On this beautiful day in the west of Ireland…Potting on seedlings, dealing with slugs and enjoying a bit of a rant! When something is not right, then it’s just not right!
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Category: Politics
Climate Change…The Elephant in the Room
The conference in Paris is underway as I write this.
World leaders have gathered to discuss, debate, harangue and eventually come to some agreement…hopefully!
However, there are two aspects of any agreement, that the mainstream media will ignore, in their reporting of the biggest threat to face humankind ever!
The first one is evident to anyone living in the developed world: we have to consume less, much less and, in fact, change our entire perspective of how we live with this planet…not, as many say, on this planet!
This means reducing consumption of consumer goods, oil, but, more importantly, changing our diets and expectations.
We have become used to buying food from all over the world, holidaying all over the world, eating more meat than any other generation before us and living in homes where heat is supplied at the flick of a switch.
You will not hear political leaders talk such talk, as this has no place in “economic growth”…
Western society in it’s present form is unsustainable…even without the massive problem of Climate Change!
(For example…did you know that there are, today, nearly 65 billion animals worldwide, including cows, chickens and pigs, crammed into Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)…Factory Farms to you and me!)
We eat meat as a snack food…unheard of when I grew up!
However, much as the mainstream media ignore much of the above, there remains a most important part of this problem unspoken of…
War and the Military machines of increasingly feudal governments. They’re right up there in the major league of Climate destroyers!
Did Al Gore even mention the devastating impact of endless wars and military in his money-spinning presentation?
No!
Why?
It was an Inconvenient Truth.
It represents the Elephant in the Room that no-one wants to talk about!
Last year, the UK government spent $60.5Billion on Defence.
A huge amount of money that could have provided solar power and retro-fitted insulation to millions of homes…yes, millions!
Here’s an article that evaluates the US military’s impact on climate http://www.countercurrents.org/smith261115.htm
“Militarism is single greatest institutional contributor to the growing natural disasters intensified by global warming.” 
~J Lawrence
Some of the facts, should you care to research them are staggering… for example, an F-4 Phantom Fighter burns more than 1,600 gallons of jet fuel per hour!
It is interesting that the spin on war and climate change has already begun, with the media posing the question does climate change cause war and refugees.
Refugees do not cause climate change.
It is time we did a little number crunching for ourselves!
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Time of Destruction
Reflecting on the past weekend and the sad events which overtook us all…
The podcast from Bealtaine Cottage…
Is Ireland Ready For a Second Famine?
It is not what Food Harvest 2020 and Agriculture Minister Simon Coveney would be prepared for, despite the fact that the Ministry is ultimately responsible for the food security of the nation!
The people of Ireland would be forced to repeat the history of the 1840s and this time at the hands of their own elected government!
…Read the full text and blog at Bealtaine Cottage Good Life
We Have Governments
We have governments grown into monsters, so disconnected from the will of the people, that they have to control the mainstream media.
We have governments wanting us to spend away our own future and that of our children…consume, consume, consume!
We have governments leading us into wars that have nothing to do with us!
We have governments that no longer represent our hopes and dreams!
We have governments pulling us into the greatest scramble for resources ever witnessed on Planet Earth.
We have governments, elected as our trustees, who bend the will of the people into acts of barbarism and ecocide!
We have governments. We do not have representation.
We have governments. We have nothing. We are on our own…but…
Are we?
Well, anyone who regularly connects to this website knows better…we are individuals with so very much common ground, more than any political party, for we care about our Earth, our community, each other!
The people are sovereign…maybe it’s time to relay that fact to government!
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As War Looms…keeping Faith with Mother Earth!
Such news as makes me angry…so off into the gardens to get working and channel my energy as best I can!
And as if Mother Earth
heard my despair, she has worked tirelessly overnight making the compost heap look beautiful…I laugh out loud in joy!
This morning as I spread compost and seaweed on the vegetable beds, before mulching down with cardboard and straw, I ponder on putting the exposed earth to bed for the winter…this makes me feel as though I am nurturing the great Mother.
It is all I can do to help assuage the horrors of what Man does to her!
The big tidy-up is important, before the wind and rain sets in…and what a lot of tidying to be done!
Just in case you thought anything about where the compost toilet is emptied…in these neat bins, holes drilled into the bottom of each, no smell, no flies and thoroughly sustainable on site!
Cutting and chopping Willow to store for burning…as Charlie supervises!
The Lime trees have begun to shed their leaves.
The bees continue their daily forage in and around the Nasturtiums.
As the seaweed dries out, all these lovely shades of autumn emerge…
Let peace rise up as the Michelmas daisies around Buddha…my mantra for today.
