The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘pentagon’

Introduction

When I ask the powers that be (the ones that reveal knowledge previously lost or hidden from me through the medium of my dowsing rods) I can often begin down a road whose destination is so far over the horizon, and along so many potential paths, that I initially believe I can never reach the end in my lifetime. Then The Other places helpful signposts along the way, and coupled with my intuition and reason I begin to unveil some of the mystery and begin to walk the paths with more confidence. One such path presented to me was the mystery of The Lunar Eleven. In the following series  of posts I will be discussing my current theory that the numbers Five, Seven and Eleven share a mystical resonance, and that this resonance has particular usefulness for those of us who have identified ourselves as having a “lunar 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.”, i.e. those of us who feel related to or spiritually guided by the powers of The Moon.

However, to get to The Eleven I first had to go through two other numbers – The Five and The Seven. Whilst following my spiritual path I came across a directive that asked me to consider the meaning of The Five and The Seven. I took this to mean that the two numbers had some form of relationship and that one I found the nature of this relationship then I would know what to do : something would make itself known to me that involved five and seven. That was true, I did manage to find the relationship, but as with so many of these riddles one question led to another. No sooner had I discovered the meaning of The Five and The Seven than the next riddle was offered to me to solve – what was The Eleven to me?

The first thing you will notice is that I have turned those numbers into proper nouns. They were clearly identified to me as representing all possible forms of their real numerical values, yet the implication in the riddle was that the numbers would mean something in particular for me, and that I had to find out what that was. Here in this series of three posts I will try to explain what each of those numbers meant to me, and to hopefully inform you of some interesting tidbits of knowledge about those numbers along the way. Don’t worry – this is not a mathematical treatise! I began this journey into these numbers knowing only the most basic of mathematical knowledge, and I haven’t needed to move far from there to find my answers, and I don’t believe you will need to either.

In the first of the posts I will deal with The Five.

The Number Five

From the shape of leaves and petals, to the internal form of fruit, to the proportions of the human skeleton, Nature is defined by the form of five. There is a relationship between the form of five and the number twelve because twelve pentagons put together will form a dodecahedron – a twelve-sided shape which is supposed to be the inherent form of the earth’s geometry.

Human Pentagram

If a five-pointed star is drawn by lines then the form contains a pentagon at its core. If the points of that pentagon are joined then another five-pointed star shape is drawn. This regression can go on infinitely, and so five-sided shapes contain the concept of fractal geometry – the repetition of self-similarity within an infinitely regressing design. It is said that the Pentad – the five – underlies the form of the spiral via the Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci series is created by zero and one (nothing and everything) adding to itself successively. For example, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, etc… The series is a self-accumulating sequence that grows from within itself and it takes nothing from outside the sequence in order to grow. Growth is the essence to the Pentad’s principle of regeneration – self-replicating growth – which begins from nothing and becomes all.

Interesting, but not where we’re heading right now. Let’s get back to how we use the number five. Mankind has developed systems involving the number five. Specifically I am thinking of the Chinese five elements, but five also relates to the druidic system of elements too: air, fire, water, earth and the fifth element of aether.

The Fifth Element

When we think of The Elements as discussed in traditions such as druidry we think of the four elements that we usually assign to the cardinal points, particularly as described in Wiccan ritual. My five is the druidic elements slightly altered: water, fire, air, earth and wood. The wood comes from my staff, which I take with me to sites and which stands with me in power centres – it has a central role. I have the co-operation of four other ethericSomething tangible to the heightened senses, but invisible and beyond the normal range of everyday human senses. We use the term to describe the subtle energies that surround the human body. We also use the term “etheric” to describe the energy forms of Nature’s sentient spirit energies that can be detected through dowsing, or through deep meditation or states of heightened awareness. spirits – one for air, water, earth and fire.

The fifth element that I associate with wood, wood being the physical representation of that element, is aether. Aether is essentially synonymous with spirit in the sense of “essence”. I differentiate essence from other  manifestations of spirit, such as death energy, 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., apparition, earth light, UFO, poltergeist, or any host of other names for spirit. When I say spirit I mean the essence of an energy form that contains a sentience, and awareness, an intelligence. Jaq D Hawkins defines it as the medium through which sentience is permeated, a kind of spiritual dark matter. I mean it as a discretely identifiable sentience, often which can be identified by a name. Classically these may have been thought of as the pantheon of spirit energies from gods and goddesses reigning over a civilisation, down through to lowly nature spirits watching over the growth of a small cluster of plants.

As an interesting aside I had an encounter with the force of the aether spirit in such a small way the other day, but which made such a direct choice in my life. I was simply looking for the next book to read that would help me on my way down The Path. I closed my eyes in front of four long shelves of books and asked my spirit guide Theodora to guide me hand to the book that was most useful for me next. My fingers came into contact with a book and I lifted it out off the shelf without looking. I opened my eyes, “The Spirits of Aether” by Jaq D.Hawkins. The one in the series that I hadn’t fully finished reading. Clearly, now was the time!

Everybody say "MOOlti-pass"

“The Fifth Element” is also a futuristic sci-fi romp starring Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich, and happens to be one of my favourite films. It’s the only film I’ve watched more than three times, and I never get tired of it. Ideally, I suppose, I should watch it FIVE times.

The Geometry of Five

Five petals like five fingers

The geometry of five became important to me in a series of revelations that formed a connected pattern over the space of a few months in 2009. Firstly I was shown Venus in the night sky, and traced a sigil that I then associated with that planet. [see post]. Then I visited Moel-Ty-Uchaf and discovered that the circle was aligned to Venus, and that it drew its power from that planet’s influence. [see post]. Finally, I read about the orbit of Venus and how it forms a five-pointed star as it moves around in the night sky relative to the Earth. Finally, I dowsed that Moel-Ty-Uchaf stone circle is based upon the sacred geometry of the number five and the pentagon. Together, this information showed me the importance of Venus and the sacred geometry of the number five.

Five is the “number of life”, so-called because it is the form through which Nature expresses the life force. Much growth in Nature is performed through the five shape – the pentagon, the pentagram, and it is the number associated with making the life force transform into magical force – through the pentacle.

When it comes to my own work with Nature, five is number of external power shaping my consciousness, and assisting me in my weaving of the elemental forces into natural magickal form. The five powers that I employ – air, earth, water, fire and aether or spirit are the natural powers of Nature that I align myself with, and ally myself to, and the ones with which I have the most empathy, sympathy and resonance.

