Opening Ceremony Goddess Conference

Today was the opening of the Goddess Conference in Glastonbury honouring Mother Earth. We entered the Town Hall to a wonderfully decorated goddess space and had an opening with the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor present to welcome us all to Glastonbury.

We all added our offering to this goddess formed with softened twigs

The Welcoming with the Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor

After lunch we walked the landscape and honoured the elements air, fire, water & earth. At the end we collated the earth we had brought from around the world into one pouch for our group which we chose earlier in the morning. The groups represented the 8 directions and the centre. Each direction represented a part of the landscape eg volcano, valleys, mountain tops, caves and forests/glens. We were asked to select the group that spoke to our soul and the part of the landscape that we found the most joy. As I had travelled so far to have this experience in Glastonbury I selected the centre the Isle of Avalon representing transformation - a very powerful group and one that has changed my life forever even after only 1 day of the conference.

Walking out of town on the beginning of our landscape sacred walk

Welcoming each attendee at the gate of the Tor 

Starting our ascent of the Tor

My turn of carrying the staff for our group

After a tea break we then gathered for our sacred welcoming ceremony of the evening which has left me humbled and in awe of the people involved. It is a sacred ceremony and unfortunately there are no photographs to share with you. It involved an enchanted forest with nymph and faery casing each other through the standing stones and women skyclad representing the earth elements of our groups. The earth from our individual pouches was mixed together from all participants and then each goddess of the elements added there earth to form a large cauldron of earth from all corners of the world.

Glastonbury Walking the Tor Labyrinth

For interested in the Glastonbury Tor Labyrinth I have spoken in details in a previous posting on this subject so please refer to this for more information.

The terracing slopes of the Glastonbury Tor are a great three dimensional labyrinth, a ceremonial way dedicated to the ancient Goddess where many people walk her path in a sacred manner.

My experience of the walking the Tor with 10 other women from America, South Africa, Australia and the UK was one of great challenge and very humbling. We started on the main concrete path towards the Tor from Wellhouse Lane stopping to greet each other as we entered through the wooden gateway, we walked to the fallen Standing Stone which was our entry point for Level 3 associated with the Fire Element and the Solar Plexus Chakra. The walk continues through the layers of the Labyrinth next being 2 associated with the Water Element and the Sacral Chakra, then Level 1 associated with the Earth Element and the Base Chakra, then Level 4 associated with the Air Element and the Heart Chakra, the next Level 7 associated with the Crown Chakra, next Level 6 and the Third Eye Chakra and finally Level 5 and the Throat Chakra.

The whole walk took 8 hours with time on each level to hold ceremony of honour and to receive blessings. The top of the Tor is also where the lay lines of Mary (Magdalene) and Michael (Archangel) come together a very powerful place to receive guidance and answers to questions you may have. It is also linked through myth and legend to be home of Gwyn ap Nudd the Lord of the Underworld and a place where the faery folk live.

My personal learnings from the day have been about life in general. As we start out our challenges are few and easy to deal with like the uneven ground of the lower levels of the labyrinth. As we age and mature the challenges become more complex and difficult to solve and you must rely on inner knowings and lessons learned through life experience how to step ahead. This is represented by the higher levels of the labyrinth where you must not doubt your footings and there is one path to walk only small 10cm wide tracks that are uneven, with holes to step into, or the very steep slope of the mountain to fall down. You must learn to trust and step with confidence and keep going forward not stopping or fearing the process but continuing with determination to achieve your goals. Once you have taken this lesson to heart you find yourself on an easier path and the journey ahead is clear and sure. So to it is in life, I was truly surprised how much this walk and life in general where the same. The animals around us also provided learnings for us as we walked.

We had lunch in the heart of the Tor in the Avalon Orchids and I was humbled to think that I was here and becoming one in such an ancient and blessed place.

