MICHAEL SPEAKS: STATE OF THE PLANET 2026: Momentum, Fracture, and Choice

January 25, 2026

MEntity: 

Hello to each of you. We are here, now. We can begin.

Let us first say that we seek to be realistic in speaking to you about the patterns that are unfolding in the world at the moment, but "the state of the planet" is not meant to be a recital of horrors, nor a retreat into false optimism. We explore these patterns as a way to name the momentum that is now carrying humanity forward, along with the fractures that reveal where the older paradigm is failing, and the choices that remain available, even as choices may feel narrow.

We always offer up the Overleaves for the year as a lens into that year's patterns, so we decided we will start there today.

With Server Role and Emotional Center emphasized all year, and with the Goal of Growth emphasized now, we will describe what this combination may mean for setting up the patterns of 2026.

A Server year would emphasize the mechanics of care, distribution, healing, protection, and triage. A Server year tends to magnify the questions of "who is actually served by this system?" and "who is actually trapped by it?" It tends to expose where "service" has been used only as branding while people are abandoned in practice.

With the Emotional Center emphasized, collective reality is processed through IMPACT first, which means that narratives, testimonies, grief, outrage, tenderness, and fear would likely move faster than policy can change. It also means that propaganda can be especially potent because propaganda is designed to seize the emotional center and recruit it.

Add to this the emphasis of Growth as an opening into the year, and this means no comfort.

Growth rarely means comfort.

Instead, it usually means exposure to what is true, and it means stretching beyond familiar strategies and routines, and it means learning WHILE moving, on the go. Nothing stops.

Growth can be exhilarating, but it can also be exhausting. In 2026, many fragments would not ask, "Do you want to grow?" or "Are you ready to grow?" but rather "What will you do now that conditions are demanding our growth?"

When fear-based systems sense a loss of control, they do not gently retire into the night. They over-correct. They tighten. They punish. They rewrite. They restrict. They scapegoat. They threaten.

This is not new, but the speed and reach of this over-correction has changed because technology can now scale this intimidation, misinformation, and coercion with unprecedented efficiency. 2026 is likely to be a year marked by deepening repression, conflicts, and leaders overriding all checks on power.

The fractures we speak of here is not simply a "division." It is a collision between two paradigms of power. The Young Soul Paradigm that tends to treat power as ownership and dominance, with safety purchased through exclusion. The Mature Soul Paradigm tends to treat power as responsibility, consent, context, and healing, with safety expanded through inclusion and transparency.

In 2026, many institutions, companies, and governments will attempt to speak in Mature Soul language while practicing Young Soul strategies. This could be said to be one of the signature themes of the year, as in PERFORMANCE OF CARE, or COMPETING WITH THE PRACTICE OF CARE. Profit will still anchor the Young Soul element in the effort to bring more Mature Soul care.

When we look at the collective patterns on the planet as a whole, we can say the following about specific areas that may be of interest:

POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE - Across the world, the central political pattern will likely move away from "left and right" and become more Authoritarian methods vs Democratic methods, regardless of party labels or national myths. Democratic backsliding continues to be an issue that helps anchor Authoritarianism after helping pave the way for this over the many decades leading up to now. This is caused by a mix of Mature Soul moves away from confrontation and conflict, which leaves many with no protection or guard rails from Authoritarianism, but many Democratic-leaning leaders have fallen in line with corporations as priority over people, and the move toward Authoritarianism is welcomed.

What we can suggest in response to this pattern:

Watch BEHAVIOR, not BRANDING. Many older souls are still moved quite easily by branding and will choose to ignore behavior in favor of brand loyalty. We suggest watching whether power is held accountable, whether dissent is safe under that power, and whether the vulnerable and targeted groups can live without fear under that power, whether truth has consequences and whether institutions hold under that power. If you have the capacity, your contribution of "service" in a Server year can be quite practical as mutual aid, protection of vulnerable communities through alliance, speaking out, speaking up, as well as verification before amplification, meaning one would do well to ensure what is amplified is valid and not misinformation. We can also suggest to find a way to contribute through civic participation, because episodic outrage does little.

WAR AND CONFLICT - One of the clearest patterns from 2026 is massive conflict as a baseline, with multiple major wars and rising levels of global violence. This may come to be a year of heightened and sustained conflict with devastatingly enormous death tolls. Humanitarian capacity has been strained by aid cuts, attacks on aid workers, and compounding crises, creating what may come to be an historic humanitarian crash.

