James Redenbaugh and Tess opened the meeting with personal connection, discussing recent illnesses attributed to solar flares and viewing sickness as "ascension symptoms" or spiritual upgrades (02:09). This framing set the tone for a deeply philosophical conversation about reality, healing, and collective creation that would inform the entire vision for Gaia Warriors.
The conversation evolved into a substantive exploration of scientific paradigms, with Tess sharing her shift toward terrain theory over germ theory, emphasizing that disease stems from unresolved trauma rather than external pathogens (15:58). She referenced Caroline Myss's teaching that "your biography becomes your biology" and the work of Joe Dispenza and Bruce Lipton on quantum healing and epigenetics. James introduced integral theory's four-quadrant model, presenting reality as having objective, subjective, inter-objective, and intersubjective dimensions, with the intersubjective collective experience being the most fundamental (22:27).
This philosophical foundation proved essential to understanding Gaia Warriors' purpose. Both agreed that victimhood represents one of the most disempowering forces on the planet, and that reclaiming sovereignty requires recognizing that "there's nothing outside of us doing anything to us" (25:39). This perspective of radical self-responsibility and collective co-creation became a cornerstone principle for the platform's approach.
When asked about the essential qualities of Gaia Warriors, Tess identified resonance as the fundamental design principle (34:00). She described wanting to create a "soul calling" that transcends mental comprehension, something that brings a "full body yes" and moves people to tears through its alignment with truth. This wasn't about intellectual persuasion but about creating a frequency that speaks directly to the soul.
James responded with full body goosebumps and shared an anecdote about an African tribe that creates a unique song for each child, singing it at key life moments and when someone goes astray, to call them back to their true nature (38:09). This sparked the core question: what is the collective song we've all forgotten that will help us remember and come home? This became a guiding metaphor for the entire platform design.
Tess emphasized that every individual needs to feel like an "integral piece" of the movement, as essential as each piece in a puzzle (36:52). The platform should empower people to recognize their gifts as necessary for collective transformation, fostering deep belonging to something meaningful that enables their divine blueprints to shine.
James prompted exploration of the "warrior" aspect of Gaia Warriors (49:12). Tess acknowledged this as a charged word that carries resistance due to its association with war and fighting. However, she explained her intentional choice to reclaim the word based on its indigenous roots, where a warrior is someone who will do what it takes to maintain peace (52:50).
The warrior invocation calls people out of their comfort zones to face their own darkness and shadow work. Tess argued that without this courage, meaningful change becomes impossible. She distinguished this from passive spiritual approaches, emphasizing that sharing gifts, doing shadow work, and stepping outside societal conditioning all require warrior energy (53:17). This is action-oriented spiritual work, not passive hoping.
Tess chose "Gaia" specifically because Earth represents the one thing all humans share regardless of race, language, country, or belief system (56:49). Warriors from different planets and places have chosen Gaia as their home, united in their commitment to transforming this planet. James referenced the film Peaceful Warrior as embodying this archetype perfectly.
James affirmed this reclaiming of warrior consciousness, noting that spiritual circles can become too passive with "love and light" approaches. The Gaia Warriors vision calls forth empowerment and action, rebelling against conditioning and systems people were born into (54:27). This requires standing up for what's true even when it's harder than physical fighting, because it involves confronting internalized beliefs and inherited structures. Tess added that comfort is one of the worst pandemics, keeping people small, complacent, and unable to grow (57:50).
When asked to envision Gaia Warriors as a physical environment, Tess immediately spoke of nature, particularly the combination of forest and beach (39:59). She described wanting to evoke the mystical awe that nature inherently provides, that sense of breathtaking beauty and symbiosis where everything works together as a unified field.
For built structures within this natural context, Tess expressed strong interest in natural building methods using adobe, cob, bamboo, and hemp, inspired by permaculture principles (41:44). These structures should look like they "grew out of the ground" rather than being imposed upon nature, seamlessly integrated with their environment.
Ellen mentioned Geoship, which Tess knows well and plans to feature in her Gaia Warriors launch panel (43:33). Ellen described sleeping in one of their ceramic geodesic structures and how different it feels from conventional buildings. This represents the kind of non-rectangular, nature-inspired architecture that moves beyond the boxes humans typically build in. James shared his architecture background and long-held dream of creating villages that grow more organically, like structures on other planets that feel native to their environment rather than imposed (43:04).
This vision of physical space directly informed thinking about the digital platform. James noted that while websites are viewed through rectangular screens with square pixels, the design should push against these limitations using organic, responsive geometry rather than defaulting to rectangular layouts (46:07). For imagery, he emphasized using real photographs of Earth's actual beauty rather than AI-generated nature scenes, preserving the authenticity and frequency of the real thing (46:32).
Tess shared the story behind the Gaia Warriors logo, which features two figures (originally both feminine, modified to make one masculine) holding hands, one bearing a torch, the other pouring water (01:01:04). The image contains all four elements: earth, air, fire, and water, representing "the mother's angels" and the main fabric of existence. It also embodies yin-yang, masculine-feminine balance, and day-night cycles.
The masculine figure holds the torch as the torchbearer, while the feminine figure nurtures and waters the earth. They hold hands, conveying "we're doing this together" as warriors for the planet. James observed additional symbolism in the roots and branches, and noted that each figure has wings, with the masculine having a feminine wing and vice versa, further emphasizing the integration of both energies within each (01:03:15).
Tess shared a mystical experience: she found the image online, tried unsuccessfully to locate the artist, then during an ayahuasca ceremony, the spirit of whoever created the image contacted her and gave permission to use it (01:04:51). She modified it to create the masculine-feminine balance and add the elemental symbolism. James successfully located the original artist, "Troll Girl" on DeviantArt, who posted it in 2010 under the title "As Above, So Below" (01:06:21). Tess plans to contact her for formal permission and possible compensation, expressing excitement that the artist's other work aligns beautifully with Gaia Warriors' ethos.
James articulated a core design philosophy: Gaia Warriors must be more than a new version of something that already exists (30:22). If done right, it will be a new medium entirely. It must roll on existing roads and be accessible to intended users, but it needs to function as an attractor, making a clear call to action for those meant to see it.
He used nature's evolution as the guiding metaphor: flowers evolve function and beauty simultaneously, not in separate stages (31:53). A mountain or cat didn't have to be beautiful but is anyway. Beauty is imbued in everything natural. Gaia Warriors should be beautiful and particularly resonant to the networks of tribes it's meant to call, like lighting a big fire on a big mountain that people can see from far away and know instinctively they should come to.
At this early stage, James emphasized understanding the ingredients of that fire, the nature of the mountain, and the nature of the gathering space (34:00). He deliberately avoided prescribing verbs like "gather," inviting exploration of what actions this space enables. The questionnaire helps organize ideas into different domains, but the process should remain evolutionary and follow inspiration.
This is simultaneously a product design and marketing exercise, because they are one thing (33:05). The platform must be functional and attractive at the same time, evolving together rather than designing function first and then trying to make it appealing afterward.
[technology="Custom Membership System"]
James outlined the workflow between sessions: both will collect visual inspiration through mood boarding (01:08:33). He suggested using Pinterest [tag="pinterest"] for initial discovery, then consolidating favorites into a Google folder and ultimately into Figma [tag="figma"] where everything can be seen together as a collaborative collage workspace (01:09:44).
As concepts develop, the same Figma space will be used to map platform functions, since there will always be more ideas than capacity to execute (01:10:50). James will help create a system to prioritize the most important ideas for a cohesive, viable MVP (minimum viable product) to prototype and test with beta testers. The platform can then evolve after launch with additional features based on feedback.
The vision questionnaire contains questions about ambassadors, user types, messaging, and calls to action (01:11:43). James encouraged Tess to focus on the most resonant questions rather than answering everything, and to expand the document with new tabs for specific topics like ambassadors or partners rather than creating scattered documents (01:14:10). He emphasized keeping everything in one place for easier organization and collaboration.
James will share a home base for the engagement containing all meeting recordings, analysis, timeline, and important documents (01:15:24). This space is designed to work with AI, and he specifically recommended Claude [tag="claude"] over other LLMs for both vibe and ethics reasons, trusting Anthropic most with personal and heartfelt content (01:16:01). Tess can share the artifact page link with Claude to ask questions about meetings or get help thinking through ideas.
Tess raised questions about digital infrastructure, mentioning a friend offering access to a private server and asking when she needs to make decisions about servers (01:20:25). James advised not worrying yet but shared that he recently bought a PC to experiment with local hosting and full control over tools, including AI (01:22:37). This represents preliminary research into alternatives.
Everything built using their current technology stack with Airtable [tag="airtable"] and Webflow [tag="webflow"] can be migrated to platforms that can be localized and fully controlled. James described his approach as "hoping for the best and preparing for the worst" (01:22:37). For now, he wants to leverage incredible cloud tools, but if necessary, he's researching open source alternatives that can run on any local server.
The directory fundamentally consists of a relational database, and Airtable is currently the most convenient tool for managing this with easy integration to other platforms (01:23:00). However, there are many open source ways to host relational databases. Migration involves exporting CSV files and importing to another system if needed.
James outlined the contingency they're preparing for: if authorities shut down the whole Internet (as happened in Iran during uprisings), people would create meshwork systems as alternatives (01:25:02). Gaia Warriors should be able to participate in such alternatives. This sounds less like conspiracy than it did a year ago. Rather than reinventing infrastructure, they just need to ensure they can join alternative systems if necessary.
Tess asked about getting notice before shutdown, and James clarified they would see the world taking dark turns before anything that extreme (01:26:15). With sufficient resources, they could back up data on hard drives distributed to different nodes around the planet. Even if global networks fail, localized meshworks in places like Nevada City or Philadelphia could share resources. This tangible backup approach made Tess feel significantly better about data sovereignty (01:27:15).
The bigger threat is the threat itself, James noted (01:28:14). When something feels like it can be taken away, there's power over us. Having backup plans removes that power. Tess added her confidence that this first iteration is just to get the platform into the world, and that angel investors and supporters who resonate with the mission will emerge to help protect its sanctity and support evolution if needed (01:28:14). She trusts this is "the will of the divine" and that support and solutions will manifest.
James gave Tess powerful homework for her upcoming trip to the Gem Jam Festival in Tucson, Arizona, where she'll film an indigenous elder who creates drum circles and sound healings in prisons and psychiatric wards (01:29:49). The homework: act as if Gaia Warriors already exists as a platform, even without its digital home yet (01:31:52).
Tess should be an emissary of this territory, enrolling others, transmitting the message, and creating content as if the platform is already real and operational. James encouraged her to notice her user experience encountering people at the festival as if viewing their profiles on the platform, observing how the experience works and wants to evolve (01:33:05). She becomes the first beta tester by living it.
Tess resonated deeply with this, thanking James for the activating suggestion (01:33:05). She plans to use her new Osho Pocket camera to document the experience, creating content about Gaia Warriors going into the world and filming this amazing person. This embodies the manifestation principle of living as if the vision has already materialized, making it real through embodied action.
Tess (Gaia Warriors)
James Redenbaugh
James Redenbaugh and Tess opened the meeting with personal connection, discussing recent illnesses attributed to solar flares and viewing sickness as "ascension symptoms" or spiritual upgrades (02:09). This framing set the tone for a deeply philosophical conversation about reality, healing, and collective creation that would inform the entire vision for Gaia Warriors.
