Wheel of Life Full Moon Meditation – Aquarius Sun / Leo Moon

Wheel of Life Full Moon Meditation - Aquarius sun/Leo moon – 1st February 2026

The full moon link-up is offered as a way of connecting with other ‘inner pilgrims’. You are invited to join in at 12 noon on this date - Meditation is a personal journey, which unfolds in our unique ways. As we attune together at 12 pm we can make our prayers more powerful with a common focus. For those who feel connected to this particular work of the Gatekeeper Trust perhaps we could share the focus of a wheel of silver light spinning in the British Zodiac, radiant and happy.

Aquarius Sun/ Leo Moon
Full Moon Meditation
February 1st (Snow Moon)
12 Noon local time

Sun in Aquarius, Air, Water/Intellect
Moon in Leo, Fire, the Leader/Child

Rievaulx Abbey from Rievaulx Terraces – Photo -The National Trust

Welcome to Rievaulx Abbey in North Yorkshire, in the constellation of Leo on the British Landscape Zodiac, where our full moon meditation takes us on the 1st of February. Arriving at this hauntingly beautiful place on a bend in the River Rye, it is almost impossible not to share these initial, 900-year-old impressions of Aelred’s.‘Everywhere peace, everywhere serenity, and a marvellous freedom from the tumult of the world.’ Aelred was a young man from an influential Scottish family, and a steward to King David I of Scotland sent, on the king’s behalf, to pay a visit to Archbishop Thurstan of York in 1134. However, calling at Rievaulx Abbey on the way, he spontaneously requested and was granted admission as a novice.

By 1147 he was abbot, a position he held until his death. These were Rievaulx’s greatest years, with the monastery blossoming under his influence where monks and lay brothers joined in their hundreds. However, at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Rievaulx’s best days were already long behind it. After Aelred’s time the community faced terrible difficulties, including financial problems, famine and disease. Worst was the Black Death in 1348–49. When Henry VIII’s commissioners turned up in 1538, there were just 24 poverty-stricken monks remaining. The abbey is, of course, a ruin and is now in the care of English Heritage.

Here we link our Leo leadership of Aelred with Charlotte in the sun sign of Aquarius:

AQUARIUS Sun the ‘Thinker’ and Leo the ‘Intuitive Leader’
These two act in dialogue when we tune in to the full moon and seek a personal interpretation. The internal wheel of initiation turns, suggesting a dialogue with Gaia and her seasons and cycles. Turning our personal journey into an exploration and celebration of the ancient sanctuaries, brings a creative edge:

Peter Dawkins advises that on pilgrimage we are building the light body of the planet, focused in our landscape and its sanctuaries. At the same time we are building our own light body. The quest into what this means is deep and personal,.t forms the seed vision of AQUARIUS and the central intuitive direction of the moon in LEO.

The Planetary Light Body: https://www.zoence.co.uk/info-landscape-temples/planetary-light-body/

‘The process of life, with its cycle of time, takes place within a form of life. All life forms exist within and are formed out of space. Just as time has its cycles, so space has its circles or horizons.’ The terrestrial geometry shines through into space and leads us within our temples and sanctuaries.

The human cycle: https://www.zoence.co.uk/wisdom/wheel-of-life/

‘Before doing anything, we have first to want to do it. That desire is our energising force, our motivation or e-motion. Emotion is not identical with feelings, which comprise our sensitivity and reactions to emotion. Emotion, or desire, is our motivating force—our will and energy. Every desire or emotion leads to a thought, in which we perceive what we want and plan our action. Finally, we put the thought into action.’

https://www.zoence.co.uk/wisdom/chakra-system/
Building our light body, and flowing in rapport with the landscape temples.

This article explores the hidden truth: whether our ancient sanctuary alignments signal the hidden architecture of the planetary light body, and our role as co-creators of this invisible realm.

Leo, the intuitive leader, aims to build the planetary light body through heart-felt pilgrimage and clarifying our personal cycle of transformation in the process.

Sun Quest for our Leo role: As we start building our inner vision, we contemplate our seed vision, asking ‘How can I focus into my heart’s desire for the new year?’ We look at the cycle of planning, piloting, reviewing and the way the key full moon meditations provide intuitive guidelines and adaptations to the landscape and its innovator artists, writers and researchers.