First Views from Level 3

First sighting of the Tor

We walked in single file in silence

This is Wearyall Hill which jut captivated me all day

Avalon Orchids

Gathering for Grandmother ceremony

Offerings to mother

Glastonbury Tor

The Sacred Egg Stone

We tied blessings onto the sacred tree beside the egg stone

Mothers Day

Photo Source http://info.shoppertrak.com

Today as we all gathered together with our families to honour our mothers and grandmothers, whether they are still with us to celebrate with or perhaps have passed over their memories are still strong in our hearts, the family traditions they instilled in us still are practised today. I hope on this glorious day you found time to honour your mothers and ancestors of the past and also to honour yourself as a women, whether you have children 2 legged or 4 legged your love is infused into the souls that your nurture and love. Some woman like myself are not mothers of living beings but still are mothers of businesses, communities, groups, ideas, creations and the list goes on. I believe that every woman is a mother if you look into her life you will find many ways that she has mothered, nurtured and brought to life creations from her unending love. 

Photo Source http://www.kotaku.com.au

I was interested to investigate the origins of Mothers Day which goes back to the era of ancient Greek and Romans. The spring festival of the ancient Greeks was dedicated to the maternal goddesses. They honoured Rhea wife of Cronus and mother of many deities in Greek mythology.

250 years before Christ the Romans also celebrated a spring festival called Hilaria dedicated to Cybele, a mother Goddess. Offerings were made on the Ides of March in the temple of Cybele with games, parades and masquerades lasting three days.

Photo Source http://www.heavenlyascents.com

Back in the 1600's the early christians celebrated Mother's Day on the fourth Sunday of Lent honouring the Virgin Mary mother of Christ. In England the practise included all mothers and was known as Mothering Sunday. After attending the prayer service children would give flowers and gifts to their own mother.

This custom died out in the 19th century and was again celebrated after World War II, when American servicemen bought the commercial aspect of the day forward to encourage sales. 

Julia Ward Howe an activist, writer and poet who wrote the "Battle Hyme of the Republic" suggested that 2nd June be an annual celebration of Mothers Day and that the day should be dedicated to peace. She urged all women to rise against war in her Mothers Day Proclamation in Boston in 1870. 

Anna Jarvis who is recognised as the founder of Mothers Day in the USA (although she herself never had children). Inspired by her own mother Mrs Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis an activist and social worker who wished that someday all mothers living and dead would be honoured and paid tribute to. After her mothers death Anna wished to fulfil her mothers dream, she first sent carnations to the church service in Grafton West Virginia which she felt symbolised a mothers pure love. She then continued to lobby for an official Mothers Day Holiday. By 1911 almost every state in the union celebrated on 8th May 1914 and President Woodrow Wilson signed a resolution designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day.

Photo Source http://tiffanyhinesstyle.blogspot.com.au

Today millions of people across the world honour their mothers for the tireless efforts they have made in raising their children and the hardships they have faced to do so. They are thanked for the support and love they bestow on their children and grandchildren. Mothers in the US, UK, India, Denmark, Finland, Italy, Turkey, Australia, Mexico, Canada, China, Japan and Belgium just to name a few of the 83 countries who all celebrate and honour mothers on this day.

For all of you who are fortunate enough to still have your mothers in your lives today, cherish her and tell her that you love her, for you never know for how long you will have her.

For those of you who no longer have your mother here with you cherish the memories you hold in your heart and still tell her that you love her as the message will still reach throughout all eternity.

For those of you who do not have the relationship you perhaps would like with your mothers, honour the fact that you were given life and have the blessings of this earth walk because of her.

Honour also should be bestowed upon our great Mother Earth who without her we would have no life. May we learn to honour her and respect her as we would our own mothers.

Photo Source http://www.goddessgift.net

I leave you this night with the words of Kahlil Gibran.

Blessing to all mothers.

The Mother

The most beautiful word on the lips of mankind is the word “Mother,” and the most beautiful call is the call of “My mother.” 

It is a word full of hope and love, a sweet and kind word coming from the depths of the heart.

