Newsletter Contribution for Change - Human, Social, Ecological, Creative and June 2013 Spiritual

The Parallel Community is a Parallel Community linking network and a platform where people can express and develop their positive Newsletter contribution for change - human, social, ecological, creative and June 2013 spiritual.

INSPIRITREES

PC member JOSA PEPPER, inspired by her love for trees, has set up the organisation InspiritreeS. The website is at http://www.inspiritrees.co.uk and there is a Facebook page too.

“Josa Pepper loves trees. She loves trees because she feels their energy very strongly and that is something everyone can easily do - even if they are in their car driving under a tunnel of trees - trees are that powerful. Josa wants to co-create a community of people who are so clear about their connection to and dependence on trees that they are inspired to get more planted. And they don't have to be people who get muddy in the countryside, like she does, to enjoy trees!”

TREES - their power, wonder, wisdom and energy.

Nearly two years ago I was walking in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London when the great and ancient London Plane trees there changed the energy around themselves so that I had the most wonderful experience. I saw them in a completely different way and they were shining with light as if a veil had been lifted.

Since then my connection with trees has grown and grown in strength as has my understanding of what we have been doing to this beautiful planet. First, I noticed the absence and lack of care of the trees and hedges around all the agricultural fields which led me to set up InspiritreeS www.facebook.com/InspiritreeS . Then I deeply felt the barrenness and neglect of the land and soil. Finally, I was shown vividly how disconnected humanity has become from Nature, and most especially young children. The insanity of mind consciousness, with science as its most extreme manifestation, constantly pushing and pulling us to believe this is the way we should go.

Now we must stop! And start to do all we can to put everything back into harmony and balance with the glorious abundance and healing vibrations Mother Earth offers us so freely when we don’t interfere. We are all deeply connected to and dependent on trees for our health and well-being, and the trees themselves have been waiting and waiting for us to wake up so they can share their wisdom with us. They are very tired from holding all this knowledge in the density of the 3rd and 4th Dimension and that is the reason, I believe, they are becoming vulnerable to attack from dis-eases and predators. They are asking us to wake up by drawing attention to what we have allowed to happen on this planet.

Begin now to take action to change things: Become aware of where more trees can be planted and then actually plant them. Approach a land owner and offer them 10 native trees unconditionally. Ask where they can be planted and do it for them. This new way also helps to break down the them-and-us mentality, and creates community. Plant native trees in the old way by joining and supporting tree planting organisations and events – local, national and international. Trees For Life in Scotland are doing wonderful work. Try and find native trees to plant that have been started in healthy soil where the mycelium and mycorrhizal partnerships are functioning. This makes them much stronger and more vigorous. Chemical fertilisers produce forced and weaker trees. Go out and just be with trees to imbibe their healing energy. The Japanese call it shinrin-yoku or tree bathing. Read http://bit.ly/Uq5xO8 . This is a very powerful way of relieving stress and resetting your energy. Find “your” tree and ask questions (for the greater good) by placing your hand/s on the trunk and sincerely connecting with it. Visit it regularly and be in its space. Buy organic food, especially fresh and locally produced. If every family buys, at least, one item of organic food every week we can create such a strong and stable market that more farmers will move to that system. This has huge benefits for the land, soil, nature and the environment as a whole, not just from the farming itself but also because organic farmers are nearly always incorporating nature conservation policies into their work. Burwash Manor Farm near Cambridge is one to visit. Start to visualise all the field edges having strong, healthy native trees and/or hedges around them, and see more trees growing along all roads and paths, including street trees. Hold this vision clearly. Don’t believe any of the prescribed nonsense about there being a food crisis that can only be “solved” by pouring toxic chemicals into the earth. We have a worldwide nutrition crisis because of chemical farming that is appearing as the huge increase in human dis-eases such as cancer and diabetes. Realise that pure, unadulterated, organic (read normal) food is the source of our health and we only need a quarter of the amount we eat now if we get it in this form. Some people even less because they will draw the white light and energy of the Earth into themselves for nourishment. Take your children out into Nature and wild places from the day they are born. Create a deep, strong and enduring bond in their hearts with their own true nature. Teach them about the abundance, the natural rhythms, the mystery and beauty of it all.

I wish you well on your journey and thank you from my soul to yours, and from the Trees.

InspiritreeS has just released its first e-book, especially for young children, and “also for the children in all of us who know that to be closely connected to Mother Earth and Nature is the very best way to heal”.

To find out more, visit the website http://www.inspiritrees.co.uk

REFLECTION ON THE CHALLENGES FOR OUR BEES By PC Member BRENDA DESBOROUGH

The winter of 2012-2013 has not been colony of bees inhabiting an outhouse on her land, but a good one for bees. Chatting to bee discovered that the bees in her own hive had not only keepers I know, it has been a challenge survived but seemed to be still thriving. to stay optimistic when many have been finding their colonies have not She made me laugh when she told me how, after survived through to the very late spring. In the south east anxiously opening the hive to check on them once the of England where I live, reports of hive loss have been weather had warmed up, having expected them to have commonplace, some more dramatic than others. The suffered the same fate as their wild cousins on the same gentle colonies in the bee sanctuary in Sussex where I have land, she was relieved to find them alive. They were spent many a happy hour weeding and planting as a buzzing away with just a few dead ones on the shelf at the volunteer, sadly all succumbed and I heard of a much base and a few others inside. Having swept the bee larger apiary of 100 hives losing all but three colonies – a corpses into a dustpan, she put them into her compost devastating situation. While the number of losses has bucket in her kitchen, intending to add them to the varied from location to location, and bee keeper to bee compost heap along with other waste once the bucket was keeper, the ultimate cause of colony collapse varies. So full. John, her husband, though supportive of her bee what has been going on? Is this honeybee Armageddon? keeping, likes to keep his distance from bees and made Or is there reason, still, for hope? sure Cornelia sited her hive well away from the house.

