WHAT GUESTS ARE SAYING

Clive Prince & Lynn Picknett, historians, London, England
We’re very much looking forward to our next appearance on the Cuyamungue Institute’s Q&A Talk in March. If our previous experience was typical, it will be fun, inspiring and generate much discussion. We were delighted by the charm and quiet erudition of the audience, whose questions were never less than enthralling. Clearly not only is the Cuyamungue Institute a magnet for deep thought but it also encourages sheer joy!

John & Catlin Matthews, Celtic Mythologists, Oxford, England
Thank you so much for both being such brilliant hosts!

Cherilynn Morrow, Astronomer & Astronomy Educator, Boulder CO:
Laura, I appreciate your ability to ask just the right questions, and add deeply insightful remarks that kept our conversation going along the most interesting content that we had to share about our research in Chaco Canyon. You covered all the key points and made it fun and accessible for the audience. And what a remarkable community your work has attracted, from all over the world!”
 
GB Cornucopia, Principle Interpretive Ranger, Chaco Culture National Historic Park: What draws us is the pilgrim’s way, the thirst to appear in the world and to feel the true fit of our place in the world, to finally know the world as our deepest selves and to continue to breathe the world into being. It was a joy to share my thirty plus years research at Chaco Canyon with an audience that deeply and intuitively understands this, and rejoices in our long history of knowing that Mother Nature Abides. 
 
Ryan Walsh, neurologist, Phoenix AZ: It was a pleasure to speak with such an attentive and interested audience from all over the world, sharing my own personal conclusions and perspective on the complexities of our brains, shaped by the same underlying patterns in Nature that shape all of life. 

Brian Tucker, mythopoet, Trenton, NJ: Am so glad to have been part of a Sunday series with the Cuyamungue Institute this past August, and have enjoyed the many and varied guests and topics . Laura, your curiosity and generative spirit made this process enjoyable and your questions and comments prompted me to discover new linkages between the work of CI and my topic of inquiry, the “Journey of the Universe”. It’s a delight to connect with a lively audience on a mythic exploration of the nature of reality.

Steven Hecht, Judaeo-Christian scholar, Santa Fe, NM: Laura is a very accomplished interviewer, whose engaging manner puts one instantly at ease, and with insightful questions, draws the best out of you and the topic. Finding connections between seemingly diverse points of view is not easy, but done right, is a wonderful way to spend a couple of hours, when conversation can be entertaining as well as an education.
 
Louise Gilmore, Cross-Cultural Meditation Teacher, Sydney, Australia: My guest speaking ‘gig’ recently was a delight. Paul and Laura make it very easy with deep questions and friendly manner and are really moving CI into new realms. Laura is a very experienced interviewer and guided by her questions, I shared the links I see and value between shamanism and trance postures. I also told stories from my journeys with Aboriginal elders ‘on country’ – a term the indigenous owners use for their tribal lands. The Q&A session at the end became a sharing of enquiries, knowledge and stories with the uniquely experienced and trained audience. This was one of those opportunities that lead me to a deeper understanding of my own journey in altered consciousness. Such a blessing. I discovered Trance Postures in 2010, coming from a background of 30 years practicing and teaching meditation and 10 years training in shamanism. I began to practice and explore the postures from the book with my advanced students. Later I travelled to CI for training with Paul and Laura. Thank you Paul and Laura for the opportunity.

Christine Van Pool, Professor of Archeology, University of Missouri, Columbia MO: I find the work of anthropologist Felicitas Goodman as compelling as that of neurologist Andrew Newburg in validating this age-old practice, one that fellow anthropologists and archeologists can personally experience to greatly enhance their quest to understand and decode the worldview and world experience of the peoples and artifacts they study.

Fredrick Smith, Professor of Religious Studies,University of Iowa: It’s a pleasure talking with such an intelligent and engaged audience about matters I rarely get to address in such depth outside the classroom.

Sister Margaret O’Rourke of the Order of St. Joseph of Carondelet: I applaud all that Laura and Paul are doing in carrying on the work of Dr. Goodman, and it was a pleasure to talk about this beautiful, ancient practice and what it shares with my mission work and the universal, eternal values found in all faiths.
 
Tony Hull, Prof of Astrophysics, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque: Laura and Paul provide a rare, deeply satisfying and possibly singular format to both express cross-cultural ideas and to listen openly to ideas and expertise of others. They have developed a superb series, where they and their audience respect both worldviews, and are eager to see the way these can be explored together. They facilitate in a manner to amplify and reach the range of participants. The audience too is exceptional, thanks to the format Laura and Paul have developed and refined. It feels like a community exploring together!  I have had the privilege of presenting at the CI Sunday Talks. As a professor and scientist, this has been a rare opportunity to talk in a manner that bridges two worlds, that of scientific observation and that of intuition. So often, forums allow for only one position, and at the expense of the other. Science and Intuition in reality are complimentary, not opposing explorations.  I look forward to participating again in this series, where what might be impossible to discuss elsewhere, is here so appreciated in an environment of critical thinking. And I continue to enjoy the wide range of perspectives presented in the series by many wonderful insightful guests.     
       I have spoken twice in this series, once conflating spherical trigonometry of sunrise and sunset through the seasons, with the personal meaning we can find in watching this on a daily basis from where we are, and once again on the Equinox, showing how a simple stick in the ground and a few pebbles placed in its shadow can explain the HOW of accurate cardinal alignment of worldwide ancient public architecture. This year, the Gnomon Theory was demonstrated and validated adjacent to the East-West wall of Pueblo Bonito, a remarkable cardinally-aligned Great House in Chaco Canyon, and summarized in my talk.  
       I have felt encouraged to express bridging these worlds, while feeling appreciated by both the facilitators and audience. Deep exploration of the ageless fulfilling impressions associated with our relationship between the cosmic hemisphere and terrestrial hemisphere seems relevant both to whom we are, and to our intuitive reach. Furthermore, I must add that it is special that Paul and Laura do not flinch if I segue these emotions into Monte Carlo research design, celestial mathematics and formal error analysis. It all the pursuit of truth!