I think you are clearly naming the issues I’ve seen on the Left in the last five or so years, which are hamstringing our ability to build an effective movement to address any of the crises which face us. I appreciated your work in The Empowerment Manual and look forward to hearing what you’ve observed since that time.
I’ve had some stints in activist circles in the US in recent years and it’s incredibly disheartening. The movement tears itself apart over trivialities. I’ve seen people who’ve literally put their safety on the line to protect others, subsequently be turned upon by their own ‘communities’ in the most brutal way. With allies like these, who needs enemies?
Your description of the left being ‘skilled at making good people feel bad about themselves’ is absolutely pointed and I find it accurate.
Having articulate ways of talking about these problems points us to a path forward. You have more insight, vision, and clarity of thought than pretty much any other person I’ve read—I greatly look forward to reading your thoughts & discussing with my companions.
We have so little time. For decades, I have found clarity and strength in your writing. It has literally changed my life. I have since, I hope, changed life for others. Your wisdom and eloquence can be a powerful, and empowering, force in a time of desperate need.
You suggest we must persuade others to our way of thinking. May we also open ourselves to learning from them? You hint at the need to do so, but if our only goal is to figure out how best to manipulate the believers in Trumpism into changing their consciousness to satisfy our will, is that likely to work? It doesn’t seem to have done so thus far. I can’t wait to read about your ideas.
Thank you for taking on the mantle of this hard work. I plan to hang on your words and share them with my fellow activists now deeply engaged in fighting fascism through the very institutions it endangers. My sense is strong that this will not be enough; your project will bring the grace of inspiration to our actions along with practical advice. I am looking forward to that and will support you as much as I can.
Much (if not all…) has been written on the theory, the challenge always is the praxis, for call it what you want, when you gather humans together for a purpose, they litteraly become a church. i personally want to resurrect the spirit of Ivan Illich, which few people know, is foundational to the Zapatista movement.
Also, authentic friendships will be the wealth of any movement in a world going digital.
I think it’s also that capitalism has become so entrenched that people are finding it hard to imagine alternatives.
I checked out the Wikipedia page on how to prepare for nonviolent revolution and was heartened to see that the student encampments are doing exactly the right thing.
Thank you so much for this thoughtful piece. I can see and feel the wisdom and truth in much of what you are writing. I'd love to point to one thing I think is distorted among so many of us that you wrote, and I'm totally open for comments and criticisms of my thoughts. It stands out because it is something I used to agree with and now I see it differently.
Your comment: "Right-wing news media inflame people's sense of fear and insecurity, painting the world as a threatening place, and then promise them safety, offering a ‘strong man’ who can save them." would be seen as more accurate if we simply said "main stream media and news", not just "right wing news media." I'm seeing this on every side. Fear mongering instead of solution seeking and putting their candidate (we're only seeing two in the main stream media, which we know is a distortion by erasure) out there as "the savior." I don't have an answer for this other than to watch the channels we disagree with so we can see what the concerns of all sides are (whether we think they're valid or not), to look for sources other than what we want to hear, and to release labels and stand for policies and politicians who have dedicated much of their lives to serving others versus serving themselves. I think we could also benefit from a little less news and little more going within, allowing more quiet in order to discern who will serve the people the best at this time. By no means am I suggesting to bury our heads in the sand, yet, in this day and age of "what is real?" AI, etc, we're going to need our other senses to know who and what is real. Who is telling us the truth? Who is telling us "what we want to hear" to get a donation to their campaign, etc. It would be a miracle if we could release labels other than "human being" and once we saw more of this in each other, there would perhaps be less demonizing people and more actual work toward the needs you've so wisely stated. To look to the right (media, politicians, etc) and simply make them the bad guy in everything while ignoring the pandering and ill will going on in left wing politics at this time is just not enough. We could call of this Empire, whether left or right. It's Empire, greed, self-serving life styles on both sides that we would do well to witness and then seek candidates who serve the humans. There's not many of them, and they usually give up alot to get their messages out there. They don't normally have a bazillion dollars. They're usually erased, called fools and "spoilers" for risking so much to represent the people. We won't often find them in main stream media (except an occasional interview or comment to ridicule them) as they pose a threat to both sides. Instead, every day we are saturated with 2 men who we've already seen the job performance of both. Our main stream media (not just the far right) is owned by the large corporations. The "whoever has the most money wins" system is breaking down in many ways because many people's eyes are opening to Empire...on both sides. Thank you again for this important contribution.
