The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘energy’

This post is the second half of a post I did after the Summer Solstice. My purpose was to record the eight points in the year because at each of these artificial stages which were roughly aligned to the Celtic or Neo-Pagan calendar I would be seeking a task by communingAn interaction with an invisible and natural sentient force that is independently identifiable, even if it cannot be named or classified. The interaction takes place at the level of a subtle amalgamation of the mind of the perceiver such that a dialogue or transference of feelings may occur between the two sentient parties. The interaction that is ‘communing’ is purposefully initiated by the perceiver for the express purpose of learning or simply to transfer feelings in a sympathetic manner. with Nature. The task would be a guiding principle that I could use in order to develop spiritually along my chosen path of being a hedge druid. 

You can read about the first four “folds” of the year in my previous post, here. However, I will briefly recap the first four, before going on to describe the final four:- 

1. Yule to Imbolc – to be still, and to cleanse myself in preparation for the unfolding year. Accordingly I did nothing at all!
2. Imbolc to Spring Equinox – to awaken the energies of sacred sites; to contact spirits of place and prepare myself and sacred sites for the work ahead. I spent time communing with Spirits of Place and walking circles to awaken them.
3. Spring Equinox to Beltane – to connect to the earth’s energy grid; understand the nature of Neutral earth energy forms and to extract and utilise Neutral energy. I began to link to various sites, and connected myself to the earth grid. I investigated neutral energy and found something that I later called Primal Energy.
4. Beltane to Summer Solstice- to learn how to diffract, dissociate and extract the different frequencies that my energy field can generate. Then to learn how to bring those frequencies together again to form a pure white energy form. I learned how to extract a single energy colour from my whole field, and how to combine them all into a white light energy.

All of this work seemed like a preparation for something. Little did I know! Now I present the final four folds of the year, and their increasingly complex task assignments:- 

SUMMER SOLSTICE to LAMMAS 

Summer Solstice

 The Summer Solstice is the easiest point in the year for us to define. Being sun-based this day is fixed upon the rise of the sun on the longest day of the year. As has become our custom this year would see Kal and I in Glastonbury for the Solstice, working on our heart chakra and finding out what the next part of the year was about. 

PURPOSE:  

• To wake The 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. and let it fly.

I firstly had to ensure that my heart chakra was well balanced and filled with the energies of the sun and the solstice. With the sun at its peak the perfect place to be for the Solstice always seems to be Glastonbury with its reputation for being the heart chakra of these islands, and Glastonbury Tor has a reputation within that reputation for being the heart of the Glastonbury. Well, yet again, we were not disappointed, either with the copious amounts of heart energy available in this town, or with the wonderful energies of this time of the year. 

My task to waking the dragon would take me eventually to Cadair Idris where I would walk along the back of the dragon to its head. There I did a walking meditation, collecting dragon’s teeth and using them to act as acupuncture points to release the spirit of the dragon. All this was done surrounded by the dragon’s breath – the mist. 

Since doing that act I have been able to feel energy much better than before. My dowsing response is also much stronger, and I often don’t need the rods to feel auras or to follow energy lines. I have also taken on a new appreciation for the power of the mountains. 

LAMMAS to AUTUMN EQUINOX 

Lammas - time of harvest

 As the summer ripens the crops so the year’s quest began to get more juicy. Rather than receiving some kind of prophetic vision instead I was given three little words, and from that phrase I had to extrapolate my own tasks. This was beginning to make me more independent. 

PURPOSE:  

• To make magic manifest
• To bring magic into daily use

I began to find meditation spaces in nature that I could retire to in order to do more work regularly. This worked while the weather stayed good and I got out often and did an almost daily meditation in nature. I began to work with my navel chakra and learned how to draw out invisible threads of energy that could be used to perform magic with. I incorporated several methods of connecting and drawing energy from nature to form energetic shapes around me for different purposes. 

At the end of this phase of the year I was much more familiar with, and happy to use, natural magickThis is a system of belief that is often defined as being the appropriation and re-use of naturally occurring forces for the purposes of healing, transformation, communication, or a host of other subtle effects. The natural elements of the magick can also be seen by the under-pinning concept that the use of these forces should be co-operative rather than coercive. on a daily basis. It had become a part of my routine and was now woven into the fabric of what I was trying to do to progress. Incense and crystals were valuable tools in this work, and I was using them often. 

AUTUMN EQUINOX to SAMHAIN  

The rise and fall of autumn

  As the leaves turned brown and fell I found myself enveloped in a long-term quest to re-energise particular sacred sites. The first one was local to me, but the second was in the town of Llangollen in North Wales. I found myself going to the hill of Dinas Bran a few times at all hours of the day and night after I received a curious riddle concerning Merlin. 

PURPOSE:  

• To journey into the Underworld and wake the Spirit of Merlin from his sleep

The instruction was accompanied by a riddle that gave me directions to follow in order to fulfil the quest to meet the spirit of Merlin. This quest involved the preparation of a wand of rowan, the location of a special stone church surrounded by ancient yew trees, and a deep meditation into the Underworld. This journey required me to learn new skills such as how to protect my energy body and make myself invisible to shades. 

