see their website!

Either it’s because the work I do involves me in being exposed to so many wonderful initiatives I’m just getting used to them, or it’s because I’m becoming jaded in my old age, but I have a confession to make…a part of me (and only a part) groans when I get yet another petition, or message that calls on everybody to be good in some way. It seems so obvious doesn’t it? We don’t have to keep affirming that we want peace and love and so on do we? I’ve sat through some talks where the only message seems to be ‘we want more peace, more love, we must be nicer and so on.’ Well of course! Can we now move on to the practical details of how we can actually realize these ideals?

So when I got an email about the new initiative started by Karen Armstrong called ‘The Charter for Compassion’ my first reaction was ‘Well here’s another one’. But then I remembered a book of hers I have: ‘The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions’ which surveys that fascinating period when religious thinking took a leap forward, and the Buddha, Mahavira, Jesus, Confucius, and the Greek philosophers were busy feeding new ideas into the Collective. Armstrong’s work is really good, and when I looked beyond the initial presentation of the Charter (whose videoclip is given below) I saw that indeed practical initiatives are flowing from this idea. To see the website go here.

The internet is helping initiatives like this work more effectively. There is another one that also seems to facilitate effective action, and uses the power of the web. It’s called ‘Buy 1 Give 1′ and enables people to easily set up arrangements so that with every purchase a donation is made:

This is how they explain it: ‘At Buy1GIVE1 we’re ‘crazy’ enough to be creating a different world; one where we’re all playing a part in making a difference. It’s a world where every purchase makes a difference. For example:
Every time you buy a book, a tree is planted;
Every time you dine out, a hungry person gets fed;
Every time you visit the doctor, someone in need receives care.’

I’ve been looking for a project that links publishing with tree-planting in this direct one-to-one way. We’re going to use it for the next book the Oak Tree Press publishes (Journeys of the Soul – Nuinn’s biography hopefully to be released early next year). See the Buy1Give1 site here.

You might be interested in this project: from The Friends of St.Nectan’s glen site: Saint Nectan’s Glen is an area of woodland in Trethevy near Tintagel, north Cornwall stretching for around one mile along both banks of the Trevillet River. The Glen’s most prominent feature is Saint Nectan’s Kieve, a spectacular sixty foot waterfall. It is spectacular and we believe it should be preserved for future generations in it’s pristine state and as it is for sale, we’re concerned about the future of this sacred site, so we have set out to buy to keep it as a sacred place of pilgrimage for all to enjoy.

This is a special interest group set up for the establishment of a group of trustees, friends and benefactors to collectively buy the sacred site near Tintagel, Cornwell, which was the place where King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table went to be anointed by the monks there before setting out on their Grail journey.

These days it’s still a site for modern pilgrims and spiritual seekers alike who are drawn to the Arthurian sacred sites and to the magnificence of Cornish coast and temperate rainforest. St Nectan’s Glen has been for sale for about three years. Here’s an advertisement for the property:

http://www.tintagelweb.co.uk/For%20Sale.htm

We are in the process of setting up a collective of investors who will buy into St Nectan’s Glen as trustees and we are also be registering it as a non-profit charity organization so that it will be a place of spiritual pilgrimage rather than a profit-making commercial operation, to preserve it’s spiritual value and not to taint it with too much commercialism.

We need new nursery rhymes and songs that reflect the very different world we live in now…  OBOD member Claire Gilbert has created some fabulous new songs with great lyrics like: ‘I like worms: They don’t sting and they don’t have germs’. From her websection on ReverbNation:

Claire is a nursery nurse and has worked with young children in many different settings since 1991. Throughout that time she has enjoyed most of all encouraging and developing the children’s interest in music and in the natural environment, both of which she is passionate about. Although she fully appreciates the rich heritage and musical importance of nursery rhymes, she thought it was about time someone came up with some new material for children to enjoy that reflects the wide range of cultures and influences within the modern UK population. So with a sprinkling of inspiration she started to write some herself.

