Thursday 11 December 2014

Yuletide Pagan Events In and Near London


Here are some of the pagan events taking place up to the Midwinter Solstice on 22 December in London and a few in other parts of southern England.

Thursday, 11 December; Talk on the origins of Christmas. South East London Folklore Society (SELFS). Venue: The Old King's Head, Kings Head Yard, 45-49 Borough High St, London SE1 1NA. Entry: £2.50 / £1.50 concessions. Meetings are the second Thursday of each month. http://www.selfs.org.uk/ To guarantee a seat, email nigelofbermondsey@gmail.com

Thursday, 11 December; Lord of Strange Deaths: the life and work of Sax Rohmer, creator of arch-villain Fu Manchu. Talks by Phil Baker, author of The Devil is a Gentleman,Antony Clayton, author of Decadent London,and Gary Lachman, author of Aleister Crowley: Magick, Rock and Roll, and the Wickedest Man in the World.Kensington Central Library, at Kensington Central Library, Phillimore Walk, London W8 7RX. Time: 6.30pm to 8pm. Book a free place on 020 7361 3010 or e-mail libraries@rbkc.gov.uk

Thursday, 11 December; Enfield Town Circle Pagan Moot. Venue: Crown and Horseshoes pub, 15 Horseshoe Lane, Enfield, Middlesex EN2 6PZ. Time: 7pm to 11pm. This moot takes place on the 2nd Thursday of every month. For more details join the Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/EnfieldTownCircle/

Friday 12 December - Sunday 14 December; Yule Shopping Socials - browse gifts and enjoy a mince pie and a chat at Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time 3pm onwards. Call 0207 419 8507. For further details: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Friday 12 December; Open Evening at The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2EB. Time: 5pm-9pm. Cost: £20 Advance booking advised. For details call: 020 7589 3292 or visit https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Friday 12 December; Temple of Hera Ritual from Atlantis. Venue: 9 St Andrews Drive, Stanmore, Middlesex, HA7 2LY. Time: 6pm-9pm. Those wanting to attend must reserve a place in advance via the London Pagan and Heathen Circle: http://www.meetup.com/London-Pagan-Circle/events/218889176/

Friday 12 December; Group Healing Night organised by the London College of Spirituality. Venue: Westminster Quakers Meeting House, 8 Hop Gardens, off St Martins Lane, London WC2N 4EA, London. Time: 7pm. Cost: £10, booking essential. Details: http://www.meetup.com/londonspirituality/

Friday 12 December; Esoteric celebration of the season with London Dreamtime at The Atlantis Bookshop, Museum Street, London WC1. Time: 7.30pm - no need to book, just turn up. For more details contact the Atlantis Bookshop on 020 7405 2120 or visit the London Dreamtime website on: http://londondreamtime.com/

Saturday 13 December; Yule: Custom, Lore, Magic. One-day workshop about the lore of Yule with Wiccan priestess Suzanne Corbie. Venue: Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time: 11am-5.30pm. Ticket price £45, deposit of £25 in advance. Tel: 00207 419 8507 or email: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Saturday 13 December; Gallery talk: Roman gods in the Enlightenment Gallery, Room 1 British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. Time: 1.15am–2pm. Cost Free. For more details visit: https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/events_calendar.aspx

Saturday 13 December; Sacred Yule Fire Bellydance workshop with Laura Daligan, organised by Inspiral Mediums. Venue: Large Hall, Grays, Essex. Tickets: £30. For more information and to book tickets visit: http://www.inspiralmediums.com/

Saturday 13 December; Speak up, Speak out. Workshop with Sue Warner organised by Alternatives. Venue: Heythrop College, University of London, 23 Kensington Square, London, W8 5HN. Time: 10:30am - 5pm. Tickets: £75/£55. Details: http://www.alternatives.org.uk/

Saturday 13 December; Winter Fairytales for Adults with London Dreamtime at West Norwood Library. Time: 3pm - no need to book, just turn up. For more visit the London Dreamtime website on: http://londondreamtime.com/

Monday 15 December; Ritual Magic – How and Why? Talk by with David Goddard in a series of talks on the The Western Esoteric Tradition. Venue The Atlantis Bookshop, Museum Street, London WC1. Time: 7pm. Tickets £15. To attend this event you must reserve a place in advance. For more details contact the Atlantis Bookshop on 020 7405 2120.

