The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘maori’

Welcoming Nine Stones Close

This post is preceded by Part One (A Call to the Nine Ladies) and Part Two (Doll Tor and the Hidden Gem).

A trip to Derbyshire isn’t complete without visiting the fabulous Nine Stones Close sacred site. I have to say that our first visit to this site wasn’t promising. We had felt that the energies were strong there but not aligned with us. We were young, we were foolish, we were unrecognising the beautiful but ill Oak tree in the adjacent (but close) field.

Fortunately we have learned. Nine Stones is now one of my favourite sites. There I have danced with Pan, healed a so grateful Oaks aura and been blessed with its protection. I owe the site a lot and as I approached it across the muddy fields I knew without communing that it was shouting a tally-ho across the fields. I know sounds like a lot of hubris, but in some cases, I am sorry guys, you just have to be there. Experiences are visceral.

This was the third sacred site that I visited and I felt I was on a wonderful role. With my meeting the Maori spirit singer at nine ladies, the energised Lapis at Doll Tor and now the welcoming nine stones close. Okay I was up to my ankles in mud, but hey, the sun had broken through the clouds and I was joyous.

Propping my bag on the stone wall between the tree and the stones I did some preliminary dowsing…

• Was the Oak healthy? Yes. Good, that Oak is my friend.
• Was there any work for me to do at the site? Yes.
• Did the site need any healing? No. Good, since Gwas the Earth healer was absent.
• Was the work on myself? Yes.
• Did I need to meditate? No. O Okay.
• Did I need to visualise? Yes. Ah…er…what’s the difference?
• Did I need anything? Yes.

I asked to be taken to what I needed and was led to my bag. I opened the bag, which alas has so much clutter in it, it would make a Feng Shui practitioner scream. Anyway I asked which section of the bag I needed to look and was after a few more questions pointed at a folder of notes.

Side note: Having progressed along the path of getting my book published by Hay House (see Kals 3 Goals) I am in the process or rather beginning the process of creating an audio/visual version of it (Active Enlightenment). To that end I have been failing miserably at trying to order the book in accordance with its new form. The notes for this was contained in tha bove mentioned folder.

I have a theory, please let me know what you think in the comments. My theory is that if something is playing on your mind then dowsing and communing and visiting of sacred sites will take this obsessing into account in its direction – sometimes. What do you think? Why are we directed/guided as we are? For instance, what the heck is the Knights Quest all about? Would love your thoughts on this.

The beginning

And so I have been playing with this content for the last 3 weeks in attempt to bring order to chaos. Now, here I am with this pile of notes, in a muddy field, with four huge rocks in it. Question time…

• Are these notes what I am being directed at? Yes.
• Am I to read them to find what I am looking for? No
• Is it the notes as a whole? Yes.
• Should I do a visualisation on them? Yes

Okay, first thing is that there were a lot of questions – that in honesty I feel foolish in repeating, so I wont, secondly. I had no idea what “visualise on them” meant. The best I could manage was to sit on the stone wall under the oak facing the circle and look through my notes. And then it happened…

As I leafed through the notes, looking at all the permutations that the topics could go in, I saw what was needed. Not only did I see this but also the music from the Maori singer came to mind. She hadn’t been singing in a rhythm that went fast at all. She had been singing in a spiral. It was so clear that I saw the image float in 3D space in front of me. With the image came an unblocking, as if the mental gates had opened and the process could run freely. Honestly, I cried.

My purpose for the next few weeks is to create that vision,

Kal Malik

• Do you follow your dreams?
  

  Nine Ladies Sacred Site

The other night I was sleeping like a babe in arms when I awoke suddenly and was fortunate enough to recall the dream I was having. It was set in the (semi) wilds of Derbyshire at a sacred that many of you will now be familiar with, the Nine Ladies.