A senior member from the British Bee Keepers Association So he was not best pleased to discover that two hours later described it as “the worst year for a long time” and the “dead” bees had been revived by the warmth of the cautiously suggested that overall, losses have averaged kitchen and there were a couple of dozen out to at least 30%; but also pointed out that different resurrected creatures recuperating noisily bee keeping organisations might quote different indoors. Cornelia was, of course, delighted and it statistics – some better, some worse. A bee keeper for was easy enough to take the lidded bucket back many years, he felt there were many possible near the hive so the bees could return to the explanations, including parasites, diseases and predators colony; but the whole incident begs many and the widespread use of agricultural chemicals; but questions. thought the long damp summer we had last year was the Why did the hive bees survive and the wild bees not? Why main factor as it led to both a shortage of pollen, so the did seemingly dead bees come back to life when given just bees could not forage as freely, and persistent rain which a bit of warmth? Was it the herbal bee tea (an NBKT also made for bad flying weather – bees just don't like preparation) she had given them, and the fact that she had damp. not taken any honey at all but supplemented their So by autumn the bees were weak and less able to sustain provisions over the lean winter in accordance with good themselves over the winter. Cold dry weather does not bee keeping practice? Were her bees just randomly tough usually bother them – the bitter little critters? Was it the position of the hive that made the winter of 2010-2011 did not have the difference? Was she just having beginner's luck with her same effect. He was, however, bees? Others adopting the same methods and with the quietly positive and has noticed his same love and passion and much more experience had lost own bees fattening up in the last few weeks, starting to bees. There are no easy answers. feed and forage and that the blossom on apple trees, in But the awareness that emerges out of such a bad year can particular, is setting and looks to have been pollinated. He be helpful, if media sensationalism, political and personal pointed out that in nature bad years as well as good, for prejudice, commercial greed, naïve sentimentality and anything, do occur and was philosophical rather than plain ignorance are all set aside. Wisdom, knowledge, catastrophic or complacent. common sense, practical experience and good practice – Other bee keepers have been equally phlegmatic, learning both traditional and new - need to be shared to the benefit from the experience and observing what has been going of the bees and the rest of us. There are signs this is on. My friend Cornelia, the subject of an earlier article on beginning to happen. Certainly, more universities and bees (PC Newsletter November 2012), and a beginner bee organisations like the National Trust are researching bee keeper with the Natural Bee Keeping Trust, lost the wild health, the temporary ban on bee toxic pesticides is a small step in the right direction and the many bee keeping 3 organisations all have informative websites. But the this year. Swarming is seen as the sign of a healthy world is changing rapidly and the forces affecting the colony and the bees' timing couldn't have been better – bees are likely to be as complex and multi-factored it happened in the middle of a Sun Hive making as they are for everything else alive on this planet. workshop, to the delight of the participants. Pictures on the NBKT website - To end on an upbeat note – the Sun Hive project, featured http://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/ in an earlier article and run by the Natural Bee Keeping Trust, celebrated the first swarming of bees from their Brenda Desborough original Sun Hive colony at Tablehurst Farm on 12th May

THE ENERGY OF CHANGE

By PC Member PETER HENDRY

One thing is for sure: trying to stand still for one's whole yourself when learning to sense or seek out pure wisdom. life isn't a great idea. The only alternative therefore is Having located a pure source of wisdom, tap into it and change. start replenishing the dark, dry reservoirs of your mind with the pure wisdom that you have encountered. The Change for the better, like many good ideas, first involves resultant feeling should be blissful and inspiring. going back in steps to examine what has happened in some detail and then moving forwards again. This short If you think this all sounds a bit nebulous, you may want to explanation is presented as a series of steps. It's taking ask how we should use our intelligence to seek out and three steps back specifically, and then ending up with a big find the wisdom that we can use to fill the reservoirs of our leap forwards in life, hopefully. mind with blissfulness and inspiration, and thus live the remainder of our lives happily and to best advantage. The first premise is that alongside all the great advice we may ever get, one thing that stands out, is the need to Firstly we should each know that we are all blessed with a experiment with the 'energy' of change. certain (yet adequate) amount of intelligence, so do not be worried about whether you have or have not got that. We Everything, absolutely everything we perceive ought to be all have! considered as being 'a lever for change' and, if used successfully, the results can truly 'inspire' both ourselves Going back once again, but to step three: the way to find a and as importantly, all those around us. Perhaps the most pure source of wisdom is to silently meditate on certain important thing in life, is to be 'inspired', so do things that specific objects. What objects? Compassion for everything you are 'inspired' to do. that is happening these days, combined with a faith in the potential for continual but slow improvement and a wish The first problem comes when you realise that even for that to happen for everyone's benefit, including though something may inspire you, it's not necessarily ourselves. We are part of everything and everything is worth doing - in all cases! So, going-back using step one to part of us. find worthwhile inspiration, we need to combine it with a reliable form of wisdom. The resulting wisdom is telling us that we are all, in some When you think about it this is what we are truly looking way, connected and that though we may not be able to for in life and it is not always that easy to find. sense the full scale of these connections, they truly exist. They are actually the very fabric of what causes Going back using step two, in order to gain a reliable form 'everything' to exist. Knowing this wisdom, is 'knowing' of wisdom, we need to use a little intelligence. the need to love all beings, as if they are each your long Intelligence is rather like the pressure in a water pipe. You lost son or daughter - now rediscovered. Knowing this is need enough to make the water flow. Too much can make knowing all such connections exist. The science is the things become somewhat uncontrollable. The pipes could mathematics. The wisdom is the knowledge. even burst if excessive pressure is present! So, use intelligence quite sparingly when using it to 'divine' a pure Getting to know this takes practice, but the results are source of wisdom. The pointer is to be gentle with undeniably startling.

