Procreating the Beauty of Golden Friendship

Shakespeare Mystery in Corsica

A hybrid event, led by Peter and Sarah Dawkins –  part pilgrimage and part talks, attunements and sharing on Zoom.

Corsica is known as the Isle of Beauty, a ‘Mountain in the Sea’. It is in fact an island composed of a great mountain range made up geologically of a crystalline western part and a schistose north-eastern part, with a central heart mountain called Monte d’Oro, ‘Mountain of Gold’.

For our purposes, this Isle of Beauty can be seen as equating mythically with Illyria, on the shores of which the twins, Viola and Sebastian, are cast after being separated in a shipwreck, as described in the Shakespeare play, Twelfth Night.

Historically Illyria is the name of an ancient region of the Western Balkans, but mythologically, which is how Shakespeare uses the name, it means ‘Land of the Stars’ or ‘Land of Freedom’.

In a Greek legend, Illyr, ancestor of the Illyrians, was the son of Cadmus and Harmonia, with his name meaning ‘beautiful like the Sun-Star’. When born, he was left by a river, where he was found and raised by a serpent.

These ‘Illyrian’ legends, myths and Twelfth Night all refer symbolically to the setting free of the mortal psyche so as to be reborn and raised as an immortal soul, a shining star of beauty. This describes the whole purpose of this hybrid pilgrimage, wherein we are working with the sacral chakra of the landscape ‘Swan’ of Europe in order to procreate the golden child of beauty whose nature is love expressed as friendship.

This hybrid Mystery of Shakespeare event is part of a sequence of events in which we are working with the Dionysian Mystery of Europe, wherein metaphorically the Bull (or Boar) becomes the Swan, which is a symbolic way of describing the transformation and transmutation of the mortal psyche into an immortal soul. As Shakespeare says, we are all actors performing on the stage of the world, the stage in this instance being Europe.

Due to the mountainous terrain of Corsica and the practicalities involved, the pilgrimage in Corsica is being carried out by a small core-group of friends who are linked with and supported by other friends who are carrying out pilgrimages and attunements elsewhere. In this way, via pilgrimage, attunement, meditation, prayer and friendship, the aim of the Mystery event as expressed in its title can be achieved.

PROGRAMME

• 11 May 2025 – Zoom talk, ‘Corsica, the Illyrian Isle of Beauty’.
• 13-18 May 2025 – Corsica pilgrimage, with Zoom meetings.
• 24 May 2025 – Zoom meeting – Corsica pilgrimage summary.
• 25 May 2025 – Zoom meeting – general sharing and conclusion.

TWO TYPES OF PARTICIPANTS

1. Virtual pilgrims: attendees of Zoom talk ‘Corsica, the Illyrian Isle of Beauty’ and event Zoom meetings, and who carry out a pilgrimage in their own chosen area.
2. Corsica pilgrims: the pre-selected core-group who will pilgrimage in Corsica and participate in all the Zoom meetings. (This core-group is a closed group.)

COST

• Virtual pilgrims – £45 per person (inclusive of Corsica Zoom talk and meetings).

BOOKING

Please contact FBRT for booking, payment and other details.

RECOMMENDED READING

The Wisdom of Shakespeare in Twelfth Night, by Peter Dawkins.