Living With Fire
The recent bushfires have been a tragedy for so many of us in Australia. So what can we learn, and how can we help others, the animals and the land to heal?
Unfortunately, so much of the Australian landscape and countryside has been ravaged by bushfires in this last month. It is with tremendous sadness that we simply don’t have as much access to pristine wilderness anymore. It has also been estimated that up to two billion animals have been killed during the current catastrophic bushfires which are affecting nearly all regions of Australia. Both my company and myself personally have been inundated with emails and messages from people all around the world expressing their concern and also their love and support for Australia, its animals and people. Many have asked what they can do to help. As a result of this I have changed the theme of this newsletter to the bushfire crisis. As well as the deaths of so many animals there has also been many people killed and thousands of homes destroyed. We have yet to fully comprehend the long-term effects of this tragedy on plant and animal ecosystems; the destroyed country towns; the effects of inhaling the fine particular matter from the smoke; loss of jobs, not only directly from the fires but from a sharp fall in tourism - one of the biggest sources of national revenue and employment; lack of food and increase in cost of what will still be available.
I came across a new term today – ‘eco anxiety’, which is quite palpable at the moment here in Australia. It’s not just the people who have been directly traumatised by the fires, nor the very brave and heroic volunteer fire fighters battling the blazes day after day in extreme heat, but it feels like everyone has been touched by all the suffering and trauma. As one commentator put it “There is a lot of raw emotion out there. There are scars on our landscape, scars on our people and scars you won’t see.” This eco anxiety is also being experienced all around the planet with people tuning in to and viewing the destructive power and force of nature which is being unleashed. It has created feelings of uncertainty about the future. Many people don’t know what to do and they feel powerless, anxious, afraid and confused; they are without a map for how to move forward, beyond the trauma, drama and devastation. It is not just in Australia, but almost everywhere.
Here in Australia, the fires have as acted as a huge wakeup call about the seriousness of climate change and its consequences. One of the reasons the fires have been so bad is the widespread drought in Australia on top of 2019 being both the hottest and driest year on record in Australia. Recently we had, for the very first time, no recorded rain anywhere in Australia – and it’s a very big country! I don’t think after these fires Australian people will allow the government to be so reluctant and nonchalant about the steps it needs to implement to address the issues of climate change. The current Federal government has very much had its head in the sand regarding this.
The fires have brought a big message with them and the timing is interesting, coming when the Aboriginal elders are coming back into visibility, such as with the stopping of the climbing of Uluru (Ayers Rock). The fires have burned the mask of complacency in Australia that has been covering the situation of the arrogance of ignoring the traditional people, the ones who know how to manage the energy of the land. They have not been allowed to be in control of the land for centuries and we are now seeing the worst fires ever. The fires have been a total tragedy, but hopefully it will bring to the attention of the leaders of the country the realisation and awareness of the need to work with the elders. The latter have been saying for a long time, “Listen to us”, but have been ignored. It’s time to bring back the wisdom of people who previously managed the land. Funding has been going to people who know how to put fires out, but don’t know how to work with the spirit of the land and who don’t work with the fire spirits or the spirits of water, air and earth. This has to change. The message of these bushfires is teaching us the need to listen to our wise, indigenous ones and let them manage the land again. Their ancient wisdom needs to be preciously preserved and brought into the public domain.
These wakeup calls have been some of the positive aspects arising from the tragedy of these bushfires. But the fires have also resulted in a unifying of people and the outpouring of that wonderful aspect of humanity that wants to help and serve. I have received so many wonderful messages of help and support from people all over the planet wanting to know if there’s anything they can do. We have suggested to them to visualise rain and an end to the fires as being something very practical they can do, as well as asking their guides to send White Light to the guides of all the people who have been traumatised by the fires. Of course, they can also send Love and Light to the land and all the animals. The consequence of so many people all around the planet doing exactly this - sending love, light and visualising rain for Australia is definitely having an impact. Yesterday, as I write, we had a lot of rain in Sydney, much more than was forecast. I know intuitively that this was a direct result from all the visualisation, prayers and outpouring of love.
The fires have burnt so much land - 25 million hectares up to today, which is the size of Belgium, The Netherlands and the UK all combined, that people have written in expressing concern that some of the Bush Essences won’t be able to be replenished. Thankfully, I can assure you that this is not the case. The sixty nine Bush Essences come from all regions of Australia. In the past when devastating bushfires have affected an area where I make an Essence, such as in Central Victoria with Green Spider Orchid, I was able to make it later that year in Western Australia, many thousands of kilometres away. The area where I make Red Helmet Orchid and Southern Cross has been extensively burnt but there are other locations where I know I can find these plants which haven’t been burnt. Monga Waratah is another plant that I have some concern for, but it grows in rainforest areas along the creek banks, so I’m sure there will be enough of this beautiful tree surviving. One person wrote in concerned about the purity of the Essences as a result of the fires. This is certainly not an issue as, provided there is rain, the plants that regrow and bloom will all have a very strong lifeforce. There is a twenty-five-year pattern in the desert where you have two good years of rain which leads to another couple of years of good growth of the plants. This is then followed by roughly a twenty-year period of drought. After a couple of years of no rain the plants become very dried out and usually you will then get a bushfire. When the drought is finally broken it is usually with a flood. The plants that I work with from the Centre of Australia that go through this cycle have an amazingly strong lifeforce which is why the Bush Essences have a worldwide reputation for being so incredibly quick and deep acting.
