This Moonth has been rather warm here on the mountain. We started January with a brief spate of snow and cold but soon settled into a pattern of weather that is at least ten degrees warmer than “average” every day. Instead of the expected New England snow we are getting rain. I have started imagining a summer with temperatures that are ten degrees above normal and it is unnerving.
There have been no animals around, no coyotes barking their husky calls at dusk, no deer, bears or moose in the yard. No wild turkeys at the feeders or possums at the compost pile. I am thinking it’s because a local lumber company has been cutting for months, just down the road. My hope is that once they are done and the undergrowth comes back, it will provide food, shelter and an increase in wildlife. The only animals that still seem to be in abundance are the beavers. The pond down the road is expertly blocked up by a mound of silt and chewed branches and is over spilling its banks. States with water issues would do well to think of beavers, they create wetlands wherever they go.
As a good American citizen I have been dutifully trying to keep up with the presidential debates. Last night I tried once again to watch the Republicans. While the Democrats are enthusiastically putting forward new ideas and solutions to improve ordinary citizen’s lives, the Republicans seem fearful. “Americans are terrified” said one of them, going on to declare that ISIL is about to get us and therefore we should be contemplating another invasion of the Middle East. Oddly these are the same people who want everyone to walk around with a gun, despite the fact that thirty three thousand Americans kill themselves and each other every year with guns and the evidence shows that having a gun in the home makes it far more likely that someone in that home will die by accident, homicide or suicide. We sure live in a topsy turvy world.
Besides, how do you wage endless wars and also cut taxes? The sainted Ronald Reagan was mentioned in last night’s debate. But there was not a word about how he grew the military and TRIPLED the national debt. “Voodoo economics” was what we called it at the time.
I was unable to listen to the Republican’s for more than a few minutes. I opted instead to watch the new season of the X-Files on Fox. I can see why Fox wanted that show. If you analyze the plot, besides the usual (and well done) search for extra-terrestrials, the new series is fixated on the idea that the BIG EVIL GOVERNMENT is behind all of the planet’s woes. A perfect propaganda platform for Fox. Watch with a discerning eye and see what I mean.
As I type this it is still January. February 1-2 marks the time of Imbolc, the all-important Fire Festival of the Goddess Brighid, who has been my Patroness for thirty years. On the eve of Imbolc I will put out my clooties (strips of cloth to be used for healing work), a bowl of milk and honey and a dish of oatmeal and butter for Brighid as She passes. I will place a candle in the snow (if we have any!) to burn all night, and make a new “Bride doll” out of straw. Below are some facts about this important Celtic festival, followed by the usual book news and a roundup of the past Moonth’s archeology, religion, herb, nature, political and ethics news. Enjoy!

IMBOLC CUSTOMS

• Make a Brighid’s cross with your kids
  More…
• How to lay out a Brighid’s “brat” or cloak
  “A ribbon or piece of cloth exposed on St. Briget’s Eve became endowed with curative powers. It was believed that no work which involved the turning of a wheel should take place on the saint’s day. The placing of a periwinkle in each corner of the kitchen likewise hints at a remote pre-agricultural origin for the festival, but it came to be associated with the pastoral promise of spring, of warmth, new grass, lambs and milk. It is said that the saint placed her foot in water on her feast day so that on that day it begins to warm up each year.”
• Biddy Boys
• How to make Bairin-Breac / Barmbrack, a traditional Imbolc bread
• Song for Brighid (video)
• Gabhaim Molta Bríghde – Ein traditionelles Lied zu Ehren Brigids. / A traditional song honoring Brigid.Original text Irisch-Gälisch:Gabhaim molta Bríde…
  Ionmhain í le hÉirinn
  Ionmhain le gach tír í
  Molaimis go léir íLóchrann geal na Laighneach
  A’ soilsiú feadh na tíre
  Cean ar óghaibh Éireann
  Ceann na mban ar míneTig an geimhreadh dian dubh
  A’ gearradh lena ghéire
  Ach ar Lá ‘le Bríde
  Gar dúinn earrach Éireann
  English translation:I am praising Bridget
  Who is daughter of Ireland
  She is a daughter of all countries
  We all praise herThe bright light of Leinster
  Bringing light to the country
  The leader of the youth of Ireland
  Our leader of gentlewomenHere comes the dark, hard winter
  Cutting with its sharpness
  But on St. Bridget’s Day
  Ireland’s spring is close by
  Deutsche Version:Ich preise dich, Brigid
  geliebt in ganz Irland
  geliebt von allen
  preisen wir dich.Flamme von Leinster
  erfülle das Land mit Licht
  Jede Frau Irlands liebt dich
  jede gute FrauDer Winter kommt dunkel und kalt
  schneidend und frostig daher
  Aber am Tag Brigids
  Kommt der Frühling zu uns.
• Virtual Shrine of Brighid  (stop by and leave a prayer)

BOOK NEWS

• I have two new books coming out that are already available for pre-order. I just received my first copies of  A LEGACY OF DRUIDS which can be pre-ordered on Amazon, US and UK.
• A Legacy of Druids Caption Competition
  
  

  

The book has its own Facebook page and can be pre-ordered now on Amazon.com US or Amazon.com UK
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

