11041 :: Complementary Currency :: 08.24.11

Date :: 08.24.11
Time :: 7:00-11:00pm
Location :: Downtown Independent Theater| 251 S. Main St. LA 90012
Facebook Link :: Click Here
Price :: $10 in Advance | $15 at the door | $5 Student
Registration :: Click Here


Mindshare LA & Project Butterfly are Proud to Present:
The State of Complementary Currency and Transaction

"The only currency I value is the coin of the spirit."
-Kinky Friedman

How we trade with one another is integral to getting getting work done and building communities. Throughout history, markets and technology have spurred the innovation of how money changes hands. As times are changing, new exchange systems are popping up, including digital currency such as Bitcoin and community bartering systems built on social capital. On August 24th, come join Mindshare LA and Project Butterfly to discuss the future of exchange with a panel of currency innovators.

7:00pm :: Doors, Food & Happy Hour 1/2 Priced Drinks
Mix and mingle with the most exciting minds of LA!
The Little Cart will be serving up delicious treats from 6:45pm onward.

8:00pm :: Program includes:
Hollis Doherty / Screenwriter and Currency Activist
Micki Krimmel / Founder & CEO, NeighborGoods
Heather Schlegel / Futurist
Sanjay Sabnani / CEO, CrowdGather, Inc.

Objectives:
* To explore the past, present & future of alternative currencies based around social and digital exchange by way of a panel and audience discussion;
* To provide an opportunity for attendees to interact with each other;
* To debut a skill-sharing interface with which attendees can communicate their needs and offers to each other.

This will be both a panel discussion and experiential practice (discussing your needs and offers with others).

9:30pm - 11:00pm :: Skill-sharing, Mingling & Rooftop Drinks
Join us on the splendid roof top of the downtown Independent for drinks, surrounded by the downtown LA sky line.

More about the Panelists:


Hollis Doherty is a writer, actress, and currency activist. A lifelong passion for protecting the Earth's natural resources led her to a Biology degree at the University of Colorado. When she recently discovered the true story of the currency experiment in Woergl, Austria, which happened during the Great Depression, she flew there to research and ultimately write a screenplay, "The Miracle in Woergl", currently in pre-production. She believes that our sustainability problems are a systemic result of a faulty monetary mechanism, and that reorganizing the tools of human exchange will ultimately provide the solutions we need from a causal, and not result oriented basis.


Micki Krimmel is the founder and CEO of NeighborGoods.net where neighbors save money and resources by sharing goods and skills in a safe community.

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Heather Schlegel is a futurist, technologist, and cacophonist. She has helped build and launch over 50 Internet products in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles since 1996. Her research projects include alternate/virtual currencies and transactions; the impact of technology on identity creation and positive wildcards. Schlegel is primarily known by her online moniker, heathervescent, where she explores the intersection of technology, culture and identity.


Sanjay Sabnani is the Chairman and CEO of CrowdGather, Inc. Sanjay is a serial entrepreneur and business strategist with a long-standing passion for the Internet and Technology industry and online network community building. Sabnani has been an active proponent of message boards since 2002, when he acquired General Mayhem, his first message board community. He continued acquiring forums until he decided that it was time to focus on turning this portfolio into a business with the launch of CrowdGather in 2008. CrowdGather's forum network has grown to over 150 million monthly pageviews and 15 million monthly unique visitors. CrowdGather is working on developing SpreadTrust: a secure two-factor authenticated, cloud-based wallet for bitcoins which should be released by the end of the year.

Thank you to our Community Partners ::

Burbank Green Alliance :: www.BurbankGreenAlliance.org


Echo Park Time Bank


Evolver LA


Gather Green


Green Business Networking


The Hub LA


LA Permaculture Guild & Earthflow Design Works

11040 :: Gnawa Trance & Dance :: 08.17.11

Date :: 17 AUG 2011
Time :: Thurs 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Location :: Project Butterfly Loft | 821 Traction Ave. #108 LA 90013
Facebook Invite :: Click Here
Tuition :: S15 in Advance | $20 at the Door
Registration :: Click Here

An introductory session to Gnawa Trance & Dance
with Moroccan Healer Lyna Monfray

Ecstatic communing through dance can reveal hidden thresholds though which we may gain passage to visionary experiences ancient and timeless. Through intention setting and radical trust of our bodies' innate wisdom, we can connect to an inner fire or energy that is vital and purifying. Being initiated into dance as a healing and spirituality modality is gracefully transformative.

