Welcome to Pangaea (pronounced: “Pahn-GYeea” or “Pahn-Gaia”), an alchemical space for creative inquiry at the confluence of earth, activism, sound, and spirit.
These posts explore what potentialities might arise from applying the wisdom lens of the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, and space), together with Time, to the systemic climate and societal injustices we face today.
Consider your presence here an invitation to embrace your sensitivity, feelings, and heart-connections so we can attune to what’s most important and act accordingly amidst a time of rapid change and crumbling structures.
This writing grew out of my own deep grappling with change-making and my lifelong study in different ‘ways of knowing,’ across yoga and vedic philosophy and practice– as well as its health and astrology systems (ayurveda and jyotish), ancient wisdom and earth-based traditions, sound art and music therapy, climate justice, alternative models of law, governance, and economy, and decolonial and anti-racist praxis.
Pangaea came alive, though, when I began to sense the connections between it all. How justice could be seen through the lens of healing– of rebalancing the five elements of earth, water, fire, air, and space–and how healing is supported by deep regard for our sensitivity, feelings, and relationships, collectively.
These (at least) monthly creative reflections are for all activists who see their work as connected to a broader cosmos and are interested in how deep inner work can shape the outer world, how systemic change is fractal. As adrienne maree brown reminds us, if the same spirals on our fingers are found in sea shells and in the shape of galaxies, how might our internal patterns “cycle upwards?”
These offerings are also an invitation to the healers, meditators, musicians, and spirit-guided folk to consider deeply what “right action” looks like. How might seva or service both include feeding people yet expand beyond to encompass transforming systems of oppression that leave millions hungry.
Most of all, this is a space of confluence for anyone troubled by these times, who is committed to inner soul work, and who is invested in co-creating alternatives rooted in deep listening and relationship.
If Pangaea has a premise, it is this: Colonialism and racialized-capitalism have cut us off from our bodies, and thereby, our hearts and senses. Today, supercharged by AI and social media platforms, digitized capitalism is now even targeting our behavior. With the high level and speed of distraction, violence, and extraction, the elements themselves are losing their vitality. Rivers are running dry, clouds geoengineered to be seeded with salt aerosols, fires supercharged. Disconnection enables harm.
Part of the work, then, is supporting each other to feel, sense, and connect again, to relate with the elements as a form of healing and systemic rebalancing, and ultimately as an expression of collective care and love.
It’s possible that our relationships to the lands, waters, fire, air, space, Time, and each other are everything. And, if we listen closely, they may reveal new/old ways for navigating our societal and climactic entanglements, for existence, and for healing–even in the midst of it all.
Why ‘Pangaea’?
Pangaea came to me before I knew who or what she was. I knew I wanted to share exploratory reflections at the nexus of activism, sound, and spirit. One day, while walking, the name ‘pangaea’ popped into my head.
Returning home, I eagerly googled “pangaea” to find out what it meant and why it might align.
Here’s what I found:
Pangaea is the name given to Earth’s lands when all the continents were one. It evokes a sense of deep time and change beyond human conception.
Pan in Greek means “one” or “unity” or “integral”, and is reflective of my curiosity about what new potentialities could come from deeper integration across seemingly disparate bodies (or continents) of practice. As one of my music mentors says, “differentiated but not divided.”
Gaea or Gaia represents a Greek deity signifying Mother Earth. Gaia is alive and reflects an animist worldview, which I share, that all of matter is infused with consciousness.
Pangaea is a Greek word, which also honors my ancestry as a second generation Greek-American.
Pangaea was born.
—> Listen: Miles Davis’ wild live fusion album, “Pangaea”