The Druid Grove of Bega

Guldize 2011

2011-09-17T09:08:00.001+01:00

Mid-summer 2011

2011-07-10T17:27:00.007+01:00

Some Grove members spent the mid-summer period in Shropshire. The above picture was taken from Oswestry Hill Fort at dusk on Midsummer's Eve. Below is a prayer, taken from our liturgy.

As the sun rides high
O'er the rolling hills
The spirits below make
Contact at this time of
Midsummer.
May the dreamtime of the Fae
Whisper secrets and wisdom
Of the Sacred summer landscape
And may the holy flame of light continue
To be kindled,
Lighting a torch of hope, love and healing;
Reconnecting lost souls, loves and friendships
Across the vibrant green cloaked
And sacred sun drenched summer land.

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.

Awen.

Beltane 2011 : Random Thoughts of a Summer of Hope?

2011-04-30T11:23:00.051+01:00

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 Pool

The 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)

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!

"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."

http://www.goldenlionpadstow.co.uk/obby_oss.htm

Vernal Equinox 2011

2011-03-18T21:11:00.002Z

For this year's Vernal Equinox, I planned a trip to the newly discovered, but yet unverified stone circle at Harpur's Downs, high up on the north western fringe of Bodmin Moor. Research has shown that the equinox sun should rise over Bron Wennyly, Cornwall's highest hill, when viewed from the centre of the stone circle. So at dawn on March 20th 2011, I set off to find out more...

above: March super -moon-rise over Hawks Tor.

At this time of super-moon vibes and equinoctial tides, I write from our hilltop home in the shadow of the brooding moor. Yesterday brought a stunning glimpse of the much hyped and feared supermoon. The huge glowing orange ball of a super-moon rose in a very brief but auspiciously timed window in the clouds. Viewed from our garden, as we were performing a simple ceremony, we were blessed by her shining, glowing presence.

This morning, however, I was disappointed by the movement of low cloud up on the higher ground. The dawn sky looked promising as I left home and climbed up onto the moor at Harpur's Downs. Clear blue sky lay overhead for much of the 15 minute journey, and as I set up the camera inside the stone circle, the views towards the mysteriously magificent peak of Bron Wennyly looked good. Several notches on the summit of the hill gave me tantalising glimpses of where the sun may appear.

Above: Cornwall's highest peak - Bron Wennyly

I settled down by the only remaining upright stone, and immersed myself in the Spring Equinox vibes of the vast empty moorland surrounding me, streching out all around, a profound expansive and wild landscape, once populated by our long-distant ancestors.

I closed my eyes in silent meditation and shortly I could hear a faint buzzing and droning. I opened my eyes, what was that noise? I looked up at the sky and saw hundreds of starlings flock overhead. Their weaving, dancing, spralling flight pattern seemed like a powerful and meaningful response to my sunrise meditations. As sunrise time approached, however, a low bank of rain cloud obscured the entire eastern horizon. Bron Wennyly dissapeared from view and Roughtor soon followed her sister peak into the misty void of obscurity.

So the newly re-discovered stone circle at Harpur's Downs will continue to keep its equinoctial sunrise mysteries a secret for now.

Above: Harpur's Downs stone circle at the Vernal Equinox sunrise, 2011

Posted by Alex Langstone on 20/03/11

Spring Isis Shrine

2011-03-02T19:32:00.000Z

Imbolc New Moon 2011. Dark Musings and Renewed Dreams

2011-02-05T10:06:00.000Z

Imbolc New Moon 2011. Dark Musings and Renewed Dreams

Personal Imbolc thoughts from the sacred hearth of the Druid Grove of Bega

by Alex Langstone.

This particular new moon, appearing at the time of Imbolc or Candlemass; with the recurring themes of light from darkness, the warmth of the hearth and mystical creativity from the Celtic patron of poetry herself. I sit by my own hearth, snug within the green rounded foothills of the great brooding granite slab known nowadays as Bodmin Moor. I am musing on many strands at present. From the past I am struggling with a huge creative project known as Spirit Chaser. Nearly done now, but I am still unsure how I feel about it all. Do I really want one of my most personally intense spiritual quests in the public domain?

Equally I am exploring future possibilities. I am still locked in a 9 - 5 working day, which is increasingly taking up far more than 9 - 5! Trouble is I do love my day job, however I also love my vocation; and as I write, and see more of my work in print I truly see that I need increasing time to continue to develop my craft.

My Libran true self of the rising kind gives me trouble when I come up against opposing forces. The scales of justice need to be finely balanced and I feel uncomfortable when the antithesis tips. At this time of year, in our modern world blogging and social networking allow me to escape my commitments for a while, but they can be all consuming, eating away at my free time. So I escape further into an esoteric dream of my own making, where the poet is enraptured by an invisible world on the periphery of time itself.

Druidry gives me a way of communicating and joining with the wider community, away from the safe little cyber world. Handfastings to be planned for the coming spring, much joy and celebration for folk who have their own jubilant aspirations, hopes and dreams to fulfill.

The wider world is awash, as ever, with horrifying nightmarish scenes. This has given rise to my night-time dreamscape, where all manner of things reported on the news are given an even more sinister twist. Abstracted and twisted, the media propaganda is working deep within my psyche. Menacing and ever present through the modern all powerful satellite TV world. But how to respond to all of this. Egypt, Afghanistan, North Korea, where man is destroying. Then down under, in Australia we see natural disasters that seem so vast that it is almost unimaginable here in our cosy UK.

I read a report this morning from the prime minister, David Cameron. He says that multi-culturalism is not working in the UK. What a strange thing to say, in the context of the global village it appears that hatred and violence is the religion of the 21st century. Multi-culturalism appears not to be working anywhere. Stereotypes seem to be looming large all over the place. Building up to a seething hatred. Stop!

All of this is totally beyond my control, but my Libran scales are now way out of alignment, my Piscean sun is horrified and disturbed, and I can't understand why the government wants to sell off all of the publically owned forests. The finance doesn't add up. It surely will not help balance the deficit? (Oh hang on, it means we can have a few more golf courses, sanitised Centre Parcs and playful paint balling war zones!) I still await a reply from my MP. I feel I may have a long wait. Then there is the issue of the closure of public libraries, is this yet another government ploy to continue the desensitising and dumbing down of society?

So is there any light emerging from the darkness this February day? Of course! Snowdrops are blooming all over the garden and in the woods at the periphery of our little enclosure. Days are lengthening and an optimism is gradually emerging in my little world, and whilst I can't solve the wider global problems, I can, I hope, have a positive effect on the lives of those around me. Here's to the coming spring, the warmer days and the emerging light. Here's to joy and unity and the hope that peace and understanding will one day prevail.

Imbolc Prayer

As the snowdrops rise from the frozen earth
And the snow falls from the steely leaden sky
The waxing sun rises o'er the eastern snowy hills
Casting light onto a new day.
As we sit by the warming hearth
Contemplating the ancient fires of Brigit
The rising sun and the sacred flame become as one
And the Fiery Goddess of the dawn
Reaches out and touches each of us
Warming, loving, healing,
Her solar rays reaching out
Spreading across the earth
Seeking all who need the ancient
Sanctity of Her healing rays from
Deep within Her ancient well and
The sacred oak ringed spring by the eternal flame
Which lights the way to
The earth's stirring womb of creation.
Be at our side Brigit
Guide us and show us your holy light and
Lead us to your sacred sanctuary
Where we can safely and quietly contemplate
Life's strangely weaving mysteries.

Wolf Moonset 2011

2011-01-26T20:18:00.000Z

Full moonset over the Tredethy hills, January 2011. Pic: Paul Atlas-Saunders

Winter Solstice 2010

2010-12-19T16:04:00.000Z

The solstice full moon eclipse and Montol have been and gone and as we head into the full-on feasting, celebration and general mayhem of the twelve days of Christmas I feel a meditational pause is needed.

Above: Solstice dawn eclipse by Paul Atlas-Saunders

Midwinter - a time of frantic shopping and consumer-led stress, when many are forced to add to their debt burden for reasons that are lost on many. This year we have the added burden of snow and ice leading to panic buying and hysteria. Maybe we should stop for a brief pause in the stillness of the snowy landscapes and remind ourselves that it is actually wintertime. Take a look at many of the Christmas cards that drop on the doormat and you will see many snowy scenes depicted.

We have got used to mild Decembers, but really, why should we be so caught out by a bit of seasonal weather. The news is full of stories of how the country is gridlocked, without enough salt to grit the roads. Airports have closed and tens of thousand of folk are stranded, sleeping on the floors of departure lounges.

As we watched the Solstice full moon eclipse, we were able to reflect on the past year and all that has happened in our lives and those global events such as the continued melt-down of the global economy and the carnage in Afghanistan. We were also able to look to the future. Light emerged from the shadow of the eclipsed moon, as she faded into the dawn sky. The reborn sun rose on the shortest day of the year, casting long shadows across the deeply frosted Cornish landscape. A new beginning.

