The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘castlerigg’

Finding a Spirit Guide

Theodora – my first spirit guide

Very early on in my druid training I tried an experiment. The experiment was to call upon a spirit guide and see what happened. I did so via the staff that I was using at the time. I placed it beneath the old apple tree in my garden and asked that if a spirit wished to come and work with me, to be my guide, then let it come into the staff and I would see if it was suitable Days later, when I dowsed the staff, to my surprise it registered as having the presence of an intelligent entity about it. Little did I realise at the time what that relationship would become.

I learned only the barest minimum about my guide. That was the way she wanted it. She appeared to me in a black cowled robe, hiding her face from me, allowing me only the faintest glimpses of her presence. Once she sat by me and I saw her clearly. Once.
Over the two years that she was with me I knew that she would one day leave. I understood that the relationship was one of mutual learning. She had a job to do – a requirement that she needed to fulfil in order to progress herself. She needed to teach a young druid how to fend for himself in the magickal world.

We established ground rules, how things would work, what I could ask and what I couldn’t. Then we worked “professionally” together for a couple of years. I have to say that she was incredibly giving. When I called upon her, providing I really was intent upon learning, she was available for me. I worked hard, and learned very quickly – far faster than those who I came into contact with who had similar experiences. For this I was grateful, because I had a voracious appetite to learn about magick and energy and nature and spirits and… the list went on!

Losing a Spirit Guide

After Samhain in 2012 the relationship began to change. I put it down to the general seasonal change of energy. The connection diminished. I thought of her and called upon her less. Her input was less the kind that provided startling revelations, and more a nudge to remember what she had taught me already. I almost blush to say that on some occasions I worked without her and forgot about her!

For the Yule Solstice I went to Castlerigg. Theodora, my long-term spirit guide was called upon and she delivered one last image. An image of me being a centre point for energy as it travelled between the Earth and the Celestial realms. I felt centred, grounded, complete. I felt like a proper druid in every way – connected, humble yet central to the work, progressing, progressive, yet aware of tradition.

A few days after this experience I came up with the idea of testing whether all of the major assumptions that I had been working with were correct or not. The first question was: “Did I have a spirit guide?” Of course the answer should have been “Yes” but it came out “No“. I was shocked! I went through all of the kinds of thoughts that come with the end of a dear relationship – was it me, had I done something wrong, had I offended her, was I too needy, did I demand too much, not enough, was she bored…. it went on. Actually, the relationship had simply come to the end of its term. The departing was natural, timely, and necessary. I had graduated beyond the point where I needed Theodora’s help and so she quietly left – no fuss, no tears. It was the best way to do it. I’m terrible with farewells.

Today is Imbolc and I go back to Cumbria in search of a new guide. A new year, and a new spirit to work with. How exciting!

I’m always at a loss as to what to do for Yule. Not being a sun-aligned person I just don’t get with the whole “welcome in the sun” thing. However, this year I was given the notion that I needed to be more welcoming of the sun, so for the first time I found a suitable place to welcome the sun back at Yule – Castlerigg stone circle.

When I had been trying to find a suitable location I had first considered some of the sites listed on the Aenigmatis.com we site:-

• Newgrange
• Crick Barrow
• Harold’s Stones
• Long Meg and Her Daughters

For various reasons these were not suitable on this Yule day, either due to the distance I would need to travel. The only one that seemed a likely candidate was Long Meg in Cumbria. I made note of the useful information about the Winter Solstice at the excellent TimeandDate.com web site. Here are the sunrise times for the Winter Solstice as taken from the west of England:

Just before I left, though, I found out that Long Meg’s Solstice alignment is with the setting sun! Oh no! A quick change of place, then. Same area, but now I would go to Castlerigg – a circle that held particular resonance for me this year, being the site at which I had freed and merged with a Merlin energy. With a time and place set I now began to consider what this particular Yule sunrise signifies for me this year.

Sunrise at Castlerigg – but not on the 2012 winter solstice!

