ORIONWOMEN TRAVEL
WOMENS TRAVEL
ORION WOMEN SACRED FEMININE TOUR 2007
Travel for women in a small group to Europe & UK
We began our Sacred Feminine
Tour in Singapore, after a truly magnificent flight on Singapore Airlines, the
service was just amazing and we can see why it is one of the best Airlines in
the world. Sandy, Mary and two of our travelers flew in from Adelaide. We
returned to the airport later to pick up another two more of our travelers,
who had come in together from Sydney.
Therefore our first real meeting as a group (The Europe Six- Part 2) was not held until breakfast the following morning. We had one day in Singapore; firstly we took the girls to the Mohammed Mustafa Centre, which is the largest department store and is open 24 hours.It caters more for travelers from Asian and Middle Eastern countries; therefore a lot of their merchandise is very different and fascinating
One of our travelers had arrived in Singapore with a broken shoe; the sole had peeled back during the flight. We had a wonderful time exploring the back streets of Singapore following the directions from all and sundry to find the local cobbler. He was a small man with his shop set up under a shanty sunshade on the banks of the river. He fixed the shoe immediately for $2.00 and welcomed us with a big friendly smile. I don't think he sees many tourists. It was a real eye opener for all of us. Singapore really is an interesting place such a mixture and dichotomy of cultures, religions and lifestyles.
We spent the rest of our time walking down Serangoon Road
(Little India) which is the closest thing you will get to the real India, shops
overflowing with fascinating wares and aromas.
There is a beautiful Hindu Temple that we have seen many times before,
however this time it was open so we took the opportunity to visit.
The atmosphere was very relaxed, that of a picnic or party. It was a privilege to be able to be a part of the spiritual custom of another culture and watch the Holy Men giving out blessings, which a few of us were lucky to receive. We spent the rest of the afternoon at Raffles.
Gin slings in the famous Long
Bar, coffees in the beautiful tropical courtyard gardens
and
then off to the Singapore Airport for our late night flight to Rome. Again
Singapore Airlines delivered a wonderful flight and excellent service and we
arrived in Rome in the morning in pretty good shape
Our Shuttle Taxi delivered us to our hotel only 5 minutes
walk from St Peters Square. 
The guys at the hotel could not do enough for us.
They ferried our belongings across the road to our rooms on the 3rd
floor of a 16th building. Through massive wooden doors, down a long
wide marble hallway we ventured, this led out to a courtyard which although
overgrown and in need of some work, conjured up feelings of a ‘The Secret
Garden’. All this overshadowed by the 16th century building next
door, with its REAL distressed Tuscan finish that we attempt to recreate here
in Australia. There was no doubt this
was not some generic Travel 
Lodge, we were in the heart of Rome!
We immediately set off to explore our local area and made
our way to St Peters Sq. There were people everywhere and we discovered that
The Pope was about to come out and give a blessing. Talk about being in the
right place at the right time!! Hindu Blessing one day, Catholic Blessing the
next. Our time in Rome was magical and the more we visit it, the more we fall
in love with everything about it. There is magic at every turn. We walked and
walked and explored as many of the places we could, visiting the tourist places
like The Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, The Pantheon, The Vatican Museum, St Peters
Basilica etc etc
We saw the inside of magnificent
churches, that all look so plain on the outside and yet take your breath way as
you enter. Saw paintings, such as Caravaggio’s just hanging on the walls and
statues by Bernini. In most of the churches, there is not a square inch, which
is not decorated in some way. We also wandered through cobble stoned back
alleys, at each turn the layers of history over centuries, unfolded and
revealed themselves to us. Making this one of the most beautiful and amazing
cities to explore. The weather was perfect for dining Al Fresco, which we took
advantage of. We drank lots of coffee in wonderful cafes, waited on by
attentive staff. Ate fabulous Italian Food and sampled the wine, beer and great
hospitality. Ate our fair share of delicious Gelato and learned that everything
in life seemed to be “Prego” .We did so many things that it is impossible to
name them all here.One of the biggest highlights
was visiting the Ufficcio Scavi excavation site under St Peters Basilica. We
had tried to get into this on our last visit to
Rome, however it was not possible, as the numbers they let down there are very
limited, so we were thrilled to receive permission this time.