Some time ago I let go of the idea that political parties or the media are anything except orchestrated corruption. The thing that gives me hope is that I continually meet good, kind, intelligent people. The media is telling me the world is one way, but I know that is simply propaganda. I try to stay out of that box, I do not want or need to play their game. I walk thru a forest or put my hands and back into the soil and I find more truth and clarity.
Yet, I live in a modern world and I participate daily in the scrolling of the screen, but always I strive to listen to the sounds of the natural world. I try to tune in to the vibes of the earth and the universe beyond. I hear the cries of children in war torn countries, the pleas of the oppressed, and I try in my feeble ways to shed light. But I also feel the pendulum swinging in the balancing of right and wrong. Politically it feels as though the fulcrum has been tilted and the balance is way off center. But life is not politics. Money and power corrupt. It feels like we have to climb out of that rabbit hole of limited vision. We can not take away the free will of others, but we CAN exercise our own free will. We can teach, model, encourage, and define kindness. We can be kindness.
We are not what we see in politics! How elegantly simple and powerful. And we are not, by extension what we see in the media. Profound and useful wisdom, Lucy, thankyou.
Agreed, the world seems lost down the rabbit hole and a regenerative movement is much needed. However, maybe what we need is less self examination. I am pretty sure liberal, open mindedness, love, is the good red road.
I tried immersion in the liberal give and take of your values and you are every bit as good as my world view. While there was plenty of meeting on common ground, there was not a meeting of minds and hearts. And well, it cost me, 13 years a losing battle, lived out in the belly of the beast, my personal microcosm of life at large.
Human needs… hmmmm. Safety for starters is unattainable, it is an uncertain world - 911, natural disasters, Covid, …. Maybe we should cultivate just accepting the levels of insecurity that are ever present in our lives. Maybe a regenerative movement needs the cultivation of safety nets, and the institutions and mind sets that one knows are there for you no matter what is going on. I think we had it right at the Really really free markets we created - like in Miami, fairy money, hugs, hair cuts, medical attention, counseling, a place to sit and rest( metaphorically speaking), someone to talk with.; a place to give to others, a place to be seen…. Which leads to a bigger kind of movement for the future, where money has no value… The Fifth SacredThing and all.
I really really think we need to confront the 1% - how do we negate that kind of power? We can not let them have all the money and power and control. What makes those systems redundant? How do we make the accumulation of wealth not the desired goal, not the golden ring? We need laws and constitutions that protect people from the abuses of power. ( reels of the French Revolution play through my brain )
The great American value of protecting me and mine. Aaaaacccckkkkk! Let’s replace that with kindness and simplicity, no just kindness, simple kindness.
Thank you for speaking about this with such compassion and clarity. May we create a truly regenerative, heart-centered and inclusive movement. May we build resilience and tensile strength. May we empower and uplift activists of all ages and backgrounds. We must find a new way forward, together.
I sincerely hope that when this series is “finished”, you will also publish it in written book form! All my books that are by you have underlines, highlighted lines, and notes written in the margins. All those change and/or are added to with each rereading. That’s a bit more difficult in this format…
This is just what I needed to read yesterday. It calmed me after the UK racist riots. Thank you for your clarity and the opportunity to connect. When I worked in communities up to 2008, there was still a feeling of possibility for change. The paradigm was that the others had to change. I now see I am part of that change and shift, not into giving up principles of well being for all, but a move away from polarisation and into a deeper understanding of the other.