• The second book is SECRET MEDICINES FROM YOUR GARDEN which is also available for pre-order!
  Secret Medicines from Your Garden
  Plants for Healing, Spirituality, and Magic
  Ellen Evert Hopman
  Coming Spring 2016A guided exploration of herbal lore and healing plants found in yards, forests, meadows, and hedgerows
  • Draws on traditional knowledge and remedies from around the world, including Native American, Celtic, and Egyptian traditions
  • Provides simple recipes to safely make herbal remedies from local plants and honey for first aid, immune support, and treatment of common ailments
  • Reveals the “triangle” formula-making system of William LeSassier
  • Explains how to work with plant spirits, herbal astrology, and Animal Spirit Medicine
  Weaving together ancient wisdom, mystical folklore, and modern plant research, master herbalist Ellen Evert Hopman explores the many uses of flowers, trees, common weeds, and ornamental plants for food, medicine, spiritual growth, and magical rituals. She reveals the herbal lore surrounding each plant, drawing on traditional knowledge and remedies from around the world, including Native American, Celtic, and Egyptian traditions. She includes recipes throughout so you can make medicines from wild and domesticated plants easily found in yards, forests, meadows, and hedgerows, and she discusses what to plant to ensure you have leaves, berries, and flowers all year.The author reveals how to quickly intuit an unknown plant’s properties using the signatures of plants—universal indications and contraindications based on the form, color, and location of a plant. She includes an in-depth section on honey and Bee Medicine, allowing you to appreciate the labors of these plant-dependent insects. Exploring the magical role of herbs in ancient ritual, Hopman provides recipes for Egyptian temple incense and their sacred medicine known as “Kyphi” or “Kaphet,” used to purify the body, banish insomnia, and promote vivid dreaming. She explores shamanic Plant Spirit and Animal Spirit Medicine as well as herbal astrology. She also explains the “triangle” formula-making system of her herbal mentor William LeSassier to help you develop custom herbal remedies tailored to a person’s unique strengths and weaknesses.Showing how to easily incorporate wild plants into your life to receive their healing benefits throughout the seasons, Hopman reveals the power of the bounty that Mother Nature has provided right at our doorstep.Ellen Evert Hopman has been a teacher of herbalism since 1983 and is a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild. A Druidic initiate since 1984, she is a founding member of The Order of the White Oak, an Arch Druidess of the Druid Clan of Dana, and a member of the Grey Council of Mages and Sages. The author of several books, including A Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year, she lives in Massachusetts.
  Healing Arts Press
  ISBN 978-1-62055-557-6
  Spring 2016

Below you will find the usual last Moonth’s gleanings from the media.
*Reminder* you can always purchase signed books from this website and get a *personal note* from the author! (me)

ARCHEOLOGY NEWS

• Artemis, Apollo statues found in Crete
  More…
• Megaliths rediscovered (video)
• Stonehenge was moved
• Evidence for matrilinear culture in the Neolithic
• Cartimandua, queen of the Brigantes
• 118,000 year old stone tools found in Indonesia
• Runes were still used in modern times (and are enjoying a big revival today!)
• An ancient Viking language to be rescued
• Where the Indo-European languages originated
• Some 800,000 year old human foot prints in the UK
• Oldest human foot prints in Southwest USA
• An ancient broch on Skye
• Anglo-Saxons texts about Elves
• Thousands of archeological objects melting out of the ice
• Survival skills of the Sami (video)
• The Loki stone
• More evidence of multiple human species in ancient Indonesia
• Altamira
• Paleontologists find bones from the mass extinction of dinosaurs
• Edward Curtis’ photographs of Native Americans (video)
• A Bronze Age British round house excavated
• Life in the Bronze Age
• Bacteria in the Iceman’s stomach offer clues to human migration
• A nice 4 minute film about how the Parthenon might look when reconstructed (video)
• The Celts in Poland
• The secrets of Tara
• Who invented clothes?
• The white horse of Uffington
• Iceland’s ancient midwinter festival (video) More…

HERB NEWS

• Tapping Black Walnut trees for syrup
• Stevia is found to kill Lyme Disease pathogens
• Henbit!
• Plants that fart to deter predators
• Things you never knew about carrots
• Foraged spring rolls
• Juliette of the Herbs (video)
• 160 herbs for health
• Lemon peels for health
• Avocado
• Nettle soup
• Nettle “malfatti”
• Elderberries are helpful for flu
• Eating Lilly bulbs
• Thyme is antiseptic, antiviral
• The history of Thyme
• Medicinal mushrooms proven effective against HPV
• Things to do with barberries (see the bottom of the post for ways to add them to rice)
• Sow Thistle

NATURE NEWS

• France is paving roads with solar panels
• Climate change could produce sterile, hybrid animals
• Opossums could save us from ticks and Lyme disease
• The patent that could destroy Monsanto and save the world
• The Fukushima disaster is really just beginning. Seaweed seller Ryan Drum, who also has a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics, recommends waiting 60 days before eating any fresh, frozen, dried, or smoked seaweeds or fish to avoid potential effects of radioactive iodine, I131, though keeping one’s own iodine levels healthy also prevents absorption of the radioactive variety.
  This means NO FRESH OCEAN seafood (because radioactivity has spread all over the ocean.)
• GET YOUR SEAWEED FROM MAINE.
• Earth’s long term warming trend (video)
• Is there a new 9th planet in our solar system?
• A massive glacier melt on 1-16-16 (video)
• Inuit: the poles have shifted (video)
• Corporate leaders still deny climate change
• A Tartigrade sets the record for being frozen and coming back to life
• The Tartigrade genome is found to contain multiple foreign DNA within it
• The world is having a warm winter
• Methane is escaping all over the place
• Is human greenhouse gas preventing the next ice age?
• Tropical rainforest re-forestation might save us from melting ice caps
• “Extinct” giant tortoises rediscovered
• The EPA finally admits that the most popular pesticide is killing bees
• Mushrooms that eat plastic
• Arctic report card – the stats on global warming
• Scientists map wild bee habitat for the first time
• Evidence that plants can think

HEALTH NEWS

• Molly Ivins on late term abortions (video)
• How we used to die, how we die now
  Related…
• How doctors die (hint: most choose non heroic measures)
• Guns in the home make you LESS safe
• The 50 US hospitals that gouge patients the most

RELIGION NEWS

• Brighid of Kildare
• Brighid’s cloak
• The indigenous Fairy Faith of Europe
• Iceland officially worships Norse Gods again
• Pagan ritual garb
• Brighid, Goddess and Saint
• An Irish-American family celebrates Imbolc
• UN declares Holy See responsible for the legacy of racism towards indigenous peoples
• The Virtual Shrine of Brighid
• Festivals for your Soul
• A Catholic nun speaks on being “pro-life” (Republican legislators should take note)
• Is Evangelical Christianity the real problem with American politics?
• Site of the Salem Witch trial hangings found
• Archbishop says he “wasn’t sure if it was illegal to have sex with children” when questioned at trial (WTF?)

