Gill and Peter Bacchus are masters of their craft, Biodynamics, and I was lucky enough to spend a bit of time chatting with them after their recent workshop, held in Cromwell, New Zealand. These two are well-educated and switched on to life. They’re also in tune with the how important our relationship is with the planets, stars, earth, and the food we put into our bodies. Gill is the author of “Love Your Veges” [ed: “Veggies” for you Yanks] and Peter has authored “Biodynamic Pasture Management”. with the subtitle Balancing Fertility, Life and Energy.
YOUR FOOD SUPPLY #32: The Dynamic Duo Note: (This video series started 13 years ago, while listening to the audio version of the book, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, when Amanda and I were driving across the U.S. and were seeing the effects of industrial farming in real time while listening to the book.Here’s that first entry Your Food Supply #1To see the whole series, click on the category “Your Food Supply” in the category section of this blog on the right of your screen.
What struck me was, not only how informed Gill and Peter were when giving their workshop and interview, but how passionate they are about “the parts related to the whole” (physically, spiritually, with the plant kingdom, and universe) , and how we are all interconnected. I also appreciated Peter’s awareness of the bigger picture when it comes to globalist and government overreach. He’s clued in.
Gill has a long practical experience of organic vegetable and herb growing, and learning to choose a vegetable-based diet to manage health issues. She has helped children create school gardens, grow and cook vegetables and helped create community gardens. Gill has a masters in science in Soil Science and Human Nutrition and is also the author of Food Full of Life. Peter was raised on a biodynamic dairy farm and later worked as a medicinal herb grower, developing large-scale composting business. He consults widely and has held leadership position in biodynamic farming organizations. The two live near Thames on the north island of New Zealand. They can be reached at p.bacchus@farmside.com.nz and gillbacchus@gmail.com Although they do have a web domain, their website isn’t up and running at the moment, however here’s Gill’s Facebook page.
This year’s workshop was held at Valda Muller’s Organic New Zealand Nuts walnut farm where Valda guided the workshop participants on a walk-around of her property, which is virtually all biodynamic. The workshop was created and managed by Su Hoskins, who is also has an amazing grasp of organic and biodynamic farming, who we’ll interview soon. Sue recently hosted the two-day workshop where the first day was near Wanaka, and the second at Valda’s in Cromwell. You can learn more about Sue on her Facebook page.
If you get a chance, read their books, and if you’re in New Zealand, by all means, attend one of their, and Sue’s workshops.
David Trood, a world-class photographer was shut down during lockdown. All his work was based on taking flights worldwide. He was forced to rethink his life, and his role in relation to the mother earth. Here is a trailer to his story.
David Trood is a prize-winning travel and commercial photographer who pushes the boundaries of visual storytelling with his passionate narrative of people and nature.
He is a Hasselblad Master, and for almost three decades David has successfully completed thousands of editorial, corporate, and commercial assignments in over 40 countries.
David was born in Queensland and is now based in Australia and Denmark. He is a valued contributer at Getty Images and takes on freelance still and video assignments all over the world.
You can find out a bit more about David’s work on his YouTube channel here and at his website
By Susan Dunham “If *Cøvid were a battlefield it would still be warm with the bodies of the unvaccinated. Thankfully the mandates are letting up and both sides of the war stumble back to the new normal.
The *unvcnated are the heroes of the last two years as they allowed us all to have a control group in the great experiment and highlight the shortcoming of the *Cøvid vcns. The unvcnated carry many battle scars and injuries as they are the people we tried to mentally break, yet no one wants to talk about what we did to them and what they forced “The Science“ to unveil. We knew that the waning immunity of the fully *vcnated had the same risk profile as others within society as the minority of the *unvcnated, yet we marked them for special persecution. You see we said they had not “done the right thing for the greater good” by handing their bodies and medical autonomy over to the State.
