Full Moon Meditation – Libra / Aries

LIBRA SUN AND ARIES MOON
FULL MOON MEDITATION
29th SEPTEMBER 2023
12 noon

Libra is about the talent and creative skill of mediation, and what we meditate is a cycle of life. How can we become a good platform for dialogue and collaborative love in action. At the turn of the wheel, having learnt to usd our talents of vision, unconditional love, passion of purpose, friendship and support for the good dream, innovative communication and ideas, creating good boundaries and collaborative Aquarian style leadership, we are ready for mediating with the wider world to put love into action.

The crossed swords of Hoxne church of St Peter and St Paul on the Michael and Mary Line, one of many ‘saltire’ icons used to symbolise the Milky Way within a terrestrial zodiac. It connects with St Peter’s two crossed keys and the alchemical pilgrimage.

Building for balance and beauty in our world: A hand carved three legged table: as pilgrims we establishing a three point balance within our energy field which then shines with reflected light.

The Hartest Stone in the Libra zodiac, symbol of perfect balance. Each stone sanctuary aims to bring human mediation with the spirit down to earth.

The table carved with spiraling legs is a good symbol for Libra’s mediating talent for keeping the cycles of life force – of which there are three entering the human body: the Eastern ‘ida’, ‘pingala’ and ‘susumna’ (feeling, thought and will) – in a balance so that light can be reflected at the brow, and received by the crown chakras.

The sacred number of three represents creativity, while four represents the cubic foundation stone of a builder. The triplicity of the Libra zodiac includes two circles overlapping with a ‘vesica’ in between. The Milky Way flows through, along with the Michael and Mary Line in balance.

‘The Three Energy Movements’ by Peter Dawkins:

Within this three-fold/seven-fold structure of the human being there are three main energy flows or types of energy. Two of them are the result of the polarity of the form, for the two poles of the body are always in a constant energetic relationship with each other. One is what is called the spiritual energy, which descends the spine from the crown chakra like a ray of light or continuous lightning flash. The other is referred to as the earth energy which ascends the spine from the root chakra in a spiralling moti on, like water rising in a fountain or a serpent unfolding itself from its coiled sleeping position, (hence an alternative name for this earth energy—‘dragon’ energy).The third energy flow is the direct result of the life-process, and is the life process, as it moves through the body. This movement is from the heart to the head to the abdomen and back to the heart. This is known as the mercurial energy, symbolised by a figure-of-eight (8). It is associated, physically, with the flow of blood around the body, and, spiritually, with the soul.’ Peter Dawkins: https://www.zoence.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ZA-Basics_Chakra-System.pdf

Peter Dawkins summarises the function of pilgrimage as being witnesses to key places in the landscape, acting like earth parents who help to ground the spiritual work and impulse. When we additionally work with the earth’s energies that bubble up through our feet, so that we help in lifting up the earth’s energy in the process of carrying the spiritual impulse of our cosmic self. ‘This is part of our work of service’ he says, illustrating our incarnation on earth’ he said in an informal talk.

What altars of mediation did our ancestors leave for us as guidelines? How do star-maps inspire this intuitive knowledge?

The Pilgrim’s experience as mediators - Creating balance in the landscape.

Pilgrimaging through our sacred landscapes, we are inspired by the spirit of balance and harmony. Energy lines flow through one sanctuary to another. As pilgrims we offer our creative love-in-action, mirror and become inspired by nature’s beauty.

Creativity involves a spiritual fire, and this is attracted through the force of the dual reality-ideal relationship, which inspires a passion of purpose (Aries). Therefore when we quest our role as ‘mediators’ we are invoking the fire of creativity to balance our three kundalini energies and the duality of ideal-real dimensions.

Putting love into action is a fiery yet collaborative skill, the talent that Libra inspires in the role of ‘Mediator’.

THE LANDSCAPE ZODIAC OF LIBRA ALONG THE MICHEL AND MARY LINE

Across many landscape temples, the Michael and Mary Line serves as a ‘landscape mediator’ between star maps and sanctuaries. The Sinoden Hill near Dorchester on Thames balances both Michael and Mary dragon lines, as does Bury St Edmunds in Libra.

