The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘ley lines’

As I reported in my previous Arbor Low post Kal and I were inside the stone circle taking dowsing readings. This post is the product of those readings, and, as I had hoped, the great stone circle did indeed give up some of its secrets that evening. The results I present here are only preliminary and cursory research into the amazing insights that we discovered, and I hope that over the course of the next year I can back up everything I am about to say with some solid on-the-ground fieldwork, dowsing, and more research. However, for now, I must content myself with my initial exciting findings, and must re-iterate that they are currently only theoretical and speculative.

Impossible Bearings

We dowsed inside the inner circle to find the point from which the radial 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. leys that Kal had found previously emanated. The spot was in between the two central large recumbent sets of stones. I stood in the centre whilst Kal walked around this point with his dowsing rods. Whenever he got a reading he stopped, and I lined up the compass with his dowsing rod and noted the bearing. After only two readings it became apparent that something quite exciting was going on here – the numbers were coming out incredibly familiar: Zero degrees – due North! Not 1 degree, 5 degrees, or 10, but spot on zero. Next – 45 degrees! Interesting. Well, it doesn’t take a mathematical genius to recognise these numbers as particularly significant when related to a circle!! Kal was oblivious to this, as he was simply walking around and stopping at particular points when the rods moved to a right-angle. I was the one whose eyebrows rose a little at each reading until I couldn’t contain myself any longer and blurted out something like, “This is impossible!”.

Here are the set of radial ley lineThe term used by many British dowsers to describe an energy leyA straight line of neutral energy linking two or more sacred sites or other energetic centres. This is often confused with Alfred Watkins’ concept of the Ley Line. Strictly speaking a ley line does not necessarily mean a neutral energy line, only a sight alignment between notable places, whereas an energy ley is like a radial spoke in a wheel, with energy flowing outwards across the land in a straight line. It has sometimes been found that the energy ley can be diverted from its strict straight path by changes in the landscape or strong attractors that pull it away from its original course. Energy leys may have inter-twining streams of male and female energies weaving along them, as though the energy ley is an attractor, a pathway or a conduit for the male and female energies.. It is easily confused with ley and therefore its use is not recommended by dowsers. bearings taken:-

1. 0 degrees
2. 45 degrees
3. 90 degrees
4. 135 degrees
5. 180 degrees
6. 240 degrees
7. 270 degrees
8. 335 degrees

I took the readings home, quite excited at the prospect of plotting them onto Google Maps and following the result – perhaps this would open up some new avenues of sites to explore along the lines, or new centres of spirituality to visit and dowse this year? Stupid question, as it turned out – of course it did.

The importance of place

If those radials are extended out until they reach significant points, such as the end of the land, or a sacred site, then you get some pretty amazing coincidences across a very large area. How could the circle builders have managed to position the circle with such precision over such a wide area? By using star, sun and moon alignments alone?

Here’s a link to the Google Maps diagram of the radials extended in all directions: Arbor Low radials. In this view you can click on each of the markers and see that each of them is a significantly named place, containing either the name of a Christian saint (popularly “Mary” or “Margaret“), or village names ending in “-ley”, “-lea” or “-leigh”. Some of the villages include the name “Cross“”, which I also think is significant, as it may indicate a location where the alignment leys I have discovered intersect with other ley lines. A rich source of further investigation in the years ahead, I feel. One final criterion for a significantly named place is the inclusion of the word “-stone“, which I believe indicates a standing marker stone may have existed there at one time, acting as a sighting stone indicating the direction and placement of the ley line.

Defining the Criteria for a Ley Line

This has always been a hot topic for leyhunters and critics of them. What constitutes a ley line? One could argue, “Well, you could draw a line anywhere in Britain and find that it goes through a place name like that.“. To a certain extent this is true. Random chance would be one factor, but it may also be that this country is riddled with ley lines, and eventually you are going to cross one or run alongside one if drawing a straight line across country. However, these are the elements I felt constituted a ley line without me having actually dowsed its presence yet:-

1. The town or village must end in “ley”, “lea”, “lee” or “leigh”
2. Such a village/town must not lie more than 1 mile from the central path of the neutral ley line.
3. The path of the line must pass through at least THREE significant ancient sacred sites.
4. There ought to be many references to saints names in the name of the villages, towns or the churches that the ley line passes through.

You’ll find one or two random proximities over any long line placed across the country. I tested this set of criteria, all classic ley line definitions, by starting a line map at a random point in the British countryside, and traced some lines to the cardinal points from there Here are the results for the Random Ley Line:-

1. NORTH: one close and one direct hit on a line extending 118 miles.
2. SOUTH: three close and five direct hits on a line extending 142 miles.
3. EAST:  no hits or near misses on a line extending 99 miles.
4. WEST: two close and two hits on a line extending 140 miles.

Eight hits on the random southern line, eh? But let’s look at the clustering of those hits – they almost ALL appear in the small space between the M40 motorway in Oxford (a hot spot for ancient sites and leys) and the M3 motorway in the space of about 20 miles. I venture to suggest we have actually hit an existing ley line in that area, or some very close to it. The total line extends some 140+ miles in total, mostly devoid of hits.

How many ancient sites were passed through in this test? NONE. How many saints names were in the names of villages or towns near to this random line? NONE. Did it align three or more sacred sites? NO. Okay – so the “ley” name criteria was occasionally met in clusters, but the other criteria were completely devoid.

The Arbor Low Lines

Let’s compare that now with the lines that I found emerging from the Arbor Low stone circle. I’ll do the details later, but for now, let’s just compare those cardinal hits and near misses.

Let’s examine each of those radials in turn, and see which significant places they touch. NOTE: all the lines have at least ONE sacred site because they all emerge from Arbor Low.

1. The Northern Ley

• Bearing: 0 Degrees
• Length: 173 miles.
• Places: 18
• Sacred sites: 2

The northern ley ends at Holy Island, and goes straight into the Lindisfarne Priory and ends at a place called Mary Gate.

One of the descendants of Llywelyn the Great (c. 1173-1240) was born in ‘Raby with Keverstone’, which is an interesting connection to Yr Elen mountain, a peak conjoined with one named Carnedd Llywelyn, meaning “Llywelyn’s cairn”.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Farnley Tyas
2. Aspley
3. Bradley
4. Shipley – confirmed energy ley running N/S – 29th Jan 2011
5. Burley
6. Ilkley
7. Thruscross
8. Bewerley
9. Pateley bridge
10. West Layton
11. Keverstone
12. Hedleyhope
13. Hamsterley
14. Throkley
15. Kirkley
16. Longhorsley
17. Adderstone
18. Mary Gate, Holy Island (Lindisfarne Priory)

UPDATE 31st January 2011. I have been to Shipley and confirmed that a neutral energy ley exists in the town centre running North-South through the Hockney pub, a memorial statue and a labyrinth design depicting twin entwined serpents. I dowsed that this is the same energy ley that connects to Arbor Low. I suspect that other energy leys exist in the area too, attested by the sheer number of places ending with the suffix “-ley”.