Tend Mother Earth…in this time of destruction…it’s the best we can do!
The Month of Lughnasa
Lughnasa heralds the beginning of Autumn in the Celtic calendar.
Leaves have already begun to drop, with the gentle Birch tree being the first to shed.
There is so much fertility in this annual drop…Bealtaine now boasts reasonable soil, compared to ten years ago!
The change is equally gentle this year, as the summer gradually fades.
Sedums are developing their flower heads, slow to open, with big, flat, pink flowers coming through.
Pockets of light mist occur in the early evening, shrouding valleys and dips.
Lughnasa is my favourite month as the transition into Autumn begins.
Tonight a full moon will rise.
The air is still. Woodsmoke drifts lazily from the old stone chimney and bats begin to venture out.
I am half-sick of the daily news and the threat of war.
I have started knitting again, as a form of relaxing therapy and a choice to be constructive in the face of impending destruction!
Just handling the pure wool and staring at the colours and textures is both a comfort and a delight!
As we enter Autumn we are ready for change.
As we are driven into unstable times, so we need to prepare too.
Creating is important.
It keeps us grounded and optimistic.
The seasons continue, undisturbed by the vagaries of man.
And so shall I!
Game of Thrones
Western skies move slowly, as clouds bank up from the Atlantic Ocean.
Warm air merges with rain sodden earth and the mist rises, wisping it’s way over mountains, that sweep down to bog and lough on the western shores of Europe.
Ireland moves inexorably towards Midsummer and Solstice.
The settlements dotting the landscape are timeless, houses today, cottages not so long ago and earth forts before that.
Mountain, sky, water and earth hold the memory of past lives, all gazed upon by peoples from the past, invader and native alike.
This land has captivated the hearts of countless generations, breaking many on the way.
Revered as sacred, farmed and fought over, grown men have wept unashamedly, as they left from the American Wake, never to return.
Everything we have comes from the land; food, clothes, homes, furniture and health…especially health.
The cycle of life is bound, woven tightly, into the land.
We are woven into the land, despite the layers of seeming impermeability we weave between ourselves and the sacred earth.
In these days of threat and uncertainty, as our leaders play out the dangerous game of thrones that threatens war, our return to the land affords us time of calm and meaning.
We inhabit one very small and exquisitely beautiful planet in a universe of dying stars.
We are of stardust itself…united on this small, blue, beautiful planet.
An Act of Defiance from the Edge of Empire!
It seems as though governments all over the western world are colluding with big corporations and the energy companies to deliberately destroy our environments, and, in the face of much opposition from those who elected them into power…the people.
I have yet to meet the person who supports
war, fracking, privatisation of utilities, or GMOs.
Yet, politicians have, and are, engaged in the pursuit of all of these.
As we approach a global food crisis- and all the warning signs are there, such as rising food prices, oil and the effects of extreme weather- we are in desperate need of leadership.
Leadership is absent.
Rhetoric is everywhere.
We are being force-fed a diet of ‘GMOs are all that can save us,’ publicity, when patently this is not true!
The less choice in seed diversity, the more prone we are to potential famine.
I know that as a grower, working 3 acres of poor land…that it is diversity that builds fertility and food security!
What are we to do?
Act as defiantly in the face of bullish nonsense and stupid politicians as one can.
How?
Plant!
Living near the western seaboard of the Atlantic Ocean, I live on the edge of empire.
I refuse to allow the insanity of empire to bellow it’s anarchic way into my home…I have no television.
I plant.
I grow.
I live frugally.
If I lived in the middle of a city I would keep the same philosophy.
Be defiant: buy less; plant more; save seeds and share! It’s your future…don’t let the politicians mess it up!
This is a video I watched earlier and a fantastic template for those without gardens or allotments…or even with!
The Green Backyard
This is the story of a once neglected urban wasteland in Peterborough, recently transformed into a much-loved community resource by a crew of eager volunteer…
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Be The Change!
I was listening to a radio show host, Roy of Hollywood on PRNfm radio from New York, tell a caller that change begins with government policy and one person on their own can do little to make a difference…paraphrased, but the essence is true to form.
This philosophy is way off mark, for the reality is very, very different.
Every action we take, everything we buy, consume or share, is part of the reality WE make, every minute, every hour, every day…
I oppose fracking and therefore refuse to use gas…
I also refuse to call it ‘natural!’
There is nothing natural about fracking!
I support organic growing methods, so use what little money I have to buy organic, and, for the rest, I ensure that I grow organic.
I could make of list of the actions I take, as one person, to ensure the outcome that I consider to be best for the environment in which I live and the planet we all inhabit, but the real point I want to make is that real power rests with each one of us!
