The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘yew tree’

Llangernyw, Conwy, Wales – 23rd October, 2010

For the first half of the year our visits to Llangernyw were characterised by Kal having experiences or encounters with death energies, earthbound spirits or shades, however you want to term the spirits of the dead. As befits a graveyard they are around and about and thanks to the pacifying influence of the yew tree in the churchyard they are docile. My visits to this churchyard were characterised by me taking the mickey out of Kal for being named “Spirit Walker” by the yew tree, and for having the kinds of encounters that he continually rejected. Then came Samhain 2010 and the tables turned.

The church entrance way at Llangernyw

We arrived at the end of our interesting Samhain journey at Llangernyw churchyard. The now familiar posters and small hand-made signs greeted us telling us all about how the Christian profession was going to celebrate this turning point in the year. This always makes me consider how long the yew tree has been there on that ground – long before the Christian religion was even invented, yet along when this particular church was built.

I immediately went to speak with the tree. Kal had wandered off somewhere else, but I was dead set on finding out what the next part of the year held in store for me. Little did I know what I was about to let myself in for! I meditated a while and connected to the tree, introducing myself as usual, and asking the tree for guidance as to what my quest might be. In my mind I got a picture of the portal stones at the rear of the church and heard the words “Go to the portal stones” in my mind. As usual this was in my own voice, but a deep version of it, and I felt it was some otherness that was producing that phrase. I thanked the tree and swiftly moved around to the other side of the church to find the stones.

The portal stones at Llangernyw

I stood between the portal stones and felt the energy flowing immediately. This was not my energy, but energy that is flowing between the stones by itself. I stood between them and felt myself go into a meditative trace, a receptive state of mind to hear whatever would arise in my mind. Very quickly the words came to me “Free Spirits“. Just that. That was my simply-stated yet clearly complex task – to learn how to free the energies of the dead. Niiiiice. Not something I had anticipated doing, and something that I knew Kal had already rejected. Still, I reasoned, if unquiet energies were disrupting a sacred site then they might need to be cleared so that I could revitalise the earth grid? We will see.

That was our amazing and enlightening Samhain day as we moved into the final stage of the year up to Yule. It seemed that I had taken over the mantle of Spirit Walker and would be the one who would be learning how to deal with spirits and to free them from whatever was binding them. All this was to be learned and practised until absorbed into everyday use. These are the tasks of a practising hedge druid.

Gwas.

Llanddeiniolen village, Gwynedd, North Wales – Saturday 23rd October 2010

Many months ago Kal and I had decided that we would choose the nearest full moon to Samhain as the time to go out and celebrate this important festival. For us, Samhainmeant an opening between worlds, a chance to interact withthe world of other intelligences, the Spirit World for want of a more specific phrase. Going out in the full glare of the moon gave us the best opportunity to utilise both female and male energies to get out work done.

So,w hat was this “work” that needed to be done at Samhain? My work had been given to me at the Autumn Equinox this year. I was told by the yew tree at Llangernyw (subsequently embellished and reinforced by the energetic form of Bran The Blessed at Dinas Bran in Llangollen) that I should awaken the Spirit of Merlin. I was given a riddle that contained what I initially thought were the actual words that I should use to awaken Merlin, but subsequently realised that they were actual instructions or directions for me to use to guide me on the day itself. The riddle was:-

Strong Red,

Lower Merlin’s rowan,

Second Landdeiniol/stone church.

Riddle-Me-Ree

One thing I knew about the agenda for the day: we would be visiting Dinas Emrys near to Snowdon. Kal added that we should also visit the Llangernyw Yew tree, and I realised that this would be the perfect place to obtain guidance on the next task for the final part of the year. Good, we had two places so far.

In preparation for our day out I had dowsed for some answers to these riddling lines. What was the “red” part? The answer I found eventually as that this was my root chakra. Quite how it needed to be strong I didn’t know yet but I would soon find out.

