The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘llangollen’

Often we return to places many months or years after a visit and find that we have a purpose similar to our previous visit, but this time we are further up the spiral of life and the work is subtly different. Other times, we get called back to a place much sooner because there is something very important that we have missed, overlooked, not done or not done properly. Such an event happened with Dinas Bran recently.

Originally, we had set Dinas Bran as the main flag on our map of the sites to visit for the Autumn Equinox. Well and good, but by the time we got there I had forgotten my original reason for going, which was to try to cleanse and invigorate the site, and to connect it to the first point on my Earth Grid Chain project that I have undertaken. Sure enough, somehow, I got another opportunity to make amends – something that only happens if the work is very important. Clearly, this was important (if only to me). On a clear, still and warm night Kal and I zoomed into Wales, past Llangollen town, and up onto the hill of Dinas Bran once again. This time, the work was at the forefront of my mind.

On arrival we set to dowsing straight away – was this a good night to do this work? YES. Was I in a fit energetic state to do the work? YES. Could I do it alone? NO. Would Bran help me? YES, but…Damn that “Yes, but…” response! Now I had to find out where the other source of help might come from. I went through my usual list of helpful energies and spirits and arrived at my trusty Spirit Guide herself, Theodora. I must admit, she’s not usually my first port of call, only because I’m still nervous about working with her – my hang-up about her being a former human being. I just have to get over that some day! She’s been nothing but helpful and useful to me in my magick work, and never seems to impose herself but waits for a call. Could I ask for more? Still I am hesitant. Perhaps if you have such interactions too you know what I mean?

Dinas Bran in the late evening

Knowing the place well now I knew where to go to speak with Bran. Nevertheless I confirmed the exact spot with my rods, but found that Bran was in his usual position. I have the technique for tuning into such spirits of place really finely tuned now, and was swiftly able to sink into a light trance that allowed me to clear my mind and put out a request to speak to him. His voice answered my greeting. It sounded like my own voice but I knew the replies were something either deep in me, or deep in the land. I asked if he would assist my work to make this connection to the Earth Grid and he seemed happy to help.

I moved to the 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. that I knew of and it felt good. There I dowsed for the best place to do this work and ended back where I was! On the power centre. I looked around for Kal, but he was off elsewhere in the ruins, and in the deepening gloom he looked like a dark shadow moving across a moonlit backdrop. He appeared to be asleep but I knew better. Back to my work. I called Theodora to join my work and a sudden shiver went through my spine – this is the recently developed “call sign” that tells me she is present and with me. The more sensitive I have got to these energy forms the more they seem to be having a physical effect upon me.

I placed some incense around me (four) and lit them to cleanse the working space and keep other energies out while I worked. I have become more and more used to using incense now than using crystals. I think the crystals have fallen out with me because I don’t cleanse them! I’ve just made that up, but it does feel like I work better with incense than crystals.

I meditated to connect. Once connected with Dinas Bran I projected myself out to Frodsham Caves. I mentally “flew” there and located the power centre in the caves. I then flew back pulling a connection from the cave power centre through to where I was standing. Having made this connection I felt I needed to re-inforce the channel.At this point I realised that Bran was supplying some of the energy from the ground – it was “primal” energy, un-formed and malleable. This was rising up through me. Theodora, I could feel, was then transforming the primal energy into “neutral” ley energy as it emerged from me.

My arms went out in from of me like I was pointing with both hands at the caves, and I imagined the neutral energy being channeled along a straight line between the two sites. Then the link was made into a sort of arcing bridge between the sites, circling up from Dinas Bran, then dropping down into Frodsham, then back underground and rising up to Dinas Bran. I moved this energy circle faster and faster until it moved by itself, still channeling the energy down my outstretched arms to keep it straight and true.

I felt it was done, so I went to find Kal. He took some finding in the dark, but he was sat in a window ledge looking out over the valley below. I asked him to come and dowse what I had done, which he did reluctantly. I didn’t follow him, but sent him off in a direction, with the instruction to tell me whether he could find a neutral line, and the direction it flowed in. He wandered off into the gloom (int he wrong direction!) and minutes later there was some noise. I wandered over. He was stood on my power centre facing Frodsham. “Well,” I said, “what have you found?”. “It starts here, ” he said, “and goes off that way.” pointing in the exact direction I had created the line. I laughed. “And what kind of line is it – male, female, neutral?”. “Neutral.” he confirmed. I was overjoyed. I really had created a neutral link between the sites. Amazing!

