# The Chronicles of Samara # Cover ![image-1618870851948.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618870851948.png) # Contents - - [Preface](#page-3) - [Dedication](#page-6) - [How to Use This Book](#page-16) ## [Enter the World of Samara](#chapter-14) - - [Who is Samara?](#page-24) - [The Fruit of Samara](#page-52) - [The Origins of Samara](#page-25) - [The Spaces of Samara](#page-7) - [Synchronicities of Samara](#page-51) - [The Roots, Trunk and Branches of Samara](#page-26) - [The Rhythms and Rituals (our Being and Doing)](#page-28) ## [Start Your Own Adventure](#chapter-8) - - [Are You Ready to Embark on This Journey?](#page-68) - [About DAOs and DHOs](#page-31) - [Our DNA and RNA and our Code](#page-8) - [Our Symbiosis with Hypha](#page-48) - [Example DNA, Parent and Ecosystem Genes](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/example-dna-parent-and-ecosystem-genes "Example DNA, Parent and Ecosystem Genes") ## [Build Your Own Organization](#chapter-18) - - [Where We Are Today](#page-69) - [Samara's Membership Model](#page-10) - [Samara's Compensation Model](#page-12) - [Samara's Tokens](#page-13) - [Samara's Archetypes](#page-11) - [Samara's Governance](#page-9) - [Samara's Structural Elements](#page-14) ## [Preparing the Beds and Sowing the Seeds](#chapter-9) - - [Our Relationship with Hypha Movement Building](#page-43) - [Our Regenerative Work](#page-71) - [Local Adoption Pilot Projects](#page-36) - [Our Current Pilot Support](#page-46) - [Samara's Core Technologies](#page-54) - [Local Adoption Pilot Database](#page-78) ## [Our envisioned harvest](#chapter-10) - - [Samara Offerings](#page-37) - [Samara Starter Kits](#page-38) - [Samara Sacred Consultancy](#page-45) - - [Epilogue](#page-21) - [Glossary](#page-19) - [People of Samara](#page-22) # Preface This book (story, journey, cycle, learning) is many things. It is a co-created, emergent expression of a group of individuals. It is the call of a new Being. It is the story of Samara's gestation. It is the trail of breadcrumbs. It is the initial coding of how She works and where She is moving to. Most importantly it is a window into why She is here and what She is here to do. As with all wholesome efforts, this form is the result of a mixture. A mixture of people and higher principles. A mixture of ideas, connections and something un-nameable, but *essential*. Stand with us at the beginning of this Journey. Look out towards a massive, wide open *field.* It's a field of *possibility*, but see it like grassland. This beginning, right now, is one of wide-open gratitude. Standing side-by-side, we look together to the Horizon of the unbounded regenerative force. The mountain range just below that horizon is the movement of movements that is the [Regenerative Renaissance.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve12Cu8ts3g) These mountains move quickly for mountains, for Gaia has need. This is the nature of the ground we walk upon, and we are grateful for its dynamism. Seeds grow on these slopes. People and DHO's are growing on these slopes. The life of that soil moves through each of us, driven by the yearning to see a more equitable, balanced, evolved and thriving world. Thanks to life for this movement! The flow of life moves through this part of an ongoing symphony. The *virtuouso* violin, viola, cello and piccolo of many mentors have woven threads that tie the melody together: Joachim, Rieki, Paulo, Sanjay, Joost, Anneloes and Keala. Work out amongst yourselves which instrument above is yours... or just forget about it and keep going! The world needs your song and harmony! May you continue to refine and spread your wisdom and experience in a way that *endlessly regenerates* your purpose. Each and every player deserves the joy they feel when the audience reverberates. This helps us see *which parts of the song are worth rehearsing, repeating and evolving further*. This new band is made up of an eclectic mix of travelling players that would enliven any song. Thank you, Drigo, Roz and Irina; you called the band together and started rehearsals, as well as putting the sign above the door. Thank you to Tyler who rolled in the grounded, structured beat of the [Taiko](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiko) that keeps us on track, no matter how the melody shifts. Thank you, Sorin, for your good humour, tech/blockchain expertise, and apparent omnipresence on Discord, Sven for your groundedness and ability to foresee problems before they become problems, Jared for your clarity and your frontline, on-the-ground (literally) wealth of knowledge, Justin for your beautiful wisdom, ability to create space and spaciousness, and awesome shamanic superpowers, Alan for your enthusiasm, positivity, and directness, Fabi for your luminous presence and real-world practicality, Bongani for your radiant spirituality, your willingness to be vulnerable (which gives the rest of us permission to do likewise), and occasional outbursts of African-ness (!), Trent for your at-home-ness in the world, your ability to create safe space, and your playfulness, Dmitriy for your commitment and drive, your mature mindfulness, and for serenading us with the didgeridoo in the middle of the New Zealand night. Thank you also to all the other beautiful souls who have heard and heeded the call of Samara. No musician would learn to play well without the schools, colleges and conservatoires they learn in. They would have nothing to play without the deft hands of the instrument makers, who craft these tools in solitude and in tandem. We thank the groundwork and dedication of the builders in Hypha and the school of SEEDS, for fostering our sessions and providing us a Home. We recognize\* and honour your careful hands in all we have touched and lovingly made music with. We also thank our allies and predecessors on an adjacent campus: the Ambassadors Academy and their home the Movement Building Circle (MBC) wing. Many in Samara have enjoyed playfully benefitting from classes and receiving the insights of the Angels who guide this evolving container of learning. We learn from seeing and being part of the larger purpose that MBC has been focusing on for some time. \[*\**You may notice that this book is inconsistent in its use of American English and British English spellings. We noticed this too, but consciously decided to leave this as it is, as a reminder and an honouring (!) of our international diversity, and our preference for "both/and" rather than "either/or". Two spelling systems in partnership, rather than the domination of one over the other.\] We are grateful to Samara Herself. Her Yin soul (maybe a soul as old as the hills - who knows?) is what we sense into and gain nourishment and support from. Her Yang body, though just a baby, is growing quickly. We dedicate our efforts each day to the distinct regenerative force that evolves and animates it. As individuals with identities, perceived needs, names and forms we are grateful for what meets the needs of this trans-personal body and being, and to the family it lives within. The shifting of form is always a challenge and a learning for the individual, so ultimately we thank the lessons which help us accept changes when they come. We thank the emerging principles which help us mature enough. Mature enough to relinquish a form when Samara needs us to. Mature enough to uphold a structure or boundary when Samara needs us to. Most of all we are grateful for the integrity of the people here, which makes all of this work. We hope that like all good stories, this one captures you enough that the words fall away, the characters disappear and you find it speaking to you. Pick up the threads that have meaning to you when you look out towards the landscape: organizations, DHO's, Movements and the Regenerative Renaissance. May this story live on in you. May it birth more of the quiet dreams of the soil of the Regenerative Renaissance into something Real. Let it reach You, and specifically the Human in You that is the same in us both, and which rises to the call of "Onward Team Human"! *With Love,* *Samara and Her First Authors* # Dedication To the people of earth who treasure life on this planet... To the Regenerative Renaissance, the movement of movements... To the Samarans, who moved through this particular part of an ongoing symphony... To the regenerative force that connects us, that unites us, that carries us through these trying times... To Samara... [![image-1618257338717.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618257338717.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618257338717.png) # How to Use This Book We have divided this book into four chapters that are very much interrelated. While you can read this book in sequential order, we do encourage the adventurous reader to dive directly into chapters and pick those nuggets that are most helpful to you on your journey. The main chapters of the book are: 1. Enter the World of Samara 2. Start Your Own Adventure 3. Build Your Own Organization 4. Preparing the Beds and Sowing the Seeds 5. Our Envisioned Harvest [![image-1618919201525.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618919201525.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618919201525.png) *Enter the World of Samara* will give you our background story, where we came from, how we found each other and what the most meaningful events have been for us to build the kind of trust foundation that lie at the heart of Samara. It will also outline the different spaces and faces we've encountered on this journey and arrive at the Rhythms and Rituals we've established for now. *Start Your Own Adventure* is the portal for you to explore with us what is possible, beginning with an introduction to the main vessel that you need to travel safely in these new (sometimes rough) waters - the DHO (Decentralized Human Organization). We will outline a few analogies with molecular biology, simply because Seeds is a regenerative movement that is very much anchored in principles of nature. We conclude that chapter with the meiosis event, a symbiotic relationship we created with Hypha. *Build Your Own Organization* will dive deeper into setting up your own entity, be that an organization, a hub, a community, a marketplace or a village. We will go over each element that is critical for your venture to find a safe passage through the ocean of advice that's already out there. We will touch upon important topics such as membership, compensation, tokens, and governance. The topics are real - Samara has implemented all of them - and you can pick and choose which ones resonate most with you and apply them in your context. *Preparing the Beds and Sowing the Seeds* takes a look outside of Samara into potential pilot projects that we will be engaged with. We will examine how to measure the impact we can have on a given bioregion and the toolset we will need to bring to support these efforts. Lastly, a lot of work has been done within the Movement Building Circle of Hypha and we'll take a closer look at how those efforts can complement the work of Samara. *Our Envisioned Harvest* is our vision and value proposition - how we want to take Samara into the future. We take a closer look at the "Organization-in-a-Box", the "Marketplace-in-a-Box", and the "Village-in-a-Box", as a concept to reach hundreds if not thousands of organizations (and by extension millions of people) out there that are struggling with the inertia and pain of following the old paradigm. We hope to shed light on what the new paradigm is going to look like and how you can come aboard. # Enter the World of Samara Our Identity and the Massive Transformational Purpose that sustains us through every cycle of the journey. The kind of terrain you're landing in and how to navigate. Some background, context and foundational concepts. # Who is Samara? **'An unfolding Lotus with Roots deep below the water'** [![6e33c9ebdda8b08984e238a0dbc3786a.jpg](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/6e33c9ebdda8b08984e238a0dbc3786a.jpg)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/6e33c9ebdda8b08984e238a0dbc3786a.jpg) *"In this photograph the sky looks like a world in itself. This is a bit like Samara's emerging identity. Emerging from the soil. Through the Roots. Needing some time to grow and open into the world with each petal in just the right place. Amongst all the leaves, if you look closely, it's there, half unfurled."* ## **Samara, Emergent** *Samara’s essence, emergent.* *We yearn for the vast and endless sea Of the world our hearts know is possible,* *And so we build our Samara-ship,* *The ship in which we will sail into these uncharted waters, Leaving a wake so that those who wish to follow, may.* *Samara’s vision, emergent.* *The vision of a destination that will keep us on course through the inevitable storms,* *A vision of who we are, who we serve, and how we serve them,* *A vision to unite and guide our motley crew,* *Aligning us around our inspiration.* *Samara’s being, emergent.* *As within, so without, becoming and being the change we wish to see in the world,* *Yang and yin in co-creative harmony,* *Playing joyfully, exploring intrepidly, In the fertile void of uncertainty,* *Honouring our gifts, honouring our souls, honouring Gaia.* Stated simply, the new Decentralised Holonic Organisation, Samara, arose out of a perceived need to help SEEDS spread further - the outreach and engagement counterpart to Hypha's role as provider of technological tools for the Regenerative Renaissance. However, there seem to be deeper and more significant forces at work. Samara is far, far more than just a marketing department. There is a sense, maybe not universal but certainly widespread, within Samara-the-Organisation that there is a Samara-the-Being, or Samara-the-Archetype, that is inviting us to get to know her better. We are holding an open question and spirit of enquiry around her purpose for having called together this particular group of individuals, and a desire to find a powerful vision around which we can align and harmonise in order to amplify and maximise our impact. Although not yet articulated explicitly, Samara-the-Organisation has an implied collective understanding that our Reason For Gathering is connected with the new paradigm, the shift to recognising the interdependence of all things as a precursor to the Regenerative Renaissance. Our name, Samara, was inspired by the wings that enable seeds to fly further, and our purpose is definitely connected with helping Seeds the currency and SEEDS the movement to spread further afield. But it is more than that. Seeds the currency could be seen as a bridge between the old paradigm and the new. It could become a point attractor to which the pioneers of the new paradigm will feel drawn, so that they can find each other and combine forces. It could enable people to live in accordance with their life purpose, expressing their unique gifts in the way the world requires of us now. If Samara is to be a conduit into the new paradigm, it seems only appropriate that she should be manifested through a new paradigm process. The old paradigm operates on the Material plane, working with what can be seen and heard with our physical senses. The new paradigm operates both on the Energetic and the Material planes. It invites the participants to sense into the intelligence of the Field to first find the inspiration of what is needed by the world at this time, yearning to emerge through the collective, before then translating this into practical outcomes, processes and systemic change. In other words, the material is informed by the energetic alignment. Samara’s exploration of Purpose can help to create a replicable yet unique and pioneering process. A process that can be used by subsequent DHOs to arrive at their own clearly articulated Purpose. A purpose which evolves and assists effective implementation as they continue their Work. **Logbook of the journey so far:** The workshop facilitated by Sanjay Rajan on 22nd January 2021 guided participants through a thoughtfully-designed process. The group defined and then consolidated potential statements of Samara’s Purpose, and arrived at: Grow the abundant, regenerative potential of SEEDS There were many strong points to this process: - Mural was an effective way to capture thoughts in a collaborative and co-creative format - Clear roadmap so that participants could feel safe within the container of the process - Effective use of breakout rooms to enable discussion leading to results - Results fed back into the plenary room by breakout groups in such a way that participants could see the gradual build towards a single statement of Purpose - Inclusion on an equal footing of all Samarans who felt called to participate The workshop also inspired some ideas for future experimentation: - A truly effective Purpose would be repeated frequently in Samara meetings. It would have a lively application through all activities. It would be a constant felt presence. It would act as a central organising principle within Samara. - All participants need to fully love the final definition in a way that would give it this vital energy. - It would be worth experimenting with taking the time for integration leading to consent, or even consensus. - This integration was attempted in the January workshop, but it still felt like there were some “winners” and “losers” among the potential definitions. Some participants may have felt disappointed as their proposed definitions were set aside. - The process began with people identifying as individuals, writing their names on sticky notes and taking time to journal on their individual ikigai: - It would be worth experimenting with a process that, from the outset, encourages the participants to leave the egoic “I” at the door - To enter into the shared field with the other participants in order to co-create deeply from this shared space - As defined in our KR, the Purpose needs to be enacted “in a balanced way” - Interpreting this “balance” as relating to yin/yang, the Purpose Revelation Process also needs to harmonise yin and yang appropriately. - In order to keep the Purpose alive, evolving, and relevant, we need an ongoing process to periodically revisiting our Purpose e.g.: - On the solstices and equinoxes, - To reaffirm our commitment to the original Purpose - To acknowledge that it has evolved and should be redefined - There needs to be an ongoing custodian (or custodians) of the Purpose, who undertake to: - Organise the quarterly Purpose Revelation Sessions - Translate and integrate the Purpose into all aspects of Samara’s work - Keep the Purpose alive as the central organising principle **Purpose: The Next Iteration** There is a proposal currently on the table with enthusiastic support (as of 8th April 2021) which is pending approval. This proposal would bring in a highly aligned and experienced external facilitator to run a series of sessions. This aims to build on the learnings from the January workshop, and to explore an alternative approach that emphasises the complementary dynamics of yin intuition and yang practicality. The sessions specifically aim to support Samarans through a process that will: - Harmonise the “professional excellence” of the yang with the “essential brilliance” of the yin, with “essential” meaning co-sensing from Essence, and “brilliance” meaning the bright light of true co-creative inspiration - First birth Samara from the new paradigm of sensing into the future (enquiry, intuition, possibility), and then design and execute the supporting processes from the traditional paradigm (logic, process, deduction), recognising that the Universe holds more answers than we do, so we need to sense into the Field to reach for the highest insights *before* grounding them. - Take the yin-sensed Vision and ground it firmly into yang-sensed Practicality to create an executable plan with clearly defined roles - Embrace the new model of leadership, in which the Work is done “through me” rather than “by me” (“By letting go, it all gets done” -- Lao Tzu) The proposed facilitator is Emily Lane, as she is already known and trusted by many members of the Samara community, who were either present for the call with her on 4th March this year, or have since watched the recording ([https://vimeo.com/519513562](https://vimeo.com/519513562)). [The proposal is here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a-gtxncHjU7GDUV0A2_RU70l4aOs9FyqOQ2U4aodlZs/edit?usp=sharing). **Timeline of Proposed process:** Preparation: Recording to Prepare Week 1: The Yin Journey Week 2: Yang Practicalities Week 3: Integration Ceremony/Ritual (currently planned to take place at the exact time of the May full moon/supermoon/lunar eclipse) Questions for Enquiry are also being asked at the same time as this proposal is being sought. Material for the purpose and the values and principles which will form around it have started to be recorded in this [Google Document](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CM84VsB1z6WGyybTZe5u_eqPO_83MPUg9k-vfIbS6sQ/edit). We anticipate a clear value proposition synthesising through the combination of these approaches, with the facilitated process using the material added by all participants to collect around a unified and emergent purpose. The collection and wholistic exploration process in the document above takes a comprehensive approach. It covers the following questions: - Who is Samara here to serve? - How will she serve them? - What is Samara’s community of practice? - Who are Samara’s allies? (Mission Circle) - How does Samara fit with/interact with/co-create with the other organisations in the SEEDS ecosystem? - What does the success of Samara look like? What is the vision? - What are the metrics that relate to the vision? How will Samara know if she is succeeding? How does Samara receive feedback in real time to know if she is heading in the right direction? How do we share this feedback data transparently? - What are the values that support the vision? How will these values be embedded in Samara’s culture? How do the roles/archetypes reflect these values? - What is the mission statement? This will provide the container, to let us know what opportunities we take, and which we pass on. - Does Samara have her own essence or is she an emergent property of the many participants? - If she has her own essence, how do we get the buy in/authority/validation/approval from all Samarans? - How does Samara’s essence manifest as a value system in all the aspects of our activities? - If we assume that Samara has called us together for a reason, how does each of us reveal what that individual reason is? In other words, how do we each find a role in relation to Samara? - Share your vision of Samara’s purpose - How does Samara serve your personal purpose and vice versa? - What’s your sense of Samara’s values and principles? - What are your personal values and principles? - How Samara does help to embrace your values and which values/principles does it help to embrace? - What’s your individual vision of Samara and its mission statements? - What could be your part of bringing this vision into the world? - How does it make you feel to be part of Samara? - What Samara is? What Samara represents to you? - What resources do we have? - What really matters for each Samaran and Samara being itself? - What’s your personal gifts/skills/offerings you would like to bring to Samara to reach its goals? - Imagine Samara in 10 years from now. What’s going on? What Samara is creating? What interactions inside and outside of Samara feels like? - What, if anything, do you feel could hold Samara back from reaching its full potential? - How does Samara ensure well being of itself, Samarans and ecosystems and organisations that it’s connected to? # The Fruit of Samara [![image-1618487841747.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618487841747.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618487841747.png)A maple seed falls in a characteristic helical motion; the shape of a helix; spiral. ## Introduction When I (Trent) was younger, I always loved playing with samara seeds. I would collect them up – careful not to damage them, and drop them from the highest place I could find. Noticing as they topple for just a moment then, with an almost eerie certainty, "floop!" right into rhythm copter-ing gently on down... landing softly on the grass as I swiftly released the breath I'd been grasping onto. Phew! Relief. Softness. Stillness. Safety. Certainty. ## [![24681823.jpeg](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/24681823.jpeg)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/24681823.jpeg) ## Observation It appears the **"*initial transition*** ***from rest to a steady gyration"*** occurs in three steps: **\#First** a **tumble about** **the span-wise direction**, followed by a **tilt towards the vertical** **axis**, **\#Second** leading to the **gyration about the vertical** **axis** and an **opening of the cone angle** before **\#Third** finally **settling into a steady state descent towards Planet Earth**. There is Peace within that Patience. There is Joy & Excitement, anticipating each samara's transition to its own personal fall, it's own transitional drama into the ground. [![image-1618487925159.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618487925159.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618487925159.png) The Drama, that's It. The Drama is that story being played out in "real-time", suspended within those critical moments of transition... trusting that yes even the most damaged/misshapen/puny/enormous/ugly seed's leading edge, does indeed, have the Life Source encoding necessary for what Life intends. ## Inquiry Q: **How does Samara settle into its steady-state spiral descent toward Germination?** A **crude analogy** of a wind turbine suggests that the **torque due to aerodynamic force** would **initiate the gyration** of the seed. "*A surprise came when we cut off much of the wing of a maple seed and found that the seed still gyrated about the vertical axis. This immediately suggests that the cause of the gyration has little to do with the steady-state aerodynamic torque.*" "***In fact, a seed with only a sliver of leading edge can still gyrate.***" (However, if the **aerodynamic force is completely absent,** a seed **would fall from rest like a rock** in a vacuum.) ## Conclusion The 3 essential ingredients that lead to helical motion. **\#First** is the **"asymmetric mass distribution" of the seed,** with the **centre of mass "far away from the centroid" of the seed.** **\#Second** is the **"aerodynamic damping that initiates a tilt" of the seed** which **eventually "evolves into a helical motion due to the rigid-body dynamics."** **\#Third** is the **"aerodynamic force in the steady state**" that **"balances the weight of the seed and the centrifugal force**." It appears it is "*the **subtle coupling** between **the initial aerodynamic torque & the rigid-body dynamics***" that distinguishes this case from all the other autorotational mechanisms. It appears it is **"***the **subtle coupling** between the **initial aerodynamic torque** & the **rigid-body dynamics*****"** that distinguishes this case from all the other auto-rotational mechanisms. We now listen as Samara discovers her steady-state descent towards Planet Earth... Study source: [https://dragonfly.tam.cornell.edu/publications/2012\_nonlinearity\_kapil.pdf](https://dragonfly.tam.cornell.edu/publications/2012_nonlinearity_kapil.pdf) # The Origins of Samara The first official cohort of the SEEDS Ambassador Academy was just getting warmed up when it became clear, towards the end of 2020, that a new DHO within the SEEDS ecosystem was germinating within some ripe soil. Drawn to the potential of SEEDS and seeing the possibility for more full time roles, several Ambassadors and Drigo began exploring joining Hypha and the draft plans for Ambassador compensation. Looking into the future, we wondered if Hypha would be the right place for us, and then hundreds, and then thousands of Ambassadors to join. In the spirit of decentralization, and with the desire to create a home for Ambassadors and leaders of the regenerative renaissance, the idea emerged to create a new organization that would complement Hypha, bridging the tools and technology to towns, cities, and organizations around the world. Having studied the sustainability movement and witnessed the rise and fall of many spirited attempts to unify regenerators globally, Drigo felt very strongly the need for this new organization to be built to last. The strong sense he got at the time was that this organization would have a feminine, gentle, inclusive energy that could truly serve as a home for diverse leaders across different cultures, industries, and ages. On the 14th December 2020 Rieki and Drigo were chatting on the Discord SEEDS server about a possible new DHO, and it went something like this... > Rieki: "*Yes, definitely see the (X) DHO (I'm loving Embassy DHO right now) be run, designed, launched and guided by the Ambassadors and other Seedizens that have shown up and wanting to find their place to play. I think Hypha could be very hands off - giving a bit of guidance and support (only if requested) but otherwise letting it take on a life of its own... I see the work you're doing as essential to helping co-create the roadmap for this new DHO... Whereas Hypha is a very explicit roadmap for product launches (Hypha is for building tools) this Embassy is for growing the movement and would have a much different roadmap - this would be a potent tool for unearthing and co-creating that roadmap."* > > *Then we can merge any of the movement building activities Hypha has been doing into this new DHO and leave Hypha focused on the products and this new DHO on movement building (steering, growing, nurturing the Renaissance) - I see this new DHO being much larger in membership and direct impact than Hypha...* > > *Just thinking out loud."* > > Drigo: *"Thank you for sharing your thoughts @rieki and @SanjayRajan I would also really love to hear from folks in the MBC and from some of the original / core team of Hypha. Maybe the best way to do this is to get on a call? Since all of the incoming Ambassadors are relatively new, many of us are not familiar with the concept of the DHO, the long term vision for Hypha, and how SEEDS was envisioned by the core team to work / self govern in the future. It would be great to build this DHO with the next 1 yr, 3 yrs, 5 yrs in mind. What is Hypha's role going to be over that time frame? If we were to create the internal DHO for SEEDS, how might that evolve over the coming years? What organizations do we need to run / steward / host / build our movement over the coming 1 yr, 3 yrs, 5 yrs? I believe as we explore these questions, we might get insight on how to build this new DHO.* > >
*It feels clearer to me after further thought and reading your comments above that this new DHO should simply be the new SEEDS DHO. And that Ambassadors can / should play a role within this new DHO, and that everyone else is invited too! (ok, maybe citizens only?) Within the DHO we can have the ambassador circle, the movement building circle, and other circles with roles as we see fit. I can also envision Rieki and other core members of Hypha being within that DHO.*
> *Again, I think for those of us interested in setting this up, and for all incoming Ambassadors, the natural start is to get on a call with some of the 'core team' to have a debrief and to share ideas about the future so we can build this new DHO with all the info and input we need *
*P.S. on the name of the new DHO, I do like the idea of the Embassy (being the office of the Ambassadors), but I'm also thinking that Embassy and Ambassador are kind of old paradigm concepts / words? Maybe Emissary? And a new paradigm equivalent to Embassy?"*
And thus began the search for a name.
A few minutes later, Roz chimed in with a truly terrible idea (HartigNet), which thankfully everybody ignored:
>
Roz: "*Following this emergent discussion with interest, and would love to be on the initiating call. @drigo and @rieki, I'm fine with Embassy, as being the place where Ambassadors reside. Another suggestion, looking to nature for inspiration, and following on from the Hypha theme, could be HartigNet: according to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hartig\_net), the Hartig net is a network of inward growing hyphae, that extends into the root, penetrating between the epidermis and cortex of ectomycorrhizal plants. This network is a site of nutrient exchange between the fungus and the host plant. Seems appropriate!"*
But a few more minutes and a few more Google searches later....
[![Screenshot 2021-04-10.jpg](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/screenshot-2021-04-10.jpg)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/screenshot-2021-04-10.jpg)
... which thankfully received a much more enthusiastic response. Drigo and Roz duly hopped on a call, and Drigo invited Irina too. The trio seemed to click, and this being called Samara started to emerge. And then all these other beautiful souls started showing up, and it seemed that Samara was acquiring a life all of her own. Video: Roz's reflections on the new DHO of Samara, recorded one week after the discovery/naming of Samara, on 21st December 2020. [Watch the video reflection here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ke3u8be3_I4)
