The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘earth healing’

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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In this post I am going to tell you about the single most powerful and fascinating true story of some work I did with a healer friend as we worked on resolving a long-standing energy problem at a sacred site in Cheshire. Every word is true and as it happened. I think you will find it a good example of earth energy healing, a telepathic incident, and also a curious tale of an encounter with a dark energy form.

I have talked many times with my friend Michael about energy healing. Sometimes he talks about me getting involved in healing, with the presumption that this means people. Sometimes I talk to him about healing, with the presumption that I mean earth energy healing. Sometimes we are on the same wavelength. One evening I went to see Michael in Congleton and I felt like it was the culmination of a series of events that were bringing our wavelengths together.

Michael barely had time to say hello before I was asking whether he could accompany me on a special journey to a local site. He didn’t need much persuading, and in a few moments we were heading off to The Bridestones – a site that Michael lives close to but which he had never visited close up (he has passed by on many occasions). He said he never felt that there was anything there for him to go for. I understood that feeling, for it is exactly the same feeling that Kal has about the site – a distaste for it.

As we drove the few miles out of town I explained how I had come to choose this site. I had been doing a tarot reading about where I should take my healing work and it had suggested I would work with someone who was already skilled in healing. Well, I only knew one person who fitted that bill! Then the cards suggested earth energy healing, and I began to wonder where Michael would fit into this particular picture, as he was a healer of people. He responded that actually he had been receiving information telling him that he would be doing more earth energy healing soon. Looks like I turned up at the right point then?

Finally, I explained how I had found the site by dowsing questions. After going through a list of “North/South of Britain”, “East/West”, type of questioning I began to narrow it down to specific counties, and then I could begin to narrow the search down by asking whether it’s a site I have visited before. When the answer came back that it was a known site I only had to go through a list of the sites in that county, and soon I had my answer -  The Bridestones. I knew instantly that the choice of Michael by the tarot cards was perfect – he had local knowledge, and healing abilities. It was a perfect match and it felt right.

So, we visited The Bridestones on a sunny evening in late July, just as the sun was moving towards the horizon and the shadows growing long. Here is the tale of our epic work at this site.

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RJ Stewart - scares the pimples off toads

Every now and again I come across and idea that I can really tune into. One such idea is espoused by author R.J.Stewart in his book “The Well of Light – From Faery Healing to Earth Healing“. Something tells me from Mr.Stewart’s demeanour that spending time with that man might be a scary experience, and he looks a bit mad. But then, look at some of the ideas that I now go along with – several years ago I would have said the same of myself!

The idea that got me excited was his concept of the Seven Aptitudes required to work with the Faery entities which could provide a gateway into developing skills such as healing. So, what is “faery healing” and what are these “seven aptitudes” he espouses? Well, let’s examine his concept of faery healing.

Stewart says that faery healing is a healing process that involves energy-working involving the co-operation of energetic beings who we have traditionally called “faery folk”. He spends some chapters explaining that there are different types of faery folk, and that they present themselves to us in different ways. He goes on to label the smaller kinds as one sort, and the hive or larger, more complex entities as something else – yet stressing that they are all size and quantity differentiations of the same thing – an intelligent spirit form that is all around us if only we bothered to pay attention to it.

Without getting any further into the healing aspects – which I will cover once I have read, absorbed, and worked through the book – I wanted to bring out the “aptitudes” that he mentions as being the seven aspects through which you might encounter the faery realm, and through which you can work with it.

He states that we all have these aptitudes within us, but that they are often latent unless accidentally triggered or brought out through working on them, or naturally develop as part of some spiritual work we may be involved in.

The seven aptitudes he lists as being:-

1. Working with Water
2. Working with Stones
3. Working with Allies and Co-Walkers
4. Working with Plants and Herbs
5. Working with Living Creatures
6. Working with Touch (palms of the hands or fingertips)
7. Working with Signatures (patterns in the landscape)

Let me do a little translation and explanation of these aptitudes based upon the work that Kal and I do, and you may begin to see that we work with almost every aspect of these aptitudes, although we clearly favour one or two more than others.

Working with water is the energising of water with subtle energy. Kal especially has done a lot of work with this and it is now a part of his daily routine to energise water. For me, water is in balance with the other elements that I work with, but I favour Air above the other forms. I have a particular affinity with Air and its spirits, and I leave Water work to those who feel this affinity. I can find water with my dowsing rods, but I don’t make that a regular feature of my work because I live in Britain where water is an abundant resource.