INTERNATIONAL DOWSING DAY & SINGING THE SONGLINES

Sunday 5 May was International Dowsing Day; Dowsers from the Trencrom Dowsers group and Earthsingers were joined by PC folk on Trencrom Hill, near Hayle. Jill Moss of Trencrom Dowsers tells us about it…

Hamish Miller and Paul Broadhurst's Athena energy current passes over the hill, (the Apollo and Athena energy lines were explored by them and their partners, Ba and Vivienne, in their epic 10-year journey, recorded in The Dance of the Dragon and a set of beautiful hand-painted maps). Before the main focus at 3pm the line was dowsed and found to be approximately 15 feet wide. Over 60 dowsers, Earthsingers led by Danu Fox, as well as members of Parallel Community, sang, chanted, read poems, sounded gongs and drummed - sending love, harmony and healing along the current. Danu had composed a chant incorporating the significant sites along the current, from Skellig Michael off the south west coast of Ireland, across Cornwall, through Europe to Mount Carmel, where Hamish, Ba and the others ended their journey. A happy, sunny occasion in a glorious setting and the afternoon was completed by a cream tea in Ba's lovely garden. Last year the focal point of the ceremony was at Carn Lês Boel, where the Michael and Mary energy currents flow in/out of the Atlantic, and this year PC member and Trencrom Dowser John Watts felt that this important site should not be excluded. Before the 3 pm focus he dowsed for a pattern or pictogram around the node point and a deeply indented, irregular seven pointed star was found. The Mary and Michael lines were measured at about nine feet wide, with seven strands in each line. At 3 pm John, (brave and alone!) sang and chanted, visualising the lines spreading across the country and beyond, as conduits for consciously directed love, well-being and healing. Shortly afterwards a group of German tourists appeared on the headland and John succeeded in starting one woman off on her dowsing journey! He then measured the lines again. He writes, "Both were now twelve feet wide and while I was still only able to detect seven strands within the Michael line there were now nine in the Mary line. Dowsing the pictogram showed that the points of the star had softened and the indentations rounded, so while it was no bigger it had come to resemble a flower with seven petals rather than a star". After the event, the Athena current on Trencrom Hill was found to have doubled in width. For more information on Trencrom Dowsers, go to http://www.trencromdowsers.org.uk

Singing and Dowsing the Athena current on Trencrom Hill. (Photo: GREGORY LEACH)

Earthsinger Danu Fox introducing the chant, incorporating all the significant points along the Athena energy current. (Photo: GREGORY LEACH)

Meanwhile, over at the easternmost end of the Michael and Mary line, at St Margaret’s Church, Hopton on Sea, Norfolk, another celebration was going on. Brian Howard writes … National Dowsing Day on 5th May coincided with our annual Mayday Fayre, (see video on PC site) so we had many visitors to the Village taking part with us. Sue did a great job leading the singing & dancing and we had drums, gongs, pipes and a load of other stuff. Everyone enjoyed it and stayed for a brief on what it was all about. The lines grew as they did last year this time to engulf the whole site within their boundaries. They were still as wide more than a week later. The node is now a very, very, powerful place, full of lovely balanced calming energy. I’m sure with all this attention Mary & Michael are getting stronger by the month, and I know they enjoyed the day as well. They were so fizzy. Here are some pictures of our celebrations.

Singing the Lines at St Margaret’s, Hopton

THE WAY OF THE DRAGON

By PC member HANNAH SPENCER

The ravager of the night, the burner who has sought out barrows of old and found his hoard of undefended joy. The smooth dragon swims through the gloom enfolded in flame, the folk of that country hold him in dread. (Beowulf)

The mythical, fire-breathing beast which swoops effortlessly over the landscape, guards untold riches in the midst of its coils and draws valiant heroes into ferocious battle, the dragon has acquired a unique place in the minds and imaginations of mankind. All cultures past and present recognise this magical creature, be it known as the dragon or the synonymous terms of serpent, snake or worm. Through the heroic stories of Jason and the Golden Fleece, the Lambton Worm, Beowulf, Sigurd and Fafnir, St George, St Michael and Hercules to name but a few, the dragon or serpent is integral to our culture and heritage.

