Posts Tagged ‘earth energy’

Kerry Hill – Small circle and big revelation

Although we set off in the early afternoon Kal and I intended to pack as much as we possibly could into our day out in Shropshire. Our intention was to visit one of the few remaining megalithic circles in the county – Kerry Hill, close to the small village of Kerry (or ‘Ceri’, in Welsh). The site is also called Kerry Pole, which is good to know because that is the name of the hill on which it lies.

A signpost for Ceri Wood on Kerry Pole hill

Sadly, most of Shropshire’s megalithic history has been lost to the farmers of many centuries. When you drive through the rolling hills and lush pasture land you can perhaps understand why, yet many of the stone circles now listed as destroyed were in existence within the last hundred years, and we have hardly been on the brink of starvation as a nation at any time during those hundred year. Such a shame we have destroyed our heritage for the sake of a few measly ploughable acres. It can only be greed, ignorance or dis-respect that drove such destruction, none of which is an estimable human quality.

Back to the action. We followed the satellite navigation that brought us to the ‘back’ of the site – in other words we would approach the circle from the top of the hill instead of climbing up to reach it. Having visited before we knew approximately where the circle could be found, which is just as well because there are no signs to guide you, no indicators of any sort, and the stones that constitute the circle are very small making it difficult to spot. As with our first visit we were almost on top of the circle before we spotted it, hidden amid a herd of Herefordshire cattle. From the look on Kal’s face I could tell he was looking at the stocky black cattle and thinking “Bullocks!“.

Being watched at Kerry Hill stone circle

When we had dispersed the cattle we settled into the circle. Kal dowsed as to who was due to do any work here and found that it was for me, this trip. Before I would launch into my work I did some videos of my dowsing the unusual arcing neutral energies that flow from each of the stones into the central stone. The few other circles that remain in Shropshire have similar central stones, however this is the only one that we have found has these arcing energies into the centre.

Next I would prepare myself for interacting with the circle and seeing whether I could learn anything from it.

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South Wales Part 1 – Parc le Breos

With about as much preparation as a shotgun wedding Kal and I decided to meet up “half way” in Chepstow in order to explore the South Wales area for megalithic sites. We both had different quests to pursue, but sometimes the quests are secondary to the much more enlivening act of just being out together at sacred sites, for there is no more pleasurable experience to me than to be with my old mucker dowsing and discovering things druidical and deep at the darkest and dingiest neolithic remnants these fair lands have to offer.

So we pointed a random finger at the map and with only a name to follow and the promise that something worthwhile may be there we headed towards Parkmill village just beyond Swansea in West Glamorgan. I had already travelled for three hours to get to Chepstow, but such is our zeal for our quests that I was prepared to venture another hour or so into the furthest corners of west Wales just on the off-chance that this place might be good. Luckily, it was better than good!

We arrived at Parkmill and took what we presumed was the right track past the Heritage Centre and ended up at a small car park. We checked the maps but couldn’t decide which way we ought to be going so I went over to check a nearby information board supplied by Cadw. It showed the area of Parc le Breos (Park Le Bruce, or Park Wood) to be full of interesting sites – a reconstructed long cairn, a cave and possibly a well. Frankly, I didn’t read past the long cairn – already I wanted to see it. We made our way up the well-made path, eager to see what this reconstruction had to offer.

Information about the Park Wood site

The long cairn (or more properly I should say it is an Initiation Chamber) had been excellently rebuilt. It looked beautiful, and gave us a very good idea of how the front may have looked in its original form. These builders clearly knew how to make a great structure. I took some pictures then put the camera away. It was time to have a look around inside. I approached the entrance and introduced myself to the place. When I walked forward I asked if I may enter and waited for a response. I got one – a horrible push in my stomach that felt like a nasty prod in the guts. Hmmm…rejection. It would seem that I wasn’t in the right state to enter at this time – maybe not at all?

I got my dowsing rods out and asked if there was something I could do in order to prepare myself for entry into the chamber. The rods directed me away from the building and towards the nearby line of trees. As I broke through the tree line into the woods the rods swung around to point at the moss-lined back of a large oak tree. “Sit here!” they seemed to be saying. So I sat down and lit some incense sticks, hoping they would assist me with the cleansing process. I felt I ought to rid myself of my “worldly” energies – the energetic clutter and state of mind that comes from driving in the modern world. I wasn’t in a megalithic state of mind yet!