This site comprises of a Necropolis ( A city of the
dead), which stand on where the Vatican Hill would have been 1900 years ago. It
is a Necropolis where mostly Pagans where interred, however with the coming of
Christianity at the time of the Emperor Constantine there are also Christian
Burial Sites here. The most important (If you are a Catholic) is the burial
site of St Peter.
It was incredible to be walking
along the streets that were laid 1900 years ago and actually be underneath St
Peters!! We had first heard about this place while reading Dan Browns Angels
and Demons.
We left Rome by train (This is another story and one which
I know we are laughing about already- hopefully)
Our train to Florence was late and we had difficulty
finding the correct one, as all the trains were late. We climbed onto two
trains, which turned out to be the wrong ones, so there was a lot of hopping
from one train to another. Hmm might have to rethink the train from Rome to
Florence in future? (We are laughing about this now aren’t we girls?)
Anyway we eventually arrived in magnificent Florence and
made our way to our Hotel, again situated right in the heart of the city,
overlooking the beautiful Republica Sq, 5 mins walk from everything. Florence
is definitely one of the most beautiful places in the world, the centre of
Renaissance Italy. There is beauty and wonder at every turn, in fact there is a
something called ‘Stendhal’s Syndrome” which is when you cant possibly take in
and see any more beautiful things This is very easy to get in Florence!! We
visited the Uffizi Gallery and saw Botticellis ‘Birth of Venus’ and other
paintings by masters like Leonardo Da Vinci, We visited Michelangelo David, an
18ft work of perfection carved out of 1 single block of marble. When asked how
he did it Michelangelo said that ‘David was inside the marble all the time, he
just had to get him out.” There are some fabulous unfinished sculptures by
Michelangelo as you enter the gallery, huge blocks of rough marble, with what
looks like partly carved people breaking their way out of the confines of the block.
It reminded us Dr Wayne W Dyer, telling a story about the famous author/ poet
Carlos Castaneda’s and how he had written about ‘harnessing the power of the
uncarved block’, which is like all of us remembering who we are, rediscovering
our power and breaking free from the confines of who we think we are (our
domestication) to who we truly are and what we can be.
We did a lot of exploring by foot in Florence, took horse and cart rides, went to the markets There is so much variety in what is available for all tastes and finances and plenty of time to explore at leisure.The beautiful weather again allowed us to eat out each night in the fabulous restaurants in Republica Sq, being entertained by musical buskers of a world class standard with choices of food to suit every budget. I think back to those evenings as some of my favourite on the tour basking in the feelings the sounds the energy of Florence.
We flew from Florence to Paris,
where we stayed in The Marais district only 5 mins walk from the Notre Dame. We
were close to the centre of the city, but far enough away to be able to pay
local prices for our food and beverages.
The Marais is a great area, it
is where The Knights Templar lived in ancient times and was also where the pre
revolution aristocrats lived and built fabulous homes called ‘Hotels’. These
are now used as mostly government or council offices. The Marais is a place
where you can mingle with the locals and regroup, as it has everything you
would need from great cafes at reasonable prices, supermarkets, fruit and veg
shops, pharmacies, cheese shops and ofcouse a Laundromat which we all took
advantage of.
During our time in Paris we saw all of the sites on our
itinerary, went up the Eiffel Tower, visited Mona at the Louvre, walked around
and explored the beauty and majesty if this great city. We went up to Sacre
Couer overlooking Paris at night and made a quick visit to the eye opening Sex
District!!.
We had a day off in Paris and the girls went on a boat
cruise down the Seine.
One of our highlights in Paris was our visit to the Ritz
Hotel. We all got our glad rags on and made our way to this bastion of elegance
and opulence. It is so amazing to walk through the hallways of the Ritz, on our
way to our destination The Hemingway Bar. The décor, the flowers the history,
is outstanding. It was so much fun to take a peek inside the world of the rich
and famous.It was interesting
to see the rear exit of The Ritz, where the much documented and photographed
revolving doorway, through which Princess Diana departed the Ritz, only minutes
before her untimely death. As we left a couple of busloads of tourists arrived
out the front and took photos of the Ritz they were definitely on the wrong
tour!!!