When the quest was completed I had new stronger keener abilities, and I had performed a sort of alchemical wedding by combining within myself the forces of male and female energy. 

 SAMHAIN to WINTER SOLSTICE 

A time of the year associated with the veil between worlds, with death and the Underworld, with spirits and ghosts. It came as little surprise then that my new quest would be revealed at the tree most symbolic of this threshold – the yew. 

So many of this year’s quests have involved the ancient yew tree at Llangernyw that I have lost count. It seems to be our natural starting point because of its incredible energies, and its association with the concept of shamanic journeying. It is truly a gateway between worlds. The Samhain quest began with the tree too. As with many of the quests it sounded simple, but was actually the most complex and dangerous yet.   

The frost returns

 PURPOSE:  

• To free spirits.

Such a simple statement, but when unpacked, so complex to deliver. For this task I have had to do a lot of background reading about the concept of spirit rescue or release. 

I have also had to confront a great deal of my own inner philosophical prejudices concerning the way that the world is constructed, and what it means to venture beyond the veil of death. This feels like a natural extension of my journey into the Underworld, which at the time I took to be a metaphorical journey until the seriousness was impressed upon me. It was a real journey, and failure to prepare could result in actual physical repercussions. 

This quest also has a serious side. Whilst I am tasked with learning new skills, and understand that performing spirit rescue is a question of choice, nevertheless there could and no doubt will be some hairy and scary moments along this path, for which I have to prepare properly. 

Summary 

The first half of the year was concerned with me locking myself into the rhythm of the seasons. It involved tasks that were mainly preparatory – at the start of the year I was idle, resting, recuperating my energy levels and winding myself up to race headlong at the year. Then I was gently re-introduced to the energies of the land as they returned, and was given the task to co-operate in the re-introduction of energy back into the sacred sites that I love. 

The turning point was the Summer Solstice. From then on the quests became very personal and very challenging. They began to involve me having to learn new skills. The quests sometimes included riddles for me to solve, clues to information that would help me to achieve the results. I worked hard to embrace each new quest, and tried my utmost to meet the requirements in the timescales laid out by the passing of the year. I was rewarded at each stage with new powers, new skills and new insights into the world of Natural Magick, subtle energies, and the world beyond the senses. 

I know that each of the quests that I undertook was but an introduction to the breadth and depth of the skills that a hedge druid could be required to master. I now look forward to repeating this process next year, and once I have a second year to compare this year to, I will look to see whether there are any obvious correspondences and patterns which will allow me to be even better prepared in the following years. 

The Wheel of the Year has rolled forward and I have moved with it. Now I feel the wind rushing through my hair and it is exhilarating! 

Gwas.

Related post: My Eight Fold Year – the first four folds

You may have noticed, if you’ve been following such posts, that I have changed the title of this series to remove “seven” and replace it with “six”. By the end of the post I hope this makes complete sense. However, I had collected some information about the number seven and so I will still present it, even though it is now only background information to the eventual explanation of the number six. You will see what I mean as you read on!

The Seven

I have written several times about the seven orders - the septenary – the seven parts of the soul as it is diffracted into our solar-oriented and organised society. Much of this is common knowledge to most students of the esoteric arts and mystery traditions.

The seven we all know and love

For the Solar-aligned cultures we have inherited such recognisable scales as:-

1. The rainbow colours
2. The chakras
3. The planets
4. The days of the week
5. The number of heavens

These systems are a reflection of the seven-fold division of the soul – the rays of the original light diffracted.  By tradition, five of the aspects of the soul are tangible and knowable, whilst two are hidden or esoteric and intangible. They are referred to as the five known and the two hidden, and this is a recurring theme. The upper two chakras are associated with spirituality – the Third Eye and the Crown chakras; in the days of the week two of the days are specially designated for not working.

Of the planets the ancients only wrote about the five major bodies (the ‘classical’ planets – Mars, Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter), plus the Sun and the Moon. They left out the farther planets, even though some researchers have suggested that ancient people knew of these outer planets in some detail – namely Neptune and Uranus [cf. Sitchin]. Although such knowledge is mainly based upon interpretation of ancient pictures, our dowsing in stone circles shows that some circles have quite deliberate alignments and influences from those two planets – in fact, they feature quite regularly.

In terms of the senses it was considered that there were five senses, but two additional ones that were hidden: our awareness of ourselves in space (vestibular), and our inner awareness (proprioceptive). Five known, two hidden, making a system of seven.

Read the rest of this entry »

“Yes, that sounds like it might be true”

Is a statement that Gwas and I use infrequently. What our preference is, is to say “Let’s test that to see if what he/she says is true for us”. Sounds fair to me, at least we’re not dismissing “stuff” out right.

In this months Journal of the British Society of Dowsers, Dowsing Today,  there is an article by Elisabeth Brown on causative diagnosis.

Elisabeth

In the article Elisabeth tells of how she came across the notion of causitive diagnosis when she determined that a clients cancer was caused by hair dye she used (see the article).

On the BSD site it says:

…knowing the underlying causes is the key to optimising treatment and therefore full restoration of health; reveal the main causes of different types of cancer, CFS, skin conditions and allergies; and show exactly why electromagnetic pollution, geopathic stress, and mobile phones can have such devastating effects.