Lyna, a noted Moroccan healer deeply practiced in leading ecstatic dance rituals, will present a rare introductory session about this Sufi dance form to those unable to frequently travel to Morocco in order to work with her. Those seeking a deeper understanding of this experience are especially encouraged to attend.

Lyna Monfray is directly descended from the Gnawa Brotherhood, she was introduced to the rhythms and rituals of these masters of sound as a very young girl. From regions south of the Sahara, the Gnawas represent, one of the Sufi brotherhoods, a branch of healer musicians. They use musical rhythms to awaken and gradually raise the vibratory level of our senses and bodies.

Lyna will also speak about a two day TRANCE and DANCE workshop (August 20th-21st) she will facilitate in an enchanting home in the Hollywood Hills. This workshop is an exceptional opportunity to be expertly led by into ritual possession through elusive trance states. Deep healing is induced within participants through altering consciousness with hypnotic rhythms and ecstatic dancing.

11036 :: Pablo Amaringo :: 08.16.11

Date :: 16 AUG 2011
Time :: Tuesday :: 7:00pm - 9:30pm
Location :: Project Butterfly Loft | 821 Traction Ave. #108 LA 90013
Tuition :: $10
Registration :: CLICK HERE

The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo
presentation & booksigning by co-author Howard G. Charing

Recognized as one of the world's great visionary artists, Pablo Amaringo was renowned for his intricate, colorful paintings inspired by his shamanic visions. A master communicator of the ayahuasca experience--where snakes, jaguars, subterranean beings, celestial palaces, aliens, and spacecraft all converge--Amaringo's art presents a doorway to the transcendent worlds of ayahuasca intended for contemplation, meditation, and inspiration.

Illustrating the evolution of his intricate and colorful art, this book contains 47 full-color reproductions of Amaringo's latest works with detailed explorations of the rich Amazonian mythology underlying each painting. Through their longstanding relationship with Amaringo, coauthors Charing and Cloudsley are able to share the personal stories behind his visions and experiences with Amazonian people and folklore, capturing Amaringo's powerful ecological and spiritual message through his art and words.

With contributions by Graham Hancock, Jeremy Narby, Robert Venosa, Dennis McKenna, Stephan Beyer, and Jan Kounen, this book brings the ayahuasca experience to life as we travel on Amaringo's visionary brush and palette.



About the Authors of The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo ::
Pablo Amaringo (1938-2009) trained as a curandero in the Amazon, healing himself and others from the age of ten, but retired in 1977 to become a full-time painter and art teacher at his Usko-Ayar school in Pucullpa, Peru. The author of Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman, his art has been displayed throughout the world. Howard G. Charing is a director of the Eagle Wing's Centre for Contemporary Shamanism and the co-author of Plant Spirit Shamanism. Peter Cloudsley is a musicologist, writer, and the founder of the Amazon Retreat Centre in Peru.


Howard G. Charing & Pablo Amaringo
Since the late 90's, Howard G. Charing has organised journeys to the Amazon Rainforest and the Andes to work with the shamans and the curanderos 'jungle doctors' (healing and visionary plants) of this area. He has written numerous articles, many with original source interviews about the Amazonian plant medicines, and has worked with some of the most respected shamans in the region. He is co-author of 'Plant Spirit Shamanism', published by Destiny Books (USA) 2006.

Kombucha poured and provided by Hannah Crum of Kombucha Kamp


Sponsored in part by Evolver.net & Reality Sandwich

11039 :: Awakening the Feminine :: 08.18.11

Dear All,
We apologize for the short notice but Thursday's event has been postponed until Saturday, September 17th. Reena will be offering a very special Awakening the Feminine Half Day workshop that has been in much demand. More information coming soon! Please save the date. Contact Reena for more information at reenaddesai@gmail.com.

Date :: 08.18.11 :: POSTPONED
Time :: 7:30-9:30pm
Location :: PB Loft | 821 Traction Ave. #108 LA, CA 90013
Facebook Invite :: Click Here
Donation :: $10 in Advance | $15 at the door
Questions :: reenaddesai@gmail.com


Awakening the Feminine
An Introduction to Ancient Feminine Knowledge for Modern Life
for women only

We live in a very special moment in time, a time of great Feminine Awakening! After centuries of living in a masculine society, women feel a deep inner calling to return to our truest nature, to our beauty, grace and power.

