Thor’s Cave is one of those special places that leaps to mind when someone you haven’t been on an outing with leaves it up to you to make the decision about where to go. If the criteria is “impressive”, “great views” or “dry” then Thor’s Cave fits the bill. On a dull and drizzly January day I drove with the shaman Debra Delglyn, her Buddhist brother “V.P.” and the inspirational meditator John Kirby to Staffordshire. What else is there to do on a Tuesday?
We parked in the village of Wetton which is situated above The Manifold Valley, at the northernmost end of Staffordshire, bordering on Derbyshire, and not far from the town of Leek. Even though I’d been here twice before I had a bit of trouble locating the starting point in the valley below, so we ended up walking down the ravine from the village instead. At this time of year it was very muddy at the bottom, and then we had to climb back up an only slightly better path. On the way up we passed two other groups of visitors, which came as a bug surprise considering the time of year and the weather. Only fools would be out at this time, I thought.
On the way to the cave I was talking to V.P. about how the year was shaping up to be related to King Arthur. We discussed how this character from our history was an inspiration, and how Arthur was a symbol of leadership, courage and strength. I mentioned many times that I was following Arthur in the sense that I was following his constellation “The Great Bear“. Following, yet here I was leading this group to the cave. My leadership skills were off to a good start!
At the cave entrance we waited for permission to be granted to enter the site. Everyone was very respectful of my hanging around despite the cold. Once I had the feeling that everything was in accord, then we climbed up the slippery slanted entrance rock. Inside we had the place to ourselves.
All the men went to the back of the cave where it was darkest. There was a strong male force there,. and it seemed to attract each of us one by one as we found the limits of the cave and touched the rocks there. That had been my first instinct too on each visit, and so it was interesting to see other men do that too – completely unprompted.
I had a drum with me and as VP and Debra moved off to a higher part of the cave I began a slow beat which Debra later described as “funereal”! Cheek!
I imagined that being the drummer I wouldn’t be able to “go deep”, as it were, but actually I found that one half of my brain was engaged in that process, whilst the other was able to go into a meditative state. I tried to make a connection to the Earth Spirit that I knew inhabited this cave, but there wasn’t much of a response. It was like walking into a room where someone is sleeping deeply. You know they’re there, but apart from the sound of their breath they’re not responding to you.
I came out of the state and stopped the drumming. Maybe I was having difficulty because I was doing something else? I tried again, but a connection to the earth spirit was difficult. The spirit was not responding. Of course the spirits weren’t responding – this was The Quiet Time! What did I expect? If I wanted to do some work, then I’d have to use my own resources to do that. maybe I could get in touch with my Spirit Self to make some progress?
I needed to use my own energy to work here, so I asked my spirit guide to connect me with my Spirit Self so that I could ask about the Arthurian quest and align myself with The Great Bear. I was brought back to a semi-trace like state and I automatically picked up the dowsing rods and intended to be taken to a place where I could do this work. Even though I couldn’t see where I was walking I made it across the cave floor and found myself wedged into a gap which was only obvious once you were actually inside it! From the outside the overlapping stone would have been virtually invisible, even in full daylight. I settled in.
I opened the Star Walk app on my phone to check my alignment. Would you believe it I was exactly facing the constellation? I didn’t have to move one millimetre! Coincidence, of course. I asked what I should be learning about this alignment and got the answer that I needed to be learning and employing the properties of The North.
For me those associations of The North are:-
- the element of air
- mountains and high places
- clarity and decisiveness
- leadership and independence
- ideas and intellect
- Archangel Michael
I felt very rooted in this space. I did some Chi Kung to further ground and root my energy into the cave. It felt great to do this, and I felt a huge sense of stability afterwards, which is ironic considering what would happen later in the day!
VP said that in his buddhist tradition the North had the same qualities as I had mentioned. I pointed out that the tarot also associated the Suit of Swords with these qualities too. It was all aligning nicely.
I felt, in my meditation, that this was the first of many sites I would visit to work on the chakras. I would be working on them in sequence. The root was the first, and I could move upwards and onwards now that this one was integrated, aligned and balanced.
The Lesser Bear
As we all gathered together close to the cave entrance, Debra suggested we visit the small cave we could see from the larger Thor’s Cave entrance. Having just enough daylight time left, we descended. At the bottom of the hill there was an information board that VP read. When he caught up to us again he told me that it mentioned a bear in the information! Another bear-related coincidence!
Progress towards the smaller cave was difficult. As soon as we descended into the valley we lost sight of its position. We guessed at its location and following a low-resolution map we triangulated ourselves such that we could narrow the spot to the nearest half mile. Now we just needed to search around, and so we walked along a muddy wet path as it looped back over the hill which we believed housed the cave. Luckily, our inward spiral technique of locating the cave was successful, and soon we saw it – just as we were about to give up. How often that’s the way with these places!
At the smaller cave I felt something wasn’t right, and Debra was the first to vocalise that. I couldn’t work out, though, whether the cave just needed some healing, balancing, or whether something was actively against us being there. I soon found out! Following an energetic path up a muddy slope I slipped and fell several feet – hurting nothing except my pride. How soon we are levelled! It brought me back to reality. I was noticing that the open-topped cave was too masculine and needed re-balancing. People were feeling uncomfortable in this space too, I could sense. I resolved to do some work.
I used some crystals to create a layout that would connect with a small inlet of female energy and enhance it. I drew out and created a large vortex of female energy that balanced out the existing male energies in that space. Afterwards the cave felt much better and lighter in every sense. I didn’t know how long it will stay like that though.
Despite my “grounding” experience and the dull grey coldness of the weather, we all had a great day out. For me it was ideal for grounding and working on the root chakra. Now I am looking forward to my other chakra work as I discover which other parts of my energy system need re-aligning and at which places. The journey through 2015 begins!