# The Spaces of Samara [![image-1618094063660.jpg](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618094063660.jpg)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618094063660.jpg) [Listen to the soundtrack here](https://soundcloud.com/thobey-campion-213983793/the-monroe-institute-spindrift-3) Samara is a space that is deeply playful and exploratory, radically open, and spiritually rewarding. We value our relationships and build everything we do on the foundations of trust and reciprocity. We put humans at the center of our decisions (we are a Decentralized Human Organization) and grow through evolutionary change (we are a Decentralized Holonic Organism). “This is about Samara becoming alive.” - Justin Joseph, Samara-Startup-Shaman [Watch the video clip here](https://www.loom.com/embed/82a08a8e7c904f67a287fa34b7eaadf3) The Shamans and Elders are the real magicians of this world, peering into complexity and seeing simplicity, instead of being simple-minded and creating complication!! May we carry the wisdom of this prophetic reading and **manifest** the service to seeds that we are here for! # Synchronicities of Samara According to [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity), 'synchronicity is a concept first introduced by Carl Jung "to describe circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack a causal connection." Jung held that to ascribe meaning to certain acausal coincidences can be a healthy, even necessary, function of the human mind - principally, by way of bringing important material of the unconscious mind to attention. This further developed into the view that there is a philosophical objectivity or suprasubjectivity to the meaningfulness of such coincidences, as related to the collective unconscious.' Given our working hypothesis that Samara may be an archetypal being that exists in the collective unconscious, and yearns to emerge through the early Samarans, it seems worth paying attention to the synchronicities and serendipities occurring around the time of her coming into our conscious awareness. ## Hilma Af Klint Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was a Swedish painter and mystic whose paintings resonate in a strange way with Samara. Her work predates the first purely abstract compositions by Kandinsky, Klee or Mondrian (!) and we came across Hilma Af Klint after the first call with conscious coach, [Emily Lane](https://www.emilylane.tv/), who uses the image known as Group X, No. 1, Altarpiece (1915) in her work to represent the yin (the circle) and yang (the triangle), and has a print hanging on the wall behind her during video calls. Below are some highlights of Hilma af Klint's work - be sure to view the introductory video in the presentation. [See the slides here](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vTxfdYVUok_bwi-hGROM9JLTdaQiwwDtvDbHtadkKQKjMEModHOZm7gmpK1oio_B5sX7E2oQykKW6OO/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000) Joachim Stroh happened to see the exhibition at the Guggenheim in New York City at that time and stood (for several minutes) in front of the very same painting that Emily Lane had used to explain the Being and Doing energies of Samara. According to [this website](https://www.kingandmcgaw.com/prints/hilma-af-klint/group-x-no-1-altarpiece-1915-471091?gclid=Cj0KCQjwpdqDBhCSARIsAEUJ0hNGjXSNX1ZbMY1oOusXdcqFJ-NO2bNcV71ioiy5sYkRf8ddB_1pVk8aArE3EALw_wcB#471091::border:50_frame:880603_glass:770007_media:1_mount:108644_mount-width:50_size:496,618), "The three Altarpiece works were the final series in the 'Paintings of the Temple' collection and are possibly inspired by Theosophy’s version of evolutionary theory, in which evolution occurs in two directions, elevating from the physical to the spiritual and descending from the divine to the material world." [![image-1618261148753.jpg](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618261148753.jpg)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618261148753.jpg) ## **Gabriele Seewald** In late March 2021, we were trying to purchase the domain name samara.earth, but were surprised and disappointed to find that it had already been taken. Rieki did some quick sleuthing and found that it had been acquired by a Gabriele Seewald of Taiwan in January 2021. I (Roz) offered to contact her via LinkedIn. To cut a long story short, Gabriele turned out to be passionate about the Samara name, which had come to her via a friend who had been practising Yoga of Samara, allegedly arising in the Samara Valley of Russia. (I have not been able to verify the existence of the yoga practice, but there is indeed a Samara Valley, the site of an ancient culture \[1\]). Gabi, a deeply spiritual woman, has a strong sense that Samara is an emerging being, connected with Mother Nature or Gaia, who is going to manifest in various forms across the world at this time. She was not at all surprised to hear from me, and to find that our Samara, like her Samara (a health centre in her native Austria) is rooted in the idea of a regenerative civilisation. Our conversations with Gabi are still continuing as of April 2021, and future collaboration seems likely, as we continue to explore what this Samara-being longs to become.
[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samara\_culture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samara_culture)
## The Super Flower Moon
The original proposal to bring in the conscious leadership mentor, Emily Lane, failed due to Samara's then lack of a proper governance process for bringing a proposal. When Roz and Emily set out to pencil in dates for the revised proposal, once our governance process had been put in place, they sketched out a series of workshops to take place on Wednesdays during May 2021.
By beautiful synchronicity, it just so happened that the third and final workshop, the Integration Ceremony and Ritual, falls at the exact time that the moon will be at its closest to the Earth in 2021, a supermoon known as the Super Flower Moon. There is also a lunar eclipse at the same time, which will be visible around much of the Pacific Rim [2].
[2] https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2021-may-26
# The Roots, Trunk and Branches of Samara The image that became our first placeholder logo was never intended to be a logo at all. It was just a Powerpoint doodle that Roz did one day after a Presencing Case Clinic with some non-Samarans, in which one of the clinic participants had channeled and drawn a similar image in response to Roz's question about the future of Samara: a tree with deep roots and a heart, representing love, at the point where branches and roots meet. Roz added in the yin/yang element, to emphasise the need for yin/yang harmonisation in the world at large, and for incorporating this harmony into all aspects of Samara's work. [![Screenshot 2021-01-18.jpg](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/screenshot-2021-01-18.jpg)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/screenshot-2021-01-18.jpg) This image of the tree then inspired the two initiating circles of Samara - the Roots Circle, to focus on foundational issues such as governance, remuneration, funding, etc., and the Branches Circle, to focus on outreach and engagement. Irina was the first to hold the space for the Roots, and Drigo for the Branches. A little later, in recognition of the need for Roots and Branches to maintain a strong connection, The Trunk Call was initiated. It's a slightly obscure joke: in the first half of the 20th century, trunk calls were long-distance calls made within the same country, and used to have to be booked in advance. \[1\] The symbolism and the biomimetic parallels are important. The ability of a tree to grow tall, strong, and solid depends on the firmness and integrity of its root system. According to Merlin Sheldrake's book, [Entangled Life](https://www.merlinsheldrake.com/entangled-life), the roots are in many ways the "brains" of the tree that govern the exchange of nutrients with the tree's neighbours and its environment. The role of Samara's Roots is to ensure the nourishment of the organism, bringing in the resources that allow Samara to thrive. The deeper and stronger the roots, the further the branches can reach. Likewise, the role of the branches is to bask in the sunlight, allowing the leaves to angle this way and that in order to maximise photosynthesis, generating chemical energy from light energy, thus also contributing to the health and nourishment of the organism. The branches live in the yang realm of the light, above ground, harmonising with the yin, dark, underground world of the roots. The action of each nourishes the other. Above all, trees that live as nature intended are not isolated organisms. Their lives are deeply interconnected, and literally interwoven, with the other trees in the forest, as well as with its other flora and fauna. Likewise, Samara does not exist in isolation. She finds her being in the context of our complex reality. As well as her identity in relation to Gaia, she also touches on all aspects of human living and being - the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and ecological dimensions of our existence. Samara is born out of Nature, and we constantly look to Nature for our inspiration as we explore uncover and discover more and more aspects of her being. \[1\] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trunk\_versus\_toll\_telephony # The Rhythms and Rituals (our Being and Doing) **Rhythms** Over the first few months of its existence, Samara created these Rhythms: **Wednesdays**: Roots call (governance, funding, compensation, etc) **Thursdays**: Trunk call (overlap and alignment of Roots and Branches **Fridays**: Branches call (regional pilots, outreach, engagement, etc) Plus various pod calls and ad hoc calls, often but not always between noon and 5pm UTC. We've been talking about alternating calls between Eastern-hemisphere-friendly times and Western-hemisphere-friendly times, and may well experiment with this in the future. **Regular call Rhythm:** - Each call starts with a minute of silence to settle into the space. - The beginning and end of the minute is marked with a sound from a singing bowl, sacred rattle, or similar. - This is followed by check-ins, so we acknowledge and own any tensions or joys that we are bringing into the collective field (and if these are not named, there is a good chance that our resident shaman, Justin, will pick them up and name them anyway - we appreciate you, Justin!). - A facilitator is then voted in unless a longer term regular facilitator was already chosen. This is done with awareness of the check-ins and opt-outs aired. The method is everyone typing a name and a countdown with simultaneous sending. - Participants are invited to raise agenda items using the chat. - There is a round of check-outs at the end of the call. **The organization faces the challenges of reconciling many interconnected variables:** \- Time zones (from New Zealand to California) \- Tolerance for keeping unusual hours \- Commitments to family, self-care, other projects, etc. \- The necessity of paid work outside of Samara pending remuneration within Samara \- Varying needs for forward planning ("let's have a meeting now!" / "I can fit you in a week on Tuesday") \- Varying needs for yang-time and yin-time ("I'm available for action whenever needed" / "I can be active for a while, but then need time to consolidate and/or do deep work") ** Emerging patterns and considerations for future Rhythms and Rituals:** Joachim has pointed out that Samara does most of its work within calls, while Hypha uses calls more to verify work done asynchronously in between calls. In the future, Samara may wish to shift more towards this pattern. We could explore whether it seems more effective and productive, and/or enables Samarans further to the east and to the west to catch up on some sleep (!). [![Wink sleep balance.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/wink-sleep-balance.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/wink-sleep-balance.png) Like Seeds, Samara recognizes the moon as a cycle. The waxing moon stands for expansion/activity and calls for yang. The waning moon stands for reflection/consolidating and calls for Yin. Samara hopes to start using this moon cycle Rhythm in some ways, but to plan projects on a longer cycle. Our aim is to discover the rhythm that will best facilitate: - Our creative and project needs - Our emerging purpose We also want to discover which rhythms are best made regular and ongoing and which to apply after certain changes in the org. There are current proposals to use dynamically applied sensing sessions and metrics to determine some responses. These aim to check when the threat response is starting to increase in the group. This is not simply a case of changing the external of the group or individual to lessen the felt threat. It is also about having explicit agreed processes to create safety *and* learning and growth out of each opportunity for each member of an org. *Having clear pathways to respond, in the right way, at the right time:* these are models and evolutions we are sensing into. # Start Your Own Adventure An invitation to go on your own journey, a roadmap, an affordance to set your path on, to understand the very basics that we had to go through in many, many hours of discussion and to hopefully provide you with a blueprint for your own (ad)venture. # Are You Ready to Embark on This Journey? Dear traveler from afar, are you ready to embark on your own journey? Since we (the Samarians) embarked on our journey [a little over 3 months ago](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/the-origins-of-samara "The Origins of Samara")(!) a lot has happened..it feels like a decade compressed into a few shorts months. We spent days with the founding members of Hypha (including Rieki and Joachim), we talked to amazing coaches (including Emily and Joost), we listened to [Hilma af Klint](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/the-faces-of-samara "The Faces of Samara") and of course we listened to Samara. At this stage of our journey, we want to invite you to go on your own journey, while ours will [continue on into the next chapter](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/chapter/future-flowers-and-seeds "Future Flowers and Seeds"). The following pages will give you a roadmap, an affordance to set your path on, to understand the very basics that we had to go through in many, many hours of discussion and to hopefully provide you with a blueprint for your own (ad)venture. Whatever direction you are taking, please rest assured we are here to help you and we encourage you to stay connected with the rest of us that are out there changing the world. It's a journey we are all taking together. Onwards, humans. We will begin the journey by outlining what the vessel is - the very first step if you are planning to cross an ocean - and explain [the difference between a DAO and a DHO](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/about-daos-and-dhos "About DAOs and DHOs"). Next, we will go over the fundamental building blocks of the DHO - [DNA and RNA](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/our-dna-and-rna-and-our-code "Our DNA and RNA and our Code") - to understand the necessary pre-work that you go though before launching your own (ad)venture. We conclude with [a meitosis event](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/our-symbiosis-with-hypha "Our Symbiosis with Hypha") that created the initial funding for Samara as a potential model to spawn many more DHOs in the future through a simple process called *incubation quest*. [![image-1618688945120.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618688945120.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618688945120.png) # About DAOs and DHOs Samara is using a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) to coordinate all of our important activities, such as assignments for roles, claims on contributions or votes on proposals. A DAO records token-based transactions of an organization in a ledger that is decentralized and immutable - there is no 3rd party involved (like a bank or broker) - and every record is transparent and traceable back to its origin in the chain and its protocol in the smart contract. A DAO, very much like the Chinese word 道 (pronounced in the same way, "dow"), signifies a “way”, a “path”, or a “road”. The question is: to where? The DAO enables two things - first, it provides a framework, a scaffolding to build your organization from the ground up, and together with others, in an organic and participative way. It is anchored in an evolutionary process that can move the organization and its members past disorganized and rivalrous states. Second, it enables participants to grow, to mature and to provide value by tapping into a multitude of talents and motivations. But unlike DAOs in the crypto and blockchain space, our DAO is really a **DHO**, a Decentralized Human Organization (focus on [Sociocracy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociocracy)) or Decentralized Holonic Organism (focus on [Holacracy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holacracy)). Unlike DAOs that put technology at the heart ("code is law"), the DHO places the human at the center ("code is not law"). With this mindset, we provide the following core functions: - Decentralized Payroll - Distribution Accounting - Decentralized Decision Making *Decentralized Payroll* is a new kind of payroll system that rewards people fairly and – unlike traditional payroll systems – sees participants as humans, not as resources. Thus, you are able to create your own role templates, get buy-in from your group, and then vote people into assignments (or apply for yourself). We have integrated this system with the Telos blockchain which takes care of secure token transactions in the background to reward your hard work. This feature is manifested in Roles and Assignments that work across the organization. *Distribution Accounting* is a new kind of project-based work in a decentralized environment. It allows you to dynamically assemble a team around a project or contribution and define rewards for each contribution in a fair and transparent manner. Similar to role assignment, project contributions go through pay cycles and evaluations that allow teams to adjust work loads and tasks ongoingly. This feature is manifested in Quests and Badges that impact the organization. *Decentralized Decision Making* is a new kind of governance framework that is designed for both scalability and resilience. While the former pushes decisions to the edges of the organization (and into the relevant circles), the latter ensure that the decisions are open, just and equitable for all participants. This feature is manifested in the 80/20 voting method (min 80% unity and 20% quorum required to pass a vote) as well as [SVOICE](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/game-guide/page/samaras-tokens "Samara's Tokens"), a token that determines your voting power. # Our DNA and RNA and our Code The Samara DHO is encoding its basic building blocks in a kind of *organizational DNA* that can be easily replicated to other DHOs. DNA is the material in cells that contains the genetic information used in the development of all known living organisms. The information carried by DNA is held in the sequence of pieces of DNA called genes. For us, these genes are called [Archetypes](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/game-guide/page/samara-archetypes "Samara Archetypes") and they describe the basic building blocks of our our organization. The central tenet of molecular biology is often expressed as “DNA makes RNA, RNA makes proteins, proteins make us”. In the same way, once we have defined our *organizational DNA*, we can transcribe it to our *organizational RNA*, our [Activities](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/game-guide/page/samara-activities "Samara Activities") (body of work) that is carried out by our body of people. These activities include working on assignments, claiming pay-outs for contributions, or earning badges for accomplishments. Just like cell division is essential for cells to multiply and organisms to grow, Samara is preparing its DNA to transcribe and replicate new entities in hot spots around the planet (in molecular biology, transcription is the process by which the genetic information stored in DNA is used to produce an RNA strand). We are providing a blueprint for many possible combinations of this organizational material (like genetics). To learn more about this replication process, read through the [Future State](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/game-guide/chapter/our-future-state "Future State") chapter where we introduce the Organization-in-a-Box, the Marketplace-in-a-Box, and the Village-in-a-Box. [![image-1618090830478.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618090830478.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618090830478.png) Our own DNA is the code of Samara, which is unique. Parts of that code are archetypal and transferable. The packages and services we send out are the RNA we use to spread the essence of the life within us. This essence moves primarily through human beings. Through them it travels into the technology, services and growth factors that lead them to become [**Endlessly Regenerative**](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/game-guide/page/example-emergent-dna "Example emergent DNA"). # Our Symbiosis with Hypha While there had been [many preliminary discussions](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/the-origins-of-samara "The Origins of Samara") within and outside of Hypha to create a new sister or child organization, the actual incubation happened through a unique process that is not unlike Meiosis in biology. As many readers will undoubtedly recall from their biology classes in high school, Meiosis is a process of cell division in the reproductive process, during which one cell primes the egg (DHO, tools, tokens, resources) and the other produces the sperm (purpose and intent) to generate a new organism. [![image-1618690515290.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618690515290.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618690515290.png) Hypha has created a "Samara Incubator Quest" (pictured below) that provided some initial funding (in HUSD) to launch an independent new entity called the Samara DHO (Decentralised Human Organization). The idea is to design this as a symbiotic relationship - both parties learn from each other and reap benefits in the future. The immediate benefit for Samara is receiving funds and knowledge (sowing seeds) and the long-term benefit for Hypha is to expand the network and gain a share in Samara's value creation. In other words, this is not a "one-sided deal" where one party exploits another party (knowingly or unknowingly) - we want both parties to succeed and thrive, growing further roots outside of Hypha and setting the stage for the next wave of meiosis. [![image-1618197372993.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618197372993.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618197372993.png) However, the story does not end here. The next wave will look back at their parents and think about ways to improve on their organization, very much like Samara has improved on their ways after learning from Hypha. This is an ongoing process that can ripple though the entire network as it expands into new and unexplored territories (not unlike the universe expanding in new space... well, technically, the universe is everything, so it isn't expanding into anything). What is important in this metaphor is that wave after wave can occur without parents ever knowing about daughter entities generations ahead. Each generation will create their own unique characteristics and archetypes, inheriting the "genetic material" [from the parent DNA](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/game-guide/page/dna-and-rna "DNA and RNA") thereby carrying the message further and further out into the known and unknown world. [![image-1618198226654.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618198226654.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618198226654.png) # Example DNA, Parent and Ecosystem Genes So, we've outlined the vessel and learned about the fundamental building blocks of the DHO. Some questions still remain for any intrepid explorer: - What seas do you plan to sail? (start to determine the vessel features required) - What type of vessel to do you need? (A deep keeled, slim vessel to cut through high waves, or a wide-bottom cargo vessel shorter coastal journeys?) - What fundamental building blocks should/could be transferred from a parent entity offering an *incubation quest?* - **What building blocks will come from from the ecosystem itself and how explicitly?** - Some DHO's may form outside the SEEDS ecosystem as the wave ripples outwards, but many of those we are addressing here will share the same ecosystem. - Will they simply be collections of individuals forming cells within a common ecosystem and some familiarity with the SEEDS constitution? - Will something more be shared amongst multiple DHO's? - What coding will be ecosystem-wide and how explicitly is this utilised in the overall DNA structure? ## **Some example building blocks being considered:** ### **Example RNA structures:** Samara recently discussed taking inspiration from the [SCARF model ](https://partneringresources.com/wp-content/uploads/SCARF-Final.pdf)(Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, Fairness). Aims: 1. Create processes on a group level that prevent or reduce a threat response in the individual. - (Outside in change: external 3rd person change > Individual 2nd & 1st person internal change > org wide internal change) 1. Agree standard learning processes specifically for higher/lower threat scan results; to help members grow and gain more insight as a result of tensions. - (Inside out change: Internal Individual 1st person change > Internal Group 2nd person change > external 3rd person learning recorded) A model like this is like a piece of RNA with which an organisation can 'code' it's activities. ### **Example DNA/RNA messenger technology:** The [Heroine's/Hero's Journey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey) is another model discussed frequently in Samara meetings. This is traditionally applied to individuals or individual stories, but can be converted to speak to the archetypal journey of forming and growing a DHO. This model could be used to judge the right time to use other tools and methods because it not only speaks to being applied in specific situations, but to common stages in ongoing and perpetual cycles of learning. It could help Samarans and new and future DHO's to sense into and align around the stages *we are already going through as individuals and groups*. It could help members and different sub-groups to respond with awareness and acceptance of appropriate *co-created, agreed game rules for each stage.* [![Hero heroines journey.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/hero-heroines-journey.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/hero-heroines-journey.png) The hero/heroine's journeys are easy to see as just another model or methodology. There is a fundamental difference, however, between these two types of modelling: 1. A model that is created to be applied to a set of circumstances or contexts, or to a perceived need. We see this with multiple highly effective models designed for a purpose. Some of these are widely applicable, but still 'outside-in' formulated. 2. A model which is identified and refined from a deeply embedded, pervasive and longstanding pattern that *already defines behaviour and perception*. The 'mono-myths' of the Hero & Heroine's journeys are just that. - The journey descriptions and phases describe the most basic cycles humans go through during cycles of success against all odds. - They speak to the human needs and subconscious ways our individual and social systems perceive learning and success. The Hero/Heroine's Journey is an *Emergent* model. It has an ideal use case: determining how and when to use other models, tools, processes and cultural values. Checking what is happening in this way (which builds on Hypha's 'org scan' process), would channel rhythms dynamically to create safety or many other desired regenerative organisational 'states'. This dynamic way of adjusting rhythm: - Still gives structure and direction - Explicitly encourages a sense-and-respond process - Could prove useful in allowing flexible, yet fundamentally patterned tools for new DHO's. It is interesting to reflect on this and see that Hypha seems to have more of a masculine cycle, at least with their focus on building and launching tools and services. Samara has created a much more feminine space for emergence and quality. Any organization must balance masculine and feminine in order to both sense and act in an effective balance. An organization which is too stuck in action is missing opportunities and growth. An organisation too focused on sensing may be too slow or ineffective. Besides this balance, however, some DHO's will need to be primarily more masculine or feminine in quality depending on their purpose and activities. ### **Ecosystem RNA and shared DNA?** It would also be possible to combine these dynamic methods with some of the regenerative and thrive-ability patterns named in the SEEDS Constitution. The Constitution Part 1 is a *compass*, which is already used by many to *navigate* and *actualize* within the game of SEEDS. For example, the three principles of life ([article 3 of the SEEDS Constitution](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hUVYiBANjVDTJyicM8YeEy22Tsliv68GW_y2EE-mvHw/edit#heading=h.x0guns57922d)) relates to the expansion and contraction mentioned above in Samara. These are held and nurtured by the 4 suns (external) and 4 moons (inward) - which make the 8 values. There are potential synergies here for collaboration with the Movement Building Circle within Hypha and the formation of new DHO's. Multiple DHO's could synergised through the SEEDS constitution or other ecosystem resources, while uniquely applying this synergy to their own context. This offers an opportunity to have the constitution embedded even more deeply than living in the Game of SEEDS and the individuals playing with and learning from it. * * > *Consider the huge wave of organisational change on the horizon. Consider unknown numbers of DHO's predicted to form very soon within the SEEDS ecosystem. We've used the analogy of new DHO's forming as in the mitosis of cells. The forming of a new cell retains almost all of the original DNA. How much and in what way is that the case here? * Final questions to ponder: - How would this apply in a more outreach/seeds spreading org like Samara, which does not primarily focus on building tools like Hypha? - With numerous wildly differing DHO's forming and evolving their own DNA, what ties them all together? The ecosystem does in some ways. The origins do in others. Future systems and tools offered by Hypha likely will. What else? - How do we foster flexibility and a fundamental cohesiveness in the *structural and operational* realities across the network? - How do we cohere our rhythms with something fundamental across the network and encourage a free and unique expression in each case? # Build Your Own Organization Basic elements that define an organization and are an accelerator to prepare your organization for what is coming. The necessary steps to get to this point are outlined as an guiding path for you the reader to also help you get ready to apply for your very own DHO and join us in this adventure together. # Where We Are Today
So far, Samara has completed all of the hard work of thinking though the foundations of our future organization and services. At the point of writing this book, one important ingredient is missing - we don't have our own DHO (Decentralized Human Organization) tool yet and the Hypha development team is hard at work to get the "multi-tenant" architecture working in the coming months. Once that is completed, Samara will be one of the first organizations to use a DHO, complete with our own tokens, governance and compensation. We believe that these basic elements not only define an organization but are an accelerator to prepare your organization for what is coming. The necessary steps to get to this point are outlined in the following pages. Again, this is meant as an guiding path for you the reader to also help you get ready to apply for your very own DHO and join us in this adventure together.
[![image-1618690329237.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618690329237.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618690329237.png) # Samara's Membership Model Introduction Samara is an open and decentralized member organization. There are no bosses and no hierarchies (in a traditional sense), Samara evolves on an evolutionary scale —when the time is right, new people and new ideas will appear. You can step into Samara, join a quest, hold a role, adjust your commitment, and step out at any time. Traditional workplaces only offer a binary "in-out" distinction between members and non-members. Either you're an employee with the pay, perks, and information access, or you're locked out. What's more, this critical decision of who's in and who's out is often made just from looking at a piece of paper, a couple interviews, and asking someone to commit long-term to a role and workplace that they've never actually tried. In Samara, we believe there's a more effective approach for discovering if your purpose, interests, and skills are a good fit for our organization and our people. That's why we have multiple stages of membership and multiple contribution types designed to support you in exploring your fit and commitment to Samara. Each of these stages is rewarded with a [badge](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/samaras-archetypes) that members can apply to when the time has come and the criteria have been fulfilled. The opening flower symbolises the journey of unfolding and contributing to Samara's purpose. [![image-1618599663419.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618599663419.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618599663419.png) ### **Guest** You are automatically considered a **Guest** the first time you show up - invited or not! Samara welcomes, hosts and honours all Guests. You may decide to only stay for a little while, but we want to embrace you with the resources, conversations and tools you need to sense whether you would like to make a home here. Guests are not official members with the ability to vote in DHO decisions or receive compensation, but they are listened to in open forums and have access to our conversation spaces (Discord, Loomio, etc.) and knowledge gardens (Miro, Wiki, etc.).

