John's Home Page & Recent Events

A continuum at jan 7 23 Please Excuse While we update the Links & Pics Below

Date	Event
Jan 7  2023	The Cicadas interrupt the Dharma Talk Reflections on Forest Meditation Centre, near Lismore, NSW, Australia CHRISTOPHER TITMUSS JAN 7, 2023 Published in November 2022, Living and Working Together tracks the 50-year-old history of the Dharmananda Community in The Channon, near Lismore, NSW Australia. Around 40 people, including present and past community members, contributed to the book (A4 format), which also includes around 100 photographs, colour and black and white, spread over the 50 years. Jen Ireland of the Community, who compiled and edited the publication, invited me to write a reflection of teaching in the forest centre. Online: Listen to Full Talk PDF: Transcript & Links
Dec 1  2022	Great day in Melbourne yesterday. I emailed one of my heroes, Tyson Yunkaporta, author of the brilliant "Sand Talk" and asked him if we might have a yarn on his podcast "The Other Others". https://anchor.fm/tyson-yunkaporta Lo and behold he replied at once, "how about between 1 and 2 to-day?" So ... we had a great rave together and at 5.30 he emailed me "Yau, here's the link bruz" https://anchor.fm/tyson.../episodes/Eco-Warrior-e1rj0rs Cool!Then a deep ecology talk at the wonderful Black Spark Cultural Centre https://www.facebook.com/black.spark.cultural/  and to-day begins the Entheogenesis Australis conference. https://gardenstates.org.
Sept 22  2022	Interesting to look back at the podcast I did for Derrick Jensen’s “Resistance Radio” in 2018. "In the light of our huge success in stopping mining in Los Cedros and other important areas in Ecuador this year, I find the description of our campaign as I saw it back in 2018; pretty illuminating. But the best bit, for me, was the more philosophical, deep time tangent that the conversation took at one point, musing on the implications of extinction. PDF:  Transcript of  Derrick Jensen’s “Resistance Radio” Actual Podcast: https://derrickjensen.org/2018/01/john-seed-resistance-radio/
Sept 11  2022	Some great music fell into my life this week. "The Great Turning" from my friends Kelly and Donna, Still on the Hill: https://youtu.be/Ybeaf6_ETTc . Sweet! They organised deep ecology workshops for me in Fayetteville Arkansas long ago and then we reconnected recently.. A gorgeous new song from Howard Eynon. The land on Bruny Island that he is stewarding will host my February Tasmania Deep Ecology Workshop . - And to top it off my friend Subhira wants me to help organise some gigs so he can bring his quintet out from Chile next month when he’s been invited to the Port Fairy Festival https://youtu.be/sCur0la2_CE I feel the presence of the Angel of Music. This was the verse we added we added to "Angel of Sunshine" . It came through Doug Ferguson and me and someone else I’ve forgotten, on the banks of the Evans River during a deep ecology workshop in the 1980’s. Angel of Music, I hear you calling Pour your vibrations down over me Into my spirit your sweet song is falling In your embrace, may we live in harmony.
Sept 9  2022	HOW I CAUGHT DEEP ECOLOGY - REFLECTIONS ON THE 4Oth ANNIVERSARY by John Seed Back in 1982, somewhere between the Nightcap and Franklin actions I was searching to understand the ubiquitous psychological or spiritual sickness that allows modern humans to imagine that we can somehow profit from the destruction of our own life support systems. Paul Ehrlich: “We are sawing off the branch that we’re sitting on”.  James Lovelock: “Its as if the brain had decided it was the most important organ in the body and started mining the liver.”...Read more Click >> To Read John's Full Story
Sept 6  2022	"Deep Ecology" by Daniel Mirante Art by: Daniel Mirante >> See Full Size Photo and Link to Daniel's Website
Sept 3  2022	Memoirs of the Rainforest Information Centre “I’m so grateful to Divish Petrof for the 2nd of the “memoirs” of the Rainforest Information Centre”  which I asked him to write (see July 9 this year for the first instalment). Brings so much flooding back from the heydays of activism. In particular, his mention of the 1989 rainforest benefit in Brisbane with music by The Wallies (my son Bodhi, then aged 12 and his friend the late and sorely missed Emu) caused me to find this classic video by Andy Caffrey of the North American rainforest roadshow of the same year https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asr6pd1Ltas . Some great clips including the Wallies singing Steve Tripp’s legendary “Once Upon a Planet” (starting at 4m25s) which led me to Steve’s own recent version of this great and uplifting  song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9pyXyefYvI . Andy Caffrey’s video also has a short but sweet deep ecology rave (7m40s) as  introduction to “Expanding Universe”   and The Wallies singing “Lay Down Your Whopper Baby” inside a Vancouver Burger King to protest BK destroying rainforests in Costa Rica for cattle pasture (30m15s).