The Michael and Mary Line by Paul Broadhurst and Hammish Miller (from www.marymichaelpilgrimsway.org).

What mediating role does this mythical route play in reality?

In Michael Burgess’s zodiac map, Bury St Edmunds sits near the balance-point between Sagittarius and Scorpio in the British zodiac. The Michael and Mary line comes up from Knights Templar cave at Royston, the 13th sign of the British Zodiac. This sign is a symbol of sovereignty achieved through traveling the circle of knightly tasks. (See Peter Dawkins: https://www.fbrt.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Royston_13th-Sign_British-Zodiac.pdf)

In alchemical tradition, the River Styx represents a pilgrim path of transformation, across which the mythical St Christopher carries the Christ Child.

The Bury St Edmunds star map [Michael W. Burgess’ terrestrial zodiac - Journal of Geomancy vol. 2 no. 4, July 1978: https://www.cantab.net]

THE VESICA AND THE MILKY WAY IN THE BURY ST EDMUNDS TERRESTRIAL ZODIAC

There are two circles, and in the centre vesica where they overlap is 'Hawks Hays' farmstead, written up as a pre-historic geomantic measurement centre.

Creating a dialogue with the two balancing circles of Michael Burgess’s well researched zodiac, we find in the centre is a pyramid drawn with radiating lines connecting a wider area of sanctuaries. The centre at ‘Hawks Leys’ indicates with its radial geomancy, puts us at the centre of our own consciousness. The ‘star self’ emerging out of our energy-field, is the ‘hawk’, and a radiant system of alignments have been drawn. At the end of the day, we are at the centre of our own cosmology and our ‘geomancy’ of outward perspectives is our field of creative action. We balance multiple ‘views’ into our incarnation, and using the LIBRAN mastery, we learn to balance all these views in order to allow our star self to emerge with ever brighter light… with the Aries spiritual warrior ‘eye of a hawk’.

The Hartest Stone, found south of Bury St Edmunds – believed originally to have been placed in the position of the ‘vesica’, in the middle of the ‘milky way’ route. It is a well-known acceptance that key sanctuaries in the landscape are marked in this way.

Hartest is a small village south of Bury, located in a deep dale. At the north end of the village’s large green is a limestone boulder with an interesting past. …. According to Michael Burgess' 1978 Suffolk stones publication, is said to have been dragged from a field on top of Somerton Hill on July 7th 1713, by twenty gentlemen and twenty farmers. The purpose of this was to celebrate the Peace of Utrecht and Marlborough’s victories in the War of the Spanish Succession. After its erection on the new site, allegedly an ‘erotic debauch’ took place amongst the people of the village. http://secretsuffolk.com/hartest/

The Libra ‘dove’ is found at Whepstead. In the area of the ‘vesica’ between circles is at the area of the ‘Milky Way’ position, (between Sagittarius and Scorpio). The church is dedicated to St Petronella, daughter of St Peter who has a ‘cross keys’ icon represented the cross-over point of the Milky Way with the sun’s ecliptic, a key to pilgrimage routes (see Anthony Thorley’s research into the alchemical traditions of pilgrimage in the Glastonbury zodiac)… Also aligned with this Milky Way are churches Hoxne and Bradfield Combust, with St Christopher paintings, who also is a saint symbolising the Milky Way symbology as the path from birth to death to rebirth. He carries the Christ on his shoulder across the river Styx. The interpretation is that pilgrims believe they re-enact the life of Christ for remission of sins, etc.

THE MILKY WAY PILGRIMAGE ROUTE - ST CHRISTOPHER AND THE CHRIST CHILD

Two churches with icons of St Christopher wall paintings site one each in these two signs. As it is such a rare painting, having been covered over in the Pre-Reformation era, the discovery of this symbol of St Christopher carrying the Christ child over the river Styx, the river of life and death symbolizes the gateway to the Milky Way route through all star-maps. An alchemical story lies behind it: we go through the ‘rivers of death and transformation’ in life and into the transformed state of ‘love in action’ overcoming the duality of the ideal and real dimensions of life.

