Greetings everyone,summer has been a busy time for us so far. At our July meeting, Nick Cummins, renowned crystal healer, enlightened us about the healing powers of crystals in his very comprehensive talk. Shortly afterwards, on 1st August, we organised a lunchtime Lammas Celebration of Abundance at Seventh Wave, during which we met the bountiful Goddess Demeter with her gorgeous daughter Kore. Demeter bestowed blessings of corn upon us, and we had the opportunity to thank her for all the abundance we have in our life, which I really welcomed. It is so easy and seductive sometimes to feel sorry for ourselves, for what we haven't got or for what we haven't achieved - and to forget that we are so well cared for with food and shelter for example, and that our houses are not being bombed. We also asked Demeter for assistance with projects we would like to bring to fruition over the next months. As part of her blessing, Demeter spoke the following words to us (adapted from Agapi Stassinopoulos):This earth is under my protection, she is my heart.
I love her as a mother loves her only child.
I have no other like her, she is my only daughter.
Every branch in every tree
And every fruit in every seed
And every blade of grass and every field and flower
And every river and all the oceans
And every root that grows deep beneath the earth
I love with all my heart.
I rejoice when things grow,
When I see men take my wheat, make bread,
And feed themselves and their children.
The more they take, the more I give.
That is my nature: life giver, selfless caretaker,
Mother of my children.
And now, my daughter, the earth itself has been abducted,
Raped and polluted,
My heart is ripped by what men have done,
My eyes weep for what they have seen.
My children are hungry and they are starved.
In the midst of plenty there is famine.
I weep but I am angry, angry with the cruelty of man.
What can we do to serve you?
Be kind
Be gentle
Be caring
Be watchful
Be smart.
Educate yourself and learn how your mother is abused
And then take action.
Let's start.
Make this earth whole again,
One seed at a time.
Honour the ground you walk on.
Bless all that you see and touch,
So we can make this earth holy again.
*After Demeter's blessings, we processed into the garden with the most wonderful Lammas bread courtesy of domestic Goddess Helen, and ritually burnt our offerings to Demeter, as well as a Sun King corn doll - to ensure his rebirth next year. We then blessed the Lammas bread with a chant led by Bruce, broke and ate some of the bread, and commenced our delicious Lammas picnic. May this be an abundant, fruitful and joyful harvest time for all of you.As far as creative projects go, my own personal harvest included the Lammas release of a little book on Sacred Goddess Sites in Sicily. It's a 30-page booklet and features many full-colour photographs of some of the sacred sites I visited during my recent journey to Sicily. It is available for £3.50 directly from me, or via post. Contact me on spiritnet@tiscali.co.uk for further information.Upcoming events to look forward to are our next meeting, of course, on Thursday 17th August at 8pm, during which crystal healer and all around spiritual person Toby Knight will delight us with a chakra chanting session and meditation, using his singing bowls.Further ahead, after the success of our Beltane Temple of Sensual Delights in Birmingham last May, we have decided to bring another Temple Event to Leamington Spa in November in line with Samhain. Samhain, for all of our non-Pagan readers, is an ancient Pagan festival, more commonly known as Halloween. It marks the Celtic New Year and is a time where we traditionally remember our Ancestors and contemplate the Mysteries of Death. Our Samhain Temple of Transformation, an evening of Sacred Drama, Dance and Ritual, will take place on Saturday 11th November at 7.30 pm at Trinity Hall (behind Trinity Church), Trinity Street, Leamington Spa. The evening will include a performance of The Descent of Inanna, an interactive Sacred Drama about the Sumerian Goddess Inanna's transformative journey into the Underworld. It promises to be a magical night with oracles, drumming, dance, ceremony and an art exhibition, and marvellously evocative music and dance by DJ and artist Mandy Kasafir of Birmingham's Barefoot Boogie. Further details are to follow on this website, and you can e-mail us at spiritnet@tiscali.co.uk for more information. As usual, this event is drug-, smoke- and alcohol-free.On a final note, if you are concerned about the recent events in the Middle East, please think of supporting Palestinian farmers by buying fairly traded Palestinian olive oil - available at Gaia in Leamington Spa, or via www.equalexchange.co.uk. Even though it may appear like a small drop in the ocean compared to the challenges they face, Palestinian farmers do need strong supply chains and greater consumer awareness. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims of the Middle East crisis at this difficult time.
