Linkola - Cry, Beloved (Land) (1988)

Jive Talk: Henry Williamson - British ruralist author against the urbanites

Survival in the Amazon Rainforest

Animals of the Amazon Basin

Documentary: The Tribe that Hides From Man

Folk use of Betony – The Healing Herb with Purple Flowers

 In early medieval England, plants and flowers were used as ingredients in folk remedies and magic spells. The main sources for spells from the Anglo-Saxon era are Lacnunga and Bald’s leechbook. These two “leechbooks” are books of spells and medicinal recipes which were used by medieval doctors. They were compiled in the ninth and tenth centuries. The most famous Anglo-Saxon charm is called “The 9 herbs charm”; it includes a spell invoking the pagan god called Woden. The charm makes mention of 9 different plants, all of which can easily be found in the English countryside. One of these plants, betony, has remained popular in folk medicine and magic for centuries.

Betony (stachys betonica) is also known as heal-all, self-heal and woundwort (due to widespread belief in its healing qualities). Betony grows in sunny meadows and shady woodlands where it brings forth beautiful purple flowers in July and August. It is easily grown and adds a splash of colour to a wild bouquet or herb garden. Not only was it regarded as a healer, it was also thought to have magical properties.
 
Macer’s herbal is a Medieval Latin poem which was translated into English in the early 12^th century, it describes betony as powerful against “wykked sperytis” which means wicked spirits.

There are many extraordinary superstitions regarding betony; a very old one says that if you put two snakes in a circle of betony, they will kill each other. Another says that beasts of the wild knew how well it healed and would therefore seek it out and eat it when wounded. Even as recently as 1666, the Medicina Britannica says:

 'I have known the most obstinate headaches cured by daily breakfasting for a month or six weeks on a decoction of Betony made with new milk and strained.'

Over the years, betony related folklore has endured to the point where it is still recognised as a nervine and a tonic. It is also alleged to be an astringent, and is used in alternative medicines to treat rheumatism, scrofula and impurities of the blood. Even if you’re not interested in the magical stuff, the flowers are beautiful and the herb itself makes a lovely cup of tea.

Documentary: The Man Who Lived With Wolves

A Short Documentary about Werner Freund, a German man who lived with a pack of wolves. He died two days ago.

Documentary: Happy People A Year in the Taiga (2011)

Happy People A Year in the Taiga (2011) Russia... by myfilm-gr

Werner Herzog documentary about life in the middle of Siberia. In the centre of the story is the life of the indigenous people of the village of Bakhtia at the river Yenisei in the Siberian Taiga. The camera follows the protagonists in the village over a year. The natives, whose daily routines have barely changed over the last centuries, keep living their lives according to their own cultural traditions.

Short Film: The World Is Burning

The World Is Burning (2013) from Oak & Arrow on Vimeo.

A young man returns to a traditional life in rural Newfoundland after tragedy strikes.

Jean Sibelius - Finlandia

In this video from Wild Scandinavia, the symphonic poem Finlandia by Finnish composer Jean Sibelius is set to scenes of Finnish landscapes and nature. The first version of Finlandia was written in 1899, and it was revised in 1900. The piece was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899, a covert protest against increasing censorship from the Russian Empire, as the last of seven pieces, each performed as an accompaniment to a tableau depicting episodes from Finnish history.

The premiere was on 2 July 1900 in Helsinki with the Helsinki Philharmonic Society conducted by Robert Kajanus. A typical performance takes anywhere from 7½ to 9 minutes.

A recurrent joke within Finland at this time was the renaming of Finlandia at various musical concerts so as to avoid Russian censorship. Titles under which the piece masqueraded were numerous, a famously flippant example being Happy Feelings at the awakening of Finnish Spring.

Most of the piece is taken up with rousing and turbulent music, evoking the national struggle of the Finnish people. But towards the end, a calm comes over the orchestra, and the serenely melodic Finlandia Hymn is heard. Often incorrectly cited as a traditional folk melody, the Hymn section is of Sibelius's own creation.

Although initially composed for orchestra, in 1900 Sibelius arranged the entire work for solo piano.

Sibelius later reworked the Finlandia Hymn into a stand-alone piece. This hymn, with words written in 1941 by Veikko Antero Koskenniemi, is one of the most important national songs of Finland (though Maamme is the national anthem). With different words, it is also sung as a Christian hymn (Be Still, My Soul), and was the national anthem of the short-lived African state of Biafra (Land of the Rising Sun).

Created by
Wild Scandinavia / Wildes Skandinavien / (2011)
Directors: Uwe Anders, Oliver Goetzl
Writers: Jan Haft, Oliver Goetzl

Sacred Forests

The latest Survive the Jive Video update. I've always found woodland to be an excellent place for contemplation, meditation and general relaxation. Many people around the world feel exactly the same way. It's hard to rationalise what it is about such spaces that cause them to have such an effect on the psyche (if you wish to use such terms) or soul. This video features footage of deciduous forest in England in each season, showing how the woods really make you feel the passage of time. It also shows boreal forest in Sweden and tropical rainforest in Venezuela. The video ends with some footage of me looking fresh faced and beardless and ranting about conservation in the jungle 5 years ago.

Georgian Film: Sapovnela (1959)

 

Sapovnela is a short film by Georgian director Otar Iosseliani from 1959. "Sapovnela" means "the flower that nobody can find." This film is presented without subtitles (the voiceover was forced on Iosseliani by the censorship in the Soviet times but the film was banned anyway due to its ending). This was his first attempt at combining music and colors. Also, this is a story about the old florist Mikhail Mamulashvili who created wonderful compositions in his small garden.

NEU! - Für immer

A video art project set to NEU! - Fur Immer


A journey through a frosted forest in Winter, fleeting figures over ivory landscapes, in pursuit of an unknown beast, following the tracks to an unseen destination.

London birds in the snow - Old English words for wildlife

Winter (1923)

Britsh nature documentary 1923

Kinski & the Butterfly

Fun in the Faroes

Ravens Return

Chaos Reigns - Herzog on Nature

Although I find Werner Herzog's views on nature somewhat pessimistic, I identify with his opinion on Chaos. Some are intimidated by the realisation that chaos is the governing law of the cosmos, others are comforted.

Magic Mushrooms

I took these photos of magic mushrooms growing in my Mum's garden a couple of years ago. The mouse was sitting nearby. I don't like mice so my initial reaction was to stomp on it, but I didn't. I don't know what he was doing there nor why he wasn't afraid of me. It's possible he was a drug user and had lost his natural fear of man. If I ever encounter that mouse again, I will teach it to fear man.