Glyphs and Wards – The Hedge Druid

The Mad Sculptor of Meifod – P4 Winter 2016

January 12, 2017January 8, 2017 Chris 1 Comment

Druids visiting churches? Well, it’s more a case of visiting a site which contains something interesting. In this case M and I were at the end of our Winter Solstice day. As the light began to fade we headed to our final destination – St Tysilio & St Mary church in Meifod, The attraction? A … Read More “The Mad Sculptor of Meifod – P4 Winter 2016” »

The Broken Beacon – P3 Winter 2016

January 7, 2017December 30, 2016 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Castles and Forts, Divination, Elemental, Energy work, Glyphs and Wards, Gnomes, Hills and Mounds, Undines, Wheel of the Year

Beacon Hill, or Caer Digoll, is accessible either from a short walk up a path used to access the nearby radio masts, or it can be reached by following Offa’s Dyke Path. We approached from the nearby road because it’s Winter and the shortest day of light in the year. It would be nice to … Read More “The Broken Beacon – P3 Winter 2016” »

Lammas 2015 P1 Kilmartin Glen

September 23, 2015September 28, 2015 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Circles and Stones, Glyphs and Wards, Lakes and Rivers, Wheel of the Year

In this blog post I will begin describing our visit to the Scotland for Lammas. I outline a general procedure for approaching megalithic sites, and then go on to discuss my specific findings.

Lammas started with a thorough cleansing. It seems that I feel impelled to have a good long shower before I go out on a sacred day. Maybe this harks back to ancient traditions, but I don’t think it’s something that I consciously started to do, just that I noticed my behaviour over time.

Our destination today was the last place on our “We should really go there” list – Kilmartin Glen in Scotland. By the accounts of other megalith hunters it was a “field day” opportunity to see several sites in close proximity. Finally, we were getting to go, although it was a long drive to get there. It was raining most of the way. As we got past Glasgow the heavens really opened up and began to make us think we were in for a very wet weekend. As usual, Kal was optimistic and assured me that everything would be fine by the time we arrived. Ten miles from the glen I was less certain. Then, literally as we approached the glen the rain stopped. By the time we had parked a few minutes later, the sun was out! All around was a dark swathe of purple rainclouds. Astonishing! Kal beamed his usual broad smile and sported his “I told you so” eyebrow and wide eye combination.

How to approach a megalithic site

Within a minute of surveying our first site we knew that we were going to be fully occupied this weekend. The information boards at the Kilmartin Glen car park were packed with images of standing stones and circles. We drooled. “Nether Largie” – sounded exotic and enticing.

Over the narrow road we walked onto a bridge over a small free-flowing river, stopping to acknowledge the subtle energy barrier which acted like a bouncer – changing the way the spirit of place would interact with the entrants depending on how they approached the site. We knew to wait, ask respectfully for entrance, and then determine the response. We rarely were pushed away. So it was this time – we got the “pull” to say “Come on in!”. As I passed over the river I left my “worldly energies” behind, asking the river to take them with it on its journey. I was now entering a different “world”.

Stage One is cleansing. Done. Stage Two is energising with a new energy. For that I needed my dowsing rods to show me the correct lace to stand. When face with a megalithic site the temptation is to rush to touch it, or move closer to look at it. We knew to use our dowsing rods to find a preparation place.

The preparation place was just to one side – about six feet away from a pair of standing stones which looked like a gateway or doorway. This, I surmised, would be my entrance to the complex of sites and my start point for subtle energy work at these sites. Every door leads to an adventure!

Nether Largie standing stones - Lammas 2015 (4) — Kilmartin Glen portal stones – see how they line up with the hill?

Bull and Barbell Glyphs for the Merlin Staff

July 20, 2015July 7, 2015 Chris No Comments

Glyphs and Wards, Hills and Mounds, Merlin

I was on the hunt for the second pair of glyphs – symbols and shapes that were discoverable by dowsing at sacred sites, and which I needed in order to satisfy my requirement for creating The Merlin Staff soon. I had an idea that I needed to carve these four symbols into the staff as part of its creation. Carving would be the starting point for our journey, as I was soon to discover. We were going to Dinas Emrys now.

We had taken the “alternative” route to get to Beddgelert. The faster route was probably to go via the A5 and come past Snowdon, but today we had gone via Blaenua Ffestiniog on the A470. Scenic, but slow. However, as this year is all about learning patience, I acquiesced to the situation. So it was mid-afternoon by the time we arrived. No problem, we knew a quick way up Dinas Emrys, and so we set off – late but confident.

Until we met the landowner as we wandered through his caravan park. He queried our presence, and then re-directed our “hapless wandering” back down to the road with directions to visit the nearby National Trust site of Craflwyn in order to find the correct path. We drove the half mile back and parked up. There was a visitor centre with an exhibition all about Dinas Emrys, so we took the opportunity to see what it had to say.

Inside were information boards, videos and beautiful carvings depicting characters from the stories.

When we had had our fill, we re-emerged, examining a map that was neither detailed nor to scale, nor indicative of the contours of the land. So we picked a likely path that ended up at Dinas Emrys and set off, grateful for the shade in the sweltering heat.

We climbed. At first through the shaded beautiful woodland, then soon the path got steeper and broke out into the glare of the sun. Now we were getting hot. How much further until we could see Dinas Emrys, we wondered? The we saw it – but it was still miles away! And the path wasn’t going anywhere near it soon!

We had a decision – abandon now, or press on? We looked around for signs. I sat on the wooden “throne” overlooking the intended hill below, wondering what to do. A gentle wind cooled my fevered brow. We would press on.

