The Green Man and The Major Oak
March 25th, 2012 | 
Author: A note about this post
This was a difficult post to write, and not just because it is one of the longest I have ever written. It has also taken the longest time to publish! It is the final post in my Nottinghamshire tales [see also: The Hobgoblin of Creswell Crags and The Beech of Clumber Park] , and was the most unexpected of all of the encounters. I say “unexpected”. Perhaps “unbelievable” is more the word. You will see why soon. Some people I have spoken to about it said that I shouldn’t post this information – that it was “just for me” perhaps. I understand why they said this, and I think it was out of concern for me. I appreciate their concern. Rest assured that within this forum I have nothing to protect any longer – those barriers have been down for a while now!
Nevertheless, when good people offer you warnings it is sensible to pay attention. Therefore I have been pondering how to write this post for more than a week and have decided to relate it just as it happened because my subsequent dowsing corroborated the events of the day. That’s good enough for me. If I am being deceived then everything I do must be a lie. I will leave the decision to your good selves on this one. Undoubtedly there is a psychological explanation that might explain things more fully, but that is for someone else to contribute. Here is the story, in its fullness, and without any euphemistic terminology. It’s long. Prepare yourself!
The Wasted Land
As I made my way from Nottingham towards Sherwood Forest I began to see signs that I was entering the land of lore and legend. The number of references to Robin Hood was startling. Every other pub seemed to be called “The Robin Hood”. Every other sign was pointing to something relating to him. “Robin Hood Concrete”, “The Robin Hood Stables”, “Robin Hood’s Knackers Yard”. I slightly exaggerate, but not by much. The commercial potential of the figure is ‘well utilised” shall we say?
Yet, the landscape did not match my expectations. On either side of the straight roads around Sherwood are just clumps of woodland punctuating gently inclining fields of agricultural land that are devoid of hedges or other living boundaries. It was all a bit….open, and…dull! Where were the vast forests that once covered the whole of this county and beyond it? Were these tiny clumps of scattered trees the only remaining bits? Surely not? The farther I drove the more I realised that they were the only remaining survivors of a once mighty landscape. Now the landscape was denuded, dulled and deadened.
The Robin Hood Inn - the heartland of Sherwood Forest
As I got closer to the legendary forest I felt an increasing sense of unease coupled with a sense of collective guilt. The sadness coming from the land mingled with the sense of loss I felt while driving through these claimed spaces was heart-breaking. I vowed to apologise for the greed and stupidity of my species first thing once I met some spirit of the trees. I knew instinctively that it would not be enough to make any kind of a difference, but it felt like a necessary first step to redemption.
Now I pulled into the car park at the forest. It felt exciting! A boyhood dream was about to be realised…
Entering Sherwood
As I walked through from the visitor centre and facilities I was aware that I was entering the domain of the legend of Robin Hood. A slight shiver of anticipation went through me.
Robin Hood found petrified in forest
Sherwood Forest evokes such memories and associations from every era of my existence. As a small boy I watched the Disney cartoon film. As an youth I re-enacted scenes in local woods, shooting arrows from a home-made bow, hunting imaginary game and foes. Then there have been the Hollywood re-makes. My encounter with the lone tree at Sycamore Gap by Hadrian’s Wall that featured in the “Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves” film. There are memories of the haunting beauty of the Clannad theme music that accompanied the TV series that I always tried to watch but was rarely allowed to.
Of course, I have also re-read the stories since I have been studying druidry, and have come across many mentions of Robin as The Green Man of ancient celebrity too (“Robin Hood” meaning “The Shining Crown” or “Bright Hood” – a reference to the corona around the head associated with enlightened beings). With all this confusion going on, it was a tough task to wipe the slate clean before I entered the forest and begin my stroll through this legendary place with a clear head and no preconceived idea of what to expect. Was that possible, or would there always be a cultural reference lurking somewhere in my mind? One of the disciplines of Druidry is to clear and still the mind with a walking meditation, and no place is better for that than a forest on a quiet day. Such was this day – still and quiet. I walked mindfully.
