Ostara

by Kveldulf Hagan Gundarsson and Gunnora Hallakarva, from Mountain Thunder, Issue 4, Spring 1992.


As the days lengthen, the earth thaws and starts its greening after the long, dark, cold winter. These are the early days of spring. Our ancestors would be busy now, making final repairs to their plows, preparing their draft animals to pull them, checking the seed corn to be sure that it was ready to plant. The success of the next year depended entirely on the crop that was about to be put in the earth. Our ancestors knew this, and thus turned to our Gods and Goddesses to ensure the fertility of the earth, the viability of the seed, and the growth and abundance of the crops that would keep them alive through the next hard winter. The rituals that marked the spring planting time are still known by name to us today, called "Easter," or to Asatruar, Eostre, or Ostara in the Anglo-Saxon or Old High German tongues of our ancestors.

The feast of Ostara takes its name from the Goddess Eostre, of whom little is known, except that she must have been a Goddess of spring, fertility, rebirth, and the rising sun. Her name is etymologically connected with both the "east," and with a word for "shining; glorious." The Ostara worship was so strong in the Germanic lands that the somewhat similar Christian feast of rebirth and renewal was given the Goddess's name. Bede recounts that the Christian Paschal feast was named after the heathen Goddess Eostre, and so this celebration is still named Easter among the Christians. There is no specific date on which the Ostara feast must be held. The three mightiest times at this turning of the year are the equinox itself and the new and full moons following the equinox. It is probably better in general to celebrate Ostara during the waxing moon.

Ostara represented many complex, interrelated beliefs to our ancestors. The sun was reborn from its winter banishment to thaw the earth, making it ready for the plow. People felt reborn as well, escaping from close, snow-bound confinement into the new warmth. The Gods and Goddesses of fertility were active once again in the land, causing new growth everywhere. Women often were showing the first swelling signs of pregnancy, engendered in the winter months when bed meant both warmth and entertainment for they and their men. As the wilds burgeoned with new life, so too would the lands inhabited by man, bearing crops in the furrows, kine in the fields, and salmon in the streams. Ostara is the brightest and most joyful ceremony of the Teutonic year. It is the time in which we celebrate the renewed presence of the Gods and Goddesses of fertility among us, and their marriages which ensure the fertility of the land. Ostara marks the victory of Sunna over the wolves which pursued her down into winter's dark, and Thorr's victory over the Frost-Giants. We celebrate the end of winter, and joyously exchange the cold for summer's healing warmth.

Fertility

Perhaps the primary function of the rites of Spring is promoting fertility. The timing of Ostara places it after the spring thaw, yet before planting, to maximize the effect of the blessings of the Gods and Goddesses on the fields. Probably the best known symbol of fertility among our folk is the egg. As one would expect, the egg remains the symbol which modern culture associates most thoroughly with Easter. Painted clay eggs (white with black and red stripes) were found in a Germanic cemetery in Worms (ca. 320 CE) as part of a child's burial goods. The egg is, of course, one of the mightiest symbols of new life, fertility, and "good luck." It should be noted that among modern Germans today, Eier or "eggs" is still a slang term for a man's testicles. Eggs were often associated with the spring fire rituals that enhanced men's virile power. In the Norse-settled islands north of Scotland (the Orkneys and Shetlands), it was the custom to rub a bull's testes before going out to gather eggs from the cliffs, saying, "I rub the bull's eggs, and I get the gull's eggs ..." The bird's eggs and the other generative organs (ovaries may be assumed as well as testicles) hold the same store of aldri and hamingja; they are the very source of life.

Eggs are still used today in a number of fertility rituals. In Sweden, eggs were thrown over the field during plowing. In Germany, they were hurled in the air before the sowing began "to ensure that the grain would grow as high."1 In the Orkneys and Shetlands there were certain traditions concerning the Easter eggs. On several days during the Easter season, "Boys went around ... with a mitten begging eggs and would get one or two from each family.... On Sunday a lot of them lit a fire in the hills and boiled their eggs near some plain green, threw up their eggs to see which ones would be longest unbroken, and then ate them." The height of the throws and the "luck" inherent in the unbroken eggs were taken as predictors of the growth of the crops and the luck of the year.