Was this a call to visit that site? Or just a reordering of my subconscious thoughts? I was after all reading through some of our exploits on this blog. Since I have just finished reading Dowsing by Elizabeth Brown (who keeps a set of rods in her handbag), I decided to grab the rods (yes, in the middle of the night, with eyes half awake) and ask…

• Was that dream an indicator to go to the nine ladies sacred site? Yes
• Should I go now (3:40a.m.) No. (In honesty I wouldn’t have gone at that time, but it would have been nice to know I was missing some opportunity).
• Should I go during the coming day? Yes.
• Was this because Imbolc had come early for me? No.
• Was there something for me to learn there? Yes.
• Was today the only time I could learn this? Yes.
• On a scale of 1-10 how valuable would this knowledge be? 9! Wow!
• Just as a comparison, what scale was last years Knights Quest be, relatively speaking? 23!

As it happened the next day was free and so I toodled off towards them there hills…As I drove the one and a half hours I wondered if I would encounter any of the spritely beings that Gwas had encountered upon his last visit. I have not had the fortune of having such a spirit infested experience but am game to frolic some (as Pan would testify I hope).

Nine Ladies

I arrived at the site with my usual wet feet (no rain but plenty of dew) and asked for permission to enter. Now I know what you’re thinking. Which alien has kidnapped Kal and could we have the sacred-site disrespecting fellow back please! But as my research, some of it which has filtered onto this blog, is showing me Thresholds are important.

• A quick note. I am currently in the middle of writing an eBook on Thresholds coming this summer.

Thus you find me connecting with the Genius Loci and asking for permission. It was granted instantly and I was my usual self of wandering around the site…letting it know me and me know it (energy-wise). I also nodded to the cantankerous Oak (we have issues) off to one side and meandered over to the King Stone.

All the while I had my senses out for any energies (pixies or anything else) and nothing was sensed. To be frank I think Gwas is so way ahead of me in communing with nature spirits. Anyway I was through the circle in the direction of the king stone when I spotted a lady up by the stone. Being sociable I slowed my walk a bit but continued on. Getting closer I had a shock.

Interlude…a fair few years ago (5 maybe 6) I was with a friend in Borders bookshop in Ellsemere Port. As I walked through the store along the enclaves of books at the back of the shop. My body snapped to a stop, did a double take and reversed passed the enclave I had just passed. Standing in the enclave was the most amazing woman I have ever seen. I’m not saying she was gorgeous or anything. It was that energy literally flowed out of her. In todays parlance I might have said that she was a walking power center of white light. I just stopped in front of her and stared. She didn’t bat an eyelid at this and smiled at me. Eventually I stammered something like, “you are beautiful” and stepped away.

I got the same reaction from this lady at the stone. She was stroking or touching the stone as I approached but boy did she radiate energy. As you may know I have communed with Caileach in the ast but that experience wasn’t as visceral and earthy as this. At that moment, this lady could have been a Goddess. I walked over to her (well the stone), almost in reverence and…was speechless.

• “the energies are warm today aren’t they?” she said. It was frickin freezing, but I acquiesced, “Yes, they are.”
• “I like this place, do you come often?” she asked me, “Perhaps once a season, how about you?”
• “It’s my first time, I’m not from around here”

The conversation continued as we walked around the sacred stones. She was a Maori and was visiting a email-friend in the UK. Interestingly she wouldn’t give her name (I was a trust-worthy person she said as she refused to say her name). I told her that I had had a dream that night and had thus travelled to this sacred site.

• “dreams often show us the start of a journey not its conclusion”

Interesting wisdom, considering Imbolc was approaching. I mentioned this to her, but she said that she was “one with her homeland” and thus it was still the summer “in her eyes”.

 I liked her turn of phrase I have to say and being highly mutable myself you may find such words escaping my lips. Though I don’t think I could replicate the panache (or is it aplomb) with which she spoke. Yes, I was quite captivated with her subtle energy.

She asked whether I was an energy worker and I replied that I was a modest worker (what happened to my ego? Wake up already).  “perhaps we could do some work together?” she asked and I said, what did you have in mind, to which she replied “I sing to energy” . Okay…

I was sat some five feet away from the king stone (her preferred stone to work with) in the direction of the circle and she sat on it. I had dowsed the position once she had intimated that she was going to sit on the king stone. I also dowsed for facing position and got a direction facing the nine ladies.