I thought I understood the line “Lower Merlin’s rowan“. That sounded like I needed to perform some sort of ritual with a wand of rowan wood. I cut a branch of a local rowan tree some weeks before in preparation for this work and left it to dry. The day before we were to go out I remembered it thanks to a podcast I was listening to which happened, by pure chance, to mention the preparation of wands! That evening I stripped, sanded and carved an appropriate symbol onto the wand and it was ready for us after a brief consecration to the spirit of Merlin.

Finally, I needed a starting point for the day. I had found a church in the village of Llanddeiniol, which is close to Pembrokeshire, used to be an old Welsh word for “stone”, and had a stone church re-built – a second stone church therefore. Could this be the “second stone church” in the riddle? The dowsing rods suggested that would be a good place to start, but it was geographically a long way away from where we needed to be….Was there another village called the same or similar that would suit out purposes? It turned out there was – the village of Llanddeiniolen near to…Caernarvon, only minutes away from Dinas Emrys. This seemed like more than coincidence, but I didn’t have time to do any more research, we would just have to chance it and see what happened.

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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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The Llangernyw Yew : April 19th 2010

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

Late evening yew

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

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

Inside the mighty yew

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

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

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

An energetic exit portal

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

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

The warning place

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

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

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

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

Gwas.

The third part of this evenings adventure (part 1 and part 2) took place at the back end of this fine church/grave yard.

Church yard

As those of you who have read my other posts, one of the names that I was given here at this site on a previous visit was “spirit walker, the walker between worlds” On that occasion I declined, respectfully that offer but it “seems” that the offer wasn’t conditional. Anyways as I am walking amongst these graves late this night, ostensibly dowsing through some of the revelations I got minutes before (see post 1,2). I get the feeling that “something” is accompanying me.

Not really the feeling you want whilst in a grave yard is it…

Thriller

This “feeling” made me think my time was done at the site for the day and it was home time. But fear is a bit of a driver for me so I stock around to see what would happen…

After some moments, I was given an impression of something wanting to commune with me. Hmmm Trees I don’t mind but I am not interested in talking with any old spirit.

Seeing the Dead

However, the impression gets slightly stronger and I am heading for the comfort of the Yew tree and as it happens more light. As I stand by the tree I feel its protection and warmth. I close my eyes and am filled with knowledge. It seems that the “spirits” need energy from me before they can commune. Interesting, so how does it work with mediums and channelers?

“With most mediums it is a case of them “giving of” random energy because their “shielding” isn’t good enough. Passing spirits (and other energy beings) use this to manifest in some way.”

Wow – where does all this knowledge come from??

“Channelers are the same but there energy is given off internally and that is why energy beings/spirits are able to “use” them.”

Amazing…

“Haunting’s are sometimes passing energy beings/spirits that use the emotional energy that has “charged” a place to manifest. By doing so they slowly dissipate that energy.”

“You have more control of your energies that is why the spirits couldn’t manifest. But you can allow them to use it and then they will come to you.”

O really? No thanks!

“You should, they can tell you much that I cannot not”

O – why is that?

“I am a balance of things, some of them don’t care about it”

By this time I was getting overly scared of things, where is the steadying company of Gwas when you need it? So with a “Thanks, but not today” I hastily left this wonderful place.

Kal

Imbolc was a reasonably fantastic day for us. However if you have the fortune (sic) of going to Anglesey you will realise that the coastal areas are quite nice but…it’s a bit barren in the middle. So it was that Imbolc was pretty tree-less and since I am rather partial to Trees I wasn’t having any of it.

It being a wonderful sunny, but with a hefty cold breeze I decide to hove of to my all time favourite Tree. Yes, you got it “Ye olde Yew”

Ancient Yew

Alas, on the way I got a bit lost – darned sat nav! and so I didn’t arrive there until the sun had well and truly hit the dirt.

Still with a cloudless night the stars were lovely in the heavens. And to boot the ice cold wind had abated so it was looking to be a fine evening of contemplation and dowsing.

