In ancient times, it was often very difficult to tell the Celtic and the Germanic tribes apart. They frequently intermingled, adopted the customs, clothing, weapons, and deities, etc., of the other, and so on. The Germanic/Norse God Wodan/Óðinn, for example, is believed by scholars to have evolved from the Gaulish God Lugos (the Irish Lugh, the Welsh Lleu). Sometimes, Germanic tribes even had Celtic Kings. Perhaps this was the result of marriages between the tribes. Regardless, all were fierce warriors.
Nowadays, most of us don’t ride/sail off to war, although there are still those who do, who serve honorably in our military, and all due kudos to them. They are much appreciated! But many of the rest of us do battle in other ways. Often, we’re Pagan Warriors…Druids, Magicians, Shamans, Witches, and Wizards who champion causes, donate to charities, write articles, educate others, interest new recruits in contributing, etc. Sometimes, we just do our own bit in our own fashion, particularly for Mother Earth. We eschew plastic grocery sacks and other plastic products that we know are harmful to both our environment and all living entities on our planet. We switch to energy-saving appliances and lightbulbs. We plant trees.
There are many ways that even a single individual can help make a difference for our planet, especially if we remember all the R’s for a better Earth: (1) Rebuy, (2) Reclaim, (3) Recover, (4) Recycle, (5) Reduce, (6) Refuse, (7) Regift, (8) Repair, (9) Repurpose, (10) Restore, (11) Rethink, (12) Reuse, (13) Review, and (14) Rot. While the intent of some of these is obvious, that of others is not:
(1) REBUY: When it comes to rebuying, think “salvage” and “used.” Do you really need a brand-new car? Or would a used one work just as well for you? When my son needed a new car and, having a new baby, was strapped for money, I bought him a used car. It was a beautiful Suburu Legacy, less than five years old and with low mileage on it. So, why hadn’t it already been snapped up? Because it had a salvage title, meaning that at some point, it had been wrecked, written off by an insurance company as a total loss, then later bought and restored by an auto salvager. The dealer wanted $6,000 for the car. I offered $4,000 cash. Sold! (Yet another reason to consider a salvage vehicle.) My son still has this car. It’s actually in great shape, both inside and out, and aside from regular maintenance, the only thing he’s ever had to do to it is replace one of the headlights. You can rebuy many other products, as well. Simply visit any architectural salvage for old doors, windows, columns, bathtubs, sinks, etc. Here in my hometown, we have a place called The Yard that sells everything from old fencing to gadgets to huge pieces of foam.
(2) RECLAIM: This one goes hand-in-hand with rebuying, recovering, and reusing. We’re all familiar with the idea of tearing down an old barn or other such building, for instance, and reclaiming the wood to use for other purposes.
(3) RECOVER: I’ll bet that most of you are unaware that even sewage has valuable chemicals in it that can be recovered (i.e., extracted from it): sulfur, nitrogen, and phosphorous, for example, which can then be used to create products like fertilizers and disinfectants, etc. In ancient times, people like the Romans actually traded in and taxed urine:
Urine-soaked leather makes it soft: Prior to the ability to synthesize chemicals in the lab, urine was a quick and rich source of urea, a nitrogen-based organic compound. When stored for long periods of time, urea decays into ammonia. Ammonia in water acts as a caustic but weak base. Its high pH breaks down organic material, making urine the perfect substance for ancients to use in softening and tanning animal hides. Soaking animal skins in urine also made it easier for leather workers to remove hair and bits of flesh from the skin.
The cleansing power of pee: If you’ve investigated the ingredients in your household cleaners, you may have noticed a prevalent ingredient: ammonia. As a base, ammonia is a useful cleanser because dirt and grease — which are slightly acidic — get neutralized by the ammonia. Even though early Europeans knew about soap, many launderers preferred to use urine for its ammonia to get tough stains out of cloth. In fact, in ancient Rome, vessels for collecting urine were commonplace on streets — passers-by would relieve themselves into them and when the vats were full their contents were taken to a fullonica (a laundry), diluted with water and poured over dirty clothes. A worker would stand in the tub of urine and stomp on the clothes, similar to modern washing machine’s agitator.
Even after making soap became more prevalent, urine — known as chamber lye for the chamber pots it was collected in — was often used as a soaking treatment for tough stains.[1]
(4) RECYCLE: This is one of the obvious ones. To recycle means to make something suitable for reuse. We’re probably all most familiar with recycling aluminum cans, but glass, plastic, paper, cardboard, and a host of other products can all be recycled, as well. Recycling paper, for instance, saves the lives of countless trees, which contribute greatly to Mother Earth’s oxygen:
It is proposed that one large tree can provide a day’s supply of oxygen for up to four people. Trees also store carbon dioxide in their fibers, helping to clean the air and reduce the negative effects that this CO2 could have had on our environment.[2]
(5) REDUCE: One of the easiest ways to benefit our planet is simply to reduce our amount of waste to begin with. Among other things because I live alone (I’ve been married twice, but divorced both hubbies, in case you’re wondering), I’m able to keep my own garbage to a minimum. The result of that is that I usually put my trash cart out only once a month, rather than once a week. It takes me quite a while to generate a lot of waste, especially because I recycle and reuse diligently.
