Tag: 2014

The Maiden Enforces Rest – Solstice 5

Posted on By Chris No Comments on The Maiden Enforces Rest – Solstice 5
The Maiden Enforces Rest – Solstice 5
Ancient Sites, Dowsing, Elemental, Hedge Druidry, Modern Druidry, Quests, Spirit Guides, Spirit of Place, Wheel of the Year

We weren’t sure how to approach Maiden’s Bower – a turf maze in Yorkshire. Coming from Ripon, down the A1(M) once more, ending up in the village of Topcliffe. In the village we took Winn Lane, which goes back over the A1 road. On the other side there was just enough space to park the car, and then we followed the straight track until a stile took us across the farmland.

The first feature you encounter is Cock Lodge – a raised earthwork of substantial proportions. At first we thought this might be the thing we were looking for, but luckily I had seen a picture on Megalithic Portal of the place we were searching for – this wasn’t it.

I asked the dowsing rods to lead me to the correct place, and they took me alongside Cock Lodge earthwork and over a fence on the other side. Suddenly Maiden’s Bower turf maze was visible between some small hawthorn trees. Even in the fading evening light it was impressive and unusual.

Maidens Bower - Solstice 2014 (1)

Kal wasn’t far behind but I got started straight away – time was pressing. I felt like I needed to walk up the mound barefoot. In the depths of Winter? Was that sensible? No – but at least there wasn’t any snow on the ground! However, within a few steps my feet were almost numb with the cold dew. I ventured on, following the dowsing rods after asking for the correct path for me to climb the mound in order to meet with the Spirit of Place.

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5 Beltane 2014 – Kercado and the New Quest

Posted on By Gwas 3 Comments on 5 Beltane 2014 – Kercado and the New Quest
Ancient Sites, Hedge Druidry, Quests, Wheel of the Year

On the way back from Kerlescan I was feeling elated. I had achieved the release of the Taliesin energy into the Carnac Energy Engine. The result has been an amazing vision of the release of far-reaching, nay international, subtle energy. That energy has the purpose of strengthening the bonds between the regions of Brittany and Cornwall – between “Little Britain” and “Great Britain”. Only time and talk will tell whether such a magickal ritual will actually come to be realised in ways that I could recognise. Yet, it felt almost Gardnerian in scale, and it was something immensely positive which felt worth all of the efforts to achieve. Anything else was now a bonus, I felt.

On the walk back I remembered that there ought to be a small track leading off from the area between Kerlescan and Kermario which would lead to an idyllically situated and atmospheric tumulus called Kercado. The signs pointing to an Indian restaurant was incongruous, yet I remembered that this was indeed the way, so we set out down the old straight track towards the tumulus. How many “Ker-“s? I know! It’s confusing. But confusion is like a Thighmaster for the intellect! It’s like the “Tre-” prefix in Cornwall. Another link between these places.

Old straight track to Kercado

It was like the opposite experience of what we had just been through. The straight road dissipated all energy that we had built up or which we had become entangled with in the last hew minutes. By the end of the road I felt refreshed, released, ready to begin again. What was this trip now? A sight-seeing tour? Where would I go next with it? Oh wait! If I had just finished one quest then, was I ready to learn about the next quest? My heart quickened at the prospect. Eagerness flushed through my body.

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3 Beltane 2014 – Carnac and the Taliesin Quest Pt1

Posted on By Gwas 1 Comment on 3 Beltane 2014 – Carnac and the Taliesin Quest Pt1
Ancient Sites, Dowsing, Elemental, Natural Magick, Ritual, Wheel of the Year

The sky was finally cracking. The deep cloud cover was thinning and the glimpse of a possibility of sunshine for the afternoon at Carnac – France’s most amazing megalithic complex – was enticing. We paused briefly at the local creperie at Menec village – feeling like proper tourists, sipping our “boules de cidre” before heading off to the fields of stones.