This is the single, most important truth, we are denied access to, by media, government, corporations and those who we allow to tell us what to do and how to live!
The philosophy is simple and determined.
Be the change you want to see.
Be the Change.
From here on in…
How to Change the World, Starting Today…
Many people are feeling dis-empowered and frustrated at the way the world around them seems to be disintegrating.
It is the role of mainstream media to keep you locked in that paradigm, for it is much easier to control and influence those who feel helpless and dis-empowered…ask any victim of domestic violence or bullying!
You would be truly shocked to realise how much power you really have!
You can reclaim your power, along with your humanity, in just a few short steps…steps that will lead you on to bigger and better things!
Change the world, starting today, with just a few, very small changes…
Buy local.
If we are merely consumers, then exercise your power daily and often.
Count how much you refused to give to the corporations…for they are definitely counting!
Be frugal.
Our grandparents were actively encouraged by government to be frugal during the war years of WW2 and how many times have you heard them say that those times were happier and more fulfilling…
Consume less.
Processed, TV dinners and junk food is killing us…return to the art of cooking and eating at a dining table.
Clean out wardrobes and closets.
Give away or sell what is surplus to your quality of life.
Walk more.
Don’t just drive into town where parking meters are waiting to gobble up your precious pennies…park on the outskirts and walk in.
You will meet other people, enjoy your surroundings and get some good exercise, as well as save money and avoid the stress of parking wardens!
Grow food.
The social life on Allotments and Community Gardens is fantastic!
Turn off TV.
Enough said!
Speak out.
Find out the email addresses of local and national newspapers and fire off the regular broadside at them, about issues you feel concerned about.
You have a voice, use it!
Harass politicians!
Your local and national politicians are happy to engage with you at election time and expect you to be quiet and timid for the duration of their office…time to change that, don’t you think?
G8 Summit of Charlatans
What is happening in our societies is not about austerity.
It is not about the economy either.
It is about the blatant, criminal misuse and misappropriation of our taxes.
Was any government you ever voted for, mandated to give our tax money to banks?
Was that the platform that the trustees we elected, in trust, to hold in trust, our state, voted into office?
The media keeps talking about our “Economy”, as though it were our lack of work or effort that caused any of these problems.
We are told continually that the past is the past, what’s done is done and to move on!
We are told that we need to get the economy moving by spending!
I do not want to buy stuff.
I want an equitable society where all are cared for.
Recently, here in Ireland, our government at the behest of the EU, inflicted a “carbon tax” upon us in the form of 75 cents rise on a bag of coal.
But here’s the catch…it is the poorest people who are reduced to buying coal to keep warm…and usually the oldest and most vulnerable in our society.
Where is this tax going?
Well, Ireland has the lowest tree cover in Europe and it is not being re-invested into the planting of deciduous trees.
Most of this money will be traded for Carbon Tax credits…total madness!
We need trees here in Ireland!
I am currently sitting in a G8 Exclusion Zone.
They will be converging just up the road from me, in the next few days, to start the carve-up of what is left in societies.
The forces that be have recently been out on the roads around the G8 Summit Hotel, removing anti-fracking signs…leaders must not be subjected to any kind of opposition to their distorted world views!
I can tell you what they WILL NOT be talking about…
Planting trees!
How we expand education for all!
Ways of supporting the Carers in society!
Creating a more just and equitable society.
Putting programmes in place to encourage people to grow organic food.
Nationalising water and all major utilities to ensure front-line democracy for all citizens!
Social unrest is being driven by corporate greed and the resulting societal chaos compounded by unemployment, mental trauma, & poverty!
Will the G8 address any of these real issues?
I’m not holding my breath!
There’s some real work to be done here at Bealtaine Cottage…trees to plant, food to grow and Nature to engage with…with the occasional cup of tea brewed up on the rocket stove!
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Resistance is Edible
The austerity that is being enforced upon us all makes me very angry indeed…for I know how manufactured it all is!
As an act of rebellion against the banks, government and rotten corporations I have turned to the land, one of the last vestiges of freedom that we, as a people, have.
Creating food, from what is supplied in abundance from Nature, is as defined an act of rebellion, in these dark days, as can be found.
Food which will last long past the fruitfulness of summer and autumn…canning is a skill worth learning!
Stewed Rhubarb for crumbles, ice cream, yoghurt, pies and cakes!
Spending a little time yesterday canning some of the Rhubarb harvest has given me the impetus to save and store as much as possible this year.
Foraging will play a role in this Resistance too, ensuring that all walks will allow a little something to be added to the store.