Exactly at this moment in time, ancient sources of feminine knowledge are returning back to modern life to guide us into this Awakening. Some of the most authentic sources of feminine knowledge and development come to us from Ancient India, a time in which women were the cultural pillars of society and worshipped as goddesses.

This workshop will be an introduction to ancient, authentic feminine knowledge of India and the East. We will specifically introduce a core methodology based in Awakening and Developing a woman’s feminine essence and how to practically apply this system in daily life. Based in ancient principles, this methodology has been developed for more than 20 years adapting to the realities of modern life. Thousands of women around the world have benefitted from this system, experiencing greater beauty, success, harmonious relationships and connection to their highest calling.

We welcome you to join a community of sisters to honor your highest selves and create a field of support and transformation. Be prepared to move by dressing in comfortable clothing you feel beautiful in!


Reena Desai bridges the world of personal and social transformation through feminine empowerment work.Connected to the ancient feminine traditions of India, she coaches women in how to open and live authentically in their feminine essence as the source of their greatest inner development, external success and service to society. Based in LA, she travels throughout the US and India coaching women and leading workshops.

“Reena's way, background and beauty made her the perfect one to bring forth these principles. I feel energized and different about myself and my beauty as a woman.” Lyn Hicks, Entrepreneur

11037 :: Yawanawa Project Fundraiser :: 08.11.11

Date :: 08.11.11
Time :: 7:00-9:30pm
Location :: PB Loft | 821 Traction Ave. #108 LA, CA 90013
Donation :: $20 in Advance | $25 at the door
Registration :: Click Here

Facebook Invite

Yawanawa Project Fundraiser
with Paulo Roberto Silva e Souza
an Introduction by Hartmut Neven
& an Opening Invocation by Sunny Solwind

The Yawanawa Project presents an innovative approach to preserve an indigenous culture and the Amazonian rain forests it depends on. The project was started by a group of people who look at indigenous entheogenic medicines with diverse neurobiological, pharmacological, anthropological or spiritual interests but who share the conviction that the knowledge of how to safely provide for entheogenic experiences ought to be regarded as world cultural heritage. This shared appreciation allows participants with very different backgrounds, indigenous or urban and from various countries, to find common ground in working together towards the preservation of this heritage. We have the hope that this expertise can be monetized and form a revenue stream for the Yawanawa in a way that will allow the tribe to continue a lifestyle that sustains their environment. In part we arrived at this approach by studying various alternative models of aid that have been tried before but that failed. An important aspect of this project will be to entice at least a few members of the tribe's younger generation to devote themselves to learn the "profession" of a shaman because otherwise the tribe will lose this living tradition that has survived millennia.

The presentations will address the various aspects of the project, talk about the Yawanawa tribe and their homeland, the most important medicinal and sacramental plants, make the case why this knowledge is worth preserving, how it has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of the working of the human mind and report on the progress the project has made so far.


Paulo Roberto Silva e Souza received his degree in psychology from the University Gama Filho in Rio de Janeiro and began his professional carrier as a psychologist at the Pinel Hospital Suicide Prevention Center and the Ana Freud Clinic and Health Center Saint Romain in Rio de Janeiro. In 1976 he had first experiences with Santo Daime in Amazonia and was initiated by Padrinho Sebastiao. In 1982 he founded the first Santo Daime church outside of the Amazon in Rio de Janeiro which he still leads today. In 1985 he organized and led a multidisciplinary commission for the Brazilian government that conducted scientific research on the use of sacramental plants in the Acre and Amazonas states which led to the legalization of the church of Santo Daime in Brazil. As psychotherapist and shaman he introduced Daime ceremonies to 14 countries.
In 1989 Paulo worked with IBAMA, the Brazilian Environmental Protection Agency, to preserve 1.6 million acres of national forests in the state of Amazonas, now the National Forests Mapiá, Inauini, and Purus. In conjunction with the UNEP-United Nations Environmental Program he implemented projects of environmental protection, forest extension and development for the Amazon. In 1994 he created the first National Heritage Private Reservation in Rio de Janeiro. He was a guest lecturer at Harvard University on environmental problems and solutions in Amazonia. Since 2008 he has been working on the project Eco Park Topo da Mata in the Natural Heritage Private Reservation.