We suggest reading this book and joining our open calls (link to come) as the best first steps when learning about Samara. If you'd like to explore Samara further through actively contributing, we welcome you to schedule an onboarding call (link to come).

### **Apprenticeship** Apprentices are official Samara Members, with the ability to propose your own quest to Samara, request to join existing Samara quests, or apply for a role. *We recommend starting with a quest before applying for a role, as it will give both you and Samara a chance to understand if it will be a good long-term fit.* - A **Quest** is a specific objective or set of objectives, paired with measurable Key Results (OKRs) and a compensation request. Quests are generally time-bound, and can have one or multiple participants. If you sense a key need in Samara, you're welcome to propose a quest to serve it! If Samara votes to accept your participation in a Quest, it's up to you to execute and return for an completion vote, at which point you can receive your compensation, if accepted. - Like traditional jobs, a **Role** is a commitment to a set of activities, with regular compensation for executing those activities. Roles can be time-bound, but are generally longer-term. If you can't take on a role at 100% of your capacity - that's OK! Roles can be designed to accommodate various commitment levels. As an apprentice, you'll have access to [**The DHO**](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/game-guide/page/about-daos-and-dhos "About DAOs and DHOs") (what we call the blockchain-based tool we use conduct our governance and accounting/payroll), where you can officially propose quests, request to join quests, and vote on these sorts of decisions along with other members. For voting, you will receive your first Samara Voice tokens (SVOICE) when you receive your Apprentice Badge. Relative to longstanding members, you will have little Voice, however you can quickly earn compensation and more voice tokens by participating in **Trainings** (e.g. Scribe Training: taking notes on calls, disseminating notes and content after calls, and tending our knowledge gardens). These trainings are designed to provide you the skills and organizational norms that can help you steward Samara as you consider whether applying for a quest or role is the right next step. ### **Fellowship** If you've successfully completed a Quest or have been assigned to a Role, you automatically become a **Fellow**, receiving your Fellow Badge and a Voice bonus. Fellows are members that are actively participating in quest(s) or holding role(s), and will often be seen "Lamplighting" pods and circles, facilitating, and working on immediate deliverables while envisioning future quests and strategic directions for Samara. Fellows may be committed to Samara for just a month or indefinitely. ### **Council Membership** If you wind up demonstrating excellence through contributions to Samara, you may be invited to join the Samara Council. **Council Members** are celebrated by Samara for their wisdom, and thus offered additional voice and recognition after an official acceptance vote in the DHO. Council status and its associated Voice bonus can be granted indefinitely or for a specific period of time, subject to renewal. Council Members may or may not hold an active quest commitment or role. ### **Alumni Membership** Finally, if you decide to step away from actively contributing to Samara, you'll become an **Alumni** member. In gratitude for your service, and in open invitation to return if you ever desire, you'll be kept connected to Samara through regular updates, requests for strategic input, and events. Note the both Fellowship and Council members are eligible for the Alumni badge. ## Enrollment Criteria The following table is listing our current criteria to enroll in member badges. Note that these are specific to Samara and your mileage might vary.
**Level****Criterium**
ApprenticeYou have successfully completed the onboarding exercise for Samara, which consists of one or more onboarding calls and a short checklist that is delivered through a quest template.
FellowshipYou are a holder of the Apprentice badge and have successfully completed either a full quest (not an onboarding quest) or have been assigned to a role for one or more lunar cycles.
Council You are a holder of the Fellowship badge for at least 6 lunar cycles and have been on 10 quests or lunar cycles for role assignments.
AlumniYou are a holder of the Council badge or the Fellowship badge and are no longer active in the organization.
# Samara's Compensation Model ## Compensation The compensation in Samara is based on a *token mix* that consists of SAMARA (equity/value token), SVOICE (voting weight token), HUSD (USD equivalent token), and possibly Seeds currency, if a reserve exists. This mix is determined by a "formula" that converts the USD Equivalent into the right mix of tokens. See the [Samara Token](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/game-guide/page/samaras-tokens "Samara Token") page for more details on each of the tokens in use. ### Compensation for contributors Currently every contributor to Samara is compensated in the following way: - 1$ contribution can be compensated with either 1 SAMARA or with 1 HUSD (these are the only two token types currently available in Samara) - Contributors request the HUSD they need to cover their fiat currency needs. (This is intended to allow people to free up their energy and time to contribute to Samara by covering the living costs they would otherwise have to invest time and energy elsewhere to cover.) - The rest of their contribution (Total contribution - HUSD amount requested) is compensated in SAMARA, which is then multiplied according to the current multiplier - The multiplier exists to reward Contributors taking on the risk of uncertain future value of SAMARA over the known, immediate exchange value of HUSD. This multiplier will gradually decline as Samara’s value as an organization increases, inherently increasing the value of the SAMARA equity token and reducing risk in choosing compensation in SAMARA. Example: - One contributor has a $5,000 contribution in a lunar cycle. They only need $1,000 HUSD to cover their living expenses that must be paid in fiat currency. - The $5,000 contribution is compensated with $1,000 HUSD and 4,000 SAMARA. The 4,000 SAMARA are multiplied by the current multiplier (1.8 as of 4/16/21). 4,000 x 1.8 = 7,200 SAMARA - $5,000 contribution --> $1,000 HUSD + 7,200 SAMARA ### **Compensation for investors** $1 investment = 1 SAMARA, multiplied according to the active multiplier. ### **Current distribution of tokens to contributors and investors** The current way Samara allocates tokens is through this [Compensations Spreadsheet ](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VnzDclcxqOTPAk8jMmywKqDQ38vVVbkYt3QMyfe6_DE/edit?usp=sharing). This is far from ideal but works as a record of all the contributions to Samara until the DHO is operational. It details historical contributions and earned compensation, including and the exact amounts of SAMARA, HUSD and SVOICE. ## Salary Bands Defining a salary for a role is an extremely difficult task to do. There are many, many variables involved in finding a fair and equitable salary for everyone in the organization. For these early stages, Samara is using three salary bands, namely B1 ($70k/year), B2 ($90k/year) and B3 ($110k/year). These bands are directly connected with the commitment levels, B1 for up to 49%, B2 for 50% - 79% and B3 for over 80%. *See below for how we plan to evolve this structure.* [![bands1.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/bands1.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/bands1.png) ## Commitment We define commitment as “mindshare” - not how many hours per week you work on an assignment. This is a new, challenging concept for many people used to being valued by the hour and living in a society largely organized around the 40 hour Monday through Friday work week. **Here’s how we think about mindshare:** - For a given time period, like a lunar cycle, there exists a limit to the amount of fully present and focused awareness you can provide to things other than what you need to give attention to for sustaining your health and wellbeing. This usually includes things like sleep, rest, relaxation, exercise, meditation, time in nature, fulfilling personal and familial responsibilities, and honoring commitments to yourself and your community. - Your limit can only be determined by your own honest reflection. - If you commit all your awareness under this limit, you would commit 100%. - If you reserve half of this awareness for a part-time job, education, or hobbies, you could then commit up to 50% to your work with Samara. - Finally, Commitment is provided to specific quest(s) and/or role(s) rather than generally to Samara. For example, you may decide to commit 30% to Quest A over one lunar cycle, but also commit 50% to Quest B, lasting 3 lunar cycles. While both A&B are active, your total commitment to Samara will be 80%, but your compensation level may be different for A&B. If you don’t take on another quest once A expires, your total commitment to Samara will be 50%. Members propose their commitment at the start of the cycle period and self-assess their actual contribution level after the cycle period ends. As well, Samara conducts a Collective Evaluation, a community building exercise where the team comes together to assess each other’s’ contributions – both their perceived quality and demonstrated commitment level. This Collective Evaluation is not intended to dispute contributors’ honesty or create a hidden, hegemonic equation that determines the “true” relationship between amount of visible “work” and commitment level. It is intended to provide an opportunity for teammate feedback to be incorporated into self-reflection, and for invisible work, effort, awareness to be made visible and receive social recognition. Contributors retain complete autonomy to keep their original commitment level, or adjust it up or down after Community Evaluation.

