Our Pigrims' Day on Alderley Edge, Saturday 17th September 2022, was the first national event to be held in the North of England for a number of years. We had chosen Alderley Edge as a venue due to its location on the Spine of Albion, continuing a series of events along this line following the Uffington and Stratford pilgrimages earlier this year.
Gary Biltcliffe and Caroline Hoare led the pilgrimage in the afternoon following a morning of talks- they have already reported on that part of the day {link here} but what follows is a look into the geomantic significance of the North West of England with Peter Dawkins, and some personal reflections on pilgrimage in NE Wales from Jane Noble Knight.
We recorded an interview with Peter which will be available on the website. In that interview he described his work over many years in determining the layout of zodiacs in the landscape of Britain (England and Wales), Scotland and Ireland.*
These zodiacs are tied to the sovereignty of the land of the Greater Britain linked by an equilateral triangle formed from the centre of those zodiacs. We felt it was particularly significant that the Pilgrims' Day took place following the death of the Monarch and the transfer of sovereignty over the people of the land to the new King.
The main axis of the British zodiac is a line which connects the only 2 fixed points in the sky, where the central line of the Milky Way galaxy (the meridian) crosses the path of the Sun (the ecliptic) .
©Zoence Academy
On the land, those 2 fixed points are in the area of St Helens in Lancashire in the North West and around the area of the Tower of London in the South East. In the SE, that point corresponds to the position of the midwinter sun and it is the closest point in the night sky to the Black Hole at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy. In the NW, that point corresponds to the position of the midsummer sun and points directly out of the Milky Way into the far universe. In geomantic terms, the SE point is concerned with matter and material things given that a Black Hole will suck all matter into it. In the NW the point looks out into the Universe and marks new beginnings and the sounding of the start of a new great age of creativity. In the land, that point is marked by the sculpture Dream rising 60 ft above a parkland forest area created on the site of an old coal mine. The sculpture is that of a young woman looking to the SE, dreaming of new beginnings. The vision of the sponsors and the local communities in placing such a magnificent structure here is remarkable as is its motto "Out of the Darkness comes Light".
For the past number of years, the focus has been in the SE with the greater accumulation of wealth, the greater allocation of resources from government, and strains from that process are now being felt in all areas of the land.
The NW has a crucial role in seeking to balance the pull of the SE. We have to think more clearly, articulate a new vision and be creative to bring about this necessary change. There are green shoots following on from the creation of Dream. The Shakespeare North Playhouse opened earlier this year in Prescot a small town near to St Helens. This long awaited project delivered an exciting theatre in the round built of oak modelled on the Cockpit Theatre in London. A few miles to the East on the outskirts of Manchester the largest new garden in Europe for 20 years opened at Bridgwater on a 120acre site. All of these projects involve the entire community from inception through to delivery fostering a real sense of community in the land and what goes on there.
We were acutely conscious later in the day, as we stood on a high rock looking over the plain from the Derbyshire hills to Manchester and then on to Liverpool and the Irish Sea, that we have a rich heritage in the land. We seek to nurture that land by honouring the heritage, walking the pathways and protecting the life contained within it.
Jane Knight encapsulated that vision when she spoke in the morning about her personal pilgrimage journey in Wales from a childhood growing up in the country through to today. Like many of us she came to the conclusion that all of her life has been a pilgrimage returning to old familiar places but never thinking that is the end of the journey. She finished with a quote from Tolkien; "Not all those who wander are lost".
Vivienne and Mike Newton
November 2022
* For more information about Peter Dawkins' discovery of this British Landscape Zodiac, Gatekeeper Trust has a pamphlet he prepared entitled The British Zodiac which is available from the online store.