As Kal has already mentioned several times, the theme of the day was “interdit” – access forbidden. However, as I have said many times on this blog, and I make no apologies for it, I believe that those who wish to work at sacred sites have special privileges when it comes to sacred sites. Of course, we care more than anyone else about preserving our heritage – that’s exactly what we are about! Yet, we are also respectful people by nature, and so when someone puts up a fence with the instructions not to pass, and they say it’s for the good of the flora and fauna, then we tend to acquiesce. But this is Carnac – surely, at some point in the many fields of megaliths, there will be a way we can work in some small space without feeling like intruders or trespassers? Don’t they know I have a quest to fulfil?

Menec

The first set of fields – the Menec side of Carnac – I am less interested in. Tourism – the eternal tramp of the curious and the vituperous – exacts a toll on the energetic welfare of even such a subtle engine as the mighty Carnac. Menec is the lamb offered up to the tourists as the sacrificial and the picturesque. We walk alongside the low green fence like the bus-loads of others here today and every other day, and we take our mementos too – snapping, wise-cracking and side-glancing at the stately rows as they curl off into the distance towards the bisecting road which brought us here. A white open-top double-decker bus passes us by, laden with scarf-wearing long-lensed visitors from Planet Normal.

Energy tendrils emerge like Dr Octopus

Yet, as one half of my brain acts as tourist, the other half is already shifting into a different frame, another operational state. I feel, unbidden, tendrils of energy emerging from my energetic centre – a place I am going to call The Confluence Point. This is the point on your energy body where all of your energy fibres (or tendrils) bundle together, and from which they can be extended outwards into the world. The tendrils move away towards the stones, writhing like an involuntary Dr Octopus, joining the subtle energy paths which slink through the nearby stone rows. I close my eyes to see how it feels without vision, and I see The Wheel of the Year spinning slowly, turning my inner mind’s eye with it. The energy engine has begun to turn!!

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2 Beltane 2014 – Merlin, The Stag and The Regal Links

Posted on By Gwas No Comments on 2 Beltane 2014 – Merlin, The Stag and The Regal Links
Ancestors, Ancient Sites, Dowsing, God or Goddess, Hedge Druidry, Modern Druidry, Wheel of the Year

We were still at the Barnenez cairn complex in Brittany for Beltane. Having just found a deep earth connection at the site, and now feeling rather “at home” with the energies and entities that I felt were around this place, it was time for me to see if there was anything else which would reveal itself. I was in for a bit of a mental workout with the next finding!

Merlin, Herne and The White Hart

I used the dowsing rods to lead me to a place where there was anything that I could learn from, or of energetic significance. Kal and I were hovering around the end of the newer section of the cairn structure – the part that was added secondarily. It was the part which Oona, the french druidess, felt more connected to. And it was the section to which the dowsing rods now re-located me.

Some ten feet away from the cairn’s edge I began to follow an energy line. I was very complicated to follow,  but it never went back over itself, so I knew it was tracing a shape. The shape was clear after the first couple of movements, as it was very familiar to me. Itw as clearly a stag’s antlers! I told Kal about the shape and he took up his rods. He traced another different shape – it was a wavy pattern at the point where the antlers would meet the head. Is it a crown? A bracelet? A chain? Some other decoration? We are unsure, but I plump for crown, as something feels “regal” about this pattern, my intuition tells me.

What is the link between a crown or chain, and a stag’s antlers? Something was nagging me – I had seen this image before. When I got back home I began to do some research. A white hart chained is the royal emblem of the English king Richard II. It is also the council emblem for the county of Hertfordshire.

The Hertfordshire county logo

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Tarot and Dowsing for Beltane

Posted on By Gwas 3 Comments on Tarot and Dowsing for Beltane
Tarot, Wheel of the Year

As I often do before embarking on a major point in the year’s work I decided to do a tarot draw to ask about my work for Beltane. I already know that my next part of the year will be under the auspices of the tree Blackthorn, according to the Tree Angle Oracle tarot draw which governs each point on the wheel of the year for 2014. This is not what I wanted to know about. Instead, I turned my attention to the current quest – the release of Taliesin‘s awen energy into Carnac. With interesting dowsing results.

