Pilgrimage to Glastonbury, Stanton Drew, Stonehenge and Woodhenge

I just got back from an amazing pilgrimage to Glastonbury with Elijah, as part of his 8th birthday present and my need to get off this ridiculously fear-fuelled island!

It felt supported in every way, clear roads, wonderful timings and special experiences, I am very grateful to the powers that be.

Many of you know that I love Glastonbury and it has been calling for a while, but the timing was not quite right until just now, there was gap and the idea just wouldn’t go away and I heeded it eventually with a gentle push from the universe to get the message through loud and clear (my weird and wonderfully-timed phone call as mentioned in a previous blog) and booked the trip.

Amazingly the White Spring was open. This is my most favourite place in Glastonbury but I had been told it had closed due to Covid, but there was a small chance it might be open on the Sunday afternoon. As luck would have it, the gap in my schedule included a Sunday afternoon - I prayed and alas those prayers were answered for it was open and for a few hours. Elijah isn’t so keen on the place but I managed to dip a couple of times in the white water.

We headed up the Tor a couple of times too, once coincided with moon rise which was a treat, especially as the mists appeared soon afterwards. We went to the Abbey to imbue the energy of the land, and to Chalice Wells too, topping up on the red iron water, albeit you can collect that from outside the White Spring too. We did the obligatory crystal shopping too, and visit up to the Goddess Temple to light a candle and say thanks.

The other exciting bit of the trip though, was getting up to Stanton Drew, the third largest stone circle in the UK, I LOVE stone circles as most of you know, and while this one feels very sad, it has a very welcoming energy, at leats when it trusted me being there. I especially loved the South Western circle and a message came through from there. It was the Cove though, that really blew my mind - this is a little way away by a pub, it’s quite unusual, but very potent, and something that has been on my mind suddenly became much clearer when I stood between the stones.

On our way back yesterday, I was intending to drive past Stonehenge on our way to Woodhenge, but I saw the sign and that was that. As luck would have it we turned up at the entrance at the exact time it was opening, as if it was always meant to be, and we headed out to the stones on the shuttle bus, manifesting one of Elijah’s dreams (all trip he’d gone on about wanting to go on a bus), and fulfilling one of my own of getting back to that land and those stones. We were the first ones there and while you can’t - sadly - touch the stones, we virtually had them to ourselves. The message came through here super clear too.

We headed out to Woodhenge, another calming place, with a potent stone in the middle. It’s al potent around here though, the land speaks! I guess if you’re not into all this sort of stuff than that sounds bonkers and makes no sense. But the area is alive, Wiltshire, the trees were something else, the autumn colours were just astounding, really bringing home that message of love. Nature loves unconditionally. Each breath is love.

The eclipse is bringing love to us too - deep into the heart chakra and to our relationships, both with our Self and with others too. Eclipses have a habit of bringing in the change for us, and realigning us with where we are meant to be, at least from a soulful perspective. Never easy. Blessing in every curse. Remember this!

We have to stop feeding what isn’t working. We have to see through the illusion. Society ain’t working. What we are currently doing to our children is harmful, the sooner we awaken to all the deceit and lies the better, for our future generations to come.

Enjoy the ride!

xx

Love

Ramping up to the Eclipses...

You know we have the longest partial full moon lunar eclipse of the century next Friday 19th November? That’s a HUGE deal btw. Eclipses massively change things. It’s like they come in and end things, bringing to a close those things that are now misaligned in our lives, or perhaps always were misaligned.

This could be all sorts of things, not just relationships, but anything which is no longer saving us like the way we are living. I feel this theme is HUGE for many of us, and follows on from the heart/head split. Are we living from the heart or from the head? Are we living in accordance with our deepest values? Are we living in alignment with our deepest truth? Are we living our dreams? If not, why not?

Difficult questions. If you’re reading this you probably have an idea or an inkling, even if you’re not really ready yet to own it. This is the thing with eclipses though, they just come in and literally change things. We realise we cannot go on. We have no choice in the end but to let go whatever the outcome. It is literally about getting out of the head, which tries to rationalise, understand, be certain and plan, and into our heart which will flow us where we need to go even if it makes no sense.

I can definitely apply this to my life. We have changes going on. I had felt it a while ago but I know I am not alone. Many are feeling this. Our roots have been shaken and we are being asked to step up and forge a new direction, a new way of being, that we may have known in our hearts for a good few years now.

As a humanity we absolutely need to find another way because this way ain’t working. Life is way too fast and way too stressful for people to literally have the time to sit down and take a breather. Even yoga classes are sped up and shortened so that people can fit them into already busy and hectic schedules full of tick boxes and things to accomplish. Soon be Christmas btw. I can almost sense the panic of that in the shops. I mean really, do we need such a big lead in? Why do we collectively put up with it?

