Whatever your spiritual worldview, it’s likely derived from a belief system with a flood myth. As Mustafa Suleyman tells us, just as these catastrophic water events were said to leave a changed world, AI and associated technological advancements will also alter civilization as we know it. The scale of its potential impact has been compared to the powerful forces of water that have shaped human history.  And if we are to thrive in the dawn of a new epoch, we have no choice but to turn to more soulful, heart-led, radical spiritual approaches when developing the next wave of technology.

If we are to thrive in the dawn of a new epoch, we have no choice but to turn to more soulful, heart-led, radical spiritual approaches

In ancient Egypt, the heart was believed to be the seat of the soul. Our regular Rewilded section tells of the heart-shaped talismans worn as protection from practitioners of black magic who attempted to curse the soul after death. Nika Simovich Fisher turns to online spiritual gurus who practice Vlach magic to offer life advice, while Jakub Fiala visits shrines in Chile and writes about souls remaining at the roadside to inspire his web-based game Finding Gustavo. Speaking of memory, this issue’s visual essay Sonic Heirloom speculates on archiving our memories through sound.

Are you reading this on your phone? Lauren Bedal looks at how our instinctive taps and swipes share a gestural language with Buddhist and Hindu mudras. Michael Garfield reveals the idea of sacred data, and Suhair Khan wonders about the need for spiritual intelligence.

It’s a packed second issue, with deep heart felt wisdom from Danielle Krettek Cobb, the Fairy Godmother of AI for her second column, where Danielle shares the story of her spiritual friendship with Ram Dass and Andrea Richards writes the first of a two part history of the incredible Rhine Center  — a research center dedicated to the paranormal — along with our regular Q&A section and much more!

To coincide with the release of this issue, we also launch Stewardship Tools in collaboration with Serpentine and RadicalxChange. Stewardship Tools is a curated selection of pioneering tools aimed to inspire new innovation guides for you. The tools celebrate responsible distribution through stories told; from the sharing of women's histories through quiltmaking, to the telling of Sherpa’s prayers before climbing Chomolungma, Mt. Everest. 

I write this from the base of a mountain in Canada, where the winter season was declared open with a celebration of indigenous voices and sacred songs to honor the land. A near-miss with an avalanche several years ago redoubled my respect for the mountains. As I scale their peaks, I am reminded of the quiet, unseen forces that guide us.

Dreaming,

Anna Holsgrove