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The course has the nature of a quiet miracle - guided energetically and sensitively by John's excellent coaching.

JOCELYN JONES

HOMOEOPATH, BRIGHTON & HOVE, UK

Newsletter No. 4: May 2008

Beltane Edition: Taurus & The Bounty of Spring

Contents:

  1. The Significance of Beltane, the Spring Fire Festival
  2. The Taurus Cycle:  The Bounty or Great Full-Ness of Spring
  3. Activities to Help You Embody the Energies of the Taurus Cycle
  4. Music, Books & Films To Inspire The Taurean Mood
  5. The Alchemical Journey Spring Programme of Events & Workshops
  6. Astrodrama: Awakening the Gods Within

Beltane Laxmi MayPole

1. The Significance of Beltane, the Spring Fire Festival

Beltane is an ancient Celtic Fire Festival which predicts or announces the coming of Summer. Beltane is celebrated at the beginning of May, and has survived in our modern traditions as MayDay, and the familiar activities of maypole dancing, morris dancing and well-dressing. Astrologically, Beltane is known as a "cross-quarter day" and marks the mid-point (15 degrees) of the Sun's journey through the astrological sign of Taurus, precisely midway between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. (Strictly speaking, this would make Beltane 5th May.) The significance of this date is that marks the point when the rate of acceleration of the Sun in the sky is checked. You will no doubt have noticed just how much the daylight has been extending in recent weeks - the sun rising earlier and setting later, with noticeable increases in the length of the days. The length of the days continue to increase until the Summer Solstice on 21st June, but, from now on, at a declining rate per day.

Beltane is traditionally a time when fires are lit on peaks of politically prominent hills to mark the blossoming of Spring, which helds the coming of summer. In ancient Ireland, the most famous of these Fire Festivals was traditionally held at Uisnech, the "navel of Ireland", that marks its ritual centre. Beltane coincided with the ancient pastoral event of moving livestock to the summer pastures.

The Hawthorn Blossom: "Bringing Home the May"

Hawthorn BeltaneClassic signals of Beltane in the natural are the blossoming of the Hawthorn, commonly called the "May Bush". The Hawthorn is also known as the "faerie tree", and is one of the most wild and sacred of our native trees. Traditionally at MayDay or Beltane, houses would be decked out with May blossoms. Young men would sing songs about gathering "knots" of hawthorn blossom, (the famous rhyme "gathering nuts in May" is actually a mistranslation - nuts don't grow in May of course! -it originally referred to "gathering knots of May blossoms"). The hawthorn tree is thought to be a point of entry to the otherworld.

The May Queen, The Green Man & The Celebration of Nature's Fertility

Beltane MaidenMayDay celebrations always feature a ritual drama which includes a May Queen, who wears a garland of may blossom arround her head. She represents the fertile goddess. The ceremony also includes a Green Man, representative of the fertile spirit of the new vegetation. The "merry month of May", then, is a time of joyful sexuality, the onset of the growing season, when folk would go around "wearing the green", and claiming their sexual prowess!

The Maypole is an obvious symbol of fertility and the dancing around it, a symbol of new life and sexual union. The male, phallic symbol of the pole, meets the symbol of the discuss at the top of the pole from which colourful ribbons are hung. The wearing of ribbons is synonymous with this union of male and female. The maypole itself may, in earlier times, have been an actual May tree, though the hawthorn tree seems an unlikely candidate being that it is such a bent and twisted tree; a straight tree seems obviously more appropriate for such a ritual!

Web References:

The following song is often associated with Beltane, and it is one of our oldest surviving folk songs:

Sumer is a-coming in,
Loudly sing, cuckoo!
Groweth seed and bloweth mead [as in, meadow]
And springeth wood anew.
Sing, cuckoo!
Sing, cuckoo! Sing, cuckoo! Sing, cuckoo!

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2. The Taurus Cycle: (19th Apr - 20th May)

The Bounty or Great-Fullness of Spring

Taurus BullEach month on the Alchemical Journey we explore our own lives through the perspective of the sign of the zodiac through which the sun is travelling during that month. We do this by drawing on the correspondences that we see in the natural world and imagine that we ourselves might be undergoing similar types of transformations within ourselves that we see in natural world. Each sign of the zodiac can be understood in this way and the stories of the fabulous animals and beings that we meet along the way can help us to understand that story, that journey. Through the process of enquiry, then, we can explore what is happening in our lives from the perspective of each sign, regardless of which sign of the zodiac we are actually born into.

