Our trip in 2017 to UK was planned to spend some quality time with my parents in law. We had no idea that while we were taking a short weekend break at Swinton Estates in Yorkshire we will see something interesting like a DRUID TEMPLE.
The name druid temple was exciting for both Saurabh and myself..so we asked the hotel guyz to arrange for the trip. We had done the Stonehenge trip in 2016 and were fascinated by the massive structures at Stonehenge and when we reached the Druid temple we found similar stone structures. Giving you a glimpse of the temple.
Who are the Druids??
The place is very mysterious and lots of natural flora fauna. One can feel as if they are on the sets of movie Indiana Jones 🙂
The mysterious stone circles across the globe are a phenomena still being demystified. Being around this place was a very peaceful experience and I got an opportunity to click some interesting pictures.
The picture outside a cave at the temple. While connecting with the place , there was an urge to click some pictures and the results were fascinating. I was really excited to share these pictures in the blog.
Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
— The Prayer of St. Francis
St Francis was introduced to me by Master Choa Kok Sui through the Meditation on Twin Hearts. All of you who have meditated with me will remember the reference to this glorious saint in the MCKS Meditation On Twin Hearts. Here are the lines of the prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
In MCKS Pranic Healing and Arhatic Yoga students from time to time are provided nurturing sessions to build upon our practice. This year we had a special nurturing session by Acharya Danny on the Power of Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi. This session was a life changer in many ways for me and created a deep deep respect for my spiritual teacher and The St. Francis.
I had heard Dr. Wayne Dyer narrating a story about his miraculous healing in Assisi and his divine connection with the saint . You can call it synchronicity while I call it grace,two days prior to my trip I get a newsletter from Wayne Dyer titled ” St Francis” with a link to his “Experiencing The Miraculous Seminar” where he is lecturing in the chapel where St Francis prayed and just freezes with tears pouring from his eyes… you can see the recording:
Wayne Dyer has done a lot of writing on St. Francis and is one of my favorite authors.
Our trip to Italy had a special agenda and it was a visit to Assisi. The town is slightly out of way as compared to the conventional iterinaries of Italy and we had limited days at hand so instead of visiting Florence or Venice I had chosen Assisi for obvious reasons 🙂
There was a calling to this holy place and somewhere I had felt an ecstasy to be there and to experience the presence of the great ones while I pray and meditate. It is difficult to explain things on the spiritual path, why I do what I do, Why I believe what I believe? Somehow travel in my family is a choice that I make and thankfully my partner just supports me without questions. I also see this as a blessing in my life. Last year we did ‘Stonehenge’
So we take a train from Rome to Assisi which was a comfortable ride and reach Assisi in 3 hours .As you stand at the train station of Assisi you can feel the peace and bliss in the air. Even my husband felt and remarked in the evening while church bells tolled that the place has a different feel. Hmm…and I was happy and silent at the same time.
We stayed in an awesome hotel Nun Assisi Relais Spa Museum in Assisi right in the heart of the town. A good place where the family could unwind after a 3 hour train journey. We spent the evening checking in hotel and then heading to the Spa Museum. The SPA Museum was nothing we had experienced so far, it is a well preserved historic site , it is said that they worshiped water here. Here is a picture of the SPA from internet as we did not have time to click pictures here, were busy enjoying the ambiance with Samaira my soon to be 2 year old daughter.
The Next day was an early morning as I had opted for 3 hours walking tour of Assisi with my guide Elizabeth. Assisi has a lot to see and experience and probably needs 2-3 days to experience the magic and mysticism as there is a lot of history.
The impressive basilica built over the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi in the early 13th century is one of Italy’s – and the world’s – most important pilgrimage destinations. Pics Above
The portico of the Temple of Minerva dates from the first century BC and was converted into the church of Santa Maria della Minerva in 1539 Pics Below:
We started from the Communal square and visited the Temple of Minerva ,the roman temple with baroque interiors the entire town of Assisi is connected by beautiful narrow stone roads with small souvenir and art shops lining up the streets that make you stop every 10 mins to marvel.
We visited the Basilica of Santa Chiara (St. Clare) one of the key disciples of St. Francis. The Basilica with its massive lateral buttresses, rose window, and simple Gothic interior, begun in 1257, contains the tomb of the St Clare and 13th‑century frescoes and paintings.
Elizabeth was an experienced guide and we connected over spirituality and meditation very well and she understood how important it was for me to visit Assisi.Though I had limited time as we had to catch a train in 3 hours she ensured I could meditate and experience the place. She showed me The San Damiano Cross which is a large cross before which St. Francis of Assisi was praying when he is said to have received the commission from the Christ to rebuild the Church. She gently handed me the prayer that St. Francis said in front of the cross and asked me to take my time and meditate at this place. The prayer was as below:
Most High, glorious God,
enlighten the darkness of my heart
and give me true faith, certain hope, and perfect charity,
sense and knowledge, Lord,
that I may carry out Your holy and true command. Amen
As I started reciting the prayer and looked at the cross , tears just rolled continuously from my eyes and I felt a deep connection and presence around me. It was an experience. The words of the prayer are so profound it could only come from someone who was serving the higher agenda of the Source. You can try to connect with the energy by just repeating the prayer and focus on the cross , may be you can experience what I am writing.
After this Elizabeth took us to Basilica of St Francis, there was a big event going on inside the basilica so she just explained a couple of frescoes and then took me to the basement of the church to the Tomb of St Francis and as no one is allowed to speak here she left me for 15 minutes here to meditate. I was so grateful and very emotional to be here, my trip to Assisi was accomplished by being in the aura of this great saint. I gently did Twin Hearts Meditation and paid gratitude for all the sacrifices these great beings have made to bring humanity where it is now. Sent loving blessings to everyone and paid my sincere reverence to my spiritual teacher Master Choa because of his grace I could understand the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi and be here.
