Loads and loads of things! I am now at last blogging properly so
please add me to your RSS reader. You can read full details of
what I’ve been up to on my blog, but here’s a taster:
It was great to meet Philip Carr-Gomm, the chief Druid of the
Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and his colleague Richard
Heygate at their book launch at Treadwells in Covent Garden. The
Book of English Magic is a fascinating read, and beautifully
produced.
We had a wonderful time at Buxton Health and Healing Festival
in June, staying in a farmhouse B&B and managing to squeeze in
a walk in the hills and a visit to the stone circle at Arbor Low! As
well as the two days spent in lovely Buxton meeting fans and
readers at the festival, giving talks, signing books etc.
We enjoyed being with Bob Broadway for a booksigning at Quest
in Newton Abbott at the beginning of July, and then with the
Magik Thread again at Leeds MBS Festival. A whole crowd of
Stonewylders turned up to both these events too, many in their
Stonewylde T-shirts. I can’t tell you how lovely it’s been this year to
meet so many of you.
I completed my Race for Life in Reading, running 5km to raise
funds for Cancer Research UK. I ran in memory of my dear friend
Debbie who died of breast cancer in March, and thanks to
everyone’s generosity I raised £1,105! Many thanks to all kind
souls who sponsored me. Debbie would have been delighted.
The most glamorous event so far has to be the Port Eliot Festival
which took place last weekend at the stately home of Earl and
Lady St Germans in Cornwall. What an event!! You can read full
details of this on my blog, complete with many photos. Mr B and I
spent a magical three days there and had the most brilliant time
ever. Our very special reader known to all as Cornmother came
along and had made loads of corndollies specially for us. I was
interviewed by Simon Costin of the Museum of British Folklore
fame for the Port Eliot radio show and podcast, and I gave a talk in
the famous Round Room. This is decorated with murals by the
late and notorious artist Robert Lenkiewicz - it’s a beautiful room.
We met the Earl himself and had a chat, and met so many other
really interesting people too, not least the famous book blogger
Dovegreyreader and her lovely husband (who took this photo -
thanks Bookhound!). This event really was the highlight of my year
so far.
Breaking Stonewylde news
We’ve had our preliminary meeting with Rob
Walster of Big Blu Design about redesigning
the covers for all three books. He’s now
working on this and we’ll let you know when
the new jackets are done. Although I know
many of you do love these original designs
and are bound to moan about this!
I’ve been interviewed by Patricia Finney for a
Cornish radio book programme, and also by
Simon Costin for the Port Eliot Radio Show.
Pagan Dawn ran a story on Stonewylde in
their Lammas edition too. They really are great
supporters and the magazine is an interesting
read.
Two Pagan Federation groups have booked
me to speak at the conferences in 2010, which
is very exciting and a great honour. More
details to follow.
There are a few places left at the Stonewylde
Harvest Moon Gathering in Dorset in the first
weekend of September, due to some
cancellations. The all inclusive cost of a whole
weekend in this Gothic mansion is £99. Please
contact me for more details.
I’m now on Twitter so if you would like to follow
me, you know what to do!
Bright blessings
to all
Stonewylde readers
at Lammas.
What’s been going on ...
LAMMAS
The Festival of Harvest
The Lammas Festival at the
beginning of August is one of the
four Celtic cross-quarter days,
linked to the old farming calendar
from a time when people were very
close to the land and their lives were
governed by the changing of the seasons
and the need to grow enough food to
survive.
The word Lammas comes from Old English hlafmaesse
meaning "loaf barley-cake", and this is the time when the
cereal crops are harvested. There are links to other
cultures and religions too, notably Demeter and Ceres,
also associated with crops and the harvest.
There are many ancient customs
involving the cutting of the first and
last sheaf. The spirit of the corn,
sometimes referred to as The Corn
Mother, was the sacred symbol of
this festival. Many cultures,
including the Ancient Greeks,
Romans and Egyptians, held
similar types of rituals where the
bounty of the land was honoured.
Corn dollies are a feature of the Lammas festival, and
different areas would weave their own beautifully complex
designs, often decorated with bright ribbons or wool.
Traditionally the corn dollies woven at Lammas were
ploughed back into
the land at Imbolc,
symbolising the return
of the Corn Spirit to
the earth, in an
attempt to ensure a
good crop the next
year.
Dates for your diary ...
Sat August 15th - Goddess Festival & Parade, CANTERBURY
This event looks amazing - a parade through the mediaeval streets of
Canterbury followed by a weekend festival with many workshops and
performers including our favourite man, Damh the Bard! I’ll be joining Bob
Broadway on his bookstall for the whole of Saturday and will take part in the
parade in my Lammas Corn Mother outfit!
Fri - Sun September 4th - 6th - Harvest Moon Gathering, Monkton Wyld,
DORSET. Our special gathering for Stonewylde fans in a Gothic mansion in
deep Dorset - a weekend of fun and friendship with a full moon celebration, a
market day and a Stonewylde party! A couple of places may now be available -
£99 fully inclusive. Contact me urgently if you’re interested.
Sat & Sun Sept 19th and 20th - Elf Fantasy Fair, ARCEN on German/Dutch
border. A wild weekend with our continental friends again! We have a whole
room booked for Stonewylde in the beautiful castle at this amazing event.
Fairies, elves, witches and goblins - a packed programme and I’ll be talking of
the magic of Stonewylde on both days. Details here.
Sat & Sun Sept 26th and 27th - Health & Healing Festival , HARROGATE,
Yorks. Another two days of talks and book signings with the Magik Thread
Bookstall. By the same people who organised the Buxton event, this should be
lovely. Click here.
Sat & Sun October 3rd and 4th - Mind Body Spirit Festival, OLYMPIA, London.
I shall be at Olympia for both days with the Magik Thread again, and will be giving a
free talk on Sunday at 10.45am. Come and see me at this massive event! Details of
tickets here.
Sat & Sun October 17th and 18th - BSSK event, Goreton Monastery,
MANCHESTER More talks and book-signings at this beautiful venue - I can’t wait!
Friday Nov 6th - Big Green Bookshop, Wood Green, LONDON
I’m delighted to be invited to this famous independent bookshop for an evening of post-Samhain magic. This
event is free and should be really good fun - come along for 7pm start. Shop details here.
Sat & Sun Nov 27th to 29th - Kernowkopia Festival, NEWQUAY, Cornwall. A really
exciting event full of workshops, performances and craft stalls - and walks along the
beach are free! I’m giving talks on both days and will be on my own little table signing
books and meeting Stonewylders. Come and meet me and get some shopping done for
Yule too. Click here.
Stonewylde Community news ...
The online community goes from strength to strength - we
now have several hundred members and most are very
active. It’s great to have new blood coming in almost daily,
and all the old faithfuls contributing regularly too. The site
really has become a proper community, with members
meeting up regularly all over the country at Stonewylde moots
and real friendships being forged. The Harvest Moon
Gathering is our first overnight get-together and if it’s
successful we hope to have more meet-ups in the future. We
even have our first romance too!
Stonewylders are incredibly supportive of each other and
many are very talented and creative too. I’d like to feature two
special members in this Lammas newsletter, both of whom I feel indebted to for their kindness.
The first is a lady known as Cornmother, who has been a staunch supporter for
exactly two years. As well as promoting Stonewylde at all opportunites, she has
regularly sent me the most beautiful corn dollies. I now have a lovely collection,
and when she heard I was going to Port Eliot she made me even more. You can
see these in the photos here, both on display and decorating my dress. And even
more special of all is the Stonewylde Corn Dolly which she’s designed for us.
Cornmother writes:
“This Corn Dolly has been designed especially for the Stonewylde community.
The golden circle represents the Full Moon, bisected by a plait of three ears of Corn
(representing the Maiden, Mother and Crone) to show the waxing and waning
halves of the Moon. But look carefully: through the centre core of the circle is the
dark blue straw of the Dark Moon. The Corn Dolly is decorated with Stonewylde Green colour ribbon.”
What an honour to have our very own Stonewylde Circle made just for us!
The second is someone with the very long name Where the Wild Roses Grow. She’s usually known as
Roses or Rosey. I’ve mentioned her before; she’s a jeweller with her own
business. Roses makes the most incredible and beautiful jewellery, much of it
out of natural materials coated in silver. Whatever I say here cannot do her
pieces justice - they are absolutely exquisite. Like Cornmother, when Roses
heard I was going to Port Eliot she wanted to help, and created the most
beautiful ear-rings for me. They are little heads of wheat which she went out
and picked, and then worked her magic on. She also sent me several of her
statement pieces on loan so I could swan about looking different. I really can’t
recommend Roses work highly enough. She will make things to order too, and
it’s all packaged and presented more beautifully than I’d have thought possible.
Take a look at her website here - you won’t be disappointed!
We’re still welcoming new members into the Stonewylde Community, having not yet reached our
maximum membership number. Please come and join us - click here to visit the community.
The symbol at Stonewylde
for Lammas is the head of
wheat or corn, and it's a full
day of celebrations for the
folk of Stonewylde, but
particularly the Villagers.
Rituals start before dawn up
in the Lammas Field, with the community spread
around the perimeter and linked together to greet the
sun rise. The crop is harvested in this special field in
the traditional way using sickles, and every man,
woman and child from the Village is involved with
harvesting the Lammas Field in time-honoured
fashion.
Lammas cakes are
eaten for breakfast,
made from corn,
butter and honey
and flavoured with
nutmeg. This is the
day for honouring
the Corn Mother, the
symbolic spirit who
lives in the crops and
sacrifices herself every year for the community.
When the last sheaf is harvested, it's carried
ceremoniously to Magus and the Lammas Queen.
She must weave it into a special corn dolly that is
used in the rituals up at the Stone Circle that night.
There is also another custom which some readers
have disliked - the killing of hundreds of rabbits
trapped in the centre of the field, and made into
special Lammas pies for supper. No place for
squeamishness in the countryside!
You can read all about the Lammas festivities in the
second book, Moondance of Stonewylde. Lammas is
a good time to remember that we're all dependent on
the bounty of the earth. Without the fertility of the
land, and the life-giving powers of the sun and the
rain, there would be no living creatures on this
planet. Take time to honour Nature's gifts to us at
Lammas.
