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

Wheel of Life Full Moon Meditation - Leo Sun / Aquarius Moon – 29th July 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.

Wednesday 29 July 2026
12 Noon, local time

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

Source of the river Stour, where it forms a series of artificial lakes which are part of the Stourhead Estate owned by The National Trust. Together with a map of the area of Selwood Forest

Dear Gatekeepers

This month we have more information on our forthcoming conference with the intriguing subject of “Gateways” as its theme. We also have a wonderful meteor shower in August and two partial eclipses one lunar and one solar.

The full moon in watery Aquarius this month takes us to the South West of Britain on the British Landscape Zodiac. Here we pilgrimage to the ancient Forest of Selwood. Its greensand ridge aquifers are home to numerous springs feeding the headwaters of five important rivers; the Brue, Cale, Frome, Stour and Wylye. This once vast and sometimes impenetrable forest stretched from north of Frome down to Shaftesbury and from Bruton to Warminster. This is a landscape steeped in legend and history. It was here in 878 that the Forest provided refuge for King Alfred and his men for two nights before Alfred’s defining Battle of Ethandune.

Victorian Folly named King Alfred’s Tower This is where he raised his standard in 878 AD.

After gathering support from the men of Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire against the marauding Danes, Alfred met them at Egbert’s Stone. Only a few fragments of the forest now survive, but it is being revived by the Forest of Selwood Charity, working in collaboration with other national charities to promote and champion natures recovery, catalyse environmental action in the area and mobilise people to achieve positive environmental change. https://forestofselwood.org

Gatekeeper Trust Online Conference 2026
‘GATEWAYS’
Sunday 8 November

Gatekeeper Trust are very pleased to announce our 6th online conference on the theme of Gateways. We have invited six speakers to share their thoughts and experiences of Gateways – a theme that is especially relevant in these changing times.

Gateways hold the liminal space between what is, what has been and what is yet to come. They are loci of becoming, a place to
pause and reflect before choosing to enter through these portals to new potential, experiences and knowledge. The Gatekeeper awaits you there.

SPEAKERS:

• Matt Thornton: Matt is a water researcher, water sommelier, aviator, cosmologist and skyobserver.
• Peter Dawkins: Peter is Co-founder and Elder of The Gatekeeper Trust.
• Pam Montgomery: Pam is an herbalist, author, international teacher and Earth Elder.
• Mary Berkery: Mary is an intuitive Guide, Soul Coach and Equine Assisted Learning Facilitator.
• Louise Coe: Louise is a long-time Friend of Gatekeeper who has for many years been the
  conference convener.
• Rupert Sheldrake: Rupert is a scientist whose research into parapsychology and evolution led to
  the Theory of Morphic Resonance.

TICKETS & RECORDINGS

All tickets include access to the live conference via Zoom as well as recordings of the conference which will be sent out during the week following the conference.

• General Admission - £25
  Concessions are available, please contact secretary@gatekeeper.org.uk
• Friends of the Trust - £15: purchase in the Friends area of the website

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE, AND BOOK TICKETS

THE AUGUST NIGHT SKY

On 12 August the New Moon will pass in front of the sun, creating a partial solar eclipse. It can be seen in the west starting soon after !8.00 - the maximum (94%) will be from 19.05 in Edinburgh to 17.16 in London and finishing from 20.00. More information here: https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/space-astronomy/how-see-12-august-2026-partial-solar-eclipse

Partial Solar Eclipse – Royal Museums Greenwich

August 12 - 13 is also the best time to see the Perseid Meteor Shower, when it is at its peak and we also have dark skies with the New Moon. Try to see it between midnight and 5 am when the sky is darkest. The Perseid meteor shower is one of the best meteor showers of the year because it produces bright meteors and is one of the most active with up to 60 per hour. There's also a high chance of seeing fireballs, which are very bright meteors, as well as meteors with long trains.

Perseid Fireball - Royal Museums Greenwich

There will be a partial lunar eclipse for our next full moon on 28 August, more about that in our next
full moon newsletter.