Above: Montol sunrise at Tredethy

Midwinter Solstice and Christmas traditions merge so wonderfully at this time, and this is always so eccentrically summed up by the Montol festival in Penzance, where the guizing and mummers traditions continue into the 21st century with so much seasonal and extroverted style. The festival allowed us to celebrate the longest night, in the company of many other creative folk. We Guize-danced our way across Penzance town under a starry full moon sky, to some wonderful old Cornish folk-tunes played by the fantastic Turkey Rhubarb band.

Above: Guizing in Penzance

As the ceremony climaxed at the burning of the mock, far to the north seismic ripples were being sent out from the sacred centre of the British Isles. An earthquake, centred at Coniston, just a few miles down the coast from St Bees Head, considered by some to be the sacred centre of Britain, measuring 3.5 on the Richter scale, shook Cumbria and the Lakes for just over a minute at 11pm.

The ancient land shuddered, as energy spiralled outwards from the cosmic hub of our island home. Though not a particularly rare event, the timing is interesting.

The energy of a new aeon. As the ages collide and change, so does the land in a mystic spiral of interconnectedness.

Happy Christmas one and all, or as they say in Cornwall's mother tongue Nadelik lowen onen hag oll!

December 17th the Feast of St Bega

2010-12-17T15:46:00.000Z

Above: St Bega from a window in St Leonard's parish church, Cleator, Cumbria

December 17th is given as one of the main feast days of St Bega. In honour of our Druid Grove's patron saint I have written a feast day prayer. The prayer should preferably be recited at dusk or dawn.

Feast day prayer of St Bega

Fair lady of the four winds.
Oh Bega of the sacred ring,
we ask for your healing and your wisdom on this,
your winter feast.
As the snow creeps across the land
we accept you as our guide.
Continue to show us the secret ways of the British isles,
the meanings behind the haunted
mysterious landscapes that you behold.
From your central hub at the pivotal point of the land
we feel your blessed healing rays snaking across these green isles.
May your intuition continue to guide us and
may your compassion give us joy.
Oh Bega, seeker of wisdom and knowledge,
explorer of holy mysteries hear our call.

Allantide 2010

2010-11-02T08:58:00.000Z

Above: The Shrine of the Ancestral Spirits of the Land.

Allantide has marked the completion of the northern shrine in our sacred garden restoration project. This area of the garden was completely overgrown, and the only quarter which had been obliterated of any clues as to what had been there originally. A full report on the amazing story of this esoteric episode will follow next year.

The Cornish feast of Allantide was chosen to re-consecrate the sacred space, as although unfinished, we felt that it was now completely usable and we felt that by inviting friends to witness the inauguration of our outdoor temple at Allantide was propitious.

Our northern quarter has been fashioned into a shrine of the ancestral spirits of the land, and sits on a powerful energy line which flows northwards to the sacred landscape around Tintagel. To the south the serpentine energies flow directly to the Iron Age cliff fort at Black Head, a "serpent headed" promontory at the southern end of Mevagissey Bay.

There is an interesting esoteric tale to tell about Black Head, and an article is in preparation at the moment which will tell the full story of my interaction with this south coast sacred landscape.

I have reproduced our Allantide ceremony below.

Allantide ceremony
Welcome to the Cornish feast of Allantide, where we remember those who have gone before us and acknowledge the ancestral guardian spirits of the land.

At this time we also wish to re-consecrate our garden shrine, which we have lovingly restored and enhanced.

All hail St Bega! All hail Bucka-Dhu!

Samhain Prose.
Crows crowing, flapping somewhere overhead. The wind cries the ghostly song of the departed. We stand alone in this dark, yet welcoming place. It is cold, and dusk is laying her blanket over the rolling landscape of sweeping, undulating hills. The naked twisted trees dance in the half-light of a cold autumnal evening, and vicious clouds scud across a menacing sky.

Old ossifying bones lie hidden here. The bone-yard of the ancient ones lie sleeping in this valley, and the ancient mortuary house holds the key to this place. Half buried under four thousand years of mud and stone

Whispers, half forgotten whispers from the dimming memory of yesteryear. Whispers fade in and out, blending, melding 'twixt the winds playful movement 'neath the trees. We can almost taste the past here! Fleeting and unknowable, but tangible and contradictory. All of this and more. Scattered shards of invisible bone. Ghostly hair, tooth and nail hide here amongst the invisible remains of last years decay. New life sprouts, mushrooming fungus and multi-coloured lichen have successfully colonised this enclosure.

This space, this sacred area of the deceased; the departed ones who haunt another realm, an inaccessible realm of half-fulfilled dreams and visions of poets and painters from across the ages.

Ancient prehistoric lines of power converge here. The shining pathways of the ancestors, corpse roads and coffin paths where we may walk with the dead.

It is dark now, and the Yew tree observes all from the darkest corner of this enchanted world. This is the ancient, wise and cunning you!

Tree of departed souls, tree of renewal, guardian tree of graves. The old twisted branches rustling and creaking in the ghostly vale of dreams.

O Great Spirit, O Spirit of this sacred place we ask for your blessing at this time of Allantide. Let the four directions be honoured that power and knowledge may enter our circle at this special time of remembrance.

North
With the blessing of the Great Bear of the starry heavens and the deep and fruitful earth, we call upon the powers of the north.

May there be peace in the north.

East.
With the blessing of the Hawk of Dawn, soaring in the clear pure air, we call upon the powers of the east.

May there be peace in the east.

South.
With the blessing of the Ancient Serpent, and the inner fire of the sun, we call upon the powers of the south.

May there be peace in the south.

West.
With the blessing of the Salmon of Wisdom who dwells within the sacred waters of the pool, we call upon the powers of the west.

May there be peace in the west.

May there be peace throughout the whole world. May the harmony of our circle be complete.

Samhain Meditation.

Please be seated

You find yourself standing in the corner of a churchyard by a huge ancient Yew tree. Its hollow trunk, gnarled and split with age, appears like a gateway leading us into the night! A crescent moon illuminates the darkened sky and the stars glisten. This is a thin place! Allow yourself to be guided along the shimmering old straight track, from the thousand year old Yew tree and its surrounding grave-stones we walk along a well defined path. This ancient corpse road follows an even older line of earth energy and it has a purposeful and meaningful destination. An owl screeches and a rustling is heard in the nearby undergrowth. Nocturnal creatures are busy. Old fashioned lanterns light our way towards the hill of the dreaming dead. Ancient standing stones pierce the landscape, and wayside wheel-headed crosses lead us to our enchanted destination.

A fire is burning on a nearby hilltop, a bone fire! The assembly cast the bones of the Samhain feast into the blaze, remembering and honouring around a beacon fire, burning into the nights darkness, lighting a pathway into the dreamtime of the departed. But this is not our destination; we have a date with a more ancient edifice. We continue along the faintly illuminated track way leading us deeper into the immortal starry velvet night. We walk through ancient woodland, its trees stark against the night. We are heading into Bone Valley. A deeply connected and primitive valley. A place of antiquated trees and ancient secrets. Bone Valley will soon divulge our holy destination. The moon's crescent appears once more between the protruding branches, which seem to reach out to the night sky. The clouds have dispersed and bright stars shine like timeworn torches in an antique indigo sky. Soon we arrive at a clearing and we see a stony structure, megaliths protruding from the earth. They are curbing a large oval mound and beyond the stones, through a well worn entrance, we find a gaping black opening leading into a stone chamber. Some of the stones have been carved and round indents cause the surface of one stone to stand out, its quartz veins shining, illuminated by the pale moonlight. We sit within the confines of the barrow's heart. We listen to the silence. We light a solitary candle. We pray for the loving departed, and if we so wish we may speak with those who have departed this world for the next.

We emerge from the otherworldly chamber of the Neolithic shrine to the dead. It is dawn, and the eastern sky is glowing an iridescent red. The sun is rising, lighting our way home. We follow the pathway back to the source of our dreamtime adventure. Past the bone fire hill, along the old straight track which leads through the heart of the November woods and the ancient sacred Yew. We take leave of this place, with its needles of stone and its earthy shrines to the departed. We find ourselves in a churchyard, amongst the gravestones, and then we are back at the garden shrine at Tredethy!

When you are ready, open your eyes.

Personal offerings to our dear departed. Leave offerings and lit candles by the shrine of the ancestors. Offer prayers and ask for any personal messages.

Above: Allan apple offering

Closing.
Let the spirits of the four directions be thanked for their blessings.

North
In the name of the Great Bear of the starry heavens and the deep and fruitful earth, we thank the powers of the north.

East.
In the name of the Hawk of Dawn, soaring in the clear pure air, we thank the powers of the east.

South.
In the name of the Ancient Serpent and the element of fire, we thank the powers of the south..

West.
In the name of the Salmon of Wisdom who dwells within the sacred waters of the pool, we thank the powers of the west.

May the harmony of our circle be complete.

Let us all radiate the light in our hearts, by our hands and in our lives. I now declare this Allantide ceremony of remembrance closed in the apparent world. May its inspiration and wisdom continue within us all.

Guldize and the Autumn Equinox Harvest Moon, 2010.

2010-09-24T06:37:00.000+01:00

The spectacular and powerful Equinox
Harvest moon has been and gone.
Harvest continues and the White Corn month of
Gwyngalla heads towards its demise.
The Winter God is reborn from the quickening darkness
And the white stag emerges from the shadowy realm.
The earth turns, seasons quicken and the
West wind strengthens.