The conversation evolved into a substantive exploration of scientific paradigms, with Tess sharing her shift toward terrain theory over germ theory, emphasizing that disease stems from unresolved trauma rather than external pathogens (15:58). She referenced Caroline Myss's teaching that "your biography becomes your biology" and the work of Joe Dispenza and Bruce Lipton on quantum healing and epigenetics. James introduced integral theory's four-quadrant model, presenting reality as having objective, subjective, inter-objective, and intersubjective dimensions, with the intersubjective collective experience being the most fundamental (22:27).
This philosophical foundation proved essential to understanding Gaia Warriors' purpose. Both agreed that victimhood represents one of the most disempowering forces on the planet, and that reclaiming sovereignty requires recognizing that "there's nothing outside of us doing anything to us" (25:39). This perspective of radical self-responsibility and collective co-creation became a cornerstone principle for the platform's approach.
When asked about the essential qualities of Gaia Warriors, Tess identified resonance as the fundamental design principle (34:00). She described wanting to create a "soul calling" that transcends mental comprehension, something that brings a "full body yes" and moves people to tears through its alignment with truth. This wasn't about intellectual persuasion but about creating a frequency that speaks directly to the soul.
James responded with full body goosebumps and shared an anecdote about an African tribe that creates a unique song for each child, singing it at key life moments and when someone goes astray, to call them back to their true nature (38:09). This sparked the core question: what is the collective song we've all forgotten that will help us remember and come home? This became a guiding metaphor for the entire platform design.
Tess emphasized that every individual needs to feel like an "integral piece" of the movement, as essential as each piece in a puzzle (36:52). The platform should empower people to recognize their gifts as necessary for collective transformation, fostering deep belonging to something meaningful that enables their divine blueprints to shine.
James prompted exploration of the "warrior" aspect of Gaia Warriors (49:12). Tess acknowledged this as a charged word that carries resistance due to its association with war and fighting. However, she explained her intentional choice to reclaim the word based on its indigenous roots, where a warrior is someone who will do what it takes to maintain peace (52:50).
The warrior invocation calls people out of their comfort zones to face their own darkness and shadow work. Tess argued that without this courage, meaningful change becomes impossible. She distinguished this from passive spiritual approaches, emphasizing that sharing gifts, doing shadow work, and stepping outside societal conditioning all require warrior energy (53:17). This is action-oriented spiritual work, not passive hoping.
Tess chose "Gaia" specifically because Earth represents the one thing all humans share regardless of race, language, country, or belief system (56:49). Warriors from different planets and places have chosen Gaia as their home, united in their commitment to transforming this planet. James referenced the film Peaceful Warrior as embodying this archetype perfectly.
James affirmed this reclaiming of warrior consciousness, noting that spiritual circles can become too passive with "love and light" approaches. The Gaia Warriors vision calls forth empowerment and action, rebelling against conditioning and systems people were born into (54:27). This requires standing up for what's true even when it's harder than physical fighting, because it involves confronting internalized beliefs and inherited structures. Tess added that comfort is one of the worst pandemics, keeping people small, complacent, and unable to grow (57:50).
When asked to envision Gaia Warriors as a physical environment, Tess immediately spoke of nature, particularly the combination of forest and beach (39:59). She described wanting to evoke the mystical awe that nature inherently provides, that sense of breathtaking beauty and symbiosis where everything works together as a unified field.
For built structures within this natural context, Tess expressed strong interest in natural building methods using adobe, cob, bamboo, and hemp, inspired by permaculture principles (41:44). These structures should look like they "grew out of the ground" rather than being imposed upon nature, seamlessly integrated with their environment.
Ellen mentioned Geoship, which Tess knows well and plans to feature in her Gaia Warriors launch panel (43:33). Ellen described sleeping in one of their ceramic geodesic structures and how different it feels from conventional buildings. This represents the kind of non-rectangular, nature-inspired architecture that moves beyond the boxes humans typically build in. James shared his architecture background and long-held dream of creating villages that grow more organically, like structures on other planets that feel native to their environment rather than imposed (43:04).
This vision of physical space directly informed thinking about the digital platform. James noted that while websites are viewed through rectangular screens with square pixels, the design should push against these limitations using organic, responsive geometry rather than defaulting to rectangular layouts (46:07). For imagery, he emphasized using real photographs of Earth's actual beauty rather than AI-generated nature scenes, preserving the authenticity and frequency of the real thing (46:32).
Tess shared the story behind the Gaia Warriors logo, which features two figures (originally both feminine, modified to make one masculine) holding hands, one bearing a torch, the other pouring water (01:01:04). The image contains all four elements: earth, air, fire, and water, representing "the mother's angels" and the main fabric of existence. It also embodies yin-yang, masculine-feminine balance, and day-night cycles.
The masculine figure holds the torch as the torchbearer, while the feminine figure nurtures and waters the earth. They hold hands, conveying "we're doing this together" as warriors for the planet. James observed additional symbolism in the roots and branches, and noted that each figure has wings, with the masculine having a feminine wing and vice versa, further emphasizing the integration of both energies within each (01:03:15).
Tess shared a mystical experience: she found the image online, tried unsuccessfully to locate the artist, then during an ayahuasca ceremony, the spirit of whoever created the image contacted her and gave permission to use it (01:04:51). She modified it to create the masculine-feminine balance and add the elemental symbolism. James successfully located the original artist, "Troll Girl" on DeviantArt, who posted it in 2010 under the title "As Above, So Below" (01:06:21). Tess plans to contact her for formal permission and possible compensation, expressing excitement that the artist's other work aligns beautifully with Gaia Warriors' ethos.
James articulated a core design philosophy: Gaia Warriors must be more than a new version of something that already exists (30:22). If done right, it will be a new medium entirely. It must roll on existing roads and be accessible to intended users, but it needs to function as an attractor, making a clear call to action for those meant to see it.
He used nature's evolution as the guiding metaphor: flowers evolve function and beauty simultaneously, not in separate stages (31:53). A mountain or cat didn't have to be beautiful but is anyway. Beauty is imbued in everything natural. Gaia Warriors should be beautiful and particularly resonant to the networks of tribes it's meant to call, like lighting a big fire on a big mountain that people can see from far away and know instinctively they should come to.
At this early stage, James emphasized understanding the ingredients of that fire, the nature of the mountain, and the nature of the gathering space (34:00). He deliberately avoided prescribing verbs like "gather," inviting exploration of what actions this space enables. The questionnaire helps organize ideas into different domains, but the process should remain evolutionary and follow inspiration.
This is simultaneously a product design and marketing exercise, because they are one thing (33:05). The platform must be functional and attractive at the same time, evolving together rather than designing function first and then trying to make it appealing afterward.
[technology="Custom Membership System"]
James outlined the workflow between sessions: both will collect visual inspiration through mood boarding (01:08:33). He suggested using Pinterest [tag="pinterest"] for initial discovery, then consolidating favorites into a Google folder and ultimately into Figma [tag="figma"] where everything can be seen together as a collaborative collage workspace (01:09:44).
As concepts develop, the same Figma space will be used to map platform functions, since there will always be more ideas than capacity to execute (01:10:50). James will help create a system to prioritize the most important ideas for a cohesive, viable MVP (minimum viable product) to prototype and test with beta testers. The platform can then evolve after launch with additional features based on feedback.
The vision questionnaire contains questions about ambassadors, user types, messaging, and calls to action (01:11:43). James encouraged Tess to focus on the most resonant questions rather than answering everything, and to expand the document with new tabs for specific topics like ambassadors or partners rather than creating scattered documents (01:14:10). He emphasized keeping everything in one place for easier organization and collaboration.
James will share a home base for the engagement containing all meeting recordings, analysis, timeline, and important documents (01:15:24). This space is designed to work with AI, and he specifically recommended Claude [tag="claude"] over other LLMs for both vibe and ethics reasons, trusting Anthropic most with personal and heartfelt content (01:16:01). Tess can share the artifact page link with Claude to ask questions about meetings or get help thinking through ideas.
Tess raised questions about digital infrastructure, mentioning a friend offering access to a private server and asking when she needs to make decisions about servers (01:20:25). James advised not worrying yet but shared that he recently bought a PC to experiment with local hosting and full control over tools, including AI (01:22:37). This represents preliminary research into alternatives.
Everything built using their current technology stack with Airtable [tag="airtable"] and Webflow [tag="webflow"] can be migrated to platforms that can be localized and fully controlled. James described his approach as "hoping for the best and preparing for the worst" (01:22:37). For now, he wants to leverage incredible cloud tools, but if necessary, he's researching open source alternatives that can run on any local server.
The directory fundamentally consists of a relational database, and Airtable is currently the most convenient tool for managing this with easy integration to other platforms (01:23:00). However, there are many open source ways to host relational databases. Migration involves exporting CSV files and importing to another system if needed.
James outlined the contingency they're preparing for: if authorities shut down the whole Internet (as happened in Iran during uprisings), people would create meshwork systems as alternatives (01:25:02). Gaia Warriors should be able to participate in such alternatives. This sounds less like conspiracy than it did a year ago. Rather than reinventing infrastructure, they just need to ensure they can join alternative systems if necessary.
Tess asked about getting notice before shutdown, and James clarified they would see the world taking dark turns before anything that extreme (01:26:15). With sufficient resources, they could back up data on hard drives distributed to different nodes around the planet. Even if global networks fail, localized meshworks in places like Nevada City or Philadelphia could share resources. This tangible backup approach made Tess feel significantly better about data sovereignty (01:27:15).
The bigger threat is the threat itself, James noted (01:28:14). When something feels like it can be taken away, there's power over us. Having backup plans removes that power. Tess added her confidence that this first iteration is just to get the platform into the world, and that angel investors and supporters who resonate with the mission will emerge to help protect its sanctity and support evolution if needed (01:28:14). She trusts this is "the will of the divine" and that support and solutions will manifest.
James gave Tess powerful homework for her upcoming trip to the Gem Jam Festival in Tucson, Arizona, where she'll film an indigenous elder who creates drum circles and sound healings in prisons and psychiatric wards (01:29:49). The homework: act as if Gaia Warriors already exists as a platform, even without its digital home yet (01:31:52).
Tess should be an emissary of this territory, enrolling others, transmitting the message, and creating content as if the platform is already real and operational. James encouraged her to notice her user experience encountering people at the festival as if viewing their profiles on the platform, observing how the experience works and wants to evolve (01:33:05). She becomes the first beta tester by living it.
Tess resonated deeply with this, thanking James for the activating suggestion (01:33:05). She plans to use her new Osho Pocket camera to document the experience, creating content about Gaia Warriors going into the world and filming this amazing person. This embodies the manifestation principle of living as if the vision has already materialized, making it real through embodied action.
Tess (Gaia Warriors)
James Redenbaugh
Review and send questions on service agreement
January 31, 2026
Review service agreement again after initial read and send any additional questions before signing. Meeting referenced at 04:01.
Sign and return service agreement
February 3, 2026
Sign service agreement via scan or digital signature and return to James. Prerequisites all questions addressed. Referenced at 01:13:12.
