The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘entrance’

This is the final part of this tale that brings me up to Beltane. You may remember that my task from Spring Equinox to Beltane period was to discover the powers of my staff. I thought that I had done the majority of that work already, but when I did some checking to see whether there was anything remaining I was surprised to find that, with barely a week or so to go, I had more work to do. This particular evening I was called to go somewhere to discover one more power. That was an exciting prospect!

I let my mind roam to discover the location that would offer me the information about the staff. It was already late in the evening and so I hoped that the trek would not be too far. The picture I had was of a familiar place – it was Llangollen. I began to conjure up some of the usual sites – Dinas Bran? No. Vale Crucis? No. Carreg-Y-Big – the slanted standing stone that we had visited in March this year. This received a positive response – a warm feeling that flowed through the body. Yes, this was the place. I needed to visit again.

At first this was a surprising location – it is on a hilltop above Llangollen and it was 10 o’clock in the evening already! Perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised. When I looked back to my previous post on the subject I had said that the best time to visit it would be early April. Here I was in the middle of April, so I wasn’t far out. I got my dowsing rods out to help gauge the energetic suitability. I had missed the “high point” of April 9th, but a week later the site would still be energetically aligned for the purposes I needed it for. That was it, then. I was going, despite the lateness. At least the weather had been unseasonably dry for a while now and the ground would be firm in the dark.

I found my way with little trouble (one wrong turn) having been there before once in daylight. The car still struggled up the hill and the engine smelled of overworked oil when I parked by the roadside at the top of the hill overlooking the orange and white lights of the town below as they filtered through the conifer branches that lined the upper slopes. I found the stone straight away by navigating to the tallest specimen in the avenue of trees that define the old straight track atop the hill. How many times had I used a tree to navigate in the dark? They really are wonderful signposts.

Carreg Y Big and the portal trees

The Importance of an Entrance

I walked carefully up to the stone in the darkness and stood about ten feet away from it, looking around to judge whether I was going to be surprised by the ghostly figure of a late night sheep or something else. Everything was silent except for the distant rumble of a souped-up car buzzing the town in the valley below. Yet, something was wrong. Was it the biting wind? No. What was this sense of unease I had? Was there some spirit watching with malevolent eyes? … I felt not. I stopped my rational mind and let my intuition have a go at the problem. Seconds later I knew what the issue was. I hadn’t been through the right entrance to the site, having bypassed the two trees that form a portal in my haste to get to the stone itself. This was a rude entry! I needed to make amends, so I made my way at a respectable distance back around to the two trees and stood before them.

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There are two places we go to when we need some information – two sites that have never let us down when it comes to getting answers to tricky questions – The Druid’s Circle stone circle up atop Penmaenmawr near Conwy, and the Llangeryw Yew tree that is about half an hour away from there nestled in the north-west tip of Wales. Kal was going for answers to some life and death questions – i.e. questions about his life, and related to the death energies that he was interested in, but certainly wasn’t going to study, oh no. I was going for a host of things: mainly to get some answers about neutral energy and then some miscellaneous bits that had been unresolved for a while.

Maen Crwn

The long trek up the hills behind Penmaenmawr takes you past Red Farm (whose stone circle  we have yet to visit) and a standing stone known as “Maen Crwn” or “Round Stone”. Blimey – you can’t leave some people to do the naming, can you? They’re a right ‘un-poetic’ bunch! Anyhow, Round Stone is the noticeable hunk of rock that protrudes through the middle of a field of sheep as you pass by the lone house on the way to the top. Previously we have had negative energies coming off that stone and have avoided doing much with it. The last time I was up that way I felt the urge to “sort it out” and managed to do so merely with some good vibes and a cleverly-placed stone that helped to re-shape the energies.

We checked its’ current status as we passed, and for me it felt fine. For Kal, it was OK, but not somewhere he should remain fro long. That’s fine, at least it wasn’t detrimental this time. I asked Kal to check whether it had been changed due to my previous intervention – he dowsed a “yes” which pleased me. Nice to see your work bearing fruit. There was certainly a less ominous air surrounding the stone, and the area as a whole felt more inviting. The sheep were happy to browse around the stone too, whereas on one memorable previous visit the sheep had actually chased us away as we approached!

Cylch Glanhau

Before we reached the Druid’s Circle there was preparatory business to attend to. There is a small cairn circle known inventively as “Circle 275” in megalithic “circles”, but which I am going to name “Cylch Glanhau” (a perhaps too literal translation of “The Cleaning Circle”). There you go – it has a purpose and has been so named. Kal wandered off to admire the view and check his flies or something, but I remembered that the last time I was here I had been directed to stand within this small circle before going to the Druid’s Circle, and I wanted to see whether that was a necessary step for this particular journey. There was nothing energetically awry with my own field, but the dowsing rods indicated that Kal would need to be cleansed before he visited if he wanted the most favourable “reception” from the circle’s energies.

Kal being cleansed - dirty boy!

So, I called him over and made him stand in the circle for a few minutes before we carried on. He gave me looks which said “Is this strictly necessary?“. I wasn’t being argued with.

Druid’s Circle

Also known as “Y Meini Hirion“, which translates rather prosaically as, “The Standing Stones”. There they go again with their poetic naming – sheesh the romance is killing me! The site is a fair hike to get to and a strain on the car’s engine to even get to “base camp” as it were. Still, the trek is always worth it – Druid’s Circle always rewards effort, and today was no different. The first reward was the view – for the first time ever I could see as far as The Orme at Llandudno.

The long view

I entered the circle by the entrance I had been shown on my previous visit, in the eastern side. That was also how I approached the site, from across the dark heathland and through the marsh at the head of the small brook that runs silently beside the circle. I don’t know why – it just felt right to approach from that way, following animal tracks and instinct.

Once I had entered appropriately, stating name and purpose, I waited for the customary ‘tug’ at my energetic centre – the navel chakra. I got one and so went in, pleased to be back and welcomed. I deposited myself on the usual female recumbent stone in the western edge of the circle, as was my custom. I felt very comfortable now, and wanted to get on with some work. I picked my rods out of my bag and began to dowse almost straight away.

I started by asking is there was any Neutral energy here at the stone circle. I got a “yes“. Good, because otherwise it would be a wholly different experience than I would have hoped for.

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