Monday 15 December; Tarot Meditation: The Emperor, with Marysia Kolodziej. Venue: Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time: 7.15pm for 7.30pm start. Tickets £10. Advance booking required. Call 0207 419 8507. For further details: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Monday 15 December; Winter Solstice with Alternatives. Venue: St James's Church Piccadilly, 197 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LL. Time: 7pm - 8.30pm. Tickets £12/£8 online. For more details and to book tickets: http://www.alternatives.org.uk/

Tuesday 16 December; Dr David Clarke: The Angels of Mons. Talk at the London Fortean Society. Venue: The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street, London E1 7EX. Time: 7.30pm - 10.30pm. Entry: £3/£2 concessions. For more details, visit http://forteanlondon.blogspot.co.uk/

Tuesday 16 December; Drumming Circle run by Shamanic Spirit at a venue in New Addington, Croydon, South London. Every second Tuesday starting 7.30pm. Cost £10. For more details and to book places call 07952 041477. For more information, visit http://shamanicspirit.co.uk/

Wednesday 17 December; Gallery talk:I saw this and thought of you: gift giving in ancient Britain, Room 50, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. Time: 1.15am–2pm. Cost Free. For more details visit: https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/events_calendar.aspx

Wednesday 17 December; Death Cafe gathering (see deathcafe.com) on a boat in Victoria Park, East London. A magical and immersive experience wuith the Belmont Wharf gardens strung with lights, introductions in the beehive-shaped Dome with a view of the stars, and being rowed over the canal for tea, cake and discussion of death and mortality by a crackling fire. Free event but donations welcome, although visitors must bring a coin (any value/currency) for safe passage to the other side (of the canal). Time: 7.30pm to 9.30pm. More informationon the Death Cafe page: http://deathcafe.com/deathcafe/1428/

Thursday 18 December; PFL Yule Open Ritual facilitated by Two4Joy and Friends. Venue: Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn London. Time: 7.30pm for 8pm start. Ritual ends around 9pm followed by feasting until 10pm. Entrance: £6/£5 PF members. Please bring seasonal food and drinks to share at feast after ritual. For more details, visit http://london.paganfed.org/

Thursday 18 December; Croydon CoA Gathering: Social evening open to all Pagan Paths at 1 Mathews Yard off Surrey Street, Croydon. Event held on the third Thursday of the month at 8pm. For any questions email coacentral@witchcraft.org or visit http://www.witchfest.net/ or the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/CoA-Croydon-Gathering/214075271986584

Saturday 20 December: Free and Open Gorsedd of Caer Aribi Winter Solstice Druidic ceremony to celebrate the Winter Solstice (Alban Arthan) at Avebury Stone Circle, Wiltshire. Meet at the Red Lion pub from noon for a ceremony at 1.30pm. Free event, all welcome, offerings of song, poetry, bread and mead are welcome. Overnight camping is available in the overflow carpark.

Saturday 20 December; Christmas Plays from Oberufer Presented by ‘Friends of Rudolf Steiner House’ at Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London NW1 6XT. Time: 3.30pm and 4.30pm;http://www.rsh.anth.org.uk/

Sunday 21 December; Wheel of the Year Festival - Winter Solstice Meditation at Chalice Well World Peace Garden, in Glastonbury. Gather at the Well Head at noon for celebration and meditation until 12.30pm, followed by a chance to chat around the fire on the lower lawn. Free admission to the gardens from 10am to noon. In the evening there will be an All Hallow’s Eve / Samhain event suitable for families, starting after 4.30pm and ending at around. The cost of that is £7.50 adults, £4.50 children. For more details and to book, visit the website http://www.chalicewell.org.uk/

Sunday 21 December; PFL Yuletide Family Gathering at Trent Park, Enfield. Meet at the playground behind the cafe, at the Cockfosters entrance at noon. https://www.facebook.com/groups/4697569447/

Sunday 21 December; Alban Arthuan on Primrose Hill under the Aegis of the Loose Association of Druids. Gather in the Hawthorne Grove at Primrose Hill, London, between 12.30pm and 12.45pm to prepare the site ready for a prompt 1pm start. Nearest tube: Chalk Farm. Bring a small contribution of food and drink to share. All are welcome.

Sunday 21 December; Winter Solstice Ceremony and Activation Alignment: Rebirth of Light, with Aang and Vaz via the London College of Spirituality, Venue: Windsor Suite, Columbia Hotel, 95- 99 Lancaster Gate, London W2 3NS. Time: 1:pm. Price:£55 per person. To book a place and more details visit: http://www.meetup.com/londonspirituality/

Sunday 21 December; The Circle of Ankerwycke Yule Open Ritual at Wraysbury, Staines . Location: Outdoors under an ancient yew tree, deep in woodland and very private. Advance booking essential. Time: 7.30pm for 8pm start. Phone: (07735) 528320.

Sunday 21 December; Dawn of the Oak. Pagan moot on the third Sunday of each month. Venue: Upstairs at The Castle, 34-35 Cowcross Road, Farringdon, London EC1M 6DB (near Farringdon tube). Time: 3pm-6pm.

Monday 22 December: Stonehenge Winter Solstice Managed Open Access with a celebration at sunrise at the stone circle. Entry is allowed from 7.45am. For full details, visit: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/stonehenge/winter-solstice-2014/

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