Full Moon in Virgo

Early on Wednesday morning the moon reaches its fullest point. So what does this hold in store for us? Well, she will be full in the sign of Virgo so we can expect this to be a time for healing and serving others. Its also ideal week to concentrate on our body and to take responsibility for our health. On 11th March at 2:38 the moon is full and the energies that surround this event will affect our lives for the day before and will continue for several days afterwards. So let’s look at the impact of this Virgoan full moon. Virgo is the healer, nurse, doctor and therapist. According to Astrolger, Lisa Dale Miller, “This sign is the true healer of the zodiac because in its mind, if it causes pain, it warrants attention and a cure. For Virgo, caring comes in the form of finding workable solutions to everyday problems.” This is the time to take full responsibility for our health. The current alignment of planets invite in depth questioning of our beliefs about medicine, healing and disease. Listen to what your body is trying to tell you about your life. An interesting exercise is to do a body scan. Lie down in a warm, candlelit space and relax deeply. Take your attention to the top of your head and listen to the message of your skull, then take your attention to your eyes – what are they trying to tell you. The message might pop up in your head as a thought, you might hear a voice or perhaps see a picture in your mind of the body part and what it is feeling like. Some parts of the body may not give a message. Others may have lots to tell you. Once you have completed this exercise, scanning through the whole body, write down what you can remember of the observations. It makes for interesting reading and gives you a deeper insight into how your body is really feeling. Its a good opportunity to start a detox programme of body, mind and space. So embark on a few days of healthful eating, decluttering and addressing any issues that come up through journalling or talking them through with a close friend. Volunteering and helping others is also key at this time. Celebrate your hard work as a carer for your children and extended family. Take a walk in a beautiful location, book a massage or treat yourself to a candlelit bath. Enjoy the bountiful full moon energy and let us know what you got up to when the moon was bright!

learn all about it

It is one of my missions to get up to Bucks to meet the folk at the Low Impact Living Initiative at some point in the near future. I have just received a course list for 2009 and the breadth of workshops on offer is quite incredible. Fancy trying your hand at straw bale building or making your own natural beauty products? How about unearthing the secrets of tree bogs? Or discovering how to make your own pedal powered generator. It makes me feel so good to know that there are such passionate people out there busily actioning powerful positive change. Here are some ideas from LILI about how we can make a difference: First of all, take a deep breath - there are so many things you could do, but you can't do them all at once. Doing things slowly, one at a time until you get used to them will probably increase your chance of success, and help you stay sane.
 Energy: make sure your home is well insulated, and that you have energy-efficient appliances, and low-energy light bulbs. Then you can think about installing solar hot water, photovoltaics or even a wind turbine; or you can switch to a renewable energy supplier.
 Transport: walk or cycle to work or school; use public transport; work from home; car share; use biodiesel.
 Housing: use eco-paints, lime, linseed oil putty and other environmentally friendly materials; if thinking of self-build, consider natural materials like straw-bales, wood, rammed earth or cob; join a community/housing co-op.
 Food: grow your own; keep chickens or bees; eat less meat; buy organic; use farmers’ markets, veg boxes and local suppliers (reduce food miles).
 Water: install water-saving facilities such as rainwater harvesting, greywater recycling, and a compost loo.
 Waste: start a compost heap; recycle; re-use or repair things instead of throwing them away.
 Consumerism: you have the ultimate power of deciding where or whether to spend your money. Don’t believe the hype. Research tends to show that populations with an average income of around $10,000 (eg Portugal) are happiest – basic needs are met, communities and traditions are intact, and there isn’t an emphasis on fulfilment through making more money and buying more consumer goods. 
 Local/small-scale: join a LETS scheme; use your local farmers’ market and credit union; reduce the distance that the things you buy travel, and keep money in the local economy; DIY is of course the most local of all!

mast business

Mast Sanity is a campaign group in the UK working towards raising awareness of the health hazards caused by mobile phone masts and the safe siting of masts. We have chosen not to have a mobile phone in The Green Parent office because we are unsure what effect the radiation could have on the human body and also for reasons of peace! There are times when no-one can reach us because we are deep in the woods or out with the kids and that feels pretty wonderful. Very occasionally I imagine that our lives might be easier or smoother if we had mobile phones but that thought soon passes. I don't meet many other phone-less folk these days.

Growing in number There are now over 50,000 mobile phones masts in the UK and they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. So how to spot them? Well, they can look like big towers that seem similar to pylons but don't have wires attached. Or they can be tall poles that look like lamp posts but don't have a light on top. Confusingly masts can also be what look like sticks or long grey or white boxes put at the top of buildings such as schools, hospitals, colleges, flats and offices. And they can even just be small boxes the size of burglar alarms, placed on the sides of shops. Unfortunately avoiding masts is almost impossible. What's wrong with masts? According to Mast Sanity "cancer clusters" have been found around mobile phone masts, up to 400 metres from a mast. People living near each other and close to a mast have ended up with rare cancers at nearly the same time as each other. These people live where they are getting the strongest signal from the nearby mast(s). This has been the case in Devon, Lincolnshire and Staffordshire. Other people living in these areas find they get many common symptoms including heart palpitations (flutters), lots of headaches, nose bleeds, problems sleeping, itchy burning skin and feel really depressed.

