The Hedge Druid » spirit of place

Don’t mess with the megaliths!

Gwas — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:32:23 +0000

Sean Quinn, once Ireland’s wealthiest man, is now bankrupt. Some are beginning to speculate as to why this might be – dodgy deals, reckless investments, or bad luck? Well, the bad luck angle is getting some airplay at the moment. Some people put the collapse down to a single decision made in the heyday of the Quinn empire, when Quinn Concrete wanted to expand its quarrying to encompass Aughrim Wedge Tomb – a megalithic site on the Cavan/Fermanagh county border in Northern Ireland.

Sean Quinn before the faeries got him

Of course, the press are blaming “faeries”, and the locals are adding grist to that mill. In my experience, though, there are invisible sentient presences who are charged with the custodianship of sacred sites, and who are sustained energetically by the location and construction of these megalithic monuments. Kal has many tales of times when he has been symbolically or actually “smacked” or nearly had his eye poked out simply because he failed to acknowledge their presence before trampling over their homes. I have also learned from my early mistakes and now I treat these Spirits of Place with a great deal of respect, approaching them as spiritual equals.

The reconstructed Giant's Grave wedge tomb

It is no surprise to me that Mr Quinn has found that forces beyond his control have intervened in this affairs and that his “luck” has taken a turn for the worse. Of course, the two events may be completely unconnected. Without knowing the man and dowsing his circumstances I couldn’t hope to know whether there has actually been any energetic interference in the course of his life and destiny, but I would say this: you would do well to consider this as a possibility, a cautionary tale.

My advice is to consider the needs of the site’s citizens whether visible or not before ploughing ahead with your own needs when it comes to sacred places!

Source: Belfast Telegraph

Gwas.

The Berth and Death of Scorpius

Gwas — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 19:14:41 +0000

I sometimes find myself doing some very strange things without knowing why. This night was one of those strange evenings, and yet the strangeness would continue beyond this night and lead to an even stranger conclusion by the time I had finished unravelling all of the clues.

I had decided that at some point in the week I would need to go somewhere. The weather was good, so I got out my dowsing rods and began to enquire about a suitable place for me to learn something that would progress me on my spiritual path – the usual request – general and open. The responses I got seemed to indicate that I could find such a place in the county of Shropshire, and that the place existed on the Megalithic Portal, so it was only a matter of bringing up a list of sites in Shropshire and working through a process of elimination to find the site that I was expected to go to. Soon I found it – The Berth – an ancient hillfort and associated pool near the village of Marton a short distance from the main A5 road. I did some reading on the Megalithic Portal about access to the site – not good. Permission from the local farmer is suggested. Well then, a covert visit may be in order given that I would be arriving late at night.

The Berth [Portal]

I put on my dancing trousers (well, the fleece-lined ones – it might be cold) and began to journey southwards from Cheshire. Soon I was past the eastern edges of Wales and skirting the western fringes of England. Within an hour I had arrived at Marton in the dark of the late evening and was searching around on a small-scale OS map for the perfect place to park and navigate through the fields to the hillfort. Luckily, without too much fuss, I found such a place down a road marked “Unsuitable for motor vehicles.” No kidding! Good job I was in a four-wheel drive machine.

A map showing The Berth hillfort in Shropshire

I parked at the only place down the narrow country lane that would fit a car. Using my print-out of a low-level OS map I headed off further down the lane. Five minutes later I realised I must have gone past the entry point I was looking for and doubled back. The entry point turned out to be where I had parked the car! When will I learn to trust my intuition? Such a hard thing to do!

Several times I had to stop myself from asking the obvious question, “What the hell are you doing in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night?“. Luckily, I didn’t allow myself to even try to formulate an answer, but instead began to walk across the fields towards what I hoped was the right place, breathing in the still-warm evening air and wishing I hadn’t muffled myself up because I was beginning to overheat! This is October, right? Supposed to be cold and damp? Instead we are in the tail end of a heatwave and it was still 15 degrees late into the evening. Bizarre weather!

Fortune seemed to be on my side, guiding me towards something whose very impulse and importance I could sense like a scent on the night air.

The light of the First Quarter moon guided my safely along the narrow farm track and out into the open fields. I made a note of my position using a very tall and wide oak tree as a marker. From this point onwards I would be guided hope and a vague sense of direction! I tuned into Nature and walked with confidence towards through the darkness, using only the distant light from farms to provide bearings.

The imposing tree-lined obstruction in front of me must be The Berth, I reckoned. It was the only large protrusion for miles around. I made my way over hoof-rutted dried mud paths until I found an animal track that took me round the base of the tall embankment. It was difficult to judge int he dark but the structure looked to be at least 25 feet high. I used my dowsing rods to find a suitable entrance and soon they were pointing to a place almost indistinguishable from any other, but I trusted that the rods knew the correct way in, so I began climbing up what I soon discovered to be the incredibly steep side of the hillfort.

A large game bird took flight hurriedly from the nearby tree, startling me a little. I guess we startled each other, as it probably wasn’t expecting to see a human until daybreak! This reminded me to put up some protection, so as I reached the crest of the hill I did so, calling upon the forces that guide me to offer their protection as I worked, and creating a cocoon of spiralling energies that covered my body. Even as I put up the protection I felt that it was unnecessary in this place – this place was benevolent towards me, not malign. Nevertheless, I am cautious at new sites.

The Thin Tree

The top of the hillfort looked flat as far as the eye could see, which, in darkness, wasn’t very far! I was going to have to rely on my dowsing rods for some guidance here. I got them out and got settled and prepared – several deep breaths and some relaxation. I asked the rods, “Please take me to wherever I need to be to fulfill my purpose here this evening.” I was leaving the answer totally in the hands of whatever guiding powers were in operation that evening. The rods arced gently to the left and drew me away across towards the north-eastern end of the site. I followed obediently, using all my attention to avoid falling over.

The rods moved certainly and smoothly along a sinuous path across the plateau. With my head down I wasn’t looking ahead, and so nearly bumped into the tall spindly hawthorn tree as the rods turned into its slender trunk to indicate that I had reached my destination. A tree, eh? Yes, the only tree on the plateau from what I could see. There was nothing else poking its head into the skyline except the trees that ringed the edge of the hill. I wasn’t too surprised.

Standing beneath the tree I began to tune into the place. I was ‘feeling around’ for the Spirit of Place, if there was one. I could feel something, something benevolent, and something close by. I lifted the dowsing rods again and asked to be taken to the current location of the spirit. The rods took me one step away and then curled right round to go back to the tree, just a little further round from where I had been standing! I laughed at that – looks like my intuitive senses are getting slightly better these days, eh?

Ariel view of the amazing Berth hillfort

The Scorpion Trees

I sat beneath the tree to mentally prepare myself for connecting to the site and its resident spirits. I could feel a presence which I assumed was the Spirit of Place, and I began to relax into the scenery to embed myself into Nature and become indistinguishable from it. I left behind all pre-conceptions of what I might need to do, and instead asked why I was here to whoever or whatever was listening. Then I waited…

…my eyes opened to look at the trees outlined against the night sky. Due to the background distant lights the trees appeared as dark shapes against a deep blue backcloth. To my eyes the clump of trees ahead of me together looked like the shape of a scorpion – pincers at the front, a body and then a curling tail with a sharp point. It was unmistakable. I turned away – I was not here to make shapes out of trees. I was here to find out what I was supposed to learn that would advance my spiritual progress. Focus, I told myself.

A few minutes of meditation and breathing later I opened my eyes again. There was the scorpion again! Dammit – stop looking at the scorpion! I got annoyed with myself. What did a scorpion have to do with anything – they’re not even native to these island! I put my hand down to stand up and got stung really sharply and deeply by an invisible clump of nettles. Double damn! Now I was in pain. What a sting! Like a….scorpion….The realisation dawned. Here was a sign. Pay attention to the scorpion, something was telling me.

Of course I didn’t listen immediately. It’s never as simple as that, is it? Thinking that I must be here to learn about healing and energy-shaping I tried to heal myself by covering my hand in energy – fail! The sting was as bad as before. Now it was throbbing too. Dammit! Such bad luck! I walked around until it eased enough for me to have another go at meditating. As I went to sit back down I noticed a head-sized white object two feet away from where I had been sitting, directly in line with the trees but somehow I hadn’t noticed it. I walked over to inspect it, and moved it with my foot to see how it reacted. It went “clunk” and I saw that it was a dead cow’s skull – too big for a sheep, must be a cow. Hmm…

Slowly the ungreased cogs in my brain moved around to put the Scorpion with the Skull, and soon a phrase was flitting about in my skull - ”The Death of Scorpio“.

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind

I had the germ of the idea, now I needed to fill in the blanks. I turned to the Genius Loci for advice. What would happen at the Death of Scorpio, I asked? The wind picked up suddenly and the trees around me rustled as though discussing the matter and passing on a message from some neighbourly spirits. I felt that I would be challenged to prove my worth in order to rise up the spiral of progress at that point.

So, the Death of Scorpio may be a time or a place – I couldn’t be sure which though. Better ask – is this concept a time? The trees rustled in a short breath of wind. The answer was that time was involved, but this was not the emphatic or definitive answer I was looking for. Was this related to a place, then? A huge whirlwind pushed the tops of the trees to one side and made them struggle to remain upright, then fell back to nothing again. YES, came the simple response, as though picking up on my requirement for a simplistic response. So, it might relate to a place, and possibly a particular time might be related too, but it wasn’t an exact date. Good enough to work with, I felt.