Okay, now as I mentioned Gwas and I are explorers in our own right and so dont take much on faith, why? when we can test it our selves? As our moto is…

Don’t believe what we say, go and test it for yourself!

So I did just that.

Now then, I have Type II diabetes and was diagnosed around 2003 when symptoms such as excessive thirst had e off to the quacks for certification er I mean diagnosis. Anyway I thought I would try out “Causative Diagnosis” on my Diabetes to see what I would get. Here are the questions…

• Can I ask about it? Yes – Obviously or this post would be a bit small.

• How long ago did I contract Diabetes? This is an interesting question because I knew that it must be longer than 7 years. The answer was 9 years ago. I didn’t bother with the exact date.

• How many contributing factors where there? Many (unhelpful)

• How many were major contributive factors? Two (much better).

• Where they the same level of contribution? No, They were a factor of 9 different, i.e. one was 9 times more causative than the other. wow!

Okay, so now I explored this “uber” causative factor. Was it to do with…

1. Emotional
2. Mental
3. Biological/Genetic
4. Food

As I began asking these, my intuition immediately kicked in and said “Environmental” But my rational brain replied “That is a rubbish answer” and so I carried on.

• Is it to do with Energy? I got a slight wobble which indicates “you’re on the right track”

So I thought, Okay is it Environmental? A big yes (almost as if the Rods were happy to see me ask).

Here is the thing, when I went into this experiment I was expecting these answers:

• Genetic, Obesity (though I havent been obese, bit overweight may be), Food

Since the quacks reckon that these are the “causative” factors.

So I was really surprised when I didn’t get these.

• I then asked whether it was home or work environment, and I got home.

Home Environment Energy? A thought occurred to me…

• Was it that good ol’ Geopathic Stress that everyone harps on about? No, Darn!

I have to confess that at this time my intuition and frankly belief in “causative diagnosis” was suffering. I ambled back and forth trying to gain some vantage point…

• Was it to do with my partners energies? No
• Was it my energies? No (obviously since these weren’t environmental)
• So it wasn’t EMF or anything like that? No
• Blind springs, ley lines? No and No (As you can see I was reaching)

Then something occured to me that stopped me in my tracks…Surely it couldn’t be that? The time frame fitted exactly but…wow…what a find and what would it mean?

Flashback

If readers recall, about a year ago I dowsed my house quite extensively and found a highly negative black streamA flow of subtle energy emerging from a source. The source is usually imbued with some negative qualities, for example, it may be a source of geopathic stress where geology is under pressure, or toxic gases are emitted. Alternatively, the source may be imbued with negative emotions such as anger, fear or hatred left there by the intent of a human being. The result is a toxic dispersal of flows of “black” energy. These flows can cause disruption to everything in their path, such as accident blackspots if they cross roads, or polluted streams if they contact water. of energy flowing throughout it. This stream had been there for “7 years” and had been causing bad stuff to happen for all that time. It took me a while and some effort to clear it.

Now

The rods were telling me that my Diabetes was caused by this black stream! What, where, who…wow! I never expected this answer. Not in a forever…

Since I “cleaned up” the house I have been feeling a lot better, but I wonder…if energies where the cause, could energies be the fix?

Next time…

Kal Malik

Sunday 20th June, 2010 – Glastonbury, Somerset.

This is the fourth in the series of Summer Solstice posts, and by far the most ….important, astonishing, profound? In previous posts I have detailed my quest to finish off my tasks for the previous eighthpart of the year, and then to discover the purpose of the next eighth-part. Bothof these were very successful, and involved working with the heart chakra to bring about a harmonisation and integration within me. Then I had been posed a riddle to solve that would be the key to the next phase of the year from the Solstice to Lammas. With that safely determined, I could relax (could I relax any more?) and just “be”. I would say I was in a state of “openness” at this point, and ready to chill out in the lovely Chalice Well gardens, given that it was a fantastic sunny day. So, off we went down the Tor in a state of contentedness.

If there’s one place in the whole of Glastonbury that I appreciate more than any other it’s the tranquil space and beauty of the Chalice Well gardens. Its serenity is such an oasis from the hubbub of the Tor and the High Street, sandwiched as it is between the two. As we approached the ticket boothour thoughts were already turning to the “mindlessness” that such a place engenders and were were both quiet in preparation. The bearded man in the booth looked us up and down and then commented on the beauty of my ash staff. Thus began a special moment in my spiritual journey – I met Brian Conquer, ArchDruid of Glastonbury, for the first time.

The beauty and tranquility of the Chalice Well gardens

How To Inlay A Staff

The conversation with Brian began with him asking about how I came across the staff. I told him the story that it had asked me to rescue it, how I had heard its call, revived it and how now I wanted to decorate it. Now we were inseparable companions, the staff and I. Straight away I felt as though he understood what I meant, which rather surprised me, but hey – we were in Glastonbury and people must hear comments like that all the time. Brian began to explain how I might decorate the staff usinga particular technique involving twisted copper wire, superglue, a soldering iron with a square head, and some sandpaper. It sounded like it was just the piece of information that I had been waiting for because I had been holding off from carving the staff for a while now feeling that this was not the right thing to be doing, and having dowsed that the marks I was making needed to be more distinct. Here was Brian telling me exactly how that could be achieved!

