Posts Tagged ‘brid’
Imbolc 2012 – Guidance for the Year
As a follower of a seasonal path, and someone who has developed their sensitivity to the variety and strength of the energies available throughout the year, Imbolc - February 1st – marks the opening of the new year. For me it symbolises the return of the male energies. What does this mean exactly? It means that up until the beginning of February the Sun’s light has been too weak to feed the activity of the male subtle energies that inhabit the Earth, and which are present in living things. Therefore, for me, Imbolc marks the beginning of an increase in the strength and vitality of anything that is enlivened by the influence of male (or Sun-sourced) energies.
In Britain this year there has been an exception to this general rule concerning the presence of male energy. Male ‘subtle’ energy has in fact been available, albeit in a very weakened form. This has been due to the amount of sustained sunlight that we have been receiving. You can feel it in the land – the birds are singing, the buds are appearing, there have even been flowers blooming in January – normally a time when most delicate biological entities retreat into themselves and rest. An unusual year indeed. At this exact moment the frost and cold has returned to bite, yet the sun continues to shine. It is a most unusual beginning.
The heat and height of the Summer
The unusual start makes it difficult to contemplate how the year might work itself out. Are we going to see the seasons having “unseasonal” weather? Are they going to be unrecognisable from our traditional weather patterns? What will this mean for the strength and prevalence of the Earth’s subtle energy forces, and for the living biological energy of its inhabitants? My feeling is that we are going to see a real peak in Sun energy this year. This may require some balancing out by those of us who work well with Moon energy (female), as we feed a calming influence into the land through selected node points on the energy grid. Let’s not get all hot-headed and hysterical just because the Olympics are coming to town in the height of Summer! It’s just a game, an amusement, a distraction.
As with all previous years that I have followed my spiritual path I returned to the Llangernyw Yew Tree for inspiration. Communing with this tree seems to set the spark on the year’s tinder and soon a flame of encouraging light emerges from the kindling provided by this ancient life force nestled deep in the heart of a small village in North Wales. I will talk about the visit in more detail soon, but the outcome was one word: “Renown“. I will be spending the year seeking out sources to increase my personal power. Renown is a subject that I will return to and explain more fully in subsequent posts. No doubt I have much more to learn about it as the year goes on.
Now let’s talk about specific preparations that I am making for Imbolc, and that you could make too.
Imbolc: The Process of Re-Awakening – Part 2
Anglesey, 1st February 2010
In the concluding part of our journey around Anglesey’s south-western corner for Imbolc we visited some of the sites that we had passed many times in our travels, but had never actually visited. We re-visited one site though – one of the Ty Mawr stones – in order to rectify a problem. The conclusion to the journey was at a cromlech (or dolmen) called Bodowyr, which was beautifully located, but sadly hemmed in by iron fencing again.
Castell Bryn-gwyn (White or Blessed Hill)
Castell Bryngwyn turns out not to be a castle at all, but a sacred space (or “religious sanctuary” as the information sign calls it) that was apparently later fortified by the Romans. It is named Blessed Hill or White Hill, but given that is was a sacred space I would plump for the interpretation ‘blessed’. Especially given our findings as to the way it has been used before it became fortified by that war-like race The Romans.
The earthwork that remains is a two-thirds circle that has three visible entry points. In order from the entry gate they dowsed as being the Moon Entrance (the widest and clearest), the Sun Entrance ( a hollow depression) and a Star Entrance. The Star entrance was the most intriguing. I spent a bit of time working this one out and come to the conclusion that the entrance was aligned with the planet Venus when it appeared in the western sky. The most energetic time, therefore, is when Venus is in the western skies and the Moon is full. Some star energy and a sun alignment, possibly a solstice or equinox sunrise or sunset, are also part of the energy imprint of this place. However, its primary purpose seems oriented towards the lunar occasions – the full moons.
We went looking for the most energetic place within this earth-worked arena. I say this ironically, because Kal was lounging on the ridge at the time throwing suggestions out whenever the mood took him. I dowsed to the most energetic place – it was a double-humped spot, like two grassy faerie rings together. I had seen something similar but much larger and more rounded at Carnac in Brittany. Kal shouted over: “Is it an altar?“. I used to dowsing rods to check this theory: yes, it was. A strong reaction to that idea. The altar was towards the rear of the site, slightly off-centre.
Imbolc: The Process of Re-Awakening – Part 1
Kal and I journeyed to Anglesey for Imbolc. I had dowsed a map of the entire country with the instruction to find a suitable place to celebrate this Celtic festival – the mid-point between Winter and Spring. The result was Anglesey. Anglesey? We had been there several times previously, and only a few months ago, but still, of all the places in the country the rods could have crossed over it was this small but sacred island – the last refuge of the Druid cults of mainland Britain.
We had both set intentions as to what we wanted out of the journey – such was the nature of this year’s work: we would be visiting sites with a set idea of what we were hoping to achieve. This is what we had been told at the end of last year as we moved into the quiet time of Winter – Nature can only help us progress now if we state what our purpose is. Ask to be guided and we would only receive more questions. Ask to be led and we would be led back onto ourselves. It was up to us to make our own progress by stating our goal, then Nature would help us to achieve this.
My intention for the year is to learn about the three elements of the “yew stage” of druidry that I believe are inherent to developing to the next stage. Those elements are: re-awakening (or rebirth) – death (or death energy) – transformation (or transcendence). My intention for this Imbolc day was to learn what I could about any of these processes, whichever was most appropriate. As it turned out the process that was associated with the day was re-awakening, specifically the re-awakening of the earth energies from their Winter slumber.
I planned a route that would take us to all of the sites that we hadn’t visited before that lay scattered around the shores of the River Braint – a river whose named was derived from the name Brigid. Brigid, as you will undoubtedly know, is the form of the Triple Goddess (the archetype of the feminine in Nature) that is associated with the festival of Imbolc.
“On February 1 or February 2, Brigid is celebrated at the Gaelic festival of Imbolc, when she brings the first stirrings of spring to the land. Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, and some Anglicans mark the day as the Feast of Saint Brigid; the festival is also known as Candlemas and Purification of the Virgin.” (source: WikiPedia)
As this was the only place on the island that I could find such an association it seemed the natural place to begin our day’s journey in praise of her properties. Only when I came to look at a map of the river did I realise that neolithic man had also decided that this area was special, and had built several sacred sites along its shores. These were all sites that somehow, despite our many previous visits over the years, we had managed to either bypass or skirt around. Now seemed like the appropriate time to actually visit them at last.
Dyserth: Of this earth? (Part 2)
The second installment of our Imbolc trip to Dyserth village in North Wales. In this part we visited the mammary-gland sculpted hilltop of Graig Fawr where we suspected a standing stone may be lurking, and then discover a breath-taking surprise both large and small at the site of Castle Dyserth.
Graig Fawr hill
The air was cold enough to steal your breath as the occasional intrusive wind took away our warm car glow all too soon. Graig Fawr hill in January. We must be slightly unhinged. We headed up the at-first gentle slope but soon I stopped Kal. “Let’s see if we can trace the male and female energies to see how they inter-relate.” I suggested. Ever ready to embrace an interesting pastime Kal began searching around for a male line, whilst I swept the area for a female line. Within a minute we each had a connection to the respective lines and marched off uphill, Kal to the left and I to the right.

