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In today's Earthy Thursday post, we've got: biggest British chestnut tree; amazing nature photos; big trouble for California's Big Trees, discovering America's forgotten tropical-style fruit; native American bees.

Check out this 300-year-old horse chestnut tree, declared the largest in Britain.

Howdy Earthlings! Today's Earthy Thursday post at the PaganNewsBeagle celebrates pingos; aging hikers; sexy hellbenders; Superfund refuges; and native bees.

What's a pingo? And why might they be endangered due to climate change?

I’ve been thinking about the Ancestors a lot lately; it’s that time of year. In fact, they’ve even asserted themselves when I wasn’t seeking them, such as the day I experienced a vision of a Minoan priestess undertaking a rite of prophecy through the ancestral spirits. From the earliest times, the Minoans revered their ancestors. At the Autumn Equinox they held celebrations of the dearly departed, feasting and performing rituals in the shadows of the beehive-shaped tholos tombs where their ancestors’ remains were interred. Some of the tombs had pillar crypts beneath them, providing another place for offerings and communication with the dead.

My own experience with shamanic practice centering on the Ancestors and Minoan spirituality suggests a reason for the beehive shape of these tombs and the connection of the Ancestors with the Bee Goddess. Like many shamanic practitioners, I have experienced a particular sound when I connect with the ancestral spirits, a sort of multi-pitched buzzing that almost exactly reproduces the noise of a hive of swarming bees. And of course, honey being such a delicious prize in cultures that did not yet know how to refine sugar from beets or cane, I can totally relate to the idea of bees being sacred representatives of the Ancestors and, later on, the gods (or goddesses, to be precise). I keep a miniature beehive on my Minoan altar to remind me that the Ancestors were just as much a part of Minoan spirituality as the goddesses and gods.

Today, we've got seven stories about Earth, her people, and our spiritual paths. Enjoy!

An underground greenhouse promises year-round veggies. Have you heard of this? Would you try it?

AGAINST A SWARM OF BEES
Ms. 41, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge

In a time when bees are threatened by the use of nicotine based pesticides and fungicides we need to learn all we can to protect them. For thousands of years humanity has relied on bees and their honey for food, medicine, and to pollinate crops. Before you buy any plant be sure to ask if it has been pre-treated with bee killing pesticides, and never spray poisons on your own garden!