Once I entered the forest I was overawed by the size and age of the remaining oaks. A smile mixed with a sense of awe began to form across my face. Was this going to fulfill every dream I had of the most magical of forests? As I walked on the smile slowly faded. I was completely crest-fallen at the state of the arboreal giants. An information sign made a pitiful stab at an explanation of the mangled forms that reared like frozen and frightened stags before me. The oaks were what was called “stag head” or “blasted” oaks, in that their crowns were bared and whitened stumps of branches in painfully silhouetted awkward shapes, projecting rude and ugly shapes into the sky.
Stags heads in Herne's playground - Sherwood Forest
Where I had expected canopies of fractal beauty, instead I was met with pale and lacking forms. It shocked me. Sometimes I would find what looked like an intact oak, only to see that its heart was rotten. The information signs attempted to appease me again: “Only the finest timber has been harvested from the forest, and what you see left behind are those trees that didn’t achieve that quality standard” is my paraphrase of their information. As I gazed across the blasted landscape I felt like the heart of the forest was similarly rotting away. Where was the magic? Where was the touch of the Green Man? What had happened to Robin Goodfellow? I headed to the focal point of the forest – the Major Oak – in search of Sherwood’s splendour and her protector.
On my travels I came across one oak whose energies I could feel and whose bearing impressed me. I stopped to pay homage to the tree’s greatness, and to bask in its aura for a moment. Sensing me there the tree delivered a waves of unmitigated euphoria towards me and I responded with a laugh and a grin to display the feeling of the euphoric energy wave that swept through my own energy field and into the heart of my body, making me shiver with excitement and the thrill of the sparking magickal pulse. I paid my respects and nodded my staff to the tree in acknowledgement.
A beautiful sessile oak in Sherwood Forest
I was still laughing two or three minutes later as I followed the occasional sign directing me towards The Major Oak. Then it appeared in view.
Stand to attention – it’s the Major Oak!
The first time you see this immense giant of an oak you cannot help but be impressed. It has been given a wooden (thankfully, wooden) barrier to prevent the people who have been driven insane with arboreal lust from racing up to the tree and hacking it to death with a spoon. Or some such stupid excuse. “Health and safety” is not doubt at the ‘root’ of this ‘helpful’ and ‘protective’ barrier. I ignored it, of course. Barriers are for people who don’t understand boundaries and need them defining by others. There was no chance on earth that I would harm the tree even unintentionally, and so I gave myself the right, as a druid, to walk up to it and introduce myself – one energy field communicating with another. I settled with my staff at the base of the tree, nestled in its colossal roots, and began to commune with the giant….
…and nothing happened! There was no response. I tried again. No response. A flood of questions began : Was I in the correct state of mind? Was it permissible for me to talk to this tree? So on and so forth. Only the dowsing rods would be able to answer these questions, and so I jumped up and began to question.
- Did this tree have any spirit presence inside or around it? NO.
No?! But… I was puzzled. That hardly seemed possible considering its presence and reputation. I asked the same question about three different ways. NO, NO and NO. I sat back down. This was unbelievable. What had happened to this tree for it to have no spirit presence at all? Even some of the lowliest, tiniest, spindliest trees I have ever met have had some form of internal or external spirit that could be contacted. Here was a huge ancient oak, renowned throughout the land, that was empty, devoid of all spirit. It defied belief. I must be wrong. I checked again. Same answers.
The tree definitely had an aura, and it was definitely living, but there was simply no other spiritual presence linked to it.
The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest
I sat back down and once again pushed my aura out around the tree’s roots and branches, searching for glimmers of some form of energy that was sentient and responsive. Nothing was found. However, as my mind began to explore the inner boundaries of the tree I did find something. I found a swirling hole that was like a vortex drawing in energy from the people who stopped to admire the tree. With each passing person I could feel that the tree would take their attention, their feelings of awe, and it would funnel these energies down into the roots. The roots would then disperse the energy outwards into the rest of the forest. I couldn’t follow the energy beyond the tree itself, so I don’t really know where it was going, but the vortex felt real.
When I investigated the top branches of the tree I found another vortex of energy spiralling in the opposite direction. This vortex was also dispersing energy out into the forest, like some kind of gigantic spinning top. I hitched a mental ride on the energy spiral and found myself being flung out over the treetops in my mind. I brought myself back to my body and assimilated the experience, trying to work out what was happening with this tree. It seemed to me that the tree was now being used by the forest to collect and disperse the human attention that the rest of the forest may have been lacking. This is not something I have encountered anywhere else.
