Great article as always Daniel! I think as we move towards facing the realities of our impending "birth pains" of a changing society, we must make sure to not let fear get ahold of us...or let our excitement get out of hand either. It is imperitive that we keep a realistic and calm view on all this, because in facing the reality of this collasal shift, as it is 100% real in my own and other's opinions, the last thing we need to do is let fear cloud our minds or turn it into the latest fad cult.

I wouldn't want to see the movement of change (as over simplified as I have put it) falter in th eleast bit

This is even more important when it comes to "spreading the word," as the response of the general masses has been one of hysteria or absurd denial. Just a few year ago people scoffed at the thought that oil would be surging the way it is today, and we are already starting to taste the food shortage, pardon the pun. I am sure this is something known to most, but I just feel it needs emphasis. Thanks again for the great words.

-Tyler Thompson

Is that a window just opened allowing this fresh air in, or just Daniel Pinchbeck?

You are such a relief!

Thank you for your 'hard work' and dedication to all of us.

i wonder if it would be useful at this point for the RS community to compile a sort of indexed resource of survivalist techniques. I recognize there is always a danger of reinforcing fear and creating new problems through such preparations--even the word "survivalist" provokes a reactionary consciousness in me, which has generally prevented me from picking up a handbook . . . does anyone know of a handbook that isn't infused with fear?--and we should take care to remain open to the possibility of a beautiful, transformed and sustainable future. I have seen miracles and believe we can be their agents. Nevertheless, if we see a train coming, we'd best get off the tracks. Maybe by getting off the tracks, we'll discover that bright country.

Your article specifically made me wonder: if the collapse happened today, what would I do for water? I live in Florida--are there safe, sanitary methods to gather and store rainwater? I don't know. Perhaps others wonder how they might grow food if they live in an urban environment or someplace generally inhospitable to agriculture. First aid. How to deal with the cold and the heat in a post-oil economy. And so forth. To be honest, I don't even know what I should prepare for.

One of the many things I love about RS is that I am learning many practical ideas about how to live more responsibly (though for me the real juicy stuff is the theoretical, spiritual, literary, etc.) Perhaps someone has already posted about how to gather rainwater, and I missed it. I am looking toward a concise, searchable resource of practical techniques. I would much rather get advice here than from someone who might also advise me to stock up on firearms.

Daniel, I appreciate your insistent call to awareness and responsibility. Thank you, and I hope you continue to spread the word and reach others as you did me.

I've really appreciated your deepening perspective about the near-future, Daniel, ever since I read *2012 - The Return of Queztalcoatl* a couple of years ago.

At that time I was passing through the tail end of a particularly disorienting initiation of my own in relating to the near future, at a time when your book articulated a quality of uncertain receptivity to unconventional information that deeply confirmed my inner landscape and forming perspective. Now indeed, it appears that "the great freakout" has begun, to which our greatest clarity and depth are simply necessary.

Just about 3 years ago I dropped out of grad school, sensing the unlikelihood that this onrushing world would be stable enough to support my professional trajectory at that time. This decision was accompanied by a lingering sense of shame that, existentially, I was avoiding being in the world in favor of an idea I was projecting upon it about the future, and as such, an idea that might not be real. I wondered if I was just afraid of life and sabotaging mysef.... Now, it is with an equal sense of weird chagrin that the reality of my decision presents itself to me. With it comes a felt certainty that this "great freakout" that is increasingly underway is very much an opportunity for novelty to emerge in our collective landscape across a broad spectrum, from practical questions of survival straight through to the deepest crisis of identity about who we are that arises as the world we inhabit runs out of promises and we are left, existentially and spiritually perhaps, unmasked, unhoused, unmoored....

Here is where survival and spirituality seem to co-penetrate in the starkest of contexts, in a way that is at once completely individual and equally collective. Indeed, -- online or not -- here everybody is; at a moment where what it means to be individually present to ourselves and to each other could not be more vital or vivid, or real.

So yeah, what now? Stock up and bite my fingernails? Nah -- I've already done that, at least twice now over the last decade. Fear is part of the process of adaptation, but unless we're prone to staying stuck there, I think that Creativity will likely take its place, sooner or later, usually in the unlikeliest of ways, as the process of initiation seems to show. Fortunately, here at RS, Creativity is the name of the game, and I suspect that with each passing week and month, the food around here will become all that more tasty, all that more real.

