The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘dinas bran’

Often we return to places many months or years after a visit and find that we have a purpose similar to our previous visit, but this time we are further up the spiral of life and the work is subtly different. Other times, we get called back to a place much sooner because there is something very important that we have missed, overlooked, not done or not done properly. Such an event happened with Dinas Bran recently.

Originally, we had set Dinas Bran as the main flag on our map of the sites to visit for the Autumn Equinox. Well and good, but by the time we got there I had forgotten my original reason for going, which was to try to cleanse and invigorate the site, and to connect it to the first point on my Earth Grid Chain project that I have undertaken. Sure enough, somehow, I got another opportunity to make amends – something that only happens if the work is very important. Clearly, this was important (if only to me). On a clear, still and warm night Kal and I zoomed into Wales, past Llangollen town, and up onto the hill of Dinas Bran once again. This time, the work was at the forefront of my mind.

On arrival we set to dowsing straight away – was this a good night to do this work? YES. Was I in a fit energetic state to do the work? YES. Could I do it alone? NO. Would Bran help me? YES, but…Damn that “Yes, but…” response! Now I had to find out where the other source of help might come from. I went through my usual list of helpful energies and spirits and arrived at my trusty Spirit Guide herself, Theodora. I must admit, she’s not usually my first port of call, only because I’m still nervous about working with her – my hang-up about her being a former human being. I just have to get over that some day! She’s been nothing but helpful and useful to me in my magick work, and never seems to impose herself but waits for a call. Could I ask for more? Still I am hesitant. Perhaps if you have such interactions too you know what I mean?

Dinas Bran in the late evening

Knowing the place well now I knew where to go to speak with Bran. Nevertheless I confirmed the exact spot with my rods, but found that Bran was in his usual position. I have the technique for tuning into such spirits of place really finely tuned now, and was swiftly able to sink into a light trance that allowed me to clear my mind and put out a request to speak to him. His voice answered my greeting. It sounded like my own voice but I knew the replies were something either deep in me, or deep in the land. I asked if he would assist my work to make this connection to the Earth Grid and he seemed happy to help.

I moved to the 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 ‘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. that I knew of and it felt good. There I dowsed for the best place to do this work and ended back where I was! On the power centre. I looked around for Kal, but he was off elsewhere in the ruins, and in the deepening gloom he looked like a dark shadow moving across a moonlit backdrop. He appeared to be asleep but I knew better. Back to my work. I called Theodora to join my work and a sudden shiver went through my spine – this is the recently developed “call sign” that tells me she is present and with me. The more sensitive I have got to these energy forms the more they seem to be having a physical effect upon me.

I placed some incense around me (four) and lit them to cleanse the working space and keep other energies out while I worked. I have become more and more used to using incense now than using crystals. I think the crystals have fallen out with me because I don’t cleanse them! I’ve just made that up, but it does feel like I work better with incense than crystals.

I meditated to connect. Once connected with Dinas Bran I projected myself out to Frodsham Caves. I mentally “flew” there and located the power centre in the caves. I then flew back pulling a connection from the cave power centre through to where I was standing. Having made this connection I felt I needed to re-inforce the channel.At this point I realised that Bran was supplying some of the energy from the ground – it was “primal” energy, un-formed and malleable. This was rising up through me. Theodora, I could feel, was then transforming the primal energy into “neutral” ley energy as it emerged from me.

My arms went out in from of me like I was pointing with both hands at the caves, and I imagined the neutral energy being channeled along a straight line between the two sites. Then the link was made into a sort of arcing bridge between the sites, circling up from Dinas Bran, then dropping down into Frodsham, then back underground and rising up to Dinas Bran. I moved this energy circle faster and faster until it moved by itself, still channeling the energy down my outstretched arms to keep it straight and true.