2. The North–Eastern Ley

• Bearing: 45 Degrees
• Length: 71 miles.
• Places: 16
• Sacred sites: 4

Possibly travels through the Barbrook series of stone circles. Cannot find an end point, however, as many of the circles on the eastern seaboard would have been timber circles, and long since disintegrated.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Bakewell (St.Peter’s Well)
2. Handley
3. Pilsley
4. Birchen Edge cairns (between Wellington’s and Nelson’s Monuments)
5. Ramsley (reservoir)
6. Whickersley
7. Bramley
8. Alverley
9. Cantley
10. Wheatley
11. Twin Rivers (at the mouth of the Humber where it divides into two rivers)
12. Crabley
13. Hunsley
14. Rowley
15. Westwood Common timber circle
16. Beverley

3. The Eastern Ley

• Bearing: 90 Degrees
• Length: 73 miles.
• Places: 6
• Sacred sites: 3

The line ends, I believe, at Bolinbroke Castle, made famous for being the seat of many of England’s kings, as recounted famously in several Shakespearean plays such as Henry IV, who was born there. Wikipedia link. The only other significant place I could find on this line is the Nine Ladies Stone Circle, also in Derbyshire. Perhaps the line ends there – this is something I will have to test out in the field by checking points along the line.

The funny thing about this line is that its bearing is not exactly 45 degrees. If a line is drawn at exactly 45 degrees then it slightly misses Nine Ladies, and misses Bolinbroke by a mile or so by the time it gets out east. Now, despite what I said earlier about the fact that the line as measured on the night was 45 degrees exactly, I actually think this might be a case for saying that I may have taken the measurement slightly wrong for this line. I say that because I am, indeed, fitting this line retrospectively based on the evidence of the sacred sites and villages named “ley” that I only discovered when I traced the line across the land. If you follow the line and see that the sites fit if the line is angled slightly further than 45 degrees I think you’ll agree it’s a more convincing case for the existence of a ley line.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Nine Ladies Stone Circle
2. Clay Cross
3. Lower Pilsley
4. Pleasley
5. Clipstone
6. Bolinbroke Castle

However, by the criteria I laid out earlier, this line is not wholly convincing – only two ancient sites appear on it, and not three – unless Bolinbroke Castle could be considered to be an ancient site. We may never know. Where’s Time Team when you need them?

4. The South-Eastern Ley

• Bearing: 135 Degrees
• Length: 155 miles.
• Places: 12
• Sacred sites: 3

The least convincing of the radials, as I can’t find many ancient sites along this line for quite a long stretch. This is the problem with most of the lines that extend over the eastern side of the country – the geology of the area does not encourage the building of stone monuments. Instead, it would appear that their ancient monuments were rendered in timber, and then never upgraded to stone, as they had been elsewhere where suitable stone was abundant.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Brightgate
2. Matlock Bath (petrifying well, Heights of Abraham, Rutland and Great Masson caverns)
3. Lea Bridge
4. Lea Brooks
5. New Brinsley
6. Felley (old priory - information contributed by reader ‘Pat’)
7. Mapperley
8. Lambley (The Lambley Spring)
9. Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalen
10. Tivertshall St.Margaret
11. Pulham St.Mary
12. St.James South Elmham

There is clustering of sites on this line, with a section in the middle (between Lambley near Nottingham and Wiggenshall SMM in Norfolk) where there are neither correspondences or ancient sites listed. I am quite unsure about whether the line continues beyond Nottingham at the moment. The only thing I have to make me want to keep the line the length it is would be the end point being the mouth of the River Blyth, which is such an exact geographical feature for a line to end at. A mile further north or south would have been less convincing. End points being the mouths of rivers seems to be a feature of the Arbor Low radials.

5. The Southern Ley

• Bearing: 180 Degrees
• Length: 167 miles.
• Places: 25
• Sacred sites: 5

The southern ley ends at St Catherine’s Hill on the northern edge of a town called Christ Church at the mouth of the River Avon and River Stour. Either that, or it ends at the Breamore (Bremmer) sites just a few miles further north, where there is a “Giant’s Grave” long barrow, a “Giant’s Chair” and an ancient turf maze called the Miz-Maze. Passes next to Stonehenge and other Wiltshire sites, and through Marlborough.

Of Catherine’s Hill:

“One “miracle” legend that local heritage does not play up is that Christchurch, like Vortigern’s citadel, was reportedly consumed by fire from heaven – no doubt because the reason given is that it was devastated by a fire-breathing 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. sent to punish the town for its wickedness. An account by a visiting French monk, Herman of Laon, has the town being burnt by a fire-breathing flying dragon in 1112/1113. Herman came here with a group touring SW England to raise funds to rebuild their home church, but got an unwelcome reception here. As Herman’s group left, they looked back and were pleased to see the town being burnt up by a dragon in revenge for the insult to their Lady of Laon.

Dragons are often associated with “fire from Heaven,” but despite new-age attempts to equate dragons with ‘serpent lines’ (rather than ley lines) of esoteric or geomantic force, no link with St Catherine’s Hill is apparent, Herman’s dragon rising from the sea. There is a local land-based serpent-dragon legend, but it is localised across the valley at Bisterne (which means beast’s or pest’s secret place). Or at least the family whose ancestor supposedly slew it resided at Bisterne, with the dragon carved on their stone gateposts in commemoration, the dragon itself alighting at Burley Beacon nearby to drink the milk the fearful locals left out for it. (For more on dragons and the theory they are linked to ley lines, see Here Be Dragons (2008), by Michael Hodges, author of the history of St Catherine’s Hill pictured right.)

