The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘chakras’

Entrance to the Temple of Apollo

I had been led across the length and breadth of the ruins at Delphi. Although the middle of February, the days weather had been perfectly magical (in every sense). It had been about two hours since we had arrived at the ruins and finally I was at the place of commune. Offerings had been given, Sacred journey had been traversed. Yes, I felt ready as I lay upon a ledge overlooking a place that had been confirmed to be, for me at that time, the Navel of the Earth.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth

From previous experiences and commune I knew that I was to go into the past and meet with the Oracle of Delphi in the time when she existed and not commune with her in my time. Quite an odd notion considering that her vocation was to look through time. I also knew that I had to connect with my Energy Double too since it had the power to traverse the time stream. What I didn’t know was how.

In the world of sacred journeys the “how” of things rarely matters. It is more like what you find in the film, Field of Dreams – Build it and they will come. With that notion in mind I lay on the ledge atop the ruins of Delphi (the Navel) and silently said to myself and the Universe. “I am ready”.

It began with the song, so familiar now. The unique music that I heard was the connecting song that gives me the understanding that my Energy Double, has recognised my call and is on its way. Although I have changed my perspective on this a little as experience has refined the understandings, still it’s a good enough description for the moment. The song grew clearer and turned into a feeling. In my mind was the intention to go back to a time when I could ask the Oracle of Delphi my burning question.

Something amazing happened that I’d never experienced before. As you may know, we have two streams of energy that flow within us. One from the crown to earth and the other vice-versa. Well, at this point of transfer three things happened. I viscerally felt energy rip from my crown to my heart and from my earth to my heart too. Just as both these energies sparked to that central point my Energy Double hit my body at the heart too. Coming in a vertical path, it slammed into my heart centre (remember that the heart is at the centre of the breast not over the physical heart location) and took my consciousness deep into the earth and I felt into the past too. All this happened in a flash. Catapulted into the depths of the earth and time. Within moments I found myself in a cavern. It was dark and yet I could sense its presence.

Place of Questions

With the swiftness with which it came my Energy Doubles presence vanished and I was alone. In hindsight I think that I should have been scared but my distinct recollection and my notes from that experience tell me that I wasn’t. Odd.

Alone and yet not alone, I thought. That darned double of mine. Could have stuck around. I looked (sensed) around and felt nothing but the feeling of the cavern. Which added to mine (and Gwas’s) notion that caves are used for there aura shaping facility. After minutes (it seemed) of waiting I felt other presences in the space. I thought that I would be in audience of the Oracle, but no. Three beings appeared some distance from me. They were in shapeless robes and though my first impression was that they were people, perhaps the servers of the Oracle, that feeling vanished as soon as it came. These were something else. I felt them watching me. Even as I felt them. Weird.

Being a person that gabs a lot, I was pretty quiet. I had the feeling that I was waiting (for the Oracle). My wait wasn’t long. A few moments after the three appeared another figure appeared. As I write this post, my minds eye has gone back to peruse that (deep breath) feeling that I got when she appeared. As I try and find words to describe it, another experience comes to mind…

A few years ago, when that haven for book lovers BORDERS bookshop was still in existence, I recall walking its aisles one evening. When, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a bright light within one of the alcoves. I turned to look in, thinking it was just a reflection from a spotlight, when I saw a woman who was literally aglow. I was stunned. It wasn’t a beauty thing. She shone from an inner light. I was so dumbstruck that I found myself walking up to her and telling her, “you are glowing”. I think she smiled at me and said, “I know” and that was it. Occasionally when that memory surfaces I berate myself that I should have said more, but honestly, I don’t think I could have. The will to ask or communicate had been removed from me (which is interesting isn’t it…”these are not the droids you are looking for”).

When the Oracle appeared, that was exactly the feeling I got. She wasn’t a beauty by my standards. Not like the way Caileach (swoon) appears in my communes. The oracle did have an awe inspiring presence. I almost knelt before her, but caught myself in time. Respect sure, but not subservience.

“You are one who has come furthest to see me.” She said in a voice that felt like a tingle down my spine. But what really took me was that she was speaking English. I mean, well, she was supposed to be Greek right? Perhaps the TARDIS translation circuits were doing over time?

I nodded, “Yes”. I presumed that she was talking about the time-travel as opposed the geographical distance.

“What is your question?”

I noted the singular, for I had a few and had hoped to ask at least some of them. Still travellers can’t be choosers sometimes. So I asked,

• “Where can I find the Key to the Dragons Soul Book that lies within me?”