Here are our audio summaries of the night’s work, recorded in situ. In the first one I recount my energy bridge work:

Druid Diaries excerpt for Dinas Bran by Gwas: DD-DB-061010-1

 

Kal explains how he found out more about working with his energetic double, and the potential issues with that.

Druid Diaries excerpt for Dinas Bran by Kal: DD-DB-061010-2

 

A Bright Star Moving

Star moving oddly

We were almost done. We had packed away and were looking up at the vast array of stars, the Milky Way lying like a 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. across the sky, and spotting the brighter stars to see if we could identify planets. Then I drew Kal’s attention to a bright star that was moving over the south-western part of the sky. We watched it slowly drifting “down” the night sky, wobbling as it went. Was it a plane? It looked like a star – bright blue-white, circular…then it did a 90 degree turn, heading “left” (south) across the backdrop of stars. It was still bigger and brighter than the stars behind it, but now it was moving much faster. Faster than an airplane moves. As we watched it the ‘bright star’ began to climb upwards, getting smaller and fainter within a few seconds. We knew that it had climbed up at what must have been an astonishing speed.

For a few moments we went through the usual lists: Plane? No. Shooting star? No way – it turned! Satellite? The motion would be constant, no. Firefly? joked Kal. We laughed nervously. No, this was something else. Something that moved erratically, yet purposefully when it wanted to, and which could move at speed too, climbing out of eyesight and moving very rapidly.

Gwas.

Thursday 23rd September – Dinas Bran, Llangollen, Clwyd, Wales.

In the final of our site visits on this Autumn Equinox day we chose the destination that had been our first and only firm choice the whole while – the hill of Dinas Bran, the castle fortress of the legendary Bran the Blessed. The hill stand out as a prominent feature of the Llangollen valley scenery, and is visible to travellers along the major route nearby called the A5 road, the road which eventually take you almost to Snowdon.

The weather was turning sour, squally and with an intermittent cold rain which threatened to make our most important visit our most challenging. First, however, was the challenge of getting up the steep slope. Luckily, we dared to try a new route up and this cut at least a quarter of the walking out. We were slightly spared, yet still my calf muscles threatened to tighten and lock up in the face of another ‘killer’ ascent, so we took it very slowly.

No-one else was around on such a day as this, but they missed out on several rewards. My first reward was a beautiful yet faint rainbow that arced from the amazing cliff faces across the valley and climbed high over Dinas Bran, then to fall touching the other hills on the far side of the valley. It was glorious and fragile, like a fleeting reminder that sun could triumph this day against the glowering forces of thick grey rain-laden clouds that ringed the valley. Then, as my mind was entering into a form of walking meditation mode, a hawk appeared showering we weary travellers in its identifiable shrieks and circling around us only some tantalising hundred feet higher than us, skimming the ruins of the castle and surfing the updraught of the slopes.

Dinas Bran topology

The rain began to wet our weary faces as we reached the summit, ignoring our usual energetic paths and simply keeping to the more ready-made walkways. It made sense as the wind was picking up and the surfaces were slick and shiny with rainwater that we didn’t go seeking subtle entry ways along craggy and hairy side paths of our own making.

It began to rain hard as we entered the castle ruins, and our first task was to find a suitable shelter. Initially one of the skeletal walls was enough to fend off the driving rain, but as it got wetter we sought out the one corner of the castle walls where a dry spot remained. As I sat in this corner, moulding my body to the stone and waiting for the rain to abate Kal strode out into the squall and stood there proudly holding his dowsing rods. He began to dowse. I watched in admiration of his bravery, and with a slight giggle at his stupidity, given that he was the least well equipped for the weather. Kal, in fact, is always the least well equipped for the weather of anyone who could possibly be found wandering around the wilds of Britain. Still, he has this unshakable faith that the weather will do right by him. Sometimes he is right. Today, he was more than right. By the time he had turned around to walk along to dowse his third question the rain had disappeared completely to be replaced by a kind of grey silence – a sort of begrudging pause in the weather. As I came out too and began to dowse, so the act of the two of us working at this site brought about a sliver of weak sunlight that bathed the hilltop in a surreal back-light, but for which we were very grateful. He had done it again – he’d made the rain stop.

