The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘quest’

On a day that only a mother could love I dragged my long-suffering spouse into the farthest reaches of our lands to the western shores of Pembrokeshire. Why would I do such a thing to a nice lady? Well, I had taken the day off to celebrate Samhain, and it was part of my year’s quest that I should resolve the link between Berth and Death. That’s The Berth – a Shropshire hillfort – and Arthur’s Grave, the final destination for a mythical character and a hedge druid. If you haven’t read the beginning of this story, then may I refer you to this post? I feel compelled to do so.

So, the story was that “The Death of Scorpio”, or the coincidence of the constellation appearing at the point of the western sunset along the south-western axis that joined The Berth to Arthur’s Grave was the reason I was making a four hour drive along slippery autumnal-bedecked roads to hike into the back of beyond. As I journeyed that day I was continuously recognising places that Kal and I had passed on our journey to the same location earlier in the year at Spring Equinox. On that occasion I had come to Beddarthur (Arthur’s Grave) as the final part of a quest to use the energies of three stars to unlock an inactive part of my DNA sequence, and potentially unlock some hidden healing powers. At the time I had no idea what I had done. During the year I discovered that I had acquired an ability to draw energy from plants to use to negate the dark and twisted energies left behind by some humans upon death, and I had also unleashed a guiding spirit of a knight who had been enlisted to assist me with such work.

All that seemed far away and certainly locked deep in the back of my mind as I wrestled with the increasingly powerful and playful winds that rose to meet us as we crested the hills from which Stonehenge’s powerful healing stones had been hewn. Today my mind was focused on the mundane matter of the rip in my hiking boots that were making one foot wet and squelchy.

View across Arthur's Grave to site of the Bluestones

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It was a rather rainy Sunday afternoon (12 August 2011) when I decided to take a trip out to the Wizards wood. I have a wonderful affiliation with that place as it was the first place that I had really communed with tree energies and also the first place where I had received a name (the Magician who Creates his own Worlds). Wow, was that a long time ago or what (in fact almost 3 years ago)?

Arriving there at around 5:30 in the afternoon I immediately dowsed for the best place to commune with 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. of the place. I was off, as is the case with a lot of wanderings in that forest, along paths, then into the foliage, and along paths again, until finally I recognised my destination. It was the Father of the Forest. Was this the place that I was going to be meditating? As I got closer, the rods veered off and I was led to a tree some 50 foot away from the FotF.

Before I began my commune, I wanted to ask some prelim questions:

• Am I going to get something to do with my knights quest? Yes. Cool!
• Is it another blue key? No. Not so cool.
• Hmmm…is it about where the quest is heading? Yes.
• Is it about a current key? Yes.
• New York? No, 
• Pennant? No
• Strength of Arm? Yes.

OK… so now I am ready to do a meditation. I lean against the (rod) directed tree and tune out of the material into the sacred….

After a while I see a reflection of myself. Then a orange, yellow and red rainbow of fog swirls up from the ground and rises slowly and as my reflection breathes in – the fog swirls into its nose and into its body. Then a voice says “I am perfect health” and I can see the fog swirling inside my body to just below my stomach. As I am watching I see my whole body start to glow from the insde until it is all a bright white pure light.

Next thing I back in the world. Wow! What an experience. I pondered mere moments before I took out my dowsing rods. My intuition was on fire!

• Does Strength of Arm also mean physical well-being too? Yes
• Hmmm…It looked like that fog was around my pancreas area (as a guess) Does this health include my Diabetes? Yes
• Should I be managing my diabese better? er…no…(half and half).
• Okay…deep breath…Should I heal my diabetes? Yes and this is one of those flip the rods inside out moments too!

Okay…What the Zarquon! I exclaim to myself before continuing on…

• Can I do it? Yes.
• Do I have all the knowledge I need? No!

O and here is a good one…

• Is “I am in perfect health” a good intention/incantation to have? No? What??

