The call to protect the land from fracking

Like most of you who are reading this I am immersed in the challenges of daily life and trying to work towards living more sustainably.  But there is a bigger picture that we all need to take account of and respond to in our own way.  We are in the midst of an environmental crisis caused by our unsustainable society.  One manifestation of this is the development of extreme fossil fuel extraction methods such as fracking, coal-bed methane and underground coal gasification.   These cause contamination of the air, water and earth around drilling sites, which leads to severe health effects in people living nearby, as well as contributing to climate change.   Vast swathes of Britain have been opened up to fracking & other extreme fossil fuel extraction methods by the current government, so large areas of our precious countryside & the wildlife which lives there as well as many millions of people will be directly affected if this goes ahead.  See http://frack-off.org.uk/fracking-hell/ for details of the threat.

In August 2013 I was contacted by a friend who asked me to help with organising an anti-fracking ritual on Glastonbury Tor.  The intention of the ritual was to raise awareness and energy for the anti-fracking cause, particularly in the pagan community.   Reverence for the earth is a fundamental part of pagan spirituality so this was a call I felt I had to answer.  Several hundred people participated in the ritual along with hundreds more doing rituals elsewhere round the UK and round the world to send energy in support.   As a result of the ritual The Warrior's Call Pagans United Against Fracking http://www.warriorscall.org/ was created as an international network which encourages all of like mind to work both practically and magically to defend the land from fracking. The Warrior's Call has held 3 more international rituals over the past 2 years, in which literally thousands of people have participated.  The intention of the rituals has been to inspire and empower the people participating to work on an energetic level and in practical ways to help protect our land, water and air from the threat of extreme fossil fuel extraction.  

As well as the international rituals there have been many rituals and practical actions organised by local communities affected by the threat in their area.  I participated in a Winter Solstice ritual held last month at Upton near Cheshire on a piece of land that was ear-marked for drilling, that had been occupied by activists for the last 21 months.   As part of the ritual I and my husband called upon the powers of Oak and Mistletoe to protect the land.  We called to the ancient oaks that stood guard round the boundaries of the field and to the power of the bough of Mistletoe that I had brought from a ceremony held in Glastonbury earlier in the month.  Mistletoe has associations of good luck & protection from many ancient cultures, our custom of kissing underneath it is a dim remnant of these customs. 

 Winter Solstice ritual at Upton (photograph by Colin Gong)

Invoking the power of Oak & Mistletoe (photograph by The Chester Chronicle)

Very sadly the protection camp at Upton was brutally evicted by bailiffs accompanied by several hundred police officers last week.  But this does not mean that resistance at Upton and across the UK is over.  Far from it, a solidarity event was held at Upton last weekend, attended by 100's of local people and activists from around the country and there is an ongoing presence at the entrance to the lane leading to the site.  There are scores of No Fracking Way events planned across the UK for Sunday 31st January, to kickstart community resistance around the country in 2016.  Please try to support one of these or organise your own to add your voice to the many who are standing up to defend our land from short-sighted greed which will leave a lasting toxic legacy. 

As my blog is mainly about herbalism I especially invite my fellow herbwives and herbal practitioners of all kinds to answer the call to help protect the land with our particular knowledge and skills.  This may be by providing much needed healing & practical support for the well-being of frontline protectors such as at Upton, please join the group Herbalists Against Fracking to get involved.   Or it may be by doing magical work alone or in a group, calling upon our plant allies for guidance and assistance in our work to change consciousness and help bring about what is needed to stop extreme fossil fuel extraction in the UK and across the world.  Or by spreading the word about the threat of extreme fossil fuel extraction in your community both online and offline.  We can all do something.  Our land needs us all, will you answer the call?

Herbal help for the digestive system and working to protect the land from fracking

This weekend I was involved in the Warrior's Wyrd, a planning day for the Warrior's Call, Pagans United Against Fracking.  I am a core member of the Warrior's Call which was created in 2013 to answer the need of our land and water for protection from fracking and other highly polluting gas and oil extraction techniques such as coal-bed methane and underground coal gasification which have been used on a large scale elsewhere in the world, particularly in the USA and Australia and which the UK Government and drilling companies are trying to develop here in Britain.  See http://frack-off.org.uk/fracking-hell/ for information about this. As a pagan I felt I had to answer the call to protect our land and water.  I have sworn an oath to work magically and practically to protection Albion from fracking.

