the raven

Fittingly, given that the main purpose of our meeting yesterday was to explore sites associated with the Goddess in Greenwich Park, Mike found himself accompanying five women (Cilla, Lorraine, Hilde, Jo – Mike’s partner – and myself) out of the bustle of Greenwich on a Saturday afternoon into the relative tranquility of the park though there were a lot of people there too, soaking up the ultra-violet.

Trees were our constant companions as we walked over the green grass, still fresh from May’s rain. In fact, the first semi-sacred site we arrived at was the noble ruin of an oak tree that died back in the 19th century but only fell in the 20th. It had been planted, they think, in the 12th century. It was associated with Henry VIII and Ann Boleyn as well as Elizabeth I who, if not a real goddess did her damndest to be seen as one. She certainly forms part of the myth of England I think. But I digress.

We came next to the Temple of Diana. There is nothing to be seen there now except a square of grass enclosed by spiked iron railings, and in the middle of this a small area of tesserae (roman mosaic floor). But the temple site is set on a small mound and we all experienced it as having a peaceful atmosphere. Hilde saw a white spiral of energy rising up from it.

Nearby is the “Cathedral”, a stately avenue of sweet chestnust trees, which is sometimes experienced as having a dark energy. It was a grave, impressive place but I felt nothing malign there. Mike wondered about doing a ritual there some time. We thought that was a good idea.

We went on then to see the Motherstone. This is a huge and rather forbidding stone – possibly an old standing stone put to a new purpose when a fountain was installed for a near-by gamekeeper’s cottage in the 18th century. The stone is laid sideways above the fountain bowl which contained some rainwater. (The fountain is now sealed off) It has a curvaceous shape like an ample woman lying on her side. It felt dark and old though when I climbed up the slope behind it the sun had warmed the back of it and there was a pretty dell with buttercups sheltered by an elder tree in blossom. By chance I had brought a bottle of elderberry wine with me so this seemed an excellent opportunity to make a libation to the Goddess and the God in all their aspects and have some refreshment ourselves. Whether because of the wine or the Goddess I felt a sense of harmony and closeness in our conversation.

The elder seemed to me an important presence on Saturday so I looked up its significamce when I got home. According to the Green Man Tree Oracle it’s a tree of sacrifice and restoration. The OBOD Ovate Book of Ogam describes it as the tree of the Caillach, of change and transition, of transformation and renewal, of one phase of life being over and another beginning. Some of these themes threaded their way through our conversation.

Then on to the site of some Anglo-Saxon burial mounds like gigantic grass covered eggs three quarters buried in the ground. There was a battle around here between two Celtic tribes early in the Christian Era (?8CE), and an old plague pit nearby so the place couldn’t really be described as numinous. It felt rather bleak to me and we thought a little about how utterly, in the end, the dead disappear and so will we all.

Our last stop (leaving aside the empty plinth of a Henry Moore statue – absent no one knew why – Cilla took a photo and I agreed that, like Rachel Whiteread’s work, it has a certain charm as a form cast in concrete) was the Realm of the Snow Queen, an ambiguous place where Lorraine and Mike had both meditated with different results. It had some associations with the Norse/Saxon goddesses Freya and Holda. Here again we sat in the sun and talked idly of robes and other OBODic matters until our lives in the world began to call us back again and we walked down the hill, past the herb garden and out of the ostentatiously wrought park gates back into crowded Greenwich.

It was an interesting yet relaxing afternoon in perfect weather. If you want more detail about the sites get Jack Gale’s booklet on the subject which Mike referred to in his email.

Thank you Mike for organising it and guiding us so proficiently and amiably.