The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘dolmen’

What follows is a description of a visit to the Rollright Stones that are a complex of megaliths perched on the Oxfordshire/Warwickshire border, near to the village of Little Rollright. I will, in due course, sketch out all of the findings and put them onto the Sacred Sites page so that you can see the things I am about to describe. For now, you will have to use your imagination, which will be helped enormously if you have visited the site yourself already.

I had intended to try to do some druidry work at the site, but the sheer number of visitors made concentration difficult, although, as you will soon read, this didn’t put off one old man who resplendently displayed his skills. How he concentrated I’ll never know! I have much to learn, as he was all to eager to point out.

I parked in a little lay-by which carried a sign telling me that I was only parking there at the gracious behest of the site’s trustees, and that I ought not to outstay my welcome by still being around after sunset. A warm southern welcome indeed. *I decided to head for the King Stone, situated on the other side of the road some hundred feet away. Yes, I still count in old measurements. Don’t start me on that discussion! Let’s just say such measurements are beyond “imperial” of any variety and should be considered “divine” instead. See John Michell‘s “The Dimensions Of Paradise” for a full explanation. As usual, I digress.

I approached the King Stone without my rods. What was the point? I knew there wouldn’t be any nemeton to dowse because I could see that the standing stone was caged in an iron railing that hemmed it tightly. This is a disgrace! Of course, modern people can’t be trusted, and so despite the fact that it has stood for over 4000 years, it needs to be caged, right? I suspect, therefore, that whatever energetic capabilities this site used to have they have been severely restricted by this action. I dowsed for the nemeton – yes, exactly at the railing. What a coincidence!

Nevertheless, I began to see which earth energies were travelling into and out of the stone. I found a male line coming in from somewhere in the direction of the hills around the village of Long Compton – well, that’s the direction is was heading in anyway. On either side, fanning out and following the shape of the wilder grass were two female lines. The first zig-zagged along the path that people walk up to the stone along. The second followed the lower edge of the rise behind the stone. The first female line intruiged me – it appeared to head to the road, and possibly might cross it and go into the stone circle there? I would check this later.

The male line was of interest to me as well. The King Stone was clearly male. I have seen and dowsed enough male stones (at Carnac – row after row after row of them) to recognise them by sight now. This was a male stone. It was essentially flattish, with a ridged edge pointing in the direction of the energy flow. Despite it’s “unusual” shape, this was a classic “repeater” stone that would pulse male energy onwards to another place. I checked the other side and found that only the male line emerged, strongly, and went into a grassy tumulus a few feet away. Check the link above about the King Stone to read what this tumulus might be.

Judging by the pitted nature of the stone this was limestone or something very similar. Soon I  would find out some new information about the significance of this.

I must point out – I deliberately didn’t read ANYTHING at all about this site before going. Sometimes that works in my favour, because I get fresh responses without prejudice, but sometimes I miss important elements. Needless to say, this is a site that warrants more investigation that I could manage in an afternoon.

Two men had been standing on the ridge behind me looking out over the valley below. Now I could see one of them approach me, an older man with white hair and a pair of flimsy-looking dowsing rods in his hand. I stopped what I was doing as he walked up to me and began a conversation. He was a relative beginner, he said, and wondered what I was looking for. I made a special point of stating that I wasn’t, as most people expected, looking for water but instead for earth energies. He didn’t seem too surprised at that, so I went on to tell him what I had found so far.

He seemed to absorb that, and much more, before he asked my opinion on what he should be looking for. I laughed, and replied that it was not my place to tell anyone how they should conduct their enquiries with dowsing rods, it was a matter of determining for oneself what information on was seeking, and to what extent the response could be trusted. He said he was rather afraid that I would say that. I mentioned some authors for him to look at – perhaps Tom Graves, or Sig Lonegren? He seemed distinctly unimpressed by anything I said which amused me somewhat.

