A whole week has passed since the Summer Solstice and there is only writing from me in this newsletter. There is unlikely to be another newsletter until late August now as there is too little turn round time for me to do one in between trainings and the Green Gathering, more of which below.
I must say that my cold stone cottage has come into it's own during this hot weather. I have made a temporary bed downstairs and it is a pleasure to work indoors in the cool. It has also been of great ease during the the past week for other reasons (see below) and as a result anyone expecting to come to the Eco Shamanism Day in Cheltenham this Saturday or Shamanic Sundays on Sunday please note they have been cancelled.
Saturn composite with Earth - how can a planet this size in our solar system not have an impact on us? Photo: Nasa
At the Winter Solstice I told you a tale of my going to seek the void on an island in the middle of the sea. During that time Saturn went into my Sun sign Capricorn, a sign ruled by Saturn too. Six months on and at the time of the Summer Solstice I found myself in another void, this one being far more painful and difficult than the previous one. I encountered the incredible micro organism that we call gastroenteritis and went into a void of another sort. One week on and we have had a Full Moon in Capricorn early this morning and, a little bit more extraordinary for me is that Saturn is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius which, in my birth chart, is where my birth Moon sits. I know that it all sounds a bit complicated yet I also believe that the effect of other planets in our solar system on our very being is far more profound than we think. They say Saturn is a taskmaster, represents discipline, responsibility and hard work. But as the ruler of Capricorn the nature of time is also Saturns prerogative - the symbol / sign of Capricorn is represented by Lord of Time Cronos' scythe or sickle. As a nod to Mr Cronos, Saturn has 62 moons, the year in which I was born. And to add another synchronicity I appeared in Kindred Spirit Magazine this month under the Therapy Review written by Katie McCann who I met on the Winter Solstice island and guess the page number it's on, yes page 62 - there is synchronicity everywhere.
It is too early to say what I think all this means, only that I had a vision during my illness, a vision of the micro organism that was playing havoc with my body . . . and it was the most beautiful contained star cluster-like being I have ever seen. Somehow I think that the very thing that we abhor holds the beauty of our universe. Maybe this tiny infectious micro organism holds some key to our beginnings, our beginnings from the universe . . . or perhaps, the void.
Before the fall, I mean my fall, Freya and I spent the weekend running the second weekend of our Plant Eco Shamanism course where we played with Daisy essence and danced with Rose around the Venus labyrinth amongst many other things. The whole weekend had a lovely gentleness to it. If you are interested in finding out a bit about this work we have a 2 hour taster at Ragmans on Thursday 19th July from 7 - 9pm and another 3 hour taster in Bristol on Sunday 9th September from 2 - 5pm and a whole day at Bransford near Worcester on Saturday 22nd September.
Before our plant weekend I presented a 3 hour workshop on Eco Shamanism at the Oak Spirit Gathering in Derbyshire at Unstone Grange. This is only the second year this gathering has run and has a lovely feel to it together with a lovely site. I had to take the opportunity to go out into the Peaks for a little bit of exploration and came across a landscape, framed by a landscape. It seems I'm not the only one to have taken the same photo - it is up on Stanege Edge which is quite . . . breath taking.
Current and upcoming news
Coming up I have two weekends to run on the Eco Shamanism Practitioner Courses this month so will be a little busy. However, I wanted to give everyone the heads up that I and Jane (possibly Freya too) will be at the Green Gathering (near Chepstow) this year. This seems very timely what with the work that Jane and I have been doing with the Rivers in this part of the world. I will be giving a talk on Eco Shamanism in the Perception area and Jane and I will be giving a talk in the Wisdom area on Dreams, Consciousness and the Void. Voids seemingly my speciality of late! If you are there come and seek us out.
That's all from me for now - Jane and Freya will be back writing in the next newsletter.
Enjoy the Sun
Mandy
Events, workshops, tasters, courses etc
in date order
What's happening this year - anything in blue and underlined is a weblink.
Any questions or enquiries please get in touch.
If you have any questions feel free to message, ring or email me. If you know someone who might be interested in any of the above please forward this newsletter to them.
