Month: September 2013

Red Lady Release

Posted on By Gwas 5 Comments on Red Lady Release
Hedge Druidry

I don’t dream much. When I do it’s very mundane – the kind of universal boring dreams which psychologists love – the kind that are full of the classic “can’t get away” or “never reaching” or “being late” type scenarios. They’re dull and un-memorable. Recently I had the most profoundly affecting dream. It was so real … Read More “Red Lady Release” »

The Synchronous Apple

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Paranormal

When you are “on the path”, that is following a magickal process of development, then things happen which you can’t fail to notice. Recently time syncs have begun to re-appear. I’ve been noticing “17:17” or “21:21” for example. Silly little inconsequential things. And then this happened… I was going to work the way I normally … Read More “The Synchronous Apple” »

Sitting with The Stag

Posted on By Gwas 1 Comment on Sitting with The Stag
Hedge Druidry, Quests

On my last visit to Delamere Forest I was taken to a specific location after I had run through the forest in a free fashion. Something like this, but the forest trails are a lot more overgrown!

httpv://youtu.be/JhPPDPsAvFI

The light had gone when I got there and I felt I needed to go back. There was more to learn. Finding the stag’s horns on the fir tree was not the final outcome.

I went back the next night. It was light this time, but raining heavily. I was reluctant to approach the tree with the stag’s horns because it was surrounded by tall bracken which was dripping wet. However, the dowsing rods insisted that I needed to be at the base of the tree to do any work, so I parted the fern fronds and walked through the wall of wetness to sit at the base of the tree.

Actually, one I was beneath the tree the ground was dry, and as I sat I realised that the tall fronds completely blocked off the main path. I couldn’t see it, and no-one on the path would see me. Perfect! As if to prove that , seconds later two cyclists whizzed past me. Even though I was wearing a bright coat I was still hidden.

I settled down to work. My preliminary dowsing had revealed that there was a spirit associated with this tree, and that I could use this site to speak to Herne. So I did just that. I called upon my spirit guide Ash to ask him to broker the contact and protect me while I worked. I felt the familiar shiver. It was done. Now to speak to Herne.

Stag's horns in Delamere Forest
Stag’s horns in Delamere Forest

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HS2 and the woods we lose

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Hedge Druidry

I don’t often get political on this blog, except when something threatens the things I love. In this case the potential natural disaster is the proposed new HS2 railway line which will go from London through to Birmingham, then in its second phase it will extend to Manchester and Leeds. My concerns about this development … Read More “HS2 and the woods we lose” »

Finding the Horns of the Stag

Posted on By Gwas 1 Comment on Finding the Horns of the Stag
Hedge Druidry, Quests, Spirits

I know – a stag’s horns are usually called antlers. I am choosing to use the term ‘stag’s horns’ because those are the words that came to me when I asked for this next quest. “Horn” seems to have more resonance with concepts such as drinking vessels and therefore “grails” too. It makes my work feel more Like a Grail Quest than a Stag Party. This evening’s work began when I was considering where I might go to try to run like a stag. How does a stag run? Unhindered. Freely. Instinctively.

The obvious choice for such a run was my nearest large forest – Delamere in Cheshire. It was a cooler evening. The nights have been drawing in, getting darker sooner, and the temperature dropping accordingly. Nevertheless, on my way back from a fitness session in Manchester I made myself drive back through Delamere Forest. The light was already low as I parked in a convenient lay-by – one that I had parked in many times before. I knew where I was heading and why. I was going to visit The Father of the Forest – the spirit of Delamere – to seek his blessing in my next endeavour which was to Seek the Stag.

Seeking the stag was the instruction I had been given as my quest this turn of the year’s wheel. It had recently been revealed in a vision to be related to discovering the feeling of running freely through the forest, uninhibited, undaunted by obstacles. In the low light of early twilight which was descending quickly this seemed like a true test in these conditions.

