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Accidental Gods
United Kingdom
Приєднався 1 чер 2023
** We're New to You Tube! Adding our huge backlist of episodes as fast as we can** Accidental Gods is a podcast and membership program exploring how we can create a future that we would be proud to leave to the generations to come.
We have the power of gods to destroy our home, but we also have the chance to become something we cannot yet imagine, and by doing so, to transform the nature of ourselves - and all humanity.
accidentalgods.life
We have the power of gods to destroy our home, but we also have the chance to become something we cannot yet imagine, and by doing so, to transform the nature of ourselves - and all humanity.
accidentalgods.life
#266 Heart of Oak: Talking Druidry, Spirituality & the nature of Magic with Philip Carr-Gomm
Druidry is the indigenous spirituality of the islands of Britain, but how does is live in the contemporary world? What are the values and practices that make it so suited to the inflexion point of the moment? Why - and how - does it mesh so well with other, more spiritual traditions? And how does the practice of Will, the honing of intent, create the magic we need to see in our world?
This week's guest, Philip Carr-Gomm, has spent his life studying, and writing about all of these things. Philip began studying Druidry as a spiritual path with Ross Nichols, the founder of The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. Later, he took a degree in psychology from University College London, and trained in psychotherapy for adults at The Institute of Psychosynthesis, in play therapy for children with Dr Rachel Pinney, and in Sophrology - a system of mind-body training for deep relaxation and personal development. He has also trained in Montessori education and founded the Lewes Montessori School. In 1988, he was asked to lead The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. For thirty two years, he was the Chief Druid of Britain until, in June 2020, he handed on this role to his successor, Eimear Burke. He is now involved in the work of the ACER Integration programme and the Sophrology Institute.
He's a prolific author, having written or contributed to over two dozen books, mostly exploring Druidry, but more recently he has written The Gift of Night: A six step programme for better sleep, and Seek Teachings Everywhere: Combining Druid Spirituality with Other Traditions. He is co-creator of two sets of Celtic Oracle cards and has written the text for two tarot sets.
He is host of the magnificent 'Tea with a Druid' which is part of his active, pro-active UA-cam channel.
On his website, he says, "Something magical happens when the worlds of psychology and spirituality are brought together. Every discipline in psychology helps to reveal the extraordinary nature of the human being, but add the insights of the Perennial Wisdom Tradition - the ancient knowledge and esoteric teachings passed down through the ages - and we enter awe-inspiring territory that has the power to transform us."
And this feels perfectly aligned with this podcast, and with the times. So as we head down into the long-nights of the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and up into the long-days in the south, we offer the wisdom of the grove and the mountain and the river.
00:00 Introduction to Samhain and Winter Solstice
01:04 Welcome to the Accidental Gods Podcast
02:58 Early Life and Spiritual Journey
05:31 Discovering Druidry and Eastern Spirituality
11:21 Exploring Jainism and Its Fascinations
14:53 The Interplay of Different Spiritual Perspectives
26:35 Understanding Druidry and Its Modern Practice
42:15 A Serendipitous Encounter
42:29 The Impact of Tea with a Druid
42:58 The Complexity of Effects
43:21 Creating Nodes of Connection
44:03 The Global Reach of the Order
44:50 The Druid Hearth
46:18 Introduction to Sophrology
46:41 The Origins of Sophrology
47:46 Sophrology Practices and Benefits
49:00 Challenges and Adaptations
51:24 Integrating Sophrology into Daily Life
56:17 The Role of Intent and Will
01:10:05 Manifesting Intentions
01:21:21 The Power of Belief
01:25:38 Reflections on the Solstice
Philip's website philipcarr-gomm.com/
The Art of Living Well artoflivingwell.org.uk/
The Sophrology Institute sophrology.institute/
The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids www.druidry.org/
Tea with a Druid ua-cam.com/play/PLnjpTLSK6D733dGegH7n2wLlg-y2NiYF-.html&feature=shared
Philip\s UA-cam channel www.youtube.com/@PhilipCarrGomm/videos
The Gift of Night uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-gift-of-the-night-a-six-step-program-for-better-sleep-philip-carr-gomm/7408262?ean=9781644119297
Seek Teachings Everywhere philipcarr-gomm.com/book/seek-teachings-everywhere/
The Druidcraft Tarot uk.bookshop.org/p/books/druidcraft-tarot-use-the-magic-of-wicca-and-druidry-to-guide-your-life-philip-carr-gomm/5068090?ean=9781800691179
The Druid Plant Oracle uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-druid-plant-oracle-working-with-the-magical-flora-of-the-druid-tradition-philip-carr-gomm/6048210?ean=9781800691599
The Druid Animal Oracle uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-druid-animal-oracle-philip-carr-gomm/5777280?ean=9781800691247
This week's guest, Philip Carr-Gomm, has spent his life studying, and writing about all of these things. Philip began studying Druidry as a spiritual path with Ross Nichols, the founder of The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. Later, he took a degree in psychology from University College London, and trained in psychotherapy for adults at The Institute of Psychosynthesis, in play therapy for children with Dr Rachel Pinney, and in Sophrology - a system of mind-body training for deep relaxation and personal development. He has also trained in Montessori education and founded the Lewes Montessori School. In 1988, he was asked to lead The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. For thirty two years, he was the Chief Druid of Britain until, in June 2020, he handed on this role to his successor, Eimear Burke. He is now involved in the work of the ACER Integration programme and the Sophrology Institute.
