The Hedge Druid » wyrall hill

Cadair Idris: The Dragon’s Teeth

Gwas — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 21:25:11 +0000

Sunday 25th July – Cadair Idris, Gwynedd, Wales.

To walk up Cadair Idris was the culmination of the set of tasks that I had been guided to follow in order to fulfil this particular stage of the year, from Summer Solstice to Lammas. The vision I had received was that I needed to “wake the dragon“. Cryptic indeed, but after a series of further exploratory encounters I had worked out that this would be done on Cadair Idris, and that I could call upon the spirit of Mab – the faerie queen – should I need assistance to do this. Well, all of these things would be fulfilled but not in the way I expected them to occur, as I will now relate.

The walk was surely one of the most beautiful walks I have ever done, from start to finish. The Breath of the Dragon – a light swirling mist – occasionally veiled the mountain, rolling along its slopes and through its valleys as though the dragon was waking to the ringing of my footsteps on its stone-scaled back.

Idyllic start to the walk up Cadair Idris

For anyone who may have been as confused as I was about the name of this mountain – “Cadair” is the Welsh spelling, whilst “Cader” is the anglicised version. I will stick with “Cadair” as I am trying to learn Welsh, albeit very slowly.

The Welcome Sign with its suggested trails

Cadair Idris is a strange mountain: there is a well-defined path to the top of the mountain, yet relatively poorly defined paths to descend again. I wish I had taken more notice of this when I started out, but I assumed that such a well-visited mountain would have well-defined paths. That was to be my undoing later in the day! However, in the morning M and I ascended in a state of bliss marvelling at the abundance of beautiful trees, ferns and mosses that made each turn a photo opportunity.

An old hoary tree wrapped in a coat of moss

If it wasn’t a beautiful old tree turning our heads it was a waterfall….

A hundred beautiful photos await you at Cadair Idris

Climbing on the back of the dragon

Throughout the day I could see that parts of the mountain resembled the parts of a dragon’s anatomy. We started out climbing up the steep trail that formed the lower half of the dragon’s tail, as though the dragon had slung its tail over the edge of the stone upon which it was resting, and the lower end of the tail hung down into the valley, enticing climbers to climb it, like some kind of a lure.

The Dragon's Breath

The analogy of the mountain as a sleeping dragon was constantly present in my mind as I climbed. The initial steep climb to the ridge was its tail. The high ridges were its back. The peak was it’s head. The flat ridge was its mouth, from which its breath seemed to emerge.

Once you broke onto the plateau that formed the bed of the dragon itself it was a matter of following the tail around to the left where the sleeping form of the dragon could be seen in full, curling around the lake Lyn Cau – it’s mouth spewing mist breath along the valley in deep rhythmic pulses, whilst the ridges of its back reared up at the far end of the valley in a challenge to your determination.

After a couple of hours of hard slog we were walking the spine of the dragon – the ridge above Lyn Cau called Craig Cwm Amarch. The mist was all around us now because we were so high, and we only caught glimpses of the wonderful views below us. Not far now until the summit, and hopefully a rest, some food and some energy work.

Walking the back of the Cadair dragon

The Short-Lived Summit

On the top of Cadair Idris, also known as Penygadair, there is a trigonometry point and a welcome egg-shaped enclosure that provides shelter from the inevitable cold winds and the breath of the dragon. We sheltered briefly, long enough to eat, regain our strength, and for me to confirm that this was the best place to do some energy work. I began to get into the dragon pose but my legs were too weak to hold the bent-kneed position for long enough and comfortably enough for me to meditate! Oh no! What now? I resorted to my backup plan. I called upon Mab to offer me the guidance that was our recent deal. I asked her to show me another way to wake the dragon other than meditating on this summit.

We left only just re-energised and expecting the long slow downhill trek to be much easier than the way up. Certainly things were about to happen, but things that made me take my eye off the ball. I was chief navigator and M was relying ion me to know where we were going. I felt that I would simply follow the obvious path and it would lead us down, and besides my eyes had begun to alight onto some strangely shaped rocks that were appearing everywhere I looked – tooth-shaped rocks….hmmm.

View from a dragon's ridge

I walked along the flat ridge in the mist scanning all around the area for these tooth-shaped rocks. These were dragon’s teeth, I felt. The teeth of the Cadair Idris dragon, here on the head of the dragon. They pulled me towards them. I picked one up and felt a tingle. An inner distant voice (Mab?) told em that I should stab the tooth firmly into the ground to unleash the spirit of the dragon – to stir and wake the dragon. Aha! I planted one into the shallow soil and felt this to be the first of many. Now I was on a mission…the path trundled on and we followed another party of walkers through the mist….just needed to keep them in sight and we would soon be down…

A typical dragon's tooth that kept appearing in front of me

I found tooth-shaped rocks at oddly equal distances. Every five minutes apart they were. I was only interested in feeling for how many I should plant in order to fulfil the work – one, two, three, four, five, six. They were found, carried and spiked at perfect intervals. And then the group in front disappeared into the mist! We decided to follow the path onwards, up the slight slope and then get our bearings at the summit of Mynedd Moel.

