September! The harvest time has now passed and though we still have beautiful, sunny days the mornings have a misty chill. It’s time to look back with gratitude over a beautiful and very productive summer and to look forward to what is to come. It’s been an exciting time and there is much to come.
The chickens we brought home in the spring (seen in a large pen on the day they arrived, so they get used to their new home) are now 100% free range - escaping any boundaries we place for their protection and wandering far and wide. They are complete characters that give us such joy - and the most delicious eggs. Seren completely ignores them as they wander around!
I’ve never seen such a bounty of flowers before. It has been utterly beautiful. We’ve grown the biggest tomatoes and a glut of beans and taken our very first jars of honey. I’ve experimented with Dandelion Syrup and beautiful St John’s Wort oil for the first time, made delicious Elderflower cordial as usual, Calendula oil, lots of natural cleaning products and dried lots of herbs.
At the end of August we held a Sisterhood Gathering here. The intent was to take time out from a crazy world to nurture ourselves and each other - and we did!
Ten women from spent four days together and a further eleven joined us at the weekend. We sat in sharing circles, sang, drummed, laughed, cried, sewed, crafted, cooked and shared food, helped and cared for one another, held a craftmarket and a shaman’s market that raised over £200 for XR, and carried ash from our much-loved-and-much-used ceremony circle in the woods to the new, more accessible circle in the garden.
Just over half a year ago I wrote my first ever blog post - inspired by the beautiful Horse Drum that had called to me so strongly. He will join us on our Sacred Journey that begins soon.
https://www.sueweaver.co.uk/blog/2019/1/31/i-appear-to-be-writing-a-blog
The second blog post was about smudging and, after a very long wait, I heard from customs yesterday and a new batch of beautiful White Sage will be delivered tomorrow. Export regulations mean that I am no longer able to source abalone shells as before, but I’m happy to have found a new ethical supplier, so all will be added to my shop soon.
https://www.sueweaver.co.uk/blog/2019/2/11/awakening-energy-amp-spring-cleaning
The third blog post was about the earlier stages of seeding the new Ceremony Circle, in August 2018 and Spring 2019, that was fully awakened this August. It all takes time to unfold, involving many stages and many hands. If you didn’t see that blog post, do have a look to see the children planting crystals.
https://www.sueweaver.co.uk/blog/2019/3/25/the-joys-of-spring
And the last blog was about crystals and new directions for crystal training.
https://www.sueweaver.co.uk/blog/2019/6/17/crystals-true-power-and-trivialisation
Back to the Horse Drum. He’s been sitting quietly in the house since the end of January. He’s definitely a ’he’ and has a rather gruff personality. When we bought him from Ros Simons we discussed the beater that was still to be made. Since the work that he will be a part of involves the planets and asteroids, the plan was to include tiny gemstone chips that resonate with each of the planetary energies.
We chose Rubies for the Sun, Blue Topaz for Mercury, Emeralds for Venus, Moss Agate for Earth
Moonstone for the Moon, Red Garnet for Mars, Green Tourmaline for Ceres, Pink Tourmaline for Vesta
Citrine for Pallas Athene, Iolite for Juno, Fluorite for Jupiter, Mookite for Saturn, Golden
Labradorite for Chiron, Herkimer Diamonds for Uranus, Larimar for Neptune, Obsidian for Pluto . . .
And back came a very, very beautiful drum beater/rattle.
Drum and beater have been getting to know one another.
It is now less than 2 weeks before we leave for the first Sacred Journey in a series of four. You can read more here: https://www.heavenandearthcommunity.co.uk/sacred-journeys/#anchor2.
Along with complicated itineraries, accommodation and transport planning, food ordering and many more practical tasks, we need a crystal grid that will form the basis of our altar and focus our work on the land.
We always set up our altar on the first evening and it builds energy throughout the journey. Once in ceremony our altar is sacred and we don’t share images. But I know that lots of you are very interested in Crystal Grids and I can share the process of the growth of this one.
On Sunday I had the feeling that it was time to begin. This was a real blessing as there have been many occasions when inspiration doesn’t come until the very last moment and trust is really tested.
Holding the purpose of the Sacred Journey in mind, I started to consider the base cloth. Green seemed right. In my altar cloths box in the garage were two green cloths in different shades. I chose one and took it to the Crystal Barn to meet the Horse Drum and Beater. Look at the colour match!
I had the feeling that we should use my magical grid base. (Good news! I’ve found someone local to make these - coming soon!) Then I thought we should use my beautiful Citrine sphere in the centre. I placed it and sat in quiet stillness. Almost immediately it was very clear that, although this sphere is very beautiful, it wasn’t what was needed for this work.
Gently holding the question of how to begin, I looked round the barn and saw the beautiful Chrysoprase Flame that had drawn me so powerfully in spring. I placed it in the centre of the grid and it was perfect. That was enough and I left them to ‘cook’.
Later that evening I felt that it was time to add some Sun energy. We’d chosen Ruby chips for the Sun energy in the beater. I have a lot of Rubies at present, but felt that wasn’t what was needed for the grid. Citrine seemed right, and while I was considering whether it should be crystals or tumblestones my eyes fell on 6 tiny skulls! I placed them and they were just perfect. Between the skulls I added Golden Labradorite for the Spirit of the Sun/Sun behind the Sun rather than the physical Sun.
I knew I wanted Fluorite octahedra for Mercury, but it wasn’t yet time. What was needed was something to ’hold’ the energy. Some time ago, on an adventure with sisters, I bought Preseli Bluestone Sarcen Stone skulls and dragons and they have been on my altar - waiting. It was their time! The final placement for Sunday was two Quartz Angels.
Gathering energy in the Crystal Barn with early evening sun
On Monday I added Fluorite octahedra, in different colours, from my own healing crystals; Emerald and Rose Quartz for Venus; Jade hearts for Earth. More was needed for Mercury and Earth, but first another period of resting, waiting, gathering energy.
On Wednesday it was time to add more crystals. I really wanted Aqua Aura for Mercury but I couldn’t find any. I knew I wanted to add Preseli Bluestone but not until ‘Mercury’ was complete. I sat with the grid and realised that the Jade hearts needed to change position. As I moved them I spotted some tiny Blue Chalcedony tumblestones and laid them between the Fluorites. The Preseli Bluestones sat beautifully beside the Rose Quartz hearts and Garnets came in for Mars. We still need some Moon Crystals to weave between the Earth Crystals. This will come when the time is right.
The crystal grid will continue to grow as each layer is added - all in perfect timing. This weekend we are at the Healing Light Festival at Heartlands, Pool, Redruth, so from now we’ll be busy with preparation. Although the crystal grid will grow, I will not have time to take photographs and there may be a little wait for the next installment.
Until then, Crystal Blessings xxx
