Well, what a year. Or rather what a slow year. To be more accurate it has been a spurts and sputters kind of year as far as sacred journeys go. We had a fabulous trip out to Delphi in Greece that seemed to be the promise of something special. But then the weather back home in the UK has been abysmal and has interrupted sojourns as well as giving of the distinct feeling of…now is not the time. Finally though, Beltane festival day arrived and Gwas and I had planned to spend the day visiting some new sacred sites.
In the previous (Beltane -1) post I mentioned how we had a strange synchronicity to begin our journey. After that episode we started on the longer trek (1.5 hours) to a place that Gwas had determined to be significant for his part of today’s quest, a Hermitage. We arrived in good time to the general location and stopped at the side of a field to get our bearings.
Examining maps and iPhones we agreed that we needed to travel a few miles further along the road before we arrived at a suitable place to begin our explorations. However a nice surprise was that when we got there we realised that we had been wrong and that our original stopping place had been the place we should have stopped. Which was perfect!
As we set off on the slight climb through a lovely wooded area the sun was shining like a mid summers day. I can tell you that this was a blessing of unbelievable proportions considering the weather we had had of late. So with the sun keeping us company we were of good heart and pleasant cheer as we made our way to the easily accessible hermits home.
Within about 15 minutes we arrived at the hermitage, which was a small cave in the side of a hill. Although to be honest, the front of it looked a bit like the front of a small house…judge for yourself.
As is our usual modus operandi Gwas and I separated off to prepare and commune. I grabbed the rods and asked whether I needed to prepare in anyway. The answer was yes and I was led off to the other side of the hill and up the slope to a place where I had a beautiful vantage over the village below and with the sun shining on my face (sun boy!).
I spent a few minutes basking, energizing and cleansing (again?) in the sun until I felt ready to utilise the energies of the hermitage. The rods agreed. I returned back to the hermitage and used the rods to determine how to approach this site. The rods pointed me to a place just outside the structure. What was this? Another preparation? It was certainly an odd pattern I walked. It began by bouncing off the window on the left, then the one on the right and then pointing inwards almost, but not quite near the entrance. As I mused on this odd pattern I drew it on the ground in front of the structure.
Moments later I felt I was ready to proceed and dowsed for the right way into the cave. The rods took me inside and faced me outward by one of the windows. When I looked out I saw that the diagram I had drawn was right before me, pointing right at me. No surprise there then. As I stood, looking out at the sun kissed vista I let my senses drift.
You know, I am occasionally accosted by certain individuals as to how quickly information comes when communing. “It’s not my fault” is my normal response. It just does. So, as in other cases, this was no exception. As I left myself open to the spirit of the place, a voice boomed into my consciousness.
“Why are you here?”
What? My immediate conclusion was that this was a question regarding my current geography i.e. Why have you come to this place? I was about to respond with my purpose of the day when I got a follow up…
“Why are you alive? Why do you exist?”
Oh…Ah…I see. Was this metaphysical question going to be the next question? I broke of my connection to ask the rods i.e. my intuition? And they confirmed that this was indeed the second of my nine questions. What am I supposed to do with such a broad and deep question? At the time of writing, I don’t know.
I was done. After this amount of time doing these sacred quests one gets to know the “you’re done” feeling. So it was time to do a gratefulness ceremony which involved several incense sticks and some good vibrations.
Well done, was the thought I left that hermitage with. It was a nice site which delivered more than expected. Beltane was proving to be an exceptional day.
Kal Malik – 2 out of 9!
