First, let me apologize for the lateness of this Moonthly blog. I have been off line for a few weeks due to computer issues. My old HP is on her last legs, I fear.
Here on the mountain it is violet time. Purple Lunaria are also making an appearance, as are purple tulips. Down the road purple lilacs are in bloom. A few weeks ago the yellow daffodils came and went along with the first crop of dandelions and this year’s forsythia. At the exact same time the gold finches resumed their bright yellow plumage, a costume change from their winter brown.
One of my students commented that it was like an explosion happened around here – suddenly green is everywhere. And so are the bears. My neighbor has bee hives and though no bears have been seen, one hive was smashed and a huge foot print detected in the freshly turned vegetable garden.
A number of noteworthy events have happened in the last few weeks. First, some religion news. The first message that greeted me when I got back online was this one, a blog post that attempts to list the ten most important Druids. Guess who made the list?

 10 important Druids

And a collation of religious leaders that I am a part of just crafted and signed this public letter (feel free to copy and share);

A Public Statement on Victimization

We the undersigned are adherents of Pagan and Neo-Pagan Religions, including Wicca, Neo-Pagan Witchcraft, Druidism, Asatru and other indigenous Earth Religions, who practice a variety of positive, life-affirming faiths that are dedicated to healing, both of ourselves and of the Earth. We do not advocate or condone any acts that victimize others, including those proscribed by law.
We absolutely condemn the practices of child abuse, sexual abuse, and any other form of abuse that does harm to the bodies, minds or spirits of individuals. We offer prayers, therapy, and support for the healing of the victims of such abuses.
In recent years the victimization of children has been brought to light in a manner not seen in the past. Efforts are underway in schools and other youth organizations to teach children and adults to be aware of and respond proactively to violence against others.
Examples of victimization have also come to light in religious circles and many victims’ rights groups have emerged to advocate for and support those who were abused as children.
We stand strongly against the victimization of children, students, women and men. We call for persons who have witnessed such atrocities to speak up and actively seek to protect the powerless and prevent further abuse.
signed “Our Freedom: A Pagan Civil Rights Coalition”
Ellen Evert Hopman
Druid Priestess, Order of the White Oak (Ord na Darach Gile)
Archdruid Tribe of the Oak
Rev. Patrick McCollum
The Patrick McCollum Foundation
Rev. Kathryn Fuller
The Circle of the Wildewood
M. Macha NightMare (Aline O’Brien)
Witch at Large
Cairril Adaire
Founder, Our Freedom: A Pagan Civil Rights Coalition
Holli S. Emore
Executive Director, Cherry Hill Seminary
Carol Barner-Barry (Raven of SpiralHeart)
Rev. David L. Oringderff, PhD
Executive Director
Sacred Well Congregation
Dianne C. Duggan (Minerva Thalia)
Lady Liberty League
Circle Sanctuary
As a Druid one of my duties is to care for the Earth and her Creatures. Accordingly I have devised a small action that everyone can take part in;
I have started including a letter each time I pay my electric bill. You see, there is a proposed fracked gas pipeline for Massachusetts and as we all know these pipelines leak methane and are prone to explosions. Also, the proposed pipeline is just two miles from the Quabbin reservoir, Boston’s drinking water reservoir.
In my letter I state that I am opposed to fracking and to any gas pipeline in my state. I also ask that the letter be forwarded to their CEO. I add that I am in favor of using wind, solar, conservation, geo-thermal and bio-mass to make electricity.
I started doing this because the secretary for the environment here in MA claimed he had not heard from any constituents on this matter (unbelievable and hardly credible). If we all did the same maybe someone might listen.
Here is a related article that I hope everyone will read. If you haven’t seen more like this it’s because the gas industry has been buying people’s silence;

Family Wins Fracking Suit in Legal Blow to Industry

“Months after fracking operations began in 2008, the Parrs began to experience negative health effects, including breathing difficulties, nausea, rashes and nosebleeds. Doctors confirmed the existence of hydrocarbon-related chemicals in Lisa’s bloodstream and their young daughter was diagnosed with asthma.”
For those who have been following the Fire Cider controversy, here’s the latest;

FIRE CIDER UPDATE

ORGANIZERS UPDATE

It has been a fun ride for us working and getting to know organizer/ herbalists from the region! There have been victories and challenges, and growing pains! Thanks for holding on for the ride. Without your support, we are nothing and have NO power!! We are working with Rosemary to build this movement, and the foundation of the efforts will last for years!

