"The Earth Path" by Starhawk

"Phantom Parks: The Struggle to Save Canada's National Parks" by Rick Searle

Interesting Links:
Utne Reader
David Suzuki Foundation
New Scientist
Discover Magazine
The Medical Post Online
Ad Busters!
New Internationalist
Mother Jones.com
Salon.com
NOVA On-line
The Book of Zines
Killing the Buddha
London Review of Books
American Council on Exercise
Runner's World
The Great Illusion


Recent reads:
"A Deepness in the Sky" by Vernor Vinge

"Celtic Folklore Cooking" by Joanne Asala

"Power Spellcraft for Life" by Arin Murphy-Hiscock

"Reinventing Medicine" by Larry Dossey

"Wicca: A Year and a Day" by Timothy Roderick

"The Science of the Craft" by William H Keith

"50 Years of Wicca" by Frederic Lamond

"The Magical Life" by Vivianne Crowley

"Which Witch is Which?" by Patricia Telesco

"Perdido Street Station" by China Mieville

"Cyberhenge: Modern Pagans on the Internet" by Douglas E. Cowan

"An Ye Harm None: Magical Morality and Modern Ethics" by Shelley Rabinovitch

"Crystal Ball" by Sibyll Fergusen, revised and expanded by Witch Bree

"Gaia Eros: Reconnecting to the Magic and Sprit of Nature" by Jesse Wolf Hardin

"A Century of Spells" by Draja Mickaharic

"Evolutionary Witchcraft" by T. Thorn Coyle

"Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America" by Sabina Magliocco

"Kundalini for Beginners" by Ravindra Kumar

"Ka: Stories of the Mind and Gods of India" by Roberto Calasso

"Magical Tattwa Cards" by Dr. John Mumford

"WitchCraft Today (Expanded edition)" by Gerald B. Gardner

"Self-Initiation for the Solitary Witch" by Shanddaramon

"The Second Circle: Tools for the Advancing Pagan" by Vanecia Rauls

"Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard" by Oberon Zell-Ravenheart

"Black Magick Woman: The Sinister Side of the Song of Solomon" by Janet Tyson

"Everyday Moon Magic" by Dorothy Morrisson

"Advanced Witchcraft" by Edain McCoy"

"Handfasting and Wedding Rituals" by Raven Kaldera and Tannin Schwartzstein

"Joing Hearts and Hands: Interfaith, Intercultural Wedding Celebrations" by Rev Susanna Stefanachi Macomb

"Handfasted and Heartjoined" by Lady Maeve Rhea

"Handfasting: A practical Guide" bu Mary Neasham

" Goddess in the Grass: Sperpentine Mythology and the great Goddess" by Linda Fourbister

"Theories of the Chakras: Bridges to Higher Conciousness" by Hiroshi Motoyama

"The Knife Thrower" by Steven Millhauser

"Schizophrenia: A Very Short Introduction" by Christopher Finn and Eve Johnstone

"Schizophrenia: The Facts" by Ming T. Tsuang and Stephen V. Faraone

"A Community of Witches" by Helen Berger and Colleagues

"American Gods" by Neil Gaiman"

"Scherzo" by Jim Williams"

"Goddess in the Grass: Serpentine Mythology and the Great Goddess" by Linda Fourbister

"The Forest of Souls" by Rachel Pollack

"Wiccan Roots" by Philip Heselton

"A User's Guide to the Brain" by John J Ratey, MD

"A Goddess Arrives" by Gerald Gardner

"A Community of Witches" by Helen Berger

"Nature Spirits" Selected lectures by Rudolf Steiner

"Fatal Majesty" by Reay Tannahill

"Myths to Live By" by Joseph Campbell

"The Secret Life of Germs" by Philip M Tierno Jr, PhD

"Adam, Eve, and the Serpent" by Elaine Pagels

"Whiteout: Melt" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Steve Lieber

"Whiteout" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Steve Lieber

"Queen and Country-Operation: Crystal Ball" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Leandro Fernandez

"Tunnel in the Sky" by Robert Heinlein

"The Sex Chronicles" by Zane

"The Black Man's Guide to Good Health" by Reed, Schulman and Shucker

"The Withdrawing Room" by Charlotte MacLoed

"Queen and Country-Operation: Morningstar" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Brian Hurtt

"The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2000" edited by David Quammen

"The Bourne Identity" by Robert Ludlum

"Gerald Gardner: Witch" by J.L. Bracelin

"Queen and Country-Operation: Broken Ground" by Greg Rucka illustrated by Steve Rolston

"The Ferryman Will Be There" by Rosemary Aubert

"Philosophy of Wicca" by Amber Laine Fisher

"Wilderness Tips" by Margaret Atwood

"Origins of Modern Witchcraft" by Anne Moura

Tuesday, May 13, 2003

Water Ramblings

Revitalising, refreshing, cleansing, powerful, flowing, sacred, healing. As North Americans it is a resource we commonly take for granted. Turn on a tap, and out pours the clear, crystalline liquid. Many of us can’t conceive of travelling daily to fetch murky water from a nearby lake, stream or the village well and the life-sustaining importance of this task on the livelihood of the community, crops and animals.

Water is increasing gaining public attention as a resource that needs to be preserved. And rightly so. Global water consumption almost doubles every 20 years, and fresh water is becoming increasing less available as water supply around the world is generally dwindling or polluted.

It is probably not surprising then that water is also increasingly being seen by multinational get-rich merchants as a commodity that can be sold. And with few regulations in place to control or even monitor what is going on the idea is pretty worrying.

Proponents of selling water say that this is the best way to make sure water gets to those who need it most. Sort of a ‘Robin Hood’ approach: Take water from countries like Canada who have lots of it and distribute it to Africa, China and South America. However, given big business’ propensity for profit, it is more likely that the water will flow to where the money is, leaving those who really need it high and dry while water-intensive industries benefit from the export. Then there is the question of who really owns a country’s water. Does a private company have the right to take and sell water from the Great Lakes? Shouldn’t the residents of the country have a say in the sale? And what about NAFTA and similar organizations. Once a country starts to export a product they must continue to do so or else be in violation of the trade agreements and risk huge economic penalties. They must also not discriminate about who they sell to, for example, they can not offer a better deal to developing countries for water export than they do to big profitable businesses. So in the end who wins?

For more information about the sale of water, take a look at the Council of Canadians website and click on “Water Campaigns."

Another even less often talked about and very neglected facet of water management is groundwater. In large parts of the world, underground water supplies supply much more of the demand that rivers and streams. And while above ground water can be relatively easily replenished through weather cycles, refilling groundwater is a very slow process and in some cases impossible. Once depleted, many sources of groundwater will potentially be gone forever, including some of the oldest and greatest reserves, like those beneath the Sahara desert, the north China plain, the Ganges basin and American high plains.

The scary thing is that groundwater use is not a hot topic among environmentalists and environmental agencies, and little attention is paid to groundwater consumption. As a result these hidden resources are being mined much, much faster than they are being replenished. In addition, in some areas, pesticides and other industrial pollutants are contaminating many sources of underground water, threatening the health of local inhabitants who rely on the wells for their water needs. Or threatening the usefulness of the water even for agricultural and commercial purposes, like the issues found in southern California.

Amanda 11:01 AM
E-mail your comments to: ramblingraven@cosmic-muse.com