So, I was sat facing the stones as this Maori lady began to hum a tune. I don’t know what I was expecting. I guess the closest I have come to hearing anything from that neck of the woods is aboriginal twanging type noise. However this lass was letting flow a rhythmic sound. A bit like an angel choir. But whereas with an Angel choir you might have a slow and gentle rhythm, this lasses was quite fast and increased over time. As she sang I felt and saw energy flowing around me and through me down to the circle and then up again along paths that Gwas and I had dowsed on other occasions. It was as if her singing was pushing and pulling the energy around the circuit. Although one might think that this was an unpleasant experience, quite the contrary it was a lovely flow, like catching a warm breeze on a cold day.

We did this for quite sometime and I felt like the flow of energies was washing me clean, energetically speaking. After she was done singing I asked her what and why she had sung like she did. She said she hadn’t. “the earth sung me” Which I took to mean that she sang in harmony with the earth.

I would have loved to have talked to this visitor more but alas for her tempus fugit and so I was left thinking that this experience itself had been a dream. A dream that has left me with a new song to sing.

Kal Malik

Kal has already written a lengthy and laudable account of the British Society of Dowsers conference recently, but he has urged me to add my own bits to it, and so I will add those elements that are in addition to his write-up, or which display my own perspective on those events.

As we journeyed down to deepest darkest Gloucestershire we were in good spirits. I was excited, and wondering about how we might fit into a group that I expected would be primarily of retirement age, or batty as Battenburg cakes. Probably both.

On arrival we were immediately made to feel welcome, and were given our name badges and starter packs. Hmmm. At least Kal had a pen and notebook in the pack – he always takes mental notes instead of writing stuff down. Kal ditched the name badge. I played the game to see what happened. As I’m not a very social person it seemed to help during the day.

Dr. Serena Roney-Dougal – Where Science And Magic Meet:

Although the first lecture of the four we would attend that day, this was the most interesting. Dr.Serena talked about what seemed to be quite diverse subjects, and in some depth, but she managed to pull them all together into a cohesive argument for the validity of shamanic practises, as they related to the earth’s energy grid and fields.

The important information I got from this lecture was:-

• The earth’s “GeoMagnetic Field”, or GMF, is perceived by Dr.Serena as synonymous with the Hartmann and Curry lines and grids.
• Earth energy at ancient sacred sites is probably linked to geological features such as fissures, weak points, stress points, fractures and fissures. Water is a factor in the production of earth energies too.
• When the GMF is strong (or active) due to earth changes (seasons, tide, sunspots, moon phase, geology, earth’s magnetic core) then poltergeist activity and healing work is stronger.
• When the GMF is weak (or less active) then remote viewing and telepathy is stronger.
• DMT (Di-Methyl Triptamine) is in the pineal gland of the brain and directs all other systems depending upon its chemical levels.
• Triptamines can be introduced from external sources such as the ayahuasca vine, or many other shamanic plant extracts, to induce a living dream (or lucid dream state).
• At 3AM (“The Witching Hour”) our brains naturally produce more triptamines and start releasing them to induce dreaming.
• Certain structures such as long barrows (which have a layer of organic, then inorganic substances) seem to act as shield against the effects of the GMF on “psychic” abilities.
• Our sense of direction and navigational abilities are linked to the GMF (studies of pigeons).

As you can see, she pulls together brain chemistry, dream states, psychic abilities, the effects of the electromagnetic energies of the earth, and the purpose or usage of ancient sites. Quite a lecture in an hour!

I found that so many of those topics chimed with me. In addition I have always had a good sense of direction (on most occasions) and can find paths through seemingly impossible terrain, but have never linked it to the GMF activity before. Something for me to think about. I particularly liked the link between GMF activity and “psychic” abilities. I will try to be much more aware of this when attempting druidic work.