Druid Diary excerpt for Dinas Bran #1 : DD-DinasBran1

 

Dinas Bran at dusk

Read the rest of this entry »

Castell Dinas Bran – Llangollen, North Wales, 20th February. 

There are times on this ‘path’ where a calling is received. It’s not like a phone call, or a text message arriving – it’s infinitely more subtle than that. You begin to receive signals – a name appears somewhere, or someone mentions a place, or you see a picture of it. Most of the time we’re receiving such information all the time and mostly we do not act upon it. Then it becomes more iterative – you see the name again, in another context, or the story is repeated elsewhere, the place gets mentioned, or you see the picture again and again. Soon, you have to act to find out more about what this ‘calling’ is. 

So it was that I started looking at the Megalithic Portal with a single search term: Llangollen. I had been a few miles south of there only the week before, near Chirk. Now I was getting a pull to go to the east of Wales again, this time along the A5, Thomas Telford’sgreat trunk road. I knew this road to be littered with ancient connections, not least of which is Llandrillo stone circle some way south of the A5 and near to BalaLake. Was this the intended destination? The Megalithic Portal churned away, then returned with its results: Dinas Bran was top of the list. I stared at the mound. I knew it – where from? I had passed it many times. Once, long ago, I had climbed it. This was the place I needed to go to. No doubt. My heart had leapt a little when I saw it. I made preparations and left. 

View of Castell Dinas Bran

Part of those preparations was to bring along my new ash staff. I’m glad I did. I parked at an isolated spot “round the back” of the hill, at a small lay-by where a stile offered a gentle path across an inclining field at the base of the hill. It was idyllic – the sun, the view, the objective. I tuned in very quickly to the surroundings and managed to find a wavy path across the field and up the hill. At each stage I let my intuition lead the way and soon I had joined the main path up the hill, with its precarious wooden barrier and well-trodden spiral path. The staff helped enormously. 

As I approached the top of the hill I slowed to a stop. I was beginning to feel the “edge” of the site, it’s aura – the edge of the nemeton. I stopped and tuned into the site, introducing myself and asking to be shown an entrance. I began to walk off the path across some scree. I gulped, but the path was remarkably easy and stable! A pre-defined path was emerging: as I looked back I could see there WAS in fact a trail through the slope of seemingly random stones, and again through the seemingly barren grass, I was actually following a trail. 

The trail ended at a man-made slope. A definite causeway. An entrance undoubtedly. 

South side entrance

Next I was led by the rods to a small break in the surrounding ditch. A path led down the break and up the other side to the castle remains themselves. I followed eagerly, feeling this was the right way into the site for me. As I passed through an archway I felt the urge to be free, so I asked the rods to find a suitable place to drop my bag and leave my staff. It was at the archway itself that was to be my resting place.

My resting place

I set about dowsing the place. What was the relative strength of the energies here, I asked (expecting a low response due to the time of year and the fact that it had been a castle, and was not now an obvious megalithic site). The response I got took me aback : it was a 10/10. Up there with Carnac and Silbury Hill in terms of the strength of these earth energies. The power of the place was apparent in so many ways, too. Look at the number of visitors up here on a freezing cold Saturday afternoon in February – there were about ten people millng about on this steep hilltop. Something was drawing them here. 

Gog and Magog

Perhaps they were drawn by the challenge of the giant Gogmagog, or the lure of treasure: 

“Claims have also been made that the Holy Grail or a golden harp are hidden in the hillock at Dinas Bran and that fairies dwell there.  

According to “The Romance of Fulk Fitzwarine,” the Normans pushed their way into the eastern borderlands of Wales and stopped just beneath the ruins of Dinas Bran. An arrogant knight, Pain Peveril, noticed the crumbling walls and learned that the sitewas once the home of King Bran. Since Bran’s demise, no one had enough courage to stay overnight inside the remains, for fear of evil spirits. To prove their mettle, Pain and some of his cohorts climbed up to the ruins, determined to endure the night. During that night, a storm arose and forced the men to seek shelter.  