Brian’s technique for inlaying the staff in copper was firstly to burn a shape into the wood using the soldering iron. Then, twist the copper wire, glue it in place, and use the sandpaper to cause heat via friction which blends the copper and glue until the finish is smooth. Well, it sounded simple enough, and I said I would go and practise that. He commented that he would be holding a workshop on how to do exactly that in late August here in the Chalice Well gardens. I made a special note to leave a space in my calendar. This was just the guidance that I needed to complete my “side quest” of transferring the shapes I am dowsing, the sigils of the 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. of various sacred sites, and putting them onto my staff. Here was a man who was experienced in just that technique.

There was even more information on offer too, though. Brian informed us about the red spring (female water) that emerged from under the Tor and had been enshrined here in the gardens. Over the road in the white spring, the male quality of the water was surfaced, channeled and enshrined.  So, on either side of the road that separated the White Springs from the Chalice Well, the two qualities of water were available.

Another nugget of information was that there was an old yew tree with special qualities in the churchyard of St.Andrew’s church at Compton Dundon nearby. Brian reckoned that the yew tree was around 1500 years old, but also that it was the home of a friendly female dryad – a tree spirit. Having met only male dryads so far I made a mental note to go visit this should I get the chance. Some other arrivals at the gardens overheard this conversation and took an avid interest as well. Mr Conquer was holding court to a rapt audience!

Nooks and crannies in Chalice Well gardens

Meeting The Goddess

Kaland I thanked the old man for his effusive and passionate display of knowledge. He had given us so many ideas to play with in such a short time that we felt we needed to spend some time in the gardens now to assimilate it all! Kal went off doing his thing (he loves the gardens) and I went off following a dowsing rod to find the best place for me to be. I started by asking if there was anywhere I could re-energise my healing ash staff – this was, after all, the quintessential healing place. I was lead to a sun-drenched circle of sawn tree trunks through a narrow archway that overlooked the main running spring water. ‘Idyllic’ is barely an adequate word! Perfect for re-charging – in terms of sunlight, the geometry of the space, and the quietness. I felt perfectly fine leaving the staff there whilst I went off elsewhere to find my own perfect spot.

After spending time on a fruitful trail moving from beneath various types of tree – beech, then willow, then rowan, and finally yew – I wandered down to where Kal was playing into the channeled spring, observing its flow. It looked like he was doing something akin to Schauberger’s principles of flowing water, but he didn’t elaborate. Seeing he wasn’t finished I didn’t interrupt, but began to wander aimlessly. That was when Brian nipped out of the ticket hut to shout some advice across to me: “Why don’t you try standing between the yew trees facing down the hill, groudn your staff and calling on the Goddess?“, he suggested. I had already been between the yew trees on my last visit, and again on this one, but his additional instructions made me think he knew something I didn’t, and beside – how the whole garden was watching to see what I would do! Nothing like a bit of pressure!

I stood in the centre of the two yews and asked them if they minded me doing this little experiment. I got a pleasing feeling, and so I thanked them and carried on. There was a lady behind me who seemed to be taking a very keen interest in this procedure, but I did my best to screen everyone out and followed the instructions. I faced down the slope, unfixed my attention and then struck the earth with my staff. At that precise moment I sent my attention up and down into the earth and sky. Once I was connected above and below I looked into the middle distance and called mentally upon the Goddess to visit me in this place. Would anything happen? Or would I just look foolish?

Two yews and a thorn tree in Chalice Well gardens

A gentle but powerful force arrived surrounding me in a maelstrom of whirling energies- a veritable vortex of coiling charge built up around me. I could feel my aura expanding and pulsing in and out in slow and very strong heartbeats. The American lady behind me, whom I had completely forgotten about, so awed was I by this ‘visitation’, was saying things like “Whoa – I’m being pushed backwards – now I’m moving forwards again!”. I continued feeling like I was in the centre of a storm and couldn’t imagine what it must look like from the outside – did people see this swirling vortex of 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. like I was feeling it?

I had a question I wanted to ask my visitor. I guessed she might be able to help me with this one. I asked if I might ask the question, to which the winds increased in strength momentarily. I imagined my question to her: “What was the nature of the 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. that I had to awaken? Was it a hill, an energy, a skill, a tale, or what?” The answer came back immediately, “It is the serpent fire within you. Can’t you feel it?” she whispered witha strong hint of humour. Of course I could! It was swirling all around and through me now! I was happy with that clear guidance, and thanked her for helping me. I released my mental grip, re-focusing my attention back into the present world and the winds around me began to ease off. As they did so I thanked the visitor for the experience – the single most powerful and exhilarating experience of that nature that I have ever had.  The American lady behind me looked equally shell-shocked and could only say “Thank you! Thank you for that – that was amazing!” over and over again as she walked away, wide-eyed. I smiled and looked over at Brian in his wooden ticket office. He winked at me and smiled too. He seemed to know what that had been like for me.

