Medicinalmeadows

THE PLACE WITHIN

Category Archives: The Way


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The Quest – St Mary’s and Michael’s Church Urswick

Part 3 The mythical storytelling of the Knights in Cumbria

They arrived at the northern coastline after nightfall. Immediately beyond the shoreline, the sounds of the woodland became apparent. The forest transitioned seamlessly from sandy terrain to the firm, crisp substrate beneath the canopy of leaves.

Their walk took them towards the starlight sky. At its summit, they felt the breath of the planet, the wind caressing their path, that now coiled down the earthly side of their mission to the Pele tower of the church. As they continued to walk the winding path the stories of those who arrived at this location over the centuries moved them within their hearts. The pilgrims, and the mystics appeared to be walking with them like their times on the labyrinth. Inside the thick stone walls, there was a distinct atmosphere; the stones seemed to hold a notable presence. Accounts from elders had long referenced this location as one established by the first Christians. It has been maintained by local villagers that continue some of the oldest traditions, their traditions from New Jerusalem and before.

The moon slanted through high windows onto the ancient stone floors worn smooth by generations of footsteps. Outside, the breeze sang through the yew trees in the graveyard. The night seemed to hold its own benediction. Wrapped in their cloaks, their faces softened, free from the strain of flight and fear. Here, within walls blessed by both time and faith, they trusted the silent guardianship of the stones.

Upon awakening, Godfrei felt well-rested and appreciative of the restorative sleep and profound dream state he had experienced. The sense of guidance provided by the “Her” remained with him. He recalled a similar depth of reflection during his travels as a young man in desert caves, where his early initiations with the elders took place. The resonance of the church evoked memories of those subterranean environments, akin to the nurturing spaces revered by the keepers of the Way. The church appeared intentionally designed to mirror the qualities of those ancient, earthbound sanctuaries.

When he stepped outside, instead of encountering the glaring sunlight he remembered from the rocky enclosures of his past, he was met with a gentle morning mist and diffused light. This was “Her” language —an environment characterized by vitality, abundance, and growth. The language of Her presence, Mary of the Fields. As he gazed across the landscape, he noticed a statue, he must have brushed passed Her in the night, unaware of Her standing before him, arm sweeping over her feet. And just behind Her in the field beyond, the standing stone.

Godfrei surveyed this landscape, absorbing the freshness of the morning dew, and his reassured vision of the path ahead. He recognized a growing awareness, welcoming him as he approached the final stage of his journey. His calling to reach the Monastery was strong, his bones ached for the restorative enclosure of the Abbey, but his spirit was already there. It felt like his heart was flowing psalms into his veins, chanting rhythmically with every breath.

AI image

This is the St.Mary and Michael church at Little Urswick UK, her previous name was St. Mary in the Fields. This church has history dating to the 10th century. A patronage of the Savigny and Cistercian orders, with a Stone Cross with Viking runic markings, the Tunwini cross. The tower has a sandstone Mater Dolorosa carving from Furness Abbey after the dissolution. And yew trees at the gates. The history emanates the rich spirit of land, place and space. For more information look at the Historical fragments at the Church.

Here, in the Church we find another Graveslab, a thirteenth century ‘Le Franceys’ grave slab which currently stands next to the ‘priest’s door’ in the chancel of Urswick
church. The slab is flat and tapered from head to foot with ‘floriated cross elaborately
carved in relief, and inscribed along the chamfered edge, in Longobardic characters + HIC :
JACET : AMICIA : FILIA : JOHANNIS : FRANCESSI, John Le Frances, named as witness to Roger de Lancaster in Ulverston in 1284 . HIC AMICIA engraved into the slab indicated a statement like Here lies a dear friend.

The stained glass windows above the altar had the most wonderful display of heraldic shields. The surroundings windows throughout the church had fabulous symbology to go and decipher for your pleasure.

This little Church is full of history and legends of Celtic Cumbria in Furness and the Tunwini Cross.

There are many delightful stories and history named in Ossik Coots and Collared Doves. Check by Reverend Colin R Honour. M.Ed.