What an exciting endeavor you/we are embarking on! This seems an excellent
way of aligning with, sharing and providing an outlet for new ways of creating much needed forms of engagement in the exploration of modern evolving art forms by naturally creating niches for new forms of economy and interactive "power with" leadership, that you have previously advocated for in your former writings. I'm inspired to read the "The Fifth Sacred Thing" again. Thank you for being you!
After all these eons of god-worship maybe we will return to the goddess - if only because in her agony she is starting to wreak havoc upon us in ways that put Jehovah to shame, and we will need to appease the deity that holds the actual power: Gaia, Pachamama, Mother Nature/Mother Earth. Perhaps for this era, the terrifying goddess of destruction and regeneration, Kali.
Humanity will rise up and do what's needed for survival, but not until then (at least that's the theory - the denialist reaction to covid and other threats gives one pause). Religion, esp of the monotheistic western kind, underlay (fuelled?) "development" that superseded the old survival needs. We in the "first world"/"developed world", which includes much of humanity today and to which laggards aspire, don't need to care about survival on a day-to-day basis; we're FREEEEE to indulge in all the myriad ways our clever brains can dream up. A return to The Garden is not much desired (even farmers don't 'garden' any more, but are food-producing factories grinding up vegetation and animals so we can stroll around the supermarket); we are uninvolved in production, only in consumption. Our needs are huge, our greed overwhelming, and our numbers catastrophic.
Indeed, as you say, we have to deal with people as they are, not as they damn well "should" be. And there's the problem: Only out of desperation, when a deadline looms for our lives and the life of the planet, will we act sufficiently and in great enough numbers. And maybe not then.
I'm pessimistic, but admire and support people like you who take up the hoe & shovel (actually, I mulch instead, but you know what I mean).
First, I want to start by saying, I know that this is an old post but after I read it I went through your page to read and listen to a few of the pieces that you've created for this series. Here are my thoughts.
I appreciated your emphasis on regeneration and on meeting people’s core needs—safety, belonging, value, agency, and meaning. That framework resonates deeply with me, as does your honoring of Indigenous rites and ritual.
A bit about me: my name is Jasper James. I’m a Black, queer, non-binary organizer, healer, intuitive, author, and crisis-communications strategist. I’m also the founder of SJSP (Social Justice as a Spiritual Practice)—the first spiritual justice religion in the U.S. I’ve spent nearly two decades on the front lines of systemic change: from standing with Water Protectors at No DAPL, to co-authoring the community response after the killing of Stephon Clark by Sacramento Police, to collaborating with the ACLU on the revised Black Bill of Rights.
In 2015, after experiencing an alarmingly racist incident at Pantheacon—(ironically, this was where I heard you speak for the first time— here's a link to refresh your memory https://threehundredandsixtysix.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/pantheacon-2015-listening-to-pagans-of-color/) I partnered with a circle of Black and Brown heathen leaders and allies (many of whom you know) to co-create what would become the foundation of SJSP.
What began as an urgent need for spiritual safety grew into a framework rooted in radical inclusion. The three years following that event, I worked with a wide network—surveying spiritual and religious communities, and listening deeply to thousands of marginalized people across the diaspora who had lost loved ones to state violence. We asked: what would a spiritual practice look like that could meet the needs of the most vulnerable? What emerged was more than a tradition—it was a call for a model that offered survival and sovereignty.
What was also made clear through that process was spirit work alone wouldn’t shield our communities from the escalating criminalization of peaceful protest or the erosion of our civil liberties. So we met the moment by fusing spirituality with legal strategy.
By naming peaceful protest as a sacred practice and a primary tenet of our faith, SJSP members gain additional protection under the Religious Freedom clause. That means if law enforcement targets our communities for demonstrating, they’re no longer just infringing on freedom of assembly—they may be violating our religious rights. That legal framing shifts the terrain, opening up new ethical, legal, and moral arguments for redress.
Today, SJSP offers: Immersive rituals and leadership curricula grounded in the five elements, a mutual-aid and rapid-response network designed to support those most at risk, and the Spiritual Justice Covenant—a legislative toolkit for codifying healing-centered values and recognizing protest as sacred prayer.
