In the second part of my Winter Solstice expedition I hereby present the story of Thor’s Cave. You may remember that I was directed to seek the sanctuary and sanctity of a cave atmosphere as a suitable space within which to see out the end of what has been a very interesting year. I think there are several reason why a cave would be a suitable space. Firstly, because I was visiting at the Winter Solstice, this time of year is all about closure. It is about letting go of any tensions built up in the year, of concentrating all of the information learned in that yearly cycle, and then of closing down to wait for the energies to re-appear at Imbolc in February. With a cave’s aura-shaping capability, it made sense to me that seeking a dark enclosed space within which to agglomerate all of the year’s teachings would be the ideal choice. Kal and I learned about the aura-shaping aspects of caves earlier in September from our visit to South Wales.
Thor’s Cave is probably quite easy to get to if you approach it from the road below, but you would be presented with a very steep climb. Instead, Mike and I approached from the footpath just at the edge of Wetton village and there was very little climbing involved, but the ground was wet, muddy and slippery in many parts so we had some amusing episodes both there and back as we struggled for grip. One you reach the front of the cave, however, the entrance is awe-inspiring in size.
It may not be obvious from the pictures but you can’t walk into the cave – you have to climb. For us at this time of year this meant scrambling over wet smooth rocks and all hands and feet were needed to get into the cave without sliding back out. I would recommend you visit on a dry warm day. For some reason I was totally unprepared this day and hadn’t brought a torch! Luckily, Mike had – this was a complete role-reversal that amused us both for ages.
Shafts of remaining sunlight filtered into the cave from the huge entrance and the tall slit in the rocks at the side of the cave, letting in enough light for us to make our way slowly and carefully to the back of the cave. There, the ground rose slightly and split into several hollows arranged around a central protrusion of rock. We tried to make ourselves comfortable to begin a meditation, but the intense slope of the ground and the dampness of the rocks made it difficult to find a comfortable position. We rapidly decided that a standing meditation would be sufficient today. “Adopt, adapt and overcome“!
The Return of the Hobgoblin
It is difficult for me to impart the feeling of ancient, primordial age that we both felt within that cave. I have been in many caves – show caves gleaming with crystals, small mined-out shafts of mud and clay, fogou created by slabs of stone, natural limestone caves … many different types of enclosed space. This cave felt older than anything I had stood in before. I don’t know where that feeling came from, but it was all around us – seeping like the damp atmosphere of the air into our skins and making us reverently silent and humble in its presence. That’s when we noticed the hobgoblin.
I have talked about finding and appeasing hobgoblins before. These are the presences that inhabit the more natural and deep dark spaces such as caves and caverns. I had even prepared for the occasion by bringing along a pine cone from Nine Ladies stone circle, and some hawthorn berries lifted from the base of a tree as we passed it on the way to the cave. I expected that this would be sufficient – it had been before. But I had not counted on the size and scale of the force that dwelt within Thor’s Cave! The presence I could feel lurking next to me as I stood within the alcove near the rear of the cave was huge. It was gigantic. It’s ‘eye’ would be the size of a football. Suddenly me meagre offering looked puny and insubstantial in the scheme of things. I offered them with a good heart and threw them into the corner where I could feel the hobgoblin presence. It seemed to like the act and backed away slightly, offering me enough time, I hoped, to complete whatever work I would need to do to conclude my year and mark the Solstice.
Closing Down for Christmas
I was now too enclosed and physically uncomfortable. With the retreat of the hobgoblin I felt brave enough to move out into the space defined as the centre of the four or five alcoves that made up the back of the cave. I stood in front of the rock protrusion, ignorant of whatever work Mike was doing in his meditation, but wanting to feel my aura interacting with the arched and domed space that this rock formation presented to me. I felt like I had walked out on stage and the “play” could now begin.
I tried firstly to connect in my usual druidic way – sending a thread of energy from my core down deep into the earth and then up to the sky – but I couldn’t do it! It was like the threads went down several feet then simply got blocked, bounding their way back up to me. I tried it in either direction several times but with the same results. I was confused as to why, but because I felt connected to the cave itself I wasn’t unduly concerned about this. I would discuss it later with Mike. I asked him what he felt about working in the cave and he said, “I felt like my energy was constrained by the cave, and I couldn’t extend my aura very far at all.” That was exactly what I had experience. I couldn’t extend my aura! The cave is trapping it – maybe the rocks were of a particular substance that prevented such work, or something like that. I will have to find out why at some point.
Every time I try to expand my aura it contracts twice as quickly. I send it outwards and it bounces back to me, and falls inside my body. Each time I do this it falls deeper inside me. When I realise that the natural force is to concentrate the aura I set my intention to shrink my aura and within a split second it is the size of a nut and deep inside my body. I can feel it like a pulsing energy in my core. I know I need to keep this safe until Spring when I can expand it again into the world. That is the feeling that accompanies the experience. Physically I feel dense and heavy now. I wake slowly to the dull light of the cave and feel like the work is done. I have pulled the whole of my year’s experiences into a single nugget of experience that is held at the core of my being. The experiences have condensed through my energy body, and I hope that some of them more useful ones have stayed with me for the future.
I light some incense to clear our energies, but it doesn’t really have any effect. Again, quite unusual for incense not to affect the energies and to clear the space. Everything around us feels dense, solid and resistant to change and clearing. At this point Mike mentions that he can see the “eye” of the hobgoblin watching us. We decide to get out quickly! It’s gigantic – thirty or more feet tall at least, – and I have nothing further with which to keep it at bay should it decide that we are unwelcome presences, or that it dislikes the smell of my incense, or something. We pick our way swiftly and carefully back to the entrance with its slippery slide of a rock shelf. Somehow we manage to land on the entrance’s plateau without breaking any limbs as the sun sets completely and the darkness begins to pervade.
I now feel that I have “closed down” for the Winter months. I’m all ready to have a good time with everyone else at Christmas, but for me the celebrations were my experience at the Nine Ladies stone circle on 21st December. The memory of the excitement and togetherness that I felt with the fae folk that morning was something that will live with me forever. At Thor’s Cave it was like I packed all of the year’s teachings, emotions and progress into a single pulsating gem that I now keep burning in my core, waiting for the energies of the Spring to release me for another round of druidry and dowsing.
Whatever your path – this Hedge Druid wishes you all a salubrious and sensational Solstice.
Gwas.