So I am stood there pondering and I recall that the exact words were…”I am perfect health” So I rephrase the above question and get a Yes! More questions were needed:

• Is this intention enough? No
• Does it require a diet change? Yes.
• Is Raw good enough? No. O? That is a bit dissapointing.
• Is there anything else I need to do, Yes?
  Well the only thing left is energy work, so I asked do I need to incorporate energy work? Yes (but a vague one). My intuition kicked in.
• Am I already doing energy work aren’t I? Yes,
• By following this quest? Yes.

Then anothe thing pops into my head…Diabetes is a 2nd/3rd chakra illness. Now 2/3 are to do with change and will power. So I ask, is “Saying YES to adventure” the energy work that I need to keep doing. i.e. 2/3 chakra work? Yes (and this is a big YES).

Place where I was named

So I am in a bit of limbo land…A scientifically incurable illness and I have a “Cure it” edict as part of an existing blue key…not even a key of its own! As I am walking back to the car my rational brain kicks in and thinks…”is this all real?”

As you know I have often been tempted by the notion of healing it but have been put off by the “impossibility” of it and now I get it as a part of a key! So as I am leaving the forest, on impulse I turn around to the trees and shout out…”Can I have a clue, please?” pretty much in resignation.

That evening I wanted to converse with my partner on the energetic path, Gras as I was pretty much in the land of the impossible. However he was off being a social-ite I had to turn to my inspirational girlfriend for support in my quest for the insanely impossible (and after all the sidekicking i’ve done for Gwas!!  Vivian has totally overcome a health challenge or two herself so the incredible advice I got from her was, “Yes, I thought you would have sorted that out already!” Double Wow!
 
Anywho (An Amercanism) …all that was on Sunday…Then comes Monday and I get a massive sledge hammer sized answer to my last two questions…

1. Is this all real?
2. Can I have a clue, please?

Let me leave you to ponder the above before I reveal what Magic was to unfold on Monday!

Kal Malik reaffirming his magical ability to create his own world

My Beltane quest, to be completed before the Summer Solstice, is the “See with the eyes of The Hawk”. That was the message from the ever-useful Llangernyw Yew tree meditation that I did within the hollows of one of its ancient branches. Whilst trying to interpret this information I had tried to elicit a bit more information from the other sites I had visited that Beltane day on the 1st May and had found out that the vision was an ariel view of a landscape figure showing a hawk in flight.

Whistlebitch Well

The starting point to find this figure in my locality would be a sacred spring or holy well somewhere in Cheshire. It didn’t take me long to draw up a list of the 20+ wells in the county and then work my way through them with the help of the dowsing rods to eliminate all but the last – Whistlebitch Wellnear Utkinton. Seemingly, at one time this was a much-visited attraction, but its whereabouts are much harder to discern today. I went out one evening in the fading sunlight to try to find it. If it still existed then perhaps I could try to get in touch with the spirit of the well and reveal some more information about my quest?

I passed a gentleman walking his dog in the woods close to the well and asked him if he knew of it. He knew of many of the features of the surrounding woods, having spent thirty years walking the area, and was able to show me pictures of many of the features too! He was unsure about the well, though, unless I meant the old St Stephen’s Well that was close to where we stood chatting? That must be its alternate name, I said, there was only one well in the area. He said he thought it was connected to the stream we were standing on top of, so I bade him a kindly farewell and followed my instincts to walk through a field next to the stream. Then I heard what sounded like a water source in the damp ditch next to the field. I gingerly waded through the nettles to find the remains of a signpost and a square iron cover – just like the pictures on the Megalithic Portal – this was it!

Whistlebitch Well near Utkinton, Cheshire

After having uncovered the well and washed my crystals in its waters I laid them our around me and meditated to the sound of the trickling waters. Soon I was in contact with the spirit of place, a male water spirit, who was very glad that someone had visited and more so that they were being respectful of the place. I asked the spirit what he knew of The Hawk of May, but he was unable to expand upon that concept. He was only a lowly Nature spirit watching over this well, and who did not go anywhere else or meet any Hawk of May spirits. I would have to figure this one out alone.

