How to fight fire without fire.
My social media feed has been FULL of reports of the current fires burning all across our ‘Lucky Country’, and it’s easy to feel completely overwhelmed, helpless, angry and disillusioned in the face of such destruction.
I know we are ALL desperately concerned for our country and it’s inhabitants, with good reason. But, in my humble opinion, we need a bit of balance. Admittedly if you are in the middle of a danger zone, now is not the time for ‘balance’ while you are in survival mode. But for the rest of us who are not in immediate danger, yes it’s important to know what is happening and how our loved ones are doing. However if we are all focused purely on images of raging fires, dead animals, wiped out landscapes and razed houses, we are going to energetically drown ourselves, and keep feeding those fires raging out of control.
May I invite some positive, productive ways we can help the land and all her creatures, on the level or levels we are able? Whether offering monetary and physical goods, volunteering, intentional dreaming or sharing support, there are things we can all do to keep our spirits high(ish) and our hearts open, without collapsing under the energetic weight of unimaginable suffering that is going on around us. This is written in early January, based on what I have currently seen, researched, heard and thought of. If you have any extra ideas, links, organisations I can add to the list, please comment or email info@in-spiral.org and I will update every few days.
**Please see list of links at the end of this article for further information.**
#1 Survival and Basic Needs
- If you have hard cold cash, warm it up for good use. Below are links to places you can donate money, for fire-fighters, for human care, for animal welfare.
- Donate spare clothing, bedding, non-perishable food, sanitary / bathroom items, household goods. Below are links to places to drop them off. (Please check with smaller organisations for what they actually need so they’re not overladen with things that are less useful)
- If you have a spare room, caravan or granny flat available, perhaps you could offer it up as temporary accommodation in your area for people needing support.
- If you are handy, perhaps you could craft water filters for those in need. Here are some instructions on how to do it.
- If you don’t have stuff but you have space, perhaps you could register as a hub for other people to drop stuff off.
- Put water out for animals and birds especially on hot days. Here is some more information.
#2 Creativity and Generation
- If you are crafty, you could make beds, pouches, wraps, nest for wildlife rescue operations. There is a fabulous Facebook group here; Animal Rescue Collective Craft Guild
- Organise a local crafternoon with your neighbours to make up some goodies for above.
- Put on a local performance / tea party /food stall / raffle / workshop to raise some money.
- Make some home made skin care to donate to people who have lost their home, and for fire-fighters ravaged by heat and exhaustion. Wellness Mumma has lots of yummy home made recipes like this one.
#3 Activation and Network
- Plant trees! Find out your local tree planting groups and give them a hand. (See links below)
- Grow one metre of vegie garden at your place to aid in the food shortage that is possibly going to happen.
- If you have lots of garden offer some space to neighbours without much land to grow food.
- If you have trees with excess fruit share them with your neighbours or at food swaps.
- Get to know your edible weeds and share knowledge about them with others.
- Plant medicinal herbs and bushfoods.
#4 Connection and Gratitude
- For those of us in safe zones, can we turn our fear for others into absolute gratitude for our safety? For clean air. For homes and food and water and all the things we take for granted.
- Hug a tree, send your deep love into its roots and into the earth. She is crying and cleansing and needs our love and compassion now more than ever.
- Whenever you see water, a river, an ocean, be thankful for it and ask it to fall upon the blazes.
- What is within is without. What is without is within. Heal yourself. What does the fires bring up in you? What anger or fear or sadness or other does it trigger? Work through that. Write it, sing it, draw it, scream it. As you heal yourself you also heal the greater entity that is all of us.
- Send gratitude to those who have braved the fires and fought bravely for the safety of others and their belongings. Send gratitude to all those who are helping to feed, re-house and re-establish those who have lost everything. Send gratitude to those who are saving wildlife, and making supplies required for their rehabilitation. Send gratitude to every good person who is helping in some way during this time. Send gratitude to yourself for reading this as it means you care.
#5 Connection and Communication
- Can we change the language around ‘victim’ to ‘survivor’? Empower people who are moving through the pain of loss and cleansing as they move forward to healing and regeneration.
- We all want to know our friends in the fire zones are OK, and it’s so great people in the zones can share their fears and get some practical and online moral support by sharing their images on social media. Could I suggest, that if you are sharing images of fires in your area, that you also share images of the area during times of ease. That way the rest of us can focus our vision on ease for you rather than fear for you.
- Connect with local Indigenous people to see if they know how to care of the land in traditional ways. Can they offer training to land owners, around issues such as cold burning to manage fire risks? Are there other skilled land carers in your area that have knowledge to share? These guys look like they have a great vision. Seed Mob.