I guess I remain strangely confident that whatever hardship confronts us next, we are innately geared as cosmically human beings to maximize a surprisingly adaptive response in kind, individual and collective -- one that can shed fear in favor of new air in a heartbeat, and then pass along the truth of what that means in as little as a turn of phrase, a synchronous glance, a warm hand.

Thinking carefully together about navigating the practical is clearly an essential piece to finding our way. But so is dropping into place now and however this moment next unfolds, welcoming ourselves home directly in the open space of fertile uncertainty from which each moment is newly born.

With love and great appreciation to you Daniel, and to each person sharing this completely unique and essential online space.... Thank you so much for your intelligent honesty and wise Wonder.

Chris

 

lightonious to all my brothers and sisters. its as the old boyscout saying goes, "Be Prepared." a simple approach, but one that requires attention being paid. it is of the most value to pay attention, study, learn, and listen to your higher self. to ween oneself off of the comfortabilities, build communities, plant seeds, +educate! for we are the creators. seek mystic insights, blessings +lightonious

Did you see the full page ad that T. Boone Pickens placed in the New York Times this week advocating for massive investment in renewable energy?

 

http://www.pickensplan.com/

 

He has already invested something like ten billion dollars in wind farms throughout the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles. He claims to have a plan that can provide more than a third of our energy needs from renewable energy sources like wind solar and geothermal within ten years, and he is vociferously advocating for its implementation. We're talking about T. Boone Pickens here.

 

I mention this not because I want to defend an old-school Texas-oil oligarch, but to illustrate that it is not just those of us outside the mainstream who are advocating for urgent change. What's even more encouraging is the fact that the technology to accomplish this is already on line, and getting better rapidly.

 

It seems most likely that the economic crisis we are in is going to get significantly worse before it gets any better. Certainly there are many apocalyptic scenarios -from environmental collapse, to nuclear war by way of all-out totalitarianism- that are more than plausible right now. (I just read Jeremy Scahill's nightmarish expose "Blackwater: the Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army".) This week's news featured Bush's return from the G-8 conference where everybody was talking about capping greenhouse gas emissions and today his administration rejected regulation of those very same gases by the EPA.

 

Still, there is a lot of capital out there in the hands of people who know that doomsday is not in anyone's best interest. There is an immense reserve of intelligence, talent and creative energy in our wounded Republic, and the world. Our nasty little psychopath of a President and his whacko cronies are on their way out.

 

The governor of Kansas (yes Kansas) recently refused to permit a huge coal-fired electric plant because of its enormous carbon footprint and is courting producers of renewable energy. She (yes the governor of Kansas is a woman) has also stated that she doesn't think biofuels are the answer in the long term. She has strong popular support.

 

These are just a couple of examples that illustrate significant positive shifts away from the habits that got us into our present dilemma. While I do not believe a minor course correction is sufficient to get us out of trouble in the long run, it does seem a little early to start stocking up on condoms and booze.

 

Funny, haha, that ammo did not make Orlov's list of items for black market exchange.

 

One of the ironic advantages of consumerism is its adaptability. If something doesn't work any more, you just throw it away and try something new. The same impulses that have led us into this mess might just help us adapt our way out of it. Hopefully we'll throw away stupidity, greed and self righteousness at the same time.

 

While I have a hard time figuring out exactly what we mean when we talk about "consciousness", much less "a shift in consciousness", I do want to believe that the trials we are facing will make us stronger before they kill the planet.

