The photo of an ancient forest in Germany is by Thomas Stephan, Wiener Weg 12
Dark Forests
"To know the woods and to love the woods is to embrace it all, the light and the dark -- the sun dappled glens and the rank, damp hollows; beech trees and bluebells and also the deadly fungi and poison oak. The dark of the woods represents the moon side of life: traumas and trials, failures and secrets, illness and other calamities. The things that change us, temper us, shape us; that if we're not careful defeat or destroy us...but if we pass through that dark place bravely, stubbornly, wisely, turn us all into heroes. . . The sense of secrets, silence, surprises, good and bad, is fundamental to forests and informs their literatures. . ." Excerpted from Sara Maitland -- Gossip from the Forest.
The photo is of the ancient Tarkine Forest
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Gossip from the Forest
Sara Maitland cherishes solitude. She lives alone, in her own way, on the moors of Scotland. She is fully aware of the human experience, and through her writing generously shares her experiences and perceptions. Her wonderfully unique book, Gossip from the Forest, encompasses a vast domain and give the reader access and insights into the realm of the forest, both past and present. The book is both private and revealing.
She camps overnight, along with a knowledgeable companion, experiencing each unique woodland. She also researches each one, often involving a broad swath of history. Much of the forest land in England has disappeared, often cleared for farmland. Trees have also been used for furniture making, construction, shipbuilding. farm implements -- plows, fences, carts -- and for heating and cooking. But much remains. Maitland finds inspiration in each one.
In her book, Sara visits 12 of the remaining UK forests, one for every month in a year. And for each forest, she rewrites a fairy tale.
Maitland's passion for forests lies in her love of nature, but also in her deep belief that the forest was the primary source and inspiration for the oral tales passed on for centuries and known to us as wonder (or fairy) tales. Here is another excerpt from Gossip from the Forest:
"“Forests to the [early] Northern European peoples were dangerous and generous, domestic and wild, beautiful and terrible. And the forests were the terrain out of which fairy stories, one of our earliest and most vital cultural forms, evolved. The mysterious secrets and silences, gifts and perils of the forest are both the background to and source of these tales."
The photo of Sara Maitland is by Robert Perry.
The photo is of an ancient Caledonian pine forest.
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The Forest Boundary
The forest offers an antithesis to the town. In ancient times when Europe was greatly covered by woodland, the forest represented the boundary of civilization. The forest was literally a wild place, the village or town merely a place where man had cleared a settlement. There were many who found refuge in the forest, not just criminals, and those in exile, but shamans, holy men and women, poets, freethinkers and of course trolls, elves and fairies. Justine Gaunt
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Large, Immense, Great, and Mysterious -- The Source
“Inevitably they find their way into the forest. It is there that they lose and find themselves. It is there that they gain a sense of what is to be done. The forest is always large, immense, great and mysterious. No one ever gains power over the forest, but the forest posseses the power to change lives and alter destinies.” Jack Zipes, The Brothers Grimm: From Enchanted Forests to the Modern World
The forest photo is by Julia Ivantsova.
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Three Wonder Tales
Versions of Little Red Riding Hood and her experiences in the deep forest go far back, more than 1000 years. The stories vary, but in most, an innocent young girl is sent out in the forest to deliver food to her grandmother.
"She ran off the path into the woods looking for flowers. Each time she picked one she thought that she could see an even more beautiful one a little way off, and she ran after it, going further and further into the woods…"
– Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, Little Red Cap (1812)
The illustration of Little Red Riding Hood on the forest road is by Jason Nathaniel.
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Treebeard
JRR Tolkien was an extraordinary and brilliant man. His mental dexterity and imagination were dazzling. Forests had great meaning for him and reached across his creation -- Middle Earth. He wrote a detailed history, spanning thousands of years, giving each ancient forest a story and a presence of its own. . . The oldest trees were found in the Forest of Fangorn, named after a giant walking tree who is over 17,000 years of age and speaks; Fangorn is also known as Treebeard. He is a great leader of the Ents, an ancient species who closely resemble trees. In Tolkien's saga, Treebeard would lead the Ents in battle.