I felt it was done, so I went to find Kal. He took some finding in the dark, but he was sat in a window ledge looking out over the valley below. I asked him to come and dowse what I had done, which he did reluctantly. I didn’t follow him, but sent him off in a direction, with the instruction to tell me whether he could find a neutral line, and the direction it flowed in. He wandered off into the gloom (int he wrong direction!) and minutes later there was some noise. I wandered over. He was stood on my power centre facing Frodsham. “Well,” I said, “what have you found?”. “It starts here, ” he said, “and goes off that way.” pointing in the exact direction I had created the line. I laughed. “And what kind of line is it – male, female, neutral?”. “Neutral.” he confirmed. I was overjoyed. I really had created a neutral link between the sites. Amazing!

Here are our audio summaries of the night’s work, recorded in situ. In the first one I recount my energy bridge work:

Druid Diaries excerpt for Dinas Bran by Gwas: DD-DB-061010-1

 

Kal explains how he found out more about working with his energetic double, and the potential issues with that.

Druid Diaries excerpt for Dinas Bran by Kal: DD-DB-061010-2

 

A Bright Star Moving

Star moving oddly

We were almost done. We had packed away and were looking up at the vast array of stars, the Milky Way lying like a dragonDragons are spirit or energetic beings that reside in sacred sites and have a particular location in them and also move throughout the day (and or season). They also leave the sacred site on occasion, which again differentiates them from Genius Loci which don’t. across the sky, and spotting the brighter stars to see if we could identify planets. Then I drew Kal’s attention to a bright star that was moving over the south-western part of the sky. We watched it slowly drifting “down” the night sky, wobbling as it went. Was it a plane? It looked like a star – bright blue-white, circular…then it did a 90 degree turn, heading “left” (south) across the backdrop of stars. It was still bigger and brighter than the stars behind it, but now it was moving much faster. Faster than an airplane moves. As we watched it the ‘bright star’ began to climb upwards, getting smaller and fainter within a few seconds. We knew that it had climbed up at what must have been an astonishing speed.

For a few moments we went through the usual lists: Plane? No. Shooting star? No way – it turned! Satellite? The motion would be constant, no. Firefly? joked Kal. We laughed nervously. No, this was something else. Something that moved erratically, yet purposefully when it wanted to, and which could move at speed too, climbing out of eyesight and moving very rapidly.

Gwas.

This month’s podcast is now available on the Podcast page for you to enjoy.

www.hedgedruid.com

No lecture this month, instead a change of style as I tell you about the latest blog news, mention the highlights of the recent Autumn Equinox visits, and hint at the wonders to come in this month’s pending posts.

There are some Druid Diary mini-podcasts due to accompany the recent posts too, and they are also available on the podcast page. These small snippets of on-the-go narrative give you a slightly more revealing look at the visits we do with dowsing rods and staff, and hopefully give you some of the atmosphere of the places we are visiting too.

Thanks for visiting us again on the Hedge Druid blog. More soon.
Gwas.

Thursday 23rd September – Dinas Bran, Llangollen, Clwyd, Wales.

In the final of our site visits on this Autumn Equinox day we chose the destination that had been our first and only firm choice the whole while – the hill of Dinas Bran, the castle fortress of the legendary Bran the Blessed. The hill stand out as a prominent feature of the Llangollen valley scenery, and is visible to travellers along the major route nearby called the A5 road, the road which eventually take you almost to Snowdon.

The weather was turning sour, squally and with an intermittent cold rain which threatened to make our most important visit our most challenging. First, however, was the challenge of getting up the steep slope. Luckily, we dared to try a new route up and this cut at least a quarter of the walking out. We were slightly spared, yet still my calf muscles threatened to tighten and lock up in the face of another ‘killer’ ascent, so we took it very slowly.