Paul is an accomplished musician experienced in composing, performing, recording and producing many different genres of music. He has been the front man of the UK’s premiere Jethro Tull tribute band The Dayglo Pirates for 11 years and is one half of the rock duo Sossity, writing and performing new and exciting material with his wife Marcie, an accomplished singer and flautist. He also composes and records ambient music as a solo artist.

We have been developing this music together, writing parts to be played on real instruments to create a full and unique sound, in contrast to the cheaply made synthesised music that is more often available for young children these days. We believe that they deserve better efforts… Hear the music now!

Read this description of London’s Camelot and the Secrets of the Grail – a new book by Christopher Street of ‘Earthstars’ fame:

Only one place actually called Camelot appears on old maps. So far it has been overlooked by those in search of this legendary location. It is hidden in woods on the outskirts of London. Archaeological digs show it had a massive drawbridge over a moat, walls five and a half feet thick and a dungeon. It also has apparitions of a Guinevere-like “White Lady” and is regarded locally as a place of visions, healing and inspiration, with some very definite and intriguing connections to the Grail Myths and Arthurian Legends. . .   Was the real Camelot here in London? What is its Round table? Is its holy well haunted by a Grail Maiden? Is Arthur’s sword-in-the-stone still in London, built into a wall?

Available as an e-book or a paperback. More details from www.earthstars.co.uk

Lady Godiva in Pre-Raphaelite style by John Collier

You think I’m joking?
From the BBC website:

“A giant human puppet of Lady Godiva and three 30ft (9.1m) crocheted lions are among the artworks selected to showcase British culture at the 2012 Olympics. More than 2,000 entries were received in what the Arts Council dubbed “the most ambitious and wide-ranging art prize in the UK”. The 12 winning designs, from Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the nine English regions, will share £5.4m….
Coventry icon Lady Godiva will be recreated as a giant human puppet and lead a cast of thousands in a processional performance, before making her journey to London.”
More here

The accomplished writer Elizabeth Cruse set off a few weeks ago to find out what a mysterious order of Druids gets up to on ‘The Continent’ – as that vast expanse of territory that lies beyond the safety of our shores is known. This is her report:

OBOD Retreat in the Forest of Broceliande – 22^nd – 25^th October 2009

Ozegan plays the bombard in the Val Sans Retour

In Le Val Sans Retour (The Valley of No Return), in the magical forest of Broceliande, the great enchantress, Morgaine le Fay, entertained her many lovers. But her beauty and enticements were a trap for mortal men. Once in her enchanted valley, they were unable to escape, held prisoner forever. Only one man sat down to feast with Morgaine and left the valley unharmed. This was Sir Lancelot whose heart was so entirely given to Arthur’s queen, Guinevere, that he was impervious to Morgaine le Fay’s charms and quit the valley without a backward glance. In so doing he broke the spell forever and all her other lovers were set free.

This story was one of many told to a group of us in Brittany by the extraordinary Breton musician and storyteller, Ozegan. (Many of you will remember his stirring Breton pipe music and flamboyant jester’s costume at the Summer Assembly in 2008.)  He it was who had organised the first ever OBOD retreat in Brocéliande this October.  I had long wanted to visit the forest where some say Merlin was tricked into an enchanted slumber by the fairy woman Vivien (or Nimue) and had booked as soon as I saw the announcement in Touchstone. Trois jours en Brocéliande sur les traces du grand cerf blanc. Who could resist? So, taking my courage and rusty French by the scruff of their necks, I had caught the night boat to St Malo, setting foot on the land of Brittany as the tattered cloud flags of dawn were flying in front of a fiery sky.  Now, here I was up on a hillside above the tarn called the Mirror of Morgaine listening to the harsh notes of Ozegan’s bombard (an early version of the oboe) echoing across the valley.  Mist cloaked the hills in the distance but near at hand sun sparked rainbows off cobwebs and warmed the grey rocks of Merlin’s throne.