The path seemed to dwindle, then drop alarmingly down the other side of the hill, We followed. At the bottom the path got even narrower and only seemed to head out across the rest of the long ridge into the far distance. We checked the map – there was no path down on this side of the ridge! What? I saw a path at the end of the long ridge heading down into the valley below. Perhaps we should follow that? At least it was a path. I wanted to head down the mountain following a stream, but the idea was vetoed. What is the stream became a waterfall? Hmm…we took the long path. An hour later we were faced with an impossibly steep path that seemed to plummet over the edge of the mountain side! Oh no! Where now? Now we were tired too. We needed a way down. We walked back to the nearer end of the ridge where the stream began its descent. No option now – we HAD to follow the stream and take a chance, or it would be the Mountain Rescue helicopter, OR an impossibly tiring trek back up onto the summit again to re-trace our steps from several hours ago. No deal. We were going down!

View southwest from half way down Cadair Idris

Dame Fortune was on our side. The stream led to a wall and the wall led us to the path we should have been on in the first place if only I had been paying attention. As soon as we regained the path, the seventh tooth appeared and I planted it immediately, almost in thanks at having been saved from the perils of the dragon’s mouth.

On getting home I dowsed to see whether I had woken the dragon by planting the ‘teeth’ – task achieved for this eighth-part of the Wheel of the Year. The toughest assignment physically that I have had to do yet. I will never take my safety on mountains lightly again. I had been taught a lesson, but still granted a reward for my sincere efforts. Thanks to Mab and to the powers of intuition.

Gwas.

Dragon pose and dragon breath

Gwas — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:31:18 +0000

I have been thinking a great deal about the riddle that defines this eighth-part of the year – the time from Summer Solstice to Lammas. The riddle given to me was “Wake the dragon and teach it to fly.” I have therefore been considering what “waking the dragon” might be to start with.

That time is nearly up, and as I promised myself I have managed to schedule a walk up Cadair Idris – Wales’ second highest mountain after Snowdon. I’m also walking up Snowdon soon, too, in aid of the Love Hope Strength cancer charity. I’ll spare you the JustGiving page, because I’m not asking for your money – I’m just spilling my thoughts into the electronic void that is this blog. I just mention it because it’s Snowdon – a favourite mountain of mine.

Inj this post I want to discuss two concepts that have emerged recently – the dragon breath and the dragon pose. Also, I want to look at the various aspects of the idea of “waking the dragon”. As soon as I started looking into “waking the dragon” here are some news, events, concepts and ideas that emerged:-

1. “Waking the dragon“: Proposed giant sculpture.

A new sculpture to mark the pride of Wales could be built by October 2011 at Chirk in North Wales.

Proposed new giant in Wales

Chirk is the town that is in between two other sites that I like to visit – the old oak trees around Pontfadog village, and Dinas Bran, the sublime mound that overlooks the town of Llangollen. Turns out that in between these two oft-visited druidical sites they plan on plonking a huge 200ft statue to rival the Angel of the North and the gigantic White Horse planned for the South of England. It wasn’t surprised that it was a dragon, so much as surprised that it was entitled “Waking the Dragon”. Seemed quite auspicious.

Link: The Daily Mail (yikes!)

2. Raising Kundalini : The Serpent Fire

Something mentioned in hushed tones by C.W.Leadbeater in his various books, especially The Chakras. In that book Leadbeater cautions against this dangerous action being undertaken without the supervision of a guru - the action of raising the serpent fire energy from its sleeping position coiled at the base of the spine like a serpent, and rising through each of the chakras in turn.

I must admit I don’t see the necessity of going through this process. Kal and I have discussed what it means to be “enlightened” and have decided that if it means walking around in a bliss state then it’s not for us. If it means having a perception of the whole universe in a moment, then we’ll pass on that too. The small steps we have taken to balance and enhance our own chakra points as a means to creating a faster and more efficient interface with the various sentient forces at work in the world we inhabit, then that’s enough for us.

3. Dragon Mounds – Wearyall Hill and Cadair Idris

Wearyall Hill in Glastonbury was the focal point of my vision during the Summer Solstice, a vision of a dragon waking from sleep. After it had awoken I needed to direct the dragon to unfold its wings and fly again after a long slumber. This was the trigger for me to begin to try to understand how this image translated into my life for the next few weeks. Only the next day after the vision I was already somehow certain that Cadair Idris mountain was important and more local to my task.

Cadair Idris mountain translates as something like “The Chair of Idris”. No-one seems to know who Idris was – a Saxon poet, a giant (or both), or something else. Perhaps I get the idea of Cadair Idris from the works of Susan Cooper or from Ivor The Engine, but I associate Idris with a dragon.

