Five Wells barrow near Chelmorton, Derbyshire [link].
Every once in a while I have an experience which is completely unexpected and yet immensely powerful. Yes, I am on a sacred path, and much of this is marked out for me, but when you’re not expecting something it can be much more powerful. Such was the nature of my vision at Five Wells Barrow near Chelmorton village in Derbyshire.
Kal and I ventured out because it had been a while since we had just gone out for “fun” with no agenda or notion of what might happen. We wanted a site we could get to relatively easily, but which we hadn’t been to in a while. Five Wells fitted that bill. Yes, it’s close to Arbor Low, but frankly that site is rather harsh at this time of year (or any time of year really). There was a biting cold wind so the idea of being snug inside a barrow seemed more inviting that being blasted in Arbor Low’s open space.
Kal and I seemed to have similar ideas. We both began to dowse and were soon standing just feet apart from each other as we moved from a cleansing power centre to one which would allow us to get to the right vibration to energetically connect to the site. It was amusing that we seemed to choose adjacent or even the same power centres.
Soon we were moving off to do our own work. Kal had some questions about his current quests and the journeys they would involve, whereas I had no particular purpose in mind except that I had brought my yew staff and wondered whether I was to work with that in some way. Standing on a suitable power centre I connected in to the site and to its Spirit of Place. Soon I was seeing through glazed eyes. I asked a simple question:
“Why is this site called Five Wells?”
My attention was being moved for me now – my eyes being systematically moved from one point in the distance to another. My head was being turned too, and when the point in the distance was achieved then my vision was momentarily re-focused so that I could see what I was supposed to look at. I have had this kind of “being moved” thing happen before, and so I wasn’t afraid of it. I just let it happen, and as my eyes were focused on one spot I asked “What is there?” Each time the answer was “sacred water”. I counted the number of points I was drawn to. Five!
What was I being told?
Sacred Waters and Well Keepers
So, the answer to my question was becoming as clear as a sacred spring – Five Wells is so-called because it is connected to five sacred wells. I made a mental note of where these were in the landscape, and when I later researched those directions I was able to identify these five wells linked with Five Wells barrow (1):-
- Ebbing and Flowing Well, Tideswell (2) – [info] [link]
- Lud Well, Hartington (3) – [link]
- St Anne’s Well, Buxton (4) – [link]
- Skinner’s Well, Ashford in the Water (5) – [link]
- Wormhill Springs, Wormhill (6) – [info]
That wasn’t the end of the link. As I stood on that low mound next to the Five Wells barrow’s stones I became aware of more information. The link wasn’t specifically the sacred waters. The barrow existed because five ‘holy men‘ are buried here. The bones of these holy men had been washed in the five sacred waters they were associated with before being transported to this site for burial. That, I was told, was why this site is called Five Wells.
Quite a few skeletons and sets of remains have been found at this site. It was once far larger, it seems. See this link for more information.
The Bones Connection
I found it interesting that only the day before I had been visiting my two psychic friends Mike and Janet. They had mentioned to me that I needed to work with my staff. Today I had brought it – the yew staff with the antlers on top. As I dowsed for where I should go next, and was taken to the tumbledown row that looked like a spinal cord extending out from the main chamber’s ‘head’, I felt the urge to place my staff into the gap between the stones.
Then I got in with the staff, placing it around me. Somehow the narrow gap managed to fit both me and the staff snugly, and such that the wind that was howling over the hilltop was flowing over us both without hitting us. Coincidence. Chance. Luck. Of course. The space was incredibly comfortable, almost like it had been made to seat someone.
As I got into a meditative state I began to see images of the stag. Recent associations with that word came flooding in. The ‘Stag‘ film lent by a friend for me to watch; Herne the Hunter; stag standing on the edge of a precipice bellowing – a task which had been assigned to me earlier in the year but which I felt I didn’t complete properly (see previous post). I knew this was about confidence and having a spine. Having the courage to stand up and be proud of my work. Having the courage of my convictions. Self belief and the courage to stand up tall and believe in myself.
I rose with the staff supporting me. We both went to stand out on the edge of the barrow’s borders, and I looked out over the surrounding valley. I stood straight and tall, waiting until Kal had emerged from the chamber. The I knew what I needed to do. I bellowed loudly in a deep baritone voice, shouting out twice over the valley below! This was the fulfilment of the task that I had encountered at Delamere Forest earlier in the year. This was its proper completion.
I felt like we were done, and Kal agreed. He had got the answers he was looking for. A bit of incense lit inside the barrow and we could leave, heading back into the cold wind which for some reason seemed colder than the space we had just left.
On our way back to the car I noticed a bone – it looked like a vertebra – sticking out of the muddy ground of the path. When I checked again I saw that there were actually five bones. Of course, I picked them up – they were for me to find at this time.
The coincidences struck me quite strongly:-
- Five sets of bones for the five Well Keepers who gave Five Wells its name
- Five vertebrae from the ‘backbone’ – a sign of confidence
- The vertebrae have holes as their centre, like wells through which the essence of life flows up the spine
Funny how these things work out, eh? It’s all a coincidence of course.
