In English here. El último sábado de agosto, prendí las luces del balcón e una nube de termitas corrió hacia las lámparas. Se arrojaron contra la ampolleta nerviosamente y cubrieron cada centímetro de la pared. Una mariposa voló entre ellos, desorientada. Y una lagartija estaba allí, verticalmente, al lado de una de las lámparas, emocionada, pero en gran desventaja numérica. Es el comienzo de la primavera, hora de salir en la búsqueda por nuevos apareamientos, con la ayuda de la luna. Entonces, pasé un tiempo en el oscuro mientras las termitas se orientaban. Al día siguiente, a pesar de la pandemia, la gente llenó las playas para disfrutar del sol. El invierno se terminó y también el aislamiento. Los humanos, en muchos sentidos como un enjambre de termitas, tienen instintos que no les dejan acompañar los cambios drásticos del contexto. La luna ya no es la única fuente de luz en esta tierra — que antes era un pedazo de bosque atlántico costero. Aunque seamos adaptables encontramos maneras de racionalizar comportamientos irracionales para retrasar los cambios. Ciertas cosas ya cambiaron, irreversiblemente, como la manera que nuestros cuerpos existen en el mundo y lo influencian. Nuestros cuerpos son importantes, por lo tanto la distancia entre ellos también importa. Así como las termitas son importantes para el mundo — un mundo que no circunda solamente los bienes humanos — ellos ayudan a descomponer los cuerpos de los árboles muertos, devuelven los nutrientes al suelo abriendo el camino para una nueva generación de árboles. Como nosotros, a ellos también les gustan los cadáveres de los árboles, aunque practiquen este culto de forma mas sostenible. ¿De qué formas insostenibles ​​practicamos nuestra devoción? Poniéndonos devotos del dinero, de otras personas o de nuestro propio cuerpo, puede ser que estemos practicando rituales que no solamente nos aleje de las cosas que mas valoramos, sino que también pueden destruirlas. El instinto de socializar y tomar el sol, por ejemplo, como homenaje a las personas que amamos, incluye a nosotras mismas, aunque tuviera validez antes del año 2020, hoy puede ser una maldición más. Así como las termitas tuvieron la capacidad de disfrutar de la luz de la luna, aunque se distraen con una luz bastante débil solamente por su cercanía, al encontrar nada más allá del vidrio, concreto y de madera químicamente tratada. El COVID-19 y el aislamiento puede haber remodelado la forma como vemos nuestros cuerpos en el mundo y, por lo tanto, va a remodelar la practica de nuestra devoción, en lo que sea. Esto no es algo malo, las tradiciones pueden evolucionar para volverse aún más poderosas. En cierto modo, es por el cambio que nos ponemos devotos. Si alguien adora la riqueza, aunque la idea que hacemos de ella pueda ser inmutable, el deseo es que se cambie la cuantidad de la riqueza. Mismo en la adoración de las deidades, por eternas que sean, son consideradas con poder de Cambio. Yo fui una de las personas que fueron a la playa en este domingo, sin saber que formaba parte de un enjambre. La multitud me sorprendió y me hizo super-consciente de no estar usando un barbijo. Lo más sorprendente, sin embargo, fue percibir que ahora me dio una sensación fragilizada de lo que mi cuerpo es capaz, de lo que puede soportar y de como las cosas pueden amenazarlo. Yo solía ser tan desteñida, andar en bicicleta entre los autos, escalar las enormes rocas en la playa, explorando senderos escondidos y mirando hacia abajo del acantilado. Probablemente sea seguro decir que el año 2020 nos hizo sentir vulnerables ​y muchos de nosotros simplemente no queremos aceptarlo pero existen nuevas formas de reconstruir la confianza en nuestros cuerpos, solamente tenemos que querer buscarlas. Ciertas cosas cambian y volver a las antiguas formas de afrontarlas puede ser contraproducente. Especialmente para aquellos de nosotros que quieren seguir resistiendo a los cambios, es importante mantener nuestros objetivos inmutables para que conozcamos a las tácticas cambiantes ​​en las que podemos confiar para alcanzarlas de manera efectiva, sin distraernos con cosas brillantes en el camino. ________ texto: Mirna Wabi-Sabi traducción: Marina Mayumi revisión: Angely Zambrano

