REGIME CHANGE IN “OUR COMMON HOME”?

With the publication of the first papal encyclical on “our common home” earlier this week http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jun/18/pope-francis-encyclical-extract , the environment will also take centre stage at the Church of England’s General Synod in York next month http://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2015/19-june/news/uk/environment-is-top-of-general-synod-agenda-in-york Just as well because the earth has entered a new period of extinction, a study by three US universities has concluded, and humans could be among the first casualties http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-33209548

MID WORCESTERSHIRE QUESTION MAY DETERMINE UK’S POLITICAL FUTURE

For those readers who think it is the West Lothian question and the issue of Scottish independence which hold the key to the political future of the United Kingdom, The Witch knows otherwise. “Cam the Knife’s” – aka David Cameron: an allusion to his predecessor “Mac the Knife” or Harold Macmillan – reshuffle has precipitated the resignation of Peter Luff, MP for the safe Tory seat of Mid Worcestershire, who has announced that he is retiring from politics by the 2015 General Election.

London Mayor Boris Johnson is now known to be interested in re-placing Mr Luff as constituency MP, partly because The Witch has drawn attention to the development potential of Throckmorton airfield; and also because Super Boris (again an allusion to Super Mac) could then challenge Cam the Knife for leadership of the Conservative Party. Press speculation about Boris doing a similar deal with Zac Goldsmith for the latter’s Richmond constituency should be regarded as mere distracting tittle-tattle.

In the meantime, the announcement of a “review” into airport capacity whose outcome will not be known until after the General Election, has encouraged The Witch of Worcester to moth-ball WOW enterprises’ plans for a spaceport at Throckmorton (in anticipation of Super Boris becoming MP for the area in question); and instead focus on developing a combined state of the art conservatory and extension of her broom cupboard. The roof of this structure can be opened on fine nights to allow The WoW Coven to fly out on their broomsticks, after the fashion of George Osborne and his familiar-drawn chariot (see below).

EXCLUSIVE: NEW OXORD FU MANCHU FOUR RUNWAY AIRPORT PROPOSAL

Now that she is an official member of the international mega project circuit (or should that be circus?), The Witch can exclusively reveal that a short-listed site for the new four runway airport proposed in south east England is that currently occupied by the city of Oxford. Yes, Oxford Fu Manchu Airport would involve the international trans-location of Oxford’s historic city quarters, including that of the university, to an area adjoining the new Ordos technopolis in Inner Mongolia, in whose empty high rise apartment block residents could also be re-housed.

This option apparently received support from former Oxford Bullingdon Club member, and current Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne when he visited evil Chinese genius Dr Fu Manchu on board his yaght – an even more impressive vessel than than that of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska – last month. However, it is understood that the former Governor of Hong Kong, and current Chancellor of Oxford University, Lord Patten could pose an obstacle to the proposal and may have to be removed from office “Chinese-style” (or should that be Fu Manchu-style?).

Mr Osborne, meanwhile, is reported to have been behaving more strangely than usual. The Witch has it on good authority that he converted to the dark arts following that infamous encounter with Lord Mandelson known as “Yatchgate”. However, shortly after initiation Mr Osborne lost his familiar, Freya the cat, who has recently re-joined him in Downing Street: a territory she likes very well. To those with eyes endowed with occult powers, the Chancellor can now been seen flying through the night sky in a chariot drawn by eight felines, when not summoning up infernal spirits with his coven of special advisers.

PS: Those unfamiliar with Dr Fu Manchu should consult his entry in Wikipedia. He may have been introduced to the Chancellor of the Exchequer through Global Counsel LLP.

Coming Soon! – The Lair of the Green Worm

Having very much enjoyed “The Lair of the White Worm” by Dracula author Bram Stoker, I’m contemplating a Summer project by way of tribute. My story would transplant “the worm” – an ancient serpent inhabiting the clay beds of Staffordshire – to the salt spa of Droitwich. This creature of the brine lagoon, “the green worm”, might then assist those campaigning against inappropriate development in South Worcestershire.

