The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘spring equinox’

You may have noticed the lack of podcasts this year on Hedge Druid? There’s a reason for that. In the first half of the year the reason could be put down to a mounting pressure of “work”. Mostly this was spiritual work, and with all the good weather we have had in England this year then the Great Outdoors claimed a large part of my time, and this was reflected in the amount of time-consuming podcast work that I could do. Right, that’s my pathetic excuse out of the way. Now, what about the recent months? I did intend to re-establish the podcast once the weather got worse. It has worsened, but still I don’t feel inclined to get back into the studio to record and edit an hour’s worth of audio. Why not? I think there’s a deeper and wider reason.

I have been noticing that other pagan blogs have also begun to falter in their regularity and their commitment. Could it be that we all expanded too quickly, and pushed ourselves too hard to produce content? Possibly, but I think the real reason is due to a difficulty in maintaining momentum when this year has been out of synchronisation with itself. Let me explain.

The Moon, The Sun and The Earth sources

Last year our blogs flourished. Mostly these are blogs that are talking about magickal work, mystical happenings and spiritual progress. What general effect has happened that could account for the difference between last year’s ease and this year’s difficulty? Simple. It is the synchronisation of the phase of the Moon with the Celtic Festival dates. Last year the high points in the solar cycle were matched by high points in the lunar cycle. In other words, at the major lunar festival dates the Moon was also usually in its Full Moon phase.

Celtic Wheel of the Year

The Celtic Wheel of the Year is a cycle that records the high points of the year’s energies. It tells the pagan watcher when the Earth itself is producing the most energy in its co-operative cycle with The Sun. In my experience, and I speak only for myself here, I do not use The Sun as my primary magickal power source. For me it is The Moon. Last year was therefore a “bumper year” in terms of the number of coincidences between the Solar and Lunar high points. Magick was abundant and easy. Motivation was plentiful, and so a great deal of work flowed, and many posts got produced. Blogs flourished that dealt with these subjects.

This year the story has been completely reversed, and how dispiriting must that have been to many of our pagan friends whose magickal sources are Moon-dependent? This year the Full Moon phases NEVER coincide with any of the Solar Festival dates in the Celtic Year. Only Spring Equinox came close. The result of this, goes my tenuous hypothesis, is that motivation has taken a battering. Magickal people must have found themselves either doing Sun OR Moon work, but never being able to being the two together.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is the fifth and penultimate part (you’ll be pleased to hear, I’m sure) of the Spring Equinox posts concerning our day out in Cumbria. Following on almost immediately from our visit to St Catherine’s Well we wandered down to the banks of the River Esk. We had originally gone in search of one of the several waterfalls in the area, but time was getting on and the recent fine weather would have meant that the falls would be a mere trickle, so we decided to return to the beautiful spot we had passed on our way up the river, and to see what would happen if we meditated there instead. It was still a water element, and it might even be a powerful one. So it turned out to be!

Kal and I sat on opposite banks of the river. I had chosen a precarious perch that was calling to me, and which had a natural seat which let my legs dangle high over the river’s flowing cold water. For several minutes I simply absorbed the surrounding sounds before I felt myself begin to blend with them. My aura had loosened itself from my usual tight grip and was naturally expanding and relaxing from its usual tight circular form and melting into the landscape. I let it. This usually signalled the beginning of something wonderful.

The sounds of birdsong, sheep, trees and flowing water filled the space between my ears and my breathing returned out to join the natural sounds of the early Spring song. I gathered some of my energies from inside myself and began to work them into a swirling pillar of twining strands that flowed up and down, into the earth and up beyond it. Soon the energy pillar settled into a central place around me and I knew I was centred and energised. I put up a slight protective field around me so that I could work undisturbed. This was, after all, a public pathway and there’s no telling what is around you when you commune.

I ventured a question into the depths of my inner silence. “Had I already found my task for the Spring Equinox season?” In the intimate silence of those moments a voice began to emerge in response to the descending and fading question that had been thrust out alone into the void. The voice had certain characteristics of my own vocal sound, but the content was not mine. The voice tinkled like a stream, dove in and around on itself like tumbling water, and held an innate wash of emotion that swept along with its content: “No, you have not yet been tasked.” “Do you have a name?”, I ventured. It did, and it was a name that evoked childhood memories and playfulness, and it made me smile broadly. I tried not to laugh at the name, the I reached into my pocket. It was time for a trade.

I settled back into the depth of the trance to continue my questioning, letting the babbling brook beat out a constant stream of tippling tones. In my hand I cradled an egg-shaped stone that I had found on my travels through Wiltshire, and which held memories of my journey following ley lines and visiting sacred sites in southern counties of England. I offered a trade of this memory-laden stone in return for some information about my next quest. The response was a pleased murmur of consent which rippled in my stomach and which made the invisible threads of my energy perception quiver and waver. Good.

