Della Burford’s first book was published in 1977 and that same year she happened to hear Buckminster Fuller speak for the first time. It was such a profound experience she dedicated her life and her career to the idea that “You are more than yourself.”
Since then she has released many books of stories and artwork for children which have also been adapted for the theater. Her book “Earth Action (show your love for the earth)” is an adaptation of her book “Magical Earth Secrets,” and has been the focus of a mission in two Space Camps. In her latest mission she was able to include things she learned from Brian Von Herzen on ocean permaculture into an exercise in the book.
Incorporating both the medicine wheel and the four directions, the story follows an eagle-child named Rainbow Wings who becomes ill after drinking water from a polluted lake and meets a Wise One, who instructs the child to travel through the seasons in order to find the little people of the four directions in order to heal. These little people teach the child magical words called the “Magical Earth Secrets.” Throughout the story, the book teaches regenerative thinking and practices that help the earth through exercises and wheels that teach the cycles of nature like seasons, energy, water, waste, food, light, and change.
Della is a very gentle soul, a prolific artist and a participant in the Design Science Studio. Her first book “Journey to Dodoland” has been turned into a website and a world in Topia. She believes that art can change the world and encourages everyone to be creative. Steve and Della talk about the use of color in her art and understanding the concept of energy-centers of the body, how the elements in nature want to be in balance and Della also shares about the World Energy Game she helped create. A prolific dreamer, Della has been painting her dreams as “Dream Wheels” each year for the last 49 years, which she has also published in a book. Della also studies “dream yoga” with Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche and worked with a dream shaman who tutored with Carl Jung. Steve and Della talk about the “collective dream” and how important it is to envision a future where there is cooperation. Della says “It is very important to manifest our dreams.”
“The World is One and beautiful.”
Mentioned in this episode:
https://www.designscience.studio
http://www.dellaburford.com/
https://www.dodoland.com/
https://www.climatefoundation.org/brian-von-herzen.html
https://www.dodoland.com/della-is-at-the-buckminster-fuller-space-camp-earth-action-is-born/
https://www.topia.io/dodoland
https://www.topia.io/stargalaxyfortheworld
https://www.amazon.ca/Della-Burford/e/B00K3VK0H4/
Every year, the Buckminster Fuller Institute (https://www.bfi.org) hosts a dynamic event called Trimtab Space Camp, and each event encourages participants to join or host a Mission, the collaborative learning component of this 8-week online event. This year's Space Camp: Towards Climate Stabilization hosted 20 Missions with over 150 participants. At the end of the eight-week journey, crew-members from each Mission have 5 minutes to share their results with the group and the wider BFI community of over 100,000 people.
The Spaceship Earth Mission Log project will be interviewing leaders from each of the 20 Missions over the next 8 weeks beyond the close of this Space Camp. Subscribe to make deeper connections and be notified when each Mission Log comes out!
Steven Leavitt hosts this series, and is the host of The Language of Creativity podcast, https://www.thelanguageofcreativity.com. He has attended four Space Camps since 2020 and is inspired by Buckminster Fuller's quote: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
Tags: art, book, Design Science Studio, earth, medicine wheel, Buckminster Fuller, dreams, dream yoga, shaman, Carl Jung, Tenzin Wangyal Rinpoche, painting, world game, World Weavers, non-dualistic storytelling, virtual reality, lucid dreaming, collective unconscious, transpersonal consciousness, manifestation, peace, individuality, expression, chakras, Don Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements
PS. If you ran a mission during “On Climate Stabilization” and haven’t yet reached out to me to do an interview, please email me so we can setup a time.
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Della Burford: Earth Action