FULL MOON MEDITATION – CANCER 2021

FULL MOON MEDITATION JUNE 24th 2021, 12 noon

CANCER SUN REFLECTED BY MOON IN CAPRICORN

CANCER (symbolizing the Guardian and Heart Protector) calls for the

Reflecting moon in CAPRICORN

Mandala in the Wood, Mair Forder, Yorkshire 2021

Our quest is for the potential for consolidating wisdom and experience into ‘good boundaries’ for our heart’s vision, and the emergence of our soul’s purpose.

From the wise insights of the full moon talks by the Lucis Trust - ‘I build a lighted house and therein dwell’ we learn that the chrysalis holds the caterpillar’s life-light within firm boundaries, while the captured light transforms into rainbow wings. This is the result of holding the soul’s light within our hearts, and allowing it to emerge in the forms and colours of beauty our lives.

Pilgrimage with ‘art of the sacred’ using mandalas, labyrinths and other forms of meditation, brings the light of our ‘whole self’ (Jung’s insight into the meanings of mandalas and symbols of the collective unconscious) into focus. We then experience a wonderful rainbow of new insights from our loving dialogue with Nature. Here is an example from a local contact in Wensleydale.

Two Friendship Pilgrimages in Wensleydale, Yorkshire.

By Mair Forder [Gatekeeper contact for North Yorkshire]

I thought you might like to hear about my first ventures into the world of pilgrimage. I have always loved walking, and consider myself really blessed to live in Wensleydale, in the Yorkshire Dales, with its lush, green beauty on the doorstep.

After enjoying a Zoom presentation by Jane Withers for my dowsing group a few weeks ago, I decided to devise a series of short pilgrimages with a like-minded friend. I wanted to link the two places where we live, about thirteen miles apart, to celebrate and deepen our friendship. When I looked at the map, various places along the route stood out, which were mostly places where we had dowsed or walked together. As there were seven in total, more or less in a straight line, and both of us practice yoga, we decided to dedicate each place to one of the major chakras.

Another inspiration was Jill Smith, who had also given a talk to our dowsing group. Both my friend and I had found her book about the Gypsy Switch very inspiring, and we decided to incorporate (or pinch!) her idea of linking each of the sites in some way.

The Gypsy Switch by Jill Smith (left);

later interpretation by Peter and Sam Dawkins (right).

Our first pilgrimage started in sunshine and ended in rain. We began in the village of Kirkby Malzeard where my friend lives and meandered through fields of sheep and bluebell-filled woodland.

A dirt path through a forest

In one field we found a pond, so we filled a small bottle with water as the link for the next pilgrimage.

Collecting water at the pond.

Four miles later we reached our destination, a Bronze Age bank with some ancient trees on one side of a meadow.

After boosting ourselves with coffee and the all-essential Pilgrimage Flapjack, we built a small labyrinth using string and tent pegs, just as the rain started. At the centre we placed a candle and some feathers from fields near my home, as the link. We dedicated our work to the Root Chakra, and I sang a chant to the Hindu Goddess Leela, who is associated with divine playfulness. I only knew of her thanks to yet another Zoom presentation, this time by Charlotte Yonge.

Constructing the labyrinth.

An unexpected farmer in a noisy digger drove backwards and forwards a few times, but seemed unperturbed by us, and returned my cheerful wave. He must have wondered what we were doing – two middle-aged women in wellies, in steady drizzle, concentrating hard with long bits of string!

After we had walked the labyrinth, we gave our thanks, removed the evidence, and brushed away any energy we may have put down, so the site was left exactly as we had found it. I had dowsed the energy of the place before and after the creation and walking of the labyrinth and was unsurprised to find it had soared dramatically after our efforts.

We were delighted to have completed the first of our pilgrimages and felt it had been a great success. We agreed that the journey was as important as the destination, enhanced by the beautiful views of the countryside we were passing through.

For our second pilgrimage another friend joined us. This time we set off uphill from the village of Grewelthorpe, where I run a drumming circle that we all attend. We were planning to build a mandala in a Bronze Age woodland. I was thrilled when we found deer prints on the muddy path, as Elen of the Ways - the Celtic antlered Goddess - is a deity with whom I work regularly.

Deer prints in the mud.

We collected suitable twigs, moss and leaves along the way and found the perfect spot to create our masterpiece. My yoga friend produced red petals and a large shell to denote the Sacral Chakra, and I added painted Element stones and a Goddess stone from my garden. We used the water from our first pilgrimage to fill the shell and to sprinkle around the outside of the completed mandala, into which we had incorporated a twig spiral and a leafy pentagram.

My chant this time was about the Moon, and I accompanied it with quiet drumming. We had carefully timed our activity to coincide with the GK Full Moon meditation, so we stood silently for a few minutes contemplating our connection with each other and with the Moon and the Earth.

We filled a bottle with water from a nearby pond ready for our next adventure and removed the shell and stones from the mandala. We left the rest of the mandala in place, but after giving our thanks I asked that any energy we had created be returned to the earth, because although our intent had been for the highest good, our energies may not have suited other beings, human or otherwise.

Wending our way homeward via a Roman settlement, we all agreed that our six-mile pilgrimage had been a perfect way to celebrate our friendship with each other and our connection with the Earth.

Editors: Charlotte Yonge and Mair Forder, local contact for Yorkshire: mairforder@gmail.com.