Minutes later the oak had helped me to divest myself of all my detritus, and I felt cleaner and really “tuned in” to the place. I thanked the tree and went back to check whether or not I would be able to get back into the chamber to do some work.

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Cornwall – The Gnomic Kingdom of The Cheesewring

Sunday 22nd August, 2010 – The Cheesewring, Minions, Cornwall.

Just a mile or so further down the track from The Hurlers are a set of curiously eroded stones perched precariously on the edge of a hilltop that has been extensively quarried on one side. The journey to the stones is hard on the feet – the only path, although not steep, is littered with loose granite lumps and so sturdy boots are recommended in all but the finest of weathers. Today was not the finest of weathers at all – it was the wettest. The South West was about to enter one of the wettest periods in its recorded history (not forgetting the awful year when they had the flood at Boscastle, of course).

If you don’t have a map then remember this simple strategy to find the Cheesewring stones – keep right on the track until you reach the quarry then look up!

It's as tall as a giant called Uther

The legend of how this incredible formation came to be is recounted on a plaque in the car park near to the Hurlers, but a fuller account is given in Wikipedia:

“A local legend about this rock formation is the result of a contest between a man and a giant. When Christianity had just been introduced to the British Islands, the giants who lived at the top of the mountains were not happy about it. The Saints had invaded their land and were declaring their wells as sacred.

One of the larger giants, Uther, was given the task of ridding their land of the Saints. He confronted the frail St Tue, who proposed a rock throwing contest. If Uther won, the Saints would leave Cornwall. If St. Tue won, then the giants would convert to Christianity.

Uther took his turn first and easily threw a small rock to the top of nearby Stowe’s Hill. St Tue prayed for assistance, and picking up a huge slab found it was very light. One after the other, they threw their rocks, stacking them up in perfect piles. When the score was 12 stones each, Uther threw a thirteenth stone, but it rolled down the hill. St Tue picked up this fallen stone, and as he lifted it, an angel appeared to carry it to the top of the pile of rocks. Seeing this, Uther conceded and most of the giants decided to follow Christianity after that.”

This is a classic folklore tale following the usual formula: a seeimingly impossible David & Goliath contest which the saint wins with divine intervention. Note the number twelve and then a thirteenth being the saviour. Obvious astrological themes going on here. Usually I would then go on to tell you which astrological, zodiacal or cosmological entity is associated with a site like this, but in this case that is all unnecessary. The Cheesewring is a pure earth energy site. It is a formation from natural rock, occurring naturally on Bodmin Moor. Unlike stone circles there has not been any man-made alignment of the stones.

There has, however, been some manipulation of the existing stones. Occasionally they have been propped up, and that was necessary because the features of this rock formation have been somewhat exaggerated by the local inhabitants. When I dowsed I found that they had chipped away at the bottom portions to exaggerate its top-heavy look, and then smoothed the rocks off again, as they had done with many of the ‘dressed’ stones for places like Stonehenge.

For wringing cheese

The Gnome in the Cheesewring

Luckily for us there were no other people around. Perhaps the winds that tore across the hilltop as though racing each other were putting some people off, or perhaps it was the fact that visibility was down to several feet that made the climb up to the rocks both difficult to find and arduous to endure. Whatever the reason the gloom made me want to do some work to stay warm.

I dowsed as to what kind of site this was (er…look at it! It’c clearly stone and therefore an earth site! Idiot!). It was an earth site. (Told you so). I wondered if there was a genius loci for this strange place, and the rods confirmed that there was. I don’t usually dowse for a name for such things, but occasionally I do. Luckily for me (Kal chuckled) it was a three-letter name. “What would you have done if it was a thirteen-letter name?“, he taunted. I shrugged – it wasn’t. The earth energy spirit’s name was Hor, causing Kal to chuckle to himself again as he huddled from the biting roaring wind. I asked if it would be appropriate for me to connect to this entity, and the rods told me it was fine, so I asked them to take me to the best place to do this. The best place, apparently, was right in the centre of the rocks in a small space barely big enough to hold me, and exposed to the wind. Nice. I put up some standard protection (see – remembering now) and in I climbed wondering if I would be able to get out again.

