Solstice Full Moon Update – 22nd December
Articles, Full Moons, Monthly Update
Full Moon Update
This Month's Theme: The Mind
Deadline: 12 Noon GMT Wed 4th Jan
Welcome to the Solstice Full Moon update. This time of year I find my body slowing right down. It's a time for indoors, cosiness, family, it's a time for dreaming and patience as we sink into and prepare for the deeper winter months still to come while at the same time celebrating the relief of the slow returning of the sun's light.
In the midst of these darkening days something amazing manifested. Many strands of story converged to create something special. This Solstice Full Moon update is dedicated to that tale.
In November, I started playing songs at the local Fabulous Furry Folk night here in the wonderful community of Glastonbury. I performed a particular song that had sprung into existence quite unexpectedly in the springtime, titled "A Prayer for Avalon" it's a song written for these lands and the people who dwell here, it was the first song that emerged after initiation into Glastonbury's bardic college in May this year.
The song caught on, others started to sing it with me, my friend Rosie suggested it should be an anthem for Avalon, then Dora Darling started adding some backing vocals, Nathan Williams asked to record it, the next thing I knew we were producing the MP3, making a little video, performing it on Glastonbury FM and to over 100 people as part of the community celebrations on Solstice eve.
This was all brought into existence in the darkest part of the year, between the December New Moon and this Solstice Full Moon. The song was officially released as a gift to the community on the Winter Solstice and has since been shared all over the world and viewed over 4500 times.
To experience the positive intentions of the song connect with so many, and for this creation to have grown organically within the community and be allowed to flourish has been wonderful to witness. This process felt like a new introduction to Glastonbury, a deeper interaction with the community, like some kind of next level power up born of a recommitment to expressing through music, socialising and to uncovering further layers of this community and myself.
I take this Solstice Full Moon as an opportunity to share this song with the Wake up screaming community. It's a song dedicated to Avalon, Glastonbury UK. a paradisal land in the West Country of England, a place where all faiths gather and where people pilgrimage to rest, dance, sing, heal and expand, but actually Avalon has no physical location, it exists as a space within us all, as I try to explain below.
The video is a montage of photos taken on my sunrise and sunset walks to Glastonbury Tor. I hope they show why I was inspired to write this song and why I make my home in this little Somerset town.
What is Avalon?
I (mis)understand Avalon as a mystical land that sits just slightly out of our sensory perception (most of the time). A land surrounded by water and magic, a world that is more to be felt than to be touched. It's a place that exists out of sight, shrouded by a thin veil, a misty heaven hidden in the collective mind.
The more we connect to Avalon, the more we bring Avalon to life, the more our lives start to resemble this paradise. Of course Avalon has it's shadow side too, it can strip us bare and feed us to the dogs, all for the sake of growth and experience, it will make sure we are worthy and committed before it allows us in. It's a fantasy I suppose, maybe verging on an ideology, it might even be called a cult.
Perhaps it's a habit of the human mind to dream up such places in response to the harshness of the real world. Or perhaps there is really something in it and through dedication of one's intention to exploring this beautiful little corner of the world all one's dreams will be made real.
In contrast to life spent paddling maniacally through the waves of the mind, Avalon represents is a dive into the still lakes of the heart. It is a place inside of all of us, it is our own personal paradise and I hope this song allows us to connect with that space wherever we are in the world.
Some further reading on Avalon:
Avalon of the heart
A Prayer For Avalon
A song produced by Glastonbury artists for the Isle of Avalon, Glastonbury UK and its people.
Reading list:
#17 The Mind – Submissions open
Deadline: 12 Noon GMT, Fri 4th Jan 2019
Release: New Moon, Sun 6th Jan
We are very intrigued to find out how artists work with and approach the Mind in their creative work. How humans deal with the mind from day-to-day. We are seeking people with interesting things to express about their own conscious experience.
We would like to hear from people who are exploring the mind with a particular focus on consciousness, psychology, mental health, meditation, dreams, myth, Jungian theory and the exploration of these through art.
Please view our submission guidelines and previous editions before submitting your work.
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