Our ancestors also observed Ostara as one of the "Fire Festivals," in which a bonfire, torches, or other flames became a focal point of the celebrations. The use of fire is directly symbolic of the sun, and perhaps of Freyr's solar aspects as well, and hence a symbol of fertility. The best survival of fire being used at Ostara, surprisingly, is found among the German-descended inhabitants of Fredricksburg, Texas, where on Holy Saturday the inhabitants still light bonfires on the tops of nearby hills. In Germany, sun-wheels were made from oakwood, straw, and green branches, and brought to the top of the highest hills. There the wheels were set aflame, and the burning sun-wheel sent rolling down the hill and through the fields of the villages below, literally bringing the might of the sun and the warmth of its rays which thaw the earth into the fields which were to be plowed and sown.2 This custom remained as at least a dim echo in northern England as well, where instead of a flaming sun-wheel, brightly colored eggs were rolled down hillsides on Easter Monday instead. In both Germany and Czechoslovakia, an egg which was lain on Thursday was taken, colored green for fertility, and buried in the largest wheat field. After burial, the egg was flanked on either side with a burning "hail cross."3 The "Thursday egg" is an obvious remnant of the worship of Thorr, here invoked in his fertility aspect to bless the fields, and as the God of Storm to protect the new crops against springtime hail stones, while the burning cross is a Christianized remnant of the old sun wheel, such as described above. Charred sticks saved from the fires were kept and taken home to protect the home against hail, fire, and lightning, and the ashes of the fires often spread in the fields for fertility. One common belief associated with the fire festivals was that the men alone were allowed to take part, and women were kept strictly away from the vicinity of the fire, suggesting that men will absorb the might and fertility of Freyr or Thorr when they participate in such a rite.

Today's Asatruar might adapt these spring fire rites to modern use by using one of the "Catherine's Wheel" type of fireworks, or actually construct a small sun wheel, placed high atop a pole to be lit. Rather than taking the burning wheel around one's home or apartment, burning candles or torches might be lit from it, and be used to carry the flame around instead.

Another symbol of fertility that our ancestors associated with Ostara is the hare or rabbit. Christian belief has kept the overtly pagan hare as a part its Easter celebration in the guise of the friendly Easter bunny - an especially odd feature, as traditional Christian art uses the hare to represent lust.4 Hares mate when very young, and the does can produce several litters each year, hence the common vulgar expression, "To fuck like a bunny." This conception of the hare brings to mind another Vanic deity, the Goddess Freyja, who is compared in the Eddic poem "Hyndluljodh" to the she-goat Heithrun, running nightly among the male goats in her lust. German children still build nests for the Easter hare to lay its eggs in. In America, Germany, Denmark, Yugoslavia, Switzerland, and parts of France, children hunt for eggs left by the Easter hare in the fields, orchards, stables, and home. n Germany, a rich buttery bread, decorated with almonds or currants, is often baked in the shape of a hare, as are sweet cakes which may contain whole boiled eggs in the middle. These, like the eggs, are eaten for fertility, luck, and health.

Rebirth

In the Poetic Edda survive what seem to be ritual dramas which concern themselves with rebirth, fertility, and spring. "Skirnismal" is the greatest of these, telling of Freyr's love for the beautiful giantess Gerdr, the descent of his servant into the land of the etins to recover her, and the ultimate winning of the maiden. From the time of the Bronze Age rock carvings, the figure of the fertility God was associated with the sun-wheel. Phallic God figures depicted with the sun wheel as their head or body are frequently shown mating with a long-haired woman, and stags are often depicted with the sun-wheel tangled in their antlers, or the sun-wheel itself is shown with stag's antlers rising from it.5 These motifs seem to have attached themselves to Freyr, who has frequently been identified as having "solar aspects," and who fights with a stag's antler as his weapon at Ragnarok. In "Skirnismal," Freyr himself does not descend into the land of giants. That is left to Skirnir, his human servant, a figure who recalls to us the Frodhi-kings of Sweden as almost an avatar of the God. Skirnir, as Freyr's ambassador, goes down into the black and cold of death:

Night is it now, now we shall fare
over moist mountains, to the thurses' throng;
scatheless we both shall 'scape their might,
or else both be o'erborne by the etins.6

The greeting given to Skirnir at the edge of the land of the giants shows it to be the land of death: "art thou doomed, or dead already" - the warders of the place do not expect the living. Like the sun, which goes down into the long nights of winter at the time of Yule, the feast of Freyr himself, Skirnir descends into darkness. And like the sun, he wins through, returning from death to give tidings of life, and to promise the wedding of Freyr and Gerdr in the grove of Barri in the spring. "Svipdagsmal" likewise contains the same basic motif.

The idea of Ostara as a time of rebirth of the sun is reflected in a variety of folk practices. In Heidelberg, schoolchildren would go about singing Winter heraus / Sommer herein! (Winter out / Summer in!) and be given pretzels and eggs. In German Moravia, after the children had carried an effigy representing Death out of the town, they would beg for eggs "as payment for Carrying away Death."7 The Ostara hunt for the egg is also originally a German tradition. In South Germany, the eggs were deliberately put in a place where the children looking for them would be stung by nettles or scratched by thorns before they were able to reach them. This, like the mock switchings or beatings with green branches which are also common at Ostara time, symbolizes the awakening of the soul through the prick of the thorn - the bright counterpart to the dark "sleep-thorn" of Norse legend. The pricking or switching represents death, while the egg remains a symbol of rebirth.

Groups which practice "Norse Wicca" and some Vanic Asatruar often take this theme as the death and rebirth of the God/sun in winter, and celebrate spring with the "Great Marriage" which re-enacts the union of the God and Goddess. There is some evidence that this type of ritual marriage may have been practiced by our ancestors as well, not only texts such as "Skirnismal" and "Svipdagsmal," but the sagas and classical sources give similar evidence as well. These sources suggest that the figure of Freyr or Nerthus which was transported around the countryside was provided with a human "husband" or "wife," and in "Gunnars thattr," the delight of the folk over the obvious pregnancy of the Freyr's gydhja seems to confirm the idea of the Great Marriage as a valid part of Asatru belief. Both "Skirnismal" and "Svipdagsmal" contain elements which can be used in creating a dramatic Spring ritual, which might be performed on the night before the dawn celebration of Ostara proper, such as the ritual described in Kveldulf Gundarsson's forthcoming book, Teutonic Religion.8 Those who wish to enact the Great Marriage as well can do so, using rituals that range from the ideal actual act of intercourse in a freshly-ploughed furrow, to the symbolic act used by some Wiccan groups which mimes the sex act but does not actually involve intercourse, to using a leek to represent the God and plunging it into a cup or horn of water drawn from a fresh-running stream which represents the Goddess. If the Great Marriage is used as a part of the Ostara celebrations, the rite should probably also be placed on the eve before Ostara as well.

Also associated with the theme of rebirth are "washing rites." Tacitus recounts that the statue of Nerthus and all the trappings, fittings, and furniture associated with the annual spring procession were washed in the holy lake each year, after which the priests who had viewed the holy figure were put to death. The immersion in water symbolized both death (drowning) but also the waters of birth and the emergence from the womb. Similarly, folk customs have preserved rites involving washing or sprinkling with water which may have similar meanings. In the north of England on Easter Monday and Tuesday, groups of women would surround any man they came across and "heave" him three times over their heads, then sprinkle him with water and kiss him. The next day, the men would do the same thing to the women. This may go back to the name-giving rite in which the newborn was lifted up and sprinkled with water, and at which time she or he could also be given "luck" and surrounded with magical protection. Since Ostara is the time of rebirth, that springing might can be used so that the community can bless its folk as if they too were reborn. Keeping this in mind, another useful portion of our Ostara rites might include a ceremony such as the lighthearted one given above, or simply ritual bathing by the Asatruar participating in the Ostara rituals to symbolize rebirth.

