The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘merlin’

After last weeks weirdness at Glastonbury I was worried. Having gained a monumental answer that there was something wrong with the world. I was flummoxed at the enormity of it all. An Internet “chat” with Gwas had got him dowsing to confirm that I was getting the correct results.

Still, I wasn’t really afraid that much because we have mis-diagnosed dowsing a couple of times, enough to be wary of such enormous statements.

So, in an effort to explore this question more fully I hopped into the car and headed of to the coast and that famed residence of Merlin and Arthur, Tintagel.

But before I got there, it seems that the world had other things on its mind…

Slaughter Bridge

Tintagel has a couple of mainish routes to it and since I was coming from the North of Devon the route that I had got me about 5 miles to famed land before the road-work gods had decided to close a complete road off! Seriously people! So I re-progammed the Sat-Nav and it took me another 25 miles around to get at Tintagel. However in this diversion there was a bonus.

As I meandered down country lanes (the A roads of Cornwall) I took in the scenery and the quiet little hamlets. Since Gwas wasn’t with me, I had to be the one on the look out for curios along the way and today fortune had blessed me with one.

I saw a gaudy flag and a sign with “Arthur” written on it flash by me so I hit the brakes and did a double take. At first glance it looked like some kind of touristy thing and it was closed so I nearly got back in the car when I had a intuitive nudge and so put my guerrilla dowsing head and clambered over the fence.

So here I was again in no man’s land, quite literally as this was the supposed place where Arthur was mortally wounded by his nemesis Mordred (who also got the chop here too). Anyway I dowsed to ask whether this place had any connection to Arthur, the answer was a resounding YES. I asked if he had died here? No…Now that was a bit disappointing, but I wasn’t going to give up so easily so I asked whether this was the place he was mortally wounded? Yes! Ah…

Before I could even wonder about it let alone ask I felt the drain of a Energetic ShroudAs coined by Kal after reading the definitions of C.W.Leadbeater – the early 20th Century mystic. Leadbeater considered that man, when he died, could become stuck in a “ShadeA shade is the energy body of a human being that has become transfixed at a geographical location. The shade retains many of the qualities of the human that it was attached to (memories, character traits, a level of sentience, movement between places known in life).” – an energetic shell that would retain many of the characteristics of the human in his physical life. It is frequently taken to be what is termed a ‘ghost’ but although it has a certain amount of sentience, it would seem to be limited in terms of its ability to move from the space within which it has anchored itself. It must be stated – it is NOT the person who has died – it is a remainder copy that contains the memories and characteristics of the original energetic fields of the human, but now has no physical organism to work with.. Well, it had been a battlefield after all and (as my dowsing confirmed) the energy being used in keeping its memory alive was also feeding the shades too.

Well, I wondered if there was any chance of gaining some wisdom from the Arthur’s legendary pal, Merlin. In regards to the world not being right. No, or rather I should continue on my journey to Tintagel where I would gain more answers. Now that’s a promise I like to hear. So after lighting a few respectful incense sticks and generally giving some gratitude energy I was off again.

Tintagel

Only a short hop later I was parking up in the rather windy and a bit drizzly town of Tintagel. Of course it is only a town in the Cornish sense of the word, a little villagette might be a more accurate for more city dwelling folk. Nevertheless I digress.

As per usual (why stop a good thing) I was dressed in my normal all weather atire, i.e. jeans, t-shirt, fleece, jacket and non water-proof highy liquid soaking trainers. Fantastic! Due to Gwas’s absence I also had incense sticks and crystals, should the need arise.

I would say that Tintagel is probably a gorgeous place in the summer, but having been there this summer and the weather was no different from today i’m guessing we just caught it at a bad time. Anyway, enough…I was off onto the hillock were Gwas had done his little bit of Arthurian communion. I, however was looking for a kindred wizard, Merlin.

