Alas, for it is gone

[someone else]

Well, the other day, (Sunday) it was very nice out, so i thought that i would carry my altar tools into the woods with me and have a little ritual, in thankfulness of the beauty that the word contains. i did my ritual (more a pain than i thought, becuase the wind kept blowing my candles out and i went through 2 books of matches) and when i was done, i went for a walk. there was this really pretty place in our woods, a little pool, with trees and moss and such, really great. so anyways, i decided to got here, and scope it out to see if i could live there. ive decided to live in my tent all summer, and thus be able to have a permanent altar and such. so i get in the area, and all that i see is total carnage. all of the trees in the area were cut down, and thrown everywhere. it was like a battle feild, strewn with the bodys of the fallen. i ran around in a panic, tring to find some place where the beauty remained, but it was gone, all of it. all that was left was death. i guess that you could say that that was my real awakening into my fairy new (to me) wiccan path. all around me i saw the ruins of the earths once great beauty, destruction caused my my own species. we, as humans, have ruined our planet, and it was then that i decided to devote my life to fixing it. i know that most of you are pagan in some way or another, or at the very least love nature, so im guessing that the majority of you could relate to the feelings that welled up in my heart that day, the rage, the sorrow, and the despair. im not all together sure why im posting all this, but i just needed to. i guess im just telling my wake up story, to try to wake up others that may need wakening. when i decided to be wiccan, i thought 'yeah man, im gonna be a withc and cast spells and be evil!' but ivelearned since then. yes, my initial thought was to gain power, but ive realized that without an earth, power is meaningless, and i really dont want it now. now the only powere that i want is the power to heal a ravaged land of the wrongs that our people have caused. im going to shut up now.

[Mythrel]

I completely feel your pain...let us know how we can help

[MammaStar]

Yup. Know how you feel. I went through that last summer, when the State tore down the "woods" behind my house to put in a stupid gas line. There's a thread (or used to be) around somewhere. I wanted to cry. I could litterlly hear the tree's scream out in pain. There was one lone locust tree standing. He sort of drooped over & I could feel his sorrow for his friends.

It's horrid looking out my back door now. I used to love hanging in my back yard. The trees would block out all signs of "civilization". Now all I see is flat muddy dirt, some bits of grass growing here & there & power lines & a power station. People driving down the main road, can see into my yard now as well. I hate it. The animals haven't been down yet. I know this, cause all my tulips are blooming. Last year the deer came down & ate them.

there was a spot, a tiny clearing, that I could swear the Fairy folk came & played. A tiny clearing with moss & rocks. I could feel them when I wandered up there one day. I built them little fairy houses to show my thanks to them. Now it's gone. I haven't felt the fairy folk around either. Which makes me sad.

I got some wildflower seed & i spread it out all along the back. to give us something to look at. I want to plant trees, but I'm worried someone is gonna get pissed off. I know where the gas line is, so digging isn't an issue. I just don't want to plant some trees or bushes (which the state orginally promised) and watch them get pulled out or die.

so, I have my tiny garden, in the front yard now. it's very tiny this year due, to drought restrictions. That's my small way to making my world a prettier place.

[DragonDawn]

*hugs* You'd hate what I see. The county down here where I live is growing in population (too much if you ask me). So the county office is giving permision for developers to come in and strip land and put up housing develpments with the houses so close you could spit out your window and hit your neighbors home. :flamer:
Ok some of the land they're using is old farm land. But most of it isn't. They go into a nicely wooded area and literally strip everything. Trees, bushes, hills, streams, you name it. Then they build the houses and plant maybe one little tree in the front yard, maybe. Some times its just bushes.
Ok there I had my vent for the day

[Danustouch]

I had two similar, and yet differen't experiences with this.

My old circle, used to hold outdoor circles at a very remote spot in a State Park, in CT. You had to hike a realllllly long way to get there, which made it all the more worth it when you arrived. On full moons, the moon rose right over the open grove on the top of the hill that we used. There was a perfectly flat stone, facing East, which was always used as our altar stone. This site had a huge fire pit, and stories about that spot say that pagans have used it for years. It used to be that you didn't need a permit to camp there, or to use that spot. It was so remote, and so few people knew about it, and it was so hard to get to...that it wasn't a big deal. At some point, though, the Park decided they needed to start handing out permits. Supposedly, there were a few "Squatters" camping out in the woods for far more than a normal "Camping" period. When this happened, they had to start categorizing the suitable camping spots. And suddenly "Our" grove, became one of thos spots. Now, it is used by boyscouts, by partyers, and everyone else and his brother :(. Last time I went there, we had to clear plastic "Bong" pieces out of the fire pit, old batteries, cigarrette butts, and beer cans. Supposedly, it has only gotten worse. When I talked to my friend, he said the last time they went there, someone had double booked the spot, and there was a group of boyscouts there. Worse than that, they looked around, and saplings had been cut down to use as firewood, an "office" type chair was thrown in the woods (someone was feeling extra energetic that day I guess), and other miscellaneous junk surrounded the site. It absolutely breaks my heart. It was such a beautiful site! They are currently seeking another place to hold their outdoor circles, within the same park..but unfortunately, all of the sites are now too well known.

Another experience, is with my backyard. We have a nice little forest on the border of our property. Some people moved down from the City this year, and suddenly, they are taking over the woods. They use it's foot trails to ride their ATC's and dirtbikes on, throw plastic garbage around in them, chop down tree's to use for kindling. Their kids are building a tree fort in a huge tree which is JUST on the border of our property, and they're leaving rusty nails, and peices of scrap metal all around. I'm starting to get REALLY po'd about it. And..unfortunately, since we rent, there is not much that I can do. Except try to keep their garbage picked up :(

[Sequoia]

omg I'm so sorry to hear that!! *HUGS* do you know why they did that?!

[Hope]

(((HUGS)))

love
hope

[Witchy Cowgirl]

I'm so sorry. All your stories hit me hard and I'm afraid that it's just a shadow of things to come for me and the area I live in.:(

[HallsOfAvalon]

I am sorry too. I have seen these very actions, and it pains me so much.


There is something you can do though. Go to your town meetings, talk to state and local representatives. Your voice might only be one, but it probably wont be alone. And if we all complain, then something must be done.

To many people (obviously not the ones posting here) do nothing. Sure it makes them all sad to some degree, they feel alone in this world when it comes to such matters. I started a postion by my old house, with suprising success.

We all need to be strong, if we allow ourselves to be weak...... even for a minute they have already beaten us!

[someone else]

Mythrel asked what you can do to help, and i guess that all we can do is to focus our energys on fixing the damage, and as HallsOfAvalon said, speak out. my main problem with the speaking out thing is A. im not of voting age and most people here just pass over us stupid teens, and B. this is a VERY largely chrisitain community, and the word that i am an evil pagan devil-worshiper has spread. i guess that what ill do is make what i have great. im going to grow a big old garden, and live in a tent this summer, and over all just live it up to fix it all. so if you could just send some + energy to the ravaged lands in our world, it would be much appriciated, not only by me, but my others, and out world, and our deitys. Blessed Be!

[HallsOfAvalon]

I do almost on a daily bases, but I will send some extra. ;)