We had tried to get to see some of the megalithic sites around Llyn Brenig once before. At that time we didn’t have the same amount of clever GPS devices, or the same availability of mapping software (or paper maps). Or we didn’t prepare well enough. Either way, we spent a cold long trek through dismal pine forest tracks looking for non-existent sites last time.

This time we got it right. We found our way (only one missed junction) to the start of the Architectural Trail from the northern car park. Within seconds of parking the car we were stood atop a tumulus. Within easy reach from there was a wall denoting the remains of a roundhouse, similar to the one we had seen up on Car Top near Barbrook Reservoir in Derbyshire only a few weeks earlier.

Here’s a link to the historical information about some of the sites around this man-made reservoir.

Lyn Brenig tumulus

Druid Diary excerpt for the Llyn Brenig mound: DD-LynBrenigMound

On top of the mound there was a slight dint, a small depression, circular and full of lush grass. I stood in it whilst we pondered the purpose of this hillock. It was definitely man-made, but why make it? Having recently finished a book which explored the possibility that these structures were made to promote the fertility of seeds we started our enquiries there.

1. Was this mound capable of enhancing the fertility of seeds? A cautious YES. This was not a strong response, but a positive one nonetheless. It hinted that there was more to it than that.
2. What kind of energy was in this mound? Male – NO. Female – YES. Neutral – YES.
3. Was this mound built specifically to enhance seed productivity? NO. Clear no.
4. Was it built to enhance fertility generally? YES.
5. Could the mound enhance the fertility of the land around it? YES. For 30 miles around!

We did some additional questions regarding the exact flows of energy in and out of the mound and found that it was being fed by a female energy source from the hill nearby, and later we would find that the neutral energy was from a 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 connected to it.

The Shaman’s Roundhouse

Onyl a matter of some tens of feet away from the tumulus is a round wall that indicates the remains of a dwelling that used to be sited by the lake side. Now, if they had any sense the entrance was on the hill side because the raw wind hurtles across the lake with some ferocity even on what appears to be a fine day. Maybe, thousands of years ago, the climate was more forgiving. Of course the lake wasn’t there then, but today, you wouldn’t house a prisoner there – it’s so harsh!

We began to dowse and to record our findings. Kal became interested in the energy lines flowing through the site, whereas for some reason I wanted to know about a stone that I kept coming back to in the centre, and which Kal then identified as a power centreA place where a person of a particular alignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment. (see ‘AlignmentAlignment relates to the concept that humans have their own energy fields that are oriented or formed in a specific way such that the person is either suited better to one energy source of another. Some people have their energy fields empowered by the direct subtle energy force of The Sun, whilst others are empowered by the indirect subtle energy of The Moon. Due to the historical associations and symbolisation of The Sun with masculinity and The Moon with femininity we designate these alignments as either being ‘male’ or ‘female’ alignments accordingly. We interchangeable refer to people as being ‘sun-aligned’ or ‘male-aligned’ and similarly with the female alignment.’) feels particularly comfortable and empowered. The place is an energetic centre where a particularly beneficial combination and formation of energies is formed into a pattern that is harmonic with the person for whom it can be called a power centre.. We had found our respective power centres – mine at the lake end and Kal’s spot was closer to where we imagined the door to be.

View from Lyn Brenig roundhouse

Druid Diary excerpt for the Llyn Brenig roundhouse – Part 1 : DD-LynBrenigRoundhouse

We began to form an energetic map of the house. The more we looked the more we found. There was a 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. running across the lake end of the house, and when we took a bearing using the rods for direction they pointed straight at the tumulus we had just come from. In the picture below Kal is marking the 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. of the 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. from house to mound.

There was an other 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. coming from the direction of the hill, and intersecting the lake line. At the point where those two lines met there was a feature that other dowsers call a “node point”, or vortex of energy. Interestingly, we kept coming back to a point slightly away but close to the node point. It was the most energetic spot in the house and when we dowsed it we found that it was the place where the shaman of the hut slept.

