The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘underworld’

I had been out on a walk along the Cheshire Landscape Figure of the Hawk on a previous evening and had seen the sun set below the crags near to the Sandstone Trail at the village of Willington in Cheshire. It was a walk that I remember doing in part when I first moved to Cheshire, but I had never been able to find the path again (although I had not really tried that hard). This time I stumbled across it again, and remembered how nice it was.

I noticed that there was a path marked on the map that followed the Cheshire Hawk’s outline exactly. On my first attempt to find it – let’s call the first outing a “scouting” episode - I was scouting the landscape, feeling for what I should do to further my quest, and knowing only that the outline of the Hawk of May in the Cheshire landscape was part of that work. On that first scouting journey it was going dark when I found the crag-side path, and I was literally stopped in my tracks by the appearance of a badger at a fork in the path that evening. Not wanting to scare the badger I was forced to take the lower path back down to the road. I vowed to return and to walk the path all the way along the crags at a time when Nature gave me the right signs.

A badger makes me change my path

I went back one cool but dry evening in early June. I was properly equipped this time with crystals, incense and the right intention – to meet The Hawk of May (Gwalchmai). I knew I had to get this completed before my Summer Solstice pilgrimage, and I wanted the “decks cleared” and this quest completed before then. Solstice is always an amazing but wholly engaging experience, so it was important for me not to have any residual side-quests going on.

Just a reminder, my Beltane quest had developed through the use of Tarot card that had been giften to me by a friend who is very intuitively connected, shall we say? The cards (see previous post) had told me three useful things:-

1. I would meet the Hawk of May in the Underworld
2. I would need to provide him with an intuitively-selected gift
3. The result would metaphorically to be able to ”control the winds” and take on “the power of lightening”.

All very mystical, unlikely, but exciting as a prospect, and certainly a challenge to my abilities. It also held the promise of an enhancement to my abilities – just like the last quest for Spring Equinox. I’m all for that! So now this brings me to the part where I went to meet The Hawk of May.

The Way Is Easy When It Is Right

I walked along the hidden path that hugged the crag above Willington and found that it was carpeted with soft small pine needles> The soft feel of the path made me hanker for walking un-shod again, so I took my shoes and socks off and walked barefoot along the path in the setting sun light.

I was at the Mysterious Earth Conference this year. The conference was held at the Village Hall in the village of Grimsargh near Preston in Lancashire, England. Kal had come up so that we could go to this event together, which was very nice of him to make the effort. There were four speakers lined up, but we only found three of them to be relevant to our studies and research, so I will concentrate on the positives and tell you about these three.

This year's Mysterious Earth lectures

The three speakers of interest to me were:-

• Kevin Rowan-Drewitt – Neolithic Observatories
• Pete Knight – West Kennet Long Barrow: Ancestors, Landscape and the Cosmos
• Gary Biltcliffe – The Belinus Line & The Spine of Albion

Here is a run-down of their primary themes and some notes that I took about each of their lectures.

Neolithic observatories by Kevin Rowan-Drewitt

Kevin Rowan-Drewitt

Kevin’s talk was informative and a feast of facts. Having read many books on the subject of Alexander Thom, his Megalithic Yard, and of his convincing argument that most if not all stone circles are designed as neolithic calendars to track the movements of the sun and moon, I didn’t find too many points that were new to me. However, Kevin’s lecture was clearly delivered, well structured and well-argued, even if he was simply relating other people’s theories. For those who may have been new to the concept of neolithic astrological observatories it would have been truly enlightening.

Some notes that I made that were particularly significant for me were:-

• Bryn Celli Ddu on Anglesey has in-built alignments for tracking Venus and the Summer Solstice. You may remember that I was called there in 2009 to observe Venus, even though at the time I had no idea what I was seeing.
• Mayburgh Henge in Cumbria is aligned to the eastern sunrise
• The book ‘Uriel’s Machine‘ by Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas contains the practical workings out of the theories of ancient astrological circle structure, and they based much of their work on the ‘Book Of Enoch‘, particularly the section ‘The Book of Courses of the Heavenly Luminaries’
• In the Book of Enoch the circle-makers are mentioned as The Watchers. Rowan-Dewitt interprets this as being the Beaker People.

