Power of ashes

For the past two weeks the wood ashes that were taken from the fire pit of the Peace Fire on its first year anniversary have been cooling.

Today, Easter Sunday, I have begun sifting these (still warm) ashes to create sacred “white ash” that can be used in ceremonies or any other way people wish.

Twelve or more bottles filled with these ashes will be sent around the world to help spread the notion of Peace.

One might be skeptical of the power of these ashes. But consider this: over ten tons of firewood went into the making of this small pile of ash. If nothing else, the mineral content will be quite high.

Beyond this, and more importantly, I and others meditated and said prayers around the Peace Fire twice a day for a whole year. These ashes carry the goodness of these prayers and wishes.

As well, when the Peace Fire pit was dug, we came upon an ancient charcoal midden and some stone tools demonstrating that this site was used for many hundreds of years by the original occupants of this land. This ancestral energy would have to be present in these ashes.

Consider this: the amount of wood consumed by the Peace Fire (15 tons per year) over six hundred years (9000 tons) equals what Forestry Tasmania and Gunns Ltd. cut down in Tasmania during the first “four” hours of each day. Therefore, if the thousands of people who will visit the Peace Fire in the next six hundred years can stop Forestry Tasmania from cutting down our old growth forests for just one week, the amount of fire wood consumed by the Peace Fire becomes insignificant.

On this Easter Sunday, may a just and lasting peace visit all the lands and people of the world. May there be born within humanity a new awareness of the sacredness of “all” life. May every religion of the world preach this.

Dear …..,

Here’s a little bottle of compressed goodwill. May the potent energy of the ashes contained within it help spread peace throughout the world. May it be offered as a small tribute to the concept of the Long Now.

For a year, other than for two weeks in July, I have been sitting by the Peace Fire twice each day, greeting the morning with prayer and saying “good night” later in the evening with more prayers. On April 6, its one year anniversary, over 50 people gathered around the fire at different times during the day to offer their prayers and to hang banners on bamboo poles that had written prayers of peace on them.

On the following day I cleaned out the fire pit (one half at a time to keep the fire burning) and placed the ashes off to one side to allow them to cool. Two weeks later these ashes were still warm. The pile itself lost about half its size and what was left I sifted into one bucket. Over ten ton of firewood down to one bucket of condensed prayer.

May these sacred ashes from the Windgrove Peace Fire bring a small joy to your part of the world. They represent the hopes and aspirations of many Tasmanians and may this bottle be a visible reminder to you that, despite Bush and Co., there are many thousands of individuals throughout the world working to change the mindset of war to one of peace.

I’m sure you’ll find a good use for these ashes.

With love, Peter