The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘summerlands’

In the final post of our Cornwall visit I have reserved the best tale until last. Tintagel was supposed to be simply a passing visit to an historic site, but as usual mystical things began to happen once the dowsing rods had pointed the way.

Tintagel is renowned as a site associated with the legend of King Arthur, although signs dotted around the castle grounds do readily admit that there is little actual evidence for either the existence of Arthur himself, or his relationship with the castle. Yet, this has not stopped the small town of Tintagel from attaching the Arthur and Merlin names to almost every shop, pub, hotel and entertainment venue in sight. I made a reluctant Kal take my picture next to a life-sized plastic Merlin. Oh, the shame on both sides!

The rain that had been tumbling all day had slightly relented, but louring skies heralded more soon. Yet, our enthusiasm was not dampened. I, in particular, was quite excited about the prospect of testing Tintagel Castle for the presence of Arthur and Merlin – whether that be an historical remnant or simply the hint of association. We avoided the Land Rover offering an expensive ride down the steep hill to the castle, and we joyously let our legs find their own speed down the hill, noticing a sign to a church on the way down. We paid our dues and then the rain came down, just as we were about to make the precarious crossing of the wooden bridge between the mainland and the steep cliff-lined island that formed the formidable fortifications of the castle.

As the seas crashed below us and the rain lashed our already damp clothing we climbed the steep slippery steps to stand with the stunning sight of huge caves, high headland and strange islets as we stood looking out over the edge of Cornwall. We stood on a promontory looking at Merlin’s Cave when the thought struck me – was there anything I could do to find out whether this stuff about Merlin and Arthur was actually true? Was there anything I could do – I was supposed to be a dowser! Of course there was something I could do!

The Spirit of Merlin and the ShadeA shade is the energy body of a human being that has become transfixed at a geographical location. The shade retains many of the qualities of the human that it was attached to (memories, character traits, a level of sentience, movement between places known in life). of Arthur

I got my dowsing rods at the ready and began to consider what I was going to ask about, but as soon as the mental images of Arthurian characters began to formulate itself into a question there was a nearby flurry of feathers and flaps as a hawk swooped across our vision only feet away to land in the small outcrop of rock just above us. I hate to say it, because in the next few posts this is going to get repeated quite often and is likely to become a little boringly repetitive, but I have come to see the appearance of a hawk as a sign of Merlin, ever since an encounter at Dinas Emrys one evening when I was pursuing an encounter with the spirit of Merlin.

After getting over that ‘sign’ I began the dowsing proper. I began by framing the context of the questions. I would be asking about the concepts of “Merlin” and “Arthur” and until I asked specifically I was not distinguishing between the physically real and the mythological concept of either of those figures. Here are some of the questions I asked:-

• Had Merlin been born at this site? NO
• Had Merlin lived at Tintagel? NO
• Had Merlin visited this place? YES. Interesting.
• Had Arthur been born at this site? NO. Not much information being revealed so far!
• Had Arthur lived at Tintagel? YES. Oh!
• Had Arthur been buried on this site? NO.

Time to move on to the question of whether these characters were real or mythological.

• Was Arthur a real king of England? YES.
• Was Arthur a myth? YES. What?
• Was Arthur both a mythological character AND a real person? YES. Confusing!
• Was Merlin a real magician? NO.
• Was Merlin a myth? YES. But…earlier the dowsing had said that he had visited….
• Did Merlin visit Arthur at Tintagel in some magical way, rather than a physical way? YES.

OK, that was both a little clearer and a little muddier at the same time. I wanted to see now whether there was anything remaining at the site of either of those people (or ideas).

• Was there any of Merlin’s energy remaining at Tintagel? NO.
• Was there any of the Spirit of Arthur’s energy at this site? YES.
• Was there anything of the mortal remains of Arthur at this site? YES. Oh, now that was interesting!
• What was it of Arthur that remained? His bones? NO. His energetic shroudAs coined by Kal after reading the definitions of C.W.Leadbeater – the early 20th Century mystic. Leadbeater considered that man, when he died, could become stuck in a “ShadeA shade is the energy body of a human being that has become transfixed at a geographical location. The shade retains many of the qualities of the human that it was attached to (memories, character traits, a level of sentience, movement between places known in life).” – an energetic shell that would retain many of the characteristics of the human in his physical life. It is frequently taken to be what is termed a ‘ghost’ but although it has a certain amount of sentience, it would seem to be limited in terms of its ability to move from the space within which it has anchored itself. It must be stated – it is NOT the person who has died – it is a remainder copy that contains the memories and characteristics of the original energetic fields of the human, but now has no physical organism to work with.? YES.

So, a real person who had either been named Arthur, or who had adopted the title, had ruled here at Tintagel, and now there was the remains of his energy somewhere on this island. That was quote exciting, so I set about trying to find it with the dowsing rods, letting them lead me to where this ‘shadeA shade is the energy body of a human being that has become transfixed at a geographical location. The shade retains many of the qualities of the human that it was attached to (memories, character traits, a level of sentience, movement between places known in life).; might be. I didn’t know yet what I was going to ask when I got there, but the hint was on!

Arthur’s Viewpoint

In one of the last scenes from the excellent film “Excalibur” there is a poignant moment where Arthur is laid to rest in his final moments with a view out over the ocean, high up on a cliff-top. Now that I have visited Tintagel that scene makes much more sense to me – of course if Arthur had died anywhere close to Tintagel then that would be where he would want to spend his final moments. Who wouldn’t?

View of The Sisters islands from Tintagel

My dowsing rods led me to a place on the island where they indicated that the shadeA shade is the energy body of a human being that has become transfixed at a geographical location. The shade retains many of the qualities of the human that it was attached to (memories, character traits, a level of sentience, movement between places known in life)., the energetic shroudAs coined by Kal after reading the definitions of C.W.Leadbeater – the early 20th Century mystic. Leadbeater considered that man, when he died, could become stuck in a “ShadeA shade is the energy body of a human being that has become transfixed at a geographical location. The shade retains many of the qualities of the human that it was attached to (memories, character traits, a level of sentience, movement between places known in life).” – an energetic shell that would retain many of the characteristics of the human in his physical life. It is frequently taken to be what is termed a ‘ghost’ but although it has a certain amount of sentience, it would seem to be limited in terms of its ability to move from the space within which it has anchored itself. It must be stated – it is NOT the person who has died – it is a remainder copy that contains the memories and characteristics of the original energetic fields of the human, but now has no physical organism to work with., or the remnants of his spirit, could be found. I am not going to say where that was. I wish to respect his peace. If you want to find this place then feel free to make the effort to locate it for yourself. Perhaps he will have moved by the time you get there. Perhaps he is in different places for different people. Whichever is the case, it was a special place. I felt that straight away and soon I stopped dowsing questions about who or what this was, and I sat looking out at the view. I asked if it would be appropriate for me to ask for information spiritually, and got a positive response, so I began to tune in. Soon I was deep into a conversation inside my head with whatever this spirit was.

Read the rest of this entry »