Now the questions received instant answers. I asked whether my recent energy healing work for Japan had been purposeful, and the response was that “Along with the 100,000 other people’s wishes, your energies will all counteract the negative energies of those traumatised by the earthquake and tsunami.” I was both chastened and gladdened by that response. Some good was done, but it felt like I should overestimate the near in-consequentiality of my work.

Next I asked this water spirit of the Esk if she could tell me the next part of  my year’s quest, and in way of an answer she showed began to form a picture in the darkened cinema screen of my inner mind. I was an animation of a hand cupping the flower of a plant (a yellow flower, possibly a daffodil) and by placing the hand under the flower the flower grew to several times its original size and with much stronger qualities such as colour and shape. The inference was clear to me – I would need to learn how to promote the growth of plants. I asked the water spirit to confirm my interpretation, which she did.

I wanted to know a little more about this task. I asked if she was indicating that I should learn how to promote growth in plants through the development of energetic powers – she said it was exactly that. I would have to undergo some form of energetic change in order to learn how to do this. Quite what that change would entail I didn’t feel as though I could enquire at this stage. I had only just had the task revealed, and I wanted to let it sink in before I did more work to reveal the nature of the quest and what I would need to do.

I said my thanks to the helpful spirit, wished her well, and in an act of love and appreciation I came back to full consciousness and threw the egg-shaped stone into one of the deeper parts of the river where it went to join the turquoise colour of the Esk’s clear waters.

In fact, I wouldn’t have too long to wait to find out some more details. For the rest of the day the idea was at the forefront of my thoughts, and as Kal and I moved to the next few sites the opportunity arose for me to ask some more questions and find out more about this quest. In the final visit of the day I would find out more about how I could achieve those powers.

Gwas.

Hi everyone,

Also in this month’s podcast we talk about Kal’s Knight’s Quest, mention where we will be dowsing soon, let you know about an upcoming dowsing course in Cheshire, and there are all the usual features plus some cool new music.

Love and gratitude,
Gwas.

Introduction

I had been looking forward to Beltane for a while. The promise of warmer, longer days to work in plus the chance to get back to some of the best ancient sites in Derbyshire had been whetting my appetite for a few weeks, making all else seem like filling in time until the Big Day. For us, we had worked out that Beltane was happening at the full moon on the 27th and 28th April. This is, of course, different from the ‘new traditional’ concept that Beltane is the 3rd May. Some say the 1sy May – May Day. Others maintain that due to the calendar shift caused by Pope Gregory XIII that the actual date is 23rd April.  You see how confusing this all is?

Our reasoning was simple – we timed the change from the third eighth of the year to the fourth as being when the full moon’s energies signalled a phase change, not on an arbitrary and disputed calendar date. After all, for us the interesting change was a change in subtle energies, so why not connect it to a major factor in the strength of those energies, namely The Moon?

Off we ventured with the intention of visiting as many sites as we could within one day. On our list were Arbor Low, Nine Stones Close, Doll Tor, and possibly Nine Ladies if we had time. Oh, we had time! Arbor Low, Nine Stones, The Andle Stone and Doll Tor will all be covered in this first post.

In part two of this set of posts I will describe our experiences at Nine Ladies, but also The Bullstones and The Bridestones which were also added to the list. We worked efficiently and effectively on this auspicious day and here’s the beginning of my account of our work and our findings.

1. Arbor Low and Ringham Low

The purpose we had set out with for this first site was to check our recent information about the movement of the ‘spirit of place’, the Genius LociGenius Loci means 'spirit of the place' and refers to the geological/gaian spirit of place. It is transfixed to a place – being an embodiment of the collective intelligence of the place. (henceforth – ‘GL’). Kal had found at Penmaenmawr and subsequent places that the GL enters an energised sacred site like a stone circle through an arc of neutral energy – like a fashioned gap or portal into the dome of energy covering the site. The same was true of the exit too – there was an arcing neutral energy that formed a kind of doorway.

Our intention was to verify whether the neutral arc I had found on my recent visit to Arbor Low was in fact an entrance or exit point for the GL. Here is what we found:-

• The Genius LociGenius Loci means 'spirit of the place' and refers to the geological/gaian spirit of place. It is transfixed to a place – being an embodiment of the collective intelligence of the place. travels along a neutral North-South ley lineThe term used by many British dowsers to describe an energy leyA straight line of neutral energy linking two or more sacred sites or other energetic centres. This is often confused with Alfred Watkins’ concept of the Ley Line. Strictly speaking a ley line does not necessarily mean a neutral energy line, only a sight alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. between notable places, whereas an energy ley is like a radial spoke in a wheel, with energy flowing outwards across the land in a straight line. It has sometimes been found that the energy ley can be diverted from its strict straight path by changes in the landscape or strong attractors that pull it away from its original course. Energy leys may have inter-twining streams of male and female energies weaving along them, as though the energy ley is an attractor, a pathway or a conduit for the male and female energies.. It is easily confused with ley and therefore its use is not recommended by dowsers. that connects to other distant sacred sites
• It enters the site at the place I identified last visit
• The exit is directly opposite, at the northern-most point of the stone circle
• The path of the GL oscillated more strongly as it approached the embankment of the site
• The path circles around the position where a standing stone would once had been placed on the earthwork (now all missing)

