The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘cairn’

In the final part of our Imbolc excursion to Cumbria I will be showing you another new site for us - Maiden Castle – near the village of Wreay above the north end of Ullswater Lake. The story of how we found it is the real tale here, and the communion we had while there adds the final flourish to the whole episode.

Having already taken a wrong turn trying to find the narrow lane that led to the field in which the castle was supposed to be, according to the maps, we were somewhat exasperated already as we cruised along the hillside at slow speed trying to get a visual fix on any form of earthwork or stone cluster that might indicate a ‘castle’. Kal had been fully expecting a proper castle with turrets, flags and portcullis, but I assured him that we were looking form something far more mundane and far less spectacular!

The light was beginning to dim. The sun was descending behind the huge distant hills around Ullswater Lake. I had joked at the beginning of the day that we would probably arrive at the castle for sunset, and the joke was becoming a reality. Would we find the castle site before it got dark and too treacherous to locate?

We were about to give up. I stopped the car and insisted that Kal dowse whether we should continue looking or go to somewhere nearby like Castlerigg. I ditched the OS map and instead used the Viewranger pinpoint that I had preset the day before.

NOTE: Viewranger is superb for outdoor work of this kind such as finding sacred sites. I can’t recommend it highly enough. It’s a complete lifesaver sometimes.

Go check them out if you like walking, running or discovering new places.

This was a precise fix on the castle and should allow us to home in on it. Kal returned – we had to find Maiden Castle, there were no alternatives! What now?

At that exact moment, sat in the car wondering whether to drive home or head out into the dim light in search of something we were both startled from our thoughts. A hawk burst out of a bush next to the car and flew across the bonnet. It swooped down into the vale below and disappeared again.  Well – did we need any better sign? One glance was enough – we were decided – that was the sign we needed to venture forth. Then we noticed the footpath sign next to the car. Well, obviously, that would take us to the castle, right? Let’s hope so.

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In the final part of my South Wales posts I will be telling you about the amazing chamber of Tinkinswood, and how dowsing revealed some intriguing explanations for the usage of the chamber and how it was powered by Elemental Masters. What are ‘Elemental Masters’? Good question. Read on!

We parked at the entrance to the field with the sign pointing towards the Tinkinswood Chamber [map]. We had only gone slightly out of our way – entering the edge of Cardiff itself – before we realised our mistake and doubled back. Once we had our bearings finding the chamber was relatively easy, with some helpful brown tourist signs along the way near to the village of St Nicholas. Tinkinswood chamber itself was also easy to get to with a short walk down into a shallow valley and back up into the next field. As you rise up into the field the chamber hoves into view like some neolithic battleship.

The site is beautiful, surrounded by trees (although they had been severely cut back when were visited, which made us wince a little). The only other blight is the nearby electricity pylons, but they don’t seem to be affecting the power and quality of the energies at this site. Possibly they are just far enough away not to affect it. There really does not seem to be any geographical reason why the pylons were brought anywhere near to the site, but that’s the way it is.

Side view of Tinkinswood chamber

The sun was beginning to near the horizon as we arrived, and the early evening light lent the scene a mystical quality that backlit the chamber in a fascinating way, and made the sun twinkle through the trees around the site. As we approached the chamber neither Kal nor I felt any need to go into the chamber itself even though it was incredibly open and inviting. For some reason we both completely avoided going into it throughout the whole visit. Possibly we do not need the initiatory energies that lie inside it?

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