It was quite a day on Sunday for the Autumn Equinox. At Avebury it was the 21st Autumn Equinox celebration of the Gorsedd of Bards of Caer Abiri and the completion of its first 20 years. Invited back were some of the people who started it all, including BDO Chief Philip Shallcrass and Prof. Ronald Hutton. It was a much larger group than normal. The event attempted to follow the format of the first event in 1993. There was a God and Goddess Walk, whereas the contemporary version only has a Goddess Walk. Original texts were also used for greeting the Guardian and opening the Quarters. People were invited into the centre to be acknowledged if they had ever carried out any of the key activities at the Gorsedd. Including calling a quarter, doing a bardic performance, embodying the Guardian and taking the Bardic Initiation. There was also an opportunity for individuals to offer their memories of things that had happened in the previous 20 years. I told a story of a tourist invasion at Lammas and a small boy being scared to death when told not to video the event on his iPhone. We had more bardic performances than normal, including a poem from Ash from Glastonbury and jamming with drums and bagpipes. Overall it was a wonderful event and a fitting start to the next 20 years. I had been on my feet for four hours and a two-hour round trip was involved for this event. I didn’t really feel up to going to Glastonbury afterwards but I’m glad I went. I needed to see some people at the Goddess Hall and that turned out to be a wonderful event as well. The path to the Hall was lined with the large stone models that had been used at the Goddess Conference. Inside a labyrinth had been laid out on the floor. After a welcome and grounding, the wheel of eight directions were opened, followed by a call to the centre. There was then a guided meditation through a forest to a crystal cave, with crystal bowls playing during the session. Everyone was then invited to walk the labyrinth. Each person was anointed as they entered. At the centre was a marker showing the point of balance. On reaching this everyone was invited to think about the balance in their own life. Then it was time to leave the labyrinth on the exit path, to be greeted at the other side with a small pine cone and an invite to walk past the large mother figure for inspiration. The Deep Into the Earth I go chant was sung by all during this activity. Uni and Jon performed a wonderful joint song and Katinka led another song. This was following by announcements and the closing of the wheel once again. Certainly a day to remember.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Sep 2013 19:12:29 +0000
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