The Fifth Chakra

The fifth chakra is the Throat Chakra (not the Solar Plexus, as previously published in error). During my work with chakras I had to do a lot of work using my fifth chakra. Traditionally, this chakra is associated with communication:

“The Throat chakra would seem to rule the faculty of speech, being midway between the heart and the tongue.  It is also associated with clairaudience (hearing spiritual voices), and with hearing sounds, words, and music, and with taste, smell.  Another function associated with this chakra is taking in and assimilating of physical and emotional nourishment.  On the gross level this manifests as sensuous desire and enjoyment for food.  This chakra could be associated with the astrological sign of Taurus, which in current astrology is said to ruled by the planet Venus.

In Tibetan Buddhism, this chakra is associated with the dream state of consciousness.  Both Tibetans and Taoists use this chakra to access the dream state and develop the faculty of lucid dreaming.” (source: Kheper.net)

C.W.Leadbeater talks about the five channels of the chakra energy entering the human body. These five energies then get channeled to the seven chakra points in the body (possibly more in some systems). For me, there seemed to be a transition from learning about five into learning about the relationship between five and seven.

That seems like a natural segway into investigating the number seven in the next post.

Gwas.

When Kal and I first visited the Moel-Ty-Uchaf stone circle at its lofty perch above the village of Llandrillo near to Bala in North Wales, I was particularly taken with it. Despite the immensely steep climb to reach it I have always felt that the view was worth the effort, but there was more to it than that – from the first visit I felt very comfortable in the circle – even attracted to it at the oddest times of the year and the most inappropriate times of the day and night.

Keith Critchlow’s Time Stands Still book says that Moel Ty Uchaf stone circle is geometrically configured based upon a pentacle shape. In other words, when it was designed and laid out the geometry used to create it was based upon five circles, with the stones marking the outer perimeters of those circles.

Critchlow associates the number five, and therefore the dedication of this stone circle, with Venus. Why? As he says on p.205:

“Venus, as seen from Earth, moves around us, looping in close five times in eight years before repeating the cycle…It was on the basis of this pentagonal archetype that we proposed Moel Ty Uchaf  may have been dedicated to the goddess ‘Venus’ or by whatever name the building community called this planetary archetype.”

The geometric pattern descrbed by this motion is pentagonal in nature.

Of course I was not prepared to simply accept this theory – as a dowser I intended to do some additional work to verify this correspondence between sacred geometry, number and planetary dedication. Venus, goddess of love, may seem like a Roman divinity, but to me, the Venus under discussion here was clearly the planet and its appearance as the Morning or Evening Star at particular times of the year. The calendrical alignments of stone circles has been proven time and time again by a continuous overlay of theories since the discoveries by academics like Professor Thom.

Before I had even read “Time Stands Still” I had found a strong Venus connection when I dowsed there in late 2008, but had no idea why such a correspondence was significant until I read Critchlow’s book. As soon as I read about the layout and the potential dedication of the site memories came flooding back to me – memories of how I had been called by some invisible urge to visit the site on 22nd October when, in a moonless clear sky, the Milky Way and all the stars were on display and I had spent several hours gazing in awe at them sitting in the stone circle, wondering what I was doing there. You can read about that experience here.

So, was Venus around on that date? I consulted the internet to find out, and found this on the AstroPlanet blog:

“Venus is the Evening Star for the entire month of October. Venus begins the month in the constellation Libra, the Scales, and on October 17th, moves into the constellation Scorpius, the Scorpian.”

At the start of October I had been spending time with a friend who has an ability to see energies around people as points of light. He had informed me that he had begun to notice just such a light perched over my left shoulder, above and behind, and he simply pointed it out to me. Intrigued, I had spent a while dowsing the possibilities of what it could be. After a week or so I had worked out that it was a planet – the planet Venus specifically. I tracked its presence for a few weeks and noticed that it changed position around me, starting off over my shoulder and moving around to about 90 degrees to me on my left side over that time. Unsure of what to do about this discovery, I didn’t think any more about it – until I got the urge to go to Llandrillo.

That night back in October 2008 I discovered the power of the stars, and their effects upon my ability to connect with the energies of the Moel-Ty-Uchaf stone circle. Now I realise there was probably another influence in effect that night – Venus. I notice that I needed to draw upon “love” energy in order to connect with the energies.

Wishing to discover more about the planets, sacred geometry and numbers I dowsed for the association between the planets in the solar system and their respective number in terms of the geometry of sacred sites, specifically stone circles. I came out with the following results:-

1= Moon
2 = Mars
3 = Mercury
4 = Earth
5 = Venus
6 = Jupiter
7 = Saturn
28 = The Sun (7+6+5+4+3+2+1)

Now, this does not correspond with Critchlow’s reading. He has a more classical interpretation which has the sun in the centre, whereas I have the Earth centrally placed. Also, in my scheme the Sun is the sum of all the other numbers. However, I find the result pleasing, and interestingly, Venus is five. I will now see how that corresponds with stone circles I have visited, and will include this aspect in future site visits. I am considering dowsing their geometry from pictures I have taken of sites, as I think that may be possible, but I would prefer to dowse the geometry on site – there’s something more “real” about being there.

Venus on Anglesey

There’s one final twist to this tale – another coincidence, another piece of the puzzle, another bit of information that I missed at the time, but which makes perfect sense to me now that I have done more research. That is the riddle of the Venus Symbol that I obtained from a visit to Bryn Celli Ddu on Anglesey. The post related to this visit can be read here.

So, again, where was Venus on March 16th this year? [note: this was corrected from 24th - 16th was the visit date, 24th was the date of the post about it]. Here’s an extract from another of those helpful astrological sites:

“In the evenings, you will see Venus slipping closer to the horizon, eventually merging with the Sun and becoming lost from sight toward the last week in March. Venus makes a conjunction with the Sun on March 27 and then begins the part of her journey as the morning star, which will become visible early in the mornings during the first week of April.

Venus making this transition in her sign of exaltation, Pisces, is especially powerful. Venus is the planet of connection, relationship, love and beauty and it is located in Pisces, Jupiter’s water sign, that represents the domain of universal understanding and wisdom.”  (source: PlanetaryInfluence.com)

What I had seen then, in the western skies whilst sat on top of Bryn Celli Ddu’s mound, had been the sliver of Venus’ crescent. Only now, after listening to Manly P.Hall’s excellent lectures on AstroTheology – The Zodiac and The Platonic Year –  do I realise that this is what I was seeing. Again, the first few minutes of his lecture caught my ear:

“We find in other parts of the ancient world (other than ancient China) the full and obvious knowledge that the Egyptians, the Greeks and the Persians, at an ancient time, knew definitely that the planet Venus was never visible to us as a complete sphere, but most often like a minute lunar crescent.”