The Scorpius Constellation

I took my leave, thanking the Spirit of Place for its welcome and its advice. I could not have asked for more. I didn’t thank it for the sting in the tail that it left me with, though, and my hand continued to smart as I nursed it, descending the steep slopes of the embankment in utter darkness and barely holding myself upright. What a lesson I had learned, yet again, about paying attention to what I am being shown. How many more times would I need to learn this lesson, I asked myself rhetorically?

As I passed each large tree on the return journey I thanked them all for letting me pass safely, and for guiding my way in the darkness. If not for the large wide oak at the end of the trackway I would have been walking through fields for ages in the wrong direction. As I headed back to the car I could feel the eyes of nocturnal creatures, some animal, some not, touching my energy body with their curious attentions. I was not afraid, but answered their stares with warmth and affection. It was I who was the out-of-place character in their night-time play. I was also still confident in the strong protection I had put up before entering The Berth. It still throbbed with energy, like my hand.

Synchronicity and Research

Interestingly, researching The Berth later I found a link to my “old friends” Graham Philips and Martin Keatman, the authors of books about King Arthur, but whose books The Green Stone and The Eye of Fire I had read only a week or two before this visit. A synchromystic moment if ever there was one! Apparently they had taken part in a TV documentary with Brian Blessed where they had visited The Berth. I would have enjoyed seeing that! Imagine!

Anyway, major topical coincidences aside, I still needed to pin down what The Death of Scorpio meant exactly, so I continued my research, and amazingly I found the answer.

The Death of Scorpio

There is an obvious astrological link. Scorpio is one of the twelve constellations of the zodiac. This was my starting point.

“The Western astrological sign Scorpio of the tropical zodiac (October 23-November 23) differs from the astronomical constellation … (November 16-December 16)” (source: Wikipedia)

It could be said, then, that Scorpio dies on November 23rd or December 16th. Being a fixed sign it also appears to be born and to die each day as it follows the sun’s ecliptic path. The time of its death varies with each day, but it’s cardinal position remains fixed – it is almost exactly oriented South-West at the time when it moves below the skyline. Dowsing confirms that “The Death of Scorpio” refers to a direction and a place rather than a specific date, however the date range may still be important due to its obvious imminence!

The Hunt for The Grave Site

What I understood at this point in the research was that I would need to travel to some place South West of The Berth where I could see Scorpius set on the horizon and there I will meet my challenge. How could I find out where this line would end? Well, I resorted to my usual method – to trace a line using Google Maps and to see whether it went anywhere close to somewhere of significance. I was starting at a place called The Berth (“The Birth”) which was supposedly associated with the death of King Arthur. Would it make sense that the terminus point might also have such an association?

The Berth to Grave connection

I began drawing a line roughly South West. The line went across the country and landed at Haverfordwest in South-West Pembrokeshire. Nothing of interest there, I felt, so I traced the line back up a few miles further inland. Well, well – there was a place I knew well – Mynachlog Ddu. This was the village closest to the site of the Preseli Hills quarry from which the Stonehenge Bluestones had been quarried. A mile away from that was a site I had visited earlier in the year on a quest that was linked to Arthurian sites – it was called Arthur’s Grave.

When I noticed this link I was more than a little startled. Directly south-west from The Berth a line can be traced that leads to Arthur’s Grave. I kid you not. Try it for yourself! In my mind, I knew this was the place I now had to return to. The spiral of the year would be coming round full circle if I re-visited this site at both ends of the year, and I now knew it was THE place for me to be tested to see whether I had truly learned from my year’s teachings. This is now the most important thing I have to do this year. There is something to be discovered at that site at sunset, when the constellation of Scorpius is descending below the horizon, when it is symbolically dying. Now I only have to visit the site at some date between October 23rd to November 23rd to discover what will happen next.

Gwas.

South Wales Part 1 – Parc le Breos

Gwas — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:19:31 +0000

With about as much preparation as a shotgun wedding Kal and I decided to meet up “half way” in Chepstow in order to explore the South Wales area for megalithic sites. We both had different quests to pursue, but sometimes the quests are secondary to the much more enlivening act of just being out together at sacred sites, for there is no more pleasurable experience to me than to be with my old mucker dowsing and discovering things druidical and deep at the darkest and dingiest neolithic remnants these fair lands have to offer.

So we pointed a random finger at the map and with only a name to follow and the promise that something worthwhile may be there we headed towards Parkmill village just beyond Swansea in West Glamorgan. I had already travelled for three hours to get to Chepstow, but such is our zeal for our quests that I was prepared to venture another hour or so into the furthest corners of west Wales just on the off-chance that this place might be good. Luckily, it was better than good!

We arrived at Parkmill and took what we presumed was the right track past the Heritage Centre and ended up at a small car park. We checked the maps but couldn’t decide which way we ought to be going so I went over to check a nearby information board supplied by Cadw. It showed the area of Parc le Breos (Park Le Bruce, or Park Wood) to be full of interesting sites – a reconstructed long cairn, a cave and possibly a well. Frankly, I didn’t read past the long cairn – already I wanted to see it. We made our way up the well-made path, eager to see what this reconstruction had to offer.

Information about the Park Wood site

The long cairn (or more properly I should say it is an Initiation Chamber) had been excellently rebuilt. It looked beautiful, and gave us a very good idea of how the front may have looked in its original form. These builders clearly knew how to make a great structure. I took some pictures then put the camera away. It was time to have a look around inside. I approached the entrance and introduced myself to the place. When I walked forward I asked if I may enter and waited for a response. I got one – a horrible push in my stomach that felt like a nasty prod in the guts. Hmmm…rejection. It would seem that I wasn’t in the right state to enter at this time – maybe not at all?

I got my dowsing rods out and asked if there was something I could do in order to prepare myself for entry into the chamber. The rods directed me away from the building and towards the nearby line of trees. As I broke through the tree line into the woods the rods swung around to point at the moss-lined back of a large oak tree. “Sit here!” they seemed to be saying. So I sat down and lit some incense sticks, hoping they would assist me with the cleansing process. I felt I ought to rid myself of my “worldly” energies – the energetic clutter and state of mind that comes from driving in the modern world. I wasn’t in a megalithic state of mind yet!

Minutes later the oak had helped me to divest myself of all my detritus, and I felt cleaner and really “tuned in” to the place. I thanked the tree and went back to check whether or not I would be able to get back into the chamber to do some work.

The psychonaut has achieved re-entry!

As I stood at the entrance with my staff in my hand I felt completely different this time. I was more relaxed, and my request was more respectful (less demanding) that my previous request. The tone must have been correct for this time when I asked to enter I got a slight tug at my navel chakra. So, I entered. I stood for a moment wondering which chamber to enter, but the decision wasn’t too hard. My intuition was pulling me into the first chamber on the left.

I stood inside the chamber, feeling for its character. How did the chamber feel? It felt like it was warm. I felt warm too. In my mind I saw fire. This was a Fire chamber. I moved on to the chamber opposite. Same procedure – how did it feel? I smelt earth. I felt the ground beneath my feet and could feel the earth strongly. This was an Earth chamber. I walked along the central passage and stood in the middle wondering which chamber was next. Left again. As I walked into the chamber I could feel the freshness, the breeze, and the clarity of the space. This was an Air chamber. I crossed the puddle in the central passage and walked into the final chamber. It felt cool and clammy. I smelt water condensed in the air, and I knew this was a Water chamber.

Reconstructed initiation chamber at Park Wood

Kal was nearby so I asked him to see how he felt. He went into the first one and said, “Air!” I said, “Really? What do the dowsing rods say?” He checked using his rods. “Oh, it seems to be fire.”, he corrected himself. I smiled. “What about the rest?” Kal went through each dowsing for their element and returned exactly the same answers as I had intuited. What could I say? My intuitive senses are getting better.

After Kal had confirmed them all I wondered what this meant. Why was I being shown the four elements in relation to an initiation chamber? I knew that the initiation process was not anything I needed to go through, so why was I being shown this particular configuration, and why hadn’t I discovered the same thing at other chambers such as West Kennett? I sat on the small ridge at the end of the central passage, which just seemed like a perfect seat. Then I realised it was a seat!

I went into meditative mode. The world began to fade away and I sent out connective threads to try to communicate with the Spirit of Place that the dowsing rods had indicated existied at this site. Soon I felt a tug of attention and knew that I was not alone in my thoughts. Time to ask some questions. Oh, Spirit of this place, I would like to know about my healing quest, and also about creating wards and glyphs…. “ONE THING OR THE OTHER!” came the indignant response. Oh well, I suppose I had asked for that one – being greedy for knowledge? I chose the healing quest. Please tell me how this elemental set of chambers relates to my healing quest, I asked.

The answer was startling and immediately obvious in its simplicity. I had been struggling with whether to concentrate on human healing or earth healing. My incination was for earth healing. Now the Spirit of Place showed me that each of the four elementals could be used as powers to call upon to make the earth healing happen. I was shown in an instant that each site would need a particular blend of elements to re-balance it, to cure it. To effect earth energy healing I would simply need to call upon each of the elemental spirits that I already had affinity with, and to ask for their assistance in creating the right balance of elemental forces to heal the site. Simple. Obvious. Yet startling. I jumped up in a “Eureka!” moment and opened my eyes and mouth in astonishment. “How wonderful!” I said out loud.

: Inside the chambers at Park Wood

I felt my work here was concluded, so I began to gather my stuff togher and wait for Kal to finish his own work. Next I planned to go to the nearby cave, if we could find it. The sky was closing in a little and darkening, so I hoped that we would be able to find shelter soon. Kal concluded his work and we set off discussing our respective revelations.

Gwas.