Orion women deliver!!
The next morning we bid farewell to Paris and boarded our
Air France Flight to Lourdes, in the south of France, near the Spanish border.
For those who might not have heard about Lourdes, it was here that St
Bernadette saw Mother Mary (The immaculate Conception) in the 1800’s. A well
sprang forth, a healing spring of water and through the drinking and bathing of
this water, many documented miracles and healings have occurred. We had
listened to Dr Wayne W Dyer espouse the virtues of Lourdes and he talked about
the Candlelight Procession as being one of the most beautiful and profound
experiences of his life We then read more about Lourdes from Doreen Virtue,
again her experiences there where amazing and profound. Seeing the water
crystal photographs of Lourdes taken
by Dr Masuru Emoto in his ‘Messages from Water’ was also instrumental in
our interest and also inspired reading was the information that “Water infused with love and fervent
prayer is the most powerful of all.”
350,000 pilgrims a year come to Lourdes, this water
created miracles and was indeed filled with love and fervent prayer from both
Heaven and Earth. We knew in our hearts that we had to go there be a part of
this and take a group with us.
Set in the Pyrenees Mountains, the town is quaint and interesting. The closer one gets to ‘The Grotto’ area however, the tone lowers somewhat, with hundred of never closing shops selling plastic Marys and all sorts of religious paraphernalia. Being in Lourdes is like going back a hundred years, everyone seems to have a uniform and all the nurses are dressed like Florence Nightingale. We don’t wish to go into too much detail about what actually takes place when you bathe in the waters in Lourdes. We had difficulty finding out information before we left home, and can now understand why. It is something that needs to be experienced. However we can say it was probably one of the most profound and humbling, experiences and we both felt extremely healed and never so loved in all our lives.
The women who support during this experience are truly Earth Angels. They volunteer from all over the world, to support other women in this process, regardless of color, age,race or creed. They reminded us of those of you who volunteer your time and love at our workshop, Seven Paths to Personal Power. Supporting the participants as you do, you are truly Earth Angels.
That evening we joined the 'Candlelight Procession' where we carried our foot long candle, protected with a paper cup with the words of 'Ave Maria' printed on it. The precession was led by the thousands of infirmed be pushed in their trolleys by volunteers. There were prayers being said constantly in many different languages, interspersed with rounds of Ave Maria. During the chorus 'Ave Ave Ave Maria" we all sang and raised our candles up, in pure joy and you could feel the joy and love fill the hear
We left Lourdes and made our
way back to Paris, then took the Eurostar Chunnel Train to London. We stayed on
Belgrave Rd, which is only 10 mins walk to Buckingham Palace. This area is full
of wonderful English Pubs that serve reasonably priced food and all other basic
needs and services are available in the area.
We had a wonderful time in London visiting Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Sq, Buckingham Palace, walking down Whitehall and the Mall. We all went to the West End and saw Agatha Christies play ‘The Mousetrap’ which has been running for 55 years. We took in as much of this majestic city as we could, with all the sights that make you realise you are really in London!! Bobbies, Big Ben and riding in those great Hackney Cabs with their informative, lively drivers. We also had a day off in London, which the girls took advantage of by taking a boat ride down the Thames.
We saw this profound statue(below) in the foyer of Harrods, it is of Princess Diana and Dodi Al Fayed and was put there by Dodi’s father who owns Harrods and simply says.
‘Innocent Victims’
We hired two cars at Heathrow and headed off to our adventure in the South West of England. We lost each other almost immediately! However both carloads had different adventures and experiences. We saw lots of enchantingly green English countryside and finally met up later that afternoon at our destination Glastonbury.
Doreen Virtues says"It's an oasis for spiritual seekers to find peace, quiet and quaint book and crystal shops".
