The Hedge Druid

Archive for the ‘Other reports’ Category

A real life druid thanks you

I took a look at the statistics for the blog for last year (2010) and compared them with the year before. In 2009 we had 12,000 page views in the year. This year we have had an astonishing 75,500 – more than a six-fold increase!

All we can say is thanks to all of you who have found our humble little blog of interest. We hope it has inspired your own quests, whether that be dowsing, druidry, visiting ancient monuments or other esoteric subjects.

We will be bringing you much more of that sort of thing this year too, buiilding on our findings from previous years.

In the near future we will be out celebrating Imbolc at Lindisfarne, and checking whether the energy lines that go there are linked to the Arbor Low stone circle in Derbyshire.

We are beginning to plan the year’s excursions and have decided upon Yorkshire and South Wales this year as places that we would like to visit.

So stay in touch, stay tuned, and listen our for our podcasts as we explore the world of earth energies, ley lines, sacred sites, dowsing and druidry from the ground up and hopefully answer some of life’s mystical, magical and mysterious along the way.

Love and gratitude.

Gwas & Kal.

THE LOOPY BOX

On this spiritual path that I follow I get to meet some unusual people, and to do some very peculiar things. As part of the development of my druidic powers I leave very few stones unturned, and many of the things that I had previously closed off (in my figurative Loopy Box) have been unpacked again and re-examined. Kal and I have introduced this term “Loopy Box” to define all the things we believe are beyond our current ability to accept. The phrase I most often hear myself say is,. “Well, I never thought I’d say that I agreed with that!” Let me introduce you to another item from my Loopy Box – the psychic.

My friend Michael has many talents in addition to be a likable and jolly chap. He’s a good cook, a competent dowser and valued healer, and also has the ability to read auras and receive information from The Otherworld. So, it was my absolute pleasure to spend time with Michael and a lady called Maddy, who we had both initially met at one of the dowsing courses at Gawsworth Hall in Cheshire earlier in the year. Since then Michael and Maddy had been meeting regularly. Now they included my wife and I in the conversations too, and I want to report some of the highlights of this particular afternoon’s conversations and experiences.

Illuminating stuff

AURA READING

During our conversations Michael revealed to me that my aura was an unusual colour – turquoise. He also remarked that my wife’s aura was light green. Finding this information out I went away to find out what it meant to have a turquoise aura and discovered this information:

“In the Aura turquoise has not been   common, it  may be seen around  Poets and Mystics,  indicates a person with a seeking mind who is interested in almost everything, some may specialize in research of some kind, usually altruistic ,  to benefit humanity as a whole  analytical, insightful, good  counselors.” (source: Pjentoft.com)

It is also associated with the star sign Aquarius. This is a very apt description of me. I am an Aquarian by birth, and studied poetry at University. Now I might call myself mystically-inclined, and am very much a generalist. Recently I have begun to specialise in altruistic areas such as energy healing and earth healing.

I found this cool guidance for learning how to see auras, and I’m going to try it out:-

“Seeing the Aura

This exercise is designed to see Aura for the first time and/or practice seeing Auras. Choosing good conditions is important: not only you see the Aura better, but also to gain a confidence about what you see.

1. Situate the person in front of a very softly illuminated PLAIN WHITE background. A color background will change Aura colors, so you need additional knowledge about combining colors. Some combinations of background and Aura colors may cause misinterpretation problems.
2. Choose ONE SPOT to look at. The middle of the forehead is VERY GOOD. This is a location of so called Brow Chakra or the Third Eye. In some cultures (India) they put a mark on a forehead. Such a mark in ancient times could mean the invitation to look and see the Aura.
3. Look at this spot for 30 to 60 seconds or longer
4. After 30 seconds analyze surroundings with your peripheral vision, while still looking at the same spot. Continuing the concentration is most important. Resist temptation to look around. You should see that the background nearby the person is brighter and has a DIFFERENT color than the background further away. This is your own perception of the Aura. The longer you concentrate, the better you will see it. Remember, concentration on one spot increases your sensitivity by accumulating the effect of the Aura vibration reaching your eyes.”

(source: Thiaoouba Prophesy)

2012 and all that

We had a brief discussion about some concepts of the year 2012. Maddy and Michael were confident that the year would bring about a certain change in human consciousness. This is an idea that I have heard expressed many times in many forms before. I made my comment that I felt that the impending galactic 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. was probably more of an opportunity for aware people to make use of the energy available than an imposed global transformation, and I also introduced the guys to the work of Carl Johan Calleman and his theories on the nine-step evolution of consciousness.