The store includes all that will be of benefit, including fuel, as the hedgerows are littered with dead wood ideal for kindling.
Seeds will be sown late into the season and every patch of the tunnel will be utilised!
The more food that can be produced for ourselves, the less money flows to the corporations…is this why the EU tried to ban us saving and sharing Heritage Seeds?
Resist, eat well and be healthy!
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Fracking the Homestead
Home used to be a place where everything that was needed to live well was grown or made on site by family and neighbours.
A place in which food was prepared several times each day and shared by all present.
Many basic necessities were stitched or nailed together by those who used them.
Home used to be a vibrant, thriving project in self-sufficiency, with what was needed to be bought in, purchased on a rare trip to town, or ordered several times each year, to be delivered and stored.
- Missy relaxing on a hot water bottle to ease her tumour…it works well!
Home included a pantry or larder, a cold-store and a well used and scrubbed kitchen table where food was prepared and eaten.
- Valerian growing in the gravel around the cottage
Today, as part of the massive disconnect from our lovely Earth, we have fitted kitchens which are made from chemicals and constantly cleaned with chemicals.
- Orange waste infusing the air with beautiful aroma on top of the stove
The emphasis is on keeping a show-house type of environment, where these expensive kitchens are not used to their full potential.
- A great cure-all…hot water bottle for Missy Cat
Our lives are chemically infused…with clothes, bedding and bodies immersed in chemical solutions on a daily basis.
- Washed in soap, rinsed in rain water and blowing in the wind
Washing machines pound the clothes we buy with chemicals that are washed out into our rivers and oceans, killing life on the way.
- The Bealtaine Cottage angel ponders it all…
We wonder how cancer, autism, asthma, allergies and depression are so rife within our communities?
We seek doctors and drugs to help us live and be well, without paying too much attention to our living state and what the corporations are doing to our environments.
- Recycled floor
Pharmaceutical companies are the most powerful corporate bodies on our planet.
In the US alone in 2011, the pharmaceutical industry spent nearly $29 billion on drug promotion with most of that money targeted at doctors!
We are taught not to question, but to accept the status quo of a controlled demolition of society…
- A government sponsored controlled demolition of our society!
We are viewed by corporation and government alike, as mere consumers. Passive receivers and worker drones.
- Awakening and refusing to comply!
The realization of this state of affairs is the beginning of our personal journey to freedom and a good life.
Wonderful July 2017 Update!
Our Irish Government has passed the bill to ban Fracking in Ireland!
This was signed into law by President Higgins in July 2017!
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Replacing Fear and Hopelessness with Fearlessness and Joy.
The washing is on the line, as there’s a great breeze between the light showers and sunshine.
There is no washing machine or tumble drier here at Bealtaine Cottage, so a little barter or exchange takes place when the washing basket is full…which happens when I’m too busy to wash laundry daily.
A good friend did 3 loads of washing in exchange for a few kilos of blackcurrants from the freezer.
Jam making is under way at her house!
Frozen blackcurrants make a better tasting jam, as the enzymes have already begun to break down the sugars in the fruit.
The same friend brought me a stack of polystyrene fish boxes, that were to be thrown away at the market.
These make excellent seed boxes as you can see in the tunnel today, I have been busy sowing seeds and potting on.
I lay the boxes on the soil as the warm earth will keep an ambient temperature over-night.
Plants and pots are packed into every available space in the tunnel today.
People are angry with the governments who refuse to listen!
A petition was presented to the UK government recently, highlighting the concerns we all have for the health of bees.
It was ignored.
Governments are there to serve us.
The politicians are our servants.
They need to be reminded!Bees are the workforce of Mother Nature!
Aquilegia, Valerian and pot lilies surround Buddha in the potager beds today.
I will leave you with these wise words from Dr Vandana Shiva, my inspiration…
“[How do I do it?] Well, it’s always a mystery, because you don’t know why you get depleted or recharged. But this much I know. I do not allow myself to be overcome by hopelessness, no matter how tough the situation. I believe that if you just do your little bit without thinking of the bigness of what you stand against, if you turn to the enlargement of your own capacities, just that itself creates new potential. And I’ve learned from the Bhagavad-Gita and other teachings of our culture to detach myself from the results of what I do, because those are not in my hands. The context is not in your control, but your commitment is yours to make, and you can make the deepest commitment with a total detachment about where it will take you. You want it to lead to a better world, and you shape your actions and take full responsibility for them, but then you have detachment. And that combination of deep passion and deep detachment allows me to take on the next challenge, because I don’t cripple myself, I don’t tie myself in knots. I function like a free being. I think getting that freedom is a social duty because I think we owe it to each not to burden each other with prescription and demands. I think what we owe each other is a celebration of life and to replace fear and hopelessness with fearlessness and joy.” ― Vandana Shiva
The Paradigm Shift
Disconnection from Nature means a distancing from the Divine.
