Earthrise

 

   

Amanda Gorman, activist and US National Youth Poet Laureate recites her poem Earthrise.  You may have seen her at the recent US Presidential Inauguration.  Prepare to be inspired!

 

 

On a hike in the woods, I came across a message in the snow: XOX, hugs and kisses. 
My heart expanded and I added the symbol of heart.

"Stay safe," was the next message that I read in the snow. 
Who was the author, who the audience? 
Who but a child or someone who was a child at heart would leave a message of love in the snow?
Who would send a wish of safety to those they had never met, would never meet?

A smiling face and a flower came next.  They made me smile s
o I added another heart and a peace sign.
I became a child at heart co-creating a message of love, a message of peace, a
 message of concern in the snow. 
The young are speaking.  Listen to their new story.
Be inspired.  Become a child at heart.
Dare to dream!

Moosehide Campaign Day Attracts 80.000

This is the 10^th anniversary of the Moosehide Campaign which seeks to engage men to commit to working towards an end to violence towards women and children. 

The COVID pandemic has made it hard to connect physically and to have the usual events that are held on this day.  There is always a nation wide fast for the men participating and some celebrations across the country.  And in Victoria, BC, there is usually, a parade of people drumming on their way to the Provincial Legislature.  The legislators wearing their Moosehide pins come outside and meet the fasters on the steps for speeches and ceremony.  So, that couldn't happen this year.  And the pandemic has also contributed to an increase in the rates of violence towards women and children which makes the work even more important.

Not dissuaded by the obstacles of the pandemic, the Moosehide Campaign moved forward with an on-line event that had 80,000 people logging on to be a part of it.  Men were asked to fast for the day as a sign of their commitment to end violence against women and children and the virtual event let these men and their supporters connect and grow closer through the experience of fasting and ceremony.  There was a Sunrise Ceremony and a Breaking the Fast ceremony as well as workshops, a youth space, an on-line fire, elders teaching and more.  Official witnesses attended and spoke at the closing ceremony.

You can view a welcome to this day from co-founders Paul LaCerte and his daughter Raven here: 

If you go to the Moosehide Campaign website you can view messages from Elders, videos and soon the workshops will be available for viewing as well.

The paradox of these times is that while we can’t meet with those we usually spend time with in person, we can connect on-line with people we would never have met before the pandemic.  It is beautiful to see Elders sharing their wisdom from beside the fire.  Their words can transcend the space between us and land in our hearts.  It is life-giving to join in with other people who are imagining and creating change.  From a father and daughter out hunting moose on the land to 80,000 people joining on-line in a space of ten years is very encouraging for this grassroots movement.

I invite you to check out some of these videos.  The world is changing and these are some of the changemakers who are inviting all of us to join together to create a better world.  I believe them.  I wear my Moosehide pin.  I have conversations with people about ending violence towards women and children, particulary, Indigenous women.  Change is happening.  It can be done.

Willow: The Ogham Tree for February

 

The ancient Celts invented the first alphabet in Europe which is called the Ogham script.  Each letter is associated with a tree or an important plant.  The alphabet was used as a mnemonic device to encode knowledge, the Celtic song of the universe, Ceolta na Cruinne (Diana Beresford-Kroeger).  The thirteen months of the year (pre-Gregorian calendar) were each represented by a particular tree.  The new year began on Nov. 1^st with Birch, followed by Rowan in December and Alder in January.  The tree associated with February is Willow.  It was called Saille and it represented the letter S.

Saille    S

The willow that the Celts referred to was likely Goat Willow (Salix caprea) or Pussywillow.  Weeping Willows (Salix babylonica) are native to China but were brought to the UK in the 1730’s where it has become naturalized.  Weeping Willow has become naturalized all over the world.  The American Pussywillow (Salix discolor) is a North American variety and Grey willow (Salix cinerea) is native to Northern Europe.  “Willow is known by many folk names, such as ‘osier’, ‘pussy willow’, ‘saille’, ‘Sally’, ‘withy’, ‘witch’s aspirin’, and the ‘tree of enchantment’.” (Paterson, p. 265)  I think that, for our modern purposes you can imagine whichever species of Willow that you know and by whatever name you know it by.

Willow loves the water and is often found on riverbanks and lakeshores.  Alder is the king of the water and Willow the queen according to ancient Celtic wisdom.  Since Willow is water-seeking and the tides are governed by the moon, Willow represents the female and lunar rhythms of life.  In the Celtic world, women were property owners and both male and female energy was recognized equally. Willow’s association with water and the moon has been seen as a connection to intuition, imagination and clairvoyance and so harps were made of willow.  It is a mediator of liminal spaces and has a strong life force. Willows, water and the moon are connected with ancient gods and goddesses from many civilizations including ancient Israel.

