Full Moon Meditation – Sagittarius / Gemini

SAGITTARIUS SUN GEMINI MOON
FULL MOON MEDITATION
NOVEMBER 27TH 2023

The Greater London landscape temple (Gatekeeper Trust 1994?)
This shows the centers stretching from Dorchester on Thames to Greenwich.
Kingston is at the heart chakra, and comes in the Sagittarius star sign in the British Zodiac. On the cusp of Sagittarius and Scorpio we find Westminster.

The three landscape ‘angels’ represented by Leicester Square,
Buckingham Palace, and Westminster Abbey.
[Montage by Charlotte Yonge, 2019). St James’ Park gives a view to Westminster through the trees above the lake.

Sagittarius theme: Questing our individual sovereignty in the Age of Aquarius, how can we ‘shake our spear of knowledge’ at the dragon of ignorance.

THE SYMBOL OF SOVEREIGNTY, the ‘spear of wisdom’, It could also be seen as the passage of the Milky Way ‘arrow of intent’, in which we set our goal, and bend our BOW, focus our ARROW of DESIRE, and build on the vision of light and love which lies deep in our psyche.

As a manifestation of this symbol of wisdom, the development of the Gatekeeper Trust followed the Sagitarius figure in the landscape – a sort of unexplainable synchronicity perhaps? Gatekeeper Trust pilgrimages, annual conferences have – not so much by conscious design but by synchronicity. They have been organized on the Miky Way areas, firstly of London (Hammersmith), then Pewsey (in the Capricorn Zodiac), then Cygnus (the Milky Way of the British Zodiac). The last, in 2023, celebrated 40 year anniversary, when a pilgrimage was held at the Rollright Stones and Compton Verney House, key sites on the ‘Cygnus’ constellation in the plane of the Milky Way.

CYGNUS has been interpreted as ‘the pure poet’, and so we seek to embody a ‘pure’ engagement with our landscape pilgrimage work. Sacred geometry alignments can be identified in a myriad of forms, indicating how our ancestors built sanctuaries to represent the constellations. These sanctuaries inspire us in our expressive ways of honouring the spirit of the land: circle dance, poetry, art and photo presentations amongst many others, are forms with which we express the spirit of the land as our deep heart-inspiration.

LANDSCAPE SYMBOLS THAT POINT TO THIS ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY

St George and St Michael as well as Britannia have spears in their iconic depictions, and their derivation goes back to ancient times.

The ‘spear shaker’ in the Capricorn Zodiac:
From Ogbourne St George, Ogbourne St Andrew and Ogbourne Maizey, the line extends through Merlin’s Mound, the Stonehenge ritual complex, Rollstone, to Wilton. Mary Sidney’s family home in Wilton hosted the ‘Areopagus of Poets’, a group said to be instrumental in the creation of Shakespeare’s works. The ‘speak shaker’ line appears to be an energy connection between sacred sites, it appears that the known geomancy in those times of Renaissance would have be operating to ensure the ‘downloading’ of inspiration in the landscape.

St George, the Caduceus, the Asclepian symbol of healing, unity and connection indicates a path of transformation of energy within our human ‘chakric temple’ of through which consciousness unfolds.

https://www.zoence.co.uk/wisdom/chakra-system/
An illustration of the interpretation of the ‘Mercury’ symbol of this wisdom. It explains many early glyphs and spiritual art forms that signify deep insight into the creation of enlightened wisdom. The ‘arrow of desire’ rises from the physical ‘root’ energy centre, and becomes the ‘spear’ of a truth seeker: Sagittarius is the wise inner self becoming outer-directed into visionary cycles that uplift the body’s awareness into higher resonance at the crown.

Modern depiction of the caduceus as the symbol of logistics. (Wiki)

HERMES

Hermes hastens bearing his kerukeion, on an Attic lekythos, c. 475 BC, attributed to the Tithonos Painter. (Wik)

THE BRITISH ZODIAC (Peter Dawkins) shows A SYMBOL FOR WISDOM in the Milky Way – used in many different contexts, the ‘arrow of desire’ and the ‘stone of destiny’ connecting the energy ‘chakras’ in the landscape leading up to London.