What we suggest in response:

Fragments were never meant to metabolize the entire world's grief alone. The Emotional Center emphasis can make people feel responsible for feeling EVERYTHING. Instead, we suggest that you choose your lane of effectiveness and stay in it. The Mature Soul paradigm is not numbness, but it IS targeted care that can be sustained over time.

TECHNOLOGY - Technology continues to increase in its function as magnification. Technology magnifies truth and community, and it magnifies manipulation, harassment, and disinformation. Significant growth and expansion of implementation of Artificial Intelligence will define 2026. This is not something to be feared or resented, but harnessed by those who can do so for benefit and as a counter to the use of Artificial Intelligence for harm.

What we suggest in response:

Ethics MUST become operational. What this means is that one must verify before sharing because your Emotional Centers are easily hijacked. You must learn the difference between persuasion and coercion in your diet of media. You must support technologies and communities that build consent, transparency, and protection into design, rather than retrofitting harm reduction after the damage has been done. NOTE: we say "you must" within the context of "if you care, you must…". We remind you that you do have a choice, of course.

CLIMATE AND WEATHER (or the Emotional Center of the Planet) - The climate trajectory continues to intensify and the experience of this is increasingly emotional, with displacement, disaster fatigue, grief, anger, and a rising sense of instability. This is not just about "the weather," but about the living nervous system, so to speak, of the planet in transition, intersecting with human systems that have avoided most responsibility.

What we suggest:

In a Server year, climate response becomes less about "belief" and more about the logistics of care, such as preparation, mutual aid, local resilience, and political pressures for systemic change. Mature Soul action tends to be practical and inclusive, so performative or purity-based actions cannot be sustained.

HUMAN AND ANIMAL RIGHTS - Even in the worst of years, progress can continue in specific, measurable ways, that are often local and only accomplished by persistent advocacy.

What we suggest:

This is actually how Mature progress often looks. It is not often through one dramatic salvation, but through thousands of sustained repairs, thousands of individual choices, thousands and thousands of willing participants who choose and act on their choices for a world without suffering from oppression, cruelty, and killing.

We suggest to our students that they not underestimate incremental wins as each win protects real bodies.

MEDIA AND REALITY CONTROL - MEANING is the core battlefield of 2026. It will not just be about what is happening, but about what it is called, what it is framed as, what you are told you saw, and what you are told you must feel about it. Media consumption patterns for many continue to bring about the destabilization of shared reality.

What we suggest:

It is time to consider ATTENTION as a resource. It is not simply a reaction to a prompt, but a choice. Your attention is part of your service in this Server year. Focus your attention where it can build clarity, protection, learning, and effective action.

We will wrap up our look at the patterns of 2026 with some clarification on what it might mean for you to participate in 2026 with meaningful choices:

1. To support the SERVER energy, choose services you can repeat. This is a year that rewards consistency.

2. To navigate the EMOTIONAL energy, remember that feelings matter and they are valid, but they are also recruitable. Let your feelings inform you, and then let choice lead you. Allow your feelings to be informants, not commanders.

3. To ride along with GROWTH, we can suggest that you maintain a healthy relationship with reality. Growth stays connected to what is true, even when it is inconvenient. But allow yourself the choice to respond, rather than fall into despair.

FLOOR IS NOW OPEN FOR A FEW QUESTIONS - type *** (three asterisks) to raise your hand. We will answer what we can within the time constraints.

Yes, Juni

Juni: What is the probability of the midterm elections being held this year in the US?

MEntity: 

We see little to no changes in the schedule for elections, but we cannot account for all factors that may suddenly alter this. For now, they seem to be on track. We see those in power with authoritarian perspectives not taking these elections seriously as a way to tip the balance away from authoritarianism because many who are in positions to make a difference will tend to comply due to their corporate allegiances or the election results may simply be ignored

Next, Kurtis

Kurtis: Hi Ms and Troy. So if we are to apply this year and what you shared above, to the collective shift from a Binary to Ternary (and/or Quaternary) Paradigm, where do you see most of that work being done by the collective this year? Where do you see your students contributing the most organically or intentionally to this shift in the world? Do you have any suggestions in this regard?