Send deposit payment via Zelle
January 31, 2026
Send initial deposit payment via Zelle by end of January. Amount to be confirmed in invoice from James. Referenced at 06:38.
Send invoice for initial deposit
January 30, 2026
Generate and send invoice to Tess for deposit payment. Referenced at 05:52.
Complete vision questionnaire focusing on most resonant questions
February 5, 2026
Fill out vision questionnaire, focusing on questions that most resonate rather than answering everything. Expand with new tabs for specific topics (ambassadors, partners) rather than creating scattered documents. Keep everything in one place for easier collaboration. Referenced at 01:13:45.
Update vision questionnaire based on session topics
January 31, 2026
Revise questionnaire to reflect topics already covered in this vision session, removing redundant questions and adding new prompts based on conversation threads. Referenced at 01:14:10.
Collect visual inspiration on Pinterest for mood boarding
February 5, 2026
Browse and collect visual inspirations (nature, art, design, architecture) on Pinterest that resonate with Gaia Warriors aesthetic. Focus on organic forms, natural building methods, sacred geometry, masculine-feminine balance, and imagery that evokes mystical awe. Referenced at 01:13:45.
Create shared Google folder and Figma workspace for collaboration
January 31, 2026
Set up Google folder for initial inspiration consolidation and Figma workspace for collaborative mood boarding and design exploration. This becomes the shared creative workspace for visual development. Referenced at 01:09:44.
Collect visual inspiration and continue mood boarding
February 5, 2026
Browse and collect visual inspirations that align with Gaia Warriors vision - organic forms, nature photography, sacred geometry, natural architecture. Add to shared workspace as it develops. Referenced at 01:08:33.
Contact artist Troll Girl on DeviantArt for logo permission
February 7, 2026
Reach out to artist 'Troll Girl' on DeviantArt regarding formal permission to use modified version of 'As Above, So Below' artwork. Discuss compensation and explore potential for additional collaboration given alignment of her other work with Gaia Warriors ethos. James located the original artist and will share link. Referenced at 01:06:54.
Share DeviantArt link to Troll Girl artist profile
January 30, 2026
Send Tess the link to original artist 'Troll Girl' on DeviantArt who created 'As Above, So Below' in 2010. Referenced at 01:06:21.
Share engagement home base with recordings and documentation
January 30, 2026
Provide Tess access to engagement home base containing meeting recordings, AI analysis, timeline, and important documents. This space is designed to work with Claude AI for asking questions about meetings or getting help thinking through ideas. Referenced at 01:15:24.
Document Gem Jam Festival as embodied Gaia Warriors experience
February 5, 2026
Attend Gem Jam Festival in Tucson and act as if Gaia Warriors platform already exists. Be emissary, enroll others, transmit message, create content. Film indigenous elder's drum circle and prison healing work with Osho Pocket camera. Notice user experience and platform needs as first beta tester by living the vision. Create content showing 'Gaia Warriors going into the world.' Referenced at 01:30:50.
Generate and share artifact summary of vision session
January 29, 2026
Create comprehensive artifact summary of this vision meeting covering philosophical foundations, design principles, warrior archetype, logo symbolism, and all action items. Referenced at 01:29:23.
Collect visual inspiration and continue mood boarding
February 5, 2026
Browse and collect visual inspirations that align with Gaia Warriors vision - organic forms, nature photography, sacred geometry, natural architecture. Add to shared workspace as it develops. Referenced at 01:08:33.
Initial vision work, questionnaire, and strategic planning for Gaia Warriors platform launch. Comprehensive exploration completed covering core philosophy (resonance as primary design principle), warrior archetype reclaiming, masculine-feminine balance, platform as 'new medium' rather than iteration of existing platforms. Vision includes terrain theory/quantum healing foundations, radical self-responsibility, collective co-creation, and the metaphor of creating 'the collective song we've forgotten' to call people home. Design philosophy established: function and beauty must evolve together like nature, not in stages. Platform should work as attractor lighting 'a big fire on a big mountain' for intended networks.
Complete brand identity and website design for Gaia Warriors platform. Design will embody coherence principles through proportions, colors, and interface choices that create 'a new kind of collective nervous system.' Core design principles established: resonance as primary quality, organic/non-rectangular geometry pushing against screen limitations, nature-inspired architecture (adobe, cob, bamboo, hemp) informing digital aesthetics, real Earth photography rather than AI-generated imagery. Logo symbolism deeply explored: masculine-feminine balance, four elements integration, torchbearer and nurturer archetypes, wings representing integration of both energies. Mood boarding process to collect visual inspiration through Pinterest → Google folder → Figma collaborative workspace.
Build searchable member directory to help Gaia Warriors members find and connect with each other. Directory is central to May launch vision. System should support ambassador identification, location-based connections, and facilitate both online and in-person community building. Will need to integrate with member profiles and support travel notifications for ambassadors. Built on Airtable relational database with Webflow front-end, designed with migration capability to open source alternatives if needed for data sovereignty. Infrastructure must support potential backup to distributed nodes and local meshwork systems if global networks fail.
Build custom membership system with multi-tier access (including sliding scale and 'pay what you want' options), subscription management through Stripe, affiliate tracking with revenue sharing, and secure authentication. System must support flexible pricing models to ensure platform remains inclusive while sustaining teachers and operations.
Secure formal permission and establish collaboration with original logo artist 'Troll Girl' on DeviantArt. Original artwork titled 'As Above, So Below' (2010) was modified to create masculine-feminine balance and elemental symbolism. Artist spiritually gave permission during ayahuasca ceremony but formal licensing needed. Artist's other work aligns beautifully with Gaia Warriors ethos, opening potential for deeper collaboration. Includes compensation discussion and exploring additional artwork integration.
Research and plan for data sovereignty, backup systems, and migration capabilities to ensure Gaia Warriors can survive potential Internet disruptions or platform shutdowns. Explore open source alternatives to current cloud stack (Airtable, Webflow) that can run on local servers or private infrastructure. Design distributed backup strategy with data stored on hard drives at multiple geographic nodes. Ensure platform can participate in meshwork systems if global networks fail. Philosophy: 'hope for the best, prepare for the worst' - leverage cloud tools now while maintaining migration capability. Preliminary research into local hosting, self-hosted AI, and CSV export/import workflows.
Document Gem Jam Festival experience in Tucson as first real-world embodiment of Gaia Warriors platform. Film indigenous elder who creates drum circles and sound healings in prisons and psychiatric wards. Act as if platform already exists - be emissary, enroll others, transmit message, observe user experience as first beta tester. Use Osho Pocket camera to create content showing 'Gaia Warriors going into the world.' This embodies manifestation principle of living vision before digital home exists, creating authentic content for launch campaign while testing core concepts in real community context.
00:00:01
Tess Athena: This meeting is being recorded.
00:00:25
James Redenbaugh: Hey, Tess.
00:00:27
Tess Athena: Hi. James.
00:00:29
James Redenbaugh: Hi. Good to see you.
00:00:31
Tess Athena: Good to see you, too.
00:00:33
James Redenbaugh: I'm having some camera trouble.
00:00:37
Tess Athena: Oh, no worries. Take your time.
00:01:21
James Redenbaugh: I'll just do that. My main camera is out of battery, but I can use my phone. Good to see you.
00:01:34
Tess Athena: You too.
00:01:36
James Redenbaugh: How's life?
00:01:38
Tess Athena: It's a little bit better. I went through. I got a little. Kind of. A little bit ill, but I was. Like, ozone detoxing and all that kind of stuff, so now I feel better, like, back to life. What about you?
00:01:55
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, similar. I was a little ill last week.
00:01:59
Tess Athena: So many people were. Yeah, it was the solar flares. It was like, the biggest solar flare in 20 years. That happened last week.
00:02:09
James Redenbaugh: Oh, my God. Crazy.
00:02:12
Tess Athena: I think it affects people.
00:02:15
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. Whenever I get sick, I say it's upgrades coming in, getting down.
00:02:22
Tess Athena: I also think so. It totally is.
00:02:26
James Redenbaugh: You know, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
00:02:30
Tess Athena: Yeah. And, like, as your body's re. That's why I feel like the solar flares, because all this light's coming into the Earth, and then your body's learning how to recalibrate and hold it. And so we're just, like, purging out all the density.
00:02:46
James Redenbaugh: Totally.
00:02:48
Tess Athena: Plus, what a better reframing Ascension symptoms. I'm upgrading rather than I'm sick.
00:02:54
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. Ascension side effects. Ellen said she'll be here in five minutes. Did you have a chance to. To glance at the document I shared with you?
00:03:09
Tess Athena: I did, yeah.
00:03:12
James Redenbaugh: Great. Any. Any thoughts off the bat?
00:03:16
Tess Athena: No. I thought they were very insightful questions. And I like them. And, yeah, I'm going to have fun answering them, I think.
00:03:23
James Redenbaugh: Awesome. Wonderful. Well, today is our first official vision session, so I'm excited to get into visionary things, and we can see where the session takes us and follow points of inspiration. But the. The questionnaire can help guide us and organize ideas into different domains. And before we get into that, I wanted to see if you have any questions about the service agreement I sent over.
00:04:01
Tess Athena: I didn't have questions specifically. I should have, but I should have. I did it. Yeah. I should have written some stuff down. I didn't have, like, anything specific that. Came to mind, like, that I thought was urgent, but could I look at. It again and write stuff down if something comes up?
00:04:24
James Redenbaugh: Sure, yeah, no problem. But also, like, huh.
00:04:33
Tess Athena: One thing I did want to say is I needed to amend the payment schedule. I wanted to do, like, some more payments earlier on and then later on. And so could I just amend that part?
00:04:48
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, sure. Happy.
00:04:52
Tess Athena: And how does that. How does that work like the first one? Like, like where does, how does. Yeah, how did the payment part work?
00:05:02
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, we should have. We should have done one already. But that's okay that we haven't done a, a kickoff payment yet. But I'll send you an invoice for a deposit and I'd like to get that covered. Yeah, and I forget exactly what we outlined in the, in the payment schedule, but it's, it's all milestone based, so everything is on a calendar and you wanted to space the payments out. And so, you know, we'll send you invoices as those, as those dates come up. And.
00:05:52
Tess Athena: And is it like a bank transfer or what's the.
00:05:55
James Redenbaugh: Oh, good question. Whatever works best for you. Bank transfer is usually best because there's no fees. But we can also be paid in PayPal. Or.
00:06:10
Tess Athena: Is Zelle like a bank transfer?
00:06:13
James Redenbaugh: Yeah.
00:06:14
Tess Athena: Okay. I do sell. Zelle's probably going to be the easiest for me.
00:06:17
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, Zelle's fine. And we even do crypto sometimes.
00:06:25
Tess Athena: Oh, interesting.
00:06:27
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. But yeah, whatever works. We like to be flexible.
00:06:34
Tess Athena: Cool. Well, I'll get that over to you. In the next few days then.
00:06:38
James Redenbaugh: Cool.
00:06:38
Tess Athena: I'd like to do it before the. End of January, so that's like. It works out better for me if. I could do it the end of each month. So like end of January, end of February, end of, blah, blah, blah.
00:06:47
James Redenbaugh: Sure.
00:06:49
Tess Athena: So what you drinking over there? Hello, fairy friend. Hey.