Lughnasadh and Guldize 2010.

2010-08-01T13:15:00.001+01:00

Above: Blessing the crops at the beginning of Guldize

Harvest begins. Beans, courgettes and loads of fruit have been harvested from the garden and brought into the house this evening. It is Lammas (English), Lughnasadh (Irish/Scottish) and here in Kernow the beginning of Guldize, which continues into the harvest period and culminates around the Autumn Equinox to coincide with the end of the grain harvest and the ancient Crying of the Neck ceremony.

A fantastic time of fresh new flavours from nature's larder and of the fruition of many projects and ideas. The start of the returning spiral of Autumn's mellow moods and supremely rich colours, begin to slowly creep inward, as we take stock of our continuing progress through life's twisting, crooked labyrinth.

Harvest blessings to one and all...

Above: Grove offering

Summer Solstice and Tansys Golowan 2010

2010-06-22T11:17:00.000+01:00

This year's Summer Solstice celebrations started on Solstice eve, where we had a bonfire at Tredethy, and watched the glorious sun setting. The following morning we were up to view the sunrise over the wheat fields behind our house.

Above: Summer Solstice sunrise at Tredethy

Later on Solstice day, we lit the candles on our grove shrine, (pictured above) and fired up our Tansys Golowan. We sat by the sacred fire and watched the sunset, and the afterglow slowly fade into the short summer solstice night (below).

On midsummer's eve we journeyed just a few miles to the ancient Iron Age hilltop fort of Castle-an-Dinas to join with the Old Cornwall Societies midsummer bonfire ceremony. In legend the hill top site is the last resting place of Ygraine and offers panoramic views across Goss Moor towards the north coast. This magnificent Iron Age Celtic fort dates from about the second or third century BC. It consists of three concentric circles of ditch and rampart, 850 feet in diameter and standing 700 feet above sea level.

As the sun dipped into the Atlantic ocean the fire was lit to honour St John and flowers were strewn on the fire by the Flower Maiden in an ancient ceremony, performed each year across the holy hilltops of Cornwall. As the Old Cornwall Society state in their leaflet "...the practice of celebrating Midsummer Eve in such a fashion goes back to remote pagan times: and the perpetuation of this interesting observance thus forms a bond between people of this present age living in Cornwall and their distant Celtic forbears."

Above: The Midsummer hilltop fire blazes at Castle-an-Dinas

Midsummer's Day was spent at our hilltop garden shrine, honouring the fey folk of the ancient land. As darkness fell, we toasted the spirits of the land and left offerings of wine and bread.

Above: Tansys Golowan at Tredethy

The evening after we travelled to Penzance, where we had been invited to re-visit a private stone circle in the heart of the Penwith Moors, where in 2001 we had performed a consecration ceremony and planted a millennium oak sapling. Here, as dusk fell across the land, we shared a meal around a fire in the centre of the sacred circle of stones and trees.

After dark, we headed into Penzance town, where we witnessed the Mazey Eve fireworks and midnight serpent dance, which was led by the Golowan band, the Mock Mayor of the Quay, and Penglaze, the Old 'Oss of Penzance. The following day was Mazey Day in Penzance, and we spent the morning in town watching the colourful parades and listening to a wide variety of music. The town was packed, the festival seems to get busier every year. The sun continued to shine and we felt that it was a perfect end to our week-long celebrations.

On our return to North Cornwall, I discovered that the latest issue of Poetry Cornwall had arrived with my poem Zennor Quoit published within its pages. A great way to celebrate the midsummer full moon, which rose behind the old oak at the edge of the meadow to the front of our cottage.

Much psychic vision and inspiration has come from this intensely magical Solstice, more of which will be written about later this year. Let's just say that more of the mysterious thread of why we were led to leave our life in West Penwith for the wilds of North Cornwall have become very apparent. Watch this space! So a truly magical and special Summer Solstice period for us here at the Druid Grove of Bega and one which is truly unique to the ancient land of Kernow.

We did manage to catch up with some old friends, but we simply ran out of time, so sincere apologies to those whom we didn't quite manage to reconnect with!

Above: The Master of Ceremonies, Golowan band, and Mock Mayor
put out a midnight call for Penglaze.

Above: Penglaze, the Midsummer 'Oss

Above: A colourful dragon at Mazey Day

Beltane 2010

2010-05-15T14:20:00.001+01:00

Old Oss at Padstow, Cornwall, UK. Mayday 2010

Vernal Equinox 2010

2010-03-20T18:28:00.000Z

The inauguration of our new shrine (below) took place at 17.30 GMT at the octave of the Vernal Equinox 2010. The new shrine is built of locally collected Cornish slate, granite and quartz, with locally sourced shells and pebbles and a few crystals and fossils from our collection.

The shrine is built in the shape of a dolmen, to mimic the many mysterious neolithic dolmens and quoits found on the wild and windswept Cornish moors. Such as the very impressive one at Pawton near Wadebridge (pictured below), which is only a few miles from our North Cornwall home. A traditional Druid meeting place in local folklore and a very mysterious and atmospheric place, where the veil is often thin.

Spring Equinox Poetic Meditation

As the light finally
Catches its twin faced dark
A brief truce is called
As the balance of opposites
Merge and entwine.

As new life emerges
From the cold dark earth
And the egg of creativity
Breaks at the crack of dawn
The leaping hare dance.

As the rain and wind swirls
Around the budding branches
The sunset approaches, and equinoctial
Balance allows the suns rays
To burst through the bank of grey cloud.

The illuminating rays of the equinox sun
Allow the daffodils to glow
As they dance in the whirling wind
Joyfully they nod to the descending fiery orb
Beyond the solitary ancient Oak.

Above: The "tinners rabbits" an ancient spring-time fertility symbol
depicting three Hares often found in West Country churches.

Fellowship of Isis Foundation Union Triad

2010-03-19T20:23:00.000Z

Foundation Union Triad

The Fellowship of Isis has been changing and expanding over the last few years.

To keep pace with the global changes the Right Rev. Olivia Robertson, co-founder, has recently issued the following statement on the future of the global family of the Priesthood, the Druid Clan of Dana and the Order of Tara.

Please see here to read the statement. See here for further information.

Click here for a directory of ArchDruid Union members

Posted by Most Reverend Alex Langstone

The Druid Circle

2010-03-02T09:45:00.000Z

The Druid Circle is a new blog developed by the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. It is a space where the Order can share some of the creative projects produced by its members.

This blog is a welcome addition to the Order, and will surely allow for greater communication between the worldwide membership. Comments can be left on the site, and are replied to quickly.

The description below is from the site.

"The Druid Tradition is ancient, and represents one of the wellsprings of inspiration of the Western Spiritual Tradition. But even though it is ancient, it is as relevant and alive today as it ever has been. All spiritualities grow and change – and Druidism, or Druidry as it is also known, has changed too – and now it is experiencing a Renaissance.

Druidry has become a vital and dynamic Nature-based spirituality that is flourishing all over the world, and that unites our love of the Earth with our love of creativity and the Arts. And flowing through all the exciting new developments in modern Druidism is the power of an ancient tradition: the love of land, sea and sky – the love of the Earth our home."

To view the blog, click link: http://druidcircle.wordpress.com

Imbolc Prayer

2010-01-31T08:36:00.000Z

The following prayer was written at dawn on Imbolc 2010, as the sun was rising and the snow was falling simultaneously. For a while the early morning glow was enhanced by the snow and the clumps of snowdrops beneath the huge ancient beech trees at the edge of our garden became a sanctuary of Brigit, before a blizzard struck and the sunlight was temporarily gone.

Imbolc, ancient festival of the sacred fire of Brigid lies right in the middle of this cold winter season. And once we reach this sacred time paradoxically Spring has already begun to poke her head above the soil under the bare winter trees. Snowdrops suddenly appear marking the Imbolc feast, and we may gather round the Hearth Fires with the saintly patron of poetry at our side.

Above: Brigid by Paul Atlas-Saunders

Imbolc Prayer

As the snowdrops rise from the frozen earth
And the snow falls from the steely frosty leaden sky
The waxing sun rises o'er the eastern snowy hills
Casting light onto a new day.
As we sit by the warming hearth
Contemplating the ancient fires of Brigit
The rising sun and the sacred flame become as one
And the Fiery Goddess of the dawn
Reaches out and touches each of us
Warming, loving, healing,
Her solar rays reaching out
Spreading across the earth
Seeking all who need the ancient
Sanctity of Her healing rays from
Deep within Her ancient well and
The sacred oak ringed spring by the eternal flame
Which lights the way to
The earth's stirring womb of creation.
Be at our side Brigit
Guide us and show us your holy light and
Lead us to your sacred sanctuary
Where we can safely and quietly contemplate
Life's strange mysteries.

Above: Tredethy Imbolc Sunrise

UK White Out January 2010

2010-01-10T09:24:00.001Z

I couldn't resist posting this unusual photo of the UK covered in snow. Taken by the NASA MODIS satellite imager on 7th January 2010. A fantastic image, and hopefully it will be a rare one! You can click the image to enlarge it.