He's a prolific author, having written or contributed to over two dozen books, mostly exploring Druidry, but more recently he has written The Gift of Night: A six step programme for better sleep, and Seek Teachings Everywhere: Combining Druid Spirituality with Other Traditions. He is co-creator of two sets of Celtic Oracle cards and has written the text for two tarot sets.
He is host of the magnificent 'Tea with a Druid' which is part of his active, pro-active UA-cam channel.
On his website, he says, "Something magical happens when the worlds of psychology and spirituality are brought together. Every discipline in psychology helps to reveal the extraordinary nature of the human being, but add the insights of the Perennial Wisdom Tradition - the ancient knowledge and esoteric teachings passed down through the ages - and we enter awe-inspiring territory that has the power to transform us."
And this feels perfectly aligned with this podcast, and with the times. So as we head down into the long-nights of the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere and up into the long-days in the south, we offer the wisdom of the grove and the mountain and the river.
00:00 Introduction to Samhain and Winter Solstice
01:04 Welcome to the Accidental Gods Podcast
02:58 Early Life and Spiritual Journey
05:31 Discovering Druidry and Eastern Spirituality
11:21 Exploring Jainism and Its Fascinations
14:53 The Interplay of Different Spiritual Perspectives
26:35 Understanding Druidry and Its Modern Practice
42:15 A Serendipitous Encounter
42:29 The Impact of Tea with a Druid
42:58 The Complexity of Effects
43:21 Creating Nodes of Connection
44:03 The Global Reach of the Order
44:50 The Druid Hearth
46:18 Introduction to Sophrology
46:41 The Origins of Sophrology
47:46 Sophrology Practices and Benefits
49:00 Challenges and Adaptations
51:24 Integrating Sophrology into Daily Life
56:17 The Role of Intent and Will
01:10:05 Manifesting Intentions
01:21:21 The Power of Belief
01:25:38 Reflections on the Solstice
Philip's website philipcarr-gomm.com/
The Art of Living Well artoflivingwell.org.uk/
The Sophrology Institute sophrology.institute/
The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids www.druidry.org/
Tea with a Druid ua-cam.com/play/PLnjpTLSK6D733dGegH7n2wLlg-y2NiYF-.html&feature=shared
Philip\s UA-cam channel www.youtube.com/@PhilipCarrGomm/videos
The Gift of Night uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-gift-of-the-night-a-six-step-program-for-better-sleep-philip-carr-gomm/7408262?ean=9781644119297
Seek Teachings Everywhere philipcarr-gomm.com/book/seek-teachings-everywhere/
The Druidcraft Tarot uk.bookshop.org/p/books/druidcraft-tarot-use-the-magic-of-wicca-and-druidry-to-guide-your-life-philip-carr-gomm/5068090?ean=9781800691179
The Druid Plant Oracle uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-druid-plant-oracle-working-with-the-magical-flora-of-the-druid-tradition-philip-carr-gomm/6048210?ean=9781800691599
The Druid Animal Oracle uk.bookshop.org/p/books/the-druid-animal-oracle-philip-carr-gomm/5777280?ean=9781800691247
Переглядів: 384
Відео
Bonus: Seven Generations Perspective Meditation for December 2024
Переглядів 83День тому
Traditionally, we have offered a meditation for the solstice - and these are available in the links below. This meditation aims to offer a long-wide-deep perspective on our place as conscious nodes in the web of life - the journey that brought us here and the places humanity may go. Please give yourself plenty of time both to experience the journey and to reflect afterwards. If it helps to writ...
