The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘conwy’

Finally I have got around to writing up my Samhain experiences. It’s only the back end of November, and this occurred at the beginning of October! One aspect of this year’s work has been the incredible amount of material we have had to deal with. Only a fraction of it appears on this blog. This year we will end up with 200 draft posts that didn’t get finished. But now – back to the tale at hand.

Yew Know What To Do

We start, as usual, at the Llangernyw Yew tree. 4000 years of dendrochronology pulsing through its dark boughs. On the way to the village of Llangernyw (yew) I was heading towards a rainbow which coincidentally seemed to land on the village as I approached. Coincidence, of course, because this light phenomenon is linked to one’s position relative to the light refraction.

The churchyard was quiet. This gave me the space to follow my intuition. I walked down to the graveyard and sat on the wooden bench where I had once met a shade. There was nothing there now, but I felt I needed to be here first before moving back up to the tree. Perhaps I needed to be grounded before approaching the tree, or energetically harmonised? Soon I was back at the top of the churchyard standing on the edges of the yew tree’s canopy. I asked for entry…waited…and it was granted.

Llangernyw Church with its magnificent yew tree

For some reason I had brought some new crystals with me. I felt I should place them along one of the yew’s branches. In the early morning sunlight they glowed with their respective colours and I left them to do whatever it was they were doing. Sometimes such acts have no intention on my part. This is where trust comes into the equation. I felt around for the best place to sit and found that it was not in my usual place. As I settled in I noticed that I was sitting in the place where I got a particularly sparkly view of the sunlight through the branches. That was lucky, eh? I began to drift off…therefore before I went completely I asked the yew tree to help me discover my quest for the next part of the year… and then my mind went blank as the sunlight danced in my eyes and the spark of wonder that drives my spiritual path began to surface.

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Having joined The National Trust this year I was happy to see that their suggestions for the top five places to see autumn colour included a relatively local place – Bodnant Garden near Conwy in North Wales. I say local – I mean less than an hour’s drive away. 

M and I chose a day to go, and invited friends to accompany us, so of course it began to rain heavily as we set off that morning. Nevertheless, we were determined to go. Now I’m so glad I did. Were we too late in the year, we wondered? Had we missed that autumn colour? Luckily, we hadn’t. The gardens were a resplendent vision of dying colour even in late October.

Here are some of the best photos from that visit:

Gwas.

In this third and final post on the Beltane trip I will reveal how I discovered the true meaning of the phrase “See with the hawk’s vision” – a phrase that had been given to me during my meditation beneath The Llangernyw Yew tree.

After Llangernyw we drove the twenty or so miles towards the north coast of Wales and soon were speeding along the main arterial road that feeds the northern holiday towns with their tourist lifeblood durkng the summer months. We passed Llandudno, then the junction for Conwy, through the short tunnels and out into the shadow of the hills above Penmaenmawr. This seemingly innocuous and insistinctive village is actually a gateway to one of the tightest agglomerations of cairns, circles and cromlechs anywhere in Wales.

Our destination on this May Day was The Druid’s Circle – a stone circle known to have a particular alignment or association with the energies of the Beltane time of year. We drove up the ridiculously steep hill, threading our way from the centre of the village in alternate left and right turns that were now well practised and instinctive despite the infrequent and late signage. If you plan to visit the stone circle for yourself then we recommend a good map, and a willingness to explore the housing estates above the village!

A beautiful view from Penmaenmawr Druid's Circle

On the top of the hills above Penmaenmawr the view was clear and beautiful. We had endured the harsh winds all the way up and now stood bullied by the winds as we drank in the views across to The Great Orme at Llandudno. F0r the first time we took an interest in some rocks that seemed to form an alignment with the small cairn circle that we previously named “The Little Druid”. There may not be any significance in this alignment of stones across the hillside, but nevertheless we noted it for future visits.

