Full Moon Ceremony at Uffington White Horse Hill

On 26th May, an extraordinary Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse sound the call to compassionate empowerment and to actualising our fundamental connection to the energies, body, and rhythm of our sacred lands.  I invite you to a very special opportunity of ceremony to honour Goddess embodied in the land in one of the most important surviving 'places of power' in this country. 

The cut chalk figure of the White Horse at Uffington, near Faringdon, looks out over a purposefully sculpted, open air temple landscape that has been lovingly honoured and maintained by the local community since its construction over 3,000 years ago.  The details of the ceremonies that were carried out by this landscape’s first keepers have been lost to the winds of time.  However, many modern day Pagans see the potent symbol of the White Horse as a marker of a Goddess who was venerated in these isles, She who rides as the White Mare, galloping across the land and open sky. In oral history in Wales, medieval Gaul, and Ireland, She was named as Rhiannon, Rigantona, Epona, and Macha, as well as other names.

Wide open to the elements and to the sun and moon, Rhiannon, the Great Queen, invites us into profound gifts of wildness, freedom, sovereignty, blessing, and healing.  In the light of the spring sun, the shining hill figure of the White Horse shines out that blessing into the surrounding lands of the vale below.  Beneath this figure, ceremonial stage of Dragon Hill continues to bear a chalk mark or bald patch in the shape of a crescent moon - said in local folklore to be the resting place of St George's dragon, but also an ancient and potent symbol of Goddess.

On this stage before the open elements, at dusk on the Full Moon at the liminal time of the eclipse, we will honour the Great Goddess Rhiannon and the powerful spirit of place at the White Horse. We will call in Her loving empowerment and reawaken our awareness of the sacred land during these times of deep and rapid transformation.  This is an respectful return to the use of an ancient Temple to honour the land in ways that are appropriate for our current time.

Numbers will be limited to 15 people to be able to maintain social distancing on the Dragon Hill. When you register, a donation of £5 will be requested as a gift to the National Trust to support the upkeep of the sacred site.  (But please let me know if this level of donation would be difficult to manage.)

Further instructions will be sent on registration.  If numbers are exceeded and you find you are unable to register, you are welcome to join from the open space above the White Horse to watch the ceremony and drum along.  (Look for a ceremonialist dressed in a bright red robe!)  If we find that other practitioners are making use of the site at the same time, it may be necessary to hold ceremony in another area of the White Horse site or to join forces – so please be prepared for flexibility.

Please be aware that paths around the White Horse Hill site and to the Dragon Hill are mostly grass or chalk, and they are quite steep and uneven in places.  They are not suitable for wheelchairs, and you will be traveling to and from the ceremony site at your own risk.  The White Horse Hill's accessibility statement can be found here:  https://nt.global.ssl.fastly.net/documents/access-guide/1431730134616-white-horse-hill.pdf