If we all shout 'Snap!' we become enlightened

A month later I would read about the huge helix of unknown energy that had been detected at the centre of the galaxy – I wonder what that heralds? Here’s a link that that article - link.

I would refer you also to a Red Ice Radio interview with Barbara Hand Clow about similar subjects: BHC Interview. In that interview Barbara discusses her thoughts on the current position of human culture in relation to what she sees are the energetic changes taking place in the galaxy around us, and as they affect us on the approach to The Galactic Alignment.

Read the rest of this entry »

This year I had a couple of strange experiences while on holiday in the Isle of Wight. One of the most memorable was when M and I went to Ryde town. A lovely seaside resort, and it was a nice sunny day. We only wanted to look around a bit, and when we found the Tourist Information place M picked up a flyer for the Appley Tower folly – a tower built right on the edge of the esplanade, peering over the sea.

Appley Tower, Ryde

As we browsed the store for crystals that felt ‘right’ the lady behind the counter began to talk to us. After a few minutes we were talking about subjects beyond the usual tourist talk about weather, holidays, and the like. I mentioned we were planning to visit a standing stone on the island and dowse it, but she warned us, “Last time I was there the energies felt bad.” We were only buying a few quartz crystals and the like, but she selected a rather nice red coral-looking crystal slice and said, “You should have this too – it’s a present from me – it’s good for working with the heart.” I thanked her, of course, and then she gave some small crystals to M saying – “That’s for purifying water – it will solve your problem.” M looked stunned. Only a few days earlier at home we had been considering buying water from a supermarket because our tap water was tasting funny. When M mentioned this the lady smiled and said (rather cryptically), “Yes, that kind of thing will happen more and more.” Then she looked directly at me sating, “As you get more into your work you will find you give up more things.”

At the time I thought this was a strange statement given how little she knew about me. As we left with our purchases we saw the poster on the door of the basement to the tower, “Psychic Readings”. Aha – perhaps this lady had something about her and knew more than we thought? Still it was marked down as “an unusual meeting” and left at that.

Who can see the future?

Which brings me to my point. Months later, despite trying the water-purifying crystals but to no effect we had all but forgotten about these “prophesies”. However, I made the decision to give up smoking, and so far it had been a complete success. Nothing too coincidental there, except that it was a definite move towards a more healthy and pure lifestyle. I had been “warned” many times during my meditations that my energy work was being compromised by smoking, but I had ignored it until one day when I just decided that was it. From that moment, I haven’t smoked again.

Next it was coffee. Kal had given up coffee many times but I loved it so much that I had never even considered doing that. If I wasn’t drinking coffee I was supping those caffeine-based stimulant drinks. Then, again, one day I just woke up and decided that I wouldn’t be doing that any more. Same as smoking – suddenly I cut it out without any problems. Just stopped. It felt like an act of willpower, and I was pleased to be able to do it without ill effects.

Only this week it struck me what I had done. Had I not followed the path that the lady in the tower had outlined for me many months ago? We now drank pure water, didn’t smoke, and I didn’t drink coffee any more. M has just given up drink too. What the heck is happening to us? Is this a consequence of growing older, or something to do with the increasing energy work that I’m doing? Did the lady in the folly tower shop really foresee what we were going to do? And what’s next? Will we stop eating sugar? Red meat? Where does this end?

Yet, I can fully appreciate now that having a cleaner healthier body really does aid my energy work. I have more energy, more time (for some reason), and my sleep cycle is a lot more regular. This spiritual path of druidry has so many strange twists and turns that my life is almost unrecognisable from where I was only three years ago, yet I love life more now than ever.

Gwas.

Getting purer and stranger.

I have just published my latest article on the subject of the esoteric elements that dowsing and druidry have in common. You can read this article on the “Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD)” web site [link].

It will be on the site for November, and then I will place it into the Articles page on this site for posterity. I hope it provokes some thought and discussion. Please let me know what you think of the contents.

Gwas.

I am currently recuperating from an exhausting day of work. I occasionally help out in my own garden, but mainly it’s the province of my wife because she has the time and the inclination to do the mundane gardening work. I must say that ordinarily I get called upon to do the bigger heftier tasks, or I take it upon myself to do some special project such as growing a magical herb garden, or a future idea I have to create a turf labyrinth. That kind of thing. So it came as a big bodyshock to me when I had to spend all day gardening in a local primary school’s “Writing Garden” – a space that they had let go to a state of disrepair over the years.