Montol Festival 2009

2009-12-22T20:44:00.000Z

Druid Grove of Bega and friends celebrating at the magical Montol festival in Penzance. December 21st 2009.

Celebrating on the ancient Lescudjack Hill Fort, high above Penzance

Getting ready for the grand procession

Celebrating in Chapel Street

Penglaz and Bucca-Dhu

For further information on the festival see www.montol.co.uk
or Alex Langstone's article Montol and the Lord of Misrule

With thanks to Lisa Stewart for the fabulous photographs

The Feast of St Bega

2009-11-10T18:03:00.001Z

7th November 2009. The Feast of St Bega.

The Druid Grove of Bega marked the occasion by building a shrine under the old beech trees which mark the ancient boundary of our woodland garden. The Celtic cross motif was chosen as it represents the connectedness that St Bega has to the sacred centre of the British Isles at St Bees Head, Cumbria. The yellow rose at the centre of our cross symbolises this most sacred spot, whilst each of the four arms reach outwards to the four cardinal points of the land. The circle represents the holy relic of St Bega, her sacred ring, which in turn brings us back to the centre of the land.

We placed sacred objects on Her altar, including gold and silver rings, amethyst, flowers, fruit, candles and incence.

Bega is truly a lady of sovereignty, She is of the ancient lands of the British Isles and has her roots in Western Ireland on Inis Mór. She spreads her ancient wisdom through her teachings, which we may glean from the legends surrounding her visionary journey from Inis Mór to Cumbria. In this we may discover many things, not least our very own visionary journey through life. Bega teaches us to seek the mystery of life, to look for portents and sacred signs and to speak directly with deity. We can each find our own unique spiritual path by following this simple yet profound philosophy. For She is called Bega of the Gifts, and her gifts can be many things, not least the gift of remembrance. We remember Her at this time of the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain for good reason. This too, is part of Her Holy Mystery, for another of Her gifts is healing.

May the Holy Spirit of Bega be with you at this time of remembrance, may you be blessed with Her gifts.

We processed Her sacred image to the shrine at dusk and lit candles and incence. We sent prayers and healing across the land. We entered communion with Her and received Her blessing. All Hail St Bega, All Hail Bega of the Gifts.

St Bega, drawn by
Paul Atlas-Saunders

Samhain 2009

2009-10-28T21:33:00.000Z

To mark Samhain 2009, my article Samhain: Remembering the Dead, which was originally published on this website exactly a year ago has been published in the latest issue of the Mirror of Isis.

Click here to view.

ArchDruid Union Announcement

2009-10-26T07:12:00.001Z

A new group of custodians of the legacy of the Fellowship of Isis has been formed by Rt. Rev. Olivia Robertson. The ArchDruid Union of the Druid Clan of Dana has 33 members. This announcement was officially made in Isian News, October 2009 edition.

The ArchDruid Union members join the ArchPriesthood Union and Grand Commander Union as custodians of the legacy of the Fellowship of Isis. There are 32 members worldwide, including a 33rd member, the late Lawrence Durdin-Robertson. This corresponds to the 32 physical rituals of Initiation and 1 of attainment of Divine Awareness without ritual on the Cosmic Web of the Universe which came to Olivia through divine inspiration. As Druids were both mystical and learned, with their own colleges, so the ArchDruid Union will pay particular attention to the College of Isis along with their other duties as custodians of the legacy of the Fellowship of Isis. The work of the ArchDruid Union is global in scope. The title "Most Reverend" is conferred on members of the ArchDruid Union. Example: Most Reverend Olivia Robertson. The members are:

Olivia Robertson, Grove of Eithne, FOI Foundation Centre (Ireland), Caroline Wise (London, UK), Michael Staley (London, UK), Johnny Merron (London, UK), Linda Iles (California, USA), deTraci Regula (California, USA), Michael A. Starsheen (California, USA), Deena Butta (Illinois, USA), Ray Butta (Illinois, USA), Claudia Wehmeyer (Westphalia, Germany), Thomas Wehmeyer (Westphalia, Germany), Mary Browne (New York, USA), Steven Browne (New York, USA), Caitlin Matthews (Oxford, UK), John Matthews (Oxford, UK), Swami Prem Sudheer (Scotland, UK), Professor Tadahira Ohnuma (Tokyo, Japan), Sumika Kurimoto (Tokyo, Japan), Aauriane Veleda (Florida, USA), Michael U. Okoruwa (Edo State, Nigeria), Professor A. E. Afarri (Accra North, Ghana), Steve Wilson (London, UK), Alex Langstone (Cornwall, UK), Mother Beatrice Bhagavati Devi Dasi (Ebonyi, Nigeria), Jane Marshall (Glastonbury, UK), Karl Duncan (London, UK), Minette Quick (Ireland), Eileen Lawrence (County Laois, Ireland), Padraic O’Reilly (Ireland), Patricia Griffin (Ireland), Laura Janesdaughter (California, USA), Fee McBride (Glastonbury, UK).

Click here for a directory of ADU member contact details.

Posted by Most Reverend Alex Langstone

Bega of the Gifts (June 2009)

2009-06-29T20:21:00.000+01:00

St Bega's church, oil on canvas by Doreen Wilson

Bega of the Gifts

by Carole Young

I have recently become a member of Bega of the Gifts; I am delighted about this as I have had a lot of faith in the healing power of the Goddess as manifested through Bega since I first encountered her in the summer of 1989 whilst in Cumbria with Alex Langstone. Since that time I have requested her assistance and healing many times for myself, my family, pets and friends and other’s with positive results. Friend’s have also asked me to ask Bega for help and healing for their pet’s, she does have a very special link with animals, I have found in particular with Cat’s and of course Bees but all animals really and also children! All good Goddess attributes!

I also included Bega healing in my involvement with Reiki therapy and teaching. Some of my student’s particularly resonated to Bega’s energy and the whole story of mine and Alex’s quest in the Lake District that led us to discover Bega in our lives. Some told me that they went on to develop their own meditations and visualisations to contact this positive healing force. I called Bega to attend, along with the Reiki Masters when attuning students to Reiki if they wished. Most felt they accepted her as an expression of ‘The Goddess’.

Quite a few year’s ago now (time flies) I gave a talk accompanied by slides about the Bega Quest and a lady in the audience called Doreen who was an artist felt inspired to visit Bassenthwaite Church and lake and paint the scene in oils for me as a gift, which she did. The painting was beautiful and as you can imagine is highly treasured! (Doreen's painting is illustrated above). Creative inspiration is indeed another of Bega’s Gifts. The site of this church is idyllic and the energies there are very balanced with lake, mountains, trees and meadows and a beautiful stream running down from Skiddaw Mountain making its way to the lake.

I have a photograph of Paul’s beautiful maze painting to link me in with the healing grove in Cornwall and I am sure many ‘linked in’ healing meditations will ensue!

I recently had cause to request healing from Bega of the Gifts and the results were excellent as I knew they would be, it was at the same time I became a member. It may seem strange to some that I work closely with Bega myself and yet requested healing from the Iseum. Well, all I can say is I felt I needed the help and healing and intuitively it felt right to do so. I was at a low ebb and as I reached my lowest ebb I felt the healing flow towards me and within me, there was an immediate shift for the better and continued improvement. I surrendered and then the healing came through! One could say I felt Bega’s Sacred Breath upon me at my time of need!

Sometimes it is good to ask for help.

Actually, I feel a positive shift in energy in my connection with Bega, a strengthening of the link and a fresh new cycle of communing with her Goddess Energy. I think it’s empowering when people work together in harmony, love and trust and much can be achieved. As the saying goes “when a few are joined together”. Sometimes we are asked to work quietly on our own on our spiritual journey, meditating and seeking guidance from within and with the spiritual energy we are working with. Then at other times it is right to join with others of like mind and this is valuable and uplifting!

I would like to take this opportunity to write about yet another of Bega’s Gifts. Many times over the year’s I have become aware of Bega’s subtle presence by the sudden and inexplicable aroma of the most exquisite and delicate perfume. This happened once again the day before I contacted Alex to ask for healing from the Iseum and I wonder if other people may have experienced this also?

Bega told me year’s ago during a meditation with her that she is Bega of the Gifts and this indeed is true!

So, I am delighted to be a member of ‘Bega of the Gift’s Iseum’ and I would like to say a hearty ‘hello’ to all other members!

HAIL TO ISIS - HAIL TO BEGA

In the Cosmos she is One

On Earth She is known by many names.

Her Heart is LOVE!

Beltane 2009 at Tredethy

2009-05-02T20:21:00.000+01:00

The Druid Grove of Bega observed Beltane at their new home high up in the hills of North Cornwall. A new outdoor hearth was inaugurated, as they lit the Beltane fire amid mature Ash, Beech, Alder, Oak and Sycamore.

Tredethy Beltane Fire

Life in its abundance manifests all around now; blackbirds are nesting nearby, hedgehogs and toads feast nocturnally on mollusc's and newts have colonised our sacred woodland pond. Nature surges, energy quickens, life pulses. The sun has set through the Sycamore thicket, and a half moon rides the starry sky!

