A collective reflection from the Wisdom Collective exploring the “meta-crisis” as a crisis of separation consciousness. Blending systems thinking, spirituality, ecology, and decolonial critique, the essay calls for inner and outer transformation rooted in interdependence, epistemic humility, accountability, and new ways of living together on a fragile Earth.
Our first article (Kosmos, Spring / Summer 2012) gave an overview of the new human capacity we are starting to articulate—that we call Collective Presencing, the purpose of which is to allow us to systematically achieve collective wisdom. We described the two distinct phases that we see unfolding as a collection of individuals learns to become a collective capable of employing this capacity on behalf of the whole: firstly, becoming a circle of presence, then becoming a circle of creation.
Diana Badger draws from decades of engagement with depth psychology, spiritual practice, embodied healing, and ecological awareness to illuminate the zodiacal archetypes as patterns that speak simultaneously to our evolving inner lives and the world around us.
Jem Bendell reflects on the disillusionment of UN staff confronting ecological, economic, and political breakdown. Rather than propping up failing systems, he urges a shift toward “collapse-aware” integrity: naming the storm, fostering resilience, and reclaiming the UN’s spirit of service as truth-telling, solidarity, and courage in darkening times.
A Kosmos newcomer, Jen Considine’s poems move with the raw force of confession, rupture, and surrender. Yet beneath the jagged edges of pain and longing lies something deeper—a tuning toward coherence. Her words stretch across lifetimes and lineages, echoing with mythic archetypes and personal reckoning.
Dr. Báyò Akómoláfé explores how mainstream critiques often fall short by focusing on surface-level diversity and inclusion, rather than addressing deeper structural issues rooted in white coloniality and neurotypicality. Ultimately, he calls for a paradigm shift in philanthropy towards a more fluid, experimental, and emancipatory approach.
Each quilt represents countless lives lost on border ground, a hundred-mile strip of geography spanning two countries. The interstitial border region has morphed into a distinct culture of its own and the quilts, with their binational contributors, fly its flag.
Orland: ...A 'right' is not just for me. It's an acknowledgement that the framework that gives me access to my own potential is the same framework that gives access to someone else's potential. So this is the idea of civility. Civility is the framework that allows people to communicate in ways that allows the collective potential to be realized and achieved.
A candidate for soul initiation knows what she has taken on. She’s preparing to die in order to be reborn. She must abandon her old home to set out for her new home. She longs for the journey but is understandably terrified by the prospect.
Humanity is in a time of transition, one that we can navigate successfully only with a shift in consciousness. How can we wake up from the collective neuroses that have driven our civilization into decadence and decline?