I, and a select band of volunteer colleagues that I work with, spent our designated volunteer day working at this local school. I was appointed Team Leader for the project, so had the additional burden of the form-filling, the team selection, acquiring resources for the project, risk assessment and all the other tasks that no-one wants to do. With the help of my deputy and our incredibly useful and dedicated admin lady, we managed to get everything prepared in time for the work.

The garden is space needed several key areas fixing: the perimeter path needed completely clearing of root and weeds; the planted shrubs needed tending to and giving some breathing space from the invasive lime tree saplings that had self-seeded; all the wooden benches needed sanding and re-painting; and a wall that had been stripped of ivy needed cleaning and painting. Here’s how the garden looked before we started work:

A cluttered leaf-laden primary school garden

Here’s a closer look at the drab back wall:

Bare brick and a hazardous overgrown path

Within a day we had performed something of a minor miracle. A team of ten of us, dedicated hard-working people who practically spurned taking any form of break or stoppage throughout the whole day, such was their motivation, together we transformed the garden into a working safe and tidy space for the primary school children who would use it to inspire their creativity.

The Writing Garden transformed

Here is the newly-painted ivy wall, now all clean and bright, with paths that were safe to walk on, and sown with wild flower seeds:

A brighter and safer area to inspire creativity

There were a few other additional touches that we added to the garden, such as potted bushes, a water butt to collect rainwater, bird boxes and a gravelled path:

A lovely repainted seating area and a tidied border.

Chi8ldren can now walk safely all around the garden and access the whole space even on bad weather days:

Gravelled paths allow access to all seating areas

The whole experience was heartening, motivating and left us all feeling thoroughly worthy. Every single team member put in every effort they could to make this happen within a single working day, and I heard not one single gripe or moan throughout the whole day. It was simply magical to be a part of such a project.

Gwas.

For what felt like a very long time (although, if I look back it is probably only a year or two) I have tried to locate the position of the Spirit of Place within Delamere Forest. The forest is one of the largest in Cheshire, and it used all year round by mountain bikers, dog walkers and anyone else within a fifty mile radius.

When I initially tried to locate the Spirit of Place (hereafter – SOP) I was led around in circles until, exhausted, scratched and dripping in sweat I admitted defeat. Since then I have tried several more times, each time being led on a wild good chase over hill and down dale to various end points that were clearly neither energetic nor particularly convincing as old and powerful trees.

This year, within the last month, I was diverted away from my usual homeward route and forced to go through Delamere. As Idrove through the forest I began to think about finding the SOP again and so I switched off my normal “guidance systems” and simply stated that I wished to be guided to the Spirit of Delamere if it was appropriate for me to meet it.

I drove part way along one of the forest roads and soon felt the urge to pull over in a place I wouldn’t normally stop because it is too close to the cluster of houses near to the village, and it is often very busy with cars. Today, however, it was clear and I stopped. I got out my dowsing rods and began some preliminary questioning – Which side of the forest road should I start on – the left or the right? RIGHT. I walked across the road and began to follow the rods, taking them with locating the spirit of place.

Delamere's beautiful paths

Within seconds I was being taken down a straight wide track that I had never walked on (because it is straight and wide, and not the kind of path I like). Luckily there were no people around at this time of the evening, but the path that the dowsing rods were describing was snaking side to side along the straight path, which filled me with confidence.

Some hundred yards down the track the trees began to encroach and darkened the path a little. Here the rods swung off to the right again, pointing into the cluster of young beech trees and wanting me to follow. I picked my way through their undergrowth only to find a small little-used path leading to another trail, again very small and winding. The rods wanted me to follow it along a ridge and then the trail began to dip into a hollow. As the trail turned towards the hollow I began to get snagged on brambles, ferns, to trip over roots, slide in mud…everything seemed out to stop me! How strange! Was something trying to protect itself? Birds began to make noises in the canopy above me, shuffling around, cawing nervously. Was I nearing something important?

I moved forwards more cautiously. As I did so I felt something and stopped. I felt a boundary, and energetic boundary. I stepped back and moved slowly forwards again. Yes, the air was different – back a step and the air was cool, move forward a touch and it was slightly warmer, and…thicker? More resistant?I recognised this as the boundary of an aura, and I asked permission to enter, asking that the “guards” be called off, and introducing myself as my druid name. I also stated my purpose – I was here to meet with the Spirit of Delamere should it allow me to do so. I waited for a sign. A little bird in a nearby tree chirped lovingly – a very different sound than I had been hearing all the way into the forest so far – and I knew this was a “go ahead” sign.

