General Letter ~ March 2015

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Good News
Spring has officially arrived, the days are getting longer with lighter mornings and evenings. The coming of Spring was celebrated and observed by different cultures with different festivals all over the ancient world. How our ancient forefathers must have relished these events.

The Druids celebrated Spring on the 1st May with the Beltane ceremony, bringing many people together to acknowledge and revel in the birth of the Summer and the fertility of the land. The festival commemorates the spirit of our ancient forebears and the connection to the cycles of nature.

The Chinese with their Spring Festival that falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, which is often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. It originated in the Shang Dynasty (c.1600 BC - c.1100 BC) from the people's sacrifices to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.

The Greeks held a festival in which they performed the tragedies of Æschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides in Athens which was known as the Great Dionysia. This festival was also connected with the spring.

In ancient Egypt they held a festival to Isis who represented rebirth having being instrumental in the resurrection of Osiris when he was murdered by Set. Using her magical skills, she restored his body to life after gathering the body parts that had been strewn about the earth by Set.

In Ireland, St Patrick's Day on the 17th March, was their special day. St Patrick being most famous for banishing all snakes from Ireland for evermore. He also brought Christianity to Ireland.

In ancient Italy the feast of Cyble was the time when they commemorated spring. The festival of Hilaria from 15th - 28th March celebrates rebirth after the legend in which her lover Attis was reborn after killing himself and it was in his blood that the first violets grew.

The Judaic festival is Passover in the Hebrew month of Nisan and celebrates the exodus of slaves from Egypt after suffering slavery for many years. This ritual is represented in a ceremonial cleaning of the house from top to bottom.

In Lanark, Scotland welcomes in the Spring season on the 1st March with Whuppity Scoorie in which children have a wonderful time running to a local church at sunrise, tossing paper balls and wearing hats. They are rewarded with money given by the local assemblymen.

Finally in Russia, close to Easter, again they celebrate rebirth in the coming of light and warmth in the celebration of Maslenitsa in which they enjoy their last meals of meat, fish and dairy prior to the Lent period. A straw likeness of the Lady of Maslenitsa is burned and to insure fertility, the ashes are spread in the fields.

More Good News

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As usual I will be taking two crop circle tours this summer. The first is on Thursday 28th July with an optional extra of a private entry visit to Stonehenge in the evening. This will enable us to enter into the inner sanctum of the stones. It is a mystically wonderful experience to see the sun set over the stones and feel the magic of this ancient place. The tickets are like gold dust to obtain. Please book early.

The second tour is on Wednesday 3rd August and this has an optional extra of flying over the circles, which is an incredible way of seeing them in all their majesty from the air, together with the surrounding countryside that includes the famous stone complex at Avebury, and the sacred Silbury Hill, the largest man-made hill in Europe. Please get in touch for early booking.

Still more Good News

I am also reducing the price of my wonderful 2016 calendar from £12 to £10. I have a few left.

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All very best wishes,

Lucy

Newsletter ~ March 2015

Dear Friends,

I have just returned from a fantastic holiday in Sydney courtesy of my elder son Sloane, who flew me out to celebrate one of his special birthdays. Looking back on it, I think without a doubt it rates as being amongst the happiest and most wonderful holidays I have ever had.

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It was my first visit to Australia in the 13 years that Sloane has lived there, and my goodness what a lovely city Sydney is, with its myriad beaches and hidden coves; tree-lined streets and evergreen flowering trees; and winding hilly streets with spectacular views of harbours filled with boats of all sizes.

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The temperature ranged from 24 to 30 degrees and above, but having lived in Jamaica during a period of my life for 14 years, I am accustomed to that heat and I can quite see why people love living there. Sloane swims twice a day, very early in the morning at a small wonderful beach called Nelson's Port before going to work - and in the evening on his return.

Among a host of wonderful happenings, I flew over, sailed under and drove over Harbour Bridge! How about that!

image05Another special event was being taken to a spectacularly brilliant performance of Madame Butterfly at the wonderful Sydney Opera House - what a treat! One of the most memorable I have ever seen, with the added brilliance of Anthony Legge the famous Glyndebourne conductor. The renowned acoustics are indeed quite exceptionally good.

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My younger son Angus, who works for the World Health Organisation, joined us from Bangkok for three days. This was just wonderful, as this was his first visit to Australia, and he too loved the whole experience.

I happened to read Bill Bryson's book 'Down Under' whilst I was there, and whereas Bryson waxes lyrical about the Australian continent as a whole, he seemed beset by the terrors of the many poisonous creatures that he felt were lurking everywhere to get him and give him a long, lingering and agonising death!! He survived and so did I!

From Sydney I flew to visit a special goddaughter and her lovely family who live perched high above Wellington. Wellington is not as beautiful as Sydney, but it has its own unique charm and once again I was shown all the sights. I also visited friends of very long standing who live along the coast at Howard's Point. They took me to South Island, docking in Picton. One of the most spectacular views of the whole trip as we approached Picton, was sailing through narrow high tree-topped gorges that had small white sand beaches at their feet.

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It is surprising the weather in Wellington doesn't reflect the fact that the nearest land to the south is Antarctica - but it certainly lives up to its name of 'Windy Wellington' - so forget any hair styles!!

I have suffered horribly with jet lag since coming back to the UK, but, after two weeks, I am just returning to normal!!!

The crop circle season approaches, though I have a feeling it will have a late start unless the weather picks up, but please get in touch soon if you would like to join one of my crop circle tours as the places are already being booked.

All very best wishes,

Lucy.

2015 Crop Circle Tours

Dear Friends,

For 2015, I have arranged two exclusive crop circle tours.

The first tour is on Thursday 30th July 2015 and includes an optional extra of a private entry evening visit to Stonehenge.

The second tour is on Tuesday 4th August 2015. This includes an optional extra of a flight over the crop circles and the surrounding sacred area at the end of the day.

Please book early to avoid disappointment. In case of cancellations I have a waiting list. If interested in booking a place, please email me at:lucy@lucypringle.co.uk

Since opening my online shop my 2015 Crop Circle calendars have sold well. There is just time for you to receive them and other products before Christmas.

I wish you all a wonderfully happy and peaceful Christmas and may the New Year 2015 bring you great joy, contentment and positive happenings. 

Lucy.