00:06:56
James Redenbaugh: This is Willow.
00:06:59
Tess Athena: Oh my God. I love, I love cats. I'm a very big much cat person.
00:07:04
James Redenbaugh: Oh. We are two. We have three kittens. They're four months old and they're our whole world. We love them so much. And Willow, when we got her, she was the most shy. She like barely came out of her cage. And now she's by far the most social and friendly one and comes and sits on my keyboard every day.
00:07:27
Tess Athena: Oh, I love that. Yeah, she's blessing you up. Blessing your work up.
00:07:34
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. We lost our, our 19 year old calico in May. Our little darling Mitten. And she, I mean, she was 19. She was just, she was very old and I think she had a, had a brain tumor that didn't. That we didn't know about. And she started having seizures and went downhill very fast. But we got to be with her and we knew we wanted to get kittens at some point and we wanted to get two and we wanted one to be a long haired calico like Mitten. And one came up and she had two sisters and one was another long hair, gray cat and the other was this short hair. Don't you. Don't you don't get mochi? Not for you. The other was this short hair. Darling baby. And so we adopted them all and now we have three cats terrorizing our house every day.
00:08:41
Tess Athena: You didn't want to separate the siblings?
00:08:44
James Redenbaugh: No, no. And two of them are blood sisters. They were from the same litter, but they look very different because I didn't realize that cats can have different dads even if they're in the same litter.
00:08:56
Tess Athena: Oh, really? Wow.
00:08:58
James Redenbaugh: I didn't know that. And Ellen's here. Hey, Ellen.
00:09:08
Tess Athena: Hi, Ellen.
00:09:12
James Redenbaugh: We're just talking about cats.
00:09:17
Tess Athena: Missed out on some riveting conversation.
00:09:20
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, we're going over the specifics of my. Of my kitty litter. And the third one wasn't blood related, but she was found under a car at the same time and they all grew up together. But she's getting much bigger than the other ones, so we think she might have some Maine coon energy or something.
00:09:42
Tess Athena: Well, man, coons are a trip.
00:09:45
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, she's really mystical. She's like super calm and she doesn't really meow. She makes these thrilling sounds like it's really cool. So, very important topic of conversations. Tess, do you have any animals where you are?
00:10:08
Tess Athena: Cats are the best. I did not. I have about 50 plants. I'm a plant lady. I just love plants so much and. I'm just don't feel like I'm at. The point in my life where I can do an animal yet because I'm so like nomadic and. Yeah, when I'm on land and stuff, then I'll get an animal, but for now I'm just the crazy old plant lady. What about you, Ellen?
00:10:39
Ellen S: I have a dog child. Yes.
00:10:42
Tess Athena: Oh, wow.
00:10:43
Ellen S: And two human children, but yeah.
00:10:46
James Redenbaugh: Whoa.
00:10:47
Tess Athena: You have children and a dog?
00:10:51
Ellen S: What was I thinking?
00:10:56
James Redenbaugh: Oops.
00:10:56
Tess Athena: Wow. Well, it's a big initiation. Womanhood and motherhood and.
00:11:07
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, indeed.
00:11:08
Tess Athena: How old are they?
00:11:10
Ellen S: 11 and 8.
00:11:12
Tess Athena: Oh, wow. You must have had them so young.
00:11:15
Ellen S: No, I just look young.
00:11:17
Tess Athena: You'd really look young to have an 11 year old. You look so young. Wow.
00:11:22
James Redenbaugh: Yeah.
00:11:24
Tess Athena: Yeah.
00:11:25
Ellen S: And the dog is four.
00:11:28
Tess Athena: Wow. If you're gonna do the kid thing. You might as well get the dog.
00:11:34
Ellen S: Exactly right. I'm like.
00:11:35
James Redenbaugh: I'm already.
00:11:36
Tess Athena: Might as well get in there.
00:11:39
Ellen S: Yeah, right. Just go all in. Where I hear your nomadic, but where's home base?
00:11:46
Tess Athena: Nevada City. Nice. Cool. What about you?
00:11:51
Ellen S: I'm in Sebastopol.
00:11:54
Tess Athena: Yeah, that's super close. I'm gonna be in Sebastopol May 16th. I'm gonna live stream an event there.
00:12:01
Ellen S: Oh nice.
00:12:02
Tess Athena: Yeah. It'S going to be at the community center there at the Spectacles of Community Center. Yeah, it's going to be an event. It's called Embodied Alchemy.
00:12:15
Ellen S: Nice.
00:12:15
Tess Athena: And the, the. There's a man called Steve Young who. He'S like a scientist, alchemist kind of. Person and he's, he's. Yeah, he's amazing. He's basically proving, he's basically writing books. That the atom doesn't exist and it's all atomic science is a lie. Well my, I'm like, I know, I know, it's crazy. I, I went to an event last. Year called Confluence and I interviewed all the speakers and they're all talking about concepts that are completely crazy. Like it's actually, I'm actually realizing that science is more woo woo than spirituality. Like a lot of science is actually not proven and they make it up and people get getting paid off and there's all this like narrative being made by the corporations that aren't actually proven science. It's pretty wild.
00:13:16
Ellen S: Well, find what you're looking for with science. I think especially, you know, it's interesting like you can.
00:13:21
Tess Athena: Yeah.
00:13:22
Ellen S: Run the experiment that will show you the thing that you want to see.
00:13:25
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, yeah. I did a lot of work with the Institute of Noetic Sciences for a long time. Do you know them?
00:13:32
Tess Athena: Yeah, I do know them. My friend Nicole works for them.
00:13:37
James Redenbaugh: Um, and I. We'd encounter a lot of that. Resistance to any, any idea outside the mainstream narrative which seems, which has become so arbitrary and limited. And it's like you can look at technology and see how much technology has advanced in the last 100 years. And there's been a lot of scientific advancement, but compared to other sectors, it's like we should have realized a lot more by now about the nature of reality and in life. But there seems to be this. It's like a religion, it's like a dogma about scientific materialism even though it just makes less and less sense.
00:14:38
Tess Athena: The true science is all hidden, you know?
00:14:42
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. And there's so many, I mean so many stories about scientists disappearing.
00:14:51
Tess Athena: Exactly. They make discoveries that are gonna help the earth or help humanity. They get killed off. Yeah, there's a lot of it. It's pretty wild. Yeah. So I'm, I'm recently have changed my. Whole paradigm of like atoms are not real and germs are not real. I'm always, I'm into terrain theory. So there's germ theory and terrain theory. Terrain theory is we're all one. Everything is energy, frequency, vibration. And when you get sick, it's to do with your mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional body. Germ theory is everything is separate and there are little invisible things in the air that are attacking us. And we're disempowered and victims, and we're all separate and we must be scared of people. And I think it's all to perpetuate fear and more of the pharmaceutical industry. And I don't resonate with any of it anymore. I'm like, wow, it's all. But it's also a huge paradigm shift. It's like, oh, my God.
00:15:58
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. Personally, I think it can be both. I think there can be such a thing as germs that we can look at under a microscope. And they're probably.
00:16:11
Tess Athena: They've never done that. There's never been a single germ under a microscope, ever proven, ever. I know.
00:16:21
James Redenbaugh: Who says that? I don't know. I'm skeptical.
00:16:24
Tess Athena: A bunch of scientists because we.
00:16:27
James Redenbaugh: I mean, we know so much about viruses and we can. We. We've sequenced the DNA of viruses and.
00:16:35
Tess Athena: But have we. Have we.
00:16:37
James Redenbaugh: Well, I'm gonna.
00:16:41
Ellen S: My tea now and listen in.
00:16:46
James Redenbaugh: I'm gonna look this up. I mean, a germ is kind of a slang term for a bacteria or a virus, and I definitely think that they exist.
00:17:04
Tess Athena: I don't know. I would question that, James.
00:17:08
James Redenbaugh: Anyway, anyway, so if atoms. And then we can continue. But if atoms don't exist, do. Do subatomic particles exist or what we call subatomic particles or.
00:17:26
Tess Athena: You mean like electrons and protons?
00:17:28
James Redenbaugh: Yeah.
00:17:33
Tess Athena: I will have to get back to. You on some of that information. It's hard for me to relay stuff. That I hear, but I'll send you some stuff on. On German terrain theory. And I'll send you some stuff on. Because you know what I resonate with? Disease does not come from germs. It comes from trauma. I don't know if you know about Caroline Mace's work. She. She says your biography becomes your biology. And every disease is actually a trauma that you haven't addressed. And it's stored in your body and it manifests into a disease. It manifests into something real. But everything comes from the frequency of trauma that starts when you're a child, and that's what cancer. All of this stuff. If there's been multiple people. I mean, if you look at Joe Dispenza's work, he's having miraculous healing because he's healing people on the quantum level. He's going to the root cause, healing their emotional root cause of the trauma that. That's. That manifested in the body and that people are having instant remission, like instant miracle healings. So he's kind of proving it, and Bruce Lipton and all of these people are proving that all. Everything is. That is based like that. And if you look at indigenous shamans, when you would go to a shaman when you were sick, they would ask, when was the last time you danced and prayed and sang? And like, what. What's your emot. It's like everything is to do with like, your emotions, your stress, your. That's. That frequency of. That is what makes people sick, not actual physical germs. That's my. That's my belief. But I'll send you guys stuff if you want when. If it comes across my field.
00:19:14
James Redenbaugh: Cool. Are you familiar with integral theory?
00:19:20
Tess Athena: No.
00:19:21
James Redenbaugh: So it's a. A domain of philosophy that looks at the whole. Whole of everything. And one of the, you know, there's many different parts of it, but one of the main principles is called this quadrant model, where if you zoom out on the universe, essentially our world, not the physical universe, but the whole of what we know, we can identify four primary categories of things that are objective, things that we can point to, like this keyboard or a frog or a leaf or my body, and subjective experiences that are also real, but they're inside of me. There's. I can't point to them, but I have an emotion, I have an experience, I have a thought, I have an idea. I have a capacity. I have a capability, I have an impulse. And then there's also inter. Objective. So these are the systems that govern our outside world. The phenomenon of, you know, bird migratory patterns or the, you know, the. The concept of a phone and the systems that go into operating it. It's not a single physical object, but it's a system that we can look at in the world. And then the fourth domain is the intersubjective, and those are the interior subjective experiences in the space between individuals and their collective trauma or collective capacity or, you know, our shared experience of life or, you know, our universal narrative. And in all of these domains, there are, you know, they're each a universe unto themselves, and they're obviously interrelated. And I. I find it a very helpful kind of grid to overlay on anything I'm trying to understand because you can look at anything and see there's a interior and an exterior and a singular and a plural nature to it. But personally, I find that the interior subjective experience is actually the most real. When we look at anything objectively, we're still looking at it through our filter and our subjective experience. And when we actually zoom into anything we see, it's 99.99% empty space. And we barely understand the.001% of things that is apparently not empty space. So it's very hard to prove that anything exists at all. And indigenous wisdom traditions tell us that, you know, like I am, because we are. And they identify primarily with their group, with their tribe, with their family. And then there's expressions out of that and I find that to be very, very true that we've, you know, created this world together and it's primarily a shared experience. And the physical phenomenon are here to facilitate that experience within for each other. So we can. The any objective causal Asian agent is an illusion ultimately. So whether it's a germ or a gun or something out there that's affecting me, it can be very real. You know, these things. It's valid to say it's real, I live in a real house. But I think it's even, it's truer like the home in our collective hearts is realer than this physical thing that I can look at.