I returned to Kal again and he still seemed to be busy meditating. I suddenly noticed that there were lots of herbs planted along one side of the garden’s walls and I wandered over to stroll amongst them – touching and smelling each in turn. I had never paid any interest at all to herbs before, but suddenly they it seemed to me that they were very important, and that I should learn their properties. I have no idea why this suddenly seemed so important, but since then I have been buying herb seeds, studying their lore, and have designated a space in my garden ready for planting them! Most odd. Or maybe just a natural progression on this druidic path?

As I wandered around Brian appeared again with a conspiratorial wink, and handed me a small wrapped hand-sized package. “A present from the Goddess.” he winked and smiled before chuckling to himself as he walked away. I thanked him as he retreated, and I unfolded the paper – it was a large prism of clear quartz. A present from an Archdruid? A treasured possession already! I was very humbled.

Gwas.

Kermario, Carnac – 8th May 2009

In this sixth installment of the Brittany series, the second part of the Carnac visit, I found possibly the most interesting aspects of the whole Carnac visit (not to put you off the next post, but this is the ‘main feature’, if you like).

Entrance stones

As we walked across the road to the next section, called Kermario, we walked into a larger section of woodland than was around Ménec.On either side of the road winding through this woodland were two large boulders.

I stopped as I reached the point between them. I could feel a barrier of energy! There was a definite flow of energy between them that made my midriff feel a tug, just like when I walk the energy paths down a hill, or stand next to a large menhir. What was the purpose of putting these two stones here? I glanced around. I had missed two other similarly sized boulders that were fifty feet or so away. They were sites in an enclosed field nearby. Two pairs of boulders? The previous pair looked like they might designate the end of the Ménec field, whilst the pair I was standing between might demarcate the beginning of the Kermario field, I wondered? I dowsed between them – a strong male line going back and forth between them. I asked for permission to enter and the energy stopped tugging at my stomach, so I passed through. Hmmm….entrance stones for the energetically-aware?

Nemeton size: more guerrila dowsing

I was glad we were walking instead of driving now. I was seeing much more than if we had just whizzed by on a whirlwind tour from the car as most people seemed to be doing. This fast-paced tick-in-the-box tourism was beginning to become anathema to me. We stopped alongside the Kermario field of stones.

It was an even more impressive sight than Ménec, because you could see down the slope through several fields, and the alignments just kept going on and on into the middle distance. We had found a nice spot amongst some outlying rocks that were not fenced off, but were close to a point that looked convenient for hopping over the fence unseen to most eyes. Whilst I waited for the occasional couple of tourists to wander by I did some dowsing at the edge of the field of stones.

I wondered if all those stones were producing any kind of nemeton field collectively? I walked back into the woods some fifty feet, then asked if I was in the nemeton field and got a “NO” response. I walked towards the fence surrounding the stones until I got the familiar barrier response indicating the extent of the nemeton. It was about 20 feet from the nearest row. I tested for its qualities – FEMALE and NEUTRAL EARTH energies were found. I have begun to differentiate between male, female and neutral earth energies and the corresponding genders of human energies. Kal and I have found that when the earth produces a “white streamA flow of positive energised and healing subtle energy. The white streams usually emanate from a source of good energy such as a holy well, a sacred site, a power centre or a place of worship of good intent. We have found that white stream energy consists primarily of male and female energy combined in a balanced and harmonious blend, such that the two streams “play” with each other, warping and wefting in a dance that invigorates and enlivens everything that comes into contact with it. If a human stands in such a stream then they will feel positive, happy and energised, warm even.” of positive, beneficial energy it is a combination of male and female. Since discovering this I have begun to qualify the energy types by stating whether they are earth energies, radiant energies, or human energies. This nemeton field was earth energy.

The Energy Engine

As we progressed down the path alongside the fields of stones, admiring the amazing lines that flowed in parallel across the undulating landscape we spotted a tower in the distance that looked like a great vantage point from which to view the whole scene.

Before we got there I wanted to ask the rods some more questions about how the purpose of this place. A convenient stopping point was where the path crossed between two fields of stones near to a ‘creperie’, actually a farmhouse built right in the midst of the aligned rows of stones. At this point the rows seemed artificially disconnected by the path and farmhouse, so I took the chance to check my findings so far, and verified them all. Now that I knew the way the energies flowed I was less inclined to continue asking the same questions all over the site. How about finding something out about what this was all for?

I knew that archeo-astrologers and other researchers have picked up on solar, lunar, maybe even stellar alignments, and like most sites I knew that this was a comp0onent of their construction, but not their entire purpose, I felt. Only part of the story. I suspected that the astrological alignments simply told the druids and other people who understood these sites WHEN they would be at their maximum and minimum in terms of their energetic potential. The question now was what would they be doing with this energy, and why was this particular site built like this? I asked the following questions whilst standing in the energy flow between the disconnected rows of two fields of stones:-

• Was the purpose of this site to gather energy by transforming radiant energies and drawing up earth energy like some kind of massive energy generator? YES, came the response.
• Was the whole series of stones all one big engine? Er…NO, not really. OK, let’s be more specific.
• Is this Kermario section all one engine? YES. So, was each named area an engine unto itself? YES.

Wow, this must be some huge engine! Where was the energy going?

