 
ReSent-Message-ID: 
ReSent-Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1993 13:40:14 -0400 (EDT)
ReSent-From: "Jon C. Slenk" 
ReSent-To: +dist+/afs/andrew/usr/js9b/Public/camc.dl@andrew.cmu.edu
From: wce@hogbbs.scol.pa.us (Bill Eichman)
Message-Id: 
Date: 	Mon, 12 Apr 1993 16:24:55 -0400
To: angst+@CMU.EDU
Subject: old mail #3
Reply-To: wce@hogbbs.scol.pa.us

You know what to do by now, Jon. ;-)

SEED CRYSTAL PROTOTEXT -- Version 5.1 -- ANNOUNCEMENT -- (1)
(c) 1993 Cary G. Robyn / 1440 East 14th St. / Brooklyn NY 11230

THE RESTORATION OF PARADISE: WILDERNESS EMERGING FROM ECLIPSE

     For the North American continent, the passing of 1992 marks
the end of 500 years of wilderness in eclipse by a civilization
out of balance.  We have chosen to commemorate the quincentennial
of the invasion of the New World with an act symbolic of the 
first rays of a dawning epoch of biospheric regeneration.  

     Beginning at the start of the new year and continuing
throughout the early months of 1993, the Terracon organization 
will post a series of files providing a detailed description 
of its plans to create the world's first, full-scale, Neo-Pagan
ECO-FUTURISTIC VILLAGE, referred to generically in our text 
as Earth Colony One (ECO).  We will also propose a promising
specific scenario for the real world implementation of these
ideas under the banner "Starwood Village" during the mid 1990s 
by a consortium of groups affiliated with Starwood, the largest
and most Eco-Futuristic of the Pagan festivals.
 
     The ECO project will combine state-of-the-art solar habitat
design and cyber technologies with Neo-Pagan culture to create 
a prototype creative community of the 21st century.  It will
pioneer the lifestyle of the emerging Elven indigenous culture 
of the future that will undertake the wise reinhabiting of 
planet Earth.  Eco-Futuristic Villages will weave a new matrix
for an enlightened Gaian civilization as the institutions of 
the Old Aeon crumble.

     Terracon's plan for ECO goes far beyond any existing
intentional community or co-housing real estate development,
proposing the creation of a well-equipped bioregional
headquarters for a Gaia Intelligence Agency.  The prototype 
will function as a conservatory for the noetically gifted 
and a self-replicating Engine of Escape that will pioneer 
a viable path out of the system for those who are ready for 
an ecological way of life.  Our project has the potential 
to revitalize the environmentalist movement and trigger a
renaissance of utopian experimentation as we approach the 
new millenium.  We are attempting to bridge the gap between 
the Cyberpunks and the Earth First!ers with comprehensive
integrated innovation and a Gaian-Promethean shamanic focus.  
We are going back to the land and taking the tools of 
Mondo 2000 along with us to build the capital of the 
Nineties Counterculture.

     Terracon proclaims that we can build ourselves a viable
Eco-Futuristic alternative culture and attain a sustainable
desired lifestyle.  By doing so, we can simultaneously maximize
our effectiveness as agents of transformation in the world 
at large.  Terracon offers the conceptual tools, bodies of
information and opportunities for networking that will make 
this course of action practical.

                              ***

     The following is a concise announcement, suitable for use 
as an advertisement in publications or a bulletin board notice:

ECO-FUTURISTIC VILLAGE forming.  Gaian-Promethean, Elven, 
shamanic Neo-Pagan focus.  Full-scale, state-of-the-art
solar + cybertek residential habitat.  "Roger Dean" style, 
free-form biomorphic architecture.  Organic permaculture.
Accelerated Education ("Glenn Doman" style homeschooling,
Montessori techniques, interactive digital multimedia
instruction, apprenticeship to mentors, team projects, 
extensive travel).  A Third Wave entrepreneurial cooperative 
with Fourth Wave leisure economy aspirations.  Biocentric
Libertarian politics.  A mellow, Androgynist (child-friendly,
ludic, pro-romantic, pro-erotic, non-sexist) sociology that 
will be the paragon of Neo-Hippie culture.  Dymaxion, SMI2LE,
Metaprogramming, Arcology, New Aeon, Biospherics.  SASE: 
Cary G. Robyn, Terran Consciousness, 1440 East 14th Street,
Brooklyn, NY 11230.
                              ***

How does this material relate to what will actually be published
in the Seed Crystal book?

