If we are in the midst of the Great Derangement (thank you Amitav Ghosh), what tools do we have to help us shape a system that is actually fit for purpose? Who are our elders and what can they teach us? How do we learn to listen to our heart's (and hearts') desire and shape the communities of place, passion and purpose that will allow us to emerge into a different culture?
Our two guests this week live and work at the heart of a global movement for cultural change. Looby Macnamara is the co-founder of the Cultural Emergence movement. She is an author, designer, gardener, song leader, mother, and artist. She has written four influential books including People & Permaculture and Cultural Emergence - and she has a new one coming out in September: Design Adventures: Discover a Creative Framework for Effective Change. She is also creator of the CEED card deck - Cultural Emergence Empowerment & Design. With her partner, Chris, Looby runs Applewood Permaculture Centre in Herefordshire, UK, where they facilitate courses and demonstrate permaculture of both land and people .
Leona Johnson, host of Connection Matters Podcast, is a transformational life coach, connection facilitator, and guide dedicated to personal growth, cultural emergence, and regenerative ways of being. She has spent decades exploring how we heal the crisis of disconnection, within ourselves, in our relationships, and in the world around us.
Through her work in nature connection, rites of passage, life coaching, and cultural emergence, she supports people to step into Connected Self-Leadership and what she calls ‘Everyday Spirituality’ practical, embodied ways of living with depth, purpose, and alignment.
Leona co-hosts the PEACE course with Looby and online with Jon Young, runs the Connection Matters Leadership Programme, Nature Quests around the world, and Children, Nature & Spirituality courses. At the heart of her work is a simple but powerful message: When we remember our interconnectedness, with ourselves, each other, and the other than human world, we step into our fullest potential and create the conditions for a thriving world.
These two transformational women are part of a growing movement to shift the entire foundation of our culture. What happens if we stop being the hamsters in the wheel of modernity and become the lively, inspiring, inspired - and connected - individuals we could be? In this episode we explore the nature of cultural emergence, the values that could underpin our new culture and the real, grounded, practical ways we can begin the journeys of shift in ourselves and our communities.
Cultural Emergence www.cultural-emrgence.com
Cultural Emergence Courses https://cultural-emergence.com/courses-overview/
PEACE Course (24th - 29th June 2025) https://applewoodcourses.com/uk_courses/peace-empowerment-and-cultural-emergence/
Applewood Courses https://applewoodcourses.com/courses/
Looby's Books https://applewoodcourses.com/sales/books/
Leona's website: https://www.leonajohnson.life/
Leona's podcast Connection Matters https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/connection-matters-podcast/id1515564368
Leona's FREE mini course on Elemental Connection https://pages.leonajohnson.life/elemental-connections-hello
and
If you want to share the journey with Accidental Gods, we're here:
Accidental Gods Gatherings https://accidentalgods.life/gatherings-2025/
Accidental Gods Membership https://accidentalgods.life/join-us/