The notion of the hill as a still actively pagan site in the Middle Ages is supported by some slight circumstantial evidence. At some point a chapel was built on the hilltop either in addition to, or else instead of, the planned hilltop priory church. This is despite the fact the downtown Priory site had up to nine chapels or altars there already. One theory is a hilltop church was erected to displace ongoing pagan use of the hill. It was the policy of St Augustine that the early Saxon church should take over ‘wood and stone’ pagan sites and give them a cosmetic makeover to convert them into Christian ones, beginning around 600.” (Source : http://www.south-coast-central.co.uk/n&q/stcatherineshill.htm)

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Fenny Bentley
2. Cubley
3. Fradley
4. Hilliard’s Cross
5. Lea Hall
6. Bentley Heath
7. Hockley Heath
8. Henley-in-Arden
9. Billesley
10. Blockley
11. Coln St.Aldwyns
12. Blunsdon St.Andrew
13. Westlea
14. Rockley
15. Lower Everleigh
16. Salisbury Cathedral
17. Clearbury Ring
18. The Giant’s Graves and Chair, and Miz-Maze
19. Gorley
20. Hangersley
21. Ashley Heath
22. St.Leonards and St.Ives
23. South Ripley
24. Sopley
25. St Catherine’s Hill

6. The South-Western Ley

• Bearing: 240 Degrees
• Length: 120 miles.
• Places: 14
• Sacred sites: 2

Passes through the legendary site of Caerleon, reputed site of King Arthur’s Camelot and long-time Roman Fort. link.

“When the feast of Whitsuntide began to draw near, Arthur, who was quite overjoyed by his great success, made up his mind to hold a plenary court at that season and place the crown of the kingdom on his head. He decided too, to summon to this feast the leaders who owed him homage, so that he could celebrate Whitsun with greater reverence and renew the closest pacts of peace with his chieftains. He explained to the members of his court what he was proposing to do and accepted their advice that he should carry out his plan in The City Of The Legions.

Situated as it is in Morgannwg (Glamorgan), on the River Usk, not far from the Severn Sea, in a most pleasant position, and being richer in material wealth than other townships, this city was eminently suitable for such a ceremony. The river which I have named flowed by it on one side, and up this the kings and princes who were to come from across the sea could be carried in a fleet of ships. On the other side, which was flanked by meadows and wooded groves, they had adorned the city with royal palaces, and by the gold-painted gables of its roofs it was a match for Rome.”

“After the death of Uther Pendragon, the leaders of the Britons assembled from their various provinces in the town of Silchester and there suggested to Dubricus, the archbishop of the City Of The Legions, that as their King he should crown Arthur, son of Uther. He called the other bishops to him and bestowed the crown of the kingdom upon Arthur. Arthur was a young man only fifteen years old …”

(from ‘History of the Kings of Britain’ by Geoffrey of Monmouth).

I suspect that the ley line may end at Butterdon Hill in the Dartmoor National Park. There is only circumstantial evidence for this based upon the frequency of nearby villages with the word “ley” or “leigh” in their names. Perhaps there is stronger evidence for the end point being Caerleon.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Farley
2. Checkley
3. Church Leigh
4. Dodsleigh
5. Chartley
6. Shirleywich
7. Teddesley Park
8. Gailey
9. Wrottesley Park
10. Romsley
11. Upper Arley
12. Tedstone Wafer
13. St Weonards
14. Caerleon

7. The Western Ley

• Bearing: 270 Degrees
• Length: 92 miles.
• Places: 6
• Sacred sites: 2

The western ley goes to the imposing mountain of Yr Elen. No-one seems to know why it is dedicated to Elen, but I can hazard a guess – it is Elen of the Roads – the spirit who shows the seeker the way, who makes visible the invisible paths of energy, the ley lines, and here stands this summit: due West of Arbor Low, on a ley line, and dedicated to Elen. No other sacred sites along the way though, unless you include the town of Mold, which is steeped in history and pre-history, and whose castle may have been the site of a former, much more ancient, fort or protected sacred space. Or perhaps its church dedicated to St.Mary may have a much older history. But that’s speculation.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Healthylee
2. Wimboldsley
3. Tarporley
4. Buckley
5. Mold (St Mary the Virgin church)
6. Yr Elen (mountain)

8. The North-Western Ley

• Bearing: 335 Degrees
• Length: 68 miles.
• Places: 6
• Sacred sites: 2

The north-west ley ends up at Blackpool’s South Shore. Not generally considered to be a sacred site (although it oculd be considered to be the spiritual home of Mecca Bingo) until you do a little  reserach on the subject. Here’s a quote about Blackpool’s megalithic history from the Megalithic Portal site concerning the one sacred site known about in Blackpool:

“Information from Pastscape:

“The Rev William Thornber states that a round cairn or cairns formerly stood on the site of the Lodge of Stonyhill, and he was told that Mr. Fisher, the proprietor of the field, had carted away upwards of twenty loads of soil, burnt red and black, from the site of a large circular cairn, which had made it difficult to identify. He also states that adjoining the cairns are two wells, one called the Fairy Well, or Wrangdomwell, and the other Bull Spring, which issues from a huge oblong mound of stones, in the Bull Meadows, which he supposes to be of artificial origin. He says that the Fairy Well was still resorted to with offerings of rags , nails and pins, and that he had found, himself, nails, leather thongs and-an old shaped knife, after the meadows had been ploughed.

This area is now completely covered with modern buildings.” Source: http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=39366“

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Fernlee Reservoir
2. Pott Shrigley
3. Gatley
4. Tyldesley
5. Crosstown
6. Blackpool

Again, I’m  not sure if this line really constitutes being called a ley line. There are very few sites above random chance, the sacred site at the end of the line may or may not have been of significant size and status, and there are no known extant or remnant sites in between Arbor Low and Blackpool.

—————————————————————–

As you can see, some of the radials are more convincing than others. Over the course of the next few years I aim to see whether there is any dowsing evidence, or local custom that would back up these suppositions.

Gwas.

Sam Hill – it’s nearly Samhain!

The original Celtic New Year begins on the night of the Full Moon closest to October 31st and November 1st. This year that will be Monday 2nd November. It is the time when the Summer was overcome by the Winter – often played out as the Solar Hero being overcome by a Dark Knight (see Mummer Plays).

This time sees the beginning of the Dark Half of the Year – a festival honouring the dead, and importantly forming a link between the energies of those who have been before us, and those of us here now. Samhain is a gateway between the worlds of the Otherworld and the Middle Earth, and becomes passable by the denizens of either world – the “veil becomes thin” as some describe it. It is therefore an opportunity to commune or communicate with forces in a much stronger and clearer way that at other times.

There is lots of miscellaneous information about various customs relating to this time of year, old and new, to be found here.

Playing with Fire

Samhain is a Celtic fire festival, so inevitably one should look for a sacred site or grove that will enable you to have a fire without causing a disturbance, if you plan to celebrate it in style. Leave the fireworks for the sham that is “Guy Fawkes Night” though!

This being a fire festival means an opportunity to obtain the co-operation of a fire spirit if you do not already have such a relationship. This will promote change in your life and ways, so you need to know if this is what you want, or make adequate protection against inadvertant change being wrought through your life by a rampant fire spirit!

Samhain is a time of feasting on the profits of the year – whether that be literal feasting on food, or consuming the fruits of our labours and learnings over the profitable summer months. It is a time to gather in the rewards of your experiences, reflect upon them, and begin the process of working them into your life over the Winter months to come, ready for the next Spring.

Energetically we see the male earth energies, and those living energies produced by the trees, begin to retreat back into the earth, their influence waning. The celebration of the rising female energy influence is encapsulated in the celebration’s coincidence with the full moon.

You’re My Venus

Astrologically, Venus is appearing in the mornings. Jupiter and Mars are also in attendance over Samhain. Other major planets such as Mercury and Saturn have significantly disappeared from the northern hemisphere just before Samhain.

I’m looking forward to visiting a sacred site that is out of the way, and which is associated with Venus and the sacred number five. Last year none of that would have made any sense – this year I have learned that such specifics will mean that I am at a site that is energetically at its peak, and full of magical possibilities for me.

Enjoy your Samhain celebrations, whatever you do!

Gwas Myrddyn.

Hedge Druid.

It occurred to me that I have often talked of power centres in my posts without ever really defining what such things are. I will now seek to put that right. In this post I will explain what I have found power centres to be, what qualities and uses they have, and explain how you can find such places of power for your own purposes.

One of my places of power

What are power centres?

They are places on the earth’s floor where earth energies form a specific formation. This formation is always a spiral when dowsed, but that spiral can be made up of different types of energies, and thus they are not all suitable for everyone – it depends upon your own 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. to those energies. For example, some power centres have strong male energies in them, and I find that I cannot sit on them for long without feeling uncomfortable, drained and sometimes I develop a headache too. When I dowse that place I find that it is strongly male-oriented, and I know that I am female-aligned, thus I understand that such sites are not beneficial to me on the whole (unless I need to re-balance my male energies because they are depleted in some way).

We have found that the spirals signifying power centres are two cones of spiralling energies, the central point of which is on the ground. One spiral then swirls upwards in a cone of increasing width, whilst another spreads out under the ground in a similar manner. If two energies combine to form a power centreA place where a person of a particular alignment (see ‘Alignment’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre. (i.e. male and female) then the flows go in both directions at once, but still form a cone shape above and below ground. Dowsing the spiral on the ground seems to be a two-dimensional representation of the three-dimensional formation of energies.

Neutral energy may pass through a power centre but does not seem to affect the spiral formation. Where male and neutral or female and neutral energies combine at a power centre this can give rise to an enhancement of the effects possible there. Some combinations are more suitable to some people than others, for example, I detest the effects of Male and Neutral combinations, but am very happy in Female and Neutral centres.

Where all three energies are present the effects always seem to be beneficial to both Kal and I irrespective. A good combination!

Where do they occur?

Places where they can be found:

• beneath tree canopies
• rocky outcrops
• at sacred sites like stone circles
• in faerie rings of grass

In a host of other places too – these are just examples. Water can often be dowsed for running underground at such places, and they always occur at crossing points of two types of energy, the power centre being a place where the “interference pattern” of the two or three energies crossing creates the spiral formation.

Within stone circles it is commonly supposed that the bare patches of earth at the very centre are power centres. Rarely do we find this to be the case. Most often the power centres are offset from the centre.

How can I find a power centre?

Here is a quote from Carlos Castaneda’s book “The Teachings of Don Juan“, in which Don Juan – a Yacqui Indian shaman – poses Carlos his first test: to find his own power centre on the veranda of Don Juan’s house. Carlos had driven far and arrived late in the evening, and the test seemed impossible because Don Juan gave Carlos no clues as to how he should discover this power centre.

“He pointed out that I was very tired, and the proper thing to do was to find a spot on the floor where I could sit without fatigue…I waited for him to explain what he meant by “a spot”, but he made no overt attempt to elucidate the point. I thought that perhaps he meant that I should change positions, so I got up and sat closer to him. He protested my movement and clearly emphasised that a spot meant a place where a man could feel naturally happy and strong….
…I deliberately tried to feel differences between places, but I lacked the criteria for differentiation. I looked at my watch – it was 2 o’clock! I had been rolling [around, trying to find the spot on the veranda] for hours!..
..[Don Juan] laughed, saying I had not proceeded correctly, I had not been using my eyes. That was true, and yet I was very sure he had said to feel the difference. I brought that point up, but he argued that one can feel with the eyes when the eyes are not looking right into things. As far as I was concerned, he said, I had no other means to solve this problem but to use all I had – my eyes…..”

He then goes on to tell of using his peripheral vision to differentiate two places by their changing colour hues at the edge of his vision as he unfocused his eyes. One spot he felt uncomfortable upon, in fact even panicked by it at one stage, and the other was the spot he retreated to when such feelings overcame him. He fell asleep there, and in the morning Don Juan told him that he had correctly identified his “spot” – it was the one that he felt comfortable at and which was his sanctuary from fear. I suggest the other spot was a power centre that he was not aligned to.

How can you then find a power centre for yourself – do you have to roll around on the floor like Carlos Castaneda? No, here are some methods you can use:

• intuition - often you will naturally go and sit at a power centre when you visit a site without realising it at first.
• sensing - if you think you may have found a power centre you can check it by feeling for a slightly warmer bit of air than the surroundings, a stillness within it, or if you are sensitive to energy you may feel the energy spiralling or flowing upwards or downwards.
• dowsing - by far the easiest and most reliable way – simply ask the rods to take you to a power centre that suits your alignment and to spiral around when you enter one.

What are the qualities of a power centre?

The following qualities will help you recognise a power centre:

• the spot feels slightly warmer
• the air feels ‘different’ – maybe stiller or ‘sparkling’
• it feels protected from the elements – easy to spot on a windy day
• a mild tingling feeling in your hands
• it makes you briefly shiver when you enter it
• you feel energy rising from the earth or drawn down into it
• it makes you feel protected in an indescribable way – you feel happier there

Power centres are sometimes fed energy from stones in a circle, or are found within the energy fields of standing stones or trees, either drawing energy from them or fed by them. If you dowse the energy coming out of a tree close to a stone circle, for instance, you often find that it ends up at a power centre within the circle.

Some power centres feel like they drain energy, whilst others feel like they boost it. This seems to depend upon the direction that the spiral flows in and your relationship to that – for example, a sun-powered energy field will flow clockwise (deasil), and if you are moon-aligned then standing in such a centre puts you contrary to the flow. This makes the power centre feel draining. The contrary is also true – if you stand in a power centre that flows with your alignment you will feel the energy spiralling upwards and will usually feel ‘charged’ by this effect.

What are power centres useful for?