NEWS YOU CAN USE

• Become a tree when you die

POLITICS AND ETHICS

• The media blackout of Bernie is unravelling
• Indian mound to be destroyed for Sam’s Club (owned by Wal-Mart)
  More…
• Why The Nation endorses Bernie Sanders
• Moveon.org endorses Bernie Sanders
• What is meant by “A well-regulated militia” in the 2nd amendment?
• Why are there so few girls in children’s books?
• Brillant. Dance revolution! (video)
• Obama to cancel oil drilling leases on Blackfoot sacred land
• Bernie Sanders gave a major speech on Wall Street and as usual the media did not carry it.
• The Bundy family are welfare queens
• Oregon militia standoff – where the Bundy’s defend their colonialist “right” to take over land stolen from the Paiutes
• Not punishing the Bundy’s is what led to the current standoff
• 79 year old birder takes on an armed militant
• The Paiute approach to all this
• When the Shoshone challenged BLM takeover of their land things went very differently
  More: Paiute video
• White privilege in Oregon
• What if the Bundy’s were black?
• How to deal with gun carrying activists in businesses
• Judge in Florida undoes gerrymandering – just in time for the 2016 elections
• Walmart is the largest recipient of welfare in the USA (video) despite 130 billion a year in profits
• Bernie Sanders: protect organic farming, not Monsanto and GMOs
• Tom Cotton accepted 1 million dollars from Israel for his campaign in exchange for opposing the Iran nuclear deal
• Poll: most Americans want stricter gun control laws
• Chomsky: the GOP is a danger to human survival
• Robert Reich endorses Bernie Sanders
• A response to Bernie sceptics (video)

 
 

After a record breaking warm December here in New England, things are finally cooling down here on the mountain. The last Full Moon was so warm that the animals thought it was spring. I saw a deer (sadly hit by a car) on the road, and a fox. A friend told me she went outside to admire her Christmas lights and something that sounded like a wolf was howling in the nearby forest.
We didn’t have our first snow and ice storm until a few days after Christmas, which is strange and unnatural for New England. As a consequence of the same storm my brother and his wife barely escaped the tornados in Texas and the South East is drowning in record levels of water, as is Scotland. The arctic will be 50 degrees warmer than usual this week, its already warmer than it has been in 120,000 years  – I have to admit that I am scared by all this. James Lovelock, the famous inventor of the Gaia hypothesis which states that the Earth is a self-regulating system, predicts that climate catastrophe within the next twenty years is now inevitable. Here in the USA we can barely tolerate the idea of a few desperate Syrian refugees coming to our shores. Soon the human tide looking for food, water and shelter will number in the millions. What will we do then?
Bernie Sanders will be visiting Western Mass on January 2 and I plan to hear him speak. He is currently the only candidate with the wisdom to list climate change as a dire problem. He has my vote.
Some upcoming local events in January

• I will be doing a talk on “Animal Spirit Medicines” and selling my salves and books at Indigo Massage and Healing Center, 45 Main Street, Florence, MA on Saturday, January 16. They are holding a Crystal Fair from 11-5. In the center of town, located just behind the Cumberland Farms with a free parking lot.  Look for the big Blue Sign that says YOGA!
• Tree Herbalism
  I will be doing a series on tree herbalism and Celtic tree lore at THE BOUTIQUE in Northampton
  2-4 PM January 24, February 21 and March 13 (all are Sundays)
  Learn the herbal uses and Celtic lore of seven trees at each session in a very warm and relaxed space on a cold winter’s afternoon!
  Celtic Tree Lore
  Over three months you will learn the medicinal and spiritual properties of the twenty trees of the Irish pre-Roman Ogham alphabet. Includes a pronunciation guide, handouts, and for those who want to, a deck of tree cards that can be used for divination.
  Each week we will cover seven trees and share traditional tales and Celtic medicine and lore of the trees (while sipping tea and eating cookies!)
  A small voluntary donation is appreciated to cover costs.

BOOK NEWS

• 

  
  I have two new books coming out that are already available for pre-order. I just received my first copies of  A LEGACY OF DRUIDS
  The book has its own Facebook page
  And can be pre-ordered now on Amazon.com US or Amazon.com UK

• 

  
  The second book is SECRET MEDICINES FROM YOUR GARDEN which is also available for pre-order!
  Secret Medicines from Your Garden
  Plants for Healing, Spirituality, and Magic
  Ellen Evert Hopman
  Coming Spring 2016
  A guided exploration of herbal lore and healing plants found in yards, forests, meadows, and hedgerows
  • Draws on traditional knowledge and remedies from around the world, including Native American, Celtic, and Egyptian traditions
  • Provides simple recipes to safely make herbal remedies from local plants and honey for first aid, immune support, and treatment of common ailments
  • Reveals the “triangle” formula-making system of William LeSassier
  • Explains how to work with plant spirits, herbal astrology, and Animal Spirit Medicine
  Weaving together ancient wisdom, mystical folklore, and modern plant research, master herbalist Ellen Evert Hopman explores the many uses of flowers, trees, common weeds, and ornamental plants for food, medicine, spiritual growth, and magical rituals. She reveals the herbal lore surrounding each plant, drawing on traditional knowledge and remedies from around the world, including Native American, Celtic, and Egyptian traditions. She includes recipes throughout so you can make medicines from wild and domesticated plants easily found in yards, forests, meadows, and hedgerows, and she discusses what to plant to ensure you have leaves, berries, and flowers all year.
  The author reveals how to quickly intuit an unknown plant’s properties using the signatures of plants—universal indications and contraindications based on the form, color, and location of a plant. She includes an in-depth section on honey and Bee Medicine, allowing you to appreciate the labors of these plant-dependent insects. Exploring the magical role of herbs in ancient ritual, Hopman provides recipes for Egyptian temple incense and their sacred medicine known as “Kyphi” or “Kaphet,” used to purify the body, banish insomnia, and promote vivid dreaming. She explores shamanic Plant Spirit and Animal Spirit Medicine as well as herbal astrology. She also explains the “triangle” formula-making system of her herbal mentor William LeSassier to help you develop custom herbal remedies tailored to a person’s unique strengths and weaknesses.
  Showing how to easily incorporate wild plants into your life to receive their healing benefits throughout the seasons, Hopman reveals the power of the bounty that Mother Nature has provided right at our doorstep.
  Ellen Evert Hopman has been a teacher of herbalism since 1983 and is a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild. A Druidic initiate since 1984, she is a founding member of The Order of the White Oak, an Arch Druidess of the Druid Clan of Dana, and a member of the Grey Council of Mages and Sages. The author of several books, including A Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year, she lives in Massachusetts.
  Healing Arts Press
  ISBN 978-1-62055-557-6
  Spring 2016

I wish you all a warm, safe, prosperous and joyful New Year!
Below you will find the usual last Moonth’s gleanings from the media.
*Reminder* you can always purchase signed books from this website and get a *personal note* from the author! (me)