Having already got an answer at Slaughter-bridge (what a name!) that I would be able to gain some answers here. I dowsed for the best place to seek these answers. And as usual the rods took me on a winding path right to the edge of the cliffs. Hmmm a sense of humour? Not

So there I was, with the wind blowing in my face, rain threatening to downpour and trying to commune with that shyster Merlin.As per usual, to get my bearings I did some dowsing? Was this the best place, Yes. Did I need any crystals? No, Any incense (like I could light it??) No, phew!

I stood looking down into the crashing waves, wondering about the world and its not rightness. What a strange thing to find, and what an egotistical thing to believe that I could do something about the world, I mean come-on “The World” we’re talking about here.

This was the province of sooth-sayers and doom mongers, 2012, cataclysms and Ragnarok came amusingly to mind. And I had tried to stay away from such nonsense. I laughed, was this going to be one of those things…

Gwas and I have often found that when we are truly averse to some belief or notion and try to avoid it, it keeps coming around demanding acknowledgment.

Was this going to be “one of those things?” I wondered. Then I swear, I heard a laugh, I turned around thinking that some other mad person must be touring this site in this weather, but no, there was no one there. I put it down to the waves and the wind and returned to my musing.

Whether it was the wind pushing me or just getting tired of looking at the same view, I ambled off without thinking about it and wandered around the ruins until I found a nice little nook to keep me warded from the wind. As I hunkered down I began to visualise…

“You are a funny one you are”

Now, i’ve had my fare share of chats with Ancient Yew but this was something else. It was like…trying to catch a soft feather in the wind, the mere movement of my hand would push it away further. That is how I would describe trying to hear this voice.

Like being in the dark trying to listen for sounds coming from downstairs I was straining to find a word, a whisper…an imagined voice? Then I caught another sentence…

“You’re trying to hard”

Ah, a bit of useful advice I thought, so I stopped trying and just, hmmm, casually listened. Nothing, not a peep. For a fair few minutes and so I started listening harder again and I heard the voice.

“I’m not talking about listening, i’m talking about your problem”

Ah, ok, duh…say on…Hang on, what do you mean my problem? I got the sinking feeling…Was I going to have to heal the world, pardon the pun!

“There isn’t a problem with my world”

Okay, I felt a distinct inflection on the word “my” in that sentence, it was obviously loaded with meaning. But I thought, obviously there isn’t with “your” world, your a shade or a entity or any number of other type of thing. Your world could quite distinctly be different from mine. Sadly the dis-jointed one line sentence conversation/commune continued…

“The problem is with your world”

Now, you have to appreciate, if intent had power my ears would have been the size of a radio telescope I was trying that hard to hear, o and understand of course.

“The problem is with ‘your’ world”

This time I caught something, call it intuition but I got hold of the edge of understanding and pulled hard…you mean “my” world, don’t you? Not “The World” but “my” world.

I listened hard for an answer, nothing. I waited, nothing…then on a cloudy, windy and rainy ragged coast-line, the sun came out. In honesty, I sat back in awe.

A few moments later I shot up realising that my jeans were now soaked through.

It seemed as if I had been given enough of an answer to build something on. I quickly got my rods out and asked the obligatory question…Was that experience real? Yes. Had I been speaking with Merlin? Hmmm a tentative yes. Merlins shade or spirit? Again a tentative yes, almost as I had to force a yes out of the rods.

Was the answers given sound? Oh Yes! It wasnt something wrong with “The World” it was something wrong with “my” world? Yes.

By implication this meant that there was something wrong with me, so I asked. Is there something wrong with me? Yes.

Sigh…

Why me? Is the lament of the lost (hey that’s a good quote) so I didn’t bother with it and after just the briefest pause I started on the trail of this “personal” wrongness.

I asked about all the “usual suspects” was I infected with Leprechaun energyAn intelligent and aware energy with a penchant for causing mishaps, stealing treasured items, and being territorial.? No, any other energetic blob, entity, shade, awareness??? No, no and no!

Was I infected with anything at all? No, Was my dowsing working properly? Yes, Hmmmm (dont ask)

I did some quick energy dowsing and found a few male and female power centers, all seemed well with the dowsing. Then an idea came to me but to explain, I have to go back in time a few months…

Self Healing

For many years I have practiced energy healing on others often and on myself daily. If you’re aware of Reiki then that is the school that I have been taught in, though it doesn’t really matter…energy is energy, right? Anyway almost on a daily basis I practice energy healing on myself. It only takes a few minutes and the results are well worth it.

