23rd November 2016
Being Human Festival: Hope and Fear at Crossbones Graveyard
5pm Discussion in the Boot and Flogger, Redcross Way SE17pm Vigil at the Red Gates
‘Hope and Fear at Crossbones Graveyard’ was part of the nationwide Being Human Festival of the Humanities. The night also marked our 150th consecutive Crossbones Vigil for the Outcast held on the 23rd of every month since June 2004 – and the 20th anniversary of the night that The Goose revealed ‘The Southwark Mysteries’ to John Crow, shamanic persona of the Southwark writer John Constable on the 23rd November 1996.
The event began with a discussion between Sondra Hausner, associate Professor of Religion at Oxford University, and John Constable, author of ‘The Southwark Mysteries’ also known as John Crow the shaman of Crossbones, whose work over the past 20 years forms the subject of Professor Hausner’s recent book, ‘The Spirits of Crossbones Graveyard’.
The discussion was followed by a vigil conducted by John Crow, who performed ‘The Book of The Goose’ with Moksha aka Michelle Watson. She and Jethro Skinner also performed some of their songs. Local legend George of Bermondsey sang his Crossbones song, and sax star James Gilbert and drummer Andreas played live jazz in the street. Sondra Hausner also made an intervention relating to our ritual work at Crossbones.
