About

Valle de Paternilla

The valley of la Paternilla

Casa Gaia is a house in the countryside, in the valley of La Paternilla, Andalusia… but it is also an idea, perhaps even an ideal, in a process of growth and transformation. In this special place we are working on what we call Spiritual Activism – learning how to live in harmony with nature, with our feet on the Earth, at the same time as connecting to the Great Mystery and taking into account people, planet and future when deciding our actions.

We have around 6000m² land, and our aim is to leave it better than we found it: with greater levels of diversity, with a more fertile soil, with more trees (there were none when we arrived so that one is easy) and with more natural beauty. But we also want to get a harvest (feet on the ground!) We are working with ideas that come from Permaculture, and this winter we have been working with a local not-for-profit, the Asociación Ecoherencia, running a Modular Permaculture Design course here.

Full moon sweatlodge

We are a family lucky enough to be surrounded by good friends, and we enjoy welcoming people into our home and sharing the good times. We have been working on personal development for many years, improving the world from within, starting with ourselves. Joanna follows the path of knowledge of Toltec shamanism; Chris is closer to the Buddhist tradition: but both of us are interested in growing, gaining energy and using it to achieve internal changes as well as external changes in the world around us. We are aware that there are many people who have helped us in our awakening, and – although most of the work we do in our process of personal growth is solitary – we have found that working in groups often leads to a quantum leap… Because of this we organise meetings, events and simple activities here, often for a small donation to cover expenses, so we can share these inner spaces and this personal growth with other people: teaching each other, sharing and learning.

We are also committed to doing our bit by participating  in activities in other places… we work with our local Asociación de Vecinos de La Paternilla,  and with the Asociación Holística Anayansi (for example organising women’s circles and in the wonderful biannual o Festival Gaia Spirit) and we support the marvellous charitable work of the  Asociación de Mujeres las Beguinas whenver we can. We also collaborate with friends and their centres in the organisation of talks, workshops, courses and journeys in other parts of Spain and in the UK.

We’d like to invite you to get to know us, exploring this website, checking out our programme of activities, signing up for our mailing list or ‘liking’ our Facebook page so you can keep up to date with all we do. But above all we’d like to encourage you to get to know both the world that surrounds you and your inner universe, and through this personal journey find your own commitment to the Great Mystery, sharing your gifts with the world.

With love and laughter,

Chris & Joanna