The Landscape Figure

Back at home I began to investigate maps of the area around Whistlebitch Well. Would anything reveal itself to me about the outline of roads, paths, tracks and rovers in the area, or be revealed in the names of places? I had experience of reading about Katherine Maltwood‘s Glastonbury Zodiac figures, and Mary Caine‘s subsequent revival of the concept which she then began to apply to the Kingston-Upon-Thames area too. I knew what a landscape figure might look like, but could I find one in a modern map?

After several hours of scrying, this figure appeared:

The figure is formed primarily by the crag ridge of Willington village, and is centred on the village of Utkinton. It extends as far as Cotebrook at its east side, and Duddon to the west and Boothsdale to the north. At its northern extent is the natural feature of Primrose Hill, and within that is Whistlebitch Well. A road extending from the hawk’s beak seems to tether it to the village of Clotton. [full size map here].

The shape of the figure was suddenly so obvious to me that I started to get excited. What could this mean in terms of my current quest? Now that I had identified a possible landscape figure, what next? I was at a loss as to what to do with this information, and when in such a situation I tend to turn to a favourite divination tool of mine – the tarot.

Tarot reading about the quest

It just so happened that a friend of mine had gifted me some tarot cards that they didn’t want. They thought they would use them, but actually they weren’t suitable, but they thought that they would be perfect for me to use. I already have the Druidcraft Tarot, and was perfectly happy with the success of this deck, but nevertheless I decided to try out the “new” deck – The Tree Angel Oracle – to see how effective it might be. I must admit, I was slightly put off by the “Angel” reference and wondered if they might be a bit too “New Age” and “airy fairy” to be useful.

I would start simply – a three card draw to answer three simple questions about how I should interact with this Hawk of May and the landscape figure.

1. What gift should I bring for the Hawk? Card = The Pear – the gift should be intuitive.
2. How will we interact? Card = The Yew- in silent meditation, possibly at a yew tree, crossing into the Otherworld to meet The Hawk of May.
3. What will I gain? Card = The Sycamore – “Precision of the eagle”, “Clarity of the blue skies”, “The power of lightening” and “Breath of the winds.”

This is remarkable considering the reading was about my quest for “Meeting the Hawk of May”. Did this mean literally control of lightening and wind? I asked a psychic friend to interpret these symbols for me, and he told me that it was more to do with the wind symbolising the concept of sound, a sweeping away of barriers, and that this would signal the rise of a clairaudient ability. The lightening flash, he said, was symbolic of the ability to control these new druid powers that I was gaining. I was a little embarrassed by this, and the proof of it remains to be seen.

Soon I will recount the tale of meeting the Hawk of May and how prescient and useful these tarot card readings would be!

Gwas.

This Saturday I had many tasks planned and as Friday evening approached I had lined all my ducks in a row ready for the weekend. However after Saturday mornings Costa coffee. I changed my mind and decided a good hike into the south was definitely required. Even as I returned back to my lodgings I felt I shouldn’t go out today. But I fought it and a quick look through megalithic had me opting for a 2 1/2 drive to the Merry Maidens and a nearby Fogou.

I got into my car and was off southwards within moments. Alas my intuition proved correct and within 8 miles of my starting point I had a rear tyre blow-out not only that but I was in the middle of no-wheres ville. Struggling a little I managed to pull into a farm yard lane and got out to change the tyre. my efforts on getting the nuts off was not up to the task I’m afraid and I eventually resorted to calling out an emergency service (which now that I’m wandering the country, i am a fully paid up member of).

As I waited the 2 hours that they said they would take I pondered my lack of following my intuition. Since I was in the middle of fields and a little wood, I decided to hike on over and do some 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 trees. Dowsing rods in hand I sat myself against a lovely beech tree and opened my senses. I was curious, was there anything to learn from this situation?

