9th Council Meeting – Wildhaus/ Switzerland- Feb 2024
Hosts: Grandmother Elisabeth Wille and Irene Keller Gubler. Delegates from Switzerland in the Council of European Grandmothers
Official report and Summary of the Council Meeting
Date: 1 – 5 February 2024.
Topic: LIGHT
Present: Grandmothers: Aldona, Bette, Elisabeth, Erika, Irene, Madeleine, MaryAnne, Monika, Isabel, Wenche
Absent: Grandmothers: Beate, Helga, Pascale, Sabina, Swami Nitya, Toni
In Attendance: Sophia Clemenceau.
Place: Wildhausen https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/destinations/wildhaus/
Accommodation/Lunch/Dinner: at B&B Schönenboden www.schoenenboden.ch
Photos: Down below – after the text report – Photographer on most posts: ARIANE ELSHOF
Internal Council Meeting February 1-4
1st evening – Thursday February 1, 2024
Irene welcomed us with the sound of the Alphorn to our meeting room. Elisabeth and
Irene introduced the location, the program for these few days and a presentation on
the topic LIGHT. Then a welcome and opening Ceremony.
Friday February 2, 2024
Council organization; internal work day
MaryAnne introduced us to the Celtic light celebration of Imbolc which is celebrated
in Ireland and in other countries on the 1 st February each year.
Wenche presented the birth horoscope of the European Council.
Some of the visitors were with us when we had the pleasure to meet Sonja
Morgenegg, professional Singer and Yodeller. She gave a small workshop to teach
the techniques and the old communication traditions of Swiss Yodelling and taught
us a yodel to the Sunrise.
We took a Cable Car to Gamplüt for a reflection and walk in the mountains.
Council organisation internal work continued.
Dialog, meditation and a circle on the reflection on the topic – LIGHT :
- Where has your light led you for this incarnation?
- What quality do you embody with your light?
- What are you using your light for now?
Sophia gave a meditation journey and briefly presented the teachings of the Council of Elders of the 13 Moons.
Saturday February 3, 2024
Council internal organization development day
Erika and Madeleine hosted practices for the Council’s step into the next now. They
also held a circle dialogue about practical and organization matters and a dialog about the report from the Council Meetings 1-8 that Toni had prepared for the 9th Council.
Isabel Livingston gave a short conference on permaculture for the Council.
Eliot L Wilson and Brit gave a short introduction about his passive habitat project-
https://futur.earth- Living and housing system.
Internal Council Meeting continued
Aldona gave a meditation with a short body and focus preparation.
Council internal organization developing day continued with Erika and Madeleine
leading practices for the Councils next step.
Process to find our next step into the “next now”:
We decided to go in a new direction for the next council meeting. It was agreed to
Go East and organize a council in a new country. A council working group was
formed to prepare the location, flow and format for the next council meeting in
September 2024. The 2025 council meeting is planned for Ireland in 2025. Denmark
and Belgium are also in the dialog for next coming Council Meetings.
Circle dialog; practical and organization matters.
Closing the Council internal meeting
Saturday February 3, 2024, evening
Official activity
Fire ceremony.
By the lake Schönenbodensee and at the foot of the Alpsstein we held a peace fire.
People from different areas in Switzerland arrived in the evening and participated.
The fire was set up by Dieter. The ceremony was guided by Monika and Elisabeth. It
was a beautiful, strong, hopeful and warm ceremony under the stars.
Sunday February 4, 2024
Official Day
Open day with lectures and exchange 9 am -17 pm
Premises/local: The Municipal hall of Wildhaus: Chuchitobel Opening ceremony
The Grandmothers made a Circle and sang their song; “There is no time but now” as
an opening ceremony.
Elisabeth Wille welcomed everyone and introduced the programme for the day and
the European Council of Grandmothers. Each grandmother introduced herself briefly and spoke about one of the Council meetings and the theme addressed, year by year since its creation.
After the introduction there were lectures on:
“Being born into the Light. Loss of twins – personal experience from the prenatal period”; Elisabeth Wille
The importance of the first 1000 days of life from the prenatal period. Potential of us
grandparents during this time; Irene Keller Gubler.
“Why love is stronger than violence”; Christa Dregger
Away from world events, even in crisis areas, communities and villages of the future
are emerging And living a reality of peace that is (still) a utopia globally. Christa
showed us the healing effect of the ‘peace research community of Tamera’ and the
alliance ‘Defend the Sacred’ with their non-violent and spiritually holistic life models.
A new culture is becoming visible here.
Dialog
Lunch: Together public and Grandmothers mingled and enjoyed lunch
in restaurant “Alpstein”
President of the organisation Klima Seniorinnen Rosmarie Wydler–Wälti presented
“Why we need the Klima Seniorinnen”.
The association KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz with over 2,500 members aged 65+, who
is suing the federal government in Switzerland because female seniors are
particularly affected by global warming. The lawsuit was rejected by all instances in
Switzerland. They have now submitted a lawsuit to the European Court of Justice
For Human Rights in Strassburg. https://en.klimaseniorinnen.ch
Dialog
“Two Nordic Stories relating to the Light”- Norrsken, Aurora Borealis
Due to the hurricane in northern Norway Beate Heide, Sami delegate could not
travel to Switzerland. Wenche Nordberg from Denmark/Norway gave the Story of
Northern Lights in North Scandinavia. Where the sky sometimes turns into
blue/green flames dancing on the floor of the sky and what one of the many stories
says about this wondrous light.
Eliot L Wilson told us about his passive habitat project: Futur – Living and housing
systems that strive to make a life in harmony with the Earth
possible. https://futur.earth
Dialog with The European Grandmothers together with the Public/Visitors/Guest/Lectures – The
living climate and how to expand light in our time.
-What we can all do to support development in the world. Questions
and dialog about The Council’s work. The Council of Grandmothers intentional
vision. How each of us and all people together can help peace find a place on earth
and in life. About the Grandmothers’ work together with young people in different
countries. Why it’s not only important to the Council what we do, but also so
important to us how we do things. This means also that efforts at a private and local
level change at a global level and vice versa. Question and answers about what
people contribute to provide space and support for The Council of European
Grandmothers’ work in Europe.
There was a lot of dialog and flow during the days about going east to Poland as a
next step. One of the visitors also inspired the Council to go to Poland and offered
connections there for the Council 2024.
The Hosts for the Official part of the conference in the City Hall – Grandmother
Elisabeth and Irene – thanked the audience for participating. We closed with the
Circle all together “there is no time but now”.
Internal Closing meeting back at B&B Schönenboden
Closing Council Meeting Switzerland February 2024
Sophia – delegate from France – becomes a new member of the Council. Then we
made a summary of the days in Switzerland 2024. The Hosts, Irene and Elisabeth,
thanked all for the Council Meeting days and we all thanked them for the great days
in the beautiful nature of Wildhaus and the Swiss Alps. Closing Ceremony.
We also want to give a big thank you to the municipality of Wildhaus, who received
us and supported our council meeting in Switzerland.
A big thank you…
…to Priska Wenk and her team in B&B Schönenboden and the
fantastic hospitality, service and food during our stay and also to Tina Lackstätter the
Chef in the kitchen some of the days. Many thanks to Eliot and Cornelia for their
translation work. To Eva for her helping during the whole time, and to Ariane for the
photos. Many thanks also to everyone who helped in various ways and thanks for all
the support of donations in various ways to support the Council meeting in
Switzerland and the European Grandmothers work through the gifts. And thank you to all the visitors, guests and lectures.
/The Council of European Grandmothers
Article
Christa Dregger Journalist at “Zeitpunkt article about the organisation and the Council Meeting in Schweiz
“…I found something very valuable in this
group: a deep kindness combined with a lot of competence! How often does
competition and the pressure to gain recognition dominate in political circles! Not
here. Patience and caring are important qualities of the European Grandmothers.
But that alone would not do them justice: clarity, foresight and willpower are also part
of it, as I discovered.
The hours in this group made it clear to me once again why some anthropologists
say that only the presence of women after childbearing age made cultural
development possible: only if there are women who are not directly concerned with
their offspring, but rather with their care and with the focus on the whole tribe or
community can a culture look beyond immediate needs. They meet every nine
months.
The ninth meeting was organized by the two Swiss delegates – Elisabeth Wille and
Irene Keller Gubler – and took place from 1 to 5 February in Wildhaus. As February
2 is a holiday dedicated to the rebirth of light in different cultures (“Imbolc”, “Light
Fair”), the theme this time was “Light…”.
Read the whole article here in German:https://zeitpunkt.ch/chapeau-fuer-
den-rat-der-europaeischen-grossmuetter . (More articles and films about
the Council and the next Council Meeting you can find
here: https://councileugrandmothers.eu/news/)
Read the whole article here in German:https://zeitpunkt.ch/chapeau-fuer-den-rat-der-europaeischen-grossmuetter . (More articles and films about the Council and the next Council Meeting you can find here: https://councileugrandmothers.eu/news/)
Picture Gallery: Photographer ARIANE ELSHOF
Grandmother Sophia, France
Erika, Germany
Photographer