Minimum commitment in Samara is 30% for regular assignments. Please note that your total level of commitment for the sum of all assignments cannot exceed 100%.

### **Commitment vs Contribution - future model** There is a new pattern arising with the introduction of contribution accounting (a co-evaluation process in which all participants openly rate contributions of everyone else). Personal commitment levels can vary widely from day to day, but what we "see who showed up for the work" is pretty clear and in front of us. With contribution accounting, we can move from personal commitment (what I think I did) to collective contribution (what we think you did). This step gives us an opportunity to explore an "open ceiling of human potential" - we simply don't know yet how far our passion can take us (think flow states, eudaimonia, potentiality, dream states, etc). All what counts is if you "were there and brought value back to the collective." How you got that value is not relevant (maybe you were in a flow state and received a download!). Note that this pattern only works for group contributions like quests, not for individual contributions and roles that are more predictable, pre-determined and personal ("I am committed to this role in a 50% capacity"). We do have the option of due diligence during quarterly reviews ("I haven't seen you around for a while, are you still at 100%?") but those tend to lean towards performance tracking, a pattern we want to stay away from. However, even if we are planning to introduce a drastic change - *dynamic commitments* allow you to adjust your current level on a weekly, even daily basis ("I am going away for the rest of the day", I will take the next few days off"). This requires a high levels of trust and openness in the organization, which is exactly the foundation of Samara. Lastly, dynamic commitments and the separation of commitment from contribution level resolves a critical bottleneck in this organization - let's say you have an assignment at 100% commitment; it is impossible to add more work (as it should be), but if you temporarily reduce the commitment to 90% (via dynamic commitment) you can join a quest and take full advantage of contribution accounting - now the collective decides how to decide on the payouts of the quest pie and if you had a deep insight during the quest, you will be fully rewarded! ## Future models for role and badge archetype The goal is to match qualified applicants with open job postings. In traditional job markets, this process is overtaxing, one-sided, prone to trial & error and a guessing game between pretense & perception. In a decentralized human organization, we are using role archetypes as *attractors* for applicants and badge archetypes as *qualifiers* for applicants to optimize the matching process and to reduce bias. Role archetypes represent the complexity of the job and the capacity of the organization to support positions (e.g. the organization might have room for 5 storytellers at a complexity level of B3). Badge archetypes represent achievements and skillsets of applicants. Both archetypes are used to find the right applicant for the assignment. [![image-1618346901310.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618346901310.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618346901310.png) ## Salary Bands - future model
Samara is analyzing a model with an universal, unique band, and two additional levels of rewards for complexity/intensity.
**Universal, Consistent & committed ‘Work/Play-Pay’ (B1)**
- $70k annual salary converted into an average hourly rate @ 40hr week - minimum 30%+ time commitment - Relatively Low Complexity (B1) - focused on doing - minimal time sensing and on calls - maximum time DOING! - 60/20/20 - Doing / Sensing / Learning (within one circle)
If the group intelligence agrees and there exists capacity (financial and organizational), you can take on more complexity, which necessarily takes up much more time and energy. There are currently two Gratitude/Gift bonus compensation increases which reward higher complexity and intensity.
#### **Complexity/Intensity Recognition Rewards:**
**Mid Complexity recognition (B2):**
- ($70k) +$20k - minimum 50%+ time commitment - Requires much more headspace and managing overlapping topics, issues, information etc. Supporting multiple individuals. Completion of 2 lunar cycles on universal pay required before eligible. Availability subject to organization's capacity and budget. - 40/40/20 - Doing / Cultivating (Sensing & Coordinating) with multiple individuals & circles / Learning - Fellow circle members vote to recognize
**Max Complexity/Intensity potential recognition (B3):**
- ($70k) +$40k - minimum 80%+ time commitment - Samara is your primary focus and devotion. Supporting and serving multiple circles, individuals, and the movement effectively. 3 months of universal/B2 pay required before eligible. Availability subject to organization's capacity and budget. - 20/60/20 - Doing / Cultivating (Sensing & Coordinating) with multiple circles & organizations / Learning - Entire organization votes to recognize
# Samara's Tokens ## Introduction Samara tokens are a type of cryptocurrency that represent an asset or specific use and reside on the Telos blockchain. Tokens are designed to work as a medium of exchange wherein individual token ownership records are stored in a ledger. Samara is utilizing four types of tokens: 1. Samara Token (SAMARA) - represents the value we are creating and holding together (similar but different to equity) 2. Samara Voice (SVOICE) - represents the voting power of individuals, this is a non-transferrable token that decays over time according to a "decay schedule" 3. Fiat Bridge Token (HUSD) - represents a 1-to-1 value in United States Dollars and can be redeemed for non-tokenized US Dollars. 4. Seeds Token (Seeds) - the global utility currency brought to life by the SEEDS Movement to span circular, regenerative economies ## **SAMARA Token** The SAMARA token lies at the heart of what we are building together. It encapsulates our work, our values, and our assets and rewarding people with this special token means we are entrusting them with a piece of Samara, not unlike a piece of ownership in a traditional organization. The breakdown for the SAMARA token is as follows: - 1$ contribution or 1$ investment = 1 SAMARA (Samara Token) - For each 1$ quest or role contribution to Samara, or for each 1$ investment in Samara contributors/investors get 1 SAMARA. - Samara contributors also have the option to choose other tokens as compensation, depending on the tokens Samara has available at a specific time (see [Samara's Compensation Model](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/samaras-compensation-model "Samara's Compensation Model")) **Multipliers for Samara Token** In the early stages of Samara, each contributor/investors tokens issued are multiplied by a factor to reward them for taking on the risk and believing in Samara as pioneers. The value for the multiplier changes when the risk reduces after important milestones are reached, such as securing additional funding or significant value inflows for services rendered. Current proposed multipliers are: - “2” multiplier for December 2020 - February 2021 (before the quest to Hypha); - “1.8” multiplier for March onward (lower risk from going into the Hypha-funded quest) - Further multipliers TBC. Multipliers are subject to change through DHO vote. ## **SVOICE Token The voice token is critical for the governance of Samara. Voice tokens must be earned over time and cannot be transferred or exchanged with other members. In the DHO, these tokens also "decay" over time, meaning every member will loose voice token over a special schedule, a "decay rate" that is set up for the DHO. In other words, if you stop participating and contributing to Samara, you will eventually lose all of your voice tokens and no longer be able to vote in DHO decisions. The breakdown for the SVOICE token is as follows: - 1$ contribution = 1 SVOICE

Contributions from investors do not get SVOICE.

**Membership Badge Voice Rewards** Voice tokens are linked to membership badges; once you earn a membership badge, all of your current active assignments, contributions and quests will be multiplied with a factor (outlined below) until you no longer hold the badge. There is only one active membership badge.
**Level****Criterium**
ApprenticeYou will receive an additional 5% on SVOICE for any earnings from activities.
FellowshipYou will receive an additional 10% on SVOICE for any earnings from activities.
Council You will receive an additional 20% on SVOICE for any earnings from activities.
AlumniYou will receive any additional 10% on SVOICE for any earnings from future activities, if you decide to join Samara again.

Exact multiplier formulas are subject to change through DHO vote.

## **HUSD Token** The HUSD token is a bridge between the fiat currency and the crypto currency, representing a 1-to-1 value in USD that can be redeemed for US Dollar equivalent. The "H" comes from the originator of this type of token, which is Hypha (there is no ownership associated with this naming convention). HUSD is currently used by Samara to compensate members of Samara for their fiat needs; HUSD can be redeemed on the Hypha DHO for BTC/EOS/ETH etc., which can easily be exchanged for USD or other fiat currencies through various currency exchanges. ## **Seeds Token** SEEDS is the foundation for a new regenerative currency enabling a new kind of economy that is no longer based on extractive practices of the current financial system. There is plenty of information available on the SEEDS website, such as the introductory video [Growing a Cooperative Financial System](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoPxiz0iq50). The breakdown for the Seeds token is as follows: - Samara currently has a small amount of Seeds from angel investors. - The Samara blockchain account name is ‘samaradhoooo’. - At this stage, the ‘samaradhoooo’ account will make the payments of all non-voice tokens to Samara members. Voice tokens will be managed in the DHO account when this becomes available. ## Going further Samara will evolve token allocation, introduce new tokens, adopt the DHO platform, manage token allocation with much less manual work. # Samara's Archetypes ## Introduction Archetypes are fundamental building blocks of an organization (part of the [DNA](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/samara-game-guide/page/our-dna-and-rna-and-our-code "Our DNA and RNA and our Code")), they are defined once and then become stable and active for a longer period of time. Archetypes represent a recurrent symbol or pattern of the organization as a way to group certain kinds of activities together. These Patterns of behavior are defined by the needs and capacities of Samara and they are needed in balanced proportions in order for wholeness and coherence to arise. Each organization will have a different set of archetypes to create their own trajectory of where the organization is heading in the future.

Archetypes are a way to combine natural talents and strengths with the needs and capacities of the organization.

There are three archetypes that organizations need to define:
1. Organizational archetypes 2. Role archetypes 3. Badge archetypes *Organizational archetypes* set the energy and direction of the organization - be that more radical, more spiritual, more efficient, more participatory, more chaotic, or more hierarchical, to name a few. It is very important to agree on the organizational archetypes early on, since this will have a detrimental impact on the way the organization (and by extension its people) act and behave inside and outside the membrane. It will also have an impact on the role and badge archetypes. *Role archetypes* are an attractor for the kind of work we feel drawn towards in our lives. They are also connected to job postings and describe the kind of activity a circle might be looking for. In that sense, role-archetypes "will find you" as you browse through the current job openings inside the organization. For example, a product development team might be looking for a B3 Building & Architecting archetype describing the base complexity and type of work required to fill this position. It can also limit capacity the organization is willing to hold and expand into ("we currently have budget for 3 people in the B3 Building & Architecting role archetype"). The framework for role archetypes is based on the work of [Dr. Anneloes Smitsman](https://www.earthwisecentre.org/anneloes-smitsman).
*Badge archetypes* are part of the larger credentialing ecosystem. There are many ways to recognize an achievement, and many forms of proof for a variety of needs. A badge serves both as recognition of learning or unlocking achievement or confirming a status level AND digital proof of that accomplishment. Badges are also "signal amplifiers" that multiply your existing work in the DHO. For example, if you work in a 60% committed role earning $10,000, a potential badge could increase your SVOICE tokens by a factor of 1.01 for each salary claim (giving you 100 more SVOICE per claim). If you do not have a role (you do not have a responsibility and/or earn a salary), then the multiplier is 0 and the badge has no value. In other words, the badge only amplifies existing work and is only meaningful inside this context.
[![image-1618453436040.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618453436040.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618453436040.png)
## Samara's Role Archetypes

Note that these role archetype are specific to Samara and your mileage might vary.

**Building & Developing** - “Building the foundations” \[Internal Focus\] - Pattern of coding and Recording what Samara and SEEDS IS - You’ll be putting in the roots/patterns and proposing upgrades to Samara’s org/governance/etc… You will be sensing deeply into Samara’s emergence and recording new ‘codes’ for the organisation. This mostly involves creating the documentation and forming the roots. **Researching** - “Creating possibilities for the future “ - Pattern of Innovation & invention, Research and Science - Governance - You’ll be studying SEEDS and Samara’s Governance, tapping into the field of what it wants to become, and proposing upgrades before supporting the process. - Economic - You’ll be studying the economics of SEEDS and Samara, tapping into the field of what it wants to become, and proposing upgrades before supporting the process. - Self-organisation - You’ll be studying how people and groups can be supported towards greater capacity and greater self-organisation. **Facilitating, Cultivating, Caring** - “Cocoon structure holding the space” - Pattern of being empathic, Healing, Mysticism, holding space, Mediating and balancing - You will be Facilitating, Holding the space and Onboarding new people within SEEDS and Samara. You will also be co-sensing and nurturing the community and container. You act as a healing and easing presence towards the spaces between different characters. You help us evolve by focusing on the people and the container (cocoon). **Catalysing Bio-Regions and Pilot Projects** - “Building bridges, growing connections & decentralizing abundance “ \[External Focus\] - Pattern of Weaving, Movement-Making, Educating and Teaching - You are bringing the learnings of Samara/Hypha and SEEDS to communities, helping them organise and weave into the movement. You are focused on expanding and collaborating with aligned networks and communities. **New Paradigm Storytelling & Pollinating New Perceptions** - “Capturing, Sharing and amplifying the story” - Pattern of Artistry, Map Making, Storytelling, Cross Pollinating - You are focused on the storytelling. You are a New Renaissance Artist creating and spreading the emergent culture. You are deeply embedded in contemplating the new way forward and passionate about sharing it in many forms. You create the media and renaissance art of the movement. You make it beautiful, engaging and share invitations that travel far and wide! ## Samara's Badge Archetypes

Note that these badge archetype are specific to Samara and your mileage might vary.

[![image-1618706438110.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618706438110.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618706438110.png) ### Membership Badges
- **Samara Apprentice -** The first level of membership for guests - **Samara Fellowship -** The second level of membership for apprentices - **Samara Council -** The final level of membership for fellows - **Samara Alumni -** Membership badge after leaving the org
### Basic Badges - **Lamplighter** - Attending Collective Sensing calls for the team and bridging info to team calls - **Facilitator** - Facilitating calls (has attended facilitation workshops) - **Scribe** - Taking notes of calls and condensing information in the various channels to present during meeting - **Treasurer** - Managing the team budget. Noting when more capacity is available, making funding requests, and running the Collective Evaluation Process ### Advanced Badges
- **Host -** Cultivating a welcome and safe home for all Samarians and Guests - **Onboarder** - Helping new members join the team/circle - **Mediator** - To be called upon to mediate any interpersonal conflicts and disputes if needed - **Librarian** - Maintaining filing systems, databases, providing support.
# Samara's Governance ## Samara's decision making protocol

Samara has successfully passed a proposal for this protocol on April 14, 2021 v0.1

### **Aims of governance in a decentralised environment** No participant, or group of participants should be able to dominate discussions or control decisions in a decentralised and distributed authority environment. That is why we avoid voting when possible for day-to-day low-risk decisions that affect subgroups, but use voting to make clear and formal decisions when they affect the direction or mechanisms of the organisation as a whole. This doesn’t mean that all decisions need to be made by consensus, or that everyone will be happy with the decisions that are made; that could indicate a lack of diversity or potential for innovation. However, the process should be fair, recorded, and unbiased, while honoring the value created and invested in Samara by each member. As much as possible, operational decisions should be made by the people or bodies with a direct connection to the decision. Person/s who will carry out or establish the measures made in a proposal should be mentioned in the proposal, so that the work and responsibility it implicates are explicitly considered and understood. ## **Types of proposals** Proposals can come from individuals or groups. **Proposals coming from individuals** Every Samara member can make a proposal. When possible, a proposal should seek advice from 3 other Samarians to refine it and give it the greatest chance of success before being brought to the attention of a wider audience. **Proposals coming from pods/circles/working teams** Pods/circles/working teams decide the method for making decisions within their group, as well as the way they want to record decisions made. It is recommended to record key decisions in a distinct way. A few days, weeks or months after a decision it is easy to forget the sequence of events should a group find that there were mixed expectations or misunderstandings about a decision, which is bound to happen at some point during busy periods. For proposals that impact the entire organisation, the recommendation is for pods/circles/working teams to use the consent process before going further with the proposal for the entire organisation to vote on. Pods/circles/working teams can decide to use another decision method if that works better for them in general or for a particular decision. Decisions related to the budget/financial use or control of Samara (expenditures, roles, internal quests, compensations for contributors or consultants etc.) are all considered to impact the entire organisation because they will use the shared budget. This can be reviewed should different budgets be established or discretionary spending by circles becomes useful at a later stage. ## **Voting using Loomio** Loomio is excellent as both a polling and consent process container and gives clarity about how decisions have been made. The timeline is clear, all comments are recorded, and even those that are deleted can be found by admins. **Process :** 1. Proposals that impact more than one pod/circle or the entire organisation will go to Loomio and ask for a vote from all Samara contributors (Samara DHO Group). 2. Note: Samara DHO Group is made of everyone who has contributed to Samara and has earned Samara Voice Tokens (1$ contribution = 1 Samara Voice Token) 3. Decisions on Loomio can first be added as proposals for feedback if that seems to be useful for the person (group) making the proposal (no mandatory requirement, recommended for decisions that are riskier/irreversible). 4. The decision method on Loomio is based on unity/quorum (80/20) - See definition below. [Walkthrough demonstration.](https://www.loom.com/share/d8a95190ef23419786f071a0c7f9dc99) Options for voting are Yes/No/Abstain. Voice computation is made in [this spreadsheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VnzDclcxqOTPAk8jMmywKqDQ38vVVbkYt3QMyfe6_DE/edit#gid=487311664) after the vote period ends and the result is added to the Loomio thread. 5. The voting period for Loomio is set to 5 working days for standard decisions. 6. For urgent and reversible decisions the minimum voting period is 2 working days. It is recommended to include the following details in all Loomio proposals wherever applicable: - Goal of the proposal. - This is important to check if the proposal has had the intended effect later on and for learning. - Type: Policy/Role/Circle (pod/working group)/Quest/Badge/Other - Permanence: is the proposal permanent? Is it reversible? Does it set a firm precedent? - Urgency: Relevant deadlines, windows of opportunity - Risk: Low/medium/high - Impact: individual/group/organisation. Unknown = probably high risk - KR(s) if applicable - Timeline - implementation period, review dates, v2.0 etc. - Resources required: financial/human/others - Responsible fellow/group - Group/pod/circle title - Loomio puts a name to every proposal, so if the proposal is being put up by a group this needs to be clear.. - Pod/circle/working team consent: Yes/No/NA +any objections raised in the group. - Person/people who will carry out the measures or process identified in the proposal should it pass.
* Note that Loomio is being used for proposals that impact the entire organisation until Samara DHO platform is available.
## Glossary of terms: **Unity/quorum 80/20**: 80% unity - Yes votes represent min 80% of the total voice casted; 20% quorum - all votes cast (Yes/No/Abstain) must represent min 20% of total voice. This method ensures a significant minimum level of unity and minimum inclusion of voice without needing consensus or being held up by those unable/not voting. Until Samara moves to the DHO system if someone leaves the DHO or is away for an extended time, they are not included in the quorum/unity calculation, so that necessary proposals are not blocked simply because some people are not around, have moved on or are on holiday. **Consent**: [https://www.sociocracyforall.org/consent-decision-making/](https://www.sociocracyforall.org/consent-decision-making/) **Proposal**: ‘offer’ ‘proposition’ ‘plan’ that establishes some precedent, new or adjusted boundaries, shifts fundamental definitions or commits Samara’s resources towards a particular direction. **Samara fellow/member**: Anyone who has earned Samara tokens by contributing time, energy and most importantly value can vote. A ‘Samara fellow’ is the first member stage that earns voice tokens.
# Samara's Structural Elements ## The path to the current phase of Samara* * It took us a while in Samara, to define the work that needed to be done and where to start, in order to create a DHO. Some of the initial steps that proved to be helpful on the way: - We started identifying some key results (KRs) - One KR became one pod (small team of 3-5 people to work on a specific topic) [![image-1618728608563.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618728608563.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618728608563.png) At a later stage we further evolved a new KRs map: - KRs were grouped together by themes, such as "Samara Game Guide", "Samara purpose, values and tools", "Samara Local Pilots", "Samara Offerings" - Each member indicated their commitment (%) for each KR - Some of the KRs became a priority, with a lot of members committed to that specific work [![image-1618729129361.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618729129361.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618729129361.png) As the work on each area advanced, it become clear that there were a lot of connections between KRs and that some separate conversations needed to be woven together. - KR pods eventually transitioned to Primary Pods, with each primary pod working on a specific thematic area containing multiple KRS - These Primary Pods focused on 3 main areas: "Samara Soil / Game Guide", "Roots / Samara Purpose Practice Tools" and "Branches" - Each Samara member became part of one Primary Pod, responsible for its success yet still able to contribute to non-Primary Pod efforts. - A Miro space for knowledge gardens was created for each Primary Pod [![image-1618729844523.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618729844523.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618729844523.png) The Primary Pods of roughly 4 contributors seemed to be a good structure for being able to coordinate between members, schedule calls, and do asynchronous work while maintaining connection to the collective intelligence. ## The Path forward Samara will further asses if and how the Primary Pods can serve it on its future path and how the structure will evolve to other working teams and more permanent circles in the future. # Preparing the Beds and Sowing the Seeds Make tools, systems, and resources for a Regenerative Renaissance accessible and useful to leaders of the regenerative movement. Foster and support grassroots movements, local initiatives, indigenous communities and all people and groups on this shared path. # Pilot Project Database # Our Relationship with Hypha Movement Building Hypha is the organization that created SEEDS and built the technology that supports it. They have also worked to support and grow the community of humans coming into SEEDS. These Humans come into an ecosystem designed to encourage play, learning, and collaboration towards building regenerative economies and organizations. This movement building effort has been led by the Movement Building Circle (MBC) within Hypha. If it weren't for the efforts of the MBC, Samara may have never formed. Many Samarans met and began exploring collaborative potential by participating in calls, events, and activities hosted by MBC. The *Ambassador Academy* gave us an essential deep-dive into SEEDS and a community of support for those looking to become an Ambassador for SEEDS. *E-Townhalls* host conversations on specific areas of the SEEDS movement. They opened dialogue about areas for growth and improvement. *Bioregional Cross Pollination* calls also brought together active ambassadors from around the world to practice the arts of: - ecosystem mapping - Exploring adoption journeys - Asking tough questions about what it will take to create truly regenerative economies where Seeds can be circulated purposefully. These services and more fostered connections between people, ideas, and initiatives. These connections produced the relationships that led to Samara's birth. *[See Samara's Origin Story](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/game-guide/page/the-samara-fruit-the-metaphor-and-our-origins).* As we have sensed into Samara, we have come to clearly understand that a key expression of our purpose is to support *local adoption pilots.* These pilots are experimenting with how SEEDS (both Seeds, the currency, and all of the ecosystem services designed into the SEEDS economy and community) can deliver regenerative impact to local economies and organizations. MBC has pioneered the creation of SEEDS pilots. They continue to devote people and resources to support pilot growth. This is a potential overlap in activities among two very closely related organizations. Many Samarans involved in its birth struggled with the question, "Should we just work with MBC?" Ultimately, Samara clearly expressed a need to exist in a form beyond the container of Hypha's MBC. [*See* ](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/game-guide/page/samaras-identity)*[Samara's Identity](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/game-guide/page/samaras-identity).* This confident expression of transcendent purpose and form does not exclude a deep humility and desire to work collaboratively with MBC. The circle and individuals in MBC hold deep wisdom around this work. Samara could not have matured without it. Some Samarans still hold roles or contribute to quests within the MBC. Now that we know we must exist, our challenge is to constantly examine how we can *exist with. Existing with* is the only true form of existence in an interconnected and interdependent world. **Our initial sense is that MBC is acting on a broader scale across regions (activating the SEEDS movement), while Samara is going deeper into specific local regenerative pilots (supporting regenerators to build organizations and market platforms).** Of course, this sense will evolve as both Samara and MBC adapt to ever-changing context and membership. [![image-1618851666238.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618851666238.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618851666238.png) For example of this relationship in action, as MBC hosts the *Ambassador Academy* to provide core general training and global community-building for all SEEDS Ambassadors, Samara will then work with those Ambassadors exiting the Academy who are most committed to activating adoption pilots in their local communities. It will be critical to ensure Samara understands how Ambassadors exit the academy, and it will be critical for MBC to understand how to direct these types of locally committed ambassadors towards Samara's services. As we explore what this coexistence looks like in our activities and offerings, we hold several key understandings and intentions: 1. Redundancy is seen throughout thriving ecosystems and is a core element of resilience in systems. 2. Redundancy and Efficiency are always in relationship. Redundancy pushed too far can create wasteful excess and inefficient use of resources. Efficiency pushed too far can create vulnerable failure points and structural rigidity that can collapse during unexpected changes in the system. 3. To best serve the Regenerative Renaissance, MBC and Samara must both strive for [Symmathesy.](https://norabateson.wordpress.com/2015/11/03/symmathesy-a-word-in-progress/) They must support mutual learning through full transparency and active communication. As Paulo from MBC said - "Our redundancy will be synergistic, as long as we're sharing our learnings." Both parties have acknowledged that **consistent and regular communication** and **shared knowledge gardens** will be necessary. These will maintain the right balance between redundancy and efficiency. We have committed to an intentional Samara-MBC call at least once a month. We recognize that our shared membership and activities present opportunities for constant communication outside these scheduled times. In the future, we hope to share a more refined map of our relationship, including a shared *knowledge garden* that contains relevant resources, initiatives, offerings, and lessons learned. # Our Aim and Approach **Anchoring the global vision and purpose of SEEDS in local communities** Most of us were drawn to SEEDS because we care deeply about the future of life on planet Earth, and because we feel a calling towards regeneration. In and beyond SEEDS, this cultural movement inquiring how to build a regenerative and thriving civilisation is often called the Regenerative Renaissance, or as we like to call it in Samara, the *'Regenaissance.'* SEEDS, at its core, is about exploring, co-creating and gifting humanity – as steward of this amazing Earth – a diversity of tools, systems, resources, and cultures designed to joyfully co-create thriving civilizations \[1\]. A core purpose of Samara is to **make these tools, systems, and resources accessible and useful for leaders of the Regenaissance and the communities they serve, while prefiguring regenerative culture in everything we are and do.** We aim to support grassroots movements, local initiatives, indigenous communities, and ultimately all people and groups sharing this path. Our organization is designed to be both a service provider and a community. While providing an integrated set of tools, resources and trainings that empower change makers to build local regenerative initiatives and establish their own DHOs, we will also foster a supportive and nurturing 'home' for these Regenaissance change makers, including SEEDS Ambassadors to practice, grow, and learn with each other. A regenerator needs to first and foremost take care of self and intimate relationships before they can responsibly and sustainably extend themselves outward in true service. ## **Approaching an unprecedented task** As Samara has taken root and began to grow, we have been very weary of saying 'we know the answer'. Facing the ambitious task of supporting the birth of a new civilization, we take special care to consider how we can avoid perpetuating the same misperceptions, extractive relationships, and arrogant attitudes that have contributed to the multiple crises – or "Meta-Crisis" – our civilization currently faces. We have cautioned ourselves and each other of the ways the colonial mindset and processes can become embedded in service-oriented work. We work to remain conscious and lovingly critical of our own and each others' perceptual lenses, assumptions about the way things 'should be', and biases. Rather than answers, we come with questions: What is a regenerative culture and civilization? How can we support existing, local solutions and regenerators? How can we help more people adopt a regenerative lifestyle? How can we support leaders of the movement, and help them avoid burnout? What tools and technologies truly serve regeneration, including various blockchain applications and associated cryptocurrencies like Seeds, and how can we help leaders adopt and adapt these? How can we help SEEDS Ambassadors become better collaborative leaders of the Regenaissance, locally and globally? Our task is to inquire deeply into the needs and desires of regenerative leaders, initiatives, and communities and support their efforts with appropriate mix of resources and tools through a collaborative design and testing process. We may have hypotheses about which resources and tools can be truly beneficial in certain contexts, but ultimately we cannot be certain ahead of time that any given intervention will produce holistically beneficial and regenerative outcomes. For this reason, we see rapid experimentation and learning as fundamental to our approach, hence why we focus on serving and learning from pilots projects conducting this critical experimentation in building regenerative communities and organizations. The remainder of this chapter outlines our orientation towards pilot projects and the various tools and resources we're testing and evolving in relationship with pilots. \[1\] see [SEEDS Constitution V 0.1.0](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hUVYiBANjVDTJyicM8YeEy22Tsliv68GW_y2EE-mvHw/edit#heading=h.x0guns57922d) # Local Adoption Pilot Projects One of the essential ways we envision supporting regenerators is via supporting local Regenaissance adoption pilots. ## **What is our understanding of a Pilot Project?** A pilot project is defined as "an activity planned as a test or trial" \[1\]. As such, local adoption pilot projects aim at experimenting and testing out strategies and different approaches to **activating local communities** and plugging them into the SEEDS ecosystem – spreading both Seeds and SEEDS to support the Regenerative Renaissance. Initially, the pilot projects we support will be preparing fertile soil for SEEDS to grow and manifest its abundant regenerative potential. Eventually, we would like to demonstrate effectiveness and trustworthiness so that Samara is invited to co-explore the solution space for the pressing problems communities face (hot spots) in their transition towards a regenerative civilization. Both approaches will require flexible, powerful, and trustworthy methods for evaluating impact. [![image-1618851779246.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618851779246.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618851779246.png) Pilot Projects are initiated and led by SEEDS Ambassadors in their own context where they are active as change makers and regenerators. We *listen and learn* from the people on the ground to find the appropriate tools and approaches that deeply resonate with them and their needs. We are asking the questions: *What can we offer? How can we support local regenerators and change makers? How can we contextualize and adapt the available tools to make them accessible and useful?* Pilot projects come in all shapes and sizes whether you're in a small community or in a large city; if you have an idea how to spread Seeds and regenerate our Earth, then you're welcome to launch a pilot project. Pilot projects can be about... - weaving together local businesses to adopt Seeds as a transactional currency - helping regional incubators to form their minimum viable organization or decentralizing existing organizations - establishing a market platform to connect local producers, shops, restaurants and consumers to provide healthy and nutritious food - making sustainable & regenerative products and services (including educational offerings) more visible and accessible - making (non-monetary) value flows visible and attributing and distributing value to contributions - creating a knowledge sharing platform / stakeholder mapping / database - supporting regenerative finance – providing participatory and decentralized investment, crowdfunding, and budgeting mechanisms - creating and using local tokens to strengthen the local economy - enhancing mutual support and collaboration in an existing regenerative network - building mechanisms for local investment in ecosystem services (schemes that link individuals and orgs to the regenerative projects in their community that are offsetting CO2, reforesting, restoring watersheds, etc.) The insights and knowledge gained from the work in Pilot Projects are fed back to the global SEEDS ecosystem to further support and cross-pollinate local adoption pilots. We continuously ask the question: *What are we learning about how we can effectively and joyously support this Regenaissance?* ## **Objectives of Pilot Projects** Pilot Projects will have a variety of different objectives according to the local context, local needs, and the shared purposes of those who come together to initiate them. Even as such, there may be some common themes which will often include objectives such as to: 1. Serve humanity and the planet with love, in practical and enjoyable ways 2. Support the local sustainability / regenerative movement 3. Support regenerative organizations, social enterprises and grassroots movements 4. Provide easy and joyful ways for people to coordinate and collaborate towards positive impact 5. Introduce a wider audience to better financial and governance systems, recognizing that many of our major problems come from today's dominant financial and governance models 6. Finding ways to collaborate towards building long term, decentralized, democratic, and dynamic platforms 7. Link local movements to an international movement and global network of regenerators 8. To provide meaningful jobs / livelihood for regenerators and SEEDS Ambassadors ## **Food as the foundation for regenerative life** We see food as primary in regeneration. We have come to a very clear realization that the fundamental way we interact with Earth and practice self care is via the way we produce and consume food. Our diets and the ways we produce, hunt, and gather this food are inseparable from the the health of our bodies, our communities, and our planet. It is for this reason that we prioritize supporting pilot projects connected to the food system – making local regenerative food accessible to the local population and supporting producers in transitioning away from extractive practices **[![Bildschirmfoto 2021-04-18 um 13.27.58.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/bildschirmfoto-2021-04-18-um-13-27-58.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/bildschirmfoto-2021-04-18-um-13-27-58.png)** ## An example SEEDS Pilot approach Getting a team together to collaborate with is an important first step. 1. Align around identity, purpose, objectives, values 2. Familiarize team with SEEDS and Seeds, and onboard team to the SEEDS passport 3. Familiarize team with Bioregional DHO Game Guide and start exploring roles / archetypes and getting clear on how to collaborate 4. Gain a clear understanding of compensation and rewards - one idea might be to get some initial sponsors from local regenerative organizations 5. Study existing approaches and choose one that resonates and is appropriate for local culture and ecosystem **General Strategy & Approach for Activating a Regional Pilot** 1. The objective in this approach is described most simply as creating a city guide and local platform for the regenerative renaissance. 2. We can start by identifying several regenerative organizations we would want to buy goods and services from (social enterprises), as well as organizations focused directly on environmental and social impact (NGOs). 3. It's very important to find highly attractive, highly regenerative products and services, and the most inspiring local organizations. Some examples: 1. **Products** like local organic fruits and vegetables, personal care products like biodegradable and ethically sourced soaps, sustainably crafted furniture, natural medicines, seeds, gardening tools, eco clothing, solar panels and associated clean energy home systems, composting tools, locally produced organic and biodynamic packaged foods and beverages 2. **Services** that help people adopt regenerative practices like solar energy, permaculture landscaping, human design readings, personal development coaches, detox retreats, natural health centers, ecological waste management, etc as well as services that help to incubate, grow, and scale regenerative organizations such as social enterprise incubators, marketing services, management consulting, finance services, etc 3. **Academies and educational offerings**: both locally available in person classes as well as globally accessible online courses with a focus on permaculture, organic farming, waste management, conservation, climate change, carbon offsetting, clean energy and energy efficiency, water efficiency, and personal and professional development including finding your purpose, social entrepreneurship, natural healing and detox, leadership, mental wellbeing, conscious parenting, romantic relationships, etc 4. **City / Town Hubs**: 'hubs' aligned with our values such as coworking spaces (like Impact Hub) vegan / vegetarian restaurants that like to host events, community centers, and other ‘hubs’ that demonstrate sustainability and regenerative practices 5. **Nearby ecovillages and eco resorts**: Within 1-3 hours of your city / town, inspirational eco villages and eco resorts where comprehensive regenerative solutions are demonstrated where one can visit, take courses, meet like minded folks, and in some cases even choose to build a home 6. **Environmental & Social Regeneration** - Carbon offsetting, planting trees, protecting natural reserves, tackling local poverty and homelessness, campaigning for human rights, and generally speaking teaming up with others to help heal & regenerate humanity and the environment. Every activated 'chapter' / bioregion should / could also help direct local residents towards amazing organizations doing inspiring and meaningful work. Ideally ones that will not only accept Seeds / BTC / ETH / Fiat, but also ones that will accept volunteers and visitors. 4. Engage 3-4 organizations to start with that are enthusiastic about the idea, and ideally at least 1 or 2 that are well known / recognized leaders in the community **Phase 1: Local ‘Regenaissance’ Alliance** 1. Organizations get to know each other, trade with each other, give each other great deals, and help prepare each other to grow / scale 2. Owners / managers / representatives of these organizations meet together periodically (2x per month) at City Hub(s) / online 3. Apply for Alliance Share and Campaigns to kick things off → shared goal: help support local people and organizations to experience regenerative lifestyle 4. Buy Seeds & Hold Seeds for owners & team members as investment and way to build wealth 5. Onboard all organizations on to a marketplace (LocalScale or other) that can accept Seeds **Phase 2: Soft Launch**
1. Ensure marketplace / platform has enough local organizations to make it attractive for visitors to come and wish to shop / learn / travel 2. Have campaigns in place to reward regenerative behaviors (clean up trash, plant food, transform home, plant trees) 3. Identify, engage, and onboard local media organizations with good following, and talk to local magazines, radio show hosts, influencers. Focus on the message of using blockchain and new financial and governance systems to support the regenerative renaissance 4. Each participating organization does a social media campaign to promote the alliance and the campaigns 5. Host monthly gatherings to introduce people to Seeds, to alliance members, and to brainstorm campaigns **Phase 3: Evaluate & Evolve** 1. Study impact, key relationships, successes, failures 2. Design and implement approaches to enhancing impact, strengthening relationships, and facilitating broader success \[1\] [https://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/pilot%20project](https://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/pilot%20project) # Our Current Pilot Support Samara sees many synergistic ways it can support regenerators with their regenerative organizations and initiatives such as SEEDS local adoption pilot projects. The focus is on bringing Ambassadors together to encourage knowledge sharing and mutually supporting each other and on disseminating relevant tools, resources and technologies in a structured way. Some of those offerings are in early-stage development (see Our Envisioned Harvest), while others are already active now! Currently, the following supportive structures for the pioneers of SEEDS' first local adoption pilots are being tested: 1. Pilot Pods as communities of practice 2. Global Pilot Calls for knowledge sharing 3. Holding Space on the SEEDS Discord Server 4. Supporting pilots with tools, resources, and technologies ### **1. Pilot Pods as Communities of Practice** A **community of practice** (**CoP**) is a group of people who "share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly".\[1\] The purpose of pilot pods is for Ambassadors to be part of a community of practice around local adoption of Seeds and SEEDS. The pod serves as a sounding board for adoption strategies and for mutual help and support. Pilot Pods consist of a (recommended) maximum of 3-4 Ambassadors working on Local Adoption Pilot Projects that are similar in characteristics\*, challenges and opportunities. Ambassadors can join existing pods or form new ones with the help of the [Local Adoption Pilot Database](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/local-adoption-pilot-database). The database lists existing Pilot Pods as well as Pilot Projects to help Ambassadors self-organize into Pilot Pods. A suggested format is to meet weekly or biweekly using i.e. the format of a [Case Clinic](https://www.presencing.org/files/tools/PI_Tool_CaseClinic.pdf) (Presencing Institute) or [Mastermind Group Meeting](https://www.salesbabble.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Mastermind-Group-Meeting-Format.pdf). Each meeting, one Ambassador presents their case while the other pod members deeply listen and then collectively offer support / feedback / ideas to help this case. Pods will be encouraged to record their insights and define a lamp lighter to bring issues and learnings from the ground into the Global Pilot Sensing Calls. *\*shared characteristics may be: demographics, culture, time zone, 'verticals' (i.e. tourism, food system, etc.)* ### **2. Global Pilot Calls for Knowledge Sharing** Global Pilot Calls connect and share knowledge among Ambassadors active in Local Adoption Pilots. Global Pilot Calls are coordinated through a facilitated community thread on the SEEDS Discord server in the Local Adoption Pilots channel. They take place weekly or bi-weekly and rotate between a **speaker series** (designed to introduce a variety of tools, resources and concepts within the SEEDS ecosystem relevant for Local Adoption Pilots) and **sensing calls** (bringing Ambassadors active in Local Adoption Pilots together to share approaches, results, and lessons learned or raise concerns). - Our first Speaker Series Call was hosted on April 7, 2021 with Steph from LocalScale (see below) and announced as an e-Townhall. Questions were collected in advance and during the call with [Slido](https://www.sli.do/) **April 7, 6pm UTC: Q&A session with Steph from LocalScale** *Description: Market platforms for regenerative products and services (both locally and globally) where Seeds are a (preferred) payment option play a key role in Seeds adoption. [LocalScale](https://localscale.org/) is developing such a platform and virtual farmers market. Steph will present LocalScale, followed by a Q&A session. See [alpha version of the virtual farmers market](https://localscale.org/market/vfm-merchant.jsp?uid=17664bab-3a79-4562-b9de-18e8f146a68b&mtype=Farm).* [Watch the video here](https://vimeo.com/534144529) Topics for upcoming sessions (currently being voted on):
