BY Dr. Sally M. Torkos & Professor Béla F. Torkos

INTRODUCTION

Here we are in 2019, reviewing 2018; Wow! For those of us who have reached the age of 69 (woo) as professor Béla and Dr. Sally have, it’s just amazing to be this old, live this long, and get to do this wonderful work at Ozora festival. This work is our Soul’s work and what an additional blessing to be in such a position to work consciously from our souls. A motivating force behind doing WoW is to introduce people once again to the fact that humans have souls. Our souls represent the depth of our Being and often carry the wounds from our current lives and perhaps even, past lifetimes.One of the opportunities that embodiment as a human gives us, is to evolve through facing and healing those deep soul wounds. Becoming conscious of having soul is a necessary first step. Experiments have been performed to try and measure the soul at death; and their results have been inconclusive.There is no necessity for having such experiments because soul is a psychic process; we access it through psyche. Psyche operates within us at an electromagnetic level and so far, there has not been a device sensitive enough to measure the weight of its activity; though with PET scans, we are able to measure some of its corresponding brain activity. One last thing, we really do not know exactly what psyche is; it manifests through us utilizing the circuitry of the brain: the brain does not create the activity; psyche does. We usually say in WoW: “If you have a body; you have a soul.” It’s equally true that: “If you have a psyche; you have a soul.” You will be reading statements that are as often written from these courageous Initiate’s souls as from their egos.

A brief note to the reader

Hello readers: If you are new to WoW and curious about what its programs are like, reading the following research evaluation will give you an overview. It may also inspire you to want to do the work of Self-discovery and evolution WoW offers. Read it with yourself in mind.

If you are an Initiate, especially from the group this evaluation is about, read it to deepen your understanding of what you have been initiated into. You will also be able to discern the learning you experienced in the greater context of the group. You can continue the evaluation of the program and yourself through your reading of the document. Are we representing you and your experiences accurately? Does our analysis fit your experience, and your experience of your group? Is there something important that you think we have missed? Please let us know any response you may have through your online Initiate’s Facebook page; your continued outlook and feedback is important to us.

Throughout the evaluation, we will be acknowledging you collectively, and even sometimes individually, though, of course anonymously; you, however, will know who you are. This evaluation of your experiences is a reflection of you and your group; notice what it reveals about you. The program evaluation is another way we have of communicating with you, offering additional encouragement for you to stay on the path of Self-discovery and consciousness evolution. One word of warning: our evaluation contains both what may be considered positive and/or negative interpretations of your material, if you are finding yourself reacting to these statements, (whether they are correct about you or not) it is an opportunity to further reflect and examine your reactivity. Sometimes the quickest path to self-awareness (especially from the shadows our souls carry) comes from examining the deeper, perhaps archetypal source of the reaction and what initially appears to be negative, may actually be a grand doorway into an even greater understanding of yourself. Again, if you are having any issues or with any of this, contact your online Facebook group and ask for support; or you can contact us through that site as well and we will respond to you.

Now, on with the Introduction

The Wheel of Wisdom Program (hereafter known as WoW) is concerned with what it means to be a conscious human being. It is an Initiatory experience, one that is designed to give participants information, experiences, and inspiration that encourages in them a desire to know and become who they truly are, their True Selves.

What does it mean to be a conscious human being? What is Consciousness anyway? Though perhaps we will never be able to answer that question completely, we have some ways of understanding it. This commentary is not the place to go onto the question very deeply, but we can offer a way of understanding it.Regarding human consciousness, there is a distinction between consciousness and unconsciousness and how the two exist simultaneously.

Though we may be awake and not sleeping, we are unconscious to a greater or lesser degree of the many psycho-physical processes going on continuously and simultaneously within us, such as breathing, heartbeat, and many unconscious ‘programs’ from our cultural, family, socio-economic, religious, & educational backgrounds. All of the experiences of our lives (especially what we have learned in our first five to seven years) create the ongoing interpretation of reality that we have. This goes on outside of our ordinary waking consciousness. If our brains had to continually re-learn everything we need to know to function that we have learned since we were children, we could never accomplish anything. Much of this is unconsciously humming away beyond our awareness and it contributes to our unconscious bias, behavior, emotions, thoughts, and view of reality.