As you've been holding this conversation and plan to reflect on and share these insights for your new book, I have to ask: have you reached out to, uplifted, or intentionally made space for spiritually aligned Black, Native, or queer, change-makers who’ve been nurturing these ideas—not just conceptually, but through lived practice, and current movements to provide community care?
Because I’ve seen, time and time again, how our remembered, embodied, ancestral, intersectional efforts get overlooked or underfunded, while more privileged voices are amplified as if these ideas are somehow new. Speaking from lived experience, true regeneration demands more than new language, it demands lineage repair, credit restoration, and platforming those who have kept these fires burning long before they were fashionable. That includes the grassroots spiritual communities that have always woven liberation into liturgy.
My final thought: Marginalized spiritual change-makers don’t need platforms for validation—we need them to advance this important movement with the depth, perspective, and authority this moment requires. I for one strive daily to build a truly inclusive, big-tent movement—one that doesn’t just talk about sacred justice, but lives it, breathes it, and evolves it in all its complexity. Our inclusion isn’t just necessary—it’s foundational. It must be treated not as optional, but as essential to the integrity and future of the collective success of humanity.
Grateful to find your writing on substack, Starhawk. Will follow it regularly for sure. Actually I’ve been following your writing since Spiral Dance which was published while we both attended Antioch University West in the early 80’s. I so love the way your mind works ❣️My name is Diana Robbins .
Thank you for this, I look forward to reading more. I do hope you address AI as another confounding factor. I believe it is and will increasingly be seen by those who live more and more digitally to seemingly provide value, meaning, agency and belonging. I fear it will feed that driving desire of seemingly providing for people’s impulsive desires at a great cost to the natural world. In my darker hours I can seem much of humanity going out with not a bang but a masturbatory whimper.
I think you are clearly naming the issues I’ve seen on the Left in the last five or so years, which are hamstringing our ability to build an effective movement to address any of the crises which face us. I appreciated your work in The Empowerment Manual and look forward to hearing what you’ve observed since that time.
I’ve had some stints in activist circles in the US in recent years and it’s incredibly disheartening. The movement tears itself apart over trivialities. I’ve seen people who’ve literally put their safety on the line to protect others, subsequently be turned upon by their own ‘communities’ in the most brutal way. With allies like these, who needs enemies?
Your description of the left being ‘skilled at making good people feel bad about themselves’ is absolutely pointed and I find it accurate.
Having articulate ways of talking about these problems points us to a path forward. You have more insight, vision, and clarity of thought than pretty much any other person I’ve read—I greatly look forward to reading your thoughts & discussing with my companions.
Many thanks and Green Blessings to you, Starhawk!
We have so little time. For decades, I have found clarity and strength in your writing. It has literally changed my life. I have since, I hope, changed life for others. Your wisdom and eloquence can be a powerful, and empowering, force in a time of desperate need.
You suggest we must persuade others to our way of thinking. May we also open ourselves to learning from them? You hint at the need to do so, but if our only goal is to figure out how best to manipulate the believers in Trumpism into changing their consciousness to satisfy our will, is that likely to work? It doesn’t seem to have done so thus far. I can’t wait to read about your ideas.
Thank you for taking on the mantle of this hard work. I plan to hang on your words and share them with my fellow activists now deeply engaged in fighting fascism through the very institutions it endangers. My sense is strong that this will not be enough; your project will bring the grace of inspiration to our actions along with practical advice. I am looking forward to that and will support you as much as I can.
Thankyou for pointing out being open to learning both ways. Listening, reciprocity, these are foundational to an earth culture.
My answer is YES!
Much (if not all…) has been written on the theory, the challenge always is the praxis, for call it what you want, when you gather humans together for a purpose, they litteraly become a church. i personally want to resurrect the spirit of Ivan Illich, which few people know, is foundational to the Zapatista movement.
Also, authentic friendships will be the wealth of any movement in a world going digital.
I've been reading the more recent Zapatista communiques lately, and the sharing of humour and parables is like a breath of fresh soul breeze.