Busy Beltane at the Circle

Kal was soon to disappear as we reached the main circle. He had taken an interest in the outlying people and stones, probably because the main circle was populated with several groups of people all engaged in their own Beltane work. I had work to do too. I wanted to connect with the Genius Loci of the place, as I had done previously, and to see whether I could get information about the Hawk of May quest.

I went into the centre of the circle (which I usually avoid, but on this day it seemed charged with potential, whereas it is usually quite confusing and difficult to work with). I stood there and cleansed myself of my worldy energies. Soon I was off towards one of the stones in the southern edge. Kal had been sat at one of those stones too, but now he wandered off in search of something interesting to do. I was trying not to use my rods, but instead to feel for where I should be. I felt one stone in particular was the right one to be at, so I sat there being blasted in one ear by the strong wind.

The stunning setting of the Druid's Circle

This southern stone, not one of the ‘feature’ stones of the circle by any means, I felt had a connection with the Genius Loci. I went into a trance and my mind wandered up and down, to the sky and into the earth, then back to the circle. When I connected it to the Genius Loci’s spirit then things began to occur. It was difficult at first to hear anything because I was trying to listen over the top of the howling wind. As soon as I made the wind the backing music to the trance then the low distant voice of the spirit of this circle emerged to speak. I made my now customary offering of emotion and information, offering love, gratitude and a download of my recent druidic events in return for the information I might receive. Once I had donated this gift then the gift was reciprocated, and soon I learned some things about my quest.

I was taken into the air, flying like a hawk above the scenery. I knew I was in a hawk’s form because I could switch my perception between two modes – an aerial view where I could see for miles around in all directions, or I could focus on one spot and zoom right into that place in minute detail. I practised this way of seeing for a few minutes until I grew comfortable with how it worked. I wasn’t exactly sure whether I was seeing a real place, or a concept of a place because it was hard to recognise the landscape with these two new ways of seeing. Either way, I went with it, and began to ask my question to the spirit of place.

1. Is this way of seeing the end point of my quest? – NO, this is a gift for you to learn from.
2. Should I been seeking a real or a metaphorical hawk? – BOTH. You should find the hawk that is really in the landscape.
3. In the landscape? Is this a terrestrial landscape figure I should find? – YES.
4. Where can I find the hawk? – CLOSE TO HOME.
5. How will I be able to begin to identify the hawk? It seems like an impossible task! – FIND A HOLY WELL. This will be your starting point.

The connection faded. Either I was weakening energetically, or the information was dwindling. The connection faded and I returned to normal waking consciousness and found myself back in the circle with all the other people and the howling wind. I had almost forgotten about them for however long I had been away! Now the wind made itself known again and I wrapped myself up against its cool penetrating fingers as they pulled my hair around into stupid shapes.

This new dimension to the quest made it more exciting. It was just like something out of “The Secret Land” that I had finished reading some weeks before, where terrestrial landscape figures were found by scouring old maps. Now I had my own local quest to find a hawk in the lands close to my home. I couldn’t wait to start searching, but first I had to search for Kal, and to thank the spirit of this marvellous circle for again providing me with the state of mind where I could explore this quest in more detail. Despite, or perhaps because of the sense-blocking weather conditions, yet again I had come away from the Druid’s Circle one step closer to achieving my goal.

Gwas – Hunting the Hawk of May

Our second stop on our Beltane journey after performing a cleansing and energising routine at Dinas Bran was to head for our venerable and reliable teacher – the Llangernyw Yew tree – Wales’ oldest tree. This tree is tucked away in a small village just behind the Conwy hills and was easy to reach from the A5 road that runs the length of North Wales.

Whilst Kal busied himself with the graveyard (his favourite part) I went straight to the tree – no messing. As I walked up from the graveyard towards the tree something unusual happened. I began to sprout ethereal wings! I felt them spread and rise to either side 9f my shoulders and my head began to form into a sharp-pointed beak. This was a highly unusual feeling, but I recognised the figure that was forming around me like an energetic head-dress – it was the form of a hawk.

