London Calling by Edwin Holwerda – on the riots and initiation rites

London Calling!

[Download pdf here:  London Calling! – Edwin Holwerda]

I am watching TV and what I look at hits me in the depths of my soul. What is happening in the world? I wonder. And how did it come to be that we get to see those kind of images broadcasted from a civilized country like England? From Croydon to Hackney, from Tottenham to Clapham, everywhere there are groups of people – especially men – on a looting rampage. Shops are being attacked and plundered. Windows are smashed. Buildings are on fire. Large parts of the city are ablaze. Respect for the police is minimal. Officers are challenged and provoked. It seems that the rioters persist in confronting the law.

This is London today. And it’s as if I am watching a Hollywood disaster movie. I seem to await the resurrection of the hero, as so often happens in these movies. A Brad Pitt-, Harrison Ford- or Denzel Washington-kind of character who, if all hopes are lost, gets up from his apparent death and does what needs to be done. Someone who calls people to order, respectfully appeals to their sense of responsibility, encourages them to share the task at hand and, in the end, ensures that the Kingdom is miraculously restored. But the hero does not show up, nor is he like a phoenix that emerges from its ashes. There are plenty of ashes on TV, but no hero, and I realize it’s just the BBC news that I am watching. To me, it’s all bizarre, frightening and very disturbing.Continue reading

Welcome to my new website!

Welcome to my new website! I feel like I’ve been in a kind of hibernation for a number of months, questing for a new understanding of the world and my place in it. As that began to crystallise, I realised that I would have more to share and wanted a better platform for it – hence this new blog-based site, connected in to the various social media channels! If you have suggestions for improvement, please do let me know!

Whether we are aware of it or not, we are living in momentous and archetypal times. The disintegration of old ways and the emergence of a new planetary and cosmic context for us humans is happening right under our noses (quite literally for some). It is key we face and internalise the reality of this transition, look to develop the qualities and competencies that resonate with the emerging paradigm, and build the communities that will support us and others through the turbulence to come.

I will do what I can, together with the great friends and colleagues I am blessed to have, through this channel and my work in the world. Looking forward to playing together along the way.

With love, Peter

Pay Back Time

yelling formal man watching news on laptop

Download the PDF here.

1994

It was November 1994 in the small village of Bole, Northern Region, Ghana. The news that reached me had a strange effect – on one level it was unbelievable, on another level it made total sense. Either way, I knew it would heavily influence my future life choices. Bole secondary school where I had been teaching English for a year through Voluntary Service Overseas had been burned down by stoned, drunken pupils, with teachers beaten and chased to town.

I remember a shift in my state of consciousness when I heard. I didn’t feel fear, but a grim determination to do what I could with my life to make sure that this kind of thing didn’t have to happen again.Continue reading