For this year's summer solstice I spent time with the forest and celebrated Jāņi, a traditionally pagan Latvian celebration.
Although it wasn't quite how it could have been this year, and it's definitely not the proper version as people in Latvia celebrate it, I made the most of it - making a vainags (flower crown), spending lots of time with the birds, picking berries, visiting the birch trees I tapped in the spring, swimming in the lake, and playing my kokle.
I also spent a lot of time ruminating on how many aspects of indigenous cultures have been lost across the world over time - land based living used to be the way most if not all people lived, and seasonal celebrations were a center point to these cultures.
Why have "Western" civilizations lost this knowledge and way of being?
And, I couldn't help but share some thoughts about the issue of invasive species, because as I was going out on the land for the solstice I was particularly noticing how affected certain areas are, and just how much most people don't know about it.
‣ Some clarification and additional info on what I was saying about the gypsy moth if you feel like reading:
• Although the damage they inflict is concerning as I've mentioned, it may be too early still to know the long term effects of the gypsy moth being in this landscape. Perhaps it is mostly a visual issue; healthy trees have been rebounding in the years following severe defoliation, granted defoliation isn't heavy year after year. But, trees that are already stressed/unhealthy are more likely to be killed by extreme defoliation. Time will tell.
• Also, forest dynamics are far more complex than what immediately meets the eye. There may be unforeseen benefits to the upper canopy of a forest being defoliated, such as added sunlight and fertilizer reaching the forest floor (you can hear the caterpillar poop raining in infested areas 😶).
• There is also a virus that is starting to affect dense populations of gypsy moth, which is good news!
*Much of this video was filmed on the ancestral lands of the Anishinabewaki and Mississauga people*. You can find out what native land you are living on by using this resource: native-land.ca/ Thank you for watching 💚
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27 авг 2024
