We are on our way down from Swinside stone circle, where I have just been working with the numbers Four and Five. Debra Delgyn and I are chatting about all of the four and five correspondences that have featured already in such a short time so far.
Magickal Mathematics
Four sheep are guiding us back along the path to the car, and yet again we are forced to remark on the number. See? Swinside stone circle makes you think about numerology. I am glad that my guides have prompted me to remember this information, or have kindly donated it to me this day.
We are heading quickly downwards when suddenly, as we approach an old ash tree, I have a lightning moment of clarity. Four and five? They make six! What? My mind does somersaults, as I get a download of an idea. An idea which was so startlingly simple, yet its implications make images and ideas and calculations spin like a carousel through my mind.
I try to explain to Debra the way I’m thinking. Forget conventional mathematics – this is magickal maths. To progress to the next level, to resolve the sum, you need to reconcile the previous pair of sequential numbers. You need to make them “agree” – to reconcile, or to understand each other. They do not sit on top of each other producing a sum. Instead, they work together to unify despite their difference, and through doing so they produce the next value.
Let me give you some examples.
One into Two makes Three. When One and Two can be understood to exist together, to unify, then you progress to Three. So, Two into Three makes Four. When you have reconciled how Four works with Five, then you get Six.
This is how it works in the magickal mathematical system that was revealed to me. This is the information that Swinside stone circle incorporates, and which it is trying to reveal to those who wish to know. This quest never stops being fascinating!
Spring At The Fall
We decide to get warm with lunch, and then head to DalegarthFalls (which I thought was called Stanley Falls) in the Eskdale Valley. I have a hankering for a water site, and Deb is happy to go along with the choice. I navigate from memory – possibly a dangerous thing to do considering I’ve only been there once before but magically we end up exactly where we need to be, ans park up in the correct car park.
As we walk up to the falls the rhododendrons are coming out in flower. Their open and fallen flowers remind me of the lotus flower, and as we walk we pick some up to use as offering later.
Soon we reach the falls themselves, only a ten minute walk up a beautiful path alongside a strong stream.
We each find a spot close to the water and somewhere that we can deposit our beautiful flower offerings.
As I stand meditating and connecting to the gorgeous but wild water elemental which governs the site I feel like I am being directed towards a special sign – a sign just for me. I feel like I should lift my eyes upwards and I began to scan the rocks above looking for the sign which I feel I am being directed towards. In the mists of the waterfall’s spume I discover the sign that is being presented to me – a simple wooden cross made accidentally by falling wood debris:
The crossover between Celticism and Christianity is something which I feel we may never fully appreciate or recover in the modern world, being so bombarded and laden by so many layers of information, dis-information and having lost so much of our history to war and ignorance. However, here at this nonreligious place, I felt a moment of connection with something sacrificial. I had sacrificed the beauty of a flower in the water, and in return I was being shown a symbol which has come to be synonymous with the concept of human sacrifice. Something which druids are frequently mentioned alongside.
I thank the spirit of the place and Debra wants to climb up the back of the falls, but we reach a point where adventure is trumped by common sense – it’s too slippy and steep. Adventure gives way to common sense and we return back to the well-worn paths. One day, when the sun’s stronger, we will return and go farther. The light is already weakening.
We still have the incentive to climb, though, so instead of descending the way we came following the stream, we climb up out of the vale and find ourselves in the light of the early evening sun reflected and splintered through dark boughs onto bright white and yellow flowers.
We celebrate just being in nature. Debra lies down on the earth and relishes the view up through the trees, and I stand still absorbing the late sunlight and allowing in all of the Spring energies. We spend ten minutes just being in nature – looking at moss, wood, trees, the sky, the light, the slowly setting sun. So rare to simple be!
As we make our way back down to the car park we stop to admire the sun. Out of my peripheral vision I feel something move, something larger than a dog. As I focus on it, I nudge Debra to look and also signal for her to be quiet. We see a pair of deer looking around, trying to determine whether we are any threat to their passage. We stay still, and I try to photo them, but it’s pointless – they move too quirky and I can’t catch them, so I give that up in favour of savouring the moment.
I feel the presence of Elen of the Ways – the antlered goddess.
We think we’ve missed the moment, but as we descend onto the track leading to the car park they cross right in front of us – less than 50 yards away from us! It’s a beautiful and privileged moment, and we look at each other with that “Wow!” face. We know we’ve shared something special to end this beautiful Spring adventure.
