November Remembered for ‘Gunpowder, Treason & Plot’:420yrs Later Have We Learned Anything?

NOVEMBER REMEMBERED for GUNPOWDER, TREASON & PLOT—420 YEARS LATER HAVE WE LEARNED ANYTHING?

November’s First Wednesday Emergence from Writers’ Subterranean Wo/Man Cave 2Greet Same-old Same-old—or Heavens2-Betsy Are We Creatives Starting 2 Get it?

Hallowe’en 2023’s Full Hunters’ Moon— [Native American: ‘Falling Leaves Moon’]& Samhainn [ancient Celtic New Year], mark transition to Autumn: ‘clocks #fall back’ to EST/GMT closest to Guy Fawkes Day

Remember remember the 5th of November Gunpowder,Treason & Plot; I see no reason why Gunpowder Season shuld everB forgot

1875 & 1926 British Nursery Rhyme

Guy Fawkes was discovered midnight Nov.4/5 1605 lurking in cellar underLondon Houses of Parliament building with a fuse, box of matches & 36 barrels of gunpowder as Catholic sympathizers tried to blow up Protestant govt led by King Jas.VI & I

Warlords, Political Peacemakers? Do Leaders Inspire or Conspire?

This has never been a political blog—my work here has always been to find the best in human nature and share it with writers [insecure or otherwise, screenwriters & creative talent always included]. But there are times…with constant news focus on violence, war on Mediterranean shores, and challenging video footage of human conflict, when it is vital to try to see the #BiggerPicture, a greater perspective.

Guy Fawkes/Brit ‘Bonfire Night’ Combines Hallowe’en & ‘Guising‘- 17thC Equivalent of Nevada Desert Burning Man’s Flaming Effigy

Whatever the weather—amid storm, rain clouds or bright moonlight, British teens [& many traditional adults, too] still show up at their local park or town centre on Bonfire Night aka Guy Fawkes, Nov.5th, to watch [and participate in] a large bonfire—wood & scrapheap incendiaries collected by local Council volunteer groups beforehand. The event, contrary to strictly monitored U.S. equivalent, is accompanied by a Council-funded fireworks display. With adult supervision, toddlers & small children are allowed to set off their own “squibs”/firecrackers.

With the exception of iconic U.S. music festivals like Newport/Monterey Jazz, Woodstock, Altamont, CA & Reggae-on-the-River, Humboldt, CA, many recent community [music and other genre] events have been distinguished by an extreme police presence, yellow tape, restricted parking and other controlling measures which often undermine the ethic invested in the event to begin with.

Last year’s Burning Man at Black Rock, Nevada Desert is a fine example of human resourcefulness in face of deluge & extreme flooding, to extract thousands of powerless individuals from a soaking sand wasteland. Police were on standby, but their vehicles were unable to accomplish what kindhearted humans did for one another—saving many from certain demise.

Human Kindness Factor in Hawai’ian Rescue of Làhainà, Maui

Maui’s 150-year old Banyan tree [Ficus Benghalensis, relative of edible fig], pix l. upper, before & lower, after 8/8 Lionsgate fires which demolished its surroundings, along with adjacent neighborhood marina filled with boat owners & vessels unable to flee the burning harbor. Nobody drowned, but so many vehicles were destroyed that road traffic was impossible.

Arborists have sunk water pipe network of tree ‘food’ near re-plugged aerial roots to help re-anchor her system to regenerate.

Benches under canopy were unharmed, & caustic burned earth has been removed.

Red Cross & volunteer agencies still there.

Three months on from Hawai’i’s “most horrific disaster since WWII”, the brave residents of LàHainà community on Maui’s western shore, have chosen collectively this week to welcome tourists/visitors back to their [partially-rebuilt] town and marina resort—with the proviso that visitors maintain respect for those 115 lives lost in the fires on 8/8 which burned 22,000acres of town & woodland, including a marina filled with boats, surfboards and small craft.

While outside agencies have tried to provoke long-time residents into taking Hawai’ian Electric to court, many have declined, knowing that fire itself was the ultimate criminal in burning down both power lines and island-wide emergency siren towers, used in event of tsunami emergencies. Telephone, electric and siren poles were first casualties, giving citizens sole option of fending for themselves and helping their neighbours—which they did in spades!

LàHainà’s emergency will go down in history as one of great Human Kindness. Maui Humane Society is still on site, and has been returning rescued cats, dogs & other pet animals to their long-lost owners. The banyan tree is only one of several local tree replanting projects to restore Nature’s bounty to Maui.

Samhainn pre-Celtic New Year:Six Months from Bealtainn/MayDay

The ancient calendar began November 1st, one of four ‘cross-quarter days’, to distinguish them from the solstices [June/December 21st ‘quarter days’] & equinoxes [March&September 22nd].

In N.E. Scotland, where rewilding is restoring rich Caledonian pine forests which used to stretch from Abedeenshire to Morayshire coast before being burned by Robert Brus in his personal vendetta against rival Comyn, Forbes, Keith estates in 1308 Herschip o’Buchan /harrying/burning of Buchan, exciting restoration work is being done by private individuals, as well as foundations such as the family trust of Viscount Cowdray descendants of Cowdray Polo Park, W.Sussex & Dunecht House ABD, below.