Now, between you and me, I’m not a believer in the we’re here to learn lessons idea about life, however within life I believe we can and do have lessons.

So I pondered the annoyance of having to wait for the emergency services and my lack of strength in removing the tyre. Of course I realised that if I’d take more of an interest in the gym (although I do quite a bit of running) then this wouldn’t have been an issue. I felt the nudgeof intuition whilst thinking about this and from the depths 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. a message was delivered from the brash young beech tree.

A knight has to have strength of arm

Wow! Seriously? No, it was just a flight of imagination I was sure. I got up from my hardseat, it was a mere 20 minutes from when I had called the tow truck only another hour and forty minutes to go. But even as signs and omens were clustering my thoughts I looked back to my trusty car and there coming up the road was the tow truck. As I ran to my car, the rods pure coincidence were ringing in my ears. But hey who was I to argue?

I thanked the chap who had my tyre changed in two minutes and he said that I was lucky that he had been so close by. Indeed. He did however make a curious passing remark, “how unlikely is it to have two blow outs on the same day?”  Hmmm I decided to not take another risk (see what signs do to you?) and headed off to find a garage to buy a tyre. The truck man had given two addresses and in minutes I was at the first, “sorry we don’t have your tyre” Okaayy.

I popped the second into my Sat Nav and a few minutes later it was saying you have reached your destination…No garage! Anywhere! So I trundled back to my lodgings and checked up on a place on ‘t Internet, found a nearby Kwik-fit and toodled off to find that one. Again I drove around the streets where it was supposed to be, nothing, nada, zip!

What in the name of holies was going on? I returned home and pondered whether this was coincidence or meaningful. Being unable to decide I asked the rods. Which returned meaningful 100%. I asked whether the bit of musing I had done by the beech was just that, some day dreaming? No. What? You mean that was a Key? Yes.

But, but why? I asked whether I had the puncture to give me the opportunity to discover the second key? No. Did I need to have a puncture? No. Would I have got this message anyway? Yes, but by another means and at a later date. Was there a time by which I was to have strength of arm? Yes. I counted months…1…2…3…4…

4 months and 3 weeks was the eventual answer. I couldn’t determine how much strength of arms I would need though.

I wondered why I had had these mishaps this day, was there any energetic reason? Yes, it was Leprechaun energyAn intelligent and aware energy with a penchant for causing mishaps, stealing treasured items, and being territorial.! Damn, Where and when had I picked it up. Apparently whilst I was at a pub the night before. Interesting…

I will do another post later on regarding my findings about Leprechaun energyAn intelligent and aware energy with a penchant for causing mishaps, stealing treasured items, and being territorial. and how to get an influence of it.

So, it seems that I have direction for my 2nd key to Knighthoods Door.

Kal Malik seeking strength of arm by mid June apparently!

I think it must be the fact that i’m cutting down on my caffeine intake that this afternoon around 3pm I found myself nodding off at work. You know what I mean, right? Where you just can’t keep your eyes open. Fortunately my desk is right at the back of the room and facing away from everyone else so my momentary nap didn’t go noticed.

I say it was momentary, because from the clock on my computer I guessed that it wasn’t more than a few minutes at the most. However during those minutes instead of black slumber I had a, what to call it? Day dream, dream, vision? I’ll leave that up to you.

It was a dark place, that I didn’t recognise although I could see some of the outlines of it. A small cave perhaps but or a darkened room. It was cold but I couldn’t feel it (yes, I know that sounds odd but there it is.)

I knew that there was someone else in this place but initially I couldn’t see who or what it was. Then, either as my eyes got used to the darkness or as a light grew brighter I could see her.

Cailleach, once met never forgotten. I have only encountered her once before at Four Knocks in Ireland where she offered me a chance to become her pupil. Tempting though that offer was. I refused at the time and if I recall correctly she had said that we wouldn’t meet again and yet here she was. In a dream, at work.

