This summer was not an easy one for me so far. It showed me that I could not go camping any
more, which meant I was not able to attend WiccanFest, and I realized that I
missed such an outing. So when I
received an invitation to attend a weekend in London involved in a workshop
exploring Astral Travel, I jumped at the chance. I passed the invitation to my friend, Mary
Ann, and she too was very excited to take a break from “life”.
We left on Friday, which was the hottest day of the
year. With temperatures shattering
records, soaring into the mid 40’s with the humidex, it proved very difficult
for me but stoically made my way to the Aldershot train station. Fast forward to London, and we were
eventually picked up by Kim, one of the organizers and someone I met two years
ago at WiccanFest . Since we were early,
she kindly opened up her home to us, until it was time to head out to the
venue.
Mary Ann and I speculated as to how our accommodations will
turn out. We imagined that it would be
very much like a utilitarian university dorm room, with a wooden plank
supporting a foam pad for a bed. And
then we drove up to this beautiful Tudor-style house, nestled deep In the
university property, surrounded by trees, lawns and even a forest in the
back! I noticed details like the
dark-stained oak beams, showing the axe marks, the diamond-paned windows, the
solid oak door with iron bound hinges, and… and… AIR CONDITIONERS!!
Inside the house carried through the theme. The floor was hardwood, secured with wooden
pegs and laid out in a beautiful pattern, a huge living room where we were
going to meet, an elegant dining room, and our bedroom, oh, my gods, the
bedroom was huge, with two double beds, desks, and dressers, a dressing room
with more closets and shelves, and a bathroom that was almost as large as the
bedroom, complete with a tub and walk-in shower. And an AIR CONDITIONER all to
ourselves!!
Friday was an afternoon and evening of just getting settled
and acquainted with all the participants.
Sadly, in spite of the comfort and coolness of the room, I did not sleep
well, but still managed to have a very strong dream, which I wrote down quickly
while we all gathered for breakfast.
Over cereal, eggs, toast, bagles, strawberries, bananas, yogurt, etc.,
not to mention pots of coffee and tea, we got fueled up for the morning
session.
T. Thorne Coyle – she was the magnet that drew us all to
this spot. A beautiful person, wise
soul, wonderful teacher and an overall joyous presence. Starting the morning session with drumming,
singing, dancing, invocations and gratitude praise, she then spoke of inward
and outward journeys of the spirit.
Deep meditation, deeper journey…
Drumming, singing…
Prayers, praise,
Dancing, sinking into bottomless silence…
Weeping, confessions…
Pouring out of the soul, comfort and encouragement…
How can I possibly describe the intensity of such
exploration, both personal and group incorporate, of journeys we made together
and individually.
Questions, concerns…
Answers, discussions…
Crayons, oil pastels…
Writing, drawing…
Visualizing, manifesting…
And so it continued.
Lunch was a welcome break – we needed to refuel and ground, then back
for the afternoon session…
Out of body, etheric body…
Internal, external flights…
More words, thoughts….
Spirits, souls intertwined,
Grief and joy…
Teaching, listening...
Flying, grounding…
Supper – time to take a deep breath and ground again. We all relaxed, visited, evaluated, laughed,
and finally went our different ways – some to the Sun Festival, some to the
planetarium or the labyrinth. There was
lots to do, and lots to explore, but I passed it all up, because what I needed
most at that point was solitude and sleep.
Solitude to start digesting all the day’s exercises, and sleep, because
by then I was about 40 hours without solid sleep.
Sunday morning, I got up before anyone else, except for the
person who started the coffee brewing – I never did find out who that was. I made myself a large mug of tea and went out
onto the patio to enjoy the beauty of the green grounds and the forest at my
back. The horrible heat broke, so the
air was cool and fragrant with the living green and filled with the songs of
birds. I saw squirrils, and so hoped to
see a fox. I was told that there is a
rather large population of foxes there, but sadly, none showed up for a
visit. I had to be content with seeing
one in my dream.
People started to filter down stairs, and soon I was busy
setting out the breakfast stuff, and then eating, and once again we gathered in
the living room ready to take on the next challenges. The morning was spent in building our Astral
Temples, and painstakingly setting paths, keys, gateways and intent – ah yes,
Intent! - to all our work.
More drumming and dancing…
More singing and chanting…
More flights of soul and spirit…
And finally, it was over.
What!? Where did it
all go? Wait – bring it all back!! It can’t be time to go home yet!! And yet, and yet… yeah, I had to admit that I
was feeling somewhat overwhelmed. It was
indeed time to head home, to sleep in my own bed and begin digesting the huge
amount of teaching, inspiration, of input and output. Fast forward, to home, to my own little
cocoon.
Slept for 12 hours…
And now feel ready to start processing and practicing what I
have learned.
It was a perfect weekend, one that has enriched me in so
many ways, and one that will continue to enrich my spirit for every day. It was life-altering, and forced me to grow
in unexpected ways.
Thank you, my deepest thanks to Thorne, for travelling so
far to share your wisdom with us. Thank
you, Kim, for being our chauffer, and for opening up your Goddess Grotto to
us. Thank you, to the organizing
committee for putting all of this together.
Thank you to Brough House for hosting the event, and to all the people
behind the scenes that made this possible.
Thank you to all who attended – you have enriched my life in ways I can
never express adequately.
Thank you, Goddess, for bringing me in contact with these
wonderful people.
Thank you, Nagas, for intertwining yourselves into my life.
Thank you…!
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