 PETITION UPDATE

We are over 8,000 signatures. We can continue to get signatures and get over 10,000! Thanks for all your support on this!

CALL TO ACTION!

Please support the Tradition/Not Trademark Boycott of Shire City Herbal’s Fire Cider. One of the most powerful tools available in a grassroots movements ~ and that has proven effective in the past ~ is boycotting a product or company that is using questionable or unethical practices.
* Please note: we are aware of concerns regarding the potential ‘to hurt a small herbal business’ by this boycott. Shire City Herbals are not herbalists, they have stated this themselves on a public radio show (Roots and Rhizomes).
They are not a ‘small local business’ but a national company whose goal is to monopolize an industry with a product. Hundreds if not thousands of people have contacted the SCH owners, expressing their concerns over the trademarking of an herbal product long used and sold in the herbal community and they will not do this. Our intention is get ‘Fire Cider back for the herbal community’ not to hurt anyone’s business.
Our new campaign: Flood the phone lines. We will systematically ask supporters to call stores that carry fire cider each week.
PLEASE Be polite and informed! The businesses we are calling are small business owners and farmers. These folks are our community and deserve respect.
Please note; there are excellent ‘Boycott Letters” and Speaker Points available (so that you can be informed and ready to answer questions that might come up.)

• Ask to speak to the manager/ owner.
• Refer to the Traditions Not Trademarks “Unifying Points”

This week we are asking folks to call these stores:
Berkshire Organics : (413)-442-0888
Lenox Natural Foods : (413) 637-2721
Cornucopia (413) 586-3800
Cricket Creek Farm (413) 458-5888
Dottie’s Cafe (413)-443-1792
Juice ‘N java: (413) 684-5080
Millstone Farm Market: (413)- 665-0543
IF ANY OF THESE STORES SAY THEY DO NOT CARRY SHIRE CITY FIRE CIDER, PLEASE LET US KNOW!!!!

REGIONAL COORDINATORS

We are looking to decentralize our organizing efforts. The small team that is working on legal, organizing the campaigns and the website can only do so much! We need folks to step forward and organize their regions!
You will work with folks you know in your own region!
We have Coordinators for these regions:
California
Vermont
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO GET ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM YOUR REGION, EMAIL THE GROUP COORDINATOR.
Regional Coordinator Description
The role of the regional coordinator is to:

• Communicate with the core organizing team
  Work closely with Mary Blue, Helen Ward and Nikki Telkes on the campaigns. Bi- weekly conference calls to talk about regional campaigns/ successes
• Communicate the Anti-trademark campaign’s goals on a regional/local level with the public. Post on regional Facebook groups/ list serves, reply to concerns voiced in the area. Promote material being circulated by the Anti-TM group. As long as we are not slandering Shire City Herbals, we can say what we want. It is helpful to stick to the unifying points on our website if you are questioning whether or not to react to a situation.
• Help to facilitate group work: Using our unifying points and resources from the website, write articles for local papers and websites.
• Promote and facilitate local action around current campaigns: letter writing, petition, boycott, flood the market

 LEGAL UPDATE

We are working with lawyers to find the best way to defeat this trademark. Because the legal system is so arduous and expensive, this may take years to come to fruition, but we will keep working on it. We have been given legal counsel that WE CAN beat this through a grassroots campaign! But in order to do so, we need your support. Let’s keep the pressure on with our action campaigns!
*If you have been contacted by Shire City, please let us know!!