Here’s what one source says about this building:

“Another major site, on the short trail, is a ring cairn consisting of a low stone ring surrounded by a circle of posts. We do not know what rituals were practised here but the circle was in use for the 400 years that the cemetery was in use and probably served as a kind of church, although some burials were placed within it.” (source: Clwyd Powys Archaeological Trust)

Kal marks the ley line alignment

Druid Diary excerpt for the Llyn Brenig roundhouse – Part 2 : DD-LynBrenigRoundhouse2

Then we moved on to testing for sentient energies. There was no spirit of place here, but there were two shades, or energetic shrouds as Kal terms them. We might say that they were energy forms that were resident in this location, being fed by the earth and radiant energy forms, and possibly by the ley lines too. I asked Kal to go an investigate one of them, whilst I went to look at the other.

Kal’s form was 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). that had not been a resident of the house when it had been inhabited. It was, if you like, a wandering 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). that had taken up residence. 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). I looked at, however, was something else. I found the position where 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). was now, a place very close to Kal’s 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., and as I stood on that spot I got a shiver. In an instant I was seeing an ultra-condensed fast-forwarded pictorial download of imagery and knowledge. Suddenly I knew that 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). was a woman who had lived here, and that she had been a healer, married or partnered to the shaman.

I was so shocked by the experience that I didn’t feel like doing anything else. It seemed like it would be quite dull in comparison, and slightly rude to be dowsing this lady’s house. A bit like going over someone’s belongings when they’re in the room with you. We took that as our cue to head off to the next site. I had only thought that this would be a bit of light sightseeing before the “main event” of the Autumn Equinox later. Instead we had had some useful energy information, and now I had met a healer’s spirit.

On to the Llangernyw Yew tree!

Gwas.

On our second day on the Ireland megalithic tour we were going around the main Boyne Valley sights. It would be rude not to, seeing as we were in the vicinity. It would be interesting to contrast how the Irish valued their sites compared to the English, Welsh and Scottish. That said, I don’t think were were prepared for the…organisation levels that we were about to encounter.

To get to Newgrange from Knowth you have to…er…go past Newgrange, back to the bus terminal near the Visitor Centre and catch the bus back to Newgrange. Of course you do! On arrival we had to wait for the guide to, er…open the small two feet high unlocked gate and to tell us to walk up to the standing stones in front of Newgrange’s famous entrance. The arrangements are all a bit of a faff, but it began to dawn on us that this was necessary to control the number of people at the site and make the experience rewarding for everyone. In the end we capitulated, although Kal still went off and did his own thing whilst I endured the guided tour to get some background on the site first. Later we walked back rather than hurry for the scheduled bus. We wanted time to dowse, of course.

I’m going to recount things out of chronological order now, because I want to relate the interesting stuff together, so bear with me! We found that the constant influx of tourists into the mound was causing a build-up of negative energies. It was only slight, and took a while to accumulate, but was there.

The accretion effect I suspect may be due to the fact that tourists in no way “prepare” themselves for entering such sites. Why would they? Of course they wouldn’t, and yet in my experience this can often be a necessary part of approaching these sacred places – to cleanse oneself of the subtle energies from the places we have visited (or live in) that is like wearing a smelly coat!

We walked around it the ‘correct’ way – clockwise, sunwise. This ancient (and now partly modern) construction  was a chamber whose energies we left were in synchrony with the Sun’s movements primarily. We wondered as to why the main path invited tourists to walk around it in a contrary, widdershins, direction. This was something that we found to be the case at Stonehenge too, Tourists were ‘invited’ to walk around the structure in a way that would neutralise positive energy flows and keep the place feeling…drained. It would take quite a strength of will for a tourist to walk around in the opposite direction to the flow of everyone else. Of course, we did just that! Swim against the stream, young salmon!

One thing we did wonder about was this: if the flow of energies during Spring was clockwise, would it change direction at other times of the year? Perhaps someone who lives closer might be able to tell us that?

As we stood outside the entrance being given the known history of the site both Kal and I were separately thinking about the hidden history of the place. Kal had gone off exploring, and my mind was split between taking in the historical information and feeling for the energy coming from the nearby standing stones. As my eye wandered absently along the line of the stones I saw that there was an 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. with nearby tumuli (or mounds) closer to the Boyne River down in the valley floor. Interesting that all these sites are aligned to the path of the Sun, and that they all were built within the bounds of this wide bow bend in the river.