And so it was…Almost immediately I was in state and conversing with my ol’ friend. and what a conversation was to be had, on so many levels. Please note that I am typing really fast lest it fade from mind.

It began, inevitably about wand lore. I wont go into that here as it rather nicely fits in over at The Wand Maker. However after this came the subject of 117.

Side Note: for the last couple of weeks (has it only been that?) I have had this number floating around my head. I divined its origins to be something to do with wand making but apart from that I couldn’t find any other relevance (actually even in wand making it had no relevance!)

Anyways, I have been pondering it on and off and trying to avoid getting into the scenario where I was seeing it every where aka the film Number 23

23

Don’t want to end a loon like that guy huh?

So, I was sitting nicely amongst the graves and Yew tree (hmmm ok…) when the number 117 popped into my head.

What does 117 mean I asked, Is it meaningful? The answer was a yes. O and would you like to explain why? Because you have made it so. Did I do something to make it meaningful? Yes. What did I do? You made it meaningful. How did I do that? By making it meaningful. I know, but how? What did I do? You made it meaningful.

OK so now I’m thinking of Jim Carey here i.e. going nuts. Then intuition (as it does hit me) Do you mean I made it meaningful because I thought it was. Yes. But does it have meaning other than what I ascribe to it? No.

Obviously this was going in circles (spirals?) and I wasn’t getting anywhere, or was I? 117 has only the meaning I give it? Yes. Why did I give it some meaning. I don’t know, ask yourself that. O lovely – obviously The Trickster was about someplace.

Does 117 inherently have any meaning? Only to you, because you have made it so. Now you should use it. Ah…interesting…Use it how? Make your plans divisible by it, multiples of it. You mean like 117 days? Yes, and 58.5 and 39 and 19.5 and 234 hours, days.

So is 117 related to time? No, But…117 is nothing, it is an illusion, it means nothing! But…You gave it meaning, it has meaning for you and yet it has no meaning.

And then, wow a penny dropped with a huge tidal wave. I’m conning myself aren’t I? Yes (and I could feel the smile) Is this like controlled folly? Exactly like that but with a hint of stupidity, Instead of practicing it on others you are practicing on yourself.

Side note: For those who are not versed in the Shamanistic world of Carlos Castaneda, here are some of his words or rather his teachers words on the matter…

“I told you once that our lot as men is to learn, for good or bad,” he said.  “I have learned to see and I tell you that nothing really matters; now it is your turn; perhaps someday you will see and you will know then whether things matter or not.  For me nothing matters, but perhaps for you everything will.  You should know by now that a man of knowledge lives by acting, not by thinking about acting, nor by thinking about what he will think when he has finished acting.  A man of knowledge chooses a path with heart and follows it; and then he looks and rejoices and laughs; and then he sees and he knows.  He knows that his life will be over altogether too soon;  he knows that he, as well as everybody else, is not going anywhere; he knows, because he sees, that nothing is more important than anything else.

In other words, a man of knowledge has no honor, no dignity, no family, no name, no country, but only life to be lived, and under these circumstances his only tie to his fellow men is his controlled folly.  Thus a man of knowledge endeavors, and sweats, and puffs, and if one looks at him he is just like any ordinary man, except that the folly of his life is under control.

Nothing being more important than anything else, a man of knowledge chooses any act, and acts it out as if it matters to him.  His controlled folly makes him say that what he does matters and makes him act as if it did, and yet he knows that it doesn’t; so when he fulfills his acts he retreats in peace, and whether his acts were good or bad, or worked or didn’t, is in no way part of his concern.  A man of knowledge may choose, on the other hand, to remain totally impassive and never act, and behave as if to be impassive really matters to him; he will be rightfully true at that too, because that would also be his controlled folly.”

Source

So what should I do? Carry on practicing it…It has meaning for you now. But that meaning is a lie…So? Er…So its a lie, an illusion, Maya…Isn’t that wonderful? Think about it.