#265 Solstice Cheer: Three Friends uphold a Podcasting Tradition with Della, Nathalie & Manda
Переглядів 202День тому
This is the fifth year of our traditional Winter Solstice podcast gathering in which Nathalie Nahai of 'In Conversation with Nathalie Nahai, Della Duncan of The Upstream Podcast and I sit around our virtual dark-nights fire to reflect on the podcasting year just gone and explore what has changed for us since the last time we three met in one place. By any measure, this year has been pretty turb...
Bonus: Must Read, Must Listen, Must View - Manda's recommendations this Winter Season
Переглядів 13414 днів тому
Books: Non-Fiction Hospicing Modernity by Vanessa Machada de Oliviera uk.bookshop.org/p/books/hospicing-modernity-parting-with-harmful-ways-of-living-vanessa-machado-de-oliveira/6401710?ean=9781623176242 Pedagogies of Collapse: A Hopeful Education for the End of the World as we Know It by Ginie Servant-Miklos www.bloomsbury.com/uk/pedagogies-of-collapse-9781350400498/ NB - you can download the ...
#264 The Power of (good) Food with Nick Weir of the Open Food Network
Переглядів 15714 днів тому
Clearly we're at an inflection point in the history of humanity. Our experiment with a notional democracy is failing and either we find something that actually works, or we sink into autocracy. And given that the current global flavour of autocracy is in deep denial of the climate and ecological catastrophe that's currently underway, then that's a pretty fast road to extinction: you can't deny ...
#263 Avoiding Burn Out, Fall Out, Drop Out - routes to a whole, healed future with Dan McTiernan
Переглядів 29121 день тому
EDITORS NOTE: The zoom video settings recorded oddly again, but we hope this is resolved for future podcasts! How do we become the change we need to see in the world? What are the actual, practical steps to grounding, connecting and resonating with the world? We're on the brink of cataclysmic change. Knowing this, we have choices: we can either fold into despair, terror, rage…whatever rises up ...
#262 Adaptation is Here: Launching the TrAD Book - with Rupert Read and Morgan Philips
Переглядів 210Місяць тому
This week sees the launch of a new book: Transformative Adaptation: Another world is still just possible. The main editors and contributors are friend of the podcast, author, activist and co-founder of the Climate Majority Project, Rupert Read and - new to the podcast - Morgan Philips who is an educator, currently working for Global Action Plan, an environmental charity that mobilises people an...
#261 Holding the Paradox - Navigating a changing world with Andrea Hiott of Making Ways
Переглядів 513Місяць тому
EDITORS NOTE: The video recorded for this as one long stream on zoom, but you can hear both Manda and Andrea even when it chose to prioritise the other. Our world changed irrevocably with the results of the US election on the 5th of November. On this podcast, we talk a lot about total systemic change and now that change is happening in front of our eyes. Clearly, there is no going back from her...
#260 Being the Best Ancestors we can - with Dr John Izzo of the Elders Action Network
Переглядів 200Місяць тому
How do we all respond to the seismic events of the US election? Specifically, how do those of us over 50 respond? (and how would the younger generations like us to respond)? This is the question of now. It would be hard to discuss anything else, but my guest this week is uniquely placed to address these questions. As you'll hear, John Izzo was once an ordained Minister in a Presbyterian Church....
Responding to the turning of the world: Thoughts on how the US election marks the inflection point
Переглядів 365Місяць тому
It occurs to me that we are now at an inflection point in the WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich and - notionally - Democratic) culture that has been so successful in destroying the ecosphere. a significant number of us now see what has been obvious to a minority for some time: that the system is not broken - it is doing what it was always designed to do: which is to maintain power in t...
#259 Turning waste into wellbeing, wildlife & food. Bringing permaculture to schools - Elliot Riley
Переглядів 232Місяць тому
EDITORS NOTE: there were issues with the audio and video for this recording, so it's not as clear as it usually is. There is a transcript on the Accidental Gods website If you're over 40, the world you grew up believing in no longer exists. The younger generation approaches the polycrisis with open eyes, striving to find and nurture resilience, to listen to the whispers of synchronicity and let...
#258 Having your C.A.K.E (Compassion, Awareness, Knowledge, Empathy) and sharing - with Andrew Hale
Переглядів 188Місяць тому
How does an understanding of what makes dogs tick, help us to understand ourselves and our place in the world? What does it take to feel safe - as a human, or as a dog (or cat, or horse, or... anything)? And how can we help ourselves and each other find regulation in a VUCA world (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous)? Andrew Hale is a Certified Animal Behaviourist who specialises in work...