I had the tree to myself briefly and made swift work of setting my place. I put incense sticks where I felt they needed to be – three of them – and I lit them before looking for a position to sit.

The Oldest Tree in Wales

I found a hollowed bole that seemed to be a perfect platform upon which to sit. I wondered why, in all the visits I had made here previously, I had never noticed this place before? Well, it seems we find the things we need when we are ready for them when on a spiritual path. I sat and began to enter into a blank state of mind. Soon I was deep in meditation and my mind seemed to have split into two parts. My ‘ordinary’ mind was keenly aware of the noises around, even though they were all just a mosaic of sounds rather than anything distinguishable. My meditative mind was travelling deeper into the rabbit hole provided by the Yew Tree and its conducive environment.

I heard people milling around but I had no idea what they were doing or saying. My meditative mind had the upper hand and was interested in focusing on the questions I had come here to answer. I began.

1. Was I right in thinking that I had a bit more time to complete my previous quest? – YES, until Solstice, but beyond that the advantages would be rendered useless.
2. What is the nature of my Beltane quest? – To find this answer you must go deeper.
3. Is the quest related to a hawk, the Hawk of May – YES, but to find out how you must go deeper. Give more of yourself.

I decided to go deeper. I re-doubled my efforts to sink deeper into trance, blocking out all the real-world noise that was still lingering in the other half of my mind. The noise went quieter and quieter until it was a distant whisper compared to the infinite blackness of the Yew Tree’s enshrouding presence. I began to open my chakras up to the influence of the old tree – I trusted it implicitly now. I poured out my spiritual experience through the chakra points in turn. As I got to the third-eye chakra there was an intensifying violet colour in the front of my mind. I decided that I should stick with this as it was the only chakra point that had shown a colour during the opening process.

As I filled my inner vision with this violet pigment suddenly I heard the message loud and clear – “See with the hawk’s vision!”

The magical yew tree's insides

Here was the hawk as a symbol of this day again – The Hawk of May. I pushed further. What kind of vision, I asked? I was suddenly elevated to a view over the land where I could see for miles in each direction, yet I could also bring my vision to a fine point in order to focus on one small aspect of the landscape below with an uncanny precision. Was this literal, or a metaphor?

When I came back to consciousness I was surrounded by four tree tourists – two couples who had come to see this famous tree but, as is often the way with people who are energetically unaware, they didn’t know what to do with themselves when they got to the tree and they quickly began to look around the church itself, and then even more quickly they moved on. One of the girls was interested enough to ask if it was a nice spot that I was sitting in. I replied that indeed it was, and that she should try it herself. I shouldn’t tease like that, but sometimes you do encounter energetically-aware people and it’s nice to pass on your experiences if you can. She lasted three seconds. Oh well!

Kal re-joined me and we discussed our stories about our recent experiences. Kal suggested that “the vision of the hawk” might be the next turn on the spiral of remote viewing. In other words – was I supposed to have another session of remote viewing but this time with all that I had learned since last time? Something I would have to consider and try for myself over the next few weeks, I thought.

Little did I know that soon the information would be revealed about what exactly the phrase “See with a hawk’s vision” meant. But that is for the final Beltane post coming soon.
Gwas

23rd August , 2010 – Tal-y-Fan mountain, Conwy, North Wales.

In this first part of my day visit to Tal-y-Fan I discovered some new aspects to dowsing. I will describe my return to Cerrig Pryfaid stone circle, and then in part two I will talk about the two standing stones nearby, along with the interesting dolmen alongside them.

The Colourful Doris Frankish

Amazingly I somehow managed to have a whole day to myself unexpectedly. Don’t ask me how that happened, because I am still too shocked to remember, although I should because it is such a rarity. I decided that I would return to a site that I had almost forgotten about – Cerrig Pryfaid, the ‘Stones of the Flies’. I had discovered that there was a dolmen and standing stone nearby which neither Kal nor I had ever managed to find before, often due to either time pressure or more usually rain and hail pressure! Today, I would find it – the skies were only overcast, and although most of the the country was wet. I was sure I would somehow be fortunate and miss the inevitable rain.

