earth spirit – The Hedge Druid

Lammas 2015 P7 – The Troll of Carnasserie Castle

October 17, 2015October 18, 2015 Chris No Comments

Castles and Forts, Elemental, Spirit Guides, Spirit of Place, Trolls and gnomes, Undines

After a hearty breakfast at the Loch Melfort Hotel – a hotel with stunning lake views and roaming highland cattle – we checked out and made our way back to Kilmartin. We had passed signs on the edge of Kilmartin for a castle called Carnasserie, and this would be our first stop today. Later we would head to the museum, but first we wanted to take a look at the castle.

Carnasserie Castle - Lammas 2015 (23) — Carnasserie Castle viewed from the northern ruins.

Kal and I split up to work separately, as usual. I asked for a place of preparation, and the dowsing rods took me over to the remains of what appeared to be an old outer wall or tower, which now afforded a stunning view of the valley below. This was located to the north side of the Renaissance castle.

As I began to allow myself to attune to the vibrations and energy frequencies of the surroundings a feeling emerged that this was the last of the summer’s energies that I was feeling. I sighed. Even though we had been spared any rain or storms for the duration of our visit, I felt that the strength of the summer energy was at last on the wane.

My attention was directed to my new water Spirit Guide. She said to me “Water is coming.”. I looked up, my attention moving to face the current wind direction where I saw from the cloud cover that there was every possibility that it was going to rain soon. In fact, later that day as we headed home it was incredibly wet! Pouring down for the whole journey! She was right.

Carnasserie Castle - Lammas 2015 (10) — Ruined northern quarter at Carnasserie Castle inhabited by the Spirit of Place

I’m the King of the Castle, and you’re the Dirty Rascal

When I asked the dowsing rods to take me to the location of the Spirit of Place for the castle I was taken right back to where I was standing! I had been in the right spot anyway. I decided to tune into a different frequency – that of the Spirit of Place- and so I held that notion in my head and then settled into a mindless state of meditation, waiting until I got to the right level and wondering if the spirit would want to communicate with me. It did.

Rooted In The Earth

January 31, 2015January 21, 2015 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Energy cleansing, Energy grid, Hedge Druidry, Spirit of Place, Telluric

Thor’s Cave is one of those special places that leaps to mind when someone you haven’t been on an outing with leaves it up to you to make the decision about where to go. If the criteria is “impressive”, “great views” or “dry” then Thor’s Cave fits the bill. On a dull and drizzly January day I drove with the shaman Debra Delglyn, her Buddhist brother “V.P.” and the inspirational meditator John Kirby to Staffordshire. What else is there to do on a Tuesday?

We parked in the village of Wetton which is situated above The Manifold Valley, at the northernmost end of Staffordshire, bordering on Derbyshire, and not far from the town of Leek. Even though I’d been here twice before I had a bit of trouble locating the starting point in the valley below, so we ended up walking down the ravine from the village instead. At this time of year it was very muddy at the bottom, and then we had to climb back up an only slightly better path. On the way up we passed two other groups of visitors, which came as a bug surprise considering the time of year and the weather. Only fools would be out at this time, I thought.

Thors Cave - Jan 15 (21) — Let’s play “spot the cave”!

On the way to the cave I was talking to V.P. about how the year was shaping up to be related to King Arthur. We discussed how this character from our history was an inspiration, and how Arthur was a symbol of leadership, courage and strength. I mentioned many times that I was following Arthur in the sense that I was following his constellation “The Great Bear“. Following, yet here I was leading this group to the cave. My leadership skills were off to a good start!

At the cave entrance we waited for permission to be granted to enter the site. Everyone was very respectful of my hanging around despite the cold. Once I had the feeling that everything was in accord, then we climbed up the slippery slanted entrance rock. Inside we had the place to ourselves.

Thors Cave - Jan 15 (32) — Entrance to Thor’s Cave seen from the Manifold Valley

The Relationship of Lightning

October 8, 2013October 15, 2013 Gwas 1 Comment

Ancient Sites, Arthurian, Celestial, Elemental, Quests, Spirit Guides

This is the second of my tales about my return to Dyserth Castle in the dark. In this story, having cleared and calmed the fire pit of its chaotic energy signature, I find out some information about how to call lightning and from a source that I wasn’t expecting. I am introduced to the idea that Earth can mix with Fire to produce an interesting effect.