Moel-Ty-Uchaf – the healing rays explained

Gwas — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 20:48:41 +0000

At the end of August 2011 I found myself with an evening free and an urge to visit a sacred site where I could learn more about the five healing rays that I have been studying. As a reference for those of you who haven’t been following this particular series from the beginning, here are the related posts:-

My five healing rays - in which I identified the rays, and their basic principle

Five healing rays get the Tarot treatment - in which more properties were discovered

In this visit I was hoping to have some information revealed to me that would show me how these healing rays could actually be used, in other words – how does one invoke them, and how are they utilised once invoked? The beautiful circle of Moel Ty Uchaf was to be my teacher this evening.

A stunning rain and sun backdrop above Llandrillo

On my journey up the steep trackway to Moel-Ty-Uchaf stone circle I was welcomed by a rainbow, which was somehow fitting considering I was here to try to get some more answers about the nature of the healing energy rays that I can work with. Apparently I have until Samhain this year to get my theory and practise all sorted out, because then I will face a challenge, a task, a test of skill, perhaps an opportunity to progress. I knew what failure meant – another turn on the Wheel of the Year to go around in a circle rather than a corkscrew movement upwards. I was taking every opportunity I could to do my homework.

As I passed the trees that line the lower part of the route up the hill I asked them about their energies. Are they male if the tree is male, and so on? The answer was that trees have no gender, they are both male, female and neutral, and so they can create living energy lines that are of any of these “flavours” depending on what the tree wishes to harmonise with, draw from, or support. Its own intent creates the required alignment.

With all my physical training I found that I didn’t need to stop once going up the hill. At the top I was breathing deeply, but not out of breath for once, nor tired or leg-weary. My calf muscles were also intact for once. Amazing result! But nowhere near as amazing as the view that I was about to be presented with as the clouds that had dogged my ascent began to part letting through the rays of the setting sun over the Conwy Mountains. In the picture below, look for the unusual photographic artefact of the sun converging to a turquoise point! Or is it something from the ground opening a hole in the clouds?

The sun appears over Llandrillo - view from Moel Ty Uchaf

I ate my Co-Op convenience catered tea at the King Stone and began to introduce myself once more to the Genius Loci, asking for permission to work with her to ask questions about healing. Using my rods I determined that she would co-operate with that, but I felt that I would have to offer her something in return. Intuitively I was given the sense that there was some earth energy healing that I would have to put into practise here. This wasn’t going to just be a one-way theoretical lesson!

PINK

I got out my piece of paper – an aide memoire – and checklisted the five colours I wanted to know about: pink, white, turquoise, black and light red. I asked to be lead to a place where I could learn about the first one – pink. As I walked in the direction that the dowsing rods were pointing they began to gently curve around the lower side of the stone circle’s edge before spiralling above a snapped and fallen thistle. What was the message here? That Pink energy breaks plants, or comes from thistles? Then I realised. The thistle’s delicate small flowers were pink. I was being taken to something that was of the same colour as the energy I was seeking to learn about. The intention hit me suddenly – I was being shown that to call upon the power of the pink energy I should only fix upon something of the same colour. This would invoke the healing frequency I needed. Think Pink! See pink and its energy is available to you. I tested this theory with the dowsing rods. I asked, “If I see the colour pink can I draw pink energy from it?” – the rods swung together firmly. “If I only mentally project the colour pink can I draw from that?” I tested. The rods swung together only slightly – a faintly positive response. I re-tested with other configurations of the same question, using different comparisons until I had narrowed down a few scenarios.

Pink energy is an attractive, bring towards, unifying, centre of attention energy. Find something pink to concentrate on (easy there, tiger – be gentle!) and you can call upon these magnetic, attractive healing forces. I can imagine using such energy for pulling out or extracting unhelpful energies – like vacuuming up a bad smell. I wondered to myself whether the use of such energy might leave The Healer with unhelpful energies surrounding or attached to him? Indeed so. Cleansing or dissipating such energies after working with pink energy would seem to be a wise precaution, say at the end of a healing session using this Pink frequency. This is to be wholly verified yet, and I refer you to the Black energy that I will be discussing soon.

The final thought I had on pink energy was that I had something to invoke the colour pink – a rose quartz crystal. Handy. Perhaps this should be the first crystal to join a new working set of crystals which I hope to use to assist me in invoking colour frequencies – like some three-dimensional Dulux colour chart.

WHITE

White energy was next to be examined. “Please rods, guided by the Spirit of Place, take me to a location where I can understand the white healing energy ray.” I hoped I said. The question may have been worse than that. Of course dowsing is a wonderful interpreter of our intentions when we ask questions, amazingly tolerant of our endless fumbling for the most unambiguous terminology, yet even that concept was stretched to snapping by my rubbish request of the rods: “Take me to the white place thingy.….!” I asked them. The blanks were filled into that concept by images in my mind of what I was wanting. The dowsing rods hesitated a moment, as though translating this, replaying the longer and better form of the question on the back of my skull in a quiet voice, and then beginning to move as I began to walk. Alll in an instant.

I was taken to the back of the circle to enter it’s edge at an entrance I recognised from previous visits, and seconds later to curl around a flat square rock laying obtusely within one side of the standing stones adjoining it. This was The Female Stone, as I called it with all the poetry of a charmless man. This was The Female Stone – a transformer stone, was one of its other terms I coined for its ability to draw down and store both sun and moon energies. In this case I had thought that it was only a Moon energy transformer, but then I had usually visited the circle in the evening or late at night. Clearly “moon time” really. Now, in the fading but strong patch of sunlight shining square onto it, I begin to wonder if it transformed sunlight too? I noticed a white circular stain on the rock. A mere coincidence.

Then, as before, I suddenly figured out what I was being told. White light – sunlight – is the source of white healing frequencies of energy, and The Sun’s subtle energy (and literal heat, of course) is being stored in the transformer stones often found in stone circles. These were the pieces I had been picking up about recently, and was understandable now that I had studied some standing stones in Brittany in France, and subsequently on Anglesey in Wales too.

So, this adds to the knowledge that a beech tree gave me recently. I can use white light energy from sunlight as a source for its powerful and energising properties. If I need to store them that I need to create or discover a transformer stone of my own so that I can ‘charge it up’ and use its energies when I need them. Only thinking small-scale at the time I thought about adding a quartz or smoky quartz to the set of healing stones I was feeling I should gather together.

Magical Moel Ty Uchaf stone circle in a shaft of breaking sunlight

TURQUOISE

Again the rods were my guide. I was aiming to find out about turquoise energy now – the next on my list. I was taken inside the circle to a spot where a familiar form of grass arrangement was lurking quietly – the faerie ring, as Kal and I call them. The accustomed eye can discern this form of grassy growing pattern more easily these days, and the crown of grass made itself know to my eyes and I said to myself, “Power centre!” The rods confirmed this, and added the answer that it was a male power centre. Alarm bells went off in my head – “Me? On a male power centre? Is that good for me?” The rods clinked together – apparently it was good for me.

The now-familiar feeling of dawning inspiration struck me a third time. I was being re-balanced. I was either lacking in masculine energy at the moment, or I had too much feminine-aligned energy. Was I being re-balanced, as I felt? I asked the rods and they confirmed this quickly and surely. I was. My chakras, I wondered – or some other mis-alignment or dis-harmony of frequencies in my energy body (or aura) I supposed. As always, a quick confirmation by the rods – my energy body’s spectrum of frequencies was being brought back to evenly distributed bands of vibration – whatever was the natural state for me. As is usual, I have left out several of the negative responses required to get to this stage for the sake of relative brevity, but believe me there were a few wayward ideas and questions to get through before emerging with such a linked chain of ‘right track’ thinking.

I asked to know the source of this turquoise energy, and through a series of questions to dissect space I found where this energy comes from. Turquoise energy is produced from Primal Energy. There is only one source for Primal Energy that I know of – and that is Spirit forms. It would seem that it is also limited to certain spirit forms, and not available from other types. For example, two of my allies are sources of primal energy, but the third is not. Oops – that sounds a bit loopy. Let me put it another way. Primal energy can be sourced from some types of invisible and thinking forms of energy. These energy forms may be other people’s thought-forms, that’s one theory. Another is that there is a whole lot more life outside of our sentience spectrum than we can comprehend, it’s just that dowsing, divination and communing can all interact with these forms. I have found that in time and with the right approach, some positive contacts and meaningful relationships can be established with mutual benefit to be had for all concerned. Such was the case between myself and my guides, and with what limited interactions I have with Spirits of Place. Other contact I keep to a minimum on the basis that I’m a humble visitor – it’s not my home turf, you know what I mean? I may not always be a welcome guest at all times and places I turn up, so I should show some humility when I cross the hedge. We should not always take those opportunities to stick our hands into dark holes out of mere curiosity….

Now I knew that turquoise energy – the most powerful and the most difficult to spell – is used to re-balance people and places. It is the frequency of re-alignment, re-attunement, and re-balance. It is the force that steadies.

Pink attracts. White emits. Turquoise stabilises. What next? The dreaded Black energy!

BLACK

I paused. Did I really have to investigate black energy? What if it was harmful? What is it was really detrimental to me, and I got drained by it? What if….what if…..putting off…putting off….then I realised it was cold and lonely up on that hill late in the evening. Aha! I said to myself – that’s what you get for moving your attention to black energy. Best put up some protection against its worst effects and then plunge right in and get to know my enemy better (is it my enemy – I’m not so sure now?).