I had been listening to a talk by a Radionics practitioner Doris Frankish on the British Society of Dowser’s regular podcast “Adventures in Dowsing” [handout PDF here], and she had prompted me to think again about colour dowsing. Colour dowsing was something that Kal and I had played with at Runcorn Hill, where we had dowsed rainbow colours within an energetic aura, but we hadn’t taken it further. Now Doris had offered the possibility that the energies I dowse in the landscape might have particular colour frequencies too. It seemed so obvious I wondered why we had never pursued that line of enquiry before, but we hadn’t made such a thing part of our regular dowsing list of questions when we investigated sites, so I wanted to test it out.

The Fly Ring below Tal-Y-Fan

Cerrig Pryfaid re-visited

My first port of call was Cerrig Pryfaid stone circle. Finally, I had both time and reasonable weather (although a band of rain was closing in over the southern hills). My first question was to find a ritual entrance pathway, and I was taken by the dowsing rods to the first standing stone, a blade-like male rock some thirty or more feet away from the edge of the circle of stones. I was then led inwards, over the top of a recumbent stone (female) and off to the lower side of the circle, to a place where three rocks lay together, set in the grass fifteen feet south of the stone circle. This was a power centre. I recognised it … I had done all my energy work at these three stones the last time I was here. The central stone is the power centre that the dowsing rods indicated as being a focal point for a twisted pair of energy lines. [see my map]. However, that was my last visit. This time, that same stone was now a focal point for energies that were formed in a slightly different configuration.

Female outlier is focal point for circle's energies

I had a new paradigm to work with – colour dowsing. I didn’t have a colour wheel to refer to, but I could at least run through a series of colours in my mind, the colours of the rainbow, and then some additional ones that I thought might be relevant based on experience, namely white, silver and gold. What I discovered amazed me. I only found three lines that registered as having colour values. The first line was green, it was neutral and it ran fairly straight up from the valley below and went through the stone circle. I tried to find out more about this green line:-

1. Is the source of this green line natural or man-made? Natural.
2. Is the source based upon energy from earth, air, fire, water or a combination? Water (it was a lake in the valley, after a few more questions).
3. Was the line in existence before I visited the site (ever)? Yes.

Two other lines could be found. A violet line extended along the south-eastern side of the circle, skirting the stones, and then just before it reached the place where the green line cut across the circle the violet line curled into the circle and formed an anti-clockwise spiral, then another, and finally one more. Three female spirals in all. I needed to ask more questions:-

1. Is the source of this violet line natural or man-made? Both. Hmm, more questions required.
2. Is the source based upon energy from earth, air, fire, water or a combination? Earth.
3. Was the line in existence before I visited the site (ever)? No.
4. Was I involved in its creation? Yes.

So, I was involved in its creation somehow. I asked some more questions and found that the line had healing properties, and that it had been created by my last visit when I had done some healing work on the circle, work to balance the energies. This violet energy line was created as a result of that. It emerged from the stone that I had sat on to do that work, and from which there emerged a powerful earth energy source. So, what was the other line?

One final line came out of the same stone. It took me until the last colour choice to find out which one it was: it was a gold line. This emerged from the stone and snaked along the south-western side of the circle, again moving in and around the stones, sometimes coming inside the circle and sometimes staying outside. This line didn’t terminate as I had expected. As it moved towards where the green line cut across the circle the gold line veered westward, connecting with the several outliers that lay in that direction – two male stones and a female recumbent stone. I decided to shortcut the questioning here – were the properties of this gold line similar to the violet line, except for its polarity? Yes. Well, that made things easier. I think I understood this male golden line in relation to its opposite, the female violet line.

