alignment – The Hedge Druid

Anglesey Megalithic Tour 2015 P1

November 6, 2015October 24, 2015 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Circles and Stones, Dolmens and Chambers, Hills and Mounds, Megalithic Tours

In the middle of September I arranged a visit to Anglesey for my weekly meditation group. I had grand ideas, but over time I had slowly whittled the concept down from a weekend extravaganza for all and sundry, to a single day outing for a small group of people who attend my weekly outdoor meditation session (see Meetup).

Originally I had planned on visiting four sites, but it ended up being six due to the enthusiasm levels and the local knowledge of the attendees. This post will describe the first three, and then the next one will talk about the other three.

My meditation group consists of around ten regular attendees and a few irregulars. It was something of a shock to discover that nearly everyone wanted to go on my first megalithic tour! On the day I had a group of ten people, many of whom were regular meditators, all of whom were interested in finding out more about subtle energy and sacred sites. We met locally and then travelled in various volunteer’s cars heading towards our first meeting point: Bryn Celli Ddu.

Many sites, so little time

At the Bryn Celli Ddu car park we all gathered and I talked about what we might experience during the day.

Anglesey Megalithic Tour - Sept 15 (5) — Some of the popular megalithic sites on Anglesey

All the way to Anglesey we had passed through numerous heavy rain clouds. Now we were here it was dry. Yet, it felt like it could rain at any time. We trouped off to the chamber together wondering what we would find.

Everyone got something different from Bryn Celli Ddu. All I asked of them was to find their own proper entrance point to the structure, pay respects before entering, then find their own special power place. Everyone seems to get it, and soon they were immersed in the feeling of the place, even if they weren’t sure what else they might experience there.

The inside of the structure was a space that everyone loved. The petrified tree pillar was a point of fascination, as expected. When we re-convened it was clear that people were beginning to appreciate the power of such sacred spaces when they are properly approached. Everyone felt empowered, embraced by the place, and came away with a positive loving feeling.

This method of approach and interaction would be a process that we would try to recreate at each of the places we visited that day.

Lammas 2015 P4 The Energy of the Stone Row

October 5, 2015October 8, 2015 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Circles and Stones, Energy, Faery, Telluric, Wheel of the Year

We were moving further back down the glen we had traversed when we arrived this Lammas August morning. Somehow, we had managed to drive right past a huge pair of stone rows, and we laughed at how Nature places these things in our attention just when we’re ready for them. Clearly, this was the right order in which to do things. Not the “nearest first” approach, which would be our “logical” sequence.

From Duncraigaig Cairn we followed the footpath through a channel of wild flowers and ferns until we emerged into an open field. Before us were two obvious stone rows: Ballymeanoch Stone Rows.

What was the best way to approach this abundance of megaliths? We had a stone circle and two stone rows to choose from! I opted for following the dowsing rods to help me decide, and they took me on a circuitous route around to the far side of two standing stones which I took to be an “entrance portal”. I needed to stop at the energetic barrier that I could feel between the stones, and which was acting as a form of gateway.

In the portal I got into a connected state. I felt the presence of faery, and it came to mind to acknowledge Bel and Titania – the king and queen of faery. I felt that this was the opposite side of their “opening” time of Beltane. This was the “closing time“. I wasn’t sure what that phrase meant at this point – it was something to do with acknowledging their movement towards being quiet for the Winter months – a sort of “end of the summer” feeling. Energy waning. A thanking them for the fruits of the summer. All those things were packed into this feeling, which made it so complex that I couldn’t’ express it clearly in words if I were given a whole book’s length to do so.

As we passed each other Kal mentioned that he sensed the presence of Faery here. A coincidence.

Ballymeanoch stone row and circle - Lammas 2015 (6) — Ballymeanoch Portal stones

Arthurs Table and the Landscape Zodiac

February 1, 2015January 23, 2015 Chris No Comments

Hedge Druidry

I originally named this post “The Second Arthur Site 2015” because it forms a part of what I now realise will be a series of posts that aim to describe a journey throughout the year. This journey will encompass many ancient sites related to King Arthur, and the signature of the site will be that I will be aligned to The Great Bear constellation and the powers of The North (both literally and symbolically).

It was with this Arthurian signature on the year in mind that I chose to go and visit two sites in West Wales that were related to Arthur, if not in name then in association at least. On the off-chance I called Kal to see if he was up and available for an outing, Seems I disturbed some necessary sleep, yet still he wanted to come along. Off we go again!

Ystum Cegid Isaf

Our first site was a superb example of a table-like dolmen structure that the Welsh regions do best. The name, if you put it into Google translate, comes back as “Lower hemlock gesture“. Hilarious, even though it may be too literal a translation, such as these tools often provide. Last year it was henbane, and now this year starts with hemlock! Coincidence, or Providence?

Cerrig Arthur dolmen - Jan 15 (15) — Another welsh dolmen related to Arthur

A small road takes you to a lay-by near to a recycling centre just outside of the village of Garndolbenmaen on the A487 road between Caernarvon and Porthmadog towns. If you park close to the footbridge then you get the chance to cross the Afon Dwyfor river either by the new or old bridges. We opted for the old one, and it was fun on a windy day.

Don't look down - it's a fast flowing river! — Don’t look down – it’s a fast flowing river!

Arrows point to Arthur – Solstice 3

January 7, 2015January 2, 2015 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Arthurian, Celestial, Dowsing, Meditation, Quests, Spirit of Place, Wheel of the Year

If I had researched the geographical locations of the sites we were intending to visit I would have placed this one last.As it happens it was positioned in the middle of the day, but as you may have come to expect – it turns out we visited the site at exactly the right time. Here’s why.

The Devil Points North

There are three remaining tall standing stones close to the A1(M) road that passes by the town of Boroughbridge in North Yorkshire. Collectively they are known as The Devil’s Arrows. There is the usual story about their placement – the devil threw down the ‘arrows’:

“The name stems from a legend traced back to 1721, where the Devil was supposed to have thrown the stones, aiming at the next town of Aldborough. He stood on Howe Hill and shouted,

Borobrigg keep out o’ way,

For Aldborough town

I will ding down!

But obviously his aim was not that good, and so they landed short of their mark.”

(source: Brigantes Nation)

Devils Arrows - Solstice 2014 (1) — The southern most Devil’s Arrow stone

Ooh – that angry old Devil! When will he learn that his aim is never that good when he’s hewing these menhirs around? Silly billy. Anyway – there they stand, up to 30 feet tall and in a not-so-straight alignment, said by Paul Devereux to link the southern-most moon setting with an ancient fording point across the nearby River Ure. There is an assumption that they formed a part of a larger complex that includes the three Thornborough Henges.

Thornborough and Arthur – Solstice 1

December 29, 2014December 28, 2014 Chris 1 Comment

Hedge Druidry

This is the first in a short series of tales about my journey into the darkest depths of Yorkshire for the Winter Solstice this year. It was only one day’s outing, yet it managed to encompass a number of new sacred sites and to throw up a number of amazing synchronicities between the work that I did and what Kal was experiencing at the same time. I’ll tell my side of the story, and then you can compare these to Kal’s tales. I think you’ll be amazed too!

A Lesson In Patience

The journey was unspectacular except for one incident. I had arranged to meet Kal at 8:30am and despite the fact that he wouldn’t mind if I was one or two minutes late I was rushing to get there on time. Some people were driving very slowly that morning, possibly having nowhere in particular to get to for any specific time. This was rather frustrating me, and so I was getting increasingly flustered. Then, just as I was about to overtake someone ahead of me I looked up at a tall telegraph pole, and atop it was a hawk – just sitting still, and being patient. I saw the message straight away and my foot moved off the accelerator. I would get there when I got there. Phew – and relax….

Then I realised that only two minutes earlier I had been wondering whether I would see a hawk today as a sign, because I so often see them whenever I am journeying on a sacred calendar day. Well, there he was!