Belief in government and politics has led us astray.
Belief in anything other than ourselves has let us down.
The very seeds of creation have been patented by corporations with the hand of governments, our governments, complicit in the evildoing.
Our water has been privatised and sold to the highest bidder, then sold back to us at massive costs.
Our very homes are under attack.
Our governments have succumbed to the will of the elite and taxed our homes.
Our homes?
There is no profit to be made in the place one retreats to for food and shelter…is there?
As all this happens, our governments sacrifice the health and education of the nation to spend billions on war.
Even this Irish government I live under, in this neutral country, is suckered into the militarisation of the EU.
Money that should be spent at home on alleviating poverty and poor education is going into the killing machine.
No forces should be stationed in other countries and Ireland is all too well aware of that wrongdoing!
The yearly cost of stationing one soldier in Iraq could feed 60 families in the West.
Poverty, food banks and misery is on the rise!
Total estimates of European Union defence and security spending vary between $200 and 300 billion…while children live in impoverishment!
Defence?
Are we under attack?…only from within, I suspect.
This is an abomination!
The Paradigm shift is that people are waking up to deeds of their governments and are questioning the very basis of all they once held true.
“Not in my name.”
My home is not an asset, Mr Kenny.
You will not tax my home.
I will not comply with injustice and theft.
Taxes imposed by the IMF are nothing less than theft!
This is not a rallying call to others, but an articulation of what many people feel is wrong with society.
The Paradigm shift is our awakening.
The line in the sand is being drawn.
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The Economic and Ecological Collapse We Helped to Create on Valentine’s Day.
Any financial system that is based on debt is doomed to failure.
A good analogy is to look at one’s own household.
Do you consume more than you produce?
Keep borrowing and eventually the crunch will come…payback time, with nothing in reserve to pay what’s owed.
Many people refer to this as, living beyond one’s means.
If this is what you are doing, then it’s time to take control of your own micro economy.
Leave your government to continue paying bankers grossly inflated sums of money and try to re-calibrate your own finances.
I was enjoying a long conversation with my mother on Monday.
Growing up through WW2 was the greatest lesson in personal finance for her. (This is her, aged 80, at Bealtaine Cottage).
If one did not have money, one could not buy goods or services.
That proved to be enormously enabling for that generation…one of the healthiest and most empowered ever known in the modern world.
Mum still has all her own teeth…sugar was rationed!
She has never been over-weight, birthed 11 children and did not own a washing machine until I bought her one. (My elder brothers never quite got their heads around why she would need one!)
Mum has always lived within her means and helped all of her children as well.
If Mum ran the economy, the bankers would be paid according to their productivity…and politicians also!
Today is Valentine’s Day.
Many people of limited means have bought flowers for their loved one…flowers grown in Kenya in Africa by using water from Lake Naivasha.
The water levels have dropped.
This has had a devastating effect on plant, marine and animal life.
Hippo numbers have fallen by more than 25%.
The lake is now quite polluted with pesticide drain off.
University of Leicester environmentalist David Harper told the March 28, 2006, British Times: “Almost everybody in Europe who has eaten Kenyan beans or Kenyan strawberries, and gazed at Kenyan roses, has bought Naivasha water.
“It will become a turgid, smelly pond with impoverished communities eking out a living along bare shores … As the lake becomes smaller and shallower it will become warmer, fueling the growth of microscopic algae.
“It is only a matter of time before the lake becomes toxic.”
The Food and Water Watch report said: “The pesticides applied on the farms and in the greenhouses eventually end up in Lake Naivasha and in the groundwater, endangering the area’s people and wildlife … http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/49188
Kenya is the largest supplier of cut flowers to Europe, providing more than a quarter of imports.
These are mostly roses, and a third of annual production is for Valentine’s Day.
For less than the cost of a cheap bunch of flowers, you can buy a fruit tree and plant it for the one you love.
Each tree planted will provide oxygen for two people for the rest of their lives.
Isn’t it time we invested in Love?
As the IMF Orders Ireland to CUT DOWN her TREES…A Dire Situation
The rain is torrential.
I have just taken these pictures as the rain stopped.
Last year was very wet here in the west of Ireland.
Adaptation to the change in climate is under-way.
Raised beds are made and more are planned.
As I write, the rain has begun again and in between the sun shines.
Climate change is here.
The weather patterns are unpredictable in all except extreme weather expected!