Renewal

Another idea embodied in the rites of Ostara is that of renewal. Participation in the Ostara rites confers upon the worshippers many benefits, not just fertility but luck and health as well. A number of folk beliefs survive which illustrate this idea. On the Orkney island of Rousay, "children were always given eggs to eat. Well-off families encouraged each child to eat as many as he could; in poorer families, children often had to share an egg."9 This belief in the might of eggs eaten at Ostara time also appears in Germany. In Oldenburg it is said that a weakly man should "eat a few more Easter eggs" and a 17th-century Rhineland source quotes the local proverb, Auf Ostern iss hart gesotene Eyer, dann bist du das gantze Jahr gesundt - "At Easter eat hard-boiled eggs, then you'll be healthy the whole year."10 This is particularly so if the egg is eaten just before sunrise on Ostara, which will ward off illness.

Ostara Eggs

One of the chief Ostara traditions which has survived in modern Germanic culture is the coloring and painting of eggs at this season. This custom seems to be limited to the Germanic countries, Slavic countries, and America. In Scotland and Ireland the custom is virtually unknown, and the feast passes with little remark, as Kveldulf found out through personal experience. In Germany, on the other hand, the bakery windows each spring are filled with the most beautifully and elaborately painted eggs, which are hung on flowering branches to make "egg trees." Easter is celebrated in Germany more enthusiastically than it is anywhere else in the world. The German Easter decorations go up a good month before the festival is due, and Germans often have parties, egg hunts, and so forth weeks in advance of Easter itself. It is even possible to buy pre-colored hard-boiled eggs in all the stores during the Easter season.

It is traditional in many places to keep Easter eggs or shells all year to ward the family and cattle against harm, and they are also used very specifically as a charm against hail and lightning. For this reason, care and thought should go into the creation of egg decorations, egg-trees, boiled and decorated eggs for eating, and hare cakes. However, Ostara is a time for rejoicing, not a grim and dour rite, so involve your entire family and Kindred in the fun of creating your eggs and other Ostara trappings.

The eggs for Ostara can either be hard-boiled so that they may be eaten, or the eggs may be "blown" while raw, removing the yolk and white while leaving the shell mostly intact for use as hanging ornaments to decorate your home, or to hang on an egg-tree. The actual traditional method of preparing eggs to keep as decorations and to ensure luck over the next year is to decorate raw eggs: the contents of the shell will eventually dry up completely over time. The traditional decorated raw egg is, theologically speaking, the best type of egg to keep, as the "might" of the egg remains within the shell, albeit in a slumbering form. However, if you choose to decorate raw eggs, remember that they are fragile, and if they break before they are completely dry, they will release noxious, "rotten-egg" fumes! Preparation of Ostara eggs can begin as much as a month before the actual Ostara rite is held, whenever it seems that winter is starting to end and summer to begin.

Blowing Eggs

To blow an egg out, make a small hole with a needle at either end, being sure to pierce the yolk. Place your mouth over one end and blow gently until all the contents are out. If this doesn't seem to work, either you're not blowing hard enough, the hole is too small, or you haven't broken the yolk membrane. Reserve the raw egg for use in baking hare cakes or for breakfast on Ostara morning. To hang the blown egg, take a piece of wire which is an inch or so longer than the egg and make a loop in one end. You can either make a hanger out of the wire itself by twisting the bottom end till it won't pass through the hole in the egg, or else tie a piece of yarn or ribbon to the wire and pull it through the egg, tying it off at the bottom. A traditional use of blown egg shells at Easter time in Texas and Mexico is to make "cascarones," confetti-filled eggs which Asatruar living in Texas often use to break over Ostara celebrants. The might of the egg is represented by the confetti, and is a much nicer way of getting the luck of the egg transferred to a person than performing the same maneuver with a raw egg. To make cascarones, take the blown egg and remove a circle of shell carefully at one end. Fill with confetti, then glue a small piece of tissue paper over the hole to keep the contents in place. Cascarones must either be decorated before the larger hole is made, or spray-painted after filling.

