Today, Wren is best known as the great architect, the builder of St. Paul's Cathedral and many other magnificent structures. It is interesting that we have a theme of building great structures at several locations within this north Eagle wing. Beckford, Wren, and, as I shall mention below, Stourhead. The message and alchemy of the Shaston Eagle involves a marriage of ideal structure with energy. Perhaps this north wing contains clues to the structural side of the New Jerusalem, while the south wing illuminates the qualities of energy now increasing within this New Aeon. Structure and energy are blended within the central body of the Eagle to sustain Life.
Again, Gabriel is relevant to these ideas. In Cabala, the sphere of Yesod, which is associated with the moon and Gabriel, is the centre where structure and energy are united in New Birth to give Life to whatever is being created. A new baby, or the birth of a thought - any form of birth uniting structure with energy is consecrated by Gabriel, according to Cabalistic philosophy. With the Blessings of Gabriel, May you be Born Anew!
The French painter, Pisarro, also worked here in the East Knoyle area.
Sir Richard Hoare, one of the greatest antiquarians of Wiltshire, lived here. Walking about Stourhead and meditating at the various Greco-Roman Temples, one feels that much spiritual wisdom and intuitive sensitivity are responsible for the creation of landscape in relation to the temples and grottos here. There is a Temple of Flora, the Roman Goddess of Flowers and Gardens. She is the prime guardian of the earth, flower, and tree beauty of Stourhead.
She married Zephyrus, the West Wind, and received through this marriage the Divine Blessing of Physical Immortality, of Perpetual Youth. She is traditionally shown wearing a Crown of Flowers and holding the Horn of Plenty. Her annual sacred festival is known as the Floralia and begins on the 28th of April and then develops for several more days, including May Day. Her husband, Zephyrus, shares her Flower Power: He is able to generate and manifest flowers and fruits through the spiritual sweetness of his breath.
The power of breath is recognized by almost every major spiritual tradition. Breath is the fuel of creative thought. Through breath, all qualities of the Divine may be circulated throughout the Body Temple. Open thyself to the breath of the Earth... With every breath, draw into the heart and then send forth from the heart the highest Thanksgivings of Divine Joy and Abundant Life! The Touch of Consecrated Breath, charged with the highest frequencies of Joyous and Liberating Qualities, is one of the most basic and essential requirements needed for successful prayer and ritual earth magick at sacred sites. Master your breath and, like Zephyrus, you can make the flowers and fruits of the pure Immortal Life blossom within every atom and cell of your Body.
Flora and Zephyrus are the deities of eternal springtime. The great secret of springtime is this: There is a Divine frequency in Nature which is incorruptible and above entropy. Every flower and fruit at the peak of its beauty and its vibrancy is attuned to this physically Immortal pulsation. In the magick of prime numbers, 23 is the value of this incorruptible, immortal frequency. Call upon Flora and Zephyrus, as aspects of God, of Allah, to initiate you into the Spiritual Mastery of this Secret. Nature mystics, such as Wiltshire's own Richard Jefferies, have always felt aspects of this Immortal Quality.
This is a major theme of the Message of the Shaston Eagle. When the alchemy of Grail and Wand is complete, then the Horn of Plenty of Flora pours forth its unlimited frequencies of Immortal Life upon the earth and all beings who aspire to greater Love and Liberty. Eternal Springtime spreads throughout all reality. The seasons may still change - but the Holy Sacrament of spring is liberated and offered freely to all beings at all times... Go to the Temple of Flora...
If Flora is the Stourhead deity of the garden, then Neptune, in his cave, is the lord of the six springs which unite to form the head of the River Stour. In Roman mythology, Neptune is the lord of the ocean and rivers and, with his trident, governs earth movements such as earthquakes.
In astrological terms, Neptune was the Key to the activation of the Shaston Eagle in 1989. The entire year was ruled by three exact Saturn-Neptune conjunctions in the sign of Capricorn. Saturn is the planet of the Grail archetype and Neptune is the Magus of the Wand. When Neptune's trident is stirred within the waters of the Grail, then the earth is structurally transformed and the Eagle emanates greater Life, from the Shaston area to the world...
