A Druid’s Web Log – Black Lives Matter protests and Messages from Ravens July 2020

I recently attended a Black Lives Matter rally on the local town Common. What I have experienced at local protests is very different from what I keep seeing on TV. Here in New England everyone is careful to socially distance and absolutely everyone was wearing a mask. People listened politely as local black teenagers told harrowing stories of the racism they had experienced in local schools and related how painful it was. Everyone clapped at cheered them on.

There were several hundred of us on the Common. There was a tiny group, no more than six, of counter protestors, who slouched against the Civil War memorial statue. None of them were wearing masks and they were clutched together closely.

Locals “defending” the Civil War monument.
Photo by Ricard Torres Mateluna

I had a really bad feeling about them the moment I saw them, because they didn’t have masks on. Oddly, people who refuse to wear a mask when they are out in a crowd now look sinister to me. Like they are sociopaths.

At first, I thought they might be “protecting” the monument, which would be pretty absurd, since it’s a monument to the Northern Yankee soldiers who fought in the Civil War. As I expected, they acted out just after we had finished an eight minute and forty-six second moment of silence in honor of George Floyd (the black man who was choked to death by a white policeman pressing a knee against his neck for 8.46 minutes). The people without masks started yelling ALL LIVES MATTER! And the crowd responded with an even louder BLACK LIVES MATTER! And the tiny group of counter-protestors were quickly drowned out.

I heard later that they did, indeed, plan to “defend” the monument from us Liberal “thugs”.

Photo by Ricard Torres Mateluna
All the scary “Leftists” wearing face masks and keeping our social distance on the town common.

It is rather unbelievable that right-wingers now think not wearing a mask is a political statement when really all it is, is a dangerously stupid move in the middle of a world-wide pandemic. That is likely a big part of why the southern states are having such an outbreak now. They are inspired to do this by their cult leader Trump, who refuses to wear a mask, even as more and more of his staff test positive for the virus. How sad is that?

Yesterday I went to my first Zoom funeral. I was able to sit in my office in Massachusetts, in a thunderstorm, and be part of a funeral that was taking place, live, in Maryland. There were over fifty people “there” including folks in Australia, Florida and New Mexico.

For days before the funeral I heard ravens. They squawked at me from a tree when I went shopping and yesterday, the moment I stepped outside they were there, flying over and croaking loudly.

The only other times that happened was when the town first allowed deer hunting in the Quabbin, a nearby wilderness area. Ravens would tell me about it for days at the start of hunting season. That went on for a few years but there was not much I could do, other than stand on the road with a sign and protest.

When my Druid mentor, author Alexei Kondratiev, passed over suddenly I had an owl sit on the roof in the middle of the day and hoot interminably until I said through the screen door; “Ok! I hear you!”. I didn’t find out until the next day that Alexei had died.

*Below you will find book news, a podcast, an interview, and the usual round up of the past Moonth’s Archaeology, Herb, Health, Climate, Nature, Religion, Celtic, Fairy and Ethics news. You can always order books from this site . Many blessings and have an enjoyable summer! May your gardens be fruitful and bright*

BOOK NEWS

A recent interview
Ellen Evert Hopman is an author, Master Herbalist and Druid Priestess. Join Ellen on HexFest Livestream 2020: A Weekend of Witchery Online, Aug 7th-9th! Get your tickets today.
A podcast about Beltaine, Druids, Fairies, my books and more