But the symbolic role of the dragon runs far deeper than simple folk stories and myths. To delve beneath the surface of these ancient stories is to discover clues to the nature of our very existence.

Everyone has heard of ley lines, a phenomenon named by Alfred Watkins in the 1930s. Watkins discovered that the ancient roads of Britain, often long pre-dating the Roman period, followed arrow straight lines across vast distances, connecting villages, ancient burial mounds, churches, stone circles and many other sites of ancient and sacred significance. Many of these place names included the syllable 'ley,' hence the term 'ley line' was born.

A few decades later, ley lines were associated with electromagnetic (EM) energy currents which criss-cross not only Britain but the whole world, connecting sacred and religious sites of all cultures across the globe. These currents, readily detectable by dowsers, are also known as Fairy Paths in Europe and Dragon Paths or Feng Shui to the Chinese, and are known and understood by almost all traditional cultures across the world. It is these energy currents that are symbolised by the dragon or serpent. But why are these currents of such universal significance, and why is man depicted to be in constant battle with them?

The correct exposure to EM energy is essential for our health and well-being. For example, ultraviolet light is needed for our bodies to synthesise Vitamin D, and the condition Seasonally Affected Disorder (SAD) is caused by a lack of exposure to daylight. On a simple level, everyone feels happier when the sun is shining. An artificial chamber which blocks all exposure to EM energy provokes feelings of panic, dread and hysteria. And in the opposite case, an artificial elevation of EM energy evokes feelings of intense well-being and euphoria. Just like the typical transcendent religious experience.

So people are consciously or intuitively drawn to sites where the EM energy is elevated, where the ley currents are channelled or transfixed by natural or artificial means. The slaying, or rather, transfixing of the dragon, or the energy current it represents, is a 7 metaphor for the pooling or channelling of the energies. These special sites became integral to the local spiritual or religious life, and this sanctity transcends time, place and culture.

It is well known that sites of religious significance retain their sanctity over many centuries or millennia. Archaeologists have discovered that in the ancient land of Sumer, now modern day Iraq, there was a temple to the god Enki, built on the site of no less than seventeen earlier temples. In Egypt, a building was not considered sacred unless built on the site of another sacred building. Many churches and mosques were built on the sites of earlier pagan shrines or ancient burial mounds, and many Holy Wells in Britain were once revered by the Celtic religion. The Shanidar Cave in Eastern Europe has been a place of reverence for over 20,000 years, not only to modern humans but Neanderthals as well.

Why? Because all these sites are situated on focal points of the earth-energy, and since time immemorial man has associated them with his spiritual experience and his Gods- whoever those Gods may be.

Why was the dragon chosen to symbolise the earth-energies?

A clue is given in Hamish Miller's book The Sun and the Serpent, in which he dowsed the St Michael ley line which runs from Cornwall to Norfolk. Although ley lines follow arrow-straight lines over long distances, Hamish showed that when followed locally, they are much more organic and fluid, and follow a twisting, serpentine route. There are no straight lines in nature, after all. This is one reason, although the full story is likely more complex, for the integral association of ley lines with the dragon or serpent.

Many churches situated on ley lines are dedicated to St Michael, St Mary or St George, all known for their dragon- slaying exploits. And many places now linked to St Michael were previously associated with the Celtic god Beli, who was also a dragon-slayer. Bronze Age burial mounds and long barrows, regarded with superstitious dread in later culture as referenced in Beowulf, were often associated with dragons and treasure. This treasure is of course spiritual rather than physical - the transcendent energy surge which uplifts and enlightens the soul. And so the dragon or serpent was traditionally the great benefactor of mankind, by way of the great metaphysical power it represented.

In China, the dragon is the most revered of all creatures. In Aztec and Mayan myth, the God who civilised and educated the people was called Quetzalcoatl or Kukulkan respectively, both meaning 'Feathered Serpent.' And even in the Garden of Eden, the much maligned serpent was representative of the Tree of Knowledge. And it is also for this reason that the serpent is intricately associated with healing and medicine. The caduceus, two serpents entwined around a stick, is an ancient symbol of healing and of Aesculapius, the Greek God of healing. It is still seen on every ambulance and medical insignia as the symbol of the NHS.

And the final question: why the battle with the dragon?

The path to heaven, God, enlightenment, whatever name you choose to give it, is not easy. The heroic battle with the dragon or serpent is metaphoric of the battle of life which we must all accomplish to reach The Truth. When the dragon is defeated, the treasure he guards, the transcendence of the soul, is yours. This is the esoteric meaning of the universal story of the dragon- slayer.

But as always, people naturally fear what they don't understand, and wish to avoid what is hard to do. And so in more recent history the dragon-serpent became demonised and feared, a danger to be avoided.

And so, after haunting the dreams and nightmares of our subconscious minds for millennia, the reason why is now clear. The dragon is the symbol of ourselves: our souls and the spiritual life-force of the earth which feeds our souls. And this most beautiful and majestic being will no doubt continue to haunt us for millennia to come.

PC Member HANNAH SPENCER http://light-onecandle.blogspot.co.uk

A JOURNEY INTO ENLIGHTENMENT

Parallel Community Member Brian Howard has sent us a “personal account of my introduction to Mary & Michael, Hopton, Norfolk”.

