EarthElders: An Urgent Prophecy.

A Conversation with Mindahi Bastida, Convener of the Council of EarthElders and Filmmaker Lucy Martens

[5 minute read]

I am so excited to tell you about one of the most urgent prophecies and impactful projects I’ve ever encountered.

But first, a quick rant.

One of the most significant personal and cultural blindspots I wanted to address with The Leading Edge was the neglected role of wise elders. In the West, we are collectively so terrified of death that we send our own elderly to die alone in nursing homes. We also hate being told what to do, and so we systematically ignore indigenous wisdom as an outdated relic of magical thinking. The role of the “wise elder” was central to most cultures in human history. It’s also practically invisible in modern society: just try and name some!

We might be running out of time to change that.

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A Warning from the Elders

I was fortunate to be recently introduced to filmmaker Lucy Martens. She has been focused on bringing attention to a diverse array of the world’s wisest indigenous elders. The focus of her new documentary, EarthElders, is the prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor.

The back story: In 2013, over 100 indigenous elders held a series of ceremonies to find a way out of the man-made crises threatening life on our planet - and to seek guidance from Mother Earth. During this time, it was revealed that the era of the Eagle and Condor prophecy was upon us.

The elders then received the Five Mandates. To deliver these mandates, a first Council of Seven was created in 2021, to represent the Americas. Each member underwent a rigorous selection process. By 2023, an extended Council of 13 Earth Elders was appointed as Guardians of Mother Earth.

Lucy introduced me to the Founder and Convener of the Council of Earth Elders, Mindahi Bastida. As a spiritual leader and holder of 2 doctorates, Mindahi walks between our worlds. He’s a caretaker of the philosophy and traditions of the Otomi-Toltec peoples, as well as a consultant with UNESCO around Sacred Sites and Biocultural issues and for other UN programs. I interviewed both Lucy and Mindahi about the project. For the first 27 minutes, Lucy introduces the project and prophecy, as well as the documentary she’s making to amplify the message. In Mindahi’s interview that follows he tells us his own story, and why he believes the prophecy is both urgent and imminent for all of us. Right now. You can watch them together below or listen on Spotify.

[Both interviews are also available separately on The Leading Edge Spotify and YouTube channels].

What is the prophecy? Originating in the Americas, the Eagle and Condor prophecy foretells that, starting on 1492, the Sun would stop shining on the lands of the Eagle native Peoples and the Condor native Peoples. This Dark Sun would mark the start of a 520-year era during which the Eagle and the Condor Peoples would have to suspend their balanced way of living, and put on hold the rich exchange of knowledge and goods between them until the coming of the New Dawn.

Upon the completion of the Dark Sun era there would come a shift, and the subsequent 520-year cycle, starting in 2013, would present an opportunity for the Eagle and the Condor Peoples to reunite in flight, to revitalize their knowledge systems, philosophies and ways of life, and to co-create a new level of human consciousness by uniting peoples from the four world directions.

The Inca and their descendants call the shift Pachacuti, the Otomi-Toltec, 4 Movements, and the Maya 13 Bak’tun. The New Dawn requires that the Earth goes through 13 years of imbalance with extreme events like fires, droughts, floods and hurricanes. This cleansing process lasts from 2013 to 2026. [The specificity of those dates would be easier to ignore if it wasn’t coming from so many elders, and also coming to me from so many unsettlingly varied sources, including another one last week].

This prophecy has deep resonance with the concept of the shift back to wisdom and to “right hemisphere thinking.” The Eagle holds the masculine Sun energy (pragmatic thinking and focus on protecting the biocultural territory), while the Condor holds the feminine Earth energy (intuitive thinking and focus on nurturing the creative life force). Both must be in balance in every level, from the micro to the macrocosmic, for Mother Earth and all her earthlings to fully thrive. The means of restoring this balance was reveled in the Five Mandates.

The Five Mandates

1. The first mandate involves establishing three concentric councils: one of 7 representing the Americas, an extended council of 13 for the planet, and one of 52 for key bio-cultural regions.

2. The work of the second mandate aims to restore spiritual and ecological equilibrium by protecting and restoring 52 strategic biocultural sites, appointing caretakers for each.

3. The third mandate is creating Centers of Traditional Knowledge and Ancestral Wisdom, also known as ‘Houses of Original Thought.’ These are hubs for promoting traditional knowledge and ancestral wisdom and leading ecosystem restoration. They are also centers for empowering the next generation of stewards.

4. The fourth mandate recognizes Original Peoples, whose way of life is threatened, as the last line of defense for Mother Earth. It involves utilizing legal and other actions to defend indigenous rights and territories so that they are safeguarded for future generations.

5. The fifth mandate is about ensuring the voices of Original Nations are heard in the international arena, ensuring their wisdom contributes to decision-making processes.

Even if you’re not fully on board with imminent prophecies, these sound like exceptionally worthy goals.

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The EarthElders Documentary

Together with Le Ciel Foundation, Lucy Martens co-directed and produced the 2020 documentary The Twelve. In November 2017, twelve highly spiritual Elders from wisdom traditions around the globe agreed to gather at the U.N. in New York. The documentary follows their journey as well as articulating the overlaps in their spiritual worldviews. The focus of her new documentary, EarthElders, is the prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor, introduced in this gorgeous and moving trailer.

In our interview above (and here) we discussed the making of The Twelve as well as her relationship to the Earth Elders and the prophecy itself.

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How can you help?

If you’re interested in supporting Lucy, she is currently helping to raise money for both the documentary and the EarthElders project.

I have no formal affiliation with EarthElders, but this seems like an especially high-leverage, high-impact project. For those of you with power and influence, please amplify this message. For those of you with resources and a desire for genuine impact, please take some time to look at their website and consider supporting them.

Please feel free to contact me with questions or your resources.