The first week of July and there’s a feint scent of Autumn in the air this morning.
The morning brings a quiet and gentle beginning to the day, untouched by the continuing perplexities of man.
“Man has drawn artificial lines on the chest of the Mother Earth, which have no significance, except for the sake of war and clashes between countries. The soil seems to be the same, the trees the same, the grass the same, and the fragrance of the air, the smell of the earth the same.”
~ Girdhar Joshi
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Yes it is…all the same…at most times hard to believe when one watches the circus of life on MSM.
Bread and circuses, but we all know and recognise real life.
It has a colour and fragrance all of its own.
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“The earth is a mosaic, and most fail to notice the gossamer tesserae floating down from the realm of the mind that form its images of beauty and horror.”
~ Lawren Leo
It was James Lovelock who first suggested that there would be a very few countries which would escape the worst vagaries of the oncoming Climate Change…
Much of our media remains silent about the problem and there hangs an eerie silence in the air around centres of political machinations.
Our extractive mentality and the demand for higher profits combine to destroy our very own habitat..this is the truth of what’s happening worldwide…we cannot escape our acquisitive nature! We appear to be caught in a vicious circle of greed versus need…and we know which one of those two is winning!
This is another Bank Holiday weekend here in Ireland and the pubs, takeaway food shops and restaurants are doing a roaring trade!
Over 56 billion farmed animals are killed every year by humans.
These shocking figures do not even include fish and other sea creatures whose deaths are so great they are only measured in tonnes…has anyone else noticed the scarcity of fish like Cod and Haddock in our supermarket deep freeze and the sly introduction of Pollack?
Yes, fish stocks are in decline, as evidenced in the supermarket offerings!
We are gobbling up our habitat at an alarming rate!
Throughout the world, about 900 million trees are cut down annually, as of 2014.
That equates to about 2.47 million trees cut down every day.
But, hold on, I hear you say…what was that you said about James Lovelock and…?
According to The Irish Times report in 2009: James Lovelock is perhaps the world’s leading thinker on environmental issues – and his prognosis for the future of humanity is grim. In Ireland to speak at University College Dublin this week, he tells RONAN McGREEVY why he thinks climate change is irreversible and why Ireland may become ‘a lifeboat for humanity’
Yes, that’s right, ” a lifeboat for humanity!”
According to scientist James Lovelock, we are on the cusp of a global catastrophe that will make the present recession look trivial.
Within 30 years, he believes, the Arctic’s floating summer sea ice will all be melted. The polar caps will no longer reflect sunlight back into space and, instead, the ocean will absorb sunlight, heating up. The permafrosts in northern Canada and Siberia will thaw out, releasing carbon dioxide (CO2). At the same time, the tropical forests, which play a critical role in taking CO2 from the atmosphere, will die out. Global temperatures will rise by between five and six degrees in a short period of time, rendering most of the world uninhabitable for the vast majority of mankind.
What sets Lovelock apart from other climate scientists, most notably the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is the swift timetable he envisages and his belief that such change is irreversible and will take most of the human race with it. (Irish Times 2009)
Lovelock is a former NASA chief scientist.
James Lovelock invented the electron capture device (ECD) whch alerted the world to the depletion of the ozone layer…remember the aerosol crisis?
However, he is most famous for the Gaia hypothesis, now a theory, that the world is itself a living organism…and one I know to be true!
Though his predictions for the world are dire, his predictions for Ireland are of some small comfort. Because of our proximity to the sea, our relatively high latitude and our low population density, we may be spared the worst excesses of global warming.
He says Ireland, along with New Zealand, will be the “most fortunate countries on earth”. We will be a “lifeboat for humanity”, but a lifeboat can only take so many passengers.
~ Irish Times 2009
Personally I think there will be many places that will make the transition successfully, but the criteria for these places will be different according to geographical regions.
How do any of the generation that will meet this head on prepare for the crisis?
Well we can begin by practicing living with less, using less, consuming less and growing more…and build a new way of living with Mother Earth from there!
It continues to be developed at Bealtaine Cottage…
Bealtaine Cottage Good Life membership is 12 euros per year and allows me a small income to continue to grow the Bealtaine Project both here in Ireland and in the hearts and minds of good people all over the world.
Please join…
Postscript…
James Lovelock mentions other countries in his forecasting that will also have the climatic conditions to sustain life…from my reading, these include the British Isles, Northern Scandinavia, New Zealand and Northern Canada. In this interview with The Irish Times in 2009 he was directly referencing Ireland.
The greatest concern of our times is happening on a daily basis and affecting every one of us.
Weather volatility is real and happening and the Ostriches in power appear impotent against the great forces of Nature.
The gabbling media assault our senses with celebrity highs and lows, sport and highly edited titbits of what is happening internationally…all the while keeping away from any real conversation about the chaos that is the weather all around us and those dreaded words: Climate Change.
However it is not Climate Change any more…the media have completely missed out on that conversation!
It has evolved rapidly into Climate Chaos!
