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Summary - click on links to go to full details:
- Samhain Bardic Showcase, Sat 1 Nov, Bath
- In the Heart of the Goddess Priestess/Priest of Avalon Three Spiral Training 2008/9/10, Starts Sat 1 Nov-Sun 2 Nov, Glastonbury, Somerset
- Anderida Gorsedd – Samhain Ritual, Sun 2 Nov, Long Man of Wilmington, Sussex
- The Gorsedd of Bards of Caer Abiri, Sun 2 Nov, Avebury, Wiltshire
- Sacred Landscape, Mandalas and Techniques of Spiritual Development in Tibet, Fri 7 Nov, Oxford
- Activism with Heart Weekend, Fri 7-Sun 9 Nov, Unstone Grange, Derbyshire
- Simon Chadwick: Music on the Queen Mary Harp, Sun 9 Nov, Edinburgh
- Robert Graves' White Goddess: The Book and the Goddess, Tue 11 Nov, London
- Film: Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion, Fri 14 Nov, Oxford
- Ripples and Reflections: Lindow Man and his Stories, Fri 14-Sat 15 Nov, Manchester Museum
- Phylak - Spagyric Medicine seminar, Sun 16 Nov, London
- The Struggle for the Spirit: Being Tibetan in Beijing, Fri 21 Nov, Oxford
- Kissing The Hag : The Dark Goddess and the Unacceptable Nature of Woman, Sat 22 Nov, London
- Scintillations in Mauve: An Introduction to the Work of Kenneth Grant, Thu 27 Nov, London
Saturday 1 November 2008
SAMHAIN BARDIC SHOWCASE
St Marks Community Centre, Widcombe, Bath
7pm, £3/2 on door.
To celebrate the launch of The Book of the Bardic Chair 2008 edition,
Edited by Kevan Manwaring, Foreword by Ronald Hutton
Published by RJ Stewart Books, USA
Poetry, storytelling and acoustic music featuring Bards of Bath & special guests
Come and celebrate the Celtic New Year with us! Adults & accompanied children only. Bring a pumpkin to honour your ancestors. Refreshments, but you’re welcome to BYO.
Tel: 01225 334204 bard [at] tallyessin [dot] com( Email), Website
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Starts Saturday 1 to Sunday 2 November 2008
IN THE HEART OF THE GODDESS: Priestess/Priest of Avalon Three Spiral Training 2008/9/10
Glastonbury, Somerset
With Kathy Jones and Ren Chapman
This three year training offers women and men the opportunity to journey ever more deeply into the Heart of the Goddess in Avalon, learning what it truly means to become a Priestess or Priest of the Goddess and of Avalon, with the help of teachers Ren Chapman and Kathy Jones, the course founder.
Spiral One with Ren Chapman
Begins 1st, 2nd November 2008
During the First Spiral participants meet eight times in the year at the psychically potent crossquarter and quarter Sunfire festivals of the Goddess, beginning at Samhain. The First Spiral follows the ceremonial cycle of the wheel of the Year, learning to honour and celebrate the many faces of the Goddess in Brigit's Isles, culminating in a ceremony of Self Dedication to the Goddess.
In the Second Spiral Students learn the practical skills of priestessing for the Goddess and if successful Self-Dedicate as Priestess or Priest of the Goddess.
In the Third Spiral students complete a nine month daily spiritual Practice of the Presence of the Lady of Avalon in order to Self-Initiate as Priestesses or Priests of Avalon.
The Course Foundation text is "Priestess of Avalon, Priestess of the Goddess" by Kathy Jones (Ariadne Publications).
For further information and application forms see Website.
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Sunday 2 November 2008
ANDERIDA GORSEDD – SAMHAIN RITUAL
The Long Man of Wilmington, Sussex
The Anderida Gorsedd is a Druid group, facilitated by Damh the Bard and Cerri Lee, that has been holding regular open rituals at the Long Man of Wilmington since Spring Equinox 2000.
Anderida Gorsedd open Samhain ritual. Meet 1.30-2pm near the Long Man of Wilmington car park, for a walk up the hill at 2pm. Then after retire to the Giants Rest pub for a social drink.
FFI anderida [at] BardicArts [dot] com( Email)
Website
See also our Directory page.
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Sunday 2 November 2008
THE GORSEDD OF BARDS OF CAER ABIRI
Samhain Gathering
Avebury, Wiltshire
Please note that the Gorsedd has been cancelled due to Morgan's ill health.
Muster at Noon beside the Café before making the God and Goddess walks to the Sun Circle.
This is an open Gorsedd that welcomes all who come with good intent whatever their personal path.
