Maypole Dancing

These are photographs of residents and staff of Camphill Milton Keynes doing Maypole Dancing on Wednesday 1st May. 
A maypole is a tall pole, historically made from the trunk of a tree, adorned with items such as flowers, garlands, ribbons and streamers and sometimes painted with stripes. The maypole is a major focus of May Day, a spring celebration that falls on the first of May, providing a centerpiece for revelers to dance around. The maypole has its origins in ancient Europe, where it was viewed as a fertility symbol. Although maypole dances also are associated with Germany and France, the maypole generally is regarded as an English tradition.

Alex Fox

Easter Celebrations

These are photographs of residents of Camphill Milton Keynes celebrating Easter by making cards in the foyer of the Chrysalis Theatre.
Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb on the third day after his crucifixion. Easter is the fulfilled prophecy of the Messiah who would be persecuted, die for our sins, and rise on the third day.

 Alex Fox

Milton Keynes Peace Pagoda - 39th Anniversary Celebrations

Alex Fox

Community Assembly

These are photographs of residents of Camphill Milton Keynes having a Community Assembly at the Chrysalis Theatre on Tuesday 9th April.

Alex Fox

Buddha's Birthday

On Sunday 7^th April, I went to the Buddha-Bathing Ceremony and Buddha’s Birthday at the Temple at North Willen Lake.

Before the bathing of the baby Buddha with sweet tea in the flower house of the Temple, the monks and nuns opened the ceremony with the Kanbutsuge which is the Bathing of the Buddha gatha or chant, below which is a translation of the Kanbutsuge.

‘We now bath all the Tathagatas, whose Pure Wisdom is adorned with innumerable virtues. They cause sentient beings of the Five Periods of Decay to be separated from their sufferings and together attain the Pure Dharma-body of the Tathagatas.’

https://www.facebook.com/groups/mkbuddhism/

Alex Fox

Trip to Watergate Farm

On Saturday 6th April, residents of Camphill Milton Keynes visited Watergate Farm in Bedfordshire.
Originally the farm was predominantly grass with only one field of arable and a dairy herd with a flock of sheep grazing the grass. The dairy cows were sold in the 1940s and were replaced by beef cattle. During the war years with the demand for more grain to feed the population, grassland was ploughed up to grow wheat.
Turkeys have been reared on the farm since the very early days. Originally, just a few would have been kept, but of late Watergate Farm has developed a reputation such that it now produces several thousand that are eagerly sought after for Christmas. Over the years many changes have taken place and Watergate Farm hope's it has stuck to many of the ‘basics’; the field sizes have hardly changed in the intervening years, a genuine regard for livestock and wildlife on the farm but above all a love of farming and the countryside. Watergate Farm takes great pride in the fact that it remains very much a traditional family farm. Many of the traditions started in 1924 remain at the core of what the farm practices now. Watergate Farm has been farmed by four generations of the Hunt family since 1924.

Alex Fox