Mobile phone masts give out the same sort of microwave radiation in their signals as microwave ovens use to cook food but the signals also carry data sent along in packets or 'pulses'. 

Other problems noticed by European doctors, particularly in Germany where petitions have been launched to halt the use of some mobile technology, are: • Learning problems • Trouble concentrating • Behavioural disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) • Extremely high and extremely low Blood Pressure - and swapping between the 2 • Medicines stop working as well, so prescriptions have to increase • Heart Rhythms get upset • Sudden Heart Attacks and Strokes happening in younger and younger people • More Brain diseases such as Alzheimer‘s, Parkinson's, Motor Neurone Disease and Epilepsy • More Cancers, Leukaemia and Brain Tumours • More and worse Headaches and Migraines • Constantly being tired, getting sleepless and being sleepy during the day • People feeling anxious all the time • Ringing in the ears (Tinnitus) • People more likely to get infections, colds, allergies and viruses • People feeling pains in their nerves and bodies for no apparent cause Medical tests When doctors in a town in Germany (West Kempten) decided to prove that it was the mobile phone mast that was causing these problems they took blood samples from people before and after a new mast was put up and turned on. The people also stopped using their mobiles, cordless phones, wireless internet and other wireless/mobile gadgets too. The results were very clear. The levels of two vital chemicals serotonin and melatonin found in the blood were found to be seriously altered once the mast was turned on.

Happy hormone reduced Serotonin levels were halved. Serotonin controls your mood, anger, aggression, body temperature, sleep, sexuality, appetite and metabolism. Many of the people found themselves feeling moody, depressed, tired, and lethargic. Some also felt agitated and had lost their appetites. Nearly all felt really down.

Immune system affected The results showed melatonin levels that were too high during the day and much too low at night. Melatonin is a hormone that is important in boosting the immune system and fighting cancer. It protects DNA from damage. Since it also helps regulate sleep it's important to have high levels at night otherwise restlessness occurs. If the immune system isn't boosted people become ill easier, stay ill longer and can't fight cancer so well. The Doctors requested that the mobile phone mast be turned off again.

So what can we do? • Find out where your nearest mobile phone mast is.

• Cancel the mobile phone contract if you have one (If you are worried about emergencies swap to "pay as you go" until you are happy to do without.) • If you must keep your phone, use it as little as possible and just stick to talking and texting - ignore all other functions and activities. • Realise that every call or text needs a mast, and that more calls or texts mean more masts nearby. • Read up on the science, facts and shielding materials and tell others. • Write to your MP to tell them that you too are concerned about the health issues. • Take action by joining support groups such as Mast Sanity • If you already live near a mast you should consider shielding your home from the microwaves. 

If you are interested in this from a personal perspective there's a piece on this in the next edition of The Green Parent, about the campaign launched by the people of Glastonbury to stop a WiFi mast being erected in their town. 

new moon in libra

This morning the new moon moved into Libra, signifying a time of balance and deep listening within relationships. It is a time of love and therefore a great chance to honour a relationship that you are already in or an opportunity to find love if not. As Libra is about balance this forms part of our practice over the coming weeks. You could try asking yourself - is there balance in my life? Where do things feel unbalanced? in what areas of my life are my energy levels out of sync? how can I achieve greater harmony?

Time for clearing

As ever, the new moon is a good time for clearing away and letting go - of unwanted possessions, long-held beliefs that are holding you back, draining relationships etc - clear out all that is not needed. I found myself at a Meditation with Crystals evening last week and almost all of the practices that we did focused on deep cleansing of old beliefs and behaviours. After a series of really powerful meditations we started work with this beautiful stone called Apophyllite, a stone that allows one to see the truth and act on it, that releases trapped emotions and calms the spirit. During the session I had this vision of white doves circling down through my body in a spiral from my crown chakra in a blaze of pure white light. It felt so joyful. That's the stone and energy that I'm working with over the next few weeks. Yay!

snakes to capture ocean energy

Just off the coast of Portugal strange things are afoot. The world's first commercial wave power farm is up and running with the energy being captured by a huge red device - that looks slightly snake-like when viewed from the air. The project promises to produce clean green energy for around 1,500 homes at peak output and project managers aim to increase this using greater numbers of snakes as the project progresses. Friends of the Earth believe that similar technology employed in the UK could be significant in reducing the UK's dependence on fossil fuels. And in fact Wavehub is the name given to a project planned off the coast of Cornwall but work is not scheduled to start until Spring 2010. 

new moon in virgo

Well, since I completely missed posting about the last full moon on 16th August - because I was out having fun and meeting new people, in the true spirit of Aquarius - I figured I'd post about the New Moon tomorrow in good time. Both the Sun and the New Moon will be in Virgo meaning that it will be a good time to get things in order, complete unfinished projects and nourish the body since Virgo energies involve purification and whole body health. As Virgo is an Earth sign we can also benefit from forging greater connections to the earth at this time. This can be through practical activities such as gardening, harvesting or putting some time and energy into your local environment, or perhaps connecting on a spiritual level. I like going moon walking, laying still on the forest floor and blessing the trees around me to help me feel more connected to the earth. Am looking forward to some serious sorting out over the coming days. Certainly our office could do with a good ol' sort out after completing our October edition, which went to press this week. There's piles of proofs, books and paperwork everywhere but next week we'll be back to a clear organised base again on our crazy bi-monthly cycle - fingers crossed!