However for a few months (I cant tell exactly when) I havent been able to do it. I can still practice healing on others and send it to others from a distance, but when it comes to myself. Zip, zero, Nada! There is some kind of blockage that is preventing me from practicing healing on myself.

How can you tell, you ask? Good question. Well it’s in the visualisation, or lack thereof. When I do healing I visualise the channeling or creation of energy and then it being sent to whomever or myself. Now, I can still create this energy and send it to anyone or place. But when I try to send it to myself…it just fizzles away…Almost as if there is a barrier between me and it.

If you’re a healer you are probably coming up with many and varied suggestions, yes yes and yes, ive tried them all but to no avail. Also I haven’t been able to get a intuitive hook onto it so that I could dowse questions. It seemed that this…phenomena…had a bit of a SEP (sombody elses problem) field around it too which hampered investigation.

Before I continue with the narrative there is just one other peculiarity that I want to mention. If I say so myself, I am a good Dreamer.  Always have been, by this I mean that I can create visualisations before I sleep and then in my sleep wander (almost consciously) through them. It has helped alot with intuitive problem solving. I find the answers in my dreams, by asking the questions before I go to sleep.

This self-healing issue has continuously evaded any “dream” exploration. I cant dream about it.

Back to Tintagel

So, as I was saying, I had an idea…Was this “something wrong with my world” to do with my self-healing issue? O yes, the rods fairly swung and hit me in the chest. I felt I was on a role and that perhaps here at this energetic site I would get further answers to my dilemma. Alas it was not to be, I lifted the rods but intuition was not forth coming. Could I “fix” this problem, yes? Could I do it here and now? No. Was it something to do with me only (i.e. not my environment) Yes. Only me.

I asked a few questions as to the why of it all, but none of them were revealing and so I left it for the time being. If you are asking, how could I? Then you dont practice dowsing often. There is a kind of energy that it takes out of you and after you’ve been doing it intensely for a bit, you just, hmmm, dont want to for a while.

Still, I was leaving Tintagel on a positive note. The world was safe again and I had done more to learn about my self-healing issue than I had done for about two or three months!

The game was indeed afoot!

Kal Malik 0f 22b Baker Street London

I was doing some research into the ancient hill fort of Dinas Emrys, and found this excellent and comprehensive re-telling of the story of the foundation and inhabiting of Dinas Emrys taken from Puffin children’s book “A Book of Dragons” edited by Roger Lancelyn Green (pages 68-73).

The hill has become special to me, being renowned as Merlin’s Castle, and it is a place where I recently connected to the spirit of Merlin again to re-invigorate my campaign to re-energise the failing parts of the energy grid of these ancient lands in which I roam.

Here is the story….

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The Red 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. of Wales

In the days before Caesar conquered Britain there lived a king called Lludd who built himself a city in the south-east of the island, set about it a wall with towers and gates, and named it after himself, Caer Lludd – which the Romans called Londinium and the Saxons London. And in today’s city Ludgate is still called after that ancient king.

Lludd ruled peacefully for many years. But not long before the first coming of the Romans, many strange evils fell upon the land: and among them was

‘a shriek that came on every May-eve, over every hearth in the Island of Britain. And this went through people’s hearts, and so scared them, that the men lost their hue and their strength, and the women their children, and the young men and the maidens lost their senses, and all the animals and trees and the earth and the waters were left barren.’

‘And thereupon King Lludd felt great sorrow and care, because he knew not how he might be freed from this plague. And he called to him all the nobles of his kingdom, and asked counsel of them what they should do against this affliction. And by the common counsel of the nobles, Lludd the son of Beli went to Llevelys his brother, king of France, for he was a man of great counsel and wisdom, to seek his advice.’

King Llevelys was indeed wise beyond all men living at that time. For after a little he was able to tell his brother both the cause of that terrible shriek, and how he might set free the Island of Britain from it.

