above photo by Katy Kaos: John Crow welcomes our alternative St George and his friend the Welsh Dragon
Meeting ID: 856 2417 8240 Passcode: 377295
THE CROSSBONES VIGIL
The Cross Bones Vigil has been held on the 23rd of every month since June 2004: to honour the Outcast, dead and alive; to renew the shrine; and to reclaim the Secret History as revealed by The Goose to John Crow on 23rd November 1996. The Vigils were initiated by John Constable aka John Crow and conducted by him during 23 years of active service working with The Goose spirit. Since John’s last official Vigil on 23rd November 2019, Jennifer Cooper has hosted the Vigils, supported by Mark, Shriya and Friends of Crossbones.
Order of Service
The rituals derive from The Halloween of Cross Bones which was conducted every 31st October for 13 consecutive years (1998-2010). These ceremonial forms create a safe space in which the unexpected can happen!
1. Opening (on the stroke of 7pm)
Light a candle, incense. Ring seven chimes. Say:
‘Spirits of The Dead, Spirits of the Living, Kindred. Welcome!’
As you say these words, be aware that you are connected with all spirits, incarnate and discarnate, and with the transforming agency of The Goose, in an act of mutual healing taking place within a single, undivided consciousness. Breathe deep, relax and connect… Remember the Secret History and transforming vision…
Crossbones is a pauper’s graveyard and the final resting place for the Winchester Geese, sex workers who worked in brothels owned and licensed by the Bishop of Winchester in Southwark’s ‘Liberty of the Clink’. Many skeletons were dug up here during work on the Jubilee Line Extension (1992-96). On 23rd November 1996 John Constable had a vision in which The Goose led John Crow to the site of the Crossbones Graveyard. Here she revealed The Southwark Mysteries, which in turn gave rise to The Halloween of Cross Bones and to these Vigils, held on the 23rd of every month since 23rd June 2004. Thanks to our collective magical and activist works over the past 23 years, this once despised, desolate site has become a holy place for pilgrims from all over the world – a shrine and a garden of remembrance ‘for the Outcast, dead and alive’.
2. Hold the candle for one minute’s silence.
Imagine lighting the open pathways for all beings to make their individual journeys in Time and Eternity. Remember the Outcast Dead of Crossbones Graveyard, and all who are shut out, along with your own ancestors and loved ones. For this act of remembrance, it helps to cultivate a state of “shining emptiness”, in which all sounds, sights and other sense impressions can arise and vanish, with nothing for anything to attach to.
3. “Binding and loosing”.
Imagine tying a ribbon to Crossbones Gates. Invest the ribbon with all that you would wish for yourself, and as you tie it, release that blessing for others, saying five times:
‘Here lay your hearts, your flowers,
Your Book of Hours,
Your fingers, your thumbs,
Your “Miss You Mums”.
Here hang your hopes, your dreams,
Your Might Have Beens,
Your locks, your keys,
Your Mysteries.’ 1
4. Bardic offerings.
Perform a poem, song or text from ‘The Southwark Mysteries’, or offer your own short testimony to The Goose and her Outcast Dead or to St George / Jorge / Ogum. Invite other members of the outcast congregation to do likewise.
5. Closing.
Close the ceremony with a libation of gin. This ritual is performed as call and response, with each line and each of the 3 stanzas repeated. Say:
‘Life!
Health!
Happiness!
Open Pathways!
Health in the Body.
Peace In the Spirit.
Love In The Heart.
It is this that we wish,
for ourselves,
for our friends and family,
for all our Brothers and Sisters,
for The Goose and The Crow,
and for all Humanity.
May it be so.’ 2
then:
‘Goose may you never be hungry!
Goose may you never be thirsty!
Goose may your Spirit fly free!’
And so she does…
Open pathways!
1 from ‘The Southwark Mysteries’ by John Constable
2 ‘Mensagem do Caboclo’ received by the Umbandaime medium Baixinha, translated by JC
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