#257 Rethink, Repair, Rebuild with Natalie Bennett, former leader of the Green Party of Eng & Wales
Переглядів 2062 місяці тому
How can we achieve total systemic change? And are there politicians anywhere who are ready to make it happen (in a way that supports the continuation of complex life on this planet, not the scorched-earth destruction of the right)? The short answer is that yes, there are people deeply embedded in politics who know how dire things are and that we need urgent change. One of these is Natale Bennet...
#256 The Lama, the Oath and the Treasure Vases - with Cynthia Jurs, author of Summoned by the Earth
Переглядів 3072 місяці тому
We know we need to shift from our Trauma Culture to a resilient, connected Initiation Culture where we can open our heart-minds to the Web of Life, ask 'What do you Want of Me?' and respond to the answers in realtime, with flexibility, authenticity and a grounded awareness of our place in the huge complex system of the More than Human World. Knowing this, and being able to do it are two differe...
#255 Living Well in a Tiny House with Rachel Butler and Maddy Longhurst
Переглядів 1982 місяці тому
Our two guests this week are deeply embedded in the creation of Tiny Homes as a way for us meet the needs of all within the bounds of the living planet. Both are living absolutely at that sharp, bright edge of inter-becoming from which our more flourishing future will emerge. Rachel Butler is the founder of Tiny House Community Bristol, Chair of Bristol Community Land Trust and is a member of B...
#254 Of Reindeer, Donkeys & the verb that is Water - stories of climate healing with Judith Schwartz
Переглядів 1632 місяці тому
#254 Of Reindeer, Donkeys & the verb that is Water - stories of climate healing with Judith Schwartz
#253 Building an Economics of Happiness: How & Why our Future must be Local with Helena Norberg
Переглядів 5883 місяці тому
#253 Building an Economics of Happiness: How & Why our Future must be Local with Helena Norberg
#252 Forking the future: building routes to viable change - with Tim Frenneaux of Pivot
Переглядів 1823 місяці тому
#252 Forking the future: building routes to viable change - with Tim Frenneaux of Pivot
Bonus: Autumn Equinox meditation 2024
Переглядів 2163 місяці тому
Bonus: Autumn Equinox meditation 2024
Accidental Gods autumn 2024 roundup: where, what, when, how, why - with Manda Scott
Переглядів 1173 місяці тому
Accidental Gods autumn 2024 roundup: where, what, when, how, why - with Manda Scott
#251 Stop killing the planet! Shaping international law so it's on the side of life, with JoJo Mehta
Переглядів 1343 місяці тому
#251 Stop killing the planet! Shaping international law so it's on the side of life, with JoJo Mehta
#250 Manic Fire Monkeys do it Again: Exploring the Wonder of Human Evolution with Dr Shane Simonson
Переглядів 2283 місяці тому
#250 Manic Fire Monkeys do it Again: Exploring the Wonder of Human Evolution with Dr Shane Simonson
#249 Finding the Courage to Care - how we can build a mothering economy, with author Jenny Grettve
Переглядів 2214 місяці тому
#249 Finding the Courage to Care - how we can build a mothering economy, with author Jenny Grettve
#248 When is a Tree not a Tree? The Net Zero wood burning scam - with Dr Mary Booth
Переглядів 1814 місяці тому
#248 When is a Tree not a Tree? The Net Zero wood burning scam - with Dr Mary Booth
#247 A trillion willing helpers- Exploring the microbiome of people and animals with Joe Flanagan
Переглядів 2204 місяці тому
#247 A trillion willing helpers- Exploring the microbiome of people and animals with Joe Flanagan
#246 Governable Spaces: Solve for democracy online and politics becomes sane with Nathan Schneider
Переглядів 2 тис.4 місяці тому
#246 Governable Spaces: Solve for democracy online and politics becomes sane with Nathan Schneider
#245 Net Zero Cities: Crafting a Generative Urban Future with Georgia Cameron of Dark Matter Labs
Переглядів 1924 місяці тому
#245 Net Zero Cities: Crafting a Generative Urban Future with Georgia Cameron of Dark Matter Labs
#244 Earth and Soul: Reconnecting Amid Climate Chaos with Leah Rampy
Переглядів 1685 місяців тому
#244 Earth and Soul: Reconnecting Amid Climate Chaos with Leah Rampy
#243 Creating Quantum Theatre: Radical Story-Becoming to change the world with Jenifer Toksvig
Переглядів 2825 місяців тому
#243 Creating Quantum Theatre: Radical Story-Becoming to change the world with Jenifer Toksvig
#242 The Tools we Need: Raising the Collaborative Commons with Resilience Strategist Michael Haupt
Переглядів 3105 місяців тому
#242 The Tools we Need: Raising the Collaborative Commons with Resilience Strategist Michael Haupt
Amazing. Thank you.