     The Eco-Futuristic Village is a concept that Terracon 
and several other Neo-Pagan groups have been refining for over 
a decade.  We have been discussing strategy, researching and
championing this concept, presenting slide shows and soliciting
participation at numerous events.  The project is now entering 
its final design phases.

     This posting will be the last public release of this
material for suggestions and commentary before it is typeset 
and prepared for hard copy publication in a commercial book with
color photos and wide distribution.  (A preliminary essay on 
the ECO project was first circulated in 1982 and expanded into a
72 page booklet published in 1984.  Further updates were issued
in 1986 and 1989, along with two sampler packs of illustration
ideas for potential Seed Crystal artists.)  The material is at 
a stage where we are talking about what topics and wording will
actually appear as published text, as well as what photos,
illustrations and layout should accompany them.

     My life has been centered on networking this scene since the
late Seventies, and I have been taking photos everywhere I go. 
In the process, Terracon has accumulated one of the largest 
and most comprehensive collections of 35mm slide material on
Countercultural events and projects in existence, including
several reels on solar architecture and intentional communities
that will be ideal for illustrating much of the book.

     I estimate that the text will probably grow by about 20%
more and undergo some minor reorganization before being edited 
to conform to space limitations and layout aesthetics.  As it
stands, the material is in a stage where it is fit to share 
with a large audience.  It establishes a handy framework for
discussion that can be added to where desired or condensed 
when needed.  The headings highlight important topic areas 
around which fellow creative writers and researchers might 
want to accumulate original text of their own for inclusion.

     My synthesis module has been running in overdrive for a
while and has generated more text than we will have room to
publish in the first book, especially when dozens of photos 
and illustrations are added to it.  Help me with the editing. 
Give me feedback on where it sparkles and where it drags so 
I can tighten it up before we go to press.

     All material in these files is (c) 1993 by Cary G. Robyn.  
All rights reserved.  Permission is hereby granted to copy these
files to other computer boards and make photocopies for your
friends at cost.  Some portions may be available for reprinting
in periodicals.  Contact me to discuss terms and specifics 
if you are interested in permission to publish excerpts.

                              ***

What is the purpose of the Seed Crystal book?

     Seed Crystal is a contemporary transmission from the 
Gaian-Promethean source, a further exfoliation of the magickal
current that inspired the Psychedelic Hippie culture of the 
1960s and many of the finest works of the visionary futurists, 
the Deep Ecologists and the Individualist philosophers.

     It is envisioned as a classic Alternative book of our
generation, much like The Whole Earth Catalog was to the Sixties,
The Aquarian Conspiracy was to the Seventies and Drawing Down the
Moon was to the Eighties.  Partly, it is intended to document for
posterity and showcase for our contemporaries the best of where
we are at this point in history; the leading edge of projects and
events.  As the title suggests, it is primarily intended to serve
as the trigger for inspiring people to get to where we could be
in the Nineties and provide a nucleus of ideas for like-minded
people to assemble around.  It will elucidate an image of the
positive future within our reach, the applications of new
technologies, new forms of social organization and new frontiers
that await us if we act to turn the course of events away from
ecological apocalypse and towards a brighter tomorrow.  

     Seed Crystal will be targeted to an audience centered on the
Neo-Pagan festivals but stretching from the Rainbow Gatherings
to the Ecology Movement to Fantasy & Sci-fi Fandom to the
Deadhead scene to the Cybertekkies to the New Agers.  We are
interested in a phenomenon of expanded consciousness that
underlies all of them at their best.  Terracon is also attempting
to employ a novel entry point into mainstream awareness, 
playing off of the youth culture's vigorous existing interest 
in high technology, science fiction and fantasy realization.  
     

     Our objectives for the Seed Crystal book include:

--   To make utopian experimentation and the formation of 
     Eco-Futuristic Villages a major focus of the Nineties
     Environmentalist Movement and Millenial youth culture.