In order to evolve ourselves beyond what has been socialized and acculturated within us, we can learn to recognize the unconscious functioning that is blinding us to a greater experience of reality, ourselves, and our circumstances. Additionally, our evolution is not just about increased awareness of ourselves, but about our relationship with our life source: Planet Earth. Einstein once said something like: ‘the mind that created the problem is not capable of creating the solution.’ We human creatures have created some VERY BIG problems especially regarding our destruction disconnection from Nature, destruction of planet Earth, and overpopulation of ourselves. These and other such problems are forcing us (from Necessity) to evolve our own mind beyond the mind that created the problems. That is, if we want to survive into the future as a species.

As two of Ozora Festival’s resident ‘Wisdom Elders’ we have been asked to share what we have learned and are continuing to learn about evolution of Consciousness through our WoW program. It is a mutually fulfilling task, as we develop the WoW program; it develops us and supports our own evolution. Though this is some of the most difficult work either of us has ever done, we feel grateful for it; it has become our purpose in life as well as our calling.

We are especially interested in inspiring participants to also feel the calling, perhaps of their own souls, to be their True Selves, to do what they came into life to do. We want you to WANT to do the work of discovering who you are. The work is not easy, but it is immensely rewarding. When you become aware of what you need to learn to evolve yourself and expand your consciousness, even if it is difficult; AND you have the DESIRE TO KNOW and the WILL TO WORK; then: whole new worlds open to you. As you consciously learn, you expand consciously. That ‘desire to know’ is what philosopher, Bernard Lonergan calls “Being”. There are many, many humans on planet Earth and far, far fewer human Beings. Become a Human Being!

The WoW five-day program is designed to take participants on a collective and individual journey of the evolution of consciousness through historical time as well as in one lifetime. To accomplish this, we are utilizing an ancient symbol as a teaching and learning tool. It has been called a Mandala (symbolizing wholeness, oneness) as well as a Medicine Wheel (Medicine meaning Wisdom for many Native Americans) and we call it the Wheel of Wisdom. Through the use of the symbol we teach seven levels of consciousness.

INITIATES PROGRAM

In addition to the ongoing daily program we conduct a smaller (usual limit 25), more intensive Initiates Program. Initiates are required to attend the daily program as well as attend an additional hour-long program. In this additional program Initiate’s learn to reflect deeply on their lives and the choices they make. They are guided by lecture content, discussion, group interaction, spending time in nature and daily homework assignments. We also suggest practices that nourish conscious development of their heart, body and soul, mind, spirit, relationship with the Universe, Earth, and Psyche (corresponding to the seven directions: South, West, North, East, Above, Below, and Center). The practices are for them to experiment with and to continue their consciousness development when they return home from the festival. We have concentrated our WoW research on Initiate’s because they have a more in-depth and grounded experience and understanding of the Wheel of Wisdom program. The people who completed the WoW Initiate’s program have started the process of consciousness evolution and represent individuals who are most likely to continue the work.

INITIATES RESPONSES

2018 is the seventh year we have evaluated Initiates responses to determine the effectiveness of our WoW program’s effectiveness in teaching Initiates’ ways they can consciously evolve themselves. In order to accomplish this, we created a questionnaire asking Initiate’s about their experience of participating in the program. Their responses are the data we analyze. If we receive enough positive responses, then we can safely say that participating in the Wheel of Wisdom program contributes to the conscious evolution of our species, our principal purpose for conducting WoW courses. Additionally, we utilize the feedback gained from Initiate’s responses to our questions to continue to develop the WoW program. Many of the changes we have made in our programs since 2012 have come directly from Initiates’ feedback.                                                                                                                                                                            Our questions target specific areas we think are particularly important for evolutionary development and expansion of consciousness. We want to know the effects of participating in the program on their awareness of: themselves, psyche, consciousness, nature, and how participation affected their experience of Ozora Festival itself. We also asked Initiates if participating in the WoW program affected their likelihood of making any changes in their lives, what those changes might be as well as anything else they’d like to share. We then analyze their responses looking for indicators of how they have been affected by participating and they may have learned, individually and collectively.

We begin with the demographics of the Initiates and then move on to the list of questions we asked them. After each question we provide our analysis derived from what the participants have said in their responses.To protect Initiates’ anonymity, when we are analyzing their responses, we listed them as numbers instead of names. When we present our results, though we may paraphrase or use specific quotes from them, we do not know who they are. At times we also use the plural they or them to indicate an individual response, that way we conceal their gender as well as avoid he/she etc.