(6) REFUSE: The more we all simply refuse to accept overpackaged goods, plastic grocery sacks, etc., the less they will be used, and the more that better solutions for our planet will be found and enacted.
(7) REGIFT: Some people think regifting is terribly tacky. And cheap. But, why? If you’ve received a brand-new item as a gift, and you yourself personally dislike it and/or have no use for it, why not give it to someone else who will adore it, appreciate it, and get good use out of it? The first time I got married, a friend gave me a gorgeous, old-fashioned, silver-rimmed crystal salad bowl with a pair of silver-plated salad tongs as a wedding gift. When I opened this present up, there was a gift card at the bottom of the bowl, indicating that it had previously been a present to my friend from her aunt. My poor friend was mortified. She quickly snatched the card away and awkwardly claimed she didn’t know how it had got inside the bowl. I just laughed. I realized, of course, that the bowl was a regift, but my goodness, it was brand new, beautiful, and unlike my friend, who had thoroughly modern taste, I loved its old Victorian charm! I used it for decades before I finally decided that I was simply getting too old and tired to polish silver anymore, and I sold almost all my silver and silver-plate.
(8) REPAIR: Another R whose intent is obvious. Don’t throw something out and buy it anew if it can be satisfactorily repaired instead. People used to repair things all the time: appliances, cars, clothing, shoes, etc. Then we gradually became a disposable society — which eventually fostered a dreadful mentality, because it wasn’t just things that became disposable, but also people and pets! “Granny Dumping” became a national disgrace (this was when you drove your poor old granny out someplace in the sticks and abandoned her, because she simply wasn’t of any value to you anymore). Today, pets are regularly rehomed or dumped. Huge corporations realized that they could make a heck of a lot more profit if they didn’t build products to last. My maternal grandmother owned a Sunbeam electric can opener. My mother owned the same model. After more than 50 years, both are still going strong. Meanwhile, I’ve had to replace my own electric can opener at least three times. None of mine were built to last, you see, but to be disposable, so the companies could make more profit!
(9) REPURPOSE: This means finding new uses for old things. Has that galvanized metal bucket you once used when mopping your floors now got a rusty hole in it? Don’t throw that old pail away. Instead, punch a few more holes in it, and employ it as a shabby-chic planter. You might even find yourself repurposing quite by accident. I own two large apothecary chests, and when I moved, there was no place for both of them. But they had big, screw-on feet, and I decided that I could unscrew the feet on one of them, then set the footless chest on top of the other one, so that they would fit into the space I had for them. When I did that, it created a whole new — and very impressive — big, tall piece of furniture. No one had ever remarked on the two apothecary chests before when they had been separate, but once I had repurposed them into a single, large piece of furniture, everyone who saw it commented on it and how attractive it is! And, oh, yes, I kept the feet so that if I ever want to separate the two chests again, I can do that and simply screw the one chest’s feet back on.
(10) RESTORE: Yet another R whose intent is obvious. Old things (like furniture) can often be restored to their former glory or else given a completely new character and style with modifications, paint, and new hardware (this is especially popular when creating Bohemian furnishings).
(11) RETHINK: This R has a couple of intents. First, rethink your whole lifestyle. Is it extravagant, wasteful? Do you regularly buy a trunk-load of groceries in plastic sacks, which sacks you then just throw away once you’ve got home and put all your groceries away? Do you leave all your lights burning all the time? Do you regularly scrape uneaten food down the garbage disposal? And the list goes on. Second, rethink your approach. Do you really need to buy a box of microwave popcorn in individual brown-paper packets with plastic wrapping on them? Or would you be willing to visit a store where you could instead scoop loose popcorn from a bin into your own glass jar, for popping on your stove later? Just how much time and effort, exactly, are you willing to devote to becoming a Pagan Warrior?
(12) REUSE: Yet another R whose intent is obvious. Do you really need all those nasty dryer sheets that are so bad for the environment? Or could you make do instead with three wool balls that you can reuse over and over again to soften your clothes (they work just as well, by the way, if not even better than dryer sheets)?
(13) REVIEW: This R goes hand-in-hand with rethink. Regularly review all the methods you’re using in your Pagan battles, either for the environment or for other just causes. Ask yourself: In what ways could you be more efficient and effective?
(14) ROT: The intent behind this R is simple: Food scraps and other such waste don’t go down the garbage disposal or into the trash bin. They go into a composter to rot and be turned into nutrient-rich compost for your garden — where you grow at least some of your own food, of course, and without using dangerous chemicals. Don’t forget a watering place just for the bees, either!
Let me know how you practice being a Pagan Warrior. What are the causes and ideas you choose to do battle for?
Blessings!
APs Rhianwen Bendigaid
Footnotes:
[1] Kumar, Mohi, “From Gunpowder to Teeth Whitener: The Science Behind Historic Uses of Urine.” Smithsonian Magazine. Web.
[2] Stancil, Joanna Mounce, “The Power of One Tree — The Very Air We Breathe.” USDA. Web.