Suddenly, an evil, mace-wielding giant appeared. This giant was the notorious Gogmagog, a man possessed by an evil spirit who had terrorized the countrysidefor years. Pain defended his men withhis shield, protected witha cross, a shield so sturdy that it withstood the penetration of the giant’s mace. His brazen defiance startled the giant and Pain swiftly stabbed him with his sword. As Gogmagog died, the evil spirit recounted King Bran’s bravery against the giant’s attacks. Bran had even built the palace atop the hillock to thwart the giant and enraged the evil spirit inside Gogmagog. Then, the giant forced Bran and his followers to flee. The dying spirit also claimed that a great treasure, including a golden ox, was buried beneath the hill.” (source: http://www.castlewales.com/dinas.html) 

In the tale above Gogmagog is the container for “evil forces”. Since the advent of Christian religion in these isles the forces of paganism have been characterised as evil, and attributed to monsters and devils. Of course this is water off a duck’s back to the pagans, who tend to embrace such concepts, but nevertheless it is a slanderous fact, and has involved the re-working of almost all our indigenous myths. What ARE these evil forces that the tale speaks of? The clue is in the name of the monster: “Gog” and “Magog” – the male and female archetype. Gogmagog is the combination of Gog and Magog – the male and female earth energies inherent in the land.

I looked, as I usually do, for the male and female energies of the site. Having a light covering of snow actually facilitated this because I was able to mark out the shapes that I dowsed, and denote the sources and endpoints for the energies. The male energy was sourced from one of the southern arched windows. It was the sunlight from the south that was the source of the male energy at the site. This seemed particularly relevant for the time of year that I was there, for the sun was tracking along the topmost part of the mountains opposite and would have shone all day through the arched window. At this time of year all the light came from the south as the sun moved across the sky from east to west. The male energy then ran around the edge of the inner castle ruins, and down a steep path ending at a sealed dungeon in the north-eastern flank of the castle.

The female energy began a few feet north of the southern arched window, on the other side of the path that cut between the male and female sources. I tracked the pathof the female energy westward (in the opposite direction to the male energy) and it meandered around, coming inwards, until it terminated right in the centre of the site, at a point where the inner mound began to slope. This female terminus pont also turned out to be the 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. to which I was most aligned. I stood within the power centre for a few minutes and felt warm, tingly and enlivened. Oh yes, this was good for me! 

Power centre drawn in snow

At the very moment when I took one step into my power centre the sun, which had been hiding its face behind a cloud for the last half hour, emerged and shone directly in my face. I couldn’t help but smile. No-one ever believes this “salute of the sun”, but it’s one of the most profound elements of the whole “being on a spiritual path” for me. It’s the most obvious and literally heart-warming sign that I’m moving in the right direction.

The Astrology of Dinas Bran

Next on my agenda was to dowse to see whether this site was particular active, energetically, at a specific time of the year. Sites that are like that have an astrological energy formation that can be dowsed for. We have only found this out recently after correlating several dowsing responses relating to the influence of planets, stars and constellations. When I dowsed at this site I found an astrological formation that was like the picture below:

Pisces - Feb 20 to Mar 20

Later, when I could dowse against a list of existing constellations and designs I was able to determine that the astrological form at Dinas Bran was an old symbol for Pisces. Pisces covers the time from 20th February to 20th March. I was visiting in that period of time – here I was, stood in DinasBran at its most energetic time. That would account for the 10/10 rating for the energy strength, then!

The Sign of Bran

If I was at Bran’s Castle, who is Bran? In the tale above he was relegated to the role of King, yet before kingship ever came about as an accepted or necessary concept Bran was also an archetype – a god. Bran is the giant head. He is a giant himself in many other tales, and so we begin to see the confusion emerge as later tales subvert him into human form. In his animal form, The Crow, he signifies transformation, regeneration and awakening.

I dowsed to discover whether this site still had a 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. – a guardian spirit of the place. It did, so I dowsed for the energetic formation in the sitethat would indicate that spirit’s presence. I was directed to an area of snow close to my power centre, but away from most of the footprints in a little hollow. As I dowsed I felt I recognised the end points – these were clearly spirals. The centre point was an oval shape, and when seen betwixt the two spirals a form emerged – the Head of Bran between the male and female spirals of earth energy that were Gogmagog!

Left arm male, right arm female

What more do we know of Bran from mythology?

“Bran Fendigaid (the Blessed) – Celtic god of regeneration – was the son of the Sea God, Llyr and, maternally, the grandson of Belenos, the Sun God. His name means Raven, and this bird was his symbol. In Celtic mythology, Bran appears as a semi-humanized giant residing at Castell Dinas Bran, the later home of the later Kings of Powys. Though Bran himself was supposed to have been an early King of the Silures tribe of Gwent. There appears to be no archaeological evidence for his worship though perhaps the castle mount was once sacred to him.”