Somehow the roaring winds seemed to silence. I could feel them still tugging and battering at my back, but their deafening roar had diminished to a whisper. I took the opportunity to visualise the form I had been working with lately at all these Bodmin sites and I conjured up the rosy cross shape. Now the shape had a circle drawn around it to form a more Celtic design. After some jiggery pokery (well, you’d only get bored if I told you) I had what I would call a “full house” – the Hor gnomic earth spirit had facilitated my work with its elemental kind, to go along with the air, water and fire elemental forces that I had re-collected at the start of the year. This seems like a yearly “pact” of co-operation that must be renewed annually. In return for this help I offered my usual thanks of love and gratitude. I cannot stress strongly enough how useful these energetic gifts are. You can leave all the flowers and corn-dollies and notes that you want – nothing, but nothing, replaces the honest and heartfelt offering of love and gratitude to an energetic being.

Up close and cheesy

As I climbed out of the cramped space I noticed the wind howling again. Fine rain scraped at my face, depositing itself on my growing whiskers like hoar frost (Ha! Hor frost, even!). I visited the other rocks formations nearby on Kal’s recommendation, including a man shape that someone had laid out on the ground in lumpy granite rocks – to which  I added a third-eye stone for a laugh. Kal did not look amused, however, but looked like a man who had been patient whilst I worked, but now who needed the warm reward of a quiet heated car.

We trudged back to the car park in good spirits, ready to see what happened next in this already very interesting day. Nothing could prepare me for the happenstance nature of the wonderful event that we would encounter next, however.

Gwas.

Glastonbury Solstice – Part 3: The Dragon Vision

This is the third part of the story of my recent pil;grimage to Glastonbury. “Pilgrimage” – that’s what I’m calling these visits because that’s how I feel about them – they are modern-day pilgrimages to a “site of special spiritual interest”, to adopt and mutate the SSSI designation. Glastonbury itself recognises this and has a Pilgrimage Centre where people can go to get information about places to visit and what’s on – sort of like a Tourist Information Centre for Seekers.

So, in the last parts I told you how I sloughed off the energetic attachment of a trickster spirit, got a surprise at a crop circle, then took two trips up the Tor trying to totally tune my tantra. That’s not strictly accurate, but it was the only synonym I could find that was alliterative! I was in the process of working on my heart chakra – the chakra os assimilation, integration, love, emotion and…well, here’s what one site says:

“According to contemporary buddhist teacher Tarthang Tulku, the heart chakra is very important for the feeling of existential fulfillment” (source: Sensagent Dictionary)

‘Existential fulfillment’, huh? Well, I’m pretty fulfilled in that respect, being a trainee druid. So, the day before I had watched the sun set on the horizon from The Tor and this morning I set out with Kal to see where I would end up. There were no plans except a starting point – them’s the rules. Our starting point this day would be the “entrance portals” that are the Gog and Magog trees (now sadly, only one remains).

Guardians of The Entrance: Gog and Magog

No time was wasted this morning – we knew, after last year’s visit, exactly how to get to the trees. It was early (i.e. before tour buses arrived) so all was quiet, even on the campsite next to the ancient oaks. Kal hovered around outside while I clambered into the nettle-strewn glade that forms a triangular cordon around the trees. I was taken aback at how much the first tree (Gog apparently) had paled and depreciated in the last year since she had been burned on the inside by some ardent “worshipper” and his zealous candle. I’m sure there were vestiges of life last year. This year he was totally barren and crumbling fast. It was quite dis-heartening to see.

The legendary and dead Gog Oak tree

Luckily, although I felt the waves of trauma and sadness coming from his partner Magog, she was in decent health. In her hollow I placed the two things I possessed that had a healing energy: a special slice of rose-coloured crystal that I had been given as a gift specifically to use for heart chakra work, and my ash staff. How the giver of this crystal had known I was going to do such work is beyond me, but that’s another story. Alongside the crystal I put my staff in the bole too. I placed my hands on the gnarled bark of the tree and, after the waves of anguish had ebbed away I put some loving energy into the tree. She was clearly pining (or is it “oaking”?), and it seemed like the only thing I could do that wasn’t a selfish act. I wasn’t here to take this time – I was here to give.

