Accidental Gods

In this second of two episodes, practical visionary, Miki Kashtan, lays out her visions of a flourishing, generative future based on providing for the needs of all - the human and More-Than-Human world. And how to get there. Miki Kashtan, co-founder of the Bay Area NVC and adept nonviolent communication practitioner, lays out the pathways she believes could take us towards a future where everyone flourishes.  If we explore the flows of life - of need and resource, of how we interact, then we can begin to heal the patriarchal wounds of separation, scarcity and powerlessness and move into a world where mutual care and trust lead us to a state of community, empowerment and provision.  Links: Miki Kashtan website: https://mikikashtan.orgMiki Kashtan blog: https://thefearlessheart.orgTom Atlee: http://www.tomatleeblog.comMiki's concepts of how to structure Global governance: https://thefearlessheart.org/resources/local-to-global-collaboration/Genevieve Vaughan - the maternal gift economy: http://gift-economy.comJames Gilligan - Conference ‘the Making of Destructive Leaders’ - https://www.confer.uk.com/event/leaders.htmlNonviolent Global Liberation Community - https://nglcommunity.orgCollaborative Lawmaking Study: http://efficientcollaboration.org/wp-content/uploads/MinnesotaCaseStudy.pdfBooks: James Gilligan: Violence: Reflections on a National Pandemic: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/60198/violence-by-james-gilligan-m-d/Alice Miller: ‘For your own Good’ https://www.alice-miller.com/en/for-your-own-good/Walter Wink ‘Powers that Be’ https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Powers-That-Be-by-Walter-Wink-author/9780385487528Rebecca Solnit  ‘Paradise Made in Hell’ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301070/a-paradise-built-in-hell-by-rebecca-solnit/Life after Covid-19 - Miki has a chapter in this - - available for pre-order here: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/life-after-covid-19Marija Gimbutas ‘The Balts’ https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.40925Article on the disempowerment of our ancestors: https://thefearlessheart.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/From-Obedience-and-Shame-to-Freedom-and-Belonging.pdf

How can we reweave the fabric of humanity to create a world where everyone's deepest needs are met? How do we even know what our deepest needs are - for security (physical and emotional), freedom, connection and meaning? In part 1 of 2, Miki Kashtan gives us answers - and a vision of the future.  Practical visionary Miki Kashtan has devoted her life to the exploration and practice of non violent communication: to finding ways in which choice can become a central part of human existence: the capacity to set aside the patriarchal wounds of separation, scarcity and powerlessness and to choose instead, connection, flow and the ability to meet the needs of the whole of the web of life.   In this two-part podcast, she lays out the baselines of choice, of the ways we can think and feel and be beyond the confines of our patriarchal system, ahead of part 2, where we explore the futures we could reach if we all committed to choice and change. Miki Kashtan website: https://mikikashtan.orgMiki Kashtan blog: https://thefearlessheart.orgTom Atlee: http://www.tomatleeblog.comGenevieve Vaughan - the maternal gift economy: http://gift-economy.comJames Gilligan - Conference ‘the Making of Destructive Leaders’ - https://www.confer.uk.com/event/leaders.htmlNonviolent Global Liberation Community - https://nglcommunity.orgBooks: James Gilligan: Violence: Reflections on a National Pandemic: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/60198/violence-by-james-gilligan-m-d/Alice Miller: ‘For your own Good’ https://www.alice-miller.com/en/for-your-own-good/Walter Wink ‘Powers that Be’ https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/The-Powers-That-Be-by-Walter-Wink-author/9780385487528Rebecca Solnit  ‘Paradise Made in Hell’ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/301070/a-paradise-built-in-hell-by-rebecca-solnit/Life after Covid-19 - Miki has a chapter in this - available for pre-order here: https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/life-after-covid-19Collaborative Lawmaking Study: http://efficientcollaboration.org/wp-content/uploads/MinnesotaCaseStudy.pdfMarija Gimbutas ‘The Balts’ https://archive.org/details/in.gov.ignca.40925Article on the disempowerment of our ancestors: https://thefearlessheart.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/From-Obedience-and-Shame-to-Freedom-and-Belonging.pdf(relevant detail here: In Goettner-Abendroth’s account, on the other hand, it’s specific events that change the experience and result in different choices leading to different actions. In other words, it’s stress and trauma on a large scale that interfere with the spontaneous unfolding of trusting relationships and love. The scale has to be large enough to overwhelm the capacity of a group or culture to metabolize stressful events within its finite resources and resilience. In the case of the “Kurgan” culture that Gimbutas identified, the possible causes could be the flooding of the black sea[1] and/or the desertification of large swaths of land on which many groups depended for their survival. Both of these events pushed large numbers and groups of people outside the bounds of their previous modes of subsistence, thereby creating both trauma and a clash between survival and their manner of living.[2] It is almost impossible, I believe, for our modern minds to grasp the calamity of what these waves of invasions from the Kurgans westward signified, because we no longer have the lived sensibility of what it’s like to live in a peaceful, life-loving, egalitarian culture in unity with nature and each other. I continue to contemplate this description of it and to extrapolate to the present to be able to grasp the loss and begin to mourn it, on behalf of all of humanity: “when [the Kurgans’] barrow-type graves appeared in Europe for the first time (primarily containing males with weapons), nearly 700 major habitation sites, representing a rich fabric of cultural and technological developments, disintegrated after flourishing undisturbed for many hundreds of years.” (Marler 179)[1] See Ryan et al, “An Abrupt Drowning of the Black Sea Shelf”, Marine Geology, 138 (1997) 119-126, where evidence is provided of a major, cataclysmic flooding of the Black Sea, which is now believed to be the source of mythological accounts such as that of Noah’s ark in the bible (not the only one in the region). [2] See The Rule of Mars for several overlapping accounts of these events.)

