Jez posted this in another thread which got me thinking a bit:



I'd like to do this at some point, but my problem is that I'm not local to the area where I now live, and I don't feel the same affinity for the land here that I do in my home county.
Does that matter? Is it about where you live now, where you were born, where you feel most at home?

There's no chance of my moving home again for the foreseeable future...
Badger's Moon
xx

I think that by connecting with the land, where you live now, will begin a process of gaining affinity with it.

I know where you're coming from Badger, I'm an Essex gal at heart, though when I moved to Kent (ok not a million miles away I'll grant) I started reseraching my local area, everything from the Medway Megaliths to local parish churches. I'd also walk along the local beaches, across the downs and you do connect with the land, even if its not the land the bred you.

So now I have sacred spaces (sacred to me at least) a cicrle of trees in Essex, a particular stretch of Beach in kent etc etc etc.

I think the more you connect with the earth the more she connects with you.

Q

In that case I'll do it. Although Cheshire seems a bit lacking in stone circles etc. Some nice forest about though.
There is nowhere on the gods' green earth that gets into my bones more than the range of hills I was born amongst.
The Stiperstones Ridge in Shropshire, in particular an outcrop known as the Devil's Chair. It's one of the few places in this crowded little island where you can find total silence save for curlews crying and the occasional cricket chirping.
Oh, and grockles from Brum complaining about the rock they just stubbed their toes on, but we discount them.
Badger's Moon
xx

Where have you been looking Badger. Cheshire and the surrounding area is overflowing with places of archaeological interest. There are burial mounds, stone circles, standing stones, and such like sites. Then one cannot move a foot without tripping over objects and sites from the Roman period.
Take time to have a browse around these web sites: Megalithic portal and the modern antiquarianI am sure it will inspire you to get your walking boots on.

Oooh! I have been looking in the wrong places haven't I!
Guess what me and BabyBadger are going to be doing over the Easter hols...
Thanks pasher
Badger's Moon
xx

Always glad to be of some use Badger, enjoy your wanderings.
Remember as well that it is always interesting to wander round the sites of old christian churches, as an aweful lot of material from ancient sites, (stone circles, burial mounds, standing stones etc.) was stolen to build the churches. One can sometimes find pre-christian carvings on odd stones in churches.
Also there are the carvings done by the craftsmen who were forced into building the churches and carved little pagan symbols like the green man and the Sheena-na-gig's etc., (I believe) to piss off the bringers of the new religion.

the new religion ? Surely England had been Christian or at least Catholic for 500 years before the appearance of green men etc ..


dav

Oooh Davkin, always one to throw a spanner in the works 'eh

But yes, you're right. According to Hick's The Green Man: A Field Guide, the first recorded date back to around 1340 throughout Europe. That's actually a good book.

It's like the Valley of the White Horses and the Cern Abbas, people are usually surprised to learn that, as far as history goes, they're relatively recent, most dating from the 17 and 1800s (with the exception of Uffington) - people assume they must be much older. A cute little booklet on the subject is Nigel Clarke's The Rude Man of Cerne Abbas and Other Wessex Lanscape Oddities, available through ABE Books or his website.

As for Badger: wot Queenie said about developing a relationship. Flirt. The land upon which you were born is very important, it's like your parents. The places you go after that are like your lovers. Knowing the land and its energies is like finding out about a new partner - you might not always like each other, sometimes it's orgasmic though. Go seduce one another; it's not trying to replace where you came from.

Best wishes,

Marion.

Agree totally with Queenie, and love Thin's analogy too! (Mucky bisom! ).
As well as the man-made things - from whatever periods, get yourself a field guide to trees, and wild flowers, also one for insects, birds, and flutterbyes. They will not only increase your awareness of the land you now find yourself in and will become part of, but will help your awareness of the changing seasons as you OBSERVE Nature "in the round" as it were. (Plus it's very nice to be able to spot a flower and smugly announce it's name etc!)

Then, when Winter descends, get hold of some herbals to read in the long evenings; you'll be amazed at what you will already know about the plants listed.
And have FUN!

Can see the headlines now... "Badger arrested for making indecent proposal to larch tree" I get what you mean though Thin.

Got some of these. The trick I find is remembering to pack them in the car/rucksack when you actually leave the house...

I do this already. Hey I didn't say I did it right...


Can you recommend any good ones? I've got one or two lying around already but if there's one on the curriculum I'm always happy to extend my library.

I've successfully negotiated a weekend off, so I'm taking myself off to the Peak Distrct with a tent and a pair of walking boots for 2 nights
I shall go and be at one with nature all alone for a while.
Badger's Moon
xx

Mine are still packed away after the (ahem, coff coff) "renovation" by the Council. (GRrrr.) But as I recall, most are pretty ancient and picked up in second hand shops so maybe out of print? Pasher does books so may be better for a recommendation? And there's always the WWW!

Great you are escaping soon - me too, this weekend, weather permitting, to Glen Orchy. Free camping - the best type!

Thanks for the plug Tas.
My knowledge of things herbal is very restricted, but from speaking to customers, I am led to believe that the following are all pretty good. Judging by the rapid way they tend to leave my shelves tends to make me think they must be good.

L. Gordon. "A Country Herbal".

Mrs. M. Grieve. "A Modern Herbal, The Medicinal, Culinary, Cosmetic and Economic Properties, Cultivation and Folklore of Herbs, Grasses, Fungi, Shrubs and Trees with all their Modern Scientific Uses". It is published on-line and can be seen here A Modern Herbal On line versions are OK, but not like having a hard copy to read at your leisure.

Scott Cunningham. "Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs". (OK, its a Llewellyn .... but I am told its a good book ....I guess miracles can happen )

P. McHoy, & P. Westland. "The Herb Bible".

Wood, M. I. "Herbs, Growing, Drying and Using Herbs from Cooking to Cosmetics".

B. Griggs. "The Green Witch, A Modern Woman's Herbal". I am told this one is excellent.

John K'Eogh. "An Irish Herbal, the Botanalogia Universalis Hibernica".

D. Hoffman. "Complete Herbal, A Safe and Practical Guide to Making and Using Herbal Remedies".

Got the Cunningham one: don't rate it. At all.

I love that book, I've been raving about it for years!

Another one to add:

Food for Free Richard Mabey - an oldy but a goody

It's old but a fantastic book, Culpeppers Herbal is, in my opinion, a classic that anyone interested in herbalism should have on their shelf.

I rather like the older herbal books, full of fascinating information.. I don'tknow the books seem more intimate than the bogstandard herbals of today.

And I have the Cunningham's magical herb book, it's naff.