permaculture

["Carol Stone" <carol@carolstone.com>]

Hello.  I'm new here.

When investigating the posts about the Permaculture Credit union, I found 
this in the
FAQ:

Q. Can anyone become a member of the
Permaculture Credit Union?
A. Yes, as long as you are in the "field of membership"
of the Permaculture Credit Union. Our field of
membership includes those persons who have completed
a Permaculture recognized design course, are members
of an affiliated Permaculture Institute and/or subscribe to
the ethics of Permaculture.

This, of course, led me to wonder where I could find a Permaculture 
recognized design
course or an affiliated Permaculture Institute...

Perhaps, really, what I'm looking for is a Dummy's guide to Permaculture.  
I'm at the
fact-finding stage as far as permaculture is concerned.  I figure I'm doing 
pretty
well; I found this list.  May I please have some advice on where to go from 
here?

Thanks for all your knowledge and experience.

-Carol the newbie.