Other associations with dragons related to Cadair Idris can be found in Celtic lore:

Dragons and winged serpents were also reported around Lleyn and Penmaenmawr in Gwynedd, the ravines of the Berwyn Mountains, Cadair Idris, the wilds of Cardigan (Dyfed), Radnor Forest (Powys), the Brecon Beacons, the marches of Carmarthen and Worm’s Head, Gower. (source: Celtic Encyclopeadie)

4. Associations with King Arthur

There may be some link between The Pendragon – Arthur – and Cadaer Idris. In an essay published online August Hunt explains:

Triad 52 of the Trioedd Ynys Prydein concerns itself with the “Three Exalted Prisoners of the Island of Britain”. After listing the three prisoners, the Triad continues as follows:

“And one [prisoner], who was more exalted than the three of them, was three nights in prison in Caer Oeth and Anoeth, and three nights imprisoned by Gwen Pendragon, and three night in an enchanted prison under the stone of Echymeint [Llech Echemeint]. This exalted prisoner was Arthur.”

…The word anoeth is used in the STANZAS OF THE GRAVES, where it is said of Arthur that his final resting place in this world is a “wonder” (“anoeth bid bet y Arthur”). As an adjective, anoeth means “difficult” or “wonderful”. The Caer Oeth and Anoeth placename is also mentioned in the Mabinogion tale CULHWCH AND OLWEN, where it is one of the castles Arthur boasts of gaining entrance to. Once again, in the STANZAS OF THE GRAVES, we are told that the burial ground of the host of Caer Oeth and Anoeth can be found in Gwanas, a mountain tract located near Cadair Idris in Ceredigion.

A fuller explanation of some of the more obscure references to archaic Welsh literature and its meaning in this context is given here: http://www.maryjones.us/jce/oethanoeth.html

5. The Dragon’s Back

Looking at an ariel view of the mountain of Cadair Idris I am reminded of the very shape that I saw in the vision of Wearyall Hill. See if you can see what I mean:

The sleeping beast

6. The Dragon Breath and Dragon Pose

One evening I ventured to my new favourite haunt – my nemeton – to further my quest. Once I was firmly ensconced the rain began to come down in buckets. I slowly let myself attune to the atmosphere…the thud of the water, the smell of the leaf-laden earth, and then CRACK – THUMP!! A huge branch from a tree only a few feet away dropped to the floor and landed with a loud bump which startled me, making my blood pump in alarm! I laughed…and then relaxed into the atmosphere again. Clearly, I needed to be both entranced and alert at the same time. A little reminder perhaps?

I began an impromptu ritual of being cleansed in the rain, adopting a strange pose in response to the feel of the water. I began to think about my task at hand: waking the dragon. My body began to react to the stream of cold water and my breath began to be forced out. Two thoughts came to mind – this was the physical answer to my question “How do I wake the dragon?”, and that the breathing was “the dragon’s breath“. With this realisation I knew what I needed to do on Cadair Idris. As well as remembering that I could call upon Mab to assist.

The incident with the falling branch reminded me of this quote from the film ‘Excalibur’ (another Arthur/Merlin/Dragon link):

Merlin: What are you afraid of?
Arthur: I don’t know!
Merlin: Shall I tell you what’s out there?
Arthur: Yes, please!
Merlin: The Dragon! A beast of such power that if you were to see it whole and all complete in a single glance it would burn you to cinders!
Arthur: Where is this Dragon?
Merlin: It is everywhere! It is everything! Its scales glisten in the bark of trees, its roar is heard in the wind and its forked tongue strikes like… like…
[a bolt of lightning strikes nearly at their feet]
Merlin: Oh, like lightning! Yes, that’s it!

I reminded myself that, although I was in my nemeton, it was not my space – I was just a privileged visitor to Nature’s space.

How to adopt the Dragon Pose

Legs shoulder width apart and relaxed. Knees slightly bent, as if for skiing. Hands out in front, with palms upwards at stomach height, and cupped as though waiting to collect something in them. Very similar to the position adopted now by Rugby players when they take a kick, but not as exaggerated as that, more relaxed.

I recreated the Dragon Pose today. As soon as I was in the correct position my face flushed and I got a tingle along my spine! I began to feel light-headed, the way I do before some kind of revelation happens. I felt the sweet familiar tingle all over that accompanies me getting totally in tune with Nature. It was very startling how a simple posture could recreate all this! I knew then that this posture was important to me.

What a poser!

I now need to understand more about the dragon’s breath – is it qigong? (e.g. this site) Or something else? I remember a line from the film ‘Excalibur’ in which Merlin mentions the Dragon’s Breath as being a writhing mist or vapour called forth by the Charm of Making. Perhaps I should revisit that charm and consider learning it. Might it be useful to call that upon Cadair Idris whilst adopting my Dragon Pose? Some things will only be revealed during the next week. I’ll report back after my walk up the mountain.

Gwas.