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Here is the second part of the Merlin Song story – and it gets to the interesting part of the experience – the appearance of Merlin. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about these Arthurian archetypes recently and the excellent words of Ross Nichols - former OBOD chief – have been very revealing to me about the possible ancient and current uses of such figures from a historical, magical and psychological perspective. I recommend reading his work “The Book of Druidry“. It’s fascinating, and I’ll come back to that at a later date when I talk about the Arthurian archetypes in another post.

In the meantime, we left our protagonists struggling to avoid certain wet feet as they mooched across the marshy moorland in search of a new stone circle, reputed to be of extensive size and infrequently visited. Only one of those qualities turned out to be true!

The Cockpit – fight of flight?

At the Cockpit stone circle the Merlin Quest details were explained to me. I would need to protect myself when working in the Sanctuary. I didn’t understand why yet. Then I would have to draw down the energy from the star Arcturus. I knew this star was part of the Bootes constellation, and that the name was linked with Merlin, being known as the protector of The Great Bear (King Arthur). That was the additional information I got, but I already knew that I needed to recite the Welsh phrases that I had extracted from the various power places around the country.

“The name of the star derives from Ancient Greek Αρκτοῦρος (Arktouros) and means “Guardian of the Bear”, ultimately from ἄρκτος (arktos), “bear” + οὖρος (ouros), “watcher, guardian”. It has been known by this name since at least the time of Hesiod. This is a reference to it being the brightest star in the constellation Boötes (of which it forms the left foot), which is next to the Greater and Lesser Bears, Ursa Major and Ursa Minor.” (source: Wikipedia)

With thoughts of Arthur and the Polar constellations spinning through my head I turned my attention to Merlin. Why was I being drawn to a Cumbrian stone circle? What was the purpose?

Cockpit circle – no spirit of place here

I needed a little reassurance. I knew that this was the second time around the spiral for my work with Merlin, but I didn’t understand why I had to do a similar quest as last time (August 2010). I used the energy of the circle to call upon my spirit guide and ask about the purpose of the meeting with Merlin. What was the outcome all about? I was a bit of a cheeky question, bit I felt I needed to ask. The answer was interesting: I  was not going around the spiral a second time, I was going up the spiral. It was different this time. Last time I was waking Merlin by visiting him in the underworld. This time he was trapped in the Otherworld, and I was freeing him.

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Our Spring Equinox adventures began at the most beautiful stone circle in England – Castlerigg in Cumbria. As if that weren’t enough of a good start to the day we had a clear run to get there, and when we arrived the sun had cleared the sky to imbue the scene with such photographic potential that even a ham-fisted amateur photographer like myself could get a picture that was worthy of being a regular feature in any scenic calendar.

I didn’t know what Kal wanted to achieve this day, but my own personal agenda was the usual – to ask what my quest would be for the next eighth-part of the year. I wanted to know whether I had successfully completed the previous quest – to learn the sonic vocal qualities required to open my chakras – and then to know what my next quest would be. What would I need to learn next in order to progress on this spiritual path of druidry?

I remembered one or two things from our last year’s visit here – that the entrance for me was at the “back” or southern end of the circle, and that there was an in-built area which was specifically for cleansing myself of “ordinary world” energies. These two aspects were what I would concentrate on first.

Castlerigg at Spring Equinox

I walked around the edge of the stone circle’s aura, which I felt rather than dowsed. Today was an experiment in deviceless dowsing wherever possible – I wanted to feel rather than find the energies. At the unfashionable end of the circle I approached in reverent silence, head slightly bowed, and I felt for an answer to my question about whether I might be allowed to enter – I felt the familiar tug of acceptance. Off to a good start!

Inside the circle I walked straight to the Sanctuary enclosure – an array of stones laid out in a rectangle. There I positioned myself where it “felt best” and that happened to be on a small tuft of lush green circular grass - a power centre, clearly. I felt for the direction to face and it was West. I lit two sticks of incense (suitable for me) and admired their flavours. I turned West and asked to be cleansed of the world’s detritus energies – energies I may have accumulated form elsewhere, bad energies I may be carrying with me, foul energies I may have generated myself. After a few minutes Kal came over to chat and absent-mindedly I wandered off with him. “Have you finished?” he asked. “Could you check for me?” I asked, seeing as he had his rods handy. NO – not finished! I went back into the Sanctuary with a wry smile – it was worth a try, but this was one aspect of the energies that I wasn’t feeling – I had no idea when I had finished with the cleansing process.