Willow has large fibrous roots which will send up new shoots when branches are cut or break off.  Cuttings from willow will also root in water or in the earth and can be propagated that way.  Willows produce both male and female catkins but on different plants.  These catkins which we call “pussywillows” emerge before the leaves representing fertility while providing early pollen for the bees. Willow catkins are pollinated by insects and the wind.  The seeds are scattered by the wind in fluffs of cottony looking down.  The seeds need to land on moist ground where they can root quickly as they have no endosperm to provide stored food.

The Celts used Willow branches, called sally rods as a weaving material for baskets and donkey panniers to carry turf from the bogs.  Smaller branches were used for household brushes.  Hen baskets were woven from Willow in a loose weave which reduced feather mites but protected the eggs.

Wattle is a technique that goes back to Neolithic times.  It is the weaving of thin branches through upright stakes to construct baskets, fish traps, fences and house walls and one form of a Welsh coracle which was used on the Severn River.  Willow was often used for wattling.  Willow wood is also used for boxes, brooms, cricket bats, cradle boards, furniture, flutes, poles, sweat lodges, toys and many other things.

Willow was used for pain relief as it has salicylates in the bark and as a rose-tan dye for raw linen and wool. The bark contain 13% tannic acid and so it was used in tanning leather.

Willows are excellent at bio-filtration to remove pollutants including heavy metals from water.  They stabilize stream banks and lakeshores to prevent erosion, reclaim soil, provide a windbreak and a wildlife habitat.

“The energy of Willow assists in easing the difficult feelings that arise from periods of change and the sense of loss that often follows.” (Forest, p75)  Willow is the energy “to go forth, into the unknown, with greater confidence and trust in ourselves” (Kindred, p18).  It enhances the power of intuition and will allow emotions to come to the surface and move through grief to healing.  The Willow twig that roots easily when placed in the earth or in water teaches us that in every loss is a new capacity for growth. “Willow is recommended for use when seeking to understand ancient ways.” (Kindred, p19)  “It is thought that the origins of the saying ‘Knock on wood’ came from the age-old act of knocking on a willow tree to avert evil and bring good luck.” (Paterson, p.264)  Willow is the tree of boundaries and thus teaches us how to protect our own boundaries.

This is a compilation of information taken from the following sources:

Diana Beresford-Kroeger (2019) To Speak for the Trees. Random House: Canada.

Danu Forest (2014) Celtic Tree Magic: Ogham Lore and Druid Mysteries. Llewellyn Worldwide: Woodbury, Minnesota.

Glennie Kindred, (1997) The Tree Ogham. Glennie Kindred: UK.

Liz and Colin Murray (1988) The Celtic Tree Oracle. Connections Book Publishing: London, UK.

Jacqueline Memory Peterson (1996) Tree Wisdom: The definitive guidebook to the myth, folklore and healing power of Trees. Thorsons: London.

Elen Sentier (2014) Trees of the Goddess. Moon Books: Winchester, UK.

 

 

 Elder Duke Redbird is an Indigenous intellectual, poet, painter, broadcaster, filmmaker and keynote speaker.  From 1994 to 2009 he was the Arts & Entertainment reporter for CITY -TV in Toronto.  He works as a multifaceted artist in a number of disciplines in Canada and abroad.  And, he pioneered bringing an Indigenous approach to art educations at OCADU. 

Duke Redbird (photo credit: dukeredbird.ca)

When we were trying to learn Silver River, to honour Curtis Jonnie last week, we had trouble hearing the words clearly from the recording.  When we realized that the lyrics were from a poem by Duke Redbird, we emailed him for help.  The next day, his assistant responded with a pdf of the poem and permission from him to use the words as we sang the song on our on-line weekly coffeehouse.

The more I explored on-line, the more I learned about this multi-talented artist.  I thought I would share some of what I found with you.  I feel so privileged to share the Earth with people like Duke Redbird

Here is a musical collaboration between Sultans of String, Duke Redbird and Twin Flames called The Power of the Land.

As I was looking at Elder Redbird’s art work, I came across this ingenious floating installation called Wigwam Chi-Chemung that tells the story of the presence of Indigenous people on the shore of Lake Ontario in what we now call Toronto.