LAMMAS

The festival of Lammas is the summer/autumn quarter day when the summer ends and autumn begins. Usually celebrated on 1 August or the lunar date of 7 /8 August, this ancient festival is often celebrated with a loaf of bread signifying the first harvest. In Lincolnshire we make corn dollies from the ripened wheat. The word Lammas comes from the Saxon word, Hlafmaesse, meaning Loaf Mass. The Christian calendar calls this date the Festival of the First Fruits.

Here we link with Charlotte in the sun sign of Leo with more on King Alfred and re-wilding forests:

LEO SUN: LEADERSHIP: MOTIVATOR, STORYTELLER

We have travelled through Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, and Cancer…. following a thread of our inner ‘creative knights’ of the seasons. We have considered collaborating with our dream team in order to innovate a cutting edge initiative, and then considered what should be a good boundary to ensure success.

INNER DIALOGUE QUEST: How can I best lead with my heart vision? [CREATE A rough plan, stand on it and visualise your first step as an empathic leader, etc]

LUNAR (Aquarius) RESPONSE: Develop unity in diversity, inclusive, encouraging, optimistic and adaptable, trusting your innovative thinking.

As an inclusive, adaptable and enthusiastic leader, the opportunity is there to create pilot plans to test and to lead into an appropriate plan of action that is creative and adaptable to circumstances. The pilot is then tested (Virgo the Perfectionist, Craftsman) with a sense of attention to detail before implementation (Libra the ‘diplomat’ ).

THE FIRST STAGE of leadership is tentative and accommodating, ‘let us try something new’, modelling roles with performance and humour. Confidence is shared, trial and error accepted and attempted, the fun and drama of experimentation is justified through feedback and serious discernment.

KING ALFRED - SOVEREIGNTY AND KINGSHIP - How the journey to kingship of Alfred the Great was guided by the spirit of the land.

On the Island of Athelney near Burrow Mump a monument celebrates King Alfred’s attunement to spirit of place, and he built a monastery to anchor this foundational step he took before being crowned. The position in the landscape seems to be at the ‘sacral chakra’ of what Anthony Thorley called ‘The Wessex chakras temple’. At the root are two sacred sites celebrating Stoke St Mary and Creech St Michael.

At Athelney is the ‘snout’ of the ‘Girt Dog of Lamport’ guarding the Glastonbury zodiac. Reminiscent of Annubis the ‘black dog ‘ appears on many maps with associations of a zodiac star map within a landscape. This symbol is the ‘guardian of the underworld’, and as such, King Alfred will have been tested for his faith and commitment, at the sacral energy centre of his future kingdom. Here it is said he called the ‘Men of Cornwall’ to join his fighting forces.

The gateway to Katherine Maltwood’s ‘Glastonbury Zodiac’ has a clear form, ending at a place called ‘Wag’.
[More explanation from: https://www.secretsofthegraillandscape.com/the-girt-dog-of-langport/]

As the Danish King had killed his brother, Alfred prepared for kingship along the Wessex chakra system into the ‘Girt Dog of Langport’ on whose nose we find Athelney, where Alfred builds a monastery on the island in dedication. This is a ‘sacral chakra’ where passion for a new cultural vision would guided Alfred’s warriors as he encouraged them to fight the Danes, and was blessed by the monks on the island. As a true warrior king, his reign later featured the creation of a new language replacing old Latin texts with Anglo-Saxon.

The ‘Alfred Jewel’ page marker, found near Athelney and emblematic of Alfred’s new educational edicts making available to all people the powers of literacy and learning.

THE POWER OF NATURE IS OUR ROLE MODEL AS WE CONSIDER OUR STRENGTHS AND VISIONS:

Yorkshire landscape – What we learn from the landscape is infinitely inspiring:

The Brimham Rocks – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huHCawXqb84

All layers seem to co-operate in building their edifice, and be shaped by erosion. A fine balance of elements over time shows what building skills weather is capable of enacting:

Shaped entirely by erosion, an elegant sculpture of balance can emerge:

So long as we honour the rules of the rocks and magnetic forces of the land, as leaders we can trust the power of landscapes to show us resilience and adaptability, in order to create a balance of elements.