“Hello again, student”, she said and smiled.

You know, I read up a bit about Cailleach after my previous encounter and I have to disagree with the press about her. She is an attractive lass I have to say, whose voice just wants to make you obey.

“Hello,” I returned, a bit warily.

She looked me up and down and walked around me. I turned to keep her in front of me. You have to remember this was just like a dream, I wasn’t conscious of being in work or anywhere like that. Which is odd for me, because normally in my dreams I am quite good at knowing that it’s a dream.

As she completed a round-about me she nodded her head, “You’ve done well” she said, “not as good as you could have though.”

“Thanks,” I replied, “I think” I added, I’ve never been good with authority figures. They irk me. “I thought we weren’t going to be meeting again?” I asked.

She shrugged and said something that really startled me, “I thought you said you weren’t going to be my student?” I looked at her and could feel my eyes tighten suspiciously.

“I’m not” I said insistently.

“I’m not going to argue with you, I just popped in to show you something”

Okay, I’m not one for the thee’s and thou’s but honestly I report that word usage exactly because I noted it at the time, she did use the word “popped” what can I say, not exactly Celtic is it?

“Interested?” She added as I was pondering her word usage.

I wasn’t going to turn Cailleach down (again) was I? So I said, yes.

She pointed off behind me and I swear her finger, for just a split second looked clawed, but on second glance was just an ordinary finger. I directed my gaze at where she was pointing…and saw a vision.

A vision within a vision, is that a first?

It was me in some place that I didn’t recognise. It was a huge hall, brightly lit and I was on bended knee with my head lowered. before me was a cloaked person, I couldn’t tell what or who it was, not even if it was male or female. The cloak was red and green and had some kind of emblem on it, like a leaf (alas google reveals nothing).

The figure, took out a wand, not a sword, but a wand and knighted me. Yep the whole left, right, left thing on the shoulders. Then I stood up and was presented with the wand that was used to knight me.

At this point I was shocked out of my dream and the vision within a vision by Cailleach’s voice right in my ear (she must have sneaked up on me). “Go quest!” she had said.

I was back in the realworld staring at my computer…remember Neo at the beginning of the Matrix film? Exactly like that.

I pondered the vision for a long while and coudn’t wait to get home and do some quick dowsing.

• Was it a dream or a vision? A vision
• Was it really Cailleach? Yes
• Even though she had said we wouldn’t meet again? Yes
• Was she offering me a quest? Yes
• To become a knight of some kind? Yes
• Did I have to follow this quest? half/half answer.

These half/half answers are really annoying sometimes. As you may know from previous posts it is when one rod turns and the other doesn’t, we have kind of deduced that it means “you’re half right, but there’s more.” Just to bamboozle me more, I asked…

• Have I unwittingly been the student of Cailleach? half/half

I’m sorry for such crappy answers and such basic questions. As Gwas and I have both found, it is difficult to get into the intuitive swing of dowsing in one’s mundane apartment/home. We’re just in the habit of doing it at sacred sites.

So, am I going to take up this challenging quest? You betchya!

Now then…”Which way to Mordor, Gandalf?”

Kal Malik

Signs

It was fast approaching the weekend and I was wondering what to do. My heart was set on a visit to Avebury and Stonehenge but the distance of 3 hours drive was putting me off. Then as Saturday loomed I placed other commitments on my time and so I left it for Sunday. Then of course the weather on Saturday for a mid-December day turned out to be in sparkling form. Just my luck!

Sunday I awoke and as I lay in bed I pondered the options. I still wasn’t finished with some committed work that I had started on Saturday, Stonehenge was still inviting me and…my thoughts rested on an idea. The Hurlers and Piper stone circles weren’t as far as Henge and they might give my wandering heart respite from its ache.