There was a silence, for suddenly the dark and unknown forest, so near at hand, made itself felt as a great brooding presence, full of secret purpose. – JRR Tolkien, The Two Towers (1954)
Click this link to visit the trailer for Lord Of The Rings
The illustration of Treebeard is by Stephen Hickman.
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The Forest Continues
"The Forbidden Forest, also known as the Dark Forest, borders the edges of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry grounds. The forest is a very old place that holds many secrets and houses many creatures, some dark and dangerous, others friendly. The trees in the forest are considered ancient, they are dense and rough looking from years of exposure to the elements. The Forest is out of bounds to any student unaccompanied by Hogwarts staff." The Harry Potter Wiki
"They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the Forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. Harry thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker..."– JK Rowling, Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone (1997)
The illustration is from the film, Harry Potter and The Philosopher's Stone.
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Looking Past the Tumult
The Word for World is Forest
by Ursala Le Guin
Ursula Le Quin said that the Vietnam War was her primary motivation in writing this book. . . On another planet world, (Atshea), a civilization of sentient beings, smaller than homo sapiens, has evolved. They are intelligent, sensitive and totally attuned to the natural world. Their planet is covered by enormous trees. The forests of giant trees also provide homes and sustenance for the Atsheans (called Creechies by invaders from earth).
Their forest world has been invaded by people from earth. Earth has decimated all their own forests and has a basic need for wood. Led by the military and bureaucrats, soldiers and loggers from earth are cutting all the forests of giant trees. In doing so, they are also ravaging and destroying the land. Whole forests of trees are sent back to earth on giant cargo ships. The Creechies are being enslaved, and a barbaric genocide is taking place.
Key people amongst the invaders disdain the unique culture of the locals. They consider them a lower life form, and treat them with barbaric cruelty. Ultimately, the Creechies rebel. Readers will find many parallels with colonialism and the slave trade.
". . . The Atsheans were not slaves at all except in fact; they were voluntary Autochthonous Labor Personnel. Lybonuv was not even reprimanded (for helping a brutalized Creechi whose wife had been raped and murdered). But the regular officers distrusted him totally from then on. . . Even his colleagues in the Special Services let him know that he had been irrational, quixotic, or stupid. . .You know that the people you're studying are going to be plowed under, and probably wiped out. It's the way things are. It's human nature, and you must know you can't change that."
The Word for World is Forest was published in 1972 by Tom Doherty Associates. It won the Hugo Award and was nominated for the Nebula and Locus Awards; and was a National Book Award Finalist in 1976.
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. Transformations
"And yet, despite all the fairy tale warnings, sometimes we're compelled to run to the dark of the woods, away from all that is safe and familiar -- driven by desperation, perhaps, or the lure of danger, or the need for change. Young heroes stray from the safe, well-trodden path through foolishness or despair. . .but perhaps also by canny premeditation, knowing that venturing into the great unknown is how lives are transformed." Terri Windling, Myth and Moor
The photo is of the ancient Bialowieza Forest, Poland/Belarus.
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Movies
The image of the owl is from the film. Here is a link to the trailer: The Ancient Woods
Luca
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Exceptional Independent Animation
Drift
A delight For all Small girls
presented by NoBudge
created by Hemali Vadalia; song by Kori Pop
Link: Drift Scroll down the link page to find Drift Time:3.23
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Pattern Language
People worlds become digital worlds
Esoteric algorithms NYC
Created by Peter Burr, Programming Mark Fingerhut, Additional Graphics by Brenna Murphy
Presented by Times Square Arts with Clocktowet Productions
Link: Pattern Language Scroll down the Link page to find Pattern Lanquage Time: 1:29
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In Plain Sight
Stylized, Perceptions. insightful
Sex trafficking in London
By Emily Downe, a very motivated young UK animator.
Here is the Link: In Plain Sight Time 1:22
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Gun Violence Continues Unchecked
"The upbeat mood at an album release party at El Mula Banquet Hall in Miami-Dade County was shattered when three men in ski masks jumped out of a stolen white Nissan S.U.V. and fired randomly into the crowd early Sunday.
Some revelers fired back. The whole encounter unrolled in about 10 seconds, leaving two people dead and 21 others injured. . .
