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A selection of our writings from 2009 to the present. If you'd like to keep up to date with our latest posts, please subscribe below.

Permaculture & community sufficiency – regenerating ecological culture and economy

In June 2021, a small French film crew came to Australia to interview several people who are, in very diverse ways, responding to the predicaments of our age. Alongside permaculture elders and friends Su Dennett and David Holmgren, we have been featured in what is now published as a French TV series directed by Thierry Robert, starring Cyril Dion as the narrator. The series is in three parts and this short clip is an excerpt from ‘Regeneration | A New World (Part 3)‘ in which David, Su and Artist as Family speak of the cultural and economic shifts we have implemented in our lives.

When Thierry and his crew visited us to film the conversation we had with David, we recorded an audio version of it for our own purposes, which you can listen to in its entirety here. And you can watch all three parts of Thierry and Cyril’s series here: Resistance I A New World (Part 1) I ARTE.tv, Adapting I A New World (Part 2) I ARTE.tv , and Regeneration I A New World (Part 3) I ARTE.tv.

A little while ago we asked our friend, the talented Catie Payne, to illustrate a simple graphic to demonstrate our household’s transition from money to subsistence neopeasantry through applying permacultural community sufficiency principles. We gave Catie a crude sketch representing our 15-year transition of decoupling from a destructive, incarcerating and extractive economy to how we are living now, and she came up with several evocative drawings for us to use as teaching aids.

A transition from money, for us, has been a transition from debt to indebtedness, from gratuitousness to gratitude, from mistrust to ever deepening relationships with the living of the world. Yes, money has played a role in our transition, but step by little step it no longer masters over us and crushes our souls.

Barter is a crude and clumsy form of economy, not one we wish to dwell in for very long. However, it is essential for building trust on the way from money to what we call a flow of gifts economy. Trust is always conditional in order for us to arrive at unconditional love, which is the place our economy now mostly resides within – a deepening love for the living of the world.

This transition from scarcity (indulgence mind, unproductive waste, greed, hoarding and miserliness) to abundance (the continual flow of gifts and the reverence for life as sacred, suffering, dying and renewing) is what we have found after 15 years of setting out into the unknown. Knowing what we were moving away from and what we were longing for was all we needed to begin this journey towards a more beautiful world of connection, relationships and self respect.

Thank you Catie, for the gifts of these drawings, thank you David and Su for your wisdom and continuous collaboration, and thank you Thierry and Cyril and crew for the gift of sharing heterodox stories.

Where are you in your transition, Dear Reader? Are you finding it difficult to begin? Are you unable to begin because you lack support and resources? Are you already a certain way along but feel stuck or limited because you are waiting for your community or family members or neighbourhood to step onboard? Or, are you radically flying with abundance because you come from a cultural or family setting where self-respect, generosity and the flow of gifts have always been your main lifeways?

Stinging nettle for arthritis and allergies: neopeasant medicine food series

Patrick speaks to some of the virtues of Urtica dioica – the common stinging nettle – and how we use this generous and powerful medicinal plant as both food and medicine.

The more we interact with the living earth – the gifts, tonics and salves that come from intimate, walked-for and cultivated biomes, which we are participants of – the more we merge with Grandmother Gaia and Mother Country. This is the gift of true medicine.

How do you use nettle? What common complaints does nettle heal for you? What do you bring to nettle? We’d love to hear your experiences with this oldtimer medicine plant.

Paste ups for the Victorian election (the Vote 1 collection)

We’re feeling pretty despondent about the forthcoming election in the state of Victoria. None of the three major parties have admitted to the harm they helped implement on behalf of the state-pharma nexus. This is unsurprising given the Censorship and Suppression of Covid-19 Heterodoxy.

Yep, many have moved on. The pandemic is over. Except pharmacolonisation hasn’t moved anywhere, it’s digging in and further dragging public institutions and political parties down with it. No Lives Matter is the true creed of the state-pharma nexus.

But out of the despondency comes full moon creativity. Here are three posters you might like to print and paste up in your neighbourhood. While they’ve been crafted with the local state election (here) in mind, feel free to cut and paste to create your own fit-for-purpose paste ups. If you click on each image they’ll take you to a downloadable PDF.

Labor drives the pharmacolonisation program in this state,

Liberals follow along,

and The Greens believe they can grow their influence by rolling out neoliberalism in step with Labor and Liberal.

Written and authorised by Artist as Family in Djaara Mother Country.

What is your message for the politicians and party faithful in the political parties in your area? Accountability? Honesty? Transparency? Apology? What sort of things can we all be doing to ensure that the medical and political tyranny that transpired never occurs again?

Please feel free to post a link to your own creations, messages, letters to editors or pollies, paste ups or notices. As an example, this sign appeared at the entrance of a local restaurant in our town recently…

Humility is a beautiful thing.