A Year of Dowsing and Druidry: 2007-8

2007-8: The Year of The Path

I was looking back over some of the photographs that I started taking when I first re-discovered my interest in visiting ancient sites, which led to dowsing, and then progressed to let grow a meaningful apprenticeship and relationship with Nature. I realised as I looked at those early photographs how little I knew then of the subtle earth energies; of the complex structure of the interactions between those energies and the collective consciousness of all the things around us; and how much I had to learn, and still do, of how to re-establish a working relationship to exchange energies with Nature for a better understanding of the human condition, and to promote harmonious interactions.

It has been a year of quite momentous change for me, in the face of the prospect of ‘just another uneventful year’. Even though establishing and maintaining stability had been something I had been working towards (“least hassle options”), when I got there I understood that change meant tearing many of those structures down again to rebuild something much more integrated, holistic, and meaningful. I mean, just how many CDs does a man need to own before he stops listening to any of them? The answer is somewhere around 1,207. This is the tipping point.

At the very least re-discovering the art of dowsing has re-invigorated my life with an energy that I had been diverting into pointless and unfulfilling activities – watching rubbish TV, not reading books, console games, kung fu films, pretending to learn French – anything but thinking about myself and my interaction with the world.

The fabric of my life has not fundamentally changed over the last year – I still have the same friends, the same relationships, the same job, the same home. Many things have remained as good as they were before. Only now they have more resonance. I no longer fill my time with distractions – I make use of time. I no longer shy away from learning and reading. I used to love doing those things – they got me through university. Now, I learn with a purpose – to understand and uncover a deep interactive energy relationship with practical, philosophical and personal purpose. In the last year I have re-joined my true path.

To Earth With A Bump

Along the way there have been several indicators that have made me sit up and notice the changes that have been wrought. One such incident happened today on a casual stroll up Helsby Hill. On the path up from Hill Road South I started tuning into the tapestry of light, sound and smell that encompassed the woods I was passing through. As the path weaved its way up the hill I saw within the path a line of energy – a darker hue of soil – that ran in a wavy line between the edges of the path. I started following this line, weaving from side to side, feeling for the energy beneath my feet. I had done this before with some success at Birchen Edge in Derbyshire. Kal had dowsed behind me checking how ‘in tune’ I was and it was remarkably coincidental.

Today, I could really feel the tingle through my feet almost like the tug in the right direction that the rods always give when moving in a new direction when dowsing an energy line. I felt that I knew I was on such a line then, snaking its way up the path, and so as my rational mind kicked into gear spewing forth thoughts like: “How cool is this? How do I know for sure I’m on it? Shouldn’t I get my rods out to check? Which way might it turn next?” I stopped it. I turned off that thought tap, and put my metaphorical finger up its spout!

With my mind stilled and still tuned in, I felt my way up the path, just walking, not thinking. My rational brain jumped back in as I reached a fork in the path marked by a double-trunked birch tree. I made a quick decision to head for the left hand path and then jumped on the dripping tap to turn it tightly off again, and get back to that semi-trance state where the sense of self diminishes, and nature comes into stark relief. I must have been rather successful. My body was still being fed the instructions to follow the energy line, so it did – straight into the birch trunk where I bumped my knee against one of the trunks and stopped aghast! “What on earth….?” I had told my body to go left, but had felt a really strong tug from the tree which literally pulled my body into the tree’s trunk in order to follow the energy line! It was the strangest experience! Not alarming – more amusing! To anyone watching I had just walked into a tree! To me, it was an indicator of how embedded the connection is getting between my “self” and the subtle energies of nature.

There have been many more indicators, some of which I have blogged on this site. The hardest thing was to spot these markers and simply move on without dwelling. Heroclitus and all; same river twice and that. Follow the flow, but direct it on a meaningful course according to its nature.

Dowsing from Beginner to Intermediate

Perhaps the most obvious external and recreatable experience of change has been the degree to which Kal and I can now dowse the sacred sites we visit. We have moved from dowsing single or a couple of lines at a site, to drawing diagrams that need to span several pages of a notebook in order to accurately capture the number and types of energies we can discover. The challenge remains, as ever, to gain a deeper knowledge of the purpose, and use for, the energy sites we dowse.

We have tried many ideas out: a sanctuary space created by outlying energy rings; a protection sphere conjured by some sacred rite or timing; a transformation space where an individual or group can chant and drum and drug their way through the barriers of space and time; or a healing point, where people can have their energetic forces re-invigorated, re-charged, or re-aligned to heal and promote both physical and mental health. All these things may still be true. Certainly cromlechs and burial chambers seem to lend themselves to transformation, certain faerie rings or energy spirals can feel enlivening and can heal ailments, in my direct experience. Some stone circles feel protective and communal like they were used for gatherings and rituals – but what those were we are only beginning to research and theorise. Standing stones appear to link energy grids together, or to propel energies along lines, but sometimes they may have an ‘earth accupuncture’ feeling that hints at their raison d’etre as being simply to stake energy points much as a chakra system is punctured by needles to promote energy flow. All these things are possible, and more. We are still very open-minded in many of these areas. The one thing we know is – as a race, we once knew the answers to these phenomena. The hope is we can recover most of it, and draw our own relevant interpretations from that recovery process as to their purpose and function.