Power centres can be useful for:

• regeneration - your ailments, aches and pains may improve by sitting in a power centre
• empowerment - you may feel ‘charged up’ with energy, forget you are tired, and feel more alive
• meditation - power centres can help you commune with Nature by providing a gateway through meditation
• moving between worlds- the unique energy field in a power centre allows you to cross into the Otherworld more easily – the veil between the realities is thinner at such places of power.
• communication - some power centres seem to allow you to communicate over any distance, or send and receive information from remote places or people

I have used power centres regularly whenever I want to do any 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. or energy work. I have used them to ‘re-charge’ when feeling tired, say on a long walk in the countryside if I feel weary I will find a nearby power centre that is aligned to my energies and sit there for a few minutes. Then I can continue walking for much longer. They have a host of uses, only some of which we have so far identified. In my mind there is no doubt that such spots were identified, and possibly even created, by the design and geographical placement of ancient sacred sites on areas of geological faults and igneous rocks, as such areas seem to promote the interaction of underground water, earth energy and the natural energies from trees and rocks.

I hope I have given you sufficient information so that you can go out and find such places for yourself and experiment with them. What do you find at such places? How do they make you feel? What do you believe is possible when you are sat upon one? Do you feel ‘cocooned’ from the outside world and closer to another dimension? Answers on a postcard to the usual address.

Gwas.

Keswick, Cumbria – 27th September

In the first part of our day-long epic journey into the vast wilderness of the Lake District in search of the sacred circles we had heard so much about Kal and I began by visiting what must be one of the busiest circles we’ve ever stepped foot in. Not a moment’s peace was to be had at Castlerigg on a Sunday morning, despite the fact that we pitched up at 9:30am. There was barely a parking space left amid the camper vans, mobile homes and country capable cars that lined the sides of the small road on the edge of Keswick town.

Were we not in the middle of nowhere of note? We were. Still, on this day it seemed like every man Jack and his dog was visiting this sacred site, and not many of them were being very sacred. There was a photographer or three knocking about positioning tripod in awkward positions, parties of American tourists with overly-white hair and bright clothing milling about in herds like bewildered dayglo sheep, and families with hyped-up kids clambering all over the stones. A motley bunch. Then we arrived looking for peace and solitude to bathe in the morning mist that clad the site and surrounding hills. Not a chance, lads. Not today.

Not today Kal!

The mist quickly cleared off to the higher ground, but the crowd only grew thicker. We realised that whatever we were going to do here was going to draw attention. By this stage in our dowsing and spiritual development this mattered little to us. Kal immediately set about determining whether there was anything in particular that we should be doing here – perhaps to re-balance the energies, or ourselves, or what? He found that it was all down to me this morning. A convenient finding, I thought, but that’s how it goes.

I was in no rush, however, having an agenda of my own in terms of dowsing. I wanted to see whether I could answer a few questions that had been buzzing around my head for the last few days. These questions were:-

1. Could the site be considered to be “active” in terms of energy?
2. How accurate were the visual alignments between the stones and the surrounding landscape, that I had seen depicted in Paul Devereux’s book “Earth Memory“?
3. Did any of the stones display a magnetic charge when a compass was held near to them?
4. Were there any dowsable emissions of radon or radioactive energies coming out of the stones?
5. Was there a “dream seat” at the site?

In “Earth Memory” Devereux tells of a shaman who takes a man to a place where there is an ancient stone seat that shamans sit upon. When they attune to the spot the seat produces visions and dream states where the shaman can experience “shamanic flying” or out-of-body experiences. I liked this idea, and it reminded me of the two similar “seats” at Avebury that are such intruiging shapes:

I went in search of a Dream Seat at Castlerigg and an obvious candidate emerged, worn smooth by the number of people who had leaned against it observing the view. I elected to try it out shortly.

All these questions plus the usual suspects concerning the discovery of the uses for the site were uppermost in my mind. As it turned out Kal beat me to the punch with the “use of the site” questions. He had over heard a tour guide telling the tale that the site had perhaps once been used as a place of barter for tradesmen – a kind of market meeting place. Spurred on to test this he got his dowsing rods out and began his own investigations. Was the site constructed for the purpose of trading? NO. So, it may have become a trading post, but he didn’t feel as though that’s how it started out. Of course not – why would there be so many celestial alignments and carefully placed stones if the purpose was to create a trading space?

I began my own investigations to answer my new questions.

• Was the site energetically active? YES. Was it still functioning? YES.
• Did any of the stones show any magnetic charge? YES, four of them moved the compass needle slightly away from North. These stones were on the South-Western end of the circle. This did not correspond with what I had read in “Earth Memory” where one stone at the Western cardinal point had registered for magnetic charge.
• Were there any radioactive emissions coming out of the stones. NONE. I checked them all. But then I wasn’t using a scientific device, I was using a copper rod. Perhaps no surprise then!

I then went on to check some of the alignments. The most obvious one could be seen from….the Dream Seat stone! No wonder many people had sat on it – 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. was both obvious and sublime:

I’m afraid I didn’t get the angle just right for the photo, but trust me – it’s a perfect fit with the two foreground hillsides. I carried on with my questions regarding the purpose of the site now that I had found the Dream Seat:-

1. Was it an astral observatory, and aligned to celestial bodies? YES.
2. Was it used as a calendar to track the position of the Sun and Moon at specific times of the year? YES.
3. Were any of the stones used as: an altar – NO. A grounding/cleansing stone – YES. I found one such stone. An energising stone – YES. I found three of them.
4. Did the circle draw energy into it? YES, from the sun, moon and stars.
5. Did the circle push energy out? YES, into the surrounding land.
6. Was the circle used for communication of any kind? NO.
7. Was there a specific entrance? YES, for me it was at the South cardinal point.
8. Was there a ley lineThe term used by many British dowsers to describe an energy leyA straight line of neutral energy linking two or more sacred sites or other energetic centres. This is often confused with Alfred Watkins’ concept of the Ley Line. Strictly speaking a ley line does not necessarily mean a neutral energy line, only a sight alignment between notable places, whereas an energy ley is like a radial spoke in a wheel, with energy flowing outwards across the land in a straight line. It has sometimes been found that the energy ley can be diverted from its strict straight path by changes in the landscape or strong attractors that pull it away from its original course. Energy leys may have inter-twining streams of male and female energies weaving along them, as though the energy ley is an attractor, a pathway or a conduit for the male and female energies.. It is easily confused with ley and therefore its use is not recommended by dowsers. running through the site? YES, in a NE to SW direction.
9. Was there a specific path required to be followed to activate the energies of the site? YES.

This ‘ritual path’ (as Stone Dowser terms it) was particularly interesting. The energy path for me to follow was through the southern entrance, to the Sanctuary enclosure for some cleansing and statement of purpose, then out the eastern edge to the Dream Seat to see what needed to be done, then back out the eastern edge again to finish.