The mother is everything – she is our consolation in sorrow, our hope in misery, and our strength in weakness.

She is the source of love, mercy, sympathy, and forgiveness….

Everything in nature bespeaks the mother.

The sun is the mother of earth and gives it its nourishment of heart; it never leaves the universe at night until it has put the earth to sleep to the song of the sea and the hymn of birds and brooks.

And this earth is the mother of trees and flowers.

It produces them, nurses them, and weans them.

The trees and flowers become kind mothers of their great fruits and seeds.

And the mother, the prototype of all existence, is the eternal spirit, full of beauty and love ♥

Kahlil Gibran ♥

Photo Source http://www.lilianasrestaurant.com

Samhain

Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween) or Halloween had its beginnings in an ancient, pre-Christian Celtic festival of the dead some 2,000 years ago. It is a Celtic word meaning "Summers End". The Celtic peoples, who were once found all over Europe, divided the year by four major holidays. According to their calendar, the year began on a day corresponding to November 1st on our present calendar. The date marked the beginning of winter or the darker half of the year. Since they were pastoral people, it was a time when cattle and sheep had to be moved to closer pastures and all livestock had to be secured for the winter months. Crops were harvested and stored. The date marked both an ending and a beginning in an eternal cycle.

Photo Source http://www.witchymama.com

In the Southern Hemisphere, in places like Australia and New Zealand it is Samhain that is celebrated on 1st May. The fields are bare, the leaves have fallen from the trees, and the skies are going gray and cold. It is the time of year when the earth has died and gone dormant. Every year on May 1, if you're in the Southern Hemisphere the Sabbat we call Samhain presents us with the opportunity to once more celebrate the cycle of death and rebirth, an acknowledgement that without death, there can be no rebirth. Samhain is a time to reconnect with our ancestors, and honour those who have died. This is the time when the veil between our world and the spirit realm is thin, so it's the perfect time of year to make contact with the dead. The powers of divination and communication are strengthened on Samhain night, and it is considered a powerful time to communicate with lost loved ones. It is a time of reflection, of looking back over the last year. At Samhain, the darkness increases and the Goddess reigns in her powerful aspect of the Crone.

Samhain became the Halloween we are familiar with when Christian missionaries attempted to change the religious practices of the Celtic people. In the early centuries of the first millennium A.D., before missionaries such as St. Patrick and St. Columcille converted them to Christianity, the Celts practised an elaborate religion through their priestly caste, the Druids, who were priests, poets, scientists and scholars all at once. As religious leaders, ritual specialists, and bearers of learning, the Druids were not unlike the very missionaries and monks who were to Christianize their people and brand them evil devil worshippers.

Photo Source http://blog.stonehenge-stone-circle.co.uk

In much of the Gaelic world, bonfires were lit and there were rituals involving them, as at Beltane. People and their livestock would often walk between two bonfires as a cleansing ritual, and the bones of slaughtered livestock and the old plants of the harvest were cast into its flames. It was a method of giving the Gods and Goddesses their share of the previous years herd or crops. In addition these sacred fires were a big part of the cleansing of the old year and a method to prepare for the coming new year. Often families would engage in a good "fall" cleaning to clear out the old and make way for the new. Starting the winter months with fresh and clean household items. Feasts were had, at which the souls of dead kin were beckoned to attend and a place set at the table for them. It has thus been likened to a festival of the dead.

During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, and danced around the bonfire. Many of these dances told stories or played out the cycles of life and death or commemorated the cycle of Wheel of Life. These costumes were adorned for three primary reasons. The first was to honour the dead who were allowed to rise from the Otherworld. The Celts believed that souls were set free from the land of the dead during the eve of Samhain. Those that had been trapped in the bodies of animals were released by the Lord of the Dead and sent to their new incarnations. The wearing of these costumes signified the release of these souls into the physical world. Not all of these souls were honoured and respected. Some were also feared as they would return to the physical world and destroy crops, hide livestock or 'haunt' the living who may have done them wrong. The second reason for these traditional costumes was to hide from these malevolent spirits to escape their trickery. The final representation was a method to honour the Celtic Gods and Goddesses of the harvest, fields and flocks. Giving thanks and homage to those deities who assisted the village or clan through the trials and tribulations of the previous year. And to ask for their favour during the coming year and the harsh winter months that were approaching. 

