~moongazy gathering~drumming west kennet~

on the wednesday a group of us ended up a few moments down the road at avebury itself

my friend martin and holly-dog

after martin and i spent some time dowsing we all stopped for tea and food at the national trust cafe before heading a few minutes down the road to the west kennet long barrow, passing silbury hill on the way

i had my shamanic drum with me and so martin, kay and i spent some time in the barrow while i drummed. 

it was the most amazing experience. as we went in martin asked the spirits of the place if they would allow drumming and he had a positive response. we slowly walked down to the far end of the barrow and i slowly started a drumming pattern, one that slowly speeded up. after different periods of time i was drawn to stop~not a conscious decision to stop but almost as if a guiding hand was telling to stop for a short time. 

each time i was allowed to drum for longer periods and finally for the last few it felt as if i were being swept up into something more than just drumming, unconsciously my body would start to sway to the beat and it felt as if i were being drawn up into some ancient rhythm.

we also did a little experimenting, sending kay out to see where the drumming could be heard from~from either side of the entrance she could hear nothing and those sitting in the grass atop the barrow could hear it faintly, as if from a long distance.

finally, thanking the spirits of the place, who i hoped remembered me from last year, we left.

walking back down, we met tilli and chappie heading up, so we joined them and then diverted to the swollowhead spring on the way back down

then it was back to our vehicles and back to 'our' field, driving once again by silbury

next time...open mic acoustic night in calne!

~up, up and away~

things are getting busy here as we are less than a week away from the annual moongazy gathering.

Lilith has been moved from her garage over in burley~which i think is an appropriate place for her to live~she now sits five minutes away in my mums front garden.

we wanted to check for any damp or mould and give her an airing, plus swampy has constructed a new back box for her and a secure place for the leisure battery that is ferret proof.

as usual there s a lot to do, sort out clothes, slowly pack up the camper plus as my sister is cat-sitting i will be making her a cheesecake on tuesday.
 right now the house in in chaos with packing and given the slightly unstable weather here in england right now its a dilemma what to pack!

i have finished writing up the ritual and now need to find a few natural items to take to include in the sacred space.

of course swampy and i will be visiting Glastonbury and Avebury again~we always meet up with our friend the welsh wizard on market day in Glastonbury and as so many of our friends from the gathering will be there we usually end up in the blue note cafe or rainbows end for hot chocolate and cake.

*****

its going to be good to be away from the bricks and mortar, although i will miss my cat-kids so much but my sister is cat-sitting so will be in good hands.
i like nothing better than to sleep in my little crazy french caravan and drink my morning coffee sitting out in the grass with a view of friends bell tents and campers and the distant hill with its ancient barrows and knowing i am greeting the day in such a sacred area for it is easy distance from stonehenge, avebury, silbury hill, west kennet long barrow and glastonbury...plus more sacred sights.

so you can imagine what the energy is like. 

~drumming up the moon*part two~

 

day two of the gathering dawned bright and warm and the temperature rose with the sun.

 

more and more people arrived, tents, caravans and campers sprouted over the field like great toadstools and the laughter and calls of happy folk spread on the breeze.

 

that night we built a large fire and sat around it chatting, laughing, listening to those with the instruments play and sing.

 

T and L had their shaman drums and as the lady moon started to rise they drummed her up to cries and ululations.

 

solstice cafe

new stonewylde bags~we bought two!

beautiful celebration cakes

solstice café and stonewylde stall

our house band

tarot readings



chyna's beautiful works of art

***

 

finally the camp was over and from sunday afternoon we had to start saying goodbye to all our friends~always such a difficult thing to do.

the field slowly emptied until there were only a small group remaining

 

of course we could not go to Glastonbury...

 

 

 

we got there nice and early to get a parking space down the bottom of town by the Abbey and market and met our friends carp and crystal at the blue note café~sitting in the courtyard by star child enjoying a latte to wake me up!

 

 

of course i had to spend some pennies...

 

to add to my glennie kindred library

although i blend my own incense its tradition i buy at least one from starchild~this is Gaia and smells glorious

a beautiful ceramic bowl (dried leaf from Avebury!) and...

a beautiful Tor pendant.

we all left on Wednesday and we made the very small mile or two detour to avebury

then down the road to the west kennet long barrow

 

its hard to describe the feelings i had when i walked into the chamber, making sure there were no other people who were going to follow me in

 

even now thinking back the feelings are strong

 

ancient was one feeling, when you remember that it is a Neolithic barrow, older than the oldest phase of stonehenge, you cannot escape the feeling of age.

 

thoughts of the ancestors also came to me, the people who built this structure, the people living in small communities nearby and why this whole area~silbury, avebury, the sanctuary, windmill hill~was so sacred to them.

it made me think of my ancient ancestors~a part of my family down my maternal line all come from Wiltshire, mostly clustered around amesbury, old sarum and stonehenge~so far i have only gone back 500 years but i secretly wonder if my older ancestors lived in the area thousands of years ago and lived to see these sacred sites.

i really would love to find out...maybe a pathworking would help?

 

i felt a strong energy there

some people maybe don't because it is a chamber of the dead, but as i went further into the chamber i could feel it buzzing around me~it  had a smell of rain and damp earth and old, old stones

 

i strongly felt the goddess there but maybe she was following me...