I think that the conclusion we could reach is that remote viewing and telepathy would work better from within a long barrow or chamber, whilst a stone circle may be better suited to healing and spirit activity.

Dr Tim Darvill – Stonehenge and Healing:

Dr Darvill (‘Davros’ I kept thinking) was something of a coup for the convention. His TV programme about his excavation work at Stonehenge was getting its first showing on mainstream TV that night. Dr. Darvill therefore delivered his lecture with the smooth assurance and well-rehearsed aplomb of a man who has worked through his theories and re-visited them until he felt they were as convincing as he could muster.

I must say I found it all very fascinating and I felt it turned a listed contender for the purpose of this most famous stone circle, and elevated it to an ‘almost definite’. Healing was, I am convinced now, being done at Stonehenge at some stage in its development, and Tim can practically pin-point that time. But it’s not the whole time. It’s a fragment.

Whether healing was Stonehenge’s original purpose, capability or raison-d’etre I wouldn’t like to say, as I think other competing theories are just as likely seeing as the monument went through several re-workings, and passed through thousands of years of use. Ye gods, we can barely keep one of our modern miracles of architecture for the same purpose more than a year these days!! Now it’s a bank, now it’s a cinema, now it’s a shop, now they’re all flats….Imagine trying to trace an original purpose to any modern building after even 200 years of use. The one constant we can rely on is change. The line may become twisted and broken. The evidence may be cleared out. Purpose may have to be divined as much as reasoned. And we use written records. Most of modern archaeological theory is as much creative cultural anthropology based upon fragments as it is true history backed by permanent record.

That’s not to belittle the work of Darvill and others before him. Anything that adds to the certainty of a theory is welcomed by me, and he presented his arguments assuredly and provided physical and historical evidence to back his claims. Diseased bones that could be traced to a man who came from the Alps is n interesting development. Click here to read about his recent work and theories.

A convincing answer is what Kal and I are after – not an intractable debate. There is more to Stonehenge, though, than simply a healing site, however good it was in its prime. This quote about it comes from a Guardian newspaper article:

The latest finds imply a much more complex story: they include a Roman coin among stone fragments, suggesting the Romans also believed in and sought out the healing magic. The later charcoal deposits suggest to Darvill and Wainwright annual gatherings, perhaps for feasting and ceremony at the winter solstice, continuing as late as the 17th century.

The modern-day druids and pagans who assemble bearing green boughs for the winter and summer solstices may not be so far off the mark after all.

Guardian newspaper, 23rd September

I found it interesting that the healing Blue Stones were from the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire (not the Presley Hills, my American friends, he didn’t own them too – and they probably can’t revive him now). Recently I had been on holiday to Pembrokeshire but had had no idea as to how many sacred sites there would be in that area. I now wish I’d gone for a fortnight instead of three days! A strong place for energies and sites, a rather uninspiring holiday destination though.

Darvill continued to raise the stakes though by saying that Stonehenge might have been a copy or replacement for a more natural circle of stones atop one of the mountains in the Preseli Hills. His candidate is Carn Menyn. From his slide presentation photos it looked a good bet. A complete circle of jagged natural ‘blue’ stones formed a gigantic cathedral that is a natural wonder.

A lunchtime interval came as a welcome opportunity to try a bit ofdowsing in the warm afternoon sunshine, the results of which Kal amusingly recounted in his post. I must say I had to laugh when I guessed that he had played a trick on the rather-too-smug lady by shrinking the boundary of her energetic aura to a few feet. It had a positive side – every time we dowsed for auras now we were able to pick them up easily. Now Kal was demonstrating his skills at manipulating them too, which is something I want to study and practise too after learning about the concept of the nemeton (see previous post).

Hamish Miller – The Southern Serpent, New Zealand and Healing The World:

I had been looking forward to Hamish’s talk, as I have read a couple of his books and had a lot of respect for the work he has put into understanding the nature of the energies he has encountered. Luckily, he didn’t so much re-capping on his near-death experience, or much about the Michel and Mary line that he had dowsed with Paul Broadhurst. Instead he started off talking about the Apollo/Athena line, a line running from Skellig Michael in southern Ireland, and which continues through many sacred sites until it reaches Armageddon in Israel.