(source: http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/bran.html)

“Perhaps the castle mount was once sacred to him.” ‘Once’. ‘Perhaps’. Still! It is! He is there now. His imprint is within the mound – his influence spreads into the valley below, and all the way back to the sea.

I dowsed for other celestial influences on the site. Let’s see if they shed any light on Bran. There was a solar influence from the South, and a lunar influence on Full Moon days. This equates to the balanced male and female energy lines at the site. Together they form the rim and radiating lines of Belenos’ radiant sun shield, or chariot wheel, draw upon the summit of the mound.

As King, Bran led his warriors into battle in Ireland, but the Irish had a magic cauldron that brought their dead warriors back to life and only Bran and seven of his warriors survived the battles. I found it very interesting to read this given that the planetary influence that I dowsed at the site was that of Mars- God of War. There are further connections between Bran and the cauldron as represented in the Arthurian Mysteries as The Grail. Bran’s mortal wounding echoes the story of the Fisher King and Arthur’s wounding.

I took some delightful panoramic pictures from on high, then dowsed for an exit. The exit I had to take was a bit daring -it was a hollow in the wall of the northern side, through an archway, leading down to an ice-covered path that was inches from a sheer drop down the steepest part of the hill. Gulp! I trusted my staff and made my way down along a little-used pathway until I encountered grass that seemed to flow like water down the hill. Being in tune with the energies I felt their tug and descended straight down the hill without hesitation. I hear some onlookers from above geeing themselves up to do the same – ah, the folly of youth! Moments later I heard them falling over themselves and rolling down the hill trying to save themselves from injury. I smiled. They didn’t have my ash staff!

Gwas.

I had heard via the BBC news web site that there was an ancient oak tree that had been split by the sharp cold spell we have had recently in the UK. being a “tree friendly” sort of bloke I was a bit distressed by this, and so decided that I should go and visit it – if only to stroke it and say “Bad luck, old chap!“. From the article it would seem as though some local tree preservation types had made predictions of its impending demise, and this made the visit seem more necessary than mere curiosity.

Before the weekend of the 13th/14th Feb I did some dowsing to see what was awaiting me.

1. Was the split oak irreparably damaged? – YES.
2. Would it die from this damage – YES.
3. Was it going to die in the next few days? – NO.
4. Would it take a few weeks to die – LONGER.
5. Was the energy associated with the tree still present? – YES.
6. Would that energy die off with the tree? – SOONER.
7. Am I able to capture some or all of that energy? – YES, using the Ash Staff.
8. Would the spirit of the tree be around for long? – ONLY DAYS.

Of course I am re-interpeting the results for you. Each of the questions had to be posed such that only a YES 0r NO response could result from it, but the outcome I have re-expressed to demonstrate my line of thinking. Only days left before the energy associated with the tree began to dissipate or leave, eh? Better get there soon!

Off I jolly-well trotted in my ’new’ old car (the trusty old Peugeot is now in the hands of a trusted friend). I was heading for Pontfadog, a village on the outskirts of Chirk town. Chirk is a lovely historic town that I’ve visited before on my motorcycle. It’s the kind of place that keeps history alive, and the place seems to have a special quality about it. It has a lovely castle with large grounds on its edge, and despite having a factory nearby it feels quaint and timeless.

As I drove to Pontfadog I kept getting diverted off the main road. Ooops, I missed the turn-off (despite having SatNav guiding me!). Oh dear, this road is being diverted because of roadworks! Oh, a police car is blocking that road! Another closed road diversion a few miles later. And so it went on and on until I ended up on a tiny back road into Pontfadog village, a road which had those sinuous qualities that one associates with ancient roads that used to be trackways, possibly following male earth energy paths. At various points along this diversion I would encounter a bird of prey sat on a gate-post, or low in a tree, watching me as I passed. This is now becoming a common sign that I am on a special journey, and so I acknowledged each occurrence. It doesn’t do to get your rational brain involved in trying to work this out – just ride with it and take it for what you apprehend it to be!

