As the Wheel of the Year turns I am back amongst the golden bearded grains, ripening blackberries and plump sloes of the hedgerows in the borders where Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire meet. This year the acorns look plentiful, unlike the previous year. The rowan trees, as I noticed with pleasure in Darlington also, are laden with…
People of Spirit – A Tribute to Chris Palmer and Poppy Palin
Recently we have lost two artists of exceptional talent whose work was inspirational and loved by many Druids, Wiccans and other Pagans. I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to both of them here. Chris Palmer Chris lived on a 60 foot narrowboat called ‘Netty’ together with her partner Jinny Peberday and…
WhatsApp Group
Hello! We now have a Mandua Briga WhatsApp group for those who do not want to use social media (sorry it is still a Meta / Facebook product but its the best we can do). If you would like to be added then email us on manduabriga@gmail.com and let us know your mobile number. We…
Beltane Ceremony
Mandua Briga seed group held our Beltane ceremony in Jenny’s garden, which was the inaugural group ceremony at Jenny’s house. The weather was lovely, a lot sunnier than forecast, and seven of us gathered to celebrate the season, to share food and drink and each other’s company. Beltane is an ancient festival that probably dates…
Beltane Pilgrimage to Hastings 2022
A pilgrimage is simply a journey for the purposes of adoration or worship or spiritual exercise or all of these and perhaps even more unstated personal reasons and purposes. I travelled to Hastings, East Sussex, in the last days of April. My intentions were complex and not entirely wholly spiritual (Sussex has fine traditions in…
Skerningham Spring Equinox Guided Walk
The weather held for the guided walk through Skerningham on 20th March, which was led by David Clark. We met at the top of Glebe Road, walked across the bridge over the railway line and then took the left hand path which runs parallel with the East Coast Mainline until it veers to the north…
Alban Eilir (Spring Equinox) Ceremony at Rock Well
We were blessed with a beautiful spring day for our Alban Eilir ceremony at Rock Well. Due to covid there were fewer of us than planned, but many thanks to Nick, Shane and Carl for attending. Special thanks to Shane for bringing along the flowers and his very seasonal cuddly hare! As before, we carried…
Bearing Witness
May there be peace throughout the whole world .. The news and images coming from Ukraine have been unbearable. We watch in horror and wonder what we can do. For those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to spare a small amount, we have donated to charities such as The Disasters Emergency…
Protest against the destruction of Skerningham
On Thursday 17th February, all four members of the Mandua Briga Seed Group who live in Darlington attended the protest in the Market Square against Darlington Borough Council’s Local Plan, the adoption of which was being voted on that evening at a full Council meeting in the Dolphin Centre. Alongside around 50 protestors who had…
The Guardian discovers Stanwick Fortifications!
It was great to see the Guardian article from yesterday about our local ancient site at Stanwick. It was a bit disappointing that the journalist, Kevin Rushby, didn’t do much research apart from mis-reading the Wikipedia article that I wrote a few years ago. The famous archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler (almost certainly incorrectly) concluded the…