I soon lost sight of Kal as his superior fitness and manic dedication to dowsing propelled him like a whippet straight up the main path. He wasn’t hanging around! I, on the other hand, was being taken hither and thither in a slowly wavering dance across the right-hand side of the hill. As I passed the occasional man-sized hollow the energy would go towards it and curve into a spiral inside it. At each stop I dowsed for the direction of any energy coming out of the edge of the hollow and found a continuation of the network of female spirals as I was walked in long S-shapes up the hill.
Whenever there was a mound or a pair of mounds, the female energy made its way towards them and then spiralled atop them. The chain was unbroken – a continuous line of female energy snaking its way curvily up the hill, attracted to the curvier features, gaps and hollows that marked the features of the hill. Occasionally a hawthorn tree’s energy would also contribute to the energy patterns and seemed to either be feeding into it or drawing from it. It was too cold to even think with the scything wind sometimes pulling the rods aside for a moment until they bounced back onto the line.
I saw Kal at the top waiting, trying to keep warm. I increased my pace as the hill’s slope wore off near the summit and joined him. “Where did the male line go?” I asked. “Straight up the path. Very little deviation. I just came straight here!” said Kal. “Well, I was taken all over the place – into hollows, back and forth across the hill, over those mounds.” I don’t think I sounded like I was complaining. It had been a rollercoaster ride in this increasing wind!

