Im still coming down from the Khanyisa conference. Only today on the Thursday have I really crashed from the high! It is still a little hard to believe it is over or even that it happened at all, like it was actually a dream. It was 16 months from conception to completion and I am coming to terms with that it has been birthed. Almost the same feeling as when you cannot accept when someone you know has died. The conference certainly exceeded my expectations and I think pretty most everyones expectations. One criticism from a normally blasé kind of friend, seriously said that the main problem was there was too much mind blowing information coming through and it was hard to fit it all in! The crowd here were so enthusiastic and receptive, all the headline speakers I think really appreciated the high quality audience. Being in the field of so many amazing full power people, in the audience and in the crowd was just something else. So what I really wanted to do here was to bring together some of the most experienced explorers in this field. Too often these conferences are hotbeds of ego, religion/science, theory and conflict and the really serious people are shunted out of the way by people who are not really serious explorers. I think that is the main element which made this conference, the presence of all these people who are largely on the same wavelength. That, harmonizing with a crowd hungry for more authentic understanding really made it what it was. On the technical side, we had so many issues it was just ridiculous, with lapel mics that worked perfectly in sound checks and went crazy when we tried to use them, managing a shite projector because the projector hire company shafted us with at the last minute, lights on stage mysteriously blinking on and off, the auditorium sound system which was surprisingly low quality, cords and cables would work and then not work, peoples computers and cameras were crashing - all the while they are all saying this has never happened before! (Call it a Scorpio Mercury Retrograde with Teeth that Sting!) And then we had to change the speaker times a lot because of so many reasons: one speaker not being able to board two international flights, a big television crew not being able to make it in time to film a speaker, a partner of a speaker becoming sick, a speaker having to leave on the Sunday when we had him down on Sunday, other speakers not wanting to be before or after certain panels. etc etc And then we had to be quite sharp at times about ending speakers talks in the time they were given, basically, there was too much to fit in! (my fault!) At least people got all these different and varied perspectives. I think some speakers could have spoken for three hours and the crowd would have still wanted more! My opening talk was good, but actually I couldnt give the talk I wanted to give, opening the conference was just too much and I could only really give a skeleton of what I wanted to say and not go into the detail in that situation. Maybe next year I will give the full talk, but many people said they liked what I had to say. And the vibe was unforgettable, like a white light infusing everyone. Just having all those people in that same place was something very special. It was like a ceremony in and of itself, which is what some people predicted. I dont think Ive experienced quite a vibe like it before at any gathering I can think of. There were transformational healing energies coming through into that space. There were so many highlights, so many good moments and insights, including Dans incredible visual and intricate presentation. Kilindis amazing humor and powerful delivery that wowed everyone. Luna talking about giving his mother dying of cancer MDMA, so that she got 8 hours of peace. The clarity of Hancocks talks really going into depth. The Kwesukela storytellers telling the healing ritual which made some people cry. Piets dodge and smudging for people entering the conference. Sinegugus talk on the magical plants of Pondoland where a few people said they got high listening to him speak! (including myself!) The Iboga panel, communicating to people clearly about the wonder of Iboga and the power of its alkaloids. Nash and I learnt so much from this, and we are going to do the same next year, but we are getting an outdoor venue. Thanks so much to the team who made it all happen, especially Iggy, Kobus, Emma, Mashka and especially our MC Elaine, who all really put in the extra hard yards to make this event what it was. I think we had the right speakers, the right crowd and that is what really drove this thing. And despite all the drama and technical issues, I dont we made any serious mistakes and I think we had the conference gods smiling upon us. We had the most popular free to air TV station in Africa interview many of our speakers, so we are now wondering when this is going to aired! In South Africa, there is openness to this sort of exploration in people. In this country, is where I think so new possibilities can be explored relatively freely and I think where much reconciliation and healing can occur. It was really good to see an optimism and brightness in people, to see the possibilities of a new future, with the clearing away of the cobwebs of the past.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 09:13:18 +0000
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