 

Especially, I am inspired to comment here in agreement with you Daniel that the difference rests in individual responsibility. Like the journey of a thousand miles that begins with a single step, every mass movement is made up of each individual. Your website and columns ignite vital conversations between us individuals.

holds all the cards, like a house of cards, remember when as kids we built them, so careful not to make them come tumble down.The magician House is built of Tarot cards, whose images are like a rainbow window, that have roots deep in the past , present, future, of now.The Ace of Swords cuts through the bullpucky, depending on how one wields the knowledge of the card, each to each, they all connect on the tree of life, that we all live under.Karmic reconing has always been on its way, its all in the cards we play, they have words that somehow survived the burning of the library, that's why the government that makes war on the native people, or the melting pot people,the poor and down trodden, and use occult technology to attempt to use the symbols as tools of oppression against the life of spiritual revolution, we get confused, and so the karma falls where it may, on how we hold up the symbols of light, natural language that flows from the deep consciousness of the universe and the earth.

being a cup holder of the prophetic voice, is no easy task, one meditates on the way the cards fall, as a understanding of certain universal points of departure.When the points all come together, into some cohesive vision of the whole.

the cards themselves are only holders of forces of change and transformation and some Art or Temperence.They have gone through many hands, some skilled, and many karmas,dharmas, and samscaras, have passed in the dark night hidden in secret fortune teller folds at the foreboding crossroads.Have morphed into a thousand and one decks.Dali deck too.The deck shuffles along mixing and pouring its elements and star water through our healing hands, through thick, thin, and heck.

Beacon to us in these best and worst of times. The Eternal Return of the Same, and some cards are used for playing a friendly round.Sometimes Jacks are wild.The Joker like the coyote appears at the edge of the Arcana.Looking for a fast game of Fish.Make a wish!

Seeing the tarot picture at the start of the article inspired me to try a random I Ching reading, it quite freaked me out to find -'39 -Revolution (molting)', I'm quite skeptical about trying to predict the future, but see this as a bit of a coincidence, I hope to see change, but at the same time I feel vaguely scared about it. Anyway, I'm thankful for the online support I feel I'm getting.

@Michael Matejka: A user-generated survivalist resource sounds like a great idea. "Survivopedia"? :-)

But I agree the term "survivalist" may not be the best term to use. For me it conjures up images of crazy Right wing loners in camo gear stockpiling food, guns and ammo in a cabin in the woods.

I think we should rally around another word, maybe "sustainability", since what we are talking about is moving to a more sustainable lifestyle.

"Sustainopedia" anyone? :-)

As a peak-oil obsessed astrologer, I was rapt by Daniel's book. I came across it, of course, through a series of mind-blowing synchronicities, and reading it was one of the most numinous experiences I've had in years. What truly woke me up, however, was fitting the 2012 (r)evolution together with an astrological phenomenon that we just entered in January of this year. Pluto in Capricorn will last until 2024. Pluto hasn't been where it is now since the American Revolution. I believe it's been discussed elsewhere in RS, but it bears repeating. Here's a bit from a blog I posted about the phenomenon earlier this year:

 

*** Now it's time to talk about the economy, and there is no time to be stupid about it. Saturn admonishes us to wake up, and Pluto forces us to face our darkest demons. Over the next years, we'll all be contemplating the ground beneath our feet, what we value, how we feed ourselves, and if our structures (our literal homes) are strong enough to withstand the churning of the cosmos. The subprime mortgage crisis and current recession are just the beginning. Pluto in Capricorn will revolutionize our thinking at the root level: your relationship to material wealth is bound to change. Kings of industry and CEO's won't be happy about it, but those of us suffering under oligarchy will, in the very best of scenarios. Pluto will use extreme measures to bring balance back. This recently demoted planet exists to transform, and it doesn't like the rigid rules of Capricorn. This is the stuff that only Orwell could dream up: autocratic governments wielding terrifying amounts of power, a security state that will erase the notion of privacy, or a Grapes of Wrath-like period of scarcity for those that now consider themselves middle class. So take a deep breath, balance your checkbook, and get your karmic ship in order. ***

 

So here's my question: what can we do at the local level, right here and right now, to address what we're about to go through? Living in NYC, I'm starving for a community willing to go beyond the talking stage -- sure we need to think about our larger missions, environmental goals, peace, and justice -- it's all connected. But it seems that this moment IS about survivalism, no matter how distasteful that word is. Fear can be a huge motivator. It's great to start here with 1's and 0's, but we need to literally build safe structures to weather this storm, places to grow food, and get our hands dirty making it happen fast. Can we start here and then begin digging in the ground and planting our roofs in Real Life? Getting off the grid is a great idea, but what if the grid goes down before we've finished our doomsteads?