Musician, artist, maker-of-ceremony and guardian of the ancestors of the land, Carolyn Hillyer talks - and sings - about the three things that take care of this land: a deep honouring of the ancestors, a fierce guardianship, and the absolute heart-felt connection of tribe.  Carolyn Hillyer lives on a 1,000 year old farm in the heart of Dartmoor.  Her fierce, deeply spiritual guardianship of this place involves a heart-commitment to sharing the space with those who have been and those yet to come. As we near the end of (the first) Covid lockdown, she talks - and sings - of her spiritual connection to the ancestors of this land, of the ceremonial spaces she has built, of the Sami women and the bear skull that they brought in honouring - and of the remains of a Bronze Age ancestor-woman found on the hill overlooking the land, and the bear skin she was wrapped in.  Carolyn's deep, heartfelt connection to the land shines through her words, her art and her songs: a shining beacon of how life can be lived for those who choose to follow. Carolyn’s website, Seventh Wave Music: https://www.seventhwavemusic.co.uk

What if our work made our hearts sing every day? What if everyone were paid what they were actually worth? What if the profits went into the community, to build the better world our hearts know is possible?  How would that actually work?  Let’s find out!  Renegade Economist and Right Livelihood coach, Della Duncan, has spent most of her professional life exploring the ideas that might transform our culture into the more beautiful, flourishing - fun, joyful,  - safe - world our hearts know is possible.  In this deep-dive interview, we explore the furthest edges of what our world might look and feel like if we were able to reconfigure our economy so that every transaction was predicated on the flourishing of the human and more-than-human worlds.   From Manfred Max-Neef to the Post Growth Foundation, we explore the ideas at the cutting edge of human potential. Links: Della’s website:  https://www.dellazduncan.comUPSTREAM podcast - radio documentary series (including UBI) https://www.upstreampodcast.org/documentariesHelena Norberg-Hodge World Localisation Day: https://worldlocalizationday.orgNo Impact Man: https://colinbeavan.com/search-no-impact/ How on Earth? - how to flourish in a  post-growth world: https://www.howonearth.usHow on Earth? YouTube: https://youtu.be/x07vWvdChAMAnand Giridharadras ‘Winners Take All’, https://www.amazon.co.uk/Winners-Take-All-Charade-Changing/dp/0141990910/Christian Felber - ‘Change Everything’ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Change-Everything-Creating-Economy-Common/dp/1783604727Movement Generation: https://movementgeneration.orgStewart Brand, The Long Now Foundation: http://longnow.org/Manfred Max-Neef: Human Scale Development: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Human-Scale-Development-Application-Reflections/dp/094525735XManfred Max-Neef: Economics Unmasked: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Economics-Unmasked-Berlin-Technologie-pack/dp/19003227067 Fundamental Human Needs: based on Max-Neef’s work: https://www.kennethmd.com/the-7-fundamental-human-needs/