Many of the so-called health experts and political leaders in New Zealand admitted the goal was to make life almost unlivable for the *unvcnated, which was multiplied many times by the collective mob, with the fight taken into workplaces, friendships, and family gatherings. Today the hard truth is none of it was justified as we took a quick slide from righteousness to absolute cruelty. We might lay the blame on our leaders and health experts for the push but each individual within society must be held accountable for stepping into the well-laid-out trap. We did this despite knowing full well that principled opposition is priceless when it comes to what goes inside our bodies and we let ourselves be tricked into believing that going into another ineffective lockdown would be the fault of the unvaccinated and not the fault of the toxic policy of ineffective *vccines.
We took pleasure in scapegoating the *unvcnated because after months of engineered lockdowns by political leaders blinded by power, having someone to blame and to burn at the stake felt good. We believed we had logic, love, and truth on our side so it was easy to wish death upon the *unvcnated. Those of us who ridiculed and mocked the non-compliant did it because we were embarrassed by their courage and principles and didn’t think the *unvcnated would make it through unbroken and we turned the holdouts into punching bags. Ardern, Bloomfield, Hipkins, Baker, Verrall, Wiles, and the other cast of hundreds in prominent roles need to be held to account for vilifying the *unvcnated in public and fueling angry social media mobs.
The mobs, the mask Nazis, and the *vccine disciples have been embarrassed by “betting against” the *unvcnated because mandates only had the power we gave them. It was not compliance that ended domination by Big Pharma Companies, Bill Gates and his many organizations, and the World Economic Forum… It was THANKS to the people we tried to embarrass, ridicule, mock and tear down.
We should all try and find some inner gratitude for the *unvcnated as we took the bait by hating them because their perseverance and courage bought us the time to see we were wrong.
So if mandates ever return for Cøvid or any other disease or virus, hopefully, more of us will be awake and see the rising authoritarianism that has no concern for our well-being and is more about power and control. The War on the *Unvcnated was lost and we should all be very thankful for that.”
Note: This is an adaption for New Zealand of the original article by Susan Dunham “What We Learned From Hating the *Unvcnated”. You can follow Susan on Instagram @susankaydunham for more articles.
Editors note: * “Controversial terms” that would cause this article to be banned have been altered** in order to reach a wider audience. My apologies. Many other alternative views and pieces that veer from the mainstream narrative suffer a similar fate. These articles, on the whole, by the way are not, on the whole, *msinformation but should be considered under freedom of speech. ** In the spirit of JP Sears and his riotous self-censoring of the word “unbllubbfrerouscinated”
Hopi Indian Chief White Eagle commented a few days ago on the current situation:
Hopi Chief White Eagle
′′ This moment humanity is experiencing can be seen as a door or a hole. The decision to fall in the hole or walk through the door is up to you. If you consume the news 24 hours a day, with negative energy, constantly nervous, with pessimism, you will fall into this hole.
But if you take the opportunity to look at yourself, to rethink life and death, to take care of yourself and others, then you will walk through the portal.
Take care of your home, take care of your body. Connect with your spiritual home. When you take care of yourself, you take care of everyone at the same time.
Do not underestimate the spiritual dimension of this crisis. Take the perspective of an eagle that sees everything from above with a broader view. There is a social question in this crisis, but also a spiritual question. The two go hand in hand.
Without the social dimension we fall into fanaticism. Without the spiritual dimension, we fall into pessimism and futility.
Are you ready to face this crisis. Grab your toolbox and use all the tools at your disposal.
Learn resistance from the example of Indian and African peoples: we have been and are exterminated. But we never stopped singing, dancing, lighting a fire and rejoicing.
Don’t feel guilty for feeling blessed in these troubled times. Being sad or angry doesn’t help at all. Resistance is resistance through joy!
You have the right to be strong and positive. And there’s no other way to do it than to maintain a beautiful, happy, bright posture.
Has nothing to do with alienation (ignorance of the world). It’s a resistance strategy.
When we cross the threshold, we have a new worldview because we faced our fears and difficulties. This is all you can do now:
– Serenity in the storm
– Keep calm, pray everyday
– Make a habit of meeting the sacred everyday.
– Show resistance through art, joy, trust and love.