• Was the energy produced in each section of the Carnac site going to a specific place? YES.
• In the Kermario field, where I now stood, was there a single nexus point for the energy? YES. Would I be able to locate it? YES.
• Was it on a path accessible to most people (I asked hopefully)? NO.
• Was it within a mile of where I was? YES.

Armed with that much I set off intent on finding this single point where all the energies of this huge field of stones was focused. I asked to rods to take me to this focal point, and I followed them as they led me down the path alongside the field of stones towards the tower in the near distance. As I approached the tower, wondering to myself whether this was the place, the rods swivelled left and I turned with them to see where they were now pointing – at two small green mounds ten feet in at the end of this section of stone alignments! I hadn’t even seen them as I approached, but now they stood out like…well, like a pair of green breasts on a nun!!!

The Mounds and The Tower

Again I hopped the fence. Luckily the mounds were only a few feet away from the path that intersected the fields of stone rows. I asked the rods to take me to the exact place where the energy from the alignments went to. It was the mounds. The rows of stones petered out before the mounds. I couldn’t tell exactly where the energy from the rows came in, but the flow was certainly directed into the mounds. I checked for a nemeton around the mounds and found it circling the two small mounds in a sort of kidney shape, indented more on one side than the other, but flowing around the two of them. It registered for male and female energy combined – a white stream nemeton of earth energies, flowing anti-clockwise. Possibly the male energy went clockwise, I don’t know. I didn’t want to linger too long in this forbidden territory!

I now asked several miscellaneous questions in an attempt to get some idea of its strength. If this was the focal point for all these stones then it might be quite strong. Asked for its relative strength on a scale of 1-10 and got a response at 9. Was it ever a 10, I asked? YES. When? January? YES. February? Less so. March and April? A decreasing response until at April the rods parted. May? The rods began to cross again slightly. June? A more positive response. July? YES. Full cross. August? Less of a response. OK – January and July it was. Two months? I thought about other sites I knew of that were powerful, and asked how this site measured against Arbor Low, for example. Please tell me how many times stronger these energies were. Same strength? NO. 1.5x stronger? NO. I kept going up until I got to 8. Then the rods crossed. Eight times stronger than Arbor Low! Kal would love it here.

When I got back home I checked my “In Tune With The Moon” book which tells me exactly what phase of the moon occurs when in the year. In 2009 the full moon in July coincides exactly with the apogee – one of the two times in the year when the moon is exerting its strongest influence. In January the full moon was at its perigee – i.e. at its nearest, pulling most upon this side of the planet. In July it would be pulling the other side of the planet strongest. I asked the rods if the sun energies would be strongest at the Summer Soltice in June to which the answer was, YES. I was beginning to see how these calendar times meant the times of the greatest energetic potential of the sun and moon radiant energies in relation to the stones at Carnac.

I wondered if the energy came out of the mounds and went anywhere else, so I asked to follow any energy lineThe direction energy takes when moving. It may be straight or curved, in several dimensions and be composed of one or more different types of energies, i.e. negative, positive or neutral. Energy lines can be found at standing stones and ancient sites but are a general feature in all energy fields. coming out of the mounds. I was taken back over the fence and down the path back towards the road. It led me through the woods on the far side of the road, along a barely-visible trail, then back along the road, back up the path and around the tower. Beyond the tower it went into the woods on the other side of the field and emerged again to re-join the mounds (more fence-hopping). The shape was somewhat like a three-fingered hand, or a shamrock, an elongated trefoil shape.

As I was back at the mounds I asked if the field was male, female or neutral. I got a response for a mixture of male and female. So, the area defined was all white stream positive energy. I asked too whether there were any burials within the mounds, as they were suspiciously human sized – NO. Looking down the rows I thought about their placement. Were these rows placed because of the geology of the rock beneath them, I asked? YES. Well, I could investigate this at some future point when I had access to more information. As it turned out, I checked a geological map of the area and found that the alignments were all placed on a shelf of granite that began at Carnac. Interesting. We have found this at every ancient complex of sites – they all make use of solid crystalline volcanic rocks. The crystalline nature of the rock seems important to their function as energy generators or harnessers. This was something I was about to put to the test in my own small way.

A sense of purpose

Now I turned my attention to establishing the purpose of these incredible alignments of stones. What were they here for? I had a series of things I wanted to test for using the dowsing rods. I stood in the field emanating from the mounds and began to ask some serious questions:-

• Was this site an engine to generate energy? YES
• Could it be used for healing? YES.
• Could it be harnessed for transformation of human consciousness? YES.
• Could it be used to create a protective field? YES.
• Could it be used for any ‘magickal’ purpose? YES.

This was amazing. It seemed as though this energy could be utilised in any way that seemed appropriate to the requirements of those who built and used it. This amazing energy generator would create energies that could be employed for any kind of energy work that was needed. As Kal mentioned to me later - is this akin to the legendary Philosopher’s Stone?