Personally, I feel this Bronze Age Beaker culture only created some of the last generation of megalithic structures, not the first ones, even if their structures were the most sophisticated, impressive and enduring. The astrological know-how was already in existence and evidenced by timber and rudimentary stone circles before the arrival of the so-called Beaker culture, so this doesn’t hang together for me.

• Also in that ancient text, The Nephilim are mentioned as being from the Orion Constellation.
• Newgrange, in the Boyne Valley in Ireland is aligned with the Winter Solstice sunrise but also with Venus too, on an eight-year cycle.
• The line of ‘lozenge’ shapes or crosses on the lintel at Newgrange may denote the Venus cycle, as there are eight such symbols in a row.
• Thornborough Henge in Yorkshire is aligned to Orion.
• The Sun has a 32-year cycle until it rises at exactly the same spot on the horizon. This fact is used by Rowan-Dewitt to support the idea that astrological observances and star lore must have been passed down through the generations or preserved in some fashion because neolithic people had a relatively short life span.
• Most measurements of megalithic structures are in 0.5 Megalithic Yards, or 16.32 inches. The Megalithic Yard of 2.72 feet was used for convenience by Alexander Thom.

West Kennet Long Barrow by Peter Knight

Peter Knight

Peter Knight is a well-practised and engaging speaker. His presentation was slick, precise and moved you from one concept to another easily and with a sense of passion. I am a fan of the West Kennet Long Barrow myself and have had many visits to the site mostly unaccompanied and without anyone else around, so I have been able to practise many of the things that Peter talked about in the shamanic parts of his talk. However, in the first part he went through the various alignments with the surrounding megalithic sites such as Avebury, Silbury Hill, East Kennet, and many of the lesser-known circles, tumuli and hills that form the rich Wiltshire megalithic landscape.

Some notes that I made on this talk were:-

• There are sun and moon rising or setting sight alignments from West Kennet to many of the surrounding features.
• Some of the lesser-known sites include Belas Knap chamber, Silbaby (or Woden Mound), Morgan’s Hill and Harestone stone circle.
• The long barrow itself is constructed with layers of large rubble, then fine rubble, turf, then a sarsen stone core. The layering is reminiscent of Wilhelm Reich’s Orgone Accumulator principle.
• There is an acoustic “hot spot” close to the stone called “The Skull Stone” which is considered to be a portal to the Underworld.
• Long barrows and chambers in the area are mainly aligned to the South-East (the Midwinter Solstice).
• East Kennet is aligned to the Orion constellation, West Kennet to the Gemini constellation.
• A cave was usually associated with a process of initiation or transformation.

PETER’S WEB SITE: Stoneseeker

The Spine of Albion by Gary Biltcliffe

I have been eagerly awaiting Gary’s book about this subject for over a year now. Hopefully it is due to be published soon. Gary has spent a lot of time, effort and money on travelling up and down the country in pursuit of 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 he is calling the Belinus Line, after the ancient Celtic god Baal or Bel. The name thereafter got associated with a king of England called King Belinus, who was supposedly one of the great road-building kings, although many believe that the lack of historical evidence suggests he may be a mythical figure rather than an actual king. Certainly, it is not uncommon for people in power to associate themselves with great engineering from lost generations, for example the Romans simply paved many of the existing spirit roads that were created as embankments by the druid culture and those before them too. We all now know these roads as ‘Roman Roads’ which is testament to the power of a written historical record, rather than to the feats of engineering.

For the talk in Preston Gary concentrated on those sites which were more local to us, rather than describe all the sites along the line. Given that it had taken him 20 years to follow them, he was unlikely to get through them all in an hour!