Photo Source http://www.themeshack.net

In addition to celebrations and dance, it was believed that this thin veil between the physical world and the Otherworld provided extra energy for communications between the living and the dead. With these communications, Druid Priests, and Celtic Shamans would attempt to tell the fortunes of individual people through a variety of methods. For a people entirely dependent on the volatile natural world, these prophecies were an important source of comfort and direction during the long, dark winter. These psychic readings would be conducted with a variety of divination tools. Such as throwing bones, or casting the Celtic Ogham. There is some historical evidence that additional tools of divination were also used. Most of this comes from writings recorded by Roman invaders, but there are stories of reading tea leaves, rocks and twigs, and even simple spiritual communications that today we'd call Channelling Some historians have suggested that these early people were the first to use tiles made from wood and painted with various images which were the precursor to Tarot Cards. There's no real evidence to support this, but the 'story' of these tiles has lingered for centuries. When the community celebration was over, each family would take a torch or burning ember from the sacred bonfire and return to their own home. 

The home fires that had been extinguished during the day were re-lit by the flame of the sacred bonfire to help protect the dwelling and it's inhabitants during the coming winter. These fires were kept burning night and day during the next several months. It was believed that if a home lost it's fire, tragedy and troubles would soon follow. With the hearth fires lit, the families would place food and drink outside their doors. This was done to appease the roaming spirits who might play tricks on the family. "Trick-or-treating" is a modern tradition that probably finds it's roots in the early All Souls' Day parades in England. During the festivities, poor citizens would beg for food and families would give them pastries called "soul cakes" in return for their promise to pray for the family's dead relatives. The distribution of soul cakes was encouraged by the church as a way to replace the ancient practice of leaving food and wine for roaming spirits. The practice, which was referred to as "going a-souling" was eventually taken up by children who would visit the houses in their neighbourhood and be given ale, food, and money. "Dressing up" for Halloween gets it roots from dressing up around the sacred bonfire during the original Celtic festival. Some suggest, this practice originates from England, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world on Halloween. People thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes, so to avoid being recognized people would wear masks after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. In addition, these early English people, would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter or cause harm to their homes. A tradition obviously taken from the ancient Celtic pagans. 

Photo Source http://www.lifesmysticaljourney.com

As European came to America, they brought their varied Halloween traditions with them. Celebration of Halloween in colonial times was much more common in Maryland and the southern colonies. Primarily because Celtic immigrants settled more in these regions than in the north. As the beliefs and customs of different European ethnic groups meshed together a distinctly American version of Halloween began to emerge. The first celebrations included "play parties," public events held to celebrate the harvest, where neighbours would share stories of the dead, tell each other's fortunes, dance, and sing. Colonial Halloween festivities also featured the telling of ghost stories and mischief-making of all kinds. By the middle of the nineteenth century, annual autumn festivities were common, but Halloween was not yet celebrated everywhere in the country. In the second half of the nineteenth century, America entered an age of mysticism. What was more often termed spiritualism. Metaphysical groups and clubs began to spring up throughout the Golden Age and the wealthier set of Americans. At the same time, America was welcoming a new group of immigrants, especially the millions of Irish fleeing Ireland's potato famine of 1846. This new cultural influence brought with it a melding of Irish and English traditions, and a new Americans culture was born. People began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today's "trick-or-treat" tradition. 