Working with stones is defined as working with standing stones, stone circles, stones that have an energy signature, or ones that we pick up and use. Into this category I would also add crystals. Well, this is almost 90% of what Kal and I work with at any given sacred site! We are forever picking stones up, using crystals, and working at sacred sites. This would be one of our foremost aptitudes, I would say, but the rods say otherwise! The dowsing rods indicated to me that this was an aptitude I had, but not a strong one! Well, I live and learn.

Working with Allies and Co-Walkers. For me this translates as working with faery entities and “ascended” human forms. I define it as all of the “Underworld” and “Otherworld” work that we do in communion with spirit forces, and I include death energy forms in this too. In recent years this has gained a certain degree of prominence in our work, as I’m sure you have discovered by reading this blog! When I dowsed whether this was a strong aptitude for me I got a very strong response. News to me!

Working with plants and herbs is not something we do particularly. We tend to limit this work to our interactions with teaching trees. I have a couple of books on herb lore and tree lore, which I intend to read up on at some point, but this is not our major focus. Stewart emphasises that this aptitude is not related to the substance of plants, but to their spirit forces. There are other people for whom working with plant spirits is very important. I am not one of those people at the moment, but I respect their work.

Working with living creatures is something that we have begun to recognise in our work with birds and totem animals. Reading the signs of bird behaviour is something that I attach to almost every task now, and my totem is the hawk, but this is not exclusive. Recently a badger guided me to return to a task at a particular and more appropriate time, for example. I would again say this is not our primary focus, but we do recognise its increasing significance in our work.

Healing from the palm chakras being developed

Working with touch is something that I wrote about recently in two ways. The first was when I discussed druid divination techniques that involved “deviceless dowsing” or feeling for energy through the medium of touch – through the hands. Also I have recently posted about my experiences about being guided on my current healing task by being shown that my palms chakras are the way that I should take in and give out healing energy forces. This is going to assume much greater significance over the next six months, I’m sure. Also, remember how I was shown an image of being able to work with plants through touch this Spring? I would classify this as an aptitude that I am getting increasingly involved with. Add to that Kal’s Reiki master level training and I think we have this one covered!

As far as the dowsing rods were concerned this was another area that responded positively and very strongly. Possibly the strongest response of all, indicating that for me this healing path is something I am going to have to let emerge, as it seems to be a talent I have been keeping hidden for too long.; Interestingly, this was what my psychic friend Mike had said to me many months ago but I had put it to one side at the time.

Working with signatures in the land is the final aptitude that Stewart discusses. Stewart defines a signature as being a pattern of behaviour in the landscape, in Nature, that delivers a message to the natural magician. For example, Kal and I often talk of seeing “signs” or “omens” in our surroundings – the appearance or sound of birds, clouds, wind, an animal crossing your path. The patterns in the landscape can take any form and they are always only available and meaningful to you personally – they mean nothing to anyone else. They are specific to place and time, and to your frame of mind.

I would like to add another aspect to this particular aptitude. Kal and I think of these energy signatures as being “sigils”, or subtle energy in geometric forms. A quick search on the site will reveal many posts in which we describe and utilise these energy signatures in our work. These were particularly important when we started with the dowsing aspects of our work, but now that we have moved on into other areas these sigils are less important for us. Nevertheless, I do not diminish their significance, only the use for us at this time.

R.J.Stewart, in a bid not to alienate his audience, states that we ought to have at least one of these aptitudes, and that will suffice. I think we can say that Kal and I have developed most of these aptitudes by following our spiritual paths without prejudice or undue preference. Obviously some have developed more than others, and some may never develop much further than us trying them out and seeing where they take us at that time, especially as we begin to concentrate on those aptitudes that we gain the most from, or which give the most to others.

Going with the flow of the universe has been a challenging but incredibly rewarding learning course for us. We welcome developing all seven aptitudes, and can’t wait to see how they lead us through this healing phase of our work. I think this is an interesting framework to keep an eye on whilst we develop, and see whether each area has something to offer our healing capabilities as they mature.

Gwas.

More information:

• R.J.Stewart’s DreamPower web site
• His book publishing site
• Stewart’s books on Amazon