Three is a magic number

Oh yes it is. Good things come in trees {sic} so having passed between the trees as a starting point to my morning’s processional way I rejoined Kal and we headed up the slope towards the ever-present Tor in the distance. This would be the third time in two days we would climb the Tor, and each time the energies, the feelings and the results were different. Today was no exception.

The climb up the Tor was straightforward, although again, I felt the need to do it in bare feet. Again, we went up the quick way, up the steepest slope at the ‘back’ of the Tor. Once on top Kal went off doing his stuff, dowsing and meditating for his own ends. I dowsed to find the best place for me to work with my heart chakra energies, and to commune with the Spirit of the Tor to know what I should do for the next part of the year’s cycle. This was my intention this morning – no messing about! Straight to the ‘heart’ of the matter!

It was only a matter of a few minutes before things began to happen. I had stilled myself, then sent my attention deep into the Tor and outwards up into the skies above, creating a channel between the two. I felt a deep rumbling from within the depths of the Tor! It was only slight, but it was palpable. Something was stirring! Was it within me, or within the earth? What was it that was awakening? Through my deep connection I felt the urge to stand and move to the doorway of St.Michael’s Tower – the building on the Tor’s summit. I was standing now in the Michael and Mary Line, the Great Dragon Line, the strongest ley line int he country that runs across this land’s southern width from one end to the other. My eyes glazed, and suddenly I saw a vision…

The Dragon Hill Vision

…The archway of the building framed Wearyall Hill in the town below. As my attention was placed upon it I saw that it was the shape of a sleeping dragon. I could make out a head curled in, folded wings on its flanks, and a tail snaking out and around the back of the hill. As I watched, an overlay, a transparent copy of the dragon woke and looked up at me. With a snort it unfolded its wings, stretched and then looked at me again as if waiting for an instruction. I wondered what to do…then I realised. It wanted to fly but had forgotten how, after such a long sleep. I sent back the instruction to it in my mind – “Fly!” I said, “Fly!”. The dragon vision lifted its neck, looked upwards, and then beat its huge wings until it raised itself off the ground.

Cultural images abound - e.g. Smaug

Once airborne it circled quickly around Wearyall Hill, still visible in front of me, and spiralled upwards and towards me. As the great red dragon flew over my head it disappeared. So authentic was this vision that I knew to be a vision, that for a moment I blinked in case it flew into me….then it was gone. There was no dragon now. Wearyall Hill was just a hill.

View of Wearyall 'Dragon' Hill through the tower

I understood, in a way that only true gnosis can reveal, what it was I needed to do for the next eighth part of the year. I needed to “wake the dragon” – whatever that turned out to mean. I had to wake it, then teach it how to fly, because it had been sleeping for so long it had forgotten. Straight away I was getting linkages coming through from my reading and learning: red dragon -> serpent -> male earth energy -> serpent fire -> kundalini -> ‘raising the serpent fire’ -> a hill -> flying -> shamanic flying -> raising consciousness…. the connections kept coming. It would take me a few weeks to contemplate what this might mean exactly for me, but the direction was clear and more powerful than ever before.

I thought that was the most revelatory thing that could have happened to me that day and I was content to know my direction, but the best was yet to come. We descended the hill and headed for the quiet contemplation space that is the Chalice Well Gardens. That was where the pilgrimage was truly fulfilled!

Gwas.

Newgrange – Part 1: Inside the magick chamber

Friday 28th May – Newgrange, County Meath

On our second day on the Ireland megalithic tour we were going around the main Boyne Valley sights. It would be rude not to, seeing as we were in the vicinity. It would be interesting to contrast how the Irish valued their sites compared to the English, Welsh and Scottish. That said, I don’t think were were prepared for the…organisation levels that we were about to encounter.