First information obtained – Black energy is created by humans. Well, that fitted with the tarot reading at least. It is human-generated, and created by our darker thoughts. With that confirmed I switched my attentions to practicalities. “Take me to somewhere that I can learn about Black energy, please!” I politely asked. Perhaps over-politely if I was listening to myself. I was lead back outside the circle, walking around its perimeter at a distance from the stones of about seven or eight feet. I was looking down to the ground right in front of me and so didn’t see that lighter patch of dead grass until it appeared underneath a circling dowsing rods. I was taken aback. This spot looked like someone had just up-rooted a stone that had lain on that spot for years. Yet, it was a patch of dead and matted grass, not a bare patch of soil. I dowsed to try to find out more.

I find out that the patch is a nest of negative energies that are of four strength. (4/10). I wondered where the energies went from the black spot. They snaked around the black spot and then began an up-and-down movement like a curvy but straight zig-zag – an old oven’a heating element was what I liken it to. This zig-zag form was on top of a white stream power centre (male and female combined) which was being stifled or vampirised by the black spot drawing energy from it. I knew that this was something I needed to test my knowledge of healing on.

I asked the rods firstly to identify which of the five colours I would use to eliminate the black spot and allow the white spot to live. I ran through the colours in order waiting for the dowsing rods to respond to any of the names – pink, white, turquoise, black – the rods reacted and swung into a cross. Maybe I had got that wrong. I did it again. Same answer – black. Three times, Four. I guess it’s black then! I stopped a moment to think what to do next. Black energy to heal black energy? How is this possible?

Then I remembered that Black energy can be used for loads of positive things, it’s just that it’s sourced from ill-feeling and negative thought. Perhaps if I pushed my own negative thoughts into the black stream energy – but get this – with a positive outcome intentioned for that energy….then….could it reverse the effect of the black energy already in the ground? This would be an interesting experiment!

I summoned up all the worst aspects of myself, those deep dark thoughts that I have long since stopped feeling so guilty about, and I poured them out into the white power centre that I was standing on. I used my own black energy to push the existing black energy back into the black spot, pushing it out of the white stream power centre. Once the momentum was gained I left the flow going from white stream into black spot and waited. A few minutes later I ‘checked the pulse’ if you like. I dowsed that the black spot had gone down from a four strength to a two. Conversely, the white stream power centre had gone up to a four from a two. Situation reversed! I asked how long until equilibrium was restored in this system and the rods turned at five minutes. Of course I checked again five minutes later. White steam fully functioning. Black spot a mere speck. The circle as a whole – re-balanced. Amazing!

The enigmatic face on the King Stone at Moel Ty Uchaf

LIGHT RED

I turned my attention to the final healing rays colour – and possibly the most enigmatic – light red. I have heard other dowsers talk of “pink” energy being a good frequency to use to create a welcoming atmosphere, and I think that the frequency they may be describing is the one that I am calling “light red” – a kind of watered-down red energy, light and pale, which some might describe as “rose” coloured, but definitely distinct from “pink”.

I asked the rods to take me to something that would explain more about this light red energy, and how it could be used. I was led to one of the stones in the circle and then to the next, and the next, until I was walking around the circle with my rods hovering over the top of the stones. I walked fully around the inside of the circle, and when I came back to the start point again I realised what I was being shown.

The whole circle was the perimeter of the light red energy. This was the circle’s aura at this time – I dowsed to confirm this. In addition, this circular space that was being delineated was also the boundary of the Genius Loci’s nemeton space – a sacred space that defined the extent of the spirit’s influence. I realised that I was being shown that light red energy is concerned with an area, a space.

Knowing this it didn’t take me long to fill in the rest of the information about how to use light red energy. Firstly, I needed to create or identify an existing boundary space – a nemeton space – a sacred space. Once done I should protect that space from external influence. Then I should prepare the space using incense, music, loving vibes, the introduction of spiritual guides – whatever it takes to create a relaxed vibration within the space that is suitable for healing. Finally, I would need to fill the space with light red energy by obtaining it from its source and letting it fill the designated space.

The wind was getting stronger and with the sun setting and the light fading it was growing much colder too. My hands were beginning to cramp up with cold, so I figured it was time to say my farewells and leave. I lit three incense sticks and placed them on the various power centres that I had worked in that evening. I thanked the Genius Loci for its co-operation, and hoped that my healing effort on the black spot had been enough to repay my debt for the knowledge I had gained. All told, a very worthwhile visit to a beautiful circle.

Gwas

Lammas 2011 on Anglesey – Part 2

Gwas — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 23:03:25 +0000

In this second part of my Anglesey outing for Lughnasagh I will be telling you about my meditation at the Benllech dolmen, and a revealing dowsing encounter.The story is also a warning to those who are still struggling to allow their intuition to be their primary guide through life. Sometimes our tales are of greatness, and sometimes of woe. As you have come to know we do not spare the truth to save the story.

3.Benllech dolmen (Megalithic)

I knew where the stones were even before I parked. Yes, I had studied a map as best I could to get a feel for their location, but this was the now familiar extra-sensory feel which has all the feel of a magnet being positioned at a certain point around the head. I simply had to face into the magnetic stream to let it position my gaze in the right direction. “Simply” I say, as though it were the easiest and most natural thing in the world – which it is. But there’s the trick – to let it happen.

Having located the general direction I began to pick apart the clues in the surroundings – a footpath sign, a track through a field over a stile, a gateway without a gate. As I crossed a field my gaze was taken by a startled hare that was out in the dew-laden field whose morning misty veil had only just lifted to reveal a pleasanter day that had been forecast. The hare and I observed each other, both our senses feeling for warning signs before retreating into cover. Our precedence does us no favours among the timid.

I noted the path across the field, and then spotted one up through the gorse. I decided to follow my rational sense. There was a prostrate footpath sign and my rational brain worked out that it could only be indicating the path across the field given the configuration of pointers. I went the way I had been instructed, yet hankered after the gorse path, looking back at it longingly, whilst my rational brain began to assess the possible ways beyond the field, scanning for the continuation of the decided path. After fifteen minutes of searching atop the field I didn’t find the dolmen and had to go back to the fallen sign. Then my intuition told me again that the dolmen was not far along the smaller path through the gorse. This time I followed my intuition and within two minutes I had found the dolmen nestled within a clump of bushes and not obvious at all. Yet I walked straight to it when I switched off my ‘primary senses’ in favour of my primitive ones.

: The wild-flower paradise of Benllech dolmen

I asked the dowsing rods if the site was energetically active? YES. Could I do work here? YES. As I began to prepare for a ritual by getting some incense out and lighting it I had another intuitive feeling, so I asked the dowsing rods was I going to be interrupted during the ritual? YES! I decided to slightly change me plans to accommodate this. I began to dowse around to find out which energies were in the area. I found one male and one female energy centre inside the dolmen. I was directed to sit at the female centre. I knew this already somehow – both its position and orientation. I had felt its presence by tuning my mind into the frequency of the energy I wished to find. It had shown itself to me as a feeling of an invisible vortex being in the periphery of my sight. I knew its nature even though I couldn’t actually see it.

I followed the lines I had dowsed = the male and the female – to their sources. The male energy came from an elder tree right next to the dolmen. The female line came from a hawthorn tree some fifteen feet away. As I began to think about wrapping up the dowsing a seagull flew in figures of eight above me squawking wildly. I reasoned that it was probably warning me to stay away from it’s nest. It was, however, most insistent even though I was not moving anywhere. I decided to follow it. It led me away further into the bushes along a well-used path – cawing occasionally in a less insistent voice – a confirmatory voice. “That’s right, this way” it seemed to say. At a 90 degree bend in the path the seagull circled squawking noisily in a tight circle above me. I looked up from my dowsing rods to see them pointing off to one side at a large stone that had been used to prop up a fence post. I dowsed it and found it was a strong female energy emitter. The seagull flew back towards the dolmen at this point, singing in a seagull shanty. Something else to show me, I mused? I followed the line out of the stone. It headed back to the dolmen.

I followed the line all the way back to within sight of the dolmen’s slanted stones when the female line went around the dolmen site – call it the periphery of the site’s aura – at a distance of some twenty five feet. Once I had fought my way through the bushes to discover its total circumference the gull suddenly stopped and flew off! A sure sign that I had found what I had been invited to find. My mind turned to thoughts of how this site might be used by a neo-shamanic druid with no particular purpose.

Let them pass, sir, let them pass!

I secured the boundaries of the site using the female perimeter line, washing it with intent and preventing intrusion by unwanted or unhelpful energies or people. I arranged my crystals – four elemental crystals – to coincide with the cardinal points. I let the crystals form an energetic shape that would attract the elemental energies – they formed a simple cross. Some incense was lit to clear and prepare the air for meditation. I stood at the entrance to the dolmen, letting its acoustic properties become my earphone as I awaited the “interruption” that I had been foretold would happen. Suddenly I could hear voices and the hammer of hooves slowly plodding. A troupe of small ponies and riders appeared moments later on one of the paths close to the dolmen. After saying hello and letting them pass I was on my own. At last!

Then I went into the dolmen and asked the Spirit Of Place if it was permissible for me to draw a circle. I got a positive response (slight breath of wind in my face) so I created a druid circle in which to work. Once secured and sealed, I began to ask the Spirit Of Place for some information about my healing quest.

: A Lammas gift of abundant wild flowers in full bloom

The information I got was simply this – should I continue learning healing, or do something else? Learn healing. How should I progress with this? A picture of turquoise appeared. Only that. I should concentrate on learning about the turquoise healing frequency and master it. To me this frequency is associated with divine energy and healing from the heart or with love.

