Day two in Cornwall. The winter weather had relented and the grey rain clouds had receded back to clear skies. My target for today were a series of sites around the Land’s End area – sites which Kal and I had passed by on our mission to get to the “good stuff” in summer. There were a cluster of sites around the village of Sancreed, and then my midday destination was lunch on Carn Brea hill.
I arrived in Sancreed, parked in the village, then set off walking towards the church in the hope of tracking down the well nearby. As I got close to the church I saw a visitor sign for Sancreed Beacon. Well, why not? It was still mid-morning, and the air was still, the views would be lovely. I set off up the hill road.
1. Sancreed Beacon
I passed a van full of baying hounds parked in the lay-by, then walked to the top of the beacon hill where I was greeted by the sight of four wild horses grazing on the available greenery. As the sound of the disturbed dogs faded I began to appreciate the looming views. I had predicted correctly – the view was incredible from the beacon hill, as you might expect.
The four horses did not seem very apocalyptic, nor were they very interested in me dowsing my way via an energetic path to the “best place for me to be”. They munched on, intent upon their delegated task to keep the hilltop naturally trim.
The dowsing rods shifted right as I reached close to the peak and I followed. I was taken to a small rectangular-shaped area which was just to one side. I dowsed to try to find out why I was here – was there something I could do for the site, or something it could do for me (Kal’s great opening question). It was a healing requirement – there was work for me to do. Well, that’s a good start to the day!
The Fertility Spiral
I began to tune into the site by sitting down on the power centre and relaxing. As I got more relaxed I began to see the way the energy needed to flow – it needed to become a spiral pattern, like a galaxy, whose arms would radiate outwards into the surrounding countryside. I set to work gathering the necessary energy from the land, coordinating its movement, and re-forming the flows into the spirals arms from this central point where I was sitting.
Within minutes the flow was autonomous, and I removed myself from the equation, watching the flows of energy extending out down the hill in all directions. This was something new yet again – I’ve never done anything quite like this before, but it was very rewarding to ‘see’ it happening. I recognised that it was a fertility spiral.
Then the horses came along for a close look and all further work was impossible, even within this square enclosure. These horses didn’t understand the concept of personal space!
Off Centre Leys
I was curious why I had been taken to work “off centre”. Was there anything actually on the top of the hill itself – the place where you might expect a beacon fire to be lit so that it could be seen from all directions? I had recently found that fire pits were often power centres, so this made me even more curious about why I hadn’t been taken to the “top spot”.
I began to wonder if the beacon hill was linked along the chain of hills which included the Mary and Michael energy leys. I began to dowse for the presence of ley energy and when I found one I asked to be taken to its boundary, so that I could determine its width, strength and direction. I found myself walking off the top of the hill and slightly down to one side. There I was shown the boundary of a line that was travelling south-west towards Land’s End. No doubt the ley which passed through Carn Brea. To confirm the direction I travelled along its length for a minute, until I found a stone on its path which seemed to be marking the alignment in conjunction with a larger stone near the top of the hill.
I was lucky that the horses and the local council had done a good job of clearing the bracken and shrubs around the top of the hill, otherwise such an alignment would never have been seen.
The rods had behaved a little strangely when reaching the stone, one of them branching off towards the sea to the south. This sparked my curiosity and I wondered if this second stone was marking a processing point. I asked whether there was a crossing ley, and got a positive response. There was indeed a cross at this stone – another ley travelled approximately north-south, heading towards St Michael’s Mount, perhaps.
Yet, the stone was feet away from the very top. Again, off centre. I wondered why.I knew that asking the dowsing rods a “why” question was going to eat up a lot of time, so I cut to the chase:
- Was it beneficial for the crossing point to be off centre? YES.
- Had the energies deliberately been manipulated to be off centre and away from the top of the hill? YES.
That was all I needed to know. I would catch up with the leys at Carn Brea later in the day where I intended to video their course.
2. Sancreed Well
On the walk up the hill I had seen a small wooden sign pointing to the well – handy! Now I knew exactly where to find it. Odd that as I entered the path to the well there was a couple in front of me. Visitors? On a week day? In Winter? This must be something special! I descended the muddy path behind the other visitors and rounded the corner half way down the hill to a rather pleasant surprise.
The well was in a small glade of trees, along with a sculpted cross standing some ten feet tall, and then the well itself being under a highly decorated tree, embedded within a rectangular stone framework which, although steep, allowed entry to the water below. It was beautiful.
As I expected the other visitors had a quick look, ticked some imaginary check-list in their heads, and then returned back up the muddy path. All that effort for a reconnoitre? I’m still amazed by some people. Now some more people arrived from the path below! What was it with this place? This was an innocuous Tuesday in December, right? Mid-July there must be coach-loads barging each other to get in!!
I did some preliminary dowsing:
- Was the site beneficial to me? YES.
- Did it require any healing? NO.
- Did the water have any measurable beneficial effect generally? YES.
- For me specifically? YES.
- For those other people here? NO.
Oh! Unlucky for them! Lucky for me. The well, I found out, was being kept in a good condition by the spirit of place, and the frequent visitors were adding their beneficial energies to the site too. All round it was one of the most lovely places I have visited – both scenically and in terms of the feel of the energy. Truly, a sacred place.
I stopped to look at all the items that had been tied to the three which grew next to the well’s entrance. The array and scope of the items was unlike anything I had seen elsewhere. It has to be seen to be believed. I haven’t made my mind up about such decorations. I can see that they carry energetic intent which can be beneficial, but often they contain pleas for cures or remembrances of people who have passed away. I don’t know quite what these are expecting to achieve by being left here. Done one, tied to the tree, intended, and then remove – that I can understand. How that works long-term, I don’t know. At what point does decoration become litter? And who clears it up?
Crosses temporary and permanent
Once I had taken a few minutes to tune into the site courtesy of a couple of helpful trees at the back of the site, then I returned to descend into the Underworld. I went in via the two or three steep steps and reached out to gather some of the water. With it I wiped a cross across my face – Sun to Sea, Sky to Earth. Repeat, this time with more conviction. Ah… the refreshing purity of that water. The deep connection. The respect for the elements. All were expressed in those simple movements.
Talking of crosses – this cross on a pillar stood to one side of the site. I wondered if it had any energetic impact on the site, because unlike other wells this one did not seem to have been “Christianised” by some saint or other. The dowsing rods revealed that its energy had not impacted the rest of the site, as sometimes occurs with religious symbols which have crosses carved atop them, or which have been “blessed” by the orthodox religions.
I was pleased that this well was still strictly pagan, and thoroughly beautiful because of it. I left for Carn Brea with a wide grin on my face. This was a site worth re-visiting any time I was ever in this area. I felt refreshed, blessed and impressed.
