The magic of B E L T A N E !
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MAY DAY WEEK END Saturday to MondayBELTANE FIRE FESTIVAL
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One of the Wonders of our modern World is being able to combine so many ancient and beautiful
traditions, from natural healing and oriental martial arts, to Beltane, our own ancient
fire festival to celebrate the coming of summer and bless the land.
This is the time when lovers would leap the Beltane fires and frolic in the meadows to ask the Earth-Goddess for abundance in the coming season. Boys and Girls prepare the May Pole, women digging the hole, men decorating the shaft, then all dancing around it, the last pair being hand-fasted for the year. We are bringing this joy of celebration back to life and adding some extra ingredients from the 'Old Ways' of some of the other First Nations, whose ancient wisdom, medicine and martial arts can help us in our busy world. Take a step out of the hustle and bustle, spend a weekend in a Lincolnshire meadow among kindred spirits, having fun and saying a prayer for Whirled Peas at sunrise and sunset, sitting round the campfire in the evenings, songs and stories and fun. Just for a weekend, have a grown-up childhood! The Zen School of Shiatsu, the Rosewell Centre, the London Tao and the Zen Shiatsu Society together facilitate the Beltane Fire Festival over the May Day weekend, at the Rosewell Centre near Stamford, South Lincolnshire. Workshops in Shiatsu, Tai Chi Chuan, Yoga, Fire-dancing, Fire-walking, Treatment exchanges; woodland walks; story-telling and feasting... For many the highlight experience is the mystery and magic of Sweat Lodge. ALL ARE WELCOME grown-ups £30 - kids free, everything included. AT Rosewell Centre, Holywell Road, Castle Bytham, NG33 4SL just off the A1 between Stamford and Grantham: No need to book, just turn up! We keep this festival alcohol-free and drug-free and, because of the little kids and farm animals, no dogs please...sorry, Fido! What you need to know: The Beltane Fire Festival runs from anytime Saturday to Monday morning. Plan to arrive before 4 pm Saturday at: the Rosewell Centre, Castle Bytham, just off the A1 between Stamford and Grantham, Lincs, If you come by train we'll pick you up in the Taoist ThunderBolt (Big Red Minibus) from Stamford BR station between4pm and 4.15pm Saturday afternoon. Any other time, call Ace Taxis 01780 767676. Click here for Directions by road and rail and contact phone numbersl or if you are on AOL or a system that does not support hyper-links, just highlight, copy, and paste the following into your internet address bar: http://www.healing-tao.co.uk/rosewell_directions.htm The weekend costs only £30 per grown-up - KIDS FREE! - including basic food, workshops, exchanges (we have an indoor dojo if inclement weather), sweatlodge, guided wood-walks, all other activities, camping, firewood. If you are sensitive to pollen and liable to get hayfever, bring your remedy: we are in the midst of flowering fields. Sorry no dogs - we're camped on a farm - and please, NO drugs and NO alcohol even if (especially if!) previously ingested! NO NEED TO BOOK - PAY ON THE GATE Basic meals will be provided from Saturday afternoon to Monday morning. There are no pre-requisites: you can join in everything, but you don't have to do anything. Just chill out is also cool. We did it last year and had a wonderful time. People met and fell in love, or learned about a healing art, or discovered the Tai Chi of the Hidden Masters, and what a sweat-lodge is. What you need to bring: plate/bowl, knife, fork, spoon and mug. Tent. Bring food to cook and share - basics such as rice, potatos, veggies and bread will be provided. Bring personal Loo-roll. A towel for the sweatlodge. A musical instrument, your voice, a story and a song...or just your ears, to listen and enjoy. What you could offer if you'd like to; it would help us if you volunteer to help out. We need cooks, washers-up, litter-patrols, someone to run a chai-tent, people to run workshops - what's your talent? click to help: and tell us what help you can offer Here's an outline programme. Every Day: Therapy Fair - treatment exchanges in the meadow or, if wet, in the dojo. What can you offer: shiatsu? tarot reading? astrology - are you a fortune-teller? massage? psychic healing? reiki? reflexology? something else that no-one's ever heard of? fine! come along, do it, share it, teach it, spread the word, spread the love. Saturn's Day:: arrive any time, preferably before 4 pm, park in the meadow, pitch your tent. Come to the campfire, fill up with yummy veggie stew, have a cup of tea, find out timings for events and workshops, hang out, get directed to toilets, wash-places etc... Afternoon:Fire-dancing Workshop in the Meadow; other workshops: ....chill out and woodland walk; prepare sweatlodge, making the spirit-garden; building the fire, gathering and dedicating the stones. Evening: singing and dancing leading up to Sweat Lodge, culminating in Fire-Walking demo (of course you can join in.) Sun Day: Morning: Sunrise meditation, Chi Kung & Tai Chi - Hidden Masters style: form, push-hands, self-defence - bare-hand and stick;early morning Yoga; From mid-morning: Preparing the May Pole and the Beltane Fire The Main Events: Dancing the May Pole, Leaping the Beltane Fires Late afternoon and evening: Kids Sweatlodge, Everyone's Feasting and Storytelling, singing and dancing. Moon Day: take it easy, leisurely clear-up, pack up camp, lifts to station for those who want. Pretty-Please read these admin notes: SEE YOU THERE!
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