To get to Newgrange from Knowth you have to…er…go past Newgrange, back to the bus terminal near the Visitor Centre and catch the bus back to Newgrange. Of course you do! On arrival we had to wait for the guide to, er…open the small two feet high unlocked gate and to tell us to walk up to the standing stones in front of Newgrange’s famous entrance. The arrangements are all a bit of a faff, but it began to dawn on us that this was necessary to control the number of people at the site and make the experience rewarding for everyone. In the end we capitulated, although Kal still went off and did his own thing whilst I endured the guided tour to get some background on the site first. Later we walked back rather than hurry for the scheduled bus. We wanted time to dowse, of course.

I’m going to recount things out of chronological order now, because I want to relate the interesting stuff together, so bear with me! We found that the constant influx of tourists into the mound was causing a build-up of negative energies. It was only slight, and took a while to accumulate, but was there.

The accretion effect I suspect may be due to the fact that tourists in no way “prepare” themselves for entering such sites. Why would they? Of course they wouldn’t, and yet in my experience this can often be a necessary part of approaching these sacred places – to cleanse oneself of the subtle energies from the places we have visited (or live in) that is like wearing a smelly coat!

We walked around it the ‘correct’ way – clockwise, sunwise. This ancient (and now partly modern) construction  was a chamber whose energies we left were in synchrony with the Sun’s movements primarily. We wondered as to why the main path invited tourists to walk around it in a contrary, widdershins, direction. This was something that we found to be the case at Stonehenge too, Tourists were ‘invited’ to walk around the structure in a way that would neutralise positive energy flows and keep the place feeling…drained. It would take quite a strength of will for a tourist to walk around in the opposite direction to the flow of everyone else. Of course, we did just that! Swim against the stream, young salmon!

One thing we did wonder about was this: if the flow of energies during Spring was clockwise, would it change direction at other times of the year? Perhaps someone who lives closer might be able to tell us that?


As we stood outside the entrance being given the known history of the site both Kal and I were separately thinking about the hidden history of the place. Kal had gone off exploring, and my mind was split between taking in the historical information and feeling for the energy coming from the nearby standing stones. As my eye wandered absently along the line of the stones I saw that there was an alignment with nearby tumuli (or mounds) closer to the Boyne River down in the valley floor. Interesting that all these sites are aligned to the path of the Sun, and that they all were built within the bounds of this wide bow bend in the river.


Now it was time for the guided tour of the inside of the Newgrange chamber. We all filed into the chamber, careful not the scratch the artwork, and emerged in the central corbelled chamber. Then Kal appeared again and I could see that he was holding his dowsing rods. He wouldn’t, would he?

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La Tene: a visual manifestation of energy in art?

I have had only a passing interest in the La Tene culture, having seen it mentioned infrequently in historical texts related to the druid culture and early Celtic tribes. However, when I did a Google Image search and found some pictures showing the shapes of the La Tene art I was also struck by the similarity. I have no doubt that Celtic and pre-Celtic civilisations had several influences that were more ‘energy-oriented’ than ours:-

  1. They probably still had an oral history of the megalithic cultures who built the ancient stone monuments
  2. They were closer to the land, the cycles of the seasons and Nature generally and this would have influenced their art, if only in an inspirational sense
  3. There was undoubtedly more rock art in existence at the time to copy
  4. Shamanic practises were still being used at that time, and so ‘getting in touch’ with Nature and her energies was a more regular practise than it is nowadays. Purely from a psychedelic standpoint this would bring forth such patterns through the visualisation of energy flows. cf. The Gundestrup Cauldron

It is not the spread or influence of the La Tene culture that interests me. As you can see from the diagram below it is considered that the influence of their culture was quite limited. What interests me is that such a culture, a culture with obvious similarities to other tribal cultures that are more native to this soil, was able to create artwork that seems to be based upon geodetic designs. Now, I introduce the term “geodetic” because I have been reading Guy Underwood. What I mean by the term is that the shapes and designs employed by the La Tene crasftsmen and artists mirror the underlying subtle energy forms that Kal and I have found, as have may others of course, when we have been dowsing around these islands.

In the first set of shapes I see the circle used as a central point, with branches swirling outward from that point. If you look at some of my diagrams from stone circles where I have sketched the shapes that emanate from the stones themselves you will recognise the similarity immediately. Good examples I can think of are Nine Ladies, Moel-Ty-Uchaf or Gors Fawr.