I heard 1:04:46 "somehow things are working out more perfectly than we planet" and that's exactly right. We don't yet planet as a verb - Manda, I'reckon that's how we scale to anewpublic🍥
30:28 whispers of druidry coming a+ to us from the future. 🙇♀love
I absolutely loved this, the way you were bouncing off each other talking, shooting off sparks ! I usually struggle to keep focused, but I could have listened for hours. More please!
Nature never hurries, yet all things are accomplished 💚
Still didn’t learn a damn thing about Druism.
such an interesting podcast. thank you both
I hope the radical mass movement will not be violent. The violence of the enormous suffering ahead that at this point seems inevitable seems more than enough. I’d love to learn more about Rupert’s moderate flank. I imagine this (probably foolishly but it’s where I am) to be the many minuscule day to day decisions each of us makes throughout each day to ‘do the right thing’ , and the tedious disciplines of regularly setting aside time to see the sacred, sit with god, listen to our hearts and intuition, etc. I’m thinking that these small disciplines act much like the drops of strong acid (love) into the weak acid of Mordor the false (separation, greed) .. Enough drops will eventually lead to a rapid ‘pH’ consciousness / paradigm shift. Such an inspiring conversation. Thank you!
I enjoyed listening to this podcast on a mid winter walk. I wonder if there are lessons from the Community Energy sector that could be applied to a stakeholder-orientated business model for water companies?
Thank you, this is excellent ❤
Thank you beautiful❤
Much appreciate the mention Manda 🙌
Thank you for these incredible recommendations. Listened to two podcasts and watched the Buy Now documentary on Netflix along with the YT links. Yeah, as someone who has been aware of the 'intentional forgetting' when 'producing' products for years now and who abandoned an engineering career in electronics over 25 years ago due to this eventuality, it is difficult to listen and watch programmes about our current dire situation. Recently I have come to call our current system or mode of relating to life as the Superabuser rather than the Superorganism because what is happening is systemic narcissism under the control of virtual or legal super-structured entities we call governments and corporations. We have entrapped ourselves into a tragic story that is not our fault because it's been evolving over generations and centuries but it is becoming our responsibility to solution ourselves out of it. External Technology is not the answer because we need to understand the process by which we got here and this can only point the finger at 'soft technologies' that have endured over this same period. These technologies need to be reformed as a priority to find the right path.
Your recommendations are always so enticing, Manda. And my reading speed / comprehension are so poor . . . 😂 🎉
Hello! Loved this! Just wanted to say though that squids are really cool! And Anne Rice's vampires, at least, aren't that bad either... so, maybe a different derogatory term for the big global as....le might be in order lol!
Wonderful!
I was just reminded of these word from Terry Pratchett's Death . . . "Humans need to believe in things that aren't rrue. Otherwise, how can they become?"
Very grateful to have found you. Your words are a healing balm. Thank you. ❤️
❤
I'm so warmed by yous two meeting; ၁၀-ïnflex•now-canon <3
Thank you for bringing out the idea of nested layers of interaction. The reason we can't hear each other is because there are a nearly infinite number of perspectives that are not all coming from the same level of reality. Just to understand whether someone is tending toward the literal or metaphorical end of that spectrum, are they seeing from an acknowledged or hidden emotional frameword, have they developed pattern recognition in space or time or human behavior? We see things differently because our experiences are different. There are different things we notice.
Generous Justice offers unfathomable karmic dept. She accepts settlement in own sweat and blood.
Thank you for having this wonderful discussion with Andrea !
🤦
As a 30 year old...it's so hopeful to hear this. I've had older people say, "well, it's on you now. We've done our bit. Now it's your turn." And then I feel like pancake under a bus.
Just WOW.
While I appreciate his optimism, considering the actions and hypocrisy of the west (W.A.S.P.'s and the tradition of the protestant mind and imperialism)... over the last 600 years... and considering the intricacy of the machine built around western domination over those centuries.... Virtue alone cannot defeat such organized evil (yes, it is evil... look what its done to life and the planet). That said... "cunning as a snake" but with the love of the lamb... maybe that will do it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX~ ~XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX~ ~XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX~ ~XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ the web of life weaves a net bound by olive trees
I am crying with relief of hearing the truth of your words. Squarely facing the truth of where we are, no matter how scary or painful awakens an inner strength and renewed commitment to what is mine/ours to do. Gratitude to you Manda.
Trump is amazing, yes an inflection point - Trump will become the First World President
Find what is ours to do and do it with all our hearts. Very much this, thank you ❤
Great inspiration. And this feels spot on. Thank-you
Queer love beyond body enfatuation makes room for piggyback with no strings attached.