I laughed at his thin and wiry rods. “No good in today”s wind, I’d say.” and showed him my thicker copper rods. He seemed daunted by their lack of copper cuffs to aid rotation, and by their weight. This amused me too as his eyes boggled at their relative weight in his hands.

I decided he had been inquisitive enough, and it was my turn. What was his background? He was a scientist, he stated. This amused me even more! “Then you’re in for a fun time with dowsing!” I warned. He was either going to chase the “what is this energy” question forever, or he would have some very tricky ontological questions to resolve. He seemed to respond to that with a resigned shrug and a disappointed “hmmmm”. I wasn’t sure I was helping him at all! He asked me how I had started, and I told him of a TV programme “Tomorrow’s World” that I had seen when I was young that demonstrated dowsing, and this had inspired me to try it out, but I didn’t have enough incentive to pursue it further at the time. He jumped – “I saw that programme too!”. He shouted over to his friend, “This man saw that same programme about dowsing!” he said to his friend, calling him over to join us. The great Scottish dowser David Cowan apparently saw the same programme:

“Twenty-five years ago, I watched a programme on “Tomorrow’s World” on the use of divining rods, and, to my absolute amazement, discovered for myself that they really did work.” (source: The Leyman web site)

We briefly discussed the unlikelihood that we would both have been started in dowsing by the same programme, only shown once, and revelled in the coincidence of it. Then he bade me farewell, happy now, and let me carry on following the subtle energyA form of energy that has so far eluded scientific definition. It is neither electric, magenetic, nor electro-magnetic, so far as our current technical equipment can measure. It does, however, exhibit many of the characteristics of magnetism and electricity in terms of its effects and properties. It may be a form of either or both of those energies that we have not yet identified. lines.

I picked up my pack and rods, and dowsed my way back down the path that had the female line following it, wandering back and forth, looking like a right prat, until I crossed the road and found the line went into a small gap between the elder and hawthorn trees that edged the King’;s Men stone circle. Time to go and find out what all the fuss was about with the Rollright Stones then!

Gwas

Tuesday 5th May – The St.Uzek stone and the Isle Grande ‘allé couverte’

Being up at the crack of dawn to disembark the ferry at St.Malo, then driving an hour in unfamiliar territory, and on the opposite side of the road to reach your holiday base, then unpacking and heading straight out to the Pink Granite Coast in north-western Brittany – a mere two hours away – is all in a day’s work for an intrepid ley-hunter and day-to-day dowser. That kind of enthusiasm is only to be expected when the quarry being chased is so tempting!

On the agenda shortly is Mont St.Michel, but on this first day I headed to the highest point along the stunning Pink Granite coastline in my trusty french steed, with my redoubtable wife. The rewards were indeed worth the hunt. On this first day I got to find a huge menhir called St.Uzec (or St.Duzec) and an “alle couverte”,or “covered alley” – a long passage grave or dolmen, in effect. Details about that later. First – the St.Uzec menhir.

The menhir is to be found in the village of Penvern (which sounds more Cornish than Breton). It is almost signposted and a little faith will get you there. It seems very well visited, but no-one lingers for more than a minute or two. And I found out why! As M and I walked up to it from the little car parking bay, admiring its immense height and red granite composition, there was a moment when things went still and quiet. M decided she didn’t want to go near it and veered off up the small road going uphill to follow a trail leading to the chapel nearby. I walked into the fifteen feet long walled enclosure and dropped my bag off at the base of the menhir, next to what looked like a tiny font placed at its base.

There were some symbols carved into the stone’s upper area – a sun, a geometrical figure, other obscure images, Atop the stone was a cross made from a different stone, and a different time. It was a Christian addition, probably added when the stone was given the saint’s name that it bears now. From ealier drawings and pictures I have seen of this stone it was once adorned by a carving of Jesus hanging from a cross.