Our governments should have instigated national tree-planting on a war-footing scale, with all available funds channelled into our life-boat…Earth!
Billions of £/$ for war as the killing of human beings continues and our planet slowly expires!
In a dire situation like this, we must take hold of the reins ourselves and plant trees, grow food and permaculture the lifeboat that is our planet.
Here in Ireland, where I live, the government is aware that Ireland has the least tree cover in the whole of Europe, yet is allowing the IMF to harvest all the trees in the National Forests, as part of the debt repayment nonsense that only disconnected bureaucrats could have concocted!
Nicholas Stern, author of the UK government-commissioned review on Climate Change in 2006, said, just a few days ago…”Looking back, I underestimated the risks.
The planet and the atmosphere seem to be absorbing less carbon than we expected, and emissions are rising pretty strongly.
Some of the effects are coming through more quickly than we thought then.”
He was referring to his report, The Stern Review, published in 2006.
Stern expected a rise in global temperatures of between 2 and 3 degrees.
Stern has changed his forecast…upwards saying that we are “on track for something like four “.
Stern goes on to say, “I think I would have been a bit more blunt. I would have been much more strong about the risks of a four- or five-degree rise.”
“This is potentially so dangerous that we have to act strongly.
Do we want to play Russian roulette with two bullets or one?
These risks for many people are existential.”
‘I got it wrong on climate change – it’s far, far worse’~Nicholas Stern
There you have it…we are caught in an escalating situation of weather change that is impacting on our lives as I write.
Plant as if your life depends on it…because it does!
As a condition of the IMF/ECB/EFSF “Troika” loan for the amount of €67.5bn Ireland must generate €2 billion from the disposal of State-owned assets and companies. As part of this, the government has plans to sell off the harvesting rights to the states forestry for the next 80 years. The name of the state owned body is Coilte. This is the usual IMF privatise and realise policy enforced worldwide…profit being the main driver to assuage so-called national debt.
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Light, Midwinter Sun, Signs and John Seymour
Light
What an opportunity!
As we descend into the dark days of midwinter, what better thing to do than light a candle and enjoy the soft light and warmth.
I was making candles today to add to my stockpile for the coming weeks, when candlelight is really the best light medium to illuminate the darkness.
Midwinter Sun
Sun worship was a common practice among the Celts…one only has to look at the amazing amount of motifs from that time to see this.
The god Belanos, known as, “the shining one,” had his feast on May 1, also known as Bealtaine!
The festival of Bealtaine was celebrated right up until 1895 at a place known as Mount Callan, near Ennis in County Clare.
There remains a sun altar at this place.
There is another sacred stone near Macroom, a standing stone known as “Stone of the Sun.”
It is easy to see and perhaps understand this Celtic fascination with the sun, when looking at the life and vibrancy exuded by the midwinter sun, on a clear morning at this time of year.
Signs
It’s possible to assess the insulation needs of any house by looking at the roof.
There are obvious signs to look out for!
For example, does the frost or snow remain on the roof as the house heats up?
If it does, then all is well, insulation is adequate up above.
Bealtaine has a double layer of sheep’s wool insulation added this year and it is paying for itself already.
Walking in this weather can identify insulation needs just by looking at the houses…snow or melt on the roof?
Insulation is one of the many ways we can help ourselves to live better and more frugally in these times of hardship.
I think it is time to re-visit what John Seymour, in his wisdom, had to say…
“…We have allowed ourselves to get where we are because of the ‘blind workings of the market’.
But we are not blind, so we must now start using our good sense to ‘break this sorry scheme of things and remould it to our hearts desire,’ as old Omar Khayam had it.
To allow ourselves to be dependent on some vast Thing created by the Merchants of Greed is madness.
It is time to cut out what we do not need so we can live more simply and happily.
Good food, comfortable clothes, serviceable housing and true culture – those are the things that matter.
The only way this can happen is by ordinary people, us, boycotting the huge multinational corporations that are destroying our Earth – and creating a new Age – an Age of Healing in place of the current Age of Plunder.”
Monsanto, Bono, Africa and Suicide
He was once a hero of mine.
A singer who sang about the issues I cared about.
But, “Sunday, Bloody Sunday,” has become “Endgame, Bloody Endgame,” as the one time singer who articulated the ideals of a generation, turns advocate and spokesperson for the awful, dreadful, death impregnated, GM seed and food corporations of the globe.
The G8 Summit, where the great and the greedy met to plan their attack on an unsuspecting continent, will go down in history as the final chapter in a globalized attack on the poor and downtrodden of our world.