No-one else was around on such a day as this, but they missed out on several rewards. My first reward was a beautiful yet faint rainbow that arced from the amazing cliff faces across the valley and climbed high over Dinas Bran, then to fall touching the other hills on the far side of the valley. It was glorious and fragile, like a fleeting reminder that sun could triumph this day against the glowering forces of thick grey rain-laden clouds that ringed the valley. Then, as my mind was entering into a form of walking meditation mode, a hawk appeared showering we weary travellers in its identifiable shrieks and circling around us only some tantalising hundred feet higher than us, skimming the ruins of the castle and surfing the updraught of the slopes.

Dinas Bran topology

The rain began to wet our weary faces as we reached the summit, ignoring our usual energetic paths and simply keeping to the more ready-made walkways. It made sense as the wind was picking up and the surfaces were slick and shiny with rainwater that we didn’t go seeking subtle entry ways along craggy and hairy side paths of our own making.

It began to rain hard as we entered the castle ruins, and our first task was to find a suitable shelter. Initially one of the skeletal walls was enough to fend off the driving rain, but as it got wetter we sought out the one corner of the castle walls where a dry spot remained. As I sat in this corner, moulding my body to the stone and waiting for the rain to abate Kal strode out into the squall and stood there proudly holding his dowsing rods. He began to dowse. I watched in admiration of his bravery, and with a slight giggle at his stupidity, given that he was the least well equipped for the weather. Kal, in fact, is always the least well equipped for the weather of anyone who could possibly be found wandering around the wilds of Britain. Still, he has this unshakable faith that the weather will do right by him. Sometimes he is right. Today, he was more than right. By the time he had turned around to walk along to dowse his third question the rain had disappeared completely to be replaced by a kind of grey silence – a sort of begrudging pause in the weather. As I came out too and began to dowse, so the act of the two of us working at this site brought about a sliver of weak sunlight that bathed the hilltop in a surreal back-light, but for which we were very grateful. He had done it again – he’d made the rain stop.

Druid Diary excerpt for Dinas Bran #1 : DD-DinasBran1

 

Dinas Bran at dusk

Read the rest of this entry »

The Llangernyw Yew : April 19th 2010

After our visit to The Druid’s Circle at Penmaenmawr we sidled off into the sunset heading inland cross-country to Llangernyw. I had a few random items on my agenda to work on, whereas I knew that for Kal this was the main reason for his visit. He was at an important juncture in his life and was looking to his old friend the archetypal “Tree” for some guidance. Having made contact with this helpful entity via the ancient yew tree at Llangernyw before, he was confident that he could do so again.

Late evening yew

For me, I had been guided recently to carve a symbol into my staff. I knew not why, yet. I’m sure that will become clear soon enough. For now, I wanted to confirm which symbol that should be before I started carving. On previous occasions when I had dowsed for this information it had been indicated that it should be the Dinas Bran sigil. This evening, as the sun was setting, I approached the ancient yew tree with respect and asked if I might dowse for some answers. I got a positive response and so began to do some dowsing.

I dowsed at the edge of the tree’s canopy, on a flat section of ground indicated as a good place by the dowsing rods. I asked which symbol I should carve and began to follow a spiral pattern around from one side to another, in a familiar pattern. Was this like the ‘Bran the Blessed’ sigil? It was like that but the head was upside down! In fact it resembled the Arbor Low sigil too.I asked the rods if this was correct several times and they repeatedly said yes. When I sought an answer to this I got the impression that it was a symbol that was personal to me yet a reflection of both places, even literally a reflection in the sense of being upside down in parts.

Inside the mighty yew

You may remember from my recent posts that I had been trying to draw together the four elemental forces of Nature in order to assist me with my coming work this year? There was one that I had not managed to re-engage with and that was the fire element. On this lovely sunny evening as the great fireball dropped slowly over the hills of Penmaenmawr I decided to try to resolve that oversight. I walked to the side of the church where I knew my 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 ‘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 be, but oddly I walked straight past it without a second glance, and went to stand before the two pillars of stone that seemed like an entrance or exit portal for something. I began to dowse…

Were these stones and entrance or an exit? An exit. Were they for some form of energy (thinking back to Druid’s Circle) to be directed through? Yes. Was that energy spirit energy? Yes. Was it earth energy? No. Was it the energy of the yew tree? Sort of – the rods came together slightly, but not firmly. Was it the spirit of the place that passed through this portal? Yes. Was this a good place for me to regain my fire energy? A strong yes.