Satisfied with these findings we headed off to a site I had spotted marked on an OS map as being near to Arbor Low. This site as called Ringham Low, but when we got to the place where it was marked on the map, there was no sign of it. We walked the field for a while then got dowsing rods out. We found a circle thirty feet wide on the slightly sloping ground, and wondered what might once have been here. Then we moved on. More interesting work was due next at Nine Stones Close.

2. Nine Stones Close

Our second site was up on Harthill Moor, and was a site we were both very familiar with – our old friend Nine Stones Close. My intended purpose for visiting this site was to try to establish my wider purpose for the fourth eight-part of the year – the time between Beltane and Summer Solstice. We always have a little chuckle about what people might think when they encounter “Nine Stones”, with its four standing stones. Do they think it might once have had nine? It didn’t. Possibly five, but never nine.

Dull weather at Nine Stones Close

Despite the passing human traffic, ramblers and school outings everywhere, I was able to meditate quite deeply at Nine Stones, and to get a lot of dowsing done too. As a precaution, remembering the warning that I had been given by the Llangernyw Yew tree, I put up some energetic protection around myself. According to Kal that did its job, because a passing inquisitive person thought twice about approaching and came nowhere near whilst I has meditating. Just lucky, I guess.

Here’s what I found out:-

• I identified the purpose of the time between Beltane and the Summer Solstice
• The purpose of this time of the year is to learn how to diffract, dissociate and extract the different frequencies that my energy field can generate. Then to learn how to bring those frequencies together again to form a pure white energy form.
• I found that my meditation visualisations have changed from streams of fire to those of water – streams, fountains and geysers.

That purpose seemed like a natural extension of the research I had done for the previous eighth part of the year, which had been to learn how to work with neutral energy. I have yet to discover whether there is something about the energies of this time of the year that promotes or encourages that kind of work – this I will try to discover in the next few weeks.

From Nine Stones we headed towards the imposing gritstone structure that is named Robin Hood’s Stride.

3. Robin Hood’s Stride

There was not much to do at Robin Hood’s Stride. The huge outcrop of gritstone is impressive against the surrounding skyline of rolling hills and tree-studded fields, and something made us both want to go and pay it a visit. The one time we had felt like that previously we had found respective power centres, but that had been such a long time ago (in our minds) that we had forgotten where those were. We decided to re-dowse them to see if we could verify the original findings and to see whether that would jog our memories.

Minutes later Kal had found his centre in a small sheltered cave-like formation on the side of the Stride, whereas I was being directed into a crevice. I looked up the crevice to see that there was some kind of hit-like formation of rock slabs above me. Seems like I would have to climb up. I remembered from the last time that I had had to do that to find my power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘AlignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment.’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre., so I hoped I could find it again, now that the rods had led me to this spot directly underneath this unusual slab formation fifteen feet above my head.

Once on top I followed the rods until they crossed and circled around inside a square box of a rock shelter. Inside I felt cushioned from the cold winds of early Spring and my voice resonated within the stone chamber as I called forlornly to my now absent friend below. As usual Kal had gone a-wandering. There was a beaten and chewed stick that some dog must have deposited within the chamber which kept attracting my attention. I picked it up and started to bounce it off the walls and floor of the chamber like a drumstick. For several minutes I beat out strange rhythms that seemed inspired by the sound of the wind on the walls of the chamber, but which were immensely pleasing. This was the place I had found the last time too.

Here’s a link to a YouTube video showing you Robin Hood’s Stride.

Read the rest of this entry »

Throughout this year there has been a single overriding concern that has permeated everything that I do regarding dowsing or druidry: there must be a purpose to it. By that I don’t mean that I haven’t had fun, or avoided doing frivolous things. Not at all. However, each visit that I have embarked upon has been characterised by my having a purpose to go there with. This was the message that I got out of the consolidation period at the end of 2009, that period between Samhain and Yule when one should bring all things learned in the year together, sort through them, and resolve them into a unified approach for the next year’s work. Like some kind of meta-idea, the concept emerged that for 2010 my task would be to determine the purpose of each eighth part of the year – to understand the eight-fold year.

There seems to be a common acceptance of what is considered to be the revived concept of the eight-fold year amongst Neo-Pagan and Wiccan circles. This has all the dates that are close to what may be the ‘original’ divisions of the year. Truth is, no-one really knows how the divisions of the year were named, or upon which dates these divisions actually fell. What has been reconstructed has come to us through a combination of modern research into old customs, or through the collective acceptance of dates that feel familiar and proper. It has largely been a process of re-appropriation of existing festivals such as Christmas, Easter and Hallowe’en, wresting them from the clutches of the Christian sovereignty.

Whilst there is a certain concensus as to what those specific division dates mean, what is not clear is what the time in between those divisions means. I have been following the year’s divisions closely since Winter and have communed and divined for myself what those in-between days (cf. The Cure) mean to me.

There is a certain difficulty with being precise about these division dates too. Nature does not appear as being very precise to us humans because we cannot comrpehend all of the factors involved in what makes The Great Clock tick! The combination of influences from stars, planets, conjunctions, and who knows how many other influences is simply beyond our comprehension. Therefore, we can only “best guess” when these times arise besed on previous experience, and then we need to be flexible about it all, because we probably won’t guess entirely correctly. Does precision matter in working out these division times? I don’t think so, becuase most of the divisions are largely dependent upon the Moon, and the Moon’s influence occurs over several days, and this gives us a certain amount of lee-way.

One final caveat: the information I have discovered is, I believe, probably quite personal to me. I am not, therefore, espousing a new system to explain the Eight-Fold Year as a replacement for other systems that are out there or that you may be using already. Nor am I trying to back up my claims with astological, scientific or any other form of knowledge system. These explanations may be entirely my own – I don’t know until I have had perhaps several years worth of data to analyse. This is my first year of gaining this knowledge, so please bear that in mind when you read this. It is for your edification and information only, and it is merely presented so that it may suggest things for you to try out for yourself.

So, that said, here goes. So far I have discovered the following stages:-

YULE to IMBOLC

The division line may actually be Twelfth Night rather than Christmas Day. I will have to check that when it comes around again this year to get the precise cut-over, not that any of these divisions are precise, because they’re not. However, I think it’s worthwhile me finding out whether it’s Christmas or Twelfth Night.

PURPOSE:

1. To be still and quiet.
2. To engage in no activity of a magickal nature at all.
3. To cleanse the mind of the information from the previous year.

Anything that has not sunk in already after the period immediately prior to this one (which I think is about consolidating information) should not be brought forward into the new year. The purpose of this period is to cleanse oneself of all that “baggage” and to leave the mind in a state whereby new knowledge, new seeds, can be planted upon a well-prepared but settled soil. As with meditation, achieving stillness is the key to appreciating this time of the year. The “season of peace” indeed!

IMBOLC to SPRING EQUINOX

PURPOSE:

1. To awaken the energies of ancient sacred sites.
2. To awaken, pay homage to, or recall the guardian spirits of such places.
3. To prepare the ground for the year’s energy work, by preparing self and place.

This is an interactive stage of the year, and is the first involvement by the participant (the seeker) with the land and its spirits and energies. I found that I was asked to visit many of the places that I had found the be especially find of (read – ‘connected to’, or ‘aligned to’) and that when I was there I would go through a process of firstly finding out what state the place was in, then I would connect to the site, and finally, if necessary, I would invoke the spirit of the place – that guardian spirit – to ask that it return if I found it to be absent. Of course, I could only make a request of the spirit to return, and only if I had prepared the ground appropriately, so to speak.

All of this work, of visiting sites, connecting to them and contacting or invoking the spirit of place, it was all a form of preparation for the work that was to come. A sort of re-introduction, a gentle re-awakening to energies and spirits.

SPRING EQUINOX to BELTANE

PURPOSE:

1. To connect to the earth’s energy grid.
2. To understand the nature of Neutral earth energy forms.
3. To extract and utilise Neutral energy.

I think there is a general principle at work during this period, and that is for the seeker to learn to connect into the land. As the earth energies begin to be enlivened by the radiant energy of the sun, and together with the moon this draws life from the land. That signals the time for the seeker to spend time connecting with this upsurge of energy. In some mystical systems the human is the mid-point between the Sky and the Earth, and I think this is a symbolic memory of our ability to actually be the conduit and focal point for the two forms of energy – earth and radiant. We are the combiners.

As for myself this year, I have found that there was an additional task which was to learn in a theoretical and a practical way how I could extract the neutral energy form and store it within me. I learned how to re-charge myself with this energy using my navel chakra point as a storehouse for the neutral energy form – in exactly the same way as in chinese qigong meditation.

In addition to simply drawing out and collecting this energy I learned how to use neutral energy to ‘coat’ objects in order to preserve their energetic imprint. This was a means of creating so-called “power objects” I realised. In other words, it was a way of retaining those special qualities that people had invested into an object – whether that be a memory, a feeling, or some other form of energetic input. I learned how that energy could be retained within the object by using raw neutral energy to preserve it like a coat of varnish.