Most of the questions serve a dual purpose: on one hand they give us feedback, responses and experience of program participation; and on the other hand, they are tools to support Initiate’s continued learning. This is not a quiz, there are no “right” answers. It is an opportunity for Initiates to consciously reflect on the WoW experience and through the process of responding to the questions, they may discover something new about themselves. Additionally, writing about the experience, psychologically grounds it more deeply.

DEMOGRAPHICS

We went over our 25-person limit with 30 participants this year (2018). Doing so made our ability to analyze Initiate’s responses more difficult and time consuming; but it was well worth the effort. It appears that the reputation of the program is growing and more people coming to Ozora festival want to participate in an in-depth exploration of themselves and their evolution in consciousness rather than spend their time partying. Additionally, this was the first time at Ozora for ten of our participants, several of whom indicated they had originally come determined to party, but felt they came away better-off for the learning from the WoW experience.

We had 14 women and 16 men, , their ages ranged from 18 to mid-late 30’s. Almost all (26) were single, the others were in committed relationships; and 29 declared no children, one NA (No Answer).

Everyone had at least a high school education (7 people) one with professional mechanic training, the rest were either pursuing a degree (3) one of which was a medical student, or had already completed a degree; 12 had BA degrees (one person had two degrees and another one had an additional law degree), 2 with BS, one of which had post nursing certification, 3 with MA degrees, one of which had post grad work, one person was working on a Ph.D. Finally, one person said they had “half of everything” but we are not sure what that means.

The majority were either employed (18) (some with high level jobs, i.e. molecular biologist, nurse, engineer, agency director, lawyer) or working on a college degree (5); one person was unemployed, another didn’t know and the rest (5) declined to answer. 19 Initiates had some kind of spiritual practice or religious affiliation, 4 said none, 1 said atheist, 4 didn’t answer and 2 were either searching or agnostic. The majority of the Initiates came from Europe but we had people from as far away as Australia, Brazil, Chile and New Zealand. This year we are adding to our demographics the actual count of people who are not living in their country of origin, 13, demonstrating that not quite half of the participants have migrated, at least temporarily. All in all, 21 countries are represented in one way or another, indicating quite a large sphere of influence. We speculate that at least a good portion of Initiates will go back to their home or host country and share their WoW experience with friends and relations. One of the benefits of having WoW at an international festival is the large number of people who come from all over the world allowing us to widely share the invitation and process of WoW for consciousness evolution.

QUESTIONS AND ANALYSIS

1. Has participating in the Program changed your understanding of yourself? Yes  No Please explain your choice.  

Two thirds of the participants answered yes, that the program had changed their understanding of themselves. First, this number of people affirming the work of WoW gives us the reassurance that we are on target. When two out of three participants express a positive development of their self-understanding from participation in the program, then we are succeeding. For example, one person said the teachings have “cracked open a window in my head” to a “complete new way of understanding myself and the people around me and is of serious importance for my future development.” Many others also felt they were given guidance for their lives, writing things such as the program: “Showed me the door to my True Self;” “Brought confusion to light . . .will make my growing easier from now on;” “I know what I have to do to become the one I want to be;” “I feel more confident and able to make commitment . . . was lost . . . now have a code of ethics . . . and can direct my life more freely;” and “It made me think more specifically about my vision of life.” We appear to be accomplishing one of the primary goals for the WoW program, which is to give a comprehensive guide for how to live a more conscious life.

For others it helped them clear specific blocks to learning or assisted them in being kinder and more understanding of themselves, such as: “Now that I think about myself “and my “wounds more consciously, I am being more kind, understanding, and loving toward myself” and one person still in their teens wrote: “I was very hard on myself, I thought I should be way more developed by now, but the program showed me that I came further than I thought and there is always more to learn.” And finally: “Learnt to keep my commitments . . . to sacrifice one thing to reach higher goal; discipline.” The WoW program is demanding and to participate, Initiates have to sacrifice much of the partying, music, dancing, etc. that goes on in the rest of the festival; but when they can do that, they are choosing their own development instead. Through attending WoW they learn how to discipline themselves which strengthens their ability to develop a Free Will and a stronger ego. And, most importantly be able to “reach a higher goal.”

