Gathering With a Cosmic Theme Today

More than 100 people are expected to gather in Casitas Springs today for a musical celebration and meditation ceremony as part of a global consciousness-raising effort.

The Ojai Valley event is intended to be a call to action for people to get involved in the lives of children, said organizer Venica Ftacek. It was inspired by Ftacek’s godmother, Jacqueline LeBorveau, who works with gang members in Santa Paula and Oxnard and was dismayed by the lack of community involvement in their lives.

The project dovetails with similar events being held in 42 nations around the world in an attempt to create a moment of unified global consciousness focusing on people’s relationship with the planet.

“The intention is a little bit different, but essentially it’s the same,” said Ftacek, a 23-year-old Ventura College student. “This next generation of kids will be the people who are dealing with the state that the planet is in right now, and I think it’s the responsibility of everybody on the planet to teach the next generation what they can do to make the changes if we’re going to survive.”

The date was chosen because Jupiter, Neptune, Uranus, the sun, the full moon and the Earth will create a six-pointed star pattern, according to GaiaMind, the San Francisco Bay Area group coordinating the larger event.

Some astrologers see the pattern as symbolically significant because it occurs close to both the dawn of the new millennium and the astrological Age of Aquarius.

The event today at the community center on Ranch Road begins at 11 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m.

The meditation ceremony, planned for 3 to 4 p.m., includes a commitment to action from participants. It will feature music played on a didgeridoo, a pipe created by Australian aborigines.

Three bands will play ska, reggae and jazz and folk fusion before the ceremony and Kitty Cat Stew, an alternative rock band made up of Ojai high school students, will end the event.