- Samara (Pilots Database/Pods): Samara is focused on supporting and uniting together Projects that are building the SEED's ecosystem. It's a new journey for all of us, so collaboration will become our Asset. This call would be focused on introducing people to the Samara Database and how you can onboard and join your own Mastermind Pod. - Samara (Org in a Box): When you embark on a new excursion, having a map and some tools can make the difference between whether you get to where you intend on going, or get lost and call it quits. To make your journey into this realm a lot more enjoyable, we will package together a playful toolkit for you. This call will give you all the updates you need into this amazing project. - Ben (Personal Knowledge Container): Data has become the worlds most valuable asset, and those who understand how to properly organize, process, secure, and deploy data are gaining more and more control over the way the world functions. This PKC will give you a personal data management center and the knowledge you need automate and scale your personal or professional life. - Jared (Naturechain): A decentralized farming cooperative management tool that supports regenerative practices and scales cooperation. Technology has reached a point where conscious humans can collaborate on scale without the need for central bodies of control. This tool will give you the power to unite your community and grow food in a way that benefits the community and most importantly our plants and animals friends. - Stephen (Localscale): A new regenerative marketplace where shops, restaurants, farmers, and talented people can exchange their gifts to the world in exchange for Seeds. Built on the better than free economy, learn how you can get involved. - Igor (Cloud Market): Linking farmers to chefs, a new and innovative application that helps reduce much of the waste that comes from wholesale food delivery. The Cloud Market is built on the better than free platform and provides regenerative solutions to reduce and feed more people. - Nik (Light Wallet): A refined and effective digital wallet that makes it easy to send and receive Seeds, view proposals, and even check out your DHO. - Alex (Passport): A gateway into the world of SEEDS, where you can vote on and create campaigns and alliance grants, network with your SEEDS community and exchange the regenerative currency. - David (Light Food): With the initiative to end world hunger, David Solomon will present the Light Food community and all the amazing projects they are working on around the world. If food security is where you're passionate then this might be a match made in heaven. - Rieki/Cece (NeighborGood): As a human race, we have increasingly become more and more distant with our own neighbors. Many people live completely surrounded by total strangers. This program, with years in the making, has been designed to unite neighbors so they can unite together to meet each others needs. With community we can thrive, by creating more security and abundance. This call will introduce you to the NeighborGood program and how you can thrive with your direct community. - Nila (Joinseeds.earth): Everyone needs a point of first contact, their is a lot going on in our little world of SEEDS. This website has been designed specifically for people looking to get a good glimpse at whats going on and how to get involved. Learn about how you can support the team and best share SEEDS to the world. - Douglas (Dstor): A decentralized cloud storage system that allows people to support each other in sharing content. Cloud storage is about creating security for our digital Assets and together as a community we can mutually meet that need. We don't need to rely on on costly and environmentally destructive data centers when we can for a better price meet the same needs with a much less taxing and more fairly distributed data storage system.
The schedule of future Global Pilot Calls and facilitation structure is still being coordinated. #### **3. Holding Space on the SEEDS Discord Server** The #local-adoption-pilot channel on the SEEDS Discord Server serves as a place holder to gather and communicate with Ambassadors active in Local Adoption Pilots. It is there that the information about pods and pilot calls are shared and questions around Local Adoption Pilots are being discussed. The channel is moderated and surveyed by Samarans. Ambassadors that are designing campaign proposals to activate their communities or Ambassadors from the Ambassador Academy ready to launch a local adoption pilot are directed to this channel. #### **4. Tools, Resources and Technologies to support Pilot Projects** Samara develops, collects, and disseminates the tools, resources, and technology that are most useful to ambassadors facilitating local pilots. As explained in *[Our Relationship with Hypha Movement Building](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/our-relationship-with-hypha-movement-building),* Samara is not the only entity serving ambassadors in this way. See below for a brief list of current offerings throughout the SEEDS ecosystem, including the (organization(s) involved). - [**Local Adoption Pilot Database**](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/local-adoption-pilot-database) (Samara): Collect and share data on pilot projects and associated ambassadors both to map pilot projects and for allowing for self-organization into Pilot Pods - **Stakeholder Mapping** (Samara / MBC): providing frameworks and tools to map key stakeholders to launch a pilot project - **Value-flow Mapping** (Samara / MBC): providing frameworks and tools to map the monetary and non-monetary value-flows within an ecosystem to understand how Seeds can help to foster a regenerative local economic system - **SEEDS Transaction and Governance Applications** (Hypha): Passport, Lightwallet. - **Co-op proposal Nursery** (MBC): providing guidance, support and feedback to design high quality alliance proposals for aligned local organizations and campaign proposals to reward regenerative behaviors and distribute Seeds in the local community - **SEEDS Ambassador Academy** (MBC): Core SEEDS training & community-building for those looking to actively grow the SEEDS movement and ecosystem. Looking towards the future, Samara is developing several promising packaged offerings that will be impactful for both SEEDS ambassadors involved in pilots, as well as individuals, groups, and communities that exist beyond the SEEDS ecosystem at the moment:
- **Org-in-a-Box** (Samara): helping the regional incubators to form their minimum viable organization as a bioregional DHO - **Marketplace-in-a-Box** (Samara): helping the regional incubators to deploy a cooperative market platform and onboard organizations for regenerative products and services.
See more on these offerings in [*Samara Starter Kits*](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/samara-starter-kits). ## **Synthesizing and Sharing Learnings** To collect, synthesize and share learnings from the Ambassadors active on the ground in local adoption pilots in a meaningful and accessible way is key. This is where [Samara's core technologies ](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/samaras-core-technologies "Samara's Core Technologies")are developed, tested and evolved to support this efforts. Questions we are exploring: - How do we synthesize and process and share insights from Local Adoption Pilots in a meaningful way? - How can we collect and share learnings from the Local Adoption Pilots to make this an easy and rewarding experience for the involved Ambassadors? - How do we make the self-organization into pods an easy and joyful experience? - What are the most important characteristics of pilot projects to consider when organizing into pods? - How do we support and facilitate regular pod meetings? i.e. by learning from the "Meet Seedizens" experience to prompt Ambassadors to schedule pod meetings - How do we ensure that requests and feedbacks regarding tools from Hypha reach the relevant circles within Hypha? The aim is to compile: - Tools and Resources explained (recordings & notes from Speaker Series) - Collection of further useful Tools and Resources for Local Adoption Pilots (see above) - Best Practices, Approaches and Strategies \--------- \[1\] ["Introduction to communities of practice - A brief overview of the concept and its uses"](https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/). Etienne and Beverly Wenger-Trayner. Retrieved 18 April 2021. # Samara's Core Technologies Technology is a core enabler of Samara – not as a driver ("code is law", see [About DAOs and DHOs](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/about-daos-and-dhos "About DAOs and DHOs")) but as a vehicle to accelerate our thinking, to organize our knowledge and to coordinate our information and data flows. We use technology to support our internal workflows as well as our external presentations of who we are and what we do. In other words, our technology is here to help us understand the pilot projects (what and where), our audiences (who and why) and eventually to support the technology needs of our future clients (e.g. helping them to implement messaging, publishing or marketing solutions in the Open Source space). As such, Samara will focus on three core technology areas (and possibly a fourth one in the future): 1. Websites and Stories 2. Data Repositories, Taxonomies and Data Mapping 3. Surveys and Data Analysis *Websites and Stories* will be our medium for sharing the deeper experiences and diverse histories of the many pilots that Samara is going to be involved in. For this to happen, we will create a decentralized web-content publishing system to funnel the creative energies of the many activities in the field to content authors and publish the content on our website (possibly on regenaissance.earth). The website will also be the outlet for our data mapping and data analysis activities as well as our front-end to capture survey activities and other interested parties. *Data Repositories, Taxonomies and Systems Mapping* are ways to collect, process, and map our data in worksheets, tables and repositories (without development efforts) and present our data in social systems, complex adaptive systems (CAS) and network mapping tools (such as Kumu). These visualizations will help our partners and participants to understand the complex relationships and interactions on the ground and explain the impact we can have with our solutions sets. In other words, we are able to blend systems thinking, stakeholder mapping, and social network analysis to help participants turn ideas into impact. Furthermore, taxonomies such as [OneEarth's Bioregions 2020](https://www.oneearth.org/bioregions-2020/) or [WMO's Global Climate Indicators](https://gcos.wmo.int/en/global-climate-indicators) will help us categorize data sets for broader audiences. The [Local Adoption Pilot Database](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/local-adoption-pilot-database "Local Adoption Pilot Database") is one such data repository to collect and share data on Local Adoption Pilots. *Surveys and Data Analysis* is concerned with understanding stakeholder concerns and capturing qualitative and quantitative feedback and data points from our work on the ground. It is by far the easiest and most cost-efficient way to collect and process this type of data either through online surveys or questionnaires or by directly interviewing people on the ground (which can be done through video conferencing or calls). Connecting surveys with data repositories, we can later expand theses efforts to collect sample data for various bioregional and global impact measurement frameworks, such as Kate Raworths's Doughnut Economics \[Ra2019\] or the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) \[Un2015\] in a given region or bioregion. Samara's Core Technologies will always be selected and designed with a [Service Design](https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/service-design) perspective, taking care that the input of data is as rewarding and joyful of an experience as possible. # Local Adoption Pilot Database **Purpose** Samara has started collecting data to organise the formation and cross-pollination of learning between: - Local adoption pilots we seek to understand and support - Ambassador support pods (3-4 people) who meet to share experiences and explore best practices We have started to turn this initial data into a working database, which will act like a **networking hub.** To begin, the idea is to connect and help Ambassadors co-support and co-create with an explicit focus on local adoption pilots. Initially, we have transferred the data to an Airtable in order to have the flexibility to play with the structure and allow the users to drive and co-create development. This is a strategic choice before investing in a particular technology pathway. We envision a period of collection and ongoing adjustments before designing a more in-depth user experience and choosing a longer term or more sophisticated software solution. - Currently any aspiring or graduated SEEDS Ambassadors can: - [Add themselves to the pilots directory and register interest in joining a support pod](https://airtable.com/shrapKXuWtd5hCJfv) - [Start or create a pilot project record](https://airtable.com/shr4Cl9RUIYDxVRpK) **Development roadmap:** [![image-1618873941645.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618873941645.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618873941645.png) Samara has started supporting Ambassadors and established starter pods and pilot support using the following tables (sets of data): - Location - This links cities and towns to countries, ecoregions and bioregions within their bio-geo-realms. - People interested in local adoption pilots and cross-pollinating learning - This allows people to sign up so that they can link themselves to pilots and pods, as well as adding many of their interests related to pilots and/or joining a pod. - Local Adoption Pilots - This lists the local adoption pilots and pulls in information about the location based on the links above. - This table gives a chance to develop and explore which commonalities will be valuable for Ambassadors to know about Pilots. At the moment this happens with: - A type (pilot context: urban/rural setting and technology access level) - A phase (pilot developmental stage) - This table and accompanying form allows much more detailed long-form feedback about various aspects of Pilots. This is a wonderful potential precursor to web-pages which tell the story of each pilot as a case study. - 'Ambassador Pilot Pods' - This links people into 3-4 people pods in order to collaborate and share knowledge. The aim is to enable ambassadors to support each other. The sections below display each of these starter tables and the partially converted data. **Pilot People Directory:** The primary purpose of the database is to connect people and facilitate the regenerative processes of mutual support and learning. One of the sets of information is a people directory. This was created to allow ambassadors and those interested in joining pods or pilots to freely contact each other and look for areas of synergy or similar interests in relation to pilots. Initially much of the data is free input. This is so Samara and ambassadors can see what kind of interests and information appear. As the data grows we envision consulting ambassadors to create a more contained set of categories which are relevant to pilot needs. [See the table here](https://airtable.com/shrkz3jGUZh5bpmPb/tbldpgKjCrasfzjqD?backgroundColor=green&viewControls=on) **Current Pilot data, organised by Type and Phase:** [See the table here](https://airtable.com/shrkz3jGUZh5bpmPb/tbldpgKjCrasfzjqD?backgroundColor=green&viewControls=on) **Ambassador 'Pilot Pods':** [See the table here](https://airtable.com/shrkz3jGUZh5bpmPb/tbldpgKjCrasfzjqD?backgroundColor=green&viewControls=on) **Ecoregion map:** Originally we started using the bioregions from the One Earth website, but then discovered there were no exact defined borders. This meant no effective way for ambassadors to clearly identify the relevant location and regions to add their information with. We then discovered the below interactive Google Earth map which overlays the ecoregions, biome and bio-geo-realms. We have used this interlinked data to allow any city or town to be added to the database referencing the correct attached location data. This creates a user friendly experience that still encourages location in a much more relevant way to the regenerative work we are doing. Having to go into the map and find one's location is also a useful educational experience for many and naturally encourages discussions around these ecological factors entering into the pilot and pod activities. Click the image below to visit the interactive map and find your location!! [![Realm Map.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/realm-map.png)](http://ecoregions2017.appspot.com) *\*Unfortunately there is not yet a search function in this map, but we are working on our own version which allows this. If you live in a small village or town, search it on another map and note the nearest large town to make it easy to locate in this map for now.* **(Social) System Mapping for Data Visualization** Samara is adapting this data with social system mapping in mind. At the moment there is not enough data or links to make a social map reveal very much. People in Samara and People involved in Local Adoption Pilots are consciously structuring the taxonomies, data sets and use cases to highlight and encourage social connections with a view to future mapping. This will help us to work with emergent patterns as much as possible as opposed to imposing perceived patterns or partial summaries. See some example maps below which show the kind of visuals we plan to produce over time: **[![KUmu1.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/kumu1.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/kumu1.png)** **[![Kumu-Image.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/kumu-image.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/kumu-image.png)** **[![1_FaA08aVNEfWeSVIJiYN28Q.jpeg](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/1-faa08avnefwesvijiyn28q.jpeg)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/1-faa08avnefwesvijiyn28q.jpeg)** [![jmap-london-kumu.jpg](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/jmap-london-kumu.jpg)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/jmap-london-kumu.jpg) Are you a SEEDS Ambassador or Citizen and interested in Pilot Projects? Have deep knowledge about local adoption and regional marketplaces? Add yourself above and get in touch! # Our Envisioned Harvest Sensing into the purposing of Samara, creating a new kind of organization, enacting a socio-technical stack that puts the human at the center of the organization. Potential pathways from our core purpose into increasingly larger possibilities of gradually expanding the offerings of Samara. # Samara Offerings Samara's value proposition is embedded in two evolutionary processes - *purposing1* and *unfolding*. Sensing into the *purposing1* of Samara (the constant evolution of our core purpose), there are several *fields of activation and creation* out there that we are attracted to and resonate with. *Activation* is the field of aligning with existing entities (villages, communities, alliance partners) and cooperating on shared activities. *Building* is the activity of co-creating something new which can result in shared blueprints or knowledge recipes. The green hexagons are highly aligned with Samara’s current purpose (link), followed by other purposes in gray (some of which are addressed by other groups of Seeds/Hypha). [![image-1618919021928.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618919021928.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618919021928.png) *Organization Building* has everything to do with creating a new kind of organization, enacting a socio-technical stack that puts the human at the center of the organization. Our approach is to create a simple container that includes all necessary parts to launch and to accelerate the process of building an organization. This container (or vessel) is what we call "Organization-in-a-Box" and "Marketplace-in-a-Box". Once shipped, it can be "unboxed" and "activated" at the destination, a process that establishes the necessary trust and reciprocity first, before looking for a potential solution space. Sensing into Samara's second evolutionary process - the unfolding - we can see potential pathways from our core purpose into increasingly larger possibilities of gradually expanding the offerings of Samara. This picture is by no means complete and will evolve over time. At this early stage, we've experienced Hypha's Incubation Quest (the first "[Meiosis](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/game-guide/page/hyphas-mitosis)" of this kind in Hypha's organization) and have co-created the first steps towards a new kind of organization, acting as an independent entity. From here, the possibilities are endless - launching new quests, creating new offerings (e.g. starter or extension kits), doing our own meiosis, or working on a broader Samara-as-a-Service concept to become a new kind of global service-oriented ecosystem, not unlike a consultancy, but with the aim of [symmathesy](https://norabateson.wordpress.com/2015/11/03/symmathesy-a-word-in-progress/) and not rivalry. [![image-1618168808286.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618168808286.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618168808286.png) \[1\] A term coined by Paulo Carvalho, a member of Hypha and SEEDS # Samara Starter Kits *Samara Starter Kits* represent the next stage in our journey to transfer our knowledge and blueprints to a much wider audience (the next generation) so that the next wave can continue to hand their knowledge over to their own descendants (a process called autopoiesis). It is also a process to continuously refine our thinking (the next iteration) and include the experience of other people using the *Starter Kits* (a process called [Social Design](https://www.printmag.com/post/cheryl-heller-social-design) created by Cheryl Heller, the Founding Chair of the first MFA program in Design for Social Innovation at the School of Visual Arts). None of us have practical experience setting an autopoietic process in motion and knowing what will happen if it starts to replicate itself. However, we believe that by combining the above processes, we have the necessary *ingredients* to set a larger movement in motion, maybe even scratching the surface of creating a new civilization. Let's return to one of [Hilma af Klint's paintings](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/synchronicities-of-samara "Synchronicities of Samara") (The Swan No 9 from Group IX) that seems to have an encoded message for us (over 100 years ago!) about Samara and the Starter Kits.. we leave it up to the astute reader to interpret it for us. [![image-1618791857428.jpg](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618791857428.jpg)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618791857428.jpg) As we dive deeper into the *Samara Starter Kits*, you will notice that they blur the line between the digital and the physical - this is on purpose, and we intend to offer these kits both as digital and physical artifacts - print your deck of cards, pin your wall canvas, flip though your game guides and gather with people in both virtual and physical spaces to start playing & learning! But there's more. As we package our knowledge into "boxes" and as you undergo the "unboxing", you will quickly notice that the contents of the box will affect your personal surroundings and actually have an impact on your livelihood (is this really a Pandora Box in a good, more complex sense?). Once you've entered into this "[serious game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serious_game)", you will recognize the possibilities that are opening up in front of you. That space is incredibly large and will open new doors to higher and higher "sense-making plateaus" that simply weren't visible to you before and now become plausible and indeed preferable! So, without further ado, let's take a look at these magic boxes: 1. The Organization-in-a-Box 2. The Marketplace-in-a-Box 3. Other boxes and Shared Services for all boxes # The Organization-in-a-Box Imagine you receive a box that contains everything you need to set up your organization. Imagine you open this box and inside you see a "Quick Guide" that gives you and your team a quick way to launch your own organization without the inertia and pain of following the old paradigm of slowly setting up an HR function to hire and to pay the "right" people, getting managers to control those people, and building an org chart to put these people into tiny squares. Opening the Organization-in-a-Box follows an entirely different kind of paradigm - one in which you can bring your genesis team together, agree on the initial allocation of tokens, download and configure your organization's [DNA](https://guide.hypha.earth/books/the-chronicles-of-samara/page/our-dna-and-rna-and-our-code "Our DNA and RNA and our Code") and then launch it within a much shorter timeframe and with much less startup cost. [![image-1618631981370.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618631981370.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618631981370.png) The foundation to build this new kind of organization is trust and the key to unlock it is self-organization. The Organization-in-a-Box contains everything you need to establish these two pillars from which everything else will evolve more naturally and joyfully (like a game). [See the slide here](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vR6wa2rwJZMSqWESePQzeocdb2wMtLy-3Ja5J0x0HoPY1C9MREt7tZYJ1Ct2R53SQCdgYwg7qHRlGj-/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000) # The Marketplace-in-a-Box People will only adopt a new currency if they can use it to buy goods and services. Thus, establishing **cooperative market platforms** where Seeds are accepted as a preferred means of payment for regenerative products and services is key. At the same time, it increases visibility and accessibility to these regenerative products and services and increases collaboration and knowledge sharing among the stakeholders. With the Marketplace-in-a-Box concept, Samara wants to provide a toolkit that will help to establish a platform that allows and incentivizes aligned organizations to trade with each other and support each other through sharing knowledge and resources. Similar to the Organization-in-a-box, this is not a one-size-fits-all manual, but rather a set of questions, principles and toolsets that support the configuration and evolution of a locally adapted solution.