Falling into my mind, like the gold and crimson autumn leaves that embellished the Breton woods and countryside come a succession of pictures and sounds:

The first night – a ceremony at the scared well of St Onenn, who is the patron saint of the little church in Trehorenteuc where we were staying.
Cold brilliant stars, frosty Milky Way arcing overhead, candles flickering and wavering cries of owls alternately far away and near at hand.  A scary descent to the healing waters (good for dropsy and eye problems) down at the bottom of crumbling steps. A spiritual entry into the other world and a return to the gentle welcome of my companions for the week.

On the following murky misty morning we gathered around the fire that burned in the salon of the gîte where we were staying. Ozegan played his psaltery, a medieval stringed instrument, plucked with quills of goose and crow or played with a bow. The alternate sounds of harp and wild violin. With only the fire for light we were translated to the Middle Ages.

A talk delivered by Phillip with his customary grace and clarity (and in French) under the ancient beams of La Maison des Sources next door to the gite. A large audience of druids and others including some mysterious men in black. Afterwards a Samhuinn ceremony infused with Gallic vigour and unpredictability. The original Samhuinn ceremony was given to OBOD by Breton druids so it was a special privilege to be part of this ritual in Brittany.  The Druid prayer was recited in Breton, French, English and German. This nicely expressed the international nature of Druidry. A chill mystery manifested  with the sudden appearance of the Caillach and her chaudron vorace ready to take away what was no longer needed from the passing year. Walnuts were passed around. Walnuts? No nutcrackers? Dear reader, your guess would have been as good as mine. A zen koan for Samhain.

At the fountain of Barenton we watched the water that wells up into a rectangular chamber bubble from time to time. Chrétien de Troyes mentions this spring in the romance of Yvain describing it as “the spring which boils though its water is colder than marble.”  A hidden frog croaked sweetly along with Ozegan’s recounting of the local legend: that if a woman will look into the water at midnight on a full moon she may see the face of  her soul mate (who may, but will not necessarily turn out to be, her husband). Here it was, according to the story that Calogrenant was defeated by the Black Knight who  “came on swifter than an eagle, looking as fierce as a lion” and later Yvain came to avenge his cousin’s disgrace. Walking the long twisting path through the woods up to this fountain it was easy to imagine a knight on a charger picking his way delicately between the trees.

The Arthurian legends were never far from our minds.  The local church restored in the 1940s and 50s by the Abbé Henri Gillard has stained glass windows depicting aspects of the Grail mysteries and there is a modern mosaic of the great white hart surrounded by crimson snarling lions.

Photo by Daniel Michaut www.moissonneur-de-lumiere.com

Did we visit Merlin’s tomb and the house of Vivien? Or were they ancient Neolithic burial chambers, their once proud stones reduced to jagged teeth of rock by five thousand years of quiet endurance? It was close to Samhain and we were in Broceliande. The veils between the worlds were thin. So we slipped easily between them.

It being France food was an important part of the retreat – a torte of caramelised onions, honey and raisins remains in my memory. One day the  soup was accompanied by the wild skirling of the cornemuse (Breton bagpipe).  The grace and generosity of Michel, Marilyn and Roger of La Maison des Sources are alone worthy of a medieval ballad.

Merlin said that the most wonderful thing in the world is the scent of approaching events. Like an unseen garden full of herbs, roses and compost, the savours of a visit to Broceliande with my Breton brothers and sisters in Druidry had been drifting towards me on the wind of time for several months.  Now those three days, the new friends, and the enchantment are woven into my being.  My thanks to all who made it possible, not least, Merlin himself, elusive and ubiquitous.  As they say, with a French accent, awen, awen, awen.

(You can find the image of the mosaic  here and more information about the church at Trehorenteuc here)

Elizabeth Cruse

‘And then there is the sense that in spite of Everything – I suppose this is the Ultimate Mystical conviction – in spite of Pain, in spite of Death, in spite of Horror, the universe is in some way All Right, capital A, capital R. . .’

Aldous Huxley

Woke up this morning with the realisation that every day, like thousands (perhaps millions) of Mac users I am confronted by a symbol that says to my subconscious: “Go on, take another bite!”

I am in relationship with Eve every day.