Photo Source http://www.egreenway.com

Young women believed that, on Halloween, they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors. In the late 1800s, there was a move in America to mold Halloween into a holiday more about community and neighbourly get-togethers, than about ghosts, pranks, and witchcraft. At the turn of the century, Halloween parties for both children and adults became the most common way to celebrate the day. Parties focused on games, foods of the season, and festive costumes. Parents were encouraged by newspapers and community leaders to take anything "frightening" or "grotesque" out of Halloween celebrations. Because of their efforts, Halloween lost most of its superstitious and religious overtones by the beginning of the twentieth century. 

Photo Source http://www.angelfire.com

By the 1920s and 1930s, Halloween had become a secular, but community-centred holiday, with parades and town-wide parties as the featured entertainment. Despite the best efforts of many schools and communities, vandalism began to plague Halloween celebrations in many communities during this time. By the 1950s, town leaders had successfully limited vandalism and Halloween had evolved into a holiday directed mainly at the young. Due to the high numbers of young children during the fifties baby boom, parties moved from town civic centres into the classroom or home, where they could be more easily accommodated. 

Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was also revived. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighbourhood children with small treats. A new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. By the 1990s, Americans have made Halloween one of the largest commercial holidays. Spending an estimated $6.9 billion annually on Halloween costumes, accessories, decorations and pumpkins.

I thank http://www.paganspath.com for much of the information used above which explains so well the traditions and practises of Samhain or Halloween. 

Pilgrimage

As my time lately has been taken making plans for my upcoming trip to the UK I thought I would talk on what I believe a pilgrimage to be. It will be something different for everybody but it will have great impact and perhaps even life changing effects upon those who take the journey.

A transformational journey to our sacred centre. I like this phrase “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.” sorry I do not know who spoke this very authentic sentence. The travel to historical sites is the outward and visible sign the drawing closer to our divine source is the inward journey.

Photo Source http://musicpilgrimage.webs.com

Pilgrimage differs from a regular holiday as it is a deliberate act of travel from that of just relaxation and sightseeing. The most obvious difference I have experienced is that it is a calling a sense that there is no other way to go. It comes to mind over a period of time from chance events, programs you watch on TV, things you read, different people coming into your life, synchronicities that happen. Circumstance seem to change and move around and opportunities offered to you all within a short space of time. This is when you know that your path has opened up before you and it is your choice to walk down open to all that may occur. There is a quite acceptance that this is the right thing to do.

It is a journey without and within, when we take time to connect with the ancient, the earth and hear the messages that are given to us along our path. These can be from fellow travellers, things that we read, inner knowings we connect with as we view an ancient site.

When we are in a particular place it is about taking the time to commune with our divine essence shutting out the outside world of chatter and distraction. Taking in life's wonder and magnificence, through the sights, smells, sounds and tastes of our environment. Sitting still beside giant forests, trickling waters, ancient ruins, holy buildings and allowing our internal source to be filled and nourished by all that is around us.

Photo Source http://www.demotix.com

Whilst taking the journey of the pilgrim it is about being in the now, not thinking of the past or future just totally allowing the moment to devour our every sense. Knowing that for many thousands of years our ancestors have taken these same roads and their presence and knowledge can still be felt today when the time is taken.

This is a solitary journey even when shared with loved ones or friends, our experience of each moment is ours alone, whilst our fellows journeyers will be having their own sacred moments. It is also about being completely open to whatever may happen, feelings may arise that need to be purged from our soul, allow these emotions to flow with no fear as this is all part of the process the pilgrim will experience. Where these openings are made they then can be filled with the new truths we have learned.

No pilgrimage can be repeated even if we follow the same trail our experience will never be the same as the last. We will be created anew at the end of the journey and our life experiences going forward will therefore  be different to those if we had not made the journey at all. These changes will continue long after we have returned home as our physique slowly shifts and moves within us. Each experience we have will call upon the new truths we have gained and our dance in life will be to new steps.

For me personally my pilgrimage is to visit the ancient sites of our ancestors, places where Mother Earth and the Goddess where worshipped such as Newgrange, Stonehenge, Kildare, Glastonbury, Tintagel, Orkney Islands, and the list goes on.