One third of the participants answered no this question, though many of those said the experience enabled them to remember, deepen or strengthen their self-understanding. And even though they said no, one person wrote: “It really helped me put a world on what I know about myself. . . now I am able to speak about myself.” For the majority of respondents to this question who were in their early 20’s the response of no has a positive interpretation as well as one that indicates more growth is necessary. On the positive note, more people are beginning to grapple with the question of self-understanding at a very young age; when you are only in your 20’s, but have asked yourself ‘what is my life about,’ you are definitely ahead of the pack. At that age many young millennials have not left home and are often more conscious about how they look on their social media page than think about who they are or their purpose in life. Additionally, we had some more advanced spiritual practitioners with us this year who have already been on the path of self-transformation for a while. On the more negative side of the interpretation, indicating that participation had no effect on one’s self-understanding can also represent an inflated young ego and basic hubris. When a person who is not yet 25 says things like: “I already knew about my shadows, my moral code, my soul definition & my life purpose;” they may be limiting their possibilities and closing their options. Knowing one’s own shadow (especially one that ‘already knows everything’), is a life-long process and our purpose, moral code, and understanding of soul changes throughout our lives.

One piece of learning that has come out of this for us is to develop a way to present our material such that even if people have heard it elsewhere before, or are advanced practitioners, they can still get something out of it for themselves. We haven’t figured that out yet, but we hope to have something in place by our 2019 program that addresses the issue. Additionally, we may need to instruct participants to consider the influence of the whole breadth of the WoW program, when answering these questions, not just what happens in the extra portion of the Initiate’s program.

2. Has participating in the Program affected your understanding of psyche, including your own psychology? Yes  No Please explain your choice. 

Twenty-three Initiates answered yes to this question and gave a variety of responses indicating how it clarified what psyche is for them. Here are some of their answers: “The attention to the body and senses were improved . . .  more aware of my state and my psyche;” “I Had no knowledge in psychology, now I can put words on feelings;” “What Psyche is has become a lot more clear . . . some fog in my mind has disappeared” “It enriched my understanding of psyche and built strong foundations for further personal research;” “Interested in psychology now, it will help me in my life and relationship;” and “Now conscious of soul & spirit as part of psyche . . .aware there is even more that I am unconscious of in my psyche.” These responses indicate that the WoW program is bringing awareness of both psyche and psychology to participants, an absolutely necessary awareness to have for consciousness expansion.

One person was able to grasp some of the breadth of psyche through putting multiple aspects of it together: “I now understand the collective consciousness and my role in it; learnt about my own psychology, group dynamics, and principles of motivating others.” Another was able to apply the information for more personal self-understanding: “Learned the reasons why I sabotage myself and distance myself from people and that I have to give myself time to rest and heal, . . . now I can do it consciously.” Several people felt the information about the Jungian typology was very useful in understanding themselves and others.

For the most part the six who answered the question ‘no’ still indicated that though they “already knew” participation deepened or strengthened their understanding, however they missed an opportunity for further self-exploration by not being specific: deepened what?; strengthened what? already knew what? Additionally, several participants were primarily focused on the Jungian typology lectures and perhaps didn’t realize the Initiate’s program includes whole WoW experience, including the public lectures and ritual experiences occurring before the Initiate’s separate program. One person who also said ‘no’ apparently did examine the whole WoW experience and wrote that it: “it has more focus on scope and breadth of topics and is exploratory in nature rather than working on any particular area like psyche or psychology.” While we agree in general with that assessment, the psyche and psychology of individuals are affected by the information and experiences they have in the program as well as the understanding they may gain from them.

3.  Has participating in the Program changed your understanding of consciousness, including your own?  Yes  No Please explain your choice. 

What this question automatically does is help you to consciously examine your own consciousness. To be able to do that requires you to have a developed sense of consciousness in general as well as your own consciousness in particular. To consciously stretch yourself to be able to answer the question broadens your horizons. Were you consciously aware of being conscious before this program? You may also begin to discover the difference between Self and ego through responding and then consciously reflecting on your responses. When were you an ego talking and when were you coming from your higher or True Self? Can you tell the difference?