ARCHEOLOGY NEWS

• Newgrange interpreted (video)
• Iron Age hillforts examined
• A Grianan (stone fort) in Ireland
• Ancient Irish DNA – a new study
• Making a Roman silver cup (video)
• Celtic plastic metamorphosis art
• Ancient Osage cave marks the winter solstice
• Timeline of Viking attacks on Ireland
• 1500 year old Viking settlement found under an airport
• Did Neanderthals invent jewelry?
• A Greek temple in Sicily is aligned with the Solstice Moon
• Cats in the ancient world
• Another ancient human species found in Southern China
• London before the Romans
• Newgrange and Winter Solstice
• A temple to Zeus unearthed in Izmir
• When Orkney was the center of everything
• Ultraviolet light reveals hidden stories in Arthurian text
• The ancient Etruscans were Turks
• Neolithic and Iron Age querns from Norway
• How humans created cats
• A horned dinosaur that walked on two legs found in Gobi desert
• An Anglo-Saxon treasure trove discovered
• 300,000 year old wooden spears from Germany
• Site of a massacre by Julius Caesar found
• World’s oldest string found at Neanderthal site in France
• Volunteer on a Viking longship!
• The Abbott’s Bromley Horn Dance (video)
• Ancient European dwellings – log cabins
• Rare photos of the Sami, circa 1900-1928
• Stonehenge; new finds imply shift to a new Solar religion
• The Pagan Christ (video)
• Celtic astronomy (video)
• A Balkan Celtic fortress in Serbia
• Unlooted Etruscan tomb found in Italy
• A 1500 year old city in Louisiana
• Maes Howe web cam, Orkney

HERB NEWS

• Make Linden Tree chocolate
• Nettles for food and medicine
• How to cook ground nuts (video)
• Herbs, Fungi and other edibles native to Connecticut
• Che trees
• Turmeric lemonade for depression
• Psychedelic mushrooms may repair brain damage
• Pomegranates may prevent Alzheimers
  More…
• Make Quince liqueur
• Cannabis oil for health
• Ganoderma (Reishi) for lung, colon cancer and skin conditions
  And breast cancer
• Make Dandelion coffee
• Thistles!
• Stephen Buhner on Living Medicines (Japanese Knot Weed has followed Lyme as the epidemic spread. I always say that Nature knows better than us, what we actually need. We just aren’t smart enough to understand her yet).
• Medieval antibiotics for modern superbugs
• How to eat tree bark
• Acorns in ancient texts

NATURE NEWS

• James Lovelock – climate catastrophe within 20 years is inevitable
• Live map of current global weather
• The true cost of dirty oil (video)
• 93% of seeds have been lost in the last 80 years
• A secret weapon against climate change – dirt
• Foxes in the arctic circle
• How to raise a 165 year old cat
• Monsanto to be put on trial for crimes against nature, humanity, at The Hague
• Macro-photography of snowflakes
• How ice forms under the sea

HEALTH NEWS

• Makers of opioids, the basis for the heroin epidemic, seek to block reforms in congress
• Antibiotic resistance is growing
• Congress quietly ends ban on medical cannabis
• Why you should see a Naturopath

RELIGION NEWS

• Jimmy Carter leaves Southern Baptist church because of their prejudice against women (old news but worth re-reading)
• Pope Francis: churches that are making profits and not helping the poor should pay taxes
• Druids protect the Earth at anti-fracking camp
• Religious groups are not non-profit nor do they give much to the poor (so why are they tax exempt?)
• Kentucky homeless shelter kicks out women (and their children) on Biblical principles (because they tempt men)
• Thanks to ISIL Kurds are reviving Zoroastrianism for the first time in 1000 years
• Arvol Looking Horse of the white buffalo prophecy
• 70,000 Muslim clerics issue fatwa condemning terrorism and Trump too
• Making offerings to Mannanan MacLir (video)
• We were made for these times (so do not despair)
• The Pagan Christ (video)
• Accused Witches are being burned by Christians in Central Africa
• Russian fertility rituals

YULE CELEBRATIONS

• Bronze Age Solstice in Ireland (video)
• Slavic Solstice rituals
• Friesian holiday customs
• Herbs for Yule
• The Yule Log
• Yuletide herbs
• Lost female figures of Christmas
• Christmas in old Norway
• Viking Yule (video)
• How the Romans invented Christmas
• 5 ancient Roman winter festivals
• The European Deer Goddess, Mother Christmas
• The Krampuslauf…Austria (video)
• Oh Holy Night sung by goats (why not?)

FAIRY NEWS

• Some Irish lore

NEWS YOU CAN USE

• How to recycle 100% of your town’s waste (video)
• Build an underground greenhouse
• How to house the homeless
  More ideas
• Mexican artist turns guns into shovels to plant trees. Brilliant.

WOMEN’S NEWS

• The UN sends three female delegates to the US to assess women’s rights – they were truly shocked
• Ohio bill seeks to force women who miscarry or have an abortion to arrange for burial of the fetus

POLITICS AND ETHICS

• The greatest threat to America is global warming, not ISIL
• Bernie Sanders files bill to make election day a national holiday
• How does Bernie Sanders pay for all the free stuff?
• When MO weakened its gun laws the predictable happened – gun deaths skyrocketed (well, duh)
• Bernie Sanders is the first presidential candidate to get 2 million donors
• Bernie Sanders and Killer Mike – the interview (video)
• Since Sandy Hook an American child has died by a gun, every other day (are we sick of this yet?)
• ABC, NBC, and CBS all made a corporate decision to ignore Bernie Sanders
• ABC News devoted 81 minutes to Trump and 1 minute to Bernie Sanders
• Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders continues to climb in the polls
• Bernie gets huge union endorsements
• PEW: the middle class is shrinking
• The new Michael Moore movie (Where To Invade Next) (video)
• Scalia;” Blacks should go to less advanced schools” (shows we desperately need affirmative action on the Supreme Court)
• Wealth inequality in America (video)
• Trump campaign officially called a hate group by Southern Poverty Law Center
• SCOTUS leaves assault weapons ban intact (showing a bit of common sense)
• Trump wants to shut down the internet
• Meet the powerful queen mothers of Ghana
• First they jailed the banksters and now every Icelander will get paid
• Brits seek to ban Trump from the UK due to his hate speech
• Bernie Sanders introduces bill to banish for-profit prisons
• Meet the generation that has grown up with no mass shootings
• Powerful front page NY Times editorial on the epidemic of gun violence in the USA
• Bernie Sanders on US foreign policy
• How Bernie Sanders would pick Supreme Court justices
• Paul Krugman on climate change and the GOP
• Businesses the NRA wants you to boycott PLEASE SUPPORT THESE FINE BUSINESSES!
• How the mass shooters got their guns
• GOP lawmaker regrets backing gun violence research ban
• Congress votes to allow terrorists to buy guns the day after the massacre in California
• Republicans say to focus on mental health care, not guns, but vote against that too
• Buying a gun should be as difficult as getting an abortion, lawmaker says
• BBC reporter – mass shootings in America won’t stop until the NRA is broken
• Alabama police planted drugs on black men for years to frame them
• 70% of women seeking abortion are Christian, pro-life study finds
• A record number of guns bought on black Friday 2015
• Study: having guns in the home increases suicide, homicide risk