The 3 exact conjunctions were on 3 March, 24 June, and 13 November of 1989. The two planets remained within a conjuncted orb for the entire year, so all other astrological events during '89 were flavoured by this Grail-Wand Life magick. In 1969, the Eagle landed on the moon, 20 years later, the Eagle landed at the Shaftesbury area. The wealth of the Abbot of Glaston is the Grail, and the wealth of the Abbess of Shaston is the Wand - together they create a blessing alchemically symbolized by the Shaston Eagle which redeems the Wasteland and enthrones the Sacredness of Life within the Heart of the World and all Beings... In the Heavens, this rare Saturn-Neptune year Divinely shaped this Prophecy.
The Wand represents the energy of Divine Will. Luminous Wisdom, inspiration, the ability to attract higher forms unto union with Immortal frequencies - these are essential aspects of the Wand of Will. The Divine Will flows throughout the earth, seeking creative structures which are able to respond to the great call and challenge to build the New Eden. Beings of courage and humility are able to act as incarnations of this Immortal Will. In Cabala, Neptune is associated with the highest sphere within the energy pillar of the Tree of Life - Chokmah. Saturn is the planetary expression of Binah, which is at the top of the Tree on the structural side. The Saturn-Uranus conjunctions of 1988 energized Divine structures in tune with the New Aeon & shattered with lightning those that were not willing to change to higher and clearer expressions of the Divine. This has prepared the way for the Ocean of Luminous Divine Wisdom and Will to flow into many channels and vehicles that are purified and prepared for Greater Life. The Will for planetary change resides at Shaftesbury. The action of this Shaston Will in dedication to Life and Peace on this earth calls the Grail to pour forth from Glaston with clarity of purpose. Glaston and Shaston need each other - one without the other is not effective. The planetary heart chakra must evolve and expand to embrace within itself the marriage of Glaston - Shaston.
In Merlin's Round Table of Initiation, the Glastonbury Zodiac, each earth area attributed to an astrological sign is also a Temple of Initiation which is associated with a particular sphere in the Cabalistic Tree of Life. The Binah-Saturn Temple is the Hornblotton Eagle of Scorpio. The Chokmah-Neptune Temple is the King Arthur-Sagittarius figure. Thus this Glaston-Shaston theme is exactly copied in the Glastonbury Zodiac, with the Binah Eagle related to the Glaston Grail and the Chokmah-Arthur related to the Shaston Wand. Readers with an interest in Cabala and the Glastonbury Zodiac will find greater information on these subjects in my Voyage To Avalon.
The Bodhisattva is the Master of the Grail in Binah. The Magus is the Master of the Wand in Chokmah. The former is free from karma of limitation and is able to assist others in traveling the Way to Liberty and Greater Life. The Magus has taken yet a deeper initiation and becomes a Magickian Supreme. The duty of the Magus is to proclaim and establish a New Level of Truth on a global scale. The Magus has mastery of the Wand, the Grail, the Sword Excalibur, and has a clear understanding of the Stone. To incarnate the Stone, the Magus must one day take another initiation that leads through the Heart of Kether, the Crown, and opens the Way to Tiqqun, Realm of the Immortals...
The Beauty and Harmony of Stourhead is a reality that can be experienced by any person who goes there. This Beauty and Harmony is destined to spread around this earth as the Divine Will of Gaia establishes itself through the great outpourings from the Gates of the Opening now going on. These Gates are rightly understood as the Open Portals of the New Jerusalem. Arthur, as Avatar of Planetary Will, raises the Wand of Shaston!
There are many other wonderful sites within Stourhead. There is a Pantheon, a beautiful grotto with a nymph, and mythological scenes at the front of the House. The magick of Classical gods and goddesses is very potent at Stourhead.