On an even more positive note many Australian plants especially those in the Proteacae family – Waratah, Banksias, Grevilleas, Isopogon and Hakeas, actually benefit from bushfires as it activates their seeds. Pink Flannel Flower, one of the rarest of the Bush Essences, has a very narrow area of distribution and that area experiences some of the most intense bushfires. Pink Flannel Flower is likely to be found in bloom in about 18 month’s time in this location. Only an extremely hot bushfire will activate its seeds, such as these bushfire infernos which have left a destructive trail of melted steel in their wake. These seeds can stay dormant for over forty years waiting for such conditions to occur.
In previous bush fire disasters, we have donated hundreds and hundreds of bottles of Solaris to zoos, vets and wildlife volunteers who have been working with injured animals. Solaris contains three remedies. The main one is Mulla Mulla which greatly relieves the emotional fear and distress associated with heat, fire and sun. One of the other Essences in the Combination, Fringed Violet, maintains one’s psychic protection and is excellent for people who have been drained by or who have unconsciously absorbed energetically the emotions of other people or environments. In 2009 one of our then Bush Essence teachers Jo Fleischer, who is a psychologist, was employed by the Victorian government to help counsel people who had lost their houses or loved ones in the infamous Ash Wednesday fires. Through Jo, we were able to get Solaris and Emergency Essence to all the people she and the other psychologist counselled. Again, we have been happy to donate Solaris Essence to any vets or wildlife volunteers treating burnt animals from these fires, all they have to do is contact us. With the current bushfires we have been able to give the Essences to people and organisations taking essential goods – water, food etc – to communities which have been worst hit.
Emergency Essence is the other remedy, along with the Solaris Combination drops that we’ve been donating for people and animals traumatised by the bush fires. Emergency Essence is excellent for any emotional upset and has a very calming effect during a crisis, helping to ease panic, distress and fear. You can administer the Emergency Essence drops, cream or space mist every hour, or more frequently - even every 15 minutes if necessary, until the person starts to feel better. This Essence is wonderful for enhancing one’s ability to cope, bringing comfort, reassurance and courage. Waratah is one of the key remedies in this Combination. It was the only flower the Aborigines gave to the white settlers, as it was their most esteemed and highest flower. All the Aboriginal waratah legends relate to courage and strength and in colour and size it resembles the human heart - it literally gives one heart.
Grey Spider Flower is another flower found in the Emergency Essence range. When you look at the flower, you can see a face with a nose, eyes and a wide open mouth, which always suggests to me a person screaming in terror, an image closely resembling Edvard Munch’s painting “The Scream”. Grey Spider Flower is included in the Emergency Essence as it deals with extreme terror, especially terror experienced in life threatening situations - such as the cataclysmic bush fires currently ravaging Australia. The flames of these fires have been up to 35 metres high and travelling at up to 100 km an hour! The noise has been described as horrifying, especially when experienced in the dark of night. No wonder there have been so many terrified, traumatised animals and people caught up in these fires.
Fire Essence, one of seven remedies comprising the White Light Essences range can also be indicated for many people at this time. This Essence helps to clear very old trauma that people have carried with them in relation to the element of fire. Many have died as a result of too much heat, such as in fires but also from a lack of this element, such as in freezing to death. The current fires have been triggering these old unreleased sub-conscious memories and creating very intense feelings of fear, sadness and upset. The Fire Essence will help address these emotions whether they stem from way in the past or are purely a direct result of what is happening with the current bushfires.
Another remedy to consider is the Mt Pinatubo Essence from the Light Frequency Essence range, as it can direct you to be in the right place at the right time. It can help keep you out of harm’s way in terms of natural disasters – earthquakes, fires, floods etc.
As I mentioned, one of the worst downsides to these fires is that we’ve lost billions of animals – which is just mind-boggling to comprehend. The koalas have certainly been badly affected and it looks like they may go on the endangered lists as many healthy colonies were totally wiped out. It looks like there’s going to have to be repopulating of many of the flora and fauna species. We won’t know the full extent of the damage to communities, businesses, people, environments and animals until all the fires have stopped, which hopefully will be soon. I put up an image of a burnt koala being given water, on our Instagram account and we have had over 30,000 likes - normally we would get 300 likes for a post! The majority of likes have come from overseas. I was very touched by an Instagram message from an Iranian man just wishing to send lots of love and support to Australia and Australians. This of course coming at a time when the American and Iranian governments were on a narrow knife-edge of hostility and potential war. It makes me very glad to know that we are not our government and that we all have a basic human desire for love and peace.
Much Love, Light and Respect
Ian White
Founder & Director
