I am so sorry

I just found out that the email address I have published to contact me on this site has not been forwarding to my primary email account.  Gmail at some point removed the forwarding rule.  I am so sorry for those I have ignored, but it wasn't intentional.  I'll be spending a lot of time replying to each personal and thoughtful email. I am so sorry!!! I learned I need to check each email account periodically! 

Disturbing the Edge

Intentional wild space along edge of path in new orchard

For a time I lived on the edge and walked the line between hell and disease, an out of balance waking nightmare that ended in collapse. But the darkness in that edge proved fruitful, though I wouldn't know it for  years.  The old way of being and thinking were broken down, the seeds planted by books, friends and through meditation; and that wouldn't have happened without a total physical collapse and change of the old paradigm.  A new edge had to be created.  Now 13 years later I am closer to finding balance and am certainly more fruitful.  The edge can be a most productive place.

A wild space nature created along edge of burnt place

The creation of edge means the death or absence of one thing and life for another.  The edge for all life changes and is the transition point.  As the shrubs and then the trees eventually move into a field, the edge changes, new shadows are cast, soil changes and it means the death of some plants for the life of others. 

A little Ginseng bed in the woods

I built a little Ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) bed the other day on the slope of a hill.  I found a dead tree that has long since been partially sunk into the ground and would make a good basis for a terraced bed.  The bed had to be small because I had to carry the dirt in buckets up the hill and I only had a few seeds.

Juniper

Virginia to the Left and Harold to the right.  Two of my favorite Junipers that create the herb circle where we live.  Photo by Jamie

 Like many people I love the smell of crushed Juniper needles.  The variety we have here is Juniperus virginiana.  They are a tall, dense, fine looking pyramid shaped tree and I discovered recently that the oldest tree of this kind was from our state of Missouri at 795 years old!  Not only do they make great wind breaks, but we use them in a variety of ways.

When the needles are crushed, it releases one of my favorite smells. I make a breast massage oil from the fragrant needles by chopping and filling a quart mason jar with them, then covering with olive oil, letting it sit for 6 weeks, and then straining.  Make sure to place the jar on a rag because it can weep out.   Just rubbing the oil on your hands, cupping near your nose and smelling deeply can transport your mind to the dark, green woods. To me, it smells like liquid Christmas.  But more importantly, the infused oil is “superb for regular breast self-massage, especially for those troubled with painful or lumpy breasts.  Evergreens contain compounds clinically proven to kill cancer cells.  The most powerful in this respect are arbor vitae (Thuja occidentalis) and cedar (Juniperous virginiana).  But all evergreens contain antiseptic, antifungal, antiviral and anti-tumor oils.  Using infused herbal oils is an easy way to keep your breasts healthy, prevent and reverse cysts, dissolve troublesome lumps and repair abnormal cells.  Breast skin is thin and absorbent, and breast tissue contains a great deal of fat, which readily absorbs infused herbal oils.” – Susun Weed 

Red

Outside today I thought of this video.

Medicine of the People conference 2012

From the http://www.traditionsinwesternherbalism.org/ site

I'm back from my intense experience at the Medicine of the People conference (formerly the Traditions in Western Herbalism).  It will probably take me weeks, if not months, to go through all the notes and process them.  The amount of information available at this conference is staggering.  Thankfully the class notes are available for download for a while and I don't have to rely on my chicken scratch!

Some of the buildings at the lodge

The classes weren't just about using herbs or plants.  They were about life.  Classes as diverse as "Coping with death and caring for a dying loved one", "How to sit with a patient", "Making a financial living as an herbalist", "Ecology and activism in women's health", "Creating a dynamic practice", "Starting a community supported herbal clinic", "Clinical skills", "Endocrine systems", "Teaching the teacher", "Disaster preparedness",  "Chronic pain" and "Creating social and political change for herbalists".

The information the presenters shared was sometimes so personal and came from such a deep place, that their words had to wait in the throat behind the lump that only comes when sharing the deepest, most personal experience of pain.  But most of the time was filled with laughter and smiles shared between friends and strangers who all shared the common love of nature and the health of her residents.

Vandana Shiva on Bill Moyers

Just a post to ask everyone to watch this interview by Bill Moyers with Vandana Shiva and read the transcript.  She has said so succinctly what would take me days to say.

In response to the question "But what can I do?"

VANDANA SHIVA: I think first thing is each of us has to daily ask a question, "Where am I complicit in a war against the Earth? Where are my daily actions part of a devastation of the planet and with it, a devastation of the lives of people."

http://billmoyers.com/segment/vandana-shiva-on-the-problem-with-genetically-modified-seeds/