--   To articulate a clearly defined vision of the prototype 
     Eco-Futuristic Village, with specific goals and a practical
     plan for reifying that vision.  

--   To provide a "survival guide" for our counterparts in
     younger generations.  What have we learned after doing  
     this since high school days and observing the course of   
     our predecessors?  How can we spare the next crop of
     noetically gifted youth from the fate that befell most    
     of our counterparts in the Sixties, Seventies and    
     Eighties generations?  Redefining Hippiedom in adaptive   
     ways for the 21st century.

--   To stake a Neo-Pagan claim on millenialism instead of
     abandoning it to Fundamentalist Christians, and make an
     opening bid at crafting our millenial mythos.

--   To make contact with other high caliber creative dynamos 
     who are capable of playing a leadership role in our projects
     and willing to work together.  Seeking out other presently
     unknown `pre-professional' visionaries who are tapping the
     Gaian-Promethean current in comparable depth and have what
     it takes to make it big.  Encouraging them to join forces
     with us to foster our mutual success.

--   To collect talent in diverse fields, from artists to tekkies
     to filmmakers to architects to craftsmen, that would be
     valuable assets in implementing our projects.

--   To provide a framework that others can plug into and
     highlight relevant topic areas within which persons with
     more specialized expertise can focus their efforts.  


     Some aspects of community design require advanced
architectural training and practical construction experience
beyond the scope of any holistic comprehensivist likely to
attempt such a project in the first place.  We eagerly solicit
such participation and deliberately seek to weave connections
between the extra-societal intelligences aligned with Gaian 
and magickal themes (who tend to be visionary generalists) and
enclaves of creativity and competence in specialized technical
fields that can reify our visions.  ECO will need state-of-
the-art materials science, solar engineering, hydroponics,
hypermedia, practical homesteading skills, etc.  

     The Seed Crystal book is also intended to provide 
adequate documentation for us to make a credible approach to
potential philanthropists who are used to getting many requests
for money.  The book should be of a caliber that will make 
a favorable impression on wealthy creative people who might
plausibly serve as benefactors for the ECO project: the
Professional Visionaries, Creative Aristocrats and Sixties
Entrepreneurs.  Seed Crystal should make us look interesting
enough to study further and competent enough to invest
substantial resources in; something that will look good on 
the desk of people like Yoko Ono, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson,
David Bowie, Tom Robbins, Richard Branson, Steve Wozniak, 
Steven Spielberg, Terry Gilliam, Jann Wenner, etc.  It should
provide an introduction that will enable us to network in these
circles, get interviews with successful people -- and enable us
to be taken seriously by them when we do.  Having something
substantial in print should help us move out of the "audience"
category and dialogue as equals when dealing with famous
lecturers and well-established organizations.

     Whether we are successful at forming ECO in the mid 1990s 
or not, the book should be of sufficient quality and substantial
content to survive on campus, public and personal library 
shelves through the end of the decade and beyond.  When the 
Mini-Baby-Boom generation reaches maturity and starts looking 
for alternatives, our legacy should be right there waiting for
them with quality information.  An underground newspaper or
magazine is unlikely to survive that long.  A commercially
published book will.

     Publication of the book should serve as a source of 
capital to fund several essential intermediate projects en route
to actually building ECO; ideally, adding to our "land fund" 
as well.  The book's design and much of its content should aim
for the tastes of futurist and sci-fi markets, whose numbers
range into the hundreds of thousands.

                              ***

     ECO is a great big toy for us all to play with.  But in
order for us to be able to play there, we have to have a little
"work party" first.  Right now, that means producing artwork and
writings of publishable quality and getting the book assembled 
so it can go to press.

     It is important for everyone to understand from the outset
that creating a utopian habitat for ourselves will require at
least as much diligent effort in these years as an individual
would put into embarking upon the path towards a conventional
occupation and lifestyle.  The road less travelled is more
rewarding but also a demanding path.  Think of the time spent
preparing material for the Seed Crystal book as an investment 
in your future.  Just as a would-be stockbroker must get his MBA
and a would-be attorney must work his way through law school,
this is what is demanded of the would-be utopian.  The difference
is that this project will be a lot more fun along the way and the
yield will be a sustainable quality of life considerably beyond
that attainable anywhere in mainstream society by those not
blessed with extraordinary wealth.

