We are in the midst of Lughnasad as I write this, the ancient Celtic three week festival that heralds the start of the harvest season. Where has the summer flown to? This year has been very wet here in New England, a complete turnaround from the drought we had last year. Gardens are lush and trees are so filled with water that they are starting to send out leaves from the middle of their trunks.
It has been a time of high anxiety as Americans waited to hear if millions of us would be kicked off our health care plans. Last night there was a glorious reprieve as a few Republicans finally opened their hearts enough to feel compassion for the plight of many. This gives me a bit of hope.
I have two other bits of pleasant news to report; Inner Traditions has accepted a new book from me, this time about New England Witches. The book covers Witchcraft persecutions from the Biblical era to Salem and some modern bits as well.
And my old classic TREE MEDICINE TREE MAGIC will be re-released in an expanded version with full color plates to make tree identification easier. The promised publication date is now September 15. It will have tree recipes and tree drinks included.
I give thanks for these and other blessings in my life. May your own harvests be fruitful!
SOME MORE BOOK NEWS
- Secret Medicines from your Garden got a new review in Magical Buffet
“This book has been out for over a year. Over a year! I even read it as soon as it came out, and yet it has taken all this time to share my thoughts on it. “Secret Medicines from Your Garden: Plants for Healing, Spirituality & Magic” by Ellen Evert Hopman is still in print, so it’s still worth sharing.Reading “Secret Medicines from Your Garden” makes you feel like the author is personally leading you on a wilderness adventure. Hopman regales you with anecdotes from her spiritual journey and herbalism training. She doesn’t just tell you about herbs and their meanings and uses, she trains you to intuit a plants purpose. Not only do you learn about the physical natural world, but Hopman discusses plant spirits, herbal astrology, and more. Of course the book is filled with ways to use all that nature has to offer such as poultices, tinctures, and food.I would say “Secret Medicines from Your Garden” is a surprisingly engaging book, and I dare say it’s my favorite of all of Ellen Evert Hopman’s books. (And considering how many great books she’s written, that’s saying something)” - UPDATE ON THE PRIESTESS OF THE FOREST FILM PROJECT!
Meet Elyse Poppers, our beautiful lead actress!
Please continue to promote the film wherever you can! We need patrons so we can film a clip – we are still seeking a major producer. Here is where you can donate, either a one-time gift or ongoing support.
Read about the world of the film. - Please make sure you are registered to vote in 2018. Here is the Democratic party platform.
*Reminder – you can order books from this website and get signed copies with a personal note from the author! *
Below you will find the usual past Moonth’s gleanings of Archeology, Herb, Nature, Climate, Religion, Celtic and Ethics news. Enjoy!
UPCOMING SPEAKING EVENTS AND WORKSHOPS
- August 19
Celtic Tree Medicine and Lore
2:30 PM – 5 PM
Sirius Community
72 Baker Rd, Shutesbury, Massachusetts 01072 - August 25-27
New England Women’s Herbal Conference
Newfound Lake, New Hampshire
WHC on Facebook
WHC on Twitter
WHC on Pinterest - October 14, 2017 – April 2018
Intro to Herbalism and Self Care~ A Six Month Intensive
Two Saturdays a month, 1-5 PM near Amherst, MA
Western Materia Medica, Chinese 5 Element Theory, Flower Essence Counseling, Formula making, Hands on Herbalism, Ethnobotany, Herb walks, Case taking and more.
Please message Ellen for more details. - Sunday, October 15th
Celebrate Samhain!
A talk about using herbs to communicate with the Spirits
10 am to 6 pm at the Courtyard Marriott
2200 Southwood Drive, Nashua, NH 03063
ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS
- A Bronze Age container contains ancient wheat
More… - The Sumerian city of Ur in animations
- The High Temple of Ur (video)
- A Siberian dig reveals arctic infant burial with a Persian bowl
- A Pictish dig diary
- The stone circles of Wales
- Tools from Cornwall’s first farmers
- 25 important historical objects in Scotland
- Of Bog bodies and bog butter
- A Pictish long house discovered
More… - Greek mosaics found in Turkey
- 14,000 year old Bison depictions found in a cave in the Basque region of Spain
- Ivar the Boneless and the great Heathen army (video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izzgypLN0_s - Ancient Scottish rock art
- The ancient Hag of Knowth
- Did human women contribute to the Neanderthal genome?