The Inner Conversation that I had at this Shrine was to follow our higher purpose, to focus on the agenda of the soul ,rather than just be trapped in the needs of the incarnated soul. Life is all about living our higher purpose to allow ourselves to be available to grace to serve the will of God/Divine/Source ,whatever you may call.
Love Sargam!
For Pranic Healer’s Interested in knowing more about the Inner Meaning of The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
You can access here http://www.globalpranichealing.com/magazine/master-dannys-presentation/
View of the Heel Stone at summer solstice sunrise, as seen from inside the Stonehenge monument. Image via mysticrealms.org
This year we decided to take a trip with our little one to UK so that she could meet her grandparents. This was Samaira’s first trip abroad so the itinerary had to be carefully planned to suit the little one’s comfort. While planning for the trip we decided to stay in London for a few days as the vacation planner of the family I was very keen to check if I could make the trip to the so called “Heart Chakra” of the planet Earth the mysterious area of Salisbury, Glastonbury and Avebury. I looked at a number of itineraries and tours but none were baby friendly or I must say infant friendly. Then I happen to come across Pat Shelly, Pat is an experienced guide and conducts private tours of Stonehenge. I mailed Pat to find out if he could accommodate an infant on his coach tour of Stonehenge and I received a prompt reply from him that he would be more than happy. I booked a private viewing of Stonehenge on 11th August 2016 for three of us.
This was the only tour that we could take with Samaira considering that she can not travel more than 4-5 hours in a coach and as we were informed there will be lots of walking required and the terrain is not baby push chair friendly we will need to carry her we just decided to cover Stonehenge in this trip. There is something compelling about these trips which are full of excitement and mystery. A similar experience was Delphi in Greece last year where we visited the Temple of Apollo it is also considered as the Navel Center of Earth. You can read about the Greek Sojourn a journey with nearly 5 months of pregnancy. This year it was the journey to the Heart center of Gaia. My husband is not too much into esoteric journeys but has been a co traveler in many of my trips and thanks to it I am able to get some lovely shots of the place.
A lot has been written about the Stonehenge however in this blog I will be sharing my own experience of the place. I had the company of Pat Shelly an amazing tour guide however I was not able to be with him to hear the archaeological discussions as I was busy ensuring Samaira was warm and well comforted as the winds were very strong. Here is some Wikipedia information on Stonehenge to brief you all so that you understand why it was such a compelling journey on my to do list. Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, 2 miles (3 km) west of Amesbury and 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury. Stonehenge’s ring of standing stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England. Archaeologists believe it was constructed from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the first blue stones were raised between 2400 and 2200 BC, although they may have been at the site as early as 3000 BC…………. Wow that is really really long time back and it is really amusing to see them standing tall and strong even today.
Midsummer celebrations have been held in Britain at the time of the solstice for thousands of years and every year it attracts 1000s of visitors at Stonehenge and near by Avebury stone circles. Stonehenge is believed to have been used as an important religious site by early Britons 4,000 years ago. The Stonehenge Free Festival was a British free festival from 1974 to 1984 held at Stonehenge during the month of June, and culminating on the summer solstice. The festival was a celebration of various alternative cultures. The Tibetan Ukrainian Mountain Troupe, The Tepee People, Circus Normal, the Peace Convoy, New Age Travellers and the Wallys were notable counterculture attendees. (Source internet)
We reached this amazing site at 7.45 pm in the evening and then navigated through the grasslands inside the stone circle. The amazing serenity of the place, the crisp and pure winds , the large expanse of sky and amidst it stands this secluded circle of humongous stones. The sight actually awe strucks you , standing among these chalk stone slabs which have stood through the ages felt so familiar may be who knows this monument was visited or built by people I knew 🙂
Some people say it was an ancient timeclock, some a temple , others a passage from life to death but for me this place has something to feel within.The monument is only a landmark ,there is much more to be understood and decipher.I spend some time looking at the massive chalk stones and I was really amused just as most of the people would be as to how these Trilithons (the two vertical stones topped by a horizontal stone) were installed in that age where each stone weighed more than 15 tonnes??. Imagine the kind of vision and leadership needed to encourage thousands of people to work together to set up Stonehenge. Even if it was Super beings who did it as believed by many , they have surely left a mark on the planet that has undergone the test of time and still stands magnificently
A giant helps Merlin build Stonehenge. From a manuscript of the Roman de Brut by Wace in theBritish Library (Egerton 3028). Dating back to the second quarter of the 14th century, this is the oldest known depiction of Stonehenge. (Source :Wikipedia)
There have been many theories around Stonehenge just like the pyramids of Egypt but for travelers like me who are looking to experience these sights there is much more to experience and questions than only how they were built, why they were built etc. When I sat down to meditate inside the circle I could feel impulses of energy throbbing within the heart and as I closed my eyes I could feel that a lot of energy work had been done in this place.The only thing I wanted to do as an appreciation was a blessing for the creators and contributors of this interesting monument, it is because of these mysteries in the world we realize life is much more than what we are living.
You think because you understand ‘one’ you must also understand ‘two’, because one and one make two. But you must also understand ‘and’.
Rumi
Do write to me and share your experience would love to hear and connect.
And now planning my next destination…….
credits : Summer solstice at Stonehenge By Deborah Byrd in EARTH | HUMAN WORLD|June 22, 2016 ; Wikipedia and internet for few images
Sargam Mishra 