This was all beginning to make sense. I was drawn to Bryn Celli Ddu one night, going there to contemplate why I have dowsed that I am being tracked by the planet Venus, and to find out why I seemed to have some kind of connection to it. As I sat on the mound I observed a strange star and saw a symbol, which I recorded. That symbol contained a crescent shape that was not the moon, which puzzled me at the time. Now I find that the shape was Venus itself!

So, bringing all this together I think I can now say that I do finally understand the Venus Symbol. I now understand that I am influenced by the position of Venus – its presence in the sky, and that this influence in some way affects my energy field, jst as I have previously discovered that the phases of the Moon do. I can also see that something was trying to tell me about this influence, because many things began to coalsce in a short span of time that brought together all of the evidence I would need to work it out. Of course, dowsing helped a great deal, as it always does, but meditation and listening to that intuitive call from “somewhere” meant that I was in the right place at the right time to experience what I needed to see and feel in order to gather this evidence.

For me then, sites that are dedicated to Venus, and thus, by implication sites that are geormetrically constructed using the number five, or pentagonal design, are sites that I seem to have particularly powerful energetic and meaningful experiences at. This I have now learned, and will begin to make use of that when I plan my visits to sites next year. I will now be asking – what is the geometry of the site? When is the planetary influence for this site most active? Just another aspect to working with these ancient marvels of engineering and astronomy to add to the growing list!

Gwas.

Bryn Celli Ddu: Monday, March 16th 2009

I don’t know what possessed me to go the almost 75 miles to Anglesey straight after leaving work last night. It’s not something a sane person would contemplate, but I was on my motorcycle and felt an urgency to get there before the sun set. Sunset time was scheduled for :

Date: 16 Mar 2009 / Sunrise: 06:28 / Sunset: 18:22 / Length of day: 11h 54m 42s

I arrived at some time close to 6:30 pm and walked to the mound in the slowly-forming twilight. I spent about ten minutes inside the mound dowsing for places to sit, and what the strength of the energies were at that time of day (although I had no previous marker to base that on). I soon came to feel that I wasn’t in the right place and decided that I should leave my stuff inside whilst I went outside.

In the open air I felt colder but more relaxed. I dowsed for the best place to sit in order to meditate and was directed by the rods to the top of the mound. There I sat and began to switch off. For some reason I was facing West. For some reason I was staring at a bright star which seemed to be the only one in the sky – certainly the only one I was noticing.

As I stared at it I noticed something unusual : there appeared to be three points of light to this star, and they formed a shape. I stared more intently. Yes, definitely a shape. A white shape with crescent horns protruding from the upper left hand side, and the two smaller points of light forming a forked ‘tail’. It reminded of the white horse of Uffington in reverse, for some reason:

I blinked and blinked again. No, still there. I got my camera phone out and took a picture. Zoomed in I could see it through the lens, but after taking a picture the result showed nothing but flecks in a grainy dark sea. Still the image remained prominent in the sky. Was this a sign? I determined to memorise the shape and set about emblazoning it on my retina and into my memory. This was, I felt, why I was here. From the top of the mound I could feel undulations of energy pulsing upwards through me. This was special, I thought. I knew there was some connection I had with Venus at the moment, and so I dowsed whether this was Venus I was seeing. Yes. Then this was even more interesting. After ten minutes the cold really hit me and I decided to get along home like a sensible person. I left a gift of tobacco and my thanks, then rode home with freezing hands but high spirits.

Picturing Venus

When I got home I immediately knew I had to capture the image that was still so vivid in my memory, but also I had a desire to know more about this star. Which zodiac sign were we in at this point in the year? Pisces was giving way to Aries – we were on the cusp. I have no concept of the relevance of that, but it did seem to me that the image I saw had elements of a horns atop a fish-shape. Noteworthy, but nothing that made me have any greater understanding of a significance at this stage of my development. Here’s the shape I drew trying to capture the area of light that the star was spanning:

Why had I needed to ride out to Bryn Celli Ddu? What was the reason for needing to go there?At the time I had no clue. Now I understand why – it was so that I could use that shape later in the week when I was to visit a stone circle above Penmaenmawr at the Vernal Equinox, but that story will be posted soon enough.

Why was that star so visible from that place – because it’s so westerly? Venus was the last element of twilight this night. It felt magical dowsing my way to the top of the mound and I could feel energy being pulsed up through the top where I sat, perched over the western edge. All I could see was Venus. All I could look at was that bright star. And then I saw three points. Then a pair of horns bent upwards from the main bright point to form the symbol pictured above and below. It stayed in that formation and shape and intensity until I left. As I looked back it had returned to a single point and other stars were beginning to make themselves seen more clearly. I had been there at just the right time to see Venus at her most distinct, and she showed me something of herself. I asked if it was a symbol for me, a power glyph or something like that. I dowsed a strong yes when I asked whether I could use it for energy work. I nearly dropped the rods! Use it for what!!?

Venus: her names and symbols

Venus, the Morning and Evening Star, is forever associated with love and relationships. I was interested to find out how Venus had been named, represented and revered down the ages so I started a little research going. I drew the symbol I had seen many times, and in as many ways as I could muster. Here’s a close representation of what I saw. Venus is often seen as a diamond shape, or a crescent due to her relationship with the light, my symbol was not like that.

The Venus symbol seen in the Western twilight a week before the Vernal Equinox

So I began hunting around to see what other symbols Venus had been represented by – was my symbol something traditional, or something just for me to represent her by? I scoured the net for information. Venus was the planet that orbited the earth 8 times in the time it takes our planet to orbit the sun 5 times, I had heard:

“...if Venus orbits the sun 13 times while the earth does 8 times, then Venus must pass us 5 times during those 8 years.” (John Pratt’s Astronomy site)

Venus’ 5-time passing is also the reason why the pentagram is one of her symbols, as depicted below in a diagram from a masonic text. Chinese Traditional Medicine (TCM) often depicts if five element system by a pentagram in a circle.

The pentagram has a great deal of sinister and occult history associated with it, as does the Morning Star and Evening Star references. Lucifer, the fallen angel, is often considered to be The Morning and Evening Star, however, that designation is also held by many other pivotal characters such as the Greek Hesperus (or Phosphorus), the Babylonian goddess Ishtar, the goat-headed Baphomet beloved of the Masons, and also Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love. Venus has many names, and those are just her written historical names.