See how I made that specific? That comes from years of Dungeons and Dragons experience and having Wish spells going awry. The answer and experience that followed was revelatory and surprising.

Kal Malik in the past.

The following series of posts recounts the tales of our adventures on the island of Iona in the Hebrides in the west of Scotland. We went there for the Autumn Equinox. Of course, my tales will be primarily from my perspective as Kal has his own stories to tell, and amazing they are too. Of course, we journeyed together so our stories intertwine to some extent. Where Kal acted as a foil or sidekick I will include his aspects, otherwise you’ll get predominantly mine.

Scotland sticks in my mind for many reasons – I used to live there as a small boy, I love the mountains (they are my Air/Sky image for elemental meditations) and I hate the weather (muggy and midge-ridden in summer, unbearable wind and rain in winter). However, despite my reservations I had two necessary goals that Iona seemed to be the perfect place to satisfy. These were:

1. To discover the quest or task that would keep my busy for the next eighth of the wheel of the year, and
2. To learn more about an unidentified energy form that I had found at Karnak Temple in Egypt, and which I had subsequently map-dowsed as also being present in Iona.

One ferry, two ferries, three ferries, more

The first ferry is from Oban to the island of Mull. Oban is a lovely little town that deserved more time, and as we pulled away on the ferry I saw a rounded hill behind a castle on the shoreline and I made a mental note that I needed to come back this way again. There was something about that hill….The tourism tagline at the moment is “It’s closer than you think“. It’s not. They lie. I thought it was about a five and a half hour drive and I wasn’t far wrong. And we live in the North of England. From anywhere else it’s even farther. The tagline should be “It’s further away than you’d like, and then a wee bit more – but it’s worth it (if it’s not raining, which it usually is)”. Truth in advertising? Not likely. Not catchy enough.

Where the heck is Iona?

The sun shone and we were able to stand on deck watching the waves churn into spume below the boat’s keel and the seabirds wheel and whirl in our wake. The rising mountains of Mull were a formidable but fascinating prospect for the drive across the island to Fionnphort where we would catch our second ferry – this time to the tiny island of Iona. The drive across Mull was idyllic. Rarely have I seen such beauty. Firstly over the mountain passes, then the road by the lakeside became picture postcard perfect. All too soon we were at the tiny ferry terminal and ready to board the ferry to Iona. So I left my staff behind in the tea room on Mull.

Of course I had to go back for it on the ferry. I can now say I’ve been to Iona twice. Settled and with staff, we were ready to begin our island adventure. We started at the first feature to make an appearance – the Nunnery next to St.Ronan’s Church.

The Nunnery and St Ronans Church on Iona

I would say that what happened next was a perfect introduction to the uniqueness of this island, and it set the tone for the whole set of adventures that followed.

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My quest for the previous part of the Wheel of the Year (Solstice to Lammas) was to open my Third Eye. This was quite a hefty challenge, I felt, and Kal had said to me several times (with blowing of cheeks, and shrugging of shoulders) that it would be a lot to attempt in the few weeks between “spokes” of The Wheel. So it turned out to be. The Third Eye opening quest turns out to be something that I need to work on for the whole of the remainder of the year. It’s a “half year” quest that will take me up to Yule.

The quest began to take full effect in July. I felt that July was a “good time” to try opening my Third Eye. I took this process to mean that I would be attempting to find ways to enhance my spirituality, to increase my psychic awareness, divinatory capabilities, and to enhance my visions. As I ventured into the month of July the first thing I noticed was this news article about the increase in solar activity forecasted for the month of July:-

“Electromagnetic activity from the sun affects our electronic devices and human electromagnetic field. We are physically, mentally, and emotionally altered by electromagnetic charges from the sun, our body can feel sleepy but also become highly energized.

Psychological effects of CMEs (coronal mass ejections) are typically short lived and include headache, palpitations, mood swings, and feeling generally unwell. Chaotic or confused thinking, and erratic behaviors also increase. Solar storms can drive our emotions and maximize it to both good and bad side – the point here is to be aware of it.

The pineal gland in our brain is also affected by the electromagnetic activity which causes the gland to produce excess melatonin, a hormone which can cause sleepiness but it’s also known that some people have opposite side effects, usually those that are aware of the effects.” (source: thewatchers.adorraeli.com)

Now, I know a thing or two about the pineal gland. Our old friend Dr Serena Roney-Dougal gives a good account of the pineal gland in her book “Where Science and Magic Meet“. If there was a time in the year when I could benefit from increased pineal gland activity then it would seem that it would be when the sun was particularly active too. And that was July (and into August, it turned out). The coincidence seemed … fortuitous at least, pre-ordained at best.