Castlerigg at Spring Equinox - view of The Sanctuary

Luckily we pretty much had the circle to ourselves early on, but by the time I had emerged from the Sanctuary there were people milling around and observing our antics. I now moved to a place that I felt was my empowering power centre (as opposed to a cleansing one – two types: filling or emptying, draining or empowering, cleansing or energising – any of those diametric concepts will suffice). Again I felt I should face West and I brought my incense sticks with me. I also laid out the one set of crystals that I had brought with me from the car – my protection set, but this set also doubled up as the set that I used to align to significant stars to attune to their energies. You’ll see how this comes into play in a moment.

I placed the five stones around me in my usual protection configuration, with the pillar quartz stone pointing West – the direction that felt right. I set an intention of being guided successfully on my quest today, and for enough energy to get through what was likely to be a long and arduous day of physical, mental and spiritual effort. In my mind two spiralling strands of thick energy (they used to be thin, now they’re fatter – aren’t we all?) coursed up through my body to reach to the sun, moon and then back down into the earth’s core. I remarked to myself how much thicker these energy lines were than the last time I had performed this meditation. Progress? This went on for about five minutes until I brought the energies “to heel” and created a sphere of protective energy centred on myself. I was sparkling with effervescent “aliveness” and jumped up refreshed and smiling. All psychosomatic, of course. I felt I had created a protective shell that would see me through my work this day, and also recharged my batteries, as it were.

Kal had been sitting directly opposite me in the circle, which we thought was notable given that this was Spring Equinox and the Sun and Moon were in exact opposition today. I also felt as though I had been facing West for a reason, so I asked the dowsing rods whether this stone circle was aligned to a particular constellation? YES. I then asked them to point to the constellation – they pointed West, in the direction I had been facing. Was the constellation visible now? YES. I used StarWalk to find some possibilities, but there was one obvious one staring me in the face – Serpens. Now, this opens up a whole facet of synchronicity. Let me explain.

The quartz pillar of my crystal layout had been focused on the constellation Serpens - the Serpent. As I did that my meditation has taken for the form of strong twin energies boosting my inner serpents – my twin coils of energy – my inner double helix. Not only that, but the constellation Hercules (Ophiuchus), the solar hero, is seen wrestling Antaeus (Serpens), the sea snake in the ancient depictions of the two neighbouring constellations. This is the old ritual of the Summer King battling with the Winter King (The Oak King and the Holly King) and on this Spring Equinox day they were in complete deadlock with the Oak King on the verge of achieving ascendancy. Interesting that this day my crystal layout was aligned to exactly that constellation, the very one which astrologically symbolised the Equinox point! Honestly, this stuff writes itself sometimes.

Castlerigg at Spring Equinox - layout

So there were three primary themes emerging from this work:-

1. Forces in opposition creating energy – the astrological Hercules and Typhos, the equinoctal Sun and Moon, the druidical Kal and Gwas
2. The double helix and the serpent energies, and their link to our human physiology – feeling empowered, cleansed, alive.
3. The stone circle being aligned to a constellation that was suited to the time of the year. Does this mean that all stone circles change their star alignments over the course of the year?

Gwas

Section 8 – SITE VISIT LIST for 2009

The penultimate post is a reminder of the sites we have visited this past year. The sites are ordered from North to South.

