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by
Jim Ekhardt |
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Jim
describes himself as a 50+ grey bearded naturist, bare foot, pie eating pagan.
He is co-owner of a growing sustainable farm called Blackberry Pines Farm. Jim
and his partner Ron grow all the food they can without pesticides or
herbicides. Jim's favorite food for thought: "Eat Greens and be healthy
and happy". Contact Jim at
blackberry_pines@yahoo.com.
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Time at Blackberry Pines
Farm has hastened as the Sun slides deeper to the South each day.
Mornings here are getting cold and wet as the fields begin to turn brown. Even
though the days are shorter and shorter, the work is still there if not
growing. I seem to be in a rush to finish projects and to organize for the
future. If you are not having that impending feeling, then those of us who are
can seem a little more neurotic at this time of year. Is "more"
neurotic possible when you are a farmer?
I took up farming because I am good at growing plants and I
like to grow my own food. Sometimes you will catch me muttering to myself,
"did I really think through how much work is involved in building a
sustainable life?" Well, I'm too busy doing it to even contemplate on that
one right now.
From the first cold spell that wilted our basil, I began
running around, putting things away, and doing my best to "not" start
one more project that will distract us from taking care of business at hand.
Winter is coming. I can feel it in the deepest part of my being. It is a primal
and instinctual emotion, much like sneezing from too much ragweed and saying,
"The frost will cure this agony". Mabon has interrupted our summer
laziness. Samhain is chewing at us, just as it coaxes the maple into red
highlights. Winter is right around the corner. Are you ready? The time is now
for taking stock before the big freeze comes.
One might think that late winter, around February, would be
the time when we would be searching through seed catalogs and documenting where
and how we will plant next year. However, that comes earlier for us at our
farm. With the movement of the wheel, we are cast into a frenzy of canning all
that is ripe from this year's harvest. At the same time, we are "seed
saving" for next year's planting, and taking stock of which plants
produced well, and which ones did not.
Winter for us really comes at Samhain, and life starts to
renew itself here in early February. From November to January we are usually
busy helping the animals here stay alive in the cold, and aiming to simplify
the work to make it easier when we are buried in snow. I find that farming and
caring for livestock is not much different than many spiritual beliefs of life.
Everything has a cycle. From seed, egg, or personal plans moving toward
harvest, death, and physical manifestation, all life moves through a cycle, and
the wheel of the year.
In the circle of elements and directions, Air and East are
the positions of ideas. Ideas can be thought of as seeds. Ideas, or our
thoughts, are like the air. They move in and out from one thought form to
another. Sometimes thoughts have no real physical form at all. Seeds are
containers of our thoughts. Seeds are our intentional ideas being packaged into
form. We plant our seeds that they may eventually turn into the physical form
of our focused intention and attention.
Seeds are the carriers of genetic code, although they have to
be planted to really become physical plants. Thoughts, ideas, stored as seeds,
are preserved for the future. The seeds of our ideas are what we plant for the
future. Seeds of ideas will sprout into physical manifestation with the passion
of fire and the direction of South as we move into Spring.
Once planted and fully growing, they move into the West,
element of Water and Summer. Our seeds have sprung to life and now flourish,
showing the early fruits. These fruits are the first signs of the coming form
of our plans. Water is the element that physically moves food into our plants,
facilitating their adequate nourishment and growth. Physical action is the
movement that it takes to get an idea out of its shell and into the fruiting
stage. West brings us closer to fruition of our idea. It is the time of tending
what we are doing, physically bringing together the parts of our plans that
will be the accomplishment we are looking to achieve. The plans we made during
winter are now keep us busy tending the crop in its physical form.
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SIX
CROWS NEWS |
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CROW CALLS AUTUMN 2011
Most humble apologies for the lateness of the fall issue.
True, it is technically still the fall season, although surely the harvesting
is about complete by now, except perhaps the ice grapes which await that first
good freeze for the production of that most delectable sweetest nectar of the
season fit for the gods themselves! And that's another teachable moment.
Sometimes we must endure the harshest conditions to attain the bliss.
The lateness of the issue was unavoidable, the perils of
breakdown in the computer age coupled with the life and times of a volunteer.
:) We know you understand, and how much there is to glean from our autumn issue
nonetheless.
So with time marching on, we want to point you straight away
to our article on the Mourning Moon. Note that the Mourning Moon is
fully "in effect" not only on the day of the full moon, but during
the entire moon cycle, which runs November 10-December 10 in 2011.
Those of us who are drawn to nature-based spiritual paths and
practices perhaps pay greater attention to astrological occurrences and
patterns. We may live our lives more in tune with the seasons and celestial
events including moon cycles.
All around the planet over the eons, primitive peoples have
arrived at their own mystical interpretations of each moon cycle based on their
environmental and societal experiences. The Mourning Moon, as suggested by its
name, is a time for letting go, put upon us each autumn at the end of the
growing season. The wheel now turns to completion, acceptance, post mortem
release, and preparatory rest.
These ideas,
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