This was enough for me, and I said my farewells, leaving a posy of gently tied wild flowers wrapped around a white feather that I had brought from Glastonbury. This was my Lammas gift – a symbol of the abundance of Nature at this time of the year, and respectfully asking the permission of the plant spirits to use these specimens, saying how much I appreciated the beauty of Nature’s gifts. I did each pluck of the stems with loving care in the name of The Goddess and in tribute. With this simple decomposable posy I marked the passing of one energy season to another – of the wane of summer and the waxing of autumn. I acknowledged the energy balance begin to shift towards decay. I noticed the fallen leaves and the yellowing leaves at the base of shrubs and trees. I felt the first afternoon chill lay upon the island stronghold of the druids and I felt like I was with them across all senses of time, marking the things they had marked but in my own way

This was new tradition. Remembered or imagined, I was making it real and present.

Gwas.

The Bridestones – a new healing centre

Gwas — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 23:11:16 +0000

In this post I am going to tell you about the single most powerful and fascinating true story of some work I did with a healer friend as we worked on resolving a long-standing energy problem at a sacred site in Cheshire. Every word is true and as it happened. I think you will find it a good example of earth energy healing, a telepathic incident, and also a curious tale of an encounter with a dark energy form.

I have talked many times with my friend Michael about energy healing. Sometimes he talks about me getting involved in healing, with the presumption that this means people. Sometimes I talk to him about healing, with the presumption that I mean earth energy healing. Sometimes we are on the same wavelength. One evening I went to see Michael in Congleton and I felt like it was the culmination of a series of events that were bringing our wavelengths together.

Michael barely had time to say hello before I was asking whether he could accompany me on a special journey to a local site. He didn’t need much persuading, and in a few moments we were heading off to The Bridestones – a site that Michael lives close to but which he had never visited close up (he has passed by on many occasions). He said he never felt that there was anything there for him to go for. I understood that feeling, for it is exactly the same feeling that Kal has about the site – a distaste for it.

As we drove the few miles out of town I explained how I had come to choose this site. I had been doing a tarot reading about where I should take my healing work and it had suggested I would work with someone who was already skilled in healing. Well, I only knew one person who fitted that bill! Then the cards suggested earth energy healing, and I began to wonder where Michael would fit into this particular picture, as he was a healer of people. He responded that actually he had been receiving information telling him that he would be doing more earth energy healing soon. Looks like I turned up at the right point then?

Finally, I explained how I had found the site by dowsing questions. After going through a list of “North/South of Britain”, “East/West”, type of questioning I began to narrow it down to specific counties, and then I could begin to narrow the search down by asking whether it’s a site I have visited before. When the answer came back that it was a known site I only had to go through a list of the sites in that county, and soon I had my answer - The Bridestones. I knew instantly that the choice of Michael by the tarot cards was perfect – he had local knowledge, and healing abilities. It was a perfect match and it felt right.

So, we visited The Bridestones on a sunny evening in late July, just as the sun was moving towards the horizon and the shadows growing long. Here is the tale of our epic work at this site.

Working in new ways

The Bridestones - a confusion of energy

Despite living less than two miles from the stone Michael had not visited the Bridestones before. He had passed them many times, and had relatives who lived in the area, yet he had always felt that the stones were “not right” somehow. Having struggled to befriend the Spirit of Place on many occasions I knew what he meant. This site was awkward and troublesome for those who were not prepared to work hard at overcoming the initial unwholesome feeling. When we arrived we walked around slowly feeling the qualities of the energies. They were obviously disturbed. Our heads began to tighten after only a few minutes of being close to the tall stones. I knew that if we didn’t take preacutions this would lead to a headache soon. We moved around feeling the other parts of the site.

We both liked the lone stone near the entrance. It was an oasis of harmonious energy in a sea of troubles. As we inspected the chamber itself Michael said he preferred the first half of it, whereas I preferred the second half. I informed him that this was probably due to the male and female power centres that were in each of the halves of the chamber. We had naturally preferred those forms most compatible with our own energy fields – he the male, and I the female. Michael commented that the second half of the chamber felt “stifling”, and “suffocating”. I knew what he meant. On my last visit I had meditated in that spot and found that I had stopped breathing, but had put that down to a deep meditation. Perhaps there was something more to it than that? A cloying, unhealthy energy perhaps?

We agreed that we needed to do some work to quieten the energies here and speculated as to the possible causes for the disturbance. Michael’s psychic senses pointed him to the quarry behind the copse of trees alongside the chamber. I laughed, because I was also facing this quarry area because there was a feeling in my head – my deviceless dowsing feeling – that was pointing me in that direction too. Our second tacit agreement.

A new healing line required into this chamber

For my part, I decided that I would be working with my new earth energy healing ally and would make use of the rose crystal that I had bought in France. This would be my first experience of working with my new healing ally on a real project together. We discussed what we felt we should do to remedy the turmoil of energies produced by the quarrying work nearby.

A Plan of Action

Our first thought was to change the frequency of the energies to bring in a calming influence. Next, we decided that the site would need to be sealed off from further disruptive influences, otherwise any good work we did would be undone. Michael felt that he wanted to put a straight line into the chamber – a line of healing energy. I had placed my rose quartz stone on one of the small inner stones in the centre of the chanber, and then I noticed that at the other end of the chamber was an identifical small embedded stone, hidden from view by grass, and that together these two “guide stones” would form energetic anchors for a straight line through the chamber!! Coincidence?

We adjourned to the outlier stone that stands slanted at the side of the site. Here we put up some protection and began to formulate our plans. We felt we needed to use the outlier stone as a source of good energy, as it was the only stable energy on the site. We decided to invest it with healing energy and positive emotions. Then we could move this energy along a path through the site so that it would form a circuit. Then, I felt, we needed to enlist the help of the surrounding trees to keep this circuit in perpetual motion using their living energies to power the flow.

Our next stage of the plan would entail sealing off the site from further harmful radiations and disruption from the nearby quarry, and to placate the Spirit of Place whose outrage at the site’s destruction had never been dealt with, I felt. The Spirit seemed to harbour a long-standing grudge about having the stones removed for use in houses in the vicinity, and at the very least we needed to apologise for this before we could enlist the Spirit of Place in a co-operative healing act.

With the plans at least half formulated, we began our work.

A helpful but errant stone

Let the Healing Begin

Our first step was to imbue the outlier stone with healing energy. Michael placed both his hands onto the stone and closed his eyes. I placed my right hand onto the stone – my ‘giving’ hand – and began to tune into the sources of energy nearby. I felt the power of the earth below us, of the wind, the water, the sun, the trees and plants. I drew from them all. I funnelled the energy through my heart chakra in order to colour the energy with a healing frequency.

By now I could feel Michael’s energy filling the stone mroe strongly than my own efforts, so I switched emphasis. Instead of filling the stone I began to visualise a line of energy coming out of the stone and along the central line that we had wished to create. From there it circled around inside the chamber of the Bridestones, and out again, around the tall stones, back through the square stone that lay outside of the chamber, around the yew trees at the entrance, and back to the stone we were working on. Soon, the energy was coursing on its own, and my visualisation was no longer required to sustain it.

We both seemed to stop our energising work at the same moment. No checking of the process was required, we felt, because we knew we had put energy in, but I wanted to check whether I had also allowed the energy to begin to flow out. I got my dowsing rods and began to follow the line of the circuit from the stone. Inside the chamber the line went exactly where I had intended it. Outside the chamber it began to take on a life of its own, however! It went through all of the points that I had directed it to, but the path was more circuitous than I had visualised, and seemed to be avoiding certain spots. Well, the energy knew its own best course, I presumed! I was just happy that the line formed a complete circuit as I had intended, and that Michael’s healing energy was coursing along it now.

Soothing the Spirit of Place

We knew that we would have to seal the site off next, but before doing that I wanted to seek the co-operation of the Spirit of Place in this work. I dowsed for a place that I could work with the spirit, and then began to tune into it. I felt its anger, its pain, and its distrust of humans. It had been wronged so many times before – humans had stolen its stones, ruined their power, destroyed its good work, and generally abused its presence for so long that it was giving off a feeling of never wanting anything to do with us again.

I spent a few minutes entreating it – we came in a spirit of healing, in a spirit of capitulation, we were apologising for all our wrongs, and now we would set them all right again using the remaining structure. This was the best we could offer. We couldn’t undo the wrongs of the past, but we could set a positive outlook for the future. The tide was turning, I promised. People were again becoming aware. Wouldn’t she, the spirit of this place, work with us to make a new energy for the future? I waited. And waited. Then at last I felt a large spiritual ‘sigh’ as she agreed. She would trust us, and she would help us.

Sealing the healing

The final part of our work, so we thought, was to lock in the healing energies that we had created. We didn’t want further energetic disruptions from the nearby quarry to destroy all our good work, or for the healing energy to simply dissipate. We began to discuss how we could do this, and simultaneously we began to say, “Put up a bubble around the site”. We laughed at having been so synchronous in our thinking, despite never having done any work like this together, or even having discussed methods of working before. Clearly we were working as one today.

We decided that to work we would have to go to opposite ends of the site. I went to the yew trees (my department) and Michael went to the far side of the chamber, outside of the stones. We faced each other and began our visualisation work. I drew energy from the surrounding living energies, whereas I knew that Michael would be working with what he called “Universal Energy”. As my visualisation began to spread from me towards the site it spread upwards in an elongated bubble shape, a dome of pure turquoise light threads, weaving themselves together into a web of tightly-bound energy filaments. I marvelled at the clarity of the vision, which had seemed to take on a life of its own once I had initiated it. I watched in amazement as the casing formed a shell over the site.