I lazied in bed some more and then decided. I would up and dowse, if any offerings were vital then I would go, otherwise it would be the local Costa for breakfast.

I asked whether Stonehenge or Avebury would be a beneficial site for me to visit today? Not really. What about the Hurlers? O yes! Do I have to go (asked the lazy part of me) and I got a No. But it would be beneficial if I did go? Yes.

Even as I got changed and headed down the stairs my mind was split in two, Coffee or Hurlers? As I opened the front door, I decided, Costa it would be!

I stepped out of the door and onto the pavement, just as I did 2 crows flew right into the middle of the road infront of me. I stopped, they were an obvious sign! I turned back towards the house to get my car keys and as I grabbed the door, I stopped…Costa was calling. So, I ignored the “sign” and made my way into to town for coffee and breakfast.

An hour later I was walking back home and I the crows came to my mind, along with the dowsing results and the desire for the chase (see last weeks post) So I got my keys and was off on the two hour journey to Minions (the nearest town to the Hurlers).

Grade one easy

Two or so hours later I parked up and was off onto the moor land. The last time Gwas and I were here there had been a mist in the air and visibility was poor. Today the sun was bright, the air was a clear crisp frost and you could see to the horizon. Perfect.

As far as it goes the Hurlers are perhaps one of the easiest sites to reach, literally two hundred metres from a large carpark. Given this, I was amongst the stones before I knew it. I circled them a few times to get a good sense of 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. before thinking of doing any dowsing.

As you can see from the pics, it is a beautiful double circle with plenty of energies to go around and play with, which is what I did for a fair while before getting down to some serious business.

I began by asking whether this was a good place for me to ask questions about my quest, Yes

My quest here was to see how I could fix my in-ability to practice self healing (see link above) I had already found that this was affecting my world considerably and I wanted to learn more about it and importantly how to fix it.

So I dowsed for an appropriate place and found it, oddly just out side the circles. A kind of wet little patch that had a soft depression, hmmm who am I to argue with the rods? Actually I did and asked several times to be taken to the most appropriate place and each time the same answer was forthcoming! You would think it would be inside or between the two circles wouldn’t you? But no, this was a boring little place about 5 foot outside of the cicles.

I asked whether any “tools” would be required and the rods said no to incense and crystals, cool. It was just me and the rocks.

I asked whether I could learn more about why I couldnt energetically self-heal, the answer was a surprising yes. I felt that this was a really good place to figure things out, the answers were coming easy and with no fuss.

Was I infected with something? No. This was a good answer to get, as I had tried Energy bombs and the like as well as crystal aided protections but none of these had produced any results.

Had someone done something to me? A scary question to ask, but needs must and the answer came back…kind-of. I was puzzled, but hit on what I thought was the answer…Ah, had someone un-intentionally done something to me? No. O that was a let down.

I mused and pondered the “kind-of” result whilst a huge family of people and dogs walked through the circle. Then it popped into my head, Did I do this to myself? Yes.

A very interesting answer if not more puzzling. I had done this to myself, Intentionally, I asked – this got, what Gwas and I call a “Half-Yes” answer, i.e. one rod swings in a “YES” mode and the other remains motionless. This is the response that I got, a half-yes.

As I explored this answer further I learned that I had done something (what I don’t know) and that the consequences had been to leave me in this state.

Could I fix the problem? Yes, Today? No. Was it dangerous for me to be in this state? Yes. Very? Yes. Crap! Then why couldn’t I fix it? Was it not the right time or place? Both…and something else…I wasn’t ready. Great!

Further intuition came in the form of telling me that the cure (to use a word) was more dangerous that the problem. Wow now that was a surprise result.

When would I be able to heal or cure this issue? I used the days/weeks/months year scale and ended up with a “before the end of the year” answer. That’s a relief.

Let me just describe the scene for a moment…the sun was shining brightly, the air was crisp and fresh, no wind and it was warm enough not to need a coat. All on the moors in mid December. I am sure some, if not all of this was combining to create a fantastic dowsing experience.