For we all know about India and the almost quarter of a million dirt poor farmers who have taken their lives in all manner of disturbing ways.
That was about seed.
GM seed.
Seed with great advertising and promises behind it, pushing it upon the most vulnerable upon our sacred Earth.
And, if I know…I, a woman living in the remote west of Ireland without television or daily paper, then I am certain that Bono knows all this and more!
After all, did he not spend time with President Obama at the G8 Summit?
So, why, Bono…why?
Today’s video…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqkpQyo5CjM
I write about, film and photograph, Mother Earth, from Bealtaine Cottage, encouraging others to open little portals of healing energy all over the world.
Blessings and thanks for your support.
Thank you for supporting this blog
Tim DeChristopher…an American Hero
This material is from the “Democracy Now” website and tells you a little about an extremely heroic young man, Tim DeChristopher, and why I follow him on Twitter… @dechristopher
The environmental activist Tim DeChristopher has been sentenced to two years in prison for a bold action that prevented a mass sell-off of public wilderness in 2008.
DeChristopher was convicted of interfering with a public auction when he disrupted the Bush administration’s last-minute move to auction off oil and gas exploitation rights in Utah.
DeChristopher posed as a bidder and won drilling lease rights to 22,000 acres of land in an attempt to save the property from oil and gas extraction.
On Tuesday, DeChristopher was fined $10,000 and immediately taken into custody to begin serving his 24-month sentence.
Twenty-six people were arrested protesting the sentencing outside the courthouse.
Speaking in court, DeChristopher reportedly said, “You can put me in prison, but it will not deter my future of civil disobedience, and it won’t deter others who are willing to fight to defend a livable future.”
Tim, I am with you all the way! What I feel for this beautiful Earth is beyond articulation. What you did to try to save her speaks to my very soul.
Here is today’s video.
I dedicate the beauty of Bealtaine to you, Tim, for without people like you, the Earth is surely doomed.
Enjoy…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAud5tMHXoQ
A Walk in the Permaculture Gardens Makes All Better!
After listening to the radio this morning, which I should not have done, I had to seek solace and sanity in the gardens.
I will not go into what it was that upset me, but like most of you who read this blog, you can put a fair guess that it had something to do with the establishment…government, church…that measure of hierarchy!
So, off I went into the gardens to shake it off!
Most of us know right from wrong.
Why is this so very difficult for governments and churches?
Here is today’s video…just a walk through the gardens…click on the link and enjoy…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4UZMObLSIc&list=UUHkXJ9wsrdPEpzb-KMgmt-A&index=1&feature=plpp_video
Fighting Cats and Fighting Irish
The land is wet and the streams are gushing down the hill behind the cottage. it’s not really the day to be outdoors, but, as usual, I got side-tracked into just that!
On a trip across the garden to the compost heap to empty some more stuff, I realized that there was prunings from the apple trees scattered about, so I paused and…well you can guess the rest! Two hours later, here I am, indoors writing this blog!
So here she is…still with us, Missy the fighting cat…well, fighting her illness! Following her steroid shot from the Vet yesterday, Missy is back in form and looking a bit friskier than before, as well as eating heartily. This will keep her in better spirits for the time being at least. We continue to wait for the results of her tumour…
The Beaut!
Or, Pumpkin Mouser, as she is known affectionately!
Before I sign off for today, I have posted a video link for you to follow…just in case you thought that the Irish had completely given up the fight for justice…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpUjl4LvQM8
Oh and by the way, when I posted this on Twitter this morning at 10am, it showed 7,000 views! As I write this, it has clocked up over 24,000 views! Oh happy day!
A Most Formidable Woman…
The stretch in the days is quite tangible…it remained light until after 5:30 today. Yesterday I wrote about the frogs in the lower pond and the frog-spawn therein…so, yes, Spring is creeping in!
I lit the stove here in the sitting room earlier as I intend to curl up with a glass of home-made vino and a book…
I am reading all about the reign of Elizabeth 1st…a formidable woman who lived in dangerous times in a world dominated by man! This biography is the best to date that I have read…it’s alive!
Just two oranges remain from the Christmas fruit bowl and these will be finished off tonight. Oranges are a treat as I get most of my daily Vitamin C from the ample supply of frozen blackcurrants I keep in the freezer from the summer harvest here at Bealtaine.
Jack is turning out to be a good dog and great company.
As I type this he sits at my feet.
Although I never intended to adopt a Collie from the Rescue centre, Jack has been a good addition to life here at the cottage!