Sept 1 2022	Workshop in the forests of the Arcoora Arts and Ecology Training Ground Such a beautiful workshop in the forests of the Arcoora Arts and Ecology Training Ground in the foothills of the Border Ranges, one of the national parks we helped bring into being with our direct actions. I look forward to singing this song again and telling a few stories from long ago at the Nimbin Town Hall on Saturday night Oct 22 as part of the 40th anniversary celebration of those actions and the declaration of the Nightcap National Park. https://www.facebook.com/events/1018409028786726 https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch7G_fzJ4j6/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet
Aug 17 2022	Skye Cielita Flor shared a post: Check out this new podcast conversation between Leilani Navar of Turning Season Podcast and John Seed Some of the topics explored are: • how John found his calling in rainforest protection (part psychedelics, part being willing to help a neighbor, and part lucky accident) • why he likes to attend a group Experiential Deep Ecology workshop about 10 times a year (like all of us, he still needs to remember to remember) • one practice that you can easily do on your own • the recent Rights of Nature win in Ecuador • how he’s able to relate to this ecologically “on the brink” time with passion, but without hysteria •and a glimpse through his words of what it’s like to expand your identity through time, through the cosmos, and through different life forms on Earth It’s such a special opportunity to hear from John Seed, especially after his 6-year struggle with cancer, when he couldn’t engage in leading workshops or activism like he had been.   "John Seed is founder and director of the Rainforest Information Centre in Australia. He’s been involved in direct actions to protect Australian rainforests since 1979. He’s a well-loved leader and teacher of Deep Ecology, and collaborator with Joanna Macy in the early development of the Work that Reconnects. In 1988, Joanna Macy and John Seed co-authored the book Thinking Like a Mountain: Toward a Council of All Beings with Pat Fleming and Arne Naess." https://turningseason.com/episode17
Aug 8 2022	DEEP ECOLOGY AND THE CONSERVATION OF ECUADOR RAINFORESTS:   John Seed is offering 2 deep ecology workshops on the N Coast this year near Kyogle (August 26-28) and near  Nimbin (October 21-23). 25% of proceeds support the  protection of Ecuadorean rainforests. See John's 2022 Schedule here:>>    Click to View Full PDF
July 12 2022	Deep Ecology Online: Practices for Awakening & Resilience in a Changing World One of the facilitators was my old friend and colleague Dr Eshana Bragg. To-day she wrote on her Facebook page:    Click to View Letter
July 12 2022	John Seed recites Poem by Drew Dellinger "Word to the Mother"    Click to View Video
July 11 2022	John Seed Sings "Born To Be Wild" Music by John Seed    Click to View Video | Click for Audio Only on SoundCloud
July 9 2022	John Seed Excerpts from Redwood Summer 1990 with The Wallies (musical group of Emu and Bodhi Seed) News Clips from the Redwood Summer and Music by John Seed    Click to View Video
July 9 2022	A letter from Divish Petrof (1st installment) I had a visit a couple of weeks ago from Divish Petrof, an activist who worked with us at the Rainforest Information Centre but we hadn’t been in touch since the ‘90’s. We sat around the fire and I was amazed how well he remembered stuff that I had long forgotten. He agreed to write some of his memories down for our archives and today I received the first instalment. Remembering the Rainforest Information Centre - Pt.1    Click to View Letter
April 29 2022	River and John    Click to View Full Size Photo
Dec. 2 2021	Los Cedros Biological Reserve Dec. 2, 2021 In December 2021, Ecuador's Constitutional Court decided in favour of protection for Los Cedros Reserve from mining. Seven of nine judges voted to revoke the environmental license of mining companies Cornerstone Capital Resources and ENAMI, forcing them to cease operations within the reserve. The exciting thing about this 117-page ruling is its declaration that Cornerstone and ENAMI have violated three sets of constitutional rights: - the rights of nature; - the rights of nearby communities to safe water and a clean environment; - the rights of communities to consultation regarding environmental impact. The court also ruled that companies failed to follow due process with environmental and water permits for the Rio Magdalena mining concessions which cover Los Cedros. This ruling creates a precedent in Ecuador as more than 2 million Ha of similarly threatened “Bosques Protectores” and a worldwide precedent for the Rights of Nature  Click to View Story in THE GUARDIAN:             Los Cedros Reserve. Photo: Roo Vandegrift
Dec. 1 2021	Los Cedros Biological Reserve Dec. 1, 2021 Monumental victory in Ecuador as the Constitutional Court ejects mining companies from our Los Cedros Biological Reserve. Click to View Story:
Nov. 10 2021	“Interview by Steven Wyatt, ex Financial Review journalist and ex China correspondent for that paper, for his alternative history of Byron Bay" Click Here to View:
Nov. 1 2021	Photos of John and his Son River. Click Here to View:
Aug. 25 2021	Some photos from the last couple of years  Click Here to view:
Jan. 16 2019	Update: "Actually, I have to credit Acacia courtii and some sweet friends for assisting the immunotherapy" Click Here for: link from "Acacia courtii and some sweet friends"
Jan. 16 2019	“We’re doing well, River just turned 5 and is a delight. A biopsy late 2017 found that the tumour had returned. The scans had been indicating this for 6 months but prof Miyazaki (cyberknife surgeon) categorically stated it was only scar tissue and advised against the biopsy. By the time I had the biopsy and scan December 2017 it was tracking towards the brain stem and last January I was booked in for surgery with Ben Panizza in Brisbane to remove eye, exenterate the orbit followed by a hole in the back of my skull for further surgery followed by radiation. However, the final MRI before the op showed that the cancer was too far advanced and he called it off and this was precisely what made me eligible to participate in the trial of a new immune-therapy. This stopped the tumour advancing and then, after 8 months of fortnightly treatments at RNSH, my October MRI showed the volume of the tumour had precipitously dropped to 30% and last month it was down to 15% of its former glory. So … Dr. Miyazaki saved my eye twice - 4 years ago with his cyberknife and again in 2017 with his mistaken diagnosis! “
Jan 15 2019	Johns Son River and Grand daughter Jala
Dec. 31 2018	Update: Click Photo for Full Size
Aug 5 2018	This could be the game-changer we’ve been waiting for. A court in the Azuay Province of Ecuador has rejected the Government’s appeal and the Chinese-owned Rio Blanco gold mine has been stopped! See the excellent article about this issue  written last week before this historic decision.
Aug 3 2018	Megan  left for  a workshop yesterday leaving River (RIVER GALAXY) for a week for the first time. Next Wednesday  he and I will fly to Cairns. Friday we’ll  pick Megan  up at Cairns airport and drive to my first gig with the families at Kowrowa, a small indigenous -community out of Kuranda, (out of Monamona Mission in the 60's). Next morning we head to the Coalessence  Festival,  Mission Beach for a deep ecology workshop and to meet Bodhi and family (IMAGES 6008, 6012, 6014, 6016) there for the weekend before we repair to a week together at Cape Trib then deep ecology gigs in Kuranda and Cairns and home again jiggety jig.
Aug 1 2018	Melbourne RAG's superb research into the Aussie miners who hold the lions share of the contested concessions threatening to lay Ecuador's rainforest biodiversity to waste
July 16 2018	Important article on the economic damage caused by the mining industry, written by Alberto Acosta Ecuadorian economist  former Minister of Energy and Mines. Former president of the Constituent Assembly. Former candidate for the Presidency of the Republic of Ecuador. ENGLISH.....  ESPAÑOL.
July 15 2018	Thanks to Davide Nicastro, the Hope St Warehouse residents and all the musicians for last night’s  rave party which raised $11,000 for Los Cedros legal defense
July 11 2018	About 40 activists from Students of Sustainability, Friends of the Earth  and the Melbourne Rainforest Action Group   descended up BHP's headquarters in downtown Melbourne  today, locking down the lifts and blockading the main entrance for an hour until police intervened. We held  Ecuador-related campaign signs and handed  out leaflets.  Several TV news networks came to cover the action, with the ABC  (the national broadcaster) covering all the various student actions targeting various government agencies
July 8 2018	Great deep ecology workshop, 40 participants, first time I’ve had to turn people away from a full workshop in 20 years, booking 2 more in Nov-Dec, $1900 raised for Los Cedros. Thanks so much Mycelium Studios for donating this incredible space. Melbourne rocks! Afterwards, one of the Mycelium gang, Ivanna,  took some great portraits of me
July 7 2018	Brendan Condon from The Cape Ecovillage near Melbourne recently gave a talk at our Narara Ecovillage where he described the totally passive (open source) designs that they have created and started building down there which now achieve  over 9  NatHERs stars and require minimal  cooling OR heating. Today Brendan showed a couple of us around his project and we went to visit some of the houses they have built . We were stunned  by the comfort on a wild weather day in July and particularly by the economics – they can now build one of these houses with zero energy bills at a tiny 3% premium over the cost of a well-build conventional house costing $3000 to $3,500/year in energy bills (ie  3 year pay-back period and then no energy bills for the life of the building). This is the future.