The Pineal Gland’s location (c) Oddly Even blog

I began to think about what things would help me enhance my third-eye opening. I had already discovered a number of techniques that I think would enhance such work:-

1. Chanting the “i” vowel sound to tune and open the third-eye chakra point
2. Facing a source of light (sunlight) with your eyes closed but looking at the point where the Third Eye is located
3. Imagining a spiralling bridge connection to whatever the focus is (the Open Portal technique)

In practise, here are the things I have found that are useful specifically to promote the activity of remote viewing, which is an activity that I have concentrated on most as a means to open the Third Eye:-

1. Being in a altered state of consciousness, grounding and centering
2. Having either strong sun or full moon energy available
3. Transferring my vision into an imaginary hawk that is flying over the place that I want to remotely view

Here are some examples of how my third-eye powers have been increasing whilst using these techniques:-

1. Seeing the aura of a gnome, and of the Spirit of Place at Penmaenmawr
2. Sensing the location of spirit forms even when i can’t see them visually – Moel Ty Uchaf’s spirit of place, and the dog spirit in Sherwood Forest (via sense of smell)
3. Getting stronger and clearer visualisations, and being able to see the location of the object being shown to me via an energy bridge/connection path or as an aerial view of a hawk

Third-Eye Quest Tarot Reading

As I often do when I am at a major decision point, or facing a quest that needs the kind of enquiry that cannot be reduced to a simple binary “Yes” or “No” answer, I turned to the tarot cards to explain some aspects of the quest I was facing. Here are the cards that I drew in response to specific questions held in mind as I drew:-

1. WHAT DO I NEED TO TAKE INTO THE PROCESS? –  The Great Bear (Arthur – leadership, power of the land)
2. WHAT DO I NEED TO CHANGE? –  6 of Vessels (Reunion) and Page of Stones (Lynx)
3. WHAT WILL HELP ME MAKE THE CHANGE? - 4 of Bows (Celebration), 8 of Stones (Skill), 2 of Stones (Challenge)
4. WHAT WILL THE OUTCOME BE? – Ace of Arrows (Breath of Life), Queen of Vessels (Salmon)

Some recurring cards there, as previous draws recorded on this blog will attest. From this reading I drew several important pieces of information:-

1. I need to go somewhere where I can connect to the land in order to begin this process – somewhere connected to King Arthur.
2. 6 of Vessels is talking about re-uniting with old memories and resolving them. Like Kal has done – to go into the past to absolve an old memory of energy.
3. Something physical at a mound is suggested,
4. I will overcome a challenge using skill at a time of celebration (or the effects of celebration – joy -will be the key to unlocking the ability).
5. Wisdom and the Breath of Life are the rewards of opening the Third Eye

Armed with this useful information I felt empowered to take the quest further when it came to the Lammas Festival date – August 1st. In my forthcoming post about that you will see how the tarot card interpretations fitted into that day’s places and events.

Gwas.

Holiday season is in full swing at this time of year, and so I jetted off to foreign climes in the company of a group of friends. Our destination was Tallinn in Estonia, and I have to say that it is one of the most gorgeous and delightful, cultured and calm cities that I have ever had the pleasure to spend time in. I only got back today, and the purpose of me telling you all this is to re-visit a scenario where I was able to practise a skill that I am finding very useful – silencing!

You have undoubtedly had this situation happen to you at some time on your travels. You are in a public confined space and there is a baby or small child who is either too tired or is generally not enjoying the travelling experience. What do they do? Fidget, bawl and whine. Of course they do – it’s their way of coping. But it’s hell for the parents (who are somewhat embarrassed by the impact of the behaviour, but largely immune to its effects themselves), and even worse for the people who have to listen to it who haven’t lived with that behaviour to the point of toleration.

So, what do you do? Do you go up to the parents and ask them politely to sort it out? Do you shout and scowl at the kid and wish they’d put a sock in it? Both will be ineffective. Last year I went to Canada and on the long flight home there was just such an episode broke out on the plane. Then I tried a technique of summoning air spirits and asking for their co-operation in soothing the child and cutting the noise levels. To my immense surprise it worked! However, this time I have a bit more experience of working with energies myself and so I chose to try a slightly different method.