Each of the two churches contain very rare and specifically chosen icons which especially connect with the ‘Milky Way’ pilgrimage route. St Christopher was such a powerful emblem of transformation to ‘living in Christ’ for a Christian, that the Protestant era could not accept its true meaning to people who chose to suffer the pilgrim way which could even have been taken walking on the knees. At the start of this pilgrimage the symbol of death is entertained. While at its completion was the symbol of resurrection ‘with Christ and Mary’ at the centre of the galaxy of constellations which they could see in the firmament above them. The alchemical tradition was seeped in iconography that Protestants could not live with, and in their heyday they painted over these wall paintings.

St Edmund’s Cross at Hoxton, is on the Michael and Mary Line to Hopton, and this would also have coincided with the Milky Way route through zodiac as indicated by the St Christopher churches. St Edmunds Way constructed later redirected a pilgrim route in a N-S direction. However many kings visited the shrine at the abbey would have had a vested interest in building their rapport with the people in various ‘devotional gestures’ in their processions in honour of St Edmund.

http://secretsuffolk.com/hoxne/
It is said St Edmund was killed under an oak tree by the invading Danes, near Hoxney (Hægelisdun). The story has hallmarks of symbolic de-capitation as an ‘alchemical’ significance in the initiatory path. ‘When his people went looking for Edmund’s body, his decaptitated head was found between the paws of a grey wolf. A miraculous freshwater spring broke through the soil where the head had lain. North of Abbey Farm, on the site of a Benedictine monastery near Hoxne, is a deep moat enclosing a small island on which the very same freshwater spring was said to be found. This spring ‘the occupiers of the field have never been able to divert.’ The ill and infirm journeyed there in the Middle Ages for healing. This tale echoes similar miracles from the lives of Celtic saints, which have their origins in the Celtic veneration of the head as the seat of the soul.’

ALCHEMICAL SYMBOLOGY OF MILKY WAY IN THE SCORPIO AREA OF THE LIBRA ZODIAC

[Wiki: All Saints Church, Bradfield Combust, would not be the least bit remarkable if it were not for something discovered during the restoration of the north wall in 1961. This was the pair of wall-paintings, two of the finest in East Anglia, of St George and St Christopher. St George is dressed in the uniform of a crusader, which is interesting, because the St Clare family of Bradfield were noted as crusaders.’

As M.R. James records of something more sinister in one of his ghost stories, one feels in no doubt that he is drawn from the life. The amount of red pigment in the paintings is striking, and calls to mind the Doom at adjacent Stanningfield. Like the Stanningfield Doom, they would have been covered up with whitewash by Protestant reformers in the late 1540s.

The initiatory journey of following St Christopher, is associated with the dual cusps of Sagittarius/Scorpio and Taurus/Gemini.

ST CHRISTOPHER AND CHRIST, Bradfield Combust, in Scorpio.

ST CHRISTOPHER AND THE CHRIST – ST MARY’S CHURCH TROSTON, in Scorpio

CHURCH OF ST PETRONILLA, WHEPSTEAD in Sagittarius

St Petronilla was believed to be the daughter of St Peter, whose icon includes cross keys, the saltire cross symbolizing the Milky Way alchemical interpretation (adapted from Anthony Thorley’s initial research group).

[Wiki: ‘Whepstead church, with its unique dedication to St. Petronella, is on the right-hand wing, and Doveden Hall with moat on the edge of the body where contiguous with the head of the centaur. Upon the head of the bird is marked ‘Cross, rems. of’, on what is termed ‘Stonecross Green’. However, close inspection of this object shows that it could never have been the base of a cross. Indeed, the local name for it is the ‘Baal Stone’, and tradition alleges that it was a sacrificial stone.’

Does this symbolizes the alchemical ‘suffering’ of Christian devotees who walk, sometimes on their hands and knees, across a terrestrial zodiac like that in Glastonbury?

Is the Michael and Mary Line indicated on its way through Bury to Hopton?