Business as usual has brought us to the edge of extinction.  Can we switch off our complacency and turn towards life in time?  Raw, honest thoughts from Professor Rupert Read of Extinction Rebellion.  Professor Rupert Read, Green Party activist, XR speaker, and deep adaptation philosopher, speaks openly, deeply - and with a raw, almost unique honesty  - about the dangers of the current time, and the need to turn away from ‘business as usual’ There are times when we need to shock ourselves out of our complacency, when we need to realise how close to the edge of extinction., we are, when we need to step away from the fantasies of ‘business as usual’ and re-appraise the very nature of what it is to be human.  And then to work out how to go forward in ways that are regenerative, compassionate, and that turn towards life. Rupert Read website: http://www.rupertread.net/Rupert - 24 theses on Corona https://medium.com/@rupertjread/24-theses-on-corona-748689919859Rupert’s ‘Pro-energy-descent’ review of Planet of the Humans by Michael Moore - https://medium.com/@rupertjread/review-michael-moores-planet-of-the-humans-by-rupert-read-and-deepak-rughani-723f4deadb10  Rupert at Compass Online:  https://www.compassonline.org.uk/the-coronavirus-gives-humanity-one-last-chance-but-for-what-exactly/ Jem Bendell interviewing Joanna Macy-  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1wUY6945kYRR and Helena Norberg-Hodge on relocalisation: - http://www.greenhousethinktank.org/uploads/4/8/3/2/48324387/post-growth-localisation_pamphlet.pdf?fbclid=IwAR1us740Lkhrk-5DYzrX8SK0wKYbawvWSyJU6bgpoPsxNmPwFZoLeEVxANwOn Being podcast with Resmaa Menakem  https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/on-being-with-krista-tippett/id150892556?i=1000476829446

How can we feed our bodies and our souls?  Abel Pearson, founder of Glasbren community supported agriculture farm in West Wales shared his  connection to the land, his spiritual practice - and his re-visioning of community, food and spirit.   Abel Pearson is a poet, peasant farmer, permaculture educator & activist, tending soil in West Wales and listening for the stories we need to build community and culture, restore health and breathe new life into our connection to land, food and seed. He is the founder of Glasbren, a non-profit social enterprise working to reimagine our food systems, rewild the way we eat, live and grow food and regenerate our communites, the people that live in them and the land we depend on. Glasbren is a Community Supported Agriculture scheme, offering it's members a weekly 'Share in the Harvest' veg box & a transparent relationship with where their food comes from, volunteer opportunities, courses and workshops. They also raise money for tree planting and support the local food bank through their Solidarity Fund. Abel is passionate about growing food, together, as a means to facilitate a collective shift to a radically ecological way of being and as a vehicle for social, ecological and cultural rebirth. He is a grower at Glasbren, but also teaches immersive experiences in permaculture, food growing and regenerative living, works with activists & Earth stewards to build a rooted connection to the Earth and is searching for authentic ritual spaces, passageways and the knowing to explore a truly indigenous connection to place.Glasbren: https://www.facebook.com/GlasbrenCSA/Eco Dharma: http://www.ecodharma.com/Zac Bush talking about the importance of biome (soil/gut) to health: https://youtu.be/EniVCQL3NzcCommunity Supported Agrictulture: https://communitysupportedagriculture.org.uk/Help-X  HELPEX - https://www.helpx.net/ 

If we're on the edge of chaos, how can we bring all the good ideas together - the right people with the right skills at the right time - and craft an ecosystem of ecosystems to affect radical change?  How can we save ourselves from extinction. Humanity Rising offers an answer. "What's the equivalent, by 2030, of putting humanity on the moon?  What do we need to do that is bigger than life, worthy of human nobility, such that if it put into action around the world, we would be credited as that generation of human beings that when the chips were down really made a difference? That's what we want to do. That's the aspiration for Humanity Rising to work together with like-minded, similarly inspired people from all over the world. Over the next 10 years to make the critical difference necessary to ensure human survival."Radical activists, educators, academics and entrepreneurs, Jim Garrison and Matt Robinson of Ubiquity University have launched the world's most ambitious summit - using the cutting edge of modern technology and bringing together hundreds of organisations and hundreds of thousands of committed activists - Humanity Rising sees the beginning of the wave that could change the world. If we commit to it.  Jim and Matt talk to Accidental Gods about the project, how it arose, and their visions for the future. Ubiquity University: https://www.ubiquityuniversity.org/Here are the access links for Humanity Rising:Registration: http://humanityrising.solutions/The Humanity Rising schedule can be found here: https://humanityrising.solutions/agenda/If the maximum amount of Zoom webinar participants is reached you can watch the live stream here:https://www.facebook.com/UbiquityUniversityOnlinehttps://www.youtube.com/c/UbiquityUniversityhttps://www.awaketvnetwork.live/humanity-rising-channelIf you missed a session the recording can be found here:https://ubiverse.org/groups/humanity-rising-global-solutions-summit/documentsMatt's Poem:  Humanity Rising - A New Story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2u1aPyx_8fU