Yes I R InSain
We quickly dowsed for a standing stone in the area but were lead around the peak and into the trigonometry marker on the top. Oh, very funny! “Trickster.” muttered Kal in response to his oddly-crossed rods – this was the Trickster’s call sign. We smiled. All that way for a trig. point, in the freez…. we had learned that sometimes our enthusiasm and expectations have to be more…contained. It’s a state of mind necessary to become delighted by surprises – the state required for transformative experiences. Things are revealed to you as you are ready and willing to experience them. It’s not Fate – it’s a preparation of mind, a sort of cleansing, a cleansing of the mind of that which you are seeking. If you pay it attention, if you seek it, you get the booby prize – every time. It has to be a long-term goal, a quest, a purpose. If you yearn for it, no pudding for naughty boys. You get The Slap. In this mindset, this state of grace, more things become possible, and more improbable things are manifested. But you want to hear about the flowing lines, right? Back to the energies!
Dyserth Castle – small
A quick warm up in the car and it was time to unholster those copper rods and put away childish flasks. This is Winter Dowsing, making a bid for the 2010 Winter Olympics in a string vest and no gloves in a blizzard. Actually, it had calmed down a bit, but the sky was still leaden with snow and the wind still made it difficult to talk without shouting. We checked the map and stomped off down the Graig Fawr hill even further, across the road next to the car park, and down a narrow high-hedged lane until the footpath sign on the right. We hopped into the field making remarks about the austere temperature and the level of inappropriateness of Kal’s attire, when we passed a group of rocks and breeze blocks in the middle of the sloping field. We noticed them, then stopped. “Did we just both seem drawn to these rocks?” I asked. Kal nodded, “Yeah, we did.” It was a dowsing cue.

Motley Crew
We wandered around the small stack for a moment assessing it. It didn’t look particularly interesting. There were three small breeze blocks in amongst the larger boulders. They formed an ovoid ring shape. There was a bare patch of oval earth off-centre, and it was slightly concave. I dowsed for its nemeton edge. As I dowsed towards it I felt uneasy and stopped. Why had I stopped? What was that feeling? It was a feeling of being unwelcome – “like being an unwelcome guest at a party and everyone turns to wonder why you’re there when you enter.” I later explained it. I stepped back and paused. Strong male energy was the response. Not a frequency I attune to well.
Kal, on the other hand was straight onto the bare patch, turning to face the hill to the West. He quickly adopted a serene half-smile that told me he was not going to be moving any time soon. Thirty seconds later the sun broke through the clouds in the one break in the sky and it fell straight onto us. It was above a pyramid-shaped hill to the West of us – the direction Kal was facing. It was one of those coincidences that makes you wonder about the joy of coincidence. Had we been rewarded with some warm sun for obeying the rules by my staying out of this very male-oriented spot? It doesn’t need to be thought about. It just happened and we paid it attention.
I dowsed for the edge of Kal’s aura, his nemeton as I approached again. I found it about 12-15 feet away from the small ring cairn’s centre. I followed it around both sides and behind Kal. Behind him the nemeton was very thin, only several inches wide, but at each side and out in front it expanded into an large ellipse shape, like a pair of butterfly wings. The clouds were quickly disappearing now as the sun burned through.
I dowsed for Kal’s rainbow chakra colour field to see if it was any different from his aura. Indeed it was. His violet coloured boundary was a further ten feet beyond the edge of his aura. Again the bands decreased in width as I approached Kal. His red band was a mere inch from his body as he stood on that spot. Well, he is very groundless at the moment. Mind you, I thought he’d taken root on this spot the amount of time he stood there.
Kal opened his eyes again and was awash with a surge of energy. He bounded off the centre, grabbed his stuff as we prepared to leave, and ran from side to side down the hill enthusiastically. “Come on!” he was smiling and encouraging. “Let’s find this castle!” and he was off over a stile like a goat eating chillies. What is this, a chapter from The Famous Five? Blimey. I hurried along with staff and pack to keep him in sight. Loon.
Dyserth Castle – large

