Tag: duignan

The Thin Veil – Samhain 2016

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The Thin Veil – Samhain 2016
Ancestors, Ancient Sites, Churches and Temples, Draco The Dragon, Quests, Staff, Wheel of the Year

It’s Samhain, or Halloween and I’m travelling to Valle Crucis Abbey in Llangollen in the heart of the night. The idea is that I will meet with Cailleach and Duignan to take advantage of the thin veil between the Middle Earth and The Underworld. If you need a “catch up” on these two “personalities” then … Read More “The Thin Veil – Samhain 2016” »

Double Cistercian

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Double Cistercian
Ancient Sites, Churches and Temples

For years I had been coming across the name “Strata Florida“. This Cistercian abbey in Cardiganshire (South Wales) had often been linked (in the kinds of books that I read) to another abbey more familiar to me – Vale Crucis in Llangollen (North Wales). Finding that I had a free day, and also finding that the … Read More “Double Cistercian” »

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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Boyle Abbey – Tracking Down Duignan

Posted on By Gwas No Comments on Boyle Abbey – Tracking Down Duignan
Ancient Sites, Dowsing, Quests

Boyle Abbey is a sacred place of worship that was gifted to the Cistercians. This order of monks built their abbey over the top of an existing pagan site (if I remember the guide’s introduction properly), and I would suspect that this was actually a druidic college that they built over. For me the abbey was an attraction because it was supposedly the resting ground of many of my forebears who had been buried in the abbey’s grounds. The list records burials from the 12th Century onwards, but suggests that there may have been many more before that which were not recorded for posterity. Having just finished one adventure at Lough Key I was in the mood for more. Where better, I felt, to go in search of the ‘wandering’ spirit of Saint Duignan than here?

With the mundane aspect of ancestor-spotting out of the way I was free to concentrate on finding and communing with the spirit that I believe might be present at this place, having been led here from that other Cistercian abbey Vale Crucis in Llangollen (see this post for that tale). In that story I had spoken to a spirit who identified himself as St.Duignan and then had indicated that he had moved to a corresponding abbey in my homeland in Ireland. From my research Boyle Abbey was the prime candidate. Seeing the list of my ancestor’s burials in the abbey’s gatehouse was a strong indicator that I was on the right track.

Boyle Abbey – being restored for your enjoyment

The Sun Wheel

One of the interesting aspects of the abbey was its age. The current abbey layout was built upon the foundations of an earlier abbey that was a pagan construction, although identifying exactly what this was is diffucult. Some archaeology has been done to identify the original design and there is a plan view on display in the upstairs ‘museum’.  In the architecture of the abbey are several examples of pagan stonework, such as a Sheela-Na-Gig and some rather raucous carvings of totemic astrological or heraldic birds and aminals atop the colunnades. Occasional reminders of this past lurk round many corners of the site, such as this sun wheel motif carved in stone:

A sun wheel carved into the original Boyle Abbey pagan stonework

Enough of the tourist stuff! We had the place almost to ourselves so I hid the dowsing rods away in a corner and set about ‘feeling’ for the presence of Duignan. Was he here? Was he contactable? Was I in the right place? Time to find out!

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