Last time I did this kind of work I called in assistance. This time I used my improved perception to scan the situation and obtain some more information. I did a centering exercise to put myself into the right frame of mind, and then pushed my attention out towards the child to “scan” what was going on – to feel for what was happening energetically. What I noticed was this:-

• The child had a white hot energy centre at his navel, and that centre was spawning energy threads like crazy!
• Most of these threads were attaching to his mother who was cradling him, and she must have had more than twenty of these threads attached to the main chakra points on the front of her energy field. Mostly there were in the region of her navel and heart chakras, but some threads went elsewhere too. I felt that she was willingly offering these connection points, but she was being hugely drained by this.
• The energy threads that were being created were seeking out the energy fields of anyone in the area, and where they found someone who would pay attention (i.e. the person would focus their attention on the child) then the thread would sense this and become attracted by that attention. The person who was directing their attention did not seem to notice when the child’s thread found and then loosely attached to them. This was a subtle event.
• I could see that through each thread connection energy was being drawn by the child into its own energy field. In other words – the child was latching onto everyone’s energy and feeding upon it like a leech!
• I could see that the threads were “weak” though – they were very flexible, loose and pale. I would liken them to the antennae of sea anemones with their suckers gently gripping anyone who could be attached to with a weak link.

Juvenile energy threads look like anemone tentacles

I realised that the weakness of the threads was due to the lack of developed WILL in the child. At this stage of his development the young lad hadn’t yet developed a strong will, and so the threads too were comparatively weak and too flexible. My own threads, and I sent one out to check it, were thinner, but much brighter, moved in a straighter line, and latched onto things with a much more force because my will was purposefully driving the event. For a while I was simply fascinated with watching the threads and the attachments,a nd seeing how people could break the bonds that the child was making by purposefully and wilfully trying to ignore his behaviour.

The child was, of course, utterly consciously oblivious to this subtle energy battle, yet his drive for energy was insatiable and so when one bond was broken his threads simply re-spawned from the mass at his navel centre and would then slither out probing for another energy field to connect to. The imagery I could see overlaid onto reality was utterly mesmerising until I looked down to see that there was a thread attaching to me too, even though I was four seats back from the action! Suddenly I was spurred into action myself. Here’s what I did.

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Oh blimey! We’re so far behind with our posts. Here’s one from the early part of June that I’ve just got around to. It’s the second part of the story of our Wales visit during the Venus Transit early in the month. I think I put “Mid June” at the start of the last post, but actually it was early June. Wishful thinking! I’m determined not to fall further than a month behind with these posts. We’ve got so much to tell you still! Onwards!

In this post I will tell you about some dowsed history of Dinas Emrys, and then another experiment we did with sound and chakra points. The scene starts with curtain up on a wide valley steeped in wisps of flowing mist like the breath 0f a Welsh green dragon filling the world with its presence.

Mist in the Nantgwynant Valley

Breath of the Dragon

As we turned the corner and passed over the crest of the A498 heading towards Beddgelert were were greeted by a sight that literally made us gasp in astonishment and wonder. The sweeping panorama of the lake and valley of Nantgwynant is stunning on any day of the year, but today there were wisps of cloud hanging on to the sides of the mountains that made the whole scene magical. Snowdon had never looked more mysterious, and broad smiles were pasted to our faces for the rest of the journey into the valley below.

Parking in one fo the handy lay-bys at the side of the road we got our wet-weather gear ready, despite the humidity. It was definitely going to rain. It had been raining all morning everywhere around us on the journey in. All surfaces were wet and slippery. I put my sturdy boots on. Kal went in trainers. He surely had to expect wet feet again?

We climbed over the iron gate, got to the path, and climbed up past the static caravans up the less steep side of the hill to the first plateau. Once reached I reminded Kal that this was the place where the mythological red and white dragons had their battle as Merlin and King Vortigern watched. Kal ignored this wonderful piece of information and reminded me that his vertigo had gone. I’m sure he misheard me!

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Karnak Temple

Karnak temple is only a few miles outside of Luxor. The temple is connected to Luxor temple via a row of hundreds of carved sphinxes – nothing like the size of the famous Giza sphinx, but with each one being at least man-sized or slightly larger that makes for one hell of an impressive sight when you see them lined up in a vast avenue. There is a dowsable energy ley line linking the two temples of Karnak and Luxor along which the sphinxes are placed.

