A purple flower growing from the ashes
Published: Sun, 12/31/17
I recently read an account of a trip to Alaska. Part of the expedition involved taking a boat along a river where the author observed a whole mountainside covered with “an incredible sea of purple flowers”. When the guide was asked what these flowers were he replied that they were ‘Fireweed’, which is the first plant to establish itself after a forest has been obliterated by a fire. After the Fireweed has established itself for a year or two the saplings will start to grow again and eventually a new forest will cover the mountainside again.
I was sufficiently intrigued to find out more and it turns out that ‘Fireweed’ is familiar in the UK as Rosebay Willow Herb. Apparently during the blitz in WW2 this flower would be the first to bloom on burned out bomb sites. Many years ago a friend of mine bought a worked out hop farm in Kent. The soil was exhausted from years of intensive farming. The Rosebay Willow Herb quickly established itself and then birch trees followed soon after. One of the references I found online talked about the ‘magic of fireweed, capable of healing environments, animals and people. Apparently it has medicinal properties and can be used to treat pain and swelling as well as other problems.
The reference I started with was written by someone who had recently had a major disaster affecting his business. The trip to Alaska was intended to be an opportunity to get a fresh perspective on life. Seeing the Fireweed revitalising the devastated landscape gave him encouragement to rebuild his life and business. This web page takes a similar inspiration from Fireweed together with some rather nice pictures https://www.lotuswei.com/fireweed/
So, here we are at the end of another year. Yes, I know dates are arbitrary, man made, things that only have as much significance as we give them, but we are passed the shortest day and I am hoping I can see each day getting a little bit longer, possibly just wishful thinking at the moment. Also, we spent Christmas in Epsom and the days are over 20 minutes longer there compared with here in Humberside, so since Christmas my days have actually got shorter.
Whatever did not go well last year for any reason don’t dwell on it. Learn what you can from your experiences and then let the purple flowers grow out of the ashes. The Fireweed is the first stage of healing and regeneration which will always happen in due course if you just allow nature to take its course.
I am developing the Stav training programme for next year in detail. First event will be martial arts training on the 13th of January. http://www.iceandfire.org.uk/train.html Lots more to follow.
Happy new year
regards
Graham
PS I know that most of the training I have provided over recent years has been very martially orientated. I know that this is not everyone’s primary interest so I am experimenting with a training scheme which will focus more on exploring the stances and getting to know the runes in more depth. I have been working on this for over a year so if you do get involved you will be a guinea pig, or a pioneer, which ever image you prefer. If such a programme might interest you then please check out https://iceandfire.org.uk/foundation.html