Ever since the last Full Moon eclipse the world seems to have changed
significantly. Paris attacked, Russian planes downed, world leaders getting
together to discuss climate change, China banning the ivory trade and
finally for me – getting laid off from a job I held for ten years because
the company is moving to Texas where it can pay workers less in wages and
benefits.
I live in a rural area and our office was surrounded by ponds, fields of
wildflowers, pine woods and oaks. I walked outside every day on my break and
would hear owls discoursing, especially when a storm was approaching. There
were wild rabbits, hawks, eagles, geese, ducks, muskrats, beaver, deer,
red-wing blackbirds, green herons and great blue herons. There were so many
robins that one year Audubon members showed up to gawk at them as they
settled in the trees at dusk.
And year after year my co-workers reported seeing bobcats which drove me crazy because I sooo wanted to see one! These creatures are so elusive that some wildlife biologists spend a lifetime searching for them with no success. Then, just a day or two before the office closed, there they were;
a large female bobcat and her kitten. The mother was clearly hunting as her somewhat dazed looking kitten ambled around the parking lot.
It was a final good bye and a blessing from the animal spirits that I had been tracking for a decade. Here is the female’s picture!
So far it has been a very mild winter hereabouts. As of December 1 there has been no snow and I still see moths and other winged creatures flitting around the house and forest.
Some articles to reflect on as a world spirals into deepening war;

• Vandana Shiva remarks on the current violence in the world (video)
• How Syrians are dying (read this and then tell me these refugees don’t need
  our help)
• And PLEASE call that murderous cult “Daesh” or ISIL. Stop calling them by the name of a beloved Egyptian Goddess!

BOOK NEWS

• I have two new books coming out in 2016!
  This book is available for pre-order now and will be out in March, 2016
  Secret Medicines from Your Garden
  Plants for Healing, Spirituality, and Magic
  Ellen Evert Hopman
  Coming Spring 2016
  
• A LEGACY OF DRUIDS
  As I write this the book is still not available for pre-order  but you canread about it by following the links.
  Moon Books
  Philip Carr-Gomm

*Reminder! All my books can be ordered from this website – get a copy signed
by the author with a personal note!*

ARCHEOLOGY NEWS

• When Tutankhamun’s grave was opened – color pictures
• 2200 year old mosaics found in Greek city
• Ancient DNA links Native Americans with Europeans
• Iron Age cooking
• Ancient cave paintings and symbols (video)
• How the invention of agriculture changed European DNA
• A La Tene burial
• Syphilis in Europe pre-dates Columbus trip to America
• Things to know about the Book of Kells
• 800 year old seeds yield once extinct squash
• Ancient textiles
• A Pagan basilica found in Rome
• A burned medieval witch found in Italy
• European hunter-gatherer’s bones found in Georgia
• An Iron Age Irish hoard
• Pictish symbol stones
• Photos of Ireland in the 1930’s
• Celtic ceremonial feasting buckets
• A Welsh Viking high cross
• A Viking longhouse found in Iceland
• 3-D printing brings ancient Irish horn to life
• Welsh Hillforts of the Iron Age
• Stonehenge update
• A new human ancestor found in Ethiopia
• Scanning for Nefertiti’s tomb
• Prehistoric villages found in Wyoming
• Neanderthals arrived in Italy earlier than thought
• A Celtic village in Dorset

LANGUAGE NEWS

• How landscape and weather affects the development of language

HERB NEWS

• Ayahuasca – a powerful antidepressant
• How to process chaga
• Pines for healing
• Its time to plant Milkweed for the Monarch Butterflies!
• Frankincense is proven to be a psychoactive anti-depressant
• Magical uses of herbs
• Usnea!
• Herbal alchemy and the water element (video)
• Garlic injections might cure tree diseases, study finds

HEALTH NEWS

• Alzheimers cure may have just been found
  More…

NATURE NEWS

• Congress attempts to influence climate scientists to not say Earth is
  warming
• Russians may clone baby cave lions that were found in permafrost
• How trees talk
• Oklahoma, no where near a fault line, becomes #1 state with earthquakes, due to fracking
• You can track earthquakes in the US daily
• Whales are dying with bellies full of plastic trash
• Scotland’s Fortingall Yew is turning into a female
• Jurassic bark – Ireland is planting ancient oaks, and redwoods

RELIGION NEWS

• Sufi’s, the best antidote to ISIL
• Dr. Ronald Hutton on British Paganism (audio)
• The Bible is just as violent as the Quran
• Last month’s issue of The Druid Inquirer
• The first Thanksgiving – what really happened here in Massachusetts?
• Donald Trump – please register me too
• Pope Francis: “Those who make war are damned, they’re delinquents. War can be ‘justified’ for many reasons. But when the whole world is at war, as it is today … there is no justification.”
• We are not alone the shamans of the world tell us
• Scottish Evangelists: Pagans are one of the biggest threats to civilization (not ISIL)
• Ancient Egyptian Gods and Goddesses (video) (but where are all the Goddesses?)
• Satanists now using Hobby Lobby ruling to advantage
• The solution to terrorism (video)
• A hymn to the goddess Brighid (video)
• Religious fundamentalism could soon be treated as an illness (considering that most wars are started by fundamentalists; Christian, Jewish or Muslim, this is a very good idea)
• Children from religious households are less empathetic than secular, study finds
• Carpathian Shamans
• Shamans of Siberia (video)
• Pope Francis calls for end to tax exemption for churches that do not help the poor
• Americans becoming less religious Pew Poll finds
• Wicca’s new rights under the Georgia Religious Freedom Restoration Act
• LA students fighting Christian indoctrination in their public school

CELTIC NEWS

• The Cailleach (video)
• Step dancing in Ireland (video)
• Honoring Goddesses in Skye

PAGAN NEWS

• “Granny women” and “Yarb doctors” of Appalachia
• A Pagan and a Christian buried together in Frankfurt, Germany in the Middle Ages
• Was Odin a person?