In the midst of lockdown, how can we find resilience and emotional balance? How can we make the connections we need to feel safe -- in our bodies, in our relationships, out in the world...and on our Zoom calls? How can we feel truly alive? Therapist Sarah Schlote has much-needed answers...Life is changing and we need to find ways to keep ourselves emotionally resilient.  Sarah Schlote, therapist and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, has spent her professional life exploring the pathways by which we find safety  - in our own bodies, in our closest relationships, and out in the world. In today’s podcast, we explore the ways we can find the connection that science (and experience) tells us we need to feel safe in the presence of others.  We explore ways that we can work towards safety in Zoom (or other video) calls in both one to one situations and in larger groups. We look at strategies we can all use all the time to help us navigate the novel circumstance of a global threat. Links: Sarah’s personal site: https://sarahschlote.comSarah’s Healing Refuge: https://healingrefuge.com/our-team/sarah-schlote/Equusoma:  https://equusoma.com/Sarah’s “Freesources”  page - has brilliant diagrams: https://equusoma.com/freesources/Steven Porges: https://www.stephenporges.comPeter Levine’s ‘Trauma therapist project’ https://www.thetraumatherapistproject.com/podcast/peter-levine-phd/Book Spiritual Bypassing:  https://www.amazon.co.uk/Spiritual-Bypassing-Spirituality-Disconnects-Matters/dp/1556439059/

Dr Gail Bradbrook is best known as being one of the co-founders of Extinction Rebellion. But she's also a StreetSchool Economist and deeply passionate visionary and here, we explore the spirit of activism that underpins her work - and look forward to future Rebellions held in the trickster spirit of Fox and Crow. Dr Gail Bradbrook has a PhD in molecular biophysics.  She was founder of a program called ‘StreetSchool Economics’.  She’s a visionary, social and spiritual activist - and, of course, she’s best known as one of the co-founders of Extinction Rebellion.  She has a deeply held spiritual path that underpins the values of all her work - being in service to the earth in the best way she can guides everything she does.  In this podcast, she talks about those values, about the moments when she prayed for help - and was answered - and about the vision that drives the latest dreams of how we move away from the corruption of the current system to the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible. Links to people or ideas mentioned in the podcast: Extinction Rebellion - https://rebellion.earthThis is not a Drill (Book): https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Not-Drill-Extinction-Rebellion-ebook/dp/B07R57LTG5XR Podcast Episode 11 featuring Jason Hickel: https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/xr-podcast/episodes/2020-05-17T19_00_00-07_00XR YouTube featuring Ian Haney Lopez and Adam Elliott-Cooper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U7PYZCObtkStreet School Economics: https://streetschooleconomics.wordpress.comGail Bradbrook ‘Adventures in New Economics’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rUk-r0G1eQCharles Eisenstein: https://charleseisenstein.orgFrederic Laloux Reinventing Organisations: https://www.reinventingorganizations.comTax Cast: https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=620020246

Where does a true, deep sense of inner safety come from?  How do we recognise safety in ourselves and our environment? And how can that sense of safety be undermined?  Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Sarah Schlote, explains how our deepest selves find balance. Recent advances in neuroscience have shed light on those things that are most precious to us  - a sense of equanimity and inner safety, of balance, and of the capacity to relate in ways that leave us feeling nourished.  All of these stem from early patterning and recognising the times we're off balance can help us to find how best to resource ourselves. In this deep dive into the neurophysiology of poly-vagal theory, Sarah Schlote, director of the Healing Refuge in Canada, and of Equusoma, the centre for Horse-Human recovery, relays in lyrical, human terms, the ways to healing that arise from an understanding of how we recognise safety, danger and life-threat.  This is part 1 of a 2 part series.  In the second part, we'll explore the routes to rebalancing and the implications to our sense of wellbeing that arise out of lockdown. The Healing Refuge is here: https://healingrefuge.comEquusoma is here: https://equusoma.comStephen Porges' Polyvagal theory here:  https://www.stephenporges.com