Now it was time for the guided tour of the inside of the Newgrange chamber. We all filed into the chamber, careful not the scratch the artwork, and emerged in the central corbelled chamber. Then Kal appeared again and I could see that he was holding his dowsing rods. He wouldn’t, would he?

Inside Newgrange there are three chambers – one with a triple spiral inscription, another with a white bowl in it. We didn’t get to see the third too well due to the number of people in there, but if you want to have a look around yourself then you can do so on this wonderful site – go take a virtual tour!

The guide was very eloquent, speculating as to how it was used, what the bowls might have been for, what the inscriptions might have meant. The Irish have a long history as bards and story-tellers. Of course, it was all labelled as speculation, and no-one took it as anything else. Some asked questions, most realised there was no more sensible reaction to this place than to try to absorb its atmosphere and take some of that home.

We were given a demonstration of the way in which the passage had been designed to allow a slight shaft of sunlight through and the mound was plunged into sudden darkness as the guide talked us through the sequence. It was quite amazing to see the cleverness of the design which allowed the light of Midwinter sunrise to penetrate so deeply into the chamber for 17 minutes over the course of several days around the Midwinter Solstice of 21st December.

The lights came back on but the atmosphere did not alleviate – instead id deepened for me. I felt distinctly odd in there. At one point, as I stood directly underneath the “square” roof cap (it looked five-sided from where I was standing) my head began to swim. I had felt like this many times – this was the onset of the trance state that I enjoyed duirng magickal episodes. Was something about to happen here? My whole body shivered with the swelling magickal atmosphere developing as people began to file out, having seen all they wanted to see.

Just then Kal handed me some dowsing rods and whispered “Try dowsing the chamber as you go out. See what you get.” I realised we were the last to leave now and so I began to hang back and dowse the passage. I followed a weaving male line down the passage, and then found a neutral one next to it, in opposition to the male line (in terms of amplitude). Kal confided that the line was not very positive, and we began to speculate that this might be linked to the way the site was being treated, unwittingly of course.

Before we leave the main mound, let me just talk about the triple spiral that appears on the left-hand side of the entrance stone and again in the left-hand chamber of the mound itself. I feel this is a symbol of the coming together of the three frequencies of energy : male, female and neutral. We call this formation a White 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., as it tends to form as either a triple-headed spiral pattern or as three spirals overlaying each other on the same spot. Whenever we find it at sites it signifies the presence of an active and powerful  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.. The energy in this form is highly beneficial to humans, especially when seeking to transform one’s consciousness or perform other magickal acts, including healing processes.

Interesting then about the way I felt inside that central chamber…it made me wish we had more time inside to work it all out properly. In the next post about Newgrange we discover something that no-one else seems to have discussed about that site. That will be interesting reading!

Gwas.

In order to organise our thoughts Kal and I came up with some questions the answers to which we hoped might summarise the way that year has gone for us – what were the bits we expected, what exceeded our expectations, and which things arose to meet us on this path that we didn’t anticipate? Here are my answers to this year’s questions.

What did I think I was going to learn?

1. Whether specific periods of the year are more energetic than others, and whether those periods align to the calendrical eight-fold year.
2. How stone circles work in terms of their energy
3. Whether specific geology affects the energetic responses from sites

By the summer of 2009 I had already established to my satisfaction that there was a difference in the strengths of energies at the Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice. I was sure that there was more powerful sun energy (i.e. stronger male energy) at the Summer Solstice. The Spring and Autumn Equinoxes were very similar in strength, and were a balance of male and female earth energies. At the Winter Solstice the male energies were very weak, as was the Sun. The female energies fluctuated only in relation to the strength of the Moon and the input from nearby trees, again weaker in Winter.

Determining any objective means of measurement was difficult, as our own energy levels seemed to be a factor in how well we could dowse or do energy work at a site, however a scale of measurement (strength from 1-10) seemed to work for the purposes of obtaining some data that could be compared between sites. The solstice and equinox dates depended upon the quality of the Sun to determine the amount of additional energy was at the site compared to our visits to them on other dates.

The Celtic Festival dates (Lammas, Beltane, Samhain and Imbolc) in between those times were much harder to figure out. These dates seems to depend upon the position of the Moon for their effects upon ancient sites., rather than the Sun’s effect. I will be posting much more on this soon, complete with a table of the relative energy levels at various sites dowsed this year.