 

Also want to say that I believe evidence of the change in human consciousness is everywhere. Last night I shared a mass meditation with upwards of (probably) 10,000 people at the Manhattan Center, where Ammachi, the hugging saint, was holding court. A big spread in the New York Times brought many new seekers to the event. I've been a devotee for seven years, and I've NEVER seen anything like last night. The spiritual hunger is deep and abiding, and the energy jumped from person to person with little verbal communication. More and more people are becoming ill, experiencing strange symptoms in their bodies, and going through dark nights of the soul (breakups, breakdowns, etc.) -- we're being pushed through the birth canal. It's sink or swim, evolve or get left behind.

 

According to a few rational perspectives out there, ideas/memes that are based on fear spread fast and become accepted as most likely true more than  other meme/idea, and thus will mutate into fearful variations quicker than you can say Hegel's historical dialectic. Sort of an anti-zeitgiest if you will.

I wonder; regarding this proposed great 'karmic reckoning' -is it true? what then is a karmic reckoning? Is it utter social breakdown or the fear of utter social breakdown that is the ultimate payback and retribution for humanity's nature gone haywire?

What's far more involving and likely to create higher awareness and collective intelligence increase is not the possibility of the destruction but the greater possibility of opportunity out there that exists.

 

First the first time in our known history, humanity has the ability to be a complete success in universe - where every human being alive can have access to billionaire wealth. bucky said that.

 

That may be far more alarming, chaotic, and frightening to the collective psyche to ponder than a lil ol stock market crash. Our complete success as a species appears to be the one issue we seem to avoid addressing more than any other.

Rats.

With regards to fellow journeyers

Lately it seems all I think about is "doomsday" and how close its coming. The signs are everywhere and easily seen in the most subtle actions of todays culture. It's good to know i'm not the only one thinking about it and making plans. I talk to others but none seem to take me seriously on the subject. It does'nt seem that people are capable of the grasping the idea that the world around them is destructable, which will in turn make the fall all the harder.

I consider myself one of many of those who need to step up when the time comes and be a leader. I have been preparing for this for quite a while now. My dreams have been constantly on the subject of the "apocalypse" so to speak. I've been dreaming of the town I live in where I walk down the streets and the windows are smashed and it's entirely deserted except for a few looters running by. It worries me, these dreams seem to deny any optimism for the times to come but I think that it's up to us to make the difference.

When the time comes there's no doubt that people are going to (simply put) "freak out" and lose any sense of rationality. It'll be classic chaos. By rising above the chaos I think we can set an example for the masses or at least our community. We are going to have to group together and forget the luxuries of modernism. I myself plan to get on my bike with a simple backpack kit and take off across the country. Thats just an idea but it sounds solid to me and would be glad for anyone to join me.

Until the time comes, I encourage you all to keep an optimistic mind about the hardships to come. I don't believe there's anything to fear so I don't take it too seriously. Try to keep a smile and don't forget that life is a balancing act, don't take anything too seriously.

 

P.S.  Great article Daniel! It seems they always come at the most synchronitic times for me and validate all of my feelings on the subject.  I appreciate it greatly.

Thanks for the inspiring piece. I've been experiencing an awakening of consciousness in the last 12 months and your words have been there along the way. My friends and I are doing the consciousness activities you describe in your article...as have been you writing them...proof that its spreading through those in tune in all the right places.

I believe the root of our all problems is our lack of control of those elements that directly affect our lives. Our food, water, art is all processed, pre packaged and polluted even before we consume it.

Conversely the answer is a shared, community based production of all these things. In the UK we managed this during the second world war when we stood isolated in Germany, and in the US you operated this way during the Depression years.

I live in inner London, UK and already grow food in our small garden. However I’m looking to start a garden collective with some council donated land…anyone here interested? If we start food production on a small scale maybe it will kick start a new community.

It's interesting that you bring up the story of chicken little, in the story she believes the sky is falling down because an acorn falls on her head. She then gets everyone excited and they go to warn the king, apparently there are different endings to the story- from wikipedia -

'In the most famous one, Foxy Loxy eats the chicken's friends, but the last one, usually Cocky Lockey, survives enough to warn the chicken and she escapes. Other endings include Foxy eating them all; the characters being saved by a squirrel or an owl and getting to speak to the King; the characters being saved by the King's hunting dogs; even one version in which the sky actually falls and kills Foxy Loxy.'

