The nights are drawing in. The weather has cooled significantly, and along with an abundant harvest of fruit, the first colours are appearing on the trees. Autumn Equinox is upon us.
Just yesterday, the Westacre project rounded an important corner. We paid a deposit for new windows. It has taken us a long time to work out a compromise between what we wanted and what we were prepared to spend, but we’re happy with the outcome.
Trouble is that every other aspect of Westacre’s insulation depends on the windows being installed: everything else connects to them. And Winter is coming. Hopefully, we’ll at least have better windows by the time it gets cold.
With the help of some friends, I have been working hard on the video content of the Ritual Toolkit course. It is all looking very beautiful, and I can’t wait to share it with you. The launch date very much depends on when Alex can write the software for us to get it to you.
On 22 September, the Sun slips from the sign of Virgo into Libra, marking the Autumn Equinox. It is a brief moment of suspension between the light and the dark. In this newsletter, you will find a meditation for that time.
On 28 September, a remarkable event is taking place in Glastonbury. Have you heard the Warrior’s Call? More below.
May this Autumn bless you with
Hilde
## In this issue
– Suspended: a meditation for the Autumn Equinox
– The Warrior’s Call
– Ways to stay in touch with Westacre
## Suspended: a meditation for the Autumn Equinox
The days have been slowly getting shorter since the Summer Solstice. At first, the change only took seconds off each day. Now, close to the Equinox, each day is four minutes shorter than the last. The nights draw in fast.
Very briefly, in the rush of change, the night is equal to the day, dark balanced with light. The Equinox. A brief moment of perfect poise before we fall into growing darkness.
As an opportunity to experience that moment of stillness, I offer this meditation.
Go to your place of meditation. Take your time to settle into a comfortable position. Take a few breaths and become aware of your body. Allow it to relax into the floor or the chair you are sitting on. Let go of the tensions of the day.
Close your eyes, and find yourself standing in front of a beautiful old apple tree. Its old, bent branches reach up to the sky, and its canopy is filled with hundreds of blushing fruit. See, feel and sense that tree. Speak your greeting.
Feel the edge of the tree’s field of energy. Enter its space respectfully. Walk up to its trunk and sit down against it. Take some time to just lean against the tree, to feel its presence.
When you feel settled and relaxed, allow roots to grow down among the roots of the tree. Let it show you how to be rooted. Rest in the solid Earth.
Now let your consciousness rise up into the trunk of the tree. Become aware of its upright strength. There is no boundary between your body and that of the tree. Feel strong and solid.
With an out-breath, let your consciousness stretch into the tree’s branches. Reach up into its smallest twigs, into the sky.
Become aware of the tree’s leaves, touched by sunshine and wind.
Feel the fruit of the apple tree. This year’s harvest is plentiful. Many fruits are growing and ripening on this tree. Feel their fullness, their lush fruitiness.
Concentrate your consciousness on just one apple. Feel it. Be aware of the stalk that connects it to the tree. Sense its flesh, getting sweeter under the touch of the Sun. Notice its skin, yellow-green and blushing red. Its little crown, where a flower bloomed and died. And five pips at its heart.
Be that apple. Allow yourself to ripen. Allow yourself to sweeten and expand. Become your most fruitful self under the warmth of the Sun. Relax, suspended from the tree.
Rest and be still. Relax and surrender to this moment. Stay there as long as you like.
When you are ready to return, feel the stalk of your apple coming loose from the branch. Suddenly, you drop to the Earth. Take some time to settle there, to become grounded in the Earth.
Reach for the roots of the tree, and your own roots that you put down amongst them. Let your consciousness rise through the roots back into your body.
Feel yourself as separate from the tree. Feel your own integrity, riper and sweeter now. When you are ready, return to your place of meditation.
If you need grounding, eating an apple is a wonderful way to do that now.
## The Warrior’s Call
In the last newsletter, I spoke about my concern about fracking, the controversial practice of fossil fuel extraction that is officially called hydraulic fracturing.
In very real terms, it comes down to using poisoned water to crack open the body of the Earth so that gas or oil can escape.
It just doesn’t sound like a good idea. There is a long list of risks to the local environment. And both the process and burning the fuel obtained will contribute to climate change. We can’t afford either.
Many of us in the Pagan community share these concerns. Many of us have signed petitions and shared their concerns through social media and in conversation. A few have gone to Balcome and participated in direct action.
One Druid decided this threat is so severe that something special needed doing. He dreamt up the idea of doing a ritual on Glastonbury Tor for the protection of the Land. He put a call out on Facebook, hoping to get 50-odd people to join him. He named it the Warrior’s Call.
But word spread. Soon, dozens of people reacted. Hundreds shared the event with their friends. The whole thing expanded way beyond expectations. It got too big for the top of Glastonbury Tor. Satellite rituals will be taking place at the same time across Britain and around the world.
Right now, about 1700 people have said they will be in Glastonbury at noon on 28 September to take part in a public ritual to save Albion from fracking. I will be one of them, and so will many of my friends.
We will raise protective energy that will spread across the Land. A strong shield of power to save the Earth from more damage done by humans.
Never before has such a large group made ritual together for one common purpose. Would you like to be part of this historic event? Answer the Warrior’s Call.
Www.facebook.com/Warriorscall
## Stay in touch and help the Westacre Project
As things are finally happening on the renovation project, you can follow us step by step on Twitter.
Several times a day, Hilde tweets inspiration, news and useful links on environmental issues. Her blog posts and Facebook updates from the Westacre Page are also posted there.
You can find us at twitter.com, as @HildeWestacre
Please follow us there, and retweet anything that appeals to you. This will help us find the people who are interested in the Westacre Project and the Spiritual Centre, so we can inspire them to take their own steps towards connected living.
Our contact details and our presence on social media can be found here:
http://www.westacre.org.uk/contact