April has been one the sunniest and driest in living memory, here in Cornwall, and the summer vibe has been building early. Now the feast of Beltane is upon us with the myriad of celebrations taking place across the land, I decided to head out to Dozmary Pool to meet up with some friends, to celebrate the season and to partake in a small part of the now legendary St Michael Line Rally event.
Above: The mysterious Dozmary PoolThe secretive and brooding Dozmary Pool sits in a shallow, eerie and marshy basin in the heart of the granite upland of Bodmin Moor. In Cornish and Arthurian legend the pool is said to be the last resting place of Excalibur (Caledfwlch (Welsh) Calesvol (Cornish), the powerful sword of sovereignty, held deep within the dark waters by the Lady of the Lake, goddess of the hidden realms of nature and the land. The hill of Brown Gelly stands as the only notable feature of the moorscape to the south of the lake. To the east is the huge reservoir of Colliford. This brooding and visionary pool of water is the only natural lake on the moor and is very special.
The Michael Line Rally was first conceived in 1991, by myself and Paul Weston, as a vast pilgrimage traversing the entire St Michael line, an alignment of ancient sites and powerful natural landscape features from the western tip of Cornwall to the North Sea coast at Hopton, in Norfolk. The alignment has been researched fairly extensively by Hamish Miller and Paul Broadhurst in recent years, and was first brought to modern consciousness by the pioneering researcher and visionary writer John Michell in his The View Over Atlantis.
Standing on the St Michael alignment in the heart of Cornwall I quickly entered into a deep state of meditation where I soon seemed to make contact with the archaic spirit of the lake, an ancient woman who had been laid to rest in the lake around 10,000 years ago. She told me that she was the original lady of the lake and that her spirit resonates through the threads of the more modern myths surrounding Dozmary Pool. Eventually she became the lady who received Calesvol, the sacred sword of the Once and Future King. This was what I saw in my meditations at this place, and whether true or imaginary, I felt that I had touched the sacredness of the land deeply on this sacred day of May's Eve.
Above: Paul Weston, Kala Trobe and Alex Langstone. Pilgrims at Dozmary Pool
on the Michael Line Rally 2011. (Pic: Jonny La Trobe-Lewis)
on the Michael Line Rally 2011. (Pic: Jonny La Trobe-Lewis)
This particular Beltane has been heightened in the thoughts of many by the Royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton. Whether royalist or republican, we cannot fail to notice this alchemical wedding. But behind the pomp and ceremony, lies a broad expanse of mythology connecting the role of the monarch with the sacredness of the land and whatever we think of the wealth and personalities of the royal family, it is the symbolism of the role of monarchy that is important, a sacred figurehead and a head of state that is aloof, above and beyond the corrupt insipid party-political agendas. If you are unsure, just imagine President Cameron and Vice-President Clegg. Hmm! In my opinion the national psyche would be irrevocably damaged if we became a republic.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Cameron still wants to scrap the May Day bank holiday. He still seems to completely miss the point and utterly fails to understand that Mayday is an ancient British cultural holiday. Here's a tip for you David, try going to Padstow on May 1st, or one of the many Jack-in-the-Green festivals held over the Mayday weekend! Leave well alone.
Beltane is traditionally a time to make contact with other realms and in particular the faerie folk and other nature spirits. In East Cornwall, Joan the Wad is the queen of the piskies, and she is thought to help guide folk across the lonely moors. Wad is a Cornish dialect word for torch, and her legend has been associated with Jack O' Lantern and Will-o-the-Wisp characters who lead folk astray. But she is more associated with good fortune, and I like to think of her as a guiding light in the landscape, leading us to important mystical places and pointing a ray of light on some of the meaningful events in our lives. Her magic is certainly still alive around Bodmin Moor. Her time is at dusk, as the light fades into the void of night. She can be glimpsed amongst trees and around plants, dancing with her fae troupe to the wild music of nature. I often glimpse these beings as tiny flashes of light, bobbing through the woodland at twilight on the periphery of our world. Glimpse her and her kind by hedges and gateways and other liminal places.
Of course Beltane in Kernow would not be complete without the mayhem of the 'Oss at Padstow! Each year the perennial, wild and anarchistic beast leads us into a colourful, iconic celebration of Summer. God save the 'Oss!
Meanwhile Prime Minister Cameron still wants to scrap the May Day bank holiday. He still seems to completely miss the point and utterly fails to understand that Mayday is an ancient British cultural holiday. Here's a tip for you David, try going to Padstow on May 1st, or one of the many Jack-in-the-Green festivals held over the Mayday weekend! Leave well alone.
Beltane is traditionally a time to make contact with other realms and in particular the faerie folk and other nature spirits. In East Cornwall, Joan the Wad is the queen of the piskies, and she is thought to help guide folk across the lonely moors. Wad is a Cornish dialect word for torch, and her legend has been associated with Jack O' Lantern and Will-o-the-Wisp characters who lead folk astray. But she is more associated with good fortune, and I like to think of her as a guiding light in the landscape, leading us to important mystical places and pointing a ray of light on some of the meaningful events in our lives. Her magic is certainly still alive around Bodmin Moor. Her time is at dusk, as the light fades into the void of night. She can be glimpsed amongst trees and around plants, dancing with her fae troupe to the wild music of nature. I often glimpse these beings as tiny flashes of light, bobbing through the woodland at twilight on the periphery of our world. Glimpse her and her kind by hedges and gateways and other liminal places.
Of course Beltane in Kernow would not be complete without the mayhem of the 'Oss at Padstow! Each year the perennial, wild and anarchistic beast leads us into a colourful, iconic celebration of Summer. God save the 'Oss!
"Unite and unite and let us all unite,
For summer is acome unto day,
And whither we are going we will all unite,
In the merry morning of May.
I warn you young men everyone
For summer is acome unto day,
To go to the green-wood and fetch your May home
In the merry morning of May."
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