It is the centre of the Goddess Culture in Britain, is meant to be ‘The Heart Chakra’ of the world and is also the mystical, ancient and legendary Isle of Avalon, home of King Arthur and Guinevere. It is a magical character filled, healing place to visit. We haunted all the shops, which contained some of the biggest, cleanest and rarest crystals (Moldivite and Larimar for instance) that we had ever seen. The girls had massages and healing sessions and took advantage of the healing energies of the area. We visited the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey and took more healing water at Chalice Wells. Legend has it that Jesus’ Uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, placed his staff in the ground and a healing well sprang forth. Set in one of the most peaceful gardens on earth, it is a wonderful place to regenerate after a busy time of travelling.
Very early one morning we climbed the famous local landmark called the Tor. Five hundred feet above the town and offering breathtaking views sits St Michael’s Chapel, dedicated to Archangel Michael .It is said to have been built at the intersection of the Michael and Mary Ley Lines (Energy lines that run through the Earth).
From Glastonbury we drove to Calne in Wiltshire to The Silent Circle Cafe, with one of the famous White Chalk Horses of Wiltshire in the distance.
The Silent Circle Café is the place to go to find out all of the recent Crop Circle activity. The area of Wiltshire is known worldwide as one of the most prolific places for this phenomenon. And we were in luck! Although it was very early in the season, there had already been one circle a few weeks beforehand. Also a new one had been spotted by air only 2 days earlier! The owner of the café Charles gave us directions and so off we set for ‘The Great Crop Circle Hunt’. It was not possible to see it from the road and even more challenging to find. However being out in the English countryside, walking through the fields was just stunning. We were assisted on our hunt by a New Zealand couple that had a coordinates map of the district, but where still having difficulty finding it. Eventually we stopped flapping, closed our eyes and asked for guidance. We all got the same message as to what direction we should be looking in. The New Zealand couple must have gotten the same direction and they took off ahead of us. As they disappeared over the next hill we felt we were heading in the right direction, a moment later they re-appeared waving their arms, to let us know that we had success. It was so exciting, this was such a fresh crop circle only a handful of people had visited here and so we were very careful not to spoil it.
We sat right in the centre feeling the energy and were lucky enough to be joined by two women who had also been on the hunt, who were members of the local crop circle club. They filled us in with many interesting stories and features of crop circles.
We continued exploring this magical area and started to look forward to the very special evening we had planned. This was an after hour, evening visit to Stonehenge. Only very limited numbers are allowed in during this special access visit, we are actually allowed into the middle of it and can touch the stones. During a normal day visit you must stay on the other side of the rope that surrounds the stones. So during our visit we had a very special Sacred Circle, sending love to the Planet our friends, family and lives and enjoyed the healing energy of this magical pace where 12 ley lines cross. We have found it to be a place of vsery cleansing and enlivening feminine energy.
Next day after toodling through the beautiful English countryside, we arrived in Bath. The whole town is a World Heritage Site. The buildings are so elegant with their honey colored stonework, each one a work of art created in the elegant Georgian. Regency style. We had a two-hour session at the Thermae Bath Spa, which uses the hot, mineral rich, thermal waters, which have been utilised for over 2000 years by the Romans and Celts.
This was just what we needed to soothe our aching travellers bones. The centre consists of 2 huge pools with bubbling jets and spa seats. One of the pools is on the roof and is surrounded roof tops and spires of the Abbey We also visited the Minerva Steam room with 4 steam areas emitting different Aromatherapy essences and finished the steam session with a shower under a huge waterfall type shower.
One of our highlights of Bath was going on The Bath Comedy Walk which had been a suggested activity by one of the London Cabbies. It was funny and very entertaining and we saw many different parts of Bath,
This was our final night, the next day we drove to Heathrow and returned our cars and bid farewell to our travelling companions. The 2007 Sacred Feminine Tour of Europe was over for another year. And we were very happy with all the fun and adventure we had experienced and look forward to doing it all again next year with another group of women.
Sandy and I continued on to Ireland with a friend and spent a week driving around Ireland. It is so beautiful and one of the most magnificent places on Earth, enchanting and magical, like stepping back in time. We are considering offering a week in Ireland to our Sacred Feminine Participants in the future as an added option.
If you are interested in joining us next year on our Sacred Feminine Tour Please contact us on
Phone: 83740579 or 0405 228 560
Many Thanks Mary and Sandy