Venus and Astrology

Venus is the ruling planetary influence of the astrological signs of Taurus and Libra. From Wikipedia:

“Venus is the modern ruler of the 2nd and 7th houses, but traditionally ruled the 5th and 12th houses – the 5th house of play and the 12th house of self-undoing! Unsurprisingly, Venus is said to have ‘joy’ in the 5th.“

The astrological interpretation of her influence recently (i.e. going into retrograde motion) is that she brings the possibility of undoing your own comfort and pleasure within your relationships, and despite my wish to completely ignore this element of astrology I have to confess that under her influence in the past week I have alienated a friend and had a blazing row with my wife! Anyone who knows me well knows that this is not something I am particularly prone to, and it has certainly taken me by surprise! I am still stubbornly refusing to acknowledge this aspect of Venus, however, so let’s move on.

I have five stones in my Venus crystal layout. Coincidence, of course. I dowsed for clearer answers: the crystal layout is specifically for capturing the energies of Venus whilst she’s passing. When she moves away then I’ll need other crystals and other geometries for whichever other sympathetic energies are nearby. Don’t know what yet – some luminary. Could be any!

The Moon on that night was waning gibbous heading to the New Moon. Pretty much like in the picture of the Taurus symbol above.

Gwas.

Follow something you don’t believe in until you do.

3rd November 2008

This is the last part in the account of our time at the Nine Ladies stone circle in Derbyshire. In this part I relate how we attempted some psionic experiments, I get to talk with the Wishing Tree, and we stumble upon the haunt of some exponents of sacred geometry. Oh yes, it’s all going on in this part of the tale! We really start pushing it now!

PART THREE

At the end of the last post we had been trying to figure out the unusual response (one rod straight ahead, one turning to point back at you, or swivelling round). We were thinking along the lines of Kal being attuned to male energies, whereas I was more attuned to female. On this full-moonlit night it seemed as though I was finding it easier to tune it to some of the features of the site in particular.

We decided to begin some experiments. We asked for the best place to do some energy work, and were each directed to a different 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 ‘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.’) 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.. Oddly, Kal was standing on the one where he had planted his umbrella, which I had taken to be the one I would go to. Oh no. I was directed to stand in the one that Kal had been sitting in, and had dowsed into a spiral earlier. So be it.

Nine Ladies stone circle

We decided beforehand that we would try to get into a state of mind where we might be able to connect to each other. The two power centres were linked by arcing neutral energies, connecting male to female, and travelling over and under in a vertically circular trajectory. We hypothesised that we may be able to send each other images. I tried to relax on 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 ‘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.’) 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., but I had a Kings of Leon tune running around in my head that wouldn’t shift. It kept repeating the same refrain. This was not funny! I was trying to work here! No good. I was mainly ‘awake’ and could tell my focus was wandering – what was Kal imagining, would it be a shape, or an animal? Oh, dear. This was hopeless! Despite the stillness of the dark night I kept dropping out of trance at the slightest sound – a distant rumble, a passing car on the hillside, a hooting owl, a gust of wind.

We tried. We failed. We weren’t even close. And it was because I couldn’t get into it. Was this another effect of the grounding stone? Had I not charged myself back up, or something? I pondered on that for quite a long time before heading off to the Wishing Tree for a drink. Time to get back to dowsing to reconnect with the stone circle. We headed to the grounding stone again, as it seemed to be the hub of the action this night. Hoping to get some answers I dowsed the stone again asking,

“Do I need to clear myself through this stone to regain my connection (with nature and the circle)?” I asked. The rods crossed for a ‘Yes’.

I put the rods down again and placed my hand on the stone instead of sitting on it I started to tune in. My mind started to gently swirl around like someone had taken the sink plug out and my brain was draining its water into the stone! Then it got faster. The vortex in my head reached such a pace that it sent me dizzy! I spun away from the stone, but kept turning around and around, staggering like a drunk whilst laughing elatedly at the madness of being spun around. My head was swimming in a really fun way, like having spun yourself around a broom handle and then tried to walk in a straight line.

Kal just stood looking on curiously as I waltzed around giggling and laughing. I asked something, anything, to give me a hand here! Couldn’t something help me to get out of this tailspin? A split second later I was prodded forcefully right in the back of the neck by one of the Wishing Tree’s branches! I jumped – woke up – and stopped spinning, thankfully. “Thank you!” I responded with genuine gratitude. I felt a warming under the tree’s canopy the air got lighter and more friendly. We had re-established a connection! That was just great. Now I was really happy, not giddy.

Back to the dowsing. Time must have been drawing on, but really I didn’t care what time it was. It wasn’t important. I had to know more before we left the site. Rods in hand I walked back to Kal in the circle to continue trying to locate some connections and flows. The first thing we found were the male and female spirals coming out each stone. Just like many other sites, but with the male spirals on the inside, and female spirals on the outside. Other sites have it the other way around.

Next we located the neutral lines that went between the stones. I went for the concept of opposing stones being connected and found a connection for each pair. Oddly, all of the lines were perfectly straight except for one, which bent back into the circle stone in a short curve. Was it going bending in order to avoid something? It seemed to coincide with the avoidance of the location of the two power centres we had been standing on. Noted anyway, if not understood. Kal, however, had found a few connections that were not a part of this perfect ‘spoked wheel’ pattern. Some stones connected with others that were not directly opposite. We vowed to return to map them all when it was lighter and we could draw them out.

Whereas our sketches of energy patterns at sites are representational (and not always to scale) you should compare them with those of StoneDowser on his site (listed also in our links section on the right hand side of this page). Mr. Ian Honeygood, now sadly passed away, was quite precise in some of his diagrams, although he only seemed to recognise two types of line: a radial spoke and a ‘ritual path’, which he surmises was the path taken by the worshippers at the sites. Well, that concept doesn’t convince me, I’m sorry to say, but that’s a discussion for another day. Either way, he has done some accurate and helpful diagrams to show those two types of energy formations.

StoneDowser’s ritual path is what I would call the unwinding of the nemeton of the site. Like Hamish Miller we often find three (he finds more, but then he’s like that) circles of male energy enclosing sites, and this energy trail then comes into the site to spiral to a point which we usually confirm as being a power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘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.’) 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. for one of us (i.e. male or female oriented energies dwell in or emit from these points). Each time around the three outer spirals of the male nemeton energy the path gets closer to the stones. At Nine Ladies it started about three feet away from the stones, going to about one and a half feet, then six inches for the last time around. The path then turns into the ‘entrance’ of the site before looping into a spiralling energy centre.