Kal was of course the first to catch sight of the site of the castle. He bounded back to inform me that I was about to be impressed. He wasn’t wrong. As I rounded the bare bramble bushes lining the path a vista opened up to me that drew my breath from my body in admiration. The photographs barely do it justice.

Dyserth Castle
We drank in the atmosphere for a few moments then set to work. Where were the sources of male and female energies in this arena of rock, this cauldron of cliffs? We rapidly identified several sources. Kal found some power centres (crossing points of water generating vertical vortices of male and female counter-spiralling energy). I located the primary source of female earth energies – it was a large break in the western cliff face, and the largest rock at the base of that crack (pardon) was the primary source of male energies. However, Kal had also found male energies coming from a power centre next to the large mound of piled stones on the eastern side of the castle’s floor.

The gap between the stones dowsed for the return of the female energy flow and was acting as a kind of attractor – just as David Cowan had described in his books. The rest of the area was quiet – there was a male line and a female line with occasional power centres uncoiling into short waves and ending in spirals. One or two rocks tested for being energetic.
Make your own stone circles
As we dowsed I noticed that some stones on the castle floor were connected to the flow of male or female energies emerging from the cliff side. I was dowsing just such a connection when Kal decided to move one of the rocks – “I wonder what happens if you move it?” he quizzed as he struggled to roll the square stone. When he stopped I dowsed the connection again – it had moves with the stone. Hmm…so the attraction point was the stone and not the position. At once we both had the same thought – let’s create two circles. I described the image that had just popped into my head – two circles that overlapped each other – one built of male energy and the other female. First – would it work, and second – what would happen at the overlap? Pictures of Venn diagrams flooded my memory but I swept them away and started shifting some of the stones – dowsing to find the correct stones and for where I should place them.

My constructed circle
Soon I had eight stones in position, only two of which I actually placed myself. Two others were from the overlap with Kal’s circle, and four were already in the correct position! Kal complained that I was stealing his stones – he had five in his slightly smaller circle. I reminded him that was the purpose of the exercise! We dowsed our own circles, walked them a few times clockwise, and then dowsed each others’ circles. Kal’s was definitely a Male Sun circle, whilst mine tested for Female Moon energy. Both rings felt energetic, even though some of the rocks we had in the circles didn’t seem to have energy in them.

Kal marks the power centre of his circle
At the intersection where the two circles overlapped there were male and female spirals. Did this mean that spirals were caused by the interplay between male and female frequencies, much like light or sound, or magnetic waves in form? We had lots to think about and made our way back to Dyserth. Kal briefly stood back in the little ring cairn and seemed reluctant to move until I reminded him of his obligations to his stomach. We made for the car and sustenance from the Spar shop in the village.
Tricky Picnic Places and The Mighty Falls
Frost, the american poet, said those immortal lines about picking paths through the forest by wear and tear factor, but essentially I have ingrained in me a similar annoying trait. So we find ourselves above Dyserth Waterfall, looking for it, but I pick a path the leads us down a narrower and steeper section as it unwinds next to the river that drops so suddenly nearby. The path ends in a hair-raising arched tree that fords the 15ft wide river. Can’t jump. Have to climb. So I do. Videoed by Kal. Thanks mate. Needed the extra pressure!
So I return the favour when it’s Kal’s turn, adding the occasional giggle and encouraging words when he decides to wade across the icy river instead of walking the bent tree. Oh what? Oh yes. YouTube beckons.

We have lunch in the small caves there in tranquil peace while the sun continues to shine through a gap in the tree canopy to hit the very spot where we’re sitting. Ahhh…things are going just fine at this point. After lunch we head back to the car admiring the waterfall as we go.