I was reading a Mayan take on things these next 13 days earlier and a paragraph especially talked to me. I am very aware that the systems are broke and cannot cope, but it is more than that, it is about our collective conditioning around what it means to be successful and in our power…that needs to change…

“Real power comes from true respect. Not fear, not admiration or worship, not envy or insecurity. In modern society, many public and private figures carry an aura of apparent respect that in fact stands on a weak foundation: just think how easily a politician falls when it’s discovered he’s had an affair or has misappropriated public funds, how quickly a media celebrity goes out of favor once their sales start to sag. We are learning not to respect, but to want—we are taught to desire fame, money, status, influence, power—and eternal youth. These are the values celebrated by our media and our leaders. Respect for ourselves, for one another and our planet doesn’t seem to have a seat at the table. This needs to change if we are going to live in a stable, sustainable and equitable world.”

Anyway, I just wanted to give you a bit of a lead in, because these next 10 days are going to be super charged, electric, messy, chaotic. I wonder what on earth made me think it was a good time to try and get off the island! Well my eldest turns 8 during this time too, and there are other significant things happening so it really is just one of those intense times. I honestly don’t know how anyone is managing it without a daily yoga practice, being able to lie down on a mat and feel the earth beneath the body and the breath coming in and out.

Let alone getting in the sea each day. Saints is honestly a saviour to me. I can’t go in for long without getting too cold, but a daily dip before school is all it needs to set me up for the day ahead. We are so lucky here on Guernsey, that we even have that option. I am eternally grateful for the karma that brought me here…albeit this time in humanity’s journey is an interesting one to incarnate!

I did have this sense today that we absolutely must make every effort to stay in the heart as much as we can. Anything we feel will be massively amplified. Thus if we feel fear we’ll find it staring right back at us and it’s going to be really uncomfortable. Same with anxiety. Same with negativity. Everything will be amplified so love is possibly the most compassionate way to navigate the next ten days and into the after shock beyond…

Enjoy the ride…

Pushed through the eye of the needle

Wow, that was an intense new moon, it felt like we were being pushed through the eye of a needle. The after shocks can still be felt and I know in my own life significant life decisions are having to be made. There can be no more head in the sand, at least, it’s become increasingly obvious what needs to change.

I had a rather synchronistic time of it too. I had been debating a trip to Glastonbury, my heart was desperate for it, but of course my mind got involved, trying to rationalise, was this really the right time. The same day of all this contemplation and flight checking, I received a completely random telephone call from a lady in Glastonbury who had read one of these big posts from 2018 about a healing crisis (which coincidentally, I was going through at the time too) and was in an uncomfortable place within herself and needed someone to talk to.

If I had doubt previously, I had no doubt now and the trip came together easily, so that as long as covid doesn’t mess with plans, as we can not be so sure of anything right now, I will get to return to the land of Avalon, next week. Sadly the white spring, which is my favourite place in Glastonbury, is currently closed to the public due to covid restrictions, but at least I know that and do not have any expectation.

It really has been a time of moving deeper into the heart. I suspect you have all been experiencing that too, the need to make decisions from that part, the all knowing part, that doesn’t align with any ‘normal’ societal structure. It’s sometimes an uncomfortable place to be, as decisions need to made, that contravene the ‘norm’, but it is a place of great freedom, once we have settled in it. Always the heart, I have been reminded of this.

Have a lovely week ahead. It’s going to pulse on, the energy is far from settled. We are at a very tricky time right now. I truly believe that settling into the heart and ensuring a connection to the earth is essential. I am noticing an increase in people seeking the support of Reiki for this very reason. It helps. It makes a difference. It helps to get us out of the head and into the heart and back into the body. So if you are feeing anxious don’t forget that. You don’t have to get stuck in anxiety, you can find your way out.

I don’t have many appointments available but try Katie, or join our online Sunday session, to receive Reiki by distance. I’m not there next weekend, but Katie will be leading it for me. Obviously there’s yoga too, and I don’t honestly know how anyone is coping without a regular yoga practice in this current environment!

Good luck! See you soon!

The choice for love

It’s an interesting old energy today, on the eve of the new moon. I’ve not yet read anything about this moon but I can feel that it is bringing up some fear and agitation. People are simply not settled, there’s a restlessness, a feeling of discombobulation, things are up in the air as if the potential for change can be literally felt and yet there’s no certainty to how it might land.

The song, The Drug’s Don’t Work, by The Verve springs to mind. It’s not to say that the vaccine isn’t having some positive impact, but that alone it isn’t solving things. I thought it ironic earlier that on the BBC website there was an article on the CO26 that was not focused on climatic change but on the fact Boris wasn’t wearing a mask in one of the photos taken when he was sitting by Sir David Attenborough (yet there were two other photos, once where they were both wearing a mask and one where David wasn't and Boris was). David was asked for a comment and understandably didn't make one. After all, they were there for climate change not to judge or create further division in society over face masks.

i’m easy going, if people feel safer and happier wearing face masks then so be it. But like everything with covid and decision making, I really wish we could stop judging. Live and let live. No one actually knows how we’re going to manage this Covid situation as we head into winter. SAGE are calling on the government to reveal their Plan B. Do w even have an effective Plan A?

I did find it interesting the very week that while CO26 is taking place, we’re spending money and wasting resources heating our local schools, while keeping the windows and doors open. Maybe it’s just me but I’m struggling to understand the sense of it, at least climactically, let alone from health perspective, children wearing coats in class, rugs next perhaps, gloves too maybe?

My children are all finding it a bit much, all the changes and the increased anxiety in the air. I do wonder what kind of generation we are raising, what all these decisions are doing to them mentally and emotionally, let alone physically. I do know that both my boys have been sick this last term and this despite all the endless hand washing and anti-bacterial stuff, let alone the attempts at isolating them within the wider school when there has been a Covid outbreak. I honestly feel they might just be weary.

I do wonder the effect on people’s immune systems of all this fear. I know from my own experience what fear does to us, how it messes with our digestion and our mental and emotional health. It’s a restless energy that doesn't allow us to find our centre and rest into that. We come out of the heart and lose a sense of the bigger picture. We overlook the soul.

I have always found it really helpful to come back to the heart, get as deep into it as possible, to elevate the awareness and shift the perspective. There’s a wonderful poem about this, that I’m sure I’ve shared here before, but I shall share again as it seems helpful and necessary at the moment:

The Choice For Love – From Emmanuel’s Book II, compiled by Pat Rodegast and Judith Stanton

What does the voice of fear
whisper to you?

Fear speaks to you
in logic and reason.
It assumes the language
of love itself.

Fear tells you
“I want to make you safe.”
Love says,
“You are safe.”

Fear says,
“Give me symbols.
Give me frozen images.
Give me something
I can rely on.”

Loving truth says,
“Only give me
this moment.”

Fear would walk you
On a narrow path
promising to take you
where you want to go.

Love says,
“Open your arms
and fly with me.”

Every moment of your life
you are offered the opportunity
to choose –
love or fear,
to tread the earth
or to soar the heavens.

Let’s choose to soar the heavens. Let’s choose love over fear.

i’ve been trying to settle into the heart as the energy ramps up in this lead up to the new moon. I believe others are doing the same, we’re being called into it, to ease the pervading fear, and help us to care a new future both individually and collectively. The heart will help us find our way, but we need to settle into it as much as we can first…and we will drop in and out as the energy won’t let us settle easily, it’s trying to wake us up . I’ll try and record a yoga video to help…

Enjoy the new moon - hopefully some of you are enjoying this as part of my Moon & Menstruation offering and finding it helpful thus far.

Love Emma x

Head or heart

We just got back from Sark and another amazing visit. I just love that place, it restores me in a way that Nepal used to do, there’s just something about it’s energy. My heart and soul crave it and my roots need it. Life gets way too busy on Guernsey, it’s a place of frenetic activity, there’s something about its energy that just has people running around in circles and I get caught up in it like the rest.

Sark encourages the go slow approach, albeit I only managed to sit down and watch one DVD the whole time, which I guess was a positive thing, as I don’t usually watch any television. We had relatively lazy mornings though, given that the children for some crazy reason were waking at 5.15am, so I was able to make the most of the time to sit in bed drinking tea and editing my book, a treat.

Then it was swim in the pool and a walk down Dixcart Valley for a swim in the sea, maybe some yoga, maybe a cycle, maybe another beach, maybe some Reiki or a massage, maybe a search for more ancient stones (we accessed some private land on Little Sark and finally found the cist that had evaded us previously), maybe more swimming, maybe some more tea, maybe a walk to somewhere new, maybe a visit to the play area or more charity shopping. I made it out to the dolmen a few times too, saw the milky way, the skies are unbelievable on a clear night. There is so much to do on Sark that we still didn’t manage to visit all the places we have intended and I have yet to find the lump of rose quartz found on an excavation.

We made new friends, I now know Phil the farmer and owner of much of the field of Little Sark. I also met Terry. I caught up with the yoga group and the holistic therapist. It increasingly feels like home away from home. It is my intention that one day I spend more time there, but for now, I am contented to look forward to our trips and the various retreats - the good news is that we WILL be running the September and October retreats as hoped, thank you Helen at the Island Hall.

It’s always uncomfortable for me coming back to Guernsey. The energy at the moment doesn’t help things. There is such division, not least between those in Covid-Fear and those not, but in whether we live from the head or the heart. I got myself well and truly caught up in that with incessant thinking and a horrible feeling of fear. I knew I had dropped out of the heart, but couldn’t seem to get back into it again. Jo, my shadow worker friend, helped me to feel into it again and cease the thinking mind and ego with all its need to try to control and make life certain. Ha. An illusion no-less.

I am reminded that our stories alone are simply a fabrication, a way that we try to make sense of things, but in the process run the risk of getting caught up and lost in the narrative. The ego likes to keep unfeeling alone and separate, making us right or wrong, good or bad, and making others the same too, taking it all so blinking personally that we truly believe it is about us, forgetting it can only ever be about them - their stuff.

Anyway, it’s time for bed. I’m going to lead a yoga nidra on Sunday night, with the Reiki share. I just have a feeling there’s a real need to get into the body and especially into the heart. There’s no fear in the heart. No ego either. No nothing other than just this beautifully calm expansive feeling. Then you know. No need for the head to try to figure it out!

Love Emma xxx