Do feel free to bring your songs and poetry, as well as contributions of bread and mead if you wish. But most of all bring your heart.
Please contact Morgan 01458 835518 if you have any queries.
For further details see our Caer Abiri page.
For information about accommodation around Avebury see our Accomodation page.
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Friday 7 November 2008
SACRED LANDSCAPE, MANDALAS AND TECHNIQUES OF SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT IN TIBET
NOA Community Centre (Ferry Centre), Summertown, Oxford
Dr Charles Ramble for the Jupiter Trust. 7:30pm. £8 (Friends £3).
Every year, thousands of Tibetans embark on pilgrimages, ranging in duration from a few days to several years, following well-established routes that take them across and beyond the plateau to celebrated shrines, monasteries, mountains, caves and lakes. The Tibetans' criss-crossing of this vast territory on foot is seen by some as a political act of re-appropriating a stolen birthright. But in spiritual terms, Tibetans believe that their land is populated by dangerous and potentially hostile entities that opposed the introduction of Buddhism until they were subdued and bound with oaths to protect the doctrine by Tantric masters, such as Padmasambhava. While Tibetan commentators see pilgrimage as one of the more basic forms of religious activity, the natural landscape is also construed as an external projection of the inner person, idealised as the three-dimensional "psycho-cosmogram" known as the mandala. This presentation will examine some of the ways in which Tibetans perceive and represent their landscape, and how some of these representations feature in the more esoteric techniques of spiritual development.
Charles Ramble is Lecturer in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies at the Oriental Institute of Oxford University. He has been spent 15 years in Nepal and Tibet, and has published four books corresponding to his main research interests: pilgrimage, the Bön religion, Himalayan civil religion and social history. In 2006 he was elected President of the International Association for Tibetan Studies. He is closely involved with several charitable organisations dedicated to education and cultural revitalisation in Tibetan communities in the Himalayan region.
FFI ring 01865 407490
Trust Website
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Friday 7 (evening) to Sunday 9 November 2008
ACTIVISM WITH HEART WEEKEND
Unstone Grange, Derbyshire
Intensive, interactive and exciting weekend, exploring our connection to the Earth and our commitment to working for world and personal change.
Includes a varied workshop program, community rituals and ceremonies, sharing feelings, and planning action, as well as drumming, song and storytelling.
For anyone concerned about the state of the world – whether you are already living sustainably, an activist/campaigner, or want to get started.
Facilitated and led by the Elementals (Glennie Kindred, Jeannie Thompson, Marion McCartney and Rosemary Greenwood).
Cost – £60 (Benefit) £100 (low wage) £130 (moderate wage)
This includes accommodation and food - Book early as places limited.
Enquiries to Marion: 01773 852485 mazmc [at] macunlimited [dot] net( Email)
Or Glennie Kindred 01629 825 675 or glenniekindred [at] w3z [dot] co [dot] uk( Email)
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Sunday 9 November 2008
SIMON CHADWICK: Medieval Music on the Queen Mary Harp
National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh
After the success of the Sunday afternoon event in April of this year, I have been asked by the Museum to repeat the event.
I'll be playing my decorated replica of the "Queen Mary" harp in the gallery beside the original on Sunday 9th November.
I'm doing three short performances of about 20 minutes each, at 12.45, 1.45 and 2.45pm - I'm planning to play a battle tune, a grand formal Gaelic lament and some medieval church music, to illustrate different aspects of the early clàrsach tradition from the 14th to 18th centuries. Though the format of each 20 minute slot will be the same, I'll play different pieces of music each time so you are welcome to stay for more than one!
This event is a rare chance to hear historical Gaelic harp music in Edinburgh, and is all the more exciting for being in the same room as the two surviving medieval Scottish harps.
The venue is the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh, in the medieval gallery off the Hawthornden Court: beside the Beaton Panels (from St Andrews Castle) and the tomb and relics of Mary Queen of Scots. Admission is free and it would be great to see you then.
More info on the instrument is here.
For further information: Simon Chadwick, mob +44 (0) 7792 336804, Website, simon [at] simonchadwick [dot] net( Email).
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Tuesday 11 November 2008
ROBERT GRAVES' WHITE GODDESS: The Book and the Goddess
Treadwell's Bookshop, 34 Tavistock St., Covent Garden WC2E 7PB
Grevel Lindop
7.15 for 7.30 pm start. £5.
Grevel Lindop, editor of the latest and definitive edition of Robert Graves' classic, speaks about how The White Goddess was written, the vision of the Goddess that gave rise to it, and his own adventures in working on the text.
This is a repeat of the sold-out lecture given in April 2008.
