| Jun ’05 |
| 11 |
| 4:38 pm |
I have just seen in the Touchstone that the Annual Assembly is on this weekend. I wanted to go last year, but chickened out the last second as I did not want to go alone. Afterwards, it turned out that several people would have liked to go if we had just discussed it. So maybe it is worthwhile takling about this a bit earlier now?
Anyone wanting / willing to go? How about the London Grove being present for a change ;-))
There is a sponsored walk to raise funds for tree charities from Lewes Mount to the Long Man of Wilmington on Saturday 9th July. Contact Firinne for details on firinne@blueyonder.co.uk. It will be led by Philip Carr-Gomm and will follow one of the oldest pathways in Britain.
I will be going.
Anna
Alex and I went to Kew Gardens on Monday and we had a really good time. Near the end of our visit we came across a wild flower meadow, which was stunning. I shot this image, which I’m rather proud of, so I’d like to share it with you. It’s my Solstice present to you all because I’ll have to miss the ceremony.
| Jun ’05 |
| 19 |
| 3:00 pm |
This arrangment is now confirmed for 3pm on the advertised date.
Liz Murray has offered us the use of her garden at:
76 Antrobus Road,
London,
W4 5NQ.
Please would you phone Liz on 020 8994 6216 a day or two before the ceremony to let her know if you are going to be there.
Transport:
1) Chiswick Park on District Line (take Ealing Broadway train from Central London). Check engineering works, as the District Line has suffered from closures on certain weekends this year, and I’m not sure if they have finished yet.
2) South Acton on North London Line (Silverlink). You can pick up the North London Line from Richmond, Willesden Junction, Gospel Oak, Kentish Town West, Highbury and Islington, and Stratford – among others. So this journey may well be easier for some (but check engineering works first).
Liz tells me there is a small nature reserve near Chiswick Park tube, so you may like to arrive a little early and take a look in there first. From the tube, directions to the nature reserve are, turn right as you exit the station, cross over the road and continue down until you see a farm-style gate, which is the entrance to the nature reserve.
In the ceremony for Alban Hefin, the summer solstice, much emphasis is placed on the energy of the Sun. We celebrate its zenith, call upon its fire, acknowledge its fiery work on all the other elements, greet it in joy, celebrate its beauty, feel its deep connection through many ages to Druidry, and experience the energy of the inner teachers who work in its light.
In Liz’s compact garden, under the shade of a fully grown fig tree, this is how we spent Sunday afternoon on 19th June. And how I needed that celebration of the energy of acting more than thinking, of making more than losing. Our grove has missed out, I have felt so very strongly, in not formally celebrating the two summer ceremonies in previous years. It has been as if we collectively had a limb cut off, and the spirit of the grove itself, if there indeed is one, has been suffering from seasonal depression, due to the over-concentration of the energies of the dark half of the year.
And so for me, it was simply lovely to celebrate this festival with grove members. Though only four of us were present (lowest turnout for a long time, and I must confess a bit disappointing for the organisers) we bravely struggled through three parts each, and the ceremony felt good. I hope it will prove a healing experience for the grove’s spirit.
Afterwards, we enjoyed some quiches offered by Liz, then repaired to the local pub (the Bollo) for a quick drink, followed by a walk round the local nature reserve (Gunnersbury Triangle), which is full of birch and, Liz assured us, foxes. We found a strong contender for a site for a future ceremony in the nature reserve, and Liz says she is happy to try to get permission to use it at some point.
Thanks to Liz for staying around to host the event (she could have been off at another ceremony at the Rollright Stones today).
Most of us have heard of Arthur: we know he has been a significant force in some of the most effective protests of recent years. This is the story of a man who found himself in the identity of a Dark Ages King, and how he got there. It shows us a man who embraces the energy of the Sun and the Earth to fight, unhesitatingly, the wrong around him. It is a book about living your own legend, and a book about acting as Druid in the world. It speaks with the greatest passion of truth and of love.
And it is suffused by the spirit of this season (Summer Solstice). In episode after episode, throughout the book, the vision arises of Arthur holding his sword aloft, a beacon of light standing – alone or with others – against the dark forces of unknowing. And he wins. Gently and stubbornly, he becomes the puzzle that those “in charge” of our society cannot solve: and often it is they, not he, who change.
It has shown me both how good I might be, and how far I am yet from where I need to be. I recommend it for some true inspiration. (And Liz has a few copies available at a reduced price right now, should you be interested).