Photo Source http://you-me-and-charlie-official.tumblr.com

I am very excited to be taking this journey. Having travelled extensively previously it has never been with the intent and purpose on which I take this trip. I know that I shall return a very different person, with a deep richness to my life and I am in deep gratitude to have this opportunity in my life.

T S Elliot in the Four Quarters put it this way:
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

Photo Source http://www.weekendsherpa.com

Pilgrimage is important to many people for religious reasons.

It is important for Muslims to have pilgrimage in their 5 pillar of Islam which hold the religion. It is called Hajj. In Hajj, Muslims from all over the world go to the city of Mecca, a city where only Muslims can go in. Inside, Muslims go to the Ka'bah which is a black cube and circle it 7 times.

Christians see life itself in terms of a journey, coming from God and returning to God. A pilgrimage is a symbol in action. It represents the journey of the Christian life from earth to heaven. The Church is sometimes described as a pilgrim people.

Ancient Judaism pilgrimage practiced by Jews was going to the “western wall” three times a year. When Jews settled down after leaving Egypt they used to go to Shiloh to worship. They also visited Bethel where they believe that Abraham had built an altar. But when, in about 960 BC, Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, the city gained special significance for Jews.

Pilgrimages have a great importance in Hinduism. Millions of Hindus travel across India for pilgrimages every year (Hindufacts). There are about 29 pilgrimages in Hinduism. Some of them may require going to more than one place. For example, the Twelve Jyotrirling Yatra consists of 12 places to go. The greatest of Hindu pilgrimage is Kumbh Mela. It is considered the greatest human gathering in the whole world. Once every 12 years about 10 million people bathing at the Kumbh Mela festival at Allahabad in order to wash away their sins.

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Back in the Middle Ages pilgrimages were very popular. It was not like going on holiday. Pilgrimages often took years. Journeys were long and dangerous and many died en route. They usually travelled in groups and would stay in monasteries or hostels on the way.

Pilgrims undertook these journeys to holy places because it was important for their faith. If they had committed sins they believed that by going on a pilgrimage they could show God how sorry they were. Sometimes they were sent on such journeys by a priest as a penance. Sometimes they went for healing of a physical condition.

The earliest centres of Buddhist pilgrimages were the places associated with the life and Teachings of the great Master. These four places are Lumbini, Bodh Gaya, Sarnath and Kusinara. Lumbini, in what is now Nepal, is the birthplace of Gautama Buddha. The others are in India: Bodh Gaya was the place, under the pipal or Bo tree, where the Buddha was enlightened after practising meditation for several years. Sarnath was the scene of His first teaching and Kusinara was the place of His death or final Nirvana.

Photo Source http://greatexpatations.wordpress.com

The four major pilgrimage places are: Jerusalem, Lourdes, Mecca, and Varanasi. However there are many places around the world popular with people taking pilgrimages:

Allahabad -South Asia 

Amritsar - South Asia 

Ayodya - South Asia 

Badrinath & Kedarnath - South Asia 

Czestochowa - Eastern Europe 

Dwarka - South Asia 

Emei Shan - East Asia 

Fatima -Western Europe 

Guadalupe - Latin America 

Gaya & Bodh Gaya - South Asia 

Hardwar & Rishikesh - South Asia 

Ise - East Asia 

Kanchipuram - South Asia 

Kandy - South Asia 

Kerbela - Southwest Asia 

Lhasa - East Asia 

Loreto - Southern Europe 

Medina - Southwest Asia 

Montreal - North America 

Puri - South Asia 

Rameswaram - South Asia 

Rome - Southern Europe 

Santiago - Western Europe 

Shikoku Is. - East Asia 

Tai Shan - East Asia 

Tirupati - South Asia 

Ujjain - South Asia 

Vrindaban & Mathura - South Asia 

Wutai Shan - East Asia