Sun and Moon Glyphs for the Merlin Staff

July 15, 2015June 30, 2015 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Circles and Stones, Glyphs and Wards, Merlin, Modern Druidry, Quests, World Tree

The Moel-Ty-Uchaf stone circle high above the village of Llandrillo in North Wales is one of the toughest tests of determination and stamina. It takes around 40 minutes of relentless climbing up a very steep gradient to reach it. Yet, when a circle calls – we heed it! In this story I found that patience is rewarded, and that glyphs can unlock energetic forces at a site.

The agenda for this sunny Saturday outing was simple – two sites – Llandrillo and Dinas Emrys. Surely we’d be home for mid-afternoon? Ha! The Universe had other plans. In our way we had a panoply of tardiness-generating obstacles:-

roadworks on every major highway between us and the sites
weekend wanderers doing 30mph on major trunk roads
caravans and farm traffic using the main roads

It was an object lesson in giving in to the inevitable slowness. A journey that I had previously clocked at 25 minutes on my motorcycle took us 1 hour 45 minutes today. So far this year we are both learning that Patience is the watchword.

However, there was the promise of obtaining some vital information: I needed to find out the four glyphs that were the Essence of The Merlin Staff. They needed to be discovered before the Summer Solstice, and then I would have to get them carved onto the staff at some point this year.

The way up was hard. It always is. Yet we were in good spirits. We only needed to stop a couple of times to re-gain our breath and then we were approaching the circle in good spirits. Unusually, we both recovered from the climb almost instantly. It was a remarkable, so we remarked upon it. Now for the work to begin!

The Yew of the Four Glyphs

June 28, 2015June 16, 2015 Chris No Comments

Ancestors, Churches and Temples, Glyphs and Wards, Higher-Self, Staff, Time and Space, Trees, World Tree

On a delightfully warm and sunny Summer’s evening the intrepid duo ventured forth into the heartlands of Northern Wales in search of inspiration. Our destination was the ancient and venerable Yew tree of Llangernyw.

The environs of Llangernyw were beginning to flourish with a beautiful display of wild flowers.

Llangernyw Yew - June 15 (1) — Llangernyw wild flower hedgerow

We entered the graveyard, drinking in the sounds, smells and sights of Summer as though to store them in memory for the ‘leaner times’. As we began to follow the dowsing rods I noticed that Kal was following my footsteps exactly! He was chuckling to himself as he realised that his path to the perfect spot was exactly the same as mine. How amusing! At that moment a chorus of birdsong arose from the surrounding trees – a welcoming chorus of delighted cheeps and warbles which almost drowned out any thoughts!

When Formalities Are Dropped

We both came to a halt at the same time and in the same spot. It was just inside a clump of young yew trees with fresh growth at their tips. The spot on which we were stood was lain with a carpet of damp grass cuttings, and this made me think of a time when I had stood on other grass clippings and had an encounter with the spirit of the Green Man [see this post].

There was no need for either of us to ‘cleanse’ today. For some reason we were already cleansed of outer worldly energies, and ready for work. The spot with the grass clippings was a place for us to simply tune our energies to place. It was simply about getting into the right energy state.

As we walked up the sloping path towards the grand old yew tree, following the dowsing rods to find the bets place, I felt like tree knew I was coming. Indeed, although I stopped at the perimeter of its canopy before entering, there wasn’t the usual ‘resistance’ or barrier in place. I realised that I didn’t need to ask permission to enter now. Perhaps we had become such good friends over the years? The balance of ‘power’ had shifted somehow, and was much more equal now, I felt.

Llangernyw Yew - June 15 (10) — One day I’ll get a good picture of this tree without ‘misting’!

I had two purposes for being here this evening:

to see if I could help my wife get through a forthcoming exam, and
to see if there was any work I could do to discover the Essence of the Merlin Staff

Dark workers at large

May 4, 2015April 27, 2015 kal No Comments

Crystals, Dark Magic, Energy Double, Energy work, Glyphs and Wards, Other Entities, Protection

It was a sunny Sunday morning, in a peaceful suburb of Manchester when darkness loomed. Sounds like the opening of a Agatha Christie ‘Miss Marple’ novel doesn’t it? Sadly, as with her stories, the tale gets dark pretty soon.

I was with a friend, at a laundry, just passing the time, you know. When I noticed a couple of Asian gentlemen passed by the window. I don’t know why they caught my attention, but they did. They had looked in and seen me too, but had carried on. Then, a few seconds later they reappeared and walked into the laundry.

Innocent enough so far – maybe they were lost and needed direction? They approached me and opened up a conversation. apparently they were holy pilgrims looking to raise money for some place of prayer to be built. I listened with that sinking feeling that your pocket is going to be lighter. After a few minutes of listening to this tale, I patted my pockets and brought out a couple of pounds.

The main man shook his head and carried on talking. For some reason my attention had drifted from what he was saying and when I refocused I realised that he was after a much larger donation of multiple tens of pounds! I have to confess to you that I had had a long night with little sleep so I was fairly tired, still, there was no way I was parting with that kind of money.

Again, my focus had drifted and as I gathered my thoughts I realised that the man had gone onto to talk about how my fortunes and dreams would come alive because I was a giving person and one of piety. He brought out a scrap of paper and wrote something in Arabic on it, folded it and asked me to hold it. Whilst he prayed.

It was at these strange request that I looked at one and then the other. The other guy who had seemed silent at first, I now realised was muttering something under his breath and holding some kind of medallion in his hand. Again, my focus wandered. Of course I attributed it to my tiredness.

Read More “Dark workers at large” »

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: