Goddess in Cornwall 2008

By Elayne Bines

Wednesday, 10th September

My friend Shirley and I arrived at Boswedden House in high spirits and full of expectations. We met at the event last year and were thrilled to be back again. It was lovely to greet old friends and my fellow year’s trainee priestesses, Alison and Sue in the lobby as we went to find out which caravans we were in. To our delight we had the larger of the two and were very pleased with our new home as we unloaded our stuff and found places for it all. By the time we had returned back to the house it had filled with women, all chatting and laughing. Marj’s enigmatic Lady of Kernow doll sat in the entrance porch which was decorated with Geraldine’s vibrant paintings. As I stood there I felt the inner glow of bliss and excitement starting, knowing this was the beginning of a much-looked-forward-to four day Goddess experience.

At five o’clock we all went to the wonderful new meditation room, which is a large, bright, friendly space that was filled with cushions for us all to sit on. Cheryl then welcomed us all and ran through the itinerary of the event. Each day was broken up into sections with the choices of yoga or morning circle first thing, workshops or therapies both mid-morning and afternoon and the choice of a further two workshops each evening. If that was not enough there was also a chance to swim, sit by the fire or just enjoy the grounds as you wanted. As this was explained to us and the women introduced themselves the Cornish weather closed in and the rain starting lashing the outside of the building so the venue of the opening ceremony was changed to inside by a popular vote after which we all went into the dining hall for first of our very enjoyable, very sociable meals. The number of women present was smaller this year but it didn’t seem to decrease the noise of happy women's voices as they caught up with old friends or made new ones. So with full stomachs we returned to the meditation room for the opening ceremony. The lights were dim and the storm was now raging outside as the priestesses, my mentors, called in the elements and the Goddess in Cornish which was translated for us all. Hearing this language spoken in ceremony was for me a spine tingling experience. It was truly beautiful to listen to and seemed to make the words spoken resonate in the air. When it was finished we all sang together, women's voices praising the Goddess. The energy in the room was amazing and uplifting. It was filled with women with smiles and bright eyes. When we finally left it was on cloud nine and it was quite a while before we came down enough to sleep.

Thursday, 11th September

Breakfast was once again a lively event with lots of bright conversation and catching up with late arrivals. People were trying to plan their day with all the choices they had. The first thing I went to was a workshop with Marj Rowland on Weaving The Web. We arrived at the meditation room to find it had been decorated with large spiders' webs. The largest was on the floor with cushions surrounding it. The altar was dedicated to Grandmother Spider and was the finishing touch to the room. Marj started by explaining the web of connection, that everything is part of it and how it affects us all. While she talked about Goddesses connected with webs and threads a ball of yarn was passed around the circle, each woman in turn holding it looping it back to the web and then returning it to the person on their right. So it went on with humour and merriment until it returned to Marj and then we were all connected. This lead on to us all making our own Grandmother Spider dolls, a really fun activity and we were all proud of our dolls when we had finished. Marj then lead us on a journey to meet Grandmother Spider after which we shared our experiences. I marvelled at how many connections there were with a journeys and experiences. This for me was a perfect example of the web in action and I was really pleased to have experienced it. We came away really looking forward to Boscawen-un Circle and hoping the weather would carry on improving.

Lunch was the normal fun affair with lots of discussion about where we were going and who was going in whose car. By the time we had got to the lay-by nearest to Boscawen-un Circle the weather was fine and everybody was in good spirits. We started our short walk to the stones by passing through a kissing gate so each woman passed a kiss to the woman behind her as we passed through. This was not only fun but I believe helped strengthen the bond that was developing between us all. As we continued along the path by the hedge we all stopped to feast on blackberries and point out to each other any beautiful flowers or insects we passed along the way until we came to the entrance of the circle field itself. Photos do not do this circle justice. It sits moulded into the landscape, reeking with antiquity and mystery, its central stone giving it the appearance of a giant sundial. Asking permission from the guardian of the site in my head I waited for a moment and was delighted to see a red admiral butterfly fly into the circle. With its bold white red and black wings I have always seen it as a symbol of the three aspects of the Goddess, so I eagerly stepped into the circle and watched it fly off towards the hedgerow to the right. We were given time to explore the circle. Many women walked the circumference touching each stone in turn. Some found individual stones to embrace or sit against, others were drawn to the central stone. We were then called into the centre where we were all given a card with the plan of the circle on it and a needle and thread. When we had all completed a stitch from the central stone to the outer ring we passed it on to the woman on our left. We kept repeating this until we all had a sewn card which everyone had helped complete. We then all laid down and were taken on a journey to meet the guardian of the circle. This produced some interesting results which some of us shared with the group. Others, myself included, felt better keeping our experiences to ourselves. Many were very thought-provoking. We finished this excellent excursion by all picking a stone to stand behind, then one by one we walked into the middle around the central stone and back out to the next stone to the left, effectively tagging the next woman who continued the stitch just as we had done with the embroidery thread on the card. As each woman walked she sounded a tone for the duration. These were different in styles from humming to Indian calls which I thought was brilliant, showing that even though we were working wonderfully together and bonding well, we were still fabulously strong, individual women and it made me proud to be one of such a group. By the time we left there was a lightness and a vibrancy to the place that I had not noticed when we had arrived.

