Celtic Moon Pagan Pilgrimage

It has taken me a few weeks to be able to sit down & write this blog entry, forgive me for the length of the post, but I promise you that it is worth reading.


My experiences on the recent Celtic Moon Pagan Pilgrimage were very extreme, and thus has caused me to need time to really process & contemplate my thoughts & feelings before trying to express them in words.


We began our Pilgrimage by meeting at our home for the weekend~ the very beautiful Lock Quaye cottage in the sleepy riverside village of Bradford~upon~Avon.
We chilled out for the evening with good company, a roaring fire & a Celtic Moon private viewing of Spirit of Albion the Movie. 
There were also some very much needed heart~to~heart chats with those who needed it. 
As Priestess, I found the first evening of the Pilgrimage to be a very grounding one which opened up the rest of the weekend for Magick, leaving behind the mundane & moving on from the more negative aspects of our sometimes troubled & often complicated lives. 
That night, my Husband saw a Ghost in our bedroom in the cottage. A gentleman that he believed was a miner or a dock worker due to the scruffy nature of his outfit and dark black soot/coal all over his face. He was merely looking at us, and as there was no sense of malice coming from him, I believe he was probably just being nosy as to who was staying in the cottage this week.


The following morning, we headed to Glastonbury!
For most of us this was the first time that we had been to Glastonbury, and we had alot of expectations!
We began with a walk up the Tor.
The high winds were bracing, and the bright blue skies overhead beckoned us onwards & upwards!
Upon reaching the summit, we each took a few moments to admire the view.
The energies of the Tor were refreshing for me, and I did get quite emotional.
 I sat in the shade of St Michael's mount with my Husband, and enjoyed a caramel biscuit bar courtesy of my favourite bald guy :) 
I then spent time sat gazing out on the horizon, speaking with the Gods & leaving behind a few woes on the top of the Tor.
As a group we then sat together, some of our artists sketching, others talking, some just laying in the sun.
After some group photographs we then headed back down the expanse of the Tor to the Chalice Well gardens.
Here we spent time splashing in the Healing Waters, Meditating in the Gardens & drinking the pure, cleansing water from the Ancient Spring.
We charged crystals & pendants and I personally felt a very strong, overwhelming sense of Peace there.
From the Well Gardens we perused the Magical & Esoteric shops of Glastonbury High Street, and I added to my already vast collection of books!
Finally, it was back to the Cottage for a delicious group meal of Curry (Chicken & Veggie version) followed by plenty of mead & rum.
We had a relatively early night in preparation for getting up at sunrise the following day!


Up early, fed and watered and ready for a very Spiritual day, we set off in convoy to Salisbury plain.
As a group we had paid for a very special private viewing of Stonehenge, which would allow us to walk amongst the usually closed off stones for one full hour before it opened to the rest of the public. 
Most of us had been before and stood at the sidelines, but nothing could have prepared us for how we would feel once we were amongst the Stones themselves.
I am still finding it hard to express it in words. From the moment I stepped within the boundary of the stones, I had Butterflies in my stomach, and my head was swirling with colours.
I could almost feel the stones humming with energy.


We spent some time individually exploring the stones, taking photographs and basking in the energies of that very Sacred place.
I felt very overwhelmed, and yet it felt comforting & familiar. 
We sat in the centre of the stones and meditated as a group beside Breckin's make shift Altar. Most of us held crystals and pendulums- the energy throbbed through mine.
Some of the other people who had paid for the viewing stopped to watch us meditate.


Together we then stood in a circle and performed some Awens~ the Druid chant for peace & inspiration, like the Buddhist Om~ it was a personal ritual that required no words or actions, just the members of Celtic Moon holding hands & chanting.
By the end, almost all of us were in tears. But not sobbing with distress, more like tears of release & emotive power. 


For me, Stonehenge was VERY spiritual. VERY Masculine. VERY much surrounded by our Pagan Ancestors. 


The feelings I experienced there will be with me for the rest of my life, and never again will I visit Stonehenge and stand at the side, away from the stones. We Pagans belong amongst the stones, celebrating & connecting to the energies of our Gods. I will always pre-book to experience the wonder & TRUE MAGICK of Stonehenge.


After a hearty breakfast at a Harvester local to Stonehenge, we made our way to Avebury.
I have been to Avebury stone circle 4 times before in my life.
I find the energy of the stones is more feminine, and more relaxed than at Stonehenge.
The village and pub in the centre mean that you are never far from civilisation, and it is almost a 'middle' place. Stuck between the world of the Magical and the Mundane. The Other realm & this earthly plain.
Being close to the stones, touching them, listening to them, very much brings me closer to the Ancestors who brought those stones to that place and arranged them so for ritual and celebration.
I left Avebury feeling re-balanced after the powerful knock~out from Stonehenge.