'Were it not for the proliferation of firearms through our society and in our big cities, we would not have seen these big jumps in homicide,' said Richard Rosenfeld, a criminologist at the University of Missouri in St. Louis. . ."
Neil MacFarquhar NYTimes
Photo by Lynne Sladky/AP
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Save The Children
"Through Save the Children’s work – every second of every day – a hungry child is fed, a sick child gets care, a young mind is learning, a vulnerable child is protected, or a family gains tools to overcome poverty.
Together, we reached more than 197 million children, including 1.1 million here in America. "
Photo courtesy Afghan Khaama Press.
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Delightful Books of Trees and Forest Wonders for Kids
Trees, forests, A sense of wonder, and delightful, immersive illustrations are at the core of these three outstanding books. They are diverse and for different ages. Yet each book, will touch the imagination of the young in wonderful ways.
Growing Pains by Alison McLennan; Illustrated by Melissa Jones; Published by EKBooks. For Young Kids
"They had planted the tree yesterday and now Finn was worried.
What if it was freezing but couldn't tell anyone because it couldn't talk?
He rummaged through his drawers until he found the wooly scarf he was looking for.
This would keep his tree warm. . . "
Little Sap by Jan Hughes; illustrated by Ruth Hengeveld; Published by Cameron+Company, For Young Kids
Both Jan Hughes and Ruth Hengefeld (inspired illustrations) have a sense of awe in the great forest and the symbiotic world of life that takes place as a young sapling grows into a giant tree.
"Little Sap lives with her family deep in the heart of a very old forest. She grows near Mother Tree, the tallest and wisest tree in the grove. Little sap can't wait to be a mother tree.
In spring, when bluebells carpet the woodlands, Little Sap shows off her newly budding leaves, glistening like jewels in the sunlight."
Tree Beings by Raymond Huber; illustrated by Sandra Severgnini; Exile Publishing
This wonderful book should become a classic for both early readers and YA readers. It is a celebration of concepts and images that evokes the wonder of forests and the natural world. Jane Goodall contributes both an introduction and a chapter on Living in the Jungle. The content varies from trees eating sunlight to trees and the spirit of the forest.
"Trees don't have brains yet they can communicate with each other. One way they do this is by sending chemical messages through the air.. . . Nearby trees will 'smell' the message with their leaves and start to produce an insect repellent."
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Ariel Wulff's Misfits
"I was belly laughing on the first page. Lammy Lamb is a compulsive foot licker! This short book is so full of love and creative, tender animal care that I forgot I was reading a book. I felt like I was in the house with the dogs, at the Halloween Costume Contest and in every other scene. That's great writing, and great content too. The pictures are adorable."
Amazon review by MaryAnn Fry, Author of Going Naked Being Seen
Here is link to Parade Of Misfits
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J.K. Rowling and Lumos
LUMOS is part of J.K. Rowling's effort to make the world a better place. Her focus is on children and poverty. She is the founder of Lumos, one of several charities she supports. Here are excerpts from the Lumos website:. . .
"Lumos has a single, simple goal: to end the institutionalization of children worldwide by 2050. This is ambitious, but achievable. It is also essential. Eight million voiceless children are currently suffering globally under a system that, according to all credible research, is indefensible. We owe them far, far better. We owe them families."
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Turning Back the Stone City Warriors from Invading Green Valley.
An Excerpt from Planet of the Dogs
“What’s going on here?” demanded Bik. At that moment huge, ancient tall trees crashed to the ground with a thunderous noise, blocking the road just ahead.
Howling, barking, and growling sounds filled the air as dogs rushed from hiding places and ran toward the warriors and their horses. More huge trees crashed down, warriors were thrown to the ground, and dogs were running and jumping everywhere. Riders were crashing into each other as they tried to control their frightened horses and retreat to a safe area. . ."
We have free reader copies of all the books in the Planet Of The Dogs series for therapy dog organizations, individual therapy dog owners, librarians, teachers and independent bookstores. . . email us with a postal address at [email protected] and we will send you the books.
To read sample chapters or to read reviews of any book in the series, visit PlanetOfTheDogs
The map from the Planet of the Dogs is by Stella Mustanoja McCarty-
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"Ever wonder where you'd end up if you took your dog for a walk and never once pulled back on the leash?" -- Robert Brault
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