HEALTH NEWS

• Home abortions rise after Texas closes clinics (this was completely
  predictable)
• US maternal death rate is now the highest in the Western world thanks to GOP policies against women
• Colorado will vote on single payer health care next year
• Middle Aged whites in American dying in record numbers now
• Which countries have the best and most cost effective health care outcomes?

POLITICS AND ETHICS

• Mass shootings are domestic terrorism
• The gravest terror threat to America – right wing extremists
• Anne Frank and her family were also denied entrance to the US
• Petition: make election day a national holiday! (will be sent to Obama)
• Producer of anti-Planned Parenthood videos admits they are a fraud
• In a new low even for him, Donald Trump calls for special ID cards for Muslims. Does no one remember the Jews and World War II when everyone in Germany who was Jewish was forced to wear a yellow star? How about the round up of all Japanese Americans and putting them in camps, just because of their race, even if they were born here? This is disgusting. “Trump would not rule out warrantless searches in his plans for increased surveillance of the nation’s Muslims, Yahoo reported Thursday. He also remained open toward registering U.S. Muslims in a database or giving them special identification identifying their faith, the news outlet added.”
  More…
• A Republican combat vet eviscerates GOP xenophobia
• Bernie Sanders speaks at Georgetown University (video)
• Unlike the GOP the French president, a Socialist, shows real courage and will take 30,000 more refugees from Syria
• Elizabeth Warren pushes back against the GOP effort to ban Syrian refugees
• Most terror attacks in the US come from far right and Christian men, not Muslims
• While trying to force pregnant women to carry a fetus to term, GOP is also trying to make it legal to fire women for being pregnant (we just can’t win)
• Muslims around the world condemn Paris attacks
• The postal workers union endorses Bernie Sanders
• The most important Socialist in American not named Bernie Sanders just won re-election
• How the world sees us; the Republican party is the greatest threat to America
• Senator Tom Cotton: “Social Security turns Americans into heroin addicts” (Maybe he should volunteer to give up his government pension?)
• State of Alabama is blocked from removing Planned Parenthood funding, due to fraudulent claims by the state
• Judge orders Louisiana to restore Planned Parenthood funding
• Warren: seniors and disabled vets should get a check from the government
  More…
• Bernie Sanders has more donors than any candidate in US history
• John Stewart is coming back to television on HBO!
• Media is silent as Bernie Sanders beats Trump in polls
• Bernie Sanders and Tammy Baldwin back bill to prevent mining on Native American sacred lands
• Bernie Sanders introduces a bill to stop Native American land give aways
• Texas mulls over the idea that home schooled kids have to learn something
• Why Bernie Sanders is not missing Senate votes as he campaigns
• Our terrorism double standard
• Gun deaths in the US will soon outnumber car accident deaths

Gather with your loved ones around the Solstice fire. Stay warm and have a
blessed rest of the year!

I just finished celebrating a very quiet three day Halloween here on the mountain. In ancient times Samonios (later called Samhain or Samhuinn) was a three day festival according to the Gallo-Roman Coligny Calendar . There is an entry “TRINOX[tion] SAMO[nii] SINDIV” (three-nights of Samonios today) which implies that Halloween was observed for three days and nights. We moderns have preserved that to some extent with All Saints Day and All Souls Day and of course, our day to celebrate ghoulies and ghosties and trick or treating.
My own observance consisted of placing offerings for the Fairies on the altar in the garden; whole grain toast and honey, milk and honey, and apple crisp, on each of the three nights. I took a few moments with my students on October 31 to share stories of our ancestors and those we had lost in the past year. We munched small offerings of pomegranate seeds and chocolate in their memory.
It is a somber time. It feels like the US is slouching into yet another war, and this time its boots on the ground in Syria. In my own life a company I have worked for, for almost a decade, has decided to move to Texas where they can pay lower wages and offer fewer benefits. A hundred locals are being laid off as a result, which does not seem to factor into anyone’s calculations. We workers are expendable and only profit margins have any real meaning.
But life will go on, as it always does. Below you will find the usual assortment of news from the archaeology front, nature news, herb, news, religion, ethics and politics, and if you are reading this I wish you a very happy and prosperous Celtic New Year. May your fires be bright and your hearth warm!

BOOK NEWS

• A recent podcast that covers Druids, Herbalism and many other topics;
• My newest herbal is already available for pre-order;
  Secret Medicines from Your Garden
  Plants for Healing, Spirituality, and Magic
  A guided exploration of herbal lore and healing plants found in yards, forests, meadows, and hedgerows
• My newest Druid book A Legacy of Druids – Conversations with Druid leaders of Britain, the USA and Canada, past and present (Moon Books) has just completed its final edit and the cover is being designed. It will be out Spring of 2016. Endorsements are already coming in;
  ‘This extraordinary assembly of Druids reveals the paths leading to our native, spiritual heritage, without fear or favour. Deep and true!’ – Caitlín Matthews, author of Celtic Visions, past-presider of OBOD.
• Nimue Brown of Moon Books writes; “Recently I have learned from the Society of Authors that if you get 50 book reviews on Amazon, then Amazon might start paying more attention to your book. I also learned, that ratings on Goodreads can lead to being listed in the Goodreads Choice Awards. We’re talking in the thousands here, by the looks of it. Not easily done, but worth knowing all the same. In terms of increasing visibility, reviews clearly have a lot of influence.”If anyone here has read my books would you please pen a short review on Goodreads or Amazon? Blessings in advance! (smile)

*Reminder- you can purchase signed books from me via this website and get a signed copy with a personal note from the author. Perfect for Yuletide giving! Please specify who you want the books autographed to if they are gifts.*