I would like to offer words of comfort and reassurance, but that’s not possible, for I live in the real world and events are happening too fast for me to be able to offer predictions that will reassure!
Last night I slept with both windows open in my bedroom, bathed in warmth from the wind that blew all night from the south.
The wind chimes on the veranda played ceaselessly…something that has never happened before.
I use all my senses to try to build a picture of what the media refuses to inform me about.
The big news is that the Jet Stream is out of control!
Imagine a Spinning Top, rotating smoothly at first…well that is how the Jet Stream SHOULD be!
Now picture the same Spinning Top as it slows, rotating wildly…that is what is happening to the Jet Stream and causing the wild fluctuations in weather across the globe.
All the information about this is out there on the internet…make Google your friend and inform yourself…that’s if you can bear it!
I have gone past the need to research, for I witness the changes, log them, keep a record of temperatures and rainfall patterns…and have done so for all the time I have worked on the Bealtaine project.
So, what is the point in telling you this bad news?
I have nothing to gain.
In fact, there is a strong possibility that I will lose subscribers.
The old adage of “shoot the messenger”pertains to what I have written here…so be it!
So, let me tell you about the people I hope to reach with this news…
People who care for the future.
Those who have awakened to what it means to live a compassionate life.
Especially those who are unafraid of change and to implement change in their own lives.
If there is a Universal Consciousness…give it the name Goddess, God, Divine, Mother Earth…whatever you know it by…then that consciousness must surely want us to care as deeply for our planet as we care for ourselves.
Adapting is the way forward and should be at the top of all political agendas and policies.
Here in Ireland we are headed into a general election.
Farmers appear to be ill-informed in relation to Climate Change and as they hold much power in the outcome of elections, there will not be much informed debate on the doorstep!
Meat production is now at an all-time high in Ireland and there are few, if any, politicians who are prepared to risk the fury of farmers in regards to changing that!
The relationship between meat production, consumption and climate change is there for all to Google and Youtube.
The complacency regarding our habitat and climate change disturbs me.
I shall be quizzing each and every politician who knocks on my door…but as for intelligent, informed answers, well, I won’t be holding my breath!
Feel free to share this post…
And…I had to add this wonderful interview with Jane Goodall…
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!
Simplicity of living is much sought after these days.
There are television programmes and magazines devoted to the simple life.
We are drawn towards images of romantic simplicity…think of all the wonderful books translated into gorgeous films that espouse life before the Industrial Revolution.
I have to admit an interest here, as my most read novel is Pride and Prejudice and favourite film is the translation of that book onto the big screen by Deborah Moggach, directed by Joe Wright.
It is simply exquisite in it’s attention to detail that reflects the beautiful simplicity of everyday life.
And that is what we have been seeking, through consumption, for several chaotic decades now…a return to the simple life.
So, let’s define the simple life.
Well, it is simple enough to define, for it simply means, “less of!”
Yet all the media, while espousing the simple life, cheer-leads us to consume more.
So, I urge you to read the book and see the film.
Within the romantic idealism of past times there sits a very clear message…less is more.
De-clutter your life.
Embrace the sunrises and sunsets.
Open the door of your de-cluttered world to romance and fall in love with Nature.
The merging of State and Corporate powers has produced nations of people who are driven by fear and greed. Fear as created by the Media and Governments, turned into loathing for other cultures…a good smokescreen that keeps people occupied! Greed for all the Corporate rubbish pushed at us through the Media.
Between the screens of fear, governments are encouraging people to eat horrendous, factory food that makes them ill and drains their energy. Once people buy into this they are then herded towards doctors and endless drugs to treate the effects of such appalling diets…they are then captives of the system that has abused them!
For the past seven years I have practiced Permaculture. Growing food, planting trees, harvesting energy, working towards self-sufficiency…and what an eye-opening experience it has all been.
Permaculture is a way out of the mess that so many people are now waking up to.
This past week has seen more visitors to Bealtaine Smallholding. All are welcome to come and look at a better way of living. Everyone who makes the journey, after several hours spent looking around, articulates the effect they have felt here…inspired to become more self-sufficient…and so many individual journeys begin, towards a better life, a lighter life with Gaia.
There is a real problem here today with water, that is, lack of it!
Imagine saying that in April in Ireland…it would have seemed improbable only a few years ago, but this is the real state of affairs here at Bealtaine this morning!
The water in the spring well has dropped to a low that lowers the pressure on the gravity fed supply.
If you look at the ground around the arch, it appears quite dry.
Lunaria, Honesty, or Moon Pennies growing around the pathway.
This is a biennial plant that grows easily from seed and produces the most beautiful disc-shaped seed heads in the autumn, hence the name.
Bees love them as they are some of the earliest flowers in the garden.
If you look closely you can see some of the seedheads forming…
I have planted some of the pot growns from the tunnel out into the garden in an attempt to save them from drying out and dying…hopefully this will work as I prepared the beds some time ago and the moisture content in them should be high.
The tunnel is too hot to work in…so one just has to sit it out!
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