From the 1890s on, American corporate business, in league with key institutions, began the transformation of American society into a society preoccupied with consumption, with comfort and bodily well-being, with luxury, spending, and acquisition, with more goods this year than last, more next year than this. American consumer capitalism produced a culture almost violently hostile to the past and tradition, a future-oriented culture of desire that confused the good life with goods. It was a culture that first appeared as an alternative culture—or as one moving largely against the grain of earlier traditions of republicanism and Christian virtue—and then unfolded to become the reigning culture of the United States.
-William Leach, Land of Desire, 1993
Modern man is alienated from himself, from his fellow men, and from nature. He has been transformed into a commodity, experiences his life forces as an investment which must bring him the maximum profit obtainable under existing market conditions.
– Erich Fromm (1900–1980), The Art of Loving, 1957
Permaculture Cottage Daily ~ Wonderful Visitors, Dr Helen Caldicott and Seamus Heaney
Wednesday 7th September 2011
More Wonderful Visitors to Bealtaine Cottage…
But, before I begin…
This wonderful young fella turned up at the protest on Monday evening, outside the Council Offices in Carrick-on-Shannon…complete with Gas mask, (Josh Fox) style and home made placard and got a rousing cheer from the protesters!
Visitors to the Permaculture Smallholding today… Bernie and Colin.
Both inspired and enthused with lots of ideas and lots of free plants to take back to the 7 acres Colin tending near Ballinamore. Wonderful people, filled with good energy and leaving some of it behind for me.
I am a great believer in good energy and realise how important this is for people to thrive. Those whose energy is sick or failing can get very angry with life and lash out at people. Many of these people can do a great deal of damage as warmongers and people of greed. We have all encountered people like this on our journey.
Wood-chopping and Tidying up…
And as the day moves on, the chores continue…chopping wood for the stove, though it’s warm today and I will light the smaller stove in the sitting room later on, just for comfort and hot water.
The tidy up continues, as I clear out sheds and bag up endless bags for the charity shop in Carrick. Kevin, who runs it, is always so very pleasant and appreciative, it is a delight to visit!
As I take a rest on the veranda, I can’t help but think of the events of Fukushima this year and how it has so quickly disappeared from our news media.
Dr Helen Caldicott has spent most of her professional life keeping us informed of the facts about Nuclear energy and all the associated problems.
Here is Helen talking about the recent events at Fukushima…it’s well worth a watch…just click on the link below!
Food for the birds this winter…no more birdfeeders, which hang in gardens until enough plants have been planted that will feed wildlife proper. That point was reached several years ago as you can see.
This is Cotoneaster, one of many berry bearing shrubs that will more than adequately keep birds fed over the course of a long winter!
One of my favourite poets is Seamus Heaney.
Following the day that became known as, “Bloody Sunday,” Seamus made his way to Derry for the funerals of the thirteen.
This is the poem he wrote about that journey and that day.
Click on the link to hear the poem and see some black and white footage of the events of both the journey and the sad events.
No Fracking in Ireland…Protesting at Council Offices in Carrick-on-Shannon
These pictures represent passion.
A passion for Ireland. Mother Ireland and the desire to protect her land and water and air and trees and green fields and all that turns a lump in the throat when we think of her.
A passion that sees young families, like this one, spending hours of love and care and sharing, designing and painting a banner that evokes a sense of love and a desire to nurture and protect.
I need not go through the depressing facts of Fracking. Indeed I cannot…my blood boils with anger and indignation at how my government, here in this Republic of Ireland, could have granted exploration licences to companies wanted to exploit Ireland’s wealth…her people!
Yes, indeed, for it is people like this young family who will bear the curse of poisoned water, ill health and, ultimately, early death, as a result of this environmental end game played out by Men of Greed all over the world.
Look at the picture. Look at the REAL people who will suffer for the 30 pieces of silver being discussed last night in the Council Offices in Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim…
And one of those companies, Tamboran, had CEO, Richard Moorman giving a Powerpoint Presentation to the Councillors at that meeting.
So, Mr Moorman needs to present this disgusting practice to the Irish people…
The councillors may have been listening to you, Mr Moorman, but, WE WERE NOT! WE HAVE THE PICTURE…LOOK AT WHERE YOU’VE BEEN ALREADY!
~ If Governments Can Finance BOMBS, Then Finance This!
Bombs.
How much money is spent on bombs each year?
Cluster bombs. Hmm…they’re nasty.
Apparently, when it explodes, smaller bombs fly out and scatter exploding and causing mayhem…what an incredible thing for the human mind to invent!
Explosive shock waves can cause situations such as body displacement (i.e., people being thrown through the air), dismemberment, internal bleeding and ruptured eardrums.
Hmm…don’t want to think about that, do you?
What a lot of money and imagination to spend on KILLING.