Excellent. Thank you
As an American who has been diagnosed with a panic disorder and has cried for two days I'm overwhelmed by just trying to be in my own body . Have no idea how to cope with4 years of this .
It's time to be an adult and stop crying. I suggest you try to to understand the other half of the country that disagrees with the Democrat's worldview. Furthermore, most of that group thinks Kamala was an empty suit who used her body to get her start in politics (Willie Brown's side chick) and did nothing since to make herself suitable to be the leader of the usa. Most of the country isn't on board with all the weirdo stuff Kamala was embracing. And you crying about not getting your way pushing that weird agenda means you need to grow up.
Hang in there. ♥️ You are not alone. Concentrate, for now, on the small (which in fact are the important) things in life that bring you joy and connection.
Lovbely Stuff!! :)
Accidental Gods was the very first podcast I listened to, about 5 years ago. It's still my favourite. This episode, full of wisdom, full of information, really speaks to my condition right now. Thankyou. 🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thank you!
Gooood!
A very interesting meeting. All the same points put forward here are also relevant to individuals burning wood in their individual wood burning stoves.
Very cool.
Delut9iponal woman with no apparent knowledge of math or physics. So babbling on about this and that is typical of western intellectual fools They can talk and talk but never come up with actual solutions. I wonder if they could recite the multiplication tables From memory. [
Brilliant!!
Thank you!
this interview was beyond inspiring...thank you to both of you heroic women!
Thank you!
Life and nature is most definitely a verb. Ceaseless timeless unfolding and enfolding is its essence and being. The Dao, the Law of Conservation of Energy, the Eternal Spirit, the Eternal Breath. The non-indigenous human perception has wrongfully perceived life as separation, as stocks only. This same perceiving has strongly influenced accounting and by association mathematics. Law and governance have in turn been servants to this schism-ing. The birth of calculus in the 17th century broke this schism-ing in mathematics but sadly hasn't influenced the conversion to a flow perception of life. A halfway house compromise has been reached where stocks and flows are employed particularly within engineering disciplines where even more power has been acquired to exploit nature, in particular the power to continue degrading the natural flowing state of nature by decimating biodiversity and severely interrupting the natural cycles and rhythms of nature that maintain a world all can continue to thrive on. I agree, focusing on CO2 and other carbon emissions as the sole cause for climate change is completely missing the cause of the problem. Sadly it is the stock perceiving mindset that has narrowed the issue to this single cause. It is a convenient singular cause that can be controlled, managed and more importantly, monetized. It can become an entry on accountancy documents. Another requirement is for all work performed in nature to be seen as inversely proportional to the state of entropy maintained by the biosphere of Earth. This means the less work performed by biodiversity to maintain the biosphere, the higher the state of entropy the biosphere will have. So to achieve a biosphere with a lower state of entropy, or higher order, demands a restoration/regeneration of biodiversity to perform the work to achieve this state. The current perception and concept of work is completely the opposite and is consequently the main driver for driving the biosphere to a high state of entropy, a state of thermodynamic equilibrium. The solution to a more harmonious path in and with nature therefore points to the relationship we have formed with nature overwhelmingly influenced by our accounting tools. If we changed this, the CO2 and other carbon emissions would naturally decline and our collaboration with nature when we re-merge with its flow to restore and regenerate nature will also gradually decline. To make this a reality accounting tools need to make flow accounting primary and stocks accounting secondary where all flows need to be maintained in a balanced state. The function of stocks accounting would simply be to record changes that bring about profit as a result of true non-exploitative innovation, a reflection of skill and knowledge development and most of all, care, love and wisdom. Thank you for this wonderful episode.
It is an interesting talk, but please stop interrupting.