The Leo Full Moon provides us with an intuitive reply: How I bring my heart’s desire into an innovative dialogue with Nature and ‘lead from within’ – this is the Aquarian paradigm ‘unity in diversity’. We seek to build group attunement to the invisible realms and the creative needs of Nature, bringing a deep personal commitment into our consciousness,

SUN-QUEST within the British Zodiac: We are clarifying group vision: Aquarius sits upon the sanctuaries of the South West – what is the hidden wisdom for us this year? The three local landscapes Devon, Exmoor and Bodmin zodiacs have been interpreted with approximate diagrams, each connected by the Michael and Mary Lines.

THE AQUARIAN LANDSCAPE BEING DECODED

The Fosse Way is one of the four ancient ‘royal roads’ - is this part of the planetary lightbody’s hidden skeleton of alignments?

HOW DO WE BUILD UPON THE LANDSCAPE’S LIGHT BODY THROUGH CREATIVE GROUP ATTUNEMENT? Britain has been referred to as ‘the poetic land’:

‘How do I love thee? Let me count the ways’ - Shakespeare’s Sonnet 116. And of great significance are the saints’ migration across the Irish Sea, such as St Columba and St Patrick. They brought with them the roots of earlier Celtic Bardic traditions of illustrated books and poetry. Some say the illustrations of the Lindisfarne gospels record the sacred energy patterns of the landscape.

THE FOSSE WAY ‘ROYAL ROAD’ OF CELTIC BRITAIN, CROSSED BY WATLING STREET AT HIGH CROSS.

[Wikipedia]. The end of this line continues in ancient road links with Cornwall.

STANTON DREW CEREMONIAL COMPLEX LINKING BATH AND BRISTOL and THE SW PENINSULAR.

ThESE three stone circles create symmetry - what are their ‘landscape light body’ links? How do we build the hidden ‘architecture’ of planetary wisdom?
[see the map: http://www.stone-circles.org.uk/stone/stantondrew.htm]

An image created by Rory Duff geobiologist and dowser, who discovered the formation of symbolic Templar icons within the landscape energy after heart-felt groupwork.

The group mandala and lanterns at Stanton Drew. Rory Duff (recently deceased) helped dowse the subtle energies after our group attunement, to show how they expand and change. Working with natural objects from the environment, the creative group energy communicates with the creative forces of the landscape ‘spirit of place’.

‘Irish bardic poetry was an intensely complicated tradition. Produced by specially trained bardic poets and written in Early or Middle Irish, these poems came about during a fascinating time in Irish history called “Gaelic Ireland.” This was a long period during which the Gaelic political and social order existed in Ireland, and Irish language and culture flourished. It came to an end around the middle of the seventeenth century.’

https://oldmooresalmanac.com/the-history-of-the-irish-bardic-poets/

The Aquarian theme of unity in diversity holds significant importance in that as the Michael Line passes through, six terrestrial landscapes: Bodmin, Exmoor, Dartmoor, Glastonbury, Capricorn and Libra (Bury St Edmunds), exiting at Hopton on the East coast.

Between Exmoor and Dartmoor, the Gemini positions are linked through mid Devon and the zodiac positions in both moors. It appears to make a figure eight, so how does the energy move?

The Aquarian Peninsula

Belstone Tor, Dartmoor

East Ansty Longstone

West Ansty Longstone – introducing sacred sites to a teen with his dog.
Members of our local pilgrim group have discovered the three prehistoric paths crossing at Knowstone menhir. East and West Ansty longstones are near White Moor, an indication that the earliest records had the Milky Way in mind. Thus the Gemini twin stones have an important gateway across to Prayway, as well as down South to Spinsters’ rock. (In Norse mythology these three sisters presided over sanctuaries – see ‘Devon Perspectives’).

Knowstone Menhir

The menhir in its second position before the new link road was built.
In the Gemini area of Exmoor, it is linked to the wind farm, its arms turning and communicating with the electrical energy of modern technology, a good Gemini interpretation.

Its first prehistoric location is 200 yards down the road and connects with the Beaples Moor villages, Hawkridge, Withypool Circle, Simonsbath and Prayway Head along the Two Moors Way.

This ‘pray way’ connects to an alignment between Lundy island and Stonehenge.

The Lundy Sacred Triangle by Professor Thom. All these measurements have significance in the early prehistoric astrogeometric sciences, reaching up to the wider British landscape.

The alignment has been researched by local pilgrims from Cranleigh House, following the North Devon Coastal Path, which links to the ‘Two Moors Way’ and to the historic connections in Britain of the Spanish Camino.