Our souls dwell in the mythos i believe! :)
I think this is part of it.
I think it’s also that capitalism has become so entrenched that people are finding it hard to imagine alternatives.
I checked out the Wikipedia page on how to prepare for nonviolent revolution and was heartened to see that the student encampments are doing exactly the right thing.
Here’s a post I made about it on instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/C7fvUNdth_D/
Thank you so much for this thoughtful piece. I can see and feel the wisdom and truth in much of what you are writing. I'd love to point to one thing I think is distorted among so many of us that you wrote, and I'm totally open for comments and criticisms of my thoughts. It stands out because it is something I used to agree with and now I see it differently.
Your comment: "Right-wing news media inflame people's sense of fear and insecurity, painting the world as a threatening place, and then promise them safety, offering a ‘strong man’ who can save them." would be seen as more accurate if we simply said "main stream media and news", not just "right wing news media." I'm seeing this on every side. Fear mongering instead of solution seeking and putting their candidate (we're only seeing two in the main stream media, which we know is a distortion by erasure) out there as "the savior." I don't have an answer for this other than to watch the channels we disagree with so we can see what the concerns of all sides are (whether we think they're valid or not), to look for sources other than what we want to hear, and to release labels and stand for policies and politicians who have dedicated much of their lives to serving others versus serving themselves. I think we could also benefit from a little less news and little more going within, allowing more quiet in order to discern who will serve the people the best at this time. By no means am I suggesting to bury our heads in the sand, yet, in this day and age of "what is real?" AI, etc, we're going to need our other senses to know who and what is real. Who is telling us the truth? Who is telling us "what we want to hear" to get a donation to their campaign, etc. It would be a miracle if we could release labels other than "human being" and once we saw more of this in each other, there would perhaps be less demonizing people and more actual work toward the needs you've so wisely stated. To look to the right (media, politicians, etc) and simply make them the bad guy in everything while ignoring the pandering and ill will going on in left wing politics at this time is just not enough. We could call of this Empire, whether left or right. It's Empire, greed, self-serving life styles on both sides that we would do well to witness and then seek candidates who serve the humans. There's not many of them, and they usually give up alot to get their messages out there. They don't normally have a bazillion dollars. They're usually erased, called fools and "spoilers" for risking so much to represent the people. We won't often find them in main stream media (except an occasional interview or comment to ridicule them) as they pose a threat to both sides. Instead, every day we are saturated with 2 men who we've already seen the job performance of both. Our main stream media (not just the far right) is owned by the large corporations. The "whoever has the most money wins" system is breaking down in many ways because many people's eyes are opening to Empire...on both sides. Thank you again for this important contribution.
Some time ago I let go of the idea that political parties or the media are anything except orchestrated corruption. The thing that gives me hope is that I continually meet good, kind, intelligent people. The media is telling me the world is one way, but I know that is simply propaganda. I try to stay out of that box, I do not want or need to play their game. I walk thru a forest or put my hands and back into the soil and I find more truth and clarity.
Yet, I live in a modern world and I participate daily in the scrolling of the screen, but always I strive to listen to the sounds of the natural world. I try to tune in to the vibes of the earth and the universe beyond. I hear the cries of children in war torn countries, the pleas of the oppressed, and I try in my feeble ways to shed light. But I also feel the pendulum swinging in the balancing of right and wrong. Politically it feels as though the fulcrum has been tilted and the balance is way off center. But life is not politics. Money and power corrupt. It feels like we have to climb out of that rabbit hole of limited vision. We can not take away the free will of others, but we CAN exercise our own free will. We can teach, model, encourage, and define kindness. We can be kindness.
with love, rambling rosie
We are not what we see in politics! How elegantly simple and powerful. And we are not, by extension what we see in the media. Profound and useful wisdom, Lucy, thankyou.
Agreed, the world seems lost down the rabbit hole and a regenerative movement is much needed. However, maybe what we need is less self examination. I am pretty sure liberal, open mindedness, love, is the good red road.