- Australian dig finds aboriginals were there up to 80,000 years ago
- An ancient hill fort in Scotland re-imagined
- Otzi the Iceman’s ax had metal from far away
- Ptolemaic buildings unearthed in Alexandria, Egypt
- A 14,000 year old pre-Ice Age settlement found in Canada
- Game of Thrones Bayeux style tapestry created
- Origins of the Scythians determined
- A Roman sarcophagus is found in London
- Another Bronze Age female found who travelled far and wide
- Tomb of King Tut’s wife may have been found
- When the Romans attacked Anglesey
- A Roman domus is excavated in France
- The Neolithic heart of Britain was in Orkney
- An Anglo-Saxon feasting hall is found in Kent
- Recreation of a 2,500 year old Greek trading boat
- A Roman coin is found in Orkney
- An 8th century burial from Siberia
- Who were the Druids
- 10 things to know about the Celts
- The status of Celtic women
More… - A second Viking outpost found in Canada
- Cartimandua’s sex life revealed
- A Viking Volva’s grave
- The Inuit discovery of Scotland
- Norse code interpreted
- An ancient Pict’s face is reconstructed
- Roman era tablets with ink writing by soldiers from Vindolanda found
- Evolution of the Roman soldier
- Crannogs in Scotland
- 5000 year old “House of the Dead” found near Stonehenge
- Metal detector find Anglo-Saxon Jewelry
- Late Iron Age burial practices
- The founding of Dublin
- Stonehenge gets a reprieve
- Saint Columba’s cell on Iona identified
- Listen to Medieval dance music
- A late Roman era synagogue is found to have mosaics
- 900 year old jewelry found in a Crusader castle
- A section of Hippocrates medical recipe found in Egypt
- Another Viking grave excavated in Iceland
- Twilight tours at Skara Brae in Orkney
- Ancient sites were used in Moonlight, archeologists find
- A virtual reconstruction of the Roman altar of peace (video)
- Luxury items from ancient times
- Neanderthals and modern humans started mating early
- Hobby Lobby knowingly bought looted Iraqi artefacts. Please boycott them!
- Henges in Britain (article)
The full video
- A bronze statue of Hadrian was found by a metal detector
- Orkney archeology, The Cairns update (including an Iron Age cat!)
- Virtual unrolling of ancient texts burned by Vesuvius begins
- A 257 year old coloring book
- Chicago library needs help transcribing old magical texts
- A second Iona about to be unearthed in Scotland
- A Viking ring fort in Denmark
More… - The mysteries of “America’s Stonehenge”
- Were Pictish stones painted with color?
- 3000 year old textiles dyed with chemicals found
- Jehovahs Witnesses destroy 7000 year old temple in Mexico
- A Samurai sword scroll
- A Viking Hoard is found on the Isle of Man
- The skull cult at Gobekli Tepe
- The hidden square inside the Avebury Circle
- Ancient baby bird with fossil feathers found in amber
HERB NEWS
- All about Mugwort
- All about organic compost!
- Purslane! (Portulacca)
- How to cook with Purslane
- Foraging in Poland
- May Apples, dangerous and delicious
- A new way of looking at “invasives”
- Things to do with Garlic scapes, and their health benefits
- The forgotten history of Absinthe
- Chickweed as a skin healer
- Make chickweed salve
- The benefits of Blackberries
- Amish man convicted to 6 years in prison for selling “mislabeled” herbal remedies (it all started with chickweed salve)
- Elderflower sparkling cordial
- Wild Cherry monograph
- Fermented wild black cherry cordial
- Monsanto and Bayer maneuvering to take over the Cannabis industry
HEALTH NEWS
- Medicare for all – how it works, a report just delivered to Congress
- In the “richest nation on Earth” thousands of desperate patients seek health care in outdoor, makeshift hospital
- Tomatoes are found to be potent anti-cancer vegetables
- Exercise, blood pressure, depression linked to dementia risk
- Sperm counts among western men have dropped by half in recent years
- Sugar consumption linked to depression in men (not so for women)
CLIMATE, SCIENCE AND NATURE NEWS
- Astronomy photos of the year
- Cat evolution vs dog evolution
- Slug slime inspires a new surgical glue
- Half our bodies’ atoms come from galaxies far away
- Britain to ban diesel engines, emissions by 2040
- Turtles hatch on Key West for first time in 30 years
- Cosmology and particle physics face similar challenges
- Do robots need ethical black boxes?