These very early stories tell of the lunar oriented sanctuaries where the moon’s phases were observed and tracked across the landscape, creating astrogeological measurements and sacred angles, the earlier roots of the Pythagorean theorem.

Avebury in relation to Lundy connects with the N-S line through Lundy to the Isle of Man in the North, and to Castle Dore in Cornwall, thence to Carnac in Brittany.

‘The Megalithic Solstice line of South England’ (See Howard Crowhurst’s video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVL_Vgl58qY’)

The sacred pathways linked both the Exmoor and Dartmoor star landscapes or zodiacs, that Anthony Thorley, Peter Dawkins and others researched in great detail. Hence the ‘visionary journey’ we take around these circles, or linking them, as archetypal patterns that unravel our own psyche’s potential for knowledge and enlightenment.

St Brannock’s Sow

In Exmoor, the local St Brannock is connected to Lundy, Wales and to the Flying White Sow legend who deposited her piglets upon the landscape to become centres of sacred significance.

St Brannock of Braunton, North Devon/Exmoor.
‘Tradition states that he first built his church on a hill overlooking Braunton, but it collapsed. In a dream he was told to look for a sow and seven piglets for the site to build his new church. This story is commemorated in one of the stained glass windows and in a roof boss of St Brannock's Church, Braunton.’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brannoc_of_Braunton

In Mid Devon, the Seven Crosses area near Tiverton relates to a similar legend of a poor man with a basket. The lady of the land approaches to ask what is in the basket, to which he replied, “only seven piglets.” She did not believe him, so looked inside and saw seven babies. The man apologised saying his wife had borne these babies but he was too poor to feed them. She asked if she could look after them and proceeded to feed and educate the babies, until they were ordained as priests. This has a clear connection with the lunar devotions of the Celts and earlier civilisations. The moon being a feminine archetype, an intuitive, nurturing presence to humans and source of wisdom. The Megalithic studies of Howard Crowhurst demonstrate how 10,000 and more years ago, the observations of the solar and lunar cycles gave birth to measurements in the landscape between sanctuaries, of great precision and ritualised harmony.

Along the North Molton Ridge of Exmoor’s star temple, there are barrows with white crystal rocks exposed, which show us how the earth’s mineral kingdom had particular relevance to the renewed and continued dialogue with ancestors.

Throughout the South West Peninsular there are outcroops of white quartz rock. We are connected across the Irish Sea to Ireland and the Isle of Man by these ‘sacred rocks’ of crystalline quartz. What connects the British isles are these underlying ‘carriageways’ of invisible magnetic energy.

A ‘wild altar’ with singing bowl on the white quartz of a barrow on North Molton Ridge.

Throughout Wales, Ireland and the Isle of Man are quantities of white quartz rock and sacred stones, which signify the holiness of a place of sanctuary.

THE QUEST FOR THE UNITY OF THE HOLY ISLES - GATEKEEPER LINKS WITH IRELAND AND SCOTLAND THROUGH THE ROCKS:

St Declan’s Stone in Ardmore ‘the birthplace of Christianity’.

White stones of Poundcartron, Co. Galway (photo Gerard Blecker)

Creg Bedn, (White Rock), Isle of Man - the massive boulder which has been used with seismic instruments to measure the underlying strata. It is believed to be the site of coronation for the kings of Man.

The ‘White Lady’ stone, Glencrutchery, Isle of Man.
https://culturevannin.im/exploremore/places/the-white-lady-718573/

An Tobar Alternative Name: White Quartz Well - Perth, Scotland.
https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=15307

THE FLYING WHITE SOW IN NORTH DEVON

In Exmoor, the local St Brannock is connected to Lundy and to the Flying White Sow legend who deposited her piglets upon the landscape to become centres of sacred significance.

St Brannock of Braunton, North Devon/Exmoor.
‘Tradition states that he first built his church on a hill overlooking Braunton, but it collapsed. In a dream he was told to look for a sow and seven piglets for the site to build his new church. This story is commemorated in one of the stained glass windows and in a roof boss of St Brannock's Church, Braunton.’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brannoc_of_Braunton

At the end of the NORTH MOLTON RIDGE, the Black Venus Inn follows a tradition. Nearby is the Black Field and its position on our local ‘star map’ is in the Virgo area, the ‘black Madonna’ is found through Europe, especially the crypt of Chartres Cathedral and Rocamadour.