I stepped back out of the enclosure with my dowsing rods, walking to the far side of the approach road. I had had experience of the size of the nemeton field for stones of this size before so I was giving it a good run-up! I dowsed for the edge of the stone’s field of influence. I walked forward. And kept walking. When I got four inches away from the stone the rods parted in a barrier reading. Four inches away! What?! I was stunned. On Lewis I had dowsed the Truiseil Stone which had a nemeton of some thirty feet. Now four inches for a stone that was just as tall if not taller, and twice as wide.

I asked the rods some questions. Was the nemeton being restricted unnaturally in some way? YES. Was it a result of human intervention? YES. Were the symbols on the rock related to this in some way? YES. Was it the placement of the cross on top that was restricting the stone’s energy field? YES. Was there something I could do to repair this energy field? SORT OF. Could I do it permanently? NO. Would it be something temporary then? YES. Did I have the means to do this work? YES. But I didn’t have the strength. My rods hung loosely and I started to look around aimlessly. I took a few more photographs then wandered away and met M as she came towards the stone from her travels around the historic route she was taken earlier.

As we walked away from the stone, me explaining that there was something awry with the energy field, I realised that a strong tightness in my temples was lifting. I kept walking away from the stone and it went completely as I got more than fifty feet away from the monstrous megalith. There was something seriously wrong with the energies around that stone – no wonder no-one stayed close to it for very long! You may have noticed from the picture that a cross has been placed on top of the giant menhir. It caught my eye too. Back to the rods one last time: Was the reason that this menhir did not have a proper nemeton directly related to the placement of the cross on top of it? YES. This stone had been “capped” by the placement of this cross. Was it simply the cross shape, I wondered? NO, said the rods. Was it the intentions of the people who put the cross there that inhibited the energy? YES. Time to move on.

We decided to go to another nearby site on the Isle Grande which was only a few miles the other side of the village. Well, after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing we found it, no thanks to the signage! The allé couverte that I was searching for was on Isle Grande. This is also the name that Aubrey Burl gives to the site as well as its location. It was thanks to Burl’s description in his ‘Megalithic Brittany‘ guide that I was able to find it at all. The French, it seems, are only vaguely interested in denoting the presence of their megalithic treasures, much as we English have also mainly achieved. The site was marked by a small knee-level sign that was side-on to the road making it invisible to passing traffic!

The avenue of stones was constructed of flat but wide slabs, with the square entrance way being wide and tall enough to stoop within. There were seven large capstones supported on standing flat stones. There were two chambers, the first being the longer of the passageways utilising five of the capstones in length, whilst the remaining two capstones comprised a second smaller chamber large enough for maybe two men kneeling or tucked in tightly.

As I dowsed the site I found no female energies there at all, which was very surprising, as I can’t remember the last site that I dowsed that didn’t have at least some female earth or moon energies present. This site was simple inhabited by two energetic sources – a male line with two power centres at either end, and a neutral 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 looped back upon itself. Finding a neutral power centre was another rarity. Already I was sensing that dowsing in France was going to be an interesting endeavour, and one where I would need to try to be as objective and comprehensive as possible. Unfortunately, on this occasion, time was pressing for us to organise some food for the self-catering aspect of our holiday, and so I didn’t ask all the things I could have.

I did find out that a neutral power centre located at the end of the first longer chamber encompassed the inside and outside left-hand (southern) edge. The right-hand edge of the passageway is fed by a male power centre on the right-hand end of the inner passage, directly opposite the neutral centre. There was another male spiral at the centre of the smaller passage. This came out of a hole between two capstones to join with the male energy travelling along the first chamber.

I did some dowsing as to the purpose of the site and eventually narrowed the concept down to it being a place of transformation and initiation. How that was done exactly I don’t know. Perhaps it’s something you have to try for yourself one moonlit summer’s night?

What a great start to the holiday. Two sites visited on the first day of landing. I honestly didn’t expect that, and was amazed at how many sites there were in the environs around St.Brieuc. Perhaps I would run into some others as we travelled around in the next ten days? Indeed we did.

Gwas

Following the pink coastline (this is not a euphamism)