- Methane, Anthrax expelled from giant craters in Siberia as permafrost melts
More on the melting permafrost - Massive iceberg calving event captured on film (video)
- The most effective ways to mitigate climate change are not even being discussed
- A giant ice berg has broken off in Antarctica
- The reasons breast feeding a baby is hard
- Dr. Who and the key to deep time
- Jupiter’s red storm captured on film
- Harvard scientists begin storing videos in the DNA of cells
- Chinese scientists teleport photons 300 miles
- Ravens have paranoid, abstract thoughts, study finds
- Frequent quakes happening at Yellowstone
- When will the Earth be too hot for humans? Sooner than you think. (This is a very important read)
- The Great Barrier Reef is dying and humans struggle to adjust
- Are you smarter than a cat?
More… - Feathered dinosaurs on display in the UK
- How Antarctica gave birth to a new kind of diplomacy
- A new proof of string theory?
- Mission to Mercury prepares to launch
More… - Mars is covered in toxic soil
- Trump on space
- New Florida Law lets any resident challenge what is taught in science class
- Male cockatoos use drum solos to impress the ladies
RELIGION NEWS
- Actual Lughnasad customs from Celtic tradition (Lughnasad lasts from the last week of July to the second week of August)
- Protests sparked after Satanic memorial is approved
- Greeks are worshipping the Old Gods again
- Serbian Witches
- Slavic Pagans
- Evangelicals want a Christian “cross” emoji. Facebook is not buying it.
- Creator of Noah’s Ark theme park (tax payer funded) says it failed because Atheists prayed against him
- Jehovahs Witnesses destroy 7000 year old temple in Mexico
CELTIC NEWS
- Holy wells in Cork
- Kindling the fire for Brighid
- Origins of the Claddagh ring
- Plants of the Burren
- Brigit, keeper of the cattle
- The hunger and thirst of July in Ireland
- The luck of the house (podcast)
POLITICS AND ETHICS
- Bernie Sanders is still the most popular politician in America, McConnell the least popular
- Bill to create panel that could remove Trump from office quietly picks up Democratic support
- Deficit under Trump expected to go 1 trillion dollars higher, thanks to tax cuts for the rich
- Jimmy Carter: “Trump tapped a waiting reservoir of inherent racism”
- Angela Merkel declares war on Trump and his ideology
- Trump voters shocked to find out he intends to shred the social safety net
More… - Congress is quietly removing war power from Trump
- Trump’s economic plan could throw us into another Recession
- Is Trump laying the groundwork for massive voter purging?
- Is Trump a sexist pig? Or just a pig.
- Kirsten Gillibrand comes out in favor of single payer healthcare
- Carl Bernstein – we are living through a malignant presidency
- Understanding Republican cruelty Krugman in the NY Times
- 50 states refuse to give Trump all or part of our voter data
- Clapper: no evidence anyone except Russia hacked the American election
- US State Department issues Visas to 150 Russian spies
- Bernie Sanders is the clear front runner for 2020
- Special counsel Mueller still quietly hiring lawyers for Russia investigation
- Why Trump voters vote against their own interests (this is a very in depth read and well worth it)
- Support for Trumpcare continues to decline
- The UN votes to ban all nuclear weapons!
- Russian government sought to aid Trump campaign, evidence shows
- Majority of GOP voters now think Colleges are bad for America
- Why is VP Pence enabling a dangerous president?
- Voter suppression in WI; 200,000 dropped from rolls, Trump won by 23,000
- Why Republicans are incapable of governing
- Court says Trump administration acted illegally in pushing through Dakota Pipeline
- Democrats cobbling together a “People’s Platform”
- Medicare for all looks like the final solution to the US healthcare mess
- 75% of Americans want diplomacy, not war with N. Korea
- 98 year old activist refuses to pay fine for protesting Kinder Morgan pipeline
- Trump orders service members to support his political agenda
- Trump gives political speech to boy scouts, gets them to boo Obama
More… - The 14 most inappropriate moments of Trump’s speech to the boy scouts
- Why the US election integrity commission is a sham
- Please make sure you are registered to vote in 2018. Here is the Democratic party platform