Detail from Portal at Tagh-e-Bostan, Sassanian Holy Place, Kermanshah, Iran
Beginning in 1983, I traveled extensively around the world gathering knowledge
that I believe is critical to the well being of the planet and humanity as
we embark upon the new millennium. The focus of my travels and studies has
been two-fold. I have been concerned with the protection of the environment
and the health of the human bodymind. My travels have taken me to more than
80 countries where I have studied pilgrimage traditions, sacred sites, shamanic
practices, ecopsychology and the global awakening of spiritual consciousness.
Additionally, I have spent more than 30 years intensively practicing a wide
variety of movement and meditation forms. From all of these travels and studies
I have been gifted with a positive vision for the future, with practical knowledge
to assist in the manifestation of that vision, and with a burning desire to
live a life of service and leadership.
During the past 15 years I have begun communicating this knowledge by presenting
slide shows and movement meditation classes to more than 150,000 people in the
United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia. These presentations have become
highly attended and respected due to their reputation for social and environmental
relevance, spiritual inspiration and artistic beauty.
In the latter months of 1997, I placed the web site, www.sacredsites.com,
on the Internet. Since that time, more than six million people have visited the
site, often spending an hour or more viewing the photographs and reading the
detailed text. There has been an amazing outpouring of appreciation for this
web site and many people have expressed interest in assisting with the educational,
inspirational and leadership work that I am doing. The following writings give
a concise description of the nature and future of this work, and then list several
ways in which interested people may offer assistance with the work.
Ten-year plan: A general idea of where I am heading with my work
In the late autumn of 1984, at the sacred site of Izumo Taisha in Japan, I experienced
an extraordinary vision that indicated a broad outline of the long-term work
I would do with the sacred sites. There were two distinct phases to this work.
The first phase was a multi-year education that I would receive by visiting and
studying hundreds of sacred sites around the world (more details about my pilgrimage
journey may be found in Chapter One of my book, Places of Peace and Power, featured
on this web site).
The second phase of my work with the sacred sites concerns the communication
of the teachings I received to large numbers of people around the world. With
the completion of my twelfth pilgrimage and research journey in 2002, I moved
from the first phase of my work to the second. It has taken me eighteen years
to prepare for this second phase and I am greatly excited by its implications.
Simply stated, during the next 10-15 years I plan to serve a teaching and leadership
role in many hundreds of cities around the world. With the Sacred Sites photographs
and concepts, and with the Nomadics Movement Meditation techniques, I have two
excellent platforms for accessing a significant amount of global public attention.
With a brilliantly crafted strategy, I plan to positively influence many millions
of people across the planet. What are the essential messages that I hope to communicate
with this bold undertaking? Let me list and briefly explain them here.
I believe that there is a presence of power, a field of subtle energies at the
sacred sites and that these energies assist in the awakening and amplification
of spiritual consciousness. I believe that it is important for people to physically
journey to the power places and that people will intuitively know which sites
to visit by viewing the photographs and information I impart in my slide shows,
web site, videos and articles.
I believe in the practice of an earth-oriented meditation, whereby spiritually
conscious people visiting the sacred sites have a subtle energetic influence
on the sites and, by extension, on the vitality of the entire planet. At my slide
shows I teach a simple meditation technique (planetary acupuncture) that connects
people with the spirit of the living Earth and at the same time develops a lasting
sense of peace and well being in the heart and mind.
I believe that there is abundant, yet mostly untapped, wisdom, power and energy
within each and every human being. The question is how to access these qualities?
Based on my extensive studies and practices of mediation methods and athletic/dance
movements, I have developed a series of simple-to-learn techniques and exercises
that promote greater physical health and energy, increased body-mind awareness,
and a fuller utilization of both hemispheres of the brain. This information is
available on www.nomadics.net and www.sacredsites.com.
I believe that there is presently occurring a grand evolutionary process, manifest
everywhere upon this planet, of the awakening of human spirituality. This process
appears to be the result of a number of influences including long-term celestial
cycles, changing terrestrial energies, the evolutionary momentum of planetary
life, and the rapidly increasing level of social and environmental crisis all
across the globe. A fundamental effect of these influences is the development
in human beings of an increasing concern with the well being of the environment
and a corresponding awakening of inner spiritual consciousness. A growing number
of people are aware that this evolutionary process is occurring and that it is
rapidly gaining force as a socially transformative power.
I believe it is critically necessary to introduce information regarding the evolution
of consciousness into multiple and varied spectrums of human culture. Such ideas
create and catalyze a field of possibility for the increasing manifestation of
that evolved consciousness. Bold visionary thinking is a prerequisite of effective
social change. The communication of information regarding such subjects expresses
a powerful message of hope and inspiration, qualities much needed in our lately
sad and suffering world. Through my slide shows, Nomadics classes, web sites
and writings, I am able to discuss these ideas with a large number of people,
thereby contributing to the evolution of consciousness upon the planet.
I believe in the importance of people living lives of courage, truthfulness and
beauty. If we are awakened to the spiritual centrality of human life (and by
this I mean the recognition that life is for the cultivation of awareness and
the expression of wisdom, excellence, truth and love), then we have a responsibility
to act as beacons of that knowing to less awakened people in the world. In order
to assist in the evolution of consciousness it is vital that we awakened individuals
purposely become teachers and role models. Amongst a human population mostly
concerned with materialistic pursuits, our lives of positivity and environmental
awareness shine a much-needed light of inspiration and education.
At the most fundamental level, I am simply asking people to reflect on the nature
of their relationship with the physical world and with their own bodies. We have
our existence within these two domains: our body and the body of the Earth. It
is through the cultivation of a more harmonious and enlightened relationship
with these inner and outer worlds that we will achieve a restoration of human
sanity and environmental health. My two primary areas of knowledge specialization
serve to focus people's attention upon these domains: the body and the Earth.
