Maiden of Austin
Occasionally I am sent away. Relocated. Shoved to the furthest edges of the world through the medium of what is known socially as “Work”. Whilst I consider it an honour to be offered the opportunity to travel so far, occasionally I am left spiritually bereft by the choice of location. When I heard that I was to be going to Austin in Texas I had mixed reactions. On the one hand I knew that Austin was a vibrant city with a fantastic music festival called South By South West (SXSW). Coincidentally, I would be there right when the “South By” festival was in full swing. Hooray! However, I also suspected that Austin would be a built-up featureless and relatively barren area of the globe with little opportunity for me to “go wild” and...
Spring Equinox 2017 P2 – Magickal Maths and Dalegarth Deer
We are on our way down from Swinside stone circle, where I have just been working with the numbers Four and Five. Debra Delgyn and I are chatting about all of the four and five correspondences that have featured already in such a short time so far. Magickal Mathematics Four sheep are guiding us back along the path to the car, and yet again we are forced to remark on the number. See? Swinside stone circle makes you think about numerology. I am glad that my guides have prompted me to remember this information, or have kindly donated it to me this day. We are heading quickly downwards when suddenly, as we approach an old ash tree, I have a lightning moment of clarity. Four and five? They make six! What? My mind does somersaults, as I get a download of an idea. An...
Spring Equinox 2017 P1 – Venus and The Crow
It’s hard to find the time to do all you need or want to do. Debra Delglyn – the wonderful shaman of south Manchester and teacher of The Wisdom Path – had been diligently asking me when we could meet. I suggested a particular day – the Spring Equinox. I took a day off work and we headed on up to Cumbria. I know – Cumbria in Spring – again! Wasn’t my idea though. Debra had suggested Swinside circle totally independently. I felt it was a sign. Clearly, I am meant to be in Cumbria every Spring. The drive up was a constant contrast between rain and clear skies. That theme continued all during the visit as the cloud and the sun battled to hold each other in the balance for the Equinox. We got the last parking spot and walked...
Tarot for the Year 2017 – The First Half
It has become a tradition (in my head) for me to do a draw of tarot cards in order to gain some foresight into the direction that my spiritual journey may take in the coming year. Each year I leave the decision regarding the tarot deck and the layout to Fate. Fate never lets me down. Whichever of my guides is operating as Fate seems to allow me some miraculous information. This year the deck is the “Druidcraft Tarot“. The layout follows The Wheel of the Year marking the eight energy high points, but in addition there are three central cards dealing with three aspects which emerged from intuition as pertinent queries:- What is the nature of my spirit guide? What is the guiding principle governing the year’s work? What will the outcome of the...
Imbolc 2017 – P3 – Sing the Song of The Raven
In the third and final part of my Imbolc story I am making my way towards a new stone circle in the area of Penmaenmawr in North Wales. The sky is blue, and I’m excited about the possibility of seeing a new circle. In fact, as I’m walking I’m wondering why Kal and I never went to the two other stone circles in this area – we only ever went to The Druid’s Circle and the cairn circles nearby. Nevertheless I’m following the new directive – “Fresh start – New ground” to the letter. I’m on a path which I’ve never trodden before on the opposite side of a valley which I have seen many times but never walked. I walked down the hill from the impressive standing stone, being glad to have gravity aiding...
Imbolc 2017 – P2 – Fresh start and new ground
In the second Imbolc story I am heading out towards the many cairn circles which are dotted along the North Wales Path beyond the Druid’s Circle at Penmaenmawr. Although I had found one of them before, there were others farther afield which I now wanted to visit. I also had in mind that I might have time to walk thought the Tal-Y-Fan pass to visit the stone circle and cromlech on the Rowen side of the hills. I soon reached the first of the cairn circles. It was one I had visited before and was close to the main stone circle. I stood with my oak staff, wondering how best to approach. I let my intuition decide which way round I should walk, and I found that I was standing next to a stone upon which there were three lines carved deeply and clearly in parallel....
Imbolc 2017 – P1 – Bright beginnings
And so the year comes around again. Imbolc is the start of the fire festivals of the old calendar, and for me it is the start of Spring and the end of Winter. It’s when we see the first glimmers of new growth and it marks the start of the lambing season. I decided to go out by myself this time. I much prefer working alone on some of these special days, and especially when I want to be truly open to the possibilities. I sometimes feel that when two or more people are involved the full significance of events and the branch options which are available can be constricted, and so valuable lessons may be lost. Certainly when I look back at the events of this Imbolc, that is most definitely the case. I doubt whether Kal or anyone else I know would have gone with...
2016 Summary of the Year
In this post I want to bring together some of the themes of the year, and associate key posts with those themes. Together they forms a description of my spiritual year for 2016. THEME 1 – Taliesin: bardic work, light, awen and courage. IMBOLC: Brigid at Derbyshire sites such as Gawton’s Well. I experienced the re-kindling of my spiritual flame. I felt the bursting of an embryonic bag of light using the awen of Taliesin – this powered me to begin to write my first book. I discovered the courage to get back into spiritual work after Kal’s death. Imbolc 2016 P1 Bursting the Bag of Light AUTUMN: Taliesin and the Uneasy Chair or Cadair Idris. This was another ‘bardic episode’ where the awen flowed, and poetry emerged. Not for a long...
The Mad Sculptor of Meifod – P4 Winter 2016
Druids visiting churches? Well, it’s more a case of visiting a site which contains something interesting. In this case M and I were at the end of our Winter Solstice day. As the light began to fade we headed to our final destination – St Tysilio & St Mary church in Meifod, The attraction? A sculpted stone of unusual origins. The church stands in large grounds with several older trees flanking the building and lining the approach. The building itself is larger than the town would seem to warrant, but that’s often the case for places which were once hugely significant, but which have now fallen into obscurity. We found the church to be open and welcoming, and were not surprised to find that a clergy-lady was its custodian. Along with a...
The Broken Beacon – P3 Winter 2016
Beacon Hill, or Caer Digoll, is accessible either from a short walk up a path used to access the nearby radio masts, or it can be reached by following Offa’s Dyke Path. We approached from the nearby road because it’s Winter and the shortest day of light in the year. It would be nice to see it in Summer though, approaching by the ancient track. Before we even arrived M had felt the pull of the place, and the sense that we were expected. “Something“, she said, “is excited about our visit.” I tuned in and felt that it was the community of elemental spirits which inhabited the hill who were excited about our imminent arrival. Nice to feel wanted, right? I felt the hill needed a spiritual fire re-lighting even before we got there....
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Druidcast
- DruidCast - A Druid Podcast Episode 123 June 16, 2017
- DruidCast - A Druid Podcast Episode 122 May 19, 2017
- DruidCast - A Druid Podcast Episode 121 April 21, 2017