Decorating Eggs

Blown eggs are best painted with a base coat of spray-paint, as it's easier to avoid leakage and the paint itself helps to strengthen the egg. It is easy to hang the eggs securely in an outdoors area, then spray a thin, even coat over the egg. Let each coat dry completely, and add additional coats until the desired base color is achieved. If you are not doing dozens of eggs, then purchasing several different cans of different-colored spray paints may not be feasible. Instead, try coloring your eggs with tempera or with water soluble, quick-drying acrylic paints. Both temperas and acrylics are generally non-toxic and washable, which makes them ideal for use by children. 11 Tempera or acrylics give you the brightest colors and allow for a great deal of detail in egg design. First put on a base coat or two in the color you want, then hang the egg up until it is dry. After this, you can paint whatever designs you wish on over it. If you mean to hang your eggs outside, or to keep them for more than one season, you can shellac them with several coats of clear spray-on polyurethane, either matte (for a natural finish) or gloss (for a lacquered look). Enough of this makes the eggs not only waterproof, but virtually unbreakable.

Hard-boiled or raw eggs are best dyed with either professional "Easter egg" dye or food coloring mixed with a little bit of vinegar. It is very important to use non toxic dyes when decorating eggs which will be eaten. While it is certainly alright to use commercial decorating kits, some folks prefer to use a more traditional means of decorating their eggs. The simplest traditional method, though it requires a delicate touch, is the scratch-technique: after the egg is dyed, use a steel engraving pen or other sharp tool such as a hat-pin or Exacto knife to carve a pattern of white lines on the surface of the egg. Another method which can create very elegant-looking eggs is applique. Before the egg is dyed, an item such as a flower, a frond of fern, a piece of lace, or a cut piece of paper is bound onto the egg, and this leaves an undyed area in the shape of the appliqued object. A little rubber cement or a glue-stick can be used to cause your applique item to adhere to the egg, or if you are coordinated and have the ability to melt wax or paraffin safely, you can dip the applique into molten wax and apply it to the egg.12

Another, perhaps more accessible, technique, is that of waxing. At its simplest, this merely involves drawing a design on the egg with a wax crayon before dying; afterwards, when the egg is gently heated and the wax wiped off with a warm rag, the design is left in white. The designer must be careful; even if a mistake in wax is removed, it leaves a greasy place where the color does not take. A more ambitious egg-maker can then cover the colored areas with wax and dye the white parts another color, eventually getting as many shades on one egg as he or she has the patience to achieve. This is the technique used to create the elaborate Ukrainian eggs, and at the most elaborate, utilizes a tiny copper funnel with a handle, in which wax is heated and then applied carefully to the egg. Always dye your palest colors first, shading gradually towards the darkest. After all colors are applied, the egg is heated gently and the wax carefully wiped off, revealing the multi-colored pattern. Another simple wax technique leaves a colored design on a white background. Simply dye the eggs, wax the design onto it, and then soak it in sauerkraut juice or a vinegar solution, the acid of which removes the dye everywhere except under the wax. For a relief effect, wax of different colors can be applied to the egg and left on it. Dyed eggs can also be painted with acrylic.

Some natural dyes which have been used for eggs are carrot, red cabbage, and beets (for red); saffron and gorse flowers (yellow, orange, or brown, depending on the cooking times); spinach, artichoke leaves, sage, mint (green); beetroot, sunflower seeds, elderberry fruit/bark (purple); gall nuts, oak bark, elder twigs or bark (black). Onion peel can be used get any color from yellow to red to dark brown. The egg is gently cooked in a strong solution of whatever colorants you have chosen in water with a few drops of vinegar. From my personal experience, I would say try the natural dyes to see how they work out, but have a selection of food colorings and paint ready anyway.