ARCHEOLOGY NEWS

• No single Celtic DNA group in the UK
• A Mesolithic house found in the UK
• Rethinking Neanderthal influence in Europe
• Iron Age dwellings in Scotland
• Neolithic feasting rituals
• Celts in Poland
• Hobby Lobby’s Christian owners likely bought looted artifacts for their Bible museum
• Celtic burials in Croatia
• A Neolithic flint knife
• 4,800 year old evidence of plague in Europe
• A second Viking outpost (circa 1000 CE) found in Canada
• Ancient textiles from Austrian salt mines
• The Old Irish Bee Laws
• Celtic women’s ankle bracelets mark Eastwards expansion of the Celts
• Largest ever Neolithic site in Wales recently discovered
• Cheese was offered to the Gods at Stonehenge
• Celts – Blood and Sacrifice Vol 1 (video)
  
• Vol 2 (video)
• Vol 3 (video)
• New evidence for human DNA in Ice Age romances
• Who were the Celts?
• Inuit women going back to traditional tattoos
• A 2,400 year old tomb from Cyprus
• The first Vikings
• Iron Age torcs
• Curating the Celts (video)
• Palmyra attacked by ISIL again, an arch blown up
  More…

PAGAN NEWS

• Fairy Lore of the Isle of Skye
• In the shadow of the Witch hunts
• Witches in Greek and Welsh lore
• Why are old women the face of evil in folklore?
• Baltic Pagans honor the dead
• Cornish Halloween customs
• Samhuinn in Edinburgh
• Iceland’s belief in elves
• The last of the Granny Witches in Appalachia
• The origins of Witches
• The forest of Dubhros
• Runic alphabets
• Kitchen Witchery (video)
• Greek women Bacchics (video)

HERB NEWS

• How to eat Burdock roots
• Palo Santo – holy wood (Bursera)
• Use Dandelion root to build your immune system
• Nobel prize won for herbal extract
• Make a Hawthorn Cordial
• Herb Rally – schools, conferences, etc. all over the place
• Time to eat the acorns!
• Acorn cake
  More on Acorns

NATURE NEWS

• Coywolves!
• Cheese is addictive
• New Zealand: all animals are sentient beings
• EPA confirms – fracking poisons drinking water
• Cave lions found in Siberian permafrost
• Are cats domesticated?
• Memories may be passed down through DNA
• Let’s turn cemeteries into forests
• The evidence for parallel universes

RELIGION NEWS

• Peruvian shaman murders investigated
  “He alleged that the mayor, who is an evangelical Christian, ordered the killings on hearing that the shamans planned to form an association. He said the mayor’s brother was known in the area as a matabrujos or witch killer.
  “For Protestant sects, the shamans are possessed by the devil; a totally sectarian, primitive and racist concept,” he said.”
• People are ditching religion and turning to nature instead, study finds
• Sacred wells and wishing trees
• Hopi prophecy (video)

LANGUAGE NEWS

• The Epic of Gilgamesh in the original language
• Who are the Basques?

POLITICS AND ETHICS

• Americans want government official to support same sex marriage licenses, poll shows
• Paul Krugman: the brazen lies of the GOP
• 10 reasons we must elect Bernie Sanders President
• Warren and Sanders unite to reinstate Glass Steagall
• Elizabeth Warren: Paul Ryan’s budgets are dangerous for America
• CDC map of gun deaths, state by state, in the US. How does your state rank?
• Anonymous about to expose 1000 KKK members
• Bill Gates: “Only Socialism can save us from climate change”
• Justice Department set to prosecute Banksters
• Supreme Court decision that could set off a massive arms race in the US
• MO GOP (naturally) lawmaker wants women to get permission from their abuser for an abortion
• Democrats now favor Socialism over Capitalism, poll shows
• Justice Department will sue Alabama if it doesn’t comply with voting laws
• Bernie Sanders filed amendment to undo Citizens United
• DOJ finds no evidence the IRS targeted Conservatives
• Ben Carson opposes abortion for victims of rape, incest, compares them to slave owners
• One mile of California coastline returned to the indigenous Pomo
• 30,000 gun deaths a year in the US is an epidemic
• Abortion in Puritan America was legal and not uncommon
• Bernie Sanders declines contribution from drug company CEO/scalper
• Republicans demand that portrait of Margaret Sanger be removed
• Court overturns AZ anti-abortion medication law
• Abortion clinic in OH will stay open for now
• States that declined the Medicare expansion face higher costs
• Toddlers are shot or shoot others with a gun once a week now, in the USA
• Wisconsin gun shop ordered to pay fine after selling guns to straw men and cops are shot
• 44% of Republicans want a Christian theocracy (what part of “Freedom of religion” don’t they understand?)
• How to create a mass shooter

NEWS YOU CAN USE

• A Texas modular home runs on rainwater and sun

This past Moonth we experienced record heat here in New England, it was a record 96 degrees in mid-September and I found myself floating in a local pond, something New Englanders would not expect to be doing in early fall. I feel very grateful to be living in a rural area; a great blue heron flew overhead and the local kids screamed with delight and awe at the sight. No video games for them, they have the real thing in their back yard.

Late in September I went to California to visit the redwoods and the sea and to teach a class in formula making and case taking at the Philo School of Herbal Energetics, the weekend of September 26/27. This new book covers a lot of what I taught in the class. It will be out in March, 2016 but you can pre-order now.
Secret Medicines from Your Garden
Plants for Healing, Spirituality, and Magic
A guided exploration of herbal lore and healing plants found in yards, forests, meadows, and hedgerows
While there I and three others decided to go to a mountaintop to observe the Full Moon eclipse. We brought chairs and a bottle of wine and expected to have the view to ourselves. Much to our surprise when we got there, there was quite a crowd. Being Californians they turned the mystical event into a party, bottles of local wine and other smoked substances were passed around. Several folks brought telescopes and I was privileged to observe the Moon up close as the eclipse progressed. I had never looked through such a powerful scope; I could clearly see a huge crater and another big treat, I was able to see Saturn for the very first time. What a gorgeous yellow jewel of a planet Saturn is, the rings were clearly visible as golden haloes of light.
But the most amazing thing of all was the Milky Way, Caer Arianrhod, which stretched in all its glory and spangled with stars from one horizon to the other. The stars were clearer than even those I have seen in desert skies and an astronomer on the hill told me that the only time you can see it like that is during a Full Moon eclipse. That won’t be possible again for another thirty years!
Eclipses presage change and this one was exceptionally powerful. Shortly after the eclipse the speaker of the House resigned, Shell abruptly decided to cancel its plans to drill in the arctic, and China signed a ban on importation of ivory. It feels like we are entering a new and hopeful phase where many things are possible.

