SCOTLAND AND THE ORKNEYS EXPEDITION
DAY 1
Arrival by mid morning into Edinburgh.
Afternoon at the mighty and magikal Edinburgh Castle, powerbase of Scottish majesty seated atop a volcanic mound at the summit of the Royal Mile. Here we will complete a quantum magik ritual to unlock and initiate the kingdom/queendom of your kingdom.
Followed by a tour underground into The Real Mary Kings Close to see the old Edinburgh, its tiny walkways ten storeys high that housed so many myths and stories buried beneath the city above. Unearthing the legend buried within you to let it loose!
Evening stay at The Grassmarket hotel Edinburgh
DAY 2
Morning visit to Craigmillar castle, a castle of immense import and strategic transformation in Scottish history including the housing of the infamous Mary Queen of Scots. Its breathtaking mystery and magik are the backdrop to our powerful invocation of full embodiment of quantum magus/mage, just as set out in the SQ Trilogy.
From here we head up to the volcanic pod at the height of Edinburgh city: Arthurs Seat. It is here that legend states Arthur and his knights lay awaiting to return to Albion. Here we unleash the pinnacle of our journey: you as ultimate prime mover in union will all you are creating.
Dinner at The Witchery for anyone who would like to join. This is an additional cost. The Witchery is a quite spectacular old restaurant that is cited on the spot where the most witches in Scotland were burnt and so its ambience is very magikal. Its sister restaurant, The Secret Garden, sits right behind it and is dedicated to the magik of the Tarot upon the ceilings.
DAY 3
Very early departure by minibus on a 3 hour drive through Scotland to Dunnotar Castle, one of Scotland’s most famous and iconic castles that stands on a 440 million year old rock.
This dramatic, hauntingly beautiful and evocative ruined cliff top fortress is steeped in history, a photographer’s paradise, a history lover’s dream and an impregnable fortress that holds many rich secrets of Scotland’s colourful past. Here we embody the impregnable fortress of our kingdom and its cohesive creations.
From here we drive 30 minutes by car to the port at Aberdeen to catch the 5pm ferry for the 6 hour crossing to the Orkneys. Arriving at 11pm we check into our accomodation in Stromness
DAY 4
We begin an epic ritualistic walk through an ancient ceremonial site at The enormous 6metre high Stones of Stennes: the neolithic standing stone circle over 5000 years old known to ancients as The Land of the Living.
Archaeologists believe this to be the earliest henge monument in the British Isles.
Walking across the water we reach The Ring of Brodgar, known to the ancients as The Land of the Dead. The enigmatic stones of this stone circle are one of the most spectacular prehistoric monuments in the British Isles. The Ring of Brodgar Stone Circle and Henge is an enormous ceremonial site dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. It comprises:
- A massive stone circle, originally consisting of 60 stones – 36 survive today
- At least 13 prehistoric burial mounds
- A large rock-cut ditch surrounding the stone circle
"The stones look like an assemblage of ancient druids, mysteriously stern and invincibly silent and shaggy," according to Scottish geologist Hugh Miller, visiting in 1846.
From here we walk back across the water, over the land strip known as The Ness of Brodgar to arrive at the neolithic 5,500 year old archaeological remains of what archaeologists have stated is the largest oldest single temple complex remains in the world.
This temple complex is believed to have been a ritualistic site through which the living and the dead collide and merge to unlock timeless reality. The entire walk from Stennes to Brodgar and then back to the temple is a ritualistic rite of passage of high alkemical magik to unleash your timeless self.
Finally we visit MaesHowe, one of Europe’s finest chambered tombs, built some 5,000 years ago. Incredibly, the entrance passage to Maeshowe is perfectly aligned with the setting of the midwinter sun, so that the light entirely illuminates the tomb’s interior on the solstice.
Norse crusaders broke into Maeshowe in the mid-1100s, long after it had fallen from use and left their mark on the site as graffiti carved in runes all over the main chamber’s walls.
Here we will invoke the illumination of your inner world to become your outer world.
DAY 5
We begin our day at Skara Brae.
"By a picturesque beach, on one of the most windswept coasts of Scotland, there stands a series of stone-walled, grass-covered burrows that look as if they were built by the same set designers who created Hobbiton for Peter Jackson's Tolkien films. They're so quaint you almost expect Bilbo Baggins or Gandalf to emerge at any moment."
Skara Brae is a 5000 year old underground village built in an age when people really did believe in dragons, ogres and elvish spirits. Skara Brae, often referred to as the Scottish Pompeii, is centuries older than Stonehenge, the Great Wall of China or the Pyramids of Giza. The best-preserved Neolithic village in northern Europe, Skara Brae is a site so significant among archaeologists that even Indiana Jones gave a lecture about it in the 2008 movie, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Here we unearth the childlike wonder and wild beauty of the perfectly preserved jewels of the magik of the kingdom hidden within us.
From Skara Brae we head to the much more recent Broch of Gurness, an icon of Orkney’s rich archaeological heritage.
This impressive Iron Age complex is one of the most outstanding examples of a later prehistoric settlement to survive in Scotland. Although more than 4000 years separate the periods of the 2 communities, the houses at Gurness have some similarities to the ones at Skara Brae, the difference being that you can touch & wander amongst the ruins at Gurness, where as the archaeological value of Skara Brae means that you can only look.