BELTANE to SUMMER SOLSTICE

PURPOSE:

1. To understand the nature of the neutral or white light energy form and how it is composed
2. To practise diffracting and re-combining the seven coloured frequencies of light
3. To make practical use of these energies to elevate consciousness

I believe this part of the year’s cycle concerns the effort to raise one’s level of consciousness to an opportunity point in the middle of the year when the energies are at their strongest, and one stands the greatest chance of elevating into an enlightened state, or achieving a blissful and revelatory state of mind.

So far I have found that for me this will involve me learning about how to bring together the two inner energy centres – the neutral energy store of the lower dan-tian or navel chakra point, and to combine that with the influx of light energy through the third-eye chakra point in order to diffract the energy into any of the seven frequencies of subtle energyA form of energy that has so far eluded scientific definition. It is neither electric, magenetic, nor electro-magnetic, so far as our current technical equipment can measure. It does, however, exhibit many of the characteristics of magnetism and electricity in terms of its effects and properties. It may be a form of either or both of those energies that we have not yet identified. that I require to be able to perform whatever task I need (for example, to heal an imbalance, or to utilise a particular frequency for a specific task). At this moment I don’t know what tasks those frequencies can perform, but that is learning that I still have to go through.

I suspect that there may be some esoteric benefit to being able to draw in each of the frequencies of this spectrum of light individually and to recombine them somehow to form a white light frequency, and that this may be the “light at the end of the tunnel” or the blinding inspiration that is described as accompanying an enlightenment process. My quest, however, is to understand the purpose of being able to do that, not just the mechanics of making it possible!

So, not much to do then in the next few months!

Summary

That is my current understanding and recap of the year’s inspirations and the paths along which I have travelled during this year. I feel that much of that information is general enough for most people to get some correspondence with, or for it to resonate with most people. Much of it is also personal and relates to my own quest for knowledge, understanding and wisdom in working with the energies of Nature. You decide where that take you. I will, as ever, go my own way.

Gwas.

Related post: My Eight Fold Year – the final four folds

The Llangernyw Yew : April 19th 2010

After our visit to The Druid’s Circle at Penmaenmawr we sidled off into the sunset heading inland cross-country to Llangernyw. I had a few random items on my agenda to work on, whereas I knew that for Kal this was the main reason for his visit. He was at an important juncture in his life and was looking to his old friend the archetypal “Tree” for some guidance. Having made contact with this helpful entity via the ancient yew tree at Llangernyw before, he was confident that he could do so again.

Late evening yew

For me, I had been guided recently to carve a symbol into my staff. I knew not why, yet. I’m sure that will become clear soon enough. For now, I wanted to confirm which symbol that should be before I started carving. On previous occasions when I had dowsed for this information it had been indicated that it should be the Dinas Bran sigil. This evening, as the sun was setting, I approached the ancient yew tree with respect and asked if I might dowse for some answers. I got a positive response and so began to do some dowsing.

I dowsed at the edge of the tree’s canopy, on a flat section of ground indicated as a good place by the dowsing rods. I asked which symbol I should carve and began to follow a spiral pattern around from one side to another, in a familiar pattern. Was this like the ‘Bran the Blessed’ sigil? It was like that but the head was upside down! In fact it resembled the Arbor Low sigil too.I asked the rods if this was correct several times and they repeatedly said yes. When I sought an answer to this I got the impression that it was a symbol that was personal to me yet a reflection of both places, even literally a reflection in the sense of being upside down in parts.

Inside the mighty yew

You may remember from my recent posts that I had been trying to draw together the four elemental forces of Nature in order to assist me with my coming work this year? There was one that I had not managed to re-engage with and that was the fire element. On this lovely sunny evening as the great fireball dropped slowly over the hills of Penmaenmawr I decided to try to resolve that oversight. I walked to the side of the church where I knew my power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘AlignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment.’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre. to be, but oddly I walked straight past it without a second glance, and went to stand before the two pillars of stone that seemed like an entrance or exit portal for something. I began to dowse…

Were these stones and entrance or an exit? An exit. Were they for some form of energy (thinking back to Druid’s Circle) to be directed through? Yes. Was that energy spirit energy? Yes. Was it earth energy? No. Was it the energy of the yew tree? Sort of – the rods came together slightly, but not firmly. Was it the spirit of the place that passed through this portal? Yes. Was this a good place for me to regain my fire energy? A strong yes.

With that affirmation I went to go and sit on the flat tombstone behind the two stones, and immediately got a sharp pain in both kidneys. I took this as an indication that this was not a good place to sit! I stood between the portal stones, looking due west, and drew down the fire of the setting sun, as the saying goes in such circles. The rods confirmed what I felt – that this had been done successfully. Now I felt more ‘complete’ – like I had access to all the powers of Nature (except spirit, or aether, the fifth element).

