The Hedge Druid

Sunday 30th May - Knowth, County Meath

This is the fourth of my posts about the journey through the seven chakras. In this post Kal and I returned to Knowth to exclusively dowse it for a purpose this time – for me to find out whether I could work on my heart chakra. This was a necessity, according to the previous day’s work at Kells. You may remember that my spirit guide had helped me to clear me solar plexus chakra and that I had gained insight that the next chakra would be the most important to unblock or empower.

The Neptune gateway and the Carlanstown stone

I’m really miffed now that I didn’t take a picture of the stone that I retrieved from the Carlanstown Spring. I’ve never seen anything like it before or since, and it’s green-flecked appearance is an image that is now only accessible in my memory banks. Sorry I can’t provide you with more than this vague description. As a former geology student I ought to be able to be more specific, but I have forgotten more than I will even learn again, and now even an educated guess would be far out. It was some form of igneous rock, if that helps? Obviously not.

The starting point at Knowth

We started at the timber circle, me with the green-flecked stone in one hand, and a quartz crystal in the other. Ask me not why this was so, for the answer shall be, I don’t know! It felt right. It also felt right for me to walk into the timber circle from the entrance closest to the main mound (the gap closest to the mound in the picture above). Despite having stones in my hand I needed to quickly check some things and got my iPhone out to use the Starwalk app to find out where stars and constellations were positioned at that moment. I was standing in the power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘AlignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment.’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre. (where Kal’s stood in the picture) facing the entrance to the timber circle. Which stars or planets aligned with this entrance….why, Neptune of course! The planet associated with the gods of water. Ever after the green stone became known as The Neptune Stone.

Standing in the timber circle I began a process of cleansing and clearing – removing the detritus of this world, the energetic rubbish that we all accumulate around us by passing through strong electromagnetic signals and other energetic influences that we pass through and by during our normal day. Luckily, if you live in the country or in Ireland there is much less ‘stuff’ to accumulate! The ritual is similar to the kind of purification rituals performed by druid types of my ilk who perform group rituals and the like. For me, it is a purely energetic cleansing. For some, they prefer to include a physical cleansing involving some form of washing in spring water or bathing. Whatever floats your candle, and lights your incense.

One of the things I found interesting was to find that, in each of the sensory-deprivation chambers the initiate would have to spend three days. The best three days for the process would be the three days of the Full Moon in each month.

Mapping the Transformation Sites

Having got myself attuned to the Knowth site again, cleansed and powered-up I wandered back over the Kal who had been off dowsing around while I was ‘dallying’. I had asked the dowsing rods to take me to a place that had an energy form that I had not encountered before. A big ask, possibly, but I remained hopeful. As we passed each other Kal said cryptically, “Interesting energies there.” and pointed to a small raised grass embankment shaped like a teardrop. I registered his words but was busy following my primary objective – to go to a place with a new energy quality or form. The rods continued on their wavy course and took me round to the very place that Kal had nodded to. Damn him! He’s always right! I’ll cover what I found in sequence with the rest of the parts of the Knowth site because it fits better in context.

At the place that Kal had pointed to I found some cool stuff to do with attuning the heart chakra. Following on from this I went around the site finding which other parts of the site could be used for which chakras. There was a centre of a particular place and type of space for each chakra, but the heart chakra seemed to be the strongest.

In this next section I will show you what I think each of the unusual parts of the site might have been used for in terms of The Initiate and their spiritual transformation process.

The areas of Knowth that correlate to each chakra point are:-

1. Root Chakra – inside one of the satellite mounds to the side of the main mound. The small mound had two chambers, one of which had an entrance half blocked by a slab of stone. This was intended to allow access, but to cut off as much light as possible to leave the inside deprived of light and sound.

Root chakra - satellite mound

There seems an element of sensory deprivation about this first chakra chamber. The entrance is oriented towards the main mound, almost as though that would shut out the most light. The entrance is very small – merely big enough to allow someone to enter and exit with a squeeze. It would be easy to block out all light completely. We found that when an initiate comes out of this first mound they stand upon a power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘AlignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment.’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre. located just outside on a small raised embankment.

2. Sacral Chakra (or Spleen) – next to the small mound used for the root chakra was a coffin-like construction with a single entry hole. Initiates would like down in this structure and work on their sacral chakra.

Sacral chakra - grave mound

Again the entrance is very small to this chamber – just a large enough form someone to lie down in. There seems little room for the idea that this construction was any form of habitation – it was clearly a short-term chamber, and our guess is that it was for working on the sacral chakra.

3. Solar Plexus Chakra – an arrow-shaped triangular room, possibly enclosed by a wooden roof or lined by wooden posts.

Sacral chakra - arrow-shaped room

I have been racking my brains trying to figure out why a chamber for working on the solar plexus (or cross) chakra would be performed in an arrow-shaped or triangular room. I have two theories. Firstly – the shape is a passage of energy feeding into a three-sided shape. The solar plexus chakra is the third chakra – so they have that numerological aspect in common. This site, among many others, associates the third chakra with the triangular form.

4. Heart Chakra – a teardrop shaped enclosure. Oddly, this space dowsed as not having a roof, and so was open to the elements. When I dowsed for the symbol of this particular location I got the symbol of a figure with arms outstretched as though seeking to hold or hug whoever was stood in the teardrop mound.

Heart Chakra - round enclave

If the theory of the number of sides in the structure has some relation to working with the chakras, or some sacred geometrical relationship with the aura of the human field, then all that was thrown out of the window by the next site. The site is a teardrop shape, and just large enough to contain a single person, possibly having to crouch or sit if the enclosure had a roof.

5. Throat Chakra – this was harder to identify. It is an area where flat recumbent stones are laid seemingly at random. In fact the stones enclose a central area where there would have been something like a fire pit.

Throat chakra - speakers space

In this area the initiate would have either listened to the songs and the stories told by bards, or would have been required to tell his own tales. Or perhaps a combination of the two, truly encompassing the sharing aspects that had just been learned in the heart chakra area? This is speculation on my part, but I just got a vision and a feeling when I stood there. It was a ‘gnowing’.

6. Third Eye Chakra – a medium-sized mound, slightly larger than the Root Chakra mound, and having a more open entrance portal. This chamber did not exclude light or sound, but had the accumulating, containing or energy attracting qualities that the layered mound structure offers.

Third-eye chakra - aura enclosure

I believe this site was used to shape the aura of the initiate, drawing down radiant energies through the filtered layers of the inter-laced organic and inorganic materials, and accumulating the earth energies that arose from the power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘AlignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment.’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre. inside the mound.

7. Crown Chakra – a timber circle. In this circle the initiate was initially attuned to the energies of the site, and prepared for the process of undergoing chakra balancing or enlightenment.

Crown chakra - timber circle

Now the initiate returned to this place, entering by their known specific entrance, energising themselves in the circle using the astral energies available, and then exited by their specific exit to close the ceremony and return back to ‘normal’ life.

Then it was on to Dowth, both for us and for the initiate, as it turned out! Kal spent time dowsing at Knowth and got some really interesting stuff, including a knowledge of how the site had been constructed. I’ll leave him to tell you that incredible story because it boggles the rational mind. Wouldn’t you like to be boggled? So would I.

Gwas.