• Seven Barrows Down is the crossing point for the Belinus Line with the Michael/Mary Line.
• The village of Dunsop Bridge is the geographical centre of the Belinus Line
• North/South ley lines are associated with physical and East/West lines with the spiritual, thus the Belinus Line is mainly a physical line with very few spiritual centres on it.
• The line goes through various centres including Lichfield, Birmingham, Manchester and Carlisle.
• DragonDragons are spirit or energetic beings that reside in sacred sites and have a particular location in them and also move throughout the day (and or season). They also leave the sacred site on occasion, which again differentiates them from Genius Loci which don’t. stories hint at the location of sacred sites such as caves, wells and mounds.
• The Belinus Line has twelve bands of energy – balanced with 6 male and 6 female.
• Guy Raglan Philips was the first to identify the line.
• The female lines are violet in colour and the male lines are gold/yellow
• The line goes through The Bridestones – formerly one of England’s largest long barrows.
• Marton church gives a unique view of the sunrise over The Cloud in Cheshire
• Shap has an avenue of stones similar to Avebury
• The Kemp Howe stone circle is on the line
• Other sites on the line are Merlindale, Knowlmere, Alderley Edge, Caverswall, The Rollright Stones, and Uffington DragonDragons are spirit or energetic beings that reside in sacred sites and have a particular location in them and also move throughout the day (and or season). They also leave the sacred site on occasion, which again differentiates them from Genius Loci which don’t. Hill and White Horse
• In Carlisle Catherdral is a stone carving of kissing dragons
• Arthuret Church in Cumbria holds a familiar title of King Arthur’s burial place, and has a well called St.Michael’s running through it.

GARY’S WEB SITE: The Belinus Line

I hope those comments make some sense to you! They are slightly out of context, but they may be more relevant if you get to see them speak for yourselves.

Gwas.

Prelim…Source…

Beyond the walls of the old house and buried in a tangled mound of short tufted shrubs and undergrowth, is the mouth of a cave – or fogou as it is known in Cornish. The entrance, lipped with pillars of granite, nestles between two mossy banks, sucking life into its womb…

…You want to cling to reality and block the voices out. But they are insistent, and you listen because although you hear them with your mind, they speak with a voice that is not your own. And locked in here for centuries, they want to be heard… Jo May – A journey into the underworld

Signs

Saturday morning had arrived and I was feeling a little apprehensive. A couple of weeks ago I had set out with the same destination in mind (but with signs saying not to) and had only got 8 miles into my journey before I was stopped.

My destination was of course the Boleigh Fogou in the deep south of Cornwall. So the question I was asking myself was, was it a good idea to go? The rods said it was, but they also said that I didn’t needto go. A fair answer, but I wanted more. With that need for a sign I toddled off for an innocent coffee in town.

By 8:30 I had had my coffee, read of paper, update of Facebook and was returning back to my lodgings sign-less. I stopped off to get some cash from a ATM and just as I was putting in my number a crow dropped on aledge above me and cawed to high heaven. I looked up and realised it was the sign I was looking for. There was no stopping me now.

A sign is only a sign if you believe it to be a sign

The weather hereabouts was a drizzly grey and hopeful as I ever am,as I drove off into the south I looked down at my light blue jeans and patently non-waterproof white trainers. Hmmm looked like it was going to be another wet feet and visibly muddy day. There again as I was about a hundred miles into the journey the sun came out of the clouds and shone brightly for the rest of my journey…Indeed…another sign for the sign seekers.

Boleigh Fogou

I was lucky, I had tapped in “Newlyn” – as the nearest town to the Fogou and had arrived there with no problems. But from there it was going to be a bit of a try your luckbut as shot in the dark I stuck Boleigh into my satnav and it responded with a destination in 3 miles! Amazing.