I tried immersion in the liberal give and take of your values and you are every bit as good as my world view. While there was plenty of meeting on common ground, there was not a meeting of minds and hearts. And well, it cost me, 13 years a losing battle, lived out in the belly of the beast, my personal microcosm of life at large.
Human needs… hmmmm. Safety for starters is unattainable, it is an uncertain world - 911, natural disasters, Covid, …. Maybe we should cultivate just accepting the levels of insecurity that are ever present in our lives. Maybe a regenerative movement needs the cultivation of safety nets, and the institutions and mind sets that one knows are there for you no matter what is going on. I think we had it right at the Really really free markets we created - like in Miami, fairy money, hugs, hair cuts, medical attention, counseling, a place to sit and rest( metaphorically speaking), someone to talk with.; a place to give to others, a place to be seen…. Which leads to a bigger kind of movement for the future, where money has no value… The Fifth SacredThing and all.
I really really think we need to confront the 1% - how do we negate that kind of power? We can not let them have all the money and power and control. What makes those systems redundant? How do we make the accumulation of wealth not the desired goal, not the golden ring? We need laws and constitutions that protect people from the abuses of power. ( reels of the French Revolution play through my brain )
The great American value of protecting me and mine. Aaaaacccckkkkk! Let’s replace that with kindness and simplicity, no just kindness, simple kindness.
Thank you for speaking about this with such compassion and clarity. May we create a truly regenerative, heart-centered and inclusive movement. May we build resilience and tensile strength. May we empower and uplift activists of all ages and backgrounds. We must find a new way forward, together.
I sincerely hope that when this series is “finished”, you will also publish it in written book form! All my books that are by you have underlines, highlighted lines, and notes written in the margins. All those change and/or are added to with each rereading. That’s a bit more difficult in this format…
This is just what I needed to read yesterday. It calmed me after the UK racist riots. Thank you for your clarity and the opportunity to connect. When I worked in communities up to 2008, there was still a feeling of possibility for change. The paradigm was that the others had to change. I now see I am part of that change and shift, not into giving up principles of well being for all, but a move away from polarisation and into a deeper understanding of the other.
This is so good. Thank you. I am here for this
What an exciting endeavor you/we are embarking on! This seems an excellent
way of aligning with, sharing and providing an outlet for new ways of creating much needed forms of engagement in the exploration of modern evolving art forms by naturally creating niches for new forms of economy and interactive "power with" leadership, that you have previously advocated for in your former writings. I'm inspired to read the "The Fifth Sacred Thing" again. Thank you for being you!
After all these eons of god-worship maybe we will return to the goddess - if only because in her agony she is starting to wreak havoc upon us in ways that put Jehovah to shame, and we will need to appease the deity that holds the actual power: Gaia, Pachamama, Mother Nature/Mother Earth. Perhaps for this era, the terrifying goddess of destruction and regeneration, Kali.
Humanity will rise up and do what's needed for survival, but not until then (at least that's the theory - the denialist reaction to covid and other threats gives one pause). Religion, esp of the monotheistic western kind, underlay (fuelled?) "development" that superseded the old survival needs. We in the "first world"/"developed world", which includes much of humanity today and to which laggards aspire, don't need to care about survival on a day-to-day basis; we're FREEEEE to indulge in all the myriad ways our clever brains can dream up. A return to The Garden is not much desired (even farmers don't 'garden' any more, but are food-producing factories grinding up vegetation and animals so we can stroll around the supermarket); we are uninvolved in production, only in consumption. Our needs are huge, our greed overwhelming, and our numbers catastrophic.
Indeed, as you say, we have to deal with people as they are, not as they damn well "should" be. And there's the problem: Only out of desperation, when a deadline looms for our lives and the life of the planet, will we act sufficiently and in great enough numbers. And maybe not then.
I'm pessimistic, but admire and support people like you who take up the hoe & shovel (actually, I mulch instead, but you know what I mean).
First, I want to start by saying, I know that this is an old post but after I read it I went through your page to read and listen to a few of the pieces that you've created for this series. Here are my thoughts.