Delamere Forest lake at sunset
Delamere Forest lake at sunset

In my sports gear I blended well with the last of the forest trail runners. They were better prepared than I was having torches, and heading out of the forest instead of in. I knew that the Father wasn’t far away, however. Working from memory (when was the last time I had sought him out – a couple of years ago?) I went off the main trail and into the undergrowth. I couldn’t find the usual trail and instead ended up hopping over young sharp bramble tendrils as they tried to snare and slice my exposed limbs. At the point where I was brought to a standstill by one offending strand I made a verbal exclamation: “Hey – don’t you know I’m here to see the Father of the Forest? Let me pass!”

As if in response to my demands I spied a clearer trail and moved across to walk on that. This was much easier and I didn’t get stuck or sliced up from that point on. I was still smarting from the original “defenders” work, however, to be too grateful for an easy passage at this point in proceedings. I made my way slowly down into the bowl of swampy ground where the newer growth had formed in a clearing. This was my starting point for this evening’s work.

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What I learned from crop circles – Part 2

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Crop circle

In the previous companion post to this one (Part 1) I talked about the death of crop circles in 2013, and how the prediction of that phenomenon was one of the major markers on my wayfaring through the magickal world I now inhabit. In the follow up I will be talking about the ways in which crop circles added to my druid work.

This year has been a testing year in many ways. One of the elements of travelling The Doubtful Path, that was indicated for me in a tarot draw at the start of the year, is that it is necessary to re-visit and recapitulate elements of wonder that have been encountered, and to consider what these things mean to you as you proceed. So it is with crop circles.

I certainly don’t celebrate the death of the crop circle. Even though it was an incidental phenomenon (or so I thought at the time) that had no apparent bearing on my druid work, I now begin to see the things that the phenomenon brought home to me. Let me first list, then describe, what these things are.

  1. Mystery
  2. Beauty in Nature
  3. Meaning in pattern
  4. Co-creation with Otherworld forces
  5. Primal energy

In the next section I will talk about these concepts in more detail as they relate to my experiences with the crop circle phenomenon.

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Dyserth Castle – How to call an Air Spirit

Posted on By Gwas 3 Comments on Dyserth Castle – How to call an Air Spirit
Elemental, Hedge Druidry, Natural Magick

Following on from my previous encounter with a Nix – a Water Spirit associated with a river which became a waterfall in Dyserth town – we moved to the nearby site of Dyserth Castle.

It is a short drive away from the town towards the hill of Graig Fawr where it’s possible to park easily. I wasn’t expecting anything from this visit. I was really here to humour Kal who had been keen on re-visiting the site. Previous visits to Dyserth castle had been vaguely interesting, but never mind-blowing. Well, you just never know what might happen when you visit sacred places. Here’s my account.

Dyserth Castle at twilight in summer
Dyserth Castle at twilight in summer

Working in peace

I’m old-fashioned like this – I like to work in peace. I need silence to concentrate and to become more aware of my surroundings through extending my senses outwards into the slient space. So, it was a rare pleasure to have the area around Dyserth Castle to ourselves. We call it a castle, but as Kal frequently says “It’s not another of those castles with only one stone, is it?”. Well, not quite, but close. The castle has earthwork ramparts covered by trees and hedges below, and may have more remains on the top of the steep cliff, but we’ve always been satisfied to hang around in the quarried region below the actual castle. One day we may climb up and see what’s up there!

Despite being in the nether regions of this unusual place there is something interesting about the space. We split up as usual and found respective places to work. Kal seemed drawn to a corner of the area nearest the trees which lined the entrance. Then later he moved to the mound which must have been created from the debris left by the quarrying work.

I on the other hand was taken to a seemingly innocuous space which was a compatible power centre for me, bubbling with spirals  of subtle energy. I lit some incense and placed it around me. Kal call s across that he can feel a presence and asks me if I can feel it too. Indeed I can – there is something invisible moving around the area, tracking our movements, trying to sense our purpose. It has the qualities of an air spirit, and just at that moment Kal says that he thinks he can sense air spirits. They’re all around us – moving through the trees on the top of the tall quarry, and occasionally swooping down to pass around us – sensing what we’re up to.

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