On my last visit to Nine Ladies I had dowsed a link between the Wishing Tree oak and the main 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 ‘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.’) 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., coming into the site via the ‘entrance’. I decided to verify if that was still present or not. It was. Exactly the same path, same entrance point, same 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 ‘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.’) 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., same direction of spiral, everything. Good. Consistency was being achieved in some of this dowsing now.

As we were near the tree Kal decided to try his luck in doing a bit of communingAn interaction with an invisible and natural sentient force that is independently identifiable, even if it cannot be named or classified. The interaction takes place at the level of a subtle amalgamation of the mind of the perceiver such that a dialogue or transference of feelings may occur between the two sentient parties. The interaction that is ‘communing’ is purposefully initiated by the perceiver for the express purpose of learning or simply to transfer feelings in a sympathetic manner. with it. Now, I have already recounted my own difficulties with this species, and particularly this tree. It is amenable to contact, but it has to be handled very carefully and with great patience. Kal is, how can I put this, not one for such finesses! In all openness and in his usual hearty style I watched him outstretch a metaphorical hand of welcome. And then I watched him knock his head on a low branch and stumble over a tree root. I pretended I hadn’t noticed this blatant rebuttal. He tried again, complaining to it that he was trying to be nice. Nothing. What did he expect? He was not one for the patient building of relationships that such communications often insist upon. His talents lie elsewhere, I guess. I tried to wipe off my wide smile. “Give up, mate!” I implored. He was fighting a losing battle, it seemed.

One thing we both noticed about the site that night was how slow the energies were. As we dowsed them we walked slowly; as we circled the site the energy plodded along with us but didn’t overtake us as it has at other circles in sunlight, or my time at Moel-Ty-Uchaf. The 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. was docile this evening. Nocturnal nature, however, was wide awake. Occasionally we would get a hint of agreement at just the right time whilst dowsing or communingAn interaction with an invisible and natural sentient force that is independently identifiable, even if it cannot be named or classified. The interaction takes place at the level of a subtle amalgamation of the mind of the perceiver such that a dialogue or transference of feelings may occur between the two sentient parties. The interaction that is ‘communing’ is purposefully initiated by the perceiver for the express purpose of learning or simply to transfer feelings in a sympathetic manner. – a sudden gust of wind, or a hooting owl would chime in at just the apropos moment.

Things had gone well. We had learned useful things about the way that energy was being transformed in the circles by specific stones. With this, and more, still buzzing in our heads we retreated one last time to the Wishing Oak to pack and leave. On my way there my eye was drawn for a fourth time to a twig of laurel lying by the north side of the circle – the moonlight made its dark leaves shine with an odd tint. I picked it up, and placed it inside one of the many crevices formed by the oak’s roots, and left it with thanks and good wishes to the tree. It gave enough out often enough – why not have some back?

As we wandered back to the car I asked if we could try to see what kind of place might be benefiting from the flow of energy that I knew went down the cliff edge via a steep gulley. Kal was game, so we drove down a side of the hill that I had never been down before. Kal said this was the way he often came up, so I was confident we could find our way back to the Bakewell area pretty easily soon enough. Ten minutes later Kal was saying, “Well, I’ve never been in this bit before!” as we trundled curiously through a small town that suddenly arose next to a river.

We passed a pub called “The Square and Compass” and that struck a chord – that was a masonic sigil. It would seem that Darley Dale, as the place turned out to be, was home to at least one group of people who were interested in ancient secrets! Societies are not for me, however. My path is mainly alone or with Kal, and my progress is swift because of that, I feel. It’s my path I’m treading, not following someone else’s agenda.

There was a lot to think about, and it kept us in conversation for several weeks afterwards. To recap, we learned:-

a) The rules of the collaboration with Nature must always be followed to get good results – a quiet mind is essential; good strong intent; a clean body (not caffeine-fuddled, tobacco doesn’t help the cause either); be prepared for fun, but do your work seriously and focused.
b) The double helix appears at several stone circles, possibly many more, linked to an outlier stone, which is identified as a main feature of the energy field system at a stone circle
c) Moon energy is slower, possibly weaker than sun energy. Certainly it is less vigorous.
d) A stone in or close to the circle, usually flat, acts like a solar, lunar and stellar panel that absorbs the radiant light.
e) In moonlight, on the correct 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 ‘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.’) 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., we were both unable to experience any intuitive responses either between each other or towards any external location. The EMF was supposedly low, as it was night time. A lecture by Serena Roney-Dougal taught us that at times of low EMF are more favourable for telepathy and remote viewing. I blew that experiment by not being able to quieten my mind.
f) Although StoneDowser didn’t dowse this site (to our knowledge) his ‘ritual path’ was present – a spiraling line coming from outside to inside the circle. The radial links between the stones that he drew at other sites were also there. We thought that the lines bent between some stones sometimes, and that there were more links than simply those that were opposing stones.

It would seem that manifestation patterns can be willed into a particular shape, although my intention got transformed whilst I was forming it in my mind. Is this due to an interactive collaboration between human and nature, or was I simply unable to hold a shape using my willpower? The shape dowsed as increasingly complex when Kal came to verify it. I also verified Kal’s shape too. “Thaat be a pentangle, and no mistake, zurr.” What is it about wizards and their five-sided shapes?

Don’t phone in – it’s just for fun!

Gwas.

3rd November 2008

This is part two of a three part account of our time at the Nine Ladies stone circle in Derbyshire. We visited in the late winter evening and in this part we found out the importance of particular stones in the circle.

PART TWO

We continued our dowsing in the moonlit deep and misty darkness of Stanton Moor’s finest neolithic structure – The Nine Ladies stone circle.

Something important would be revealed to me soon – I could feel it. This is how it had worked so far. I was sure there could be a confidence in this notion if I played by the rules and didn’t blow it. So many ways to fail – you have to develop the desire to have a resolute intention, yet passively impartial enough to assess the information you receive with both sides of your brain. Achieving balance is the druidic way I was following. Balance ensures grace. Grace provides a connection between body and spirit, and my mind with these ancient site spirits, whatever their energetic make-up. So I needed balance. Kal pointed to the flat stone that looked like a perfect seat. “The grounding stone?” he suggested.