Many participants wrote that prior to the WoW program they had a fairly limited understanding of consciousness or didn’t really think about being conscious and now: “I see there are more layers of consciousness that cooperate and help us;” “there is so much more to learn” “more aware of different types, possibilities, and most important, the big connection between us all” (several others also said this). Many people expressed how clarifying understanding the different levels of conscious was for them: “the way they relate to the cycle of life makes a lot of sense now, and is already helping me in understanding consciousness;” “Understand how the levels of consciousness are shifting throughout our lifetime;” and “Amazing to learn about the levels of consciousness and how we can be multilevel.” Others indicated how increasing one’s consciousness is important “for a sustainable future. If everyone was conscious . . . we would take care of our earth so much better;” realized “How much work I have to do and disciplined I have to be, what a beautiful life it will give;” and “I thought I was being conscious about the earth but I realized my shower took 15 minutes. No more.” One person became conscious that: “I have an important role to play in society and that the ideas I have learnt here matter only if put into practice.” Others became much more self-conscious and were able to stand back and look at themselves, that the “inner-world is real” and they could use it to support themselves and learn more.

These statements altogether represent quite a range of understanding consciousness, including one person being thankful that we discussed the “Mythic-Shamanic” level of consciousness and is hopeful that we can “bring it back.” Echoing this another person said: “I can communicate using my consciousness with nature . . . I still feel crazy doing it, I feel the unknown power of consciousness and that everything has consciousness.” These statements are representative of the Mythic-Shamanic level of consciousness being directly experienced and explored. The advantage we have at this time in our history as a species is that we can more consciously direct our experiences, in the original Mythic-Shamanic era, there was no capacity for such reflection or awareness. At that time humans experienced Nature as alive and surrounding us as living Beings, the Wind is breath, the Water is blood, or milk; the River is a conscious Being, as is the Sun and Moon; Trees do talk as does everything, etc. (caps for indicating personhood).

Those that said ‘no’ thought they “already knew” or “were already aware” about what consciousness is without being specific. It would have been useful if participants briefly wrote out what their understanding is. Several Initiate have studied consciousness in depth; one said that Ken Wilbur’s “Integral Theory includes all the types [of consciousness] we’ve used and goes beyond.” We have read Ken Wilbur and his Integral theory, and yes, our program does have similar integral components; but WoW represents only an introductory invitation (and hopefully inspiration) for participants to utilize to find their own way; and always “there is so much more to learn.”

One person wrote that it “helped to hear how it sounds in words and explained the trickier parts” and others said participating in the WoW “deepened” their understanding” but because of reading “so many books” or “Carl Jung and Buddhist teaching” still claimed it did not change their understanding., We are gratified to hear that so many of you are studying and learning about consciousness already, keep on going. One person wrote that the WoW program “gave me insight” into how we have integrated our “understanding of consciousness into an overarching symbol/structure” but that “it didn’t change my understanding of consciousness.” This individual may feel they have already evolved beyond the scope of the program and, if so, we can only say: keep going!

And finally, one young person wrote: “I have been very conscious for a few years now, still have some work to do. But when I look at most people, I think I’ve walked quite a lot on the consciousness path.” We sincerely hope you keep on walking the path of consciousness and predict that after 20 or 30 years on the path, you will look back at this experience and your self-evaluation, and realize that you had barely begun, even if you gained no new understanding of consciousness from participating in the WoW program.

For the most part, if you are truly on the path, you may change direction several times, but you will never leave it, it is life-long and continues even after we leave this life. Perhaps this represents one of our highest dreams for the WoW program, to inspire participants to get on the path of consciousness evolution. Because, once you have begun, psyche inspires you in various ways to stay on it; even if you slide off, there will be a small voice coaxing you back; or there may be circumstances you unwittingly involve yourself in that drive you right back. Bless you all on your journey to conscious awareness of who you truly are.

4.  Has participating in the Program changed your relationship with nature?  Yes  No
Please explain your choice.

One of the things we feel is most important when considering a future for the human species is for people to regain a relationship with their life-source, Planet Earth. We feel very strongly that it is because of our human/nature disconnection that we are continuing to consume, pollute, and destructively develop and exploit our earth without regard to a balance between human and other than human creatures and living things. For our collective future, this needs to change and it is better to do it consciously than be forced to do it because of disastrous results from our unconsciously destructive ways.

Twenty participants checked yes to this question, nine said no and one didn’t check it but said “always felt close to nature, but it has made me see nature as a living being;” For the most part those nine indicated that they had experiences that enabled them to feel connected with nature writing: “my parents and grandparents taught me to be nice and thankful to nature,” “I already spoke, sang, and love nature;” “was ever close to nature . . . already have a power spot;” and “already doing meditation in forest and talking to trees.” Having almost a third of our participants already feeling close to nature is so heartwarming and hopeful for our collective future.