It all began in the Millennium year of 2000. I was (in hindsight) fortunate enough to be elected Borough Councillor for Hopton on Sea ward for the next 4 years, (which turned out to be 10 years).

Whilst walking round my new patch I noticed a church, or rather just the tower, sticking up through a dense undergrowth of trees and ivy, enclosed in an unsightly security fence. It was the ruined Church of St Margaret’s. I asked many of my new constituents what it was and how it had got into the state it was. A majority didn’t know anything about it, much to my surprise. But my inquiries were answered at the first Parish Council (PC) meeting I attended, and that is when I decided to do something about it.

There followed many meetings with the PC, Borough Council, Church Commissioners and English Heritage. We concocted a rough plan to start looking for funding to preserve and open up the ruin again. In the meantime the then PC allowed me access to try and clear the years of neglect and weeds from around the site and get an idea of what was required. It took me and a good friend a month of hard back-breaking graft to achieve some semblance of tidiness about the place. It took chainsaws, axes, brush cutters and a load of other heavy duty ground clearance machinery, all loaned by generous contractors and friends. But no hands: there were just us two. I am lucky now some 13 years on to have a dedicated team of volunteers who give up their time whenever they can to keep the site clear and maintain the gardens that surround the site to a high Local schoolchildren and WI members planting heritage apple trees. standard. We have won Silver Gilt and Silver awards from the Borough In Bloom judges over the last two years.

During this time I was totally unaware of any energy lines or dowsing for that matter. But there was something in the background that kept me on the case whenever I thought of giving it up. Little did I know how powerful this something was.

While we were working there one afternoon, a chap turned up on a bike, rather scruffy and weather-worn, and asked what was happening to the place. I told him what the plans were and he lit up. “At last,” he said, “someone has heard the call to save the place and the Leylines.” Leylines, says I, what are they? Then he introduced me to the ‘bible’, “The Sun & the Serpent”, and from then on I was hooked. I read and read this book over and over, try to dowse, with no success, saying “It’s all BS” and put it on the back-burner. Then one day when I was inside the church I had a very strange feeling of something watching me. It was unreal. Little did I know then that I was standing on the node point. I was rocked back & forth and experienced a flush of light going up in the air for about 8 foot or more. There was also a sense of people around me, but no sounds at all. I was, to say the least, scared. But after a while when I had finished what I was doing, I felt a sense of complete calm and tranquillity. I didn’t think any more of it for a few days as I was busy elsewhere, but when I returned to do a bit more work, when I entered the church I was met by an overwhelming sense of belonging; without prompting I went to the node point and said “Thank you, spirits: I will carry on”. What made me say that? I don’t know. But I do now; there are some 300 spirits in there sometimes, BSD dowsing weekend at St Margaret’s (photo: Susan Bowness) none of them want to move on, and all are happy. There

9 are loads of other anomalies there as well; more on those later.

The next time I went I took my bent coat hangers along and tried dowsing again. I didn’t know what questions to ask or what to expect. But lo and behold, they worked, crossed, spun: you name it, they did it. It was only after reading up on it from Hamish’s “Wee Dowsing Book” that I was able to decode the reactions. 13 years later I now communicate regularly with the spirits, Mary & Michael and other stuff in there. It has led me to meet many like-minded people and new friends, and the all important Earth Healing work. To say dowsing has changed my life would be an understatement. It has opened up my spiritual portal, which I didn’t know existed before, and led me to healing through Reiki, and Earth Healing through blessing and prayer. All sorts of previously mysterious sensations and feelings are being brought out of the dark and into the light, my light; everything now has a purpose and reason for being there: it’s wonderful.

I have got so much to thank Mary & Michael for, it would fill a book. And it is all because of the writings and inspiration of one Mr Hamish Miller: my mentor and guide through this world. I can always feel his presence inside the church when I’m there, as if he was keeping an eye on things. I dearly wish I had met him. Blessings to you Hamish: we will meet one day, I know.

The project to preserve the ruins has now reached a very sensitive stage. We are very close to securing the funding needed to carry out the work. With the help of the Great Yarmouth Preservation Trust, who are now on board and have submitted our bid in the proper HLF lingo, we are confident in getting it. It also includes training for overseas students in the art of restoring ancient buildings and techniques. A steering group of three Parish Councillors has been set up to help the Trust see it through; without me, much to my disappointment, to say the least. But that leaves me free now to look after the lines and spirits there, who were always top of the list anyway.

Our dedicated team of volunteers still put in the hours to make the surrounding area look great and do a marvellous job organising the Fayres etc. I thank them all from the bottom of my heart.

Brian Howard: Project Coordinator

PC AT HEARTLANDS

BA MILLER writes … On April 6th/7th Parallel Community had a stall at the Holistic Health and Spiritual Weekend at Heartlands, near Camborne. Heartlands, a new complex in Cornwall, is well worth a visit. The building where the Holistic Health weekend was held had great facilities for drinks and light refreshments and plenty of free parking. The hall was light and spacious which allowed each exhibitor freedom to talk to the interested people. Both days were well attended and we were delighted as people of all ages especially the young seemed interested in what we had to share. I would like to give a big thank you to David Anderson and Lynn Forest who gave up their weekend to help me and make it a success. Ba Miller

TRENCROM DOWSERS

The group’s next visit is planned for Sunday 9 June and is a visit to Carwynnen Quoit, near Camborne, a late Neolithic burial chamber which collapsed in 1967. Carwynnen Quoit was recently purchased by the Sustainable Trust (www.sustrust.co.uk), which is now working with archaeologists to rebuild it. Also take a look at www.giantsquoit.org. This is an unusual project which is of great interest to dowsers of earth energies. Pip Richards, of the Sustainable Trust, will be speaking to the dowsers there. This is a joint event with Tamar Dowsers and West Cornwall Dowsers. http://www.trencromdowsers.org.uk (A short film on Carwynnen Quoit can be found here: http://vimeo.com/65998702 The film explores the experience of archaeologists and volunteers, uncovering memories and artifacts during the Quoit excavation in 2012.)