Belton is near enough to Hopton, the end of the Michael and Mary Line, to invest a significance in its place name. Belt might relate to the town of bells, or it might refer to ‘belt’ in the sense of the Monk’s belt of sacrifice and service. Anthony Thorley considers the village of Baltonsborough in the Glastonbury Zodiac as have the latter interpretation. The Milky Way is thus seen as a ‘belt’ around the waist as a sign of holy dedication. For pilgrims the symbol is significant, as the monks themselves would also be following the pilgrim path of Christ’s life in the footsteps of St Christopher. Thus it is no coincidence that we find Belton with a St Christopher painting, in the area of the Michael and Mary Line, which goes through the sacred landscape of the Libra zodiac, weaving like a ‘river of light’ passing similar St Christopher churches. Thus creating the ‘Via Lactis’ the way of milk, the Milky Way. Al these symbols mediate between daily human incarnation, and the spiritual ‘purity’ of starlight in the heavens above.

Anthony Thorley’s research in Glastonbury’s Milky Way confirms this interpretation.

The Glastonbury zodiac:
This covers a crossing place of the Michael and Mary Lines, with churches dedicated to saints whose icons include the saltire cross, symbol for the Milky Way: examples are St Nicholas, St Peter, St Michael, St Andrew, All Saints, St Mary and St Chrisopher travelling over the River Styx.

The Glastonbury Zodiac – (L)Mary Caine ‘The Glastonbury Giants) after Katherine Maltwood’s research http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~pardos/GGZodiac2.html;
(R) adapted from Palden Jenkins https://www.palden.co.uk/leymap/zodiac.html

Anthony discovered the route of old stone slabs that wound their way past a derelict chapel near Llamyatt Beacon, through villages of Ditcheat, East Pennard, Baltonsborough, Compton Dundo, a trail which included ancient green lanes, avenues of trees, and ending in High Ham.

The value of his research is that we can all take some lessons from his experience of discovering old green lanes, stone pilgrim paths, and a direct match with earlier inspired research by Mary Cain and Katherine Maltwood.

The key to the alchemical pilgrim route is St Christopher, who is depicted with the Christ-child in his arms in a wall painting from Ditcheat church.

St Christopher crossing the ‘River Styx’ holding the Christ Child:

The wall paintings of this saint were considered inappropriate in the Reformation, and thus painted over. However, it is now very interesting as it depicts the crossing of the river of life and death, and has been ascribed to indicate a ‘Milky Way’ pilgrimage in a zodiac. (see Anthony Thorley’s research into the symbolism of the Glastonbury Zodiac Milky Way, in which he found churches dedicated to saints with the saltire cross in their icons: St Andrew, St Christopher, St Peter, St Mary, All Saints. In his view these all symbolized the path to salvation, located in the path of the Milky Way (‘Via Lactis’ for the Compostella route in Spain) where according to alchemical tradition Christ and Mary reign at the centre of the Galaxy, and pilgrims can be blessed with spiritual blessing as they walk the crossing of the ‘River of life and death, (‘Styx’) in the imitation of Christ. Out of Glastonbury, the main pilgrimage route runs from Lamyatt Beacon near Glastonbury to Ditcheat:

The Early Iron Age and Roman Lamyatt
[excerpt from Palden Jenkins: https://www.palden.co.uk/leymap/lamyatt-beacon.html]

‘The early phase was a Roman-period Celtic temple built in the late 200s CE, square, with two annexes on the east side and a sunken room to the south. The temple was built of mortared stone, paved inside and with limestone slates on the roof. A road led to the temple from the Fosse Way on Pennard Hill, northwestwards. The temple was similar to one on Brean Down.

The later phase was Saxon, dating to the 600s - a cemetery of 16 burials, 11 of which were female, with a building and boundary bank. Lamyatt Beacon overlooks the medieval ecclesiastic town of Bruton, and will have been locally significant in medieval times, even though there are no remains on the hill. As the name implies, it was a beacon hill, with a few notable ley alignments. It is likely that there was usage in pre-Roman times, since the hill is so prominent and thus unlikely to have simply been left alone. But this might not have extended to detectable remains, or they have not been sought or found.

