The Hedge Druid

Nature has a way of rebounding things on you in a kind of cosmic joke. I had just run out of posts and was wondering what I could write about next. Spring Equinox is still a way off (this post written on the 14th Feb), and outings will be rare due to the extreme weather of late.

I turned, instead, to the tarot cards I had drawn at the start of the year. Ivy had been and gone now that Imbolc had passed. The next Tree Angel Oracle tarot card I had to contemplate is Rowan.

The information in the accompanying manual says that Rowan is the font of creativity. While this card is ‘active’ I should expect to receive inspiration for any creative endeavour. How handy is that, considering I ran out of posts?

Here is some more information talking about the influence of the Rowan tree on druidry. It’s from the ever-useful Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.

“Rowan is one of the trees associated with Saint Brighid, the Celtic patroness of the arts, healing, smithing, spinning and weaving.”

“ …the sacred tree of February”

“Rowan is one of the nine sacred woods burnt in the Druids’ Beltaine fire. ”

“Rowan is also associated with dragons and serpents – sacred Rowans were once guarded by dragons.” (link)

So, the fact that the card was drawn to cover the period from Imbolc to Spring seems remarkably appropriate.  The way that this tarot system works continues to blow my mind and expand my consciousness! The link to Brighid is something that I need to bear in mind in this period – it will help define which sacred sites to visit.

The idea that the rowan wood was burned at Beltane suggests that this would signify the end of the influence of the creative period.

Of course, anything which mentioned dragons or serpents is something which this blog instantly translates into “earth energies”. I will look into this association a bit more in future posts as I begin to dowse the link between earth energies and rowan trees at this time of year.

A whole new area of investigation has opened up!

Like a greased eel this post nearly slipped out of my grasp. It’s March 2014 and before the Spring Equinox launches me off into an orbit of seemingly never-ending work I thought it would be a good point to mention the “almost rans” of the last year – those aspects of my work which seemed random, inexplicable, and without any obvious annual resolution.

Of course, in this game, some spirals are larger than it’s possible to perceive and things come around on a very long trajectory, like a kind of Planet X.

The unexpected arrival of the immanent

I’m sure you will find these loose threads fascinating, but they also act as markers for events and information that might become important in the following years too. I document them here as a reminder of what might be built upon in the forthcoming year.

1. The Serpent Eating The World

At Belas Knap long barrow I was shown an unusual energy formation. The energy flowed the entire length of the top of the structure. The shape of the formation was an undulating sinewy form which culminated at the semi-circular “entrance” of the barrow. At the pinnacle of the mound could be found a circle. I recognised the image as a snake with its jaws around the world.

Interesting that the Earth is depicted as female energy, whereas the snake is formed of male energy. Perhaps the symbolism is sperm and egg, rather than serpent and world? Certainly, fertility was a theme at this site. Yet, in a world before microscopes how could this biology have been known to an ancient culture?

The formation has always been there since the creation of the mound. How had it persisted? Who had created it? Why had they created it? I found some vague answers, but the formation threw up more questions than answers. It makes me wonder how many other sacred sites have such energy forms?

Post: Snake Eating The World Read the rest of this entry »

I never quite know how these things come about, but a friend of a friend of a friend of Kal’s mentioned something about their house being haunted, and next thing you know Kal’s inviting me to call them to arrange a visit.

Now I like to be prepared. Hence, there were introductory phone calls, confirmation calls, and a rough background on the likely encounter was established. Then I set about dowsing what I could about the situation. For example: How bad was it? Was it urgent? Was I about to face a wave of mutilation? I mentioned the ‘job’ to my wife, M, and she said simply “Annabel.” OK – I would keep that information in my pocket and see if it was relevant.

Pure Preparations

Over the next few days I consulted with my spirit guide to see whether I could obtain any guidance about what I might need for the work. Having been working without tools all year I was prepared for the answer, and sure enough it came back as expected: no tools were needed for this work. So, I asked if I needed any spiritual assistance. That answer was more helpful – the image of a glowing Archangel Michael kept appearing. Now, I don’t do angel cards, I don’t have angel images around the house, and I don’t go round telling people about angels. However, their interventions and appearances since visiting Iona last Autumn Equinox have been rather exciting and incredibly helpful.

I decided that although I wouldn’t use them I would still take my “sword and shield” crystal and stone. They would act as a reminder in case I needed urgent assistance. I kind of associated Michael with the Sword and Shield symbols anyway. I felt calmed and reassured by the idea that I could call upon a force that I knew to be so energetically powerful. Michael would be my trump card.

