A circle of protection

meinwhite

Two days ago, Upton Community Protection Camp was evicted from the site it had occupied since April 2014. The occupation significantly delayed any test drilling on that site and has added the cost of a legal eviction procedure to the fracking company’s bill.

Upton has set a standard for anti-fracking campaigns in the UK. It has already cost IGas both time and money. The camp was well organised and had become a semi-permanent village, including a kitchen, a social meeting place named the ‘solidari-tea hut’, and a well stocked library.

Today, the police is still blocking the lane to the site, and protesters are joining them on both ends, making their presence felt and their objections heard. Once the equipment for the test drilling starts arriving, there will be people slow walking the lorries down the lane, costing the frackers even more time and money.

Upton is now where previous UK protection camps were at the outset. They have already created a strong team with solid links in the local community. All of that will stand them in good stead as the fight continues.

Less visibly, the Upton site and the surrounding land is getting a lot of spiritual protection as well. I have been following the story from the beginning, but for me the magical protection work started at the Gemini Full Moon in December, soon after the judge gave the eviction order. Since then, I have been sending daily prayers for protection for the land and the people of Upton. I know that many others are doing similar work.

This work was taken to another level when, with a group of friends, I visited Upton on the Winter Solstice. At the darkest time of the year, we performed a Druid Solstice Ceremony, honouring the dark and calling on the light to bring hope for the future and courage to those who protect the land.

In that Ceremony, it was my task to cast a circle of protection around the sacred space we had chosen: the exact spot (as far as can be determined) where the drill is supposed to go. The spot was marked with a white ribbon on a stick. The circle of protection was made by the community that came together that day to mark the turning of the Seasons. All I did was affirm and honour that fact.

I will remember that ceremony for a long time. How everyone participated, even though not all of them were Druids, or even Pagans. How the children took part, one little girl carefully picking sprigs of mistletoe out of a basket to hand to each participant. How the Sun went in as we spoke of the dark time of the year, and how it came out again as we lit candles to celebrate the return of the light. We have since heard that it touched people quite profoundly. I feel honoured to have been a part of it.

So even now, with the camp removed from that beautiful, welcoming field surroundedWarriors-Sigil by oak trees, I send my prayers of protection. I remember that circle of community protecting the spot where the gas company wants to fracture the Earth. I enforce it with the sigil that The Warrior’s Call, Pagans United Agaist Fracking have been using for a couple of years now. And I pray that the land of Upton may continue to flourish unfractured, feeding the bodies and souls of its people.

It is a big monster we are up against. The gas industry has the backing of government and the protection of the police. They sent 400 police officers and bailiffs to the Upton site to remove a couple of dozen occupiers, all at the tax payer’s expense. Many police are still there guarding the site, and will be there to police further protest.

The might of the state is used to deny the will of the people. A survey showed that 85% of the local residents doesn’t want fracking to happen in Upton. We don’t want this destructive industry on our land – anywhere in the UK or abroad. And we’ll continue to do all we can to stop it before it begins.

If you can, please join the No Fracking Way events on 31st January, all over the country, or the J16 Solidarity event at Upton this Saturday the 16th.

Image from Chester Chronicle
Sigil from warriorscall.org

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