In the meantime, I strongly recommend a visit to the Droitwich Lido (shown below), saved from re-development for housing several years ago. This is an absolutely fantastic facility, whose restoration was brought about through the excellent work of the SALT (Save A Lido Today) Action Group.

The Witch of Worcester and Boris the Cat celebrate May Day

May 1st is celebrated as the festival of Beltane and International Workers’ Day. The Witch is joined here by her old friend Boris the Cat.

IT SHOULDN’T HAPPEN TO A CAT

I have to confess some skepticism for the scientific and technocratic professions, and a cautionary tale told to me yesterday has re-inforced this.

A kindly lady of my acquaintance took in a stray cat during the winter cold spell, and decided the animal could do with a check-up at her local vets. The vet told her that the cat was a female between ten and twelve months old and advised her to have it spayed. However, when “opened up” the vet discovered that the animal had already “been done”, and then informed the lady that the cat was more likely to be ten to twelve years old.

I do wonder whether some vets – and indeed other medical practitioners – can tell one end of an animal from another, never mind profess healing abilities !

It may, therefore, be wise to take some “CRAFT” – charm, amulet, fetish, talisman or other apotropaic* device – with you when dealing with the scientific and technocratic professions, to help determine whether what they propose to do is likely to be beneficial or necessary at all.

*capable of averting evil: a very interesting presentation on this subject is available on Worcestershire County Council’s website – www.worcestershire.gov.uk/…/Dayschool%202010%20Averting%20Evil.pdf 

ON THE DARKER SIDE OF MOTORWAY LIFE

Having lightened up for the weekend, it’s time to visit the darker side of life again today and return to the theme of transport planning, as well as the subject of “Chiroptera” or bats.

The fantastic images of bats shown above are taken from “Art Forms of Nature” by the German biologist Ernst Haeckel: for more details please go to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunstformen_der_Natur

In a post of March 2009, I drew attention to the following quotation from a 1972 transport plan for the West Midlands conurbation, centred on Birmingham :

“2.3  Highest car usage in Britain

No conurbation in Britain has as high a proportion of commuters who travel to work by car as the West Midlands.  The combination of the M5 and M6 motorways provides a local as well as long-distance motorway system. Thus the area provides the nearest British approach to the car dominance reached in, say,  Los Angeles….” !

In fairness, planners in Birmingham and the West Midlands conurbation, and indeed those of Los Angeles, have made some effort to reverse the disastrous planning of the second part of the twentieth century with investment in rail-based public transport.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Worcestershire where the County Council’s approach to transport planning seems to have by-passed the more sustainable practice adopted by progressive authorities, as evidenced in proposals for a new Worcester technology park near M5 Junction 6 (of which more in my next post – yes, I will finally get there !).

I would, therefore, like to draw the attention of the Council’s Motorway Men to an article in the science section of the Weekend Financial Times magazine entitled: “Traffic pollution may cause brain damage”.

According to research conducted in the Los Angeles area prolonged exposure to traffic pollution caused”  “significant damage” in “learning and memory” function, whilst “the brain showed signs of inflammation associated with premature aging and Alzheimer’s disease…”.

Thus my recommendation is that the proposed Worcester technology park should look for another site in order that further sub-regional brain retardation, along with regressive transport planning, may be avoided.

Finally, to return to the subject of “Chiroptera”,  the proposed  Tibberton Lane site is also an important bat habitat. Now bats, according to the same FT magazine science section, “perform services worth $23 billion a year to US agriculture”, so I would suggest that Worcestershire’s M5 corridor – shown below as it happens – is best left to genuinely sustainable development.

