Full Moon Meditation – 25th March

ARIES SUN LIBRA MOON

FULL MOON MEDITATION
at NOON - MARCH 22ND

THE ARIES LANDSCAPE IN THE BRITISH ZODIAC
Caer Caradoc cave– Was this the site of brave King Caradoc’s initiation as a warrior?

Angela Shaw summarizes a tradition of the cave initiation:
‘In Kogi society initiates spend the first 18 years of their lives in a cave, learning from The Mother, before coming out and seeing the world for the first time in all its glory! Caves are like wombs, birthing places. Also spiritual leaders/mystics have retreated to caves for solace and refuge from the world towards the end of their lives - so perhaps a point of entry and departure into the material world.’

The Templars were active in this Aries landscape and represent a classic ‘spiritual warrior’ tradition, in which the cave of illumination would have been used for the neophytes.

The Caynton Caves, hidden in dense woodland near Shifnal, were apparently carved out of sandstone by followers of the Knights Templar.

The Knights Templar were a wealthy order of knights created in 1129 by the Pope who wore distinctive white mantles with a red cross over their armour. It is said that the hand-made caves in Shropshire were used as a secret place of worship.

Templar cave entrance

Caynton Caves - https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2017/03/07/in-pictures-secret-knights-templar-caves-beneath-a-shropshire-field

The Templars built their churches with circular naves, in imitation of the circular Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.

Ludlow Castle with the Templar round chapel dedicated to Mary Magdalene.

Chapel to Mary Magdalen, Ludlow Castle [Photographer: Philip Halling]

The Mermaid of Ludlow in the Misericord – what is her role in the spiritual warrior initiation? Our inner spiritual warrior is both male and female,

LUDLOW, CHURCH OF ST LAWRENCE Green Man and the Mermaid – What does the Green Man symbolize but our adventurous, fiery, creative survival instinct that transforms into a holy warrior?

‘The Wrestlers: In the Church of St Lawrence: An Aries theme: Does the Misericord’s ‘Wrestlers’ refer to ‘Jacob wrestling with the angel’ in the Old Testament – we need to wrestle with God, with Nature of Creation and the divine wisdom with, the Angelic dimensions in nature, and develop focus of mind and will to seek to be magical innovators of light, love and vision.

Meditation theme: A SOLAR QUEST OF THE SPIRITUAL WARRIOR – DEVELOPING PASSION OF PURPOSE within us, how to put love into action.

In the Mystery Tradition, the cave initiation could be seen as the ‘brow crucifixion’, surrendering the survival ego to the spiritual intuition – focus of mind on a vision, and transform the ‘fires of creation’ in the kundalini into purposeful transformation.

The moon in LIBRA – sign of the MEDIATOR AND DIPLOMAT – surrendering the ego to intuitive ‘empathic’ imagination, problem solving communication in a collaborative way – collaborative ‘earth energy’ work – the elementals are resonances with creative intelligence, our co-creators, and have their spiritual counterparts (such as rock and iron and crystal) – creating a cave of incarnation for our souls.

THE ‘CAVE’ INITIATION

The story of King Caradoc who hid in the cave at the top of the mountainous hill. We only know of his fame, and to have had a challenging initiation in the cave would bring him into action.

‘The most fearless chief among the Britons was Caradoc. The Romans called him Caractacus. When other chiefs, losing many battles, were forced to surrender, Caradoc fought on and refused to accept defeat. Fighting fiercely, he contested every advance made by the Romans, but was slowly pushed back towards the mountains of Wales.’ http://www.classichistory.net/archives/caradoc

[Wiki] Caer Caradoc (Welsh: Caer Caradog, the fort of Caradog) is a hill in the English county of Shropshire.[1] It overlooks the town of Church Stretton and the village of All Stretton and offers panoramic views to the north towards the Wrekin, east to Wenlock Edge, and west over the nearby Long Mynd. It is not to be confused with another hillfort of the same name 1 km west of Chapel Lawn near Bucknell.[2] …

‘Fighting courage’ in the hard rock of experience is fearlessness. The Wrekin and the volcanic rocks of Shropshire.

On the road from Ironbridge, the Wrekin fortress of the Cornovii – did brave King Caradoc beat off the Romans many times here? Its name [British Celtic Wrikon-.[3] Dinlle Wrecon meaning the fort of Wrecon appears as a place name in the early Welsh poems known as Canu Heledd, mourning the dead warriors..

The Wrekin Rock and the view ahead East towards Snowdon. Such was the power and symbolism of the rocky fortress that songs of iron-willed kings like Caradoc would inspire the innovations leading to the industrial age.

Wiki: .Much of the hill is composed from volcanic rocks, like the Wrekin and other hills, formed of narrow ridges of resistant Precambrian rock thrust upwards by movements deep down along the Church Stretton Fault... … ‘As hard as the Romans tried they could not reach Caradoc in this wild and unfamiliar land. Caradoc would continuously and relentlessly sweep down from the mountains. The Romans would at a moment’s notice be faced with a band of red-headed warriors screaming war cries and firing arrows before they smashed into Roman camps swinging swords and wreaking havoc. And as soon as they had appeared they vanished back into the forested mountains from which they had came, the Romans having little time to retaliate’.

(images with mist by Jane Knight)

The Wrekin pilgrimage in 2018 – Some of us could not get to the top of the Wrekin Hill, but the valley below was a beautiful feminine image of the River Severn snaking around the lowlands and enhancing the spiral path to the heights. (use your own metaphors for the endeavor to reach the apex of your aspirations using a spiral path within the woodland slopes).