The source or head of every River should be made into a sacred shrine for global healers and pilgrims. The rituals and qualities of Love and Will generating at the Source - whether it be River or your Life or this Universe - determine the health of the entire organism. Ritual gatherings to Bless the source of the Rivers of this country and World will provide a common meeting ground for esoteric magickians and for Green environmental activists. The designation of 200 major river heads in Great Britain as sacred sites for regular gatherings would quickly and dramatically improve the ecological and spiritual health of this nation. In the old Saxon times, important gatherings were often held around a sacred moot stone. In our New Aeon, the Source of the River is now the ideal point for gathering. The River of Everlasting Life is in need of rapid purification. The Saxons did not have our environmental crisis. Travel to the head of your local river and Bless that site with greater Life, Liberty, Love, and Light. Take like-hearted and like-minded friends to the Source every New Moon, birthday, Easter, - whatever kinds of Holy Days attract you. After you have developed a stable working group, hold public meetings as ''Friends of the Severn'' or ''Friends of the Thames'' etc. Focus your group efforts on purifying and raising the quality of life at every level. The literal cleanness of the River, the purity of the Heart - every level is related to every other. For true Health to be restored to this planet and all Life upon it, we can not ignore any aspect of purification. The Road to the Summit of Zion, within the centre of the Global New Jerusalem, is the Road of the Total Purification of the Heart. This Heart that must be purified is your Heart and my Heart - and the expanded global heart chakra prophesized in this book, the Heart embracing Glaston-Shaston. May the Pure Immortal Waters of Life Joyous, Abundant and Everlasting forever flow through and nourish Your Open Heart!
Egbert's Stone is a very famous moot site which has been lost. Some opinions think it was at the village of Penselwood. Our antiquarian, Sir Richard Hoare, thinks it was a few miles away at the village of Brixton Deverill. What is certain is that it was somewhere near the Eagle's wing-tip here where Somerset, Dorset, and Wiltshire meet. Penselwood, which means the head of the forest, is the most likely site. What made this lost Stone famous is the fact that here Alfred gathered all his followers and then set out to achieve his great victory over the Danes at Ethandun (the modern Edington). The site of this stone could probably be found by meditating at ley-line intersects in the Penselwood village area. Alfred's Tower with its 222 steps (37 x 6) was built by Mr. Hoare in 1766 to also mark this important point in English history. It was here that Alfred raised his battle standard to begin the final campaign against the Danes. Although the Egbert Stone has gone missing, this Tower is visible for miles around.
Lost Stones symbolize lost knowledge. Dealing with the greatest lost stone in our meditations - the Philosopher's Stone - we perhaps find the message of the missing Egbert Stone diffused throughout the body of the Shaston Eagle. We seek the organizing centre of Life.
The River Brue plays an important role in many parts of the Glastonbury Zodiac. The south wing-tip of the much-mentioned Hornblotton Eagle dips into the Brue. The sources of the Brue may be found splitting on either side of Alfred's Tower. As with any exact work on site, the 1:25,000 series Ordnance Survey map is useful in trying to find your goal. The northern Brue source in King's Wood is interesting in that it leads one in the direction of St. Peter's Pump and then through Six Wells Bottom to Stourhead. At the centre of Stourhead we arrive at Paradise Well...
The main southern branch of the Brue climbs to a well and other sources at Aaron's Hill, a mile south of Alfred's Tower. In my book, Voyage to Avalon, I stated that the various archetypes contained within the Ark of the Covenant had been separated and attached to certain areas. I stated that the Jewish Grail, the Pot of Manna, had been absorbed into the geomythical dimensions of Glaston. I went on to state that the Wand Supreme, Aaron's Rod, had been placed into the Shaston area. This Wand evolved to the present version - the Byzant. When the separated parts of the Ark of the Covenant are reunited through the coming of the Eagle to Shaftesbury, then the womb of highest Ideals brings forth its children. Jewish, Christian, Moslem, and Arthurian alchemies all harmonize and unite within the alembic that is the Shaston Eagle...
It is interesting that one of the sources of the Brue leads us to Aaron's Hill. Notice an ancient camp marked on the map half a mile south of this Hill. There has been a tremendous amount of activity going on in this general area for thousands of years... On 6th February, 1989 we began the Chinese Year of the Serpent. The Scorpio serpent power of Aaron's Wand was activated by the Neptune-Saturn conjunction 3rd March 1989. With Pluto in the central degrees of Scorpio, this Wand of Aaron at Shaston acts to bring about Global Resurrection and Rebirth and Regeneration - the principle aspects which Pluto in Scorpio represents. The serpent flow of energy pouring forth from the Major Open Gates of the Earth Body, the New Jerusalem, pulsates through the serpent lines, the ley lines - the etheric blood flow of this Living Planet - to give Life Triumphant and Immortal unto all beings! The Heavens and the Earth are ready and ripe for this Magick..
