We are delighted to announce the speakers at this year's Annual Conference, Wisdom in the Land, on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November 2015.
Saturday 28 November 2015:
Peter Dawkins - “Wisdom in the Land”
Fiona Hopes - “Mars and Venus in the Garden: Creating Heaven on Earth”
Peter Knight - “Stolen Images – Pagan Symbolism and Christianity”
Peter Owen-Jones - “Walk in Newness of Life”
Sunday 29 November 2015:
Peter Dawkins - “The Gatekeeper?”
Jackie Queally - “The Role of the Culdees in the Burren, West of Ireland”
Philip Wells - “The Barefoot Pilgrim”
Penny Billington - “Think Global, Act Local – A Druid’s Perspective on the Land”
For more information about the conference weekend and to book tickets, please click here: Wisdom in the Land.
Peter Dawkins is a philosopher, author, lecturer, visionary, geomancer, Zoence consultant and teacher, and a Baconian and Shakespearean scholar. He is the founder of Zoence Academy & Mystery School, which he runs in partnership with his wife Sarah, and of the Francis Bacon Research Trust, of which he is the principal, and a co-founder of Gatekeeper Trust, of which he is now an Elder. Peter’s pioneering research has led directly to a developing art and science of ‘landscape temples’ and ‘geomantic (or geocosmological) pilgrimage’. www.zoence.co.uk
Fiona Hopes is a landscape and garden designer, currently working as a gardener, with a love of the strange and magical, of books, and of the living world. Her garden designs work with the subtle energies of the land to create gardens that are practical, sustainable, and very special. Fiona is also a Trustee of the Gatekeeper Trust, working with personal and planetary healing through pilgrimage. www.song-of-the-earth.com
Peter Knight lives in Wiltshire and is the author of ten books on ancient and sacred sites. He is a sacred site researcher and dowser and is well-known for his talks, workshops and field trips which allow people to connect in new ways with the special sites they visit. He is the co-founder of the Dorset Earth Mysteries group, and Honourary Member of the Antiquarian Society and Wessex Dowsers. His work has featured on radio and TV, most notably on Channel Four with Monty Don in Don Roamin’. www.stoneseeker.net
Peter Owen-Jones is the parish priest of Firle, East Sussex, an author and a television presenter. Peter is internationally renowned for his television and literary works ... and locally renowned as just one of the village, one of the shepherds team delivering lambs and a gardener growing his own vegetables. His latest book ‘Pathlands’ follows his pilgrim walks around the British mainland. www.consciousfrontiers.com/peter-owen-jones
Jackie Queally was born to Irish parents from the west of Ireland and returned there seven years ago to write more books and simply be. For many years she led clients round sacred places in Scotland. She was the first external guide for Rosslyn Chapel and wrote two guides for the chapel, basing it on spiritual knowledge known to an inner core of Templars there. The early saints held key roles in the development of western esoteric knowledge in her view. They appear to be the spiritual predecessors to the Knights Templar, and so her return to her ancestral homeland is a poignant step back to deeper roots of this knowledge. www.earthwise.me
Philip Wells performs as "The Fire Poet" from Buckingham Palace and The Brixton Fridge to Canterbury Cathedral and The Royal Albert Hall. His unique improvised poetry inspires children with special needs, while "Barefoot Billion" spreads awareness of the billion children in poverty without full access to education. www.thefirepoet.com and www.barefootbillion.com
Penny Billington has had a significant role in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids for many years, and has edited their magazine Touchstone. She is an author and speaker, and regularly leads ceremonies and workshops. Her published work includes ‘The Path of Druidry; walking The Ancient Green Way’ a best selling practical Druid study course and guide and, in spring 2015, ‘THE WISDOM OF BIRCH, OAK AND YEW’ (both pub. Llewellyn Worldwide). This year she has contributed chapters to books on Druidry, ancestral connections and meditative practice. www.pennybillington.co.uk