If the Spirit of the Forest could not be found in this tree, then I would have to go in search of it. I mean, surely such a forest of lore and legend must have a Spirit of Place, mustn’t it? I quickly checked the dowsing rods – YES. Well, thank whoever for that!
His Name is Five Letters
I followed the dowsing rod as it pointed in a straight line towards the Spirit of the Forest. Usually the rods go in a wavy line towards a target. Today they pointed straight at it. You should try walking in a straight line through a forest… it’s not a simple task! But nothing about this spiritual quest is as simple as we would like it. I endured the straight direction, being astonished that somehow I never encountered a tree on this straight path. I walked for a good ten minutes, crossing paths, hurdling fences, up hill and down dale. At a seemingly innocuous point in the forest the rods swung to a stop, circling around a shallow pit.
The pit looked like a large tree had once been rooted there, had maybe toppled over, and then the wood of the tree had been cleared away. That was my impression. Yet the space was not how I would have imagined a Spirit of Place would choose a home. Quiet, it certainly was. Beautiful? In terms of earth energies it has a combination of male and female, which is about as good as it gets, so in that respect it was a beneficial place to be. I began some dowsing concerning the spirit itself…
- Was the Spirit of Place resident here? YES.
- Had the spirit previously resided elsewhere? YES.
- Did the spirit once live in the Major Oak? YES.
- How long had the spirit been at this place? 350 years (approx.)
I stopped dowsing. I felt there was another way to get the information I was seeking. I put the rods away and settled alongside the edge of the pit to commune with the spirit. Within a few minutes of silent approach an internal dialogue began….
This spirit had moved away from the Major Oak in the late 17th Century. This was due to the change in attitudes of the forest users. Humans had begun to claim the wood of the forest as a resource without asking permission. Many trees had been plundered from this time onwards. This change in attitude, this loss of respect, caused the spirit to move deeper into the forest and to hide away in a tree that still had a strong aura. Now that tree was gone, the spirit was mourning the loss but had not moved on to another tree. I felt like it couldn’t find one! but it would never find one if it didn’t go looking!
I had a feeling that I could help. I had already encountered a tree who’s aura was strong and that I felt would make a suitable home for the Spirit of the Forest. I asked if this would be agreeable and the spirit kind of… shrugged. It was a pathetic feeling from a brow-beaten energy form! I felt really sorry for the spirit. It felt as beaten and battered as the forest itself.
Robin's shallow grave from which he was resurrected
After some more dowsing to check my ideas, and confirm that my intention would not have any unforeseen consequences, I prepared the spirit for a transfer to another part of the forest. I laid out some crystals to assist with the move, and asked the spirit to enter into one specific stone that I had with me (how come I always have a stone hanging around n my pockets when I need one?). This done I lit some incense to clear the old space, and headed off to the tree that I would offer the spirit as its new home. On the other side of the forest, at the magickal tree, I placed the stone into the bark and stepped away. Did it feel right? It did, but again I resorted to the dowsing rods for confirmation. They indicated that although there would be some time required for the spirit to get used to its new home, the transfer was promising, if not an overwhelming or roaring success straight away. So be it. At least it was a start.
I had one or two remaining questions. Top of the list was – did this spirit have a name? I thought it would be interesting to discover the name of the Spirit of Sherwood Forest, especially as we had had an interaction. It seemed sort of polite to ask! I began to ask the dowsing rods:-
- How many letters in the name of this spirit? FIVE. Good – at least it wasn’t 25!
- First latter….’R', then ‘O’…’B'…..
I stopped. The conclusion was obvious. ROBIN! The result was so mind-blowingly obvious, so stunningly obvious that my mind initially rejected it. Was this a joke? Was this whole episode a big joke being played on me by the forest? I got a little bit angry. All that work and I was being tricked into playing a silly game? I had one final question, and this time it wouldn’t be with the dowsing rods, because I couldn’t be sure I trusted them any more.