I reached “my destination” and was at a loss. According to the Internet the Fogou was at the back of a bed and breakfast rooming house called Rosemerryn. But alas no signs for such were forthcoming along the road that it was supposed to be off. I stopped the car in a lay by and decided to try my luck with my recently purchased Techo-Mage tool i.e. my iPhone. As I pulled it out I spotted a young man walking up the road towards me. So I opted for good old fashioned local knowledge instead and asked him.

“Ah, you be looking for the Foogu? I knows where that is”

Fantastic! With the sun shining like a early summers day (honestly) me and my erstwhile guide Dan were off into the woods. He told me that he usually snuck in from the back of the B&B thus avoiding any possibility of being shooed off the land.

As readers will know I am not averse to Guerrilla Dowsing but something was nagging at me as we made our way down the lane and then back up again through the woods. It didn’t feel right this time. So I stopped my guide and asked him instead how I could get to the house instead.

He warned me that because I hadn’t phoned ahead I would be turned away at the door. Still I decided to go with my instinct and said farewell to my guide. Making my way back up the lane and towards the main house I was met by the owner, Rob. I asked him if this was the place of the Fogou (Foogu), he asked if I had phoned ahead? Oh dear, I replied that I hadn’t but had come a 3 hour drive to see it. his impressed him and he led me around the back of the house to where the Fogou was located.

It suprised me as to how close to the house the Fogou was and that had I come in through the woods I would have been spotted by the owners almost imediately and turfed out.

Rob left me in the company of the Fogou.

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Since I learned that my task for this part of the year would be to “free spirits” I have been trying to absorb as much information as possible about this subject. I have been listening to related podcasts from the British Society of Dowsers, from books on the subject of spirit rescue, and from discussions with friends who have experience of these subjects from a lifetime spent studying the paranormal. At this point I feel confident about providing some background theory that will make the remaining posts of the year make much more sense!

Let me start by elucidating a paradigm that might help to frame the definitions that I will provide below. If we consider that in this earthly plane of existence a person is composed of three elements:

• physical body,
• energy body (aura)
• animating force (animus)

I believe that in the next level of existence, when the body dies, what remains are the animating force and its energy body together. There is then a further disintegration of the energy body, leaving the animating force to move freely, unconstrained, and with its original animating energy only remaining.

I must point out that I am not using the Jungian context for the word ‘animus’. In that context the animating force is split into two forms – anima and animus. Anima is the female force within the male, and animus is the male force within the female. I am using the term in a gender-neutral context, and when I say ‘animus’ I am referring to its more original meaning of being an animating force.

Each of these forms – body, aura and animus – will now be explained more fully.

THE BODY

The body is the strongest of the forms – integrated to such an extent that it is present, physical, and perceivable by other humans.

Example of proprioception

Far from simply being a wrapper to consciousness, the body has an intelligence of its own which is an automatic form of intelligence. When our body works without conscious direction it is employing this bodily sentience. Psychologists attribute this to the ‘subsoncscious’ which they believe to be an aspect of mind that is hidden from our waking consciousness, however they have not demonstrated yet how this intelligence works, or how it can be contacted.

One form of body intelligence is “proprioception” – your sense of where your body is. Here’s a link to an article explaining its importance in the world of dance. Body intelligence, awareness and memory may be linked to the phenomenon of “phantom limb” cases, where limbs that have been removed may still trigger psychological responses in the brain, and may also record spacial placement despite having nothing physical to sense with.

THE AURA

The aura is less integral than the body – it must be, because if it were more coherent then it would be integral to the body and would die with it. This is not what happens, as reported by a great many mystics, seers, yogis, mediums, clairvoyants and people who have had near-death experiences. Such a weight of evidence demands a better concept to validate such experiences.

How the aura can appear

Let’s consider that the aura is a diffused 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. form that is invisible to normal perception, although visible to some as a coloured form extending beyond the confines of the body. I have been trying to see this for several weeks and have recently done so – with practise this mysterious force can be seen in the peripheral vision. The aura can be detected by most people at a subtle level, and we all react to it daily when interacting with other humans when we recognise someone’s “personal space”, which is a measurement of the edge of someone’s aura and its strength. If someone is generating a lot of energy their aura becomes more easily detected by those whom it touches or encompasses. Some say that it can be photographed using the Kirlian Photography method.