And finally (but not the end – check out his website for yourself) here is a posting that Duke Redbird made last year at the beginning of the pandemic.  He shares an uplifting message and a poem called “The Waterfall”.

During this time when we have more time at home, we have an opportunity to learn and to listen to artists, poets and musicians who are busy imagining and creating a new world.  We are all creators and we are creating this new world together.  Let Duke Redbird inspire you and spark your own creative energy as we co-create our future, our new story.

Shingoose: A Visionary Ahead of His Time

 On January 12^th this year, Canada lost an Anishinaabe folk singer and songwriter who had worked his whole life at amplifying Indigenous music.  His name was Curtis Jonnie although he was better know by his stage name Shingoose which was the name of his great-grandfather.

Shingoose was born in 1946 in Winnipeg from parents who had survived the Indian Residential School system.  He was a member of the Roseau River Anishinaabe First Nation.  At the age of 4 he was adopted by a Mennonite family as part of the Sixties Scoop.  In his teenage years, he was sent to a boarding school in Nebraska where he sang in the choir and learned music.

Shingoose (photo credit: globalnews.ca)

Shingoose was called “a visionary ahead of his time” for starting his own Indigenous label called “Native Country” at a time when no one else would record Indigenous artists. He played in Roy Buchanan’s band and other rock and R&B bands and later toured extensively across Canada performing his own folk songs.  He cofounded Native Multimedia Productions, a TV production company which created First Nations current affairs programs for CKND-TV (Winnipeg) and CTV.  He hosted a documentary series for CBC Radio, programming for TVO and served as chair of the Juno Awards committee for the Aboriginal Album of the Year after campaigning with Buffy Ste. Marie and others for the award’s existence. Throughout his life he advocated for the recognition of Indigenous musicians.   He was inducted into the Manitoba Music Hall of Fame in 2012.

Shingoose had a stroke in 2012 and had to live in a care facility in Winnipeg where he recently caught COVID and died at the age of 74. He was still planning to come back to the stage.  His song “Silver River” was a collaboration with poet Duke Redbird and was recorded in 1975. A young Bruce Cockburn played guitar and produced the album.  Silver River featured on the 2014 compilation album Native North America Vol. 1 which was nominated for a Grammy Award.

So, to honour Curtis Jonnie, my partner and I wanted to cover Silver River on the Zoom coffee house that we attend each week.  But, we had trouble hearing the words on this recording which was the only one we could find.  Once we realized that the words were from a poem by Duke Redbird, we emailed him and asked for help.  The next day, his assistant replied with a pdf of the poem and permission from Elder Redbird to use it.  We will play the perform the song this week in honour of all the Indigenous artists who have fought so tirelessly to shine a spotlight on Indigenous voices in the face of indifference and for all of those who have died of COVID in our nursing homes.

Here is Silver River by Curtis Jonnie and Duke Redbird.

 

Life Line for Our Times

 Once again this year, I am submitting a piece of art for the Orillia Women’s Day Art Show.  This year, the theme is Life Lines.  The artists are asked to submit 75 words or less with the artwork to link it with the theme.

As I pondered what to enter this year, the words “multi-media” came into my mind.  I have done beading before which is multi-media but I sensed that this time, an acrylic painting was also included as one media.  Soon after came a large image of a Heal-all plant rising out of it’s forest community of plants just as I had experienced it this past summer.  It seemed to shimmer and vibrate with energy so I added some silver sparkles to the area around the yellow “glow” to express that to the viewer.  And then I printed out some studies on using Heal-all to treat COVID-19 and cut the titles of the scientific articles into the shape of clouds which I stuck to the canvas and voila, it was multi-media!

I chose to paint the Heal-all plant much larger than life so that the little lipped flowers all over the flower head could be seen in their their intricate beauty.  Even the flower head demonstrates community.  And then this one Heal-all plant is just one of many in a community.  I had met these plants in the forest during the first lock-down in which the forest community welcomed me to be a part of it.  

My partner designed and constructed the frame for me.  Since I head met the Heal-all plants in the forest, I wanted the frame to express this idea so that the forest community could be represented.  He had a piece of wood that was taken from the floor of the old house next door during a renovation.  The wood had been stored for years, but when the neighbours sold the house last winter, the wood was gifted to my partner.  It is likely the white pine that grew so abundantly here until the settlers cut them all down.  I live in an old lumber mill town that was once a bustling community until the mill shut down 100 years ago.  The forest where I met the Heal-all was also deforested at that time and then reforested about one hundred years ago as well.  Carpenter ants had eaten holes through the old wood from the neighbours so my partner chose to use those holes to an artistic advantage.  He threaded Wild Grape vines through the holes to give the idea of vegetation surrounding the Heal-all plants.