'Depending on the version, the moral changes. In the "happy ending" version, the moral is not to be a "Chicken", but to have courage. In other versions the moral is usually interpreted to mean "do not believe everything you are told". In the latter case, it could well be a cautionary political tale: The Chicken jumps to a conclusion and whips the populace into mass hysteria, which the unscrupulous fox uses to manipulate them for his own benefit.'

I suppose I wonder why you bring this story up, this is not at all a critism, but presumably you yourself sometimes doubt that there is anything apocolyptic going to happen - the credit crisis could resolve itself, global warming may be followed by some global cooling, oil prices might stabalize and things won't spiral out of control after all..?

I appreciate the article and the ideas inside of it. The one thought I question is non-attachment. This word has many applications and before I rant I just want to know what do you mean by it? I think as the world changes constantly and quickly we do need to be aware of this and act accordingly. Species dying, plants being diseased, fires devastating eco systems, droughts, floods and so on. The list is endless. As a result we need to let go and recognize that as the world changes we need to adapt. Like the book "Future Shock" speaks of, we need to be willing to constantly adapt like a traveler experiencing culture shock. The more we adapt the easier life is. We are constant travelers. My question is more about personal relations. When I moved to Oakland I was relieved to have space to plant a garden but I did not know how long I would live in this one place. With access to many plants I decided to mark my ground nonetheless, aware that the plants I tended could benefit others. As a result, I have benefited daily as I watch my lupin grow and harvest sage periodically from my back yard. This reminds me of human relations. Yes, we need non-attachment as we are all constantly changing. When there is connection, it needs to be recognized and cared for, just like my plants. As it is tended, regarded with respect and cultivated it will grow and become more beautiful, even if the people turn away. We need non-attachment to what happens when people grow and change as we uncover more layers. Yet I can't stand the idea of polyamory, the epitome of "non-attachment". It feels like planting a garden and then stepping away just after the seeds hit the soil. Without watering the seeds shrivel. The potential fruit turns back into dirt. If you throw seeds everywhere, then little grows. So what is non-attachment in human relations?

If we understand the lessons of Chicken Little and the other Kassandra's of myth and literature, we know that most people will not listen to words of warning.

 

I believe the only way to reach people is to be examples, to live the life we believe should be lived. Even if we "know" what the future will be, most others won't believe us either out of fear or skepticism. I agree with other responses to this post that we should have some practical actions that we can start doing. Perhaps there can be an ongoing, updated section where people can share ideas about how to live a new lifestyle.

 

The theorizing and speculations that are shared on this site are useful and necessary, but I believe it needs to be balanced with practical action. If we stay too long in the head we will lose touch with the ground and the present moment.

 

I am currently packing up my belongings. Selling or donating all my extra nonessential stuff and moving to a cheaper place. I will be closer to family where collectively we can start growing food to support ourselves. It will not be a lot, we won't be able to live entirely on the food we grow. But it will be a start.

 

 At one time I used to make all my own cleaning products, soaps, etc from herbs I grew myself. I will start doing that again. I will also explore making a living around my art, but in different ways that isn't entirely dependent on the selling of a product. I don't know what that will be yet, but once I am in the new community, I will have a better understanding of what is needed there and how I can contribute.

 

 Living for an uncertain future is not easy.  It requires radical change.  Sacrifice will be necessary.  But change, sacrifice, uncertainty, are all part of life.  The real hardship comes when we resist these truths.  I want to be open to what a new way of living can bring.  Instead of looking at letting go as a loss, or change as bad, I am looking at what new possiblities will open up to me that were never available before.

 

Some useful books for sustainable living that I have found are the Foxfire books and books by Tom Brown. Brown even has a "survival" book for city dwellers. I believe a lot of hard changes are needed. But, it is sometimes overwhelming.

 

I think it would be really helpful and encouraging for people to share their experiences about what they are doing now to live the life of the future.

DoAn

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