     We are especially eager to make contact with artists who are
interested in the Eco-Futuristic Village theme and already have
relevant material in their portfolios or might be able to produce
publishable illustrations during the upcoming seasons.  Mostly, 
what we need to move the project ahead to its next phase are
inspiring, realistic images of scenes of life at a year-round
Neo-Pagan utopian village of innovative yet practical free-form
solar architecture.

     What might a permanent encampment of the competent, creative
and Energetically radiant core of the Rainbow Tribe look like? 
Envision a place where we were no longer living in a ramshackle
clutter of tents and cars but where its finest talents had
settled down to create a worthy home base for our culture.  
Show a complete village habitat with thoughtfully designed,
sturdily built, finely crafted facilities, resembling the 
best works of Roger Dean, Malcolm Wells, James Hubbell, 
Paolo Soleri, Antoni Gaudi, Ken Norwood, Bart Prince, Ken Goff,
Rudolf Steiner and Eugene Tsui.  

     Our greatest need is for original artwork on this theme.
Its scarcity has been the main obstacle to assembling a book on
this subject for several years now.  Right now, there are a lot
of words on paper, a lot of images on slides and still very
little in the way of original illustrations.  Although I have a
good aesthetic sense, visualize vividly and possess a reasonably
clear idea of what Seed Crystal ought to look like overall 
("like one of the fantasy art books from Paper Tiger press"), 
my artistic skills are not sufficiently trained or practiced for
me to produce many illustrations of the caliber that Seed Crystal
requires.  I majored in biology and taught myself how to write
prolifically while keeping a Magickal Record.  I am working on 
a few architectural images which will be rendered on my Amiga
computer, but, basically, I am destined to be one of the head
theoretician-strategists and need to team up with artists who 
can convey with pen and ink, brush and canvas, the message 
that I can put into words on the keyboard.

     I want to stress how important I view this role. ***
We live in a highly visual culture and noetically gifted people with
exaggerated "right hemisphere" functioning tend to be visually-
oriented people.  Images can convey more on an emotional level than
dozens of pages of text, and they can do it at a glance for
people who won't take the time to read it all.  Seed Crystal 
is going to show what the future within our reach could be like. 
If the illustrations capture the desired feel and strike a
responsive chord in their viewers, we can foster strong
identification with and support for the project among the 
people who could make it happen.

     We need inspiring, clever, striking images that will
illustrate the lifestyle we can create at ECO and its successors.
We must show the Eco-Futuristic dream realized in full measure,
and, in the same package, describe how we can bring it about.
Images of people playing, working, loving, learning, celebrating,
deciding, creating...  

     Much as with the ultimate design of the community itself,
brainstorming sessions are likely to be valuable in refining
rough sketches into publishable illustrations and adding clever
minor details.  Talk it over with friends while artwork is still
in the planning stages and gather more ideas.  Do a creative
visualization exercise, with one person reading some appropriate
passages from, say, Marge Piercy's "Woman on the Edge of Time" or
Ernest Callenbach's "Ecotopia" or the Architecture section that
follows, and the others in a meditative state, listening with
their eyes closed.  Do a shaman circle and try to evoke imagery
from that possible future.
  
     If you think you might have the time to help with the
illustrations during the next few seasons, photocopy several
pieces of your best work from your general portfolio (whether
related to Seed Crystal themes or not) so that everyone on the
project has a good idea of the style of work you customarily
produce and who does what.  We might make a special request 
for your services if your style would fit a particular image 
that is strongly desired.  

     Physically, the book will be approximately 12" x 9" bound on
the short side to create a long format like a 35mm frame of film. 
Illustrators may wish to keep the 4:3 ratio in mind when planning
potential full-page artwork.

                              ***

Send photocopies of the type of artwork you can produce, 
and anything else of interest, to my permanent mailing address:

Cary G. Robyn
1440 East 14th Street
Brooklyn, New York 11230




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