And so, this piece represents relationships and community on many levels and it amplifies the voice of the plant world that is still offering healing and relationship to us despite it all.  The choice is ours.

This is what I wrote to accompany the piece:  “During the 2020 lockdown, I encountered a vibrant community of tall Heal-all plants in a nearby forest.  They seemed to be offering medicine to me.  I dried their leaves and flowers for tea to treat the flu.  I also made a flower essence from the tiny flowers.  I later learned that this plant (Prunella vulgaris) is used medicinally world-wide and it is being researched as a treatment for COVID-19.  Renewing our relationships with healing plants is truly a Life Line of our times.”

 

Alder: Ogham Tree for January

 

The ancient Celts used the first alphabet in Europe which is called the Ogham script.  Each letter is associated with a tree or an important plant.  The alphabet was used as a mnemonic device to encode knowledge, the Celtic song of the universe, Ceolta na Cruinne (Diana Beresford-Kroeger).  The thirteen months of the year (pre-Gregorian calendar) were each represented by a particular tree.  The new year began on Nov. 1^st with Birch, followed by Rowan in December.  The tree associated with January is Alder.  It's Celtic name is Fearn and it was represented by the letter F.   It seems to me that in the midst of chaos and change, some ancient knowledge might lend a guiding hand or at least some perspective.

Fearn or Alder Ogham script

Alder is a member of the Birch family.  It often grows on riverbanks or lakeshores which it stabilizes with its fibrous root structure.  Alder is an early colonizer tree of barren ground.  Through its symbiotic relationship with the bacteria Frankia aini which is found in the root nodules and absorbs nitrogen from the air in return for sugars from the tree, the soil around the Alder roots is replenished with nitrogen.

On the shore of Georgian Bay, Ontario, Alnus incana (Tag Alder, Speckled Alder)
The British variety Alnus glutinosa is a much taller tree.

The oily wood of the Alder does not rot in water.  In fact, it becomes harder in water, so its has been used for centuries to build roads over wet places, provide pilings for buildings in Venice and some Medieval cathedrals as well as wagon wheels, milk churns and wooden clogs.  The wood makes good charcoal which was used in smithing and metalworking. The wood which is not good firewood is however used to smoke food such as salmon. When cut, the wood turns pink or orange resembling blood or fire and so the wood was also used to make shields with the belief that the wood would bleed instead of the warrior.

You can see the grey bark on the trunk and the reddish brown twigs.

Medicinally, inner cambial Alder bark contains salicin which turns into salicyclic acid in the human body.  The bark has therefore been used for pain relief for the gums, the mouth, for the pain of scalds and burns, or externally for joint pain.  A leaf inside the shoe was thought to help aching feet.

Alder was also used to make dyes – green from the flowers, red from the bark, brown from the twigs and yellow from bark, young shoots and ferrous sulphate.

The tree has both male catkins that provide pollen and female catkins which when fertilized (by wind or bees) turn into tiny woody cones.  When these cones open, the seeds may fall into the nearby water where they float due to air chambers inside of them and an oily exterior.  Thus, the seeds are spread by air or water.  Alders represented balanced male and female energy so they were thought to help in knowing when to move forward and when to find inner stillness.

Here you can see the long male catkins and the tiny cones which have released their seeds.
The small female catkins will appear in the spring.

Here you can see the tiny Alder cones in relationship to my thumb.

Pan pipes were made of Alder twigs and Alder wood was also used in Fender electric guitars.

Alder was thought to help people “take up challenges, move into new situations and face things previously avoided.” (Glennie Kindred).  And finally, from Elen Sentier: Alder is “about forgetting the little personal self, your personal wants and needs and focusing instead on the needs of the earth…. [This] Wisdom means you know that you are just a part of the whole, and that, by thinking of the needs of the earth, you can help things work out appropriately.” (p. 27-8)

And so, through the Alder tree, the knowledge of protecting the earth, balancing our male and female energies and finding our place in the whole is shared.  Ancient knowledge and yet very timely for the place and time we find ourselves in.

References:

Diana Beresford-Kroeger (2019) To Speak for the Trees. Random House: Canada.

Glennie Kindred, (1997) The Tree Ogham. Glennie Kindred: UK.

Elen Sentier (2014) Trees of the Goddess. Moon Books: Winchester, UK.