BOOKING: Please book in advance via info [at] treadwells-london [dot] com( email) or Tel. +44 (0)20 7240 8906 or via Skype at treadwells-london. Map on our website.
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Friday 14 November 2008
FILM: Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion
NOA Community Centre (Ferry Centre), Summertown, Oxford
(Dir. Tom Peosay, 2002, 104 min) For the Jupiter Trust. 7:30pm. £8 (Friends £3).
Ten years in the making, this award-winning feature-length documentary was filmed during nine journeys through Tibet, India and Nepal. With an unprecedented richness of imagery, from rarely seen rituals in remote monasteries to horse races with Khamba warriors, Tibet: Cry of the Snow Lion both presents a vivid picture of Tibet's traditional culture and powerfully chronicles its more recent tragic past. The film gives a brief account of Tibetan history, the lead up to the Dalai Lama's dramatic escape into exile, and the subsequent attempts of the Tibetan resistance movement to fight against Chinese occupation. It graphically captures the devastating effects of the Chinese occupation and shows rarely seen archival footage of the 1987 demonstrations in Lhasa that were met with harsh Chinese suppression. It also contains some spellbinding interviews with Tibetans who have suffered the brunt of Chinese brutality. Despite the unimaginable suffering, what comes across is the indomitable spirit of the Tibetan people, which, extraordinarily, seems free of hatred. This is a profound and inspiring film. If you see only one film about Tibet, this is the one to see.
FFI ring 01865 407490
Trust Website
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Friday 14 to Saturday 15 November 2008
RIPPLES AND REFLECTIONS: LINDOW MAN AND HIS STORIES
The Kanaris Lecture Theatre, The Manchester Museum
(Provisional programme)
Friday 14th November 2008
6.30-8.00 pm Keynote speaker R.E. Hutton: Title to be announced
Saturday 15th November 2008
- 10.00-10.30: Registration
- 10.30-11.15: Jody Joy (British Museum): The death of Lindow Man: Multiple Interpretations
- 11.15-12.00: Bryan Sitch (The Manchester Museum): Murder, Mosses and Mythic Crystallization: Applying Sacrificial Theory to Lindow Man
- 12.00-12.15: Coffee (provided)
- 12.10-12.55: Emma Restall Orr: The Quest and Experience of Deep Connections with Land and Ancestry: A Pagan Perspective of Lindow Man
- 12.55-14.00: Lunch (provided)
- 14.00-14.45: Don Brothwell (University of York): Comparing Lindow Man with other Bog Bodies
- 14.45-15.30: Manchester Museum team: Making Exhibitions of Ourselves: Lindow Man at the Manchester Museum (provisional title)
- 15.30-16.00: Tea (provided)
- 16.00-16.30: Q/A session and summary
There is no charge for the Friday evening lecture.
Saturday day school: £45 lunch included. Student places (limited number) £25 lunch included.
For further information please contact Phyllis Stoddart on 0161 275 2643, or phyllis.stoddart [at] manchester [dot] ac [dot] uk( email her).
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Sunday 16 November 2008
PHYLAK - SPAGYRIC MEDICINE Seminar
Regent's College Conference Centre, Regent Park, London NW1 4NS
In order to learn or rediscover Spagyric and holistic medicine, PHYLAK Sachsen UK Ltd is pleased to invite you to our November seminar: Meeting Room F, 10.00 - 16.30
Phylak Spagyric medicine is an ancient traditional art and science of healing with medicinal plants, which has survived an existence of 500 years. It is continuously evolving with the new energy shift and works hand in hand with the latest scientific knowledge, while respecting the ancient spiritual wisdom. These plant-based Phylak Spagyric essences are totally non toxic and may be taken simultaneously with any alternative or allopathic treatments. Phylak Spagyric medicine is a wonderful blend of modern herbal medicine, classical homeopathy and aromatherapy. Rich in mineral salts and trace elements, it brings to the body the whole healing potential and energy of the plants.
This project is based on the original work of Paracelsus, the great Swiss healer and one of the first members of the medical profession to advocate the use of holistic healing. Phylak Spagyric philosophy establishes parallels with many concepts of the Chinese traditional medicine, as with the chakras, the body energy centres in Ayurvedic medicine.
Dr J. Naidu, a research scientist from Switzerland, specialising in medicinal plants, who lectures on the international circuit, will conduct the seminar in London on 16.11.08.
Our updated information package in this area of natural medicine, (over 300 pages, free to all attendees) will be extensively discussed, including a good coverage on the new essence Tilia, with many case studies.
For further information see Website.
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Friday 21 November 2008
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE SPIRIT: Being Tibetan in Beijing
NOA Community Centre (Ferry Centre), Summertown, Oxford
Dechen Pemba for the Jupiter Trust. 7:30pm. £8 (Friends £3).