We had identified this particular flat-topped square stone in the northern side (due north), when we had dowsed the circle earlier, as being a stone that had a mixture of male and female energies. When we sat upon it there was the distinct impression that something was being drawn out of you slowly. If you sit on such stones in circles for more than a few minutes you feel sapped of energy, literally lethargic and your mind is drained of will power – you can’t think of anything worth doing! It’s very strange. You have to try to shake yourself out of it – almost re-invigorating yourself to make neurons fire again and generate some momentum. Kal called these stones “grounding stones”, which contains the implication of in some way discharging the body of electrical energy, of neutralising it.

A test of this phenomenon might be to identify people with different energy levels, and to see what effect the stones have on them. Is the draining effect stronger on those with more energy? Would this mean that we should see the greatest effect with such people, the greatest degree of change in mood and activity? We will check this in due course.

In addition to any grounding effect Kal identified that this stone would also be the stone to re-balance any imbalances in our own energy fields. I have little experience in such things, so I am open to simple experimentation, and I usually try these things out. This time I found that when I sat on it I got the same draining effect which I left until the very last moment when I felt I had enough will power to do what I needed to do next! Which was to head for the main 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 ‘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.’) 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 “re-charge” myself – which it duly did, and very quickly. I noticed this at Cerrig Pryfaid recently too. A discharged body feels a much greater surge of energy when standing on a power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘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.’) 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. in a stone circle than if you are already well balanced and full of energy. Feel free to disagree with that outrageous generalisation and irrational assumption as you see fit. I would go test it for myself, if I were you.

I remember walking for over and hour and a half, and finally up a very steep hill to get to Pentre Ifan in Pembrokeshire (see previous post). By the time we arrived at the stunning cromlech I was exhausted on what was a very warm day. I will never forget the feeling that both M and I got from standing with our backs to the central pillar stone. It was a surge of joyful energy so emboldening that I burst out laughing and had a moistness in the corners of my eyes. It was that incredible. Never forget it. I haven’t laughed so much since the last time I saw Bill Hicks. Except this was a rush of pure joy. An ecstatic moment.

Oh, I’m rambling again. Back to the story for a brief spell (there’s one of those puns again). Feeling re-invigorated we wondered at the purpose of these stones. Were they for discharging energies that were blocked, absorbed by people, or built up to harmful levels? How was this stone being powered? What was the nature of the energy exchange in and around this stone?

Kal identified that the stone was the most important stone in the circle, but not the most important at the whole site – that was the King Stone. Again we spent a moment considering the implications of this gnowledge we had been given by the dowsing rods. Even if we were merely expressing some of our own guesses at a subconscious level this was taking us in an interesting and very coherent direction. It was suggesting to us that the King Stone as the engine of the energies. With it being the source of the twin energy streams that formed the double helix which ultimately encircled the whole site the King Stone was vital, in every sense of that word, to the functioning, the correct and continued functioning of the circle’s energies. This was a very important working assumption that felt like confirmation of something we had guessed but never really thought about.

Recently, after this episode, I found a site where energies were again fed into the circle by an outlying stone, and which also split into two streams – a male line going anti-clockwise around to join a large circle stone, and the female line that went in a clockwise direction to also re-join in the same large stone. Clearly, to me, this was showing me that the circle was powered, and its energies contained, by the outlier, or King stone, and that the two streams formed a complete circuit of energy. Does this specific formation occur naturally anywhere else? Has anyone found such a formation anywhere else? I haven’t heard of anything like that elsewhere, or found anything similar at natural features such as Lud’s Church ravine, or in a cave. In places such as that the energies are much more organically distributed and connected, whereas at man-made sites the energies form geometric patterns, shapes and alignments.

So, what was the grounding stone’s part in the circle. Kal identified that it was important to the circle, and it’s functions. We determined to find out a bit more about its function. I suggested we start by determining how the stone was using energy. For every question we asked we told each other what we were going to ask so that we could do the same. Even though we were only feet away I couldn’t see what Kal was doing other than making out that his shape was getting larger as he moved forwards. Well, another validating test, I mused. We looked up at the bright full moon. Hmmm. We asked about the stone:-

• Was there moon energy going into this stone? – Yes. Strongly yes. Full across-the-chest crossing of the rods.
• Was there sun energy going into this stone? – A tiny bit. A tiny bit? Well, we considered, moonlight is actually reflected sunlight, so…. we suppose that’s technically correct!
• Was there star energy going into this stone? – Yes. A small amount. A bit more than the sun energy registered for.
• Was there male energy going into the stone? – Yes.
• Was there female energy going into the stone? – Yes. Oh – so both – that confirms our earlier dowsing findings.
• Was there neutral energy going into the stone? – No.
• Were male/female/neutral energies coming out of the stone? All three got a positive response.
• What about a combination of the types? Was the sun energy the same as the male energy? Yes. And the moon energy was the same as the female? Yes. Was the star energy the neutral energy? No. So there was some 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. there, but neutral was not the same as starlight energy.

On to questions about how the stone worked now. Still with us? Good. We asked:-

• Was the stone absorbing the moon and other energies? Yes. Tonight it was predominantly the moon, of course. You could almost feel it being stood over it – the top of the stone was perfectly reflecting the moon directly above it. It looked like a lunar and solar panel. not forgetting starlight.
• Was the stone literally transforming the moonlight and starlight into energy that fed into the circle? Yes. Strongly yes. Strongly is not the right word. More…encouraging: “Well done, you’ve got it!”. It’s funny, You feel a little pleased during the reaction of the rods that you asked the correct question.
• Were the male and female energies coming out of the stone powered by that transformation of energies? Yes. I’m giving you the highlights here.

There were some stupid questions that I’ve omitted for brevity (Ha ! Brevity !) and you’ll know which those are as soon as you dowse them. I try to ignore my stupid questions and hope they’ll go away in their own time.

Our next set of questions related to, well, how we related to the stone. How else can I say it? We didn’t intend it that way, but that was how it turned out. I asked whether the stone was inherently ‘male’ in itself. I got a positive response. Kal did the question and got the same response. I asked if it was also female. It was. Kal dowsed it and got his funny reaction again. He got one rod turning in at 90 degrees, the other didn’t move. Aha! A chance to see if we could work this out. I got Kal to ask exactly what I had asked. Same response. But I got a positive response – clear – typical. Kal’s was atypical, that’s for sure.