Talking of impressive, the Karnak temple complex covers a vast area in itself. With several generations of pharaoh adding their own impressive extensions to the original temple there ended up being six distinct “pylons” or gates before an invasion of Persians then Romans put a stop to the proceedings. In addition to the huge main area dedicated to Amun-Re (the Precinct of Amun-Re), there are smaller satellite temples dedicated to the female deity Mut, and their son Montu. This makes the place sound quite simple – in fact it is incredibly complex having been presided over the at least thirty pharaohs.

View along the main Karnak temple aisle

The Aura of the Scarab Statue

The final touch is the inclusion of a sacred lake, and a scarab beetle statue which has a myth attached to it concerning it being a wishing status. The idea is to walk around the statue seven times in an anti-clockwise direction and your wish will come true.

I started the dowsing in the middle of a crowd of tourists at the scarab beetle statue. M wanted to walk around the scarab, so I let her. She was the only one doing this at first, but within two circles she was being joined by others who were copying the idea. By the fourth time around she had about 20 people circling around with her! I began to dowse when she started the perambulation. Was she generating any energy doing this, I wondered. She was, it seemed. I took a reading of the aura of the statue at that point. It was about ten feet wide.

As she continued to circle and more people joined her I could feel the aura expanding. I kept taking readings all the way through her walk. The aura seemed to be expanding faster than I could take dowsing readings! The more people that joined in, the faster the aura expended. Soon I had to stop at the lake that was 20 feet away because the aura was heading out into the water! She came back to join me. I didn’t ask what she’d wished for. It was for her to find out if such ideas came true.

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This is the first of a few posts telling you about my trip to the beautiful county of Nottingham. You may remember that I had dowsed using rods and map to find a location in which I could spend a few days of peace and quiet. The dowsing rods had done me a good turn. Hold on - I must stop saying it’s the rods themselves. The rods are an extension of an interaction between myself and my guiding spirits, with whom I have forged a psychic relationship. There. That’s better. Now you understand how I view this dowsing activity.

Before going to Creswell Crags I decided to have a relaxing walk in a forest that the landlady of my hotel had recommended – Clumber Park. Dowsing had suggested that I should be at Creswell Crags closer to midday, rather than in the morning. Clumber Park was very close by, so it was no bother to go visit it. I found it easily, and it was free to enter and to park when I got there (although there is usually a charge).

Clumber Park is a National Trust estate and so is consequently well organised and well kept. It was my intention simply to wander around for a while to acclimatise to the energies of the place, and to breathe in the warm late Winter fresh air – clear out my lungs and enliven the blood.

The estate is large, and once I had found the car park I began to wander around, feeling for a direction to walk in. The spire of the church nearby pulled me towards it. One of the signs promised peacefulness and this drew me in. The chapel was impressive from the outside – much bigger than you would expect for a chapel that must have served a s very small congregation. Interestingly, its dedication was to “Our Lady“. An indication to me that it was hedging its bets as to whether that was Mary or some other natural female deity.

I couldn’t dowse around inside because the building was closed for Winter refurbishment, but the surrounding trees made me feel welcome anyway, and I wandered off towards the stretched-out lake to watch the swans taking off and landing. The swans’ wings made the oddest rhythmic sound which captivated me for many minutes. Oh, the luxury of time – time enough to let oneself fall into the arms of Nature to feel her heart beating!

The Chapel of Our Lady, Clumber Park

Peach of a Beech

As I wandered away from the lakeside something made itself known to me and I began to walk in the direction of the ‘tug’ – the mental feeling that something was calling to me. Within minutes I was walking up a small mound of shrubs and trees to discover a huge beech tree on the top of the rise. I wasn’t surprised, but instead delighted.

I spent a few minutes in meditation with the tree, and asked how we might interact together. My suggestion was to rebalance my chakras using the tree’s helpful energies, in return for me providing the tree with as much growth energy as I could muster. I set to work generating some energy from a combination of my heart and sacral chakras and provided them to the tree’s roots. In return I felt the tree go to work on my aura, and after it had finished I felt rather good. This might be a useful preparation for things to come later, I thought to myself.

As I said my thanks to the tree, I heard in my mind “Good work, young Druid“. That was a nice touch. Young? Not how I would describe myself, but relative to the tree I suppose I was. And in terms of my druid knowledge – certainly in my youth there.

I was now feeling balanced and prepared for the day ahead. I seemed to have all the energy I could need. The recovery process was off to a great start. Now it was time to visit the caves at the crags and an unexpected meeting with an Earth Spirit, which I will report in my next post.

Gwas.