MAKING KEFIR AND KOMBUCHA

New PC Member MARTIN STILWELL from Redruth has sent us the following article.

This is a short article on the benefits of probiotic products such as kefir and kombucha, and a quick ‘how to’ on making your own, which I hope you will want to do after reading this! Let me point out straight away that I am not a doctor, scientist or qualified nutritionist, but I have read a great deal about probiotics, diet and health in general, and kefir and kombucha in particular, and have been using both for a couple of years or more. Put simply, my belief is that the majority of people have a compromised gut

10 flora and an immune system that is working less than perfectly, to put it mildly. That leads to toxicity in the body which manifests itself as dis-ease, “irritable bowel syndrome”, allergies, intolerances or whatever other label the medical world and drug companies decide to put on it.

I don’t pretend to understand all the science but let’s just say that your body is a complicated place, though beautifully put together. How it deals with the food you eat is a critical part of the whole living process, and the trillions of cells of different bacteria that live in a properly functioning gut play a vital part in that process. To use a car analogy, it doesn’t matter how good the fuel is that you put in, if the engine’s not running properly, the oil is low, the air filter is blocked and, more importantly these days, the computer system isn’t functioning, then the car won’t go well, you won’t get maximum performance and sometimes it won’t even start. So, getting your gut flora in good shape is important and I believe that kefir and kombucha will do that for you.

Kefir is fermented milk, and can only be made from dairy, preferably unpasteurised, unhomogenised milk. The fermentation is triggered by Kefir “grains,” consisting of various species of symbiotic bacteria and yeast. Bacteria (mostly lactobacteria and streptococci) ferment lactose, which is the sugar found in milk; yeasts perform alcohol fermentation, producing negligible amounts of alcohol. The resulting drink has a pleasantly tangy taste, similar to yoghurt.

Kombucha is fermented, sweetened tea with different active bacteria, including cetobacter xylinum, acetobacter xylinoides, gluconobacter bluconicum, acetobacter aceti and acetobacter pasteurianum. The resulting drink varies in taste depending on how long it has fermented, how warm an environment it has fermented in and how long it has been kept for. Personally, mine ferments for about a week during the summer and is then kept in the fridge in a flip top bottle. That gives a wonderful, refreshing, slightly fizzy and probiotic drink.

Making kefir

So simple! All you need is some milk, some kefir grains and a non-metallic bowl. Grains are available from anyone you know who makes kefir (me maybe?), or by post from Ebay. They look like little pieces of pipe-cleaner, or fluffed up pieces of boiled rice and they’re very resilient.

When you start first time, give the grains a quick rinse in some nice water (ie preferably not tap!), put them into your non- metallic bowl and pour on your lovely milk – if not unpasteurised, unhomogenised, then at least organic. How much? Well, start with 1/2pint to a pint and build up as the grains grow, as they will as they do their work and you continue to feed them! Cover with a clean cloth and keep them somewhere warmish, out in your kitchen, in the sun sometimes maybe. The fermentation will work quicker the hotter the environment, so after a couple of days, when you see thickening and a few bubbles, take your kefir, strain through a non-metallic sieve, put the strained kefir in the fridge to keep and use and put the grains into a clean bowl, top up with more milk and start the process again. (I prefer not to rinse, others do).

Should you wish to slow things down or when you go away, just put the bowl in the fridge, covered with a cloth or muslin, and it will hibernate till you take it out and put it back into the warm. If you forget about it and it appears dried up, don’t worry! Just put some more lovely milk into the bowl, put it in the warm and your super-tough kefir will fire up again. Occasionally I take my grains and cut each one in two to double my population – then I have more grains to give away! I use a super sharp ceramic knife as kefir and metal are not good together

Use your kefir as you would yoghurt. Add fruit if you like, put it on your granola, cook with it……..

Making kombucha

Also super-easy! I make mine with organic green tea, though you can use black tea or herbal and fruit teas. You will get different results depending on which tea you use and I have more information on that if needed (or Google, or read Harald Tietze’s book – Kombucha Miracle Fungus).

You’ll need a kombucha starter, sometimes called a Scoby, or fungus. Again available from me, or, yes, Ebay! I make 2 litres or about 4 pints of tea using my filtered water and 2 or 3 teaspoons of organic green tea or 2 to 3 teabags. Let it brew well and then strain. Add 160grams or about 5.5oz white granulated sugar while the tea is still warm, and stir until dissolved. (Don’t forget, if you’re thinking that’s a lot of sugar, this is the kombucha’s food and very little sugar will remain after the fermentation). Put the tea into a non-metallic bowl (glass, porcelain or highly glazed earthenware) with a good wide top (big pudding basin or mixing bowl type). You can buy a purpose made kombucha container which will have a tap but it’s not necessary.