Healing with crystals

People were starting to wander up to the tower from the road again, so I hopped back over the right side of the fence. M was sat atop the tower but now she joined me again, complaining about her joint pains, as she frequently does. I wondered if I could harness the positive energies that surrounded us at this moment? I asked if I could use some crystals to do some healing work and the rods happily crossed. I set up my five crystal Venus set according to where the rods said I should put them. It was almost in the usual formation, but two of the crystals were interchanged. I dowsed for where M should stand, and where I could stand to help direct the energies. I asked M to imagine drawing up the energy from the floor whilst I gave the intention to heal her joints. Several minutes later I cleared the crystals away and asked M how she felt. No pain now, she said, but that could have been a placebo effect, however she didn’t complain about her aching joints for the rest of the week, so I guess that tells you something. Believe me – she had been mentioning it several times a day before this incident!
It’s amazing stuff this crystal work. A year ago I would have laughed myself out of the country for doing such a thing (Kal: Don’t worry - I still laugh at you ).

The 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. Stones

Now I hadn’t completely dismissed the idea that there were parts of the complex at Carnac that were used calendrically. As we walked back to Ménec alongside the Kermario field we spotted two standing stones that were a hundred feet off to one side. It looked like a make-shift car park that very few people used, but at the end were two standing stones of an odd shape. We have seen shaped stones like this before at sites. I can think of Callenish in particular where the notched shapes of the stones were almost universally believed to provide sightings for alignments of the sun, moon and with particular stars like Aldebaran. These two stones looked just like those shaped stones. I decided they warranted some investigation.

The taller pointed stone only has one “disfigurement” – a slight chunk taken out of its western edge. The smaller stone which stood only six feet away from it had a profound notch hewn from it that meant that its top half was only half the width of its base. I dowsed for energy coming out of the stones and found that a male line emerged from the hewn edge of the smaller rock and led to the flat hewn edge of the pointer larger stone. Interesting. Again, this correlates with so many other stones that have been similarly worked.

Next, I concentrated on finding out which types of energies these stones might be pulling down from radiant sources or drawing up from the earth. The taller stone was drawing male sun energy and also pulling female energy from earth, as was the smaller stone too. Presumably they were also pulling down moon energy, but I forgot to ask! Silly me. It’s easy to be “completist” about these things after the fact. The two stones were involved with both drawing energy from the Kermario field of stones as well as sending it back to them in a sort of circuit.

I asked the rods whether the notches on the smaller stone aligned to specific celestial objects and got a positive response for sun, moon and star alignments. That confirmed their purpose for me. These stones were here to allow users of the energies to determine specific times of the year when the energies were best suited to their purpose, I theorised.

With that we walked back to the car in order to head out to the furthest field – Kerlescan. Here there was another field of stones, but I wanted to concentrate on the side shows – The Giant’s Stone and The Quadrangle, said to once have been a large tumulus.

Gwas Myrddyn

Following an intuition

Over the last two weeks my wife and I have been journeying to and staying in the Brittany region in the North Western end of France in my auntie’s guest house near St.Brieuc in the Cotes D’Armour. It was to be our first proper holiday of the year, and to an area renowned for its megalithic history. A fortunate coincidence, as this meant I got to go to some of the great sites available in that region, and managed to dowse many of them too.

In the near future I will be posting on topics such as the Carnac alignments, Locmarquier, Mont St.Michel, roadside Celtic crosses, dolmens, passage graves and many other things discovered on this holiday. I’ll be posting regular stories of some of those sites, revealing some of the Celtic mythology and history that is embedded into the culture, architecture and mythology of the region. I hope you will find them either a useful travelogue for your own expeditions in northern France, or will obtain some useful information about the energy formations and their purpose through my dowsing revelations.

Winchester cathedral – Monday 4th May

As we journeyed from the north of England to its southern-most end we decided to stop off in Winchester to relax, and take a look around. My brother had mentioned to me that it was an historical town with some beautiful features, and so I took his recommendation without hesitation, as I had encountered Winchester’s name appearing frequently in accounts of important ancient towns of our land.

On arrival we made straight for the spire of the cathedral that seemed to be the focus of most of the tourist signs as we walked around. On this occasion, our brief stop-over necessitated a sharp focus. Winchester Cathedral was our goal, and pretty soon it hoved into view, its massive minarets trumpeting its importance. The grass to its side had a floor plan of the original site of the church when it had been established by Benedictine monks in the 7th Century. Three hundred years later it was rebuilt on its current 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., and added to over the years. Later in the week I would happen to read Ross Nichols‘ essay on the layout of churches and their correspondence to kabbalistic and celtic concepts of the the divine body, where the holy church mapped onto the holy body in its search for spiritual development. [cf. "Esoteric Architecture" from 'In The Grove of the Druids' by Philip Carr-Gomm, a collection of Ross Nichols essays].

We arrived inside the cathedral as preparations were being made for an evening service. This meant that we were the only tourists left at this time of day and so had the public parts of the place to ourselves. We walked down the impressive central aisle, of course aligned East-West to catch the sun, and observed a series of strange wall hangings depicting slightly surreal elements of the Christian pantheon. One showed a unicorn central, with a large lizard and snake crawling around its legs. Now, I’m no David Icke but that struck me as quite an unusual image that I couldn’t relate to any Christian story that I had heard of. I could, however, relate it to the concept of St.George and The 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., or The Green Man slaying his Winter counterpart in an ancient Celtic mythological context. But surely I was mistaken.