Following more than five years of involvement in Tibet-related activities in Europe, Dechen Pemba moved to Beijing in September 2006 to learn Chinese, and to see for herself what life in China was like. This talk presents an overview of her experiences in the twenty- two months that she lived in Beijing, during the run-up to the Olympic Games. During this time she travelled to Tibet several times and got to know many Tibetans living in Beijing. The Tibetans she met fell into very distinct categories in terms of their integration into Chinese society, and in terms of their political affiliations. During her trips to Tibet, she was also struck by the profound differences between Tibetan and Chinese culture, and by how much the deeply spiritual and religious beliefs of Tibetans seemed at odds with the fast-paced urban life in Beijing. Dechen will also talk about her own personal story, and the events leading finally to her deportation back to London in July 2008.
Dechen Pemba is a 30 year old British Tibetan. After graduating from University College London with a degree in English and German Literature, she worked briefly in publishing in London, before working voluntarily for Amnesty International as translator for two nuns and former political prisoners from Tibet. She moved to Beijing in 2006 after working for four years for the International Campaign for Tibet in Berlin. Dechen Pemba currently lives in London.
FFI ring 01865 407490
Trust Website
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Saturday 22 November 2008
KISSING THE HAG: The Dark Goddess and the Unacceptable Nature of Woman
The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, London WC1A 1LY
Workshop and Book Launch
Emma Restall Orr's book, Kissing the Hag, is about the many faces of the dark goddess of nature and how she has a tendency to make us impossible and miserable. It is an uncompromising book, thick with women's stories, taking the reader from the wild freedom of childhood, and on through the complications of our female nature: the dismissive and frigid, the promiscuous, the needy and demanding, the destructive, the manipulative, to the boring old bag. It is a thought-provoking book, a challenging book, and perhaps most of all a book of devotion. The workshop will be an opportunity to explore these aspects of nature - it is for wild women devoted to the dark goddess and those who fear her, and for the men who have to deal with women who are bloody wonderful and bloody difficult.
Emma Restall Orr is head of The Druid Network, an organisation she set up after stepping away as joint chief of The British Druid Order in 2002. She founded Honouring the Ancient Dead (HAD) in 2004, an advocacy group working with archaeologists, museums and heritage bodies about increasing respect for ancient British human remains. She is a teacher, priest and writer, her previous books including Living Druidry, Druid Priestess and Ritual.
A reservation is required. For further information and to book reservations: 020 7405 2120 or atlantis [at] theatlantisbookshop [dot] com( Email) or Website.
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Thursday 27 November 2008
SCINTILLATIONS IN MAUVE: An Introduction to the Work of Kenneth Grant
Treadwell's Bookshop, 34 Tavistock St., Covent Garden WC2E 7PB
This event is now sold out.
Michael Staley
7.15 for 7.30 start. £5.
British magician Kenneth Grant (b. 1924) is a much-admired figure in the world of Thelema and post-Crowleyan British occultism. Exponent of a distinct magical gnosis and writer of many books, he has produced a formidable and highly creative body of work, expressing approaches which have evolved throughout the years. At the heart of this work is the series of Typhonian Trilogies, commencing with The Magical Revival in 1972 and culminating in The Ninth Arch in 2002. In this talk Michael Staley will discuss the fundamental aspects of this work, as well as the ways in which Grant set out to develop Thelema and creative occultism in the light of the Typhonian or Draconian Current.
Grant’s work has grown out of an extraordinary life. He had a passion for magic, mysticism and comparative religion by the time he met Aleister Crowley in 1944 - a contact which made a profound impact upon him. Later, he and his wife had a close association with the occult artist Austin Osman Spare. Spare’s work also had a huge influence upon Grant, but it was through his own magical and mystical experience that Grant was able to assimilate the work of these two and many others including Woodroffe, Massey, Blavatsky, and Lovecraft to form a vision that suffuses all his work but finds its most profound flowering in the Typhonian Trilogies.
This lecture focuses on Grant’s work as expressed in the Typhonian Trilogies, and lays the foundation for a forthcoming series of talks which will focus more closely on specific elements of his work.
Michael Staley is a prominent member of the magical order headed by Kenneth Grant, edits the well-respected journal ‘Starfire’, and is the founder of Starfire Publishing Ltd. Steeped in Thelema since the late 1960s, he speaks from time to time on aspects of the work of Aleister Crowley, Kenneth Grant, Austin Osman Spare, and others.
BOOKING: Please book in advance via info [at] treadwells-london [dot] com( email) or Tel. +44 (0)20 7240 8906 or via Skype at treadwells-london. Map on our website.