Q. If this episode with the Spirit of the Forest was true, then show me an obvious sign straight away!
I stood in the silent, still afternoon air and waited to see what would happen. Within a few seconds of finishing the question (almost the demand!) a small breeze blew up out of nowhere, and a dust devil – a swirl of dust – blew around me (and only around ME, not anywhere else) spitting dirt into my face. I spluttered. Where had that come from? There wasn’t even any patch of dust nearby, not to mention no wind at all!! There was no way I could ignore THAT sign! I had my answer. It was real. This was not a joke, or a cruel deception. All this had happened.
Conclusion
The Green Man is the symbol of the re-infusion of the earth energies that the tree’s roots come into contact with. It is the spark that ignites the movement of the fluids around the trees, gets the sap rising, so to speak. The movement of the Robin The Green Man had stopped, and the energy of the trees had become increasingly just a biological function of the cycle of the seasons in modern times, I felt. The magical element of the forest has been missing for some time. Moving Robin – the spirit of the forest – to a more magical location, a more energetic location, was an attempt to re-position that magic into the heart of Sherwood, and thereby re-invigorate the forest and its fortunes. It was an act of hope and longing performed with care and love. What more could a druid do?
So, have I now got an answer for the question “Who is Robin of Sherwood“? As you may have seen from the links at the top of this post this name has been associated with many concepts – Robin Goodfellow, The Green Man, Robin Hoode, and others. My own thoughts on this are that “Robin” is the name for a thought form that has been created over time and which is now the Spirit of Place for Sherwood Forest.
I don’t know whether this was a process I needed to go through, a ritual I was being invited to enact, a coincidence, a fabrication, a deception or something that really happened. My dowsing after the event, my repeated dowsing which has included pleas to be as objective and real as possible, has corroborated every aspect of these events and refuses to accept that I was in any way deceived. I am left with the tale of an amazing and incredible day that has been one of the hardest posts to lay before you all. I know how this appears. It appears the same way to me too, and it may be a reflection of ego, or some other horrific human trait that feels the need to concoct such a story in the midst of this once great forest. All I know is that I lived that tale, and being there it felt real. I am now interested to see what happens as a result, but I make no predictions. The spirit needs to work its own magic now that it is back in place.
Long live Robin of Sherwood – the Green Man.
Gwas.
Posted in Ancient site visit reports, Dowsing, Entities, Healing, Hedge Druidry, Natural Magick, Trees | 
Tags: genius loci, green man, hiding, magical oak, magick, major oak, oak tree, old oak, robin hood, robin of sherwood, sherwood forest, spirit of place, tree magic
*applause* Well done! It would seem you continue to hear the call and do the work you are intended to do in this trying time. I’ve noticed that there is a general call-out for all of us to work with these energies and, if nothing else, give them a leg up from the damage done to them over the past several centuries (if not the last 50 years!)
A wonderful tale and I look forward to more.
Thanks BR – we all continue to work in our own way to make amends and keep progressing. One of the hardest things is to do what we feel is right it in spite of opinion, and so comments like yours keep me going in the cold dark nights when the spirits roam!
Gwas.
Today I spent some time with a friend, sitting at the base of a massive old oak tree, asking Gaia to send love up to us as we opened our chakras. We offered love back to the earth and the tree.
Your post is both heart breaking and inspiring! I cant bear the fact that the tree(s) are suffering like this, but I love the fact you are so open and helpful to them and their spirits.
I took a heart shaped stone I found at the foot of a redwood across the forest to the oak and the oak “told” me to take a stone found by its roots, back to the redwood. I offered the stone with love and told the redwood the oak had sent love across the forest to it so that they were connected.
I dont think you are crazy! I think you are quite lovely.
Well done and thank you!
Nic
PS Spiritual author Stuart Wilde says to blow love to trees as you pass them…. I do!
Lovely idea – blowing kisses to trees.
I do often offer greetings as I pass a tree if I feel a presence, and I always introduce myself now if I sit beneath a tree. Trees are the only plants that I have been able to communicate with so far. Makes me sound like Prince Charles now – talking to plants!
Gwas.
