifully. I just needed to plan it now and I did!

For around two hours on Wednesday evening in the space at Spiti ton Kentavron we danced energetically, vibrantly, expressively, softly, responsively. Having the opportunity to offer this was wonderful for me. I observed moments between individually and the group that touched me deeply. During one dance which involved movement together with our hands. I observed two mothers with their daughters united in affective heart connections and it was as if there was a reverence radiating from their small group formation.

Another dance that touched me deeply was between a mother and her young daughter of just 7 years where with just one finger connecting them they moved together in absolute connection to the soft harmonies.
|These two centres are great places working together offering holistic community in a sustainable environment where people can express themselves creatively. The events that are delivered here are those which help us develop in ways that maybe we never imagined were possible….Thanks for this…..

I would recommend a stay here to anyone and maybe see some of you again next year ….I look forward to dancing through life with you all.

Much love Tracy
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