An energetic exit portal

Whilst I was stood between the two energetic stones I felt like I could use that energy to get another burning question answered. I had one that was uppermost in my mind., The final task of the time between Spring and Beltane was to learn how to connect to the earth’s own energy grid. So far I had not one clue how this could be done, other than perhaps to be stood somewhere that neutral energy may naturally emerge, or something like that. I decide to seek some guidance, any clue at all.

I asked the yew tree to help me to imagine what I should do to link to the neutral earth grid – and I was shown several places very quickly that I couldn’t make out because they were too quick. Then I was shown an image of me nestling into the bosom of the earth – literally two small humps of grass between which I was curled in a foetal position, soothed and sleepy. I was to find a place where I felt that comfortable and then bathed in warmth and comfort I could connect to the earth’s own energy system and draw upon the neutral energy – the pure energy of the earth. I was amazed at the wonderfully intuitive way the information was given to me, and extremely grateful to have been shown this vision. Now, all I had to do was to find such a place….

The warning place

I thought I was finished for the evening – hey, hadn’t I got everything I came for and more? I certainly had. Kal popped around looking pleased with himself and his exploits, which I intended to ask him about as soon as we were on the road again. “Have you finished?” he asked me. “Let’s ask the rods!” I quipped, expecting a ‘yes’ response. I got a ‘no’. Apparently, there was more! I asked the rods to take me to the place where I could find out about this other information, and soon I was walking along the side of the graveyard, past gravestones, until the rods swung back on themselves to point to a grave close to the edge of the path the surrounds the lower site.

There was an inscription on the gravestone. I read, “Oft in danger, oft in woe“. i thought this was very unusual inscription, as I had never seen anything like it before! It was the inscription that was important. It took me several minutes of narrowing down the field before I hit upon the relevance of these words: it was to do with me not putting up energetic protection when I visited sacred sites. I had become too complacent and trusting, relying on my intuition to warn me of potential problems. So far I had been lucky and had visited sites when no-one else was around which has prevented problems so far (apart from one episode that really stuck in both our minds of an encounter at Llandrillo). Now, as I moved into the warmer lighter months I was being warned that other people may cause me problems unless I protect myself appropriately when I go out in the near future. Memories came flooding back and I felt I knew what was being suggested.

I asked if that was all? No, there was more. Again I let the rods take me on a little wander, this time only ten or fifteen feet away from where I was. The rods swung dramatically again to point at what seemed like an ordinary grave of a couple. Again it took me several minutes to divine the answer through a series of questions and response. The couple had been “energetically aware” people, but had died due to some misfortune brought about by an encounter with some form of deviant spirit energy. This was a stronger re-enforcement if I needed it, and I will heed the warning and will be more careful from now on, especially in the presence of other people, whether they mean harm intentionally or not!

All in all, a strange end to the evening for me. For Kal, however, the evening had been highly positive. He had received advice from the yew tree that he should ride out his current issues without trying to resolve them for himself. They would all, apparently, be taken care of – despite how impossible that seemed at that time. A week later everything righted itself against impossible odds and in quite incredible circumstances. Never would we doubt the power of this tree, or its influence over this churchyard!

Gwas.

We chose Cumbria’s southern circuit of megalithic sites to be our venue and host for the Spring Equinox of 2010. The area had just the right balance of sites – waterfalls, stone circles, beaches, and hill forts – all of which we wanted to visit for a special purpose on this day. This Sunday 22nd March I was going to attempt to reconnect with the four elemental forces of Nature and thus kick-start my year’s energy work by doing so.

I had other agendas too: I wanted to find out the significance of the time between Spring Equinox and Beltane – did it have a particular activity associated with it that I should be involved in? Finally, I wanted to get understand what the Spring Equinox itself might mean in terms of energy.

Birkrigg Circle

The morning started brightly as we approached Cumbria’s southern fells, but there was a light cloud cover over the area once we actually got off the main southern road and began to approach Birkrigg Moor – the scene of our first encounter – the small stone circle of Birkrigg. Birkrigg circle is also known as The Druid’s Temple, but we won’t go into that! Recent scholars have argued the point that the creation date of these circles far predates the arrival of any known druid culture, but there does seem to remain a mythical attachment of the druids to the stones, in legend, lore and fable. I suppose people like me are only re-enforcing that view now that we are in some small way reclaiming these sites for our own usage, and are performing acts of natural magickThis is a system of belief that is often defined as being the appropriation and re-use of naturally occurring forces for the purposes of healing, transformation, communication, or a host of other subtle effects. The natural elements of the magick can also be seen by the under-pinning concept that the use of these forces should be co-operative rather than coercive. there.

We had parked a way away from the circle and had to tramp across the bleak moor to find it nestled overlooking Morecambe Bay and the southern tip of the Lake District. At one point we considered using the dowsing rods to find it, but instinct led us there before we needed to resort to that.