Equally gratifying are some of the experiences and discoveries the participants who checked yes had, some felt the conscious aliveness of nature: “I can talk to my GREAT MOTHER!;” “Now I see the nature as a part of my family and I am a part of the nature family;” “my understanding of singing, talking, touching her has deepened . . . I pray more, ask guidance and thank her;” “Talking to/receiving nature felt a bit like on LSD, I like that . . . want this connection to grow.” Others had a completely new experience of nature: “Visiting the power-spot every day has made me feel earth as I haven’t done before (earth as conscious being)” and “I understand how we can connect in simple ways.” For others the “increased awareness about environmental issues (was glad we discussed ‘chem trails’) and energy consumption” inspired them to take care of it: “I’m more aware . . . nature is a soul . . . try to protect it even more;” “I hugged a tree yesterday and it felt great! . . . I realized that whatever small thing I do, even to pick up litter, it matters, and that gives me motivation to do it.”

One of the things we teach participants in WoW is that they have a blessing or a cursing power and we can be blessing or cursing Beings; then we demonstrate how to bless and have them join in blessing and thanking the rocks we are building the Wheel with. Each day we bless the rocks for the element of direction of the day: Water, Earth, Air, Fire (energy transformation) and the last day for humans to become fully conscious beings. Then each individual picks a rock and puts a prayer in it for humans to become more conscious of their use of that particular element. Without the four basic elements, life would not exist; and without increasing our conscious awareness, humans will not evolve. That we received responses from participants acknowledging their blessing power represents the development of a higher form of self-awareness: “I didn’t know I was a blessing being, having that in mind changed the way I relate to all these living creatures, including rocks. We’ve been talking a lot;” What would it be like, for example, if more people recognized they can choose to be either a blessing or cursing Being? Blessing rocks also extends awareness that such ancient elements of nature, rocks, can carry great meaning: “I’ve reminded myself how sacred is nature, how important is the symbolic meaning of natural things and our power to bless.”

Every rock in the Wheel of Wisdom contains such prayers and blessings making the whole structure sacred. Through the building the Wheel portion of the WoW program we teach ordinary humans how they can create the sacred. Our thoughts, especially our focused thoughts as in prayer or blessing, are electromagnetic energy which when directed can powerfully permeate whatever we are focused on. This is how sacred structures everywhere carry sacred energy that when we are around them, we can actually feel. Additionally, places where horrible and destructive things have happened as in Auschwitz also carry tremendous negative energy that we can also feel. We can send healing and loving energy into these places and help to heal the collective harm we have done to others or others have done to us. One of the greatest psychic powers we have is the ability to deeply forgive and love.

5.  Has participating in the Program increased the likelihood of you making changes in your life? (Circle your choice):  Yes: /Probably: /Maybe: /Probably Not: /No:

Twenty-one checked Yes; five checked Probably; three checked Maybe; and one checked Probably Not. In our history of asking this question this is the first time we have had anyone check probably not. The person who checked Probably Not wrote: “I already know what changes I have to make to keep evolving, the program confirmed some of them.” So even this person (while not inspired by WoW) is stating changes they are already in the process of making. Several of the people who checked probably or maybe had also said they had begun the process of change for themselves. All in all, that the majority of participants either said yes or at least indicated it was a possibility indicates WoW participation inspires participants to make positive changes in their lives and represents another way we try to have them take the program home to continue on the path to higher consciousness

6. What changes?

Several Initiate’s focused on their future: “Think clearly about what I want to do in life; career, spirit & relationship;” “make plans for my life, more focus on yoga, meditation, gratitude, prayer;” “work on a life plan;” Several wanted to develop their sense of responsibility: It’s time to become 100% responsible for myself . . . listen to my body, the earth, the universe;” “Stop breaking promises to myself;” “become a proper adult;” “take more action.” Others wanted to develop their will and sense of discipline or strength: “To grow a stronger will . . . concentrate my attention more, believe in myself more;” “Be more committed, have a strong will, be a blessing power, look for the symbolic meaning of the journey of life.” Many wanted to focus on their own psychological growth: “Look to myself more . . . things that trigger bad feelings in me actually are my mirror, now I need to learn how to deal with them;” “ask for help with my psychological problems . . . that I neglected to take care of.” Others wanted to “be the best version of myself possible, be an example for others;” “want to take responsibility and make a change in the world and am honored to find others who also want to.” One person wrote: “I am thinking about developing a program for psytrance, music, and art festival where the focus will be on intellectual content with elements of body and mind discipline. This program is my primary inspiration.” We say: Go do it! The world needs more programs like this.

