In this New Year 2026, I wrote the following editorial for my Great Turning Newsletter. I was inspired by some definitions I read while researching a bit more about the term Quantum that we hear about regularly in fields of healing as well as physics. It is a good example of how science meets spirituality. It inspires and is inspired by Systems thinking, one of the main modern philosophies at the base of the Work that Reconnects.
So under this text extracted from the Quantum Physics website https://quantumconsortium.org/ I will paste the editorial.
Consider this a musing on how these fields of Quantum and Work That Reconnects inspire me and give me Active hope for the year ahead. Enjoy the read.
An Introduction for Everyone
Quantum physics is a fascinating branch of science that explores the behavior of matter and energy at the smallest scales of our universe. Imagine a world where objects can exist in multiple places at once, where “entangled” particles separated across vast distances have intertwined fates, and where the very act of observing something can change its nature. This is the strange and captivating realm of quantum physics.
Quantum physics is the foundation of much of the technology we use today, and its principles shape our understanding of the universe at the smallest scales. This article will break down quantum physics in a way that is simple, approachable, and hopefully, a little fun.
The Basics of Quantum Physics
Quantum physics is the science of how the universe behaves at the smallest scales—think atoms, electrons, and photons (particles of light) and the coldest temperatures (around what is referred to as “absolute zero”, beyond which there is nothing colder). It’s a branch of science that allows us to understand and predict the behavior of particles that are so tiny, we can’t see them with the naked eye or most microscopes. Unlike the world we see around us, which is referred to as “Classical Physics” these particles don’t behave in ways we’d expect. Instead, they follow their own set of rules, which often seem bizarre to us humans living at human temperatures and sizes. For example:
- A particle can exist in multiple places at once (this is called superposition).
- Two particles can be mysteriously linked so that what happens to one affects the other—even if they’re miles apart (this is called entanglement).
- Uncertainty is fundamental; there are some things that the universe just won’t let us know. For example, you can’t measure certain combinations of properties to absolute precision, like a particle’s position and speed, at the same time (this is called Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle).
- Matter exhibits properties of both particles and waves, a phenomenon known as wave-particle duality.
- The energies of matter exist at only “quantized” or discrete values. This would be like saying the temperature of your coffee may be 120 degrees or 125 degrees but not in between.
To us “Classical” beings, these ideas are strange, but they’ve been confirmed by countless experiments and are at the heart of technologies we use every day (we’ll explore these in more detail in the next blog).
The History of Quantum Physics
Quantum physics emerged in the early 20th century as scientists struggled to explain behaviors they observed that could not be explained by classical physics. Some key moments include:
- 1900: Max Planck proposed that energy is not continuous but comes in tiny packets called “quanta.” This was the first step toward quantum theory.
- 1905: Albert Einstein explained the photoelectric effect, showing that light behaves both as a wave and a particle.
- 1925–1927: Erwin Schrödinger and Werner Heisenberg developed mathematical frameworks to describe quantum systems, such as wave mechanics and matrix mechanics.
- 1935: Einstein, along with Boris Podolsky and Nathan Rosen, described the concept of entanglement, calling it “spooky action at a distance.”
Our understanding and our “ability to exploit” the quantum world continue to evolve, enabling technologies and informing philosophies.
Greetings Planetarians!
I welcome you to a new calendar year and wonder what this year has in store for you, your family and community and which vision we are making possible together as a community.
January in South Africa, particularly for those of us making a living from independent business or taking children through the institutionalised school system, offered a lot of trepidation and doubt. As we redefine if what we are being is the best version of ourselves for ourselves, for our children, our community and for these mind-boggling times, invariably we question why we do what we do.
Messages of inadequacy probably come through very strong when we look at the status quo of ‘Business as Usual’ around us and put that into our personal equation too, taking into account the economical, social and psychological toll that our society is taking on our world.
How to feel fulfilled at a deeper level, when we know that our world is on the edge of such an abyss and that we are continuing, year after year, on a spiral-down trajectory?
Maybe we ask ourselves…..so, how does what I do impact this at this tipping point? What has my small life contributed to Earth’s balance in 2025 and now, how am I to support our faltering world this year?
I can’t turn this around, can I…. but, oh yes, we can!
Even in the minutest of ways, how we set our intentions of course matters. What you and I do or even how we think and trust matters. And what you and I think TOGETHER matters so much more. Chris Johnstone, author of the book Active Hope, reminds us that
1 + 1 = 2 and a bit
This is the basic concept behind ‘synergy’ and ‘emergence’.
This is very important to have in mind when we look at our we look at our individual purpose in society and how we value ourselves. This is not measurable. The result of emergence is always uncertain. Yet as everything is always in motion and that we are never alone, we are always acting as a collective, know it or not, emergence itself is certain. This brings about a solid sense of Active Hope for as we go forth this year, seeding this collective Great Turning.
On January 17th I got married, in my 50th year (!). My husband Simric Yarrow and I organised a co-creative gathering in nature full of ritual and shared moments. Co-creation like art, dance, music or performance are visible forms of emergence. And intangible joy – outwardly visible in the smiles – emerged from sharing a partnered dance for example, each step creating a new level of knowing each other.
The sharing of skills, from the serving of food to the design of rituals and the creation of spaces to hold them, were all tokens of genius and possibility. Not to mention all the spontaneous additions that happen to such a programme, where 1 + 1 actually equals 3 or 4 almost instantaneously!… We were all immensely blessed and so grateful to weave magical natural spaces with threads of human heart consciousness. Coming together in ritual is truly a most precious way to bring back meaning to a material and profit-driven world.
Indeed, five fingered beings thrive on myth, on art, on emergence. They thrive on creative group ritual practices. A ritual can simply be a coincidental or engineered coming together with spaciousness, with intention and with love, to innovate together. Although we may have misplaced or discarded our ancestors original formats, we do have a lot of new tools available to us.
In the countries where we enjoy freedom of expression, we have the right (and the duty?) to act creatively now, to find new solutions. We are embracing the ripple effect of worldwide creative networking, and welcoming new models of organisation, those that have small yet profound effects on local ecosystems and communities. We are rooting change as would our fellow communities of grassroots and mycelia.
The most savvy investment for 2026 is in collective creativity. It has the potential to paralyse the Great Unravelling and grow its wings of change.
So, let’s forget the maths of a linear industrial system for a moment and dream in to a ritualistic future birthing radical shifts.
In Gratitude, Truth, Love and Active Hope, Joanna Yarrow (Tomkins)
Gaia Speaking 