Further theories have emerged concerning the operation of energies at stone circles and other sites too. See the Earth Energies and Ancient Sites Summary posts for details on those.

We have kept a weather-eye on the geology of sites whilst dowsing this year. It started for me in Carnac when I discovered that the stone rows were placed along a shelf of rock quite different from the surrounding geology of the rest of the nearby coastline. We have concurred with the popular dowsing theory that geological faulting is important to the situation of ancient sites, as is often the presence of water, but we do not wholly agree with the necessity of water (or a ‘blind spring’ formation) being present at all ancient neolithic sites. Some major sites such as Stonehenge and The Rollright Stones do have this water formation, however, and we think these popular sites may have led to the popularity of the idea amongst the dowsing fraternity that such a formation is necessary to a strong energy site. We do not find this to be true.

'CARNAC: Des Pierres Pour Les Vivants' by Pierre Mereaux

What’s been the surprise?

1. Crop circles being designed by some intelligence beyond the confines of this planet – expected them to be of human design and manufacture.
2. The energetic and healing potential of running water – Pistyll Rhaeadr and Viktor Schauberger convinced me of this at different ends of the year. At Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall my wife’s twisted ankle was healed in minutes. Later I read Schauberger’s theories on the properties of water and I understood how this could have come about.
3. A spiritual pilgrimage being worthwhile doing, and not some soulless religious historical trail as I had imagined it to be.

1. Astrology - There is a correlation, a link, between the relative positions of the stars and a human being. My natal chart is stunningly accurate in assessing my personality traits. Kal and I have also discovered that we are energetically linked to particular planets – Kal to Mercury and myself to Venus. We are more energetically ‘loaded’ or ‘charged’, and more energy work is possible, when our respective planets are visible. I have tracked this since the beginning of the year and have each dowsing response confirms this.
2. Elemental beings and cloud sylphs – I see some this year on four separate occasions and each time I was stunned by the effect – this was no mere simulacrum. Seeing faces in the clouds must be the third and conclusive qualifying factor in any signs of madness developing – that much I do appreciate, but nevertheless, they have been present at quite specific times of high energy.

What’s been disappointing?

That I have managed to really stuff up some potentially good magick work. It’s down to focus, attention and retention. Sometimes I get distracted and lose it, and that really annoys me, because I instantly know I’ve messed it up. In particular the way that songs stick in my head – I must learn to make use of these repetitive refrains instead of allowing them to detract from my connection with Nature and the natural energies.

What has taken me in a new direction?

There has been a general trend this year going from only dealing with absolutely rational subjects and trying to be very objective in terms of the dowsing, and by the end of the year this had changed dramatically. What happened was that, every time we dowsed a subject or a line of enquiry that we were sure would be proven to be irrational nonsense we ended up finding something within the topic that actually had a viable and sensible basis. For example, tarot cards – seemingly nonsense when we approached the subject, but then turned out to be spookily accurate and often useful to reveal information that dowsing couldn’t provide.

We were then led through many such subjects, each more esoteric than the last, and were able to obtain something useful at the core of each branch of study. If we had plotted the course at the start of the year we would never have followed that path, because we would have viewed then endpoint as so absurd and different from where we started that we would never have started the journey!

Researching subtle energies via dowsing has led us to many new areas that we had previously cordoned off or refused to accept. We have been forced to re-visit several concepts that we had initially ridiculed, as many of us still do. New subjects that we have found some value in, against our expectations:-

1. Astrology – showed me that the position of the Sun, The Moon, and more unexpectedly, the Planets, have an influence on certain people. I am affected by Venus, and Kal is affected by Mercury, for instance.
2. Tarot cards – provided us with information about the attributes of things.
3. Crop circles – revealed a connection with Nature and with some form of higher intelligence that informs the patterns and is attempting to transmit meaning to us
4. Elemental spirits – I have been contacting and working with elemental spirits, sentient entities whose knowledge of their element allows me an increasing level of control over air, water, earth and fire.
5. Ascended Masters – the most difficult of all to accept, I have made contact with a former human being who has been through the enlightenment process, and who is now available to assist me with my own work. I am still very wary of “channelers” and the whole concept of former human spirits being involved in any of this journey – it fills me with suspicion. We will see where this goes. So far I have no actual reason to call any of this field into question, but it’s early days and small steps.
6. Death energies – in other words, ghosts. Again, very very difficult for us to accept in all its aspects and with all its common associations in our culture, but something of the past human can remain for whatever reason, and Kal in particular has the ability to work with these forms of intelligence and presence. I have dowsed the remains of several prominent humans and their energies remain in place and influential at burial sites.
7. Magick – the idea that one’s interface with and understanding of the world can be influenced through a process of alteration of one’s energies and the use of surrounding energies has been a revelation. This is how I describe 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.. It has been a tough year going from not being able to allow myself to label the activity as magick, to the acceptance late in the year that I am in fact doing magick. All year I have been calling it “Energy Work”, and I sometimes still hide behind this label.