I visited a local coffee shop to wait for Kal to join me. Normally I would order a coffee, but for some reason the idea repulsed me! Instead my attention was drawn to the soft drinks area. I picked up a fruit juice, but again the feeling of repulsion kicked in. I put it back down, moving my hand towards something which didn’t have this repulsive feel. Only a bottle of pure water seemed acceptable. I sat in the coffee house with my single bottle of water feeling a little put out. I really did like my coffee, and all I could smell was coffee! I sipped my water and waited. Strange. A sort of purification, I mused.

The Fun Begins

We pulled up at a typical suburban semi-detached house which was already decorated for the up-coming Christmas festivities. It was an inviting house and a modern couple – Jenna and Harry – greeted us, telling su that they had sent the kids away for the evening to be looked after.

We sit and chat with the householders – a lovely couple. Kal decides to play sidekick letting me lead the discussions and intervening to add another perspective. We get the background.

A girl, dressed in a nightgown, long hair, face never seen, both parents have witnessed her separately. The husband has seen her in the upstairs toilet room. The wife felt her get out of her bed and then saw her walking on the landing heading to the toilet room. Both appearances were between 2am and 4am.

The couple insists that despite the time of day they were fully aware and awake at the time of the events they witnessed.

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This post is out of sync with the other posts. It should have been posted before Imbolc, but our experiences on that day took precedence. So, here it is at the start of March, over a month since it happened! Hey – that’s the way it goes. Sometimes we don’t have enough stuff to post, sometimes posts are bountiful! This post will be talking about a visit to the Llangernyw Yew tree, where I discovered something interesting about “death eating” – the process of absorbing death energies.

The Grave of the Last Sin Eater in England

Previously at this yew tree I had been given the name “Death Eater“. I considered it like a Scout Badge – another tool in the plethora of skills and experiences which make up the modern druid. I had read Ross Heaven‘s books about the Sin Eater – an old and now lost profession which bears a striking resemblance to the Death Eater methodology that I had been shown, except that it had taken on a symbolic ritual involving the consumption of food. I don’t know whether practitioners still retained the concept of soul absorption.

As the Wikipedia article says:

“Not to be confused with the ’80s pop singer Sinitta“

A Hearty Meal

It was unusual to be in the churchyard in daylight. We normally visit at twilight or in the dark. Not for any nefarious purposes, just because that’s the way it pans out. Today we had daylight, and so I felt Like a normal visitor to the yew tree! I settled into a power centre next to one fo the lower branches, a familiar place which had been once again pointed out by the dowsing rods as the best position for any work today.

Soon I was in tune with the tree, and the images and messages began to come to me as I asked whether there was anything for me to learn here today. There was, and I felt the exciting ripple of new information from outside of my own thought processes, and recognised that the yew was communicating with me. What was it saying to me today?

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I needed to ensure that I had read as much as I could about Henbane. Countless encounters with spirits, guides and psychics had reaffirmed this, no mater how bewildered I was that I needed to research the properties of a well-known poison! For what purpose, I didn’t know. Nevertheless, I diligently sought out and read all the books I had on the subject. Or so I thought.

Henbane and I

I have been redecorating my study. It has taken my several weeks to get everything out – my extensive library and music collection particularly – and then to decorate, re-furnish, and replenish the study. Now it is finally in a fitting state. Now that I have new bookshelf space I was surprised to come across a book in a completely different part of the house which I felt should have been in my collection in the study. It was a book of healing herbs! I looked up Henbane. No, I had not read this entry, despite having read every other possible entry in other books. I read the information on the morning of Imbolc. The first line of the “uses” section made me jump: “Used in the treatment of asthma“.

Henbane – poison and cure

I have been struggling with asthma for almost thirty years. I have almost overcome it through a combination of steroid inhalers, vigorous aerobic exercise, and recently with the help of a friend who is working for Forever Living. He has put me on a treatment program which has added a little boost to my own efforts. Nevertheless, I have always been seeking the one final natural cure. Here was a possibility. I was being guided to it. Henbane.

I realised what I needed to do – this year I needed to gather Henbane, then prepare an essence of the plant. I would create my own homeopathic remedy for my asthma! I was excited. This was uncharted territory, and if there’s one thing I knew about Henbane, it was that it was deadly poisonous! Extreme caution must ne taken. But wow – the possibility!