Firstly, I did some dowsing to try to get some preliminary answers. My questions go answered through a series of dialogues and logical processes, culminating in this information:-

  1. Why release energy into Carnac? To spread an energy throughout the remaining energy grid that is connected and marked by sacred sites.
  2. What kind of energy will be created from this act? Friendship energy. Whoever connects to the sites that the Carnac energy spreads to, they will feel the bonds of friendship.
  3. Is there any unwise or non-beneficial consequence of releasing this energy? No.

With that safely “in the bag” I turned my attentions to a tarot spread.Three questions regarding my work in Brittany for Beltane.

  1. What are they three key events to be aware of?
  2. What is the nature of the work that I will do while I am in Brittany?
  3. How will I know that I have been successful?

I decided that the first question required three cards, the second two, and the third one. A 3-2-1 spread – a kind of reverse pyramid. I dowsed whether I should take account of reverse cards? YES. Which deck should I use? Rider Waite. Really? I never use that deck. Ah, well. More homework to do!

Here is the draw:

Q1. What are they three key events to be aware of?

Death – The Chariot – The Hermit

Beltane_Tarot_1

I am going to hold back in making an interpretation of these three key cards. Let’s see how they relate to events which occur in Brittany over the next few weeks of posts.

Q2. What is the nature of the work that I will do while I am in Brittany?

4 of Swords (rev) – 5 of Wands (rev)

Beltane_tarot_2
Five of Wands and Four of Swords reversed – potential or opposite meanings?

MEANINGS:

Five of Wands (reversed)

“The Five of Wands reversed is like a sigh of relief after conflict and struggle. You are no longer up against so much competition and can just ‘be’. On more personal level, you have worked through your anger and hostility and you feel more secure in your relationships. You do not have to constantly prove yourself anymore.

The reversed Five of Wands can also indicate a realisation that you do indeed need focus to achieve your goals. You have come through a period of scattered thought and random ideas only to find yourself in the same place you were when you started. You now acknowledge that if you are to progress your goals further, you must focus your attention on your key priorities and stay committed to your goal without considering even more possibilities or opportunities.” (source: Biddy Tarot)

KEY PHRASES: Lack of struggle, avoiding conflict, focussing on priorities and not getting distracted.

Four of Swords (reversed)

“The Four of Swords reversed can indicate that you are feeling restless and wanting to do everything at once. Even if your body is telling you that you need to rest and relax, your mind may be pushing you forward, trying to accomplish a long list of tasks. You may be getting quite sick or stressed as a result, so it is vital that you force yourself to pause and take it easy to ensure that you do not become completely run down and exhausted.” (source: Biddy Tarot)

KEY PHRASES: Restlessness, burn-out, lack of progress, Knight’s quest, single topic.

I foresee that the work itself will be simple and effective, without barriers, yet the amount of work may leave me physically and mentally depleted.

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Quest – The Muse of Taliesin

Posted on By Gwas No Comments on Quest – The Muse of Taliesin
Ancient Sites, Dowsing, God or Goddess, Quests, Spirit of Place

It was one of the first truly glorious sunny days of this Spring. Of course, such an opportunity cannot be passed up, and so Kal and I made arrangements to go to Dinas Bran. The views alone would be worth the journey, but I had a more pressing reason. I had been out for the … Read More “Quest – The Muse of Taliesin” »

Spring 2014 – The Water Angel

Posted on By Gwas No Comments on Spring 2014 – The Water Angel
Crystals, Elemental Angels, Wheel of the Year

There are plans, and then there are impromptu moments. Our plan was to go to the Borrowdale valley to see some ancient yew trees. Things were conspiring to slow me down to a crawl however. We literally drove at no more than 10mph along the edges of Derwentwater as we waited for cars to pass each … Read More “Spring 2014 – The Water Angel” »