The most powerful experience for me however, came after we left Avebury.
In all the times I had been to the stone circle, I had never before visited The West Kennet Long Barrow. I had wanted to for such a long time, and my experience within it is something that I will spend years trying to understand.
I will share what parts of my experience I can verbally explain to you, but words can never really convey what I felt.
Within the dark chambers of the Long Barrow, the sound is so silent, so quiet, it is almost deafening. The pressure of the ground above you, the white noise of the silence & the thundering of your own heart beat, are pretty much all that you can hear.
At one point within the Long Barrow, all of the birds outside ceased their song, and all that was left was unearthly, peaceful silence.
I felt reverence for the Ancestors, those that had laid within those walls, those who had visited & those who exist in the realms of the Otherworld. 


I sat with some of the other Celtic Mooner's in the various chambers of the Long Barrow, but one chamber in particular kept drawing me back- the second chamber on the left hand side from the entrance of the Barrow. 
Breckin was sat in there on a stone slab. I joined her on the slab, very much feeling like I just had to sit down. 
A few moments later, Breckin left me alone in the chamber~ whether she felt that she had to leave me to it, I don't know, but within minutes of her leaving I was in deep meditation.


The images I saw to begin with were very blurred & obscure. I saw fire lit torch light, the chambers lit up & offerings of flowers. I saw tribes people, I saw modern visitors, I saw spells being cast by ancient & modern witches. Like a flashing through of the history of the Barrow.


A few moments into my meditation, I placed my hands onto the cold stone at the back of the chamber (I was sat on the back of the floor slab, facing the back of the chamber.) I rested my head against the cold stone. Everything was silent.
I felt someone join me on the slab. I thought one of the Mooners had come to sit with me like I had come to sit with Breckin. But when I turned and opened my eyes, it was not a Mooner that I saw. I saw the back of an elderly woman, with a long dark grey braid running down her back. She wore a dark, woollen garment, and she turned her face to the side so that I could see her profile. 
I knew she was there, but not there, so I turned back to the cold stone of the chamber and closed my eyes again.
This time I saw the woman in my mind's eye, though I could still feel her sitting behind me on the slab.
Her face was so familiar. She looked like me. She looked like my mother, and my maternal great-grandmother. Yet she also looked different from us. 


She told me her name was Crow. I immediately thought of Morrighan, but she said no. 
She reassured me that she was not an incarnation of the Crone Goddess, but more an incarnation of my family line. An Ancestor. 
I asked her why she was there, had she lain there? Why did she come to the Long Barrow?
She told me that she had never lain there. Never even visited it in life. But she came there because she could. 
It is a great place where those on the other side of life can come and be amongst the living.
She came because I was there.
She told me that "Nothing ever changes" ~ I took this to mean that everything that is has been before and will be again.
I spoke with her about my path, my role as Priestess & my beloved Grandfather. 
She promised me that my Grandfather was well in the Summerlands & that I will see him again when it is time, and not before.


Whilst speaking with her, I could feel ice cold hands holding my wrists as I placed my palms flat to the cold stone. She was reassuring me, showing me that she was there and that I had truly seen her.


I could smell Lavender, woodsmoke & the earthy scent of the land. 


In my stomach I felt an energy that I cannot explain. My heart thundered from seeing something so vivid. Her back. Her Plait. Her Cloak. Her profile, with my Mother's nose. MY nose.


She told me that she is with me always. Grandmother Crow. That my role of Priestess has far to take me and that there will be many more experiences that I must open myself up to.


I cried. I sobbed. Tears were streaking down my face. I was not afraid of her, I Loved her. She was a stranger, and yet I knew her. She was there, and I could feel her. I could see her with both my physical eyes & my inner sight. 
I will never forget that face for as long as I live.


I left the Longbarrow in floods of tears, and was greeted at the doorway by two of the Celtic Mooners who held me close & knew that though I cried, I was not sad.


I walked slowly to the top of the Longbarrow to be held by my husband. I was left shaking, empowered & yet exhausted, ecstatic & yet frail.
I wept the whole walk back from the barrow to the car, and then I felt at Peace.


Just reliving that experience to type it up has left me feeling very otherworldly.


It is very difficult to express something so intense, so personal.... I truly hope that it has helped some of you to understand just how immense, how powerful, how emotional & how spiritual my own personal journey on the Pagan Pilgrimage was. 


I Loved sharing the journey with so many wonderful, magical people.
Long Live Celtic Moon.


With Love & Blessings to you all,
Blessed Be!
Breaca