The Warrior's Call works to raise awareness in the pagan community about the threat of fracking, to encourage and empower pagans to become involved in community campaigning and front-line resistance to fracking, bringing our spirituality and our magic to help defend the land and assist those who are working to protect it.  We work with the Warrior's Sigil, a magical sigil which protects and empowers us.  There is lots of information on our website http://www.warriorscall.org/about and on our Facebook page  https://www.facebook.com/sacredshieldwall and Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/734808363226544/

Members of the Warrior's Call have taken the lead in setting up community campaigns, protection camps and awareness-raising events in areas threatened by extreme gas extraction developments such as Cheshire, South Wales, Somerset and Sussex.   In my part of the country I set up and co-ordinate Gasfield-free Coventry to raise awareness and campaign against extreme gas extraction in Coventry & Warwickshire https://www.facebook.com/groups/1430260997217973/ Since the group was formed in the spring of 2014 a proposal for Underground Coal Gasification which covered 40 square miles of Warwickshire countryside has been withdrawn due to opposition by the local council.  Which shows we can make a difference if we stand up to do our bit to protect the land and people where we live.

The Warrior's Wyrd Day was a gathering of core Warrior's Call organisers and others who were interested in getting involved in planning our activities for 2015.  We kicked off the day discussing why it is difficult to involve pagans and people generally in activism and how to raise awareness of the threat of fracking and what pagans can do about it in their local communities.  In the afternoon we focused on planning the Morrighan Encampment, a national pagan anti-fracking camp to be held in the late summer of 2015 at which there will be lots of workshops on campaigning and front-line action as well as ritual and entertainments.  We also discussed other plans for the year including developing an Action Pack for pagan anti-fracking activists, awareness raising at Summer Solstice celebrations round the country and doing presentations and stalls at pagan camps over the summer.  It was a tiring but very productive day.

The Warrior's Call banner with the Warrior's Sigil

 The altar with Sigil Chalice and Oak piece from an oak felled at a drilling site in Sussex

 The Warrior's Call Display

Me presenting Warrior's Call event plans to the group

I have also been active on the herbalism front.  For this month I was set the task of researching the meaning of the terms astringent and carminative.  

Astringents are herbs that contract blood vessels and mucous membranes to reduce secretions, they help stop internal and external bleeding, catarrhal discharges etc.  The action is due to tannins in the herbs.  Astringent herbs include agrimony, elecampane, ground ivy, meadowsweet, mullein, oak bark, plantain, raspberry, red sage, rhubarb root, rosemary, wild cherry, witch hazel and yarrow.

Carminatives are anti-flatulence herbs.  They help to expel wind from the stomach and intestines.  They contain volatile oils which help to tone mucous surfaces in the digestive tract and increase peristaltic action.  They relieve wind and bloating, improve digestion and absorption and reduce inflammation and dysbiosis, when pathogenic yeasts and bacteria get out of balance with healthy intestinal flora.  Carminative herbs include angelica, aniseed, caraway, cardamon, cayenne, cinnamom, chamomile, coriander, dill, fennel, garlic, ginger, juniper, mustard, peppermint, sage and thyme.  

A herbal remedy using some of these herbs is the digestive elixir I made at a workshop with Sarah Head my herbwife mentor in January http://kitchenherbwife.blogspot.co.uk/p/springfield-sanctuary-workshop-dates.html I decanted the elixir this week and have found it be helpful in soothing bloating, wind and digestive discomfort I had been experiencing.

Digestive Elixir recipe

Peel from 1/2 a fresh orange or 3-4 pieces of dried orange peel.

Tablespoon of fennel seeds.

Tablespoon of cardamon pod.

Crush seeds & pods with pestle & mortar or with the end of a rolling pin.

2-3" chunk of ginger peeled & grated.

Put the ingredients in a jar and half fill with honey, then fill the rest of the jar with brandy. 

Leave in a cool place for 4-6 weeks.

Strain through a sieve then through muslin or a tea-towel into a clean bottle.

Take a half teaspoon neat after a meal.  This gets sluggish digestion moving and calms wind and bloating.

 Digestive Elixir

References:

'Bartram's Encyclopedia of Herbal Medicine' Thomas Bartram.

'The New Holistic Herbal' David Hoffmann.

'The Complete Herbal Tutor' Anne MacIntyre.