July 1 2018	Students of Sustainability are a totally kick-ass group of  uni students from around the country that get together at a different campus each winter, this year in Melbourne. They organise direct actions following each of their conferences and I was able to negotiate for this years actions to include one at BHP’s HQ in Collins St – they want to attack BHP around Aussie uranium mines among other things and happy to include Ecuador in the mix. I’ve gone to 6 or 8 of their gatherings during the last 20 years and will once again give a deep ecology workshop at this one next week.
April 28 2018	John Plays Guitar for the Kids  Click to view Full Size Photo Here  or (See the FB link) >> Click Here
Sept 24 2017	Los Cedros Summary Update Click Here
Sept 3 2017	A weekend  of  deep ecology events in Bathurst NSW to  benefit Los Cedros. Friday night  a talk on deep ecology for “Green Drinks” organised by the Sisters of Mercy “Rahamim Ecology Centre”. They posted a video of my talk onto youtube as well as a 5-minute clip and the two Drew Dellinger raps I opened and closed with: The Universe Jam and Word to the Mother. Then a gorgeous weekend of experiential deep ecology. The best part is that, in spite of being the facilitator,  I’m able to fully  participate as well and, just as for the other participants, I get to soak in the healing and empowerment returning so refreshed to my family and work.
May 10 2017	My old friend, the permaculture legend Jeff Lawton, posted my Los Cedros rave to his news site  and also filmed a passionate 7-minute video which went out to some 60,000 subscribers to his “Friday Five”
April 2017	Los Cedros, the  Biological Reserve in NW Ecuador which we launched back in the late ‘80’s with the help of a grant from the Australian Government’s development assistance bureau is facing its most serious threat – The Ecuadorean government has secretly signed a mining agreement covering Los Cedros and other “protected” areas with the Canadian company “Cornerstone Capital Resources inc”. Many of the international scientists who have worked at Los Cedros have signed a letter attesting to the irreplaceable scientific value of this, the best -forested watershed in Western Ecuador. You can support this fight by signing the petitition here: http://rainforestinfo.nationbuilder.com/save_los_cedros
Sept 16 2014	My son River (9 months) and granddaughter Jala (4 months)
July 12 2014	“Megan River and I have joined the Narara Ecovillage. Click here for YouTube Video
June 7 2014	“One month old today, my granddaughter Jala Star Seed, welcome, blessings of the Universe pour upon you endless from the eternal fountain”  Here’s her 6-month old uncle, my son River with his mama and nagymama
May 17 2014	Me and River at his first blockade the day before the NSW Government caved in in the face of people power and suspended Metgasco's licence to frack and their share price plumetted to 5c.  www.flickr.com/photos/csgfreenorthernrivers/sets/72157644077911055/
May 7 2014	Hallelujah! My grand-daughter was born this morning.
April 24 2014	A glorious Easter in the rainforest and some memories sparked by the death of Neville Wran.. con't >
Apr  9  2014	Photos of our son River 6 weeks to 4 months Note* When the page opens-Doubleclick top left photo, click on   "slideshow" top middle, move cursor to bottom of screen and hit play
Feb 11 2014	River is 2 months old today, endless delight, plenty to keep us both busy. Booked my first gig since his birth - offering some deep ecology at the Regrowth Festival March 1-2  - hope they dont schedule me while Bodhi Seed is playing - Saturday 11.30am DJ SeeD, 1.30pm with Lub Dub and midnight with Syren link
Feb  3  2014	“The naming of our son “River"
Dec 23 2013	Wedding lunch Megan and John
Dec 11 2013	11/12/13 The birth of our son. Hallelujah!
Nov 26 2013	Organised a great evening with world-leading Amazon rainforest conservationist - Atossa Soltani at the University of Technology and launched Amazon Watch Allies Australia
Nov 23 2013	Beautiful 8-minute piece on ABC's 7.30 Report  last night about the launch of the events celebrating the 60th anniversary of my 93 year old mother, Judy Cassab's  first painting exhibition.Nov 14 2013 organised fund raising for sustainable agriculture in Zimbabwe and screening  "The Chikukwa Project" film premiere in Sydney July 8 2013 With Dana Lyons and NEO, the great band that he somehow persuaded to come down from Darwin, at our benefit for food security in Zimbabwe at Chapel by the Sea, Bondi Beach link photo dana
Nov 23 2013	Beautiful 8-minute piece on ABC's 7.30 Report last night about the launch of the events celebrating the 60th anniversary of my 93 year old mother, Judy Cassab's first painting exhibition.