On 19th April, we moved into the sign of Taurus, the first of the three earth signs, and what a contrast to Aries! While the impulsive Ram goes chasing after what it wants with wild abandon and irresistible charisma, Taurus the Bull quietly draws toward itself what it needs for its own sustenance and well-being. Taurus draws on the magnetism of Earth, and the attractive power of Venus, our brightest and most beautiful planetary neighbour and fabled goddess of love, also known as Aphrodite. So through connecting to the energy of the sign Taurus, we can learn to attract and magnetize things to us, by being really attentive to and appreciating what is right in front of us. Taurus teaches us about abundance by teaching us the value of “enough”; that we actually have everything we need to live a happy and fulfilled life already, if we could only appreciate it! The power of manifestation from the Taurean perspective, then, requires us to fully embody and inhabit an experience of gratitude and appreciation for what is already here.

TaurusTaurus is the Spring Bull, focused on sensuality, pleasure, enjoyment, ease. Pleasure-seeking and pain-avoiding, Taurus favours what is nice, what is sweet and what is easy. It stands for that basic drive within us to pleasure, satisfy and gratify the body, bringing an acute awareness of the five senses: Of Sight, of Sound, of Touch, of Smell, Of Taste. The Bull is a horny beast, erotic and sensual. Taurus desires cornucopia - the horn of plenty in all things. Taurus is expectant of the Great Full-Ness of Life; voluptuous, fertile, seductive, embodied, rich in spirit and gratefully abundant. Taurus has great affinity to food and sustenance and enjoys the best of culinary delights. This is a slow, deliberate, stubborn and conservative sign. Taurus is concerned with appreciation and what you appreciate appreciates. Taurus is concerned with money and security, assessing assets and resources, taking care of what it has and is concerned with the prosperity of life. Taurus is a sign of beauty. Physical beauty, artistic beauty, beautiful music. Taurus is associated with the throat, with the dulcet tones of the voice. We find Taurus well-expressed in the professions of farming, banking, accountancy, fund-raising, music, massage therapy, sports which involve physical prowess and patience, beauty and nursing to name but a few.

Lessons of Taurus

Taurus Money MiserEverything I've written above sounds great, of course, but then every sign has its shadow perspective, the perspective that is rooted in fear, rather than love. The shadow of Taurus can be seen in the tendency toward acquisitiveness and the hoarding of money and resources, driven by fear of poverty and the belief in scarcity and lack. Security expressed in such a way becomes a way of closing down from the natural abundance, or "enoughness" of life and acquiring as much stuff as possible and feathering your own nest, to protect yourself from the uncertainties of life. This may be culturally acceptable of course, and considered shrewd, sensible budgeting and so on, but if it is driven by the fear of scarcity, then it is actually closing down relationship and shutting off the possibility that the universe will naturally meet your needs.

The Resistance of the Taurean Perspective

When we are living our lives from the Taurean perspective, then we can become very comfortable with what we have. Everything is fine just the way it is, so why change anything? This is part of paradoxical quality of this sign. One the one hand, it's all about gratitude and appreciation, all of which enables to enjoy what we have and be content with a full and rich experience of "enough", with what we appreciate actually appreciating in our experience. On the other hand, we can easily become complacent and believe that that's it, and then put our energy into protecting what we have for the fear of losing it. When fear is predominating, the experience of "enough" is lost and it becomes all about security. So the Taurean perspective can very easily become one that resists the journey of transformation. Certainly, earth offers a natural resistance to fire. In Aries, it was all about creativity and sparks of life. Taurus has a settling influence, but can easily become too settled! After all, when the element of earth is well nourished it is a natural extinguisher for the creative fire. So it is worth asking ourselves this month where in our lives we may becoming complacent with our current situation in life and afraid to change.

Questions to Reflect on in the Taurus Month

Treat these questions with some reverence, for they are your alchemical tools of enquiry, and can be powerful agents of transformation.  So take your time and get to know them.  Allow responses to come but don’t rush to find “answers”.  If you can let the questions be questions, then they have the opportunity to reveal their secrets to you.