The South Entrance

This last piece of information was particularly interesting as it encompassed the Dream Seat. I had wanted “a go” on it anyway, so here was my chance. Despite the endless stream of visitors I told Kal what I intended to do, and he said he would “observe”, which meant that he was going to have a laugh at me trying to make something happen here.

It took two attempts to make my meditative connection work, but I finally attuned to the site and had a vision sitting on the Dream Seat. In the vision I was spinning around above myself, hovering over the stone circle. From there I could see myself, and I could see that I was “spineless”. In other words, my spine was hollow, but nothing was flowing through it. I ‘knew’ I had a blockage in my chakras, and that it was glowing softly red at the base of my spine. The root chakra needed some work, I surmised.

My power centre in The Sanctuary

After two attempts to unblock it I succeeded eventually. Much to everyone’s amusement I’m sure, watching a man with a stick moving from place to place around the circle and meditating for a while at each spot. In the end I felt “dreamy”, like I had awoken from a deep sleep – a feeling that didn’t really leave me until the end of the day on the way back home!

For me, it was a wonderful experience, and despite the heavy tourist traffic, very peaceful and calming. I went on to enjoy the rest of the sites that day. Out next stop would be Long Meg and Her Daughters and the companion site Little Meg.

Gwas

Floating on air.

Knighton Hill, near Wayland’s Smithy – 7th September, 2009

I thought that my chance to dowse a crop circle had gone this year. My recent two-day visit to Wiltshire’s White Horse Valley had been fruitless in terms of finding any remaining wheat or corn circles, as they had all been harvested. It was only by chance that I checked Crop Circle Connector‘s web site on the off-chance that something might have appeared late on in the season. I knew that I was due to be staying near to London in September, but I didn’t hold out much hope for getting any circle visits this year. To my surprise there was ONE circle still in existence – a geometric formation had appeared close to…wait for it…Knighton Hill next to Wayland’s Smithy!! I had been there only just over a week ago! But the coincidence gets more startling, so read on!

Images Olivier Morel  (WCCSG) Copyright 2009

I had made a particular effort to get to this circle without knowing whether it was still there. Luckily it was – I could see indentations across the fields where I had parked at Uffington car park (not knowing the local roads). I walked purposefully down The Ridgeway path, and courteously skirted the edge of the field of corn until I found an entry point. It was amazing how quickly I got in, and yet perversely the opposite was the case on the way out!

I began my investigations by asking twenty questions that I had prepared for my previous visit to this area only weeks before:-

1. Was this formation created by human hands? NO. (I would have left at that point if the answer had been ‘yes’).
2. Are they physical manifestations of patterns inherent in the land? YES.
3. Were these patterns embedded long ago? NO.
4. Should they be meditated upon, or within? UPON, not within.
5. Are they intended to awaken human minds? NO.
6. Do they contain a message in and of themselves? NO.
7. Do they connect to other significant and powerful earth energy sites? YES – a neutral ley lineThe term used by many British dowsers to describe an energy leyA straight line of neutral energy linking two or more sacred sites or other energetic centres. This is often confused with Alfred Watkins’ concept of the Ley Line. Strictly speaking a ley line does not necessarily mean a neutral energy line, only a sight 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. between notable places, whereas an energy ley is like a radial spoke in a wheel, with energy flowing outwards across the land in a straight line. It has sometimes been found that the energy ley can be diverted from its strict straight path by changes in the landscape or strong attractors that pull it away from its original course. Energy leys may have inter-twining streams of male and female energies weaving along them, as though the energy ley is an attractor, a pathway or a conduit for the male and female energies.. It is easily confused with ley and therefore its use is not recommended by dowsers. from Uffington White Horse to Wayland’s Smithy.
8. Has a known elemental force been part of their creation, and if so which one? Air and earth elements.
9. Does their creation involve any force or intelligence from beyond the extent of this planet? NO.
10. Is Gaia involved in their creation? YES.
11. Are the circles solely a form of artistic expression? NO – more a cry for help!
12. Is the knowledge of how and why they are created accessible to the human mind? YES.
13. Is the message they send being understood as planned? YES.
14. Was the pattern intended to be understood or decoded? Understood, not decoded.
15. Is the circle intended for meditation, inspiration, education or revelation? Education and revelation.
16. Does the circle’s design employ concepts of sacred geometry? YES.
17. Was the circle’s design conceived before being created? NO.
18. Was there a single prime motivator behind the design or the creation of this circle? NO – several sentient forces were involved.
19. Is the energy that formed it electric, magnetic, elemental, plasma or chi energy? Chi energy.
20. Does any of that energy remain in the circle? Chi energy remains.

For comparison, here are the questions and answers that Kal got when he asked similar questions recently at a crop circle:-

was this circle made by humans? no!

was it made by aliens? yes

are these aliens denizens of this planet – i.e. some kind of fairy type creature? no

are these aliens from another planet? yes

are they still here? yes

do they live here now? yes

did they use some machine to make these? yes

did the machine use EMF? yes

did this EMF propel the wind? yes

Images John Montgomery Copyright 2009

As well as the 20 prepared questions there were some thoughts and queries that arose as I was there based on what I had found so far. The main points were:-

1. The formation is on a neutral leyline in combination with female earth energy.
2. The maize stems were broken because of maturity of the plants.
3. The flow of energy was from The Uffington White Horse through the circle and into Wayland’s Smithy
4. The creation of the formation was triggered by me noticing the potential for its formation, and believing that it was there, 5 days before it appeared in fact. That was the truly weird bit. I’m not boasting, just remembering how I felt when I first passed it, and what the rods were telling me now.
5. The trigger for its formation was not due to any interaction I had with other sites nearby, but by walking past the crop and intending it, unwittingly! Or was it more of a premonition? Either way, I had felt distinctly peculiar as I passed the field some weeks before on my way to Wayland’s. I had almost wandered off the path to go into the field to look for a circle, except that it made no rational sense to me at the time, so I carried on my way.
6. There were still elemental sentient entities present in the circle who had been part of its formation.
7. The shape of this circle has particular meaning for me and I need to meditate upon it.
8. The strongest power centreA place where a person of a particular alignment (see ‘Alignment’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre. was in one of the small circles! Most of the circles within the formation had a central power centre, and often this was indicated by a column of mayflies swarming at the centre.