July 8 2013	With Dana Lyons and NEO, the great band that he somehow persuaded to come down from Darwin, at our benefit for food security in Zimbabwe at Chapel by the Sea
May 31 2013	Book Launch - Stories of the Great Turning What a great night, 120 people celebrating The Great Turning, Sydney Rocks!
Nov 22 2012	Raised over $6000 (see Oct 24  post) . Crowdfunding rocks! Thanks Do Gooder.
Oct 24 2012	Please help us to stop invaders  from destroying the Los Cedros Biological Reserve in the Amazon headwaters of Ecuador
Sept 12 2012	Some reminiscences upon AID/WATCH’s 20th birthday  |1980 documentary first eco-blockade in the world
Aug 25 2012	John Seed and Megan Wallace marry.
July 16 2012	Do you think that humanity can find a way past the current global environmental and social crises? GLOBAL CHORUS: rainforestinfo.org.au/deep-eco/seed/global-chorus.pdf
June 28 2012	CLIMATE CHANGE, DESPAIR & EMPOWERMENT, JOHN SEED & RUTH ROSENHEK Social Alternatives Vol. 31 No.1, 2012
June 8 2012	After our great experiential deep ecology workshop at Mooncourt, Glenys and Taffy recorded “Child of the Universe” which I had sung to accompany the Cosmic Walk .
June 4  2012	completed due diligence and funded tree planting in Kenya
April 2012	engaging with food security in Zimbabwe
Feb 6 2012	keynote address to APNEC: “Deep Ecology & The Conservation of Nature” now posted to youtube.
Nov 22 2011	Council of All Beings to-day, my last event in Taiwan.. Yesterday keynote address to APNEC: “Deep Ecology & The Conservation of Nature”. Earlier, an Ecopsychology and Eco-Spirituality panel and before that Ecophilosophy and Council of All Beings at Providence University. Also delivered some money I raised for the aboriginal communities I met last time I was here, to stop the dams that threaten their lands and way of life.
Oct 30 2011	uploaded a bunch of my music
July 2 2011	UWS publishes SOCIAL ECOLOGY including my chapter The Religion of Economics
May 8 2011	Deep Ecology Mandarin website
April 17 2011	Ecology or Extinction? Raise your voice! Nothing short of a revolution in consciousness can now prevent the demise of the Cenozoic Era and all of complex life. Is it really that bad? Find out. Check out Chris Hedges, “This Time We’re Taking the Whole Planet With Us” Derrick Jensen, “Beyond Hope” Clive Hamilton, “Requiem for a Species” John Greer “The Long Descent” and Reg Morrison “Plague Species“. What to do? I reckon  its time to get annoyed, I’m organising a series of “Climate Change, Despair and Empowerment” workshops around Australia and see who else is feeling annoyed. And you?
March 31 2011	2011 Deep Ecology tour of Taiwan, photo essay
March 21 2011	Sydney action against the Borneo timber Mafia photos
Feb 28 2011	Writing an  article about my great few days with kick-ass activists  at the Southern Forests Convergence in Tassie.
Jan 25 2011	Played music with my son Bodhi at the most excellent Rainbow Serpent festival. Also gave some deep ecology talks and workshops and sang the World Bank song. Loaded some of my music to Reverbnation. A friend made a slideshow to ”Word to the Mother”. Getting ready for gigs in Tasmania next month and Taiwan in April.
Aug  2010	Great news: following the 3000 emails which you sent to environment minister Jairam Ramesh, news is in to-day that Vedanta’s controversial bauxite mine on Dongria Kondh tribal land at Niyamgiri in India has been stopped. You can see the story in The Guardian or theMinistry of Environment and Forests decision  itself on the ministry website. Furthermore, Ramesh has been quoted as saying that  Vedanta had committed ” very serious violations of environment act and forest right act,” and that his department was looking at taking punitive action against the company. The news sent Vedanta shares down 6%. For more on this issue, see  the amazing 10-minute film: “Mine: Story of a Sacred Mountain“ or this  great 5 minute clip and a couple of recent articles one by Arundhati Roy A great new painting for Arunachala (the  sacred mountain we’ve been reforesting for 20 years) . First music gig in 20 years with my son Bodhi. Draft  chapter  ”The Religion of Economics” for”Handbook of Social Ecology”. Indian Journal of Ecocriticism interview with Swarna 3rd exhibition of “The Two of Us” – my sculptures along with paintings by my mother Judy Cassab,  Canberra July 31 Recent interview on ABC Radio National “The Spirit of Things” – transcript Have you been wondering what the “Maoist insurgency” in India is about. Great article by Arundhati Roy and interview by Tehelka.