The Rudstone Monolith – {By Angela Findlay - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26375093}

NATURE’S LEADERSHIP STYLE AND BIODIVERSITY

Tony Rinaudo’s innovative global system: fmnrhub.com.au (Farmer Managed Natural Regenaration’ began is a low-cost, sustainable land restoration technique used to combat poverty and hunger amongst poor subsistence farmers in developing countries by increasing food and timber production, and resilience to climate extremes.[1] It involves the systematic regeneration and management of trees and shrubs from tree stumps, roots and seeds.[2][3] FMNR was developed by the Australian agricultural economist Tony Rinaudo in the 1980s in West Africa. The background and development are described in Rinaudo's book The Forest Underground. WIKI

We need to relinquish control. This is being realised in Niger by reviving old stumps instead of planting new trees. Rinaudo talks about regreening landscapes which means regreening beliefs’ … ‘In order to regreen landscapes, we had to first ‘regreen mindscapes’ across dry desert landscapes. FMNR manages farmers’ skills in natural regeneration (acknowledged as an indigenous practice). Tony Rinaudo has restored 5 million hectares in Niger. The key to global climate change is to allow Nature herself to regreen the areas where there has been too much human intervention that has not really been successful.

Example of the first shoots of an old stump, willing and ready to come into leaf.

Instead of replanting, a tree grows from a pruned stump looking like a bush. Once pruned, the stumps are supported by a soil bank to capture the rain and then water soaks into the main roots instead of running off. ‘Brownfields turned green. Crops flourished in between the regenerating trees. In Niger, it spread very, very quickly from farmer to farmer.’

LEADERSHIP TRAINING AND REGREENING THE PLANET:

https://thenaturalleader.com/leadership-development/the-natural-leader-rewilding-leadership-experience/

A path from potential to purpose, guided by nature’s intelligence. Nature's growth is always intentional. This programme blends nature with leadership so they evolve in much the same way. When leaders develop with the grain of nature rather than against it, they access deeper clarity, resilience and impact.

New leadership styles in reforestation projects around the world are increasing. Forests began to return without a single tree being planted because buried roots had their sprouts been trimmed and allowed to grow.

‘By focusing on Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration, people discovered that existing root systems were the key to environmental recovery. No more ‘slash and burn’ techniques.Instead the agronomist ‘refused to burn the Australian bush’ and instead cultivated trees from existing stumps of woodland that still had viable roots under the soil. Many similar projects are being activated in Africa, where trimming and pruning the old tree stumps as well as building low banks to collect the rain, soon sprouted new trees.’

‘Nature would heal itself, you just needed to stop hammering it.’
Reforestation: Become a UK woodlands creator:

Climate change and biodiversity loss can feel overwhelming.
https://thenaturalleader.com/leadership-development/the-natural-leader-rewilding-leadership-experience/
As we consider Nature as our teacher, climate change is something Nature has been accustomed to addressing. As biodiversity leaders, we can learn the wisdom of Nature through many avenues in our modern digital world of feedback.

‘Wild Ingleborough’ Yorkshire Rewilding Network in Yorkshire. Celebrating through festivals is a way of generating public vision and support.

‘Through a combination of conservation grazing, traditional land management and facilitating natural regeneration, we are restoring and creating habitats to support a diversity of species.’

‘Trees for Life’ – rewilding the Scottish Highlands: https://treesforlife.org.uk

A couple rewilded an Irish Farm, in County Wicklow, and were led by Nature to develop their leadership style in collaboration with Nature for the benefit of others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WmtqIVcHw8

Volunteers gather 1lm rare seeds by hand from remote areas to restore Scotland's native woodlands and forests.

… a guiding artistic image of the greening of the planet: How does this ‘inspiration’ trigger an inspirational role for us?

The planet is offering humanity its wisdom, so we can recover our wealth and health.

