• Home
• The Journey »
  • What is The Alchemical Journey?
  • What is Alchemy?
  • What's The Glastonbury Zodiac?
  • How will it benefit me?
  • How Do I get involved?
• The Route Map»
  • Programme Outline
  • Month By Month Guide »
    • 2009 »
      • March 09
      • April 09
      • May 09
      • June 09
      • July 09
      • August 09
      • September 09
      • October 09
      • November 09
      • December 09
    • 2010»
      • January 10
      • February 10
  • Price Infomation
• Facilitators»
  • John Wadsworth
  • Anthony Thorley
  • Associate Facilitators »
    • Leo Hawkins
    • Robin Williamson
    • Amanda Stafford
    • Kevan Manwaring
    • Malcolm Lewis
    • Helen Moore
    • Vicki Burke
    • Martin Maudsley
    • Sarah Pugh
    • Hazel Hammond
    • Paul Chi
• Travellers Tales
• FAQ
• Newsletter»
  • Aquarius
  • Pisces
  • Aries
  • Taurus
  • Gemini
  • Cancer
  • Leo
  • Virgo
  • Libra
  • Scorpio
  • Sagittarius
  • Capricorn
• Contact

Name
Email

Newsletter No. 6: June/July 2008

Mid-Summer Edition: Cancer

Contents:

1. News of the Alchemical Journey 2009-10 Programme
2. The Alchemy of Midsummer & the Summer Solstice
3. The Alchemy of the Cancer Cycle of the Year
4. Questions to Reflect on During the Cancer Cycle
5. Activities to Help You Embody the Energies of the Cancer Cycle
6. Music To Inspire The Cancerian Mood

1. News of The Alchemical Journey 2009-10 Programme

I am delighted to announce that we now have the dates for the 2009-10 Alchemical Journey programme and we are accepting enrolments for a maximum of 16 people. Although venues for each month have not yet been finalised, the programme will be running partly from Bristol and the west country, and partly from Brighton and the Sussex area. Here are the dates:

The Alchemical Journey 2009-10 Programme

Month 1: Aries:  Igniting the Creative Spark :  Fri.  20th Mar – Sun 22nd March

Month 2:  Taurus:  The Alchemy of Abundance:  Sat. 18th & Sun 19th April

Month 3:  Gemini:  The Alchemy of Communication:  Sat 23rd & Sun 24th May

Month 4: Cancer:  Roots & Connection to Source:  Fri 19th - Sun 21st June

Month 5:  Leo: Creativity, Confidence & Presence:  Sat 25th & Sun 26th July

Month 6:  Virgo:  Harvesting Your Gifts:  Sat 22nd & Sun 23rd August

Month 7:  Libra:  Beauty, Balance & Relationship:  Fri 25th – Sun 27th September

Month 8:  Scorpio: Desire & Shadow:  Sat 24th & Sun 25th October

Month 9:  Sagittarius:  Vision & Values:  Sat 21st & Sun 22nd November

Month 10:  Capricorn:  Authentic Vocation:  Fri 18th – Sun 20th December

Month 11:  Aquarius:  Community:  Making a Difference : Sat 23rd & Sun 24th January

Month 12:  Pisces:  Surrendering to Love & Divine Trust:  Sat 20th & Sun 21st February

Months 1,4, 7 &10 run from Friday evening at 6pm to Sunday at 4pm.

In months 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 & 12:  Sunday is optional.  The teaching material will be delivered on the Saturday and the Sunday activities offer time to walk, talk and reflect.

Price:   £1950
Early Bird Rates: 
£1500 - with £500, non-refundable, paid by end Sep 08 – balance due by 13th Mar 09.
£1750 - with £500, non-refundable, paid by end Dec 08 – balance due by 13th Mar 09.

[back to top]