The intelligence and memory of the energy body is held within the human aura, perhaps in a holographic format. This is the space within which we store memories and in which we form our intelligence, out sentience, our perceptions. We create this store of knowledge, wisdom and attention via our bodily sensory organs. When those organs no longer exist, we are still able to see – such as when we perceive during our dreams. The sensory perception available in the dream state is not as acute as in our waking state because we are perceiving without the extra input of the physical sense organs, which add to the ability of our innate senses, clarifying, dividing, specialising, and extending their capabilities.

The energy body seems to have some degree of synaesthesia in that some perceptions are muddled, and sense perceptions are apt to moving between the normal senses. In some ways this allows a better perception, but when our mind attempts to understand the perception then the sense that is requested to report the effect may report ‘muddled’ or incomplete information. Thus, our dream body appears not to be able to distinguish things clearly in dreams, and sometimes we feel things rather than see, hear, smell or taste them.

Some say that the aura also reflects the health conditions of the host, and previous traumas (not necessarily from this current existence) can be perceived in this aura. Certainly it is possible for someone conscious of their 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. field to be able to manipulate their aura to extend or contract it, or to express a state of mind (in the form of colour) within the aura.

THE ANIMUS

Finally there is the animus intelligence – the creative force and its “soul memory”, which is the memory of its former incarnations. The animus is impossible to perceive using human senses. Some psychics and mediums can make contact with an animus, but only if the animus is making an effort to be detected, otherwise the force is too diffuse to be recognised as an integral or independent entity.

The animus is a similar concept to that employed by the Spiritist and Spiritualist organisations in their description of Spirit. Here’s a definition from Allan Kardec’s book “The Spirits’ Book”:

Spirit – In the restricted sense of Spiritism, “spirits are intelligent beings of creation, populating the Universe outside the material world and constituing the invisible world“. They do not belong to a special creation, but they are the souls of those who lived on Earth or in other planets (spheres) and who leave their material envelope. (source: Spiritist Vocabulary)

In some cultures the animus is synonymous with the concept of the soul. That term has been so widely used and abused that I prefer to re-term the concept as Animus, because that establishes the idea that the thing that is being discussed is the animating force, the life essence that gives motivation, creativity and purpose to the being whose body it inhabits.

Properties of the Animus

Lifting off from ground zero

Some of the properties associated with the Animus are the ability to travel outside of the body linked by a silver cord. There is also the ability to move, as though in a dream, beyond the normal boundaries of the earth-bound body’s perceptions of space and time. This is akin to the tribal shaman’s ability to travel in the spirit body, to step out into another world in order to save souls, retrieve knowledge and heal psychic wounds.

When I travel out of my body (the classic OOBE) I feel the contact with my physical body. It feels like bi-location – being in two places at the same time. I have a faint awareness of my physical self (much as one is aware of one’s own heartbeat) yet my awareness, my thinking self is elsewhere, travelling through impossible space and time contortions, being wherever and whenever I imagine that I could be. Here’s a link about how to make this happen for yourself.

In both astral travel and lucid dreaming there is an auric body with the Animus present. The physical body is left behind (or usually below) whilst an energy body goes ‘beyond ‘, empowered by the Animus. The link between the two world is maintained by the silver cord that links between planes of existence (I wonder if this is similar to the Near Death Experience “tunnel of light” if you are travelling inside the cord, rather than outside of it?)

The Animus is the sentience within all these forms – physical body, energy body and spirit. It is therefore the continuing force, the link between worlds, between existences too, some say. Despite its continuity it is highly flexible under the right conditions – able to move between forms with sufficient energetic will to make the shift. People have literally willed themselves to remain living, or to die – to make the switch between physical and energetic forms. It is the shaman, the druid, the magician who seeks to make this shift when required, rather than when circumstances insist upon it.

