SEPTEMBER09 NEW MOON MAGAZINE

SEPTEMBER 09 NEW MOON MAGAZINE
© The Arthurian School
Before printing this, please consider the environment! Note: This magazine is intended for the sharing of information, so please feel free to pass it on, or if you want to be removed from the circulation list, just send an email reply to info@arthurianschool.com with the word “unsubscribe” in the heading.

We have lost our connection to our Mother.

And what are we going to do about it?

When we are in our hearts, nothing needs to be done to bring about the only change that can heal this wound – because when we are in our heart, everything happens automatically and with Grace.

But to reach our hearts, as every indigenous tribe and ancient civilisation have always - and still through the legacies they left behind tell us, we must first remember who our Divine Mother really is.

Our Mother is alive and very much conscious- much more conscious than our twenty first century industrialized civilisation understands.

Our Earth is not a rock. She has a name and believe me- she knows each one of our names!

Look at the exquisite beauty of a flower and allow yourself to feel how its sheer power touches you, and you will also know that our Mother is always talking to us. You - the individual who is so much more than what you will ever know beyond this place of illusion. By listening to your soul, you can become more aware of her and what she has to say to YOU- no! not the person next to you! YOU – the person who is infinitely unique and special and wonderful.

AT the moment we are being taken back to a place of healing- such deep healing that we cannot possibly understand. But we can all feel it happening inside of us. It is as if there is another world, a new world deep inside of us evolving. Listen to your inner song of Love, where your heart reaches you. It is different for each one of us- perhaps it is the simple smile of a stranger, or the unexpected laugh of a child, the colours of a beautiful sunset- or maybe just the gleaming colour of a red traffic light that is silently shining its spark of light into the dark. It is everywhere. We are surrounded by beauty if only we can see it.

Another word for healing is transformation. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed into a different form. And so we are the transformers that can reconnect the grid of rainbow consciousness into our physical world.

Our Mother is conscious and her spirit is behind everything we experience in our worlds. Will we honour her too? Or have we just forgotten for so long that we no longer know how?

Maybe the children can teach us how...

SO THAT WE CAN LEARN HOW TO LISTEN WITH AN OPEN HEART.

Machu Picchu is still standing. The Sphinx and pyramids are still there. Beautiful Kauai island is still clouded in mists holding the life force of Lemuria. Moorea Island still has its exquisite heart shaped form. There are so many reminders that our Mother has kept for us- waiting for us to wake up and take stock of our lives. WHAT ARE WE LIVING FOR?

What is the true purpose of our life? Why are we here?
Surely to celebrate Life. To celebrate our Divine Mother. To find balance within ourselves so that we may come home to ourselves.

To be real, here and now – and assist with the beginning of a new cycle of life for her dear body called planet Earth.

Our task now as we navigate our way through this physical reality is to establish the purpose and direction of our Soul. With our earthly bodies we are trillions and billions of cells, held within the womb of “time” we call Earth, growing and gestating just like an unborn child in the womb.

And like in every child’s journey of growing up, we have all experienced a huge loss in our lives through the devastation of our connection to our Divine Mother and this has left us feeling depleted and destroyed. Deep sorrow is held within our cellular memory and it is difficult to stop re- playing this devastation in our lives until we become aware that it is there and that the loss was only one aspect of our experience as human beings here.

But through the exquisite beauty of our Soul we can now start to remember and weave magic, gathering to us the memory of the love of our Divine Mother and all that ever sustained us through the energy of Grace.

Many of these secrets have been held in our blood and that is why the monthly periods of women have always been so important.

Old civilisations understood the power of blood connecting us to Mother Earth and held sacred rituals symbolically revitalising the connection between a tribe and the Earth. It was a great honour to take part in such a holy ceremony and had nothing whatsoever to do with blood sacrifice. This was an invigorating experience where everyone benefited.

The elemental kingdoms are the messengers of our Mother and at this time all of these kingdoms are beckoning us to come closer to her. They have incredible power to heal and restore our bodies and our souls.

So much conditioning has happened to make us feel afraid or avoid the elements in nature! Yet surely the best way to cure a cold is to go for a walk outside! We are taught to rely on drugs to help us, when everything we need is already there in nature. We just need to remember how to engage it more into our lives.

The crystal kingdom is accelerating our evolution on this planet as ancient streams of Lemuria and Atlantis are coming closer and closer to our awakened consciousness and the grid of Oneness gains power. The old is falling away and we are starting to glimpse a clarity of vision and purpose that is all- inspiring.

There is maturity in our actions as we start to take responsibility for all in our world and we move forward in unison with each other.

Our Mother sings a new song of freedom- she knows that we are truly coming home.

We are the Rainbow people….


With blessings of Love
Elizabeth
SACRED EARTH RETREATS
THE ARTHURIAN SCHOOL
PRINGLE BAY
www.arthurianschool.cominfo@arthurianschool.com
telephone: (0027) 28 273 8277 international 028 273 8277 localmobile: (0027) 783716343 international 0783716343 local
“Revitalise and Enlighten your Life with the Moon”

THE MOON CYCLE OF SEPTEMBER
called the Apple Moon, the Still Green Moon and the Harvest Moon in the Celtic tradition

The new moon started on 20th August in the sign of Virgo and the full moon was on the 4th September in the sign of Pisces.

The full moon held some intense energies and also helped to clear some confusion and bring clarity. Some of you may have felt quite emotional or “fuzzy” as Pisces blurs boundaries and can create illusion. The full moon also helped to connect us to ancient pasts where water had a strong influence such as Atlantis.

There was a purification of the blood (water) and I am guided that it is good to use Epsom Salts in your bath for this moon cycle until dark moon (18th September).

FESTIVALS DURING THIS MOON MONTH

The Islamic festival of Ramadan started on 22nd August. It is a holy month with the celebration of reconciliation, forgiveness and purification and spiritual training and -because of fasting - being aware of what it is to be hungry.

On the 23rd August it was the celebration of the birth of the elephant headed god Ganesha, son of Shiva. Full of wisdom, Ganesha is the remover of obstacles and finder of logical solutions. In the Hindu tradition prayers are offered to him before any new undertaking.

On the 15th September it is Respect for the Aged Day in Japan (called “Keiro no Hi”)

The pagan Equinox Dark Moon is celebrated on Friday 18th September which is also the last Friday of Ramadan.

The very important festival of Equinox- autumn in the northern hemisphere and spring in the southern hemisphere falls on the 22nd September and this is within the next new moon cycle of the Vine Moon.

WHAT ARE THE PLANETS UP TO THIS MONTH?
Viewed from the northern hemisphere, the new crescent Moon would have been difficult to see because it was well south of the ecliptic, and the ecliptic itself made only a shallow angle with the horizon.

On 16&17th August the planet Mercury passed south of the planet Saturn with Venus, the morning star, moving further away from Mother Earth at the moment. Mars, in contrast, is moving away from the Sun and out into the darker eastern night sky.

In the early hours of 13&14th September, the waning Moon is near Mars and on 16th September it is nearing Venus in the morning sky. On 17th September Saturn passes just to the north of the Sun over on the far side.

EGYPTIAN BIRTH SIGNS

At the moment we are in the sign of THOTH (29 August-27 September).

The Ibis-headed god Thoth was the lord of the Moon. He was the lord of time and the god of learning and imagination, presiding over scribes and knowledge. Consequently one of the chief characteristics of anyone born during this time is to constantly question the world around them.

During this time those of you born under this sign should be aware that you are at your most self-critical and may be inclined to accept defeat too readily. Take care not to make your relationships suffer because of over self-recrimination.

MOON PERSONS OF THE MONTH

1. I have always been a big fan of Jose Arguelles. I remember sitting in Lazaris workshop in the early nineties and the person next to me talking about Jose’s book The Mayan Factor and immediately I just knew that I had to read it. What he had so say, was fascinating even in those days.

Now as we approach 2012 only two years away, I am acutely aware of how the ancient civilisations left clues and help for us to cope during the end of this cycle so that we can evolve as a humanity to something beyond our wildest dreams.

Some people tell me of some calamities yet to occur, but something deep inside of me stubbornly refuses to give it any power - that part of me just knows that we have all the tools to make this shift happen and for a new world to emerge that is good and based on Love.

I recently re-read Living Through the Closing of the Cycle, A Survival Guide for the road to 2012 by Jose and would like to share some of it with you. It certainly inspired me and helped to re-align me with some fundamental truths (my emphasis):

“…..there are two corollary premises …... one is that by changing the calendar we can at least attune ourselves with the natural order of reality once again, and so effect a mind shift that places us back in the nurturing bosom of Mother Nature. And the second is that because it is the end times, the Closing of the Cycle, this is a profoundly spiritual moment.

This means that the most important thing you can do in preparing for the Closing of the Cycle is to take care of your soul.

In fact the whole meaning of the Closing of the Cycle is that within this brief period of time lies the opportunity for a major spiritual awakening among all humankind.

Let’s understand why. First of all: What is the Closing of the Cycle?
The Closing of the Cycle is a cosmic event, a rare passage in the aeon. The aeon is the impossibly immense cycle containing all the other cycles, and is itself but a fractal of a divine thought moment. The smallest cycle that is closing then is the Great Cycle of history, a span of 5125 years from Babylon to Baghdad. It is also the conclusion to a 26,000 year cycle - a precession of the zodiac or Platonic (Pleiadian) Great Year. And it is the ending of a cycle of 104,000 years. A lot has happened in that time, not just on our little planet but throughout the solar system and our entire galaxy.

We have all been called. We have all chosen to be here for this grand finale. But we may not know it and it’s not always easy. Yet it is the greatest opportunity that our souls could possibly imagine. In fact, it is our soul that has called us here because this is also the time for the perfection of the human soul. That’s why we made the choice to be here now. Nonetheless, having taken birth here, because of the chaotic circumstances of the end times, as the closing of the cycle is also known, we don’t often remember that we have chosen to be here and why. The fact that there is so much going on is owing to the quantity of karmic inertia stored up over those 104,000 years. Yes, karmic inertia.

As you get toward the end of the cycle the quantity of karma increases. This is a factor in the increase in human population. As the population increases - it has doubled in the past 40 years - there is more to take care of, life becomes more complex and there is less time for the finer, spiritual matters. Ignorance increases. Yes, people in general become more ignorant, for instance, about things like karma, and that in turn increases the amount of karma created. When you have so much karma - unconscious effects of past actions - it begins to become inert, ossified in the institutional complexity of industrial life.

As we get closer to the end of the cycle, the karma increases in its inertia. This inertia is experienced as a kind of clunky, difficult to maneuver density. Red tape, grid lock, terrorism, longer lines, more rules, less flexibility, more machines, less manners and so forth. By the time you are as close as we are now to the end of the cycle, it appears that we are all stuck, trapped in a great morass known as karmic gridlock.

Of course from within the matrix of the karmic gridlock we can’t see the Other Side. We can’t see that the karmic gridlock and inertia of the human world is being matched by an acceleration of dazzling new possibilities in the multidimensional universe in which we are actually immersed. You see, the karmic gridlock is truly just a mental phantom, a by-product of bad timing sensibility and consequent artificial reality constructs.

But it seems so real, you might say. And, karmically it is. You just can’t walk away from karma.

You have to understand that we all created this world the way it is today. So we must learn how to un-create it, but intelligently, with compassion and infinitely skilful means - so we don’t perpetuate anymore of that bad karma. Because, you see, the only real survival is spiritual survival. The Road to 2012 is humanity’s path to spiritual survival.

First of all, in getting ourselves ready for the Closing of the Cycle we must take stock of our own life. Let’s get down to basics. We can really only do this by knowing our own mind. This is especially important in the world of karmic inertia, which is also the confusing world: What is right, what is wrong? What is good, what is bad? Must everything be sold? Who is telling me to do what and for what reason? Who am I? What am I? A lot of people may think they know their own mind, but unless you really STOP and take a good look, and then look again and again, you won’t really know your own mind. To know your mind you have to meditate. You might say that meditation was invented especially for the Closing of the Cycle, because this is the time when we need it the most!

There are lots of techniques of meditation but the surest ones are those that deal simply with looking at your own mind. These are mostly from the Buddhist tradition and they have names like shamatha-vipassana, zazen, dzogchen or simply mindfulness training. No matter what they are called, these techniques have one thing in common: sitting still, with spine erect, cross-legged on a cushion, eyes open so you don’t fall asleep or fantasize too easily. Wall-gazing, you might call it, because the point of mindfulness training is to not entertain yourself with anything more complex than an unadorned plaster wall - a hard thing to do in today’s world. So you might as well get on that cushion and face a wall. A lot of old Zen masters did it that way and they saw the light. You can too.

Yes, to make it successfully down the Road to 2012, and then on to the glories of Galactic Synchronization in 2013, you must be able to see clearly. That means sitting with your own mind and letting go of all attachments to whatever thoughts might arise! When those obsessive little buggers come up, just remember to breathe and dissolve the thought as you exhale. Of course there will be another thought, and then another one. But just keep breathing, remembering as you exhale to let the breath take that thought out with it.

Practice this 15 minutes a day. No, make it a half hour a day. Get used to it and then do it an hour a day. You will slowly begin to notice you don’t have to think if you don’t want to. Then you can ask yourself: Who is digging, churning up, and maintaining these obsessive thought patterns, anyway? Between the thoughts and the answer to the question, there is a space. This space has always been there. It is familiar. This space is the beckoning of your True Self. At first you might only glimpse it. But keep at it. It won’t go away. It’s always been there, and always will be. It is your best friend, your True Self.

And remember. What you are going through is happening to everybody in some form, or another. The confusion of the end times is endemic to everything. So there are some ground rules that might also be very helpful. We might call these ground rules, “Good Mental Manners.”

1. There is no good nor bad, no right nor wrong. No matter what happens to you, whether you are responsible or not, you have to remember: Reality is neutral, it is you yourself who put a good-bad, right-wrong spin on events. Remembering this will help keep you from beating yourself up. This does not mean you don’t take responsibility for your actions. Of course you do. Otherwise you would be creating more karma. But avoid labelling what is happening to you as either good or bad, right or wrong. It is just what is happening. Thinking bad or wrong will put you in a negative spiral. Events are stepping stones to learning. Self-acceptance and self-forgiveness are the way of the light. If we make arbitrary moral judgments about what is happening to us, we might not really see what we are supposed to learn. Even thinking you are right might be missing the point. Or, you might have broken some social rules or even civil laws in your behaviour, but those rules are arbitrary, too. There is something deeper going on in the universe and you are part of it. See if you can learn what it is.

2. Avoid polarizing! We polarize when we blame others or outside factors for what is happening to us. Or when we feel strongly in the right, we also polarize. Instead of polarizing we are meant to rise to a higher vibration. The world of the end times is in many ways the product of polarized thinking that has become stratified and institutionalized. Instead of contributing further to polarization, take that tendency in yourself and spiral it up into a higher evolutionary channel. Go super mental and instead, think: “That one whom I might deem to be my enemy or my antagonist, is really giving me the opportunity to evolve out of the lesser state of polarity to the higher state of transcendent consciousness. This is the most magnificent opportunity I have to let go of my negative thoughts and feelings. If I don’t do this now, I may miss the perfect chance to go beyond myself. When will I have this chance again?” Where there is polarity, create the harmony.

3. Always remember: This is a lesson. I am learning. Take this attitude for the following reason: We all came here to learn. The Closing of the Cycle is all about learning because we are being prepared to graduate to a new evolutionary level. So, it doesn’t matter how old or experienced you think you might be. It’s the end times and nobody but nobody has got it all sewed up. All along the watchtower, the times are changing very rapidly; the waters are churning and boiling. Whatever happens to us, no matter what it is, big or small, is happening because it is what we need to learn. If you think something is inconsequential, think again. When we really learn, we experience a true self-transformation. But you can’t learn if you think you already know the answer. You have to remain fresh. Something or someone else is trying to tell you something, and unless you relax your mind you won’t be able to hear what you are being taught.

4. Take responsibility yourself. No matter what kind of changes you are experiencing, they are all for your benefit. You are being asked to grow into a new form. Each one of us has a distinct pattern of evolutionary growth, and a unique timing as well. That is why it is not wise to hold to any rigid forms at all. And now, on the Road to 2012 your DNA is calling you into a new evolving pattern apart from everything you might once have thought yourself to be. These new patterns often manifest as disruptions in our life routine. Sometimes this is shocking and we might want to say that someone or something outside of us is responsible. No. It is a sign that the time has truly come to take responsibility yourself. It is the only way your True Self can know, grow and evolve beyond itself. When you take responsibility yourself, you are becoming your True Self. No blame on any other will ever help your True Self. Only self-acceptance, taking responsibility for all your life and actions, will allow you to find out who you are really meant to be. The mirror of the Closing of the Cycle reflects only evolutionary changes.

Yes, it is a Cosmic Event that is occurring. And we don’t very often have the big lens to see it, which is why sometimes it can get so frightening. But you really have to see that when we get to 2012, nothing in the world is going to be the same. The more we humans can get into a positive frame about this, the better it will be for everybody. Not fear, but the wholesale regeneration of love is what is called for. Whatever you are afraid of losing, give it up, and turn your fear into genuine unconditional love. “... From the galactic source, which is everywhere at once, may everything be known as the light of universal love.” When we give up our fear of losing something and let that fear turn into love, we will receive something in return of unimaginable beauty - our True Self shining through our soul.

What the end time - spiritual survival - is really all about is the perfection of the human soul. This is what all the great spiritual teachers, mystics and saints have been pointing to. It really is like, suddenly, you are faced with death. The old world and everything we have known about it is being changed by forces beyond our control. This is your last chance for a kind of deathbed conversion, only it’s an end time conversion, so you have a few years actually to prepare yourself for the end - the Closing of the Cycle. That means you can actually give up the old gracefully. The more gracefully you give up the old, the more beautiful is the new that awaits you.

But even more important, you have an opportunity to exercise your soul.

That pain and suffering you feel is just the pressure of being squeezed through the evolutionary gateway. The more you are holding on to something - memory, feeling, longing - the greater the suffering. The fact is that, we all suffer from some physical ailment or other. But psychic pain, that is something only we create and perpetrate. Yes, there are causes to grieve, or to get upset about. But once the event has passed, then that is when we must exercise the higher spiritual will and get on the super mental evolutionary express down the Road to 2012. For when the moment arrives we want to be karmically spic and span. The teaching of psychic pain due to grief or loss is to avoid being overcome by negative lower emotions - like self-pity, jealousy, resentment. Instead, we want to use the opportunity of psychic pain to expand our forgiveness, self-love and compassion.

This is exercising the higher spiritual will.

To exercise the higher spiritual will is to get tough with yourself. That means effort at avoiding lower emotions. This is the best love! The higher spiritual will is super mental in nature - it has to be. Super mental is the effort it takes to stay on the spiritual high road and not slip off. The key to higher spiritual will and the entrance into the super mental evolution is exertion. Whatever limit you have reached in whatever practice you are doing is a sign that you could get complacent - or, you could push into it a little more -and nnnghhh! There! That extra special little effort pushing you past your last limit is a super mental experience exercised by the higher spiritual will. Only you, your conscience and God can know if you are really exerting like that. However being karmically lazy just won’t help in any circumstance

As you really get into this exertion of the higher spiritual will you might notice your bad habits slowly falling away; or your desire body becoming more content with less - maybe even nothing might seem satisfactory. You are feeling more and more healthy. A natural high is beginning to overtake you. And on top of it, you are living by the synchronic order.

In your community you are a member of an Earth Family, and a new way of life with yourself, others and the Earth is in the making. Simple and ordinary, yet fantastic because it is becoming - super mental.

Welcome Home!!”

2. Another person that I resonate with and find amazing as a writer is Drunvalo Melchizedek - read his recent book Serpent of Light beyond 2012 – the Movement of the Earth’s Kundalini and the Rise of the Female Light 1949 to 2013.
It is really interesting how he explains that the energy of the Earth has shifted from Tibet and India to Peru and South America and also talking about his pilgrimages for the doing of incredible Earth healing work.

MEDITATION

I thought it will be useful to include this meditation (although rather technical) for those of you who may be interested in doing it as a general practice and not just the Green Day celebration.

ADAPTED RAINBOW BRIDGE MEDITATION
José Argüelles for the Green Day celebration 2009.
(With thanks to Vera and translation by Ute Stark)

BACKGROUND
The purpose of this meditation is to create a telepathic wave of love that connect us with the centre of the Earth as well as with the bi-polar rainbow generator which holds the magnetic field of the Earth in position, as well as incorporation with all other planetary akins who join in with the same meditation. With the construction of this world-wide telepathic earth wave we create a basic communication pattern which brings the noo-sphere, the mantle sheath of the Earth still closer to its conscious manifestation. This basic pattern takes care of a power field of positive thoughts and vibrations. It keeps the resonance field of the Earth in a harmonic and peaceful state and it stabilizes it.
It is the goal of this meditation to manifest effectively the rainbow bridge of the Earth.
This day and night generator of the magnetic field of the Earth and the manifestation of the rainbow bridge is to be completed at the latest by the closure of this cycle at the winter solstice of the northern hemisphere or the summer solstice of the south in 2012.
This rainbow bridge has been announced and prophesized long ago. It will connect permanently the three-dimensional earth with the four dimensions and the higher dimensions and it will secure peace and harmony that can be destroyed no more.
To enable all people to participate in this meditation whether or not they have heard of the synchronistic order, we offer this universal form of the rainbow bridge meditation for the Green Day out of count. You can do this meditation alone or in a group at best in the morning when it is more intense; however, any other time will be right. When you are in a group, you sit in a closed circle, if possible with crossed legs.
MEDITATION
Now, begin the meditation. Take a few deep breaths, breathe in any negativity, transform it within and exhale the clear and positive and then close your eyes.
Visualize that you are in the centre of the Earth and see that huge crystal core in the form of an octahedron. Four of the triangular fields meet at the top and point to the axle of the North Pole. The four other triangular fields of the octahedron point to the axle of the South Pole. The entire octahedron crystal is enveloped with the inner membrane of the Earth and this membrane stands like a drum in resonance with the outer sheath of the Earth.
The northern part of the crystal has two white and two red fields. The southern part has two blue and two yellow fields. Now enter the crystal. In the centre of this huge crystal, you see a core of intensely pulsating white light. The northern part of the light axle is encircled by two transforming conduits where the red time atom is positioned. On the other side is the southern end of the light axle positioned by the blue time atom. The red and the blue time atoms circulate in opposite directions. The northern red time atom circulates clockwise. The southern blue time atom circulates anti-clockwise.

The time atom structure itself consists of seven points; one centre point and along the central axle, one northern point above and one southern point below. Two points are on the right and two points on the left side, one point each on both sides in the upper and in the lower area between the midway to the north and between the midway to the south. The six outer points of the time atom resemble a six-pointed structure. The gravitation level of the crystal is in the form of an octahedron, radiates out horizontally from the pulsating inner kernel continuing to the four corner points where the four northern and the four southern points of the octahedron meet. The gravitation level connects these four points and they form the base points of the two pyramids opposite each other, one pyramid extending with its four triangular fields to the northern point of the octahedron and the other pyramid with its four triangular fields extending to the southern point of the octahedron.
Along this gravitation level there are in opposite positions two further time atoms, a white and a yellow one. These two gravitational time atoms are built up in the same way as the red and the blue atoms, with the exception that their axle points are adjusted to the gravitation level. They practically lie on the side so as if they would be in a right angle towards the polar time atoms.
These white and yellow time atoms turn like scooping wheels and create that way a movement to the left around the central kernel of the pulsating light. As soon as you have visualized the central core of the Earth in the shape of an octahedron with its eight triangular fields and its four time atoms with an etheric pillar of light and its two transforming conduits, then visualize as the next step that emanating from the centre of the crystal core a great multi-coloured life stream filled with plasma is beginning to stream in pulsation towards both polar directions.
Now you move from the centre of the Earth to a point in space from where you can observe the entire Earth. Multi-coloured light emanates pulsating from the north and south poles and creates the huge double rainbow bridge, by means of which the day and night generator of the magnetic field of the Earth becomes visible. Two rainbow streams connect the North Pole with the South Pole in a distance of 180 degrees from each other, while the Earth turns around its own axle; the rainbow bridge remains permanently unmovable.
As soon as you have completed this visualization take the circling Earth within the rainbow bridge and place it in your heart. Imagine the two streams of pulsating light is flowing along your spine and emanates from your head and your feet, creating a rainbow bridge around your body that holds your aura in fixed position.
Now you are at one with the Earth. The rainbow bridge becomes reality. This is the law of creation. What exists first in our imagination and what is being visualized by a sufficient number of people in a wave of love will become reality within time.

UPCOMING SACRED EARTH RETREATS

SACRED EARTH JOURNEYS AND RETREATS OF THE ARTHURIAN SCHOOL
PRINGLE BAY

I have just returned from Peru with a group that I called the “A Team” with good reason!

There were many magical moments, but surely one of the most amazing must be when we stood as a group around the INTIHUATANA STONE, the most holy of portals and described by Diana Cooper (of Angel fame) as an Ascension Portal of the planet.

As is usual, we had gone there very, very early in the morning and amid the vision of colourful waves of energy moving from the main mountain Huayna Picchu towards us as a group, the Sun’s first rays touched us in the City of Peace as it suddenly appeared over the top of the very feminine Putucusi mountain that stands to the East. As if transformed, we felt the power of Love surrounding us like a huge translucent cloud and – as if in a dream - we all simultaneously turned to face Putucusi to feel the awakening outpouring power of the feminine Earth energy that was being received in our hearts - for ourselves and for the new world.

Pachamama’s heart beat was everywhere and I have never ever seen as much beautiful white snow on the Andes mountains.

And personally I think I deserve a medal for carrying my
18 kilogram Lemurian crystal, ASTARA, with us to all the sites on the trip!

There was so much fun as a group and I would invite you to join me on one of the special pilgrimages that are planned: the first being to Egypt in November (see below) and the next two to Peru in April 2010 and September 2010. Please email me for more details if you are interested.

These journeys are truly life changing and connected to the Heart of Pachamama, Mother Earth.

It is so important, by the way, to set spiritual intentions for your life- because only then can it be co-created with your Soul. You can only be assisted if you- with your choice of free will- ask your spiritual guides for help you to manifest the physical means that are necessary for undertaking such a pilgrimage. So put it on your creation or vision board and start building the energy. You will be surprised how it manifests!! I have seen it happen time and again.

PILGRIMAGES

Many civilisations have encouraged pilgrimages. The journeys undertaken by religious pilgrims during the Middle Ages are well known and even when it became too dangerous for them to travel along the pilgrim routes, the concept of walking a labyrinth as an inner pilgrimage instead, became immensely popular- the labyrinth being a symbolic substitute for the actual journey. It was considered such an important part of life and one’s spiritual development, that much time and effort was put into the planning of such a pilgrimage even if one was only doing it by way of a sacred walk through a labyrinth.

In one of the retreats where we stay in Peru there is a beautiful labyrinth built by Gray Jeffery (hi Gray!) and it is quite an amazing experience to walk it in full view and power of the Mountain Spirits called Apu that overlook the labyrinth in that sacred valley.

When I was last in Peru I also met a really wonderful lady called Angela. She has made an in depth study of pilgrimages and also walked the famous Camino de Santiago in Spain.

You can read the very interesting information she has on her blog Awakening to Awakening: Journeys Along the Pilgrimage Road:www.mysticalroad.blogspot.com

Here are some extracts from it – I find her descriptions very apt for modern day Retreats and Pilgrimages and I am sure those of you who have attended some of the Sacred Earth Retreats can relate to much of what she says- it is certainly worth pondering about:

“I propose my own structure of the journey:Stages of the JourneyPre-pilgrimageThe SparkUndeniable KnowingPilgrimageLeaving Home BehindOn the RoadThe Experience IntensifiesArrival and/or ClimaxPost-pilgrimageThe Return Home

Phases of Inner Experience & TransformationPhase One: AwakeningThe vacation of the mind, clearing, making room for the important,yet neglected thoughts and feelings to surfaceSolitude, aloneness, anonymity, and simplicityThe unknown, place, idealism, and sacred spacePresent moment awarenessPhase Two: ExplorationAllowing the thoughts and feelings to surface, those that yearnto be heard, dealt with, and acknowledgedExploration: identity, authenticity, and idealismStruggles, obstacles, tests, and challengesPhase Three: The Point of No ReturnApproaching the climaxAuthenticityConfrontation, conflict, and realizationEnlightenment, surrender, epiphanyPhase Four: The Return HomeGoing on with lifeIntegration, reflection, change, and adaptationNew knowledge and understandingThese phases are deeply intertwined with the previously proposed stages of the journey. While the pre-pilgrimage stages, the spark and undeniable knowing, are essential in the overall process of the journey, it isn’t until the pilgrim departs that these phases of inner experience begin for most people. During the pilgrimage stage Phase One begins as the pilgrim leaves home behind and continues into the on the road stage, providing the setting for this phase of the journey to unfold. There are several elements provided by this new setting at the beginning of the journey, which include aloneness, anonymity, solitude, simplicity, the unknown, place, sacred space, and present moment awareness. These elements, which will be explored in more detail as I proceed, deliver the pilgrim into a new state of being. While the pilgrim is on the road, Phase One transitions into Phase Two, which is propelled forward by the process of inner and outer exploration, and continues as the experience intensifies, bringing a variety of struggles, obstacles, tests, and challenges. Phase Three enters toward the end of that stage of intensification, and with it come moments of confrontation, conflict, and realization, as well as enlightenment, surrender, and epiphanies, which peaks as the experience reaches the point of no return, the climax, and often the moment of arrival as well. As a result, the pilgrim receives new knowledge and understanding that are the gift of the transformation. The Post-pilgrimage stage then aligns with Phase Four as the pilgrim returns home, and begins the long process of integration, change, and adaptation, and going on with life.
These stages, phases, and elements occur in most journeys, in varying degrees, and are sometimes cyclical within a single journey as well, as the structure often occurs on both the greater level of the entire journey, as well as during smaller periods of several days, or sometimes even within a single day or a single intense experience.

Sometimes mindfulness doesn’t come naturally, and the pilgrim needs more than an intuitive encounter to begin the awakening process. As an experienced pilgrim and having already experienced the shift into present moment awareness while in India, Andrew Harvey’s companion Jean-Marc declares: “Look around you. Feel this night, its sweetness, the softness of the sand where we are walking. You’ve been running from your spirit for years. You must stop. You must sit down, shut up, open, listen, and wait. Give your soul a chance to breathe” (Harvey 16).

Shamans always begin healing ceremonies by opening sacred space. In this space we leave behind the affairs of ordinary life, the bustling world of meetings and schedules, and prepare to meet the divine. Sacred space allows us to enter our quiet inner world where healing takes place. Here the mundane cannot distract us, and every act is hallowed and deliberate ... sacred space is a healing sphere that is pure, holy, and safe. (Villoldo 136-137) Villoldo observed that without sacred space, no deeper experience of awakening or transcendence is possible.Much of our fear and pain derives from the feeling that the world is not a safe place for us. When the world is dangerous and predatory we raise our defenses. Our psychological armor goes on. Sacred space creates an environment where our defenses can be lowered, where we can explore our soft, tender underbelly. (Villoldo 137)
John Brierley captures the essence of Phase Four as he asks “Is the journey over or just beginning” (Brierley, Camino Fisterra 91)? Though the other phases may cycle repeatedly during a single journey, Phase Four begins in its fullness once the journey is complete and pilgrims return home. During this phase, as pilgrims re-enter their ordinary lives, they also enter a period of reflection, integration, change, and adaptation. Pilgrims have gained new knowledge and understanding as a result of the journey, and they return to their lives refreshed, inspired, and filled with a broader sense of perspective. Phase Four is often the most challenging step. The world expects pilgrims back, and they go back. All the demands of the world return. The reverie ends. But the degree of difficulty pilgrims experience as they return home depends on the changes that have occurred inside of them. Phase Four may continue indefinitely as pilgrims readjust to the lives they left behind and integrate the lessons of the journey.
Though at times it might seem tempting to continue the journey indefinitely, one of the primary differences between choosing the lifestyle of a wandering ascetic and choosing to make a pilgrimage is that pilgrims must return home from a pilgrimage. They can’t stay in the midst of the journey forever, or it threatens to become its own ordinary daily life. There are certainly exceptions, including Anonymous and Peace Pilgrim; however, their journeys were embraced as an ascetic lifestyle that mirrors the religious life of those people who choose to live monastically. For most people who choose to make pilgrimage journeys, returning home is a fundamental step.
There comes a time toward the end of the journey when pilgrims know that what they set out to experience has been fulfilled. Though this is sometimes a difficult realization, many times they are ready to return home and re-enter their lives once more. The Scaperlandas note this important transition: No matter how meaningful or how inspiring our pilgrimage experience has been, there is a moment when we are eager to go home. We have humbly given ourselves to God and opened ourselves to the pilgrimage experience. And now our hearts overflow ... our spirits feel renewed and strengthened in ways we can’t even name yet. We feel different, and we know at some deep level that we are different. It is time, and we know it. We are ready to go home. (Scaperlanda & Scaperlanda 200) Filled with life-changing lessons and realizations, incredible stories, and rich experiences, pilgrims return to their homes, families, and ordinary lives.Though the joy that many pilgrims feel upon being reunited with their homes and friends and families is often great, some people experience a touch of sadness, too. Maria Scaperlanda shares her feelings about this. Returning home from a pilgrimage is a bittersweet experience for me. I am aware that in many ways, I am leaving behind a better world, an ultimately more real world than my daily, “real” life. But it is a world I was allowed to dwell in temporarily - in order to experience it, not to remain in it. It was a gift meant to teach me and help me grow. (Scaperlanda & Scaperlanda 201) Often, too, it isn’t until pilgrims return to ordinary life once more that the full scope of their journey’s transformation becomes clear. Even though the journey itself enacted many changes in the pilgrim’s life, changes may continue as s/he recreates his/her life and integrates his/her new perspective. What fits this new vision will remain in the pilgrim’s life, but whatever doesn’t fit will fall away.
In ancient times, the process of integrating the lessons of pilgrimage and reintegration into ordinary life was expected to be just as slow, since returning home took as long as the journey itself. People set out on foot, and by foot they would return. Today, due to the wonders of fast, convenient transportation, pilgrims are frequently deposited back into their ordinary lives with great speed. Sometimes this is too sudden, and many people often wish for a slower transition.

ChangeChange. That’s what is at the center of everything. Philosophically, I am more than aware that everything in the world is constantly changing. Sometimes imperceptibly, occasionally in great waves. I have often embraced change inside of myself, and I believe that it is the cure for stuckness of all kinds. It is the path to growth and personal evolution. Indeed, this is the source behind my life as a pilgrim, the desire to consciously offer my life to change and learn by opening up myself to the universe, to the Divine, to Spirit.
I want to continue to be happy in my aloneness, in myself. It seems to be so much easier in a new place, another country, than at home, where my habits and patterns are reinforced. It is very easy to just go back to the way things were before, to return to normal. But things keep moving, changing, even at home. It is so much more enjoyable and easy to flow with change when there’s no sense of “the way things are,” but merely drifting form one place to another. In travelling, there’s nothing but change. But at home, things tend to feel like they aren’t changing, that they are always pretty much the same.

That’s not true, it’s merely that I become stuck, accustomed to the way things often seem the same. The truth is that I forget to see, I lose my freshness, I forget to stay in the moment. “
(Awakening to Awakening: Journeys Along the Pilgrimage Road)

EGYPTIAN SOUL ALCHEMY JOURNEY10-23 NOVEMBER 2009 *
SPECIAL FEATURES

* We will be in Egypt on the auspicious date of 11/11/11
(11 November 2009)- A Powerful Sacred Time Gate

* In addition to the Egyptian Pyramids and Temples, we will also be visiting the holy Christian Monastery of St Catherine’s and Mount Sinai as part of our sacred pilgrimage of the Middle East.

RESPOND TO THE CALL OF YOUR HEART
AND JOIN US ON A PILGRIMAGE OF ANCIENT EGYPT!

There is no better place to heal your relationship with the Earth and to learn how to re-open your psychic perceptions than through visiting the sacred sites of Egypt and the Middle East. Places like the Sphinx and the Temples of the Nile and Mount Sinai still hold some of the most authentic Heart connected places on the planet.

This is a pilgrimage that is designed to help you heal the disconnection you have with the Earth and in particular, the ancient feminine energy of Egypt. Through the exquisite beauty of Egypt and the awakening of your third eye, you will be able to find greater clarify so that you can start to remember your divine life purpose and the true direction of your Soul.

The Sacred Heart

We start the journey on 10- 23 November 2009 in Cairo. Here we begin as a group to re-align our third eye with the land and there will be light activations at each of the sacred sites we visit.

Preparation starts in Cairo at the Sphinx, Pyramids and Sakkara and then the energetic tour starts at the base of the spine at Abu Simbel. We start our process of inner alchemy at the bottom section of the sacred Nile and then ascend our way up north (downstream. And as we move down the river, we will also move through our energy bodies and access the programs that are no longer serving us. Each temple we visit, through resonance of the land will align us to our innate consciousness of wisdom and unconditional love. If we surrender, this process will be aligned and easy, just like floating down the river! Each sacred temple will merge us with our own authentic blueprint, our purpose.

Here are the Sacred Sites we will be visiting as a group:

Sphinx, the Pyramids and Sakkara: preparation and star activation
Abu Simbel: base chakra- raising our consciousness- linking with the land
Philae: temple of Isis- compassion and forgiveness- opening the heart gates meditation, releasing old emotional hurts and pains
Kom Ombo: temples of Sobek and Horus- sacral chakra- releasing fear and duality integrating intuition and trust, initiation of the third eye
Edfu: temple of Horus- opening the third eye chakra- resonating with Divine truth and spiritual vision
Luxor: west bank- valley of the Kings, valley of the Queens, Colossi of Memnon- dimensional gate
Luxor: east bank- temple of Luxor- metamorphosis and temple of Karnak- working with the elements and the chakras
Dendera: temple of Hathor- sound- throat chakra- temple of healing, love and joy
-night visit with possible sound journey and sacred offering
Abydos: temple of Osiris- resurrection
St. Catherine’s Monastery: unity and integration, ascending duality
Mount Sinai: climb to watch the sunrise and re-connection of heart energies

The physical tour

10 November 2009: free time in Cairo
11 November 2009: Memphis, Sakkara, Pyramids & Sphinx
12 November 2009: Egyptian Museum, Citadel & Khan El Khalili
13 November 2009: Abu Simbel
14 November 2009: MS Nile Express, Philae temple
15 November 2009: Sail to Kom Ombo, gods Sobek and Horus Edfu Horus temple
16 November 2009: West Bank (Valley of Kings and Queens, Queen Hatshepsut, Colossi Memnon)
17 November 2009: East Bank (Karnak and Luxor Temples)
18 November 2009: Dendera and Abydos
19 November 2009: Sharm El Sheikh
20-22 November 2009: St. Catherine Monastery, Mount Sinai
23 November 2009: free time in Cairo, Check out

DETAILED ITINERARY:

10 November 2009:

Arrive at Cairo International airport

Meet & assist through immigration and customs.
Transfer by air-conditioned deluxe vehicle to the Sofitel El Gezirah.

Check in and meeting up of the group.

Resting and free time in Cairo. Cairo is a colourful bustling city, with a blend of ancient and modern, with an incredible selection of shopping, leisure, culture and nightlife. Cairo comes alive at night, which is the best time to shop, eat delicious Middle Eastern cuisine, or simply watch the world go by from a pavement cafe. You can dine in a floating restaurant on the Nile, sample an apple-flavoured shisha water pipe at a coffee-shop or even see oriental dancers and cabarets.

Overnight at Hotel

11 November 2009:

Meet our tour coordinator and Egyptologist guide in the hotel lobby and start of our guided tour to visit Memphis, Sakkara, Pyramids & Sphinx.

Memphis: at the site of Memphis, you will see the ancient capital that once stood as a flourishing metropolis during the time of the Pharaohs.

Sakkara: visit the city of Memphis and the necropolis of Sakkara. At vast Sakkara, you will see the famous Step Pyramid of King Zoser, the first freestanding stone structure in the world.

Lunch at a local restaurant.

Pyramids: visit the Great Pyramids of Giza. The only present-day survivors of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Sphinx: enter the temple of the mysterious Sphinx, an ancient figure shrouded in legend and mystery

Dinner at Kababgy Restaurant.
Overnight at Hotel

12 November 2009:

Buffet breakfast at hotel
Visit the Egyptian Museum, Citadel & Khan El Khalili.

Museum: our Egyptologist will escort us on a tour of 7,000 years of Egyptian history with a visit to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, which includes the world-famous golden treasures from King Tutankhamen ‘s tomb.

Islamic Cairo: a fascinating tour of Islamic Cairo, including the beautiful and graceful Mohamed Ali Mosque and the ancient Citadel, a spectacular medieval fortress perched on a hill above the city.

Lunch at a Khan El Khalili Restaurant.

Khan El-Khalili Bazaar: a tour of the fascinating bazaar – reputed to be the largest bazaar in the Middle East. Originally founded as a watering stop for caravanserai in the 14th century, the bazaar has now grown to vast proportions.

Transfer to train station to board our sleeper train to Luxor.
Dinner: on board sleeper train.
Overnight: on board.

13 November 2009:

Buffet breakfast on board sleeper train.

Aswan: Arrive Aswan Station, meet & assist upon arrival and transfer to Aswan airport for Flight ASW/ABS.

Abu Simbel: the two temples of Ramses II at Abu Simbel are each fronted by colossal statues up to 20 metres high, and are famed as the most impressive monuments remaining of Ancient Egypt in modern times. Recently the temples were threatened by the waters of Lake Nasser, and with the help of a UNESCO campaign they were cut into blocks, raised piece-by-piece, and reassembled in a new position higher up the hillside.

Transfer back to Nefirtari Hotel. Check in.
Overnight at hotel.

Optional tour: Abu Simbel sound and light show – US$ 40

14 November 2009:

Buffet breakfast at hotel.

Meet our tour coordinator & transfer by air-conditioned deluxe vehicle to Abu Simbel airport for Flight ABS/ASW. Arrive at Aswan airport, meet & assist at airport.
Transfer by air-conditioned deluxe vehicle to MS Nile Express. Embarkation.
Lunch on board.

Visit the High Dam granites quarries, Philae temple of Isis.

Afternoon tea.
Overnight in Aswan.

15 November 2009:

Buffet breakfast.
Sail to Kom Ombo.

Visit the temple shared by two gods Sobek and Horus in Kom Ombo.

Kom Ombo Temple: dedicated to the crocodile-god Sobek. The temple stands at a bend in the Nile where in ancient times sacred crocodiles basked in the sun on the riverbank.

Buffet lunch.
Afternoon tea.
Sail to Edfu.

Visit Horus temple in Edfu.

Edfu Temple: explore the largest and most completely preserved Pharaonic – albeit Greek-built – temple in Egypt, the extraordinary Temple of Horus at Edfu.
Cross the Essna Lock and sail to Luxor.
Overnight in Luxor.

16 November 2009:

Buffet breakfast.

Visit the West Bank - the Valley of the Kings and Queens, the temple of Queen Hatshepsut at El Deir EL Bahari and the Colossi Memnon.

Valley of the Kings: a vast City of the Dead where magnificent tombs were carved into the desert rocks, decorated richly, and filled with treasures for the afterlife by generations of Pharaohs.

Hatshepsut Temple & Colossi of Memnon: rising out of the desert plain in a series of terraces, the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut (Ancient Egypt’s only female Pharaoh) merges with the sheer limestone cliffs that surround it, as if nature herself had built this extraordinary monument. On the way back to the river Nile, your road passes by the famed Colossi of Memnon, known in Ancient Greek times for their haunting voices at dawn.

Buffet Lunch.
Afternoon Tea.
Overnight in Luxor.

17 November 2009:

Buffet breakfast.
Disembarkation.

Visit East Bank (Karnak and Luxor Temples).

Karnak Temple: built over a period of two millennia by generations of Pharaohs, the 62 acre Temple of Karnak was dedicated to the God Amun. It could take days to explore all of the numerous pylons, obelisks and smaller temples within.

Luxor Temple: once connected to Karnak via the Avenue of human-headed Sphinxes, almost 3 kilometers in length.

Transfer back to Sonesta St. George Hotel.
Check in.
Overnight at hotel.

18 November 2009:

Buffet breakfast.

Visiting the temples of Dendera and Abydos.
Overnight at hotel.

19 November 2009:

Buffet breakfast.

11.00 Meet our tour coordinator & transfer by air-conditioned deluxe vehicle to Hurghada airport for Flight MS 371 HRG/SSH 1325 - 1405.

Arrive at Sharm El Sheikh Airport, meet our tour coordinator & transfer by air-conditioned deluxe vehicle to Neama Bay Hotel. Check in.
Overnight at hotel.

20 November 2009:

Visit to St. Catherine Monastery. Attend Sun Rise from Monastery.

Overnight at hotel and meals included

21 November 2009:

Climb and visit to Mount Sinai

Overnight at hotel and meals included

22 November 2009:

Buffet breakfast at hotel.
Check out.

Meet our tour coordinator, transfer by air-conditioned deluxe vehicle to Sharm El Sheikh Airport Flight MS 308 SSH/CAI 1600 – 1700.

Arrive at Cairo Domestic airport. Transfer by A/C deluxe coach to our Cairo hotel: Helnan Shepheard Hotel. Check in.

Overnight at hotel.

23 November 2009:

Buffet breakfast at hotel.
Free day.
Check out
23h00 - Meet our tour coordinator and transfer to Cairo airport.

Flight Back Home

Please note that the order of the itinerary is subject to change if necessary, or if so guided.

COST:

FLYING FROM SOUTH AFRICA –
inclusive of international return flight:
R18 999

FLYING FROM OUTSIDE SOUTH AFRICA-
exclusive of international return flight:
STERLING OR DOLLAR EQUIVALENT OF R14 500 at time of payment:
(£1150 / $1899 -based on current foreign exchange rates)

Costs include all events listed in the itinerary as set out above i.e.-

- Return economy class airfares on Egypt Air ex Johannesburg (INCLUDED ONLY IF FLYING FROM SOUTH AFRICA AND PAYING IN SOUTH AFRICAN RANDS - IF YOU ARE FLYING FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY QUOTES IN £ AND $ ARE BASED ON EXCLUDING THE INTERNATIONAL RETURN FLIGHT TO CAIRO. PLEASE CONTACT US AND EITHER YOU CAN BOOK YOUR OWN INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT OR OUR SOUTH AFRICAN TRAVEL AGENT CECELIA CAN HELP YOU TO DO SO) .
- Two round trip transfer airport/hotel/airport in Cairo.
- Round trip transfer Station/airport/cruise in Aswan.
- Transfer cruise/hotel in Luxor.
- Transfer Luxor to Hurghada.
- Full Day Memphis, Sakkara & Pyramids with Lunch.
- Full Day Egyptian Museum, Citadel & Khan El Khalili with Lunch.
- One night at Sleeper Train or Similar on H.B. basis.
- One night at Nefirtari Hotel or Similar on B.B. basis.
-Three nights at MS Nile Express Cruise on F.B. basis including sightseeing.
- One night at Sonesta St. George House Oberoi Hotel or Similar on H.B. basis.
- Three nights at Neama Bay Hotel or Similar on H.B. basis.
- Visa for South African passport holders – Other passports will be charged a rate of USD 30 each
- Tips
- Travel Insurance if flights are booked through our travel agent Cecelia
- Entrance fees for all sites
- Half board (breakfast and lunch/supper)

25 % non-refundable deposit required to secure your place on the trip.

Optional Tour:
Sound & Light Show: Abu Simbel Temple. US$ 40.00 Per Person.

The Nile cruise will be aboard the M/S Nile Express, a brand new 5 STAR superior deluxe boat. (email us for more information about this amazing boat)

It is a great privilege for us to journey with our soul family to Egypt.
We hope you will be able to join us there too!

Berto Voigt - Tamar Bezuidenhout - Elizabeth Bardin


PRINGLE BAY SACRED EARTH WEEKEND RETREATS
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Friday
Arrival and supper
Meditation
Preparation for mandala work (to create change)

Saturday
Breakfast
THOTH card reading
Lunch
Healing time in nature and resting
Work on mandala
Supper
Meditation

Sunday
Early morning meditation
Breakfast
Session working with integration of change created
Lunch
Closing

THE ARTHURIAN SCHOOLPRINGLE BAYwww.arthurianschool.cominfo@arthurianschool.comtelephone: (0027) 28 273 8277 international 028 273 8277 localmobile: (0027) 783716343 international 0783716343 localThe magazine’s stated intention is to be for the Highest Good of All, and to harm no one.“Revitalise and Enlighten your Life with the Moon”______________________________________________________________________