Excitement is buzzing through the air at the Everywhen Project as we prepare for our 4th annual event: Constellation City 2024. This year promises an unparalleled journey into community, artistry, and spirituality within the wilderness of Nevada's Black Rock Desert. We're elevating the experience to new dimensions, fueled by the insights and feedback from last year's attendees, the yearly seasonal Summits, and a profound reflection and update on our mission and ethos.
Feedback-Driven Innovations for 2024
After surveying attendees from last year's event, we found the following themes:
A desire for more organized and diverse experiences to bring people together
Include more community-building events like potlucks or shared meals.
Facilitate group activities or workshops.
Strong interest and participation in group ceremonies and rituals.
Implement communal spaces like a central hub for socializing.
Here's one of my favorite quotes: “I'm glad to see you charge for this event. Because this must cost money to pull off.” Why yes, yes it does. Equipment and logistics are expensive!
In response to feedback and workshop sessions, we've implemented significant adjustments to enhance the Constellation City experience:
Ethos Alignment: We're embedding our ethos more deeply into the fabric of our organization. This year, every decision, program, and interaction is informed by our ethos, ensuring that our values of building community, nurturing the spirit, telling tall tales, doing no harm, and leaving no trace resonate through every aspect of the Everywhen experience. Our entire team, deeply committed to these values, has actively participated in refining and embodying our ethos in every action and initiative.
Reimagining Everywhen's Purpose: After extensive reflection on our core values and the overarching purpose of our gathering, we've clarified our focus into three distinct domains: Enabling Human Potential, Facilitating Alchemical Transformation, and Connecting Across Time. This redefined purpose sharpens our vision and directs our efforts towards creating experiences that truly matter, fostering personal growth, transformation, and a profound connection with the continuum of time.
Innovative Programs and Workshops: For the first time, we're introducing a curated series of programs and workshops that directly reflect our ethos and purpose. These offerings are designed to actively engage attendees in building community, nurturing the spirit, exploring creative storytelling, practicing environmental stewardship, and ensuring a harmonious coexistence with our surroundings. We're excited about the potential of these programs to deepen the impact and richness of Constellation City.
City Redesign: With a three-year permit secured from the Bureau of Land Management, we're planning for sustainable growth and a deeper integration with the natural landscape of the Black Rock Desert. Constellation City has been reimagined within an 80-acre art park, featuring three distinct neighborhoods each centered around the Temple. This redesigned city layout not only accommodates our expanding community but also enhances the sense of immersion and connectedness among attendees.
The Fall and Winter Summits
After Constellation City 2023 wrapped up, the team didn’t just pack up and call it a year. Instead, we dove deeply into planning mode, beginning with our Fall Summit: a cozy mountain retreat among towering redwoods at a serene Buddhist temple. It was a weekend of disconnecting from technology and bonding with people. Fueled by fresh forest air, we dreamt up what 2024 could look like for the Everywhen and created this year's vision.
Fast forward to a frosty weekend in February, and we're back in the Black Rock Desert for our annual Winter Summit. Our focus shifted gears from vision to action: the leadership team, from all corners of the world, drove or flew in, excited to roll up their sleeves and get to work. We did a deep dive into our organizational structure, our new ethos, mission statement, and planned programs at the event.
The highlight? Our annual torch lighting and lunar new year ceremony. There’s something magical about standing in the cold desert night, surrounded by friends old and new, torches ablaze, under a starlit sky, and setting intentions for the year. We built our temple, had a union of hearts and minds, and celebrated what we've built together and had a toast to the endless possibilities that lie ahead. This was so much better than a Zoom call.
An Updated Mission & Ethos
Over the past six months, we've been evolving our mission statement, which now reads:
The Everywhen Project is dedicated to reimagining humanity’s narrative, cultivating intentional experiences that nourish the individual spirit and elevate the collective consciousness.
In alignment with this refined mission, we're excited to unveil two additional ethos that further enrich our journey together: Build Community and Nourish the Spirit. These reflect our commitment to enhancing the vibrancy and cohesion of our community, as well as prioritizing the emotional and spiritual development of each individual within it:
Build Community: Take initiative to create meaningful connections, using your unique abilities to enhance the community's vibrancy and cohesion
Nourish the Spirit: Prioritize your emotional and spiritual development, integrating practices that promote self-reflection and inner harmony.
Innovative Programs and Community Events
Looking ahead, we're excited to announce an array of programs and events designed to inspire, connect, and transform. Each activity is a unique opportunity to delve into the essence of the Everywhen, fostering profound experiences and growth.
New Moon Ceremony: A magical evening where participants gather under the stars to set intentions with the new moon, marking a time for renewal and new beginnings.
Ecstatic Dance: This event merges movement and music, offering a space for free expression, deep connection, and the joy of dance under the open sky.
Potluck Celebration: A communal feast that celebrates our diversity through shared dishes, weaving together the stories and flavors that define our community.
Wellness Workshops: From yoga to qigong, these workshops are sanctuaries for nurturing the body, mind, and spirit, promoting wellness and balance.
Pleiades Kite Ceremony: Drawing inspiration from the Matariki celebrations, this vibrant event symbolizes our connection to the cosmos, as kites bearing our hopes and dreams ascend into the sky, fostering reflection and unity.
Star Walkabout: An immersive journey through the desert, guided by lanterns to art installations that celebrate the land and sky. Inspired by Aboriginal walkabouts, it's a celebration of ancestral wisdom and our deep connection to the cosmos.
Join Us in the Desert
Mark your calendars for July 3, 2024, to July 9, 2024, for an unforgettable journey in the Black Rock Desert, Nevada. Tickets are now available, offering you a gateway to a world where art, community, and spirituality converge.
Prepare to immerse yourself in a landscape shaped by the hands of community, inspired by the rugged spirit of the Wild West, the tranquility of Asian aesthetics, and the magical allure of witch chic. Constellation City is a pilgrimage into the heart of wonder, creativity, and shared humanity.
Purchase tickets here. Questions? Check out our FAQs. Here's what to pack and the event regulations.
