Welcome to our hands-on research practicum, a friendship that can withstand the revolution. The point of this research is to experience the transformation of disenfranchised labour, into beloved, cherished paid village roles – that grow the building blocks of grief-centered, earth-honouring, ancestor-inspired, regenerative economies.
We house this thriving village prototype in a larger mission to build a movement, economy, and era of artists who work for the planet.
We ground this research in a comprehensive study of Shaunga’s vision and design of a Village Artist Grant Ecosystem: a collective financial organizing strategy that embodies principles of sacred reciprocity, and that holds us accountable to abolitionist-feminist-Indigenous agreements of the land we are on.
Our current research takes place on the land of ‘Dish With One Spoon’ aka Tkaronto (Toronto), where this vision has been birthed and grown. And, we invite a larger community of artists, healers, service providers, modern day wisdom keepers, and devoted earth stewards, to join and follow along.
join our thriving village prototype
OPEN ROLES
We are currently organizing invitations through our networks to exceptionally purposed souls for open positions in our thriving village prototype. In the meantime, we are accepting nominations, including self-nominations, if you or someone you know feels heart-pulled and enthusiastically called toward one of these roles. Please do take care to read through the criteria and process of joining the team thoughtfully before indicating interest.
SAILOR MARS: learn in public scholarship and research position
We are looking for our dreamiest ‘Sailor Scout’ to join Ravyn and I backstage, for deep learning, juicy conversation, and revolutionary research. This position will go through Shaunga’s “alive memoir” ancestor dreaming curriculum on a learn-in-public scholarship. This position includes an exchange of services with Shaunga. Criteria for this position includes:
• you are an established spiritual/healing practitioner in your own lineage and traditions
• you have a minimum of 10-years on an ancestor healing journey and practise in guiding/supporting others on a life path of spirit, magic, and revolution
• you are dedicated to solidarity and healing with Black, Indigenous, global south communities, our more-than-human relatives, and your unique love story with the Universe
• you are confident, capable and experienced with communing with the spirit world, and with spiritual hygiene, boundaries, protection, responsibility and reciprocity in these areas
• you are invested in dreaming new economy visions into fruition
• you experience a genuine affection and enthusiasm for Shaunga’s voice, wisdom and artistry, as Ravyn and I are looking for someone who can add great conversational chemistry to our backstage area!
• you have an established audience that gathers around your voice and your work: this can look like a dedicated and boisterous audience on social media, email newsletter, or local network
• we invite collaboration from anywhere in the world; we are especially interested in a US-based collaborator, to explore ancestral solidarity work between “upper” and “lower” Turtle Island
In this role you will:
• receive free access to Shaunga’s backstage ‘alive memoir’ curriculum on ancestor dreaming technologies
• share a minimum of 3 things each month with your audience about what you’re learning from Shaunga and the project, and invite your audience to follow along our journey
• receive a $2000 stipend each month that you put toward a self-determined aspect of your disenfranchised labour
• contribute your insights to a final research report: what changes for your life, work, art, grief, when we directly resource labour that no other paradigm will fund?
• contribute one spiritual advisement session to Shaunga per month, to support and protect her leadership
• optional: receive a free private session with Shaunga each month, or book sessions in her private residency
To nominate someone for this position, send them this webpage, or email us a recommendation.
To nominate yourself, send us a letter of interest to mercury@shaungatagore.com
In this letter please include who you are, what season of life you’re in, information about your practise and audience, any relevant links (social media, website, etc), and why you are excited about this position.
The process of joining our team includes, 1) a get-to-know-you conversation with Shaunga over zoom; 2) going through our ancestor dreaming tincture application: this is a way for you to go through some of Shaunga’s offerings, and check with your Ancestors, dream world, and land-based inner knowing, to ensure we are the right match to work together.
After you send your letter of interest, we’ll get back to you and share more information on next steps.
One spot available!
DISH WITH ONE SPOON: first responders
We have 3 spots available for a team of folks to act as ‘first responders’ at 5 local gatherings in Tkaronto. During these gatherings, Shaunga takes a community through a comprehensive study of her vision and model of a Village Artist Grant Ecosystem. Each gathering is anchored in exploration of the five primordial elements/directions: East/Fire, South/Earth, West/Water, North/Air and Center/Ether.
Our first responders need to be physically present at each gathering (they will take place within city limits of Tkaronto, dates TBD). You give feedback, share insights, and ask questions. You help us refine the foundational principles and workings of my design. You advise on what a sustainable collective money moving strategy looks like that embodies the teachings of Dish With One Spoon, and the Abolitionist-Indigenous agreements expressed through this land.
Your priority as ‘first responders’ is to protect this work as a visionary liberation offering, protect the human behind the work, and protect a devoted gift that Shaunga offers back to the land as a ‘thank you’ for hosting her for the last 21 years.