The short walk back to the cars was again postcard-pretty and again we feasted on blackberries and gave thanks for the good weather. On the way back to Boswedden House the lovely Lesley who was driving asked if we fancied a trip to Carn Euny before returning. As we all agreed we stopped and enjoyed the fogou and the beehive hut before returning for dinner. So a big thank you to Lesley and the girls for including me on this surprise excursion.

Dinner was another fun-filled time, good food and good company. As a vegetarian I appreciated being catered for and as a woman I really appreciated not having to prepare the food or wash up afterwards. Which workshop to take was my only dilemma. And with my head already filled with the experiences of the day I was equally torn between them. The choice was, singing with the joyfully musical Sally Pullinger or writing with the mistress of words Rose Flint. My dilemma was solved when my friend Ezooli announced she was off to find Ballowall Barrow. As I knew where it was and fancied a walk and being on the land I offered to go with her. The evening was still and lovely as we walked along the road down and the path up to the barrow. We took our time exploring it and it was dusk before we made our way back down the path to go and see the sea. We stood as darkness became total and marvelled at the strength and savagery of the waves surging and foaming against the rocks. The magic was completed when the nearly full moon, haloed in a silvery light, appeared over the cliffs. It was a breathtaking moment. It was a happy walk back in the darkness up the steep road and as we walked we at first heard snatches of singing, as we approached Boswedden House this turned into an amazing choir of women’s voices. We realised it was Sally’s singing workshop. It sounded wonderful so we sat by the fire which I banked up for the night and listened. When it had finished women drifted up to the fire and we sat chattering and swapping experiences of the evening. My roomie, Shirley, came back shining with joy from her singing workshop and it was obvious Sally had worked her magic again.

Friday, 12th September

After breakfast with nerves frayed by the thought of Sunday’s closing ceremony I decided not to attend the morning workshop but walk into St Just with some of the others. From this I learned more about Rose’s workshop and how delighted the women were about what they had produced under her guidance. I believe she inspired the whole group to take up poetry. Lunch was again fun. I really liked the way people moved around the dining room with different meals. This meant you had a chance to chat to more women and learn all sorts of interesting things. Each woman had her own wisdom and expertise and it was really nice to listen and share with them. After lunch those of us there were going to Boleigh Fogou in the evening went to Katinka’s workshop on preparing to meet the Goddess. For three wonderful hours we worked with the elements in our bodies and the connection between ourselves and the group and with the Goddess herself. It was an inspiring workshop that seemed to be over in no time at all. Thankfully as we had worked, the skies had cleared and we looked forward with anticipation to the evening’s adventure which was left shrouded in mystery.

Dinner was soon over and we went off to dress in our warmest clothes before banking up the fire and taking the bus which was taking us to Boleigh Fogou. Once on board Geraldine explained she didn’t know what was going to happen but that her instructions were where we should meet and that we should all remain silent throughout. The normal excited chatter ceased and the journey through the dramatic Cornish countryside was comfortably silent. We were dropped off at a crossroads in a wood where we stood silently waiting, until we were approached by a cloaked masked figure that beckoned us to follow. What followed was a journey across obstacles to a place of splendour. Each woman will have her own version of events and wonders they beheld as each woman had a different experience of the fogou and her meeting with the Goddess. I myself wondered if groups of women had done this before many years ago. I will also admit to having eyes filled with tears at the silent dignity and kindness shown by the group in this vigil. I will also say a big thank you to those fantastic women who came out in their cars to pick us up when it was late and we were cold and took us back home to Boswedden House. When we got back we sat up chatting about our experiences, drinking hot tea and before we knew it, it was nearly dawn.