TIC and Swan Inn - Pontfadog

The Pontfadog Oak

The village of Pontfadog has a relatively new car park next to the bridge over the river than runs alongside the main road. You can’t miss it if you go there. A short walk away is the hub of village activity (well, on a Sunday in Rugby season anyway) – the Swan Inn. What an absolute delight that place is! The landlord was incredibly helpful, and knew his ales from his elbow too. Refreshment had to be quaffed before continuing. Good job I did too because the route up from the back of the inn to the Pontfadog Oak is steep! Ten minutes later I was walking along a path leading to a farm on the Pontfadog hillside that was reputed to contain the oak. Indeed it did, and the farmhouse owners were only too pleased to direct anyone to it.

The most ancient oak in Wales

According to the accompanying plaque at the base of this ancient oak tree:-

“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has designated The Pontfadog Oak one of the Great British Trees.”

That’s nice of her. So did one of her predecessors, apparently:

“In Pontfadog lives the oldest oak tree in Britain which was spared when King Henry II had his men cut down the Ceiriog Woods in 1165. Fortunately the woods recovered, as they have done since being permanently covered in dust from the quarrying of the 19th century.” (source: www.ceiriog.co.uk)

I noticed that although the tree was hollow inside, it wasn’t split, so I went back to the people in the farmhouse garden to ask about it. Was this the tree that had split and had been reported about? Oh, no, came the response – that was another ancient tree in the valley. Surely I passed it along the road coming into the village? Well, I might have done, but I suspect my little “detour” had made me miss it. How peculiar! Was I “meant” to visit this tree first? Why?

I had the urge to leave my ash staff alongside the tree. I pretended I was doing this as a measure for my photographs, but actually I wanted to allow the staff to absorb any energies from this mighty tree. I walked its girth, photographed it, and generally stood admiring it until some parents arrived with a troupe of children. Looking like the Von Trappe’s I decided that I should head off to the ‘correct’ tree that I had come to see in the first place!

The Pontfadog Oak - my staff shows size

The Crogen Oak

I had no trouble locating the split tree I had intended to visit. It was just behind a wall on the ‘main’ road into the village, about 200 yards before the Trout Fishery and Shop place. Indeed it stood in marshy boggy ground next to a brackish stream and I began to see how the water could have been responsible for making the tree split.

Th split Crogen Oak

The Crogen Oak – “The Oak at the Gate of the Dead” (or more likely ‘The Oak at The Pass of the Graves’) is so-called because of its association with the Battle of Crogen. One of the trees that witnessed that battle and was spared from being felled was this oak tree, which became the guardian of the dead slain in its presence (is my re-telling of the myth). It has certainly witnessed many things, being estimated to be around 1500 years old.

The tree was certainly attracting a great deal of interest. Whilst I was there two couples with dogs, the parents with the troupe of kids, and various other families with awe-inspired wild-eyes kids were crawling all over the oak, quite literally. I tried to connect to the tree but it was far to noisy and the tree was too old for me to do so successfully in those circumstances. Instead I contented myself with the feeling that I could place the ash staff in its heart. The dowsing rods confirmed this for me. If I left it there then something magickal would happen (if I intended it). Which I did!

Empowering the ash staff

I thought I should probably put some crystals around the tree to focus the energy. Or light some incense too, perhaps? I asked the rods about the crystals. NO. Oh! What about incense? Hmmm. A quite inconclusive answer. I decided to try anyway and got some prepared for lighting, but then couldn’t find my new windproof lighter that I had just recently filled with gas. What? How?…never mind. Abandon ship! I asked the dowsing rods if I needed them anyway – NO. Why hadn’t I just asked that to start with?

I circled the tree three times clockwise to charge up the staff, for some reason tuoching the tree all the way around as I passed under its split bough and low-hanging branches. As I walked around, thinking about the staff taking on the energies of the tree, I noticed some lovely white snowdrops pushing their way through the tangle of dry grass stalks that matted the surrounding land. How delightful – signs of Spring appearing – I felt much better already.

A hint that Spring is not far away

Finally, I reclaimed my staff and walked up the nearby hillside to see what was round about. I passed more old oak trees and realised that this area was rife with ancient shrubbery and arboriality. I asked the rods one final question – had the ash staff absorbed anything from the tree? YES. Good.

I drove home and later got the rods out again to find out more about what the staff had taken on board. After a good number of questions had been batted away I came across the answer: the staff now had a name! It had been given a name by the energy of that old dying oak tree! How wonderful. I set about finding the name, and soon had it. Things are already getting more interesting this year.

Gwas.