How is economics of happiness different from utopia? And equality has never happened in human history, how are you changing the nature of human’s to conform to your vision? Even Marx recognized that all people would not accept his vision of the world…’something’ would have to be done with dissenter’s. Your particular vision will not match anyone else’s vision. Whose vision ‘wins’? I think your vision sounds ok….but maybe not every detail…so who is the decider? And one last detail…capitalism is only a system of economic’s in the U.S.. , the rest of the world is socialist, communist, dictator, other….300M (US)out of 8 billion. So it actually isn’t the dominate form of nation/state economic’s. Destroying capitalism doesn’t solve your problem of inequality. Over 7 billion live another way. It is shocking listening to the heads of state at the UN, addressing the assembly… after 79 years, it looks like 90% of those nation’s are not standing on their own two feet…. they do not have a system of government that equalizes happiness. It is very sad. PS: all ‘transition’ phases are bloody, that’s where you must ‘eliminate’ the dissenters. Genghis Khan was only a nice guy if you did exactly as he told you to do, ditto for Alexander the Great, and the Romans. And they did not practice capitalism and there was not equality of happiness… no greedy U.S. capitalist’s. 😂😂 Your idea sounds great, everyone will be happy, but I’m not an alpha….and there a lot of alpha’s that will have different idea’s.🥊🥊🥊
Thank you Manda for this discussion with Helena whose work I've been aware of since the late 1990s. The film, Learning from Ladakh, was absolutely fabulous and I would argue is an essential resource for teaching even to this day for a path to a viable ecological future for all life as we know it on Earth. Personally I've tried to practice the ethic of localism for years and it is very very difficult under the hegemony of the current chrematistic, scientific and engineering reductionist and soul fracturing system that invites separation from our natural relationship with Earth via, as mentioned, the overbearing seduction of getting 'wealthy' by simply hoarding and accumulating a something that is measured by simply ensuring a number gets bigger and bigger in what we call 'banks'. This of course is interpreted as 'growth', 'success', 'smart', 'clever', 'getting wealthier', 'power', etc etc. And yet the vast majority of people, even university educated people with PhDs fail to understand that at a local and global level, if an accounting balance sheet indicates there is someone with significant Capital, then another balance sheet in the system indicates the existence of another with a significant Liability. This is then used by the Capital holders as having a sense of some justification to bully and exploit the Liability holders. This 'justification' is backed by the sense of 'ownership' over the Liability holder because the Liability holder needs to be generating returns for the Capital holder to make a 'profit'. But this is within the context of a Balance Sheet of Nature, the rest of life on Earth, that is increasingly recording a massive massive Liability due to the destruction of natural capital Nature has worked extremely hard and patiently for thousands and millions of years to provision and most importantly to create and evolve the conditions that enabled the evolution of humans and all its co-living organisms who collaborated to self-create these conditions for co-existence. So the accounting system that provides the foundation for financial, economic and trading relationships guides and fosters a false sense of 'profit' and efficiency. This in turn warps governance and legislation that in turn feeds back to embed more deeply such misguiding and destructive accounting practices and behaviour. Take the Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement(CETA) between the EU and Canada as an example. This is lauded as a template for replacing ISDS courts to the degree that it is promoted for drafting new trade agreements between the EU and Mexico and South Korea. Yet, all these trade agreement parties signed up to the Paris Agreement and the report into the benefits of this trade agreement to both parties didn't once make reference to emissions that such global trade would give rise to and respect the goals of the Paris Agreement. This report simply presented arguments and 'analysis' pointing to the benefits to GDP and the 'economic growth' benefits to EU members. This is ego stroking material for those we call politicians and policy makers, particularly those who achieve ministerial office, who are psychologically conditioned to only perceive exports as the only means to provide jobs and grow and get 'wealthy', to strut on the international stages to rub shoulders with fellow delusion-istas. Such conditioning is fostered by the mathematics of the accounting system that is purely designed to only 'profit' by receiving something from outside, from an external source. Such design doesn't foster balance and true profit and growth. The same mathematical mindset has been extended to the development of fossil fuel powered technologies where the 'profit' is regarded as the 'useful energy' out from a fossil fuel energy source while the non-useful energy is in the form of heat. The ratio of useful energy to source energy is regarded as a measure of the efficiency of the technology. Heat is consequently inefficient because it is low grade energy, or in other words, highly disordered and high entropy. But do these technologies contribute to the continuity of life on Earth by co-living with the living processes that evolved on Earth? Based on the following they do not. Self-organized living processes and systems operate completely contrary to fossil fuel powered technologies. Living processes 'profit' by outputting heat and loss of matter because this is the by-product of the work they perform to grow, self-maintain and regenerate to maintain a dynamic equilibrium state following the consumption of food, water and other forms of energy. They are in fact producing while they consume and this should be energetically in balance. They are working as they live to maintain an entropy - anti-entropy balance where the entropy is the dissipation of heat by the living organism while the anti-entropy is the self-creation of order and structure via the new cellular growth of the living organism. This is the exact same process at a global level where the Earth receives low entropy energy from the Sun and balances this by dissipating the same magnitude of high entropy energy. This