I must stress how difficult it has been to accept all of this. Kal and I pride ourselves in being very open-minded, and yet still these concepts have been incredibly difficult to accept. We, even now, baulk at the way such concepts are commonly understood and represented in our culture. We still retain a certain amount of skepticism and difficulty in dealing with these areas of our lives. We are both highly aware of how mad it makes us sound, and yet the evidence to us is incontrovertible, and essential to progress. Denying this stuff would be to seriously curtail our ability to learn about 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. in all the forms we have detected it. It would, of course, be very easy to stop at this stage and simply remain everyday dowsers, but we both feel there is more to be leanred by pushing the boundaries and working across disciplines.

Which avenues of investigation have I closed off?

At the moment I wouldn’t say I have closed all of the following research areas off, rather that I have got no requirement at the moment to use them, or plans to investigate them further at this stage. They were all interesting experiments and have all proved to be of some worth, even if I feel no need to work on them further right now.

1. Chakra colours are informative as a barometer of a tree’s health spectrum, but we have not found any other value
2. Time Wave Zero – not exactly closed off, but kind of forgotten about. Reading the graph produced until 2012 at the beginning of last year I made a prediction that October 2008 would see the start of the slump – the day Gordon Brown announced a recession. I also said that the slump temporarily turns back up in November 2009. We have seen that too. Looks like McKenna has been accurate with his mathematics, but I have lost interest in aspects of divination. The future is none of my concern, as is history. I seek knowledge from beyond history and applicable beyond the foreseeable future!
3. Healing accident blackspots – decided I’m not much of a healer yet. Have not felt much of a calling to do this kind of healing. May re-adopt it when I know more or feel more compelled to do so.

What I have gained in terms of power/magic/knowledge?

This year I gained the assistance of five spirits, which can be categorised according to the schema of Jac D Hawkins’ series of books as: Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Aether. These sentient beings have already begun co-operating with my work, and I hope that with their help I can take the concepts I have learned so far and move way beyond the dabbling I have done so far, and begin to work more profound changes in a direction of my choosing.

So much knowledge gained! Not necessarily in the areas I expected. I think the most difficult thing has been dealing with all those esoteric subjects that I had decided were worthless, and discovering that almost all of them have SOMETHING of worth in them, but that this worth needs to be discovered, extracted and protected from the madness that surrounds it.

In terms of power, I think I have moved from the BIRCH beginner stage, where I could do very little and where every little thing I did seemed hugely significant, up to the YEW intermediate stage. In this stage my energies have moved from a single thread to a double helix of threads. My ability to work with and to feel energy has increased tremendously, as has the speed with which I can connect to Nature. I am no longer surprised by magic and its effects, rather I take delight in it now. I would say I am on the beginning of a road of exploration of this magical world, and have most of the tools that I need. All I need now is guidance on how to use them appropriately to achieve aims. Oh, and some aims would be helpful too!

What might I have lost – innocence, sanity, etc?

I’ve lost my motivation to work with others. As the year has progressed I have become more isolated and “hedgey”. Although I still highly value the input of others into my work, and still enjoy working with you, Kal, I have seen nothing to convince me that anyone else’s input into this work is of value to me, or that anyone else knows better than I do what it is I should be doing. Isolation is, of course, another step towards the label “loner” that always seems to accompany the psychological profile of a serial killer. Certainly wouldn’t look good on my CV, but then I no longer care for CVs, I have a rather different “vitae” to live.

