Paganism Archives - Page 17 of 25 - Antony Simpson is an Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.

Cumbria Adventure: The Druid Circle, Old Farmhouse Pub/Restaurant, Holly Trinity Church & Millom Castle

Friday 17 May 2013 / Antony Simpson / Leave a Comment

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Simon and I planned an adventure out in Cumbria to see The Druid Stone Circle and Millom Castle, both sites neither of us have visited before. We found the sites on The Modern Antiquarian.

While traipsing through a field looking for The Druid Stone Circle, we found this wonderful altar:

The Druid Circle - Altar — The Druid Circle – Altar

Then we saw the circle. The stones are smaller than the stones at Castlerigg but nonetheless beautiful:

(Note to Seekers of the Circle: After the cattle grid the circle is on the right.)

We had dinner at Old Farmhouse Pub/Restaurant near Ulverston. The atmosphere and food were both delightful:

Me Old Farmhouse Pub / Restaurant Sign	Simon Old Farmhouse Pub / Restaurant
Me Old Farmhouse Pub / Restaurant

Then we headed to Millom Castle:

We thought the entrance might be through the Holly Trinity Church. The church was a little gem of ancient architecture in it’s own right:

Millom Castle Cumbria Holy Trinity Church Gates	Millom Castle Cumbria Holy Trinity Church
Millom Castle Cumbria Holy Trinity Church

We quickly discovered that Millom Castle is in private ownership with no access to the public. This was a huge shame as from the photos you can see that it was an exquisite ruin:

Millom Castle Cumbria	Millom Castle Cumbria
Millom Castle Cumbria	Millom Castle Cumbria Holy Trinity Church Information Board

The information board appeared uncared for but the Castle was not. The private owners had scaffolding up and were living in the castle. This indicates that the owners want to restore the Castle to it’s former glory. Let’s hope they do and then open the doors to the public.

We had a great day out, dubbed our Cumbria Adventure.

Write soon,

Antony

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Tarot Tells The Truth: Justice In Court

Thursday 13 December 2012 / Antony Simpson / Leave a Comment

Reading Time: 2 minutes

When difficult situations arise in my life I immediately reach for the Tarot deck in the hopes of gaining insight into how things will pan out. Recently I’ve been stressed about a Court Case. About a month before the Hearing, I shuffled my Tarot Deck thinking about the Court Case and here’s the card that came out:

According to the book with the Tarot deck this is what it means:

I won’t go into the details of the Court Case but as always the Tarot deck told the truth. Justice was on myside and it was a successful outcome for all parties involved.

So if you want to know the truth about your future, get a Tarot deck and learn to use it. Good or bad the Tarot deck always tells the truth.

Write soon,

Antony

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A Special Robe

Thursday 15 November 2012 / Antony Simpson / 2 Comments

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Sometime after the death of my young brother Alex (see My Darling Baby Brother), all of his siblings got a small amount of money from his estate to buy something to remember him. I thought about what to buy for months, months and months. I thought about a tattoo, he liked tattoos but it isn’t really my sort of thing. I thought about a nice ring, but then I don’t really wear jewellery.

With Samhain (see Pagan Festivals to learn more about Samhain) a few months away, I pulled out my ritual robe to air it out. Simon & Chrys created it for me in what was once a stunning white, but ritual after ritual had left it covered in oil stains and looking rather drap. So I decided to have a look and see how much it would cost to buy a new one.

The more I thought about Alex and what to do with his remembrance money, I realised that since his death I only thought of him on that hospital trolly cold and blue. That’s not who Alex was; he was a live wire – full of life. So I thought to myself: When do I feel full of energy and life?

The answer instantly popped into my head like a lightbulb being switched on, when I do ritual. There’s something about feeling the energy of the group swirling around in a vortex (before it’s released into the Universe) and feeling interconnected to everyone and everything that makes me feel energised and so alive. So I decided to use the remembrance money to buy a new ritual robe. I found The Pointy Hat a pagan woman in the US who creates stunning robes. Here’s the new robe:

Navy mid-weight cotton ritual robe, hung up.
(Click on the photo for full size image.)

A closer look: The hemming around the lined hood and clasp.
(Click on the photo for full size image.)

Me in the ritual robe, cord tucked into a hidden side seam pocket to stop the cats from thinking it’s a toy.
(Click on the photo for full size image.)

It’s beautiful, comfy and warm. Now every time that I do ritual and feel truly alive, I think of Alex my younger brother who left us far too soon.

Take care,

Antony

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Samhain 2012

Sunday 4 November 2012 / Antony Simpson / Leave a Comment

Reading Time: 2 minutes

This year Samhain was a two day event! It started on Tuesday (30th) night when Sye and I carved pumpkins (for how to carve pumpkins see Making a pumpkin lantern for Samhain). Here’a our finished pumpkins:

Left: Jill – looking shocked (mine),
Right: Jacko Sye’s piece of artwork.
(Click on image for full size.)

Sye & I also used the pumpkin insides to make some Pumpkin Cookies after I found a recipe on the Facebook of Pagan Magic, here’s a photo of the cookies:

They look fantastic and were so delicious.
(Click on image for full size.)

Sye & I had a cookie (or two), a brew (or Milk in Sye’s case) and I wished him happy Samhain as by the time we’d finished it was the early hours of the morning.

In the evening of Samhain (31st) I went round to do ritual with Jayne & Joan. We wrote letters to ancestors which was a brilliant idea of Jayne’s that I have never thought of doing. Then we burned the letters to release the messages into the cosmos in Jayne’s fire pit:

The Fire Pit lit, despite the rain.
We even had some green flames,
I’ve only ever seen them on Samhain.
(Click on image for full size.)

Me tending to the fire in my ritual robe.
(Click on image for full size.)

By the fire we discussed what we were thankful for over the last twelve months; we also burnt slips of paper with things we wanted to banish over the next twelve months. To finish the ritual we went inside, relaxed and asked any spirits that wish to communicate with us to do so. I didn’t get any spirit communication unless you count the cat that uncharacteristically came up to me and started purring.

That’s how I celebrated Samhain.

Write soon,

Antony

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