Saturday, 13th September

I was not too surprised to find the sun was high in the sky when I woke up. It was a truly lovely, warm sunny day. I went straight out to the fire which I must confess I had forgotten about the night before and was glad to find a few embers that with a lot of coaxing sprang to life. No-one else was around and it gave me time to reflect on the evening before. I really appreciated the amount of work that had gone into decorating the woodland and fogou. I also considered the amount of effort it must have taken to priestess for that amount of time. It was good to sit in the sun, muse over these things and experiences and watch the fire grow.

Lunch was more welcome than ever and my hunger was soon abated. I sat happily listening to stories of people having fun in the pool and how much they enjoyed the therapies they had had. The other topic of conversation was what to do for the afternoon. I decided to spend the afternoon around the fire and really enjoy the grounds of the house which I had not taken the time to do before. I also wrote out my wish and put it on the web as Marj had requested. The web resembled a coutie tree with everybodys' wishes and blessings fluttering in the breeze. With the earthy buff colours of the natural products used in its construction it made against the strong colours of Geraldine’s elemental banners a perfect place to sit, read the messages and muse on what the web represented. It was a very sociable afternoon spent chatting with the other women who had remained on site and a few who came along for the Saturday afternoon. It was during this time I heard about Eloha’s deep and powerful Friday workshop that was thought to have been very beneficial to those I had spoken to.

All too soon the women who went to the beach returned, telling tales of the wonderful time they had had. How they had made a sand mermaid which they had decorated. How they had all made little Goddess figurines out of raw clay which they had returned to the sea through an archway made by other women and of the children who started by thinking the whole thing was weird and ending up intrigued. It seemed that however we had spent our time socialising, on the beach or receiving therapies, everybody had experienced a simply delightful afternoon.

Dinner was a split shift as the people attending Sheila’s dance class did not want a full stomach before the workshop and ate later. During dinner we talked over the day which we had all enjoyed, and even though there were fewer women in the dining room the chatter was still loud and lively. It was when someone commented on the fact that we would not be eating together the following night I realised how much I would miss it. So I consciously decided to savour every moment I had left. After dinner were the final workshops of the event. I went to Geraldine’s workshop on the Inner Mysteries. The two hours flew by as we were shown and had explained some of the earliest mysteries and the symbolism that went with them. It was a beautiful, gentle workshop with the air charged. The blending of the women’s energies was tangible as we gleefully absorbed everything we were being shown. By the end we were all elated and filled with a sense of power in our womanhood. We happily donned warm clothing to go up onto the field for the burning of the web of wishes. We made our way up to the fire along the line of lights. It felt good to stand around a bright fire on a dark night. The web was brought from its place in the grounds and placed on the fire. We stood waiting to see it burn which it managed to avoid quite well until Delphiris used some common sense and almost immediately it burst into flames and we saw our wishes and blessings turn to smoke and rise up and away on the wind.

Sunday, 14th September

Our last morning. Breakfast for me was a nervous and blurred affair. It was soon over and I found myself with my fellow priestesses as we prepared ourselves for the closing ceremony. Following a tradition started last year it was the first year trainee priestesses' honour to create the closing ceremony. As only three of this year's six could attend we asked from help from the other Priestesses of Kernow to take roles for the ceremony which they were all happy to do. As I walked onto the field with my fellow priestesses the sky was dark and heavy and the wind was pulling at my cloak. The land itself seemed very ancient. All nerves vanished as the ceremony started and the energy created by these amazing women mounted, holding us all. Our Cornish blessing was given as one then translated. We gave thanks to the Lady of Kernow and Grandmother Spider who had made us all aware of so many things. Then it was over and elated we went back to the house for our last meal together. It was perhaps the loudest meal of the week. Women were talking and laughing, saying their goodbyes, exchanging numbers and addresses. The highlight for me was Margarita’s ditty on the trip to the fogou which had us all laughing and received great applause. All too soon we were saying our goodbyes and leaving Boswedden House. I was really sad to go, the food had been good, the company terrific, the workshops fascinating and the goodwill and helpfulness of everyone made it a very enjoyable experience, one that will stay with me for a long time. I came away feeling happy and alive, full of wonderful memories and filled with love for the Goddess. I am now looking forward to next year’s event and meeting everyone again.

Elayne

Some of the photographs shown are © Sue Green & Delphiris

Content: © Goddess in Cornwall, 2006-10