As my shell began to approach the middle it encountered another shell coming in the other direction! This was Michael’s white light shell being formed on filaments and shards of crystalline white energy that refracted into all the colours of the rainbow as the light was bent into a dome shape. His shell wove itself over the top of mine and soon there was my underlying turquoise shell with a pure white light shell on top of it. Again, the clarity of the vision – like a waking dream, an overlay on reality – was stunning and I watched agog at the scene unfolding.

When the two shells were in place we both seemed to relax and look at each other at exactly the same moment. Synchronous minds again. We re-convened and discussed what we had seen. Our stories tallied perfectly – we had both seen the same thing happening. It was a magickal moment, to be sure.

Dark air at the back of the Bridestones

Releasing the darkness

As we were studying our work, satisfied that we had done something good here, Michael mentioned a feeling he had had while standing at the far end of the site. He said that he had seen a dark energy there, and wondered if we should do something about it. I immediately got my rods out and dowsed for its exact location. There was a circular swirl in the grass, almost undetectable unless you look for these things, and the rods were circling around this point. As I stood momentarily at that spot I felt fearful and backed away.

I felt this was something unknown to me. It was something dark and resentful – even more than the Spirit of Place had felt. This was some dark energy force that I couldn’t identify. I asked the rods whether I had ever encountered anything like it before – NO. I dowsed some questions about what it might be, and the best answer I could manage was that it was some form of air spirit, but one that had “gone sour” or perhaps was an energetic representation of the bad energies of the site? I really didn’t know, and didn’t want to find out!

I told Michael that I didn’t want to go near it. Before I could say anything else, he stepped forward with his arms open to embrace the dark spirit. As he touched it he recoiled physically – as though it had pushed him away, or he had touched something horrible which had shocked him. Instinctively I went into myself and gathered up energy connections from the surrounding forces. I threw some threads of energy around the space where the spirit was and tied myself to Michael with others. I was trying to simultaneously contain the dark spirit, but also feed energy into Michael’s work, and anchor him in the real world.

Michael held still for a moment and in the setting sunlight he seemed transfixed, between two worlds. My energy connection had opened up some other form of connection between the two of us, for suddenly I knew what to do. This was an air spirit – its release would come through the act of breathing. It was as though something had whispered this to me, and I passed the communication on to Michael through the threads. In my mind I sent him a mental instruction, “Breathe!“ I looked and saw that he breathed gently, with his eyes closed. “Breathe again – deeper!” I said in my mind. He breathed once more, this time much deeper as though exhaling the dark energy out through his lungs. “One last breath…” I thought. Michael breathed a third time and then paused. “Now turn into the sun and release the energy!” I mentally urged him. Immediately he turned towards the setting sun and opened his arms wide, as though releasing the dark force into the light.

He came back to consciousness, opening his eyes. I was staring at him like a mad man – completely unable to believe what had just happened. We had communicated telepathically. Michael had performed each instruction exactly on cue, and without any external audible sounds. He even had his eyes closed during the whole process. I was completely amazed. Where had these instructions come from? How had they come through me? So many questions, but the result was that the dark energy had gone – it couldn’t be dowsed any longer. It had vanished – absorbed by the setting sun!

A new healing site

It was time to say our own farewells – to the site, to the Spirit of Place, and to this incredible experience. The sun was moving below the horizon and dragging the last of the late summer light with it. I lit some incense for myself and handed some sticks to Michael too. It seemed a fitting way of clearing our own energies from the site, and in some way sanctifying the place too. I lit four sticks and placed them at strategic power centres around the site.

As the incense burned and cleared I dowsed for the change in energy at the Bridestones. I had dowsed the strength when we had arrived and found it to be only a 2 out of 10. Now the strength was a 4 out of 10. Already the strength of the energies had doubled in a short time. Michael approached to add a further comment – he had the feeling that we had turned the site into a healing centre. He now felt that the site could actually be used for healing purposes. Really? I dowsed for confirmation. What strength would the site’s energies need to be to support such a concept? FOUR. They were already at that level. Was this site now capable of providing healing energies to visitors? YES.

I* needed one final confirmation from Nature herself. I asked the Spirit of Place to show me a sign through Nature if she was pleased with the work we had done ….. instantly a rooster crowed in response to this question. I felt this was the sign I was looking for. I asked her to show me a sign if she was in any way disappointed by our work…. nothing. Everything went silent. That was perfect.

That evening at Michael’s house we talked long into the night about healing. I am beginning to learn a lot about this art from such a master, and his key message was simplicity. I take that forward in my work now, and will see how I can work simply to effect positive healing changes. Personally, I believe we all develop the art that suit

Gwas.

Brittany 2011 – The Valley of No Return

Gwas — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 20:39:51 +0000

The Broceliande Forest is a legendary place, like Avalon, whose exact whereabouts are uncertain. These days it is considered by some to be situated in the Paimpont Forest in Ile-et-Vilaine in Brittany. Having visited this forest in 2009 to see Merlin’s Tomb, I decided that we ought to look at another of the parts of the forest this time. So, having visited the town of Paimpont for inspiration we decided to head for the Val Sans Retour (The Valley of No Return), which seemed to contain some interestingly-named attractions – not least of which was the Golden Tree, and a couple of megalithic sites.

Introduction to the Valley of No Return

Our starting point for a walk in the summer sun was the village of Trehorenteuc. We knew that we were probably in for an interesting time when we found that many of the houses and local shops were decorated with murals with a woodland and fairy theme, or were named after characters from the Arthurian mythology – especially Merlin. This bade well. We parked and picnicked at the tourist information office (which is alongside a church reputed to be a resting place for the Holy Grail, no less) and then headed out of the village on foot to the start of the forest paths.

A welcome sign for druids

Once inside the woodland we were shielded from the intense heat, but you could see that the forest was usually flowing with streams, but that the lack of rainfall over the last few months had dried up all the shallower beds so that it was now possible to walk along their course from the village right up into the hills above. You could tell that in Autumn or Winter some river-hopping would be required at some points in order to make your way deep into the forest.

As we entered the forest we felt like we had crossed some kind of magical threshold, and that from now on things would get a little stranger. That’s exactly what happened.

On our way to the first of the forest’s lakes we came across some unusually clothed characters who were preparing to leap out from behind trees at some schoolchildren who were learning the stories of the Arthurian knights and the magical witches that were the French versions of the Arthurian tales linked specifically to these woods.

A dry river bed making the going easier in the Val Sans Retour

The Golden Tree

Our first stop was at the lake near to the entrance of the woods. Here was the Golden Tree – a modern work of art. It was a bare tree spray-painted in gold! The effect was like a pair of golden antlers and for me it evoked the spirit of Herne the Hunter. Surrounding the tree were hundreds of slivers of sharp rock that had been up-ended to stand vertically, like a forest of tiny petrified trees surrounding and highlighting this mighty central golden wonder. In the bright sunlight the effect was quite impressive, if a little unusual.

In the shadow of the golden horns of Herne

Happenstance and the Giant’s Grave

We were following the white and red markers to find the megalithic sites that were at the furthest edges of the forest. This entailed a long walk through the shaded woodland and then up a short steep slope to the top of the rim that surrounds the main woods. Every so often was a wooden sign showing the way to our first site, “L’Hotié de Viviane”, or Viviane’s Abode. Just before we began to climb out of the forest we saw the signpost saying that this site was 1km away, which gave us our bearings. M and I climbed out of the forest and then began chatting about this and that. Soon we were on a rubble track which ended up at a car park. We scoured for further signs and found one which seemed to indicate that an ancient structure might be further onwards down another track. We continued until we reached a crossroads and then stopped. This felt like more than a kilometre! Were we close?

We checked our paltry and un-detailed map and found that we might actually be close to several other sites, so we soldiered on. Soon we saw a sign pointing to the “Tombeau des Géants”, or the Tomb of the Giants. That sounded interesting, so we made a diversion in that direction, making sure we knew how to get back to the crossroads to continue on the ‘correct’ path later.

The Giant’s Grave was only a short walk from the crossroads luckily, and it was wholly in shade from the midday sun. We stopped to cool down and I began to assess the site whilst some other visitors looked around too. There was the main tomb, which was quite long – maybe ten feet in length. Slightly further away, fifteen feet maybe, was what you might call “the lid” of the tomb – a seemingly ‘discarded’ megalith lying at a jaunty angle. All around the site hung ‘gifts’ crafted by pagans and left in celebration of this spiritual place.

Soon the other visitors disappeared, as they inevitably do when they come to look at inanimate stones. I began to do some dowsing. Was it, in fact, a spiritual place? Did it have a Spirit of Place, for example? NO. Oh! Did the site have any subtle energy though? YES. I did some general dowsing for power centres and to check the relative strength of the energies, which was quite low. Yet, so many people seemed to be investing their interest and affection in this place – were they aware it had been abandoned spiritually? An idea began to emerge in my curious mind – could I perhaps invite a Spirit of Place to return here, because the place was obviously being actively worshipped?

The Giant's Grave

I asked the dowsing rods whether this was possible/sensible/had any negative effects. It was possible, was a good things to do, and had no drawbacks. With that news I set about an impromptu ritual to call back the Spirit of Place. I lit some incense sticks and put them at places suggested by the dowsing rods. One such place was in the middle of a pile of leaves at an innocuous spot to one side of the main site. As I stood wondering why that spot exactly, the sun came out from behind a cloud and shone strongly on just that spot – like a magic spotlight beaming onto the incense stick! I placed the rest without questioning. The final stick went next to a tiny sprig of newly-growing oak that was pushing out of the side of the “lid” stone. I felt that was appropriate placement by the rods, considering I was trying to bring life back to the site.