Earlier in the day the ancient yearly fertility ritual was performed at Padstow, and the streets of the Cornish port thronged with colour, music and ceremony. Now at dusk, it is a quiet time for reflection. A timeless sense of the Eternal Spirit of Nature; communion can be achieved at this special time betwixt day and night - at this crepuscular hour the song of summer reverberates through all things. All is one - the heartbeat of the universe hums on the still night air.

Beech, Sycamore and Bluebells at Tredethy

2009 Vernal Equinox Sunrise at Castlerigg

2009-04-09T20:41:00.000+01:00

The following photos were taken at dawn on the Spring Equinox 2009.

The Equinox sun climbing the side of Clough Head Fell from Castlerigg Stone Circle.

Pictures by Paul Atlas-Saunders

2008 Montol Festival Photo Gallery

2008-12-26T17:11:00.000Z

"The Lords of the Night"

Druid Grove of Bega Tatters Guise Dancers

Crowned with Yew, symbolic of death and rebirth the Winter Solstice
Penglaz dances into the night (Photo credit: Sarah Jenner)

Torchlit procession through old Penzance town (Photo credit: Sarah Jenner)

Druid Grove of Bega Tatters Guise Dancers and the Turkey Rhubarb Band
join together for Guise Dancing in Chapel Street. (Photo: Sarah Jenner)

Golowan Band leads the torchlit procession

Lescudjack Montol Beacon

Guising at the Chalking of the Mock

All photos by The Druid Grove of Bega unless otherwise credited

Click here for the Spirit of Albion article about this festival and it's links to esoteric practices across Europe

See here for the official Montol website (external link)

Winter Solstice in Penzance

2008-12-22T07:39:00.001Z

The Druid Grove of Bega joined with the musicians and guise dancers of the Turkey Rhubarb Band to celebrate the Winter Solstice in style. We danced our way through the historic Chapel Street of district of Penzance. For a full report on this year's Montol festival click here

Picture credit: Sarah Jenner

Druid Grove's Winter Meditation

2008-11-01T16:44:00.000Z

The well used Winter Wild Wood Mystery meditation has been published in the Samhain 2008 issue of The Mirror of Isis.

The Mirror of Isis is the online journal of the Circle of Isis, a Fellowship of Isis global advisory board. You can view the Druid Grove of Bega meditation here. Thanks to Linda Iles, Editor of the Mirror of Isis for her continued encouragement and support.

Chûn Quoit in October

2008-10-21T22:53:00.000+01:00

Photo: Alex Langstone

Samhain: Remembering the Dead

2008-10-17T07:19:00.001+01:00

To counterbalance the ever present negative media-hype of Halloween, and the often hideously corrupted traditions that this modern secular and trashy festival now entails, I have written this piece to allow a glimpse into the true meaning of this ancient and very sacred time of year.

Samhain: Remembering the Dead
Prose and Meditation to Honour our Ancestors
by Alex Langstone

The ancient Celtic festival of Samhain. Time of remembrance and of honouring the dead. The season when the veil is thin and contact between the great divide can be made. The ancient feast is still celebrated throughout the western world as the secular festival of Halloween, on October 31st. However it is only a distant and very corrupted memory of what this sacred festival is all about. It is interesting to note that in Britain, Remembrance Day on 11 November seems to tie in symbolically with similar themes and the bonfires lit on 5th November to commemorate Guy Fawkes' failed act of terror have without even realising it, become a modern secular continuation of the sacred Samhain fires. The Christianised festivals of All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day are celebrated on the 1st and 2nd November respectively. In the Goidelic Celtic languages of Scottish Gaelic and Irish, Samhain means November, and the entire month resonates with the meaning and symbolism of the ancient festival. In Cornwall the feast was known as Allantide, or Nos Calan Gwafand in Brythonic Celtic Cornish. Penzance particularly had the custom of giving Allan Apples, large red apples to each other on October 31st for good luck and this custom persisted until the late 19th century. Turnip lanterns were made and lit after dark and stories were told about the ancestors and the otherworld of faery folk and enchantment!

Samhain is about remembrance, communication across time and space and especially honouring our ancestors and remembering our deceased loved ones. It is also a transition point in the yearly cycle. Winter is just around the corner, the harvest is complete and longer nights and shorter days are upon us. The sun's power is waning and leaves are falling from the trees. In modern Ireland and Scotland, the name by which Halloween is known in the Gaelic language is still Oíche/Oidhche Shamhna, and it is still the custom in some areas to set a place for the dead at the Samhain feast, and to tell tales of the ancestors on that night. The symbolic act of opening a door or window in the west for the beloved dead, who are specifically invited to attend, is central to this ancient custom. Many leave a candle or other light burning in a western window to guide the dead ancestors home. Divination for the coming year is performed, and this is a time for deep communion with God, Spirit or the localised deities of the district, especially those whom folklore mentions as being particularly connected with this festival.

Samhain Prose.
Crows crowing, flapping somewhere overhead. The wind cries the ghostly song of the departed. We stand alone in this desolate, yet welcoming place. It is cold, and dusk is laying her blanket over the rolling landscape of sweeping, undulating hills. The naked twisted trees dance in the half-light of a cold autumnal evening, and vicious clouds scud across the menacing sky.

Old ossifying bones lie hidden here. The bone-yard of the ancient ones lie sleeping in this valley, and the ancient mortuary house holds the key to this place. Half buried under four thousand years of mud and stone - but only half-buried, still!
Whispers, half forgotten whispers from the dimming memory of yesteryear. Whispers fade in and out, blending, melding 'twixt the winds playful movement 'neath the trees. We can almost taste the past here! Fleeting and unknowable, but tangible and contradictory. All of this and more. Scattered shards of invisible bone. Ghostly hair, tooth and nail hide here amongst the invisible remains of last years decay. New life sprouts, mushrooming fungus and multi-coloured lichen have successfully colonised this enclosure.

This space, this sacred area of the deceased; the departed ones who haunt another realm, an inaccessible realm of half-fulfilled dreams and visions of poets and painters from across the ages.
Ancient prehistoric lines of power converge here. The shining pathways of the ancestors, corpse roads and coffin paths where we walk with the dead.

It is dark now, and the Yew tree observes all from the darkest corner of this enchanted world. This is the ancient, wise and cunning you!

Tree of departed souls, tree of renewal, guardian tree of graves. The old twisted branches rustling and creaking in the ghostly vale of dreams. Associated with immortality, renewal, regeneration, everlasting life, rebirth, transformation and death.The Yew is considered to be the most potent tree for protection against evil, a means of connecting to your ancestors, a bringer of dreams and otherworld journeys and a symbol of secret ancient magic. In hot weather it gives off a resinous vapour which our ancient far distant ancestors inhaled to gain visions. Yew wood was regarded as especially magical to the Celts, due to its connection with the dead and the ancestors which were deeply respected. Let the lesson of the Yew be observed - welcome travellers!

Samhain Meditation.
You find yourself standing in the corner of a churchyard by a huge ancient Yew tree. Its hollow trunk, gnarled and split with age, appears like a gateway leading us into the night! A crescent moon illuminates the darkened sky and the stars glisten. This is a thin place! Allow yourself to be guided along the shimmering old straight track, from the thousand year old Yew tree and it's surrounding grave-stones we walk along a well defined path. This ancient corpse road follows an even older line of earth energy and it has a purposeful and meaningful destination. An owl screeches and a rustling is heard in the nearby undergrowth. Nocturnal creatures are busy. Old fashioned lanterns light our way towards the hill of the dreaming dead. Ancient standing stones pierce the landscape, and wayside wheel-headed crosses lead us to our enchanted destination.

A fire is burning on a nearby hilltop, a bonefire! The assembly cast the bones of the Samhain feast into the blaze, remembering and honouring around a beacon fire, burning into the nights darkness, lighting a pathway into the dreamtime of the departed. But this is not our destination, we have a date with a more ancient edifice. We continue along the faintly illuminated trackway leading us deeper into the immortal starry velvet night. We walk through ancient woodland, its trees stark against the night. We are heading into Bone Valley. A deeply connected and primitive valley. A place of antiquated trees and antediluvian secrets. Bone Valley will soon divulge our holy destination. The moon's crescent appears once more between the protruding branches, which seem to reach out to the night sky. The clouds have dispersed and bright stars shine like timeworn torches in an antique indigo sky. Soon we arrive at a clearing and we see a stony structure, megaliths protruding from the earth. They are curbing a large oval mound and beyond the stones, through a well worn entrance, we find a gaping black opening leading into a stone chamber. Some of the stones have been carved and round indents cause the surface of one stone to stand out, its quartz veins shining, illuminated by the pale moonlight.We sit within the confines of the barrow's heart. We listen to the silence. We light a solitary candle. We pray for the loving departed.

We emerge from the otherworldly chamber of the neolithic shrine to the dead. It is dawn, and the eastern sky is glowing an iridescent red. The sun is rising, lighting our way home. We follow the pathway back to the source of our deamtime adventure. past the bonefire hill, along the old straight track which leads through the heart of the November woods and the ancient sacred Yew. We take leave of this place, with its needles of stone and its earthy shrines to the dead. We find ourselves in a churchyard, amongst the gravestones, the sun is shining and the crows forever crowing. We are home. We remember!