Viscount Cowdray’s Heirs Continue his Legacy in Aberdeenshire

Weetman Pearson, (1856-1927) 1st Viscount Cowdray was an industrialist invited by Mexican President to build the Tehuantepec railroad between Atlantic & Pacific coasts. During stopover in Texas where he missed his connection, he noticed oil bubbling from a local puddle; called his technicians to investigate (thinking any resource found could fuel his Mexican enterprise!). When the well produced big time, he not only completed his Mexican deal, but created the early stages of what became Royal Dutch Shell. His family Coat of Arms above pix bottom l. pays tribute to his Mexican past.

When he died at Dunecht House aged 70, his £400million [$24billion by today’s standard] fortune was split 10 ways among his children. Grandson, Weetman John (Churchill) Pearson [1910-1995] 3rd Lord Cowdray was interested in following in paternal footsteps after fighting [& losing an arm] in WWII. He & his children all continued to support his Aberdeenshire Dunecht Estate-still do.

When Craigenlow, l.&rt. top above reopened granite operations 1945 after the war, Cowdray liked to attend a “blast”. My father, RCKelman, chairman Craigenlow Quarries Ltd enjoyed inviting Aberdeen dignitaries & VIPs to watch strictly-supervised gelignite explosions along the 100ft high 100yd-long granite quarry face, felling approx.150,000tons granite at a time. He & Lord Cowdray had much in common: my father, a childhood polio victim, had a ‘gammy’ leg which agreed well with Lord Cowdray’s missing arm.

Today Dunecht Estate is run by his second son Hon. Charles Pearson & family, with several properties in trust, including fishing on River Dee, forestry, farming, field sports [Raemoir, Forest of Birse, Durris & Edinglassie] and including, pix middle 2 above, Dunnottar Castle Kincardineshire coast, now Aberdeen. This ancient Keith-Earls Marischal stronghold is run as a visitor attraction and is a focus for the family’s continued ethos of using sustainable farming and growing practices to support local communities.

Before Heading Back Underground to Our Muse Den…

With so many telltale warnings from Mother Earth in her quiet way trying to tell us to slow down & go easy on our little planet—the only one we got until Mars or Space-X prove otherwise—it’s a good time to keep an eye on the heavens. At top of this blog there appears strange looking black celestial object which isn’t just there to scare the Hallowe’en crowd. Part of a recent scan by the Jas.Webb telescope, and NASA’s Hubble, it shows ancient Arabic-named supergiant star Betelgeuse [pron.Beetle-juice! hence the joke movie] situated high above constellation Orion—very visible in winter skies. Its pre-Christian legend is of one-armed or one-legged god swinging a club/or dragon at an invisible force for an eternity. But this supergiant [in Orion’s outstretched arm] may be dimming at such a rate that it may become a supernova, i.e. explode.

Betelgeuse is only 725 light years away—meaning if it has already gone supernova, it happened c.1300 A.D. and we are about to witness what happens. If it continues to dim & throw great chunks of carbon-filled fire & dust into its immediate orbit, it could end in blowing itself into oblivion. Hubble astronomers say:”No one knows what a star does right before it goes supernova, because it’s never been observed”.

So keep your eye on Orion through the winter—he might just throw us a treat!

And p.s. Don’t forget—Brit music fans, particularly in Stroud/Gloucestershire/Salisbury area: Saturday, November 4th at the #SubRooms [mid pic above l.] Tiger Split Outfit playing your fave music. Enjoy. ©2023MarianC.Youngblood

Hoisting the Happy Flag—Intergalactic Mission to Overcome November Neurosis

HOISTING THE HAPPY FLAG—INTERGALACTIC MISSION TO OVERCOME NOVEMBER NEUROSIS
Monthly Hideaway for Writers, Insecure, Self-Motivated or SuperGalactic Success Stories

Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated in towns all over Britain on ‘Bonfire Night’ with sponsored firelighting ceremony and fireworks, a tradition going back 420 years.

Guy Fawkes, 1605 plot failed to blow up parliament buildings for English pro-Catholic James VI & I restorationists

Remember, remember the Fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot;
I know of no reason why the Gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot!
Guy Fawkes and his companions did a scheme contrive
To blow the King and Parliament all up alive.
Threescore barrels laid below, to prove olde Englande’s overthrow.
A rope, a rope, to hang the Pope,
A penn’orth of cheese to choke him,
A pint of beer to wash it down,
And a jolly good fire to burn him.
English Folk Verse, 1605; Victorian version 1870

His Gunpowder Plot failed. He got caught.

Just before his execution on 31 January, 1606 Fawkes fell from the scaffold where he was to be hanged and broke his neck, thus avoiding the agony of being hanged, drawn and quartered. He became synonymous with the Gunpowder Plot, the failure of which has been commemorated in Britain as Guy Fawkes Night since 5 November 1605, when his effigy is traditionally burned on a community-sponsored bonfire—usually with a finale of fireworks.