7. Has participating in the Program changed your experience of the Ozora Festival?  Yes  No Please explain your choice. 

We ask this question because we want to see the effect WoW has on being part of Ozora festival as well as give those who have not tried WoW, but are curious about it, an idea of how others have experienced it while at the festival. WoW represents an alternative to the usual festival activity of partying and we like readers to see how useful it is to spend time participating, especially in the Initiate’s program. As one person who checked no said: “Ozora was, and is still best, exploring myself through many different disciplines . . . receiving so much good from this environment;” indicating that WoW was just one of the wonderful parts of Ozora festival and there is something good about all of them.

Twenty-four participants answered yes to this question; five no; and one didn’t check either way because this was their first experience, as did two of the participants who checked no, one added that though it was the first Ozora experience, it was: “everything I could hope for and more, life-changing.” Two others who also checked no, wrote it was because they had already “planned to do WoW” or had come to the festival planning to “elevate my consciousness and WoW was just perfect.”

Again, this year participants made the comparison between partying and participating in WoW: “It was my first Ozora, I thought I’d party all day and night but I didn’t . . . very spiritual experience, didn’t expect that, but it was great;” “I never thought I could have so much fun without drugs at a festival . . . Realized that a psytrance festival could be so much more connection, unity” “Came with the idea of doing lots of drugs and I didn’t; . . . lectures, sacred spot and homework gave me meaning and belonging my relationship with friends was influenced positively.” Several discussed that they had recognized the power of sticking to their commitment: “It was not about partying but about keeping a commitment;” “I liked being committed and to belong to such an amazing bunch of people;” Instead of raving and attending different courses, I’ve now made a serious commitment which I started to live” Others discussed their experience of the program overall: “This is inspiring, open, encouraging, fun, informative program;” or the difference participating made for them: “I had a balanced rhythm of sleep & wake only took psychedelics once before the program;” “I Learned to take care of myself, practice meditation and develop routine out of my ordinary life and in harmony with others” or how big an impact being at Ozora Festival had on their lives: “This very specific and welcome way of studying made everything bigger in terms of the role of the festival in my (inner & outer) journey.” Some discussed the good feeling of meeting like-minded people: “Met people who walk the same path of consciousness;” and “Skyrocketed the experience . . . Really glad I met my soul-tribe.”

8.  Add anything else you would like to say, you may also use the back of the page.

All but one of our Initiates answered this question and I’d like to mention here that we had intended to make a slight change in this question after last year’s review, but forgot. So, for sure this year we will make sure to ask specifically for any feedback about how participants felt about the program and give suggestions for ways we might improve it. Several Initiates gave us that kind of feedback anyway, but perhaps the one who didn’t answer would have something to say if prompted this way.

Almost everyone expressed some kind of gratitude, thanking us for the experience and inspiration, for: “our teaching and wisdom;” “giving back faith in humanity;” and “faith in my generation;” “showing youth the power and importance of commitment;” and “for giving so much good for the earth, human race and collective consciousness.”  You can only imagine how grateful we feel for this kind of feedback.  It gives us faith in ‘humanity’ and the ‘younger generation’ to hear your acknowledgment of our life’s work. It tells us that our work is valuable, important, and effective; and best of all: that you want us to keep: “on rocking & inspiring” and “spreading the message.” One person wrote: “You guys are real ‘Rock’ Stars” (emphasis ours) and we must say, we are not the stars, the ROCKS are!

Many Initiates wrote about things they’d like to see changed or included in the program: “Want more structured time for Q & A at end of each session/ more explanation & demonstration” “want more discussion, time for speaking/more play/singing mantras, be closer” “want to have questions & comments in Pyramid lectures” “would like more & to go deeper/would like Initiates to receive a condensed version of lectures and get to do bonus homework.”

