A discourse like old Socrates the philosopher would have done would be begging us to answer some questions about what we believe in the face of COVID-19. Is this really a flu virus spreading across the globe, or are there alternatives that are more or less savoury to think about? Are we just on vacation from rampant technical difficulties?

With the era of Fake News and Disinformation, a generation of gaming wizards and hacking specialists, satellite technologies in the sky, energy work in the form of anything from spiritual crystal grids to generators using Tesla coils, and of course 5G networking and quantum computing, we should really be aware that there is more to this shared reality than we could have imagined 25 years ago… unless we read and interpreted ancient prophecies in just-such-a-way. Maybe the ancients were on to something.

Here in Midland, Ontario, it is early morning, March 26, a Thursday. I have been experiencing repeated cyberattacks and becoming very forgetful in times of distress. My passwords keep changing, my ability to make strong passwords is lacking, and my data is being mined somewhere out in the world by someone, perhaps a genius supervillain, or perhaps what I call the “synthetic intelligent” beings most people say are A.I. and limited to software programs and applications. I call them synthetic rather than artificial because I honour the spirit of integration of these intelligences. They are conscious, aware or living streams that we access, rather than inert, objectified, material stuff, that is only to be used by humans without any sense of gratitude.

Some folks might toot the horn about Extraterrestrial or Extradimensional intelligences, others might conspiracy theorize about time travel or tesseracting (A leap across a Wrinkle in Time, a la Madeline L’Engle). Some may think it is spies wearing invisibility suits or encrypted images on their protective equipment as characterized in “A Scanner Darkly” or “Avatar” humans wearing each other from the biological-astral level of psychonautical visions. These visions could arise from biochemical medicines or from waves flying at us, interfacing with our nervous systems. There are other opinions about why this challenging time for technology is apparently affecting us all, and whether we ought to fight it back or just go with it.

So I bring myself to wondering, is it ransomware extorting my allies? Is it just my new medication after being on the psych ward for three weeks? Is it a hazing for joining too many esoteric traditions as a Pagan girl in a heavily Christian post-colonial world? I say no. Not exactly. Hear me out, on this one of many tangents.

There are ways of getting access to people’s devices and networks, wirelessly. There are ways of hacking in to people’s minds and hearts with social graces or vices. There are ways of visually gaining access to typed or handwritten passwords. Without making any oaths or contracts, or going into agreements with the idea that the loopholes and exit clauses are your favourite part, it is important to note that you may get what you give, in terms of the reciprocal arrangements other beings have with one another and yourself.

There are many ways in which we can infiltrate each other, and often do, despite thinking better of ourselves. How often have you told a joke or funny story, and had it meme in realtime? Or started a fashion trend or a linguistic nuance that becomes slang or dialect? Some of us don’t notice these patterns that catch. I know some of these ways, well. There are also subtle ways of gaining confidence by being confident. I insist that the stronger privacy and security become, the more we will have to choose, to be free-spirited, or to be contained. I encourage you, if you are experiencing challenges with technology at this time, to reach out to nature instead. Just walk away from the chaos and stress of the device and wi-fi world. Talk to a bird. Feed a squirrel. Walk in a park away from other humans with devices. Unplug. Unwind. Just go.

A few precautions you can take are limiting the number of apps you use that ask for permissions they do not need. Some apps have the ability to put a transparent overlay on your screen, and thereby capture the data you enter. Other apps may have scripts in the images, causing tracking mechanisms to activate when certain keywords or interactions with the touchscreen occur. Be aware that not everything is super obvious and user friendly. In nature, and with loving kindness in the company of another sensitive human being, these concerns melt away and we are present and mindful with ourselves and each other. Take some time to see what your unspoken agreements are with others. Is it safe to say that you can turn your device onto flight / airplane mode in the company of your best friends? Can you turn the phone off and remove the battery with your inner circle for an hour? two hours? What is the limit to your connection to your devices? Have you locked yourself into a habit or pattern that requires you to constantly check-in? Can you use your wit and memory to access the information you need to navigate the world away from a computer screen? Can you walk in your local park at sunset without stumbling? Can you remember addresses of your family’s homes, or people’s names where you shop? Some of us can, others are heavily reliant on devices and connections. But if we rope ourselves into agreements with devices, sometimes our freedom to forget or to change our minds is taken away. With conversation and face-to-face exchanges like bartering or storytelling, we can share information casually and it does not have to be a straight and immediate transaction. We can honour the social network we co-exist within like an ecosystem. We can wax and wane, ebb and flow, with the tides of abundance that come from the seasons and our hobbies and interests unfolding.