I love it when spirit nudges us. Our family does an evening reading at our dinner table every night before eating. Without looking at the bookshelf behind me last night, I pulled a random book off the shelf. Then I opened to a random page, then I looked at a random quote.
It’s one of my favorite quotes: “Believe me my young friend, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, that is half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” Kenneth Grahame.
This quote arrives just when we’ve put our Lake Wanaka Yacht Charters business “on pause” due to New Zealand border closures. The lack of tourists is “forcing us to live our dreams” and as we consider and possibly prepare to use the yachts in more of an educational role, for experiential adventures on Lake Wanaka. This is my first love anyway. As every passenger that’s gone out on the lake with me attests, they got more than they bargained for, regarding an experiential sailing experience. Once they get out there, my job, and mission, is to light up their eyes and soul by helping them connect to the wind, the water, the place and themselves, and of course have fun.
Here at Mountain Spirit NZ, we’ve been hooked on the “AirBnB drug” prior to our Covid lockdown, and now we’re advertising for domestic visitors to stay with us with a purpose in mind, whether to just have a digital detox, record some music in our piano studio, or take some yin yoga classes with Amanda in the yurt. We’re stepping out into our own possibilities.
The trick to being fulfilled and successful, (however you personally define success), is stepping out of the way, allowing the Universe/Spirit/God to help out, and importantly, look for those reminder signs when they pop up and recognise them as such, then of course, take action.
I just attended a powerful presentation yesterday here in Wanaka, New Zealand, by Lake Wanaka Tourism They’re our local tourism association. As you can imagine, like many of us in tourism here in New Zealand, they’ve been in on a path or re-inventing themselves. They’ve been working on a new branding program. I’ll write more on that in later in a separate post, as it deserves more time. But I have to mention here, about the power of timing, being at the right place at the right time, taking action when a crisis/opportunity presents itself and listening to spirit. Lake Wanaka Tourism is taking the bold steps to create a wonderful vision of post-covid “tourism” for operators, the land, community and visitors alike.
Here’s just a snapshot of some of the Lake Wanaka tenets going forward: The Vision: “Our aspiration is for the visitor industry to enrich this place, as well as the lives of the local community both now and into the future. To create mutual value for Whanau/whanui (which includes our families , our community, our visitors), and our whenua (our place and natural resources) and our economy.
“Values: Guardianship for our people, our place and our plant; Inclusive and respectful; Living with a sense of balance; bold and free thinking.”
There are plans being put into place with a whole re-adjustment of what it means to be in tourism here in Wanaka, and fortunately, the leadership and staff at Lake Wanaka Tourism are taking on the challenge with heart and purpose. The future looks bright because there’s a proactive approach. I look forward to sharing more about LWT’s and the community’s plans going forward in future posts. I would say LWT is following their spirit course.
Back to the reading about messing about on boats. I can’t wait for the next sign to come down the road, and hit me with a spiritual 2×4. But for now, I thought I’d share this little nudge from Spirit.
This wonderful statement by Sony Renee Taylor has been circulating around lately, and it’s surely a wake up call –
“We will not go back to normal. Normal never was. Our pre-corona existence was not normal other than we normalized greed, inequity, exhaustion, depletion, extraction, disconnection, confusion, rage, hoarding, hate and lack. We should not long to return, my friends. We are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment. One that fits all of humanity and nature.” You can find out more at the Facebook page Over Grow the System
The first step towards creating something is imagining it. We imagine the smell of fresh bread as we tend our sourdough starter. We imagine the taste of ripe tomatoes as we plant out our seedlings. When we lay down the first stone, we imagine laughter and stories from future meals shared in our new home. The ability to create, in our minds, a possible future, is what gives that possibility a chance of being realised.
If all we imagine is business as usual, then that is the world we will create. But if we draw on our curiosity and creativity, we can hold in our minds something much greater than the world we are in. And once that happens, we can begin to act. Find out more about Brennan here.
Let me catch you up on Mountain Spirit New Zealand during these “interesting” times. The first post, was first published on our Instagram feed in March 29th 2020. I thought I’d include it below as a starting point.