Sharing these messages: some methods of communication
Let me explain a bit more about how I intend to access and influence a large
number of people around the world. First, consider the two subjects, or knowledge
areas, that I teach: the sacred sites/power places material and the Nomadics
exercise/meditation material. Each of these subjects appeals to a variety of
different special interest groups. For example, the sacred sites material appeals
to people interested in such subjects as mythology, archaeology, travel, religion,
art, architecture, earth mysteries, shamanism, spiritual realization and planetary
transformation. The Nomadics material appeals to dancers, athletes, doctors,
physical therapists, the elderly and those interested in fitness and good health.
Through communication with these special interest groups around the world, it
is possible to access, influence and activate an enormous number of people.
It is my intention to communicate with such a large number of people. During
the next 10 -15 years I plan to present Sacred Sites Slide Shows and Nomadics
classes in 500 of the largest cities in the world. People attending these events
will receive inspiration and practical methods to vitalize their own health and
that of the earth. Additionally, they will recognize themselves to be part of
a growing global community of active spiritual, social and environmental leaders.
My slide shows and Nomadics classes are like pebbles tossed into a lake; their
effects spreading out far and wide to contemporary culture.
These public presentations and the good will they develop are a primary component
of a supranational leadership platform that I am purposely and strategically
erecting. From this platform I hope to begin exerting a powerful global influence
over the coming years. Since my youth I have been deeply charged with a yearning
to express great beauty in the world. My background in spirituality and art,
in archaeology and ecology, and in health and athletics is coming together with
my high energy, my leadership instincts, and my transformative vision to create
a project of wonderful potential. I call this project Leadership as Art. If things
go the way my visions have indicated (which seems to be the case), then I hope
to help create a lovely piece of ‘social sculpture’ in the next ten
to twenty years.
Assistance that I currently need
During the past few years, an increasing number of people have expressed their
resonance with the work I am doing and have asked how they may become involvedor
lend assistance. The following paragraphs discuss various types of assistance
I currently need. To anyone reading these words that feels an inclination to
help, I welcome your questions, insights and correspondence. The best way to
contact me is via E-Mail
On going financial support
I am at a crossroad in my teaching and leadership work. I have wonderful information
to communicate, a great deal of personal energy, and a practiced ability at gathering
large audiences. What I need now is financial assistance so that I may take my
work to the next level of public communication. I am speaking about partnership
here. I am committed to doing the organizational, promotional and teaching work
but I need significant and ongoing financial assistance to support that work.
Such support can come in various forms from a monthly donation sent by mail to
a large grant from an individual or foundation. In order to accept such financial
support, I have set up a non-profit, tax-exempt, educational foundation called
Geomancy Foundation. Its address is Geomancy Foundation, PO 4111, Sedona, AZ
86340. For those of you reading these writings, please open your eyes, heart
and imagination to the great potential of what I may accomplish. Then, please
help me to reach those goals.
Organizational and promotional assistance
During the next 10 –15 years, I intend to present my Sacred Sites Slide
Shows and Nomadics Movement-Meditation classes in approximately 500 of the major
cities of the world. To organize and implement this task will require the assistance
of helpers in each of these cities. Among other things, I need help finding lecture
auditoriums, setting up media interviews and handling local communication and
promotion. Anyone interested in helping to organize Sacred Site slide shows and
Nomadics classes in a particular city, please contact me. I have organized hundreds
of these events myself and am thereby able to give extremely good advice on how
to organize and promote the shows and classes.
Grant researcher and writer
In order to help support the public speaking and educational work that I am doing,
I have set up a non-profit, tax exempt foundation called Geomancy Foundation.
With this foundation I am able to apply for and receive funding and grants from
individuals, corporations and other foundations. I have only a limited knowledge
of these matters and thus need assistance in finding grant sources and applying
to them. What I am seeking in this regard is someone who has the skills, experience
and interest necessary to researching, applying for and managing foundation funding.
Obtaining slide show engagements at conferences, museums and universities
In addition to the more than 400 slide shows I have organized on my own in the past fifteen years, I have also been invited to give presentations at many conferences, universities and museums. I hope to do this much more in the years ahead. Anyone who is interested in organizing a show in their city/area or who has contacts within organizations that might be interested in sponsoring one of my slide shows, please contact me so that we can discuss the matter in more detail. If you are ready to organize a slide show in your city, write to me and request the document "How to Organize a Slide Show".
Funding and organizing traveling exhibitions of my sacred site photographs
Occasionally during the past years I have exhibited my sacred site photographs
in art galleries and other exhibition spaces. My hope is to have several collections
of images constantly traveling around the world, to be shown in numerous galleries.
These gallery exhibits would be ideal to precede or follow slide show tours,
or to visit smaller cities where I will not be doing slide shows. I am seeking
someone who would like to manage this project, which includes raising funds for
the project and then managing the process.
Other forms of assistance
The methods of assistance that I have discussed above are simply those that are
most pressing at the current time. However, there are many different ways that
people can become part of the work that I am doing. At present there are several
people who have come forth to become part of a team. Volunteers in the United
States, Europe, Australia and Asia are helping with web site management, accounting,
graphics design, slide show organization, video production, legal advice and
overall strategy. If anyone reading these words resonates with my ideals and
plans, and wants to be part of this growing team of earth guardians, please contact
me and let us discuss how you can become involved. All of us involved in the
Sacred Sites and Nomadics projects welcome your creative and energetic involvement.
Please write to me by E-Mail.
or: Martin Gray, PO 4111, Sedona, Arizona, 86340
