When a tree wants to send its branches higher into the sky, it needs to send its roots deeper into the earth. When a person or society wants to move to the next level of development, we have to dig down into our past to release the energy held there by earlier traumas. Humanity’s current condition and deep desire to move towards a future that honours our interconnectedness is tied to a moment in our past where we split from an instinctive experience of being part of the Earth, and pushed away from that past without managing to re-integrate it into our identity – creating trauma and shadow. That is why we have been able to do what we have done to each other and the rest of life on Earth. It is also what is holding us back from accessing the next level of interconnectedness in the subtle realms. As Ken Wilber said in Up from Eden, “When the Great Mother is repressed, the Great Goddess is concealed”. During this talk and the exercise and discussion that follows, Peter will dive deep into this topic.