I stood on a power centre and concentrated on the intention to bring back any spirit that wished to serve its duty of looking after the spiritual well-being of this site. I called upon it to come when it was ready, and only to come if it wished to take on the task. I re-iterated that the site was being actively used for energetic worship, and asked that the spirit come to support that work to grow in the future. I stated that whatever had made the previous spirit leave, probably spiritual neglect, was now a thing of the past and that a new phase of spiritual growth was upon our kind, and that this relationship between spirit and man was mutually beneficial once more. With that I felt I had done what I could and we left. As I left I removed the incense and removed my ‘scent’ from the site.

When I got back to England I dowsed to see if the site had been re-occupied. I can report that a male spirit has come to answer this request and so far it has found the spiritual support that it is looking for. I hope that those who visit it also get the spiritual benefit they seek now.

The Imp at the Crossroads

We returned to the crossroads and studied the crap map again. It looked like Viviane’s House should be somewhere nearby, but it was hard to tell how close it was. We chose a path and began to walk again. After a few minutes along this path I felt something was wrong and I stopped. M was looking out the corner of her eyes and she looked unusually concerned. “What is it?” I asked her. “You’re going to think I’m crazy,” she began, “but I think I can see…an….well, an IMP – and he’s laughing at us!”. This was highly unusual. M is not inclined to say things like this, and so I didn’t quite knwo what to say to her, except, “Let me check!”. I got my rods out and began to dowse. Was there an energetic entity that was following us? YES. Could M see it? YES. Was it well-meaning? NO. Was it trying to mis-direct us? YES. I told M that I agreed with her, and that I had encountered somethign similar in Ireland once – a ‘leprechaun’ entity. Here, ihn France, we had encountered another form of this Trickster spirit, and it was leading us far away from our intended destination.

I put up some protection around the pair of us to ward of further intrusion and mis-direction. I checked the map with fresh eyes – and suddenly could see just how far we had gone away from our intended destination! How could I have been so stupid as to read the simple map so wrong?…..Ah, I knew why really! I told M about how we needed to head back to the crossroads, back to the car park we had passed, and even further, back to the top edge of the forest even! That’s how far we had gone wrong – by about two miles, never mind one kilometre!

I checked my peripheral vision and in my mind’s eye I could see this imp too and the short little swine had a broad grin on his face. I pretended I was none the wiser about his presence and made no remarks about him, but in my mind I knew what I would do. I told M we should head back to the crossroads to “re-assess our position”. We walked for about a minute back up the forest track when I began to energetically “feel” for the connection to the imp at the edge of my aura. I could feel a thread of attachment to me, and assumed there was probably one to M as well. I suddenly swivelled around and began to wind this invisible cord round and around my arm as though gathering in a rope. I felt I had now trapped the imp in my grasp and I formed my fingers into an imaginary pair of scissors and cut the cord that bound us all!

I swear the air lightened. A burden lifted. I felt free-er, more mobile, less….heavy. It was as though I had taken off a back-pack, or emptied my pockets of heavy stones. I re-doubled the energetic protection around myself and M and then performed an energy bomb inside the bubble to be sure that nothing inside of it remained. M watched this little pantomime in silent bemusement. I explained that I couldn’t tell her what I was going to do because the element of surprise was key to its success. Now we both let out a sigh of relief and walked quickly back to the crossroads and all the way back to the point where I now thought the turning was that I had missed.

Viviane's House in the Val Sans Retour

Noisy guests at Viviane’s house

At a junction just above the forest was a clear wooden sign next to where the rubble track started. It read quite clearly “Hotié de Viviane”. How could we have missed it? I think I now know! We had picked up a cheeky imp at that point or shortly before and from that moment on we were being drawn further away by a trickster spirit. I should have taken precautions before entering this magical woodland, but I honestly thought it was all just made up for the tourists. Now I have learned that this magical woodland area of Broceliande is real and full of spirits.

We visited Viviane’s House at the same time as a noisy bunch of kids and a family with loads of large dogs. Surprisingly they stayed at the site for ages, and I didn’t get a single moment of peace there to do any meditating or dowsing, and we left to return back to the car soon after. How strange – all that effort to find the place and yet when we did find it it was such an anti-climax. Well, you win some battles and you lose others.

Gwas.

Beltane 2011 – Part 3 – Hunting The Hawk Of May

Gwas — Fri, 27 May 2011 21:42:03 +0000

In this third and final post on the Beltane trip I will reveal how I discovered the true meaning of the phrase “See with the hawk’s vision” – a phrase that had been given to me during my meditation beneath The Llangernyw Yew tree.

After Llangernyw we drove the twenty or so miles towards the north coast of Wales and soon were speeding along the main arterial road that feeds the northern holiday towns with their tourist lifeblood durkng the summer months. We passed Llandudno, then the junction for Conwy, through the short tunnels and out into the shadow of the hills above Penmaenmawr. This seemingly innocuous and insistinctive village is actually a gateway to one of the tightest agglomerations of cairns, circles and cromlechs anywhere in Wales.

Our destination on this May Day was The Druid’s Circle – a stone circle known to have a particular alignment or association with the energies of the Beltane time of year. We drove up the ridiculously steep hill, threading our way from the centre of the village in alternate left and right turns that were now well practised and instinctive despite the infrequent and late signage. If you plan to visit the stone circle for yourself then we recommend a good map, and a willingness to explore the housing estates above the village!

A beautiful view from Penmaenmawr Druid's Circle

On the top of the hills above Penmaenmawr the view was clear and beautiful. We had endured the harsh winds all the way up and now stood bullied by the winds as we drank in the views across to The Great Orme at Llandudno. F0r the first time we took an interest in some rocks that seemed to form an alignment with the small cairn circle that we previously named “The Little Druid”. There may not be any significance in this alignment of stones across the hillside, but nevertheless we noted it for future visits.

Busy Beltane at the Circle

Kal was soon to disappear as we reached the main circle. He had taken an interest in the outlying people and stones, probably because the main circle was populated with several groups of people all engaged in their own Beltane work. I had work to do too. I wanted to connect with the Genius Loci of the place, as I had done previously, and to see whether I could get information about the Hawk of May quest.

I went into the centre of the circle (which I usually avoid, but on this day it seemed charged with potential, whereas it is usually quite confusing and difficult to work with). I stood there and cleansed myself of my worldy energies. Soon I was off towards one of the stones in the southern edge. Kal had been sat at one of those stones too, but now he wandered off in search of something interesting to do. I was trying not to use my rods, but instead to feel for where I should be. I felt one stone in particular was the right one to be at, so I sat there being blasted in one ear by the strong wind.

The stunning setting of the Druid's Circle

This southern stone, not one of the ‘feature’ stones of the circle by any means, I felt had a connection with the Genius Loci. I went into a trance and my mind wandered up and down, to the sky and into the earth, then back to the circle. When I connected it to the Genius Loci’s spirit then things began to occur. It was difficult at first to hear anything because I was trying to listen over the top of the howling wind. As soon as I made the wind the backing music to the trance then the low distant voice of the spirit of this circle emerged to speak. I made my now customary offering of emotion and information, offering love, gratitude and a download of my recent druidic events in return for the information I might receive. Once I had donated this gift then the gift was reciprocated, and soon I learned some things about my quest.

I was taken into the air, flying like a hawk above the scenery. I knew I was in a hawk’s form because I could switch my perception between two modes – an aerial view where I could see for miles around in all directions, or I could focus on one spot and zoom right into that place in minute detail. I practised this way of seeing for a few minutes until I grew comfortable with how it worked. I wasn’t exactly sure whether I was seeing a real place, or a concept of a place because it was hard to recognise the landscape with these two new ways of seeing. Either way, I went with it, and began to ask my question to the spirit of place.

Is this way of seeing the end point of my quest? – NO, this is a gift for you to learn from.
Should I been seeking a real or a metaphorical hawk? – BOTH. You should find the hawk that is really in the landscape.
In the landscape? Is this a terrestrial landscape figure I should find? – YES.
Where can I find the hawk? – CLOSE TO HOME.
How will I be able to begin to identify the hawk? It seems like an impossible task! – FIND A HOLY WELL. This will be your starting point.

The connection faded. Either I was weakening energetically, or the information was dwindling. The connection faded and I returned to normal waking consciousness and found myself back in the circle with all the other people and the howling wind. I had almost forgotten about them for however long I had been away! Now the wind made itself known again and I wrapped myself up against its cool penetrating fingers as they pulled my hair around into stupid shapes.

This new dimension to the quest made it more exciting. It was just like something out of “The Secret Land” that I had finished reading some weeks before, where terrestrial landscape figures were found by scouring old maps. Now I had my own local quest to find a hawk in the lands close to my home. I couldn’t wait to start searching, but first I had to search for Kal, and to thank the spirit of this marvellous circle for again providing me with the state of mind where I could explore this quest in more detail. Despite, or perhaps because of the sense-blocking weather conditions, yet again I had come away from the Druid’s Circle one step closer to achieving my goal.

Gwas – Hunting the Hawk of May

Alderley Edge – consternation and confirmation

Gwas — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:54:45 +0000

This year begins much as last year began, except that the world has turned throughout hundreds of spins and travelled once around our major light source to measure out a year in its dizzy cycle. Our wavering Moon has ebbed and flowed with the tides over those long months and has lit our path on many occasions. One eveningin Alderley Edge forest we began the new year with a need to be amid the imposing ancient trees and to be bathed in moonlight. Luckily, sister moon is out and doing her best to cast a companion cool light on our foolhardy journey.