We draw back our ‘bow’ (when facing the physical constrictions of being embodied) as we seek to enter our future destiny lying before us. Our’ passion of purpose’ and love of truth guides our aim in daily life, whatever may confront us.

CULTURAL HISTORY – the symbology of sovereignty:

Our inner sovereignty is symbolized in the actions of our royalty, kings who make a vow to protect the people and the country they serve. The ‘coronation’ symbolizes the opening of the crown chakra to divine guidance. As a model, our kings and queens act their part in a play of ‘divinity’ and the purpose of revealing the divine love of our Creator (the inner spark of star-light connecting us to our true origins).

The Anglo-Saxon kings Coronation Stone – in the Kingston Zodiac, which lies in the heart centre of the larger landscape temple from Dorking to Greenwich (see above).

Symbolising sovereignty, the Kings Stone reminds us that to be in our sovereign selves, we are rooted and embodied within the earth’s envelopes of life. We are partnering the spirit of Gaia in anchoring the universal ‘sovereign’ truth of the Creative Light of the Universe. Our crown chakra centre gives us access to the universal truth of our being, and thus to be crowned means that each of us is destined to be in recollection of our spiritual reality: at one with Life’s Universal Creator.

{Wiki}The Coronation Stone is an ancient sarsen stone block which is believed to have been the site of the coronation of seven Anglo-Saxon kings. It is currently located next to the Guildhall in Kingston upon Thames, England. Kingston is now a town in the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames in Greater London.

https://www.allsaintskingston.co.uk/heritage/where-england-began

More than 1000 years ago, Kingston was the place where England began. Before All Saints Church was built, its site was an important estate of the West Saxon Kings and host to Royal coronations. The Saxon King Egbert held his Great Council of 838 AD ‘in that famous place called Cyningestun’ and over the following centuries as many as eight Saxon kings were consecrated here. The most well-known of these Saxon kings was Athelstan, the first ruler who could truly be considered the King of England. After being crowned in Kingston in 925 AD Athelstan defeated the Scots and Vikings, unifying regional kingdoms into one nation.

Egbert’s Great Council

Kingston’s royal connections are first evident in the record of King Egbert’s Great Council in 838, which was held here. It is recorded as happening ‘in that famous place called Cyningestun’, the name denoting a royal estate, probably including a consecrated building, and suggesting that this was a ‘well-known’ place. The Council was attended by the King, his noblemen, the Archbishop Ceolnoth of Canterbury and other senior clergymen. At the meeting, the church and King formed a strong bond and allegiance with each agreeing to help the other. The archbishop probably anointed Egbert’s son Ethelwulf as the next king following Egbert.

{Wiki} Crowning Saxon Kings

It has traditionally been claimed that seven Saxon kings were crowned on the site of All Saints, and we have good historic evidence that at least three were.

Athelstan was certainly crowned in Kingston in 925, Edred in 946, Ethelred the Unready in 979. Other Kings believed to have been crowned here include Edward the Elder (900), Edmund (940), Edwy (955), and Edward (975).

It is also believed by modern historians that Edgar was crowned in Kingston in 959. Although there is not enough evidence to say so with certainty, between three and eight kings were crowned at Kingston.

The Saxon cross fragment still housed in All Saints formed part of a larger cross possibly erected to commemorate one of these coronations. The coronation stone which is still on display in Kingston is said to have been the stone which the kings sat upon whilst they were crowned.

King Athelstan

The most notable of the Saxon kings crowned in Kingston was Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great and first King of England.

He was crowned here on 4th September 925 in a ceremony which laid the foundations for our modern coronation service. Athelstan first greeted his people in the marketplace before entering a church, which was probably wooden, and probably stood on the site of our present All Saints Church. Athelstan was the first King to be ordained with a crown placed on his head, rather than a helmet.