I asked a straight out direct question. Was the reaction Kal was getting due to our own differences as people? Yes. Kal confirmed this as he dowsed the same question. We already knew that Kal had more favourable responses, and was intuitively guided to, power centres of pre-dominantly male energy, whereas I had an affinity for the female power centres. Here was Kal being unable to dowse for the inherent female-ness of the stone, but he could for the male. Under the strong moonlight I could do both. Was the moon having that effect, or was there the possibility that the roles may be reversed elsewhere in bright sunlight? We wait for some bright sunlight to test this! It is winter in England.

Sunlight is at a premium!

Gwas

Follow a moonlit path.

3rd November 2008 (full moon)

This is the first installment of a three-part post about a visit that Kal and I undertook to Nine Ladies stone circle in Stanton Moor, Derbyshire one dark winter evening. It’s a tale of adventure involving dowsing, druidry and darkness.

PART ONE

It was a dark and stormy night….no, it wasn’t actually. It was a fairly light evening, misty and very still, with only the occasional breeze stirring anything at all. We drove over the Cat & Fiddle route (A537) from Macclesfield and straight into a fog bank near to Tegg’s Nose Country Park (how can a nose have a whole country park to itself – surely a gross waste of space!?).

Inching along we managed to find our way back to Stanton Moor on the far side of Bakewell in Derbyshire by instinct alone (and the fact that we’d been here many times each independently, and once together). Tonight was different from all other times though. It was night time and the moon was full. Oooh! Spooky! Not really. If you’ve followed my recent posts “Alone in the Dark” (Part 1 / Part 2) then you’ll know I’ve been preparing myself for things like this already. Kal has been trained by long night walkabouts and so we were both completely unfazed by the journey across dark fields, through the woods, and into the circle of stones on Stanton Moor. The gentle hooting of owls was almost comical. Comedy was the theme of the evening, as it turned out, but I’ll come back to that later.

In the ambient moonlight cast through the low thin cloud cover there was a silver path picked out through the woods by a quirk of the angle of light. It led us with ease towards the circle without putting a foot wrong in the darkness. We both remarked, somewhat gratefully, that the going was easy and pleasant on this unseasonably warm evening. There was a slight haze of mist, but that just added to the wondrous effect.

As we approached down the sandy and subtly moonlit path I again felt the urge to arrive at the circle via the short path through the trees. We had walked in from the Stanton Lees village side (not across the moor) as this path was shorter. As we walked up the rise to the circle I felt a wave of energy that hit me, as before, gently in my stomach. “Can you feel that?” I asked Kal. “Oh yes.” he responded. Then he walked ahead of me and began to really feel it. He stopped too, “It’s really strong here.” “I’m sparking with it!” I responded. My hair felt like someone was holding a balloon above it and my face was tingling gently. This was either a particularly energetic time, or we were getting better at detecting it. An owl hooted in agreement, and I smiled. Coincidence.

The circle awaited us like some sleeping giant’s crown waiting to be snatched by midnight thieves as we stole up to a point ten feet away and breathed in the night air. It was as though we were taking in the aura of the place, deep into our lungs, in order to quickly acclimatise to the flowing, sweeping energies we could feel that the site was bathed in.

We placed out backpacks just below the rise to the circle and got out our copper L-rods. Why copper? Because they look nice. Our first mission was to get accustomed to the circle again. We consulted our crib sheet of questions and suggestions for things to look for. We started by sitting on each of the stone in turn to see if we could find a stone that drained energies. We had found one here before, and I had found one since then at Cerrig Pryfaid. Quickly we identified it as a small stone with a flat top, perfect for sitting on. Just like the one at Cerrig Pryfaid. Good start. “A draining stone!” I claimed. “A grounding stone!” Kal retorted. Possibly either or both, we agreed. Same function, different slant.

Kal walked off to the King Stone with his rods clinking his location as he disappeared into the night’s shadows. I decided to approach the tree. As I got within a few feet of the edge of its canopy, I introduced myself to the tree (rather matter-of-factly, on reflection) in my mind. Immediately I felt a block pushing against my stomach, the area that Castenada would call the Assemblage Point. I recognised this from previous encounters with oak trees – I was being barred! I didn’t need a second hint, so I stopped and walked away back towards the circle, vowing to return soon when I was in a better frame of mind. Too hasty! I scolded myself. Always too hasty with oaks. They’re slow, old, and demand a greater respect than other types of tree. One day I will abide by The Rules. I’m still trying to work out what they are, but the nature spirits (or 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., as Kal refers to these sentient entities) are being very patient and consistent with me, which is helping the process along nicely.

I walked up to the King Stone to see what Kal was up to. He was dowsing down towards me in a tell-tale meander from side to side. “Male line.” he responded to my pending question. “Coming out of the King Stone.” I had found such a line on a previous visit, as had Kal. I was sure I remembered there was a female line coming out too, so I dowsed for that, and found it going alongside the path Kal had just described for the male energy lineThe direction energy takes when moving. It may be straight or curved, in several dimensions and be composed of one or more different types of energies, i.e. negative, positive or neutral. Energy lines can be found at standing stones and ancient sites but are a general feature in all energy fields.. I did the male line as well and found it curved in exact opposition to the female line. Another double-helix formation like Cerrig Pryfaid! We dowsed some more questions – taking turns to verify each others findings, which seemed particularly validating because we wouldn’t take any visual cues from each other as we could only see each other’s rods as we got a foot or so away from the stone.

• We asked for the direction of the flow? – The rods swung towards the stone circle.
• Was the King Stone the source of the energies? – Yes.
• Did the King Stone have a connection to the circle? – Yes.
• Did the King Stone have any energy of its own? – Yes.
• Was the King Stone exclusively male? – No.
• Was the King Stone exclusively female? – No. – Oh! A surprise there. Could it be neutral?
• Was the King Stone exclusively neutral – No. NO! Well, then what was it? A combination?
• Was the King Stone a combination of male and female ? – Yes. Ahhhhh. Interesting!
• Did the energy go out of the King Stone away from the circle as well as towards it? – No.

Kal then dowsed the auric extent of the King Stone on the side away from the circle and found it to be about 7-8 feet away, surrounding the stone in a circle. So that was the extent of that stone’s ‘influence’, if you like. Its energies were contained within a small circle, and bound to the stone circle down the way from us, linked by a double helix of male and female energy lines.