This is to come in the second half of this year. For now, let’s leave this subject and go back to my other topic – what will I be doing from Imbolc until Beltane?

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Finally, I get a post in February! Kal’s adventure was so interesting that I had to let it flow in sequence. Now it’s my turn to talk briefly about Imbolc this year.

The things I had to get ready for Imbolc were clear. Firstly, I had been informed that I would need to release the elementals that I had been working with. I had simply “outgrown” them, and am working at a level that they cannot be of much further use to me. Personally, I found this quite a sad directive, and so I used a tarot layout to ask for some reassurance. The card I drew for Imbolc was “Ivy” – the card of giving. So, that was confirmation, no matter how galling the split would be.

Secondly I needed to ensure that I had read as much as I could about Henbane. Countless encounters with spirits, guides and psychics had reaffirmed this, no mater how bewildered I was that I needed to research the properties of a well-known poison! For what purpose, I didn’t know. Nevertheless, I diligently sought out and read all the books I had on the subject. Or so I thought. We’ll come back to this at start of the next post.

Finally, I was going to ask for some guidance about the next part of the year – Imbolc to Beltane. What did I need to do during that time? It had become a tradition to ask for guidance at the conclusion of the previous part of the year. I will describe this in the next post as well.

Now, let’s get back to the releasing of the elementals. I had chosen four sites which I felt we could reasonably get to and get around in the limited daylight hours we had this Imbolc. Sunrise was about 7:40am and sunset was around 5:15pm. The sites I had chosen were picked for their elemental associations:-

• Pistyll Rhaeadr – the most impressive waterfall I knew – the water site, obviously.
• Breidden Hill – the most impressive hill bordering the Welsh and English border in Powys. This was my fire site as I reckoned it must have been a beacon hill, and the sun would be on it at noon.
• Druid’s Circle – a stone circle at the windiest place I know, and today’s weather forecast was for gale-force winds in the afternoon. The air site.
• Bryn Celli Ddu – the most intact example of an earthen mound in our vicinity. The perfect earth site should the weather be bad. It was.

I had a set of crystals which I had inbued with the essence of each of the elementals. Today I would take this set of crystals, leave the associated crystal at the correct site, and then the work would be done. Easy, right? Ha! Some were, some weren’t!

Here’s the story….

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Imbolc 2014 Tarot

I have to laugh! Really, even with all that has happened in the last 48 hours. At the end of each year, Gwas and I sit down to an evening meal and ask…

“How can next year be better than this?”

And then next year arrives and it explodes into new and deeper adventures. It is two days from Imbolc and the adventure that was had is explained in other posts, but in this I want to focus on some of the predictions that were made. There was a Tarot reading and a Dowsing.

I had dowsed that I would encounter an ice-dragon. I had drawn 3 Tarot cards in this order… Strength (reversed). Three of Cups and the Ten of Swords. Remember, it is not so much the dragon part that was predicted, that was expected. It was that it would be an ice dragon. So let’s go into it.

ICE

In every way the adventure atop the Druids Circle can be described as ice. We were pelted, not with rain, not with hailstones, but with flecks of ice. It was definitely one that came true.

Strength (reversed)

As I drove to meeting Gwas, I was slightly concerned. We had three major climbs ahead of us…

• The top of a waterfall
• The top of Dinas Bran
• The top of Penmaemar (Druids Circle)

I have to confess, my fitness standard was not up to all three of these, I wondered if my strength would last to the Druids Circle, which was where my major encounter was to be. As it happened, because our plans are fluid and dependant on intuition, we didn’t have to go to the top of the waterfall, and we were directed to Dinas Emrys instead of Dinas Bran, which is an easier climb. So instead of seeing this card as being me lacking in strength, we could see it as the journey not needing strength. An important lateral view as you will see.

Three of Cups

Three ladies celebrating means just that, a celebration. When I was atop Dinas Emrys and considered the beings that had gathered…

• Caileach,
• Bran,
• Ancient Yew
• Oak (Nine Stones Close)

I had thought that, if only it had been three, then it would have fit into the Tarot reading. But then (as you know) Caileach had differentiated herself by betraying me at the Druids Circle, thus leaving three celebrants. Success on that point too.

Ten of Swords

The events at the Druids Circle and revelations since have without a doubt confirmed every sword that is in the guys back and I mean every! Betrayal, misdirection, confusion, lies (almost), and a feeling of loss, leave this prediction completely fulfilled.

Conclusion

Yes! Four for four!

Kal Malik