• Callenais I, II and III, Dun Carloway Broch, The Truiseil Stone and other sites on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides, Scotland [Callenais I, Callenais II, Callenais III, Truiseil Stone]
• The Eassie Stone, Glamis Castle, St.Fergus’ Well, The Fowlis Wester cross, Lundin Farm circle, and Monzie circle in Scotland [Eassie Stone, Glamis Castle, Fergus' Well, Fowlis Wester cross; Monzie Circle; Lundin Farm]
• Castlerigg circle, Long Meg and Her Daughters circle, Little Meg circles, Mayburgh Henge, Oddendale, Kalmott ring cairn, Gamelands circle in Cumbria [Mayburgh, Kalmott, Oddendale & Gamelands; Long Meg; Little Meg; Castlerigg]
• Pendle Hill in Lancashire [Pendle Hill]
• Arbow Low, Nine Ladies stone circle, and Nine Stones Close circle in Derbyshire [Arbor Low 1, Arbor Low 2, Nine Ladies, Nine Stones Close]
• Alderley Edge, Delamere Forest, Frodsham Caves and The Bridestones in Cheshire [Alderley Edge, Delamere 1, Delamere 2, Bridestones]
• Bryn Celli Ddu, The Soar Stone, the Bryngwyn Stones and Lligwy Chamber on Anglesey [Bryn Celli Ddu 1; Bryn Celli Ddu 2]
• Cerrig Pryffaid, Dyserth, Moel-Ty-Uchaf, Penbedw Park, Pistyll Rhaeadr Waterfall, Dinas Emrys, Snowdon, and Penmaenmawr Druid’s Circle, Rhosesmor, Hawarden and Conwy Falls in North Wales [Dyserth, Moel-Ty-Uchaf, Pistyll Rhaeadr, Dinas Emrys, Druid's Circle, Rhosesmor]
• Golden Grove and St.Elmo’s Summer House in Mid-Wales [St.Elmo's & Golden Grove]
• Llangernyw village, Lake Vyrnwy and Bala Lake in Wales [Llangernyw 1, Llangernyw 2, Llangernyw 3]
• Mitchell’s Fold and The Hoarstones circle in Shropshire [Mitchell's Fold & Hoarstones]
• The Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire.
• Waylands Smithy, Uffington Chalk Horse, and The Rollright Stones in Oxfordshire [Wayland's Smithy, Uffington, Rollrights 1, Rollrights 2]
• Alton Barnes White Horse, Winter Hill, Windmill Hill, Silbury Hill, West Kennett, and Avebury in Wiltshire [Alton Barnes, Silbury Hill, West Kennett 1, West Kennett 2, Avebury]
• Crop Circles at Knighton Hill, Alton Barnes, Silbury Hill and others in Wiltshire [Knighton Hill, other crop circles]
• Stanton Drew stone circle, Barrowbridge Mump and Glastonbury in Somerset [Stanton Drew, Glastonbury]
• Carnac, Locmarquier, Créhen, Lampouy, Ile Grande, Merlin’s Tomb, Mont St.Michel, Champs Dolent and St.Uzek stones in Brittany, France [Merlin's Tomb, Lampouy, Créhen, Carnac 1, Carnac 2, Carnac 3, Champ Dolent, Mont St.Michel, Ile Grande]

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Gwas.

Introduction

This year has been the most fascinating year of my life. I have embraced areas of study that I has only ever fantasized about being involved with. I have learned things that I never believed in before, and have travelled further along my spiritual path than I thought I could. I am more aligned with my life purpose through the work I have done this year than I expected to be. I have visited places that I never thought I would see, and am more in touch with earth energies as a result of it.

In the following sections I answer some general questions that I posed to try to encapsulate this progress. Also included is Kal’s interpretation of those same questions – you will find these in the last post in the series. I hope that by the time you finish reading our summary of this year you will see just how far we have travelled in such a short time span. Some people we meet still pour scorn on our relative “youth” in these subjects. Of course they are right, we never know enough, but when you see how much information we are consolidating from so many sources, I think you will see that we are working hard to cover all aspects of subtle energy research, and our work is fast-paced, thorough, considered and wide-ranging. Compared to many of those we meet, who seem to have a part-time dalliance with these subjects, I’m sure you will agree our work is fast, deep and meaningful, and everything we learn we gain from direct practical experience.