In this second set of diagrams of La Tene art I see another familiar shape – that of the double-headed spiral form that represents the travel of the sun across the sky in a year. This is actually found in subtle energy form as a sigil at several sites that I have dowsed recently, including Dinas Bran near Llangollen and at Birkrigg Moor stone circle in Cumbria. I am sure there are many more. The shape is defined as akin to that of a treble clef symbol, with one end more tightly wound that the other. The tightly wound end runs anti-clockwise and represents the female end (I’m sure there are parallels in life there, with the female being more tightly wound!) and the male end being fewer turns and clockwise.

It appears to me, and to Riverwolf – the kind reader who spotted this connection – that there is some inherent familiarity with these forms that is seeking expression in these symbols and the art that is produced using them. We are fortunate enough to still have them represented in our own time to be able to refer back to them, and to make such a connection. Whether or not that connection makes any difference to us on a practical level is not the significance. The significance comes from the acknowledgement – tacit or otherwise – that previous “tuned in” cultures were closer to the Megalith Builders that we are, and knew Nature’s flows more intimately than we allow ourselves to now. We hope this may soon be knowledge whose practicality is soon re-discovered.

In this sphere of recovering ancient knowledge the recognition of interesting coincidences can often put us back in touch with a clue to that way our ancestors thought, and how they viewed the world. Perhaps this expression of energy forms in art may be one of those clues?

Gwas.

Parabola and circle: the perfect formations

Recently I was toying with my five Callenish stones. I bought five stones from the gift shop when I was there last year, and now I wanted them to be ‘charged up’ with subtle energy in readiness for any forays I may have to make that would require their use. These stones, made of Lewissian Gneiss, are practically the only stones I have left, after having lost other sets and leaving others around the country to do their work restoring some subtle energy imbalances.

Lewissian Gneiss forming beautiful folds

My usual method of charging such stones is to place them within my favourite (and most favourable) power centre in my house, and to leave them there for however long the divining rods say they should be left. This I did, simply plonking them into a rough pile in the centre. The rods indicated that they would take five days to fully charge up. Hmmm….leaving them for five days in a prominent place might present a problem – what if one of our cats disturbed them, or they got kicked? Was there a faster method, I wondered?

The divining rods indicated that there was a faster way. I asked the rods to show me where I should place the stones in order for them to charge up faster than the specified five days. One by one I dowsed for their positions. One here, one there, one next to this one, one near to that one, etc. I stood back once they had all been placed and looked at their formation. The formation was clearly a parabola, with the focal point directed towards…well, towards Callenish actually! I asked the rods how long it would take to charge the stones up using this formation – one day!

So, was the parabola the most efficient form for collecting and focusing subtle energy? Not quite. It was the right shape for charging up radiant energies (i.e. Sun, Moon, Planet or Star energy) but not for Earth Energy. The formation most effective for collecting earth energy is a circle. Superficially you could say that a crescent moon shape and a sun shape are the perfect subtle energy forms. I rather think the concept has more to do with the efficient qualties of the parabola and the circle than any correspondence with the shapes of The Moon or The Sun, however.

I find it interesting that, given Kal and I have discovered that subtle energy forms conical shapes above and below ground with the centre point being the surface of the earth, a parabola is described as being a through-section of a cone:

“In mathematics, the parabola is a conic section, the intersection of a right circular conical surface and a plane parallel to a generating straight line of that surface. Given a point (the focus) and a corresponding line (the directrix) on the plane, the locus of points in that plane that are equidistant from them is a parabola.” (source: Wikipedia)

Construction of a parabola

This discovery reminded me of when Kal dowsed to discover the perfect crystal layout to try to dispel a powerful negative pool of energy that had accumulated close to his house. He too formed a parabola shape, and the actions of the Sun and Moon over a period of time managed to dispel it. Another thing for us to look out for, but this is not the first time we have formed this shape “accidentally” by placing each stone in a place suggested by the dowsing rods.

I would also seem a reasonable hypothesis that stone circles were created with the intention of collecting and generating earth energies using the most efficient design possible for this.

Gwas Myrrdyn.

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