week one: challenge update

Well, the assistants in the fridge shop clearly think that I am a loon. So what if a fiver can be pulled out of the fridge door - have I checked the temperature? Uh no - how do I do that? Apparently if "the temperature of the item retains a suitable temperature inside the unit, it is fair to say that the item is in perfect working order." They actually said that! Sales-speak gives me uncontrollable giggles so we didn't get much further than that. Back to the drawing board on that one. But, the corners of the mini ice box are stuffed with bits of paper and bubblewrap and I have hardly opened the fridge at all this week, preferring to eat fab food made by my mother-in-law and have a sneaky lunch out with my aunt. Am sure I have done other virtuous things too to counteract the vast quantities of chocolate consumed in the office this week prior to deadline, but they are alluding me. This weeks challenges will be posted up later - all to do with getting from A to B in the greenest possible way. Exciting - non?

go fly a kite

An experiment at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands has revealed the great power behind flying kites - enough to generate electricity for ten family homes. The kite was tethered to a generator and managed to produce 10 kilowatts of power. Leading the study, Wubbo Ockels, sustainable engineering professor, inspired by the great power of hurricanes viewed from space as an astronaut, sees kites as an exciting possibility in developing wind energy. They are able to reach much higher altitudes than turbines, where the wind power is greater. Ken Caldeira, climate scientist at the Department of Global Ecology has found that wind contains around 100 times the amount of energy that we need, but that most of it is up high, out of reach of current windmills and turbines. Others are in agreement that this could be a valuable source of renewable energy, cheap, easy to harness and really quite magical too.

five things you can do

Here are five simple things to do that will help to reduce carbon emissions: 

They are not very glamourous but will probably save you money as well as reducing your impact on the environment.

• Try and keep your fridge and freezer full (but not overcrowded) as this will use less electricity - fill space in the freezer with scrunched up paper or bubble wrap to stop warm air creeping in when the door is opened.

• Place a fiver on the seal of your fridge door and shut the door. If you can remove the money the seals on your fridge need replacing - cool air can escape through the gap and energy is wasted.

• Check the condenser coil on the back of your fridge - dusty or dirty ones waste energy. Give the coils a little tlc and you'll make your fridge more efficient.

• Obvious one this - but we have all lingered in front of the fridge trying to work out what to make for tea - keep the door shut and only open for very brief periods.

• Keep your fridge somewhere cool - if possible locate it out of direct sunlight and not near an oven or boiler, where it will have to work twice as hard. 

So, I'm off to shut some money in the fridge, raid the craft box for bubble wrap to stuff in the freezer and dust off my coils.

Next week we'll take a look at transport and ways in which we can all cut carbon (and save a few pennies). 

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more wind power

Gordon Brown yesterday unveiled the Renewable Energy Strategy to a general fanfare of approval from many environmentalists. It proposes that 15% of energy needs will be met by renewables by 2020. Plans include thousands of wind turbines, both on and off shore, solar panels on millions of buildings and a surge in electric car ownership. Greenpeace calls the plans 'visionary', Friends of the Earth (FoE) are pleased to see the Government slide out of the slow lane and show willing to 'shift up a gear'. But there is some concern over the costs of implementing this energy strategy; it is suggested that homeowners will have to foot the bill with rising fuel costs, and FoE still feel that the targets are 'un-ambitious'. The proposals also rely heavily on biomass energy from crops and biofuels for transport and conservationists fear that swathes of our remaining green and pleasant land will be razed to make way for giant wind turbines and crops, that will be burnt to keep us in the manner we have grown accustomed to. I feel frustrated by the 'business as usual' approach to green energy plans - why isn't the Government making big noises about the ways in which we can dramatically cut our energy usage? More on this later... 

Put it to bed

Well we have just finished another edition of The Green Parent, which will be published next month. It's a green homes special issue and we have featured some really fabulous eco houses and natural decorating tips. It was great fun to work on, though the subject matter gave me itchy feet, which I tend to get in the summer months anyhow. So, now the office is relatively quiet and the computers will be getting some rest at night. We recently got an Efergy Energy Monitor that shows how much electricity you are consuming and it's quite addictive. When we first got it, I rushed around turning plugs off at the wall and have now worked out a few tricks to keep energy consumption down. The kettle uses a surprising amount of power so I am going to try making sun tea while the weather is so gorgeous. I'll let you know how I get on. The coffee machine that we were given by a friend in an exchange for a subscription to the magazine, is actually more energy efficient than the kettle, probably because it's quicker and only boils a small amount of water. There are some interesting looking eco kettles available now but I don't think buying an entirely new product is really the most green of solutions. Let's hope that sun tea tastes good...