While in the U.S.A. setting off fireworks around the All Hallows season is illegal, for Brits and some Commonwealth nations it has come to mean an explosion of national last-gasp celebration/pride before the onset of winter. Plus a twinkling of folk memory buried somewhere in the magic pagan pot. A closely comparable U.S. ceremonial/celebration is the mid-August madness in the Nevada desert known as Burning Man.

Kickstarting the Happiness Curve
It all has to do with joy and ways to achieve that calm place in our mind.

According to Prof. Sanam Hafeez, neuropsychologist at New York’s Columbia University, during REM—rapid eye movement experienced in sleep—our serotonin levels decrease. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter best known for encouraging human feelings of calm.

We are superhuman superheroes & heroines, once we lock into our neurotransmitter serotonin levels, SuperMan the Original courtesy CBS

“I close my eyes and open them. Who is this body—and this mind? Why am I thinking these meaningless thoughts that seem to be causing me pain?
“I have a mission: to calm this body down and do some good today.
“And then I’m gone tomorrow. On another, intergalactic, interdimensional mission.”
“I am a multi-dimensional, multi-verse superhero, on a mission for billions of years and this is just one”
James Altucher Four Rules for Achieving Happiness

Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins are the quartet responsible for our happiness. Many events can trigger these neurotransmitters, but rather than being in the passenger seat, there are ways we can intentionally cause them to flow. Dopamine motivates us to take action towards goals, gives us pride in ticking our boxes. Serotonin flows when we feel significant, or important. Depression comes when serotonin leaves. Oxytocin—so-called cuddle hormone—is present in intimacy, trust, continuity, childbirth, breastfeeding and sex. It creates fidelity.

Coincidentally, sleep and happiness studies have found the actual physical weight of (light) bedding causes deep pressure stimulation that activates the parasympathetic nervous system, potentially increasing dopamine*—as mood-boosting transmitter—and serotonin levels—according to Ellen Wermter, Sleep Therapist.

Endorphins, Mind-Body Joy Triggers of Calm
Dopamine, serotonin and other pleasure-producing mind-body feelings were unknown until a series of 1975 groundbreaking studies by University of Aberdeen (and Nobel-prize-winning) professors John Hughes and Hans Kosterlitz* published in Nature, suggested a relationship with opiates and calm-inducing drugs.
*Dr Kosterlitz, a refugee from Nazi Prussia, and a family friend of my father’s, called the newly-discovered brain chemicals Enkephalin, aka Endorphins. He was among the first to link mind-body pleasure centers with neurotransmitters. I am delighted to acknowledge his work along with that of his Nobel-winning son, Michael, in a related mind-body-spirit arena. It only took forty-five years for the happiness ‘drug’ to become a conversation piece; a household word. Sorry if you don’t need the applause, Michael! Well deserved.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) began in the early 1970s as a thesis project at Santa Cruz, California, home of the original (and unique) award-winning U.C. History of Consciousness course. Richard Bandler and his professor, John Grinder, wanted to develop models of human behaviour, to understand why certain people seemed to be excellent at what they did, while others found the same tasks challenging, or nearly impossible to do.

Inspired by pioneers in fields of therapy and personal growth and development, Bandler and Grinder began to develop systematic procedures and theories that formed the language of NLP. They studied three top therapists: Virginia Satir, the extraordinary family therapist, who consistently was able to resolve difficult family relationships that many other therapists found intractable; the innovative psychotherapist Fritz Perls, 1893-1970, who originated the Gestalt school of therapy; and hypnotherapist Milton Erickson, 1901-1980.

They developed a more personal interactive approach with patients/clients, using encouraging gestures and language to open doors otherwise relegated to psychotic or barricaded emotional realms.

Fall Back—Self-Doubt and Writerly Insecurity Begone
Perhaps our Intergalactic Space Commander Alex would have a better perspective on the whole Superhero satisfaction thing, continually venturing out there with his success, CassaStar series.

Finding a pristine shell while beachcombing brings enormous pleasure, raises oxytocin levels

Ticking the box of achievement—and the joy it brings—gives us feelings of self-reliance, increased confidence—self determination, even. Guy Fawkes, above, paradoxically, has been described as orchestrating his own death—by breaking his neck—rather than endure the triple ritual death by hanging, drawn-quartering.

We can alter our path any time, with a little help from such wellbeing enhancers as yoga, brief meditation and physical exercise—and a lot of writerly moral support.

And we can always fall back on our Muse—November being not just a reminder to change the clocks—Britain last week October; U.S. first November—but crucial writing month for brave NaNoWriMo wordsmiths.

I admit I prefer my pheromone-diffusing area of expertise, e.g. gardening, planting, encouraging bees and birds. With the occasional venture into blogdom. They say—apart from sleep—that our back-to-nature activities are by far the most effective in dispelling anxiety, depression and self-doubt.

I take heart that our best therapy has always been doing what we love the most: aka writing. Joy from that does feel empowering.

As Aristotle 384–322 B.C. said: You are what you continually do. And enjoy doing. Happy writing this November.
©2019 Marian Youngblood