2. The Alchemy of Midsummer & the Summer Solstice

The festival of Midsummer originates as a Celtic fire festival, with midsummer fires traditionally being lit in high places all over the countryside. This point in the year (21st-24th June) marks the Summer Solstice, which is the point when the Sun reaches its zenith, or highest point, in the sky, marking the longest day (ie. most hours of daylight) of the year. Astronomically, it corresponds to the point when the Sun enters the sign of Cancer in the tropical zodiac. This happens on June 21st, and marks the beginning of the Sun's "standstill" in the sky. For about three days, the Sun will remain at its zenith point in the sky before it begins its retreat and the days begin to get shorter, around June 24th. So Midsummer has traditionally been celebrated on either the 23rd or 24th of June. The date of 24th June is also important in the Christian calendar as St John's Day, dedicated to John the Baptist. The importance of the two solstice days to our ancestors (Winter Solstice is Dec 21st) cannot be underestimated. Many stone circles and other ancient monuments are aligned to the sunrise on Midsummer's Day, the most famous being at Stonehenge, where the sun rises over the heel stone and then appears through one of the giant trilithons. St John's Eve, or midsummer's eve is traditionally a time when the veil between this world and the otherworld is particularly thin, and various traditions abound. Sleeping in a sacred site on midsummer's eve, you might awake to find yourself transformed into a bard, gone utterly mad, or spirited away by fairies! - or so the story goes.

A Meeting of Sun & Moon

Midsummer is a powerfully alchemical moment in the wheel of the year, often associatied with the alchemical process of calcination. Calcination involves heating a substance in an open container until it turns to ashes, and we can think of this burning away things that are now finished with, and return them to the earth. At this moment in the year, the outer cycle of growth is complete, the Sun, or solar principle, which holds yang energy, has reached the height of its power and at this transition point meets the energy of its counterpoint, the Moon, which carries Yin energy, and introduces the element of water. This is the point where the alchemist activates the inner journey. As Sun meets Moon, so fire meets water; a passionate union of male and female energies - an alchemical marriage occurs.

[back to top]

3. The Alchemy of the Cancer Cycle of the Year: (21st June - 22nd July)

The Season of the Moon

At summer solstice, the Sun reaches its peak in the sky, and there is turning inwards now toward, toward feelings and emotions, the element of water and the Moon. The Moon, Cancer and the element of water go hand in hand in astrology, the Moon being Cancer's ruling planet and the element of water being associated with both. Cancer is the first of the three water signs (Scorpio and Pisces are the others) and water is synoymous with feeling, mood, memory, intuition, psychic sensitivity, emotional connection, flow etc. The Moon in astrology represents our instinctual needs, our habituated ways of responding or reacting to life. This is not consciously learned behaviour, so much as instinctively repeated patterns of reponse, often assimilated in early childhood. So the position of the Moon in our horosocpes can tell us a great deal about early childhood patterns, how we reacted to early parenting etc. It suggests what we are familiar with, feel comfortable with and instinctively seek out in relationships, family and group situations. Cancer initiates a turning of the wheel, where we must begin to remember where we came from, what connects us to the source of life.

The Swollen Belly of Nature, Pregnant with Summer Fruit

I think of Cancer as the swollen belly of nature. If we think of fruit tree, we have the bud, the blossom, and with the lengthening summer days, the summer fruit is now maturing on the branch. In these days of extended daylight and warmth, the tree must dig deep for water through its roots, and the focus is really on water and nourishment. The land, too, may be thirsty for moisture, for sustenance (though perhaps not in England!). The pregant belly resembles the full moon, the goddess Demeter, and Mother Nature in the fullness of her life-giving power. In Leo, we will enjoy the ripeness of her fruit, but for now we must wait patiently and tend to her with care and respect.

The Sign of The Crab

Cancer is the sign of the Crab and the story goes that Hera sent a crab to annoy Hercules, whom she hated with a vengeance, and Hercules, suitably irritated by this nippy little crustacean who continally bit at his ankles, eventually crushed the crab beneath one of his mighty feet. As a reward for her loyalty and faithfulness, Hera placed the crab in the heavens, as the constellation of Cancer. The stars of Cancer are not very bright and it can easily be missed, the star Acubens being the only star in Cancer that is relativel easy to spot, espeically in our light-polluted skies.

The Crab, of course, tends to live on the threshold of land and sea, and has a very cautious-looking pattern of movement - forward then backwards, perhaps mimicking the ebb and flow of the tide itself. Its protective shell guards a soft and vulnerable body. Such images can be very instructive when we think about what we can learn from this fascinating sign. The typical Cancerian is often cautious about coming forward and may be less than direct in the way they step forward in life. Sensitive and vulnerable within, Cancerians can instinctively manifest all manner of strategies to protect themselves from potential danger and keep themselves safe. It is a sign that very easily picks up psychically whatever is going in those around them - often with a knack of connecting emotionally to whatever is emerging in the collective psyche. Crabs have an acute sense of smell and detect food, find mates and avoid prey through highly attuned receptors that pick up chemical stimuli. We might think that your typical Cancerian does likewise. Cancer and the Moon are both connected strongly to the stomach and to the process of digestion. It is really important for the Cancerian to take proper time to digest their food and to digest other experiences too. It may at times be necessary for the Cancerian to disappear for while in order to properly digest an experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant before responding, especially if they sense danger or the possibility of being exposed. Cancerians often prefer to keep a low profile and are coveters of secrets.

