Leveling Up for The Collapse of Empire
Resources for navigating fascism and collapse in the U.S.
I haven’t done a list in a long time. These lists are called “andas” because they are eclectic zones that encourage creativity and self- and collective-expression. “Anda” means “egg” in Sanskrit. It’s used specifically in the Trika tradtion to mean a zone of creative fecundity.
Resources for navigating fascism and collapse in the U.S.
Sierra Seeds: Boost your seed literacy and rematriate your backyard and community plot. Indigenous woman-owned seed mentorship and activism.
Also listen to Seeds, Grief, and Memory with Rowen White, a podcast with Sierra Seeds’ leading light.
Buy organic seeds. Living Seed Company for crops and flowers. True Leaf Market for those with an emphasis on microgreens and sprouting seeds.
Topple the Nerd Reich. If you want to learn to build your own internet, or an A.I. that’s not evil, or how to code for free, or how to keep yourself safe at a protest, or what to do if you are being cyber-stalked, and much more, check out Liz Howard’s Liz the Dev and the Multiverse School. Also find them on IG.
Build activist movements and communities
Narrative Initiative - Supports activists and social justice movements to build leadership, develop communications strategies, and make change with compelling narratives.
Stimpunks - Participatory, emancipatory, activist research + mutual aid and human-centered learning for neurodivergent and disabled people
Activist Handbook - the wikipedia for campaigners and grassroots organizers
(Podcast) Movement Memos: An ongoing call to action for movement work and mutual aid efforts around the country with Kelly Hayes
Reduce your taxes legally. Nuff said.
Mutual Aid - it’s not just a buzzword. Here are some resources.
Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) by Dean Spade
Let This Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care by Kelly Hayes and Miriame Kaba
Also check out your micro-local Buy Nothing Club. You can find a network in your area by using the stand-alone app or on Facebook. These neighborhood-based networks only allow giving and receiving stuff for free. They also host and respond to calls for emergency food and supplies—like when people run out of money before the next paycheck.
And you may have wondered, Is Self-Care an Act of Resistance?
Reading suggestions
All About Love by bell hooks
Remaking Radicalism: A Grassroots Documentary Reader of the United States, 1973-2001 edited by Dan Berger and Emily K. Hobson
Abolition Democracy: Beyond Empire, Prisons, and Torture by Angela Davis
Note: The last two titles are either wildly more expensive or unavailable in paperback on bookshop.org. Hence the Amazon links.
Esoteric shit - I love my medicine cabinet. It’s full of things with mysterious labels and in mysterious forms such as resins, distillations, and hand-rolled herbal pills. So here’s some esoteric shit to get you started and help you through.
Shilajit - A tar exudate that comes from rocks in the Himalayas. Part of the Ayurvedic pharmacopeia. Strengthening. Scrapes toxins and is generally rejuvenative for all three doshas in small doses. How to take: get a chopstick and dip the tip into the tar no more than a quarter inch deep. Mix with water and drink 1x per day. Note: Will increase heat (pitta) at higher dose. Also increases the production of testosterone, so really, keep your dose small. It’s some powerful, esoteric shit!
Clary Sage essential oil - Clears the mind channels and relaxes at the same time. Get this brand only. Other brands don’t have quite the same effects.
Tsewang Dzinpa Long Life Pills - Concentrated blessings and millions of mantras ritually formed into pills from Garchen Rinpoche and other Kagyu lineage holders. Eat them at sunrise while facing East and with a reverential feeling.
Essential self-care according to moi
Keep your Vitamin D levels up. Essential for good sleep, good mind, and good energy.
Go to sleep by 10 pm so that your organs have time to rejuvenate, and you can benefit from getting up with the sun.
Learn some kind of spiritual practice and do it daily. Connect with source.
Eat organic and eat with people you love as frequently as possible.
Take time to regularly unplug from the internet and tv. Even a half day a week is beneficial.
Be silly. Express joy. Laugh with your whole body.
And here’s my #1 self-care tip!
Be of service to others.
Helping others, serving others, is the nourishment. You will be happier and healthier if you give what you have to give (and don’t give what you don’t have to give). Small offerings made in the texture of everyday life will sustain you in surprising ways.
Don’t sit around feeling helpless and discouraged because you can’t have a big impact.
Give a smile, a hug, a helping hand.
Engage strangers in real conversations about how they are coping.
Give what you have to give — money, skills, time, and accept help when you need it.
Build community and networks of mutual aid and care at every opportunity.
With infinite love and solidarity always,
Shambhavi
Not quite ready to fire up a paid subscription, but want to show your appreciation?
Please join Shambhavi and the Jaya Kula community for satsang & kirtan every Sunday at 3:00pm Pacific. Come in person to 1215 SE 8th Ave, Portland, OR, or join Jaya Kula’s newsletter to get the Zoom link for satsang. You can also listen to my podcast—Satsang with Shambhavi—wherever podcasts are found.