King Lud and assorted progeny

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Dinas Emrys, Gwynedd, Wales – 23rd October 2010.

Now we come to the crux of the matter – the culmination of my Samhain preparations. I had cut, cured and carved a wand made of rowan in preparation for this visit to Dinas Emrys, the legendary castle of Merlin. Here I was expecting to involve the shadeA shade is the energy body of a human being that has become transfixed at a geographical location. The shade retains many of the qualities of the human that it was attached to (memories, character traits, a level of sentience, movement between places known in life). of King Arthur in guiding me through an Underworld journey to revive the Spirit of Merlin. What would happen beyond that? I didn’t know. What were the consequences of doing this? Another mystery. All I knew was that this was my path to follow by going with the flow of the universeTo join with the flow of the universe is to follow a natural progression in tune with Nature’s own direction of development. Religion has called this concept “following the divine will”, but then has proceeded to make it a law, rather than a useful option for personal and communal progress.. This was..for want of a less hackneyed term..my current ‘destiny’.

I pondered my encounter with Merlin - myth, fiction, daydream?

The title of this post refers to the second line of a three-line riddle, or ‘tercet’ to give it its more accurate name, If you remember, the riddle went: “Strong red / Lower Merlin’s rowan/ Second Llanddeiniiol (or stone) church“.

We parked at the bottom in a nearby lay-by and cross the road looking for an entrance. When I have been here before it has been dark and I have been in a hurry, so I have missed the obvious five-bar iron gate entrance. We climbed in and took to the path running along the bottom of the steep ridge, running parallel with the River Glaslyn opposite. Kal had spotted what looked like a cave from the road and soon we had found it again. Indeed it was a small cave, big enough to squeeze two people into, so we both shuffled in. It was very hospitable, although when Kal lay down he felt uncomfortable. From beneath him he reached round and pulled out a hand-sized quartz rock. I took it from him and pointed out how it looked like a perfect replica of the shape of the Dinas Emrys hillitself. I felt this was significant so I asked if I could keep hold of the rock. After some persuasion Kal agreed and I put it into my pack for later. Remember this bit – it will re-appear as a perfect example of how dowsing works later.

The weather was acting strangely. All around us there seemed to be layers of grey-purple bruised cloud pending with rain, yet shafts of sun also filtered through the trees on the slope. Again I wondered if Kal was destined to get soaked. Again I was wrong – somehow he survived with only a few light and brief showers whilst out in the open. It seemed surreal how he managed to avoid the elements.

Red and white dragons tussling

The Pool of the Dragons

On the way up we paused at the mid-section platform – an area of flat land that may have once been a track for carts to bring goods up the hill, or for builders to bring materials up the slope. Now it was full of decaying trees and mossy rubble. We set out first goal to be to find the pool within which the two dragons – the red and the white – were supposed to have fought [I will soon post the best account of the story that I have found, but if you need a quick reminder here's an introduction].

For some reason I wandered farther along the plateau than I ever had before and stood by some ruined mossy stones and bent tree trunks – something has pulled me here. Kal began to search for the pool using his dowsing rods and the rods lead him to the far end of the structure at which I was standing. “Here it is.” he said assuredly. I got my rods out and circled quickly back on myself right to where Kal was standing. Yep, I got the same.

Was this really the much-vaunted mythical pool? It didn’t look anything like the pictures I had seen of it. We were both sure we were correct, though. Very strong dowsing reactions, and … something else said it was correct too – a magical sense, an intuition that we have both been developing seemed to add to the conviction.

The site of the dragon well

So now it was time to climb up onto the upper reaches, to pass by the ‘sentinel’ trees that guard the site, and to finally venture into the Underworld to meet Merlin’s spirit. I think I physically gulped at the prospect. Everything over the last year had built to this point and it felt .. important. I was ready – we ascended.