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The Quest to St.Patrick’s Chapel and St. Peter’s Church

The Quest

This series of blogposts combines historical sites in Cumbria and the Borders with personal reflections. I am on a quest, a Calling, to go visit the paths of the Templars, Mary and Magdalene Way. I am trusting my intuition, the sights and signs I find as I go and the Earth’s grid that connects me to land, place, and space across past, present, and future. These posts document my journey and the insights I uncover within myself. The writing is a blend of personal insights, historical findings and storytelling. I feel I am one long storyline unfolding with the next steps.

The Calling presents the Quest,

and the Quest propels the Way.

AI generated with CoPilot Microsoft
AI generated with CoPilot Microsoft imaging

The Knights Templar’s Crossing

As they neared the coast, their safe harbour that had been established more than 400 years prior was in sight. Their course had been maintained throughout this journey, guided by comforting signs, the swans nearing the coastline, the stars, their Stella Maris.

This time the crew felt the pressure of their final departure. They had nearly completed their mission, at least by sea. They observed the prominent chapel on the coast and expressed gratitude to St. Patrick and St. Martin of Tours. The ship groaned against the waves, but predominantly, they heard their own voices in adoration, as they chanted together through these final moments to shore.  

The chapel came into view, followed by the lights along the shore. They had entered safe waters, and the sight of the Bay served as a reassuring indicator of their proximity to Sanctuary, a place they now longed for. The Brethren on the sandy shore were prepared to extend a warm welcome, offering necessary care and support, especially given the near completion of their mission. The promise of rest was both a source of nourishment and a reminder of their fatigue. Their bodies instinctively recalled the safety of the Abbey, lulling them into premature rest. They had to summon inner strength to keep moving forward.

The sky resembled a velvet canopy, with stars lighting their way to the shore. She remained their reliable guide once again. They travelled when the moon was waning, navigating through the night under Her starry cloak. Upon anchoring on the shore, they discovered that their elder companion had passed away. The movement of the ship and their voices in prayer had gently carried him into eternal rest.

Suddenly they realized this changed everything. It demanded a delay to their journey for another day and night. The following period would be dedicated to honouring their long-time mentor who had guided them since the beginning. One of them took responsibility immediately and could be heard speaking to the Brethren on the shore. The others all silent onboard, now below deck. When they all raised their gaze at the same time from their beloved elder, at peace, they realised this wasn’t just about the Rites of Parity, but a successor.

They all felt the same rise of notability. The one who was to be given the keys. They all shared the same thoughtful consideration for the individual who was to be united with the formal rites of the keys, who was not yet aware of the important duty he was to undertake. His life was about to change with the formal transfer of authority, marking not just the departure of his elder brother but also the transition of responsibilities into his hands before proceeding to the Abbey. It was necessary to conduct this ceremony with due solemnity before handing over the charge in their hands to the guardians of the grail.

History of the Chapel

The ruin dates from the 8th or 9th century and is built of sandstone. Near the chapel is a group of six rock-cut tombs from the 11th century and a separate group of two rock-cut tombs. Each group has an associated socket probably intended for a timber cross. The buried skeletons uncovered were dated as no earlier than the 10th century. 1,200 artefacts were also recovered, which showed that the site had been occupied about 12,000 years ago (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Patrick%27s_Chapel,_Heysham).

Archaeologists found that the cemetery was split into a large central area with two smaller sites in the east and west. Bodies were placed on their backs, in a traditional Christian east-west orientation (with their heads pointing towards the west). Some had their arms crossed, which was also an early Christian practice. A mix of women, men and children were interred. Perhaps surprisingly, ten people, two of which were children, were buried under the floor of the chapel itself. Around eighty-four individuals from the community were buried on the site during its use, with an even split between males and females. They are reburied in the church yard at St Peter’s church.

Of particular significance was the burial of a woman who was placed close to the south door of the chapel. She had been wrapped in a shroud and to the right side of her pelvis was a curved ‘hogback’-shaped bone comb of Anglo-Scandinavian design.

Heysham also has a Viking age hogback stone in the nearby St Peter’s Church.  

Photos by Janice Turner Salmon

It is not known where or when St Patrick was born but, historians place him sometime in the 400s. In recent years, two places have been put forward for his place of origin, Ravenglass in Cumbria and Birdoswald near Hadrian’s Wall. After six years in Ireland, he escaped and returned to England. It’s not clear where he made landfall – local tradition holds that it was at Heysham (https://lancashirepast.com/2024/11/30/a-history-of-the-rock-cut-graves-and-st-patricks-chapel-heysham/).

A History of the Rock-Cut Graves and St Patrick’s Chapel, Heysham

All photos by Janice Turner Salmon


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Destination

May we be courageous enough

to turn our feet towards Death.

Let that path lead us to our heart’s desire

with a sense of walking home to ourselves,

to our destiny, our wisdom

and our fulfilment

within this lifetime

This path to death is the death walk that disrobes us from our layers of injustice, inadequate circumstances that degrades and contains. The path towards death releases the chains and ties that has held us with the imaginal trapped inside a world that looks for love instead of being Love.

The walk is for the ones who can let down the terms and conditions and surrender to the promises of nothing, but receives everything from one act of turning. And sees the path behind and allows it to remain as it is, without revisiting, without another step towards it.

The path of death is seeing death in life, amongst the living, and feeling the dissolution of ties to the heart fall away, to allow the doors of death to appear. These doors are not the end , they hold at first a grief, for what has been, but they are now the destination.

The destination of death is the future. The future of what can be, which feels empty, but this is a life that is the differences to still be filled. It lies currently with spaciousness of sky, expanse of earth, and relationships to be desired and loved. In this one in breath death appears like an hourglass. The above is still full, the below is foundation and the point in-between is the present. And the present is spiralling. Spiralling into current existence. Here we are, here we stand and the path towards death is full.

As we face the spiral life is still falling into the face of our existence. Life is flowing into you right now and in each, present, moment. The sand beneath our feet is just the foundation that constantly holds us up higher towards the life that is to come, of infinite moments.

Image by Canva


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Prayer Intentions

In my connections I am hearing a need for prayer. I am aware of the pull for spring, of dreaming and yearning for life from behind the walls of winter. This yearning I feel is an invitation to reflect on the root of our desires for seeding our intentions.

What is it we are all praying for? In recent weeks I have received messages asking for me to pray. This is a beautiful request and with it some perplexity, as I am a novice, not a fully formed anchoress in the orchestration of a prayer intention. Maybe it is the repeated practice of #sundaynightcandlelight on my social media @medicinalmeadows and Instagram @janice_bridginglight that sees me in the light of Abbess of this hashtag. This practice of contemplative prayer first began in the days of great need for prayer in 2020 and now continues into 2024.

My inquiry is, what is needed to formulate a prayer intention? The requests I have received in recent weeks are for prayers for loved ones, prayers for healing, prayers for times ahead. It seems our desire is to chiseling out a verse of prose, to write the prayer with poetic roots that soothe the deepest need to be aired into life. Seeds to root, to spring forth, require wording, the spelling is intentional.

So how do I create a prayer that has roots and strength of meaning for me? I have a need to be on point, truthful and reflective. This piece of artistic composition has a need to convey momentum that sends my request into the unseen, cosmology, in the fullness of Light.

The formulation came to me today as a sudden inspired idea that the scribing of the prayer lies with this, it comes from a need. The need for ease, for comfort, the need is the key. The same need for comfort, for ease, peace of mind also applies for a desire for a new car! You see this morning on this misty start, the light came through and it occurred to me that the intention for the prayer Is the need. The pure intention lies atthe root of the prayer, this is where the composition can begin. As we identify the need, the intention take on a matrix from our singular need to the collective needs, to make “our life, our will as one” (Lord’s Prayer, Rev Dale Allen Hofffman). As we pray for our earthly need whatever that need is, material or ethereal, the transcendence of the prayer translates from the core need for oneself into a collective need. We are starting wheels of prayer for All. Ease gives us Peace. Peace within us creates a ripple of Peace around us.