Thornborough By The Thorny Route

Finding Thornborough Henge should have been easy. I mean – you can hardly miss a henge in such a flat landscape! Yet it took Kal and I several attempts before we were on the correct small country road, and we had gone off track and gone through a lovely village called Kirklington before we spotted the structure in a field just beyond the village of Thornborough itself, heading towards West Tanfield. There was enough space to park outside a utility building, and soon we were walking through the impressive Thornborough Cursus – a long wide embanked structure which ended in a dog-leg right turn. What on earth was this structure for, we wondered? Soon we would find at least one purpose! I’ll come back to Kirklington later because the church in the village seemed to call to us.

For a short while we were the only ones inside the henge. The diameter of the embankment is quite impressive. It has an Avebury scale feel about it – far larger than Arbor Low, which is what we are more used to. Despite the cold dull day I felt warm and excited – something special was about to happen!

Two Male Streams – Summer 14 P7

August 6, 2014 Gwas 2 Comments

Hedge Druidry

Cashelkeelty stone row, Kerry, Ireland

As we drive down the R571 (Ring of Beara road) towards Lauragh village I make a sudden and impulsive decision. There is a brown sign with a megalith on it, and I am sure I saw the words “circle” on it. I pull over at the next available parking space which is some half a mile down the road. Little did I know that if I have gone back I would have found a car park next to the sign. Hey ho! Only the first of a series of decisions that would make this journey more difficult than it needed to be!

The sign reads “Caiseal Coillte” or Cashelkeelty when rendered from the Gaelic into English. Sure enough, it’s a stone circle indicated on the sign, so we hop over the metal stile and head off into the dark and closely-knit fir trees. The day is humid which adds to the intensity of the climb up the hill, but after half an hour we are clear of the tree line and heading over the couple of rounded slopes that separate us from the ‘good stuff’ on the top. All told we climb for the best part of an hour before reaching the remains of a stone circle.

There is nothing of interest to us at the stone circle. Kal has moved on within seconds of arriving there, whereas I stay a while to ensure that it is of no interest. Yep – there’s hardly any energy here and certainly nothing worth wasting time over. A bit of a disappointment, but suddenly Kal is waving at me from the near distance. Is there something else to see further up the slope?

The Hare and The Black Dragon – Summer 14 P2

July 19, 2014July 18, 2014 Gwas No Comments

Dragons, Glyphs and Wards, God or Goddess, Protection, Spirit of Place, Wheel of the Year

A funny thing happened on the way to the Ring of Kerry…. so begins a new twist on an old joke. In this case the Universe was playing with us a little bit. We are on the plane over to Ireland and it suddenly occurs to me that Kal should consider finding out which spirits are around him this weekend. I’ve never said that to him before, but on this occasion the impetus to say it causes me to interrupt him listening to music on his iPod. He nods with a kind of “if you say so” look on his face, then tells me that he is currently listening to”There may be an angel” by The Eurythmics at that precise moment . This will be the first sign that something synchronous is happening between us on this day – Friday 20th June – the eve of the solstice.

Eightercua stone row

Once we have found our lodging – the delightful and highly recommended Two Mile Lodge situated two miles out of the town of Kenmare – then we’re straight out to visit a bunch of sites. We don’t hang about when there’s work to be done! I had decided to do the sites situated around the Ring of Kerry first, as they were fewer in number and clustered relatively close together. Therefore, our first destination was Eightercua stone row near to the village of Waterville.

The road to get there was ‘interesting’. The hire car strained under the up, then down, left then right, round hairpin bends, over blind dips, huge holes in the road, and our occasional screeches to a halt as we realised we were going the wrong way. As the sun began to descend we suddenly caught sight of the Atlantic Ocean as we descended towards Waterville and saw the stone row on a small hill near to a house, just off the N70 “main road” (known as the Ring of Kerry road). [TIP: If you reach the golf club on your left then you’ve just passed it!]

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