References and Credits.
November Woods.Tone Poem by Arnold Bax.
Belerion: Ancient Sites of Land's End by Craig Weatherill
Tregiffian Neolithic Entrance Grave photo by Alex Langstone.
Samhain Yew Portal by Paul Atlas-Saunders
Lelant churchyard wheel headed cross photo by Paul Atlas-Saunders

Poet Alex Langstone is head of the Druid Grove of Bega, a pantheistic Anglo-Celtic grove. The Grove has an active online presence, offering meditations, poetry, ritual and other related articles, through Spirit of Albion - www.alexlangstone.co.uk

Meditation in this Busy Chaotic World

2008-08-26T11:28:00.000+01:00

Every so often I find the need to read this famous poem. It serves as a reminder and a cosmic set of principles by which I try to live life. I fail all the time, but just by reminding myself, I find that I strive to achieve more of what this poem speaks about. So go placidly and meditate upon the themes. Try one line a week, as a focus for contemplation and meditation.

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann

The White Lady Meditation

2008-07-22T16:59:00.000+01:00

This meditational piece of prose was written up from a series of spontaneous and inspired visions I gained whilst leading a group meditation at Lydford Gorge waterfall in Devon. It has since been used in group meditation work with great results. Try it, and maybe let me know what happens.

The White Lady
A Meditation of Communion with the Spirit of Nature
by Alex Langstone

One of the most beautiful places that I have had the pleasure of visiting has to be the White Lady waterfall at Lydford Gorge on the western flank of Dartmoor. There is a legend at this place of a white lady who appears on moonlit nights; standing within the white lance of the falls. Her hair becomes the tumbling luminous white liquid and her voice the rushing cacophony of cascading water that infinitely caresses the rock-face upon which it glides.

There is another legend also of a lady called Kitty, and it is thought that she fell into the river, where she drowned. Her ghostly presence can be seen each spring at dusk on the night of the new moon.

The gorge is an enchanted place of mystery and magic: it is indeed a haunted glade, where one can expect to see elves and sprites flitting between tree and river. Tall slender birch trees sway each side of the water, and a footpath leads away from the falls in both directions. There is a small bridge that leads to a path which leads to the Devil's cauldron, a huge cavernous cleft deep within the gorge, where the River Lyd boils and bubbles away in honour of the old ones. Truly a place of power! But I hear a feminine voice on the breeze, gently calling from the waterfall. It is the Soul of Nature...

The Pathworking.
Make whatever usual arrangements required for relaxation in readiness for meditation. Close your eyes. See yourself standing at the base of a mighty waterfall. You can hear the roar of the water as it cascades down a sheer drop of a 100 feet or more. Although it is only a narrow fall, its power is felt. Feel the clean clear water gently splashing all around. There is a dampness in the air, although not unpleasant, rather invigorating and fresh as a spring morning. Breathe in the cool clean air, feel your body being cleansed both inside and out. Hear the trees of the protective woodland that surround this place rustling in the gentle breeze, and breathe in the cool damp, clean air.

Gradually, as you become accustomed to the sheer beauty of the surroundings, you see in your minds eye a tiny droplet of water resting on your brow. Concentrate on this image for a few seconds. Then see it transform into a tiny white light, and as it does this it starts to move away from your head towards the waterfall. As it moves it grows in size until you see a round white disc, like the full moon, floating in front of the waterfall. As you watch, the round disc disappears into the waterfall. Look at the point that the disc entered the fall, you can see a portal opening, a rippling of reality, then a spark of light manifests, and from this light emerges a glowing spirit, an ethereal shining lady. She is dressed in white billowing gowns. She stands before you, and although she seems solid, you realise that she is part of the waterfall. Look at her face, she is smiling. She wears a silver crown decked with flowers upon her head, and her hair is long and flowing, shimmering and shining in the reflected sunlight.She stands tall and proud, for we have woken the spirit of the waterfall; the White Lady, the ancient holy spirit of the waters and of the earth, look into her eyes. They show beauty and compassion, strength and wisdom. She holds in her hands three flowers, a yellow daffodil, a red rose and a purple Iris. The daffodil symbolised creativity, and the life giving powers of the sun, the rose for compassion and our life-blood, and the Iris for wisdom and understanding. She throws the three flowers into the water and as she does so we see creativity, compassion and wisdom flowing as one in the waters of life. For the rivers of this land are the very veins and arteries of the Earth Goddess.

Look up once more. You see the lady is standing in the river. She starts to move towards you and she lifts her hands to her head and plucks a flower from her crown, this she hands to you. Take note of its colour and type, for this is your own special symbol of the Spirit of Nature.

She returns to the waterfall and holds up her hands, palms facing you. Out of her right palm a green ray of light emerges, and from her left palm a white ray emerges. These move towards us and form a circle of green and white light surrounding us. The energy of this circle of light links us to the the White Lady, the waterfall and the land itself. As we watch the energy from the circle spirals upwards towards the sky, and downwards into the earth. As above, so below!

Concentrate on the image of the lady again. She is glowing, radiating her power. She moves towards us and merges with the energies of the circle of light surrounding us and we enter in communion with her. Listen to what she may have to tell us...

The White Lady begins to draw the green and white light from the circle back into her being, and as she does this you become at one with Nature, you hear the land sing! The White Lady is now shining brightly, and you realise that She is Elen, Sovereign Goddess of Albion. She takes the remainder of the green light into her heart and our hearts open up to her sacred song! She turns and slowly merges with the waterfall once more, as she disappears, green and white energy shoots out from the water like lasers into the surrounding landscape, in every direction, to the four winds, into the sacred waters, into the earth and the sky and into the fire within each of us.

She is gone from vision, but remains within our hearts. We know She is everywhere, in every tree, flower, stone. In all rivers, seas and lakes. A part of every swelling bud, leaf and stalk. She is within us and you, for She is the Spirit of Nature and is omnipresent. Stand and listen to the sound of the rushing water, feel your feet firmly upon the ground and when you are ready end the meditation.

Summer Solstice in West Cornwall

2008-06-24T22:07:00.001+01:00

Once again the Druid Grove of Bega attended the Golowan festival's Mazey Day. Below are some photographs taken by Grove members.

See here for more...

Pantheism by Elizabeth

2008-06-11T22:24:00.000+01:00

I recently found this article on the internet, and as it so perfectly sums up my views on pantheism and the nature of religion I tried to contact the author. However no contact has been possible, and all email addresses given seem to be void. Despite several google searches, I have been unble to trace the author, so I have decided to publish the work. If Elizabeth objects then I shall remove the piece, but in the meantime, for your enjoyment and perusal I give you Pantheism!

"I wish there was one person in my life I could show. One instinctive, absolutely unbrisk person I could take to Greece, and stand in front of certain shrines and sacred streams and say, 'Look! Life is only comprehensive through a thousand local gods. And not just the old dead ones with names like Zeus - no, but living Geniuses of Place and Person! And not just Greece but modern England! Spirits of certain trees, certain curves of brick wall, certain chip shops, if you like, and slate roofs - just as of certain frowns in people and slouches' ...I'd say to them - 'Worship as many gods as you can see - and more will appear!' ...If I had a son, I bet you he'd come out exactly like his mother. Utterly worshipless."

- from Equus by Peter Shaffer, 1973 (Act 1:18)

For all that lives is holy.

- William Blake

Pantheism is the belief that everything is god, and that god is everything.

I have trouble explaining this clearly to people, especially in writing. One friend thinks I worship stones - and I do, but not in the sense that implies. Another friend described me as worshipping Pan, and that isn't the point either. It's a misleading pun. Let me try to explain....

The true essence of divinity is ineffable - which means it can't be explained in words. All religions have this situation, and they overcome it by using words and ideas to get as close as they can to the meanings they intend. No one can describe the indescribable, not even mystics and seers. But they try.

The result is that we have religion expressed in a series of descriptive metaphors, adopted by individuals or cultures according to their needs and understanding. Sometimes this takes the form of anthropomorphizing god - talking about divinity as if it were a person, like in the old joke, "I saw God, and did I get a surprise. She's black." Sometimes the attempt to describe the nature of god becomes abstract (calling it such names as Sanctus Spiritus) or concrete, whereby god has human form as an avatar, a human birth, or many human, animal and other forms - the sun, for example.

I consider divinity to be existence. There are other words for it: -- truth, reality, the universe, the omniverse. It can be seen as one thing (emphasizing the unity of all) or as many things, emphasizing the unique properties of every object or conception. Since god is everything and everywhere, it doesn't matter what the expression of worship is. As Shaffer suggests, find your own gods, and you will always be finding more.

So what is the nature of worship? It is appreciation of everything for what it is, acceptance of everything we encounter, valuing things for their own attributes. If you look hard enough at anything, you will see the divinity that it really is. We can't see the molecules or atoms of its composition with our naked eyes, but we can acquire a sense of wonder about them, the pattern of substance and notion that makes it that way. That pattern is no less holy than the object itself. One of the great insights is that the dancer is the dance.