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Llanddeiniolen village, Gwynedd, North Wales – Saturday 23rd October 2010

Many months ago Kal and I had decided that we would choose the nearest full moon to Samhain as the time to go out and celebrate this important festival. For us, Samhainmeant an opening between worlds, a chance to interact withthe world of other intelligences, the Spirit World for want of a more specific phrase. Going out in the full glare of the moon gave us the best opportunity to utilise both female and male energies to get out work done.

So,w hat was this “work” that needed to be done at Samhain? My work had been given to me at the Autumn Equinox this year. I was told by the yew tree at Llangernyw (subsequently embellished and reinforced by the energetic form of Bran The Blessed at Dinas Bran in Llangollen) that I should awaken the Spirit of Merlin. I was given a riddle that contained what I initially thought were the actual words that I should use to awaken Merlin, but subsequently realised that they were actual instructions or directions for me to use to guide me on the day itself. The riddle was:-

Strong Red,

Lower Merlin’s rowan,

Second Landdeiniol/stone church.

Riddle-Me-Ree

One thing I knew about the agenda for the day: we would be visiting Dinas Emrys near to Snowdon. Kal added that we should also visit the Llangernyw Yew tree, and I realised that this would be the perfect place to obtain guidance on the next task for the final part of the year. Good, we had two places so far.

In preparation for our day out I had dowsed for some answers to these riddling lines. What was the “red” part? The answer I found eventually as that this was my root chakra. Quite how it needed to be strong I didn’t know yet but I would soon find out.

I thought I understood the line “Lower Merlin’s rowan“. That sounded like I needed to perform some sort of ritual with a wand of rowan wood. I cut a branch of a local rowan tree some weeks before in preparation for this work and left it to dry. The day before we were to go out I remembered it thanks to a podcast I was listening to which happened, by pure chance, to mention the preparation of wands! That evening I stripped, sanded and carved an appropriate symbol onto the wand and it was ready for us after a brief consecration to the spirit of Merlin.

Finally, I needed a starting point for the day. I had found a church in the village of Llanddeiniol, which is close to Pembrokeshire, used to be an old Welsh word for “stone”, and had a stone church re-built – a second stone church therefore. Could this be the “second stone church” in the riddle? The dowsing rods suggested that would be a good place to start, but it was geographically a long way away from where we needed to be….Was there another village called the same or similar that would suit out purposes? It turned out there was – the village of Llanddeiniolen near to…Caernarvon, only minutes away from Dinas Emrys. This seemed like more than coincidence, but I didn’t have time to do any more research, we would just have to chance it and see what happened.

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“It was a dark and stormy night”…actually, it was. For a reason that remains a mystery to this day Kal and I had decided to go out that evening on a mission without a purpose. That purpose took us out on a sunny and calm evening heading deep across the North Wales coastline heading for The Druid’s Circle near Penmaenmawr.

Rather than walk up the full length of the path I was determined to make the fullest use of the car’s four-wheel drive system. Big mistake. If you visit Druid’s Circle from the Penmaenmawr side, I strongly urge you to park at the two sandstone columns and go no further unless you own a Jeep or a Land Rover – the ruts and holes will kill your suspension!

Somehow we gingerly forced the car to climb the steep rutted path until we reached a flat bit and I let out the breath I had been holding for five minutes. As we stepped out of the car, relieved, we stepped into a Force Eight gale! The wind was picking up quickly, and we hurried to get properly attired (well, I did anyway).

Light fades over the Druid's Circle at Penmaenmawr

It was still light although dusk wasn’t far away. We stomped off along the now familiar right-hand path round to the top of the hill above Penmaenmawr. Twenty minutes of fighting with the wind and we were in sight of the stone circle as the light faded quickly. When we arrived we laughed – how were we supposed to dowse in this wind??!! Madness. Yet, when we tried, attempting to locate the best place to sit and meditate, the rods turned – against and into a gale!! Dowsing works, folks. It just does.

The dowsing rods led each of us to one of the stones in the south-western end of the circle and we hunkered down behind them. As I sat I noticed that the wind noise abated substantially. It felt like I was in the one place where I might be able to meditate in this howling gale!