If this is your first kombucha brew, then you need to add either some of the liquid that came with your starter, or a couple of tablespoons of cider vinegar or white vinegar. For subsequent brews, just add a bit of the previous brew to the next one. When the tea is cool enough to put your finger into comfortably, pop your kombucha starter into the tea. It may float, it may sink. Either is fine! Cover with a cloth or muslin and put your container somewhere out of the way and warm. In the summer, 11 somewhere in the kitchen will be fine, in winter, maybe the airing cupboard or somewhere else reasonably warm, ideally 70-84 degrees F or 23-28 degrees C.

The fermentation will take 5-10 days, depending on the temperature. When is it ready? Well, if you taste a little bit and it’s still tasting sweet then it’s not ready. Leave it another day and taste again. You’re looking for a zingy, non-sweet taste with a cider- like tang to it. When you’re happy with it, take the fungus from the top of your brew and you’ll notice that it will have produced another scoby under the original one. Peel the two apart and now you have double the production capacity! Or one to give to a friend!

If you’re starting another brew then the scoby can go straight on to the next batch of tea and off you go again, while the newly grown one can go onto another batch, or into a lidded container, with a little of the fermented brew, and into the fridge where it will sit, dormant, till you need it or give it to a friend. Strain your lovely liquid through a fine sieve (or I use muslin) and then bottle. I use flip top glass bottles but anything glass is good. Be aware that the kombucha may fizz up even when it’s been strained and is in bottle and in the fridge. You may need to release the gas, and be aware that your flip top bottle may pop when you flip the top! There is a recommendation not to ‘overdo’ the use of either kefir or kombucha when you first start using it. Personally, I use both as and when I feel like it and I listen to my body, not just about probiotics but about anything that I’m eating or drinking.

I hope that you found this interesting and that you might be inspired to try one or the other, or both. I can be contacted through www.parallelcommunity.com or on 01209 216358. © Martin Stillwell 2013

HEALING LIGHT FESTIVAL

The Healing Light Festival is on June 9th from astrologer Marcus Mason; Tim Salisbury, consultant 10am to 4.30pm, at Princess Pavilion. Medical Herbalist; Peter Smith, registered Falmouth TR11 4AR. With music, therapists, Homoeopath; clairvoyant Debbie Clayton.; and stallholders, clairvoyants, reiki … etc. many more. More information at Therapists will include Sue Weaver, who http://www.thehealinglightfestival.com/ specialises in crystal healing and Shamanism;

STONEHENGE TO AVEBURY TREK

Friends of the Earth invite you to join a fundraising trek from Stonehenge to Avebury on June 29th. This trek, lasting for one day, is graded “tough” and is 26 miles long. There is a registration fee of £59, and the fundraising target is £120. “Starting at the prehistoric circles of Stonehenge we'll take a trip through 6000 years of British history as we make our way to the Neolithic henge monument of Avebury. Stonehenge is the most famous stone circle in the world and Avebury contains the largest stone circle in Europe. Crossing beautiful countryside with an abundance of wildlife and plants, we'll cross historic chalk downs dotted with ancient earth-works and burial mounds. Passing the highest point in Wiltshire and the ancient landmark of Silbury Hill, we'll reach the finish in Avebury ancient stones.” Booking and information on the Friends of the Earth website, at http://www.foe.co.uk/events/stonehenge_avebury_36656.html

MEET THE MEMBERS

LOTS MORE NEW PEOPLE are signing up to the Meeting Place, PC’s internet home. Members now total 448 people as of June 2nd. When new members sign up, they are asked the question, “Tell us something about yourself, or share what skills & talents that you could bring to the Parallel Community table.” This question frequently promotes some very interesting answers, and hopefully opens a dialogue with others who feel they might have something in common. The following were responses from people who have joined over the course of the last month or so. If any of them resonates with you – get on line, and make contact. After all, that is the whole point of Parallel Community: to bring people together who are doing amazing work, and to make them realise that they are not alone.

Ernst from Ontario, Canada, says, “I am not sure what skills beyond, to discover alternate lifestyles, energy sources, and I can bring. All I know is for the last while I have gained a economic systems. I feel the need to seed a peaceful strong desire to connect with others, both locally, and movement within my community that challenges local, 12 provincial, and federal government, to seek alternative Members have also been joining from the United States. ways to educate our children, to strive for a simpler life, Dale from Lancaster, Ohio, is “holding space for all that and to spread universal love, joy, and happiness.” brings greater peace and healing to Earth.” Nancy from New York is “a filmmaker, currently working on a film about Ayesha from Redruth, Cornwall, says, “I work as a health Lennon, exploring his energy and how it has reached so care assistant, I am nearly qualified as a reflexologist and many people with his message of peace.” Edward from Kew now training to be a healer. I am passionate about animals Gardens, New York, is a “Tarot Card reader, intuitive, and the environment and recently have (one step at a time) spiritual advisor.” Milo from Rohnert Park, CA, says, “I am a turned vegetarian. I'm only 24, but I am completely Behavioural Psychologist using Transactual Analysis and different from some of the people of my age. I don't long to Cognitive Therapy, often using Clinical Hypnotherapy. get drunk or sit in front of the tv, I yearn to learn, create Mostly I work with those who have anxiety, substance and try to do the best I can to create a peaceful surrounding abuse smoking and eating disorders... Workings of the mind for myself and the people/animals in my life. I want to try that affect attitudes and behaviours are my major interest. and find people that share the same interests or that I can I've read and sometime used material from your fields learn from and create a better way of living.” mentioned.”