It is traditional to make eggs with inscriptions declaring love or wishes for the coming year. These should be done in runes. Certain members of our Kindred have found that eggs painted with inscriptions aimed towards luck in love are especially effective, as might be expected from the association of the egg with fertility and new life. Other symbols which are most fittings for an egg are the leek, the sun-wheel or swastika, the ship, the hex-sign (especially when drawn as a flower), the heart (pierced with an arrow or otherwise), and the coiled wyrm. Any images which remind you of spring and rebirth are good to put on the egg. These might include spring flowers, pussy willow, rabbits, chicks, and other traditional Easter images. Wodanists may also make spring eggs for sig with eagles, spears, and fitting inscriptions, anticipating the rites of sigrblot which will be performed after the planting is completed for victory in their summer enterprises.

Here are few general inscriptions for eggs:
ALU, "ale/luck;"
LAUKAZ, "leek" - for a man;
LINA, "flax" - for a woman;
SIG, "victory;"
MIGHT AND MAIN;
WEAL WAX.

Bibliography

Newall, Venetia, An Egg at Easter, p. 115.

ibid, p. 326.

ibid, p. 248.

ibid p. 324.

Green, Miranda. The Sun-Gods of Ancient Europe, pp. 80-1.

Translation from Hollander, Lee, The Poetic Edda, pp.65-73.

Newall, p. 316.

Teutonic Religion will be available from Llewellyn in about a year or so.

Marwick, p. 316.

Newall, p. 253.

While these paints are usually non-toxic, be sure to always read the labelling on the paint very carefully.

Always use a double-boiler to melt wax or paraffin, the fumes are very flammable, so be cautious. It is best to melt wax or paraffin outdoors.



This article copyright 1992 by Kveldulf Hagan Gundarsson and Gunnora Hallakarva.
Web version copyright 1997 by Kveldulf Hagan Gundarsson and Gunnora Hallakarva and Mountain Thunder.

Yeah anyway - the world is wrapped up in time -and I'm really into timeless spacelessness - or moments of that oneness - those moments when it doesn't matter if it is Monday - Sunday or Saturdddaaaze - Whatever people - really - really I've had enough - we shouldn't have to work so hard for a peaceful world - we shouldn't have to want LOVE soo much. Love should be all there is - and those who know - who visit the love world of House music or festivals -we know how it really is - we KNOW - but for some reason - there are big hairy = warty assholes EVERYWHERE - I don't get it - I don't want to get it. Can we just melt into HAPPIENESS - INTO LOVE - intoo MUSIC - into SHARING - into CARING - like the care bears or the smurfs - THATS IT!!!! I want to be a SMURF - so I have decided - I'm a smurf from now on!! I'll deal with Gargamel - for real = I can out cat Him - I know I'm being a bit of a downer at the moment - BUT I JUST WANT LOVE AND PEACE AND MUSIC AND LOVE AND PEACE AND MUSIC AND LOVE AND PEACE AND MUSIC

AP) -- A vast array of pharmaceuticals -- including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones -- have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans, an Associated Press investigation shows... -->startclickprintexclude-->.. -->endclickprintexclude-->

To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose. Also, utilities insist their water is safe.

But the presence of so many prescription drugs -- and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen -- in so much of our drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.

In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas -- from Southern California to Northern New Jersey, from Detroit, Michigan, to Louisville, Kentucky. Map: See the cities where drugs were found in drinking water »

Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major California suppliers said the public "doesn't know how to interpret the information" and might be unduly alarmed.

How do the drugs get into the water?

People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.

And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies -- which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public -- have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.

A 'growing concern'

"We recognize it is a growing concern and we're taking it very seriously," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists.

They also surveyed the nation's 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water providers, as well as smaller community water providers in all 50 states.

Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:

• Officials in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said testing there discovered 56 pharmaceuticals or byproducts in treated drinking water, including medicines for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems. Sixty-three pharmaceuticals or byproducts were found in the city's watersheds.

• Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in Southern California.

• Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in Northern New Jersey, and found a metabolized angina medicine and the mood-stabilizing carbamazepine in drinking water.

• A sex hormone was detected in the drinking water of San Francisco, California.