[back to top]

4. Themes of Enquiry and Reflection During the Cancer Cycle

The Alchemical Journey is an experiential journey of enquiry around the zodiacal wheel and the wheel of the seasonal transformation. Each month we focus our enquiry through the theme of the sign of the zodiac we are in. So this month we are enquiring into our lives, taking the Cancerian themes as our cue.

1. Relationship to Home: What does home mean for you? Where you feel most at home in the world? How do you make a home feel like home? How you feel toward the place where you live currently. Notice whether it feels like home or not.

 

2. Connecting to What is Sacred for You: Explore what is sacred in your life and how you connect to that in your daily experience – what do you consider sacred?  Are certain things sacred by divine right, or do you make them sacred.  How do you honour that sacredness and how does it add meaning to your life?

3. Your Nurturing Instincts: How did you get nurtured as a child? How do you get nurtured now? How do you give nurture to others? How does an experience of being nurtured and offering nurture and support add value to your life and enrich it?

4. Relationship to Past / Family / Ancestral Line: This is a great time to exploring your ancestral roots, get in touch emotionally and historically with where you come from, and what this means for you – how it has shaped you, your experiences and perceptions of yourself and the world.

 

5. Honouring That Which Nourishes and Sustains You: Explore and notice what feeds you in your daily life in a way that is sustainable and abundant – what nourishes you in a way that doesn’t produce a craving or excessive need?

6. Honouring Your Natural Rhythms & Cycles: Notice your rhythms and cycles (daily, weekly monthly) and notice the extent to which you are honouring them in your life.

7. Habits, Cravings & Addiction: Notice that which has become habit-forming for you.  Note down all the things you can identify as your cravings and addictions, all that stuff that you gives you short term satisfaction or relief of suffering but then comes back again and demands more.

8. Your Own Shell of Protection: Pay attention to your own shell. Notice where you feel vulnerable and unsure of yourself and notice the type of defences that you put up to stop other seeing this. Notice that tension between softness and hardness in your life.

[back to top]

5. Activities to Help You Embody the Energies of the Cancer Cycle

1. Create a Sacred Space in your Home:  If you don’t already have one, you could designate a place in your living environment as your sacred space and make this the place you connect to the source of your well-being.  This could be a room, a particular chair, or even a corner of a room.  You could develop some simple ritual activity in this place that can mark your daily entry into a sacred space.  For example: lighting a candle, holding a crystal, laying out a simple mandala with stones, saying a mantra etc.  Also, have pictures in your sacred place that make you feel most at home, most connected.

2. Spend Time in Water / Have More Baths / Treat yourself to a day at a Spa: In the spirit of being really kind and gentle to yourself this month, water treats would be most appropriate! 

 

3. Explore Your Family History / Ancestral Healing Work: 

4. List Your Cravings & Addictions:  Make a list of the things you are addicted to.  Include more obvious ones such as cigarettes, alcohol, coffee etc, but also search out less obvious addictions.  When you’ve drawn up your list, see if you can identify a common thread that runs through them – a particular feeling that you are looking for through the activities that you’re addicted to.

5. Have a Paw Through Some Old Photo AlbumsTrips down memory lane are a most appropriate pursuit this month – letting yourself be touch and moved by the past is definitely recommended.

 

6. Re-Birthing Session:  If you have ever considered undertaking a re-birthing process, then this would be a natural month to explore that. 

6. Music To Inspire The Cancerian 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 spirit of Cancer.

Songs:

• "Hymn to Her" by The Pretenders
• "Woman" by John Lennon
• "Hail to the Moon" by Wendy Rule
• "Sittin on the Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding
• "Slow Moves" by Jose Gonzalez
• "Suzanne" by Leonard Cohen
• "Willow" by Joan Armatrading
• "Nights in White Satin" by the Moody Blues
• "As Tears Go By" by Marianne Faithfull
• "Clair de Lune" by Debussy
• "In a Sentimental Mood" by John Coltrane
• "Home" by Michael Buble

[back to top]

• ©2008 Kairos Education Ltd.
• Tel: 0117 3706213
• Site Design by JP Consulting