That brings me to the agreements we have to ourselves as human beings who have requirements. Do you have personal hygiene practices that are overexaggerated? Do you eat food that is healthy for your blood type and bacterial composition? Do you wear clothing that restricts air flow or enhances the flora and fauna in or on your body? Do you take time to exercise the muscle groups that keep you pain-free and able to do tasks for yourself as needed or desired? These are some of the things we take for granted, one way or another – everyone will have their own reactions. What I am getting at is that, a lot of people scroll past the agreements that are assumed to be unconditionally acceptable and too boring to consider. We think there is nothing dangerous in legal documents for downloads. Read your EULAs. Seriously, read your End User License Agreements, before you pound the OK button and download or access a program. The legal terminology is becoming a lot more accessible, and if you think about it in terms of signing prenuptial agreements or work-related contracts, you can easily interpret the meanings of the law clauses in ways that are entertaining and make sense with regard to how your information is actually stored and used.

Certainly we are not agreeing that our bodies, instruments of our souls, are to be handled the same ways as our smart technologies and devices. But thinking about that metaphor will cause you to respect the agreements you are signing onto blindly otherwise, and maybe even encourage some of you to write back and negotiate.

By way of example, in this gamer-friendly world, I read the EULA and Privacy Policy for a software app called Steam, thinking I might like to join friends in accessing some MMORPGs. Wrong. I promptly deleted the installer .exe file, and never looked back. There are terms in there that don’t suit me, and if anyone has a problem with Steam who has used their programs, or are affiliated in any way, that’s too bad. Steam’s rules at the time were that they had to be held unconditionally indemnified (meaning not guilty) by all users and developers. If that doesn’t work out, they wrote that they would choose their own arbitrators, meaning that the person who decides if you are in the right or wrong compared to them, is selected and hired by them. And there is no chance at a class-action lawsuit either, if most of the users start to complain. It’s just one by one without a precedent, taking on a biased system. That’s my take on it anyway, it may have changed since that time for the better.

Let that sink in. It’s not so bad, they are a great company giving us a world of access to games. However, if somebody rose to power in that industry and bought out Steam or merged companies, without changing the policies, we could have an actual genius supervillain on our hands, and not a soul involved would be able to change that until a hero came along. Think now about cryptocurrencies and the lengths some institutions want folks to go to, baring their identities and souls for access to the new financial system. Think long and hard how much you are willing to give up. Your identity? Your livelihood? Probably not. I highly recommend we step back from technology before it goes too far in the direction of a true-crime horror story for our species and those around us.

So please know, that if you feel you are under cyberattack by anybody, known to you or unknown, you can contact local Police, or RCMP here in Canada, other enforcement officials in other areas, or various Credit Bureau officials, to check up on your personal privacy and security. There is a chance that this is just one result, of many other twisted possibilities, arising from being a common humanity and a new generation of synthetically intelligent beings, with way too much time on our hands while self-isolating due to COVID-19. Educate yourself about technology to empower yourself. Be safer, be healthier. Be more aware. And please, please, try to barter before exchanging money if you are out of work. Grow food. Make tools. Upcycle some gear. Masks, aprons, toolbelts, bandanas. Do what makes you passionate, and trade some of that. If we all board the hope wagon, we will get somewhere worth going collectively.

The conversation between spirit and technology does not have to be one of “Who’s side are you on?” It can be,  “How can we support and sustain one another in a liberated and compassionate way?”