• The drinking water for Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas tested positive for six pharmaceuticals.

The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP.

Testing not required

The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water.

Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven't: Houston, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; Baltimore, Maryland; Phoenix, Arizona; Boston, Massachusetts; and New York City's Department of Environmental Protection, which delivers water to 9 million people.

Some providers screen for only one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.

The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated. Tests were conducted in the watersheds of 35 of the 62 major providers surveyed by the AP, and pharmaceuticals were detected in 28.

Yet officials in six of those 28 metropolitan areas said they did not go on to test their drinking water -- Fairfax, Virginia; Montgomery County in Maryland; Omaha, Nebraska; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Santa Clara, California; and New York City.

The New York state health department and the USGS tested the source of the city's water, upstate. They found trace concentrations of heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and a tranquilizer.

City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview. In a statement, they insisted that "New York City's drinking water continues to meet all federal and state regulations regarding drinking water quality in the watershed and the distribution system" -- regulations that do not address trace pharmaceuticals.

In several cases, officials at municipal or regional water providers told the AP that pharmaceuticals had not been detected, but the AP obtained the results of tests conducted by independent researchers that showed otherwise.

Of the 28 major metropolitan areas where tests were performed on drinking water supplies, only Albuquerque, New Mexico; Austin, Texas; and Virginia Beach, Virginia, said tests were negative. The drinking water in Dallas, Texas, has been tested, but officials are awaiting results. Arlington, Texas, acknowledged that traces of a pharmaceutical were detected in its drinking water but cited post-9/11 security concerns in refusing to identify the drug.

The AP also contacted 52 small water providers -- one in each state, and two each in Missouri and Texas -- that serve communities with populations around 25,000. All but one said their drinking water had not been screened for pharmaceuticals; officials in Emporia, Kansas, refused to answer AP's questions, also citing post-9/11 issues.

Rural, bottled water also unchecked

Rural consumers who draw water from their own wells aren't in the clear either, experts say.

Even users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals, according to the industry's main trade group. The same goes for the makers of home filtration systems.

Contamination is not confined to the United States. More than 100 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in lakes, rivers, reservoirs and streams throughout the world. Studies have detected pharmaceuticals in waters throughout Asia, Australia, Canada and Europe -- even in Swiss lakes and the North Sea.

In the United States, the problem isn't confined to surface waters. Pharmaceuticals also permeate aquifers deep underground, the source of 40 percent of the nation's water supply. Federal scientists who drew water in 24 states from aquifers near contaminant sources such as landfills and animal feed lots found minuscule levels of hormones, antibiotics and other drugs.

Perhaps it's because Americans have been taking drugs -- and flushing them unmetabolized or unused -- in growing amounts. Over the past five years, the number of U.S. drug prescriptions rose 12 percent to a record 3.7 billion, while nonprescription drug purchases held steady around 3.3 billion, according to IMS Health and The Nielsen Co.

Medications not all absorbed

"People think that if they take a medication, their body absorbs it and it disappears, but of course that's not the case," said EPA scientist Christian Daughton, one of the first to draw attention to the issue of pharmaceuticals in water in the United States.

Some drugs, including widely used cholesterol fighters, tranquilizers and anti-epileptic medications, resist modern drinking water and wastewater treatment processes. Plus, the EPA says there are no sewage treatment systems specifically engineered to remove pharmaceuticals.

Veterinary drugs also play a role. Pets are now treated for a wide range of ailments -- sometimes with the same drugs as humans. The inflation-adjusted value of veterinary drugs rose by 8 percent, to $5.2 billion, over the past five years, according to an analysis of data from the Animal Health Institute.

Ask the pharmaceutical industry whether the contamination of water supplies is a problem, and officials will tell you no.

"Based on what we now know, I would say we find there's little or no risk from pharmaceuticals in the environment to human health," said microbiologist Thomas White, a consultant for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

But at a conference last summer, Mary Buzby -- director of environmental technology for drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. -- said: "There's no doubt about it, pharmaceuticals are being detected in the environment and there is genuine concern that these compounds, in the small concentrations that they're at, could be causing impacts to human health or to aquatic organisms."