The temple was excavated in 1955-60 and 1973 before treasure-hunters destroyed the remaining archaeological evidence.

Modern Evidence for pilgrim path:
Archaeological findings: https://lamyatt.org.uk/history/

The presence of the diagonal cross on two of them may be significant, although it is also found on brooches from secular contexts

It was found that the majority of burials at the cemetery were females, and revealed skeletons of unusually large proportions. Were they members of a Christian convent specific to the St Christopher mythology? The significance of this being on the star temple is that a couple of their brooches display the saltire cross of ‘sacred passage’ of the Milky Way pilgrimage. The site seems to connect with the Fosse Way, a pre-Roman road beneath Roman road restructuring. This forms a another saltire crossing through the British Zodiac centred at High Cross, which links many sacred hill-sites and features from the pre-Roman era. Thus we have ‘straight’ highways across our star-map, which linked the landscape temples as places of cultural significance. Peter and Sarah Dawkins’ research reveals that the position of High Cross is in itself part of the diagonal ‘Milky Way’ through the British zodiac, running between Scorpio and Sagittarius (Mary Caine’s Kingston zodiac) cusp at London, through to the Macclesfield zodiac on the cusp of Taurus and Gemini.

[Glastonbury zodiac milky way pilgrimage is currently organised by John Wadsworth, see September 2023: https://www.facebook.com/theglastonburygrailmovie]

The crossing of Michael and Mary lines in Devon, linking star map landscapes (St Michael and St Christopher closely linked in their significance):

Through the Capricorn (Avebury) and Aquarius (Glastonbury) zodiacs, the line goes on to link Dartmoor Zodiac, at Belstone and Brentor, and the sacred sites and zodiacs of Cornwall.

This can be seen especially relevant, as the ‘sovereign land’ under our feet that is linked by the Michael and Mary Line, reaching all the way through both Royston and Bury St Edmunds. Earlier it linked us through Sinodun Hill, (Dorchester on Thames), Avebury, Glastonbury, Cadbury Castle, Brentor, down to St Michael’s Mount. The way the landscape ‘sun line’ (set up when the Sun God also endowed reigning monarchs with ‘sun king’ status), can be seen as a symbolic teaching tool. This line links well researched star maps such as the Libra landscape, as well as those in Avebury and Glastonbury. Dartmoor and Cornwall. At Brentor the Dartmoor star map puts precedence on it St Michael’s church being situated in the position of Pisces centred on Two Bridges in the centre of the moor.

Does the ‘saltire’ cross of the Milky Way routes through terrestrial zodiacs represent our ‘round table’ journey which prepares us for ‘rulership’ at the 13th sign, the ‘siege perilous’ or seat of command? The cross also represents the lessons of living in the physical realms, and mastering – like St George – the aggravations of survival and asserting our own truth.

THE LIBRAN TALENT for MEDIATION:

We quest Libra’s talent for mediation, the response from Aries moon opposite Libra, signified our inner spiritual warrior, developing a passion of purpose and clear mental focus. With these tools we imitate jumping into the river Styx of life, and wading over to the other side with the Christ light having been released and radiating into our environment.

Our pilgrim story as aspiring ‘dragon masters’: As ‘knights’ of the round table star-map landscape, we are imminent ‘sun kings’ of our own souls. We are guided by our ancestors; myths and legends especially of King Arthur and the western wheel of life, or wheel of inner transformation. The aim is to transcend and transform our personal inner selves, into creative tools. Maybe they are like magnifying ‘sun discs’ that allow our true nature to be visible within material realms. We do this by acquiring the Libran talent for mediation, symbolized by each cross-over of the Michael and Mary sun-lines (balancing masculine and feminine qualities), and the passage through terrestrial zodiac. We can learn from these myths and research that within our own energy fields, ‘dragon’ energy arises from the root chakra, spins our own energy centres, to finally radiate light and love into our world. At our hearts we find a truly cosmic portal, and we learn through trial and error to balance and ground the presence of our soul, the source of our conscious being, and we learn to ‘grow’ the conscious tools of creative power, like flowers, like unfolding stars of light. Such is the aim of our inner ‘warrior’ of synthesis.