00:23:31
Tess Athena: Totally.
00:23:33
James Redenbaugh: And so I told, I totally get down with Joe Dispense's work and Bruce Lipton's and I even take it to extremes because I 100 believe in our collective creation of this reality. And its relevant to the project we're engaged in here because we have an opportunity to not only shift systems in the world and you know, improve objective circumstances and spaces on this planet, but also create spaces for inter subjective and collective coherence and harmonization so that we can, you know, create a better planet together from the inside out.
00:24:27
Tess Athena: No, I mean I, I think your. Perception creates your reality because you could literally two people could look at the same thing and see something completely different and live in completely different worlds. And you can see that like the people that are like really believing in the government and the lies and the deception and the news they're in that we're living in a, in the same world, but we have complete different realities. It's pretty wild.
00:24:57
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. But I even think that our perception creates my perception. My perception, what I experience as my own is actually an illusion. And it's a facet of our collective experience. And the lies and the narrative that I like, may or may not subscribe to is, is also my creation or our creation. You know, it's another part of us telling Us, this story, and we don't have to believe it, but we also have to own that we're doing it to ourselves. Like, there's nothing outside of us doing anything to us. It's all.
00:25:39
Tess Athena: Yeah, it's true.
00:25:41
James Redenbaugh: Our doing.
00:25:42
Tess Athena: It is. No, I totally. That's one of the biggest teachings, spiritual teachings that have changed my life. Like, no one's doing anything to me. Everything is my own subconscious playing out in the external. My internal is playing out in the external. Everybody's playing these different roles that I've chosen to, like, learn from. So there is. I don't believe in anything about. I think victimization is like the worst pandemic disempowerment thing on the planet. And that's one of the main things I want to do with Gaia warriors, is bring people's power back and stop being victims. Like, let's bring our power back. We are the masters of our reality. Let's collectively choose the reality that we want. But we have to clean out all the programming first because that's what's keeping us controlled and disempowered right now. And that's why the world is the way it is, is because we're all. Disempowered, powerless little victims that can't do anything.
00:26:40
James Redenbaugh: Yeah.
00:26:41
Tess Athena: Yeah. I love that you shared that, James. That's awesome.
00:26:45
James Redenbaugh: Wonderful.
00:26:46
Tess Athena: That we could agree with.
00:26:50
James Redenbaugh: I want to share a meme real quick. You've probably seen this one.
00:27:13
Tess Athena: I like your car hearts, Ellen. Are those car hearts? Yeah.
00:27:16
Ellen S: Oh, you know what? They're vans.
00:27:18
Tess Athena: Oh, really nice. Oh, so much.
00:27:24
James Redenbaugh: Yes.
00:27:24
Tess Athena: Oh, my God. I have a few pairs of vans. I. I love skate wear a lot.
00:27:30
Ellen S: So comfy.
00:27:31
Tess Athena: It's so comfortable and it looks cool. Oh, wow.
00:27:41
James Redenbaugh: Isn't that cute?
00:27:44
Tess Athena: I like that a lot.
00:27:48
James Redenbaugh: That sums it up for me.
00:27:52
Tess Athena: Send that to me, James. I like that.
00:27:54
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, sure. Well, great. I didn't expect us to get into all that already, but it's a good foundation for. For what we're here to talk about. And I'm going to bring up this vision questionnaire that I sent over. And the purpose of these initial conversations is to really see what comes up like this, that wants to be serviced that I meant to say surfaced, but I said kind of serviced. And there's both. The service. The. The things we should be in service to that are surfacing that will guide this. This journey and this creative process. I want to collectively identify what are the most important ingredients of this platform. And they can be, you know, words, they can be symbols, they can be energies, they can be colors, they can be a combination of those things. I don't want to try to pin them down at this point, but it's important that it's not only words. You know, words are a. Of important helpful frequency medium. And what we're. What we're creating here is not just a collection of words and. And not just a way for people to talk to each other. It's. It's a medium in itself. We're creating. If we're doing our job right, we're creating a new medium that doesn't already exist. If we were just creating a. A new version of something that already exists, then we could just, you know, do that. That wouldn't really be worth doing. Right.
00:30:21
Tess Athena: Reinvent the wheel.
00:30:22
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, reinvent the wheel. But like, it needs to. To roll on the roads that already exist.
00:30:32
Tess Athena: Right.
00:30:34
James Redenbaugh: And it needs to be accessible and usable by the people that we want to be able to use it. And it not only needs to function, but it needs to be an attractor. It needs to be attractive. It needs to be a clear call to action for those that. That are meant to see it. And, and so it's a. A product design exercise and a marketing exercise that we're doing at the same. At the same time, because it's one. It's a one thing. And I think. These processes should be somewhat evolutionary. I think evolution is a good metaphor because nature's really good at these things, and it does them at the same time. It evolves the flower to be functional and beautiful at the same time. It doesn't design its function and then sit back and look, well, how do we make this attractive to bees? You know, it happens simultaneously.
00:31:53
Tess Athena: Yeah.
00:31:55
James Redenbaugh: And beauty's imbued in everything. You know, it doesn't. Even when it seems like it doesn't have to be a mountain didn't have to be beautiful, but it is. You know, a cat didn't have to be beautiful, but they are. And so we want this to be beautiful and we want it to be particularly resonant to the. I won't say tribe, but I'll say network of tribes that. Networks of tribes, plural, that we want to call to this, like lighting a big fire on a big mountain that people can see from far away. And they see it and they're like, I know what this means, and I should go to this mountain and check it out and it. And bring myself there. So at this early stage, I want to understand what are the. The ingredients of that fire? What's the nature of this mountain? And what's the nature of this space that we're creating for people to. To gather in? And also, what is the verb I used to gather in? But that's one action, and I think it's an important one. But what other verbs are there? And I don't want to put. Put words in your mouth. That is the, the function of this space. So before we go deeper, what's. What's present for you right. Right now? What are you listening to?
00:34:00
Tess Athena: Well, I just loved everything that you shared. I totally loved it. And I. I think the word that sticks out for me is. Is the word resonance. Because I think that's what I really want to create is I want to create a deep resonance that people. It just speaks to their soul. It's like it's beyond words. It's beyond anything that the mind can. Can comprehend. It's just like it's a resonance, a soul calling. That. That's what I want this project to feel like to people. They're like, yes, this is it. This is my soul resonates with this movement or this. What's. What's happening here? And I know that I'm meant to be part of it. Like, the call of the soul is so strong that it's beyond this physical mental realm. So I love that you said that. I want, that's what I want to create. I want to create something where there's just like, no question. Like, there's no. They don't have to try. And. Like when I hear some. When I feel something that feels like truth, like, it just. It brings me. It. This resonance is so strong that it brings tears to my eyes. And I'm just like, I feel a full body. Yes. And it, like, it makes me feel in alignment. It just makes me feel like, oh, yes. Full body. Yes. So that's, that's what I. That's like. My main thing is I want to bring. I want it to be like a soul calling. I don't want it to be anything. That's. It's just. Yeah, that's. That's the thing. I want to. There to be a resonance soul calling with the people that see this. And they're just like, they know the intention behind it is something that is in alignment with their soul. So I love that you said that the word resonance, because that is what I'm speaking to here. It's a very. It's. It's very different to, I think what the other platforms that I'm seeing there to be. And I think the main difference is also, like, I'm wanting the individual person to feel like they are just as important as. As empowered for this movement to happen. Like, everybody is like. It's like that grand puzzle, and everybody is that piece. And without one piece, if there's a one piece missing, the whole thing looks like shit, you know? So I want people to feel that, like, they are so important, and they. Their gifts are so important in this world, and we need them, and that they are an integral piece to this movement. And I want people to feel empowered in that and, like, they belong to something that is making the world a better place. That is their soul's calling, that is bringing forth their, like, divine blueprints to come forth and shine and radiate. So, yeah, and that's what I want to speak to, is that part of people.
00:36:52
James Redenbaugh: Amazing. I've got, like, full body goosebumps when you started talking about resonance. And I remembered this anecdote about some tribe, I think, in Africa, where. When a child is born, the village creates a song for them, and they sing that song to them at key events. And if they ever. If the person ever goes, like, astray, the village, like, instead of where they. They do something bad or hurt somebody, instead of punishing them, the whole village gathers around them and puts them in the circle and sings this song. And the hit I got was like, what's the. What's the song that we've all forgotten? That is our collective song that we all know deep down somewhere in our souls. And when we hear it, we'll, like, remember and come home.
00:38:09
Tess Athena: Oh, I got goosebumps, too. Yeah, that's beautiful.
00:38:17
James Redenbaugh: Awesome. So no small task.
00:38:22
Tess Athena: Oh, no, no, no.
00:38:27
James Redenbaugh: Wonderful. So this resonant space. One of the questions that I ask in this questionnaire is if it's. If this. If Gaia warriors is a physical space or environment, what qualities would it have? What would it be like? What does it feel like to you.
00:38:59
Tess Athena: If it was a physical space.
00:39:03
James Redenbaugh: Or place?
00:39:12
Tess Athena: I mean, just for me, it just comes to nature, like you were saying, like, all the. All the examples you said about art. You all gave examples of nature. Like. And for me, it's that the. The feeling of awe that I get is only when I'm in nature and I see the beauty of, like you said, that mountain, that tree, that sunset, that. That are. So, for me, Gaia warriors is. It's bringing back that. The mystical awe of. And beauty that nature inherently provides and that symbiosis. So where every. Everybody works together as, like, a one Unified field. So I guess yeah, if it was. A place it would be probably forest. And beach together, But just. Yeah, that's what I feel like just some, somewhere that is just breathtakingly beautiful in nature. That that's what a physical place would look like. But if you mean like building wise. Do you mean like a. Do you want me to expand to more like that kind of thing or.
00:40:22
James Redenbaugh: Sure. It could be, you know, a clearing in the forest or a. Yeah, like a hill top and the. In the mountains. But if people are coming to gather in this space, what it's, What would it be like? Would it be pure nature or might we set some things up for them when they get there?
00:40:47
Tess Athena: Yes, we'd have to. I guess I just want to be feral and just live only in nature. But yeah, I mean I'm really into like natural adobe earthworks kind of cob, you know, using the like building with the earth. So I just, I love the aspects of like permaculture and, and, and, and you know, using the earth to create these beautiful like structures. Bamboo and carb and hemp and that, that kind of thing. So. But it would all be like, it would look like it was there already, you know, like the like nature, like it just popped out of the ground. Like nature, like it grew out of the ground.
00:41:41
James Redenbaugh: Yeah.
00:41:44
Tess Athena: Wonderful guy. Warriors community is going to look like in the future. Long term. Long term vision.
00:41:52
James Redenbaugh: Awesome. I studied architecture and Alan, you studied urban planning, didn't you?
00:42:02
Tess Athena: Yeah.