We invite first responders who have Indigenous roots in Dish With One Spoon territory, and/or who embody Black Feminism, and Artistic Abolition. These spots are reserved for people who are awakened and committed to an ancestor healing journey, and walk with great reverence to the spirit world. We are looking for folks excited to offer generous, discerning, generative feedback.
Each first responder is offered $2000 each, in six instalments. This is to receive the work at 5 local gatherings, and offer insights, learnings and recommendations from the process to a final research report.
To nominate someone, send them this webpage, or email us your recommendation.
To self-nominate, please send a letter of interest to mercury@shaungatagore.com
In this letter please share: who you are, what season of life you are in, and what draws you to this role. Please share any relevant links (website, social media, etc).
The process of joining our team includes, 1) a get-to-know-you conversation with Shaunga, local or over zoom; 2) going through our ancestor dreaming tincture application: this is a way for you to go through some of Shaunga’s offerings, and check with your Ancestors, dream world, and land-based inner knowing, to ensure we are the right match to work together.
3 spots available!
CIRCLE OF PROTECTORS: become a primary investor
We invite a circle of investors to financially resource this work, and help us nurture a pool of funding that transforms disenfranchised labour, into beloved, paid village roles. Investors can be individuals, collectives, or organizations. You contribute to our research by learning and experiencing:
• how do we practise investing in one another via principles of reciprocity, solidarity, and mutuality, that go beyond ‘donating’ to mutual aid or reparations efforts (usually only in a crisis), or that follow dynamics of charity, paternalistic control, and colonial saviourship?
We want our investors to learn with us: what changes for you when we invest in disenfranchised labour, not just as receivers, but as givers? How does this help grow your own alivelihood? what does this practise teach you about regenerative economics?
We invite our investors to follow long the process, study the principles we bring forward, attend our gatherings as special guests (if local), and contribute your learnings to a final research report. We want to know where your aliveness most needs nurturing, and how this ecosystem can return and give back to you, too.
We can run our full thriving village prototype if we receive $27,000 per month for a period of 6-months. This can look like:
• 5 sources contribute $5555 per month for 6-months
• 10 sources contribute $3000 per month for 6-months
We accept one-time investments, as well as monthly investments of any number, no matter how small or large.
We define a primary investor as someone who makes a 4-figure or more monthly contribution, or a $10,000 (or more) one-time contribution.
Criteria for our primary investors:
• you must read our full research report on the project thus far (find it below) and feel enthusiastically inspired to join the project
• you must sincerely want to protect Shaunga’s leadership, thriving, and the thriving of this project as a whole
• you understand your contribution is a learning experience with solidarity and sacred reciprocity, and you commit to learning from the recipients’ leadership. Here, we actively challenge harmful dynamics in the non-profit, charity or philanthropy world, that asks recipients to compromise their integrity in order to keep their funders happy. In this project, funders come together to protect and resource the integrity of those who receive
• you must come with respect with people who work with realms of Spirit, Ancestors, and the unknown aspects of our Universe, and you are comfortable in environments where we openly discuss and celebrate these topics
To indicate interest as a primary investor, please send a letter of interest to mercury@shaungatagore.com
In your letter please share: who you are, what season of life you are in, and what draws you to this role. Let us know what amount you’d like to offer to this phase of development. (A ballpark amount is okay.)
The process of joining our team as a primary investor includes: a conversation with Shaunga (in-person or on zoom), and we draw up an agreement that we are both happy with.
An agreement will be drawn up for primary investors, but this is not necessary for one-time or monthly contributions at a smaller level. We will set up an online portal for smaller contributions.
read our full research report
For a full introduction to this project, please read our research report written in May 2026, on a movement for artists who work for the planet, and Shaunga’s vision for a Village Artist Grant Ecosystem. Below you can download a PDF of the report, along with a letter of support from our Co-Producer, Ravyn Wngz.
READ THE FULL REPORT:
LETTER OF SUPPORT: RAVYN WNGZ
weave with us
You can fill out a short form to let us know you are excited and in alignment with this project and overarching mission. There is a space for you to indicate interest if you would like to:
• attend our local gatherings
• study our research at a greater depth
• help us secure funding/investors
• share our collaborator call-out through your networks
• connect us to aligned partnerships
• offer in-kind contributions
• collaborate as an ancestor-guided artist
• follow along the process
• help connect us to a wider audience
• other surprises and generosities I haven’t thought of
There is space on this form to write a short testimonial after reading the research report, to celebrate this work. You can also let us know if you’d like to sign a letter indicating your interest in seeing our thriving village prototype succeed. This will help us in the pursuit of securing funding.