The Black Venus Inn -

Nearby a flock of sheep graze on Black Hill, which the inn keeper considered to have been called the ‘Black Venus Sheep’. The paths to each of the star map sections give us clues as to the ancient Megalithic astrogeometry.

Black Madonna in Europe: ‘An ancient tradition where black wooden statues of the Madonna are found in: Chartres Cathedral crypt; Also ‘Notre Damme of Roccamadour, ‘the Morther of Myracles’.

‘From Mont Saint-Michel to Chartres and from Montpellier to Paris, the figure of the Black Madonna can be found in every region of France, in great cathedrals and tiny village churches alike. In some places she holds a prominent place of honour, in others she is -hiding in plain sight.’
https://francetoday.com/learn/history/frances-mysterious-black-madonnas/

MID DEVON

The Holy Well at Rackenford on the Two Moors Way

https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=51066

Through the maze of crossroads from Knowstone to Crediton, this well links to Knowstone menhir and its three prehistoric tracks. There are several ‘nymet’ (meaning ‘woodland sanctuary’) linked names such as Kings Nympton, Nymet Rowland and Nymet Hill.

The key to the energetic connection between Dartmoor and Exmoor lies in the White Sow story, the Black Dog story and the woodland sanctuary (Nymet) origin of village and hill names.

At Down St Mary near Morchard Bishop, a legend links this magical church to the legend of the Black Dog, the uardian of the Underworld. Nearby is Black Dog village in Mid Devon.

The ancient connection to Egypt: https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/anubis-jackal-god-and-guide-ancient-egyptian-afterlife-006155

Anpu or Inpu in Egyptian means ‘royal child’ – thus indicating the rebirth of the soul at the end of the underworld road to transformation. ‘Decay’, embalming, also known as the ‘Imy-ut’ – imp ‘he who is in the place of embalming’ – also Nub-tj-dser ‘Lord of the Sacred Land’. One of his main roles was ‘guardian of the scales’ (see Scales Bridge in the centre of the Capricorn zodiac, Upavon) see ‘weighing of the heart of the dead’ in ‘The Book of the Dead’ a measure of whether a person deserves the immortal life.

The Two Dragons of Down St Mary, a little church on a hill (or a ‘down’).
The proximity to the Black Anubis, guardian of the underworld, shows its prominence on a pilgrim way in which the subconscious becomes laid bare and ready for illumination.

This year, we as Gatekeepers we have visited and described the Two Moors Way as passing through the mid Devon area, where we find Down St Mary. On a lintel, we find the dragons elegantly carved, representing the sacred energy lines of the prehistoric paths. There is also a tribute to a legend of the Black Dog which represents a ‘guardian dog’ from prehistory, such as the Egyptian Anubis. The Guardian of the Underworld is represented also by the ‘Girt Dog of Lamport’ outside the Glastonbury Zodiac. So we have confirmation that the gateway to a star map of ancient sources, relating to the constellations of the zodiac mythology, will have been addressed by pilgrims as a preparation for a pilgrims’ devotional transformation of the psyche.

This translation means that the ancient paths had a deep purpose of cultural importance. An alchemical interpretation of Christ and Mary relates that they were divinely connected to ‘reign’ from within the centre of the galaxy. Anthony Thorley considers that the Milky Way crosses the sun’s ecliptic. It forms a saltire cross, indicating the ‘place of redemption’ within the cosmos. Pilgrims thus identify with the Christ-inspired ‘river of death’ over which St Christopher travels carrying the Christ-child.

TWO MOORS WAY CONTINUES NORTHWARDS TO HAWKRIDGE, WITHYPOOL, SIMONSBATH AND PRAYWAY HEAD.

Prayway Head - Prayway Head overlooks the young Exe Valley. Its name likely stems from ancient travellers’ prayers before crossing the featureless Chains. This perilous trek once involved boggy, dangerous terrain.
https://www.martinhespfoodandtravel.com/hespfoodandtravelhome/exmoor-walks-hoar-oak-and-preyway-head

The Chains

Origins of the river Exe and Prayway Head.

‘Turning north, we descended into a dramatic coombe dividing Exe Plain from The Chains. Just a short walk from Prayway Head, this valley feels like stepping back into prehistoric Britain. Amid the steep ravine’s isolation, ancient stone walls evoke an antediluvian ambiance.’