00:42:05
James Redenbaugh: And long term I want to not just be building websites, but building villages and it's always been my dream. When I was in architecture school I started realizing that the structures I really wanted to create, we didn't have the, the infrastructure or the will or the technology to create because I, I knew that we could create much more like nature does. And I would have these dreams of being on other planets and seeing these environments that felt like they grew out of the planet but were these beautiful intricate spaces that you know, facilitated such interesting gatherings and, and experiences and.
00:43:04
Tess Athena: It'S.
00:43:04
James Redenbaugh: Super cool and circulation and the way we build is so rudimentary and archaic. Like why does everything have to be a box? You know, is everything a right angle?
00:43:24
Tess Athena: All the indigenous lived in round. Everything that they lived was circular.
00:43:30
Ellen S: Tess, do you know, have you heard of geoship?
00:43:33
Tess Athena: I do, I love geoship. Yeah, they're going to be. When I do my Gaia warriors launch, they're going to be one of the people on the panel that talk about nice.
00:43:42
Ellen S: Yeah, they're doing, you know, about their Work James. And that's Spencer's, you know, boss. And. Yeah, he's getting rid of the box because that's like one of their things is like.
00:43:53
Tess Athena: Yeah.
00:43:54
Ellen S: Why are we living in a box? Basically?
00:43:55
Tess Athena: Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. I went to their prototype. So great.
00:43:59
Ellen S: It's amazing.
00:43:59
Tess Athena: Made out of ceramic and, like, beautiful.
00:44:02
Ellen S: I slept in one one night. Like. Like they have a little tiny one on a piece of property and it's like, it just feels so different, like being in it. The materials and all of it doesn't look totally. Like it just sprouted out of the ground, but it's definitely deeply inspired by nature and.
00:44:19
Tess Athena: Yeah, totally. Oh, I love. No, I love it.
00:44:23
James Redenbaugh: Spencer keeps telling me I need to work with them. Yeah, they're. They're awesome. Yeah, I love them.
00:44:31
Tess Athena: Yeah. And they're based here where I live, so. So there.
00:44:33
James Redenbaugh: Oh, yeah, that's right. Yeah, exactly. Cool. So that kind of thing. And. I don't want to jump to ideas about website and. And ui, but I will a little bit. I want to. You know, when we design websites, unfortunately, everybody is viewing them on a rectangle, you know, in a box.
00:45:07
Tess Athena: Right.
00:45:07
James Redenbaugh: And square pixels. I hope we start getting, like, circular screens soon and other things, and hopefully VR takes off more. But, you know, for now it's mostly rectangular use case. And we have to work within those limitations and. But we're trying to break out of them as much as possible and push the limits of what's possible. So I think, especially in the. In key moments on the site when we're communicating about vision, it will be important to not default to building with rectangles, but using more organic, inspired, responsive geometry and thinking about imagery on the site. I think that obviously images of nature are going to be really important, the actual Earth. And I don't want to AI generate those because it kind of defeats the purpose. There's so many. You know, there's so much beauty on the planet. Let's share that and use that for. For backgrounds and.
00:46:32
Tess Athena: Oh, my God, totally.
00:46:33
James Redenbaugh: And images.
00:46:35
Tess Athena: Beautiful already. We do not need to with it.
00:46:38
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, no.
00:46:42
Tess Athena: I'm sorry, but AI can't. There's just a difference. AI cannot mimic what God made. Like, you cannot. It's always going to be a mimicry.
00:46:53
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. But when we. AI can help us build those buildings that are more aligned with nature. So when it comes to the parts that the humans are creating, I think AI can help us get closer to what nature does.
00:47:11
Tess Athena: But I love that you made that. Distinction of, like, let's use the AI for the human stuff, but let's leave the natural nature without it.
00:47:18
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. So if we want to. I don't know if we will, but let's say we wanted to make an image of a future village. We could use AI to start building little buildings in there, but let's use an actual picture of the Earth, you know, and build it on the real Earth and not just generate the whole thing, so things like that and. But yeah, I don't want to. Too early. Oh, we lost Ellen, but I think. I think we'll get her back. She does have a hard stop. She was just tuning in for an hour. I forgot to mention. So we will lose her soon if we didn't just lose her already. No, she's back. Hey, Ellen, you're back.
00:48:15
Ellen S: Sorry about that. My box expired.
00:48:21
James Redenbaugh: That's okay.
00:48:23
Ellen S: I'm only going to be on 10 more minutes, but I'm enjoying this thoroughly, so I'm going to hang out with you guys a little bit longer.
00:48:29
James Redenbaugh: Awesome. Great. So not only on this call, but after, I want to continue exploring what we mean by Gaia and what we mean by warriors and what we mean by Gaia Warriors. And I feel like we're. We've talked a lot about Gaia already on this call today, and I want to go into the warrior aspect a little bit and hear some more about your. Your understanding of that and your. Your word choice.
00:49:12
Tess Athena: Yeah, I'm glad that you brought that up. I mean, warrior, it's, it's. I've sat with it for a long time because it's such a charged word and a lot of people have resistance to the word warrior because the root word is war. And it's. A lot of people assume warrior with, like, someone that's a fighter, you know, that's someone that's like. So I have sat with that for a while and I have, you know, I was going to be like, oh, should I do. Gaia's got Gaia guardians and. But the thing, the reason why I. Want to stick with warriors is I want to reclaim the word because in the indigenous root of that word, a warrior is actually someone that will do what it takes to maintain peace. And so the reason why I'm, I'm. I'm choosing the word warrior is because I actually want people to get out of their comfort zone. I want people to. To actually choose to face their darkness. Because unless people are willing to have the courage to face their own darkness, this world's never going to change. And so it does. It is. I am Calling forth the warrior within people that needs to come forth to make this world a better place. Because if we just keep being complacent and we keep allowing things to happen and we keep being disempowered and thinking we can't change, I don't feel like there is going to be any change. So that's why I'm sticking to the word Gaia Warrior. Because the warrior is like an invocation to bring forth that within people. And it's not a thing to fight. It's like, no, I'm bringing forth the courage that it takes for you to step outside of this little box that society has put you in. And you have to come out. Sharing your gifts takes it's warrior work to face your darkness, to do your shadow work, to do your. To come out and share your gift with the world. I feel like that takes the warrior within you to do that because it's scary, scary to do all those things. And so that's why I chose the word warrior. And I think that we need to invoke the warriors within people to make this world a better place. And I think it's a very deep shamanic word. There's indigenous roots to it, there's shamanic roots to it. You know, the spiritual warrior, the light Warrior. It's like, it's like those that will, that know, that know the light and the birthright of how humans and how, how children of God, how we're meant to live, the world we're meant to live in. The warriors are the ones that are like, I'm going to do what it takes. I'm going to protect the children. I'm going to do what it takes to make myself better, a better version of myself, to make the world a better place. I'm calling forth that part within people. And so that's why I chose to stick with the word warrior. Because it's something that's action based. I think it's not. I want it to be action oriented. I want people to feel like they matter and they, and it does require, it's more actual spiritual action. But it's, it's, it is something that's not passive. Like we cannot be passive anymore. That's why I stuck with the word and Gaia Warrior. The reason why I chose it to be Gaia instead of like Light Warrior or whatever is because I feel like there's so many people from different planets, from different places, from the universe that we've all chosen Gaia as our home. So what is the one thing that we all have in common. It is the Earth. And I think. And it's this. Gaia is the name of. Of the Earth. It's. It's her spiritual name. And so it's the one thing that we all have in common. Like, doesn't matter what race you're from, what language, what country, what spiritual belief, what everything. The one thing that we all have in common is that we're on this one planet. And it's the warriors of this planet that have chosen to come here to make the world different. So that's why I chose the word or it came to me. I didn't even choose it. Like, it was a channeled word that came to me about seven years ago. So, yeah, that's it.
00:53:17
James Redenbaugh: Awesome. I've got goosebumps again. I love it. That sounds really clear. I'm really glad we have that on the, on the recording here. Have you seen the movie Peaceful Warrior?
00:53:32
Tess Athena: I haven't.
00:53:34
James Redenbaugh: That's some good homework to watch. It's. It's a beautiful film. It's one of my favorites when I was a teenager.
00:53:44
Tess Athena: Wait, is it the guy that. He has an accident? He's like a gymnast and he has an.
00:53:49
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, yeah, classic.
00:53:51
Tess Athena: Really good. And the, The.
00:53:53
James Redenbaugh: The.
00:53:53
Tess Athena: The gas station guy comes, his teacher, and he's like this amazing spiritual teacher.
00:53:59
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, it's very spiritual and philosophical and it's. It's very much the archetype of the kind of warrior that you're talking about. And I think it's right on to re. To reclaim that and to own it. And there's too much in. I think New age is kind of an old term now, but in spiritual circles, they can often be too passive. You know, let's just send love and light to everything and hope for the best. And, and you're really calling forth this action and empowerment of the individual to do what they came here for and exactly cut the. And, you know, and stand up for what's true and, and fight, you know, not physically, but in ways that are even harder and take. Take more of ourselves because we're not just fighting some enemy on a battlefield, but. But we're rebelling against the own, you know, our own conditioning that we grew up with and the, the systems that we were born into and the things that are hard to see because it's the water that we swam in our whole life. And, and it takes people bravely standing up for what they know is. Know is right and no is true to start creating a. A new world that eventually everyone can you know, will be able to see and look to and be like, oh, yeah, there is something. Something more that's possible. Like, we all know that something deep down, I think everybody on this planet knows that something bigger and better is. Is possible. But some of us here really know it. And, you know, most of us also. It's so easy to ignore that or forget it or, you know, I'm just gonna, You know, hang out, or you focus on myself or focus on my family or. Which are valid responses. You know, I'm worried about my family and my future, but I also know that I want to fight for. A brighter future for everybody and for my. My future family.
00:57:21
Tess Athena: Yeah. And someone actually said this once, which I really resonated. They were like, one of the big. One of the worst things on the planet is comfort. That's comfort. Everybody is. Wants to stay in this comfort. It's familiar, it's comfortable. It's, like, small. It's complacent. It's like. You know what I mean? It's like that comfort. Everybody wants to be in their comfort zone. And when you're in your comfort zone. There'S no growth can happen. So, yeah, you guys, I have to go.
00:57:54
Ellen S: I'm inspired by both of you. Thank you.
00:57:56
James Redenbaugh: Awesome.
00:57:57
Tess Athena: Thanks, Ellen.
00:57:57
James Redenbaugh: Thanks for being here.
00:57:59
Ellen S: Yeah, I'll talk to you soon. I'll see you soon, Tess. And yeah, enjoy the rest of the conversation.
00:58:05
Tess Athena: Thank you.
00:58:06
James Redenbaugh: All right.
00:58:06
Tess Athena: Bye.
00:58:07
James Redenbaugh: Bye. Awesome. I'm so excited.
00:58:14
Tess Athena: So nice. It feels so exciting that there's, like, so much resonance with, like, just with. Everything you're sharing, I'm sharing. It just feels like we're building. Like, it's like I say something, and. Then you add to it and make it. It's like we're complementing this vision. It feels really good.
00:58:29
James Redenbaugh: Wonderful. I feel like it's because this entity is real and we are in dialogue or trialogue with it. Like, it exists in the space between us and. Yeah, you've been holding it and cultivating it, and I'm. Ellen and I are getting in touch with it now and feeling it, and it's not entirely unfamiliar to me, you know?