In the light of the amount of information produced this year I have divided the summary of the year into NINE posts, which I will be releasing for the rest of this month up until Christmas. Between Christmas and New Year I hope to reveal the results of the work that we were supposed to have undertaken this year – to find out whether earth energies do respond to specific times of the year. I think we have our answer already, but I’m going to wait for the Yule Winter Solstice to cap that research off.

What have I learned this year?

I learned so much this year that I almost feel as though my life’s education has started again. When I wrote it all out I found that I had accumulated so much information that I have had to divide it up into separate posts. The topics I chose to organise them into are:-

1. Natural Magick
2. Dowsing and Earth Energies
3. Tree, Spirit and Death Energies
4. Astrology and Astronomy
5. Ancient Sites
6. Miscellaneous
7. Highs, lows, surprises and disappointments
8. A list of all the sites we visited this year
9. A summary from Kal’s perspective

Please forgive the inevitable cross-over between these categories – I have tried to place the information into the category that was most pertinent, with the inevitable “other” or “miscellaneous” bucket to catch the overspill.

A big growth topic this year was that of Natural Magick, as was the Tree,Spirit and Death Energies category. It seems that Kal and I have had many of our preconceptions overturned and have had to eat our words on many occasions as a result of some detailed dowsing work and an open mind in researching those areas. I will start off with Natural Magick.

Section 1: Natural Magick

The following information can loosely be classified as “Natural Magick” – the use of nature’s own energy forces and human creative potential to produce new effects and visions. My definition, as you can see, is quite general – I don’t include the usual categories associated with Natural Magic, such as herbology, spell-making, and the like. I started out the year by defining the rules of working in this manner, and the additional information is supplementary to that, and only limited by those rules and the human creative potential, it would seem. The information is on no particular order, other than being grouped here.

1-1. Some rules of Natural Magick:

• Intention must be honest, if only to yourself, in order to succeed
• The desired effect cannot be commanded, it must be negotiated, or asked for respectfully
• To contrive a circumstance in order to display an effect will guarantee failure,if not abject humiliation
• Your abilities are limited by your desire to learn, and the depth to which you can form a trusting relationship with Nature
• A degree of humility is required to execute natural magick, and smugness at a positive outcome will garner no respect.
• Conviction and sincerity make the relationship stronger, and the outcome more defined.
• Leave your intention fuzzy and a fuzzy event will occur which only partially fulfills the intended result.
• Results come when they should be delivered, not when you want them to be. Again, tied to the concept that the forces of Natural Magick will not be ordered around.

First stated early February. I have not been able to contradict any of these as the year progressed.

1-2. The historical/mythical figure of Merlin is a significant totem figure for me. He is like a form of spirit guide, but not personally connected to me. I encountered his presence at the ancient site of Dinas Emrys, near to the mountain of Snowdon in Wales – a place traditionally associatesd with Merlin.

1-3. Totem animals: Kal has the crow, I have the dove/pigeon/eagle. Theysometimes indicate significant events, sights or show us direction, and can guide our intuitive responses when we go out to sacred sites.

1-4. A pilgrimage may seem like an old-fashioned concept, something that may only be a religious remainder. Our experience of inadvertantly making such a journey was something quite profound: a spiritual journey through the chakra points, each one awakening at the special places we visited, and each one progressively opening up channels to higher spirituality and connectedness.

1-5. This year saw the emergence of the double helix of energy in my meditations. I now began to connect using two threads – one male and one female. This seemed to echo my progress into the second stage of Druid development – the Yew Stage.

1-6. Following a path with a heart has opened up my life to influences that have enhanced my well-being and desire for life. A path with a heart may be defined as being acts or intentions, decisions or choices that one makes that are instinctively right, and not based upon the usual rational characteristics of what is sensible, beneficial, rewarding, or easy.

1-7. Some sacred sites promote the ability to perform magical acts, such as telepathy. I encountered this particularly at sites that were less “famous”, i.e. less visited, and yet which still maintained a strong energy. The covered alleyway at Créhen in Brittany, in particular, demonstrated to me how easy it was to transmit information to another person whilst there.