Consternation

As we struggled to remember what clothing or paraphernalia we might need or indeed had actually brought, Kal mentioned that he hadn’t brought a light because he knew I would. I retorted that I hadn’t brought a light either, but I couldn’t remember why. It seemed like I wouldn’t need one when I packed. Kal became anxious and reminded me that his night vision capabilities were the least of his talents and that he didn’t want a repeat experience of the midnight prowl he took in the forest last year. I feared that would be exactly what we were in store for, but insisted that we go in anyway. I could feel his hesitancy.

Once inside the bounds of the woodland, with the white and orange familiar street lighting fading far behind us, I remained buoyant – there seemed to be enough light for us to make safe progress if we stuck to the main paths. Did we ever stick to the main path? Not often, but tonight we might have to! Amid Kal’s consternation and our idle chat I stopped. What had stopped me, I wondered? Years of experience with these things now made me realise I had stopped for a reason. I scanned around in the dim light and recognised the pale white reflections of five or six dog-sized stones, too smooth and regular to be a stone circle made by ancient hands. Indeed, we were stood by the folly stone circle created at the turn of the last century. Older than most parts of America, but young enough for the dog-stones to seem like mere pups compared to the hoary old stones of the bigger and more hidden monuments.

Confirmation

The folly stone circle was a good indicator. It is raised slightly above the main path and catches your eye as you walk along, if you have the right attention because it was very dark in there that evening. We were only seconds away from the elderly beech tree that held the very spirit of the forest in the confines of its branches and roots. Perhaps I had even been stopped in my tracks by sensing the edge of its giant aura? Kal abandoned his cursory dowse of the circle (because there’s little to dowse) and we made our way to stand underneath the gigantic boughs of this majestic patriarch.

The Spirit of Alderley Edge

Kal gave the tree an affectionate welcome and then wandered off into the lower extremities on a mission of his own devising. For me, I needed to confirm some things that I had learned during the Winter Solstice, but which I found difficult to accept could have been the result of a mystical experience simply because Calgary Airport didn’t feel much like the sort of place that one would expect a mystical moment to occur. I wanted to confirm my findings with a more reliable interlocutor.

Having spent many moments with this tree it was a relatively simple affair to make contact again. Despite his being energetically handicapped by the Winter months I could feel his hidden and dormant depths almost immediately and I approached a connection with humility and respect for his power. He does, after all, hold sway over a very large and ancient forest. It like being able to see the beauty of a woman beneath her winter clothing layers. Some things just shine through despite being buried.

I introduced myself to him again, asking him whether he remembered me and if he could see how far I had come since my last visit there. But I was being hasty and needed to calm down and connect properly before I got a recognisable response. I went quiet and tuned into the forest, letting my attention spread out even as I sent a cycle of energy around me to protect myself from anything in the forest that might be attracted by my expending energy field. You see – I had learned something! Once again I thought back to that small man who had once followed M and me through the forest asking me about magic and warning me that I needed protection in this line of work. At the time I had dismissed his ideas as unnecessary – now I was more experienced.

Once in a quiet state of grace with the tree I asked whether I could confirm something that was on my mind. The tree gave a gentle tug at my energy field as though to invite my question. I projected the thoughts outwards to the tree:-

Please confirm that it was my current quest to write a book – correct
I had until February to get a draft written – correct
The subject of the book should be “service” – correct

Hmmm….better get writing!

I finally asked the tree whether I could be directed to a place in the forest where I could commune with my Spirit Guide to ask her the same questions. The tree seemed to shake oh-so-gently with laughter. I knew he had not taken this as an insult, but rather had seen how unnecessary it was and how insecure I was being. nevertheless he made my head turn to face one part of the forest – it was the direction in which my power centre lay. I asked if that was correct and got a louder rumbling of deep laughter. Always I needed confirmation, he seemed to be saying. ‘Poor child. Come so far, but still so young.’

Keeping dry at Alderley Edge

When Kal returned we set off through the forest going via the main paths towards my power centre. I knew the way in the daylight by the hidden paths, but I only had an inner compass and the guidance of the things of the forest as we ventured off the main paths finally and on towards somewhere I vaguely recognised. Even in the depths of the forest, off the paths, there was a welcome dark blue background that seemed to shed enough light not to get a poke in the eye from a branch, or trip on a tree root or stone. Before we knew it I found us a sensible entrance to the place that had become both a power centre for both of us over the last year (even though we came to it entirely independently at first!).

At the power centre I lit some incense, as did Kal. We stood side by side, together in our own worlds. I connected with the forest and with my spirit guide and went in search of validation. Was i correct in everything I had been told about writing a book? I felt the presence of my spirit guide as i called her. She is my teacher and mentor now, and when she answers my call I do her the courtesy of listening. No questions were needed – she knew what I was asking. Instead she plainly and simply re-iterated all that I had heard before from the tree….but there was something else. She also showed me that the subject matter of the book – service – would become the defining framework within which I would do my best work this year.

Now I understood. I thanked the trees and the forest generally, and disconnected, but kept my protection up. As we walked back towards the car along paths we knew well we chatted about our experiences, and about how comfortable we both felt inside a deep dark forest. How times had changed over the course of a few years and how much we were looking forward to the surprises, the challenges and the rewards that this year might bring. Every year the world gets more interesting!

Gwas. Longing for leaves.

Herne and the Druid’s Circle

Gwas — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 21:14:35 +0000

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

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

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

Light fades over the Druid's Circle at Penmaenmawr

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

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

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

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

The Shadow of a Stag

I stood up from my cosy windbreak and grabbed my rods – there was something I needed to check:-

Was there a Spirit of Place in this circle this evening? YES.

Where was it currently located? At a bare circle of earth near the centre of the stone circle.

Would I be able to work with this Spirit of Place this evening? YES.

Was the Spirit of Place able to help me with answers to my current quest? YES.

It was all very positive, so I did my usual negativity test, “Am I made of sponge?” – NO. OK, just checking! It’s one thing to have the dowsing rods confirm your intuition, but it’s quite easy to fall prey to imposing your own wishes on the reactions of the rods. It only takes a slight tightening of the grip on the rods to be able to force them to cross as you wish, or to prevent them from doing so.

Back at the tall protective stone megalith I sank into a meditative state despite or perhaps lulled by the fierce wind that tore the grass around me. Like falling asleep at a party the cacophony became a single white noise that slowly retreated out of my consciousness like water through my hands. I focused on a single point – the bare circle where the Spirit of Place should be. After only a minute or two I felt ready to call to it. I sent out one of the luminous threads from my energetic centre, from my assemblage point in front of my navel. Three or four others snaked out too in unison, creeping across the stone circle’s interior like glowing tentacles or the after-image of a sparkler on a November night.

As they touched with the power centre they curled upwards around a tall shadow that seemed to appear as though transitioning out of the night sky into silhouette against the moon’s light. As my eyes tracked upwards along the dark figure’s length they reached its head. The figure had the outline of stag’s antlers! As I pulled my eyes out a bit to take the whole image in at once the figure lightened enough for me to catch a glimpse of a man standing proudly, bare-chested to the waist but with fur-lined legs leading to cloven hooves where feet should have been.

Cernunnos, or Herne The Hunter

One word sprang into mind straight away, “Herne”. As it formed the stag-man threw his bearded and antlered head back and laughed, turning to look me right in the eyes for a split second. The eyes pierced intensely but the smile was genuine. A voice that was mine, yet which had an air of authority and antiquity spoke inside my head:

Herne: “What do you want of me, Son of Merlin?” (There was that appellation again, the one with which I was uncomfortable).

Me: “I wish to ask you about my spiritual quest. Can I do that?”

Herne: “You may. Ask away.” The figure was now back in dark silhouette with the face hidden in contrast to the moon’s light behind him.

Me: “My current task is to journey into the Underworld and wake the Spirit of Merlin. Where is the best place to do this?”

Herne: “You know this place already. It is Merlin’s place.”

Me: “Dinas Emrys?”

Herne: “Of course.”

Me: “How can I pass safely through the Underworld?”

Herne: “You must learn to become invisible.”

At this statement I looked up and could not see Herne any more. He slipped back into relief out of the shadows and laughed at me, as though to say, “Yes, like that!” I asked him about the shade of Arthur being my guide, about linking to Tintagel, and whether to use the words that Bran had given me in order to wake Merlin, all of which he politely confirmed and slightly elaborated upon for me. I felt very much satisfied that I had done my research properly for this intricate task.

I thanked him and asked him if there was anything else that eh thought I needed to know before we parted. At this he turned to face me again, leaning towards me slightly as though dispensing some secret that he didn’t want any9one else to hear:

Herne: “Of course, you do realise that I am you and you are me, don’t you? Merlin, Arthur, me, you – we are all one. I am them, you are them, they are you and you are me, You do realise that, don’t you?” he said enquiringly. “We are all connected as one within you.”

He nodded his head as though the matter was settled and as though I knew what he meant. I noticed the cue, and began to wrap things up, offering him love and gratitude for his help, and thanking him for making himself known to me. He seemed very satisfied with that, and with a big smile he squatted down on his haunches and with an almighty leap he jumped up into the Moon and disappeared.

I was reeling. To have met Herne (or Cernunnos) felt like a great honour, and a most unexpected one at that because he had not been in my thoughts at all for a very long time. I met back up with Kal and we agreed that we would freeze to death if we didn’t move soon, so we packed up quickly and began to descend along barely moonlit paths, hoping we didn’t stumble and twist an ankle. We trusted to providence and she delivered us safely back to the car as we chatted excitedly about our experiences. I grabbed the recorder and we began to recount out tales. Here’s mine:

Druid Diary excerpt for Druid’s Circle – Gwas’s Tale: DD-PMM-041010-2

If you want to hear Kal’s tale, then I will be posting his audio on the Podcast page for download.

Gwas.