In the late 1970s, at the age of 17, Olive Jones joined a communal living experiment in Nelson, living in a kind of Anarchy with each other and off the land. Later, that Community purchased a piece of land in Motueka Valley that came to be known as Graham Downs.

There, they experimented radically with communal living: anybody could join whenever they wanted for as long as they wanted. They farmed the land with horses, milked cows, butchered their own meat, built their own houses, made their own clothing, all without any governance structure.

Olive became a pillar of that community and lived there for 13 years. She wrote the book "Commune: Chasing a utopian dream in Aotearoa" about her experience of that time, as well as about the deterioration and falling apart of the Community. In this episode, Olive shares some of her life experiences:

- How they thought they were creating an alternative culture but ended up reproducing patriarchy;

- What did not work;

- How living in Community requires a level of emotional maturity and conflict resolution processes;

- How choosing an interesting life over a comfortable life makes life worth living;

- How women playing small contributed to the patriarchal culture;

- How women's work can be invisible;

and more.

Today, Olive lives in Auckland and is a trustee of the Trust holding the land.

This interview was held by Julia Neumann, who spent several weeks of living on the land in March & April 2024.

Read more about:

Archiarchy: https://archiarchy.mystrikingly.com

Guardianship: https://earthguardian.mystrikingly.com

Radical Responsibility: https://radicalresponsibility.mystrikingly.com

In this episode we bring you the voice of Julia Butterfly Hill. Between 1997 and 1999, Julia sat for over two years in a 1,000 year old Redwood tree („Luna“), taking a stand to protect this tree and the ancient forest from clearing. She and her team succeeded. This interview goes beyond this remarkable event. Julia speaks with immense Clarity about what it takes to be a person who is able to be authentically herself, and from her heart-knowing to be a Radical Stand for life on this planet. She speaks into the necessity for collaboration as Women, despite being raised in a culture that champions competition. Julia’s words call forth the innate power within each person to make a real difference in this world. How important it is to go continuously beyond your comfort zone, lean into your fear, trust your gut, and be willing to make mistakes. It is in those mistakes that we learn and collectively grow our capacities as a human species, in that a different culture is born. Redwoods are trees that grow as a community, not as individual trees. Can you hear their ancient wisdom lacing the words of Julia, their ancient hearts beating in the silence? Julia is available for coaching, interviews and speaking engagements, https://juliabutterflyhill.com.

Poem “Women and the Earth”, by Julia Butterfly Hill. From her Poetry book “Becoming”, available for purchase here: https://juliabutterflyhill.com/product/becoming-e-book/

You are afraid of my darkness

because that.

is where

the magic is held.

You cannot control it,

so you destroy it

and oppress it

and use a book written long ago

as your excuse

and then blame it on the women...

the loss of the Eden which is me.

See, I am the Goddess...

See, I am the Goddess,

the part of your God

that you wish to get rid of

because I hold the magic...

in the dark, moist caverns

I lie and live and thrive.

I am the womb

of life's gestation.

I am the darkness

that holds the space for the light.

We could not see the stars

without the night.

Those green shoots,

the children of tomorrow,

they are held within

my darkest depths

until they are called forth.

I am the understanding of balance.

I am the knowing of gods and goddesses.

I am the Great Mystery,

and it is this uncertainty

that scares you.

I would rather grab hands

with thousands,

run off cliffs

to be swallowed by the sea,

than to give up

the magic

that is me.

I will be consumed by the fire

that you thought would kill me,

and I will come back

stronger than before.

I am the phoenix

arising from that flame.

And I will hold the hands of thousands, emerging from the seas,

wetlands, deserts, prairies, caverns, mountains, and trees.

and I will call forth

the magic

that is me.

This interview was made possible by donations of a group of Possibility Managers, in order to honour Julia’s stand. Possibility Management is a context for authentic initiation into adulthood. https://possibilitymanagement.org.

Annika Möller-Nilsson opens a vast space to explore being Women. Annika Korsten takes this doorway with passion, courage and fierce Love. What follows is part transmission, part recount and part research fresh from Annika Korsten's discoveries of choosing to radically rely on Women for her Healing and Evolution.

What emerges when Women choose to radically on each other? Well, a totally new culture is possible.

Topics covered include:

• New Map of sisterhood, speaking before knowing, letting healing happen.

• Going through the underworld to find something other than gossiping and resenting and competing with other women.

• Calling through the wisdom and intuition of women by radically trusting the impulses of each woman.

• The Everythingness of women.

• Staying close to reality to source new steps for Evolution.

• Jobs as something to be constantly rediscovered and invented.

• Celebrating life as a choice.

• Learning to say what I want.

• Finding your own authentic Yeses and Nos.

• Unreasonable requests

• Not enmeshing, instead travelling as a wave.

• Switching to thriving.

• Consciously being with cycles of the womb as a woman.

Annika Möller-Nilsson is the host of the podcast: Coming Down to Earth. We are publishing here with Annika's permission.

Gratitude to ⁠Maria Diaz⁠ for her initial research into what it means to be a particle or a wave, and to Millicent Haughey for preparing this episode for publication.