 

 

 

Colour lines at Cerrig Pryfaid stone circle

 

Attracting attention

I wondered whether there was currently any nergetic entity present at the site. When I had dowsed last there was nothing, but since I had found that I had successfully managed to balance and heal the site, I wondered if this had had any impact by making the place more inviting to nature spirits and the like. I asked a few questions along that basis:-

1. Was there any Genius Loci at the circle? YES. It was a male spirit, and it had not been here long.
2. Were there any nature spirits here? YES, air and water spirits now visited the circle regularly and agan , this had only happened since my last visit.

I turned my attention t some new questions that I have been trying to include about sacred sites recently:-

1. Was the circle’s design based upon any particular sacred number? YES, 4.
2. Was the circle aligned to any celestial body? THE SUN.
3. When was the site most energetically active? SUMMER SOLSTICE.
4. Are the energies here influenced by any celestial body? SATURN.

The violet and gold lines, if they matched the qualities spoken of by Doris Frankish, would be a permanent feature of the circle, leaving it balanced again until the energies were interfered with. Were these balanced energy lines permanently in place until disturbed? YES. Having contented myself that my previous work was still valid and that there was nothing to do here, I decided that I should try to find the other two sites – a standing stone and a cromlech – supposedly further down the valley. While the weather held this seemed like a good time to do it.

Gwas.

There are two places we go to when we need some information – two sites that have never let us down when it comes to getting answers to tricky questions – The Druid’s Circle stone circle up atop Penmaenmawr near Conwy, and the Llangeryw Yew tree that is about half an hour away from there nestled in the north-west tip of Wales. Kal was going for answers to some life and death questions – i.e. questions about his life, and related to the death energies that he was interested in, but certainly wasn’t going to study, oh no. I was going for a host of things: mainly to get some answers about neutral energy and then some miscellaneous bits that had been unresolved for a while.

Maen Crwn

The long trek up the hills behind Penmaenmawr takes you past Red Farm (whose stone circle  we have yet to visit) and a standing stone known as “Maen Crwn” or “Round Stone”. Blimey – you can’t leave some people to do the naming, can you? They’re a right ‘un-poetic’ bunch! Anyhow, Round Stone is the noticeable hunk of rock that protrudes through the middle of a field of sheep as you pass by the lone house on the way to the top. Previously we have had negative energies coming off that stone and have avoided doing much with it. The last time I was up that way I felt the urge to “sort it out” and managed to do so merely with some good vibes and a cleverly-placed stone that helped to re-shape the energies.

We checked its’ current status as we passed, and for me it felt fine. For Kal, it was OK, but not somewhere he should remain fro long. That’s fine, at least it wasn’t detrimental this time. I asked Kal to check whether it had been changed due to my previous intervention – he dowsed a “yes” which pleased me. Nice to see your work bearing fruit. There was certainly a less ominous air surrounding the stone, and the area as a whole felt more inviting. The sheep were happy to browse around the stone too, whereas on one memorable previous visit the sheep had actually chased us away as we approached!

Cylch Glanhau

Before we reached the Druid’s Circle there was preparatory business to attend to. There is a small cairn circle known inventively as “Circle 275” in megalithic “circles”, but which I am going to name “Cylch Glanhau” (a perhaps too literal translation of “The Cleaning Circle”). There you go – it has a purpose and has been so named. Kal wandered off to admire the view and check his flies or something, but I remembered that the last time I was here I had been directed to stand within this small circle before going to the Druid’s Circle, and I wanted to see whether that was a necessary step for this particular journey. There was nothing energetically awry with my own field, but the dowsing rods indicated that Kal would need to be cleansed before he visited if he wanted the most favourable “reception” from the circle’s energies.

Kal being cleansed - dirty boy!

So, I called him over and made him stand in the circle for a few minutes before we carried on. He gave me looks which said “Is this strictly necessary?“. I wasn’t being argued with.

Druid’s Circle

Also known as “Y Meini Hirion“, which translates rather prosaically as, “The Standing Stones”. There they go again with their poetic naming – sheesh the romance is killing me! The site is a fair hike to get to and a strain on the car’s engine to even get to “base camp” as it were. Still, the trek is always worth it – Druid’s Circle always rewards effort, and today was no different. The first reward was the view – for the first time ever I could see as far as The Orme at Llandudno.

The long view

I entered the circle by the entrance I had been shown on my previous visit, in the eastern side. That was also how I approached the site, from across the dark heathland and through the marsh at the head of the small brook that runs silently beside the circle. I don’t know why – it just felt right to approach from that way, following animal tracks and instinct.

Once I had entered appropriately, stating name and purpose, I waited for the customary ‘tug’ at my energetic centre – the navel chakra. I got one and so went in, pleased to be back and welcomed. I deposited myself on the usual female recumbent stone in the western edge of the circle, as was my custom. I felt very comfortable now, and wanted to get on with some work. I picked my rods out of my bag and began to dowse almost straight away.

I started by asking is there was any Neutral energy here at the stone circle. I got a “yes“. Good, because otherwise it would be a wholly different experience than I would have hoped for.

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Equinox on Anglesey

We had fun and games trying to get to Anglesey for the time of the Vernal Equinox. We were trundling along, yapping away and missed the junction just over the Menai Bridge. We doubled back, went over the older bridge, then got behind slow drivers – all good fun. But we made it. Just in time to deposit our bags and relax on top of the mound at 11:45am – the exact Vernal Equinox at Bryn Celli Ddu (pronounced ‘brin kethli thee’) by my best estimation. There were no other visitors that morning until we were about to leave for Penmaenmawr – which made our relaxation easier. [Kal ~ and the two visitors that did appear were named Deanah and Rob, Deanah was a "good witch" and felt she had some innate sensitivities (don't we all have them? Perhaps we dontall feel them?) And Rob was her enabler, his words.]

We tried sitting inside the mound but quickly found this wasn’t where we were supposed to be. We went to sit back on our respective power centres that we had found on top of the mound, and soaked in the experience of the exact balance point between light and darkness that day – the Vernal (Spring) Equinox. The equilibrium point of night and day.

[Kal ~ Both Gwas and I had a most unusual sensation whilst at BCD. Up until that day our usual modus operandi has been to set about dowsing around and generally getting a feel for the Genius of the place, which then innevitably leads to other more directed questions and interesting paths (figuratively and literally). However on this occasion we seemed unconcerned with dowsing and when we both speculated on this - via the rods - we were given a resounding message "you are here to just be" - which, for the most part, is what we did]

When we had relaxed enough we started dowsing. I noticed the WSW-ENE alignment of the chamber with the remaining sighting stone and vowed to check that once I got home. I found that if you follow that orientation across North Wales it runs through several significant places, not least of which is the intriguingly named Woodchurch on the Wirral Peninsular. I also picked up a seed whilst sat on my power centre on top of the mound for no apparent reason. I pocketed it as a souvenir.

Baaad vibes

An hour later we stopped off for supplies in Penmaenmawr village. The journey up the hill was slow and dramatic with stunning views thanks to the clear and sunny weather. We tramped up the hill towards our next dowsing objective – a lone boulder in a field next to a line of tall fir trees and a house at the end of a track. As we slowly readied our dowsing rods and gingerly approached the stone, the sheep that were in the nearby fields looked up. Quickly, they began to assemble, from all directions. With every step we took three more sheep joined the gathering flock – and they were bleating like crazy at us! What an unusual welcome! I talked soothingly to them, but they were having none of it and warned us off in no uncertain terms.

Kal took the lead and dowsed towards the stone regardless. His rods crossed strongly and he backed away quickly. “Very strong bad energy.” he warned. We looked at each other and at the sheep. They had now blocked our path to the stone, and we were beginning to take the hint. As we packed our rods away the sheep fell silent, just watching us. We walked away further up the track a little and the sheep began to disperse.

[Kal ~ this has to be one of the strangest occurences that we have come across and deserves some more attention. When Gwas says the sheep gathered, this is an understatement - they came in from surrounding fields too, through gates and gaps. Talk about eerie! Before I even got to dowsing I got a buzzing in my head that felt like a headache coming on, which prompted me to dowse for -ve energies. Perhaps we should have a note to self - ensure protective shields are set up prior to wandering around ancient sites - as on this occasion we came up against a monster of a bad one and, as you will see further down this post, another -ve energy encounter. And here is another question that we will be investigating in a lot more detail in the future - Why didnt we do anything about the -ve energies around that stone?]

As if to break the uneasy silence Kal pointed to a fallen branch – “Didn’t you need a staff?” I preferred to have one, and had ‘forgotten’ my own in the morning rush to get ready, so I picked it up. It felt light but strong, and was a perfect height and weight to walk with. So be it. We would continue to the circles.

‘Decorative stones’

It’s always nice to meet people who take an interest in what we do. As we arrived at the Druid’s Circle we saw and heard two gentlemen who were discussing the origins, history and purpose of this site and others. After we did some preliminary dowsing during which Kal managed to find all the same paths and main energy points as I had found on my previous visits, even down to the order of strength of particular stones and power centres. That was very validating, and I was pleased that not one single thing was different. I vowed to show Kal my pattern sketches of the site and really freak him out!

We were soon joined by the two strangers who quizzed us about our dowsing activities. After they got more familiar they ventured their own theories about significant stones and suggestions that the ring of small stones that surrounded most of the major standing stones at the site were “decorative”. Kal eager to find out using only the rods. He asked – “Were they merely supportive ?”. No support from our rods. We asked: “Do they enhance the energetic field of the stone around which they are placed?“. Yes. The onlookers sensed a conspiracy and pulled their faces. We weren’t speculating, though. Just trying to ask good questions backed by practical experience.

We found the main power centre for the Druid’s Circle to be the patch of earth slightly off-centre to the circle. This has become a regular feature of some sites, but not all by any means. However, it didn’t surprise me because I had found this on my last visit too. Our friendly dowsing newbies were struggling trying to get the rods to do anything other than stay straight (if only you knew the irony of THAT statement!). They gave up trying to find any energy emerging from “The Hooded Man”, as one fo the stones is apparently known. I dowsed it and found a four feet wide band of neutral straight aligned energy that crossed through the Hooded Man and the tall stone opposite – the infamous “phallic emblem” of the tall rock and two small round rocks. Were ancient people trying to tell us that this circle was mainly MALE energies? Well, they are right.

The Bryn Celli Ddu to Childwall Ley

It’s not every day you make a new discovery. Or at least a discovery that’s new to you, if not to anyone else. Today was such a day, although it took several hours of plotting and lining up in Google Maps to reveal just how interesting the discovery was. When a line is drawn from Bryn Celli Ddu through the two circles at Penmaenmawr it traces a route through Old Colwyn, Mynydd Marian, Woodchurch on the Wirral, Croxteth Cemetry, Cbildwall Manor, Mcgoldrick Park, and probably beyond that in either direction too. The alignment is on a WSW-ENE path.

The only other notable finding at Druid’s Circle (the day was ebbing away) was the entrance to the circle. This was located in the gap between two flat stones at the southern end of the circle. One of the entrance stone (again, as we are now often finding) registered for strong female energies, and Kal proceeded to place some quartz crystals on the rock and put his bottle of water in the middle of the crystals. I dowsed a link from that stone to the other female recumbent stone on the western edge, where I had lain my staff to ‘rest’.