1-8. Seeds or fruits containing seeds seem to serve as perfect gifts or things to leave at sacred sites. I felt from the outset that something ought to be given in return for gaining skills, visions or information, but the usual trinkets (ribbons and the like) did not suit me. Instead I have found that, for me, a seed, an apple or a pine cone, or something similar always gets a positive response when dowsed as to whether it is a suitable or fitting gift to leave at a site.

1-9. Sigils, often dowsed as manifestations of a site’s energy signature, can be found and used as means to gain entry into an energetic relationship with a site.

1-10. Cup-marked standing stones within stone circles have been found to be maps which can unlock the power centres within the circle for energy work. This now needs to be tested at a greater number of sites, but for several already this has proved to be accurate.

1-11. Setting up protection before doing any energy work in a new place is essential to self preservation. I now have to thank the unusual small man whom I met in Alderley Edge a couple of years ago – you were right and I was wrong – thanks for your advice!

1-12. Overcoming fear in a forest or other natural space allows you to be as one with the place, and this opens up the range of possible experiences, as animals will not be frightened of you. I now want to discover how being fearful may change one’s energy field.

1-13. I was shown a vision of an ancient magician performing a ritual in which the circle’s energy was activated and he was in charge of the energy. The elements of his work are things I will now have to put into practise myself next year. I have learned that rituals have their place, but that their paraphenalia is not for me.

1-14. Sigils and crop circle formations ought to be meditated upon to act as keys to the entry into the Otherworld. This was the lesson of the Knighton Hill maize circle. I have yet to discover anything from these patterns, however, so can’t confirm this.

1-15. A dream seat can be found at major stone circles used for transformation – this promotes shamanic flying, or out of body experiences of the profoundest kind. The Llangernyw experience definitively proved this to me, as did the Castlerigg stone circle.

The most magickal experience of the year

Glastonbury at Summer Solstice when I felt integrally connected to the whole area’s energies and felt like I was in an increasingly mystical state of mind.

Gwas.

Keswick, Cumbria – 27th September

In the first part of our day-long epic journey into the vast wilderness of the Lake District in search of the sacred circles we had heard so much about Kal and I began by visiting what must be one of the busiest circles we’ve ever stepped foot in. Not a moment’s peace was to be had at Castlerigg on a Sunday morning, despite the fact that we pitched up at 9:30am. There was barely a parking space left amid the camper vans, mobile homes and country capable cars that lined the sides of the small road on the edge of Keswick town.

Were we not in the middle of nowhere of note? We were. Still, on this day it seemed like every man Jack and his dog was visiting this sacred site, and not many of them were being very sacred. There was a photographer or three knocking about positioning tripod in awkward positions, parties of American tourists with overly-white hair and bright clothing milling about in herds like bewildered dayglo sheep, and families with hyped-up kids clambering all over the stones. A motley bunch. Then we arrived looking for peace and solitude to bathe in the morning mist that clad the site and surrounding hills. Not a chance, lads. Not today.

Not today Kal!

The mist quickly cleared off to the higher ground, but the crowd only grew thicker. We realised that whatever we were going to do here was going to draw attention. By this stage in our dowsing and spiritual development this mattered little to us. Kal immediately set about determining whether there was anything in particular that we should be doing here – perhaps to re-balance the energies, or ourselves, or what? He found that it was all down to me this morning. A convenient finding, I thought, but that’s how it goes.

I was in no rush, however, having an agenda of my own in terms of dowsing. I wanted to see whether I could answer a few questions that had been buzzing around my head for the last few days. These questions were:-

1. Could the site be considered to be “active” in terms of energy?
2. How accurate were the visual alignments between the stones and the surrounding landscape, that I had seen depicted in Paul Devereux’s book “Earth Memory“?
3. Did any of the stones display a magnetic charge when a compass was held near to them?
4. Were there any dowsable emissions of radon or radioactive energies coming out of the stones?
5. Was there a “dream seat” at the site?