So my reflection for today on prayer and intention is rooted in the realisation that when we pray for our own intention we are also rippling that desired outcome to the All, to everyone. No matter what the prayer, it is rooted in a Need.

The words and the creation of this poetic intention are first seeded with a need. “I have a need for” are the words of the Ongo Practice and the Needs Wheel (Ongo book by Cadden and Wien) that can assist in finding the heart’s desire. The root of the prayer creates a blessing, first for me and for you and then the prayer carries the intention to the All of creation.

Take a took at the Needs Wheel and feel into the words that come to you as a blessing for your life, “I have a Need for….”

Here is my prayer for myself today,

“Dear God of the Universe, I pray for rest after times of challenge and grief. I have a need for ease, for nurturance and love right now. Please create a container of ease for me today, Amen.”

I pray that your needs become seeds

planted in fertile soil

that welcomes the rain, as well as the sun

that your seeds of desire

grow strong, rooted, full blossoming

created for One and for All

I


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The Way

Most of you know I have a prayer practice, a daily routine, a trust in this infinite thing called the unseen. I believe it is an ancient, the first in fact, mystical practice humans used to connect to everything. My belief is that prayer is not a religious practice, or part of an institution, but goes back to an instinct of a higher power and something bigger than ourselves.

My belief comes from my imaginal space that I have known since, well, forever. I remember at school I would be gazing out the window and in my mind I would talk to the vision of the comforting person near me, have a conversation, discuss something bothering me. As I developed a spiritual practice 10 years ago I began to understand that way of seeing. I had been given a key to unlocking the door to the unseen realms around me. But that’s a story for another day. Today I wanted to tell you about my current purpose.

After struggling to build a spiritual practice I have been called to write about my experiences of the spiritual field as I perceive it. My story starts with utter exhaustion and collapse. This instigated my quest for meaning, and I found I already had the key to the door within me. I found that my calling and my career couldn’t compress. I had to leave my nursing career due to exhaustion, the mix of spirituality and energy work and a busy hospital job was too much on my physical health. On my days off I would sleep the whole day, feeling cold and strung out on anxiety. At work I would be witnessing the movements of the unseen helpers and have subtle messages to pass on, but I didn’t know how to convey it all! I guess these days you would call it medical mediumship, but this was then and not now.

I left to build my spiritual practice as a reiki practitioner but struggled to get clients and ended up seeing an advert that took me to the role as reiki practitioner in a hospice. My sense of spiritual guides, my team if you like, were sending me on a path of schooling. When I first walked up the path to the hospice in my imaginal space, my third eye, I was seeing the sphinx with pyramids, from this I knew, my guides were communicating that this experience was a mystery school teaching. During my years at the hospice I witnessed guides, and healers of the imaginal realms. I received insights to healing energies, watched as the energies weaved in relationships, activated teachings and so much more.

The most frequent of the spiritual teachers that came to me was a Pink light describing herself as the Pink Ray. She came overtime, until it was clear She was the Teacher that had lead me to this school. She gradually introduced more about herself. She was first the Pink Light then Pink Ray, describing healers of the old ways in forms of colour energies, such as the blue rays, the pink and green and purple, if you know angelic rays and archangel frequencies you know what I mean. She then gave me a name which sounded like Hannah, which later came in as a very soft “H” to Anna.

The Pink ray introducing herself over time as Anna, was a woman from Christianity that many will recognise as Grandmother of Jesus and Saint Anne. This introduction was just the beginning, I was later introduced to other energies in this realm that are connected to this earth and still wish to be in relationship to healing, “abridging” to those who wish to call on them. I now know them as “The Way” you may know them as Jesus, Mary, Mother Mary, Saint Anne, (to me H-Anna), Mattais, John, Elizabeth, Susannah, Johanna, Salome. More commonly know as the Disciples. I received not only their messages but their images. I began to sketch their faces as they appeared to me, a form of spiritual artwork.

They are present, and they wait to be called, in relationship, in prayer, in healing practices or just for a conversation, they listen…..and they connect.

This is why I have developed a prayer practice because I trust the Christ Light abridging the earth as the Way. If you feel called to talk, they are listening, this talking….I call prayer…