It took us a few minutes to work out that this was actually two circles one within the other. The inner circle was obvious, but the outer one was demarcated only by embedded recumbent small-ish stones. Quicker than that Kal felt an affinity with the site and began to absorb the atmosphere, mentally preparing himself for communingAn interaction with an invisible and natural sentient force that is independently identifiable, even if it cannot be named or classified. The interaction takes place at the level of a subtle amalgamation of the mind of the perceiver such that a dialogue or transference of feelings may occur between the two sentient parties. The interaction that is ‘communing’ is purposefully initiated by the perceiver for the express purpose of learning or simply to transfer feelings in a sympathetic manner.. I, on the other hand, was totally indifferent to the place. Sure, I wanted to dowse the energetic properties, but for all it being called a Druid’s Temple I was prepared to stand aside afterwards and relax for a bit.

Here’s a summary of the energetic findings and properties of this stone circle:-

1. The circle is at its energetic peak at the Summer Solstice
2. It is most suited to those who are sun-aligned people [something you can dowse to check - what do you mean you haven't done it yet? ]
3. The size of the stones and their placement were significant factors in forming the energetic qualities of this site
4. There was no astrological significance to this circle
5. There was a genius lociGenius Loci means 'spirit of the place' and refers to the geological/gaian spirit of place. It is transfixed to a place – being an embodiment of the collective intelligence of the place. (a site guardian) for the site, and it has a sigil that is the ‘sun sigil‘ (see recent Nine Stones Close post).

I sat and watched as Kal began to do some work with the energetic qualities of the site. I dowsed to find the most energetic place for me to sit whilst Kal did his thing. I was just drifting off minutes later into a kind of far-away thousand-yard stare when I became aware of a movement in the corner of my eye. I looked to the centre of the stone circle expecting to see a dog running across it or a wandering sheep, perhaps. There was nothing there. I unfocused my eyes again, and there it was again. A movement. I concentrated on trying to describe the movement – it was a spiral, moving from the edges of the circle upwards to a point some fifteen feet above the circle. My eyes, providing I didn’t look directly at this movement, were able to see this shape, this invisible shape, this overlay, and were able to describe the shape of a spiral – a cone of energy.

I emerged from this state quite excited and Kal happened to be emerging from his seated posture too at this time. I eagerly told him about the experience, and then we had one of those ‘I know’ moments, as Kal described the visualisations he had done, and that a spiral in the centre of the circle had been the major process. I’ll leave it up to Kal to tell you what he went through that day – it’s his story – but my story was already getting interesting. As the cloud cover thickened and the wind picked up from off the sea to chill our bones we decided to generate some heat by walking quickly back to the car and on to the next site: Swinside circle.

Swinside Circle

There’s no easy way to get to Swinside circle. Although there is just about enough room for three cars to park in the lane near a farmhouse just off the A595 in a C-class road. It is signposted, but you have to look carefully. From the place where you park you walk left up a small track that rises steeply. All around you are even steeper fells until you open out onto a valley between Swinside Fell and Mere Crags almost opposite. It’s only once you are walking through that wind tunnel that you begin to appreciate the stunning situation of this incredibly well-preserved and quite large stone circle.

The first thing we did on arrival was to get some shelter from the biting cold and harsh wind from off the fells. We decamped behind the relative shelter of the wall that defines the field in which the circle dominates. The circle is constructed on virtually the only flat ground around, and has views that rival any other I’ve seen for sheer aesthetic qualities. For a site without trees it’s remarkably beautiful, ans I wish we’d seen it on a clearer calmer sunnier day.

While Kal roused himself to do some of his own work, I went about my business in a ..well, business-like manner. This was not a place to be hanging about in today, and both of us would be doing only what we felt we needed to do, and no more, to save our hands from the freezing winds. First thing I did was to find my compatible entrance to the circle. This turned out to be the entrance closest to where you enter the field, and the natural place for most people to enter the circle, I suspect. This was the moon entrance that faces you as you approach the circle. The sun entrance was immediately opposite on the other side of the circle where a large gap between stones could be plainly seen.

I deposited myself on a stone that seemed strangely familiar and sat thinking about the layout of the circle and looking at the stones, trying to get familiar with the ambiance of the place and to feel whatever feelings might arise from being here – ‘being and seeing’ as Paul Devereux puts it. I recognised the shape of the stone I was sat on – it was identical in every single feature to that of a female stone that was my power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘AlignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment.’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre. at Druid’s Circle on top of Penmaenmawr in North Wales. When I dowsed this stone it turned out to be my power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘AlignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment.’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre. here too, and it was a centre of female energies.

Kal and I discussed whether there might be other entrances other than simply Sun and Moon aligned ones. Quickly we found entrances for the planets Mercury and Venus too, although at the time we didn’t have any way to confirm this. Now I have some nifty software that should be able to confirm these alignments when we dowse for the time that the entrances are supposed to be energetically active. We can check this now, which is going to be interesting.