It isn't that god demands worship, or needs it. It is that we need to nourish the spiritual side of ourselves to connect to the world around us, and the people around us, and life as we live it, good and bad. In gaining insight into the universe we gain insight to ourselves - we of course being another expression of divinity. Or conversely, in gaining insight into ourselves, we gain insight into the universe. To listen to the voice of god, listen to your heart, your conscience, your mind and your subconscious. Think for yourself, and you will find the truth you are looking for.

A Prayer

From Rosslyn Chapel, in Roslin, Scotland:

Deep peace of Running Wave to you
Deep peace of the Flowing Air to you
Deep peace of the Quiet Earth to you
Deep peace of the Shining Stars to you
Deep peace of the Son of Peace to you

The Nature of Good and Evil

In an absolute sense, the terms are meaningless, and evil is as holy and goodness, and vice versa. But we don't live in absolute, objective terms: we are human beings, and we have a vested interest in what is good for us. We have every right to love existence, and to love ourselves, and to love our species, as well as those personally close to us. So that which threatens our well-being is evil. However holy the smallpox bacteria may be, or the AIDS virus, or a falling bomb, they can cause us great harm.

What is evil, is whatever causes suffering. What is good, is whatever increases happiness and decreases suffering. For our lives to reach their potential - which is the path to enlightenment and happiness - we should minimize suffering in ourselves and others. Life is full of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune. With luck, we learn from this and grow, but it can be a painful process.

Happiness is a creative, fecund experience that leads to sharing that happiness. Misery is selfish and solipsistic, thinking about itself and its wants. True hedonism is unselfish. Being uptight is a form of self-abuse, taking too much unto oneself, losing the calmness and humour that are really at the centre of helping others.

A few tips for a good life:

Learn to forgive, because anger will harm you.
Be brave, because courage is the strongest weapon.
Be flexible. Stubbornness is often related to stupidity.
Know yourself, and other knowledge will come to you.
Learn everything you can. Knowledge is freedom.
Listen to your heart. Your body and your feelings have wisdom they are trying to share with you.
Be aware. See the wonder.
Be at peace with yourself, which will make it possible to be at peace with others.
Be kind.
Remember that words are less important than the meaning or intent behind them. In most cases, the important thing is unspoken or unseen. "What is essential is invisible to the eye," is how Antoine de Saint-Exupéry put it in The Little Prince.
Cultivate freedom - your own, and others. Other priorities will fall into place.

Holy places

Holy places are where you find them.

Of course, if we were to look at things on a purely objective level, all places are holy to the pantheist. But sometimes that holiness speaks to us, unbidden - and it can be difficult to understand exactly why, or whether that communication has something to do with oneself, or the circumstances, or the time, or the energy of the place. Sometimes a number of people agree by consensus that a place is holy, and build a church, or make pilgrimages to it. Lourdes, Stonehenge, Ayers Rock, St. Peter's Basilica.

Sometimes the holiness is apparent only to one person, a special connection between that person and that place. M. Scott Peck said, speaking of himself and his wife, "I cannot tell what makes Tintagel [in Cornwall] suxh a holy spot for us any more than I can about the hut circles at South Stack [in Wales]: it is just the conjunction of natural beauty with ancient human ruins. Beyond that, it is mysterious - mystical.... I wonder whether Arthur contributed to the holiness of Tintagel or or the holiness of the place led to it being attributed to him of legend? I suspect the latter."

I tend to feel that sense of holiness around trees, and on the sea, on cliffs and on islands.

A friend of mine a work, a Catholic, recently said to me, "I know all times are God's time, but I don't like early mornings." What a wonderful concept, I thought. The idea that time belongs to god, and we are allowed to use it. Peck has something to say about that, too: "Some Catholics have a concept I much admire: the Sacrament of the Present Moment. It suggests that every moment of our lives is sacred, and that we should make of each moment a sacrament." Without being sure that I understand what the Catholic Church means by a sacrament, I am suggesting the same thing, that holiness exists in all moments, all objects, and all situations. We only need the will to see it.

Authors who have inspired my pantheism over the years

Spinoza
Lau Tzu
Lucretius
Einstein
Meister Eckhart
Matthew Fox
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Patanjali, the Bhagavad Gita, and other writings on Yoga

Pantheism on the Net.

There are numerous websites, mailing lists, discussion forums and newsgroups out there about pantheism. At first, I was excited to find them, and delighted that there were other pantheists like myself.

On reading the websites and newsgroups, I found that they tend to be divided into three types. There are those who don't call themselves pantheists, but express ideas I consider to be pantheist within the framework of other established religions - Christianity (many of the great Pantheist mystics were Christian), Buddhism, First Nation religions, Shinto, and so on. The second type follows a doctrine of science and study, coming close, in my eyes, to actual atheism, denying "spirit" that is not matter or energy. The third type is into nature worship.
I favour a synthesis of these approaches: learning mixed with mysticism, nature worship tempered with the teachings of many faiths.

From "In Memoriam" in Rosslyn Chapel, in Roslin, Scotland:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous." Actually, who are you not to be? Your playing small doesn't serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that others won't feel insecure around you. We are born to manifest the glory that is within us. It is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Clifford Innes (1955-2000)

Penzance May Horns Beltane Bash

2008-05-06T18:22:00.003+01:00

The Druid Grove of Bega were among the many faces who attended the unique and historic revival of the Penzance May Horns Beltane celebration on May 4th 2008. The celebration was banned by Penzance Town Council in 1933 for being too rowdy! Lets hope it is better received this time around?

See also the Penzance May Horns official site (external link) here

Below is a selection of photographs of the event taken by Grove members Alex Langstone and Paul Atlas-Saunders.

Heading towards Newlyn Green

Procession in full flow

The Lady of May alongside the Master of Ceremonies and the Green Man
lead the Mayers up Alexandra Road. Lets hope the council don't mind?

Master of Ceremonies

Above and below: Druid Grove of Bega and friends

For details of other Cornish May Day customs and festivals visit here

The Druid Network

2008-03-25T17:12:00.000Z

The Druid Grove of Bega is pleased to announce that we are now officially listed on The Druid Network website. We have two listings, the first is on the celebrants and priests page and the second is within the Druid Community pages.

Click link here to view our listing within the Priests and Celebrants page.

Imbolc 2008 at Madron Bapistry and Holy Well

2008-02-03T18:45:00.000Z

Imbolc Snowdrops at the Celtic Bapistry at Madron.

Clouties hang over the wishing well at Madron

Remains of the ancient Bapistry Chapel

Sacred waters inside the Bapistry Chapel

Strange light "orbs" caught within the Chapel at Madron

FFI on this ancient site visit here

Imbolc Festival of Light

Merry Maidens

2008-01-14T01:11:00.001Z

Merry Maidens stone circle, near Penzance, Cornwall.
Photo by Paul Atlas-Saunders

Grove Winter Solstice Ceremony

2007-12-24T18:44:00.000Z

This year we spent the Winter Solstice at our friends farm near the North Cornish coast. A beacon fire was lit to mark the longest night and a feast was eaten under a near full moon and an indigo sky of winter stars. The ceremony used is reproduced below, and was kept to a simple yet profoundly meaningful format for the diverse crowd that had come together for this special occasion.

Winter Solstice Beacon Fire

Welcome to the ancient fire festival of the Winter Solstice

Let the four directions be honoured that power and radiance might enter our circle at this time.

NORTH
With the blessing of the Great Bear of the starry heavens and the deep and fruitful earth, we call upon the powers of the north.

May there be peace in the north.

EAST
With the blessing of the Hawk of Dawn soaring in the clear pure air, we call upon the powers of the east.

May there be peace in the east.

SOUTH
With the blessing of the Great Stag in the heat of the chase, and the inner fire of the sun, we call upon the powers of the south.

May there be peace in the south.

WEST
With the blessing of the salmon of wisdom who dwells within the sacred waters of the great ocean, we call upon the powers of the west.

May there be peace in the west.

May the harmony of our circle be complete.

Moon and Hawthorn

Festival meaning.
At this time of the Winter Solstice there is the greatest recognition in contemporary society of the need for festival and celebration. Christmas and New Year celebrations are major landmarks each year for the vast majority of us in the western world and by celebrating the Winter Solstice we can find a deep spiritual connection with the past and to grasp fully the forces of renewal which are so strongly present at this time.

The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day and longest night, with the sun at its furthest point form us, we can look forward to increasing daylight from this point of the year and gradually, as the sun gets closer once more, we can look forward to its warming light in the months ahead.

So the winter solstice is the time of the sun’s rebirth. It is also a time for reflection; the turning point between the year’s darkness and the returning light, a time of death and rebirth, of loss and renewal, of completion and new beginnings. These are some of the deeper meanings behind contemporary societies Christmas celebrations, and it is no coincidence that the Christian nativity story of the birth of the son of God seems so similar to that of the rebirth of the sun that sustains life on earth.

Meditation - The Winter Wild Wood Mystery

All is in darkness.

Gradually you see stars shining, glowing intensely in the night sky. As you become aware of your surroundings you realise that you are standing in a meadow. A heavy frost shimmers upon the ground, illuminated by the faint starlight and a slender crescent moon.