00:59:02
Tess Athena: Yeah, it feels like that. And I also really appreciate. I feel like you're doing a very. Balanced approach of, like, masculine and feminine because. You'Re doing the. Like, I really appreciate the inquiry. Like, the questions that you're asking for me feel very feminine. You know, you're wanting to understand, like, the more of the quantum, spiritual, like, ethos behind it and that. I really appreciate that. And Then you're doing the masculine part, which is, like, the building of it, which is, like, so helpful for me because I can't do that part. But I just love that you're taking a very balanced approach. That feels really good to me. It feels very, like, nourishing because I can be very hyper feminine with it. And it's the masculine part that I struggle with, you know, the actual, like, tech, building, structure, blah, blah, blah, part, business, whatever, which I'm getting along. But I appreciate that you're doing such a balanced approach to it, so thank you.
00:59:55
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. We all have to do both in our world and in different ways. And Gaia warriors, in my mind, is very much both with, you know, Gaia being the feminine and warrior being the masculine, obviously. And I feel it's a fractal as well, where there's a masculine and feminine in each of those concepts. Like, there's a way to be a feminine warrior and a way to be a masculine Gaia. Yeah, that's also. That's also important.
01:00:32
Tess Athena: Yeah. And my logo. I don't know if you. You must have seen my logo, but it's a. It's feminine and masculine. Like, there it is there. It's like the masculine's holding the torch, she's pouring the water. So I have, like, all four elements. I have earth, air, fire. I wanted all the four elements. Well, five elements, because there's spirit, but. And then there's. It's the yin and yang, and then it's the masculine and feminine, and then it's the night and day. So it's like. Yeah.
01:01:04
James Redenbaugh: Hold on. I'm not seeing it. Let me.
01:01:08
Tess Athena: Instead of my video, I put my video. It's my logo, is my video.
01:01:13
James Redenbaugh: I think just because I. Oh, there we go. Oh, yeah. Awesome, awesome. So who created this?
01:01:28
Tess Athena: So I had also very mystical experience. But I saw this image on online. And I tried so hard to track down the artist, but I can't find the artist anywhere. And so I was like, shit, man. So I was like, maybe I need to just do my own thing. And then I drank ayahuasca. And whoever created this image, like the spirit, contacted me and told me that I have permission to use it. So I use. But I changed it. Like, before, it was two women. So I changed the bottom one to be a man. And then I changed the torch and the water. That wasn't there before. So I have altered it, but to make it more balanced and to have all four. I wanted. Four. I wanted. I was like, this image has to have all four elements in. Because for me, the elements are the. You know, it's the mother's angels. It's like earth, air, fire, water. It's like the main fabric of our existence. I wanted that to be in there. And then I wanted to be like, hey, this is like the masculine, feminine. The masculine is like holding the torch, you know, like, being the torchbearer. The. And the woman. The feminine is like the nurturing, the watering of the. Of the earth. And they're, like, holding hands, and they're like, we're doing. In this. We're doing this together. We are the warriors for this planet. And it's the yin and yang, the. Light and dark and moon. And there's so much to it in that tiny little picture. There's just, like, so much.
01:02:59
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, it's so cool. It's so cool.
01:03:02
Tess Athena: Thanks.
01:03:03
James Redenbaugh: Roots and the branches, and they both have these wings, and it's like the. The masculine has a feminine wing and. Yeah, feminine has a masculine wing.
01:03:15
Tess Athena: Yeah. I love that. I didn't think about that. That's cool.
01:03:20
James Redenbaugh: Very cool.
01:03:23
Tess Athena: Yeah. I don't know if I. A lot of people have said that. I need to make, like, a more simple version of this as the. You know, like, when you have, like when it comes up on a. Like, in an app or something, there's like just one symbol. And so I don't know if that's something that I need to do, but don't want to change it maybe.
01:03:43
James Redenbaugh: I don't know. It's not. It's not necessary necessarily. Yeah, we can definitely play with it. So.
01:04:02
Tess Athena: But yeah, if I ever, like, if I make this. If this thing goes big and the logo gets out there and the artist contacts me, like, I would love to pay her or. Or him or whoever it is. Like, I'm like, this is such a beautiful. But I got. For me. For me getting. Because I didn't plan it. I drank. I just was in the ayahuasca ceremony, and this being came to me, and they were like, I want you to use my art for your thing. And I'm like, ah, my God. So it was really cool. It's a very spiritual experience. But if the physical person is alive, if the person's dead, then I feel like I have the permission. But if the person's alive and contacts me, I think they'd be so happy to know that I'm using an image that they've created for such a big project like this, because it's just a random image on the Internet that I found. And I would love to compensate the person. So we'll see how it goes. If the person contacts me, I'd be super happy.
01:04:57
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. I wonder where it came from.
01:05:00
Tess Athena: Yeah.
01:05:04
James Redenbaugh: Maybe it came from a different. Different planet. I found. I'm just looking at the original. I found it online. You've definitely made it. Your. I might. I might have found the person who made it, actually.
01:05:42
Tess Athena: No ways. Did you?
01:05:44
James Redenbaugh: I think so.
01:05:45
Tess Athena: Oh, my God. Can you send that to me? How did you do that?
01:05:48
James Redenbaugh: I'm pretty good at this.
01:05:53
Tess Athena: Oh. Oh, my God. Yeah, I want to contact the person and. And speak to them.
01:05:59
James Redenbaugh: Her.
01:06:02
Tess Athena: I thought it was a her.
01:06:04
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, I think. I mean, this person posted it on DeviantArt in 2010. They're called Troll Girl. As above. So below.
01:06:23
Tess Athena: Oh, wow.
01:06:28
James Redenbaugh: She's done a lot of beautiful stuff on here.
01:06:31
Tess Athena: Yeah, I'm seeing it now. Oh, amazing. I'm gonna. I'm totally gonna contact her and see what. Wow. I love some. Her art is amazing and she sounds totally in line with. In line with what I'm.
01:06:54
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. Wow.
01:06:56
Tess Athena: Thanks for that.
01:06:58
James Redenbaugh: Oh, she's got some cool yin yang cat earrings. Nito. I love her stuff.
01:07:11
Tess Athena: Yeah, me too. Oh, my God. I can't believe. How did you do that? Awesome. Well, that's going to be exciting.
01:07:23
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, Let me know. She.
01:07:25
Tess Athena: Hopefully she'll be like, into it.
01:07:28
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. If I were her, I would be stoked that somebody was asking permission and that they weren't just an AI taking her stuff without permission. Anyway.
01:07:44
Tess Athena: Yeah. I don't want to be someone like that. That's not. There's no integrity in that.
01:07:55
James Redenbaugh: Wonderful. So between now and our next meeting, I want to spend some time mood boarding and collecting some other points of visual inspiration for the website and graphics. And I'll invite you to do the same as well. I want to see things that you're. You're drawn to. You know, what's. What does beautiful nature look like to you, but also art and design and other other things that feel inspiring.
01:08:33
Tess Athena: To you. And so would that be just like a folder that I just like, put images into kind of thing?
01:08:41
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, whatever's easiest for you. We can put those in a Google folder or you can use Pinterest. Pinterest is great for finding things on Pinterest, but it's annoying to like, upload things to Pinterest. I find Pinterest to be a good starting place because there's so much there and they make it easy to explore. But then we'll collect everything into a folder and Then I'll put our favorite things into a space in Figma where we can see it all together and start to organize them like a big collage workspace. We can see our different points of inspiration and then also put up, start to put up content and concepts so that they can exist in space. And then also as we get into essentially product design and function building, we'll use the same kind of space to map the functions of the platform because we're going to have all kinds of ideas about how we want it to function and we're going to choose some of those ideas to prototype and you know, other ideas we'll put into a pipeline and we'll decide on an MVP to prototype and then get that out to, to beta testers to start playing with and get feedback on. And there's always going to be more ideas than there's like time and capacity to execute. And so I'll help create a system where we can prioritize the most important ideas that are going to lead to the most cohesive, viable initial product. And then of course we can evolve it over time also after launch and plan for additional features. But we want to discover together and also with our beta testers what, what's the core set of functionalities that we can do really well that will serve as the foundational level for this platform to get people to come on there and contribute and join in the ways that we want them to. And so there's lots of questions in the questionnaire about how are we considering ambassadors, you know, what other user types are we going to be considering, what are we considering around messaging and calls to action. And we'll get clearer and clearer on these things as, as time goes on and start to see like, okay, here's the, here's the tip of the spear, you know, and here's the, the stance we're taking and this is where we're putting it and who's, who can get behind this like Geoship and the teachers that you're talking to and others that can signal boost it, who you know, how do we make this valuable and viable for them and something that they're going to want to be a part of and to share with their networks and to be a place that they can contribute to in a conversation that they can be a part of.
01:12:50
Tess Athena: Beautiful. So my homework is to. I'm going to look over the contract one more time to see if there is any other questions that sprung up. I'll write those down. I will. And then is there a start to. Sign it or something. Huh? Sign it and send it back to you. Or is there a signing thing that happens? Or.
01:13:12
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, either print it out and scan the last page or use Acrobat or some other signing thing. I don't have a particular one. Yeah.
01:13:24
Tess Athena: Okay. And then I will fill out the questionnaire that you just sent me today. And. And then I will start collecting images. And I think I'm glad that you said Pinterest. I never even thought about using Pinterest, so that would be a good place. And I'll start just collecting. I'll create a fold and I'll just start collecting some stuff and I'll put in there and then that can be. And then I'll have all that ready for our next meeting.
01:13:45
James Redenbaugh: Great. Awesome. And yeah, feel free to make new as you go through the questionnaire. First of all, don't feel like you need to answer every question. Focus on the ones that feel most relevant and resonant. I'll also update it after this call to see what. What questions did we already cover? And. If you feel like there's a something that you want to double click on or create more space for than the little box, like you can create a new tab in Google Docs. Like, we should have a tab for ambassadors and start putting ideas and thoughts around. How are we thinking about ambassadors over there? Maybe we want a tab for partners or things like that. So feel free to expand and explore and I think it'll be good to limit ourselves to like, a small number of documents. We can just create more tabs on the document.
01:15:01
Tess Athena: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
01:15:02
James Redenbaugh: Instead of like having a bunch of documents all over the place.
01:15:05
Tess Athena: Yeah, yeah, I agree with that.
01:15:07
James Redenbaugh: I have some clients who like, you know, every week they'll send me like four new Google Docs to like, sort through and organize. So I'm trying to get people to like, let's have one place and.
01:15:21
Tess Athena: Yeah, yeah, so much sense.
01:15:24
James Redenbaugh: I'll also share a home for our engagement that will have all the recordings of our meetings and the analysis of those and. And important documents. And we'll also see our timeline there and things that we're working on. And that'll be a helpful place to come back to if you're not sure what you should be working on or you want to remember something from a call that we had. And it's also designed to be. To be used with AI. So I highly recommend Claude over the other LLMs.
01:16:01
Tess Athena: That's funny. Claude's the one that I initially resonated.