For the first time the coronation service laid out the responsibilities the king and his people had to each other, and the Christian hymn Te Deum was sung as it is now. The coronation ‘ordo’ compiled for Athelstan was used for subsequent coronations through to the coronation of our Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

Athelstan went on to become the first true King of England, as it was during his reign that regional kingdoms were united as one nation. As King of the English from 927, he was the first English king to conquer northern Britain. Athelstan was a particularly successful soldier and defeated a combined army of Scots and Vikings at the battle of Brunanburh in 937.

The ‘Coronation Stone’

Although a millennium has passed since the coronations of the Saxon kings at Kingston, the ‘coronation stone’ remains on display in the town outside Guildhall, and is due to be returned to All Saints’ churchyard. This sarsen stone was probably recovered from the ruins of St Mary’s Chapel next to All Saints, and by 1793 The Ambulator, a guidebook to London, was reporting that it was the stone on which the Saxon kings sat while being crowned. This tradition, which culminated in the stone being mounted on a plinth and surrounded by railings in the market place in 1850, is now itself an important part of Kingston’s history. (Wiki)

TRUE INNER SOVEREIGNTY

We can hardly call ourselves Anglo Saxons these days, but our culture has much mythology pointing to a spiritual Humanity being born through the years, lifetimes and ages of turmoil. The sovereign ideal within us is ever alive and growing, and we are evolving into a universal human spiritual ‘family’ of enlightened love. Is this what true kingship/queenship means, when our cosmic inner self-light glows within earth’s envelopes in timeless radiance?

Symbolically, the ‘ideal’ model, of the path of transformation through our daily lives: - our vision path - is born at the point of the cusp between Taurus and Gemini, where the live action begins: a ‘good dream’ is shared in friendship, and the ‘innovative instinct’ engaged through Gemini the union of the opposites, or creative merging of true love in material form.

OUR INNER ‘WHEEL OF LIFE’ is a SEED CYCLE of vision and passion of purpose.

The Transformational Journey of life, develops talents that unfold our creative potential, and these are depicted in the story of King Arthur’s ‘Round Table’:

At the beginning of the ‘Milky Way’ path of outer manifestation (between Taurus and Gemini) Cancer ‘the Guardian/Protector, or establishment of ‘good boundaries, ensures that our vision is protected and enfolded within ancestoral cultural roots.

Leo ‘the leader, radiant hearted and encourager of vision of love in action;
Virgo ‘the crafts-person, refining and perfecting the vision of love in action;
Libra ‘the mediator/diplomat who synthesizes the vision of others into a whole ‘plot’ of love in action;

Scorpio and Sagittarius: the ‘transforming, transcending and alchemical teachers consolidating the vision of resurrection, and embodiment of wisdom. Sagittarius represents the emergence of our inner spiritual guide and teacher of wisdom.

In the second half of the zodiac, we return to our source, to begin distilling and consolidating the vision of wisdom:
Capricorn: the ‘initiator and consolidator’ of the vision of wisdom and love in action.
Aquarius: the creative thinker of pure thought, creative unity and Human spiritual destiny;
Pisces: the mystic, the ultimate connection with the Universal Source;
Aries: the spiritual warrior, of uplifted passion of purpose into a new focus of living incarnation of our inner ‘cosmic light’.

THE GEMINI SYMBOL is of human emergence, from a potential state of consciousness, to incarnational emergence within a creative context of ‘love in action’ manifesting pure love and intent on our physical planet. It is said that we are destined to ‘co-create’ new worlds of light and love on our planet, and these times are upon us when the fulcrum shifts from the dark phases of creation into the enlightened state. All ecologies on earth are implicated in the great test of faith and truth.

‘A world seeks to emerge…Dream large and boldly, whether you think the dream is achievable or not.’[David Spangler, Incarnational Spirituality].

Each of us are both ‘spirit’ and ‘matter’, engaging in a dance of life, in which pure light and love are made manifest. We are exploring the experience of being ‘twins in truth’.