And I did think about it for ages. And it makes a kind of weird sense that is difficult to explain because the reader needs to understand Castaneda’s use of “controlled folly” to understand the…how can I say it, funny side of this. Let me have a go…

It’s like making up an arbitrary fictional goal post and trying to score a goal in it, whilst all the while knowing that there is no post, ball, indeed, there is no game. But you still try really hard to score.

This was only a part of tonight’s star-filled commune with Ye olde Yew – more later.

Kal

Introduction

This year has been the most fascinating year of my life. I have embraced areas of study that I has only ever fantasized about being involved with. I have learned things that I never believed in before, and have travelled further along my spiritual path than I thought I could. I am more aligned with my life purpose through the work I have done this year than I expected to be. I have visited places that I never thought I would see, and am more in touch with earth energies as a result of it.

In the following sections I answer some general questions that I posed to try to encapsulate this progress. Also included is Kal’s interpretation of those same questions – you will find these in the last post in the series. I hope that by the time you finish reading our summary of this year you will see just how far we have travelled in such a short time span. Some people we meet still pour scorn on our relative “youth” in these subjects. Of course they are right, we never know enough, but when you see how much information we are consolidating from so many sources, I think you will see that we are working hard to cover all aspects of subtle energyA form of energy that has so far eluded scientific definition. It is neither electric, magenetic, nor electro-magnetic, so far as our current technical equipment can measure. It does, however, exhibit many of the characteristics of magnetism and electricity in terms of its effects and properties. It may be a form of either or both of those energies that we have not yet identified. research, and our work is fast-paced, thorough, considered and wide-ranging. Compared to many of those we meet, who seem to have a part-time dalliance with these subjects, I’m sure you will agree our work is fast, deep and meaningful, and everything we learn we gain from direct practical experience.

In the light of the amount of information produced this year I have divided the summary of the year into NINE posts, which I will be releasing for the rest of this month up until Christmas. Between Christmas and New Year I hope to reveal the results of the work that we were supposed to have undertaken this year – to find out whether earth energies do respond to specific times of the year. I think we have our answer already, but I’m going to wait for the Yule Winter Solstice to cap that research off.

What have I learned this year?

I learned so much this year that I almost feel as though my life’s education has started again. When I wrote it all out I found that I had accumulated so much information that I have had to divide it up into separate posts. The topics I chose to organise them into are:-

1. 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.
2. Dowsing and Earth Energies
3. Tree, Spirit and Death Energies
4. Astrology and Astronomy
5. Ancient Sites
6. Miscellaneous
7. Highs, lows, surprises and disappointments
8. A list of all the sites we visited this year
9. A summary from Kal’s perspective

Please forgive the inevitable cross-over between these categories – I have tried to place the information into the category that was most pertinent, with the inevitable “other” or “miscellaneous” bucket to catch the overspill.

A big growth topic this year was that of Natural Magick, as was the Tree,Spirit and Death Energies category. It seems that Kal and I have had many of our preconceptions overturned and have had to eat our words on many occasions as a result of some detailed dowsing work and an open mind in researching those areas. I will start off with Natural Magick.

Section 1: Natural Magick

The following information can loosely be classified as “Natural Magick” – the use of nature’s own energy forces and human creative potential to produce new effects and visions. My definition, as you can see, is quite general – I don’t include the usual categories associated with Natural Magic, such as herbology, spell-making, and the like. I started out the year by defining the rules of working in this manner, and the additional information is supplementary to that, and only limited by those rules and the human creative potential, it would seem. The information is on no particular order, other than being grouped here.