The Lightning Difference

I asked the dowsing rods to lead me to somewhere that I could learn about my ‘Call Lightning’ quest. Was there any such place here? YES. Then lead on! The rods swung to point behind me, and then moved in almost a straight line deeper into the high semi-circular cliff of the castle’s perch.

With it being dark, I needed to look up. Besides, I was wondering where the rods were taking me so directly. I was walking towards the cliff, and as I stopped to assess my position I saw in front of me a huge face in the cliff. It was at least sixty feet high. I wondered if the face would actually be visible in daylight – it kind of needed the relief of the rock without shadow and without any other visual distractions in order for it to appear as clearly as it was to me that night. This was what I was here to see. I just knew it. This was an Earth Spirit. The spirit of this place.

RockFace — The kind of thing I saw that night

I checked my protection, paid my respects to the entity, and then stilled myself in order to see if I could get into the right state of mind to connect to it. Minutes later I was in the right place, mentally, and felt like I could communicate. I asked about the lightning quest, of course, “How can I call lightning?” I enquired hopefully. My rational mind was fighting the impulse to think that I was directing the question to the wrong form of elemental – surely an air spirit would know this, not an earth spirit?

Fire Pits and Elementals

October 6, 2013October 2, 2013 Gwas No Comments

Ancient Sites, Elemental, Energy cleansing

24th September 2012 – Dyserth Castle, Denbighshire, North Wales.

I intended to go to a local hill to do some work, but there were people all over the hill that night and I wanted to go to a place where I could be alone with the spirits and energies of the natural world, and not to mingle with humans. This is the thought process of the Hedge Druid oftentimes.

Somehow I ended up driving… just driving. Within half an hour I began to formulate a destination. I was clearly heading for Gop Hill near Holywell in North Wales. As I approached the turning for the hill I carried on! What was I doing? As I allowed my direction to continue to be guided I realised I was heading for Dyserth. When I arrived there and drove straight through I realised I was heading back to Dyserth Castle. Why? I had been there only a few weeks before. It didn’t make sense to me.

Dyserth Castle at twilight in summer — Back to Dyserth Castle in darkness

Alone In the Wilderness

I was ill-prepared for such a venture. I didn’t have my usual outing bag packed with incense, waterproofs, lighters, candles, torches – all the things I normally take when I got visiting sacred sites. All I had was a cheap £2.99 tiny wind-up torch whose light lasted for about a minute before it needed a minute of winding. Hmm….It was normally Kal who was the ill-equipped one.

I walked through the darkness, only using the torch when the darkness was completely impenetrable and uninviting. There was enough moonlight in the clear patches of sky to be able to navigate by memory. I reached the imposing amphitheatre of Dyserth Castle. Would I have to climb up to the top tonight, in the dark? NO. The dowsing rods said that my work would be done in the ground-level surroundings that I was used to and which was relatively flat and unencumbered. I was thankful for that.

Twigs snapped in the undergrowth all around at random intervals, but I had put up solid protection and was unafraid. The night was my friend today – it was what I had asked for – solitude and relative silence in a sacred place. Now I wanted to see if there was anything out there in the darkness that could help me.

Read More “Fire Pits and Elementals” »

Dyserth Waterfall – How to call a Water Spirit

September 16, 2013 Gwas No Comments

Crystals, Dowsing, Elemental, Hedge Druidry, How To, Natural Magick

Following our Lunasa outings, and then the trip to Mitchell’s Fold, we were laden with quests and questions. Frankly, I had enough spinning around in my head at this stage and didn’t need any more. So, when Kal suggested going out again before he went away I was sure I wanted to go , but equally sure I wasn’t going to be taking on any more spiritual work. No more information relating to the quest, please!

It was a lovely evening to visit a place that was far far back in the memory – Dyserth. Kal had dowsed that this was the best place for him to visit, and that he needed to visit the waterfall and castle. Good enough for me – I could do with a cooling down from the waterfall. Its ionizing properties may be the relaxing and soothing balm I needed.