The ‘inner journey’ is from the cusp of Scorpio/Sagittarius (13th sign Ophiuchus), the opposite 13th sign of ‘Ariadne’ on the cusp of Taurus and Gemini.

The ‘outer’ manifesting and testing of vision in experience is from the cusp of Taurus/Gemini, a BIRTH point of manifestation of spirit into ‘real’ life.

The ‘Celestial Zodiac’ by Peter and Samuel Dawkins:

This shows the ‘line of transformation’ symbolized in the heavens, which our ancient ancestors encoded in our landscape ‘zodiac’ temples. It speaks of the destiny of conscious evolution.

Lately, Hugh Evans writes about the Gwynedd zodiac in Wales, which he considers encapsulates the Sumerian root names for the star constellations and early interpretations: Sagittarius is ‘The Great Architect respected on Earth and in the Underworld, guardian of the Winter Solstice. Sagittarius, the half horse, half human, is the learned healer whose higher intelligence Bridges Earth and Heaven.

Named Pabilsag in Sumerian, for the ancestor or relative, Pob is father in Welsh and Hil is offspring, progeny, lineage. The –s suffix creates agent noun (e.g. farmer from farm) or people from places (e.g. American from America)…. The Pabilsag was considered guardian at the gates of the Underworld and guide to souls crossing the mortal divide. He guarded the crossing between the celestial, mortal and underworlds at the point where the Milky Way (the transporter of souls) crosses the ecliptic (where all three planes meet). In late Babylonian times, Sagittarius was present at the Winter Solstice, where the sun was ‘stationary’ at the minimum and allowed disembodied souls to pass up the spiritual Heaven at this time. An arrow is a ‘saeth’ in Welsh: sai/saf is a stand, a stationary point. The archer was included in the 17 stars of Ea (Enki – Pisces to Scorpio) in the revised MUL.APIN first millennium Babylonian star list. (p.170).

He considers the original meanings in Welsh root names in the landscape, corresponding with early cosmologies such as Summerian and Bablylonian languages and philosophy. This is an extraordinary bit of deep research linking the cultures involved in the 2,000 year cycle of the Age of the Ram before Pisces.

A SPEAR OF WISDOM AND A NEW START OF THE NEXT ‘GREAT AGE’
The deepest cultural roots of our land are still wrapped within a mystery, and the future held within the spirit of the land has yet to emerge, as we begin a new ‘Great Age’ cycle of 26,000 yrs.

‘A Great Age is a time cycle of approximately 25,920 years, marked by the time it takes the midsummer (or midwinter) sun to precess through all twelve signs of the zodiac, being in each sign 2,160 years (i.e. an Age). In other words, 12 Ages make up a Great Age. A Great Age is also known as a Platonic Year or a Phoenix Cycle… The actual starting point of a Great Age is when the midsummer sun is on the cusp of Gemini-Taurus…… At the start of a Great Age this is when the galactic heart is aligned with the midwinter solstice sun—the Christmas or Birthday of a Great Age. The old Phoenix dies and is reborn, renewed, resurrecting from the ashes of its old form.’
https://www.zoence.co.uk/time-cycles/great-ages/

(‘The Zodiac of Ages’ Peter Dawkins:
https://www.zoence.co.uk/time-cycles/phoenix-cycle/)

At this very point in time, the galactic heart is aligned with the midwinter solstice sun, and it is time to let go of our spear of inspired wisdom.

The British Zodiac Milky Way – or the ‘bow and arrow’ of spiritual questing.

The British Zodiac (Peter and Samuel Dawkins) https://www.zoence.co.uk/zodiac/

Now we have got this far, we need to find a way of aiming and hoisting our wisdom into the future ‘great age’. How we do this is to listen to the genius hidden in the spirit of Gaia, make this new wisdom our aim and together plan to honour and uphold it in all we do.

Editor: Charlotte Yonge and Rose Williams,
November 2023.