Tag: boyle

Beltane 2015 – Three Points of Ancestral Connection

Posted on By Chris No Comments on Beltane 2015 – Three Points of Ancestral Connection
Ancestors, Churches and Temples, Saints, Wheel of the Year

This is the last of my Beltane 2015 posts. I had intended it to be the central point of the ripple effect – the smallest circle, the tiniest of posts. In fact, it is longer than I anticipated, only because it is actually the very centre of everything I’ve been working with since 2011. In this respect, it shows how sometimes our work has long cycles until they resolve themselves, but also that the smallest insignificant episode can often result in profound implications for your spiritual path. Let me explain!

The Returning Circle – Vale Crucis Abbey in Llangollen

For me Vale Crucis will always now be a local reflection of a similar Cistercian abbey in the Irish town of Boyle. Boyle, in the Irish county of Roscommon, is the centre of an area in which my ancestors used to roam (and some still do). When I visited the area a few years ago I had an amazing series of encounters culminating in an energetic battle with one particular ancestor who then became one of my spiritual protectors. I earned the right to inherit the family name that day, and all of the accumulated knowledge and wisdom that came with that inheritance.

Vale Crucis Abbey - Beltane - May 15 (2)
The leaning tower of Vale Crucis – alright, maybe it was me leaning

So, when I step into Vale Crucis it is like being in Ireland, back in my ancestral homeland, and having access to all that information and support. On this Beltane day, having visited many other sites, this was the southern culmination point. For me, I was just here to connect with my ancestors, as I had before. Yet, something much more profound was about to happen.

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Summary of the Year 2013 – Themes

Posted on By Gwas No Comments on Summary of the Year 2013 – Themes
Hedge Druidry, Wheel of the Year

Welcome to the first of three posts to summarise the adventures I’ve had this year. The first post will discuss the major themes of the year and my opinions on them. The second post will go into detail about the lessons I’ve learned and how I have developed as a result of those teachings. Finally, … Read More “Summary of the Year 2013 – Themes” »

Rathcroghan – Seat of Kings

Posted on By Gwas 6 Comments on Rathcroghan – Seat of Kings
Ancient Sites, Dowsing, Ritual

In the previous episodes of my Ireland Ancestor Quest, (Carrowkeel, Kilronan Abbey, Lassair’s Well, Lough Key and Boyle Abbey), I had learned that I would need to fight for the privilege to acquire the ancestor energies of my family. I sort of had to “fight for the right” and the right I would win would be to keep my ancestor’s energies. I suspected this would involve various stages of preparation and so I looked to the ancestral sites around the area of Tulsk to get myself ready for this encounter.

Tulsk seemed like an interesting place. It had a visitor centre called Cruachan Ai that seemed dedicated to talking about the many megalithic sites in the area, and the web site mentioned a modern druid school that did some teaching at the centre. Of course, this made me interested in visiting. A visitor centre with druidic links that was in the heartland of my ancestral region? It promised much.

The visitor centre was wonderful. The was so much packed into the small space – a cafe, a book and gift shop, an audio-visual presentation, and a series of exhibits and information boards that gave the history and archaeology of the various mounds and caves in the area. After spending an hour or so in there we had a pretty good picture of which sites in the area we could get to and which might be difficult so we put about four or five sites on our agenda for this day.

Little did I realise at the time that this day would see the eventual psychic battle that had been foreseen in the vision at Carrowkeel. Here is the story of how that battle was prepared for.

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Lough Key – The Search for the Eel Sword

Posted on By Gwas No Comments on Lough Key – The Search for the Eel Sword
Ancient Sites

We couldn’t get into Boyle Abbey before 10am. No-one seems to get up early in Southern Ireland! It was 9am when we arrived there, so I decided to show Kal Lough Key Forest Park which was close by. It might be open and it would be a pleasant walk amongst some trees while we waited for the abbey to open. I had been there once before with M on our only Ireland holiday together. Seemed like a good plan to while away an hour. Turned out to be slightly longer than that!

Lough Key

Lough Key is a forest park. Is that a forest that contains a park or some parkland with a bit of forest? I’m never sure. Be one thing or another, I say. In terms of the name of the lake, Wikipedia suggests it has druidic connections:

Lough Key (Irish: Loch Cé) is a lake in Ireland. It is located in the northwest of County Roscommon, northeast of the town of Boyle. The lough’s name is believed to come from Cé, a druid; the lake was formed over his grave.

Whether by chance or be subliminal design I appeared yet again to be in the right place suited to my quest.

We parked easily and because the visitor centre wasn’t open (of course – before 10am?) we made use of the excellent relieving facilities (Kal rated them highly) before we thought about finding somewhere that we “should be”. The dowsing rods were our first stop for an answer to an esoteric question like that. When I asked the question the rods quite clearly led across a grassy field towards the middle of nowhere. Typical. Still, having nothing better to do we followed – all the way up to the point where they swerved around an old and glorious beech tree.

We both sat at respective positions beneath the tree and I began to look around. What a wonderful day! How beautiful the park is! How perfectly the tree’s hoary branches framed the delicate Spring flowers and mosses that lived in their protective cloak, and how dappled the sunlight was as it filtered through the lightly-leaved branches of the beech. Soon I was drifting away…drifting into one of my light druidic trances where my heart soars and my mind relaxes into communion with the surroundings….

Kal in a special place at Lough Key Forest Park

A vision appeared to me – the same sword-fight that I had seen the previous day at Carrowkeel. There was more detail this time. I could clearly see the protagonist – so much so that I knew I would recognise him if I ever saw him again, in a dream or in reality. I knew not which it would be yet, but I was sure our meeting was inevitable, like the inevitability that a thread will unravel a garment in intricate weaving.

Now the visions faded and was replaced by a spoken phrase that I didn’t understand at all. The sword I had seen in the vision, the sword that I was holding, it was given a name. Something told me that it was called The Eel Sword, and that I had to now find a sword that looked like an eel. This made no sense. What madness was this? Why did I need an eel sword? Where the heck would I find such a thing? Reality re-imposed itself and the connection wavered then released its trance-like grip on my senses as they re-absorbed the beautiful Spring sunshine and the fabric of greens that made up the forest park’s lush landscape.

Where was this sword? Here? The dowsing rods confirmed it even as I began to position them horizontally in preparation. It was here , somewhere.

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