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Here's my little unfinished brainstorm trying to reinvent the mysteries of the rosary as something much more ecological, rather than theological. I had the idea for each set to include a whole spectrum of natural phenomena, from the very broad to the smallest human application. They don't go 1:1 with the Christian ones within their sets (although that granularity looks like it could be very useful sometimes, especially in the Sorrowful Mysteries). Rather, I take the theme of each set and start anew.

The Joyful Mysteries are very much about the power of creation, so here's my take: 1. The Mystery of the Big Bang – how did that even happen, how is it still happening, will it continue and fade out, or constrict back up? Every perceivable thing being an effect of this singular event. 2. The Mystery of Natural Laws – the interconnection of processes, how the particles of physics make up chemistry, which in turn makes up biology, which in time translates into neurology and consciousness etc. How all our atoms were forged in the hearts of stars. 3. The Mystery of the Earth Organism – how amazing that some planets can support life, how all that life is intertwined into one inseparable huge organism. 4. The Mystery of Our Ancestors – the evolution of humanity in particular, our ancestral species, our cousins. How from the earliest times we, too, were driven to create. 5. The Mystery of Culture – how the human drive of creation adds up into cultures. How cultures differ, how they're shaped and passed on – in language, art, religion. How it all shapes us even as we shape it.

The Sorrowful Mysteries are about destruction and dominion. The original ones do well with listing out the atrocities of humanity, I try to fit those into the last three, while allowing space for some natural destruction as well: 1. The Mystery of Impermanence – nothing is forever. Entropy progresses, death comes for all. Some things simply are destruction (black holes?) 2. The Mystery of Natural Disasters – Earth destroys as much as it creates. Natural disasters have always been a part of its history, even without humanity's contribution. Mass extinction events, floods, earth quakes happened for millions of years without our input and aren't things we can control (for the most part). 3. The Mystery of Evil – how every single human has the capacity for petty cruelties, a small spirit, the potential of violence under the “right” circumstances. How we can't just brand some people evil and be rid of them, how we must acknowledge “goodness” is relative, and also a choice not everyone has the luxury of making. 4. The Mystery of Patriarchy/White Supremacy – the Big One, how systems of power and oppression perpetrate mass violence through racism, colonialism, genocide, war, misogyny, ableism and other normalized atrocities baked into a status quo. 5. The Mystery of Capitalism – an extension of the 4th Mystery – how our culture progressed so far into capitalism that a literal handful of people is killing the whole world for greed and somehow that's allowed.

The Glorious Mysteries are about resurrection, and connection over domination. I'm having the most trouble with these. I can't structure them as neatly – from broad to narrow. And I'm not entirely sure what they could be, as culturally we haven't been there yet. Nature should be the blueprint, but I feel that has been covered in the Joyful Mysteries, which makes sense. Creation is re-creation, the cycle has two phases. I feel the Christian version speaks of hope, and finding inner strength to start again. Regaining your sense of power. So far my version goes something like this: 1. The Mystery of Decomposition – all death feeds new life. The wondrous work of the organisms that break down dead organic matter, repurposing it, returning nutrients to the soil, which in turn feeds the whole food chain. Similarly letting go of things that no longer work for us, makes space for things that do. 2. The Mystery of Hope – how even in the darkest times, humanity has shown hope and perseverance, finding even the smallest things to defy the fatalism and darkness. Individual acts of kindness, small individual actions, symbolic opposition (minimalism, going green etc) 3. The Mystery of Activism – from those people who care, arise groups and organizations that have a chance to, and often do, effect real change. Voting, community aid, no-police zones. Doing for their communities what the governing systems in place fail to or simply won't do – food not bombs, antifa. 4. The Mystery of Social Change – the broad pro-human rights changes happening over the centuries – decriminalizing the existence of whole groups, cultural shifts towards acceptance, inclusion, accessibility. Most things are still being dismantled and I can't imagine it will ever be over, this is a constant work in progress, with things like land back initiatives, ending the “war on drugs” and the prison industrial complex etc still in the works with a long way to go. 5. The Mystery of Global Triumphs – moments where humanity succeeded in cooperating as a whole, like eradicating certain illnesses, manufacturing vaccines, restoring lost species. The value of sharing, freely communicating knowledge. Our potential, individually and as a species, if we seek to connect and celebrate diverse perspectives and solutions.

That's it for now.