Many Gatekeeper pilgrims can now envisage Nature herself being allowed to generate new forests, ecological miracles and the return of rare birds and animals. The Knapp Estate pioneered the hidden resources of Nature and now offers many project demonstrations including ‘Rewild your Child’: https://knepp.co.uk/view/events/for-kids/rewild-your-child-ages-7-11/

GATEKEEPER TRUST WHEEL OF LIFE PILGRIMAGES

Collaborative leadership in Dartmoor.
A group of pilgrims associated with the Gatekeeper Trust has been facilitated to create their landscape research and their programme with feedback at Michelmas.

YORK PILGRIMAGE - IMAGES
Aquarian style leadership as the art of creating and holding sacred space, while with courage we share our heart’s radiant inspiration

The Yorkshire Walls trail:

City Walls are ‘good boundaries’ for the city, within which the river Fosse and Ouse play their part in the life of the city. The Romans’ example of leadership:

As a small group of pilgrims, we lit our lantern candles at each stage of our pilgrimage through key churches, to honour the spiritual leadership of Emperor Constantine whose courageous leadership brought Britain into the Roman Empire.

YORK MINSTER: Symbols for the radiant heart: the town map, the West Window,
the tower ceiling, and the South Transept rose window.

The rivers Ouse and Fosse, with their willows and riverside trees, flowing through the city.

St Mary’s Abbey lies outside the Roman city walls, as part of the ancient origins of yew tree groves.

CREATING SACRED SPACE as a collaborative task which opens a gateway of awareness and remembrance:

Paneurythmy in St Mary’s Abbey next door to the ‘grove’ where ancient yews still stand guarding sacred space honouring the Druidic origins of the city. The Roman Walls

MANDALA MAKING WITH A GROUP – tuning into a perceived group vision and intent to create new synthesis.

Examples of improvised mandalas for centring a shared vision:

Improvised mandala in the Isle of Man and Cornwall, with circular art vision boards: The power of representing a heart vision for the landscape anchors group intent and anticipation.

INITIATIVE: A ‘BARDIC’ PILGRIMAGE TO WISTMAN’S WOOD DARTMOOR 2011 WITH POETRY AND SONG

Improvisation by a group holds the energy of the event or celebration and facilitates our subtle sense of the angelic forms in the landscape, called by our intent to collaborate with the spirit of place, and welcomed with our heart awareness.

A natural mandala celebrating the shed oak leaves and sticks. Around this we sang our improvised poem. Each part of the mandala was then returned to where it was found.

A last permitted public access to Wistman’s Wood which is now not open to the public in order to preserve its ancient moss-covered trees and huge Druidic stones

Ancient wisdom
Dewdrops on stones.
Mist and moss,
The mushroom and dung
Silent presence,
We are guided
And protected for ever.
(Group song):

INITIATIVE: Gatekeeper parenting the younger generation

(Photo: Tony Barstow)
Teen grandson experiencing the awe inspiring
View from Belstone Tor - an absorbing moment
to last a lifetime. This Tor is part of a Dartmoor linking landscape with Exmoor where his family lives. No-one
can put words to the mystery of the two-circle sacred site in the sign of Gemini, on the Michael Line…. such are
the roots of the mystic within us.

(Photo: Tony Barstow)
This young adult also chose to crawl through the
‘Initiation stone’ hole in a rock over the river
at Scorhill and contemplate the stone circle nearby.
Making mature decisions is a powerful tool for adulthood, as is also following curiosity and the
deep absorbent levels of the mind.

The Gatekeeper Trust was created in remembrance of the gatekeeper butterfly which flew at the gateways of natural landscapes, dropping golden scales onto the ground as it flew. Thus holding the golden light in our hearts, it takes its natural course to leave golden footsteps where we walk. These are the signs of inner leadership, as Nature responds with her expansive light and thus ‘Gaiain Humans’ are being born within us. Nature is our Teacher.

Editor Charlotte Yonge, Tony Barstow, Jane Knight co-editor, July 2026.