Now we’re heading out towards the Golden Grove. It’s marked on the OS map I’ve printed off using MultiMap and seems to be in the middle of open farmland. OK – let’s go see what a golden grove looks like! We park and head off over the field of sheep along the last vestiges of a path now obliterated by hoof marks. As the slope gets steeper it gives me more time to notice that we are walking next to a fenced off avenue of tall and wide beech trees. As I followed their natural line of interlacing pairs up the slope I could see they were leading somewhere. Great. We were spurred on.
At the top the green and brown fields stretched down the other side. To the right, more fields. To the left, a deciduous wood. Could that be the Golden Grove? It seemed to far away from the map’s placement, but they can occasionally be slightly obtuse in their placement of names, and there was no structure marked. And indeed, the Golden Grove seems to no longer have a structure. It has gone. We sloped back to the car, tired from trekking but happy at the rest of the day’s results.
Lost : one slightly used staff
There had been something nagging me as we had arrived at the rude lay-by that we parked in – I didn’t have my staff. Where had I left it? What should I do, apart from wonder whether I should get emotionally attached to a snapped branch? I decided to go in search of it. I’ll take you through it in a separate post.
Gwas
Following a golden thread back to my staff
Dyserth: Of this earth? (Part 1)
Dyserth, Imbolc, Sunday 2nd February 2009
“Of this earth”? Well, in terms of a learning experience it was definitely out of this world. It felt like we should have had a soundtrack of Canned Heat singing ‘On The Road Again’ as Kal and I drove purposefully into Wales on Sunday. Our purposefulness was due to the start of the dowsing year proper. Imbolc was the chance to test some ideas we have been trying to assimilate over the quiet Winter months, but now we were out again.
Sunday was the first of the Imbolc days. I’m sure someone will point out the astronomical impudence of that soon enough, but in my book it spanned Sunday and Monday, and that was an attempt to cover all the bases. I didn’t want to miss any energy fluctuations. As it turned out, it was lucky I did go both days, but that story’s coming soon with Part Two of the Dyserth in January posts.
We parked at the Olde Red Lion pub, which made my brain flash through some decoded symbolism: Red and White in opposition = male and female earth energies. Lion as the symbol of royalty. Red Lion = Red King = Red Dragon = Pendragon = Male energy. You will also see many White Lion pubs in Wales, as well as White, Green and Red Dragon pub names. National flag colours too, you see?
St Bridget’s Church

“The Doomsday Book (1086) mentions a church here and a stone building was dedicated by the 12th century (OS SJ056794). This was restored by Gilbert Scott in 1875. The Jesse window is said to be one of the finest in the UK. There is a fine 9th century preaching cross. The church was originally dedicated to St. Cwyfan, a disciple of St. Beuno.” (St Bridget’s Church web site)
Our old friend St.Beuno. He got around a bit in this area, I can tell you. Busy man, that Beuno. Pops up all over the place. Why don’t you play the Beuno game with us? Simply count the number of times that you read about us encountering a sacred site in North Wales dedicated to old Beuno, and when you reach a hundred, list them all to your friends and watch their horrified and slightly worried expressions!
The church building had an East/West alignment and was in a typical cross shape. A big stained glass window graced the eastern rear wall of the church. A neutral alignment ley went through the east/west axis of the church, as did a slowly interweaving Male Sun line.
We didn’t venture inside the church because a Eucharist service was taking place at the time we were there, mid-morning. They were having elevenses. Which means we didn’t get to see the Celtic Cross or the base of another cross that are somewhere inside. I found a picture of the base, and it quite startled me. Not so much by how Celtic the design was, more the way it seemed to be representing the twin earth energies snaking along the ground, and existing in an inter-twining and ever-lasting dance.

Here’s what the stained-glass window looks like:

There was not much female energy in evidence at St Bridget’s Church that day, a couple of spirals, but it was all about the male energy really. The nemeton of the yew tree that was closest to the church was again the same size as canopy – this is what we found at Delamere Forest recently. There were some strange tombstones though. Several of the more elaborate graves had skull and crossbones motifs craved onto them. There were the remains of arched canopy tombs beneath many of which are carved skull and crossbones motifs. Make of that what you will. Masonic, Templar, Pirate. Pick your history!