The broch would originally have stood 8 metres tall but is now 3.5 metres at its highest point. From here we can look out towards Eynhallow and Rousay. At the broch we will fortify our impregnable kingdom through an ineffable quantum magik ritual.
From Gurness we move to the perfect coastal viewpoint from which to see Eynhallow, the mysterious island only possible to reach one day in a year.
This island, caught between surging tides and the setting sun is a place where time stopped long ago. A little-known, uninhabited isle in the Orkney archipelago, just north of Scotland’s mainland, this island is steeped in folklore and tales of human absconding merpeople, a place of pilgrimage ritual, folklore and ghosts. If Scotland had an Atlantis, Eynhallow would be it. Here we unleash the remarkable possibility into quantum magik actuality of all of the characters , myth and mystery of the story we choose to be our reality.
From here we travel to the Bishops/Earl's Palace at Kirkwall: a magnificent Renaissance edifice built by the notorious Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney.
Centuries before Orkney joined Scotland, Kirkwall was a bustling Norwegian port. The Earl's Palace is the town’s oldest surviving domestic building – part of the medieval cathedral complex at its heart. Along with St Magnus Cathedral, the Palace is one of the best-preserved buildings from this era. Kirkwall also retains its distinctive medieval street plan. The ornate Earl’s Palace was added much later, in the early 1600s. Patrick Stewart, Earl of Orkney, had the ambitious plan to make the Bishop’s Palace part of a splendid palace complex, ‘The Palace of the Yards’. There is reputedly a tunnel underground connecting St Magnus cathedral to the palace through which a ghostly piper has been seen and heard playing his pipes.
The palace invokes the blending and merging of two ages, two worlds, two kingdoms into one new world. Here we will invoke the same.
Finally we visit St Magnus Cathedral: an impressive building full of masonic and Templar symbology, dedicated to St Magnus, the patron saint of orkney and a 12th century Norwegian ruler of the islands.
Stories of miraculous cures began to be associated with Earl Magnus’ burial place. Public opinion became so strong that the Bishop of Orkney declared Magnus a saint and the day of his death, 16th April, became the day of his martyrdom.
This cathedral is directly connected to Edinburgh's Rosslyn Chapel, Israel's Solomons Temple and Norways Tronheim Cathedral by a its unique templar construction and mysterious ancient astrological map 'The Rosslyn Matrix' carved into the wall of the crypt in Rosslyn chapel.
Here we will embody the miraculous source of the magik of life. Life is miraculous and YOU are its source.
DAY 6
We begin today with a visit to the Brough of Birsay.
This mysterious and enigmatic island of Pictish origin is tidal and can only be reached twice a day for a two hour duration. We will switch the days itinerary in order to ensure we meet the tidal requirements for reaching Birsay.
When on the northernmost cliff face tip of this island only ocean stands between you and the North Pole and the sense of being on the edge of the world is utterly profound.
The Pictish settlement here houses a mysterious symbol standing stone: a depiction of the evolution of humanity in the hands of quantum magik. Here we unfold our own evolution into the adventure of our quantum magik.
From Birsay we travel to Yesnaby: stated by geologists to be one of the oldest exposed geological cliff face in the world.
Renowned for its spectacular Old Red Sandstone coastal cliff scenery, it includes sea stacks, blowholes, geos, prehistoric settlements, Yesnaby Castle a two-legged sea stack and frequently boiling seas. Fossil stromatolites from 390-400 million years ago can be found in the cliffs, locally known as Horse Tooth Stones from a supposed resemblance. Here we will embrace the wild, rugged ancient and future raw power of us NOW.
DAY 7
We depart early on the 6.30am 90 minute ferry journey from Stromness to Scrabster on the north tip of Scotland. From here we drive 3 hours through stunning scenery down to Loch Noss, home of the fabulous and mysterious Urqhuart Castle and mythical Loch Ness monster. Expect powerful magik to be unleashed on the banks of this loch! Oversnight stay is in the Kessock Hotel on the shores of the beauly firth where many arcti sea animals can be seen.
DAY 8
Drive back to Edinburgh via the wonderful Cairngorns National park. Final night in Edinburgh together staying at the Grassmarket hotel once more to celebrate our epic magik adventure.
DAY 9
Day free to explore Edinburgh, shop and party, and depart home at a time of your choosing
COST OF EXPEDITION
A total price of £2,777 per person includes the following:
- All accommodation in shared twin rooms as detailed below
- All car hire and petrol
- All admissions to sites
- All alkemical guidance and expedition experiencial magik with Skarlet
Additional costs not included in the price:
- Your own travel insurance. Travel throughout is at your own risk so please ensure you are covered by appropriate travel insurance.
- Your flight/travel to Edinburgh
- Your lunches and dinners
- Your spending money
A non-returnable deposit of £500 per person is payable on booking. The balance will be payable on 20th April 2023.
ACCOMODATION
Accommodation in Edinburgh is in the boutique retro Grassmarket Hotel in a spectacular position just off the Royal Mile. Rooms are en-suite.
Accommodation in Stromness, The Orkneys, is in Eastbrae Cottages, Stromness. This is a fully self catering accomodation.
Accommodation in Loch Ness is in The Kessock Hotel, on the shores of the Beauly Firth.