It seems ridiculous, pompous, arrogant and frankly ludicrous to suggest that I in any way caused this formation to happen, and I find that I am very embarrassed to write such a thing in public. I considered not putting this aspect into the post, but then I thought I would be recoiling from my real findings if I didn’t. I did ask about my involvement, and so I should be prepared to stand up to the consequences of my findings. The whole incident of feeling how I did when I first passed by this field, and the thoughts that went through my head at the time, they didn’t seem significant until a week or so later when I saw the location of the last pattern of the year and realised it had been exactly, I mean exactly where I had imagined there would be one, even though I had never heard of a circle forming in maize in this country, and honestly believed at that point that they were all “hand made” by humans. To be brutally frank, I didn”t believe Kal’s findings when he got back from his visit and told me what he had dowsed. Then came this episode.

So, what I can conclude from this is that the power of INTENTION plays a large part, deliberately or not, in triggering the creation of these crop formations. It seems to be the interaction of a human mind with Nature, and Nature employs her elemental forces to bring out the expression in sacred geometrical patterns from the earth by the involvement of air to knock down the crop in a swirling pattern. I can only say this of this one formation, I don’t know whether this holds true for other crop circles too. There is also the common element of their formation upon neutral earth energy lines, especially those that link to frequently visited sacred sites in the chalk landscape. Whether any sensible theory can be teased out from that I don’t know!

I decided to leave before it got completely dark. I tried to retrace my steps but for some reason every part of the formation now looked the same, and I wandered hopelessly between the three main circles trying to find the small circle through which I had entered a few hours before. No joy! I started to wonder if I would ever make my way out, then it struck me – this was maize planted in lines – I only had to follow a line until the end and I would be outside again. I did this, holding my hands in front of me to clear the stalks and leaves as I passed. I walked for what felt like an eternity without emerging. Now I was beginning to panic again – wouldn’t someone or something take pity on me and get me out of here? Suddenly I broke out of the corn and into a ploughed field. I recognised that my car was parked on the other side of the field – it was simply a matterof walking across it and I would be right at the car – wonderful! Something had taken pity on me after all.

Gwas

In the last chance saloon.

POST SCRIPT – 14.09.09

Twice this week I have come across the concept of a mandala being used to train the mind to connect to the Otherworld, the Third World that philosopher Karl Popper postulates as the world of objective content of thoughts. (I have The Orb to thank for that snippet, which I heard in their O.O.B.E track whilst studying philosophy at University). The first reference was from a Red Ice Creations interview with Georgia Lambert who was discussing the Western Mystery Tradition, and the methods of meditating. She mentioned that holding a mandala or symbol in mind was one of the stages of meditative development leading to an opening of the gateway between worlds. Then the reference came up again in Lynne Hume’s book “Portals” that Kal bought recently. As I flipped through it I came upon a few paragraphs explaining exactly the same concept.

Then I put the two coincidences together: was the image of the crop circle (above)  something that I could use as a mandala to meditate upon to open my own portal to another consciousness? See how it links to three traditional Celtic spheres of being – The Underworld, The Middleworld and The Otherworld?

Uffington Chalk Horse: August 20th 2009

This is the second of three parts of a modern-day faerytale of 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.. In the first part I was meditating at Wayland’s Smithy and heard an instruction to “go for a ride”. I was in little doubt that this advice referred to the nearby ‘White Horse’ etched out in the chalk hills above Uffington village, and so I made my way there in the glorious August afternoon sun to see if I could work out where exactly I should be, and to see what would happen if I found the right place.

As I arrived at the top of the formation I couldn’t work out where I was relative to anything so I walked straight down the hill arriving almost immediately at two protruding straight lines. Odd! Looked like a mouth or something, so I plucked out the crab appleI had been carrying and placed it neatly between the “jaws”. I smiled – it looked like it was eating the little apple – a huge horse with a tiny apple. I could see other chalk paths now, but was careful not to tread on them. I moved fiurther down the hill and to the right, realising I was near the head. I was looking for the shoulder and flank, so I headed right and down.

Oddly, I didn’t use my dowsing rods to locate the spot. Instead I reasoned that a good spot to ride any animal might be the junction of the head with the back of the figure, and that’s where I went – straight to it. Conveniently there was a small man-sized hollow at just that point, and I made myself comfortable, lazing in the afternoon sunshine, welcoming the break from work and enjoying the view down the hill. From my vantage point three elements became apparent to me:

1. The ‘horse’ had a forked tongue

 2. The plainly man-made folds of the hill below me spread out like a wing…a dragon’s wing. 

 3. The small flat-topped hill that was enclosed by this ‘wing’ I remembered was called “Dragon’s Hill”

Then it dawned on me – this was no horse. Only from this particular spot could all of the three unusual aspects of this figure be seen from the right perspective to make this apparent on the ground. Faint memories of other people having said the same thing floated through my mind. From that moment of revelation onwards I could no longer see this unique feature as a horse again! Sure, there were other chalk horses in the area, but they looked like horses – in their proportions and their features. This elongated chalk figure was nothing like those carvings at all. It was uniquely different. For me this will now be The Uffington White Dragon.

Alton Barnes White Horse

 I meditated on this and tuned into the landscape, dissolving my sense of self into the sunlight, the winds and the view. Before long I felt the familiar surge of some inner notion and felt it connecting, becoming aware of the movement of nature, its interactions, and at the same time its one-ness. Such metap[hysics never comes across well in print. When it is felt, however, experienced – then its beauty can be appreciated. A semi-blissful state of mind, body and spirit – some days fleeting, others seemingly forever.

In this moment I was focusing on Dragon’s Hill without purpose. It just fell into view. I saw the mound in motion – the twin dragons of male and female, the red and the white, intertwining, writhing. A curling column of energy launched from them upwards into the Oxfordshireair and fell towards me. I could see an egg shaped object inside its mouth as it fell into me in a sudden plunge and I felt the egg land in my chest. I could see it spinning in me – white, then gold, next time I looked it was white again, then gold when I blinked. What was this thing, I mused to myself? “The dragon egg - the golden heart.” I answered myself.

After the shock and the bliss state had worn off I seemed remarkably unperturbed by the whole event. I felt a little proud and excited at this. What could this be? By its tenuous link with perception it was clear to me that it was an invention of my mind, yet it felt incredibly physical too – like I was wearing it inside my chest. I practised not noticing it – yes, I could still operate in the rational world – no-one was staring at my white then gold chest, I wasn’t glowing or anything, and I still had my wits about me. 

I started to get up, and as I did so I saw a negative image of the Dragon’s Hill in my eyes – it looked like a stone circle. It  flashed momentarily then there was only a faint after-image. Too long in the sun! I told myself. Where were my sunglasses when I needed them?

A stone circle. A stone circle. Circle. Another kindly signpost. Would that be where I could hatch this “egg” – the golden egg? It felt like an episode of The Goodies! The Christmas Special episode of the late 1970s where everybody’s running is speeded up as they’re chased through various old children’s stories like Jack and the Beanstalk and the Goose That Laid The Golden Egg.