Now, as if my magick, I no longer got snagged on anything, or slipped, or tripped, despite heading down an incline at an angle along this narrow path. The undergrowth still spilled over the path but now it fell back easily as I passed. I walked down into the hollow and then stood at the bottom, as the path opened out, and stared at the sight before me…

The Spirit of Delamere Forest

There was a feeling emanating from this area. It crawled and pulsed with a life force that wreathed and writhed around you like so much invisible mist. I got my dowsing rods ready to ask some questions:

• Was this the strongest energy spot in the forest? YES.
• Was there a particular tree here that was the Father of the Forest tree? NO.
• Was there once a tree here which was the dominant tree of the forest? YES.
• Does the energy of that tree remain at this site? YES.

I felt privileged that I had finally been allowed to find and to recognise this place. I knew it for what it was now – the very beating heart of the forest, full of life, growing, pulsing, emitting life force. I sat and watched the wildlife for a few minutes to see how they reacted to it. Small birds landed alone onto the higher branches and sang songs. Flocks seemed to direct their course over the top of the clearing, as if drawn to it. No creatures seemed to go within it, though. It was as if they swarmed around it, but wouldn’t venture inside. Interesting. I wouldn”t venture in either – the land looked as though it wouldn’t support my weight. I wasn’t fooled by the green mosses and grasses. This was a place that demanded respect in many ways.

I said my farewells and made my way back to ‘civilisation’ and the gravelled paths. I felt so pleased and in a way a little better about how much I had progressed since my last efforts.

Gwas

This post is a follow-up to the last Autumn Equinox post about a visit to Dinas Bran. In that post I told how I had been given a set of words to use to wake the spirit of Merlin at Samhain this year. I had recorded the words onto my phone and then listened back to them, searching online and book resources to match the words to current or old Welsh words.

The typical representation of Merlin

The words that came out of that research were these:

Cryf coch

Is lau Merddin

Ail eglwys carreg.

My translation of those words is this:

Strong red

Lower Merlin’s rowan

Second stone church

An interpretation

I feel that this riddle is both a set of power words with which to awaken Merlin, but also I believe it is a set of instructions. By following the instructions as to RIGHT ENERGY, RIGHT ACTION and RIGHT PLACE I will bring the spirit of Merlin back to life. The first line describes the right energy force – a strong lower chakra energy is required. Right action is described by the lowering of a rowan branch, possibly a wand made of rowan, and finally the stone church describes the right place to be in order to perform this ceremony.

STRONG RED - I think this means that I have to collect something that is ‘strongly red’, perhaps rowan tree berries which are particularly strongly red this year. The “strong red” could also refer to a requirement to have a strong lower chakra, an energy centre which is traditionally associated with the colour red. Saying the phrase will possibly enhance that red frequency, awakening the kundalini fire that resides there.

LOWER MERLIN’S ROWAN - This is arguably the clearest of the instructions. I have to lower a branch of rowan onto Merlin’s prostrate figure in order to waken him whilst saying these words. What I have done in this respect so far is to collect a twig of rowan, which I am now drying in order to be able to smooth it, carve it and imbue it with root chakra energy in preparation for Samhain. I guess I am making a sort of wand! Never would have expected that.

SECOND STONE CHURCH - The stone church is very difficult to determine. Initially I thought it was a double stone circle, a site with two interlinking circles or two circles side by side like The Hurlers, or a re-built stone circle – one that was risen on the ruins of another, the second stone church. It could be a re-built church too, like the one at Lake Vyrnwy.

Another option is that this is not the word for stone, but instead refers to the old name for the village of Llanddeiniolen in Gwent.

From a small brook near it, which runs into the river Gwyre, it was anciently called Carog, under which appellation it formerly constituted a prebend in the collegiate church of Llandewy-Brevi (source: Genuki)

 The church in this village was indeed re-built (or restored extensively) in the 1840s. The church is dedicated to St.Daniel. Interestingly, Bryn Celli Ddu – the neolithic mound on Anglesey – is in a village called Llanddaniel Fab.

“Second stone church” could refer to Dinas Emrys – the place designated as Merlin’s Castle (and Vortigern’s Tower), built upon a previous pagan sacred site which could have been a sacred temple. Vortigern’s Tower could well be seen as the second stone church. or does it refer to the idea of establishing a second stone church at Dinas Emrys?

If anyone is a native Welsh speaker and could offer a better translation of those words, or alternate similar-sounding words that might make better sense, then I would welcome a comment to that effect.

All these possibilities must be worked out yet before Hallowe’en.

Gwas.