Tha’ts lovely Nic, both the swapping of love tokens and the idea of blowing love to trees! I’ll be doing that now too! XXX
Hi Gwas
An extraordinary account, which doesn’t seemed at all far-fetched to me, having gone through enough of these sorts of things in my time, but nothing quite as humbling as this! Recently I have felt an absence in a lot of places of beauty, which should resonate with spirit of place, they simply don’t. One good example is here in Sheffield and Wincobank hillfort – which I’ve mentioned to you before, there is something seriously wrong with that place, yet its supposed to be the city’s ‘power centre’. I know what you mean about Sherwood generally, looking back I found it devoid of something, but simply assumed I just wasn’t tuning in for whatever reason, but as you say, odd trees there do seem to retain their identity and character. I’ve never been bold enough to disobey the forestry rules and touch Major Oak myself! But it always seemed preternaturally ‘still’ to me and your explanation of why, makes perfect sense. What worries me, is that there must be countless expanses of wilderness just like this, all over the planet, stripped of their dignity and life-force, land raped and mutilated beyond recognition. We live through the 11th hour in these times and there simply isn’t the luxury of time left to ‘debate’ whether an experience of this nature is ‘true’ or not. I think your whirlwind out of nowhere gave you the answer! You clearly have a special gift in being able to reconnect displaced spirits with their rightful place, a very unique thing to do. I have a feeling many of us this year will find our own special talents as workers with Spirit, and be able to achieve incredible things like this.
As regards Robin Hood, another hedge druid friend of mine invited me to a convention on Robin Hood a few years ago, numbers were sparse, but the company good and some very interesting people gave lectures on the subject. My favourite was about the origins of ‘Robin Goodfellow’ that it alludes to the spirit of the forest and to masculinity in general. The theory in this case was that it may have lain in ancient Anglo Saxon customs from pre-Christian times, when boys would have been sent into the great dark forest to be initiated into manhood. Having to fend for themselves, hunt and keep warm, were among the challenges the boy would have to face. The forest represents that wild aspect of the psyche and our modern desecration of the wooded world speaks volumes about our desire to ‘tame’ what is wild and joyous in the heart, for patriarchy need our obedience in order to succeed and keeping men eternally ‘boys’ is another of its insidious requirements. Maybe there is a connection to all this and the male rite of passage, no doubt finally put to rest in the puritan era when the spirit of Major Oak left its home. I think you did a wonderful service to this once magnificent place, allegedly much of the midlands was forested and could be called ‘Sherwood forest’ now its a pitiful patch.
I have a feeling Gwas, that this is simply the beginning
You may be required again and again to assist in replenishing places of power like this. What a wonderful adventure!
Liz
Thank you for your very kind words. I appreciate your support. There’s always a balance to be found between caution and boldness and this value judgement is made easier when we discuss these subjects in a knowledgeable forum.
I don’t know about having a ‘special gift’ but I do feel inclined to work in this way, and these entities seem to sense my good intentions. Luckilly I have the support of some very trustworthy guides as well, who seem capable of restraining my more foolhardy notions!
You mention Wincobank in Sheffield. I will do some dowsing about that – it sounds interesting. I’ll e-mail you about it.
I’ve heard of the rite of passage links with the Green Man and Robin Goodfellowe. I think Paul Broadhurst also makes this connection in his excellent work called “The Green Man and the Dragon” (one of my favourite books). Interesting that you should connect the qualities of boyhood, manhood and Robin Hood as that was the feeling I got as I entered the forest – a re-connection with a youthful ‘Puck-ish’ energy now tempered by the wisdom that comes with age.
A Robin Hood convention? Did you have to go dressed up in hose and doublet for that? I can only imagine!
Always appreciative,
Gwas.
*Laughing* no there wasn’t any fancy dress involved at this Robin Hood convention!! Perhaps ‘convention’ was the wrong term, it was a day of lectures at Hallam university, an acquaintance of mine is a lecturer in Norse mythology there, she along with my Hedge druid friend organized the event, which as I say was very poor in turnout unfortunately. I would really appreciate your dowsing result regarding Wincobank – thank you
It’s been bugging me for years, as I want to do something to help the place, but haven’t got much idea exactly what I can do, it seems such a daunting task.
I’m very excited because I’m off to Cornwall in a few days, a hefty itinerary of sacred site visits is in the offing as you can imagine! I have searched your site for posts on Cornwall to see what you and Kal might have uncovered, but couldn’t find anything. If you have any articles on Hedge druid, please could you link me to them, I would be interested to know before I go. Strange you should post that link to ‘The green man and the dragon’ as I’ll be very close to the Michael/Mary line!