I still had so many questions, why, how, for what purpose (if any). And also when had it first manifested? I couldn’t recall exactly I knew it was recent though…weeks maybe a 2 or 3 months at most. Was it anything to do with my move to Devon? I asked, and got a half-yes.

I think it was then that it hit me – square between the eyes…has this anything to do with my Energetic Double? Yes, wow the rods spun on themselves!

Interesting and interesting…

I pondered this idea for a while and as I did the penny slowly and surely dropped from cog to cog, like one of those old penny games in arcades).

Of course I couldn’t be specific about the dates but it sure felt like the timing was good, in that I had noticed the healing issue sometime before I was tasked with finding my Energetic Double.

Then there was the issue with Dreaming too, if I recall my arcane law correctly, I think that the Energy Body has something to do with Dreaming too? It fitted into place.

But was this leading to the conclusion that my Energy Body and I were at one time one? I asked the rods and the answer came back, Yes. I wondered if I had asked this question before, now it seemed like an obvious question to ask? But I couldn’t recall having asked it.

What about this matter of me merging with my Energy Body being a dangerous thing? I asked the rods and they still confirmed that it was highly dangeous. But why?

I had been merged with it before I even knew it existed, so why was this merger any different? Til now I had been on a intuitive roll but now I couldn’t find an appropriate question to ask.

I asked whether the resolution to my issue a merging of me and my Energy Body? Yes. But now was neither the time or the place, I was told. But still before the year was out.

Would it be dangerous? Yes, but less than me not being without my self-healing power. Hmmm…

Again, my mind was filled with why? Why had it been mortally dangerous 6 weeks ago and less so now?

Had my circumstances changed since then? Yes. Really? How?

I pondered that last question, my circumstances had changed of course, in many ways in the last 6 weeks. but these were as Gwas calls them changes in the mundane world, were these the circumstances that I was being told about? Yes.

It was right at that moment that three Crows flew out of nowhere and landed on the stones before me, they cawed three times and then flew off. Seriously!

I watched there flight in a kind of daze and recalled the crows from earlier in the morning. Coincidence? After all North Devon is literally crow city, as I have mentioned before.

“Of course it is, that’s why you were sent here”

Where did that thought come from? The place where I am staying has so many crows flying around that I had given up on the second day of being here in trying to gain a “sign” from them, they were everywhere. Now it seems I was being told that “that” was the sign. I queried my supposition and it was affirmed.

The whole town being filled with crows was a Uber Sign and I had missed it, because it was too big. Wow!

And if you recall from previous posts, I was shown that I would land in the South West coast of the UK when I had been looking for my Energy Double atop Gop Hill some months ago.

You see, how this one single penny was dropping and knocking lots of things into place?

I wondered as to why I had split from my Energy Double? Was there a reason? A cause? Was it a good thing or bad thing? Indifferent even? Questions poured out of me and the rods rapidly supplied an outline…

Personal energetic development had caused my double to split from me, to “come out” as I think its called. But it hadn’t been controlled, foreseen or catered for and so it had (and is) causing me energetic damage.

The Ancient Yew (from whence I gained the quest of finding my Energy Double) hadn’t gone into this detail and had just said, “find your energy double”

I had leapt at the quest without a thought as to why and wherefore. Apparently wiser heads were steering a path.

Now it seemed that the shoe was on the other foot. It was my turn to stalk my energy double.

As readers will know, in previous excursions I had picked up the knowledge on how to call it (at Druids Circle one windy night).

I had also learned how to protect myself from its full gaze (at Arbor Low).

Without me knowing it I had been given the tools and knowledge to continue my quest.

Now what remained was to find out when, where and how.

Kal Malik – Hunter

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

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

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

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

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

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

Red and white dragons tussling

The Pool of the Dragons

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

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

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

The site of the dragon well

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

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