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Imagine a world where all cultures and beliefs are honored, accepted and reverenced for the unique gift they are to the world culture – turning in a stationary circle and seeing Tibetan monks, Christians, Sikhs, Muslims and Indigenous People laughing together and sharing their light as they dance, sing their 1000-year songs and read stories, poems and scripture.
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In the past 150 years, the Parliament of World Religions has gathered to do exactly this, and for the first time ever it was held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Also for the first time ever, women’s equality issues were addressed and our very own drum circle goddess Katie Jo Welch was a keynote speaker.
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Tens of thousands of people gathered, including hundreds of leaders from all religions from all over the world, from Oct. 15 to 19.
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World diplomats and household names like Marianne Williamson, Madame Maya Tiwari and many others graced the stage calling for unity and tolerance, but exceptionally the message repeated over and over was, “We are one.”
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The Thursday and Friday of the event began the same way: prayers and chants offered from diverse belief systems before Welch took the stage. Live-streamed to 40 nations and an audience of 10,000, she stood as she has been standing over the years to remind us that, “We began on this Earth as one tribe, one circle. We spread across the globe to learn what we were meant to learn and now gather again to share and to remember we are still one tribe, one circle.”
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“We are equal and inequal. The rose is not equal to the tree. The ocean is not equal to the sky. They are each magnificent. They are each one of a kind. They are each divine. So am I. So are you. The light on your mountaintop does not make my mountaintop wrong.”
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The miracle of many miracles that occurred over the weekend was knowing that if there is a place where such diversity can be gathered together and peace and service so abundant, then it is possible for the rest of us and the rest of the world.
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To learn more about Katie Jo Welch, go to her website, IAmKatieJo.net, or her Facebook page: Katie Jo Drum Circle Goddess.
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She teaches and facilitates drum circles and drum-making workshops, works with suicide loss support groups and drug rehabilitation centers, and is hired for private retreats including cancer treatment and healing retreats.