Hamish then told us about a phenomenon that he had experienced on both lines – that when he placed a stone on a power centre at the sites along those lines the manifestation pattern would complexify as he followed the alignment ley from one site to the next. Even going back would increase the complexity.

Whenever I have manifested patterns I have invested my energy into the stones before producing the manifestation, but Hamish doesn’t believe that is necessary, in fact stated to me directly that he thought it should not be done using one’s own energy. I will have to test this out – any stone vs. one I pick and invest energy into. I will see what differences emerge. I also plan to pick three sites on an alignment to check for the compelxification of energy patterns as I travel to each in turn. I have such an alignment locally, so it should be easy to check out.

The second half of Hamish’s lecture concerned his visit in search of what he called the “Southern Serpent” in New Zealand. He talked a little about the potential that there had been an indigenous people in NZ well before the Maori people colonised the islands, which he named as the Hawaiki. This group of people may well have come from China, the Pacific Islands, and possibly even Easter Island! I believe there is little at the moment to back this up except ancestral memory, folklore and strong supposition, yet it was an endearing thought, because many of the tales of energy paths, spirit and energy flows and netherworlds all seems to have originated from this Hawaiki people’s culture.

A mother and daughter that Hamish and his wife Ba met whilst there were Maori people who were well-versed in energy work. The daughter had been taught from a small girl to appreciate the energies, venerate them, work with them, and induce energy through the use of a “magical” stone that she kept in her possession, and which had been a gift to her, presumably as some form of rite of passage with the work. During her tuition she had been taught songs to draw out the “song lines” as the Maori’s call the energy. This girl then visibly demonstrated her powers to Hamish’s assembly of friends when she placed her stone onto a sacred site’s centre and sang energy into marvellous patterns of manifested earth energy.

After the talk I questioned Hamish about some of our suppositions: did he agree that energy lines were male, female and neutral? He did, but was not sure what I meant by neutral. I think other people call them ‘null’ lines, alignments, ley lines. They are the guiding force that keeps the male and female wave patterns moving along a particular alignment between sites. But we have also seen the lines have a vital role within the sacred sites themselves in terms of linking the major stone of a stone circle, for example. Hamish stated that the polarities, he found, flipped over between sites so that male became female and vice versa, at various points along a long line.

I found this food for thought and thanked him for his input, and the lecture before Kal and I moved off towards the enticing book store that had been housed int he next building to the lecture theatre. We had one more lecture to attend, but there was some debate. Kal wanted to go and see a workshop about earth acupuncture. So did I, but that workshop was officially full, and so we had to stay where we were.

Michael Bott – Standing With Stones:

Michael was not a dowser. He was, however, amiable and amusing, so despite the fact that he had very little to offer a group of dowsers he managed to make a reasonably entertaining hour pass with some beautiful photos taken from the DVD he has produced with his mate Rupert Soskin – who he said WAS a dowser, but didn’t dowse during their epic tour of hundreds of megalithic sites across the country! O…K…..well.

There’s not much to say about this really. The images were nice, the stories vaguely amusing (in a kind of Open All Hours sort of way) but when I asked whether they had had any mystical experiences then answer was…er…no. They had been too busy filming. O….K…..well. See you then!

However, Kal and I saw Callanish in all its glory and if nothing else we learned that we really needed to go there and do some energy work – preferably close to Winter Solstice, if possible. What a place!

All in all it was a hugely enlightening experience to spend time with some seasoned dowsers, but we did wonder how often they dowsed these days – no-one seemed to be doing it – were we falling foul of some rule of etiquette?

I’d like to thank the staff of BSD who organised the event for making us feel so welcome and remaining upbeat to everyone they encountered. It made the travelling worthwhile. A special thanks to Helen Lamb for making every effort to get us there and for her helpful recommendations all through the day. That’s the kind of dedication and effort that keeps societies going.

Gwas