• A letter from Rosemary regarding this is now on our website 
• Please write up your story and email it to us, so we can post it on our blog:

PERSONAL APPEARANCES

You can catch me at the following venues in the coming months;

•  June 4-9, 2014
  Ellen will be doing workshops at the 2014 annual Dowsers Convention
  Friday, Listening to Trees
  Monday Scottish Fairy Lore
  in Lyndonville, VT
• June 21 and 22, 2014
  Mutton and Mead Medieval Festival Renaissance Faire, Montague, MA
  10:00am to 6:00pm
  Ellen will be signing her books at YE CELTIC BOOKS AND HERBALS
• September 5-7, 2014
  Tree Medicine Tree magic  
  A weekend intensive in Pennsylvania on making tree medicines and learning Irish tree lore
• Western MA Pagan pride Day
  Florence, MA
  September 27, 11 AM to 6 PM
• Herbal Healing Intensive
  October 18, 2014 – April, 2015
  Two Saturdays a month, 1-5 PM near Amherst, MA
  A six month intensive. Covers Western herbal Materia Medica, formula making, case taking, Chinese Five Element Theory, Homeopathic First Aid, Flower Essence Counseling, plant identification, ethno botany, and hands on herbal techniques such as poultices, tinctures, salves etc. An herb walk outdoors, slide shows of plants and hands on preparations are included.
  Over 400 pages of handouts are included with the course. A certificate of completion is offered at the end.
• Changing Times Changing Worlds
  Nov. 7-9, Crowne Plaza in Cromwell, Connecticut
  Ellen will teach a three part Druid Intensive including the Druidic wheel of the Year, the Ogham alphabet and meditating with trees.

*Remember* You can purchase signed books from me via this website!
Meanwhile, here is the last Moonth’s news, gleaned from the media.

ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS

•  Ancient burials found in Sligo Cave
• A Fairy Fort that has never been excavated
• 6000 year old axes found after storm
  More details
• What the ancient Irish did to trees
• Some Pictish discoveries
• Viking Boats discovered
• Virtual Stonehenge
• What Oetzi looked like
• Thawing glaciers reveal ancient artefacts; weapons and clothing
• Iron Age Walking Dead and how to prevent them
• Roman dog’s paw prints found
• Neanderthals were good parents
• Viking artefacts found in Galway
  More on this…
• Earliest evidence for humans in Scotland
• A bowl, a brooch, and a carved stone…
• Ancient animals back-bred into existence once again. Will dinos be next?
• Did the Celts get to Brazil before Columbus set sail?
• An Iron Age track way in Galway
• A Bronze Age burial in Scotland
• Neanderthal genes persist in modern Europeans
• The Hochdorf burial
• A Mesolithic camp in Ireland

NATURE NEWS

• The Aurochs is about to return to Central Europe
• Become a tree after you die! What a great idea!
  An American version here
• The world’s oldest living trees
• Meet Einstein the parrot (video)
• Barn Owl cam (video)
• Eagle cam (video)

FOOD NEWS

•  The French government votes to ban all GMOs
• Maaemo, Oslo
  “Before the next dish, we were served a lightly sweetened drink made of linden trees. It had a clear and distinct flavour, and to me it was perfectly sweetened. It turned out to be perfect with the sweet dish that was to come: birch ice cream with roasted birch bark (!).I was amazed when I heard how this dessert was made: after being in the oven for quite a few hours the birch wood had been infused in milk – which again was used to make an ice-cream. As you can see, it was served with tiny, pickled birch leaves. Under it was a “crumble” made of roasted birch bark. If they didn’t tell us, I would have no idea we were actually eating the bark itself, since it was so sweet and delicious. I love the details of this dish: as if we were told a story about the tree all the way from its time in the woods to it got presented on the wooden plate in the restaurant. The subtle birch flavour was extravagantly well-tasting, and the crunchy texture of the “crumble” went so well with it.”