1. [See the video here](//www.youtube.com/embed/B_BbZvx6NPk) # Other boxes The concept of a tangible box can be extended into many other areas. For example, Rieki has introduced the concept of eco-villages, resorts, or retreats that can benefit from the implementation of a specific village DHO. From there, we can collect all necessary artifacts and put them in a box to be delivered to the village elder. Hypha has received many a positive response from the deck and we are eager to prepare for this transition of villages into an new generative and co-evolving ecosystem. We believe this sets this stage for new "bioregional DHOs" -a kind of conglomerate of hundreds if not thousands of local eco-villages, resorts, or retreat DHOs becoming active all over the planet. Last but not least, Samara has operationalized an impressive array of *Shared Services,* such as group collaboration and messaging, wiki gardening and knowledge sharing, document and file management or video conferencing, that can be offered as an additional managed service to partners or stakeholders. We are constantly improving and adding to the set of shared services, so that any new node in the network can immediately benefit from the additional service offerings. This saves clients significant expenses of cost and time and allows them to deploy valuable resources for different areas of concern. [See the slides here](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vSj_JqCNs2V08id0Em9FegTF8lvkk6LDL0-PncBphj0eu7pXCZ0molDHh1Cu4mJ-LTohjPmcdVYzebF/embed?start=false&loop=false&delayms=3000) # Samara Sacred Consultancy What will the future bring? Nobody knows, but let's look into the Magic Crystal Ball for a moment and ask ourselves how prepared we are for a new kind of future in which Samarians can become a kind of "sacred consultancy" that honors the trust, space, rhythms, and rituals that we have created here and simply replicate and offer this model for other organizations. These questions are meant for reflection; there are no definitive answers and everyone will have a different answer for themself. They also transcend who we are by asking what others will become. We are not holding the torch and trying to "sell a solution" (see Stay-in-a-Box Consultancy below) - instead we want to pass the torch to the next generation and show them present new ways from their own understanding of the world. - *Why we can be good at what we do (unique imaginal cells)* - *Why we can represent the regenaissance (unique community support)* - *Why we can teach the next generation regenaissance leadership (unique conscious org)* - *Why we can easily replicate our model (unique technology stack)* - *Why we can go deep (vs. broad) into the solution space (unique transformative impact)* - *Why we can easily transfer our DNA to others (unique knowledge logistics)* - *Why we can become more anti-fragile and anti-rivalrous (unique value creation)* - *Why we can birth (incubate) new entities (unique value exchange)*
**Stay-in-the-Box Consultancy****Get-Out-Of-The-Box Consultancy**
Scarcity mindset, not enough for everyoneAbundance mindset, plenty for all
Many players & few winnersMany players & many winners
Knowledge is hoarded and is powerKnowledge is shared and becomes more powerful
Big bucks for big words in big decksSmall tokens for impactful words in large regions
You wanted wheels with the car? That costs extra!Batteries are included!
Our way or the highway, so let's take the highwayThere are many roads to success, [let's take the road not taken](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrBHd41YqTc)
# Epilogue [![image-1618865061190.png](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1618865061190.png)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1618865061190.png) Samara may not be ready for a true epilogue to these chronicles yet, but everyone has experienced the sense of a kind of *'pull from the future'.* This pull has been mentioned in a few of our purpose-practice sessions. What we can do now, with all the inspiration, energy and trust we are building, is to translate our developing sense of a [*Massive Transformative Purpose*](https://singularityhub.com/2016/11/08/the-motivating-power-of-a-massive-transformative-purpose/) into a *Vision of The Future*. Such conversations and perspectives have already started to emerge. Here is one such example: *\*Context: Bongi and Joachim were chatting on Discord about places to go and Joachim mentioned that the famous pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago was on his bucket list. Out of this came a spontaneous "conversation from the future".* > Bongi: "I now have a dream to meet you on the Camino, Joachim!" > Joachim: "Hello there, I know you from somewhere", "Ah, yes, that was back in the Samara days", "Let's walk together and tell me how the paradigm shift happened." > Bongi: "Ah yes! Those days! What days of uncertainty and change. We didn't know the magnitude of what was happening or the pathways and forks in the road. > > Much like this Camino journey we theorized about maps and pondered routes on candlelit evenings, but walking it is a different thing. Tell how the shift happened? If you can reflect back your wisdom as we walk I can make a start old friend: > > *For me it started with that smell around us right now; soil and diverse plants and flowers basking in sun. that smell and the birds singing has transformed subtly but entirely since the Samara days and I hear her spirit in it all.* > > *It started with the magic of quorum sensing in the soil: when more than 10 species share the same root zone, a new kind of magic happened based on quality, not quantity: a quorum that reaches a tipping point of complexity and somehow sends a wave of trans-formative information through the surrounding areas. No one of the trillions of micro-organisms know what is happening per se, but they each live soaked in the proto-percipient intelligence of everything.* > > *Somehow this unlocks with diversity and a complex culture and they become part of a magic journey. A journey which suddenly shifts toward organic balance, towards clean air, clean water, regular rainfall. All from the soil.* > > *We became part of something like that and through us all a new culture was birthed. We got to watch the wave of change and soak in gratitude and awareness as we shifted and responded in the moment to the surfboard beneath our feet and the winds in the sky. A privilege to witness and channel the blessings of; much like the flow that comes in the many hours along this Camino path sometimes. Aware, acting, responding, and also witness; hot breath and aching muscles, but within a field of flow and an open gratitude.* > > *How was it for you wise one? Yess I haven't forgotten that nickname; the truth-joke always nudged you in those days and I can't help it after enjoying the humour of the region-island they used to call 'England'. All that natural food and fasting and still no walking stick I see! Maybe we change it to Eternal One?* > > *See the waystation over the next hill dear friend? Lets go. What was it again?!? Ah yes!* *Onward Team Human!*" > Joachim: (takes a deep breath in, the rich smell of the soil, the flowers, the buzzing of the bees all around us on this hot summer day) > > Yes, I remember it. It all happened so quickly, none of us expected it, it felt slow at the beginning. But the field was there, almost tangible, reachable, we could sense our energies around us, it was beautiful. I recall the first time of the shift, the subtlety, almost unnoticeable, yet captivating and traversing through every vain in your body. I think the teacher we had talked to way back when it started (don't quite recall her name) pointed to that shift every time she sensed it, not unlike goosebumps on your skin, but going somehow through your body (I couldn't quite grasp what that really meant at that time). > > Oh, yes the waystation, our old departure port, the light house, the green light beams going into the dark of the night every night, I wonder if that is still operational today. When we instantiated the first stations around the globe and started to connect them with the conscious field it was like waves set in motion as you describe it, some kind of magic machinery, yet with humans at the control board (if you can call it that, more like a sensory machine). Let's get closer and have a look, my old friend. [![image-1619298675938.jpg](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/scaled-1680-/image-1619298675938.jpg)](https://guide.hypha.earth/uploads/images/gallery/2021-04/image-1619298675938.jpg) Image credit: Moebius # Glossary DHO = Decentralised Human Organisation, or Decentralised Holonic Organism Hypha = Distributed cooperative toolset for global value distribution and governance KRs = Key Results, meaning the deliverables promised at the outset of a Quest Quest = a piece of work with specific outcomes, with a specific timespan Regenerative Renaissance (sometimes known as the Regenaissance) = the new civilisation that regenerates our ecosystems and communities SEEDS = the movement Sowing Ecological, Equitable and Decentralised Societies Seeds = a conscious currency for a regenerative & thriving global civilisation # People of Samara Who We Are ### (in alphabetical order by last name) ### Dmitriy Ageyev Dmitriy is a permaculturist, community activist, systems thinker and holistic health practitioner. In the past have worked as a systems administrator and qualified as an electronic engineer. Currently lives and actively participates in an intentional community named Tui, in New Zealand, Golden Bay. Dmitriy believes that to make a big change in the world we need to start locally. He is intending to bring Seeds and open a DHO on Golden Bay and start creating even a bigger impact. ### Trent Brown We are all on our individual paths, a journey for each soul. Sometimes those souls intertwine, that is when we are asked to hold unwavering faith the universe is catching up with our dreams. “Inhabiting a space for Presence; listening as Samara speaks.” Samara has been a vehicle to work / play / learn the new work paradigm where life is work, is play, is co-creative potential, actualized for higher Purpose. Here, we ask ourselves what brings a sense of Joy, a connection to higher Purpose, and what are sources for true, passionate devotion toward a shared dream. ### Jared Cordon After a two week fast I shifted my life purpose and have now spent the last 6 years focused restoring our planet through regenerative agriculture. Regenerative agriculture is the future and I am completely committed to creating solutions that will allow regenerative practices to replace all forms of chemical and mechanized farming. Nature is naturally abundant and we can tap into that abundance when we unite with our mother earth. ### Roz Savage After spending 11 years working in an office as a management consultant, an environmental epiphany in Peru led me to a radical career change. A crazy idea took hold of me one day, and wouldn't let go - to row solo across the world’s “Big Three” oceans (Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian), using my adventures to raise awareness, and hopefully inspire action, on our ecological crises. So I did, and since then have continued to use my unique selling point to talk and write about motivation, resilience, and the relationship between humans and our planet home. Looking back now (and as of April 2021 I've just completed a doctoral dissertation unpacking this) I can see that I was enormously naïve in my early campaigning. It's really hard to inspire behaviour change when the systems within which we live are pulling in the opposite direction. So over the last 5 years I had homed in on the fact that we need to redesign our economic model in such a way that we can have happier humans and a healthier planet. I had already been designing my own currency (called the "yin"), and then I discovered SEEDS - and so here I am. [Watch the video introduction here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH6U9X1UiVc) ### Irina Stoica I have always known in my heart that the world is much more than what I am being told and what I am seeing around myself. There was something inside of me waiting for a sign. Slowly a world of all sorts of possibilities started to arise, in many forms and opportunities, such as permaculture, living systems, intentional communities, a world of harmony with myself, others and nature. This new world wasn’t fitting any more in my standard corporate life. I embraced the change and stepped into the unknown. It proved to be more amazing than expected. I feel now that I am able to bring more of my gifts into the world and contribute to the vision of a more beautiful world our hearts know is possible. ### Joachim Stroh [Joachim Stroh](https://www.linkedin.com/in/joachim-stroh/) is Hypha's project lead for the DHO (Decentralized Human Organization), prior co-founder of [DigLife](https://diglife.com/) where he defined Cooperation-as-a-Service, prior founder of [Sceenius](https://sceenius.com/), where he explored immersive online knowledge expeditions, prior co-founder of [Change Agents Worldwide](https://changeagentsworldwide.com/), a boutique consultancy that created new ways of work, prior knowledge management practitioner at [Towers Watson](https://www.willistowerswatson.com/), a leading HR professional services company. [Watch the video introduction here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPWluMzyS50) ### ### Justin Joseph Taylor `did an archetype reading on who I was on this quest - top and bottom of the deck - funny that the quest started in pisces and ended same say as aries season - can you see me in these? can you see you?`
****Tarot Archetype**** **The Knight Of Cups (Top) ****The Emperor (Bottom)**
**Other Names** Lord of the Waves and Waters; King of the Hosts of the SeaSun of the Morning; Chief Among the Mighty
**Elements** The Fire of Water The Fire of Fire
**Adaptive Archetypes** Healer, Bodhisattva, Mystic, PoetPioneer, Warrior, Adventurer
**Colors** Cool Blue and Blue-GreensScarlett, Red, Brilliant Flame, Glowing Red
**Astrological Signs:** Aquarius; PiscesZodiacal Trump of Aries; Ruled by Mars; Exalted by Sun
**Gene Keys + Human Design (Gates):** **22 Openness**: Dishonor - Graciousness -- Grace**25** **The Spirit of the Self** (Constriction - Acceptance - Universal Love); **17** **Following** (Opinion – Far-sightedness - Omniscience); **21 Hunter/Huntress** (Control – Authority – Valor); **51 Shock** (Agitation – Initiative – Awakening); **42 Growth (**Expectation – Detachment – Celebration)
**Power Animals** Peacock; White Horse; Crab; Swan, DeerRed Eagle, Green Lion, Ram, Lamb, Penguin Falcon, Giraffe, Weasel, Stag
**Being + Becoming** - Service to Spirit as Compassionate Healer and Mystic Merger - Purifying and Alchemizing shadow through patient presence - Open As an Individual to Hear Emotional Wishes of the Collective - Here to be passionate, but do not act unless emotionally clear; - Here to be an inspiration for others, but life will be easier by informing people about actions or will meet restrictions - Here to bring something new into the world - Giving expression to deep emotions; gifts are expressions of striving toward more and more perfect forms of emotional interchange - Quick to respond to attraction and easily becomes enthusiastic under such stimulus, but is not very enduring. - Spark that Ignites the fires of Pioneering Purpose; - Service to others is the way of the warrior’s will - Creative dominating force; fiery action of Sun and Gold - A wild and courageous animal, lonely in lonely places; when tamed - docile, cowardly, gregarious, nothing left - Humility to Cosmic Law for understanding and constant consideration of will of the whole - Heralds new beginning, expansion, dominion,mastery of inner and outer world - Unification of Wisdom and Worldly mastery - “Use all thine energy to rule thy thought: burn up thy thought as the Phoenix” - Perfection of action through uncontrived and spontaneous nature - Honoring ancient law that those who wish to rule mustt know how to serve - Justified and necessary use of power in overcoming deliberate and persistent interference - Ability to respond to disorder and shock through recognition and adaptation - Expanding of the resources that maximize the development of full potential
[See the Miro Board here](https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_lbxrQ7o=/) ### ### Roderick des Tombe Life in the times of 'La Coronita' haven't been easy. It's as if The Universe is sending humanity another wake up call, and this one has been a big one. Finding SEEDS was a breath of fresh air. I have been working on something similar for several years now, while dedicating the majority of my time and energy to stewarding physical regenerative hubs. I believe strongly that in order to help humanity evolve, we need an online platform that connects physical hubs around the world, and people to solutions. Since I was a kid I've loved nature, and have felt drawn to protecting it and enjoying it. At 24, I decided to ditch the resume track of high level consulting in Indonesia with a focus on the political economy, and after 9/11 and some deep introspection and reflection on the history of our world, planted Bucky Fuller's quote on the new models to render the old ones obsolete, deeply in my soul and set out. I started with the mission of building a model of paradise / heaven on Earth. How could we embody solutions to some of the world's biggest challenges in the form of an eco lodge and village nearby a big city? I went to work on building this on two micro islands in the Java Sea ([www.pulaumacan.com](http://www.pulaumacan.com)). For the last decade, it has become one of Jakarta's favorite weekend getaways. A friend challenged me one day that solving the world's problems on a beautiful tropical island might not be a comprehensive solution, and recognizing the truth in that, I set out to also build a model of a city based hub. I stewarded a bamboo restaurant and bar for many years, and eventually opened up Jakarta's branch of the Impact Hub ([www.impacthub.net](http://www.impacthub.net)). In my spare time, I scoured the world wide web for a global movement that would connect all these rural and city based hubs, and the many millions of people like us hungry for a way to collaborate on shifting the course of history to ensure survival of our species, and to build the foundations for a thriving civilization. I found the Venus Project, the Thrive Movement, the Occupy Movement, Zaadz, Numundo, the New Earth Project, the Earth Nation and others - but none of them seemed to hold the necessary ingredients. So i decided to work on my own. Then I found SEEDS, and have since decided to pour everything that I've learned along this path to building SAMARA, and to learning and collaborating with all of the other amazing people showing up here. During these very difficult times in the world, SEEDS and SAMARA has been a source of great hope, excitement, and light. We are up to something beautiful. We are tapping into an Ancient Seed of Divine Love. And the great wisdom embodied here by this team gives me great hope that we can build something that will last, and help turn the tide of history. But that's not where the story ends. It's where it begins. And that story isn't complete without you. Samara, in some mystical and beautiful way, is almost like the spirit of Mother Earth calling out to each of us to know that we are loved, and to know that She can see our love for her, and that we are here to work in partnership. La Coronita is Mama Gaia's way of waking us up, and bringing us together. Samara, in my view, is one of the ways She is doing this. Calling together a tribe of evolutionary Jedi's, and preparing us for the grandest adventure of our lives. ### Alan Vogl Strategist with a successful history of business strategy development and connecting high-profile business partners. Skilled in holistic analysis and strategy development for China, business networking, international relations, and problem solving. > I came to Samara through a lot of chance and good fortune. I found out about Seeds through a chat group in September and joined Samara in mid January after I was asked whether I would be interested and like to contribute. I have experienced the forming of an entirely novel entity, which started from nothing other than the desire to grow the Regenaissance and an idea! Samara changed my thinking by giving me honest hope towards new ideas and dreams, which I would not have trusted to succeed, before." #### ### Fabi Vukotic My love for food brought me to Slow Food and the realization that our current food system is broken. Ever since I am on a path to transform the food system and advocating for good, clean and fair food. I have co-founded and am currently leading Switzerland's first food policy council in Zurich, weaving together organizations and initiatives committed to transforming the food system – in collaboration also with the city of Zurich to implement the sustainable food strategy. Attracting the right people in the right moments and being able to integrate them into a growing network is a gift that I have – and the extensive network from being active in the space of Slow Food, Collaborative Economies and Festival Scene is becoming an asset as a SEEDS Ambassador. I strongly believe that SEEDS will play a big role in the Regenaissance and the healing of our planet. What has brought me to Samara is the sensed need to make SEEDS and its tools accessible and useful to local communities and to create a space with a different cultural DNA from Hypha to support and nurture these efforts. What has made me fall in love with Samara and kept me with Samara ever since are first and foremost the people of Samara: authentic, considerate, skilled and motivated individuals for whom I feel deep appreciation. The possibility spaces opening up and the feeling of being at the frontier of a new paradigm is both thrilling and challenging at times. We still have to find and enact rhythms, practices and structures to allow us to work effectively as a decentralized human organization. And we may be decentralized, but we are certainly magically attracted around some core – which may be Samara herself. Even in its infancy, Samara manages to keep attracting the most wonderful people, which is what makes me regain confidence even in times where what we want to achieve seems too big of a task. Working for and with Samara has been an experience unlike any other working experience I've ever had. Both highly rewarding and healing and also sometimes frustrating and challenging. I feel that Samara has presented me with a unique offer to grow and learn and become a better version of myself. Something that we want to offer further to local regenerators and changemakers. #### Tyler Wakefield Abruptly ended a promisingly unfulfilling career in silicon valley cleantech (really big batteries with really smart algorithms) to *"live the questions now" such as*, "Are we experiencing civilizational collapse?", "How much meditation is too much meditation?", "Is progressive climate justice *Green New Deal* activism helping anything?", "What's regenerative culture, and is this SEEDS thing actually going to work?" I'm told I'm a good facilitator and good writer so I do that and other things for Samara. [Here's 3 minutes of me talking about my experience with Samara while trying to avoid a bee.](https://www.loom.com/share/16b27188aa7b47509d18270490472f3b) Currently living "How can we do something 'loco', like pioneer an approach to regenerating an entire deforested, dewatered, and de-indigenized bioregion in Colombia simply by facilitating emergence?" ### ### Bongani Wilson My parents gave me a name that means ‘thankyou’. This thankyou, housed in an evolving shell, was born in the mountains of Chimanimani, Zimbabwe which means ‘the only path through’. The shell has worn many clothes, but Kumusha (Home, origins) is still Kumusha Pambirii (The Home Inside). In Shona, Kumusha is not as separate from the person and the community. When I ask about you I ask 'how is Kumusha'. I was cursed with parents who demonstrated a way of living at odds with many of the dominant values housed in the aging systems we find ourselves in. A mother with the soul of an artist and a whole section of the garden dedicated just to edible flowers (!). A father who steeped me in permaculture, holism and learning to let go of all perspectives. Both of them showed me that the only thing more powerful than force is kindness. It’s taken a whole life to start learning this, and I still am. This winding path led me down every side-path I could find: builder, plasterer, healer, consultant, software evaluator, finance compliance officer, facilitator, tech support, marketing, site manager, project manager, furniture designer, liaison officer. Along the way, ‘to the side’, I fell in love with selfless service (located in slums, and human-heart-palaces, in Africa, India & London!). The ennoblement of spirit, transformation and wholeness that everyday people, living from the heart demonstrated to me, changed my life. Those are the qualifications housed in professional excellence I look for. Calling to Kumusha. Now I look back and realise those weren’t the edges, but the path itself. All the education, experience and opinions were nothing compared to the magic of not relying on the ‘I know’ deception. When you are ready to throw your hands up in the air; that’s when I want to be there and test the measure of heart and ‘I don’t know’ mind between us. The season of lock-downs led me to start studying law and sovereignty in a bid to link the financial, legal and governance realms into a picture that makes some kind of sense. Being involved in regenerative agriculture (agroecology) and lucky enough to read and communicate with many projects on the ground makes me aware of the systemic factors that draw all these together. That is why from the first moment I heard about SEEDS I had to know more. Arriving in the space I was soon drawn to Samara. Diversity and heart abounds. I choose to see the birthing of Samara as prophetic, to inject meaning into a meaningful existence. Now, my dear other half Francesca and I are looking for land to regenerate, I lead courses in holistic perspectives and habit development, and Samara is slowly swallowing me whole, if not in time, then in heart, head and hands. So I'm wondering, Your Wholeness, will you reveal yourself in this space? As a fellow traveller or simply a friend I hope I can see and bow to the wholeness in you. To feel whole, one must have dominion over oneself. Radical responsibility. Deep insight. Effective glasses! May you be blessed with a desire to wear all of these. ## How to Reach Us - Bongani - [b.wilson@excellessence.co.uk,](mailto:b.wilson@excellessence.co.uk,) @Bongaliscious on Discord - Roz - [rozsavage@gmail.com,](mailto:rozsavage@gmail.com,) @Roz on Discord - Irina - [irinaminodora.stan@gmail.com ](mailto:irinamionodora.stan@gmail.com)@Irina Stoica on Discord - Joachim - 📧 [joachim.stroh@gmail.com,](mailto:joachim.stroh@gmail.com,) @Joachim on Discord - Jared - [Jared.Cordon@gmail.com,](mailto:Jared.Cordon@gmail.com,) @Jared (Baliforester) on Discord - Tyler - [tyler.wakefield.410@gmail.com,](mailto:tyler.wakefield.410@gmail.com,) @twakefield14 on Discord - Fabi - [fabiennevukotic@gmail.com,](mailto:fabiennevukotic@gmail.com,) @Fabi (Zurich) on Discord