You notice that you are standing by a wooden gate, and on the other side of the gate is an ancient trackway leading to a vast woodland. You open the gate and begin your journey on the path. Your footfalls crunch upon the frosted landscape and your breath vapourises on the still night air. In the distance movement catches your eye. Your heart quickens and you increase your step. Something stirs in the approaching woodland.

Before you enter the forest you notice that dawn is breaking towards the eastern horizon. The sky is clear and soon the sun will be reborn at this sacred time, and the light of Arthur will shine across the land once again. For this is a time of beginnings and completion, death and rebirth; the sun dies and is reborn as the Child of promise.

The Sun's journey is about to begin once more as it has since the dawn of time, for in the depths of winter's darkness stirs new life, and the Oak king stirs in readiness for the waxing sun.

You now enter the winter wild wood, and again you see movement up ahead. Then at once as the Solstice Sun rises over the distant hills you enter a clearing. A huge stag greets you, his antlers rise up and he looks at you. Look into his eyes, for he is the guardian of the forest and the sacred totem of Cernunnos, of Herne, of Gwyn ap Nudd - He who leads the legendary Wild Hunt at the winter solstice; hunting out the light from the darkness, seeking out our future dreams and aspirations from the hidden depths of our souls.

As you watch him, he turns away and walks deeper into the magic forest. You feel compelled to follow him, for now is the time to use the light of the returning sun to aid us in our continuing quest. Follow the Stag-headed-one, keeper of the mysteries of the winter wild wood.

As you walk onwards you notice that the trees are getting bigger. Mighty oaks are now in abundance, their twisted branches look like ancient hands reaching out to welcome and guide you, for you are about to enter the sacred grove of the Horned God. He awaits you, and should your require his assistance and guidance, then ask for it now. Call out to him and he will answer. Spend some time in communion with the protective power of nature.

Whatever is happening now, look around you, notice that you are still in the forest but the Horned God has gone and shafts of pale winter sunlight pierce through the bare branches of the trees. You now retrace your steps, walking away from the clearing and towards the forest edge. As you leave the clearing you notice the bright red berries of the holly, which add life and colour to the woodland. You follow the path and shortly you see the mighty oaks again and you note the most sacred of all winter plants growing high up in their branches: the Mistletoe, it's gleaming white berries shining and silken, symbolic of the seed of life! Soon you reach the edge of the wild wood and as you leave, a Wren darts across your path from the old Yew by the gate. Remember what you have learned and take inspiration from what you have experienced

All is in darkness.

Eisteddfod
Storytelling and poetry

Animal Stones. (Pass around)
These animal stones are based on the living tradition of Druidry and the deep spiritual connection with the landscape and our place within it. We can never be truly at ease with ourselves until we regain our links with the natural world and the native wildlife therein. By blindly choosing a stone, we are allowing ourselves to connect with that particular animal, and we may find that the wisdom the secret nature of the animal conveys may resonate within us over the next year and inspire us to fulfil our goals and desires and our wishes and dreams. So close your eyes and take a stone from the basket. The animal meanings will be provided after the ceremony has finished.

-----

Let the spirits of the four directions be thanked for their blessings at this time of Winter Solstice

NORTH
In the name of the Great Bear of the starry heavens and the deep and fruitful earth, we thank the spirits of the north.

EAST
In the name of the Hawk of Dawn who soars through the winds of time, we thank the spirits of the east

SOUTH
In the name of the Great Stag from the heat of the chase, we thank the spirits of the south

WEST
In the name of the Salmon of Wisdom who swims through the great oceans, we thank the spirits of the west.

This ceremony ends in peace, as in peace it began

Eternal wisdom be with us and with all beings past present and future. I now declare this sacred ritual is closed in the apparent world. May its inspiration continue within us all.

(Illustration of winter wild wood by Paul Atlas-Saunders)

________________________

The Druid Grove of Bega

Paintings by Paul Atlas-Saunders

2007-12-23T21:28:00.000Z

Winter. Watercolour on paper 2003

Lady of the Lake. Mixed media on canvas 2003

Merman. Acrylic on calico 1999

North Cliffs. Mixed media on paper 2003

For more of Paul's art visit his online gallery here

Grove photography

2007-12-15T23:33:00.000Z

Morvah Moon by Paul Atlas-Saunders 2007

Fenland Poppies by Paul Atlas-Saunders 2005

Sunset at Marazion by Alex Langstone 2007

Inauguration of new official Fellowship of Isis Iseum

2007-11-15T08:11:00.000Z

In 1992 I was given a charter by Rt. Rev. Olivia Robertson to found an official Fellowship of Isis group known as an Iseum.

Iseums are the hearths of the Goddess - they form a spiral of the adepti and are situated all over the world for members to connect with. They create a rainbow network of Goddess centres and shrines.

The Iseum was known as The Temple of Isis, and was based in Leigh on Sea, Essex. We were a closed group working Egyptian magic. This group ceased to function in 1994, but has remained "open" on the inner planes awaiting a new phase.

I can now report that 15 years on, the Iseum has evolved, and is now once again, officially listed with the Fellowship of Isis. Known as The Iseum of Bega of the Gifts and inaugurated on the feast of St Bega on 7th November, 2007. The Iseum is the sacred hearth of the divine feminine, and forms part of our Druid Grove of Bega. The Iseum has been set up to offer a distant healing programme and prayers for those in need. Please Email us to request this service. We are also open to receive new members and are broadly working within a Celtic Pantheistic Druid tradition. We are based in North Cornwall, close to the wild and beautiful Bodmin Moor.

Please click here for the current worldwide listing of FOI Iseums

The much faded Charter from
Lady Olivia Robertson granted
on the 28th July 1992

Grove Pictures

2007-10-25T00:21:00.000+01:00

"May there be peace in the west"
Alex Langstone and partner Paul Atlas-Saunders

Grove at Castlerigg, autumn 2003

Whence it all began, Summer Solstice 1996. Priestess Geraldine Andrew
officiates for us at our wedding at Harmony Pottery, Wheal Rose.

Natural Healing

2007-10-24T23:58:00.000+01:00

The Sacred Path of Reiki

Dr Mikao Usui discovered Reiki in 1922 in his native Japan. Dr Usui, or Usui Sensei to give him his Japanese title was a Buddhist, and he trained as a Buddhist Monk in 1914.

Inspired by the healing stories of Buddha led Usui to study ancient Buddhist sutras in a quest for the secrets of healing.

This search lasted many years, and using meditation, physical research and intuition Usui was eventually led to Mount Kurama, a sacred Buddhist mountain near Kyoto. Here Mikao Usui was further inspired by the many Buddhist shrines that were situated on the mountain. This instigated a series of events in his life which helped Usui to make his decision to partake of a 21 day fasting meditation on the summit of Kurama. This must have been a very hard thing to achieve, but on the last day of his retreat Usui had a profound mystical experience. He received a psychic Reiki initiation directly from the source of the energy, immediately afterwards he realised the true nature of healing.

Usui Sensei

Following on from his amazing experience Usui Sensei continued to expand his knowledge by additional research and the word began to spread. People began to seek him out for healing, and this resulted in the formation of a healing society called "Usui Reiki Ryoho Gakkai" which was set up in Tokyo in April 1922. A clinic was also opened near to the Meiji shrine in central Tokyo where Usui started giving treatments and taking classes.

In 1923 a huge earthquake hit Japan and over 140,000 people were killed. Thousands of people were left homeless, and became emotionally traumatised. The demand for Reiki increased and Usui and his students worked day and night to help all they could.

In 1925 Usui Sensei opened a much larger clinic at Nakano, Tokyo and beagn travelling all over Japan to teach and spread the word. Usui did not want Reiki to be the exclusive practice of the few; he wanted it to be available to all and to be spread across the world. He felt that the path of Reiki was a way for anyone to experience the Divine and Usui hoped that because of this people would be more willing to help each other, to work more closely as a unit and to work towards a more unified and peaceful world for us all.

Chujiro Hayashi

Usui Sensei died on 9th March 1926. His remains are buried at the Saihoji Temple in Suginami-Ku, Tokyo. Some of his students erected a memorial stone by his grave, describing his life and his work with Reiki.

After Usui's death one of his students broke away from the Gakkai and set up his own group. This was Chujiro Hayashi, a medical doctor and Naval officer. He had decided that the time was right to send Reiki out from Japan into the world, so on 21st February 1938 he passed the master degree to Hawayo Takata, an Hawaiian lady of Japanese decent. It was Hawayo Takata who brought Reiki to the western world. From Japan, via Hawaii to the USA.

Hawayo Takata

Hawayo Takata initiated 22 masters during her time. One of these masters was a Swedish lady called Wanja Twan. Wanja passed the master degree to among others, Martha Sylvester, and Martha initiated me into the 1st degree on 31st May 1993. At the same time that I took my 1st degree, Martha made Joan Flashman a master. I took my 2nd degree from Joan on 17th October 1993.

Wanja Twan

Reiki Master Paul Weston initiated me as a Reiki Master on 31st October 1995 at the great spiritual centre of Glastonbury. It was Paul who had initially introduced me to Reiki in 1992. Indeed Paul and I took our 2nd degree together with Joan Flashman in 1993. Previous to Reiki I had been involved in healing within the Celtic tradition as I still am today.

Paul Weston

Go to top