Yet another stone circle – Tregeseal – was crammed in before we made our way north to Tintagel. We were both eagerly waiting to get to Tintagel, believing that it would be a very suitable site for learning about our respective quests. So, it was with mixed emotions that we drove up the rutted narrow track to the top of the hill to the north-east of the village of Tregeseal. Excitement at the prospect of a new circle, trepidation about the state of the circle and whether it would be worth the diversion. The circle had better be worth the delay and the threatening weather!
As it turned out, it was delightful, and judging by the gift of bright yellow flowers in the centre of the main circle (there are remnants of others nearby) then it was a circle that was visited often too. After taking some photos I began to think about what it was I wanted to learn at this circle. As I stood overlooking the site I felt a presence I had felt many times before – it was Merlin. My old friend and mentor. Hadn’t felt him in ages. What advice was he offering me this time?
- I should be asking about the Arthurian Cross.
- This was a suitable place to discover such information.
Well, I had been finding Arthurian energies at Glastonbury Abbey recently, so that tied in. “Follow me!” said Merlin and moved into the circle. I followed, dowsing to see where he had gone. Because he was invisible, a figment of my fevered imagination, and only my swinging two metal rods around in a random fashion could hope to locate such a being.
The circle was nestled in the lee of some imposing stones on the adjacent hill, which offered a beautiful and intriguing backdrop to the site. Kal set off dowsing the circle, and I went about my dowsing business too. It was time to find Merlin, and then to see what it was he was trying to tell me about the Arthurian Cross – a collection of psychological archetypes, symbols, and stations that, as a concept, was becoming ever more complex by the week! Would Merlin be able to straighten it out for me? The rods found him, standing by one of the stones in the eastern side of the circle.
I was ready for action. I settled into a meditative state of mind and asked whether Merlin could show me what it was he wanted me to learn here? He told me that I would need to find some places in the circle, one for each part of the Arthurian Cross, and to FEEL those places to learn more. Ever game for such larks I set off without specific instructions – I just said to the rods, “Take me to the first place I need to be at to learn about that aspect of the Arthurian Cross” I didn’t want to pre-judge which aspect would be first, of which archetype that would relate to. Let the learning unfold as it will.
I began to walk around the circle directed by the rods. Three of the places were stones in the circle, and one was a power centre inside the circle. On the way I saw a spider’s web decorated with beautiful water droplets. This happened to be the power centre for the “water” aspect of the cross. I’ll explain in a moment, but basically each “station” of the cross was associated with an element, and the element chimed with real physical things in the appropriate directions outside of the circle. I’ll show you how soon.
After Merlin had guided me around I found that the last stone I was taken to – the Merlin stone – was the same one as Kal was working at. In a stone circle with numerous stones in it that was a coincidence which made us giggle. I explained what i had learned to Kal and heard the gentle sound of snoring on the other side of the stone. Hey – one man’s quest is another man’s lullaby. Only kidding, he didn’t really fall asleep, but the stone was comfortable, and the day had been long already.
To understand the information at each place I had to link to the element in the direction I faced to have the knowledge revealed. Earth was easy, as was Fire (Sun), for water I spotted that there was a large pond in one of the fields next to the stone circle – that was handy! And it was in the direction of the Sea too. A happy coincidence. When I faced the hill and asked to connect to the Air (Sky) element a sudden and uncharacteristic wind blew up around me! Very exciting.
The Arthurian Elements re-defined again
Here is the list of qualities that were revealed to me at the Tregeseal stone circle by Merlin:-
- Arthur – Stability and order. Rootedness. Steadfastness. Land/Earth.
- Merlin – Chaos, power and wildness. Sky/Air.
- Gawain – Light and joy. Sun/Fire.
- Galahad – Emotion, sorrow, and darkness. Sea/Water.
You see, things like this drive me to madness. Only a few days earlier I had been standing in Glastonbury Abbey where I got the following reactions to the Arthurian energies there:-
- Arthur – powerful, clear and purposeful. A central axis, spine.
- Merlin – in the heart, the truth. The heart centre.
- Gawain – emotional and gentle. The upper power centre.
- Galahad – still, firm, and wilful. The lower power centre.
Then there was the time when the Arthurian Earth Energies were revealed to me:-
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Arthur – fire + earth – felt impetuous, imperative and imperious
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Merlin – water + earth – felt emotional, moving, and profound
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Gawain – earth only – felt nothing! steady, inert, stable, unmoving, rooted
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Galahad – air + earth – felt sparky, light and bubbly, thrilling, exhilarating
Here was another set that I discovered via tarot:
- Arthur – Light/Leader/Motivation/ Tarot: Wands
- Merlin – Darkness/Protector/Change /Tarot: Pentacles
- Gawain – Intellectual/Steadfastness /Tarot: Swords
- Galahad – Wise Man/Emotiveness /Tarot: Cups
How on earth is one supposed to reconcile these findings? This is now yet another set of different Arthurian properties associated with the four archetypes. They are all too mutable and interchangeable. There is absolutely no way to correlate all these configurations! This has left me wondering what the value of these Arthurian Archetypes is. When could I make use of one aspect, or any other? It’s all too confusing! I’m going to have to dowse them all to find out what they mean. I must be missing the KEY to all these sets of knowledge.