Liz
Oh my word – Cornwall in Spring! You lucky lady. Here are the errant posts you couldn’t locate. Our search engine is rubbish, and so I used Google in combination with the phrase “hedge druid” to locate them:-
http://www.hedgedruid.com/2010/09/cornwall-tintagel-the-spirit-of-arthur-and-the-blessed-isle/
http://www.hedgedruid.com/2010/08/cornwall-an-evening-at-trethevy-quoit/
http://www.hedgedruid.com/2010/08/cornwall-the-gnomic-kingdom-of-the-cheesewring/
http://www.hedgedruid.com/2010/08/cornwall-the-misty-hurlers/
http://www.hedgedruid.com/2011/02/boleigh-fogou-and-the-closed-energies/
…and I’m sure there are several posts from Kal about The Merry Maidens, which is one of the top sites to see. You won’t have enough time! Enjoy your holiday!
Gwas.
Thanks for those links Gwas – really enjoyed those articles, especially Kal’s account of Boleigh fogou. It made me think of so many things, not least that sense that certain sites are taboo in some way, usually places that were burial chambers or connected to the processes of death and decay. It also made me think of the Hypogeum in Malta, which may well have been a place people came to, to incubate visionary dreams. Well, I have a day to research as much as I can about Men-an-Tol and its surrounds (I shall be in Penzance)as this is the complex of sites we’ll be working with. Any positive energy sent our way, will be gratefully received – its an understatement to say, we have our work cut out, and I feel intimidated by what I’m being asked to do, but hey if you can resurrect Robin Hood, I can do my bit too!!
Blessings…
Liz
..and sometimes it’s best not to think about what you have to do, just to go and be guided as to what to do. Often I go to places with certain intentions or preconceptions, and what I get there my purpose is just to sit to one side and do nothing! It’s beyond our ken.
Good vibes coming your way from me
Gwas.
You see – that’s why I was hesitant to post it?-It makes me sound like my ego has gone rampant!
Energy/good vibes sent to you via Men-an-Tol. You’ll know if you got it. Wish you and yours a good holiday.
Wincobank – 6/10 for bad energies (not too serious, but unlikeable), but can be repaired by calling back the Spirit of Place. SOP left in first few centuries of the millennium after the site was abandoned following a bloody siege of a palisade fort (Roman/just after Romans left?). Thereafter Edward the Confessor’s army used it as a stopping off point on the way up to challenge Macbeth in Scotland. More recently am isolated young lady was the (perhaps self-)appointed guardian of the site and tried to make it special, but she was abused by the valley-dwellers and the site was again abandoned and left without a spiritual presence. I believe a spirit can be called to return though. A crystal that is imbued with the intention to restore the site must be used to do this and left as a gift.
That was all I could get about the place. Hope it’s useful to you?
Gwas.
Reading Pyle’s retelling as a child in my tree house probably set me up for druidry, and as an American, I’ve always been far more attracted to the outlaw than that other guy, Arthur. I’m also curious as to the direction of turnings in the vortexes – do you mean that both branch and root were right-handed (or left) when you say they went in opposite directions, or that one was the former and one was the latter? How did these compare with the one pulling into the tree?
That aside, it sounds like you have performed a noble service to a famed spirit of the forest, I believe it without hesitation, and if you ever need a place in Northern California, you are welcome in my grove any time.
Many thanks for your hospitality. I hope one day to make use of it and the offer is made in return should you wish to be shown the wonders of North Wales or Northern England.
I will try to describe the vortices within the Major Oak. There were two complimantary forces at work. Imagine that there is a spiralling force pulling upwards and outwards from your centre. It is rising into the sky and travelling in a clockwise direction. At the same time there is an equal force travelling in an anti-clockwise direction, also moving upwards and outwards. You have both movements pulling you upwards, and also pulling you into a wide funnel as they travel higher. When you focus your attention downwards those same forces then perform the exact same motion but with a downward direction, going from a central point within you downwards and outwards like roots.
The key to how I followed the directions is attention. When you direct your attention upwards you “hitch a ride” on the twin strands that are moving upwards. When you direct your attention down then the opposite happens. The forces, I suspect, are moving continually in both directions but I don’t really know that. All I know is that it is possible to connect to either direction and feel the movement of each “pair” of energies as they spiral.
