Who's afraid of Baba Vanga?
How does one behave in a coup? How does one dress?
Today, it’s cheap black sweatpants, a stinky black turtleneck, and a threadbare cardigan of indeterminate color. Socks with holes, leaking boots, a sad (comfortable) picture.
Maybe we should all start smoking and drinking more. I stopped at the adorable little liquor store for a vinho verde because fuck it all. January was not dry, February sucked. A South African billionaire Nazi has my social security number and measles is on the march again. As
wrote, “Everyone can fuck off.”The bean tree is full of turkeys, I see them through the kitchen window. A huge flock lives in my woods and I’m increasingly fond of them. When they sit up in the tree, it’s like a strange and sinister cartoon playing out in my backyard. Dinosaur birds in the big bare bean tree, silhouetted against the concrete winter sky.
Baba Vanga was a blind Bulgarian mystic and, while I have a healthy skepticism about such things, YIKES. If you don’t want to read the screaming internet articles with eye-watering pop-up ads, I did it for you.
You’re welcome.
Baba Vanga is known for predicting Princess Di’s death, 9/11, Chernobyl, Obama’s election, and the date of her own demise. There’s more, but that’s not a bad start to a resumé. Among her terrifying prophecies, she had stuff to say about 2025:
"In the spring, a war in the East will begin and there will be a third World War. A war in the East that will destroy the West," and she further warned of Europe transforming into a "wasteland". More specifically, she revealed Putin would ascend to become "lord of the world" and prophesied not only Russia's survival but its rise to global supremacy, stating: "Russia will not only survive, it will dominate the world".
Oh, also lots of destructive earthquakes and other natural calamities will wreak havoc across the globe in 2025. She specifically mentions an earthquake along the west coast of the US. My LA daughter just ran from the fires — will she listen to me about the Bulgarian mystic?
So, cool cool, I don’t believe in mystics but she got some big stuff right, yes? Putin is angling and has puppets in the White House, yeah? Things are a bit uNsTabLE at the moment, right? It’s been a wild decade, with the Russian asset’s first turn in the WH and an actual plague, but it seems to be escalating quickly. Is it just me?
I drove an hour to a small town to stand on a busy road with other alarmed humans. We’re out here. We’re almost all old, and we’re tired. We’re chanting (the horror) and waving signs (Are we great yet? ‘Cause I just feel embarrassed.). We’re gathering and commiserating, calling and writing. It’s heartening, but … can 700 concerned citizens in a tiny town do anything about this runaway train? Is it too late? The hopeful among us chant, “The people united will never be defeated!” I actually feel pretty defeated, though, even in the face of my micro-activism. Even in the midst of the crowd.
This is what they want, though. They want us defeated and despairing.
I am afraid of Baba Vanga. Afraid of her possible ability to see disaster barreling straight for us, as we make our little signs and sing our little songs. I don’t believe in mystics or prophecies, but maybe I should believe in something.
This is what democracy looks like? I’m going to need more wine.
🧙♀️ Lisa
While I was writing this, my phone started screaming TEST TEST TEST, This is a test of the emergency broadcast system … and you couldn’t make this shit up. I wonder what the turkeys think?
One thing to share:
Reading American Breakdown by
and it feels like an important book. The subtitle attempts to capture the scope: Our Ailing Nation, My Body's Revolt, and the Nineteenth-Century Woman Who Brought Me Back to Life. Woven throughout her own fascinating story is so much compelling history — science and politics, feminism and capitalism, health and wealth. Thanks to ’s author questionnaire for putting this book on my radar!
Well, shit. Also: from me to you, random solidarity from a stranger. Stuff/thoughts that help me right now: 1) one day at a time. 2) what’s in front of me right now? 3) action > ruminating 4) movement > lethargy 5) im not letting these fuckers steal my joy unless/until I have no choice. 6) I’m also not letting them turn me into a hardened hater. I refuse to play into their us versus them bullshit. 7) maximize time offline and in the world. Even something as simple as going to the grocery store more often but buying fewer things each time. Just getting out there among real humans. It’s helping me.
As one who dabbles in the metaphysical, a woods/swamp witch who loves the esoteric- diviners, fortune tellers, etc are tricky. Why? Because divining the future is tricky. If Baba Vanga got a lot of stuff right-she probably got some things wrong. Why?
Because one reading of the future is a POSSIBLE future. It’s like being a prophet. Some of those prophecies land, some not at all. I’ve always taken it as a warning on how to act in the future, not a guaranteed future.
One person can change the course of history- even in small ways. We all feel like we are yelling into the void right now. But sometimes your voice hits the right ear or ears. Even if it leads to a slower change than we’d like, it is still change, versus apathy, cowardice or worse.
Oh- and some prophecies, as terrifying as they are to come true, do not flesh out completely. It’s a vision, but it’s one version of it. For example, someone can come into power and suddenly pass away, or be challenged within for that power. If we wait upon a “Chosen One” to rescue us- we will be doomed. If we collectively fight in our own ways, sound the alarms, protest, vote while we can, etc- we are CHOOSING to frame our future, not just accept the first vision of it thrust upon us.