The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘new moon’

Often I need to squeeze an evening out of nowhere in order to get my spiritual path moving a little. I had been stagnating for a while, burdened by “life” getting in the way of what I wanted to do. It happens sometimes. So, I made some time and invited Kal to come with me on a ridiculous quest to Sherwood Forest in the early evening. This evening I would feel the heartbeat of the forest, discover a hidden sacred site, and have a vision that would leave me wondering what I had got involved in! Here’s the first half of that tale.

Unlike my previous visit to the forest I had a particular reason for being here tonight. Last time I had met the Spirit of Place which we all know as the legendary Robin, a title later to be assumed or subsumed into a figure who some believe may have real historical roots – it’s a long debate for another time. On this occasion I was in search of the place known as Thynghowe, an ancient artificial mound that I consider to me my spiritual centre in the land on this side of the Irish Sea. Of course, as I explained in my previous post about finding the centre – it’s not a case of finding the physical exact centre based upon geography. It’s a spiritual place, and I was here to find out what that meant for me.

You may remember that my reason for locating this centre was a vision I had that I called “the dragon at the solstice centre”? Well, I was late for the solstice part of that, but I was in the right place regarding the dragon element. “Thing” places are the mounds of ancient law-giving, renowned as meeting places and moot hills, and central to the lands in which they are situated. They also usually have a tale of dragons fighting associated with them. I understood that to mean a site where male and female energies interacted in an interesting way – sometimes in conflict, sometimes in harmony.

Information board about Sherwood Forest

As we arrived I could already see that it was more resplendent in Summer than it had been in Winter. Obvious, really, but would it feel good too? It was  a wet day everywhere, especially through Derbyshire, and the sky was grey and the air filled with drizzle. We got kitted out for the occasion. It was New Moon, and only days before Ramadan. New Moon generally means a time of difficult energy working for me, given that I am a moon-oriented energy person. So it would turn out to be.

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Often Kal and I time our visits to meet the requirements of whether the ‘sacred date’ (of the Celtic Year) comes closest to a Full Moon or a New Moon. One such visit coincided with a New Moon on July 30th. This coincided with the Lammas (or Lughnasagh) Festival. We decided that a visit to Lud’s Church in Staffordshire would be the best option because it combined Kal’s wish to see the place with the idea of going to a place “underground” to coincide with the new moon energies. Our hope was that this coincidence would be good for allowing visions and getting answers to questions.

We did a hasty jaunt out to the Staffordshire and Derbyshire border, very close to the Macclesfield Forest. I went via a route that I didn’t normally use, and soon we were lost! In the right area, but definitely lost. Kal had to turn on his charm and extracted useful directions from a local old man. Soon, I recognised where I had gone wrong and we were only minutes away from the Gradbach village (which doesn’t appear on any of my Satellite Navigation systems as a valid destination – helpful!).

Lud's Church near Gradbach

If you plan to go yourself, take my advice and use SatNav to guide you to SK17 0SU, or to one of the following nearby villages: head for Allgreave if you want to come in from the North or West. Head for The Roaches via Danebridge if you want to come in from the South or South-West. Head towards Flash just off the A53 of you are coming from the East (say, from Buxton). None of those villages will get you to Gradbach, but they’ll get you close! Once in that area you will find Lud’s Church here.

The sun was setting as we arrived finally at the car park that is at the base of a hill leading to the Gradbach Scout Camp and Youth Hostel. A gentle walk at a brisk pace up the hill and down into the dale where the Black Brook flows brought us to the ‘entrance’ to Lud’s place – the entrance being a huge beech tree that I felt compelled to show to Kal. He was awestruck by the majesty of the tree and could immediately feel its power, as I have many times. We briefly stopped to pay our respects, and I asked permission to enter and for the tree’s blessing on our vision work to come. This delightful beech tree seemed only too pleased to be asked, and to have some form of reverence shown to it. Of course! What else would a Hedge Druid do?

So, with the beech tree’s blessing, we began to climb up to the our destination – the temple of the god of light.

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According to Philip Heselton’s book “Secret Places of the Goddess” the New Moon phase is a good time to perform a dedication to the three-fold Goddess. Well, I don’t go in for ritualistic acts on the whole, but a little meditation seemed in keeping with The Spirit. A simple crystal layout using my five main crystals in a cardinal layout, with the fifth stone forming the centre, seemed most appropriate on this night.

I started at midnight and after meditating for several minutes I began to formulate my thoughts on the things I was looking to achieve:

• faster and stronger relations with nature spirits;
• a keener perception of earth energies;
• the development of the ability to employ energy in my life.

As I made my dedications sheet lightening strobed across the backdrop of a night sky without a moon.

These things I thought about. What will come to be, only Time, Space and The Path will determine. The threefold Way guided by the threefold Force.

All good things come in threes!

Gwas.

Guided by numbers.

The subject in hand: moon energies affecting dowsing reaction, I have a number of things that I want to add to this based upon recent experience. There are a number of factors that seem relevant to the extent of the influence:-

a) The proximity of the moon (apogee – perigee), or, how close it is to the earth.

Proximity, coupled with the skew of the beam of reflected energy delivered by the moon, will both affect the strength of the moon’s radiant energy.

b) The Moon is reflecting energy with a female quality to it

Traditionally, and in all the dowsing that I have done so far relating to this, the energy from the moon registers as ‘female’. We need to consider if this is merely a human-centred approach to categorising its qualities, or whether there truly is a correspondence between our human concept of the feminine and the way that the moon’s rays affect females. Whether or not that is true, the rods dowse radiant moon energy as female in nature for me.

c) Your reaction to female energies

If you have ever dowsed yourself, or had someone dowse you, or if you have taken the time to acquaint yourself with how you react to the sun and the moon, then you may discover that you have a particular orientation, regardless of which human sex you are. For example, I am a male who has positive reactions to female energy, and finds this form easier to find and to work with. Nature or nurture I don’t really care. The point is that I know this about myself, and that makes it easier for me to dowse female moon energies. I feel energised around the time of a full moon. No, I don’t grow more hair. Just in case you were thinking it. And now you are.

If you react well to female energies (they don’t drain you, or give you headaches, for example) then you may find that you can find female energy forms more easily when the moon is strong (traditionally at Full Moon and New Moon). I have a tide chart on my wall, and in conjunction with observing the phase of the moon I can have some idea of the likely relative strengths of the female energies around.

Take your pick!

Qualities such as the strength of the line, and it’s width, will increase in proportion to the combination of the proximity and phase of the moon, and your ability to dowse and work with that energy will follow that rise and fall too. Those well attuned to it will get great success dowsing at such times. Those for whom it is anathema (the solar-oriented folk, who like basking in sunshine, and walk around in shorts in December) are going to feel a bit crap and crazy around those times, and you should get more light. Use mirrors. Office fluorescent lighting doesn’t count.

Any sense to anyone? Or babbling? Loony?

Gwas

Followed by the men in white coats.