1-1. Some rules of Natural Magick:

• Intention must be honest, if only to yourself, in order to succeed
• The desired effect cannot be commanded, it must be negotiated, or asked for respectfully
• To contrive a circumstance in order to display an effect will guarantee failure,if not abject humiliation
• Your abilities are limited by your desire to learn, and the depth to which you can form a trusting relationship with Nature
• A degree of humility is required to execute natural magick, and smugness at a positive outcome will garner no respect.
• Conviction and sincerity make the relationship stronger, and the outcome more defined.
• Leave your intention fuzzy and a fuzzy event will occur which only partially fulfills the intended result.
• Results come when they should be delivered, not when you want them to be. Again, tied to the concept that the forces of Natural Magick will not be ordered around.

First stated early February. I have not been able to contradict any of these as the year progressed.

1-2. The historical/mythical figure of Merlin is a significant totem figure for me. He is like a form of spirit guide, but not personally connected to me. I encountered his presence at the ancient site of Dinas Emrys, near to the mountain of Snowdon in Wales – a place traditionally associatesd with Merlin.

1-3. Totem animals: Kal has the crow, I have the dove/pigeon/eagle. Theysometimes indicate significant events, sights or show us direction, and can guide our intuitive responses when we go out to sacred sites.

1-4. A pilgrimage may seem like an old-fashioned concept, something that may only be a religious remainder. Our experience of inadvertantly making such a journey was something quite profound: a spiritual journey through the chakra points, each one awakening at the special places we visited, and each one progressively opening up channels to higher spirituality and connectedness.

1-5. This year saw the emergence of the double helix of energy in my meditations. I now began to connect using two threads – one male and one female. This seemed to echo my progress into the second stage of Druid development – the Yew Stage.

1-6. Following a path with a heart has opened up my life to influences that have enhanced my well-being and desire for life. A path with a heart may be defined as being acts or intentions, decisions or choices that one makes that are instinctively right, and not based upon the usual rational characteristics of what is sensible, beneficial, rewarding, or easy.

1-7. Some sacred sites promote the ability to perform magical acts, such as telepathy. I encountered this particularly at sites that were less “famous”, i.e. less visited, and yet which still maintained a strong energy. The covered alleyway at Créhen in Brittany, in particular, demonstrated to me how easy it was to transmit information to another person whilst there.

1-8. Seeds or fruits containing seeds seem to serve as perfect gifts or things to leave at sacred sites. I felt from the outset that something ought to be given in return for gaining skills, visions or information, but the usual trinkets (ribbons and the like) did not suit me. Instead I have found that, for me, a seed, an apple or a pine cone, or something similar always gets a positive response when dowsed as to whether it is a suitable or fitting gift to leave at a site.

1-9. Sigils, often dowsed as manifestations of a site’s energy signature, can be found and used as means to gain entry into an energetic relationship with a site.

1-10. Cup-marked standing stones within stone circles have been found to be maps which can unlock the power centres within the circle for energy work. This now needs to be tested at a greater number of sites, but for several already this has proved to be accurate.

1-11. Setting up protection before doing any energy work in a new place is essential to self preservation. I now have to thank the unusual small man whom I met in Alderley Edge a couple of years ago – you were right and I was wrong – thanks for your advice!

1-12. Overcoming fear in a forest or other natural space allows you to be as one with the place, and this opens up the range of possible experiences, as animals will not be frightened of you. I now want to discover how being fearful may change one’s energy field.

1-13. I was shown a vision of an ancient magician performing a ritual in which the circle’s energy was activated and he was in charge of the energy. The elements of his work are things I will now have to put into practise myself next year. I have learned that rituals have their place, but that their paraphenalia is not for me.

1-14. Sigils and crop circle formations ought to be meditated upon to act as keys to the entry into the Otherworld. This was the lesson of the Knighton Hill maize circle. I have yet to discover anything from these patterns, however, so can’t confirm this.

1-15. A dream seat can be found at major stone circles used for transformation – this promotes shamanic flying, or out of body experiences of the profoundest kind. The Llangernyw experience definitively proved this to me, as did the Castlerigg stone circle.

The most magickal experience of the year

Glastonbury at Summer Solstice when I felt integrally connected to the whole area’s energies and felt like I was in an increasingly mystical state of mind.

Gwas.