Jeremy Whelehan
on Wisdom Keepers
“I want to tell you something: I know exactly what you’re looking for. It’s right here. You’ve got it. It’s in your Heart. And you might want to fill that Heart with something so that you can help others! But, first, you have to help yourself. Fill your heart up!”
Even if you don’t know Grandma Lutie Hillaire from the Lummi Nation on Turtle Island, she knows you. We all miss Grandma’s advice, don’t we?
Jeremy Whelehan is a Wisdom Keeper, making sure we remember our elders’ advice.
An experienced, award-winning filmmaker and storyteller, he is the founder of Treetops Productions Ltd, where he creates film content and documentary projects with a focus on art, tech and… the culture of Burning Man Project. Their debut feature documentary was "NOW: In the wings on a world stage" which earned the UK's National Film Award for Best Documentary.
His journey into collecting wisdom began in 2015 with a gathering. A group of Elders and initiates from around the world came together for a weekend of wisdom sharing, ceremony and prayer.
Today, Wisdom Keepers provides a platform for Elders and spiritual leaders from indigenous communities and wisdom traditions around the world to share their stories and collectively envision a more conscious, peaceful, and sustainable world: “The world’s indigenous traditions have long foretold the extraordinary times we now live in. They remember how to listen and speak to the Earth. We would do well to listen to them!”
Wisdom Keepers facilitates spontaneous and profound shifts by enabling global audiences to appreciate and understand traditional wisdom ways as holistic and comprehensive cosmologies, philosophies and world views with immediate and relevant applications in their own lives and societies.
Offer yourself this present and follow Wisdom Keepers on Instagram! You’ll meet Kurikindi, a Kichwa Amazonian Shaman born in the rainforests of Ecuador. Anthar Kharana from the land of the Hacaritama people up in the Andes in the north of Colombia, a land where ancient warriors used to live. Etincelle, meaning Spark, a Nima / shaman from Gabon. Jarmbi, a Custodian of the Northern Rivers from the Githabul and Ngarakwal tribes. Txana Ikakuru, a tribal leader from the Huni Kuin people of the Brazilian Amazon.
If we strive for profound and influential shifts, we need to move towards holistic and spiritually connected ways of being and shift the ‘default’ setting of the dominant modern culture. That is when powerful healing and connection happen: when we break away from the separation and stressors of modern life.
Read Jeremy Whelehan’s answers for #inspirators and cherish your Elders, while they’re with you and beyond!
Thank you, Jeremy, for being a Wisdom Keeper!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Jeremy Whelehan
Company / Institution: Wisdom Keepers
Title: Founder & Producer
Website: www.wisdomkeepers.earth
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremywhelehan/
Country of origin: Ireland
Country you currently live in: Ireland
Your personal definition of Regeneration: Replacing, Restoring, Respecting.
Main business challenge you face: Fundraising.
Main driver that keeps you going: The significance and importance of this work for future generations.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: Playfulness.
The trait you most value in others: Integrity.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: Friends, family and fun.
The #inspirators who determined you to take the regenerative path:
Elders and wisdom keepers who walk the walk, who retain and share their ancestral wisdom and traditions and who cultivate a relationship between nature and spirit.
A hint or starting point for companies or professionals that are taking the first steps in the regeneration journey: Stay focused and inspired.
Most used and abused clichés about sustainability that bother you: The offset industry, the offset of responsibility, the false perspective that I, on my own, can do little to inspire change.
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: As much as it may seem, things are collapsing into a spiral of crisis and contraction. On balance, things are also spiralling upwards into expansion and creativity.
Books that had a major impact on you:
Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior by Chogyam Trungpa
Radical Hope by Jonathan Lear
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
Must-reads for any Regenerative professional: Regeneration by Paul Hawken
Movies / Documentaries you would watch all over again:
My Octopus Teacher, Salt of the Earth, An Inconvenient Truth, and any BBC Natural History with David Attenborough!
Blogs / Websites / Podcasts etc. you visit frequently:
The Emerald (Podcast)
Wisdom Keepers (Instagram)
Blindboy (Podcast)
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing: The Gloaming (Irish), Nessi Gomes, Nick Mulvey.
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: Every place leaves a mark (Peru, Nepal, Egypt, Cambodia, Ireland).
Global Regenerative Voices you recommend us to follow: The voices of our indigenous elders and Wisdom Keepers (Check out our project!).
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on: The importance of indigenous voices and guardians of the planet's ecosystems and biodiversity.
Best places for business networking (online or offline): Linkedin, Clubhouse.
Events we should attend: Traditional Indigenous Ceremony, Medicine Festival, Transformational festivals.
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future in 2030: The human spirit will persevere!
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future in 2030: The human spirit will be avoidant!
Regenerative Leadership qualities much needed today: Respect, love, clarity and perseverance.
The #inspirator you are endorsing for a future edition of the newsletter is:
Kimokeo Kapahulehua
Quote that inspires you:
“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.”
(Greek Proverb)
Your own quote that will inspire us:
