The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘cromlech’

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

In this second post describing my day’s visit to the sites around the Tal-Y-Fan mountain I describe some standing stones that are nearby to each other, and then a visit to a cromlech (or dolmen). After visiting the stone circle of Cerrig Pryfaid I was aware that the rain clouds were coming over the hills behind the stone circle, so i drove back down the track to the junction, parked there, and made preparations for a wet visit to the next few sites, all of which would be new to me.

Ffon-y-Cawr (The Giant’s Staff) and Ffon-y-Y-Cawr (The Giant’s Stick, or Picell Arthur)

I was able to locate these stones thanks to them being listed on a site called Megalithic Walks. I have used this site before to locate local megalithic sites because their directions and walking instructions are both accurate and helpful. What I should have done was to take a closer look at The Megalithic Portal before I went, because there were some more sites in the area, but I was in too much of a rush to spend the time to research the area properly. Still, it leaves me with a good excuse to go back at some point.

As I walked down the track, past two gates, then I noticed the blade-like shape of The Giant’s Staff. I approached it from the southern side and took some photographs. I wouldn’t say that it was too windy to dowse, because I have dowsed in a gale before, but it was discouraging and so I didn’t do much more than confirm the presence of some female energy, and measure and aura around the stone. I was intent on finding the dolmen, and it had just started to rain. For me, the idea of climbing inside a dolmen sounded quite appealing at that point.

The female Ffon-y-Y-Cawr stone

As I continued on my way down the track that was rapidly turning into a shallow stream something int he field to my right caught my eye. I stopped to peep over at the sheep and saw that, in amongst them was a directional needle stone – later I found out it was called The Giant’s Stick. It was pointing towards the lakes in the valley below, it seemed to me. I will try to get an exact bearing next time I visit in good weather, but I would say it was pointing roughly North East – towards the sunrise at a significant point in the year, I would suggest.

Ffon-y-Cawr - The Giant's Stick

Maen Y Bardd cromlech (The Poet’s Stone)

The main event loomed into view. It was unmissable, and I was glad that my walking boots had ensured allowing me to reach this point in relative dryness. Now the rainw as coming down much harder and I made towards the cromlech in search of shelter. Any fun intestigating it would have to wait. I dived inside as the winds howled and the rain lashed. In my haste I nearly tripped myself up getting in, but recovered and sat down in a heap. To complete stillness inside! It was like someone had put a great lid on a jar of angry bees. A tickle of air squeezed through the tighly-fitted stones at the back, and outside – as though on a television screen – I was horizontal rain passing by like an angry swarm of some biblical plague. Inside, all was dry and welcoming. I sat back and made myself comfortable, which was surprisingly easy despite the confined space. It was lovely. You know that feeling of being inside when all hell is breaking loose outside and rain is battering your window panes, but you’ve got a warm fire going inside and you’re dry? That was how I felt then. Safe, secure, home.

Whatever the intended purpose of these cromlechs, one of their functions is quite clearly practical! If you’re out on those hills and the weather turns on you, there’s no better place to sit it out. It was as though someone had oriented the stones to form the perfect barrier – no wind, no rain penetrated. And yet, I sat looking out of the side of the structure like looking through a huge window at the valley below, wreathed in the mists of rain. I was protected even though the “window” was wide open. Genius design.

Spirtual centre and element shelter

The homely feel began to have its effect. I began to zone out and ponder. I didn’t yet know that the structure was called The Poet’s Stones, and yet there I was dreaming about the majesty of the view, the way the lakes lay static and glistening in the valley below, and was creating metaphors for the rain in my mind. I was just thinking that this would be a delightful view on a sunny day when the rain began to ease off. Minutes later the sun broke through a spotlit several patched around. Again my mind went into poetry mode and I stared admiringly at this natural spectacle, taking photograpsh that I knew would never capture the beauty of those moments, the intense lighting and contrast, the suddenness of the shifts in weather. The atmosphere was highly spiritual.

View down the valley from Tal-Y-Fan

Back to practical matters. With the rains easing and the sun out I dowsed the cromlech I found that it was energetically clear and neutral. There were no energies present inside, no genius lociGenius Loci means 'spirit of the place' and refers to the geological/gaian spirit of place. It is transfixed to a place – being an embodiment of the collective intelligence of the place., no nature spirits, no elementals, no earth energies – nothing. There was nothing to ask permission from, so I added violet and gold energies to make the site more inviting to anything that may wish to inhabit the space, and asked for green natural lines to be attracted to the site by linking it to the stone circle above. Next time I visit the little hideaway I will check to see whether lines such as those are present or not.

So, there’s still more to see in this area, and of course, just over the other side of Tal-y-Fan are all the sites around Penmaenmawr which deserve more time too. Oh, if only the week was ten days long!

Gwas.

20th August, 2010 – Trevethy Quoit, St Cleer, Cornwall

It is not very often that Kal and I go on a wild goose chase. We are usually quite well prepared, and we have technology to back us up. More often than not we have hard copies of bits of Ordnance Survey maps accompanied by copious notes. For our journey into Devon, however, we had none of that and were utterly reliant upon a good internet connection, and the usually good advice of Aubrey Burl’s ‘Guide to Stone Circles’.

Let me please advise anyone planning a journey into Devon – neither of these sources is going to be good enough if the rains come down, the mist rolls in, and fog settles on the moors! We wasted a full day in persistent foggy drizzle and lashing rain traipsing back and forth trying to follow vague directions and a high level map that didn’t include most megalithic sites. Poor preparation, and we paid for it. By the end of the first day in Devon we had all but given up hope of finding a stone circle with relatively good access that was in good condition, despite having a list of at least four candidates! A dismal day.

All that was about to change, however, as we moved towards Cornwall. Bless lovely Cornwall! I picked a site that was at least marked as a tourist attraction on my high-level map, and we decided to attempt to make that our destination for a night-time visit. Yes, despite missing stone circles in the fog and mist in the day time, we were prepared to venture out into the fog and mist at night, expecting to find Trevethy Quoit! Were we mad? Luckily for us, fate lent us a hand and we were guided in using all the techno equipment we could muster!

Trevethy Quoit just as I sketched it yesterday

Scanning the site

Once we got some space to dowse when the local village dog-walkers had retired for the evening, we did so. I went about finding the energetic aura of the site, which was about thirty feet around the site, although I didn’t follow it all the way around to where the houses backed onto the site. It may have flattened there, I don’t know. I’m lax – slap me! (“Hi Lax, you’re a slacker” – *SLAP*).

Before things got interesting I dowsed to see if there was any form of energetic entity in the area. I have been practising putting up protection recently so I wanted to know if I needed to do that here too. Apparently I did need to, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Kal had found a male genius lociGenius Loci means 'spirit of the place' and refers to the geological/gaian spirit of place. It is transfixed to a place – being an embodiment of the collective intelligence of the place. and I found out that I wasn’t compatible with that and that it was wise for me to protect my energies in such circumstances. This seems to be generally true – I am moon-aligned (i.e. compatible with female energy forms) and so if I encounter a site which has a male energy signature I have found out that it is sensible for me to protect my energy field from degradation, depletion or attack.

Death energy path to quoit entrance

Another good reason or me to put up protection was that there was an energetic shroudAs coined by Kal after reading the definitions of C.W.Leadbeater – the early 20th Century mystic. Leadbeater considered that man, when he died, could become stuck in a “ShadeA shade is the energy body of a human being that has become transfixed at a geographical location. The shade retains many of the qualities of the human that it was attached to (memories, character traits, a level of sentience, movement between places known in life).” – an energetic shell that would retain many of the characteristics of the human in his physical life. It is frequently taken to be what is termed a ‘ghost’ but although it has a certain amount of sentience, it would seem to be limited in terms of its ability to move from the space within which it has anchored itself. It must be stated – it is NOT the person who has died – it is a remainder copy that contains the memories and characteristics of the original energetic fields of the human, but now has no physical organism to work with. (or ShadeA shade is the energy body of a human being that has become transfixed at a geographical location. The shade retains many of the qualities of the human that it was attached to (memories, character traits, a level of sentience, movement between places known in life).) that was still registering an energetic imprint on the site. This death energy form was buried at a spot facing down the hill from the quoit, but it had a series of five linked male power centres which curved in a parabolic sweep right up to the entrance of the quoit’s inner space. This death energy was still active and could be utilising whatever went on inside the quoit to persist and replenish its own energy. I wasn’t going to be party to that! I had recently been reminded about protection and this was a good opportunity for me to re-visit an old mental routine for establishing that protection. I could have used a crystal layout but I prefer to be able to do things mentally if possible, using crystals as a last resort only if the mental space is too crowded (from noise or other distractions). The dowsing rods led me outside of the site’s aura as a safe space within which to set this protection up, and I did so gratefully.

The Sirius Meditation

TQ in sunlight - possibly the only photograph in existence

I will be publishing a post soon with lots more detail about the information I have discovered about the star Sirius, but for now let’s just say I had some questions that I still needed answers to because it was a difficult subject to take on board without boggling the brain. With the Moon almost full I squeezed into the quoit’s cramped inner dark space in order to connect with the site and get some answers. Four sticks of incense were required to help me. In such a small space that was quite pungent!

TQ's rabbit hole

Fifteen minutes later I emerged with some interesting information that would challenge many of the assumptions that I had read about and which many magicians take for granted, especially natural magicians. Such a series of assertions was going to have to be well researched and considered, but I want to give you the highlights so that you can be considering your own questions to bring to the Sirius post. Hopefully I will have managed to weave together enough information by then to make it all coherent and intelligible. For now, here is what I learned for you to think about, challenge and test for yourselves:-

• It is Sirius, not The Moon, which governs the forces of fertility and protection
• Sirius emits a powerful radiance which facilitates the process of enlightenment for humans – the frequency of its rays resonate with our ethericSomething tangible to the heightened senses, but invisible and beyond the normal range of everyday human senses. We use the term to describe the subtle energies that surround the human body. We also use the term “etheric” to describe the energy forms of Nature’s sentient spirit energies that can be detected through dowsing, or through deep meditation or states of heightened awareness. energy points known as chakras.
• Sirius is a strong force radiating blue light which resonates with our throat chakras, facilitating communication. More so than Mercury is supposed to.
• Above all, Sirius’ light is a motivational force – it is the impulse that drives humans to learn. The more aware and open a person is to the forces of Sirius then the more they are motivated to learn and grow mentally and spiritually.

That was the information gleaned from the first site visit in Cornwall. I have three more to post including The Hurlers, The Cheesewring and Tintagel Castle. Hope you enjoy them soon.

Gwas.

Anglesey, 1st February 2010   

In the concluding part of our journey around Anglesey’s south-western corner for Imbolc we visited some of the sites that we had passed many times in our travels, but had never actually visited. We re-visited one site though – one of the Ty Mawr stones – in order to rectify a problem. The conclusion to the journey was at a cromlech (or dolmen) called Bodowyr, which was beautifully located, but sadly hemmed in by iron fencing again.   

Castell Bryn-gwyn (White or Blessed Hill)   

Castell Bryngwyn turns out not to be a castle at all, but a sacred space (or “religious sanctuary” as the information sign calls it) that was apparently later fortified by the Romans. It is named Blessed Hill or White Hill, but given that is was a sacred space I would plump for the interpretation ‘blessed’. Especially given our findings as to the way it has been used before it became fortified by that war-like race The Romans.   

Sacred castle without ramparts

The earthwork that remains is a two-thirds circle that has three visible entry points. In order from the entry gate they dowsed as being the Moon Entrance (the widest and clearest), the Sun Entrance ( a hollow depression) and a Star Entrance. The Star entrance was the most intriguing. I spent a bit of time working this one out and come to the conclusion that the entrance was aligned with the planet Venus when it appeared in the western sky. The most energetic time, therefore, is when Venus is in the western skies and the Moon is full. Some star energy and a sun alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment., possibly a solstice or equinox sunrise or sunset, are also part of the energy imprint of this place. However, its primary purpose seems oriented towards the lunar occasions – the full moons.   

A wide open space

We went looking for the most energetic place within this earth-worked arena. I say this ironically, because Kal was lounging on the ridge at the time throwing suggestions out whenever the mood took him. I dowsed to the most energetic place – it was a double-humped spot, like two grassy faerie rings together. I had seen something similar but much larger and more rounded at Carnac in Brittany. Kal shouted over: “Is it an altar?“. I used to dowsing rods to check this theory: yes, it was. A strong reaction to that idea. The altar was towards the rear of the site, slightly off-centre.   

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3rd November 2008

This is part two of a three part account of our time at the Nine Ladies stone circle in Derbyshire. We visited in the late winter evening and in this part we found out the importance of particular stones in the circle.

PART TWO

We continued our dowsing in the moonlit deep and misty darkness of Stanton Moor’s finest neolithic structure – The Nine Ladies stone circle.

Something important would be revealed to me soon – I could feel it. This is how it had worked so far. I was sure there could be a confidence in this notion if I played by the rules and didn’t blow it. So many ways to fail – you have to develop the desire to have a resolute intention, yet passively impartial enough to assess the information you receive with both sides of your brain. Achieving balance is the druidic way I was following. Balance ensures grace. Grace provides a connection between body and spirit, and my mind with these ancient site spirits, whatever their energetic make-up. So I needed balance. Kal pointed to the flat stone that looked like a perfect seat. “The grounding stone?” he suggested.

We had identified this particular flat-topped square stone in the northern side (due north), when we had dowsed the circle earlier, as being a stone that had a mixture of male and female energies. When we sat upon it there was the distinct impression that something was being drawn out of you slowly. If you sit on such stones in circles for more than a few minutes you feel sapped of energy, literally lethargic and your mind is drained of will power – you can’t think of anything worth doing! It’s very strange. You have to try to shake yourself out of it – almost re-invigorating yourself to make neurons fire again and generate some momentum. Kal called these stones “grounding stones”, which contains the implication of in some way discharging the body of electrical energy, of neutralising it.

A test of this phenomenon might be to identify people with different energy levels, and to see what effect the stones have on them. Is the draining effect stronger on those with more energy? Would this mean that we should see the greatest effect with such people, the greatest degree of change in mood and activity? We will check this in due course.

In addition to any grounding effect Kal identified that this stone would also be the stone to re-balance any imbalances in our own energy fields. I have little experience in such things, so I am open to simple experimentation, and I usually try these things out. This time I found that when I sat on it I got the same draining effect which I left until the very last moment when I felt I had enough will power to do what I needed to do next! Which was to head for the main power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘AlignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment.’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre. to “re-charge” myself – which it duly did, and very quickly. I noticed this at Cerrig Pryfaid recently too. A discharged body feels a much greater surge of energy when standing on a power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘AlignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment.’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre. in a stone circle than if you are already well balanced and full of energy. Feel free to disagree with that outrageous generalisation and irrational assumption as you see fit. I would go test it for myself, if I were you.

I remember walking for over and hour and a half, and finally up a very steep hill to get to Pentre Ifan in Pembrokeshire (see previous post). By the time we arrived at the stunning cromlech I was exhausted on what was a very warm day. I will never forget the feeling that both M and I got from standing with our backs to the central pillar stone. It was a surge of joyful energy so emboldening that I burst out laughing and had a moistness in the corners of my eyes. It was that incredible. Never forget it. I haven’t laughed so much since the last time I saw Bill Hicks. Except this was a rush of pure joy. An ecstatic moment.

Oh, I’m rambling again. Back to the story for a brief spell (there’s one of those puns again). Feeling re-invigorated we wondered at the purpose of these stones. Were they for discharging energies that were blocked, absorbed by people, or built up to harmful levels? How was this stone being powered? What was the nature of the energy exchange in and around this stone?

Kal identified that the stone was the most important stone in the circle, but not the most important at the whole site – that was the King Stone. Again we spent a moment considering the implications of this gnowledge we had been given by the dowsing rods. Even if we were merely expressing some of our own guesses at a subconscious level this was taking us in an interesting and very coherent direction. It was suggesting to us that the King Stone as the engine of the energies. With it being the source of the twin energy streams that formed the double helix which ultimately encircled the whole site the King Stone was vital, in every sense of that word, to the functioning, the correct and continued functioning of the circle’s energies. This was a very important working assumption that felt like confirmation of something we had guessed but never really thought about.

Recently, after this episode, I found a site where energies were again fed into the circle by an outlying stone, and which also split into two streams – a male line going anti-clockwise around to join a large circle stone, and the female line that went in a clockwise direction to also re-join in the same large stone. Clearly, to me, this was showing me that the circle was powered, and its energies contained, by the outlier, or King stone, and that the two streams formed a complete circuit of energy. Does this specific formation occur naturally anywhere else? Has anyone found such a formation anywhere else? I haven’t heard of anything like that elsewhere, or found anything similar at natural features such as Lud’s Church ravine, or in a cave. In places such as that the energies are much more organically distributed and connected, whereas at man-made sites the energies form geometric patterns, shapes and alignments.

So, what was the grounding stone’s part in the circle. Kal identified that it was important to the circle, and it’s functions. We determined to find out a bit more about its function. I suggested we start by determining how the stone was using energy. For every question we asked we told each other what we were going to ask so that we could do the same. Even though we were only feet away I couldn’t see what Kal was doing other than making out that his shape was getting larger as he moved forwards. Well, another validating test, I mused. We looked up at the bright full moon. Hmmm. We asked about the stone:-

• Was there moon energy going into this stone? – Yes. Strongly yes. Full across-the-chest crossing of the rods.
• Was there sun energy going into this stone? – A tiny bit. A tiny bit? Well, we considered, moonlight is actually reflected sunlight, so…. we suppose that’s technically correct!
• Was there star energy going into this stone? – Yes. A small amount. A bit more than the sun energy registered for.
• Was there male energy going into the stone? – Yes.
• Was there female energy going into the stone? – Yes. Oh – so both – that confirms our earlier dowsing findings.
• Was there neutral energy going into the stone? – No.
• Were male/female/neutral energies coming out of the stone? All three got a positive response.
• What about a combination of the types? Was the sun energy the same as the male energy? Yes. And the moon energy was the same as the female? Yes. Was the star energy the neutral energy? No. So there was some alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. there, but neutral was not the same as starlight energy.

On to questions about how the stone worked now. Still with us? Good. We asked:-

• Was the stone absorbing the moon and other energies? Yes. Tonight it was predominantly the moon, of course. You could almost feel it being stood over it – the top of the stone was perfectly reflecting the moon directly above it. It looked like a lunar and solar panel. not forgetting starlight.
• Was the stone literally transforming the moonlight and starlight into energy that fed into the circle? Yes. Strongly yes. Strongly is not the right word. More…encouraging: “Well done, you’ve got it!”. It’s funny, You feel a little pleased during the reaction of the rods that you asked the correct question.
• Were the male and female energies coming out of the stone powered by that transformation of energies? Yes. I’m giving you the highlights here.

There were some stupid questions that I’ve omitted for brevity (Ha ! Brevity !) and you’ll know which those are as soon as you dowse them. I try to ignore my stupid questions and hope they’ll go away in their own time.

Our next set of questions related to, well, how we related to the stone. How else can I say it? We didn’t intend it that way, but that was how it turned out. I asked whether the stone was inherently ‘male’ in itself. I got a positive response. Kal did the question and got the same response. I asked if it was also female. It was. Kal dowsed it and got his funny reaction again. He got one rod turning in at 90 degrees, the other didn’t move. Aha! A chance to see if we could work this out. I got Kal to ask exactly what I had asked. Same response. But I got a positive response – clear – typical. Kal’s was atypical, that’s for sure.

I asked a straight out direct question. Was the reaction Kal was getting due to our own differences as people? Yes. Kal confirmed this as he dowsed the same question. We already knew that Kal had more favourable responses, and was intuitively guided to, power centres of pre-dominantly male energy, whereas I had an affinity for the female power centres. Here was Kal being unable to dowse for the inherent female-ness of the stone, but he could for the male. Under the strong moonlight I could do both. Was the moon having that effect, or was there the possibility that the roles may be reversed elsewhere in bright sunlight? We wait for some bright sunlight to test this! It is winter in England.

Sunlight is at a premium!

Gwas

Follow a moonlit path.

Pembrokeshire is littered with ancient sacred sites, which is something I hadn’t appreciated until I got there and saw a tourist map showing the main ones. There’s a large National Park area in the centre of Pembrokeshire that has many of these sites scattered on and around the Preselli Hills (avoids jokes about cheeseburgers, hound dogs, suede shoes, et al).

M and I decided to visit the main cromlech in this area, which is called Pentre Ifan, near Newport. We parked at a youth hostel car park allowing us to walk the last two miles through forest land, up the hill to Pentre Ifan. We had an OS map, a sense of purpose, and I had my dowsing rods for backup should all common sense fail us.

We walked down the lane from the car park to find the Youth Hostel and a farmhouse. There was a small signpost indicating a possible path, but we were half expecting a distinct sign, and so carried on looking around. A bouncy sandy-coloured dog began to bounce around us, checking us out, and we greeted him with enthusiasm. Perhaps he could tell us which way to go, we laughed? Seeing no other obvious paths we went back to the signpost and headed off in the direction it suggested through a shaded covered muddy path. The dog bounced around us and then got in front, bounding into the field of new corn ahead.

We walked through the field looking for the a stile or a sign. To our right the labrador was trotting on through the field, checking to see if we were coming too every now and again. M then remarked as to whether he could be leading us. I don’t think so, I retorted, we’ve got ages to go yet!

We half followed the dog to the end of the field where there was indeed a stile. The dog went through of his own accord, and we followed. Now I actually did begin to think that the dog might be leading us! In front of me as I hopped over the stile was a white quartz rock about hand sized. Without thinking I picked it up and carried it with me. On we walked, through the woods until we encountered a family at another signpost. “Is this your dog?” we asked. “We thought he was yours!” they replied.

Bramble the guide dog

As the dog seemed to be with us now, M christened him “Bramble” for some reason, and so we started to call him that. On he led us, through invisible paths through cornfields, across stiles, over fields, past farms. Still no signs to Pentre Ifan, but we were now just following the dog. We became worried that he was now half an hour from his home, but he continued with us, being only momentarily distracted by an open field of sheep (which we dissuaded him from pursuing further).

We got out some water and poured some into M’s hands so that the dog could have a drink, as it was getting warm in the early afternoon sun.

As we climbed over a gate at the top of the field Bramble began to chase a car down the lane we had just stepped into. “Bye!” we shouted, “and thanks!”.

Now where were we? We consulted our map – no idea! We had no clue where we were now, so I got my rods out and asked them to point to Pentre Ifan. They pointed up the road and to the right, so we walked up the road. Fifty yards later we was a brown sign “Burial Chamber”. We were here! The dog had led us right to it! We decided to check he’d got back alright on our return journey, but for now we walked to the site past large rocks positioned alternately on either side of the path. I noted some twisted hawthorn trees – definitely energy running along the path, I mused.

Pentre Ifan chamber

It was very impressive. A large capstone positioned precariously on three pointed uprights – it looked unfeasibly delicate! I started dowsing at one of the three visible stones that defined the outer perimeter of the site. As these stones were so obviously forming a square (with a missing corner) I dowsed for a male line. One immediately appeared leading straight into one of the back two upright stones. At the other corner a line went diagonally to the other stone in a straight line. Two lines, both going straight into the rear stones. I did the stone at the front too and it did the same – straight into the front upright from one corner. But the other corner didn’t have a visible stone. I dowsed away from the front upright in the direction of the ‘missing’ line to find a male straight line heading to the empty corner, where it turned straight downhill. I noted the turning point and stuck my rod into the grass to see if anything was underneath. Clunk! Metal hitting stone. As I tugged the turf it came away to reveal the missing corner stone!

The missing corner stone

I noticed there were some small marks on the stone, like mini cup marks that I’d seen on larger circles and standing stones, and I wondered as to their significance – were they a map of the energy points here?

Another male line was going through the stones positioned on either side of the main chamber – one leading down the entry path, and the other ending in a large wide spiral on the western side.

Then I started dowsing the female frequencies. Six spirals connected in pairs at the back of the chamber. The three pairs only connected with each other and bent in towards the stones was they passed the main chamber. A beautiful symmetrical pattern.

At the front again I found two “treble clef” shaped female spirals on either side, just above the corner stones.

I decided to look inside the chamber now. Surely this was the “hot spot” the the site and probably had a strong spiral or many crossing points of lines which I could follow? No. There was only one line – a male line which went from the centre of the chamber around the back uprights (two holding the capstone, and one flat upright positioned between them). The line went into the back flat upright. I had to ask M to move a little, as she had been standing with her back against this flat stone since we got there!

There was a crossing point for the lines, but it wasn’t in the centre of the chamber, it was at the rear, slightly on the right hand side of the site, about six feet away from the back flat stone.

Having done as much as I felt sensible (not everyone enjoys sitting around waiting for me to finish dowsing!) I picked up the white quartz rock I had carried to the site from the woods below. M had just moved away from the back flat upright stone, and said to me “You should stand there – it’s very nice.”. I had an idea! I checked with the rods to make sure there was nothing else to find in front of the middle upright, and got a negative reading – nothing else to find. Good. I grabbed the quartz rock and thought about putting some energy into it.

The flat upright stone at the back

I placed the stone at the base of the middle upright stone, and stood with my back against it, not thinking of anything – zoning out from thought. After a minute I began to feel an electric tingle that made me feel like I was being tickled from the inside! It made me laugh, laugh hysterically, to the point where tears were forming in my eyes with the pleasure of it! When I couldn’t take any more I stepped away – exhilarated by the sensation and amazed beyond belief at the power of the feeling, and how it had affected me.

I left the quartz rock where it was, turned and gave thanks to the stones for the experience. Then grabbed my rods again. I had tried this once before on Birchen Edge – seeing if I could get a “manifestation” of spontaneous energy production, as Hamish Miller had once called it. I dowsed the back of the stone. Three new patterns had appeared! There were two spirals going out to the left and right of the back stone, and in the middle were…well…a pair of horns or ears is the only way I could describe the shape.

I drew the shape in my notebook, and showed it to M. She turned it upside down and exclaimed “It’s a goat!”. I looked again. Oh yes – looking from above, the capstone formed the face, the spirals on either side were the horns, and the horn/ear shapes were ears! Or vice versa, perhaps. How bizarre!

Goat figure produced at Pentre Ifan

With that, I took some measurements (which seemed similar to previous sites) and we headed back down the entrance path – me dowsing the male line that bounced between the large stones positioned on either side of the path.

We walked back to the car by road, both of us using the rods to make decisions at road junctions. We were eager to see whether “Bramble” had got back alright! After all – we’d led him astray! After half an hour’s walk M asked “How much further?”. We were hungry by now. I asked the rods – “How long until we get to the car? “10 minutes?”. No response. “15 minutes?” – rods crossed. “About fifteen minutes. ” I said. M didn’t ask why. I checked my watch: “2:45pm”. Easy enough to measure, I thought.

Soon we were at the car park. Before we opened the car M said “Let’s see if Bramble’s back!”. So we walked down the lane again to the hostel and farmhouse. M started calling him and he soon responded by barking. He was tied up at the side of the farmhouse, but no-one else was around. Looks like he might have been in the matephorical dog house for wandering off!

We walked back up to the car, and we opened the door. I check my watch – “3:00pm.” Exactly fifteen minutes since I asked the rods! Ha ha – coincidence I guess.

My next objective was Gors Fawr stone circle. But that adventure is another story in itself.

Gwas.

Follow your true path