One eye on the Stars

One aspect of interpreting the function of ancient sites, and recovering ancient knowledge, is their connection with astrology. Having spent a great deal of time researching the available theories in this area, I know that I personally will struggle to maintain the necessary co-ordinates to learn the star systems, link them to the phases of the sun and moon, understand the riddles of the pyramids, and of ancient site alignments. The theories only get wilder and more complex the more you read about Giza pyramid angles, Sirius Dog-Star knowledge among the African Dogon tribe, ancient site constellation patterns, and Sitchin and Hancock’s detailed re-evaluation of the origins of our species. These are all certainly worth reading about. Critical faculties need to be applied, however their value in breaking through our cultural conditioning is worthwhile on its own. Once buildings have tumbled, though, new structures need to be built that are more harmonious and beautiful.

I feel now that they open more avenues of study than a human can travel in a lifetime! My progress has now ventured inwards – to physical fitness, to stimulating my mind to begin to learn again, to meeting my spiritual feelings with a reasoned but open understanding of why such feelings exist and thinking productively as to what to do with them. Ultimately, I had to think of what benefit to the world this path might have. Finding your place is a good platform to leap from.

Manifestly intergal

The link between dowsing for real energies, and the more nebulous concept of interacting with these energies was provided by Hamish Miller in his DVD entitled ‘The Spirit of the Serpent’. In this programme Hamish showed on screen how it was possible to invest or transmit energy into a site in order to produce these incredible geometric patterns. The patterns employ the properties and principles of sacred geometry in their design, and echo Celtic, Indian and other tribal motifs. Here was someone demonstrating how you could invest energy into a site and get a thing of beauty in return. Every time it is astonishing. Every time I wonder at the language I need to learn to truly understand this interaction. This simple act was the link I had been needing to progress my explorations from mere mapping to happy-clapping. No, I only did that because it rhymed! I meant, to progress my explorations from mere mapping of the energy’s routes to a level of physical, mental and spiritual involvement with the energy.

Other links, to sacred geometry, and links to the druids, were provided by Paul Devereux and John Michell. If you want to know more about this aspect, you should check out their writings. Erudite but simply delivered.

What does the Green Man mean, man?

I think by this point I was getting tired of The Game. Ah, The Game, the game, the game. You know it yourself. Do you keep your head down and work quietly – get through the day – go home – watch TV? Or do you stick your head above the parapet – try to save yourself from bad decisions – fight your corner to keep what you’ve got and get on? Better yourself? As at many important junctures in my life the answer was “None of the above” (see ‘Voting patterns of the Bolton student population 1990-93‘).

I started with a book I had bought and vaguely read fifteen years ago: Philip Carr-Gomm’s ‘The Druid Tradition‘. Here, on every page, I felt a tug of connection. I was being drawn into the inevitable attractor point provided by this philosophy/religion/conceptual framework – however it can be described. Having seen the Wizard of Oz machinery behind the curtain of modern business and politics I needed to re-inflate my deflated cynical being with a breath of life. ‘Nurse! CPR for this patient, please!’. Druidry didn’t “fill that gap” as the cliche goes, it re-awoke childhood notions, it stimulated my spiritual awakening to our connectedness, and it refreshed my belief in keeping to a balanced and purposeful path. In druidry, opposites co-exist. There is no need to vanquish ‘the other’, whomsoever you may picture that as – Saddam Hussein, terrorists, foreigners, that quarrelsome country over there. Purposeful, magical, meaningful harmony resulted from coming home to druidry.

It also made quite clear to me that meaning and purpose are my decision. These things come from me interacting with the world, not withdrawing from it because I disagreed with how it was being run. Yes, I had been untangling myself from life’s strings for several years, but this was a means to an end – it was done so that I could free myself to follow my true path – to do the things that I need to do to be true to myself and take part in the world.

These were the qualities I uncovered in studying druidry, past and present. In tales of ancient druidry I saw a gradual movement from a simple interactive and integrated life, through to a complex and reactive one that eventually saw druidry being subsumed into a monotheistic religion. But even in the modern world sites existed where their lore and laws still applied. That made me appreciate living in Britain, and opened up a rediscovery of our incredible landscape.

Modern druidry, I found, had its branches and diversions too. I had scanned too many bookshelves lined with ‘Bring Out Your Shining Self’ pulp to not recognise support groups when I saw them! Everyone has their own path, and requires a nudge in the right direction or inspiration occasionally. However, there is a point beyond which books and peer discussion can get you. I felt I needed to grab the Dragons’ tails and move ahead through my own interpretations. I took the path of the solitary druid wannabee because it suited me. That’s what I was learning. We all play a part – you just need to get a script that motivates you because essentially you’ll be playing YOU in this play. In front of a large audience at times. Learned your lines yet, or are you going to read from the heart?

From modern druidry I learn that natural magick is a state of mind. I learn that philosphy can live in the world. I find that nature is a mischevious mistress with three faces, who likes being tickled. I learn that interaction and inaction are sides on a double-headed coin. I break through barriers of repression to feel a fresh breeze on my face. I am slowly replacing cynical smugness with a smiling knowing. I share thoughts and ideas with no thought of their exchange rate, only of their truth to me.

These are the things I have learned this year.

For the future. here is a random list of ideas and thoughts, desires and needs, that I hope to work on:-

1. To learn about the Welsh language,

2. To work out why I can’t dowse for named places,

3. To understand the relationship between manifested patterns and sacred geometry,

4. To learn tree meditation in depth,

5. To prepare for a transformation experience from Birch to Yew level when I feel the time is right,

6. To do a drumming and bell-playing session in a burial chamber,

7. To deteremine the properties of holy water, particularly as it relates to plant growth

8. To visit St Michael’s Mount,

9. To create some Benzene Vapours music to accompany trance sessions,

10. To learn a simple circle-drawing ritual to determine any effects

I hope to report on progress when the mood takes me, or as I gain more understanding of the scope and purpose of any of the above.

Wishing you an interesting year!

Gwas.

Follow your true path.