Water way to go

For some reason I needed to bring a specific crystal. Only one. It was hidden on one of my taller shelves on its own. It was so hidden that I thought that the dowsing rods had made a mistake because I couldn’t see it at first. When I fumbled around my fingers felt its smooth small form and I picked a cloudy powder blue crystal off the shelf. Apparently I would need this, so I pocketed it before we set off.

The evening was delightful – sunny, warm, dry. We are having a brilliant summer this year. Even she short journey from the car into the area below the waterfall made us hot. The waterfall was rather refreshing in the late summer heat, and we basked in its light spray for a while before getting to work.

Dyserth Waterfall - August 2013 (6) — Approach to Dyserth Waterfall in summer

I washed the pale powder blue crystal in the wild waters of the reachable part of the waterfall. Should I offer it now? Apparently not, the dowsing rods said. It was pocketed for a later time. I went onwards to look at the waterfall’s full height and think about jumping into the seemingly deep pool. Kal asked how deep the pool was – apparently it had the same effect on both of us that hot evening!

Dyserth Waterfall - August 2013 (4) — The glory of Dyserth Waterfall in flow

Being brave in Thor’s Cave

June 10, 2013December 5, 2013 Gwas 2 Comments

Ancient Sites, Elemental, Energy work, Hedge Druidry

Whenever I mention a sacred site to visit I can see the cogs going round in Kal’s mind… “Will there be climbing involved?” Well, in this instance yes. As we made our way through the Manifold Valley path towards the conjunction of three hills I could hear a familiar tone evolving in his phrases. So this cave…. is it…high up? Yes, it’s high up. And the way is steep. And the path precipitous. But the views are amazing and the climb is worth it for the reward of experiencing the cave’s vast space and acoustic properties.

On this particular visit I had chosen to try to find the easier way up. The walk was longer, but I knew that coming down from the top of the hill from the village of Grindon was not only a muddy experience but a buttock-clenching one too, at times. I hoped to spare Kal the worst for this former vertigo sufferer. Was it appreciated? It didn’t sound like it! Did I offer him soothing platitudes to ease his worries?

Hell no! 😉

Approaching Thors Cave in Staffordshire.

The cave is monstrously impressive! The height, the altitude, the view, the difficulty to get in…. it’s such an effort which is rewarded by the timbre of the acoustics even standing at the entrance. Having been here before I remembered that somewhere deep inside there was what our ancestors used to refer to as a “goblin” inside – an earth spirit. I hoped to meet him again, but that wasn’t the reason I was here.

My main reason for visiting the cave was to test whether I could create my “Perfect Shield” – an energetic construction for protection. The Shield was purely theoretical at this point, and which I needed to have practised before I came to use it “in anger”, as it were, when I needed it. I think the shield is linked with the Shield of Faith that I obtained as a gift from Faery too. Why I would need such protection wasn’t clear yet, but something somewhere knew and had guided me to learn how to create it. I had the image of how it could be done, now I needed the space and time to make it work.

Fertilise the garden

April 29, 2013April 29, 2013 Gwas 1 Comment

Crystals, Natural Magick, Spirits

I first came across the idea of Devas when reading a book that mentioned the work of the Findhorn Community in Scotland. I was intrigued that a group of people would dedicate their whole lives and lifestyles to the idea of working with the spirits of plants and elementals which governed the form of the physical vegetation. I wanted to know more and so I bought William Bloom’s book on the subject, and read anything else I could discover too, including Marko Pogacnik’s book on Deva forms.

This year we have finally transformed our patch of bare clay soil, with its patches of eternal dampness, into a landscaped concept garden that is in its nascent state. Having spent all of the early Spring digging, moving, turning and tilling the soil, adding conditioner and compost to it, finally it was in a state to accept some plants. The process took days, even though the space was only twenty feet by six.

The concept of the garden was typically druidic. M had given me free reign to design as I saw fit. As the pressure mounted to produce a design I turned to the inspiration of Nature and with a blank sheet of paper a form emerged in the symmetrical rounded rectangle: a quadrant of elemental ideals.

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