THE EMPEROR OF EXMOOR AS A REMINDER OF HERNE THE HUNTER

The shooting of the Emperor of Exmoor, a red deer thought to have been the largest wild animal in Britain, for his prized antlers is a reminder of the importance of “The Horned God” – or Herne – to our Isles. Herne is regarded by many who follow Pagan Paths as one of the Great Spirits of these lands, and is a said to remind us of his presence during times of national peril. He is particularly associated with forestry – that is real trees rather than the artificial kind mentioned in my previous post – and may wish to draw our attention to the proposed sale of Britain’s forests, and perhaps other national nature reserves, headlined in last Sunday’s Telegraph. As Herne the Hunter, he is also Master of the Beasts, and Patron of the Sacred Hunt, and would surely have wished  the antlers of the Emperor of Exmoor to remain near the stag’s old rutting grounds as a memorial for his many local friends, like Johnny Kingdom.

A Story of Christian Community & True Grit

This beautiful wall painting from the Rila monastery in Bulgaria (from Wikipedia commons/Witches) shows the Christian church’s deep preoccupation with the subject of witchcraft, particularly as practiced in rural areas.

Nevertheless I was still surprised to hear a former Church of England vicar lay claim to the existence of “a coven of witches” in the parish of Hanley Broadheath to the north of Worcester in yesterday’s Metro newspaper. This article incidentally was juxtaposed with one about my old e-pantomime foe – see http://janetmackinnon.blogspot.com – The Wicked Blair Wizard !

Now being a solitary hedge witch my myself, I can sympathise with all good people of religion confronted with deep enmities of the kind which certain types of community, including faith groups and  political parties, can engender. However, whilst I accept that such enmity can reflect a certain spiritual malaise, I would suggest that the power of this has as much to do with more mundane human psychology  and relations as supernatural forces.  

By way of illustrating this, I shall refer to my own frequent visits to a semi-rural community to the east of Worcester, somewhat closer to “The Faithful City” (so-called !) than Hanley Broadheath, and, unusually for  the country areas of our County, served by a regular bus service, even on the Christian Sabbath.

Last Sunday, however, I took a round walk of some 10 miles to minister to the poor of said Parish : 2 cats without owners who occupy some outbuildings belonging to a business near the village in question. Attempts by me lately to get local residents “to take ownership” of these animals – until recently only 1 – have proved unsuccessful and usually result in lengthy accounts of their domestic life and/or details of holiday destinations. 

Needless to say, I am not particularly impressed, and I too have noted the presence of a certain psycho-spiritual malaise in this area. However, I have put this down not to the presence of a “coven of witches”, but to the tendency of people who live in semi-rural communities to have a “Sub-Urban” outlook and lifestyle which is excessively car dependent.  In effect, they lack any deep connection with their local environment  and its inhabitants, and are disempowered as a consequence

I was surprised, therefore, on entering the village last Sunday to be greeted by people who normally ignore me. The reason for this soon became clear – and I had a jolly good witch’s cackle that day ! – my high visibility tabard had been mistaken as the herald, not of the Spirit of Christmas, but of road gritting by the highway authority, which unfortunately did not manifest itself on this occasion.

POLLUTION OF THE RIVER TRENT & PLANNING IN THE WEST MIDLANDS

Wikimedia Commons

The contamination of the River Trent between Stoke and Yoxall this week with sewerage and cyanide, leading to the deaths of thousands of fish, is a sad reminder of the importance of “water issues” for the West Midlands, as reflected in the Examination of the Region’s proposed Phase 2 Spatial Strategy Revision’s earlier this year. This latest incident follows a recent prosecution of the Severn Trent Water company by the Environment Agency for a previous sewerage leak into the river.

In my closing submission to the RSS Examination – post of 26.6.2009 @  http://janetmackinnon.wordpress.com– I therefore invoked a Sewer King, as a sort contemporary equivalent of the Fisher King in Anglo-Celtic culture, who would lead the implementation of a new age of eco-logical infrastructure in the region, and thereby help bring about wider sustainable regeneration.