In “Earth Memory” Devereux tells of a shaman who takes a man to a place where there is an ancient stone seat that shamans sit upon. When they attune to the spot the seat produces visions and dream states where the shaman can experience “shamanic flying” or out-of-body experiences. I liked this idea, and it reminded me of the two similar “seats” at Avebury that are such intruiging shapes:

I went in search of a Dream Seat at Castlerigg and an obvious candidate emerged, worn smooth by the number of people who had leaned against it observing the view. I elected to try it out shortly.

All these questions plus the usual suspects concerning the discovery of the uses for the site were uppermost in my mind. As it turned out Kal beat me to the punch with the “use of the site” questions. He had over heard a tour guide telling the tale that the site had perhaps once been used as a place of barter for tradesmen – a kind of market meeting place. Spurred on to test this he got his dowsing rods out and began his own investigations. Was the site constructed for the purpose of trading? NO. So, it may have become a trading post, but he didn’t feel as though that’s how it started out. Of course not – why would there be so many celestial alignments and carefully placed stones if the purpose was to create a trading space?

I began my own investigations to answer my new questions.

• Was the site energetically active? YES. Was it still functioning? YES.
• Did any of the stones show any magnetic charge? YES, four of them moved the compass needle slightly away from North. These stones were on the South-Western end of the circle. This did not correspond with what I had read in “Earth Memory” where one stone at the Western cardinal point had registered for magnetic charge.
• Were there any radioactive emissions coming out of the stones. NONE. I checked them all. But then I wasn’t using a scientific device, I was using a copper rod. Perhaps no surprise then!

I then went on to check some of the alignments. The most obvious one could be seen from….the Dream Seat stone! No wonder many people had sat on it – the alignment was both obvious and sublime:

I’m afraid I didn’t get the angle just right for the photo, but trust me – it’s a perfect fit with the two foreground hillsides. I carried on with my questions regarding the purpose of the site now that I had found the Dream Seat:-

1. Was it an astral observatory, and aligned to celestial bodies? YES.
2. Was it used as a calendar to track the position of the Sun and Moon at specific times of the year? YES.
3. Were any of the stones used as: an altar – NO. A grounding/cleansing stone – YES. I found one such stone. An energising stone – YES. I found three of them.
4. Did the circle draw energy into it? YES, from the sun, moon and stars.
5. Did the circle push energy out? YES, into the surrounding land.
6. Was the circle used for communication of any kind? NO.
7. Was there a specific entrance? YES, for me it was at the South cardinal point.
8. Was there a ley line running through the site? YES, in a NE to SW direction.
9. Was there a specific path required to be followed to activate the energies of the site? YES.

This ‘ritual path’ (as Stone Dowser terms it) was particularly interesting. The energy path for me to follow was through the southern entrance, to the Sanctuary enclosure for some cleansing and statement of purpose, then out the eastern edge to the Dream Seat to see what needed to be done, then back out the eastern edge again to finish.

The South Entrance

This last piece of information was particularly interesting as it encompassed the Dream Seat. I had wanted “a go” on it anyway, so here was my chance. Despite the endless stream of visitors I told Kal what I intended to do, and he said he would “observe”, which meant that he was going to have a laugh at me trying to make something happen here.

It took two attempts to make my meditative connection work, but I finally attuned to the site and had a vision sitting on the Dream Seat. In the vision I was spinning around above myself, hovering over the stone circle. From there I could see myself, and I could see that I was “spineless”. In other words, my spine was hollow, but nothing was flowing through it. I ‘knew’ I had a blockage in my chakras, and that it was glowing softly red at the base of my spine. The root chakra needed some work, I surmised.

My power centre in The Sanctuary

After two attempts to unblock it I succeeded eventually. Much to everyone’s amusement I’m sure, watching a man with a stick moving from place to place around the circle and meditating for a while at each spot. In the end I felt “dreamy”, like I had awoken from a deep sleep – a feeling that didn’t really leave me until the end of the day on the way back home!

For me, it was a wonderful experience, and despite the heavy tourist traffic, very peaceful and calming. I went on to enjoy the rest of the sites that day. Out next stop would be Long Meg and Her Daughters and the companion site Little Meg.

Gwas

Floating on air.