Absolute single highlight of the year

No surprise really, but the visit to Glastonbury consolidated all my ideas about what magic could be, and what effects it could have upon me. I changed from that visit onwards – there was no longer any doubt that this was a path worthy of following, and that it could have profound effect upon me if I took all the factors into account and worked with my intuition. All things seemed possible, and yet I had no idea what was going on – just that I needed to follow whatever arose.

Possible thoughts about what I might be doing next year – some places, things and experiences.

• I’d like to re-visit some stone circles and confirm their geometry, probably the Penmaenmawr set of circles.
• I’m going to visit Moel-Ty-Uchaf again and do some energy work involving the crystals/elemental spirits.
• Glastonbury again at Summer Solstice. Was it a one-off, or can it be done again, using this year’s “path” instead of last year’s?
• Make deep in-roads into writing my book on the Glastonbury Pilgrimage, to be added to by this year’s visit.
• Visit all the stone circles in England and Wales that we haven’t been to yet – mainly concentrating on South Wales, Devon and Cornwall.
• Work with sigils I have found, and find one for each site I visit, to determine what use they may have.
• Befriend a nearby yew tree and work with it deeply to find direction and purpose for my magick work
• More work with tumuli this year – they seem to be everywhere and we often overlook them – what are they, why were they built, what energetic purpose do they have? Work with earth spirit to work out how to use earth energy.
• Work with a strong water source to find out how to use water energy.
• Work with an air elemental on controlling and directing the wind when I need to. Understanding air energy generally.
• Work with a fire spirit to understand how I can use the fire energy of the sun and flames to generate change, passion and motivation.
• Work much more strongly with an aether spirit, trying to achieve co-operation.
• Back to Dinas Emrys during the Autumn season when the gnats are not there.
• Explore and meditate in caves with fire, including sea caves, possibly around Anglesey.
• Determine whether astrological symbols derive from a site’s energy sigils.
• Some questions that need answering:-

1. Is the geology of the rock at ancient sites important to their function?
2. Does the action of water and iron produce a GMF?
3. Which sites are beneficial to both Kal and I at the same time?
4. Did the knowledge of how to build the stone circles travel from East to West or vice versa? Or is this not important?

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Gwas Myrrdyn. 2009.

A lot of work was done by Kal in particular this year relating to the modification of energy centres within houses. Some people call this “house dowsing” or “healing sick houses”. It relates to a concept called “geopathic stress”, but we have found that this “stress” has more causes than simply a water course running under the house. There was a fantastic checklist produced by a British Society of Dowsers member in the December issue of the group’s quarterly magazine ‘Dowsing Today’, which lists these causes, and I will post more on that soon, because I think the information bears repeating and distributing.

I was lucky enough to spend a day at Carnac in France this summer. It was a most glorious day and highly productive, but I absolutely must go back to spend longer there. I feel there is more to be learned still from this massive and impressive site. Other interesting sites this year include: Druid’s Circle above Penmaenmawr; also Nine Stones Close and Nine Ladies stone circles in Derbyshire. I will publish a full list of sites as one of the summary posts in this series.

Here are some of things we learned about dowsing and earth energies this year:-

2-1. House dowsing:

• We can dowse houses accurately, either locally or remotely
• We can either send and receive energy to specific points in the house, providing the house has not been “sealed off” and permission is given
• We can modify the energy formations on site
• Crystals can be used to repair this energetic state, and to change unhelpful or misaligned energies into helpful and aligned ones
• Plants can be asked to contribute to this
• The beneficial effects take some time – depending on how far the energy has to convert from harmful to beneficial, this can take from hours to weeks to achieve. Also dependent upon the amount of new positive input into the formation(s).
• The Moon or Sun can also contribute to the energetic change, acting as a catalyst for the change, and also providing either male or female energetic input.

2-2. Flat recumbent stones attract female energy (moon), whilst pointed stones attract male energy (sun). We don’t yet know which elements of a site attract star or planetary energies, but we know they are present at sites, especially stone circles.

2-3. Kal found that certain geologically faulted locations with water running through them can pin energy to a place.

2-4. Ironwork and iconography (in the case of stones in Brittany I found that it was Christian crosses) can restrain the energy of a standing stone, reducing its aura (field of effect).