A MODERN DAY ‘MEDICINE WHEEL’ – PERSONAL TRANSFORMATION AND THE GIFT OF MEDIATION

The point about all of this is that we have a connection between the signs of the British Zodiac, through the Michael and Mary Line, and other key ancient connecting lines such as that of Bran the Blessed. (see Sarah Dawkins’ ‘The Holy Head of Bran Pilgrimage’ https://www.zoence.co.uk/infosheets-other/holy-head-of-bran-grail-pilgrimage-route/ ).

This mediating line that link us more widely with the ‘Isle of Hesperides’ (an early name for the British Isles, with its axis line as a temple in its own right (Maia), see https://www.zoence.co.uk/info-landscape-temples/british-isles/). This line connects with pre-Roman geomantic sovereigns and lineages shared between Ireland, Scotland and Britain.

This is a ‘many headed hydra’ for Humanity, as each of us travels to different continents, races and cultures throughout a myriad of lifetimes. Libra turns out to signify the gift of spiritual mediation between all these varieties of experience in incarnation on Earth, as well as our path through diverse landscapes. ‘I come in peace, I walk in beauty, and I choose the middle path.’ (an interpretation of Libra’s affirmation by John Wadsworth).

‘Art Rescues the Heart’ (Peter Dawkins’ talk, Gatekeeper conference 2022)

BUILDING OUR OWN THE MEDICINE WHEEL:

Here is an artistically enhanced version of Peter Dawkins suggested ‘round table’ or wheel of life as a symbolic guide for creative rebuilding through 12 creative roles. It has corresponding body parts and Arthurian ‘challenge’ symbols shield, spear, sword and crystal. In the centre is the sacred five-petalled ‘rose of love’. A pilgrim’s quest: How does life present these transition and transformation points to me? The landscapes answers when we listen.

Focusing our hearts as ‘altars’ which mediate between our soul and the spirit of place:

Holding my physical awareness as a ‘grail space’, how can I be an effective mediator of sacred space?

I mediate my vision with my practical surroundings. I allow the ‘ideal’ to marry/fuse with the ‘real’ with the circumstances within my everyday life.

My landscape reassures, beautifies, calms me and whispers its gratitude for my witnessing. As witnesses, we focus the earth’s wisdom-in real-life into our inner grail, and together with divine inspiration (experienced in the altar major) we are at one with Life.

This way, the innate qualities of life within Terra-Gaia of building, fertility, propagation, individuation, are integrated within my mental concept universe and vision of the future. I become a co-creative builder-mediator of Gaia’s gifts and talents, identified for us by the wizards and priests of the past. The star maps of imaginative and reflective spirituality, guide us, as we understand how they were triggered by the beauty of the stellar universe rebuilding time, building imaginative schemes for new cultural memories. Our ‘real’ world of living in the present, and the ‘ideal world’ in our intuitive imagination, like a star.

This we could say is the ‘Mediation’ between spirit and humanity, creating a bridge between real terrestrial evolution (integrated and collaborative ecologies), and the pure ‘ideal’ of starry guiding light. As humans we learn to integrate and collaborate with other dimensions of life, and thus grow up our creative powers from embryo to new form-building beauty.

The following graphics are available to any pilgrim wanting to recreate their own path of transformation through artwork.

A complete ‘seed cycle’ – being a seed of light we are growing its inspirations. [by Michele Beaufoy, artist and inspired spiritual friend in New Zealand].

Pilgrim quest: How do I hold these seeding and flowering points in my life? Symbolise the spirit of the land as it answers: mandala, chant, photos, art, poetry.

BE READY FOR OUR ON LINE ANNUAL CONFERENCE CELEBRATING 40 YEARS on SACRED PATHS: ‘Light in the LandSCAPE’ ON OCTOBER 21st 2-4.30pm.. ALSO OUR LIGHT LINK ON 22ND FROM AS MANY LOCAL LANDSCAPES AS WE CAN FIND BETWEEN US!

EDITORS: Charlotte Yonge and Rose Williams 2023.