Exploring the Two Moors Way and Prayway Head, we find the deeper energy flow of an ancient figure eight with mid Devon in between. In mid Devon the Two Moors Way stretches across the Michael and Mary Line.

Further South the Two Moors Way crosses the Michael and Mary Line and aims for Kingsteignton in Dartmoor, the landscape with the Spinsters’ Rock sanctuary.

Drewsteignton is named perhaps after the stones; ‘steign’.
Two Moors Way SOUTHWARDS, links to Drewsteignton and Spinsters’ Rock, another reference to legendary Scandinavian priestesses.

Settlement in the area dates back to the Neolithic period. Spinsters' Rock at Shilston, within the parish, is a Neolithic chambered tomb dating from around 3000 BC, and there are stone circles of similar date in the area. Later, an Iron Age hill fort, now known as Prestonbury Castle, was developed on the end of a prominent ridge…. In later years a myth developed, encouraged by the presence of the archaeological remains, that the Drew part of the name derived from the presence of druids, but there is no evidence to support this.

Spinsters Rock

Old records speak of highly impressed eye witnesses: "…two rows of pillars marking out the processional road of the Druids, and several columnar circles" and "rock idols at the end of the down, that frown with more than usual majesty" will now be sought for in vain. But on the north side of the road by which the cromlech field is bounded, there were objects highly worthy of examination, generally overlooked and now altogether lost, and probably unknown to many, whose interest was absorbed in the celebrated Spinsters' Rock. Very fortunately the late Rev. William Gray, in 1838, with his brother, visited the Cromlech and its surroundings, and carefully examined and mapped the remains referred to on the north side of the road bounding the Cromlech field. He says that they are two concentric circles of stones, the inner circle having entrances facing the cardinal points, that to the north being sixty-five paces in length and five paces broad. The outer circle, besides these, has avenues diverging towards N.E., S.E., S.W., and N.W. and a smaller circle seems to intersect the larger, of which the avenue eastward is very evident. [...] These most remarkable remains seem to have been carted away from time to time for building purposes, and the last of them disappeared in 1865, when the few remaining, were used as materials in the erection of a new farm house in the neighbourhood. Samuel Rowe (text published 1896).

Devonshire Perspectives: https://www.devonperspectives.co.uk/spinsters_rock.htm

Here the dedication of artists and explorers in a previous century speaks of the special rapport that captures prehistoric narratives before agriculture took over the area. The eye witness account: Spinsters’ Rock witnessed by artist John Swete.

Rev. W. Grey provided Ormerod with this plan depicting the layout of the stone circles and rows described above. The cromlech is marked to the east of the circles while Bradford Pool is shown to their north-east.

‘A mistake has been made in the restoration of the north-easterly support, but it is not of much importance. Although, as I consider, the then tenant of Shilston Farm was free from blame as regards [the collapse of] the cromlech, yet he has been guilty of an act which every antiquary will regard as one of great atrocity. Polwhele mentions certain rude stones as there existing, but though I have carefully examined the fields in the neighbourhood of the cromlech, I could not find a trace of them. Early in 1872 I received the following extract from the journal of my late friend, the Rev. W. Grey: " Wednesday, 4th July, 1838. Visited from Moreton the Druidical circles above the cromlech. The cromlech lies in a field about 110 yards to the east. There are two concentric circles of stones, the inner circle having entrances facing the cardinal points, that to the north being sixty-five paces in length and five broad. The outer circle, besides these, has avenues diverging towards north-east, south-east, south-west, and north-west. A smaller circle seems to intersect the larger, of which the avenue eastwards is very evident." I examined the field on March 22, 1872, when the field had been recently ploughed, and not a trace remained. The circles and via sacra had given place to the plough. On making inquiries, I found that the stones had been removed prior to 1832; and that though the via sacra remained in 1848, the circles had been removed [by then]. note4.

‘In 1779, a writer called William Chapple considered that the name ‘Spinsters’ Rock’ derived from the Celtic phrase, “Lle Yspiennwr rhongoa,” which is translated to mean, ‘the place of the open observatory ‘or ‘the open star gazing place’. In 1848, Samuel Rowe expanded this idea to suggest that in the legend of the three spinsters is a link with the three Fatal Sisters of Norse mythology who weave the destiny of the world. This would presumably refer to the ‘Norns’ or ‘Nornir’ who were three sisters, Urd, Verdandi, and Skuld who lived at the bottom of Yggdrasil – the World Tree. It is said that they would visit any infant immediately after its birth to determine its future. The Norns have also be likened to the ‘Fates’ of Greek mythology.’