The church website explains:
“Beneath the canopied tombstones in the adjoining Churchyard are interred the remains of many generations of the ancient family of Hughes of Llewerllyd in this parish – descended in the male line from Prince Cadwalladr second son of Griffith ab Cynan – King of North Wales AD 1079-1130. To their memory this Brass is erected by their descendant Hugh Robert Hughes of Kinmel Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the County of Flint AD 1906.”
Sounds painful. I suppose somebody had to be Custos Rotulorum of Flint. He’s the keeper of the rolls. The chief civil officer of a county, to whose custody are committed the records or rolls of the sessions, you know [ref: webster's online]. Good for him. You’re not skipping this bit, are you? Every day’s a school day, you know!
Back to the tale. At the eastern end of the church we decided to measure the width of this band of male energy that we had found. We both double-checked each others dowsing and came to the same conclusion: the Male Sun energy was as wide here as the entire width of the stained-glass window – about twelve feet across. In the early morning sun it felt vibrant and soon it spurred the congregation inside to life and they sang in mystic symbols the old stories of the cycle of the seasons, and the power of nature. At least, that’s what I heard, but then I wasn’t listening to them, I was feeling the energy vibrating and my hands numbing. Surely this all gets warmer from here on in?
I followed the Male Sun line coming out of the window. I followed its centreline, only to watch the rods sway as the line bent away from the strict E/W alignment and through a nearby recent grave near to another large yew tree. Was the disturbed earth the attractor, or the decaying life force of the recently deceased? I asked the question and the rods responded kindly – the attraction was not the people themselves, it was their reknown. This was an altogether more ephemeral quality. The way it the answer felt to me was that it was a measure of the degree to which those people fulfilled their lives and the lives of those around them. The energy was seeking to flow through the recent graves and older royal graves attracted by their reknown, feeding on their fame one could say, the outpouring of emotion, or perhaps empowered by the praise bestowed upon them? We don’t yet know.
The rear boundary wall of the church partially hid a new attractor. The person who owned the garden adjoining the church had a well-manicured and landscaped garden. In the Winter season this meant that two of the main garden sculptures were in plain sight. Two rough-hewn pink limestone rocks had been placed in an E/W alignment with the back of the church.

The line flowing into the church and through the window was being focused by the perfect alignment of these 3ft tall rocks. Who would have known to do that? Were the energies unfocused before the placement of these recent garden ornaments? Had this had an impact on the fortunes of the church, I wondered?
As we wandered back through the grounds to the road we traced the Male Sun line by picking it up at the front door. It went over the tiny footbridge linking the church and the road. As we crossed the river the rods crossed in Kal’s hands and we turned to look at each other for an explanation – “I didn’t think I was dowsing for water!“, he laughed. The river that emerged from the waterfall deviated twice at 90 degree elbows to bypass (or pass) church. Kal tells me this is good Feng Shui for buildings, to have hills at the back (E), and a slowly flowing river out front (W). The Male Sun line was attracted by the flow of the river to run alongside the outer church wall, flowing with the narrow confined river, to bend abruptly again under a flat bridge and on towards the houses of the low-lying older part of the village.
We headed off from the church grounds to go and get some food. Unfortunately the cafe by the waterfall was out of season and so closed. It had a worrying sign advertising its leasehold, though. It seems as though natural wonders are insufficient in number to keep such places going through a recession. Perhaps it will open again soon – it was wonderful eating an ice cream in the fine spray from the waterfall in the brief heat that was Summer last year.
Several more posts coming soon about this trip out. We go next Graig Fawr hill, to the awe-inspiring site of Dyserth Castle, and we end the day with a missing staff and a stupid hike up a steep hill to see the legendary Golden Grove of Dyserth. Then I go again to delve deeper into the energies around Dyserth with a visit to Gop Hill, a huge cave on the Offa’s Dyke trail, and an astonishing re-visit to Castle Dyserth.
Also, there will shortly be an update on my research into the relationship between accident black spots and earth energies.
Gwas
Following the animal tracks.