On to the next image: a tree with seven branches grew out of a river, had a snake with a spiral tail coiling around it, and was flanked by the images of a male and female face, which also had a line of red dots going through them. Ah, surely more straightforward – this could be the Garden of Eden story, although I’m not sure what to make of the red dots, or the stylised tree with its three rays at the tip, or the reason for the spiral tail of the snake. To my mind it could equally have been a depiction of the way that earth energies of male and female properties can be drawn out of the earth and combined to facilitate the opening of the seven chakras to achieve spiritual enlightenment. Hey ho – I suppose you begin to see whatever you understand of symbols in your own context, right?

Kal: As I study the symbology of the Tarot more and more certain correspondences jump out at me! For instance Gwas mentions the ‘red dots’. Note that there are 12 dots in total – 6 on each side of the snake. Twelve often symbolised the “twelve” disciples of Christ however, from a much earlier perspective 12 symbolised the signs of the Zodiac and hence the heavens.

Instinctively, but completely according to my alignment as I found out by reading Nichols’ essays later that week, I headed for the northern transept, which is apparently aligned to the feminine principles. As a man brought up in a western culture that has become dominated by the power of the masculine it is a difficult thing to assimilate the idea that one might be aligned to the feminine – but that was what the dowsing had showed me time and again, and my energy work always profited from me accepting and working with this alignment of energies. I’m not stupid – if it works for you there’s something right about it. Eventually you begin to be able to make positive use out of this understanding and to grow both spiritually and intelligently. I felt comfortable on the left-hand side of the church, at its northern end, and when we moved across to the other side I hurriedly moved away from it and found somewhere else to be standing.

Dragons were everywhere in the carvings that adorned the cathedral. Everywhere I turned I saw dragon scales, head and tails wrapped around the eaves, the statues and the columns. Occasionally we would come across a prostrate bishop bound in stone with a dragon curled up at his feet. Had these men tamed the kundalini fire serpent and achieved ‘sainthood’ that way, I wondered. Or was this a symbol of how these men had been successful at repressing the previous culture’s knowledge of these spiritual techniques – the gradual deconstruction of the pagan beliefs and their christianisation?

Another esoteric element that caught my eye was the use of the measurements of sacred geometry of the proscenium arches, the layout of the church itself, its size, the placement of pillars – all was done using divine proportions. Later in the week I picked up another book on the geometry of the golden section, and I will post more about this as I re-learn some fundamental mathematics. It all made for beautiful architecture. These same proportions are found in megalithic structures too, according to Professor Alexander Thom‘s measurements.

Winchester Cathedral's Western entrance

As we left the cathedral and walked through the parkland adjoining it we stopped at the sight of a strangely-formed tree. It looked like the legs of someone who’s head was stuck in the ground. I wondered if this was a metaphor for what I was becoming: someone whose head was constantly stuck into the earth and its energies! As we rounded the corner from the cathedral I caught sight of The Eclipse Inn, with its sign depicting a moon eclipsing the sun. The signs were that this was going to be an interesting ten days of dowsing in Brittany, and so it turned out to be.

Gwas

Following the Brittany ferry to France.

The subject in hand: moon energies affecting dowsing reaction, I have a number of things that I want to add to this based upon recent experience. There are a number of factors that seem relevant to the extent of the influence:-

a) The proximity of the moon (apogee – perigee), or, how close it is to the earth.

Proximity, coupled with the skew of the beam of reflected energy delivered by the moon, will both affect the strength of the moon’s radiant energy.

b) The Moon is reflecting energy with a female quality to it

Traditionally, and in all the dowsing that I have done so far relating to this, the energy from the moon registers as ‘female’. We need to consider if this is merely a human-centred approach to categorising its qualities, or whether there truly is a correspondence between our human concept of the feminine and the way that the moon’s rays affect females. Whether or not that is true, the rods dowse radiant moon energy as female in nature for me.

c) Your reaction to female energies

If you have ever dowsed yourself, or had someone dowse you, or if you have taken the time to acquaint yourself with how you react to the sun and the moon, then you may discover that you have a particular orientation, regardless of which human sex you are. For example, I am a male who has positive reactions to female energy, and finds this form easier to find and to work with. Nature or nurture I don’t really care. The point is that I know this about myself, and that makes it easier for me to dowse female moon energies. I feel energised around the time of a full moon. No, I don’t grow more hair. Just in case you were thinking it. And now you are.

If you react well to female energies (they don’t drain you, or give you headaches, for example) then you may find that you can find female energy forms more easily when the moon is strong (traditionally at Full Moon and New Moon). I have a tide chart on my wall, and in conjunction with observing the phase of the moon I can have some idea of the likely relative strengths of the female energies around.

Take your pick!

Qualities such as the strength of the line, and it’s width, will increase in proportion to the combination of the proximity and phase of the moon, and your ability to dowse and work with that energy will follow that rise and fall too. Those well attuned to it will get great success dowsing at such times. Those for whom it is anathema (the solar-oriented folk, who like basking in sunshine, and walk around in shorts in December) are going to feel a bit crap and crazy around those times, and you should get more light. Use mirrors. Office fluorescent lighting doesn’t count.

Any sense to anyone? Or babbling? Loony?

Gwas

Followed by the men in white coats.