The Halloween of Cross Bones

The Halloween of Cross Bones was a magical ritual performed every 31st October from 1998 to 2010 in which the medium John Crow channels the spirit of The Goose to reveal the secret history of Crossbones Graveyard.

The Halloween of Cross Bones XIII (2010) completed the cycle of 13 annual rituals to reclaim Crossbones Graveyard as holy ground for sex workers and outcasts…

This clip features Crow’s Initiation and ‘The Song of The Goose’ sung by Michelle Watson (Goose on fire!) with Michelle Makka (Tantric priestess for Halloween#13).

Filmed /edited by Andy Lockwood aka Dr Wot and Rosemary Walbancke (2010)

Veterens of The Warp and the south London conscious party scene will recognise the brick cavern that was once Deep Blue in The Drome (also the Venue for The Synergy parties and much more)

After the completion of the cycle, some of the rituals associated with The Halloween of Cross Bones were adopted at the 23rd October ‘portal to Halloween’ Vigil.

Since John Crow completed his mediumistic work at Crossbones, Halloween has been marked by individual acts of love and remembrance.

Friends of Crossbones may like to visit the gates this coming 31st October, to bear silent witness to the spirits of our outcast dead. If two or more are gathered together, you may like to perform the ‘Ancestor Souls’ invocation. It is traditionally spoken aloud with one speaking and the others echoing the words in their own time, creating a ripple effect…

SAMHAIN

Here, the veil between the worlds

dissolves:

the living, the dead

share the brew, break the bread.

Ancestor souls

converse and commune,

this samhain night,

by the light of a bone-

white

moon.

THE HALLOWING OF CROSS BONES YARD

Here where the bones are crossed

be hallowed ground.

Here let the names that were lost

be found.

Shut out in days of old,

the outcast dead…

Here bring them in from the cold

to be watered and fed.

Here let the ties that bind

against forgetfulness

light candles, build shrines

in the wilderness.

(words from ‘Spark In The Dark‘ by John Constable)