‘Richard Polwhele [6, Vol 1, p150] gives this description of the stone rows and circles that were once seen in the vicinity of the dolmen but have now vanished.

“In an adjoining field towards the west I remarked several conical pillars about four foot high - on the southern side there are three standing in a direct line from east to west - the distance from the more western one, to the middle one was 212 paces... Towards the west of the cromlech I remarked several conical pillars about four foot high. On the fourth side there are three, standing in a direct line from east to west. With respect to columns erected on a circular plan, the number of stones erect are various. The distance of the pillars from each other is different in different circles, but is the same, or nearly so, in one and the same circle.”

Richard Polwhele [6, Vol 1, p150] gives this description of the stone rows and circles that were once seen in the vicinity of the dolmen but have now vanished. The beginning of this account has a striking similarity to one given earlier by Swete, who is credited in a Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries article as being the first to document these latterly despoiled antiquities [8, p88-93]:

‘Towards the west of the cromlech I remarked several conical pillars about four foot high. On the fourth side there are three, standing in a direct line from east to west. With respect to columns erected on a circular plan, the number of stones erect are various. The distance of the pillars from each other is different in different circles, but is the same, or nearly so, in one and the same circle. ‘

Cairn circles on Shilstone Moor?

The handwritten Illustrated Journals of the Reverend John Swete were donated to the Devon Records Office in 1959 and they were transcribed and published in full for the first time in 1997 in the remarkable five volume Travels in Georgian Devon. The first excursion in Volume One is the account mentioned above. It includes Swete's watercolour sketches including a sketch of two adjacent stone circles. Whilst some of Swete's sketches were reproduced in the original Devon Notes & Queries article the sketch of the circles was not published although it is mentioned in the text - the "author gives a sketch of the two circles".

Eyewitness drawings of a ceremonial ritual site at Shilstone. By John Swete:

It looks likely that Swete saw cairn circles. The description suggests a circular mound with stones deeply embedded as curb stones to hold the mound in place. The only puzzle is the size of 31 paces (or yards). This would be around 28 metres 0for the diameter. The stone circles on Dartmoor vary from 18 to 38 metres. The cairn circles are typically much smaller being around 5 to 10 metres although some are considerably largr,,,

These remarks, entered by Mr. Grey in his journal at the time,."two concentric circles of stones, the inner circle having entrances facing the cardinal points, that to the north being 65 paces in length and 5 broad. The outer circle, besides these, has avenues diverging towards north-east, south-east, south-west, and north-west. A smaller circle seems to intersect the larger, of which the avenue eastwards is very evident."
http://www.dartmoorwalks.org.uk/site/spinsters.php

These entrancing and magnetic memories of Dartmoor speak of a tradition of ritual and imprinting of cultural memory, at a time when pilgrimage through these two moors may have been regular and associated to the lunar cycles of the holy ‘flying white sow’ dropping her piglets to nurture the human society and the landscape with wisdom.

Can we mirror this centuries old ‘awe and commitment’ to capturing the ritualistic Druidic stones?

Further south, the ‘Time Team’ archaeological research group discovered a sunken important ‘ritual and ceremonial landscape’ under the Tottisford reservoir after a severe drought. Here we see what remained, in the cusp of Leo and Virgo…. This ‘Sphinx Line’ orientation speaks of the ‘evolutionary human story’ where it is taught that we are both ‘lion (Leo) and divine female (Virgo)’, both goddess and animal.

The rough outline of the Dartmoor zodiac, following the descriptions and early root-words for place names. (Sketch by Charlotte Yonge with Dartmoor pilgrims)

A hypothetical ‘Sphinx Line’ on the cusp of Leo and Virgo aligns with Kings Tor above Merrivale in the sign of Aquarius.

The Kings Tor ‘heart rock’ renamed by our pilgrims’ group who ate a tasty Samhain ‘Lammas Loaf’ picnic at its feet.

Kings Tor Bards

Kings Tor Bards, Dartmoor 2014
Sleeping giants surrounded by rocks
scattered by a past awakening,
Yellow bright flower summons the bee.
Still, as eternal love olds our fleeting minds,
Rocky summit reflects the singing swan.
Wild horses are free.
I sit and watch the changes,
And offer silence carved by the zephyr of my love.