You’ve also spurred me on to go read the original ballads of Robyn Hode, which can be found here: The Geste of Robyn Hode
Gwas.
Thank you for that. For whatever reason, your finding of twin currents is reassuring to me. I would think that they are both in constant motion, just as the xylem and phloem of the living tree are.
An interesting correlation between the living fabric of the tree and its energy signature. I must take a closer look at that soon.
Thanks,
Gwas.
Like you, I’m a huge fan of Robin Hood. I love the idea of him and had desperately hoped to visit Sherwood Forest last time I was in England, but sadly the transportation requirements were too much for me. And I am very saddened by that! Though, if it is as depressing as you say, perhaps it was a good thing I wasn’t able to go then…hopefully in the future, though. Hopefully.
Let us know how Robin likes the new oak. How long do you think it would take for a spirit to reroot itself?
Whether or not the forest is robbed of its former glories I still think that trees deserve a visit and they benefit from being respected. If you get a chance to go next time then it’s still worth a visit, even if it’s not likely to be everything you may have imagined. As long as you know before you go. I reckon the worst elements are probably cloaked somewhat in Summer. June/July/August would be the best time.
You raise a good question about the development of the Spirit of Sherwood and its development. I made a mental connection with the forest which I will use to try to gather some information about it soon. I’ll post a comment with an update as soon as I can if I get any information back. Considering that the spirit was away for 350+ years I hope it doesn’t intend taking another 350 years to return the forest to its former glories! But then we are dealing with a change in attitudes for the humans who manage the forest. Who knows how long that might take? We are rarely charitable in a recession, and with the rise in popularity of wood-burning stoves….doesn’t bode well for a quick fix!
It’s still saddening to see how affected the forests are by human idiocy and negligence, though. I am planning on visiting the Major Oak on my next visit to England, which will hopefully be sometime this year, though that’s likely wishful thinking. Though, if everything works out, I might actually be living there come July. *crosses fingers*
Are you planning to visit the Major Oak again sometime relatively soon? (Within a year or so?)
Well I know that plans are for people who believe they know where they are going. My path is shrouded in mystery. Even I don’t know where it is heading, or where it will take me. As you will notice from the blog, I take my guidance from the flow of the universe and its gentle whispers in my ear at “checkpoints” throughout the year.
Am I going to visit the Major Oak this year? I honestly couldn’t say! Even if I planned to do so I might not get to do it. I am at the mercy of forces whose flow is so complex that my tiny brain can barely notice their existence, let alone predict their interaction!
Gwas.
A bit of dowsing and connecting later and the results are here:-
1. Does Robin like his new home? Yes, very happy there. One of the oldest oaks in the forest and buzzing with life. Now that Spring is here that only adds to the enjoyment of being in the tree’s energy field.
2. How long will it take Robin to re-root himself to this tree as a new home? Already done! I suppose that if the energy fields are compatible and mutually enhancing then it wouldn’t take long to appreciate your nice new home’s ambience!
3. How long will it take for the regeneration/change of attitude to the forest require to take effect? 35-40 years. I’m not sure if I’ll still be blogging (or living) by that time, but some things are meant for future generations to enjoy. The spiral continues.
Gwas.
1 and 2. I wonder if it being Spring now helped with the transition?
3. Did you ask the rods if there was anything else that could be done to help to forest’s regeneration? I’m wondering if there are any other spirits of the place that might need transitioning, or if there’s anything that could be done to help the Major Oak?
I’m sure that the arrival of Spring was the energetic ‘springboard’ for the return of the Green Man to the forest of Sherwood. Spring came early this year and during my visit there was evidence of its effects on the plants. I would be surprised if these energies were not intrinsicly linked to the very being that we consider to be the Spirit of the Forest/Robin Hood/The Green Man.
I didn’t ask if anything else could be done. Somehow I felt that my interaction with the process was done that day. I will definitely check back once in a while by dowsing, and I will listen out for a ‘calling’ to go back if need be. Nature has her ways of getting you to do stuff if it’s necessary for you to do it! Why not check for yourself and see if there is anything you can do from afar, of it you are intended to help on site in person?
Gwas.
Connecting to a site takes awhile for me. I suppose I could try, at least ask the cards or pendulum if there’s anything I could do to help out or answer my questions. It will have to wait until tonight, at least. I’ll let you know if anything comes through.
