EARTH DAY CELEBRATION BHRUGU ARANYA APRIL 22, 2010 By Parvati

EARTH DAY CELEBRATION BHRUGU ARANYA
APRIL 22, 2010
By Parvati

To celebrate the worldwide 40th anniversary of Earth Day, our Bhrugu Aranya community planned a celebration that included tree planting, Yajnya, a mini workshop on Homa herbs & teas, a showing of the straw bale house, a potluck vegetarian dinner, followed by Agnihotra and crystal singing bowl with toning. We sent out emails and letters to everyone in our network, knowing that Thursday was not the best day for working people, and many live at a distance from our farm centre. Still, we wanted to connect with the energy of Earth Day being celebrated around the world, which also coincided with the global Mega Yajnya also scheduled for four hours during the day.

About thirty people attended. We had purchased flowers, trees for the border of our farm and flowering plum trees for the event. Fortunately we dug the holes ahead of time, as that morning we awoke to a thin layer of snow covering the ground! Fortunately by 12 noon, as the people arrived, the snow had melted. The day was rather crisp and cold, but moods were high and everyone was enthusiastic. Fifteen trees and a multitude of flowers were planted with Agnihotra ash, and Yajnya accompanying.

The group who attended brought a huge variety of vegetarian dishes for what turned out to be a lovely potluck dinner. We had everything from home-baked breads to tasty salads, main dishes Polish style and Homa apple cake. Everything went well, even though our original plans for outdoor dining were scrapped and we all gathered in the loft living room upstairs in our home.

After dinner, another group, young people from Wadowice, showed up just in time to join in a visit to the Maher’s newly built and still-in-construction-but-lived-in straw bale house. Everyone was interested in that, since straw bale building is quite new in Poland and in our region of Malpolska, it may very well be the first one. Rory and Asia conducted a mini workshop on growing and drying Homa Herbs, highlighting their medicinal as well as culinary uses. Everyone enjoyed a variety of their amazingly healing Homa Herb teas.

We gathered for Agnihotra at sunset altogether upstairs. The high energy of the fire was palpable, calming and invigorating at the same time. Following Agnihotra, I played the crystal singing bowls, inviting the group to tone with me. I didn’t do much explaining, but they just began toning beautifully! It was kind of an organic happening! Another example of the powerful energy produced by Fire and Sound.

Part of the group left for home, while eight people from Jastrzebia Zdroj remained, staying overnight in our log guest cabin and guest caravan. Before they left the next day, we had an impromptu ‘Satsang.’ It was very interesting, as they gave us a slice of life in an alternative-minded Polish person’s life. Certainly, there are the obstacles of family resistance, since this is culturally a rather conservative country, but these people have such a strong spirit. We talked about believing in one’s self, no matter what the obstacles, be they historical or familial, clerical or economic. It was a rousing discussion, which I took part in, a rare moment for me, as I usually remain quiet and in the background, perhaps due to language difference or cultural distance. This was a real open forum and very exciting.

Everyone left with a smile on their faces. Many commented on how wonderful the energy was here. We explained that it was due to the fires we perform regularly, sunrise, sunset, four hours Yajnya daily, 24 hour Yajnya on full and new moon. We felt like we really developed a nice connection with the three groups who attended, like an extension of our global family once again.

Let’s make every day Earth Day. Our planet needs our attention. Keep those Homa fires burning and the lights in our hearts aglow.

Bhrugu Aranya Homa Organic Farm and Healing Centre is the base for our a growing eco community in the Tatra mountain region of Southern Poland. At present we are ten adults, four young children, three cows, two dogs, two turtles, and a lot of cats.
Bhrugu Aranya is considered to be one of three Points of Light, the other two being Maheshwar, India and Elqui Valley, Chile.
We welcome visitors. We are also open for volunteers who wish to learn Homa Organic Farming and participate in life and work in a Homa farm community.