01:16:05
James Redenbaugh: With as well, yeah, I. Vibe wise, I really like it. And also ethics wise, I like their company the best. All the other ones are so shady. Meta and Grok and OpenAI and Google's. Okay. I don't know about Google. Gemini is pretty cool, but I trust Anthropic the most with, like, sharing my heart and personal things to me. So, you know, if you're using an LLM, you can share the link to the artifact page and ask it questions and say, hey, can you analyze this meeting that we had and help me think about X, Y and Z or whatever question you want to ask is very helpful for that.
01:16:56
Tess Athena: Okay. Wow. I've only ever used AI for, like, research and technical questions, like how do. I edit this video to make it look. I've not really used it for things like that. So that's. That's helpful.
01:17:09
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, I. I've been using Claude for Vedic astrology lately. It's an incredible Vedic astrology.
01:17:15
Tess Athena: Oh, my God. Glow just sent me a whole thing. On Vedic astrology with AI and stuff. That's funny.
01:17:22
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. I want to build a Vedic astrology app with Claude actually, where people can put in there, like the numerology one I sent you.
01:17:33
Tess Athena: Yeah. That's so cool. And I love that you're doing Vedic. Because it's based on the 13 moon and it's not the Gregorian calendar and Unity. Grace, who I. You know, I asked you how you knew her. I actually have a meeting with her next. She had this whole download that. Yeah. That our sidria sidereal Vedic is the true chart and the other one is not. Yeah.
01:18:00
James Redenbaugh: So awesome.
01:18:02
Tess Athena: Yeah.
01:18:02
James Redenbaugh: I actually designed this weekly planner and like, reminder system based on my Vedic astrology and numerology. And these eight. So there's seven planets in Vedic astrology, and then the eighth is like liberation, Moksha, and then for every day of the week, I have a template and notes about what's happening astrologically on the day and space to share different thoughts and intentions. And I could just rotate throughout the week to different areas.
01:18:49
Tess Athena: Oh, my God, that is awesome. Yeah. Because then you can use that. You can harness the power of the. Cosmos to enhance your days and your Use specific days for different things.
01:19:05
James Redenbaugh: Exactly. Yeah. And it's. It's like this big analog circular interface on one side of my desk, and the other side of my desk is like this long, linear digital thing with now like multiple computers and all my technology. So it balances it out.
01:19:24
Tess Athena: Okay.
01:19:26
James Redenbaugh: But I need to get in the habit of actually using it now that I've made It, I made it last week and it's like I gotta remember to actually use it. Yeah, I get that. Yeah. Wonderful.
01:19:37
Tess Athena: Amazing.
01:19:41
James Redenbaugh: Well, we have a bit more time, but this feels like a natural closing point to our call. We never have to take all the time that we have. Are there, is there any questions that you have or anything else that you want to discuss while we're here?
01:20:00
Tess Athena: One woman came up to me because I know I already messaged, I already. Spoke to you about this whole digital ID thing, but this woman came up to me that I know her from a friend and she said that her and a bunch of her friends are getting a private server and do I want in on this private server thing? At what point do I need to. Make a decision about what server I'm using?
01:20:25
James Redenbaugh: Good question. I wouldn't worry about it yet, but I actually bought a, a fancy PC last week to start to experiment with doing more things locally and having full control over the tools I'm using, including AI. But it's like preliminary research for me, but anything we, we make using the, the technology stack that we're using, we will be able to migrate it to platforms that are able to be localized and fully controlled. So I, I'm like hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. And for now I want to take advantage of airtable and webflow and these incredible cloud tools. And I hope we never have to go off of the cloud, but if we do, and I am researching open source alternatives that can be run on really any kind of local server, it doesn't. I'm, you know, I'm amazed by what I can do on my, on my PC or a Mac, you know, but I'm even running agents and things like that fully locally without, without Internet. It's pretty crazy to like, I didn't think, I didn't think in 2025 I'd be able to have a full conversation with my computer or have it, you know. Right, right. Code for me. But it can do that now. That's pretty cool.
01:22:37
Tess Athena: Awesome. So if we were. If you know, and I do think. This is much further down the line anyway, but if we were had, if we did have to, we could migrate all that information and then we could look into putting it somewhere that's open sourced if necessary.
01:22:55
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, yeah. Yep.
01:22:57
Tess Athena: Okay.
01:23:00
James Redenbaugh: Exactly. Because fundamentally the, the directory is a relational database and airtable is the most convenient tool for managing a relational database right now. And it integrates easily with these other tools that we're using. But there's a million ways to host and manage a relational database that are, that are open source. So if at any point we need to. The basic process is like exporting a SVG or a CSV and importing it into another. Another thing that's off the cloud. But hopefully it never has to come to that. And.
01:23:56
Tess Athena: Because you think the cloud, that. Means that they, they could implement something that we don't want to comply with that would make us. Force us to take it off.
01:24:09
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. Or they would, you know, take it down for some reason. Or. I mean, the, the, the contingency I want to be somewhat prepared for is like, what if they decided to shut down the whole Internet, which. Can be done. And then people would put up their own meshwork systems to create an alternative Internet. And we would want to be able to be a part of that. And hopefully that never happens.
01:25:02
Tess Athena: Yeah.
01:25:03
James Redenbaugh: And sounds, you know, less like conspiracy now than it did a year ago. We'll see how things go. But it's, you know, we saw it in Iran. They just turned off the Internet and start killing their people. And so there's got to be alternatives. And there's lots of people working on alternatives. And we don't have to reinvent the wheel there and like, create an alternative system. We just want to be able to, to be a part of that alternative if, if necessary.
01:25:55
Tess Athena: Right. And there would be a way for us to, like, we'd probably get notice. Like, okay, oh, they're gonna change whatever, you know, compliance, whatever. We would get noticed. So we could, like, export the data before they, like, they couldn't, like, shut it all down before we could do that kind of thing. Huh.
01:26:15
James Redenbaugh: Well, we would start to see the world taking some dark turns before it came to that. You know, things would get really bad.
01:26:22
Tess Athena: Yeah.
01:26:24
James Redenbaugh: And we would make sure we have backups and even, like, different nodes around the. The planet. We could back up all the data. You know, let's say we have lots of resources and learning on there. Instead of storing it on the cloud, let's have different people download it onto hard drive in case, like, we get separated. It can still exist in different forms even if we don't have a global network. Maybe we have a meshwork in Nevada City or Philadelphia, you know, or things like that, and we can share resources there.
01:27:15
Tess Athena: But backing it up onto hard drives, that makes me feel better.
01:27:19
James Redenbaugh: Yeah.
01:27:22
Tess Athena: Like a tangible thing that I'm going to hold instead of like, this thing, you know, Exactly.
01:27:28
James Redenbaugh: Making it real. And hopefully it never comes to that. But even if we can do that makes it tangible. Too, you know, it's like this. It gives it a physicality that it's here and not some. Something that can be taken away from us. Because I think the bigger. The bigger threat is the threat itself. When totally when. When we feel like something can be taken away from us, then there's power over us. But when we have backup plans, then there's less power over us. And then hopefully it doesn't come to that.
01:28:14
Tess Athena: Yeah. And I also feel like this is the first iteration of the website. This is just to get it out into the world. And I feel very confident from, like, psychics and my own intuition that there's going to be people that really resonate with it that are, like, angel investors or people that want to, like, protect the sanctity of it and will help then if we need to move this first iteration to another form of it. But this first iteration, like, it feels good to do it this way. And I feel like there will be. Because I know that this is meant, like, this is the will of the divine. This is, like, bigger than just us as people. This is something that's meant to happen. And there will be like. Yeah, there's. There'll be backups and ways to, like, loopholes and whatever. So I trust.
01:29:02
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome. Very cool. Well, great meeting, Tess. Thank you so much, James.
01:29:13
Tess Athena: It was a great meeting. I love that we both got. We both got goosebumps. That's a good sign.
01:29:20
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, definitely.
01:29:21
Tess Athena: Yeah.
01:29:23
James Redenbaugh: Well, I'll be in touch and I'll share an artifact of this call once it's generated. And you'll hear from us soon. And feel free to use the same link I sent you to schedule another time next week. Let's have another session.
01:29:39
Tess Athena: Cool. It's going to be the week after. I'm going to the German Jam Festival next week.
01:29:43
James Redenbaugh: Oh, cool. Arizona in Tucson.
01:29:46
Tess Athena: Yeah.
01:29:48
James Redenbaugh: Nice. Jealous.
01:29:49
Tess Athena: Yeah. Yeah. I'm actually gonna go film an indigenous elder there. He's. This man that I'm filming is going to be one of my main guy warriors. He's, like the most inspiring. One of the most inspiring men I've ever met. Yeah. He creates drum circles and sound healings in prisons and psychiatric wards and, like, places where the vibration is so low and people are so, like. It's, like, really bad. And he comes in there and, like, helps people to, like, feel joy and. Yeah, he's amazing human being, and I want to do a documentary about his life story and, you know, just such a great person. So I'm gonna go film his. He's got a whole indigenous sound healing drum circle area at the festival and I'm gonna go film and document what he's doing there and.
01:30:41
James Redenbaugh: Yeah, awesome, awesome. Very cool.
01:30:45
Tess Athena: Yeah.
01:30:47
James Redenbaugh: Then I have some additional homework for you.
01:30:50
Tess Athena: Okay.
01:30:50
James Redenbaugh: And it'll be to while on your travels and while you're there and engaging in these things, act as if and think and feel as if. Gaia warriors is a platform that already exists, even if it doesn't have a digital home yet. It's already here, it's already real. And you are already a. An emissary of this territory and you can already enroll others and bring people in and transmit the message and create on there as you are. So yeah, just be. Hold that. That perspective and know that you're. You're creating for that.
01:31:52
Tess Athena: Oh my God. Thank you so much for saying that. I actually just got the new OSMO pocket. It's like it's little camera thing and I'm gonna document it. I'm gonna be like, hey, this is, you know, we Guy Warriors. We're going out there, we're filming this. Amazing person and I'll document the whole. Thing and write a story and create content. So thanks for saying that. It's a good idea. Guy warriors website's already made and the community's already happening. And it's true. That's how you manifest it is by living it. It's already here. It's already happened.
01:32:23
James Redenbaugh: Thank you.
01:32:24
Tess Athena: I appreciate that.
01:32:25
James Redenbaugh: Yeah. And you will find people that are already on the platform, you know, in the same way that you will on the digital platform that people will when they log in. You can already log in and see somebody's profile, you know, when you run into them at the, at the gem show, you know, and, and just notice, what's that? What's your user experience? You know, what's it like? You're the first beta tester and see how it. See how it works for you and see how it wants to evolve.
01:33:05
Tess Athena: I love that. Thank you for that. That feels very inspiring and activating to do that.
01:33:10
James Redenbaugh: Cool, cool. We'll have a blast. And I can't wait to see these videos.
01:33:15
Tess Athena: Yeah, totally. We'll have a, have a beautiful day and make sure you use your little desk thing.
01:33:23
James Redenbaugh: I will.
01:33:23
Tess Athena: Desk.
01:33:24
James Redenbaugh: I will. Yeah. It's Thursday. Karma day. Action and craft.
01:33:31
Tess Athena: Oh, nice.
01:33:35
James Redenbaugh: Well, have a beautiful now and I'll talk to you soon.
01:33:38
Tess Athena: Lots of love, James. Thank you.
01:33:41
James Redenbaugh: Bye.
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