2-5. Earth energy spirals are created from sacred geometrical principles and number. Even manifestations created by us have the same properties. Of particular significance has been the discovery that stone circles are based upon sacred geometry in their design. For exmaple, Moel-Ty-Uchaf stone circle in North Wales is based upon a pentacle,or five-sided shape. I have found that this is linked to specific “deities”, but more importantly, that these deities are actually one of the planets. The pentacle therefore is associated with Venus, which itself describes a five-sided geometrical figure around the earth in its annual travel.

2-6. Power centres are the central point of two cones of energy- one going up into the air, the other going down into the ground. Also confirmed by Viktor Schauberger’s research.

2-7. Avenues or rows of standing stones have male and female energies intertwining, and travelling the length of the line of a stone rows of standing stones.

2-8. Tumuli can provide a terminus pointfor energy to sink back into the earth. As an example, I found this double mound pictured below was a terminus point for the energy running through the Kermario avenues of standing stones at Carnac in France.

2-9. Cup-marked stones often provide a rising point, a focal point or source of earth energies entering into sacred sites. Some standing stones that are cup-marked are a map of the energy power centres nearby.

2-10. “Hand spread” patterns of energy fields can be dowsed on the side of circles where energy is being dispersed out of the area. They indicate areas of high fertility energy.

2-11. Many neutral 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. leys travel the length and breadth of lands, and have accumulated sacred sites and churches along them. I suggest this is similar to the geometirc patterns that many dowsers and researchers have discovered overlaying the British Isles, and some say, the whole of Earth (cf. John Michell)

2-12. “Martin”, “Margaret” and “Anne” are other synonyms for the male and female energy lines surrounding national leylines, as well as the better-known “Michael” and “Mary” energies. This year I traced what I call The St.Martin Line running from South-West England through France and into Italy.

These findings should be viewed in the context of the complementary section coming soon on our findings at Ancient Sites. I hope next year to concentrate on water dowsing, or rather, dowsing the energetic properties of water, sap and blood. Next in the series – Part 3 – I will be summarising our findings relating to tree energies, elemental spirits and death energy.

Gwas.

Capall Bann have a range of fantastic books that I have already picked several titiles from and will continue to do so, for they seem to support pagan ideas and have a largely sensible and useful catelogue. A worthy pursuit, but please, ditch the toffee brown washed artwork!

At various points in the book Heselton refers to the possibilities of dowsing as a viable method of discovery of earth energies and of validating the presence of unseen forces in general. It wa only when I came to research Mr Heselton that I dscovered this excerpt on the Controvescial web site:

“In 1962, together with Jimmy Goddard and other UFO enthusiasts, Philip founded The Ley Hunters Club, a revival of The Straight Track Club (1927-1948) first founded by the earlier pioneer of leys … Alfred Watkins.  In 1965 to support growing interest in the club’s activities and findings, they also founded:  The Ley Hunter magazine.  Philip edited the first few issues of magazine from 1965-66, before handing it over to other members so he could concentrate on his University studies.”

Source: Controverscial web site

In “Secret Places” Philip Heselton takes the reader through a structured introduction to the fundamental naturalistic elements that form the basis of pagan understanding of the world around them. I won’t spoil the book, but instead I will urge you to read it. Whether a dowser or a druid the book has lots to offer in terms of explaining the power of place, the spirit of nature, and the ways in which anyone can begin to acknowledge, then work with those energies. Depending on how far you wish to take it there is something here for anyone interested in rediscovering the landscape around them, wherever that may be.

To give you a flavour of what you can expect I have reproduced the chapter headings, but thy do little justice to the uality of the material within them, and the very easy-to-read style that Heselton has adopted for his work. The chapter headings are:-

1. The Magic of Place
2. The Earth Spirit
3. The Wild Wood
4. The Body of the Earth Goddess
5. The Waters of Life
6. Spirit Paths and Holy Hills
7. Finding Our Place
8. Entering The Presence
9. Inbreath – Experiencing the Sacred Space
10. Outbreath – Responding to the Spirit
11. Embracing the Site

I hope that has whetted your appetite. If you regularly read this blog then I am confident that you will find that this book is an indespensible guide to your interests. It is also a good waymarker for where my own studies are heading, and accurately matches my own thoughts at every turn of the page. In many ways, this is the book I always wanted to write!

Gwas.

Guided by masters.