Let’s see now how these terms bring us neatly to a definition of the different forms of being that inhabit this world and the human Underworld. In my next post on this subject I will be explaining my understanding of human ghosts, shades and spirits.

Gwas

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

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

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

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

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

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

Red and white dragons tussling

The Pool of the Dragons

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

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

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

The site of the dragon well

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

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It was the finest day of a long series of fine days that were typifying the last of the lingering end of year sun. We were loathe to call this Autumn when it felt like Summer. The sun was shining, the air was warm, the ground was dry, and there wasn’t a hint of wind. We set sail for Derbyshire in the mid-afternoon, heading for Arbor Low. Surely, if any day, today was the perfect day to avoid getting blown over, dying of hypothermia or being flooded out? Surely, today was the day to have a pleasant experience at Arbor Low?

I had no set agenda when we arrived at the small lay-by near to the farmhouse (that is actually a guesthouse too!). I was here merely to bask in the rays of the evening sun and to marvel at the fact that it was pleasant to be here for once. As often happens when I head out on such journeys to sacred sites my expected peacefulness was shattered by a small amount of dowsing that I did. You know, sometimes you should just leave things be! No, I’m glad I did it because I got to meditate in the evening sunset and found out some useful information, and picked up a new skill into the bargain.

Entrance into the Otherworld

The Spirit of Arbor Low

I had entered the site asking to find the current location of the Spirit of Place. I was taken around the trench that rings the site in the shadow of the raised embankment. When I stopped I was standing at the left-hand edge of the southern entrance. I felt a little shudder, which is how I know that I am in the presence of an energetic form. I then asked to be shown the path that the spirit had taken, from the current moment back to midnight. I began to follow a path that curved around one of the many recumbent stones that formed the inner circle of Arbor Low’s henge, and then into a tight spiral that turned anti-clockwise.

I reversed the path so that I was now following the chronological sequence. I unwound the spiral, travelling clockwise as I traced the spirit’s path through the dark hours of the night and into the morning. At the position that represented dawn the path straightened, and then began to turn anti-clockwise as the “day” unfolded beneath my rods. This was the inverse path of one that I had dowsed for another Spirit of Place at Moel-Ty-Uchaf, which had followed what I assumed was a convention of being clockwise in the day and anti-clockwise at night. Clearly, such assumptions are fallacious, yet the principle remains that the Spirit of Place traces a double spiral pattern on its journey around the site during the course of a day.

The Spirit of Place's path over a day

I stood once more in the place where the spirit was currently located and tried to commune with it. As I entered into a trance state  I asked, “What can I learn about my forthcoming task of meeting the spirit of Merlin?“. A feeling came through that made itself resolve into a notion that I could learn about invisibility here at Arbor Low, that this was a place where learning was easy, and in fact the site was designed for this purpose. I came back out of trance, thanking the spirit and began to dowse again, “Take me to a place where I can learn about invisibility.” I asked of them. They led me to a slight dip in the ground near to the central stones.

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Thursday 23rd September, 2010 – Llangernyw village, Conwy, North Wales.

Due to us visiting the Llangernyw Yew in daylight we noticed some things we don’t normally see because our usual visit time is dusk or at night. Most striking of the things we saw were the signs strewn around in various formats explaining the provenance of the yew tree. The official estimate is between 4-5,000 years old. If we consider how far back in human history that is, this tree was beginning to grow when mankind was in the flush of building its neolithic structures.

The oldest swinger in town

The yew tree’s life span in perspective

The Neolithic Period when the Llangernyw yew was born

This tree has seen the rise and fall of human civilisations that are completely unknown to us! The tree is older than any of us can possibly trace our ancestry.Having heard Michael Dunning talking about his profound ‘shamanic healing’ experiences in a yew tree that is a mere slip of a lad compared to this one, we had new-found respect for this very ancient tree and its potential power.

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