Hartmut Neven studied Physics and Economics in Köln, Paris, Tübingen, Aachen, Jerusalem and Brazil. He wrote his Master thesis on a neuronal model of object recognition at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics. In 1996 he received his Ph.D. from the Institute for Neuroinformatics at the Ruhr University in Bochum, Germany, for a thesis on "Dynamics for vision-guided autonomous mobile robots". Dr. Neven was assistant professor of computer science at the University of Southern California at the Laboratory for Biological and Computational Vision. Later he returned as the head of the Laboratory for Human-Machine Interfaces at USC’s Information Sciences Institute. Neven co-founded two companies, Eyematic for which he served as CTO and Neven Vision which he initially led as CEO. Today he is director of engineering at Google where he manages a team responsible for advancing Google’s visual search technologies. Teams led by Neven have repeatedly won top scores in government sponsored tests designed to determine the most accurate face recognition software. In collaboration with D-Wave he developed the first image recognition system based on quantum algorithms which was demonstrated at SuperComputing07.


Sunny Solwind is an artist and a musician. His work echoes universal and archetypal themes that celebrate our connections to nature, the Divine and each other. He focuses on shamanic & ritualistic traditional and contemporary music, utilizing sound as a tool for transformation and honoring the Sacred. His offerings are reminders, perhaps portals that connect us to the Divine within ourselves, and that touch, awaken and heal that place within each person that wants to shine. www.solwindfeather.com

11034 :: Deeksha :: 08.06-07.11

Date :: 6-7 AUG 2011
Time :: SAT :: 10:00am-10:00pm | SUN :: 10:00am- 6:00pm
Location :: Project Butterfly Loft | 821 Traction Ave. #108 LA 90013
Tuition ::
Advanced Registration :: $195
Oneness Blessing Givers :: $95
Door Price :: $225 at the door
Registration :: Advanced - Givers

Deeksha :: "Oneness Awakening" with Jesse Somers

Experience Powerful Processes for Awakening
Explore the Oneness Phenomenon & meet the Kalki Avatar
Be Initiated to Give the Oneness Blessing

The Oneness Blessing or "Deeksha" is non-denominational gift of Divine grace, intended to benefit each one's unique spiritual growth & healing, whatever their chosen spiritual path. This Deeksha is a hands-on transfer of Divine Energy that initiates a profound process of personal discovery & awakening into higher states of consciousness. The process activates the Kundalini energy & facilitates the neuro-biological shift that is necessary for ongoing Spiritual Awakening.

2012 has long been prophesied as a time of tremendous potential for awakening human consciousness. In India 2011/2012 is seen as the timeframe when the consciousness of the Kalki Avatar will express as a powerful 'Oneness Phenomenon', making Enlightenment & God Realization possible for sincere spiritual warriors everywhere.

The Oneness Awakening course is designed to connect you with this Oneness Phenomenon & to initiate you to be able to transmit its powerful Deeksha energy of transformation to others. During the weekend we will be meditating via live webcast with Sri Bhagavan, founder of Oneness University, India. We will experience powerful practices for awakening, explore the Oneness Phenomenon in depth & connect with the consciousness of the Kalki Avatar directly.



Oneness Guide Doug Bentley will also join us live from Oneness University, India for an interactive teaching session via Skype. Doug is a resident monk at the University, beloved for his refreshing down-to-earth way of sharing insights from his own experience.



The weekend is facilitated by Jesse Somers, MA, Certified Oneness Trainer. Jesse is a lifelong student of yoga & meditation & has been trained at Oneness University, India to initiate people in the Oneness Awakening process.

11038 :: Intro to Deeksha

Date :: begins Wednesday Aug 3rd excluding August 17th
Time :: 8:00pm - 9:30pm PST
Location :: PB Loft | 821 Traction Ave. #108 LA,90013
Donation :: $10 | No one turned away for lack of funds
Facebook :: Click Here
RSVP :: rsvp@projectbutterfly.org
Registration :: Click Here

Weekly Deeksha [starting 3 Aug excluding 17 Aug]
hosted by Kay Moonstar
3 Aug special satsang with Jesse Somers

Deeksha or The Oneness Blessing is a hands-on transfer of divine energy that initiates a profound journey into higher states of consciousness and creates the neurobiological shift that is necessary for ongoing spiritual awakening in the individual.

The Oneness Blessing results in a growth in consciousness. It is the phenomenon behind the work of Oneness. It is an act of energy transfer by touch or by the power of intent.

The Oneness Blessing is a non-denominational experience that transfers physical energy, awakening our connection with the oneness in everything, allowing each of us to deepen our relationship with those we love, with ourselves, with strangers and with our creator.