Thursday 23rd May – gather 6.45pm at Crossbones Graveyard – in the street at the shrine in Redcross Way SE1. The Vigil begins on the stroke of 7pm
We come to renew the shrine, to remember the outcast, dead and alive, and to reclaim the secret history as revealed by The Goose to John Crow. We stand in silence, in shining emptiness, to light the open pathways. We hang “our hopes, our dreams, our Might-Have-Beens” on ribbons tied to the gate. We close with ‘The Message of the Caboclos’ (“the Spirits of Place”, as received and transmitted by the Brazilian mystic Baixinha) and The Goose’s unconditional blessing. At the heart of the Vigil, there’s space for those who wish to share a poem, song or brief personal testimony connected with Crossbones and outsiders of all kinds.
This is the 180th Crossbones Vigil, completing 15 years of consecutive monthly Vigils. We’ve stood at Crossbones gates at 7pm on the 23rd of every single month since 23rd June 2004.
At the May 23rd Vigil we also celebrate Beltane, the Queen of the May and the coming of summer. You are invited to bring your own memento, totemic object or ribbon to tie to the gate. For those who forget, ribbons will be provided – thanks, Jennifer! If you can, creating your own small memento will enhance your experience – the more we give, the more we receive!
Please also come willing to do a 15-minute shift as a Goose Samurai, closing the road to keep us all alive and undisturbed. This is the highest honour that any participant can receive, and enables us all to experience the many facets of the Crossbones Vigil.
We each bring our own piece of the puzzle, and together we perform acts of remembrance and imagination, secular Human Rites, open to ‘all faiths and none’. Specific vigils are aligned with seasonal festivals – e.g. January 23rd is Imbolc, April 23rd is St George, June 23rd is St John’s Eve / midsummer, October 23rd is Halloween Portal, November 23rd is ‘Goose Night’.
This intensive, day-long workshop provides a working introduction to magic, mediumship and urban shamanism, and practical information for anyone interested in conducting a contemporary ritual. We focus on the Crossbones Vigil as a model ceremony, exploring its ritual forms and how to balance these fixed points with a freedom that allows the unexpected to happen. The day includes: preparation (practical and magical); creating an altar and devising ceremonial forms; presentation and performance of rituals; connecting with the ‘spirit of place’ and holding the space. 
An initiation into a contemporary magical praxis dedicated to the outcast dead of Crossbones Graveyard. The talk takes in mediumship, trance and incorporation, street magic, synchronicity, and how spiritual works can manifest in the physical world. We focus on the Crossbones Vigil as a model ceremony, exploring its ritual forms and how to balance these fixed points with a freedom that allows the unexpected to happen. The day includes: preparation (practical and magical); creating an altar and devising ceremonial forms; presentation and performance of rituals; connecting with the ‘spirit of place’ and holding the space. 
This month’s Vigil marks the 22nd anniversary of ‘Goose Night’ (23rd November 1996) when The Goose spirit revealed the secret history of Crossbones to John Crow, inspiring The Southwark Mysteries and the works at Crossbones Graveyard.