The Urban Shaman knows more than herbs. The Urban Shaman knows a little bit about a lot of stuff. To prevent being revealed as a jack of all trades but master of none, the Urban Shaman would like to invite a guest writer for next month. The Urban Shaman knows of at least one Gnostic scholar in the neighborhood. And a few quiet eco-feminist visionary Catholics. Even a Lutheran or two who’s seen the light more than once. So write a column for next month. About 350 words. Send it to editor@riverwestcurrents.org. You know who you are. To kick things off, here’s a short essay from an online resource, thelittlegreenbook.com. 068 Plant a Garden Plant food wherever you are. A backyard garden can feed a family. There’s always room for a jar of sprouts in the dish drain. Even the tiniest apartment can support a tray of wheat grass, and eating wheatgrass or drinking wheatgrass juice can help keep immune systems strong and eliminate “normal” illnesses like colds and flu. Having a source of food can free you from worry. Imagine not having to go to the store to buy food. Imagine walking through your garden and picking everything you need to feed people — a lot of people — for a day. Now imagine doing that every day for a week. A month. Several months together. This doesn’t happen right away. But you can begin to notice the change in your feelings almost immediately. The first time you make a salad and double its volume by adding the sprouts you’ve grown in a jar on the windowsill, you”ll think about something you won’t need to buy at the store. The first time you have a bumper crop of tomatoes, with enough to can for the winter, the feeling is strong. The first time you pull aside snow-covered straw to harvest greens for Thanksgiving dinner, the feeling will be an old, trusted, welcome friend. Make it your business to find out about making things grow. Then practice practice practice. You cannot find a more radical act. (From The Little Green Book, A Personal Grass Roots Revolutionary Manifesto, by the Coalition of Wildcat Ministers and Pragmatic Anarchists. A list of 100 things to do (and 10 things to stop doing) to change the culture. Eugene, Oregon, July, 1999) DISCLAIMER: The information in this column is not intended to take the place of professional medical, spiritual, or psychiatric advice. Riverwest Currents – Volume 2 – Issue 9 – September 2003