RELIGION NEWS

•  Become a tree after you die – green burials
  More…
• How to build religious community
• May Day – why is it still celebrated?
• May Eve in Germany (Walpurgis Nacht) Note the nice Druid reference at the bottom of the article
• Identity and European Religion
• Imbolc reflections from a devote of the Goddess Brighid (video)
  
• How to handle perpetrators of sexual abuse
• No compensation for Magdalen Laundry victims
• Bearing in mind that most serial killers, murderers in the US are avowed Christians…

HERBAL NEWS

•  Eat your Lamb’s Quarters
• The benefits of flax seed
• Plants that repel ticks and fleas
• Natural Sunscreen
  You will need a light sensitive jar (dark brown or blue). This recipe will provide you with an SPF of 30. In a double boiler place: 2 tbsp coconut oil; 1 tbsp shea butter; and ½ tsp sesame oil. Melt – do NOT boil! Then add 2 tsp zinc oxide and ½ tsp aloe vera gel. Blend wellthen place in your jar. Depending on the temperature where you store this will depend on the viscosity because of the coconut oil. If necessary, store in your fridge.
• Plantain!
• Dandelions!
• Maple blossom fritters
• More ways to eat nettles (video)
• Plant lore
• A nice site for herbs
• Herb Fairies books for kids

DRUID NEWS

•  The so called “Celtic Tree Calendar”
• Celtic astrology?
• The Goddess Airmid explored

CELTIC NEWS

•  The Armagh Rhymers at St. Brighid’s Well (video)
• Irish famine dead reburied
• The arcane mysteries within a Kerry road sign
• Who are the Celts? Where do they live?
• The genetic imprint of Niall of the Nine Hostages
• Cornwall gets accepted as a Celtic area within Britain (even though English scholars still claim there were no Celts in Britain)
• The Irish were the original hipsters
• The Four Branches of the Mabinogion

PAGAN NEWS

•  Old pictures of English Witches

POLITICS AND ETHICS

•  The NRA is still blocking funding for gun violence research
• Survivors of gun violence take on the NRA
• Robert Reich: the rich should pay taxes, too (video)
• Why women deserve equal pay (even though the Republicans voted against it)
• When abortion is the most humane choice

The infamous Polar Vortex has been rippling over the nation for weeks now and the knee high ice on the mountain is hard as cement. I can no longer follow the comings and goings of the wild beasties; coy-dogs, fisher cats, moose, deer and foxes, because their trails leave no mark. The only exceptions are the wild turkey tracks that festoon the hardened snow in the driveway. A bleak winter for sure.
At the same time the wider world is heating up as Russia flexes its muscles and expands into Ukraine. I am old enough to remember when Czechoslovakia was invaded by the Russians. I remember the outrage I felt because the US did nothing – as a European born child of the post WWII era the sight of tanks rolling into cities was just too vivid to ignore, even from the safe distance of the USA. I am a bit older now and I understand the dangers of flinging a country gleefully into the fray (think of the wasted lives from the catastrophic wars in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan). I suspect there is not much Americans and the West can do, once the Russian Bear starts dancing. It feels like the Cold War is heating up once again.
Meanwhile, there is a hot little drama unfolding in the Herbal world as well. Our tiny little microcosm of society has even made it into National Public Radio in recent weeks. The looming controversy has to do with a company from Vermont (of all places) that has decided to patent a folk remedy that has been around for decades (and longer) called Fire Cider. At this time they are issuing “cease and desist” legal orders to any small purveyor of the product that happens to carry it on their website.
This kind of strong arm theft and protectionism of a folk remedy sets a very dangerous precedent. Old hippies will remember the popular “Dr. Bronner’s Castille Soap”. Thankfully Dr. Bronner did not try to copyright the term “Castille Soap” which is essentially what this miserable little company “Shire City Herbals” has done. A boycott is in progress. Read more here;

ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE TO MAKE THIS A BETTER WORLD – the Fire Cider controversy heats up!

FIND A RECIPE TO MAKE YOUR OWN FIRE CIDER

 TAKE ACTION STEPS!

*Contact your local stores to inform them of your thoughts on this issue. We are asking people to continue to communicate their concerns in a direct and respectful manner. SAMPLE BOYCOTT LETTER AT BOTTOM OF THIS EMAIL: Please send store responses here.

* Submit any information you might have through the centralized submission form.

* Continue to share the petition.

*Volunteer your time and expertise. We need organizers to help start bio-regional groups! SUBMIT YOUR INFORMATION HERE.

* Flood the market with Fire Cider!! Sell your own in stores, and at Farmers Markets. Check out the “How to make a Fire Cider” label on our Blog.

* Write a blog post about Fire Cider! Post pictures. Let’s get the Google hits on our side!