With that affirmation I went to go and sit on the flat tombstone behind the two stones, and immediately got a sharp pain in both kidneys. I took this as an indication that this was not a good place to sit! I stood between the portal stones, looking due west, and drew down the fire of the setting sun, as the saying goes in such circles. The rods confirmed what I felt – that this had been done successfully. Now I felt more ‘complete’ – like I had access to all the powers of Nature (except spirit, or aether, the fifth element).

An energetic exit portal

Whilst I was stood between the two energetic stones I felt like I could use that energy to get another burning question answered. I had one that was uppermost in my mind., The final task of the time between Spring and Beltane was to learn how to connect to the earth’s own energy grid. So far I had not one clue how this could be done, other than perhaps to be stood somewhere that neutral energy may naturally emerge, or something like that. I decide to seek some guidance, any clue at all.

I asked the yew tree to help me to imagine what I should do to link to the neutral earth grid – and I was shown several places very quickly that I couldn’t make out because they were too quick. Then I was shown an image of me nestling into the bosom of the earth – literally two small humps of grass between which I was curled in a foetal position, soothed and sleepy. I was to find a place where I felt that comfortable and then bathed in warmth and comfort I could connect to the earth’s own energy system and draw upon the neutral energy – the pure energy of the earth. I was amazed at the wonderfully intuitive way the information was given to me, and extremely grateful to have been shown this vision. Now, all I had to do was to find such a place….

The warning place

I thought I was finished for the evening – hey, hadn’t I got everything I came for and more? I certainly had. Kal popped around looking pleased with himself and his exploits, which I intended to ask him about as soon as we were on the road again. “Have you finished?” he asked me. “Let’s ask the rods!” I quipped, expecting a ‘yes’ response. I got a ‘no’. Apparently, there was more! I asked the rods to take me to the place where I could find out about this other information, and soon I was walking along the side of the graveyard, past gravestones, until the rods swung back on themselves to point to a grave close to the edge of the path the surrounds the lower site.

There was an inscription on the gravestone. I read, “Oft in danger, oft in woe“. i thought this was very unusual inscription, as I had never seen anything like it before! It was the inscription that was important. It took me several minutes of narrowing down the field before I hit upon the relevance of these words: it was to do with me not putting up energetic protection when I visited sacred sites. I had become too complacent and trusting, relying on my intuition to warn me of potential problems. So far I had been lucky and had visited sites when no-one else was around which has prevented problems so far (apart from one episode that really stuck in both our minds of an encounter at Llandrillo). Now, as I moved into the warmer lighter months I was being warned that other people may cause me problems unless I protect myself appropriately when I go out in the near future. Memories came flooding back and I felt I knew what was being suggested.

I asked if that was all? No, there was more. Again I let the rods take me on a little wander, this time only ten or fifteen feet away from where I was. The rods swung dramatically again to point at what seemed like an ordinary grave of a couple. Again it took me several minutes to divine the answer through a series of questions and response. The couple had been “energetically aware” people, but had died due to some misfortune brought about by an encounter with some form of deviant spirit energy. This was a stronger re-enforcement if I needed it, and I will heed the warning and will be more careful from now on, especially in the presence of other people, whether they mean harm intentionally or not!

All in all, a strange end to the evening for me. For Kal, however, the evening had been highly positive. He had received advice from the yew tree that he should ride out his current issues without trying to resolve them for himself. They would all, apparently, be taken care of – despite how impossible that seemed at that time. A week later everything righted itself against impossible odds and in quite incredible circumstances. Never would we doubt the power of this tree, or its influence over this churchyard!

Gwas.