- When someone posts a picture in social media of their homeland threatened by fire, send a prayer to them in a picture of water, rainfall, ease, send that into their field instead of fear. Offer them your love and heartfelt sensations of gentleness and healing rather than fear.
- Find out from your local support centres what they need, I just looked on Facebook and found loads of groups. If you can’t supply them, find out who can!
- Connect with local businesses to see if they are willing to donate – solar panels, water filters, food, tents, marquees, bathroom items, cooking things, batteries, clothing. What would you need if you lost everything?
#6 Education and Information
- Educate yourself. Find out more about why all this is happening. I’m just starting my research, so I don’t have any answers yet. As I find out I will add article links at the end of this.
- Is the draining of the Great Artesian Basin affecting the fire status? What impact does fracking have in all this. Where is all the water for those mines coming from? How does de-forestation and also re-forestation affect fires? What kinds of flora should be planted in fire prone areas. What kind of housing materials and designs are better able to deal with fire? How do Indigenous people manage the land to minimise fire damage? How does an increased population affect the scope of fires and fire damage? Have fires actually increased in the past 200 years or are there just more of us to notice it’s effects? These are things I will be looking into. I invite you too also if you are interested, and share your findings.
- If you currently attend Meme University, please leave and do some deeper research so you are better equipped with knowledge to help prevent this degree of damage in the future. Look at the reliability of information, who the author is, what the website or source is, who their alliances are, how many links and references they offer.
- Share what you discover. I’m no expert in any of this, just a fellow explorer who would like to help.
#7 Dreaming and Prayer
- By constantly filling our minds and hearts with images of bush-fires, we are actually feeding into the energy to create more of it.
- By being angry without action, we are energetically creating more to be angry about, and adding to the energetic fire.
- I invite you to shift your energy from that of fear, anger, sadness, smoke, fire, ashes, victims, death and destruction, to ease, purification, regeneration, growth, wellness and strength to all who are in the middle of this. And if you’re one of the unlucky ones in the thick of it, I hope you can hear our prayers and know the good people of this country and around the world are with you in spirit, and practically wherever possible.
- Send prayers of thanks and humble humility to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for their commitment to fighting fire, and to their family and loved ones who live on with that loss.
- Imagine ease, imagine rain, imagine healing of animals and people, imagine rebuilding of lives stronger than they were before, and then get active if you are able to help make that happen in whatever way inspires you.
HELPFUL LINKS
#1 Places to donate money
FIRE SERVICES
WILDLIFE SUPPORT
#1 Places to donate food, clothes and household goods
I did a quick search on Facebook for ‘bushfire’ and nearly 50 groups came up from all over the country. Have a look and find one that you can join, and these too.
Givit – to give goods to the people that need it
Foodbank – food relief and water to East Gippsland
Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund
#2 Organisation to make handcrafted goodies for wildlife rescue operations
Animal Rescue Collective Craft Guild
Financial donations to ARCCG to cover postage for much needed goods
#3 Organisations to plant trees
#3 Permaculture, native plants, foods and bush medicine
Permapixie, Dandenong Ranges, Vic
aka Taj Scicluna. Permaculture courses, weed walks.
Email; thepermapixie@gmail.com
Forestedge Permaculture Nursery, Kalista, Vic
Permaculture supplies and free consultations on natives, native suppliers and permaculture courses.
(medicinals, food plants, plants for bees, pollinators)
Text Tamara Griffiths on 0407457707 or via Facebook to make a time, or just pop in.
Kuranga Nursery, Mt Evelyn, Vic
Native Plants.
#3 Articles and videos
Thanks to Erin Lobusta for sharing these gems!
Video; My Garden Path: Growing Australian Wildflowers
Video; How to take native cuttings
Video; Four ways to germinate native seeds
Article; Plant Propagation from Seed
Article; Rainforest Pioneers
The great clearing
I have heard it said from many that the country is smudging herself to make way for the shift that is happening on every level. Australia is the first to be hit on such a large scale. She is at the forefront of the shift. As are we, living on her back.
Whoever you are, and however you are suffering or helping or both, I am holding your hand in mine. I would take both of them but we need the other hands free to grow the chain.
Brothers and sisters. We all need each other right now. Much love to you wherever you are.
And PLEASE connect with any further information, events, initiatives, ideas and links you would like to add to this article. info@in-spiral.org
Banner image; cropped from ‘Eucalypt regrowth after Black Saturday bushfires’ by Robert Kerton. (CC BY 3.0)
Written by Tjoni Johansen
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