————————————————–

ROSEMARY’S MESSAGE

Dear Friends,

The saga of Fire Cider continues….

I wish to thank you all for your ongoing support. It’s been amazing to see how many people have mobilized over this issue and who are willing to support free ownership of Fire Cider. To me this issue is larger than just fire cider. However, in this moment it is most important that the name and product “Fire Cider” be returned to its rightful owners, the herbal community, many who have been making, using, and selling Fire Cider longer than Shire City Herbals has been in existence. When I first made Fire Cider, named it such, and taught hundreds of other people how to make it through my books, videos, classes, and conferences, I never imagined for a moment that anyone would think they could claim it as their own, or worse, deny others the right to sell it.

I believe in trademark laws, and I believe in supporting the success of small and large ~ yes, large ~ businesses as well but only if they demonstrate the ethics and integrity that have been part of the herbal community and movement since it was seeded in the early 1970’s. But, this is clearly a case where a company claimed ownership of something it neither created nor named. In fact, we have written documentation, including copyrights that Fire Cider was in existence in the 1980’s.

I read Shire City Herbals’ recent response to why they feel they have the right to keep the name they trademarked. Though I thought their letter was well written and very tactful, I also found it very interesting how they have rewritten the story in their best interest. In ‘their story’ they become the victims and the herbal community becomes the bullies who are trying to destroy ‘the small business that puts food on their table’. Though, yes, sadly there have been accusations and less than positive messages hurled from both sides, Shire City Herbals fails to mention the thousands of thoughtful well written emails/letters supporting their business but requesting they drop the trademark and suggesting viable win/win solutions.

They have also failed to mention that when they sent out the cease and desist letters, that it meant that other small companies who counted on the sales of Fire Cider to put ‘food on their tables’ no longer could do so. And further, they failed to mention that there are companies who have been selling Fire Cider at farmers markets, local food stores, online, and through their catalogues far longer than Shire City Herbals has been in business. What happens to these companies when they get their cease and desist orders?

It was interesting to read in an earlier email from the Shire folks that Dana had learned to make Fire Cider from his grandmother, who he claims fed it to him as a small child. He asserts that he had no other knowledge of fire cider outside of this experience within his family. However, there are many different versions circulating online of how Dana learned to make Fire Cider, including the possibility that he learned about it during his time at the Southwest Institute for Healing Arts. If he did learn about it in his studies than they knowingly trademarked something that wasn’t truly their own.

Finally, in ‘their story’ they claim they are the protectors of the name Fire Cider and trademarked it so that other larger companies wouldn’t grab it. This seems to be one of their main arguments for holding onto the name. I appreciate that Shire City Herbals feels protective of ‘their’ name and wants to protect big companies from grabbing the trademark but we propose that there is a wiser, fairer and better option, one that benefits everyone, not just their company. From their lenses, they become the crusaders for herbal medicine bringing the knowledge of fire cider and its benefits to the masses, ignoring the hundreds of people that have been doing this quite successfully before them. No one denies their success, but they are following in the footsteps of a huge movement started long before they sent out the first announcement of their company or trademarked their first product.

Perhaps this whole discussion is tied into the intellectual property rights of the herbal community, much like the property rights of indigenous people? Who has a right to ‘own’ these formulas and claim title to names that have been used by thousands of people? What’s the future of popular products/names like Zoom Balls, Kava Chai, Healing Salve, Kloss’s Liniment, or even Elderberry Syrup? Will they too get claimed and tied up in private ownership? It’s an interesting and challenging process. Let’s do what we can to get Fire Cider back so that other companies can sell it in their local farmers markets, local stores, online and in catalogues. Shire City Herbal folks can of course continue as well, but should do so under a trademark of their own unique name like Shire Fire Cider or whatever they choose.

In addition to addressing the issues with Fire Cider, let’s do something bigger. Let’s do what we can to create a legal safe haven, or an ‘Herbally Owned’ trademark (thanks to Sara Katz for this one), where we can safeguard Fire Cider and other popular ‘public’ formulas so this doesn’t occur again. All of this time and energy is well spent, I feel, if we can intentionally create a way to ensure that all herbalists will have equal access to our herbal traditions now and in the generations to come.