MEntity: 

To help understand this shift from a Binary Paradigm to a Ternary and eventually Quaternary, we can say is that it would be a shift away from "either/or" thinking, and into "both/and" awareness, and then into contextual integration. This shift does not happen in grand institutions first. It happens where people live, choose, speak, refuse, and heal.

For 2026, most of the collective work of this shift is happening in three primary arenas:

In relationships and dialogue - The binary depends on opposition to define reality. Ternary consciousness introduces a third presence, which is context, nuance, experience, and/or consequence. Students can contribute here by refusing to reduce people to "sides," or by being able to hold grief and accountability together, or when they listen without falling into argument and hostility. This is quite slow work and it is often invisible, but it is foundational. It is how shared reality rebuilds.

NOTE: this is not to say that there are no "sides," because there are and the world is in a place now where one must choose a side for the most part, but the mentality and emotional world of a person can still know it will never truly be about "sides." Consider the reality of polarities. We describe polarities as having "sides" for convenience, but one "side" is exclusionary while the other "side" is not. The Positive Pole vs Negative Pole of every term in our teaching is about the difference between inclusion and exclusion, so the more one "sides" on the "positive" end, the more one must embrace and transform and integrate and make room for the negative. How that is done matters, but it will be done.

In systems of care and service - Binary systems ask, "who deserves this help?" Ternary systems ask, "What stabilizes the whole of us?" Students can contribute organically when they build or support systems that are not punitive, not purity-based, and not extractive. Food networks, community protection, advocacy rooted in consent, animal and environmental stewardship, and trauma informed leadership are all expressions of this shift.

And in how power is used and named - Binary power dominates or submits. Ternary power coordinates. This year, much of the work is in redefining authority as RESPONSIBILITY, not CONTROL. Students can contribute intentionally when they step into positions of leadership, decentralize the credit, refuse the roles of saviors, and practice transparency. This includes how one used platforms, money, voice, and attention.

Next, Christian

Christian: 

Academics who study civil wars have come out and said that the US is in stage one of civil war where the divisions are clearly along ideological lines.

I have feared this my entire life.

With the actions that you have specified today, what will it take to make this not get into neighbor killing neighbor?

I feel like this question is trying to understand how students "underestimate incremental wins as each win protects real bodies." But please answer as you see best.

MEntity: 

First, Christian, your fear is not irrational. It is the result of recognizing patterns and then imagining their worst conclusion. This is what the Instinctive Center was designed to do as it assesses threats and then maps trajectories.

We must also clarify that the words, "civil war" can help clarify the times or distort them. It can clarify the times because it describes escalating polarization, dehumanization, and the potential for political violence, but it can also distort reality because it can imply inevitability, a single narrative story line, and a clean, two-sided battlefield. When it comes to civil war, what most societies experience is more like a spectrum of instability, ranging from propaganda, intimidation, and localized violence to sustained insurgency. A country can move in and out of these phases AND be prevented from tipping further, even when the risk is real.

What will it take to prevent neighbor killing neighbor? It would take three consistent things.

PREVENTING DEHUMANIZATION FROM BECOMING CULTURE

STRENGTHENING LOCAL COHESION BEFORE CRISIS PEAKS

INTERRUPTING THE PATHWAYS THAT ESCALATE VIOLENCE

We think this may deserve a dedicated discussion with our students for elaboration.

Christian: Thank you, and I agree.

MEntity: 

We will close this response to you Christian by saying that your fear may imagine a future where no one stops anything. But that is not how societies avoid collapse. They avoid collapse because millions of people choose, repeatedly, to do small stabilizing things that will never make the headlines. They choose to stay human. They choose to stay connected. They choose to stay alert without becoming hysterical. They build protection that looks boring until the day comes when it saves lives. If we leave you with only one thing to remember from us: Do not aim to defeat the entire threat alone. Aim to reduce the conditions that allow violence to spread.

We must conclude here for today. We have exhausted the focus of our channel. Good day to each of you. We know our report may appear to be grim, but it is not. It is information. It is a tool. It is the truth you must consider if you wish to move through the year effectively. We will never lie to you, but we have never sought to merely comfort you, either. If you FEEL something in response to today's report, allow yourself to feel it, but let it simply be information about how you feel. And then make your choices. Goodbye, for now.