Wrekin Guardian Dog (courtesty Jane Knight) in the 'real time' mist, and representing our 'animal instincts' which is what Aries is all about. Do trig points also represent an enhancement of our primordial nature as we imagine Snowdon in the misty distance?

The view at the ‘trigpoint’, with all the technological advantages to measuring distances etc. (technologically adjusted image courtesy Wikipedia)

The Wrekin wanderers in the low paths – Pilgrimage 2018. The perspectives from the valley to the top of the Wrekin – sometimes the lowlands give birth the greatest challenge of spiritual aspiration.

The winding path through woodlands along the hill’s flanks. Blessing the majestic trees along the way. Sometimes artistic reflections are as satisfying as reaching the top of a hill. [The heroes who reached the top had dogs to build their confidence.]

A Natural mandala of thanks made by the pilgrims. Each act of re-creation of Nature’s beauty is a co-creative communication, human heart to elements – building the spirit of place, a new angelic ‘watcher’. It is an Inner Journey of communion.

ENGAGING OUR INNER ‘SPIRITUAL WARRIOR’ IN A QUEST FOR ‘THE magical ART OF THE IMAGINATION’ FOCUSED IN COLLABORATIVE DIALOGUE.

We are all learning to be mediators with Nature Beings and each other. This involves having a strong, vibrant vision of peace in which we have resolved our instinctive self preservation. Aries represents our spiritual warrior who has addressed the inner ego and ready to ‘wing it’ innovatively with courage to share and collaborate with others. We have tools of building, protecting and perfecting the view ahead into the unknown so that we welcome and embrace others’ vision, it is the ultimate state of proactive surrender to love and truth. Being such mediators, our consciousness is holding the vision of unconditional love steady and in action minute by minute. Aries provides us with the wrestling match of the ego... until we develop a deep passion of purpose and focus steadies the mind. In the Wheel of Life cycle of initiation, it opens the door to spiritual adventure.

Taurus helps us become builders of friendship. Gemini helps us innovate with our vision of peace and truth. Cancer helps us build ‘good boundaries’ that protect that vision, and Leo gives us playful permission to practice a plan of action. Virgo trims and polishes and fine-tunes that plan. Therefore, the next Libran ‘initiation’ gives us the focus and will for love in action, an experiment of our soul potential for incarnation.

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Mars and the element of iron go together to strengthen will and collaboration. In Shropshire we find the ‘origins of the industrial revolution’ in its iron-bearing hills. Bridgnorth and Ironbridge both show the first iron bridges built out of taming the elements of earth’s rocks and minerals.

Ironbridge – the ‘start of the industrial revolution’ celebrated here in its original colour.

Bridgenorth castle ruins

Pilgrimage in 2019 to Bridgenorth.- home the Castle Hill Railway, which is the steepest[5] and only inland railway of its type in England (Wiki).

The Severn Valley Railway linking collieries and power-stations - all powerful innovations emerging from the Aries ‘action packed’ landscape.
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The art of working metal: cast iron: it involved learning to navigate mineral resonances and co-create earth structures for rituals and ‘energy work’ which the warrior Templars would be guided to protect pilgrims across Europe. Iron soon became a key material in the architecture of resilient human habitation, religious structures/sanctuaries and protective weapons of war, iron girders, and later the industrial revolution.

IRON-WILLED KING of ‘TRUE BRITAIN’ – BEDROCK EVIDENCE

THE WELSH KING ARTHUR/Arthmael ‘Iron Bear’ fought bravely throughout the Midlands and Eruope, killed the Roman Emperor whose territory Britain had become. He is believed to have been buried on Hartshill, near Oldbury, Mancetter, Wall, and Atherstone (Arthur’s Stone) where nearby also is the village of Shenstone (meaning ‘BRIGHT SHINING, BEAUTIFUL STONE’ but there is no evidence of this particular stone, except the hidden stories behind local names). The history of Roman withdrawal includes a site believed to be where Queen Boudicca fought the Romans, and High Cross, at the very centre of Britain, in Warwickshire. In the stories and names In this part of the landscape, the spirit of the land also includes the star sign of Draco which can be found, curling round the pole star.

Arthmail’s tombstone was found by two Welsh historians and reported by Adrian Gilbert in his book ‘The Holy Kingdom’. Much of the evidence was found in the ‘Kings Lists’ secreted away in old family houses, away from the invaders who very soon appropriated historical accounts that favoured the victors of invasions.. The history of Roman Occupation and the subsequent Anglo Saxon and Norman occupations is recorded in the many defended cities of the Borders between Wales and England, .and in the Shropshire iron-rock county - ‘Aries’ – history can be seen bringing cultures together with the start of the Industrial Revolution…. Ironbridge

CONCLUSION

‘Draco’ linking Aries and Libra

In Aries we are given the fiery initiation of Natural life force creating pressures in our life for awakening. Moment by moment we awaken in the dark cave of matter – our subconscious - to discover ‘heart wisdom’ , sovereignty, and realisations that only when that ‘Draco’ within us awakens, can miracles occur in our lives…’ Draco’ links the constellations of Aries and Libra, is it Arthur’s message of inner sovereignty? We are learning to Let go of self will, so that our passions seek purposeful focus and the expectation of the next miracle of new life.

Editors: Jane Knight and Charlotte Yonge 2024
Co-editors: Angela Shaw, Jane Knight