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." - John Keating, Dead Poets Society (1989)

Kings Tor to Merrivale ritual complex (Aquarius).

We celebrated the Sphinx Line of Dartmoor, and the cusp of Leo and Virgo where the Tottisford Reservoir sits, with its archaeological discoveries (by Time Team) after a severe drought.

The Tottisford ceremonial avenue leading up to the mound. So many features pointed to the significance of the site to our ancestors, now all under water once again.

Tottisford stone circle reconstructed.

The ritual imagery of this became obvious to the team of archaeologists as they gradually uncovered the different areas of stone arrangements.

I imagine that the design would have been similar to the one at Spinsters’
Rock in the Sign of the Leo/Cancer cusp.

In Sagittarius we found Sheeps’ Tor which was derived from ‘Skytels Tor’, referring in Old English to a bolt or arrow, and containing a wide range of stone monuments yet to be visited. Similarly Aquarius landscapes hold a wide range of avenues, circles and symbolic diagrams, reaching to the foot of Kings Tor. Each constellation would have been a‘teaching focus by the Druids and a position relating to the lunar and solar cycles which would host celebrations at different times of the year.

Over several years the local pilgrimage group led by Michael and Helen Loxton, designed their own annual pilgrimages at Michaelmas. Each meeting began with a meditation and visualisation of light beings, angels and inner guides. Each pilgrimage began with attunement to our spirit of place and guiding angels. As we shared our individual research, a rough plan of action emerged, which was refined during the first months of the new year. We all took turns to lead and report back. These meetings created a wonderful group energy, and what transpired were places identified as the Milky Way route with White Hill and other associated names, along a N-S orientation through‘Two Bridges and Wistman’s Wood.

A montage of Wistman’s Wood (artist Caroline Danby, Photos by Charlotte Yonge 2012), not now open to the public.

We danced, improvised poetry and created group poems., Arthur created artwork, As preparation we put together natural mandalas out of nearby leaves and twigs to honour the spirit of place.

MESSAGE OF WISTMAN’S WOOD – AN ODE
Stones of goodness dissolve through time,
Clear pools and dewdrops
A blanket of moss.
Ancient wisdom encompasses the tree community.
Feel the stones, feel the bones, spirit of the land.
Light beyond the mist,
Trees looming in the mist.
A mushroom sprouting forth from a pile of dung.
Feel our silent presence as we guide and protect you ever.
Allow for the destination to be unseen –
There will be misty periods and sunlit times.

Wistman’s Wood Bards 2012

Pilgrims in Wistman’s Wood 2012

SONG OF WISTMAN’S WOOD (Sung to ‘Ode to Joy’)
Ancient Wisdom
Dewdrops on stones
Mist and moss
The mushroom and dung
Silent presence
We are guided and protected
For eeeeeever
We are guided and protected
For eeeeeever

Bards of Wistman’s Wood 2012

Natural mandala around which we sang, 2012.

Peter Dawkins’Masonic Compass’ or Sphinx Line of the British Zodiac.
https://www.zoence.co.uk/zodiac/discovery-of-the-british-landscape-zodiac/

(This is the model I used to make our rough Dartmoor graphic. Editor)

We are all poets and artists of the invisible, nothing is certain, and we innovate with the creative powers of incarnation in every day, synthesising many levels of consciousness: soul, psyche, body and environmental impacts, and our interactive group enterprise.

This is maybe one of the key thoughts for a New Age of Aquarius.

UNITY IN DIVERSITY: Visionaries ahead of time, our human ancestors imprinted the landscape with astrogeometry and mysterious sanctuaries; giving their wisdom for posterity, demonstrating the origins of mathematical theorem, geometric harmonics. From this we learn of the intrinsic ‘wholeness’ of Nature, including the stars, and the clues are ALL under our feet as star maps that synchronise. They form an energy-generating geometry: between our two Moorlands exists a ‘figure eight’ adjusting for complementary directions, meeting world chakra balancing needs, and humanity’s ‘accidents’ of incarnation, with healing and inspiration..

With gratitude to all pilgrims in Aquarius, we are all leaders of the New Age, our hearts are attuned to humanity’s unity and creative adaptation to unforeseen circumstances…. But triggered by deep inspiration of love in action.

Editors: Charlotte Yonge, Rose Williams, and Jane Knight.
January 2026.