A Way Through The Woods

Out of this covid chaos comes the birth of meaning. Meaning around matters of life and death, of existence and being human. Through the grief many have journeyed through lies a new path ahead. One of activism for good, of spirituality, loving kindness, gratitude, wonder, forgiveness, peace, honour, justice, healing, decolonialism, humility, truth, thoughtfulness, economic and emotional resilience, environmental protection and climate care, a respect for nature and (what Charles Eisenstein calls) interbeing, aliveness, creative destruction, liminal awe, intelligence, collective contribution, grounding, hope, acceptance, wisdom, system change, reconciliation and depth. A time to embrace what Satish Kumar calls ‘elegant simplicity’ – what I name, miracles.

As we move to air with techgnostic ‘new normal’ solutions – new enchantments ensouling us – it is clear we live in an enspirited magickal universe indeed. Code is language, a meme is a spell. Social egregores in the internet of Time and a demonstration of hermetic principles that all things connect.

So how can we use it to connect for good? To connect us on an astral highway to spread the message of earth care, fair share, local, self-reliance, restoration, community, wholeness, spiritual practice, sustainable habitats, simple living, un-consumption, de-growth, ethics, good livelihood, meaningful work and real well being as a species, as a planet. Can we grow digital angel wings?

Can we grow digital angel wings?

We can be lamp bearers and torch holders through the dark, bringing the light to our own maladies and illness – to banish evil, harm, sickness and summon our own protective cures. We can choose to live a mythic life out of Pandora’s box and into hope. We can follow the call to adventure, free of fear, full of meaning, full of moments. We are medicine woman, sage and shaman. I laugh, I will be bold, courageous and clever, I will overcome, endure, and I’ll never let the spirit go out. I choose to be survivor, you can too – with vim, vigour, zest, pep, sparkle and shine. To nudge, to gamble, to chance ahead – creating our own luck and fortune, to quest for the better opportunity.

Sprinkle – with some sass – your inner magic everywhere. Flow with time, on this great cosmic string. Here we stand. Us. The fairies, the gardeners, the folklorists, historians, mythologists, magicians, strategists, futurists, booksellers, pagans, storytellers, parents and occupiers of new possibilities. From the tea rooms to the libraries to the supermarkets, what will we fight for? Zombie in a shopping mall or fertile community allotment? It’s a siege of the mind. I will stand for the cornershop, the village hall, the rec, the café, the retirement home, the pub, the school, the brewery, the church, the soupkitchen and the farms. These are (as Thomas Paine said) “times that try men’s souls” but as John Stuart Mills declared, man must have “liberty over himself, over his own body and mind”. 

Time to tinker, then, to leap! An open road, with the stars above us.