I appreciated your emphasis on regeneration and on meeting people’s core needs—safety, belonging, value, agency, and meaning. That framework resonates deeply with me, as does your honoring of Indigenous rites and ritual.
A bit about me: my name is Jasper James. I’m a Black, queer, non-binary organizer, healer, intuitive, author, and crisis-communications strategist. I’m also the founder of SJSP (Social Justice as a Spiritual Practice)—the first spiritual justice religion in the U.S. I’ve spent nearly two decades on the front lines of systemic change: from standing with Water Protectors at No DAPL, to co-authoring the community response after the killing of Stephon Clark by Sacramento Police, to collaborating with the ACLU on the revised Black Bill of Rights.
In 2015, after experiencing an alarmingly racist incident at Pantheacon—(ironically, this was where I heard you speak for the first time— here's a link to refresh your memory https://threehundredandsixtysix.wordpress.com/2015/02/22/pantheacon-2015-listening-to-pagans-of-color/) I partnered with a circle of Black and Brown heathen leaders and allies (many of whom you know) to co-create what would become the foundation of SJSP.
What began as an urgent need for spiritual safety grew into a framework rooted in radical inclusion. The three years following that event, I worked with a wide network—surveying spiritual and religious communities, and listening deeply to thousands of marginalized people across the diaspora who had lost loved ones to state violence. We asked: what would a spiritual practice look like that could meet the needs of the most vulnerable? What emerged was more than a tradition—it was a call for a model that offered survival and sovereignty.
What was also made clear through that process was spirit work alone wouldn’t shield our communities from the escalating criminalization of peaceful protest or the erosion of our civil liberties. So we met the moment by fusing spirituality with legal strategy.
By naming peaceful protest as a sacred practice and a primary tenet of our faith, SJSP members gain additional protection under the Religious Freedom clause. That means if law enforcement targets our communities for demonstrating, they’re no longer just infringing on freedom of assembly—they may be violating our religious rights. That legal framing shifts the terrain, opening up new ethical, legal, and moral arguments for redress.
Today, SJSP offers: Immersive rituals and leadership curricula grounded in the five elements, a mutual-aid and rapid-response network designed to support those most at risk, and the Spiritual Justice Covenant—a legislative toolkit for codifying healing-centered values and recognizing protest as sacred prayer.
As you've been holding this conversation and plan to reflect on and share these insights for your new book, I have to ask: have you reached out to, uplifted, or intentionally made space for spiritually aligned Black, Native, or queer, change-makers who’ve been nurturing these ideas—not just conceptually, but through lived practice, and current movements to provide community care?
Because I’ve seen, time and time again, how our remembered, embodied, ancestral, intersectional efforts get overlooked or underfunded, while more privileged voices are amplified as if these ideas are somehow new. Speaking from lived experience, true regeneration demands more than new language, it demands lineage repair, credit restoration, and platforming those who have kept these fires burning long before they were fashionable. That includes the grassroots spiritual communities that have always woven liberation into liturgy.
My final thought: Marginalized spiritual change-makers don’t need platforms for validation—we need them to advance this important movement with the depth, perspective, and authority this moment requires. I for one strive daily to build a truly inclusive, big-tent movement—one that doesn’t just talk about sacred justice, but lives it, breathes it, and evolves it in all its complexity. Our inclusion isn’t just necessary—it’s foundational. It must be treated not as optional, but as essential to the integrity and future of the collective success of humanity.
Grateful to find your writing on substack, Starhawk. Will follow it regularly for sure. Actually I’ve been following your writing since Spiral Dance which was published while we both attended Antioch University West in the early 80’s. I so love the way your mind works ❣️My name is Diana Robbins .
Thank you for this, I look forward to reading more. I do hope you address AI as another confounding factor. I believe it is and will increasingly be seen by those who live more and more digitally to seemingly provide value, meaning, agency and belonging. I fear it will feed that driving desire of seemingly providing for people’s impulsive desires at a great cost to the natural world. In my darker hours I can seem much of humanity going out with not a bang but a masturbatory whimper.
I’m in!