The Alchemy of Gemini - Betwixt & Between

As the days get longer and the sun rises to its zenith in the sky, so the alchemical carousel turns again and we enter the sign of Gemini. The dialogical exchange of the divine twins invites us into the mysteries of the air element and Nature responds with a rich variety of sounds, colours, scents and textures. The blossom of Taurus has attracted bees and butterflies and the pollination cycle is beginning in earnest, carried on winds of change. Endlessly darting from flower to flower, the Gemini messengers buzz and flutter happily from one source of interest to another, spreading the news, stirring nature’s alchemical mix and heralding the arrival of summer. It seems like everything is up for grabs in this hubbub of trade and exchange. We find Nature’s theme reflected in the Christian calendar with the festival of Pentecost or Whitsuntide, which remembers the story of the holy spirit coming as a rushing wind, carrying divine “wit” and inspiring the apostles to spread the word of Christ’s ascension.

Changing the Buzz

The bee is an apt animal totem for Gemini and its activities are so obviously essential for the sustainability of life. Yet, as we know, the bee population is declining at an alarming rate, and one of the contributing factors, it seems, may be the electromagnetic radiation emitted by mobile phones and wireless internet signals, our modern Geminian pollinating devices. The airwaves are now saturated to near exhaustion with our half-baked human jabberings and it appears to threaten the very essence of life.

The Sacredness of the Air

Many indigenous cultures, past and present, recognize the air, the wind and the breath (that we moderns have secularised and commodified) as aspects of a sacred power. It is the sensuous medium through which they live and have their being. Moreover, spoken words, drawing their communicative power from this invisible realm, are still considered by many indigenous groups to be the “structured breath”,¹ which voice the intentions of the spiritual powers. And for those who have their sensitive antennae intact, the sacred air through which we all breathe and think and speak is still perceived as being richly endowed with myriad elemental beings, carrying with them the spirit of our interactions.

A Tapestry of Evocative Language

Gemini carries the power of Hermes or Mercury, the god of language and communication, trade and commerce. All that is betwixt and between comes under the auspices of this duplicitous messenger, wordsmith and riddler. So, on the alchemical journey this month, with this wily daemon at such close quarters, we are paying extra attention to what we are thinking and saying! Gemini always reminds me to choose well from the web of words and stories and to voice them with more ritual care. We do well to remember that words do not simply label things that are already there, but can also carry an incantative power which reverberates in the aether, echoing back and forth as the great tapestry of life is woven.

Including the Middle

The alchemy of Gemini can re-enliven our awareness of the more-than-human otherness of life, help us reconnect to those emissaries of the air that dance between worlds. Daemons, elves, sidhe, little people - a plurality of spirits marginalised by our disenchanted modern worldview - still close enough to this world to be occasionally sensed in certain special places, yet elusive enough to escape too close a scrutiny. But, if we are to re-enter such a perspective, it will take a suspension of our logic, literalism, hasty judgments and singleness of vision; we will need to embrace metaphor, ambiguity and the “middle” that Aristotle would have us exclude. The rewards are great, though difficult for the analyst, to glimpse for a moment a deeper truth in that enchanted realm where the bard and the ovate - speaking in tongues - still hold court.

The Bull's Injunction!

This month has really been a journey for me in the art of embodiment. My arrival at Abbey House in Glastonbury has slowed me right down, from the pace of inner city Bristol to the tranquility of this retreat with its magnificent grounds and the hallowed turf of Glastonbury Abbey, which is considered by many to be the most sacred ground in the whole of Christendom.

Taurus is not a sign that features strongly in my own natal chart, though I do have a Taurean mother, so was inculcated early in the slow, deliberate ways of the bull. Money, food, safety before all else...frustrating for an Aries who wanted just to risk his heart, but profoundly instrcutive in hindsight, especially as I embrace this alchemical journey around the wheel.

I have reflected a great deal on our extraordinary Taurus weekend - which was so physical in nature - perhaps the least verbal workshop I have ever run - and how appropriate that is for this earthy sign. It was as if there was nothing much to say - it was much more appropriate to hold it in the sensory domain. We were fortunate to have no less than four people present in our band of 12 with their natal moons in Taurus - holding the space for us to drop deeply into that bovine energy!

Yesterday, Colette and I walked again in the Taurean figure of the Bull in the Glastonbury, such a sensuous walk, spectacular views and, as we played merrily under a hawthorn bush in full blossom, with sun beating down upon us, on the bull's left horn, the syncrhonicity of the season was alive and potent in a really quite remarkable way.

This is a piece I wrote in response to the first Taurus walk that we did over the workshop weekend.

The Bull's Injunction
A bull stands before me, solid of stature, single of gaze
Watching, his eyes penetrate to my core
Waiting for me to make the first move
Implacable, caring nothing for my sweet manipulations.

"Oh please step aside and let me past, you are blocking my path. I mean you no harm. You are in my way, and I must progress."

And the bull's reply?

"I do not block your path. I am your path. You cannot by-pass me. You must pass through me. Become me. Ingest my bovine spirit.

"Do not make an object of me, for our destinies are entwined. You must sacrifice that which is within you, that which is afraid of your true Taurean power. You cannot manipulate me with words or clever schemes. For I am your medicine on this turn of the wheel.

"My medicine will slow your thoughts, release the hunch in your shoulders, ground you in your body sense.

Stand squarely before me. Claim this sacred ground that we share. Do not shirk me. Be the Bull that you are!"

bright blessings,
John

A Poem for Beltane

Oh, to be here in Glastonbury on a bright May Day morning, to celebrate with kindred spirits. How at home I feel here honouring the wheel of life! Here's a poem I wrote, inspired by this morning's ceremony:

Beltane fire,
Crackling with life
Each lick of flame a line of verse
An enchantment to bewitch and befuddle
Reason, suspended, must dance like a fool

Jumping the fire, wild awakening
A chanted spiral takes me deeper
Eyes meet 'midst a cluster of memories and longings
Each glance of recognition inebriates my senses
A momentary glimpse
Perhaps
A precious shred of the mystery
To which my soul is wedded, entwined

Dance, my heart, around the may pole
Jack's erect and true, capped with a crown of blossom
Here he stands, the tree of life
The axis mundi around which we merrily play
Weaving our way
This first of May

The Alchemy of Taurus: Appreciation & Authentic Ownership

What does it mean to have, to own, to be in possession of things? What is money and what role should it play in my life? What is my relationship to the earth, to my own body, to my experience of the world though my five senses? These are questions I am pondering this month, following a very powerful workshop at the Chalice Well, where our group of intrepid alchemical adventurers marked the entry of the Sun into the astrological sign of Taurus, this abundant phase of the year where nature offers us its first blossom. As the bright colours, sweet smells, sounds, tastes, and tactility of Spring awaken our senses, so we are offered an opportunity to fully inhabit our sensuous nature and appreciate the great fullness of life. The beauty and sanctity of the Chalice Well and the ritual journey we took in the Taurus figure of the Glastonbury Zodiac, offered us the opportunity to experience this at a profound level.

Magnetic Attraction

In contrast to Aries, Taurus quietly draws toward itself what it needs for its own sustenance and well-being, drawing on the magnetism of the earth element, and the attractive power of Venus, its ruling planet. So it is then, through connecting to this energy in our own lives, we can learn to attract and magnetize things to us, by being attentive to and appreciating what is right in front of us. As we learned during our Taurus weekend, by drawing on this resource and allowing our sensory experiences to come to us (rather than seeking them out), we gain access to a level of perceptual sensitivity which we might ordinarily miss. Ben Rayner, who was co-facilitating the weekend with Anthony and myself really helped us to realise this, through the sensory perception and expanded awareness practices that he taught us.

Enough Already

The Taurus phase teaches us the value of “enough”, the recognition that we may already have everything we need to live a happy and fulfilled life. In the current economic climate, our culture is having to face the realisation that stuffing our lives full of “more” isn’t sufficient for our sustenance and well-being. I remember Lynne Twist once saying that in our modern quest for abundance, we often sail right past the exquisite beauty of “enough” without even realising it – driven on by our scarcity-ridden belief that “more is better”. So my own practice this month is to sense what is enough for me, to realise what I actually need to be secure and what I could happily and joyfully do without - and celebrate that!

Authentic Ownership

I equate this practice of what I call “authentic ownership” with the experience of fully inhabiting my body, claiming a right to the ground that I walk upon, the air that I breathe, the interactions that give my life value and the sensuous delights of the present moment. To embrace this without attachment, without seeking to claim exclusive rights over any of these things frees me to be more fully present to the natural abundance of life.

Sufficiency & Sustainability

The manifestation / law of attraction books and films such as “The Secret” have offered us powerful keys to help us manifest our creative potential, and they include gratitude as an important component of that. However, I’d personally love to see them focussing more on the distinctions of sufficiency and sustainability as part of the context for manifestation, and less on the acquisition of monetary wealth and the accumulation of material things for their own sake. A celebratory appreciation of the resources that we already have, including money and material assets, as well as our own skills and abilities, can free us up to find more creative ways to express and channel that which we have blessed with. When we relax the anxiety that comes from thinking we need more of everything, a whole world of already existing riches opens up. We also become more powerful attractors in the process!

Next Workshop in Glastonbury: Gemini - 23rd / 24th May

Our next Alchemical Journey workshop in Glastonbury is our Gemini event, The Alchemy of Communication, on the 23^rd / 24^th May in Glastonbury. We'll be exploring the creative power of language and learn to become more effective communicators. For details, visit: http://www.thealchemicaljourney.com/may2009.php

The workshop is open to all – and it would be great if you can join us and taste the magic of this journey with us. Have a great Taurean month and hope you find your treasure.

Taking Pleasure in The Turning Wheel

I've been thinking a lot about 'pleasure' this month - seems appropriate as we are in the Sagittarius phase, which has plenty to do with loosening up and having a good time. I've been reflecting upon just how much pleasure I have derived from my experiential encounters with the astrological wheel over the years - my deepening awarness of, and rootedness in the wheel. It's a learning journey that can never be exhausted, just revealing more and more layers of depth and subtlety - and with it, ever greater possibilities to simply enjoy the transformational ride!

The 16th century German mystic Jakob Boehme said: "The essence of God is like a wheel...the more one beholds the wheel, the more one learns about its shape, and the more one learns, the greater pleasure one has in the wheel." I've spend a lot of time contemplating this quote and the more I work experientially with the astrological wheel and with the wheel of the year, and the seasonal transformation it relates to, so it continues to reveal even more profound layers of meaning. The "wheel that turns" is a common motif in many traditions. In Buddhism, it is most often related as the wheel of samsara into which the immortal soul incarnates to experience the transformational cycle of birth, desire, suffering, death and re-birth. It is the wheel of karma, where we experience ourselves "in the world", the aim being to find balance or peace, to become aware of the turning wheel of samsara that we are bound within, and, in doing so, free ourselves from suffering. The wheel of samsara reflects, of course, the turning wheel of the year through the seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, and then relates this directly to the human experience.

The Still Point at the Centre

One of the primary features of a turning wheel is that it has a point at its centre that remains still - yet is the fulcrum point from which all the energy from the turning wheel emanates. I have come to equate this still point at the centre of the wheel as the point of awareness, where we are aware of the turning around us, yet, as we hold our presence at the centre, can remain unmoved by it. In the Samsara model, I equate this point with an experience of nirvana, an experience of simply being, that we access through the stilling of the mind. The more able we are to access the stillness at the centre of the turning of the wheel, the more able we are to move back out into the wheel and simply enjoy its turning for what it is. If we are not practised in accessing this centre, then we will tend to experience the wheel as dangerous, frightening, and its inevitable turning as something to be fought against and resisted. As Boehme says, the more we learn about the wheel and how it functions, the more awareness of the cyclical nature of life's wheel and its irresistible turning, the more pleasure we can have in that wheel and so we can become free of suffering. This, for me, is that heart of true alchemy, as I believe it is the heart of all true spiritual practice.

The Zodiacal Dance

Ten days ago, Anthony Thorley and myself ran a weekend introduction to The Alchemical Journey in Glastonbury, called "Awaken the Alchemist Within". It was a magical weekend with huge amounts of learning all round - and as I have reflected upon it, so many insights have been dropping - like golden raindrops! The weekend was based upon an experiential journey around the whole wheel of the year - through each one of the 12 signs of the zodiac. We did this primarily through music and movement, envisoning our playspace (the upstairs room at Glastonbury Conservative Club!) as that ever-turning wheel with the still point marked at its centre. And so, on the Saturday, we danced our way around the wheel from Aries to Pisces, responding to music and visual cues that resonated with each zodiac sign and each of the 12 stages within the annual seasonal round. We began our journey by focussing at the centre of the wheel, and after we had experienced fully the energy of each zodiac sign, we returned to the centre, consciously releasing our involvement with the energy of each sign. By following this structure each time, we were able to realise deeper and deeper within our embodied experience, how, no matter how far we have abandoned ourselves to each stage of the unfolding drama, we can always return to that still place of awareness at the centres. Indeed, what we all found was that the more we rooted our experience in that centre point, the better able I think we became to consciouly abandon ourselves to the dynamics of each sign, dancing ever more passionately, whether to the bright harmonies of Libra, the discordant rhythms of Scorpio, or the off-the-wall jazz beats of Aquarius. I would say that the more connected we became with the centre, the more pleasure we we were able to experience in the wheel.

The Sagittarian Finger That Points to The Centre of the Wheel

On the Sunday of our workshop, we focussed on the sign of Sagittarius and the day culminated in Anthony guiding us on an extraordinary walk around the figure of Sagittarius in the Glastonbury landscape zodiac, a series of 12 figures stretching out across 10 miles of the Somerset Levels- marked out by rivers, roads and field boundaries, and identified by artist Catherine Maltwood in the 1920s, and ever since linked with and identified Arthur's knights of the round table - the round table being the reflected in the perfectly flat landscape of the Somerset levels, in which these figures are found. The Sagittarius is by far the largest of the 12 figures, rather unsurprisingly perhaps for this larger-than-life, Jupiter-ruled sign. Depicting a centaur (or else rider and horse), this figure has been indentified as Arthur himself and all sorts of clues in the landscape features and place names suggest some kind of shamanic-healer figure, not unlike Chiron, the mythological shaman-centaur of Greek mythology. The arm of the Sagittarian figure reaches deep into the heart of the zodiac and his finger almost touches the very centre point of the wheel. This point is marked in the landscape by a dense and rarely visited wood, called Park Wood. We ventured into this wood on the Sunday afternoon and stood around a particular tree at the centre point of the zodiac. It was an extraordinary experience and I personally felt the most incredible sense of peace and stillness there. Again, an embodied recognition of the power of the still centre. It was our starting point for the ritual journey around the profile of Arthur / Sagittarius that was to follow. Having stilled ourselves, we were ready to venture out into the fiery energy of the Sagittarian figure - better able I believe to really abandon ourselves to the pleasures of walking in the wheel.

These are my reflections for now on this experience. I will perhaps add more to them over the coming months. I really welcome any comments and feedback. You can respond by clicking the 'comments' link below.

Visit www.thealchemicaljourney.com for more information about The Alchemical Journey - and come on board for the ride of your life!

all good wishes

John x

The Alchemy of Sagittarius - A Time to Rekindle The Inner Fire

People often ask me why the hot and fiery sign of Sagittarius should appear in the wheel of the year just as we start pulling on the winter woollies and getting our wood stocks in for the winter. It might be easier to understand the seasonal association of Aries with its spring burst of life and Leo appearing in the heat of summer. Sagittarius, it would seem expresses the energy in a slightly more subtle way (that said, Sagittarians are not exactly renowned for their subtlety!).

I have come to understand the Sagittarian turn of the wheel through an understanding of the Christian festival of advent and its pagan predecessor. During Scorpio, we experienced the cycle of decay and "rotting down". If we are honouring the wheel, then we have, symbolically, "buried our dead" in Scorpio, and let go of that which can no longer be sustained on this turning of the wheel. Around the time we enter Sagittarius, nature begins to turn its attention away from death and toward the possibility of new life rising again - even though we don't see it so obviously, it is happening within the soil and within the plants and trees themselves, as elements recombine to warm and protect the seeds of life to allow a new cycle of gestation to begin. As humans, I believe we pick this up psychically, and experience this phase this of the year as the beginning of a new gestation cycle, as we turn our attention turns toward a time when the Sun or "saviour" will be born anew. The Christian festival of advent anticipates the birth of Christ, and celebrates the new hope that will bring. It's interesting to note that this seems to be marked also in the Chinese Taiji wheel, where receptive yin energy has reached its most saturated point (in the cycle corresponding to Scorpio) and, more-or-less as we enter Sagittarius creative yang energy is simultaneously being re-conceived.

Personally, I sense the alchemy of Sagittarius re-opening my heart, releasing my spirit and offering me the freedom to dream a new dream. It seems right to turn my thoughts to the future and celebrate that immortal, spiritual part of me which I know survives death (this is something I believe we all know intuitively, even if we have learned to doubt it). This inspirational fire is essential, I believe, to lift us free of our material attachments, and, like the phoenix rising out of the ashes, it can re-inspire our creative impulse, stretch our minds and open up new worlds of possibility.

I see Sagittarius as a time for contemplation and wonder, a time for sacred journeying and the potential revelation of a divine connection. As the archer takes aim and fires his arrow toward the far horizon, so might we naturally look to the stars for guidance, just as the three wise astrologers did as they followed the star in the east that led them to that much fabled manger in Bethlehem.

On The Alchemical Journey programme this month we are seeking to expand our perspectives and explore the bigger picture of our lives, ritually journeying into a future of our own intentional creation. We are exploring our relationship to God, the Universe, Allah, Great Spirit (or whatever name we choose) and questioning what we mean when we use these terms. Having confronted our shadows in Scorpio, visited the underworld and offered the ferryman his toll, it is time for us to regain our wings and take shamanic flight, prepare to meet our spirit guide and ready ourselves for initiation at the winter solstice in the next sign of Capricorn.

This cycle marks a time of the year when you we are likely to be more responsive to dreams and visions, new ideas and possibilities for the future. It is time to wonder, to contemplate the deeper mysteries of life; to broaden our horizons and adventure into the unknown. It is to laugh and be merry, to let our hair down and have a good time.

So here are some things you might want to try as a way for getting the most out of the Sagittarius cycle:

1. Keep a Dream Journal by your bed - and write down whatever you remember as soon as you wake up and pay attention to symbols.
2. Create a Vision Board - Think about the bigger picture of your life and imagine the things you like to draw into your life. Then find images to represent this. You can do this by cutting pictures out of magazines and downloading images from the internet - and sticking them on a large piece of card or stiff paper. Then put this up on your wall - somewhere you will see it regularly.
3. Observe the practice of a cultural or religious tradition other than your own - you might want to visit a mosque or a hindu temple for example, and their something of their culture and tradition - or observe a particular practice - just as a way of broadening your own cultural and/or religious perspective.
4. Laugh more! It's good for the soul.

We also have a number of introductory talks line up in the new year:

See: http://www.thealchemicaljourney.com/news3.php for details.

Wishing You All a Happy Sagittarian Advent-ure,

Alchemical blessings,

John

www.thealchemicaljourney.com

Confessions of a Gemini Moon!

Well, I'm experiencing this month of Gemini as varied and unprecictable as one might expect of such an buzzy, fluttery and elusive sign. I am born with my moon in Gemini and I would say I am particularly sensitive to Gemini energies - I have always been tremendously magnetised toward Gemini-type people, unceasingly rivted by words, thoughts, ideas, associations and connections between people and ideas. I can also relate very deeply to the erratic nature of this sign - up one minute, down the next - compelled and fascinated by an idea or relationship one day, and bored or disinterested by it the next. This might be viewed as a fault, or a mark of faultly attention, and there have been times in my life, when I am certain that such a judgment would have been justified within a particular context, yet I also identify a deep need (as expressed always by the moon) for colour, variety, diversity and a continually shifting re-interpreting of reality. I have been reflecting on the phenomena that when I find the Gemini energy of communication is getting too much for me, it may be more that I'm losing presence to the truth of the presence of this moment that is always-already there underpinning the contunually shape-shifting phenomena I encounter. When I lose my energy, and feel depleted is when I identify primarily with the phenomena, and I forget to hold my presence within it.

I've been thinking a lot od bumblebees this month - that beautfully apt symbol of Geminian buzz. Through spreading the pollen, this "accidental hero" of nature ensures the rich variety and diversity of life continues. However essential the process is to life and how ignorant to think that we should be trying to controlling that natural process through genetic modification of plants and crops - now being put forward as a likely reason why bee populations are declining so much. The bees movement as it buzzes from flower to flower is so apparently erratic, yet at a level we probably cannot appreciate, it is a perfectly choreographed expression of the dance of life, perfect for that moment, perfect in a way that cannot be entirely replicated or copied. The movement of the bee, like all aspects of nature has a pattern to it that we can discern and identify, yet within that pattern is the essence of that particular moment. The essence of that moment ensures that the bee will not tire of his dance, but he is being endlessly replenishes by the unseen web that enables his dance. I've been feeling a bit frazzled the last few days - lack of sleep and an excess of buzzing - this is something I am reminding myself of today. Remember the invisible web that supports all the patterns and apparently erratic movements that I make. Remember the web that gives me my life, the web supports my breath, the web that connects to me every other living thing in the web.

Bumblebee, when you enter the flower, I know you are not thinking already of the next flower - you are fully and completely present with the life giving nectar that feeds you in that moment. Bumblebee, when you and buzzing in the air between flowers, I know you are not thinking of the last flower you alighted upon and mourning its loss. Neither are you anxious for the next. I know you are fully present in your buzz, in the flutter of tiny wings. Bumblebee, let me into your secret. Let me bee with you.

Love John x