While we always love it that many participants want more from the WoW program (though we have never had anyone ask for bonus homework!); it is already big time demand (Two and a half hours for Pyramid WoW program); if we added allowing more time for questions and answers we would make it just too demanding for people who really have come to party and are stretching themselves by attending just one WoW Pyramid session. However, we have thought about this issue (it has come up almost every year) and we are considering having people write questions for us at the end of the Pyramid sessions and hand them to the assistants during the break or after the program is over for the day. We would read them and if they warrant taking a little time away from our other subjects will respond at the beginning of the next session. Additionally, for the Initiate’s program, we realize a long lecture (even if it is very informative as the Jungian typology lectures were) doesn’t allow for the kind of interaction people seem to be asking for and we will change the program format to include more interaction, exercises, and questions and answers. We are also considering the request for lecture-note handouts (only for Initiates, not the general public) and will see if fits practical. Perhaps the best way to go about doing this would be to have any Initiates who have questions or want the program note handouts use WoW Facebook to make requests or ask questions.

Someone wanted us to: “start a consciousness study beyond Ozora and would love to help. Incredible knowledge” Regarding starting a consciousness study, we would love someone to take the lead through the WoW Initiates Facebook page. We are slowly ramping up our involvement with that group and have begun writing essays for Initiates to consider. The Facebook group is the perfect venue already in place for an advanced consciousness study program. If anyone reading this report is interested it pursuing this idea, please contact us.

A few other comments warrant our attention: “Repetition of ritual makes it less powerful & too normal:” We purposely use repetition to reinforce the learning from the symbol, and if you really pay attention; we work with a different element each time; teaching you repeatedly, how the symbol carries so much different information.  The Native American Indians used this approach of repetition (and some tribes still do; i.e. the Lakota use this symbol as do the Navajo) when teaching from the oral tradition; not only do they get to remember their tribal traditions; repetition is part of memory training. We support such rituals as the one we utilize at WoW becoming “normal;” ritual is a powerful tool that we would like to see consciously returned to daily life. One person acknowledged that they: “Will have to apply this knowledge to embody it;” ritual can be utilized to embody the material. Frequently, I have repeatedly walked around and around my Wheel at home, focused on the Seven directions, and have deepened my understanding of their symbolic significance through that repetitive experience.

The other comment is that the WoW program “seems like school” and “a bit boring.” Well the truth is: it is school! As we have said earlier, more interactive exercises will take the place of the long lectures in the Initiate’s program.

And finally, several Initiates made inclusive general comments on multiple aspects of their WoW experience: “Thank you for dedicating your life to make us better human beings . . . U. R. amazing . . . deeply appreciate the classes;” “It has been an honor to be here and participate in such an inspiring program and meet people that teach valuable lessons;” “Very inspired to find my True Self, become spiritual and finally become an adult; . . . the other Initiates amazing . . . WoW shows me I can make my life into something great;” and “Had a profound effect on my life; looking forward returning to daily life and try this new perspective”

CONCLUSION

Our coming 2019 program represents ten years of teaching and developing the Wheel of Wisdom Program, especially the Initiates Program. At least for now, we have begun inviting anyone who is interested in finding out about the program to attend the first session; and in 2018 we had 47 people curious enough about the Initiate’s program to attend. As we said earlier in this report, we went beyond our original program limit of 25 participants and accepted everyone who was willing to fully commit to the rigorous demands and 30 hearty souls stayed the course. We feel this is an indication that the WoW program is beginning to attract a larger following and that more people are seeing the necessity of consciousness evolution for themselves as well as for the future of humanity. The Initiate’s responses to the above questions underscore and reflect that assertion. We can conscientiously say that for the most part, the WoW program is succeeding in accomplishing our primary goals of generating interest in and promoting the development of consciousness expansion in participants. For the large majority of Initiates, participation in the Initiate’s program positively changed their understanding of themselves, psyche, consciousness and their relationship with nature. Additionally, participants were willing, for the most part, to consider making positive changes in their lives. And that they felt that the WoW program was a positive part of Ozora Festival, and gave them an opportunity to stretch and strengthen themselves by making commitments to abstain from taking mind altering drugs and be in a rigorous program instead of partying.

The sincerity and depth of gratitude they expressed upon completion is another indicator that they received something of value for themselves from participating in WoW. As we’ve already said, We always learn something from doing this work; the Wheel of Wisdom works on us as much as it does on anyone who participates in it. And we too, are grateful to have this opportunity to give something of ourselves for the greater good of others. We are also grateful for you who have spent your time with us, thank you for being willing to develop yourselves to your highest potential. You ARE a Blessing on the World.