Recent laboratory research has found that small amounts of medication have affected human embryonic kidney cells, human blood cells and human breast cancer cells. The cancer cells proliferated too quickly; the kidney cells grew too slowly; and the blood cells showed biological activity associated with inflammation.

Also, pharmaceuticals in waterways are damaging wildlife across the nation and around the globe, research shows. Notably, male fish are being feminized, creating egg yolk proteins, a process usually restricted to females. Pharmaceuticals also are affecting sentinel species at the foundation of the pyramid of life -- such as earthworms in the wild and zooplankton in the laboratory, studies show.

Wildlife problems troubling

Some scientists stress that the research is extremely limited, and there are too many unknowns. They say, though, that the documented health problems in wildlife are disconcerting.

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To the degree that the EPA is focused on the issue, it appears to be looking at detection. Grumbles acknowledged that just late last year the agency developed three new methods to "detect and quantify pharmaceuticals" in wastewater.

"We realize that we have a limited amount of data on the concentrations," he said. "We're going to be able to learn a lot more."

So much is unknown. Many independent scientists are skeptical that trace concentrations will ultimately prove to be harmful to humans. There's growing concern in the scientific community, though, that certain drugs -- or combinations of drugs -- may harm humans over decades because water, unlike most specific foods, is consumed in sizable amounts every day.

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Our bodies may shrug off a relatively big one-time dose, yet suffer from a smaller amount delivered continuously over a half century, perhaps subtly stirring allergies or nerve damage. Pregnant women, the elderly and the very ill might be more sensitive.

"We know we are being exposed to other people's drugs through our drinking water, and that can't be good," says Dr. David Carpenter, who directs the Institute for Health and the Environment of the State University of New York at Albany... -->startclickprintexclude--> E-mail to a friend .. -->endclickprintexclude-->

She only wanted him - cause he was so  deep.

And he danced away from her into the arms of entrappment.

And he danced and he danced - and he broke free.

And she heard his voice - his true voice

And She wanted him.

 

.

"An elder Cherokee Native American was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, 'A fight is going on inside me...It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, pride, and superiority. The other wolf stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside of you and every other person too.' They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied..."The one you feed."

~Native American Wisdom

 

You can thank the sweet Tangerine on my top friends for this wisdom - visit her page - she is AMAZING

Cheers Much Love JONES

Bush's approval ratings show the public already regards him as ``the worst president we've ever had,'' Reid, of Nevada, said. ``I don't think we need a censure resolution in the Senate to prove that.''

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ENLIGHTENED PERSPECTIVE If you take the time to read these I promise you'll come away with an enlightened perspective. The subjects covered affect us all on a daily basis! They're written by Andy Rooney, a man who has the gift of saying so much with so few words. Enjoy....... I've learned.... That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person. I've learned.... That when you're in love, it shows. I've learned.... That just one person saying to me, "You've made my day!" makes my day. I've learned.... That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world. I've learned.... That being kind is more important than being right. I've learned.... That you should never say no to a gift from a child. I've learned.... That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way. I've learned.... That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with. I've learned.... That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand. I've learned.... That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult. I've learned.... That life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes. I've learned.... That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for. I've learned.... That money doesn't buy class. I've learned.... That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular. I've learned... That under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved. I've learned.... That to ignore the facts does not change the facts. I've learned.... That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you. I've learned.... That love, not time, heals all wounds. I've learned.... That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am. I've learned.... That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile. I've learned.... That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them. I've learned.... That life is tough, but I'm tougher. I've learned.... That opportunities are never lost; someone will take the ones you miss. I've learned.... That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere. I've learned.... That I wish I could have told my Mom that I love her one more time before she passed away. I've learned.... That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them. I've learned.... That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. I've learned.... That I can't choose how I feel, but I can choose what I do about it. I've learned.... That when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life. I've learned.... That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it. I've learned.... That the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done.

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