As the two now-disappointed gentlemen packed and left with hearty goodbyes, Kal and I decided to see what links there might be with other sites nearby. I dowsed a male line starting at the tal stone with the two ‘balls’, which seems to be the key stone, as it has all three energy forms in and around it. The line led in a slow sinewy path out of the circle and over the small hill to a formation of stones a few hundred yards away. I returned to the Druid’s Circle to determine the nature of the linkage. Was there any other form of link? Yes, a neutral ‘bridge’ between the two sites that went through the air, following the path of the alignment ley. Well, well. We’ve seen that before too!

Monument 280: The Healed Circle

“Monument 280″ is such an impersonal moniker for an ancient sacred site. the Megalithic Portal categorises this site as a ring cairn. Fair enough. It’s sort of rounded in shape, and the stones aren’t very large – not large enough to call it a stone circle.

This circle seemed different. The stones were smaller and far more rounded by weathering than the jagged male phallic symbols of the Druid’s Circle. We dowsed for its age – older than Druid’s. We asked if it had fallen into disuse – yes. Well, still unsure as to what that meant, but I didn’t want to take it further right then. However, there was still a link.

We were about to leave – fairly disinterested by this circle’s lack of drama when I turned to Kal: “Should we ask if this circle’s alright?” He knew what I meant. Could we, should we, re-energise it? I hesitated, then asked him to go ahead and dowse for the answer. Despite his disinterest he got a positive response! Oh no! Then we had work to do here, and couldn’t call it a day just yet. The sun was now beginning to drop along with the temperature, and the sun seemed permanently masked by a thick veil of cloud.

Before we did anything we decided to work out which stones had which qualities. We located the Key Stone (the most energetically important), and that had male, female and neutral energies. Most other stones were male. Two of the longer stones opposite each other (pictured) dowsed as female.

We found male and neutral energies were creating black streams affecting the energy balance of the stone circle. Kal dowsed for the source of the black streams. Hmmm..maybe we shouldn’t have asked. Peculiar goings-on at this site! Some dark energy workers had been utilising this site for their own ends, it seemed. We recoiled and chatted for a moment about what to do next.

The Straw Deer

We decided to protect ourselves and try to re-balance the energies (i.e. remove the black streams). Kal dowsed that this was work for me to do, with his help from outside the circle. He went off to put some protection around me, and I did the same. Later, when we compared notes the sensations and visual metaphors employed were identical in every way. I certainly felt well protected. I quietened my mind (with some difficulty) but soon felt as though I was able to let thoughts form from outside my rational consciousness. I suddenly knew what I had to do – I had to create the symbol of Venus that I had been shown earlier that week at the base of the stone that Kal had identified as the key stone for transmitting the new energy form we were about to create.

I got up from my meditation and scoured the area. I had to form the symbol out of something real, I felt. I found some dry grass stems and suddenly remembered the little seed that I had picked up for no reason at Bryn Celli Ddu – that would form the eye-shape I needed. I had to make sure that the symbol wouldn’t be blown away as soon as I laid it down, so I cut back a layer of turf and placed the symbol on the earth directly, at the place where Kal had identified as most suitable for energy work.

As I patted the grass back down the sun came out from behind the veil of mist and I gasped in amazement at the synchronicity. But then, we have come to see this happen so many times that I really shouldn’t be surprised any more. I smiled deeply. Confirmation that we were on the right track. Now we felt as though we needed to disconnect and cleanse ourselves.

We went back to the Druid’s Circle to drink the water that Kal had placed in his circle of five quartz crystals. It tasted great. Then we both stood with our backs to the flat main stone on the eastern edge. We faced the remains of the day’s sun and drank in the last rays. After a few minutes we felt the stone pulling energy out of us – cleansing us of the traces of the other circle’s energies. A few minutes later we both stepped away from the stone simultaneously without prompting. Time to go. A quick dowse : had we done any good? Yes. Was the other circle being balanced by our work? Yes. Would it have any adverse effects? No. We made a note to check it regularly.

We watched the sun set as we headed back down the hill to the old faithful little blue car.

Gwas

Following some newbies with copper sticks.