moel-ty-uchaf – The Hedge Druid

The Sting of the Queen Bee

July 30, 2017July 30, 2017 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Books, Circles and Stones

I wanted to investigate an animal image which had been been appearing to people close to me for the past week. Lots of people close to me had been reporting seeing images of a bee in dreams or visions and this made me curious. The common factor was that they were telling me about it, … Read More “The Sting of the Queen Bee” »

Flickering Venus and Forgiveness

March 7, 2016March 5, 2016 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Arthur The Great Bear, Circles and Stones, Corvus The Crow, Healing, Orion The Hunter, Stars

Why wouldn’t you want to go out on a wet and windy night to climb up a steep hill in the dark to visit a stone circle on an exposed ridge? Such rhetoric did play momentarily in my mind, but I ignored its facetiousness, and went anyway. The Corvus Correspondence As I arrived at the … Read More “Flickering Venus and Forgiveness” »

Sun and Moon Glyphs for the Merlin Staff

July 15, 2015June 30, 2015 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Circles and Stones, Glyphs and Wards, Merlin, Modern Druidry, Quests, World Tree

The Moel-Ty-Uchaf stone circle high above the village of Llandrillo in North Wales is one of the toughest tests of determination and stamina. It takes around 40 minutes of relentless climbing up a very steep gradient to reach it. Yet, when a circle calls – we heed it! In this story I found that patience is rewarded, and that glyphs can unlock energetic forces at a site.

The agenda for this sunny Saturday outing was simple – two sites – Llandrillo and Dinas Emrys. Surely we’d be home for mid-afternoon? Ha! The Universe had other plans. In our way we had a panoply of tardiness-generating obstacles:-

roadworks on every major highway between us and the sites
weekend wanderers doing 30mph on major trunk roads
caravans and farm traffic using the main roads

It was an object lesson in giving in to the inevitable slowness. A journey that I had previously clocked at 25 minutes on my motorcycle took us 1 hour 45 minutes today. So far this year we are both learning that Patience is the watchword.

However, there was the promise of obtaining some vital information: I needed to find out the four glyphs that were the Essence of The Merlin Staff. They needed to be discovered before the Summer Solstice, and then I would have to get them carved onto the staff at some point this year.

The way up was hard. It always is. Yet we were in good spirits. We only needed to stop a couple of times to re-gain our breath and then we were approaching the circle in good spirits. Unusually, we both recovered from the climb almost instantly. It was a remarkable, so we remarked upon it. Now for the work to begin!

Spring Equinox 2013 – Day of the Crow Part 2

March 29, 2013March 29, 2013 Gwas No Comments

Ancient Sites, Celestial, Dowsing, Hedge Druidry, Wheel of the Year

In this second part of the Spring Equinox tale I begin with a bit of a soap-box moment, but quickly move on to talk about my favourite stone circle, and finally introduce a new sacred site. Let the wordage begin!

I begin this post with a bellyache. I’m going to get riled, spill bile, make a pile of fuss. Possibly about nothing, but let’s get it out of the way first. I’ve been stewing on it for years, and I think it’s about time I got it “out” into the open.

It pains me the way modern farmers slash hedgerows!

To me this is akin to punching small children in the face. “Look,” you could say, “They’re bleeding now, but in a few weeks they’re back to normal.” Hardly the point, is it? Just because something heals doesn’t mean we should make them go through the initial trauma of being battered. Ask any victim of domestic violence. “Ah, but you’re alright now, yeah?”

Moel Ty Uchaf - Spring Equinox 2013 (1) (Medium)

I’m not saying that I’m an advocate of the Backster experiments on plant feelings. Instead, this is a respect issue. I was under the impression that part of the duty of care that farmers were supposed to adopt as custodians of the land could be employed in their treatment of the trimming of plant life. This “hack and slay” policy, done for expediency and efficiency, is not only damaging to the main trunk and branches of the plant, but it’s also a display of contempt for the hedgerow, and damned ugly to look at!

Phew – I’m done. It’s in print. but I’ll still die a little when I see such a close haircut. I urge anyone with influence over these things to try to find a better way. I keep putting my thinking cap on to come up with something. One day.

</ END RANT>

Moel Ty Uchaf Un-Spring-Like

As I climbed slowly up the steep road to the circle at the top of the hill there were several things that caught my eye. Firstly, there were the lambs bouncing around in the lower fields as though Spring had arrived. There was certainly spring in their legs, so perhaps they were just keeping themselves warm. Such a bad year to be born into a cold snap, I thought. A week later there would be reports of many sheep and lambs dying due to the snowfall in placed like Derbyshire and North Wales. Joy and sorrow are close companions.

Bran, Corvus and taking possession

March 20, 2013March 20, 2013 Gwas No Comments

Ancient Sites

I love going out in the week. Everyone else is asleep in front of their televisions and our lands becomes the playground of this hedge druid. At least, that’s how it feels. On this rare dry evening I called Kal to come and share the wonders of Dinas Bran. It’s probably our closest amazing place. I felt like I had neglected Bran, not having visited him yet this year. Time to remedy that. Of course I took gloves, a scarf and a thick coat – I’m not stupid – it’s early March. Kal forewent such superfluous apparel.