low to high entropy differential is balanced by anti-entropy creation within Earth, the product of the multitude of living processes known as biodiversity hosted on Earth. Heat dissipation balanced with regeneration is true profit. True efficiency therefore should more correctly be related to what is termed 'non-useful energy' output or heat dissipation. For example a measure of efficiency could more accurately be derived from the work performed per unit of heat dissipated. From an economic perspective, this is a truer measure of productivity, not earnings per capita which is more akin to measuring each human being as a slave or serf! The mathematics of accounting therefore needs to be updated to reflect the energy dynamics of living systems/processes for managing relations between relating enterprises and communities where the profiting process is a product of balanced trading relationships while balancing the dissipation of heat with the anti-entropy regeneration that produces growth. Such growth would be ecological growth where the emphasis will be to become as efficient as possible by producing the greatest amount of work from the consumption of the least amount of energy transformed into heat. Such a metric of efficiency will have an enormous transforming effect on the technologies we develop. In fact our technologies could once again become more human and animal powered but without the slavish and serf exploitation of the past because the accounting system prevents concentration of wealth and hierarchical control and power. Rather it will promote the distribution of wealth, power, governance and knowledge resulting in technologies that could reinvigorate crafts and trades. Such a metric of efficiency can also function as a means of exchange rate between communities that use different currencies because a unit of energy is equal across all communities, energy cannot be created or destroyed as per the Law of Conservation of Energy, the 1st Law of Thermodynamics, and the exchange rate is linked to a measure of productivity that increases as it becomes more ecological. This removes the disrupting volatility of currency traders who trade currencies based on floating exchange rates between them all and the 'interest rates' offered by 'banks' around the world(don't get me started on the use of the stupid formula FV=PV(1+r)^n used to determine future value of a present valued asset!) and places the exchange rate into the honest hands of productivity achieved by an enterprise or community to achieve profit ecologically. Profit in such accounting is therefore sourced from within an enterprise or community in balance with the external through a reciprocal balance of giving and receiving(balanced trade). Such a process of profiting is a process of co-profiting because if one profits, all profit, and that includes Nature. All profit while transforming from global to local economies where higher volumes of economic trade flows are more local and slower rather than global and faster due to the profit process guiding enterprises and communities to ecologically develop themselves through care, respect, responsibility, creativity, knowledge, skill, love and wisdom. I hope sharing some ideas and thoughts on how to transition from our current death spiralling economic state to a more healthy ecological economic state wasn't boring or too arrogant. We need different thinking and to be honest I have no faith in the path to implement new regulation because as witnessed for the last 50 years and even longer, the environmental indicators are just getting worse and all the efforts made to bend these trends have simply failed. A paradigm shift is needed. The economic and regulatory system has simply been operating in a Ptolemaic fashion where changes have simply been epicycles added to the model to try and fit the changes being observed in reality in attempts to 'fix' them resulting only in being mired in and suffocating under mountains of laws, declarations and agreements. This is not going to cut it and it is principally caused by avoiding the source of the problem, the mathematics of the accounting system influenced by laws which has rolled continuously down to us over time influenced by perceptions of life and ideologies perpetuated by the 'powerful'. This system needs a Copernican shift and energy/thermodynamic science and mathematics can strongly influence that shift. In saying that there is absolutely no illusion about the powerful hold the current accounting system has not only on 'powerful' actors in the world but on every living human being. It is part of their identity and in some cases it is their identity. That is how powerful it is in conditioning us and directing us to ecologically self harm ourselves. Thank you again for this discussion. My gratitude to Helena.
Wow! Two brilliant minds covering so much here. As you discuss, the emmense juggernaut global economies power is at the root of the polycrisis we're in the thick of now. Of course these rubbish regulations over the giant global conglomerates who blackmail the governments so they can happily continue making their billions of dollars have to be changed. This consistent brainwashing of the general public over the decades by the clever seductive media campaigning ( which Adam Curtis's documentaries explain so effectively ) and the profit over planet politics, the trauma culture where the majority of the population live in fear of something that seperates us more, the draconian laws, all of this which keeps us dummed down and managable, yeah , how the hell do we overturn all that?? So good to hear you both grappling with these huge questions. Real examples of people living in fairer ways in systems which work for people and planet wellbeing need to be made more accessible and not online but actually in their localities. I've been thinking loads this summer about how the Cornish equivalent to Wales One Planet planning system, which has recently been implemented in Cornwall, could serve as the trojan horse to re imagine the more intelligent, wiser ways of interacting with one another and the living world. All I need right now is just one other keen to make it happen person... anyone ???
Gosh Manda, everything here is approaching great and yet hearing your frustration: But Actually, How? resonates most.
The first step is to cook your own food and eat it, that's why Helena is more positive, she eats properly.
Just listened and need to listen again ..❤
It was what I needed to listen to. Amassing I found so many things I was thinking about. Profound serious questions and both so decent persons. ❤