BOOK NEWS

• I have a few bits in the debut issue of Mythology Magazine. A gorgeous issue and well worth the price!
• SECRET MEDICINES OF YOUR KITCHEN gets a wee mention in this magazine
• My newest Druid book A LEGACY OF DRUIDS (Moon Books) will also be out in Spring 2016 and is currently in the final phases of editing.

*Reminder – you can order my books from this web site and get a signed copy!*

UPCOMING CLASSES

• My six month herbal intensive that I teach near Amherst, MA starts October 17. Write to me for further details;
  SIX MONTH HERBAL INTENSIVE IN WESTERN MA (near Amherst)
  October 17, 2015 – April, 2016
  Two Saturdays a month, 1-5 PM near Amherst, MA
  The Western Massachusetts School of Herbal Studies
  Intro to Herbalism and Self Care
  With Ellen Evert Hopman M.Ed. ~ Registered Herbalist AHG
  author of “Scottish Herbs and Fairy Lore”, “A Druid’s Herbal for the Sacred Earth Year”, “A Druids Herbal – Of Sacred Tree Medicine” and other books and DVDs
  Covers Western herbal Materia Medica, formula making, case taking, Chinese Five Element Theory, Homeopathic First Aid, Flower Essence Counseling, plant identification, ethno botany, an herb walk outdoors and hands on herbal techniques such as poultices, tinctures, salves. Over 550 pages of handouts are included with the course. A certificate of completion is offered at the end.
  Cost: $1,000.00 (plus a $100.00 non-refundable Xeroxing fee)
  MA NURSES CAN GET CEUS BY TAKING THIS COURSE”I studied with Ellen Evert Hopman back in the late 90’s. The information she shared with me has helped me in many aspects of my life! I learned the skills to identify, and properly utilize, many herbs as; essences, teas, salves, poultices and tinctures. I found her program to be quite thorough!” ~A. Potter

Below you will find the usual past Moonth’s collection of archeology, nature, religion, herbal and ethics news. Enjoy!

ARCHEOLOGY NEWS

• An Urnfield vase with lunar markings
• A Celtic burial in Slovakia
• A Bronze Age sweat house
• Dogs in Celtic culture and religion
• Equinox in Ireland (video)

• Equinox at Sliabh na Cailliagh
• Bronze Age British mummies
  More…
• The earliest known animal to have walked upright on four legs
• Hildegaard of Bingen
• A mass Celtic burial
• Ten places to experience Celtic culture
• Caverns with Pictish burials found in the UK
• 120 million year old sea turtle found
• Cave paintings
• A new human species found in South Africa
  Video
  And more…
• Female Shamans
  More…
• Seidr – magical songs of the Norse
• Icelandic turf houses
• The history of hurling
• How ancient Americans got their morning buzz.
• Melting ice at Yellowstone reveals ancient artifacts
• Was Cahokia destroyed by floods?
• Finding the first Americans
• Ancient rules of hospitality towards strangers and refugees
• Brodgar, Scotland
• DNA tells the story of the origin of the Basques
• Europeans ate oatmeal porridge 32,000 years ago
  Related: The real Paleo diet included carbs; oats and acorns
• Dear dad, please send money. University students letters from the middle ages.
• A Mesolithic site on Skye
• Roman references to Pictish tattoos
• A “Superhenge” found near Stonehenge
  More…
  And more…
  An yet more!
• The Carnyx, a Celtic horn
• Celtic heads
• Walnuts linked to ancient languages and trade routes
• Hundreds of Irish children buried in a ring fort
• The dancing plague
• 3000 year old bog butter
• Female physicians in antiquity
• Why Orkney is the center of Britain
• Bronze Age horn music revealed through 3-D printing
• Archeologists search for the tribes of North Britain, under the sea
• Rare drawings of Newgrange, circa 1866
• A Bronze Age city discovered off the coast of Greece

HERB NEWS

• Bay Laurel – an important ingredient in my healing salves
• Stop the war on invasives
• Grow vines like the Romans did
• “Undoing civilization one graft at a time” guerilla grafters
• How to make herbal coffee (my suggestion is to mix these herbs in with your regular coffee as an extender. Just sayin’)
• How to make Sloe (Blackthorn) Gin
• Make acorn flour
• Foraging wars
• What to do with all those extra green tomatoes?

NATURE NEWS

• Black bear takes a bath in the forest (video)
• Polar bears frolicking in flowers
• A dinosaur with a clubbed tail
• Pelicans in Colorado clean up a lake
• The history of cats (video)

• Baby tortoises found on Galapagos island for the first time in 100 years

CELTIC NEWS

• Traditional dance in Ireland (video)
• The oldest pub in Europe
• Stay in a Celtic roundhouse
• Fairies destroyed richest man in Ireland

RELIGION NEWS

• Why Republicans fear the pope
• Hospital opens room for Native American smudging
• Ancient Pagan rules of hospitality towards strangers and refugees
• The Matronae (Triple Mothers)
• The Egyptian Book of the Dead (video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwkHnjS4_yo&sns=fb

• A song in honor of Brighid (video)

• Sex slavery and genocide as practiced by ISIL
• Witch hunts in Scotland

FAIRY NEWS

• Senachie (traditional story teller) warns pharmaceutical company not to harm a Fairy Fort
• The music of the Fairies (Blasket Islands) (video)

• An explanation of the music of the ghosts (Fairies) (video)

• There’s Fairies in the Gutter (video)

POLITICS AND ETHICS

• Who does the NRA really represent?
• Closing of TX abortion clinics means more 2nd trimester abortions
• Woman accused of Witchcraft is fired from military dental clinic
• Record number of guns found in airplane luggage
• CDC still banned from doing gun research
• Doctors are not allowed to ask if there is a gun in the home
• Why the Pope scares Republican climate change deniers
• 10 times the Pope and Bernie Sanders sounded alike
• Bernie on Colbert (video)
• North Carolina moms fought the NRA and won
• Trump’s wall debunked
• Dick Cheney to be charged in Halliburton bribery case
• Indigenous Canadian tribe turns down millions to block a pipeline
• Medicare costs may soon go up for millions of seniors
• Brave doctor in Ohio opens abortion clinic
• Denmark now produces 140% of its electricity from wind
  All blessings of the coming Samhain (Halloween) season on those who read this blog!