This is a great wake up call! I have appointed a core team that I entrust to lead us through this, we continue to need your support however you are able to give it. Let’s go for it, together!

With you in herbal ways,

Rosemary Gladstar

——————————————–

UNIFYING POINTS OF THE ANTI-TRADEMARK HERBAL MOVEMENT

These can be used in articles, talking to the public, radio shows….

* The term “Fire Cider” was coined by Rosemary Gladstar. She has published copyrighted books coining the term “fire cider” from the 90’s, and has freely shared this term since the 1970’s. This term has become a generic herbal term that many herbal companies sell their own version of. This anti-trademark fire cider movement sprang up after a business trademarked term, “Fire Cider”, bringing to light a bigger issue within the herbal community, trade-marking common herbal terms. The herbal community is now fighting to keep them in public use.

*This is not about Shire City Herbals as individuals or their business, this is about defending a generic herbal term and keeping it in public use. Shire City Herbals responses to the issue are not accepted by this community, and we are reacting with an organized response. This grassroots movement is working to protect other generic herbal terms as well as “Fire Cider”.

*We have a petition going to revoke this, with over 3000 signatures in the first 48 hours. This demonstrates that this term is generic and should not be trademarked.

* There is an active boycott, with herbalists/ supporters contacting retailers of Shire City Herbals Fire Cider, and returning their product to the stores. This boycott will end when the term “Fire Cider” is back in public use.

* This type action opens the door to trademarking of traditional medicines for profit. The biggest reason that this is dangerous is because herbs and herbalism have always been widely available to everyone. Trademarking traditional terms will change the herbal market into something that looks more like what the pharmaceutical industry looks like right now, with corporations owning words/terms that were previously accessible to the public.

*This anti-trademark movement is working towards keeping traditional herbal terms in the hands of small businesses, teachers and the general public. Through legal measures, a boycott, and a petition, we are working to protect herbalists from being penalized for using terms that have always been in public use.

—————————————————–

SAMPLE BOYCOTT LETTER

Dear Retailer,

I am writing to raise your attention to a public controversy regarding one of the products you carry, Shire City Herbal’s Fire Cider.

“Fire Cider” is an herbal product that has been made and sold by numerous small companies since the early 1980’s. The name was coined by Rosemary Gladstar over 35 years ago, she has shared the name and the basic recipe freely since then to thousands of people; it’s as common as “Elderberry Syrup” in the herb world. The name and recipe are published in Rosemary’s books from the 90‘s and pamphlets from the 1980’s. But even more importantly, there are many herbal companies that use this term for a similar product – every producer has a slightly different recipe, but almost everyone markets it as “Fire Cider”.

The manufacturers of this particular Fire Cider, Shire City Herbals, hired a lawyer and trademarked the name, and have started taking legal action against other herbal companies that sell Fire Cider. People who have been selling this product for over 30 years have been told that they can no longer call what they sell “Fire Cider”, because Shire City Herbals has the exclusive rights to use that name.

Why should you care about this?

This type of action will open the door to trademarking of traditional medicines for profit. The biggest reason that this is unethical is because herbs and herbal terms have always been widely available to everyone. The precedent of trademarking traditional herbal terms could change the many vibrant, varied herbal businesses into something that looks more like what the pharmaceutical industry looks like right now.

This company has been approached by Rosemary Gladstar and thousands of supporters asking them to remove the trademark, and they will not do this. We do not object to trademarking an original product and original name, but Shire City Herbals claimed and then trademarked a product and name that was made and sold by many small herbal business’s long before they ever sent out their first bottle of Fire Cider. We are not objecting to their using the name, we are asking them to trademark it under their own original name, such as Shire City Fire Cider, so that other companys that have been making and selling Fire Cider can continue to do so.

We would like you to consider removing Fire Cider made by Shire City Herbals from your shelves until they revoke the trademark. Please consider contacting the company and encourage them to remove the trademark. If keeping herbal products and their commonly used names free and in public use is important to you, then this is a great way to show it!

There is an active petition asking the United States Patent and Trademark Office to remove of trademark. At this time we have over 7000 signatures.