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3. Activities to Help You Embody the Energies of the Taurus Cycle

Develop a Gratitude Ritual:  Spend 5-10 minutes thinking about what your grateful for.  You could write it down in your journal or say it out loud.  You could take yourself for a “gratitude walk” each morning, or at some designated point each day, such as after a meal.  You could follow Thea’s example and have a “gratitude bath”.  You may want to find a stone or crystal that is meaningful to you and designate this as your “gratitude rock”. 

Treat Yourself to a Massage: Make this the month where you really treat yourself.  Take time out to pamper your body.  Go to the spa or find a good massage therapist. 

Do Some physical exercise: Go for walks, go to the gym, take up yoga.  Anything where you really get to feel your body.  If you do a lot of mental work especially, do things which get you physically tired.

Work / Spend Time in the Garden: Spend more time in the garden this month, or on the allotment if you have one, or offer to help someone else in their garden if you don’t have one yourself.  Get your hands in the soil and really stay present to what that’s like for you.

Do Some Singing / Take Up Singing Lessons: Taurus rules the throat and singing is a natural Taurean occupation.  Whether you think you can sing or not, why not take it up this month, or do more of it – even if that just means singing in the shower!

Take Stock of Your Financial Assets:  Look at all your accounts.  Become really present to what you have in the bank (whether it’s a positive or negative balance), or in investments, or property or whatever.  Really confront what “you are worth” in financial terms.  Notice your response as you do this.  What are you making it all mean?  In what ways is this impacting upon your sense of self-worth in general?

Have a Look At Your Stuff & Throw Out What You Don’t Need!:  Taurus is about valuing what you have.  If you’ve got more than you need, you’re less likely to value what you do have.  As part of the enquiry into “what is enough?”, have a good look at what your storing, have a think about what you really need and move it on.  Give the charity shops a reason to be grateful to you, or move it on directly to those who might be able to use it.  Freecycle is a good way of moving stuff on.  Check out: www.freecycle.org

4. Music, Books & Films To Inspire The Taurean Mood

I've put together a complilation of songs, films and books for each month of The Alchemical Journey and I'll share a few of these with you below. Why not download some of the songs on to you ipod and get into the Taurean Spirit.

Songs:

Films:

Books:

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5. The Alchemical Journey Spring Programme of Events & Workshops

Full details of all events below:

Coleford (nr Bath) - Sat. 3rd May: Beltane Celebration: Robin & Bina Williamson 
A feast of original, traditional, visionary & spiritual material, and folk music from many roots.
Wesleyan Chapel, Church St, Coleford BA3 5ND (nr. Radstock, south of Bath) - 8.00pm / £10

Bristol - Sat. 17th May:  Month 3 Gemini Workshop: "Communicating with Integrity"
Open to Alchemical Journey 2008-9 participants (Brighton group)
The Pierian Centre, 27 Portland Square, St. Pauls, Bristol BS2 8SA (9.30am – 6pm)

Bristol - Fri 23rd May: A Celebration of Gemini - The Alchemist of Spring's Transformation into Summer: An Open Evening of Song, Story, Poetry & Dance. Presented by John Wadsworth with a host of performers. Price: £5. Venue - to be confirmed.

Brighton - Sun. 25th May: Workshop: "The Alchemy of Creative Manifestation"
An Experiential Journey of Self-Enquiry through the First Three Phases of the Year
365 Ditchling Rd, Brighton BN1 6JU (10am – 6pm). Price: £60. Open to All

Bristol - Sun. 1st June: Workshop: "The Alchemy of Creative Manifestation"
An Experiential Journey of Self-Enquiry through the First Three Phases of the Year
Minerva Centre, 8 Combe Park, Bath BA1 3NP (9.30am – 6.00pm). Open to All
Price:  £60

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To reserve a place at any of these events, please call John on 07869 133759 / 0117 3706213

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6. Astrodrama: Awakening the Gods Within

The Alchemical Journey is presenting a unique 6-Day astrodrama workshop in the summer for Friedel Roggenbuck. If you have ever encountered family constellations work or psychodrama (from where astrodrama originates), then you will recognise the healing power of this type of experiential learning.  Friedel's application of astrodrama and sacred theatre genuinely re-awakens an experience of being in the presence of the "gods", aka the archetypal or mythological powers that express themselves in our lives. It is an extraordinary experience of re-connecting to the sacred, of self-realisation, healing, joy, blessing - hard to describe in words - beautifully and sensitively guided by a formidable facilitator. 

For details, visit: www.astrodrama.co.uk

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