As per my recent post on the use of photographs, it may help you to connect to the forest if you concentrate on connecting to one of the pictures I posted? See if that help!
Gwas.
Hi Gwas,
Good tale as ever. I read all your posts with a large degree of interest. Whether I believe them or not, I don’t know. I can understand all of them and appreciate their possibility. Having met you I know that you would only tell the truth as you see it.
Whilst not knowing whether to believe your tales or not, they invariably inspire me to the possibilities ahead for all of us. Keep up the good work.
Serpenteer
Thanks Serpenteer. Glad to hear your still being inspired by the posts.
The only gap in credibility comes when I fail to translate my experiences into meaningful symbols that resonate with the experiences of those who read this blog. When that happens then I guess the tales may be viewed as “unbelievable” or “fantastic”. Whether this be a problem with language or my own gullibility it’s difficult for me to know!
Do tell me if you’ve been visiting anywhere energetic yourself. Would be good to catch up on your work.
Gwas.
Hi Gwas,
Not much to tell, pressure of work and all that. I’m mainly doing qigong meditations, not been out and about energetically for some time.
Can’t remember if I told the tale of one of my trips to Aberdeen, last year. Stopped of at Whitby Abbey, Bamburgh Castle, and Lindisfarne to check the Leylines. I wanted to find out if they are connected. I had dowsed to check and got a yes, but I don’t trust my remote dowsing yet. The onsite results were quite interesting.
Whitby main line through abbey, 22 paces, 4 colours, red,yellow, blue, green.
Bamburgh Main axis in grounds,24 paces, 4 colours, red, yellow, blue, green
Lindisfarne Main Priory Axis, 25 paces, 4 colours, red yellow, blue, green
All the lines were positive
So give or take a pace or two, which could have been my pace error, looks like the lines are one.
I started plotting power centres at Whitby, found two quickly, but then dowsed for how many there where and got to more than 10, so I knocked that on the head. I had to be in Edinburgh for the evening so I had to be quick.
At Whitby I plotted the line at right angles, it was 16 paces wide with 3 colours orange, green and purple, part of the line was -ve, part was +ve and the central portion was neutral, there was some overlap with these.
I wasn’t able to check other lines at the other two sites due to lack of time and Bamburgh was very busy, and at Lindisfarne there was an outdoor church service going on so I had to do some guerilla dowsing, didn’t want to be found out as a heretic. It was on the 25th June so the long hours of daylight helped.
The following day I checked Dunnottar Castle, but the lines there were quite confusing and nothing resembled the other three sites.
Next time I go to Aberdeen(my son’s at Aberdeen University) I intend to check St Hilda’s church at Hartlepool, and Tynemouth Priory, in particular.
The churches abbeys and priories on the east coast are different to other parts of the country, whilst generally they all point east west within in a few degrees, usually its from northeast to southwest, on the east coast they point southeast to northwest. I ought to check the reason for that by dowsing.
Serpenteer
Hi Serpenteer,
For me Winter is a good time to keep yourself to yourself anyway. Getting out and about is a luxury rarely afforded by the weather and our social commitments.
I think you did tell me about your North-East adventures, but thanks for re-printing them. I re-read them with interest. Especially when you did your analysis of the lines using colours. Possibly these colour qualities are related to the orientation of the lines (polarity) and this may be reflected in the orientation of the buildings that still exist on top of more ancient sacred places? To understand the orientation it may be necessary to look into the qualities of the light and energy at those places at significant times of the day, month and year. Not a trivial task for the visitor – more a task for the inhabitant of those areas, perhaps?
Variation in the width of the energy leys is to be expected. I followed a line all the way from Lindisfarne to St.Katherine’s Hill and found that it varied from onyl a few feet wide at some points (commonly called ‘node points’) up to 26 paces wide in others. Most commonly it was around 22 paces wide. There’s that ’22′ figure again. Interesting, huh?
You have reminded me that I rarely examine the associated properties of energies at sites any more, and your work has spurred me on to make more of an effort to take some notice of the width, strength, direction and make-up of the energy fields when I next visit an interesting place. Thanks! Keep up with your energy work – you’ll find it all pays you back when you visit some of these special places.
Gwas.