Druid Diary excerpt for Druid’s Circle: DD-PMM-041010-1

 

I was right – this was an unusual evening in many ways, and it was about to become even more strange as I met with an entity that I had never encountered before.

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This post is a follow-up to the last Autumn Equinox post about a visit to Dinas Bran. In that post I told how I had been given a set of words to use to wake the spirit of Merlin at Samhain this year. I had recorded the words onto my phone and then listened back to them, searching online and book resources to match the words to current or old Welsh words.

The typical representation of Merlin

The words that came out of that research were these:

Cryf coch

Is lau Merddin

Ail eglwys carreg.

My translation of those words is this:

Strong red

Lower Merlin’s rowan

Second stone church

An interpretation

I feel that this riddle is both a set of power words with which to awaken Merlin, but also I believe it is a set of instructions. By following the instructions as to RIGHT ENERGY, RIGHT ACTION and RIGHT PLACE I will bring the spirit of Merlin back to life. The first line describes the right energy force – a strong lower chakra energy is required. Right action is described by the lowering of a rowan branch, possibly a wand made of rowan, and finally the stone church describes the right place to be in order to perform this ceremony.

STRONG RED - I think this means that I have to collect something that is ‘strongly red’, perhaps rowan tree berries which are particularly strongly red this year. The “strong red” could also refer to a requirement to have a strong lower chakra, an energy centre which is traditionally associated with the colour red. Saying the phrase will possibly enhance that red frequency, awakening the kundalini fire that resides there.

LOWER MERLIN’S ROWAN - This is arguably the clearest of the instructions. I have to lower a branch of rowan onto Merlin’s prostrate figure in order to waken him whilst saying these words. What I have done in this respect so far is to collect a twig of rowan, which I am now drying in order to be able to smooth it, carve it and imbue it with root chakra energy in preparation for Samhain. I guess I am making a sort of wand! Never would have expected that.

SECOND STONE CHURCH - The stone church is very difficult to determine. Initially I thought it was a double stone circle, a site with two interlinking circles or two circles side by side like The Hurlers, or a re-built stone circle – one that was risen on the ruins of another, the second stone church. It could be a re-built church too, like the one at Lake Vyrnwy.

Another option is that this is not the word for stone, but instead refers to the old name for the village of Llanddeiniolen in Gwent.

From a small brook near it, which runs into the river Gwyre, it was anciently called Carog, under which appellation it formerly constituted a prebend in the collegiate church of Llandewy-Brevi (source: Genuki)

 The church in this village was indeed re-built (or restored extensively) in the 1840s. The church is dedicated to St.Daniel. Interestingly, Bryn Celli Ddu – the neolithic mound on Anglesey – is in a village called Llanddaniel Fab.

“Second stone church” could refer to Dinas Emrys – the place designated as Merlin’s Castle (and Vortigern’s Tower), built upon a previous pagan sacred site which could have been a sacred temple. Vortigern’s Tower could well be seen as the second stone church. or does it refer to the idea of establishing a second stone church at Dinas Emrys?

If anyone is a native Welsh speaker and could offer a better translation of those words, or alternate similar-sounding words that might make better sense, then I would welcome a comment to that effect.

All these possibilities must be worked out yet before Hallowe’en.

Gwas.

Thursday 23rd September, 2010 – Llangernyw village, Conwy, North Wales.

Due to us visiting the Llangernyw Yew in daylight we noticed some things we don’t normally see because our usual visit time is dusk or at night. Most striking of the things we saw were the signs strewn around in various formats explaining the provenance of the yew tree. The official estimate is between 4-5,000 years old. If we consider how far back in human history that is, this tree was beginning to grow when mankind was in the flush of building its neolithic structures.

The oldest swinger in town

The yew tree’s life span in perspective

The Neolithic Period when the Llangernyw yew was born

This tree has seen the rise and fall of human civilisations that are completely unknown to us! The tree is older than any of us can possibly trace our ancestry.Having heard Michael Dunning talking about his profound ‘shamanic healing’ experiences in a yew tree that is a mere slip of a lad compared to this one, we had new-found respect for this very ancient tree and its potential power.

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