Show Notes Whatever one’s conception of “God” is, “John of God” should now be a nauseating name. For decades, João Teixeira de Faria pretended to heal an endless stream of pilgrims to his center in rural central Brazil through the Spiritist practice of “psychic surgery.” In reality, the miracle healing claims worked to cover up an obvious truth. João was sexually assaulting and raping women, in public and in private, likely every day of his “working” life. As he did so, he amassed a vast fortune in affiliate businesses, farming operations, real estate, referral rackets, and sales of crystals and fake remedies. In this episode we won’t retell this history, now poignantly captured by a new Brazilian-made documentary on Netflix. Instead, we’ll look at how lazy and motivated journalism shook hands with the entrepreneurial New Age to validate and accelerate the absurd claims of a monster. In addition to original reporting on how João made his mark in the U.S., Matthew is joined by former New Age publicist Lisa Braun Dubbels and Brazilian journalist Mirna Wabi Sabi to discuss the globalization of magic and abuse. Trigger warnings for this episode: rape, sexual assault, fraud, spiritual abuse. 02:17 John of Fraud 1:16:22 Interview w/Lisa Braun Dubbel & Mirna Wabi-Sabi Listen at Conspirituality.net

"Bloodthirsty savagery", which is often attributed to the Mayan people, far better describes U.S. foreign policy than any pre-Columbian civilization in the Americas. We ought to remember that the Mayan people still exist today, and they were and still are far from the backwards and underdeveloped stereotype propagated in mainstream media. Written by Mirna Wabi-Sabi Read it at Abeautifulresistance.org

“This photo-journalistic work has as main objective to show the reality of emergency rooms, the lives of people in favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the struggle to fight this invisible enemy, coronavirus, the burials, the tragedy of this genocidal government, the suffering of the population in favelas, and the daily life that the pandemic has failed to change.” — Fabio Teixeira Curfews have always been a part of life in Rio’s favelas. Long before the pandemic, being out in public has inevitably meant imminent danger. Disputes between criminal/political factions and the widespread use of military artillery pose a blatant threat to life and to the physical integrity of residents. The sounds of bullets, police cars, shouting, blood and bodies on the streets unscrupulously reminds the population of the punishment that comes with disobeying orders to stay home. The imminent threat to life posed by COVID-19, however, isn’t as blatant. The virus is invisible, silent, and kills behind closed doors in off-limits hospital units. In this photo-journalistic series, Fabio Teixeira visually exposes the overwhelming presence of these microscopic entities, and their crushingly material repercussions. Written by Mirna Wabi-Sabi Photographed by Fabio Teixeira Read it at Abeautifulresistance.org

Silvia explains what function the witch hunts served in Europe during the medieval era, far beyond the superficial understandings we often have of it. This phenomenon in which primarily women—mostly poor women—were targeted, tortured, and publicly executed paved the way for the rise of the world-eating socioeconomic order. During the witch hunts, tens of thousands, potentially hundreds of thousands, of women were killed, and this event is rarely given the attention it really deserves. Written by Patrick Farnsworth Read it at Abeautifulresistance.org

Few things paint a clearer picture of the insidious nature of American Imperialism than the CIA’s approach towards African anti-colonial wars of the 50s and 60s. During this period, the Civil Rights movement, the Cold War, and the eruption of Independence movements across Africa reached a robust symbiosis. Although the struggle against colonizers never lacked “philosophical justification and leadership”, the FBI accused Black Revolutionaries in the USA of “misquoting” and “inflat[ing] [them] into exaggerated dimensions” (p.988*). Frantz Fanon not only became this leadership, but also provided a philosophical justification that was heavily influenced by Hegel, and therefore by his pre-eminent progeny — Marx. In this mid-20th-century conjuncture, how did Fanon — a Latin American anti-capitalist philosopher, psychiatrist, and fighter in the Algerian National Liberation Front — die at the age of 36 at the hands of the CIA in Maryland? Written by Mirna Wabi-Sabi Read it at Abeautifulresistance.org

"By putting these two words together, I proposed to dismantle historical fiction that made gossip a misogynistic pejorative term with the intention of dismantling links between people who flee from patriarchal structures." The Gossip Seminar brings together two words from different places: one linked to academic knowledge and another to knowledge woven by different women. By putting these two words together, I proposed to dismantle historical fiction that made gossip a misogynistic pejorative term with the intention of dismantling links between people who flee from patriarchal structures. Written by Fabiana Faleiros Translated by Mirna Wabi-Sabi Photographed by Jenny Fonseca Read it at Abeautifulresistance.org