We climbed up the back path (the eastern side) in the dark. I had a torch but didn’t need it – there was enough ambient light. Kal used his, though, and as we neared the top he suggested I had picked the harder way up deliberately. It’s all relative – a balance between distance and gradient. As the top levelled off our breathing was audible in the crisp cool night air. Now the wind began to make itself known to us. Dinas Bran is always windy on top whatever the time of year. Go prepared, unless you’re Kal, in which case – freeze!

Unusually, there was actually someone on the top, and they were playing with luminous balls on string, swinging them around in dazzling patterns. I’ve seen people doing such things at festivals. It’s very skilful. I decided to nestle into a quiet space out of the wind where the dowsing rods led me. It was my starting point – a power centre that I was familiar with. Why not? A boost of subtle energy would be good before braving the full force of the cold night wind.

Kal pointed out The Great Bear constellation that was directly before us – East in direction – and then he left to go find what he needed to do in the main castle grounds. Plough/bear/seven sisters – this constellation was many things to many people. I knew it as a representation of Arthur, but now Bran seemed to be indicating that he and Arthur were signified by the same constellation. Interesting….

“In the early Welsh poem “Preiddeu Annwfn”, Arthur visits the Celtic Underworld, Annwfn, and his adventures closely parallel those of the cauldron-seeking god, Bran the Blessed” (Source: Britannia.com)

Well, there you go. Funny how these things come together. I will now always consider these concepts as one – Arthur and Bran.

2012 – Summary of the Year by Gwas

December 27, 2012December 28, 2012 Gwas No Comments

Ancient Sites

My summary of the year could easily take up several posts, but I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to highlight the many important distinct elements that have taken place this year, and then provide links to the posts that illustrate these elements. On the whole it has been an amazingly packed, dense, active year. … Read More “2012 – Summary of the Year by Gwas” »

Hay Moon at Moel-Ty-Uchaf

July 13, 2012July 18, 2012 Gwas 11 Comments

Ancient Sites

July 5th was a couple of days past the full moon which I have come to know as “Hay Moon”. Hay moon presumably because it lasts so long and shines so brightly, and by this point in the year farmers might be beginning to reap some of the harvest that they sowed earlier. Not this year, I reckon! We’ve had two full months of continuous rain. It has rained almost every day since the middle of May. I know the land needs to re-balance after being so dry last year, and at the start of this year, but really – this is getting ridiculous now! It’s almost biblical in proportion – a deluge! Consequently, one takes every opportunity possible to make the most of the one or two days when it hasn’t rained all day. Such a day was July 5th.

if I had my way I wouldn’t have gone to Moel Ty Uchaf stone circle. It’s quite a way away from my home and I wanted to spend the maximum amount of time at a site, rather than spend the time travelling. However, something else had other ideas. When i dowsed for the place to visit it was the only candidate. Really? I double-checked, balking at the prospect of the arduous climb up the steep hill. YES – go to Llandrillo, the rods said. Damn. If it rained or was windy that place can be cold at any time of year. Damn. I hoped the visit would be worth it. I went on the motorbike – testing it still ran alright after it had been knocked down by an invasion of cows. Told you my front garden was open to all! Luckily I have new summer bike gear because otherwise the heat would have been unbearable. Wow – finally a hot day!

The journey was very pleasant and the bike was fine. I arrived unflustered and ready for action. On the way up I gathered some flowers. It felt like I should so I asked permission from the various flowers and hedgerows and told them it was for a dedication to The Goddess (Mother Nature – the female personification of our nurturing spirit). There didn’t feel to be any particular objections to that. In the hedgerow was honeysuckle, briar rose, dock leaves, cow parsley, elderflower, buttercup, foxglove and pink campion. The sprig was a beautiful mixture of purples, yellows and whites when I had finished. I put them into my bike helmet for safe-keeping and it looked quite incongruous – the black menacing helmet bedecked with beautiful flowers. Such is the contrast of this modern hedge druid – masculine and feminine, technology and nature combined in equal proportions.

Moel Ty Uchaf - July 2012 (17) — Looking back at Llandrillo from Moel Ty Uchaf

By the time I reached the top I was exhausted. Summer bike clothes they may be but they are still too hot for walking up such a steep hill. I had to take most of my clothes off in order to cool down. Luckily Moel-Ty-Uchaf is one of those places where you can only be seen if you’re standing on a distant hilltop at a height of several thousand feet! It took me half an hour to dry off in the cooling evening breeze. After wandering about aimlessly I re-clothed and stood by the King Stone to try to find out why I was here.

I decided to locate North for orientation. I stood where I thought North was and got my iPhone app out to check the position. I was at zero degrees – North! I thought the app was broken so I moved a millimetre to my left and the gauge moved too. Yep – I had been pointing perfectly North! Ha ha. Who needs rods these days?

Having my pendulum I was able to get some directions before I set to work. I needed to go to the end of a promontory and cleanse my energies at a power centre there before going to the King Stone outlier (my base). At the King Stone I got ready to approach the circle. I couldn’t at first. I had to walk around the edges feeling for an entry point. The entry point was where it was usually – the southern break in the circle.

Now that I knew how to enter the circle and it felt right, it was time to do some work.

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