Big Stones and Little Centre

As I sat on my female power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘AlignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment.’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre. huddling from the roaring wind behind me I noticed that my eyes were moving between two stones. To my right there was a round-topped striated stone with a leaning sentinel alongside her. I knew the stone was female as I have become adept at recognising the differences between the two types (mostly) after spending so much time seeing rows upon rows of them and dowsing along the lines at Carnac in Brittany. On its opposite side my eye was being drawn to an inverse triangular stone, which was taller than the others and so obviously of a male shape. Male to female, female to male. My eyes were drawn across the circle, and passed through a little ring of stones placed geometrically in the centre. I hopped off my stone to see what the dowsing rods would make of these things. Would they confirm them, or lead me elsewhere?

I asked the rods to lead me to the strongest male stone in the circle. I was led by a wobbly path to the angular stone that I had thought it would be. As I approached the stone the path deviated off to circle around it and finally the rods touched the back of the stone in the centre. This was something that I had seen happen many many times when dowsing particular stones – the ‘entry’ or ‘exit’ point for the trail of energy was usually on the outward-facing side of the stone, even though the trail went inwards.

Was this stone linked to any other stone in the circle, I asked. The rods began to twitch and lead me off back into the centre circle of little rocks before changing direction and spiralling out of the centre and out to the other side of the main circle. Moments later I was circling around the largest female stone. Just as I had intuited, these two were somehow linked through the centre of the circle.

I dowsed for the energetic centre of the circle and arrived at the little circle of placed rocks that someone had made. So this was the connection point for the male and female energies of the biggest stones, but more interestingly, someone had specifically marked this spot with stones. Other dowsers? Or who? Someone energetically aware, that was certain.

The Work of This Time

One of the agenda points I had wanted answers to this day (because we’re dowsing and doing energy work with a purpose these days) was that I wanted to know what the purpose of the time was between Spring Equinox and Beltane at the start of May, which was the next significant marker in the eight-fold year. I was assuming that there was 0ne, given that I had been working to a theme for the previous eighth of the year between Imbolc and Spring Equinox. What was the purpose of this next phase, I wondered?

To find this out I needed to immerse myself in the energies of this circle, I felt. I spent some time dowsing for where I should stand, in what order, and to see whether I would need anything like incense sticks to help me. When I got my answers I set off positioning the incense, lighting it in the gale-force winds (a test of patience, surely) and then trying to relax into the feeling of the site. I was attempting to make contact with whatever helpful forces might be around, in whatever form that might be.

After what felt like an Ice Age I emerged from my half-sleep trance state with a quite clear thought running through my head: this next phase was about achieving balance, finding neutrality. Those were the themes. During the meditation I had been shown as the very centre point between forces above and below. I was the nexus point in the interchange of those forces, the neutral point, the axis. I was shown that if I could connect into the ‘network’ of neutral energy within the planet then I could use this energy to divert, shape and collect the male and female energy and to use it for my own purposes – I was being given the secrets of how the ancients began to collect and utilise earth and celestial energies.

This was quite a revelation, and far beyond what I was expecting. Suddenly I felt a huge burden of responsibility coupled with a dread as to the amount of work I might have to do to take on such a task. I would have to centre myself to such an extent that I could withstand the centrifugal forces of the energies that spun around me as I connected to the very subtle energyA form of energy that has so far eluded scientific definition. It is neither electric, magenetic, nor electro-magnetic, so far as our current technical equipment can measure. It does, however, exhibit many of the characteristics of magnetism and electricity in terms of its effects and properties. It may be a form of either or both of those energies that we have not yet identified. grid of the planet, drawing from it and shaping the energy into a meaningful form.

It all felt a bit too much to cope with. What would I have to do? Could I stand it? Did I have the mental strength, the ability, the sense of responsibility to try to do this? How did I go about connecting? What would I have to endure? What would I be shaping the energies into? For what purpose? A million questions exploded like emerging stars on a dark night.

We reconvened behind the wall to discuss our findings and Kal’s were equally interesting. It looks like we had both got a lot out of this visit. The clouds were thickening all the time and the temperature felt like it was  a few degrees cooler than when we had started that morning. We decided we had withstood enough, and packed to leave, facing into the harsh wind once more as we tramped back down the track to the car.

Despite the chill wind and occasional sleet the lambs in the fields indicated the coming of Spring. It was a joy to see a few white and a pair of black lambs prancing about in the rugged fields back down near the farm buildings. It heralded the advent of Spring. even if the weather was not yet in agreement with that.

In the next post I will tell you how the day progressed. The first half of this day of balance had been filled with sun and light, but moving steadily towards a darkening. Next we went to search out Stanley Force – a waterfall in a beautiful setting near to the village of Eskdale. We would then climb again up the impossibly steep Hardknott Pass to the Roman fort  to complete the day’s undertakings.

Gwas