"We mistakenly attribute the concept of vandalism to what is ‘marginal,’ and rarely to what is 'central,' when the term should apply to infringements against the integrity of public property in general. […] Vandalism is, therefore, the attempt to destroy property even in its abstract form — the body and identity." In June 2020, shortly after the attempt to criminalize anti-fascist movements in the USA and Brazil, a secret group was created on Facebook with the aim of mocking and harassing leftists. Despite not considering myself as a leftist or posting content in defense of leftist political parties, I was targeted by them in December. My participation in a group of vegetarian and vegan recipes was enough, which goes against the values of entrepreneurial freedom and ‘sustainable exploitation’ of the livestock industry that the members of the mockery group proclaim. Despite appearing childish and harmless, the group has a clear purpose of destabilizing emotionally, opening legal processes, and intimidating its targets to withdraw from the virtual public sphere. I know this because I infiltrated, observed, and contacted other people who were affected by this self-proclaimed digital militia. Written by Mirna Wabi-Sabi Photographed by Fabio Teixeira Read it at Abeautifulresistance.org

"'Fidelity to the rule of law' may now be a sentiment that serves our fleeting motivation to get rid of Trump, but it will never rescue us from the pervasive toxicity of the global political landscape ‘American Democracy’ has devised." Trump, in its desperate attempt to remain in high office, indulged to the point where it became easier to destroy him. All that is left is his disoriented flock of followers, which operate as twitchy limbs with the muscle memory for combat, but not revolution. Combat, without the heavy hand of the State, is forlorn and doomed. Written by Mirna Wabi-Sabi Read it at Abeautifulresistance.org

"Strong communities make politicians obsolete." In the last week of 2020, Croatia’s central region was struck by a series of earthquakes, the strongest hit with 6.4 of magnitude, doing unimaginable damage to one of Europe’s poorest regions. The earthquake was felt as far as Italy, Austria and Serbia. Towns Petrinja, Sisak and Glina are seriously damaged, whole neighborhoods and villages are destroyed, many are injured, and more than 200 families lost their homes. Unfortunately, seven people were killed. The mayor of Petrinja, where around 25000 people live, states that “half of the city no longer exists.” Written by Jere Kuzmanić Photographed by Jakov Prkić Read it at Abeautifulresistance.org

"For many Armenians, today’s reality of ethnic hate and war crimes is a haunting reminder of the past, a second attempt at the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Turkey's involvement in this current war not only included a dark and long history of genocide against the Armenian people during the first World War, but in addition, a geopolitical, economic, and ethnic agenda of Pan-Turkism, the desire to unify all Turkish-speaking nations for the recreation of the Ottoman Empire." On September 27th, Armenians in their homelands and millions more across the diaspora woke up to the terrorizing news of once again being under attack, this time by the Turkish backed Azeri forces seeking to regain control of the indigenous Armenian region of Artsakh, also known as Nargorno-Karabagh. Azerbaijan, in violation of international law, broke the 1994 ceasefire agreement which had frozen the decades long heated conflict over land rights of the ethnic Armenian region. As a result of Joseph Stalin’s unilateral vote of Soviet division of land in 1921, under the Caucasian Bureau of the Russian Communist Party, Artsakh, the region between Armenia and Azerbaijan, inhabited by over 95% indigenous Armenians for thousands of years, was to be administered by Azerbaijan. Written by Mané Andreasyan Photographed by Harout Barsoumian Read it at Abeautifulresistance.org Antifascists in Defense of Armenia We don’t have to become one more generation to fall in the trap of mass misinformation and disinterest for the well-being of those different from us. There is still time to use the technological advancements of our century to put an end, once and for all, to some of the most horrific practices we’ve seen throughout human history. Written by Mirna Wabi-Sabi Read it at Enemy of the Queen

For over 80 days, Belarusians have physically challenged Lukashenko's regime of over a quarter century. The August 2020 elections, which claimed to result in 80% support of the long-standing president, is widely believed to be fraudulent, leading to massive peaceful protests and "brutal police crackdown[s]" (NPR). Only a Western perspective would frame his presidency as “The Last European Dictatorship". It implies that a movement towards Western ways is a movement towards development. But there is no need to suffocate Belarus between the dichotomous forces of East and West in order to support or learn from their struggle against authoritarianism. 'Democracy' is not the only thing Belarusians are fighting for, there is also a strong desire to rescue what has been lost as a result of the power struggle between these two worlds — to preserve a unique language, culture, and home. Written and edited by Mirna Wabi-Sabi Translations from Russian to English by Inna Shulga Read it at Abeautifulresistance.org