So it seemed the stone, containing a combination of male and female energies was able to either split the energies and propel them towards the stone circle, or, the circle was drawing male and female energies simultaneously but separately from the King Stone, and drawing them down to itself. Either way it was connected, so where did it go after it left the King Stone? I followed the two lines simultaneously by instructing one rod to follow the male line, whilst the other should follow the female line. Would it work? Indeed it would, but it was very easy to get into all sorts of weird Hannibal Lecter poses if you weren’t careful. At times the relative amplitudes of the waveforms meant that I lost connection with the waves until they converged again further down their paths. Eventually they parted company at a point five feet in front of the stone circle, each going around the circle – male left, female right – until the male line continued around the circle to rejoin itself. The female line spiralled into a flat stone on the right of the circle (looking from the King Stone). This flat stone registered for female energy too. You’d think so, I guess, if a female line comes into it, but I thought I’d check anyway. These things have a habit of overcoming your assumptions regularly, and making you look like a lost Mark Thatcher.

As I stood on one side of the circle I found that I could see the stone circle’s nemeton, the energy positioned seven feet away from the circle, as a band of pale moonlight. I gazed amazed. It was probably because that’s the path that people take to walk around it and the grass is flattened down making it shine, I told myself. It’s a trick of the light caused by the reflection of moonlight on the ridge here that’s reflecting the light down to its base and…I looked at other places where people walked – other paths – no light. And I could see the nemeton circling the site, so it wasn’t a feature of the light falling at a particular angle relative to where I was standing – I could walk around along its path and it was still visible as a whole circle around the stones at every point.

I stopped wondering how I could see the ring of light, and just wondered. It was a clear path like to one I had followed down from Moel-Ty-Uchaf one night, the path that had delivered me safely to the farmer’s track without a stumble. Then it had flowed in straight lines, turning at acute angles when it needed to bypass uncomfortable drops in height. I had considered it to be starlight because the stars were the only source of illumination; but on this night, with the cloud cover and a full moon, this must be moonlight, right? Flowing in a circle. I don’t know. But it was there – a ghostly pale ring of light that formed a perfect circle around the stones.

I wanted to know more about it so I confirmed that the nemeton’s direction of flow was clockwise, and then set off with an instruction to the rods to follow the nemeton energy. I know what you’re thinking – did he check which gender the nemeton registered as? Yes, I did. Remarkably I remembered to do that this time – it was male, in line with the direction of flow of the male line coming out of the King Stone. Oh, was this the King Stone energy then? I followed with interest to see if the line rejoined itself. It was looking like the male energy lineThe direction energy takes when moving. It may be straight or curved, in several dimensions and be composed of one or more different types of energies, i.e. negative, positive or neutral. Energy lines can be found at standing stones and ancient sites but are a general feature in all energy fields. was forming the outer energy extent – it’s auric reach.

I followed the nemeton’s line around back to the entrance gap in the circle. There it moved slightly inwards from its seven foot diameter. Now it was a foot to the right, a foot nearer the circle. I walked around again. At the entrance it moved again. Now it was tracing a circle, still clockwise, alongside the stones themselves. This was the third revolution. As I came to the entrance a third time the line dove into the circle to describe a spiral inside the circle itself. It spiralled round about four or five times before ending at the exact centre of the circle. Not a place we had really investigated yet. I remember that the exact centre was the crossing point for the neutral lines that criss-crossed from stone to opposing stone. That I had found on my last visit. Would they be here again? I made a mental note for us to check tonight.

While I had been busy with the nemeton, Kal had been dowsing the energies inside the circle. He had found female energies inside that went between certain stones – a handy-for-sitting-on flat stone, and a stone about four positions away from it. He had also stuck his umbrella in 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 ‘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.’) 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 had found on all my visits there. I was barely visible in the gloom, but you could see it before you walked into it, which saved us from castration on several occasions. Wherever we dowsed inside the circle and outside of it we always ended up back at that 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 ‘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.’) 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., slightly offset from the exact centre, close to the entrance gap in the stones. This thing was a hub for these lines. Male lines flowed into it, and female lines flowed out of it. The male lines came in clockwise, and the female lines emerged roughly anti-clockwise (some went through the air, and under the ground, but their direction of flow was always anti-clockwise). I laughed uncontrollably sometimes as I arrived yet again directly to the umbrella unfailingly even though it was barely visible (a black umbrella – I ask you! Luminous orange would have been more helpful!) Kal made a quip about the circle not having seen such mirth since mediaeval times, or something. Well, you have to enjoy yourself, don’t you? It tickles me when the dowsing is so unerringly capable of sending you round a path a hundred metres long, only to bring you back to join again at exactly the place you started from – in the dark. The Cosmic Giggle is felt in many ways.

Other formations that we found at the site that night were:-

1. arcing energies both over and under ground from and to the power center and a stone
2. a manifestation that I made on 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 ‘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.’) 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. of four petals (I had tried to visualise three, but it changed in my mind to four)
3. Kal made a manifestation of what he called a “PentiKal” – a five sided shape.

We stopped at this point for a break. Much of the preparation for energy work seems to be to dowse for the placement, orientation and nature of the energy lines first. Then we have a starting point for any energy work later. Now was the time to switch tack. We ate our snacks underneath the Wishing Tree oak, but I could tell Kal was restless there, whereas I was perfectly at ease.

I took the chance to do a proper re-introduction to the Wishing Tree oak as Kal went off to do some more dowsing on the King Stone. I wasn’t looking for anything ‘deep and meaningful’ with the oak, just a chat, so I only went into a light trance. I was pleased to get a polite but friendly connection (how can I describe that feeling? It’s how you feel, not anything you hear or see). In that state the oak and I shared snappy funny comments with each other, and I ended up laughing heartily again. This was a sure sign of madness. Look it up in “The American Psychiatric Publishing Textbook of Personality Disorders (Edited by John M. Oldham, M.D., M.S., Andrew E. Skodol, M.D., and Donna S. Bender, Ph.D.). Or read about it in some good druid books like “Tree : Essence, Spirit and Teacher” by Simon & Sue Lilly or “Living Druidry” by Emma Restall-Orr.

You may remember from previous posts that it was at this tree that I received the message “The Sun is the Key. The Moon is the Door.” on my last visit. This had set me thinking for a while until I realised that I just had to let the answer reveal itself. That was the mode of thinking that I was learning to trust again. It was just up to me to invest enough energy in the idea to set the thread running, then be attentive to the sign leading to the answer in the future. I invested emotion into it – I projected love tempered with gratitude for a few moments. A breeze whipped up for a second stirring the branches of the oak, then just as quickly calmed. Thank you. I was on the right path. An important thing to know.

Gwas

Making friends with wise trees.