Kimbery from Springfield, Missouri, is a “reiki master who Crissie from Swindon says, “I'd probably describe myself as can assist in remote energy work.” a quiet individual, and a life long seeker of wisdom and the sacred in all life - and for me all of creation is alive! Always Richard from Norfolk is a published writer. He says, “I share learning, I have also led courses in various subjects related the caring of my disabled step daughter. I am sceptical but to spirituality and earth mysteries, as well as being an intrigued about concepts of energy and dowsing. I am occasional speaker at conferences such as the Druid married to a homeopath, so some of that discipline rubs off. Network annual gatherings. I am an initiated Druid, leading Oh and I am a medical lawyer (still deciding what I really the Gorsedd of Cor Gawr at Stonehenge twice a year; I am want to do when I grow up).” Catherine from Hayle, an animist, shamanist and deeply connected to the energies Cornwall, does sports massage, using dowsing and Reiki to of the land and the seasons. I can be found regularly guide her through this healing process through her hands walking the Ridgeway and around the Avebury complex, as and intuition. She says she is level three qualified and a well as following ancient tracks and pathways further afield member of the federation of holistic therapists. Yvonne from my home. I'm also an experienced Celebrant and have from Shropshire is a Reiki Master, about to pursue some trained with the organisation 'Greenfuse'. I read tarot and Shamanic training. She says she has a “shared ethos with the runes, and was resident tarot reader for Gaea in your community, and a desire to make a difference having Aylesbury.” become disillusioned with mainstream politics and organisational corruption.” Kenneth from Ormskirk spent Vanda from Buckinghamshire says she is “a long time “18 years in the army, finding how pointless getting injured seeker always looking to connect with kindred souls. in action for this country really is. 21 years as volunteer Apathetic writer seeking inspiration and motivation. community advocate. Artist, used to be a woodcarver and Meditation and spiritual study are as impossible for me to turner. Somebody who is not happy with the way things live without as air. I am a devotee of Advaita Vedanta. are in England and the world.” Cornwall is my spiritual home and hopefully soon to be my physical home too.” Elizabeth comes from Launceston, Sarah, from Hampshire, has a diploma in group work, and Cornwall, and is a “retired nurse, spiritual healer, Tarot says, “I regularly attend a Women's Circle run on the lines reader and training to be a psychic medium. Enjoy being in of Jean Bolen's "Millionth Circle". We loosely follow the the garden and any open spaces.” Sue from Mullion, Pagan cycle by creating our own ceremonies as we are Cornwall, says, “I practice Reiki, mainly on friends & family. moved. My life seems to be stalling, at the moment, as a I am currently on a crystal healing course, as I am result of my daughter's death from cancer.” “I am a retired passionate about stones and crystals & have collected them honest person with a passion for our land and am for many years.” Maria from Glastonbury is another reiki interested in learning more and sharing experience with practitioner, as well as an artist and teacher. “I celebrate others,” says new member Barbra Ann from London. the solar festivals and full moons and make new art and Dianne from Devon says, “I am a Grandmother helping to writing inspired by the energy of these times. I am a regular home educate two grandchildren in a small way. I love to visitor to megalithic sites and have recently been tutored in bring earth teachings to children.” the art of dowsing!”

Louise from Sussex kindly offers her artistic skills to PC: “I and work in the virtual world of Second Life making medical make my living as an artist... any artistic help needed and training simulations. I am also a writer and blogger. I enjoy I'm your lady.” Susan from Bolton is a “free thinker and a crafts and make jewellery. I spend a lot of time online for seeker of truth and I love my holidays in Cornwall for the my job. I write music and love singing. I home educated my past 25 years.” Fee from Middlesex says, “I am a 55 year old children and have a strong interest in alternative education. woman with three adult children. I am a Quaker. I have a In fact I find it difficult to focus on one activity!” strong interest in past lives and reincarnation, genealogy

This is just a small selection of the people who have joined recently. There are many more, all with their stories to tell. A big warm welcome goes to all these ‘new’ PC people! If you’ve been inspired by what you have read to sign up yourself and open a conversation with any of these people, it’s not difficult. Go to http://www.parallelcommunity.ning.com . Click at the top right where it says, “If you’re not a member, click here to sign up” – (even if you are a long-established PC-er!) and follow the instructions, creating a new account, and click ‘sign up’. If you have already signed up to the Meeting Place but have forgotten your password (it happens), that’s no problem: just click where it says “Forgot your password?” If you have any difficulty at all, email the main PC email address as below and someone will help you. Frances Watts

The next Parallel Community newsletter will be coming out early in August. The deadline for articles etc is Friday July 26. We are always happy to hear from you. Please send articles, letters or comments to the address below, by post or email.

Please feel free to pass this newsletter on to any friends you think might be interested.

The Parallel Community, c/o Treviscoe, Trencrom, Lelant Downs, Hayle, Cornwall TR27 6NP, UK [email protected] www.parallelcommunity.com