« December 2005 | Main | February 2006 »
It's my birthday today! and my love-monkey surprised me with a book I've lusted after since it was first published: Albion, by Peter Ackroyd. It's about the origins of the English Imagination, which formed the art of the British Isles and thus influenced the world. As I begin to read, I am swept along by the magic of Ackroyd's prose...
Medusa sent out the first lament about our Canadian election. I'm interested in talking about this as well.
What of the environment? It was the least talked-about issue during this long, long, long election campaign. If and when mentioned, it was in the context of climate change, usually about the difficulty of implementing the Kyoto Accord.
There was no discussion about my long list of concerns under the heading: environment. Nothing about wildlife, nothing about water conservation, nothing about links between poverty and environment, nothing about the connection between school-yard bullying and our alienation from nature. I could go on.
Oh no not another conservative government. my thoughts are with my Canadian friends and relatives. It always feels so awful, whatever we do painstakingly and slowly they can smirk and sneer and undo in a second.
And things were looking good, Latin America moving left.
Some will say they are all the same and it makes no difference but that seems self indulgent to me. And all the rows about tactical voting and are conservatives the devil incarnate?
oh well back to being local
A new study from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences reveals that artificial light may cause breast cancer. http://www.niehs.nih.gov/oc/news/cancerlight.htm
Surprise, surprise! Our Paleolithic bodies, which evolved with the planet’s natural rhythms of light and dark, have limits on what they can tolerate. When we fool with Mother Nature, bad things can happen…
Artificial light is, of course, just one way we tempt our fate with the nature gods and goddesses. How many other un-natural lifestyle elements are built into our daily lives in modern industrial society? And how can we “get back to the garden” as Joni Mitchell used to sing…
Yes, kiss the commuting, disconnection, lack of family time, goodbye.
No, mustn't be non-chalant. And I've been chastised for being gleeful. But in the face of this week's mainstream news headlines (Lovelock and Leggett) we absolutely need something to work toward and not just against.
My closest friends all agree that localisation is a true blessing and look forward to our economic system changing, becoming more life-friendly and -sustaining. Sharing rather than exploiting.
My only advice will be: don't watch the news. The ramifications of these twin disasters stemming from our modern lifestyles is going to be heart-wrenching... enough for one Independent (newspaper) reader to ask for free cyanide pills with every issue, rather than DVDs of old movies.
I can't help it. I'm absolutely thrilled that these issues are getting publicity (especially peak oil, which has been hidden in the business pages for months). But the danger is in people shutting off, tuning out, when there are no solutions offered. So let's get busy organising locally, and, in so doing, create a groundswelling for the government to take action in 'powering down.' (We're starting now.)
This weekend there was a break in our month of rain and I was able to take a trip up to our cabin on an island in a fjord-like inlet of the northwest coast. The cabin had been closed up in October for the winter but I wanted to see if rain and wind had breached the seal. There was a different feel to the cabin now with the leafless trees, the carpet of soggy leaves and the sun hanging lower on the horizon. A fire in the wood stove seemed more urgent as the evening temperature approached freezing. In summer there are neighbours, dogs, outboard motors and other sounds of civilization but in winter there is a deeper stillness that sinks into the bones like the cold and moisture.
close to despair.
give up - what?
we are all going to die
the earth too
but this has always been true
to know when has been a dubious privilege given only to those confined
in sick beds or jail cells
I’ve just returned from 3 days in ceremony in a magnificent lodge nestled high on Coyote Ridge, held by the giant coastal redwoods and madrones of the Santa Cruz mountains. Led by two modern carriers of ancient wisdom, I entered the dream kiva in innocence and have emerged with all my vital creativity centers refreshed and renewed. I feel like I’ve been through kind of a ‘cosmic chiropractic treatment’ to align me with the lines of my own soul and with those of the elements, which are of course the same.
As we get closer to St. Valentine’s Day it’s fun to remember that the rose has always had a special place in the human heart. Perhaps she represents the archetypal feminine, the Goddess in her most beautiful aspect. Or sweet smells that bring to mind happy memories. Or the joyful exuberance of nature. Or romantic love. Or all of these…
Lately I’ve been exploring the world of Old Roses. For some time now I’ve been immersed in organic gardening and Permaculture but in joining a heritage rose group I’ve discovered a friendly new world of Rose Goddess devotees who delight in naming their favorites, describing their culture and history, exploring new varieties and tending the altars of these lovely but often tough deities. The Old Ladies, incidently, are survivors, not fazed by conditions that make their modern sisters and brothers wilt… The Crone aspect of the Triple Goddess (Maiden, Mother, Crone), perhaps...
i admit it: i'm an oil junkie. not in the sense that we all are (given our mutual dependence on the miracle stuff). I mean, not just in that sense.
no, i'm also watching the price with fascination. and reading the analysis with absolute glee.
it's not that i'm eager for all the dire predictions of catastrophe and apocalyptic scenes to come true...
...it's that i'm eager for the wake up call. finally, finally, we'll understand the order of things and be forced to slow down and really appreciate what's around us.
Recent Comments