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Re: Out of Control




>Mollison talks about patterning in oral
>traditions, about the *summaries* of knowledge
>woven into myth and song and art--forms easy to
>remember for their rhythm and rhyme and general
>fractal self-similarity.

This is a perennial passion of mine ....
So many gems of wisdom and knowledge are encapsulated in short rhymes or 
sayings. I've been collecting these over the years and always interested 
in collecting more... that's an open invitation for contributions folks. 
Not only the ancient and traditional, but ones you may have invented to 
support permaculture learning and survival in today's world. 
I feel it is important to keep these legacies of the past not just as 
history or cultural curios, but to integrate them into our teaching and 
daily communication and practice - most of the sayings & rhymes I've 
collected are timeless and still relevent. 
Many are what Bill calls 'phenomonological information' about weather and 
seasonal indicators: e.g.
"When the peaches flower there's perch in the creek"
"Mist in the hollow, horses a'collar. Mist on the hill, horses stand 
still."
(Low lying mist indicates clear fine weather, high mist there's a good 
chance of rain - so don't bother harnessing up the horses to go out into 
the fields to work!) I find this rhyme incredibly usefull for planning my 
day especially if the weather's an important factor, like whether I'll 
risk doing the markets or not.
I'm also interested in the information contained in nursery rhymes. 
'Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater' is a food storage song (can you guess what 
Peter is?), 
'Jack & Jill' has several lessons, the first verse about water and a 
caution against haste, the second verse is a first aid remedy.
Robyn F


Djanbung Gardens Permaculture Education Centre
home to: 
Permaculture Education
ERDA Institute Trust
Nimbin Eco-Village Project Office
Robyn Francis - permaculture designer & educator
PO Box 379, Nimbin NSW 2480 Australia
Ph 02-6689 1755 Fax 02-6689 1225
permed@nor.com.au  www.earthwise.org.au