"Consciousness creates matter, Language Creates Reality, Ritual creates relationship' - Oscar Miro-Quesada  quoted by Nina Simons in her book ’Nature, Culture and the Sacred’  One of the extraordinary privileges of hosting a podcast like this is that I get to talk to some of my heroes, to ask questions, to have a conversation about the things that really matter.  This week's guest is one of these.  Nina Simons is an author, a leader - and we'll hear how that word was imposed on her and then she learned to embody it, she's a visionary in the deepest sense, and I would say, in a world that is crying out for the wisdom of elders, she is an elder, a wisdom-bearer, someone who has brought deep humility and authenticity to the whole of her life.  In more outward terms, in 1990, she co-founded Bioneers, which started off as a conference and has grown into one of the foremost trailblazers of the movement for a whole and healed earth. On the website it says 'We act as a fertile hub of social and scientific  innovators with practical and visionary solutions for the world's most pressing environmental and social challenges.'  Nina is also a writer. She's a co-author of 'MoonRise: the Power of Women Leading from the Heart' and then more recently, she wrote Nature, Culture and the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership, which is the kind of book that opens new doors, it's got the crackle of authenticity and the deep wisdom of someone who really does listen, to the earth, to other elders, to her own body, who has the capacity to walk the earth, asking, 'what wants to come through me?' without presuming to know the answer and then the integrity to write what comes.  And what came in that particular walk was this: "This is no time for small talk. This is a time for mythmaking. This is a time for epic poetry. This is a time to tell the tales that will become our compass for the days ahead. " So, with this as our guiding light, please enjoy the conversation.  Nina's website https://www.ninasimons.com/Bioneer's website https://bioneers.org/Nature Culture and the Sacred (Introduction is available for Free Download here) https://bioneers.org/ncs/Bioneers Learning https://www.bioneerslearning.org/Bioneers You Tube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@bioneersNina on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ninasimonsauthorNina on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-simons/Nina on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/1ninasimons/The Burning Times Film https://youtu.be/34ow_kNnoro