 The public also showed their support for this issue on World Fire Cider Making Day, February 2, 2014 with thousands of people making their own versions of Fire Cider.

Thank you for your time,

YOUR NAME

—————————————————–
In other health related news, General Mills recently announced that Cheerios will now be made *without any genetically modified ingredients*. But genetically modified organisms are still lurking inside other General Mills cereals like Chex, Honey Nut Cheerios, Golden Grahams, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and Lucky Charms.
I just took action to demand that General Mills remove GMOs from all of its breakfast cereals. Please do so too.
Some personal goings on;

A RECENT INTERVIEW

• Aren Action Imbolc 2014 Text or HTML

UPCOMING SPEAKING EVENTS AND APPEARANCES

• June 4-9, 2014
  I will be doing workshops at the 2014 annual Dowsers Convention
  Friday, Listening to Trees
  Monday, Scottish Fairy Lore
  in Lyndonville, VT
• June 21 and 22, 2014
  Mutton and Mead Medieval Festival Renaissance Faire, Montague, MA
  10:00am to 6:00pm
  I will be selling books at YE CELTIC BOOKS AND HERBALS
• September 5-7, 2014
  Tree Medicine Tree magic
  A weekend intensive in Pennsylvania on making tree medicines and learning Irish tree lore
• Herbal Healing Intensive
  October 18, 2014 – April, 2015
  Two Saturdays a month, 1-5 PM near Amherst, MA
  A six month intensive. Covers Western herbal Materia Medica, formula making, case taking, Chinese Five Element Theory, Homeopathic First Aid, Flower Essence Counseling, plant identification, ethno botany, and hands on herbal techniques such as poultices, tinctures, salves etc. An herb walk outdoors, slide shows of plants and hands on preparations are included. Over 400 pages of handouts are included with the course. A certificate of completion is offered at the end.

And as usual, below you will find the rest of the past Moonth’s news. Enjoy!

 ARCHEOLOGY NEWS

•  A prehistoric forest emerges from the sea in Wales
• Did Iron Age weapons in burials mean warriorship or were they symbolic?
• Grave of Gaulish warriors and women found near Paris
• Genome proves Clovis point makers in America were of Asian origin
• Stuckley’s early drawings of Stonehenge
• A 6000 year old monolith topples in Perthshire
• Burren remains, 1500 years old
• The story of Seahenge
• Ancient Britons preferred milk over fish and chips
  More…
• Pictish symbols deciphered
• Viking Rune Stones deciphered
• A 4000 year old female burial uncovered in Dartmoor
• Earliest human footprints in Europe found – from 800,000 years ago

CELTIC NEWS

•  Did a mythical island off the West coast of Ireland once exist?
• Scottish folklore and song (video)
• Imbolc in Appalachia
• Traditional Welsh Recipes

HERBAL NEWS

•  American Groundnut, our northern wild potato
• Mulungu –  great herb for depression, anxiety, stress
• A Yahoo list for plant foragers

HEALTH NEWS

•  Dairy fat may keep us leaner

NATURE NEWS

•  Passenger Pigeons, Mammoths, to be resurrected via DNA
• Ten reasons humans need nature
• Lions – on the brink of extinction – a man who loves them (video)
• Second giraffe gets a reprieve – for now – at Denmark zoo
• The migration of the monarch butterflies may soon be history
• Bee deaths and how to stop them
• A giant tree felled by wind in Ireland
• How wolves change rivers (video)
• Tree roots are key to stabilizing Earth’s climate
• A massive hexagon on Saturn
• Evidence for water on Mars

SCIENCE NEWS

•  The future of Solar energy? A new more efficient design.

PAGAN NEWS

•  A nice site for Pagan kids, homeschoolers

ARTS NEWS

•  20 years in a French forest – sculptures

POLITICS/ETHICS

•  The IRS Witch hunt has cost 14 million , so far
• Proof that lax gun laws = more murders (well, duh)
• Making sense of the Dunn verdict
• Lakota Nation gears up to protest the Keystone Pipeline
• The Used-To-Haves, the new Poor in America

Keep the faith everyone, Spring is coming!