Seeding a brighter world
inspiring thoughts from modern mystics
Hello Team Tumbleweed,
You may have noted my articles are now arriving every second week.
This evolution has occurred in response to my belief that you will receive a better, more meaty drop to your mailbox if we move to bi-monthly Tumbles. Some of my favourite writers adhere to a freewheeling publication schedule, and I find it’s that much more anticipated - and juicy - when it arrives.
As always, you can adjust your subscription with a quick click at any time. I do, as always, appreciate your continued support.
We’ve had a bit of a rough go lately, I think we can all agree.
Here we are on the cusp of 2025, yet the world still has war-mongerers, mudslingers, misogynists, and neanderthals. And that’s just within 100 miles of my home. As a Canadian, I worry deeply about the vitriol south of the border (at the risk of being canceled, the vitriol comes from all sides).
It’s not all bad news, however.
I truly, deeply, passionately believe we’re headed in the right direction as a species. Human beings have come leap years in a few short decades, and light years in a few short centuries.
The world used to be a very, very violent place. You could expect worse violence if you were a woman. Yes, many regions of the world remain dangerous, even medieval.
Yet, when humans come together face to face, we’re moving towards a world of kindness, and empathy, and even love. I don’t subscribe to the opinion that this is a hopelessly naive view. I genuinely and deeply believe it to be fact.
Modern Mystics
Which brings me to the modern mystics. The best mystics look to lessons from the past. We tend to forget that much of our history is cyclical.
From deep thinkers to my local shaman, I’ve been drawing much needed inspiration in these tumultuous days as a reminder that there is SO MUCH GOOD in the world if only we are paying attention.
Here are a few who’ve caught my attention lately.
There is so much to love about
’s recent podcast with Tim Ferriss. She starts strong by quoting the Celtic ‘Poem of Approach’, a greeting was traditionally spoken when traveling to distant villages or meeting strangers for the first time.I want to live in a world that channels this ethos:
“I will honour your Gods.
I will drink from your well.
I will bring an undefended heart to our meeting place.
I will not negotiate by withholding.
I am not subject to disappointment.
I have no cherished outcome”.
It’s heartbreakingly beautiful, is it not? ‘I have no cherished outcome’. It’s a sentiment that stops you in your tracks. You can fall down a deep philosophical rabbit hole with that one sentence.
Kimiko Tao Fujimoto (@lush_lands) recently led a workshop I attended on following your authentic life. It included crystals, flower essences, goddess cards, meditation, sound healing, journaling, and reflection. In other words, I was in heaven.
Her questions to us were as follows. I highly recommend finding a quiet place and giving them a whirl,
what in my life is authentic to me?
is there something I’m hiding that I’ve always wanted to do?
is there anything that needs to be let go in order for me to fulfill my destiny?
“Eventually, you will decide that being authentic is more important than being cool, and that is when your life will take off”.
Kimiko
The answers are for your eyes only. You may be surprised at how quickly they arrive.
Who said mystics had to be mystical?
Enter the actor Rupert Everett, who no-one has ever referred to as a guru. He’s known as a bad boy of the eighties and nineties, a dash of Hugh Grant with a side of wolfish, predatory humour and swinging sexual charm. Yet listen to this podcast and you might think differently. I had to stop driving and write this sentence down,
“The snakes have been as useful as the ladders. Failure is marvellous because you’re forced on yourself”.
Rupert Everett
Ugh. Who wants to be forced to look in the mirror? It’s so much easier to go gallivanting through life without that pesky thing called introspection.
Failure forces us to own up to our failings. As challenging and unpleasant as it is, it offers us a golden opportunity to become better versions of ourselves, and ultimately, to make the world a better place.
This segues nicely into a newsletter from the fabulous Sarah L’Hrar. She’s an astrologer and a wordsmith, a bright light with bucketloads of chutzpah. In a post last week titled, ‘How shit turns to fertilizer’, she won hearts and minds, and takes the award for the best e-mail I’ve received in a long time. Sarah brings zingers every time and this time was no different:
“At some level, everything is political. And at some level, everything is personal. That's why we're all so on edge.
Elections are a reality check, a glimpse into the collective consciousness, a time when all of a sudden we get to see how all is connected, how we are all stuck together, dependant on one another, whether we like it or not”.
Sarah L’Hrar
Sarah, by the way, predicts that things will turn a corner soon.
Speaking of feeling on edge,
has an intriguing take on this phenomenon in his meditation Substack, Home Base. He calls it ‘waxy buildup’.“Every time we react to a person or situation – we say a harsh word, or act out some behavior – the buildup grows. And grows”.
Jeff Warren
Until suddenly, there you are, carrying a chip on your shoulder the size of Mt. Rushmore, and blaming everyone in your path for annoying the hell out of you.
Luckily for us, Jeff has a solution. Just as one would clean out our ears of waxy buildup (kind of yuck, but an apt analogy), meditation allows us to clean up the spiritual angst we pick up in everyday life. A daily shot of mindfulness + quiet + reflection is hygiene for the soul.
With a meditation to help you do just that, this is one newsletter that is worth checking out.
Sturgill Simpson is a modern mystic and troubadour, and one of the most talented singers in country music. Sturgill’s subversive and catchy tunes will make you happy - and while you’re tapping your toes, you just may find you begin to question prevailing ideas of ‘truth’.
This is what he has to say on the hallucinogenic DMT:
“Tell me how you make illegal something that we all make in our brains. Some say it might make you go crazy. Then again it might make you go sane.”
Sturgill Simpson
Let’s give the last word to Rumi.
Rumi (1207 - 1273) is hardly a modern mystic - he’s a timeless mystic. Many of his themes are as current today as the day he wrote them. If ever you’re feeling baffled by the world as we know it, I highly recommend his writings.
A great place to start is A Year With Rumi, a joyful romp through the divine mystery of life.
“Your heart knows the way. Run in that direction.”
Rumi
If this post is anything to go by, I'm so looking forward to exploring more of your work Heather!
Lovely to meet you this weekend x
Beautiful and soulful collection for weary times. Thank you Heather.