I went back to the car to check the maps. Stone circles in the area…stone circ…Avebury! Of course. It was late afternoon now. I would be there just as the light was beginning to sink to the horizon. Perfect timing, by coincidence. What an over-used word.

Gwas

Sliding down the scales of The Dragon

30th April, 2009: Nine Ladies and Nine Stones Close, Stanton Moor, Derbyshire.

This was a difficult post to write. Here, for the first time, I got an insight into how a stone circle may have once been used. My issue then was, how much of this speculative information do I pass on? Given that Kaland I had detected energy working at the circle that we didn’t agree with…should I then go on to reveal this information, and potentially provide such people with what I feel is one of the keys that unlocks the power of Nine Stones Close? Do I have that right? With that in mind you will notice that I don’t go into detail about some things. If you’re really interested you’ll have your own methods of filling in the detail.

Stanton Moor and The Corkstone

This visit took place on a damp and cloudy April afternoon on Stanton Moor. If you go through the village of Stanton-in-the-Peak, take a left turn up the hill, past a quarry works and car park, then park at the edge of the woods at the top of the hill, you’ll find an information sign at the beginning of the walk across Stanton Moor.

To get to Nine Ladies stone circle from this point it’s pretty hard not to pass The Corkstone- a standing stone that now sports worn hoof-prints of the people who have climbed up it, assisted by the numerous iron spikes that have been driven into the rock face. Being one of the first things we noticed when we stopped at the stone Kal and I dowsed for the effect of these spikes – they impacted the energy field (or nemeton) making it smaller, was what we found.

We found that the Corkstone was connected to a nearby solitary tree that lived twenty or so feet away at the junction of paths. It had no connection with the Nine Ladies stone circle, however, which we thought was unusual. Had it been connected before? YES. Then why would it be disconnected now? As if in answer we heard a rumble that sounded like thunder followed by a crash and the sound of engines. The nearby quarry was still at work. I had read about quarries being a huge source of negative or harmful earth energies, so I dowsed as to whether this was the reason why the stone was de-coupled from its neighbouring site? YES. As some form of protection, we supposed?

Despite being isolated from Nine Ladies the input of the nearby tree’s energy The Corkstone had a flowing nemeton that circled the stone three times. This stone’s energy field registered as being composed of the tree’s female energies, plus its own male energy. Kal fell in love with the tree, so I urged that we walk on to Nine Ladies – he would be spending all day here otherwise, walking the tree’s spirals!

Nine Ladies and The Wishing Tree Re-visited

We crossed the moorland following only paths that had good strong energies. These energy flows started just outside the area of the Corkstone but seemed to circumvent a direct connection with it. We happily snaked our way across the moor walking fluidly and easily. Occasionally we would be distracted by a faerie ring and would dowse its contents – invariably finding small female spirals.

We arrived at Nine Ladies stone circle and deposited our bags under the Wishing Tree oak. All seemed quiet and calm. Nothing stirred and scarcely another person or dog wandered by. We wandered around ourselves, more contemplative than usual and not filled with the urge to dowse. I confirmed a few things such as: was the entrance in the same place? YES. Was there 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.’ nemeton of male and female energies around it? YES. Did the Wishing Tree still link to the circle? YES. Was there still a link between two of the stones in the circle passing through one of the circle’s power centres? YES.

Kal and I chatted about how dull it felt. It was as though it was sleeping…We sat under the tree a while whilst Kal tried to befriend it. His recent interest in trees made me more hopeful, but I still warned him about how he might approach the tree. He said he wouldn’t have a problem this time, in his usual inscrutable and confident way. A few minutes later he stepped out from under the tree – and didn’t bang his head, or trip, and was smiling. Success? Oh, yes – he responded. Well, connecting with Nature was going better than the dowsing today.

We felt there was little else to learn here at the moment, and headed back to the car to go on to Nine Stones Close circle – always a favourite of ours for some reason that we couldn’t explain. Perhaps because something interesting and enlightening or puzzling always happens there?

Nine Stones Closer

Nine Stones Close has always held a fascination for us. We return here a lot. When I visit it I get the feeling it is a central hub for the energies of the area, radiating that energy out to other sites. I don’t know why I feel that.  Perhaps it is the number of power centres that exist here, which is so many more than other stone circles. It feels like a meeting place. A place where druids and other energy workers met to collaborate on a ritual or to perform some energy work together.

Nine Stones has nine power centres. Five of them are male-oriented and the remaining four are inclined to the female frequency. The male centres are situated between the remaining four stones – four stones, five gaps, five male power centres. The female ones form a rectangle within the ring of the male centres. Nine is unusual – we normally only come across a couple of such centres at most circles.

The interesting thing we discovered here was the existence of a Map Stone. Other sites, such as Monzie Circle in Scotland,have map stones – cup-marked stones whose markings correlate with the position of important earth energy features. David Cowan, particularly, has described how these cup-marked stones are pivotal to understanding the features and flows of energy in large-scale circuits of earth energy. However, there is one feature about these stones that I think even he may have missed: they are not only a map, or energy source in themselves, they can also be a means to activating the power centres of a site.

What do I mean by ‘activate’? Well, that’s the detail that I want to leave out. I think it’s sufficient to say that if you understand what I mean by the concept of a power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘Alignment’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre., and you can imagine how the stone could be a map showing the location of such centres, then that is probably enough material to work with. I will just say that through certain simple actions it is possible to make specific power centres ‘turn on’ and be available for use in your energy work. I still have to identify the particular characteristics of each power centre, but I do know that one of them is solely for the use of the person who understands these concepts. I suspect that the other power centres, once unlocked, require people aligned to either male or female to stand on the centres. Just what is possible by doing this, I don’t yet know.

After finding out how to use the map to activate power centres I returned to dowsing to verify the existence of the curious geometric energy formationsthat could be dowsed atop each power centre. I had found them on my last visit and now wanted to verify the information again now that some time had passed, and I had forgotten which shapes were where. Sure enough, when I re-mapped them I found that most of them were displaying the same shapes: circle, oval, triangle, square, spiral and figure of eight. Each power centre had energy formations consisting of unique size, shape and orientation, although some shapes were repeated. I now have two maps of these formations, and they tally almost exactly, differing only in Kal and my interpretations of scale, and in the detail of the shapes.

What this means, I don’t yet know. What purpose it serves is also a mystery as yet. The more one finds out the more there is to know in this game! I feel these signature shapes are important to understanding the ways in which this circle can generate energy from human interaction, but I cannot say what that is at the moment, The ‘how’ and ‘why’ questions are always more difficult to answer than the simple ’yes or no’ queries!

Gwas

Following geometric maps.