Sunday 23rd June at 7pm
The 181st Crossbones Vigil, conducted on the 23rd of every single month since 23rd June 2004.
Gather 6.45pm at Crossbones Graveyard – in the street at the shrine in Redcross Way, London SE1 (London Bridge or Borough tube) – to begin the Vigil on the stroke of 7pm.
To renew the shrine and reclaim our sacred space in the heart of the city. To remember the outcast, dead and alive. To revive the secret history as revealed by The Goose to John Crow at Crossbones Graveyard. To stand in silence, in shining emptiness, lighting the open pathways. To hang “our hopes, our dreams, our Might-Have-Beens” in our ribbons and mementos tied to the gate. To share our poems, songs and personal testimonies of Crossbones, The Goose, her outcast dead and her living outsiders. To reiterate ‘The Message of the Caboclos’ (“Life, Health, Happiness, Open Pathways”) and The Goose’s unconditional blessing.
You are invited to bring your own memento, totemic object or ribbon to tie to the gate.
June 23rd is St John’s Eve, the traditional British midsummer festival, an opportunity to attune ourselves with the solstice and the turning of the year.
It’s also the day of The Great Get Together, a nationwide community celebration of the life of Jo Cox, who was murdered by a right-wing fanatic. Bankside Open Spaces Trust (BOST) and other local organisations are promoting music, food and all manner of jollies in the area around Crossbones from 12 noon into the evening. This event is entirely separate from the Crossbones Vigil, although we share our rejection of fascism and our celebration of diversity.
Crossbones Graveyard and Garden of Remembrance will be open for visits until 6pm. And, for all the crowds and the background noise, from 7pm in Redcross Way we’ll be holding our sacred space in shining emptiness “at the still point of the turning world” – as we participate in our act of mutual healing and transformation.
FREE! Donations welcome