May 25, 2020
As New Zealand comes out of lockdown from “Level 3” to “Level 2”, things are still pretty quiet in Wanaka. The kids are back in school which frees me up a bit to post what we couldn’t during lockdown. I thought we’d share what we did here at Mountain Spirit in the following posts. Maybe it will give you some ideas, good for thought, or just some entertainment. Let us know what you think as well.
March 29th 2020
As New Zealand went into lock-down (Stage 4) a few days ago, we had a beautiful sunset to signal our weeks of isolation here in the Wanaka. Although we are home bound, there’s lots of activities and jobs to do. We’ll fill you in as we tick along during this pandemic. We send you well wishes during this time.
As our world moves closer to facing climate change and its consequences, MSI is doing our part to provide education and awareness on how to achieve some measure of personal sustainability.
We invite you to come to Vermont on June 10-12, 2011 for a weekend retreat to explore how to make healthier choices about food, relationships and navigating everyday life in a healthier and more conscious way.
In our upcoming Creating A Sustainable Lifestyle program, we feature some of New England’s most gifted teachers and facilitators.
Henry Homeyer
Henry Homeyer, author of four gardening books and New England garden columnist, will share insights from over 60 years of organic gardening experience.
Jen White
Jen White, Sustainability Coordinator at Colby Sawyer College, will help us understand the global impact of our choices, connect with our values and live sustainably from the heart.
Miles Sherts
Miles Sherts, author and founder of Sky Meadow Retreat in northern Vermont, has been teaching about conflict resolution and communication skills since 1990. Miles will lead a workshop on Conscious Communication.
So please think about joining us at Sky Meadow Retreat in June – at the very least it will get you thinking about what you can do to live more in alignment with the earth, and we guarantee, you’ll learn a few good things about Creating A More Sustainable Lifestyle.
On a morning bike ride around Treasure Beach, Jamaica recently, I was drawn to stop and admire a beautiful hand built sandstone building, surrounded by lush perennial herb and flower gardens, fruit trees and meandering pathways. Shirley, the owner, walked down the hillside, greeted me with a warm, broad smile and welcomed me into her yard for a chat, typical of the Jamaican residents we had met during our two week stay. It turns out Shirley is a well-known herbalist and massage therapist in town, had built the structure herself for her massage business, and within minutes I had signed up to have one of her legendary herbal sweats and relaxation massages. With this vitally important step out of the way, we toured the gardens and learned about the fragrant mixture of wild Jamaican herbs and fruit juices Shirley uses to send her clients to relaxation nirvana.
In Jamaica, the elder women pass their knowledge of herbs and plants from generation to generation, as Shirley’s mother had while she was growing up in nearby Great Bay. Shirley explained the provenence of each plant, either planted from seed, field dug, or gifted from a friend or family member. Her knowledge of the individual characteristics and uses of each plant was remarkable. When we parted over an hour later, I could barely wait until it was my turn to savor her herbal ‘detox’ treatment and relaxation massage.
So it was that the next day, I watched as Shirley chose from her yard the pimento, lemon grass and eucalyptus to help clear my lungs, and lime juice for cleansing my skin. She tossed these and other herbal delights into a cauldron of boiling water over an open fire. She then poured the boiling, aromatic mixture into a clay cauldron tucked inside a three-sided steam room with a cloth door.
In I went, with Shirley’s instructions to stir the mix, ‘breathe’ and stay hydrated with the water she provided. This was not your typical steambath! Immediately, the rich herbal smells filled the small space and I settled in to enjoy a blissful 30 minutes of total relaxation. Next came the oil massage, which included a fascinating philosophical commentary by Shirley about the history of Jamaica, the value of massage, the state of our busy lives, her world travels and education in the United States, and good humored bantering about gender differences. Shirley’s massage combined many styles, and is uniquely her own brand. I dare say it’s one of the finest massages I’ve ever had.
As I ventured back to reality toward the end of the hour, I asked Shirley when she was going to write the Book of Shirley. She laughed heartily and replied, “Everyone wants me to write a book. I say to them, come back and see me and we will continue to talk together and teach each other.” I think I will, Shirley, thanks.
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