S U E L T A

A Gaian Tantric Outpost in Andalucia

suelta [soo-el’-tah] Spanish, noun
1. Act of loosening or letting loose; solution. (f)
2. Fetters, with which the feet of a beast are tied when grazing. (f)

Suelta is the name of a community in the making, first purely imagined and now being actualized by a handful of friends living in the Serrania de Ronda, Spain, the southernmost region of continental Europe. Interest and participation in Planetary Tantra may attract you to Suelta, if you so desire.

in development:
members
messages
ritual
events
links

Emergent Community

In December 2005, while composing the mission statement for the audio interview site futureprimitive.org, John Lash introduced the term, "emergent community" Although the aim and direction of that site were subsequently altered, the notion of emergent community survived and now takes shape in Suelta.

Emergence is a scientific term applied to random and spontaneous patterns in nature. In John's original view, an emergent community grows from the inside out based on the vision and resources of a core group dedicated to harmony with Gaia, the living planet or planetary goddess. The primary condition for such a community is a sacred place where members can interact directly with the rapturous power of nature. For Suelta, this place is the southernmost, south-facing valley of Europe, framed by the Genal and Guadiaro rivers and overlooked on the west by the Sierra de Grazalema.

View from the Guadiaro Valley, looking south toward Gibraltar and across
the Straights to the Riff Mountains of Morocco with the Tell and Atlas
ranges behind them, spanning the entire southern horizon.

The viability of a tribal cell or self-sufficient community depends to a large extent on the founding principles of its members. The core members of our budding community find their principles implied in the double signification of suelta. It means loosening or a solution that frees things up, but, paradoxically, it also refers to fetters. In Spain donkeys can be seen on the loose by the side of the road, but a closer look reveals a rope looped around the ankles. The rope fetters allow the animal to go loose without running away or straying too far.

At Suelta we share the common aim to undo the fetters of social conditioning that impede the full human potential of honesty, openness, and generosity. Family, church, school, race, nation impose and enforce this conditioning, and the relationships they provide are always limiting. At Suelta we take the opportunity to shed habits of class and culture, ethnic identity, race, religion, and education. In the atmosphere of compassion, we can reach beyond conditioned identity.The only fetters we accept are the bonds of friendship and skill that bind us loosely to the sacred place, and unite us in a co-created destiny for Gaia's purposes.

View northwest across the Guadiaro Valley toward Cortez de la Frontera
nestled at the base of the eastern face of the Sierra de Libar

Suelta is an experiment to survive outside the system in beauty and comfort, not in squalor and discomfort. The three Gaian ground rules, "Observe beauty," "Watch your boundaries," and "Make yourself comfortable," remind us how to live inventively without sinking into chaos. To survive in beauty and elegance, refrain from excessive waste and consumption, and keep pleasure central to all activities, tasks, and relations, is our group intention. "Let loose" means both to loosen the fetters of conditioning and to release the inner potential of each person. To provide a safe and inspiring setting to let loose is our social mission at Suelta.

Why Tantric?

The Gaian orientation to planetary harmony accords with current concerns in ecology and social reform. But why Tantric?

In development...

The Sierra Crestillina, the dominant formation seen looking east across
the Genal Valley, the vista of many moonrises, sunrise crescents, and
magnificent stellar and planetary risings

[Photographs: Sabina Bikarska]

Note on Emergence

Emergence is a techical term applied to studies of the spontaneous inner patterns of nature. In the early 1980s, chaos theory broke into the mainstream. After 20 or so years, it was renamed complexity theory, defined as the study of how complex systems produce and sustain simple and direct outcomes, with a special emphasis on tubulent and unpredictables aspect of nature.

A good example of complexity is the human body, composed of billions of cells, each one complex in form and function. Yet the total outcome of this complexity is simple, allowing us to act without even knowing how we do so, but not merely as automatons. Emergence is the process in which effective and successful levels of operating arise through self-organisation. Looking at a single human cell, you could not tell that it would be able to operate with other cells to form a human body, yet it does. Thus, emergence is a model or even an invitation to interactivity.