"Examining the Sharing Vision in the Transition Movement" – Values > Customs > Initiations > Traditions > New Mythology ("the Sequence"). By Willi Paul, Planetshifter.com Media

' Rituals and taboos play an important role in human lives and help reinforce norms, behaviors, relationships and also in - rites of passage, holidays, political rituals, and even daily actions that can be redirected from moments that stimulate consumption to those that reconnect people with the planet and remind them of their dependence on Earth for continued well-being.'

Prelude –

How does Transition create new holidays and celebrations? Enjoy the transition tales 3 video interviews.

Intro –

First, we learn to create and share customs and traditions from family and key institutions. The supportive idea is that we practice to raise the flag or pick apples with the Scout troop in the Fall. We can develop and practice new values with in the Chaos Era. New traditions can lead to new mythology.

Resilience is now LinkedIn jargon but is a critical community building glue and plays a role in each transition between the fives sequences (Values > Customs > Initiations > Traditions > New Mythology).

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Defining the Sequence Terms –

A personal value is an individual's absolute or relative and ethical value, the assumption of which can be the basis for ethical action. A value system is a set of consistent values and measures. A principle value is a foundation upon which other values and measures of integrity are based.

A Custom is an action or way of behaving that is usual and traditional among the people in a particular group or place.

Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense it can also signify a transformation in which the initiate is 'reborn' into a new role.

A tradition is a belief or behavior passed down within a group or society with symbolic meaning or special significance with origins in the past. A number of factors can exacerbate the loss of tradition, including industrialization, globalization, and the assimilation or marginalization of specific cultural groups.

New Mythology – as proposed by Willi Paul.

1. Para-normal

2. Universal struggle / message

3. Journey, Initiation, Hero / Community

4. Symbols

5. Alchemy

6. Nature is Sacred

7. Threat of apocalypse

8. Digital - Non-Digital Collision

9. Future-based

10. Permaculture and Transition

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Examining the Sharing Vision from the Tradition Movement -

Values > Customs > Initiations > Traditions > New Mythology + Symbols

New Personal & Family Sharing Values
Love Nature; Build community; resilience; Permaculture: Earth Care, People Care, Share the Excess
Symbols: Blueberry patch; Planet Earth; Saving ground water

New Local Sharing Customs (Routines)
Reuse / recycle; community exchanges; backyard gardens; bake sales, second hand clothes
Symbols: Good Will Store logo; Tables of free stuff

New Sharing Initiations (Passages)
Learning Quaker ways; Boycotts and protests; Permaculture: Building a Community Food Forest; Annual garage cleaning, Community water saving campaigns; Neighborhood Resilience Courses
Symbols: Occupy logo; Permaculture logo; Soil

New Global Traditions Sharing (Celebrations)
Sharing Expos; Opening / closing summer cabin; Christmas Tree cutting and decorating; Earth Day; Gay Pride Parade; Transition: Localization; World Music Day
Symbols: Tumble Weeds & Soil blowing away; Empty water reservoirs

New Sharing Myths (Universal Stories / Lessons)
"The Permaculture Potluck Café"; "Our Revolution Starts Here" – Little Free Library Network
Symbols: Community meal; Harvest gathering; Donation box

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Issues –

[ 1. ] We need new symbols now, called artifacts in the Myth Lab). New symbols as catalysts of change- esp. for children. Sharing by humans is connected to a deep care for Nature. Nature shares with us and we practice with each other.

[ 2. ] The 5 levels in the Sequence are a social scaffold, supporting other integrations and empowerment.

[ 3. ] Questions: Can new traditions cross national and religious boundaries in this bloody and fractious time?