Wolstonbury           Sacred Ground

4000 yr old Monuments & Rites of Passage

Who decides what makes land sacred?  Is some land ‘more sacred’?  Here we take 3 things into account – History, the present day feeling, and a few hints from Buddhism.

Coming to stay at Chantry Farm provides access to three Prehistoric Listed Bronze Age monuments atop Wolstonbury, including a c4000yr old Round Barrow burial mound and one of only 50 Platform Barrows known in the country. The check-in booklet contains a mini Pilgrimage Map for a 40min walk: Take some Sacred Steps on ancient land… Opt for an audio guide or sense it yourself.. One time around with podcast and take another starry night wander with senses fully tuned?!

Spending time here exploring the land and our place in it as well as our dreamscapes can be profound.  My own sense (this is Beki the current owner writing) is that Rites of Passage were undertaken on this Hill. From where to where?  A burial mound represents a particular ‘rite of passage’ from one life to whatever comes next.  Eygpt’s pyramids are perhaps the most famous example of that – btw they were built a millenia later than the Round Barrow here!  The “Cross Ridge Dyke” – approx 3500yrs old; and what I’m convinced is a Henge around the summit (it has the required interal ditch and external bank) were all connected with entry and exit into something sacred.  The point about a ditch inside a bank is that a hillforts have ditches on the outside to make the bank more difficult to climb over.. a Henge has the ditch on the inside – so why is Wolstonbury not called a henge?  What did henges encircle? A ceremonial space.  Rites of Passsage are about transitions from one space to another..  Into Adult life?   At Wolstonbury the space is still here to support us on profound journeys..  Outer journey and inner journey and our journey through time can all combine here…

Whatever type of pilgrim you are, we all traverse this planet..  Our Sacred Steps podcast is designed to enhance your exploration, understanding this precious landscape and opening up to inner pilgrimage and dream work!

Beyond graves and grass…

Pondering Bronze Age monuments can help us have a sense of ourselves in time and space. They survive here as testimony to the fact that 4000 years ago, people were atop Wolstonbury engaged in contemplations on death. All ancient cultures we know of saw death as a gateway – part of a journey.. not THE END!   Most if not all ancient cultures used dream work and pilgrimage as companions for understanding journeys after death. The living tradition of Tibetan Buddhism teaches profound parallels between dream and death. One invites us to prepare for the other..

So this extraordinary place called Wolstonbury Hill still holds those sacred understandings, now with the support of Tibetan Buddhist teachings and a Shrine Room sitting quietly inside an old stone building on her south western flank.

Much loved by locals to this day, the same way Glastonbury Tor is by her residents (note Wol/Gla-stonbury) many of us are likely tuning in to the same magnificent vibes which beckoned by-gone Bronze Age kings and queens.. Standing up on the Ridge it’s obvious to anyone – from archaeologists to teenagers with an eye on Insta: This is an amazing place!

Certain places are destined to become more revered over time as they are ‘rediscovered’..

‘Sacred Ground’ is a profound 18C Text written by a great Tibetan Meditation Master.  Jamgon Kongtrol wrote his iconic text describing numerous dreams and journeys into fourth dimensional space, repeatedly emphasing the importance of both inner and outer pilgrimage.   In Beki’s dream Jamgon Kongtrul appeared walking on this land.. and so merged two ancient cultures in time and space.   When we walk with gratitude, any journey can be our own pilgrimage.. but it helps if its along ancient lines..  Cultural boundaries can dissolve along with a sense of unfolding vastness in time and space.. A sense of profound wisdom, our own awareness and kindness can arise, blending together seamlessly, – then we are indeed blessed.

What we are doing on this planet – from microcosm to macrocosm – isn’t contemplated daily – or at all – by many humans who traverse it. Here is an option to do just that.. ‘Tune in’ to what is happening ‘inside and outside’. Walking an ancient landscape and learning a little more about what happens when we dream can be utilized for both a cosmic holiday (!), and also refined honing of mental clarity and life navigation.  We call it Next Level Camping .. Good luck on your journey!