Nearby Woodlands Manor is associated with a 1735 act of Parliament. Two young ladies, 13 and 14, decided to run away and get married. The two married couples were caught trying to get to France. When they were all a few years older, the marriage ceremonies were redone so that everyone was satisfied. The Act of Parliament passed in reaction to this abolished clandestine marriages and required that marriages be performed in churches. At the time of writing, 1988, Parliament has been making moves to liberalize this last aspect of the changes inspired by the two ladies of Mere. This brings us to a question: What is a church? What is sacred ground? Should there be any restrictions about when or where two individuals can get married?
In this New Aeon, we are moving rapidly towards a realization that this earth is alive and holy. The Temple or Church is everywhere. As individual living Beings, we each dwell within the most Sacred Temple of Divine Truth - the Human Body. Our heart is the High Altar within the Body Temple. As Keepers of the Temple our Duty is to keep clean our Temple, keep alight at all times the fire burning upon the Heart's High Altar, and in the ripeness of spiritual growth, to be both Priest, and bride and groom, in the Great inner alchemical Marriage that makes one Whole.
A man and a woman should be able to get married anywhere - in a church, on a mountain top, in a forest, by a waterfall. The True Body of Christ operates at two levels - individual and global. Your individual physical body is destined to evolve into the incorruptible Christed Body. And the planetary Body is also evolving towards the same Christed Physical Immortality which is the New Jerusalem. There is an Individual and a global Omega Point. All concepts in between these two are bound by limits and restrictions that are the result of mortal, limited thinking. You are Christ in the process of unlimited growth and ever more beautiful manifestation. You have the right to get married anywhere you and your beloved choose.
This meditation on the domain of what is sacred is important to the message of the Shaftesbury Prophecy. At the present time, on this earth, certain areas or sites are considered by humanity to be more or less sacred than other areas. Through the Aeons, some sites grow in spiritual reputation, while others are forgotten or decline. This is easy to observe, for example, in the histories of both Glastonbury and Shaftesbury. It is the purpose of this book, through concentrating itself upon the Shaston area, to increase the recognition all over this world that every place is holy. The glorifying of the Shaftesbury area in this book is an essential part of the spiritual dynamics of the expansion of the global heart chakra. As the Heart of Gaia expands, all the world changes. There is an increasing embrace of more and more within the domain of the Divine. In this long section of this book, where I am placing attention upon places and people of interest surrounding Shaftesbury I am roughly looking at an area within a circle of 10 miles radius with its centre in Shaftesbury. This does not mean that villages a mile or two outside this circle are any less holy. When the Eagle flies to Shaston, its Message is for all beings. Any individual or community that hears this Message and makes use of it in a positive Way becomes part of the Holy ground of the New Eden regardless of where on earth they live. The focus on Shaston-Glaston is a Divine Method that is in time - 1989 and the following years are important for this area. But the Holiness of this area is only of use if it leads to the total sanctification of this earth and all Life. I will be offering suggestions to those who would like to participate in this Vision and do not live in the areas described - and may never visit either Shaftesbury or Glastonbury. The New Jerusalem embraces All. For the New Jerusalem is a sphere...
The twelve opening gates of New Jerusalem are all located at major sacred sites on every continent and spaced a good distance apart from each other. Glaston-Shaston is one of the twelve. The names and locations of these gates are contained in the appendix at the back of this book. The New Jerusalem is being established through these sites. It is important to strengthen the outpouring of greater Aliveness, creative consciousness, and harmonious beauty from these locales until the earth is clearly seen as shifted and transformed into its Immortal State. The Qualities of Life prevailing within the regional orbs of these sites will naturally spread out to affect the greater areas surrounding them.
A movement to make each of these New Jerusalem gates an oasis for ecological health, human and animal rights, to make these sites beacons of liberty at the vanguard of progressive and compassionate thought - such a movement is needed in order to accelerate the end to pain and hunger on this planet. I will return and expand upon this idea in this book when it is time to ask ourselves what the Global Vision of the Shaston Eagle truly is. The New Jerusalem is a Sphere embracing all life upon this earth. As the Divine Radiance streaming forth from the 12 Gates increases in its Grace, more and more individuals will see their own homes and hills, rivers and communities, as spiritual facets of the New Jerusalem - each contributing its own unique Blessing that touches all other Beings whom we share this planetary village with. The circulation of influence is constantly on the increase - as never before in history, what one person or nation does or thinks flows to affect all other beings on the planet. Declare yourself an Open Gate of this New Eden and Radiate Immortal Life and Creative Peace unto all Beings!