full moon – The Hedge Druid

Cailleach and The Mesa Luna Amulet

March 12, 2016 Chris 1 Comment

Not all my visions come about as a result of a visit to a megalithic site. I do some work with a group of lovely people who attend my outdoor meditation sessions during the Summer months. When the group isn’t meeting during the Winter then some of these friends come around to work with me … Read More “Cailleach and The Mesa Luna Amulet” »

Lammas 2015 P5 The Undine Pact

October 9, 2015October 8, 2015 Chris No Comments

Circles and Stones, Dolmens and Chambers, Elemental, Spirit Guides, Telluric, Undines, Wheel of the Year

We had passed a tall standing stone – The Kintraw Standing Stone – on the way to the hotel, and had said that it would be nice to visit it at sunset. So it was that we arrived at the stone just as the sun was sinking behind the dark hills.

Loich Melfort standing stone - Lammas 2015 (3) — The Kintraw Standing Stone

I wasn’t feeling this stone spiritually. To me it felt like an energetic investigation was required. There was something to learn.

I stood at the base of the stone. I could feel the stone draw down the last remaining rays of the sun. At this time it was slowing the intake and about to start turning around from drawing in to giving out.

I wondered whether it gave out energy during the evening. I dowsed where the energy output would be for a New Moon – I found a field boundary three feet away from the base of the stone. Then I dowsed where it would be on a Full Moon like tonight – I had to walk some forty feet away to find the extent!

Now it was time to get back to those amazing sites in Kilmartin Glen which had been energised by our work in the day, and which seemed to promise much more this full moon evening.

Beltane 2015 – Reparations and the Four Stone Circle

May 16, 2015December 30, 2016 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Circles and Stones, Crystals, Energy work, Hills and Mounds, Land healing, Spirit of Place, Wheel of the Year

We begin this year’s Beltane celebrations with a set of tales that are like ripples in life’s pond. They form concentric circles within each other, being made of the same substance, and affecting each other. So, I start my set of stories with the largest of the ripples – a ripple going back through time to loop around to the very beginning of our questing.

This first story is the longest, and the rest get progressively shorter. Strap yourselves in!

Beltane Bashing Background

Long ago, when we were young and the world seemed idealistic, we had a notion that we could create a stone circle. Surely, all that would be required is for us to gather some stones together, maybe put them on a hill, enchant them, and then we would be Circle Makers? That, dear readers, is what we did many years ago.

The action was full of difficulty – which should have been our clue, but we were less aware in those days. We hauled some rocks around up a steep hill in Wales on a hot day which then turned cold on us. The rocks cracked as we attempted to “tap” them into place in our makeshift circle. The energetic imprint we created has ever more been a source of slight guilt for us, as we came to learn more about what we were doing. We always said that one day we would return and right our wrong. This was that day.

The way this story works out is astonishing. My intention was to start the afternoon at St.Winifrede’s Well in Holywell. It was the head of an old pilgrim route from the North coast down into the heart of eastern Wales. My idea was to start with a cleansing, and then move on to somewhere that we could energise, and finally end up at Moel Y Gaer above Bodfari where we could harmonize our work, right our wrong, and find out what was next on our quest. Three simple steps, if somewhat vaguely defined.

Three simple steps that were immediately shifted away from MY plans, and instead worked themselves out in a completely different and most magickal way.

Bride and Crone at Imbolc

February 5, 2015January 26, 2016 Chris No Comments

God or Goddess, Hedge Druidry, Meditation, Wheel of the Year

Only the fool-hardy and those friends with frost would venture forth into the darkness of Delamere Forest at midnight. Illuminated only by a filling Milk Moon and a fogging headlamp I met with John Kirby – experienced meditator and esoteric inspiration. This was his idea, and I had seen no reason not to accompany him on his wild adventure into the blackness. I was nearly put off by other people’s reservations: it would be cold, I didn’t know where I was going exactly, it was very windy, the world might end any moment. None of this seemed to matter. Curiosity and the opportunity to meditate outdoors this close to Imbolc was sufficient motivation to drive me onwards.

It was almost a full moon and there was sufficient light to make our way from the station car park, past the visitor centre, and out into the forest proper. John had identified a place where there were some specific trees that he wanted to encounter again. Luckily, he knew how to get there even in the dark, and within ten minutes we had found the place.

There was one clearly visible and identifiable “male” tree. it stood along, a ‘lonesome pine’, immensely proud and conical. It looked like the kind of Christmas Tree that ought to adorn a special square in London. I chatted with John about the concept of the “King Stone” at a stone circle, and how the outlier would often be the male standing stone whose energy would be fed into the female stone circle. I likened the imagery to the sperm and ovum concept.

For me, Imbolc sees the return of the male earth energy so tonight it seemed appropriate to attempt to “fertilise” the female ring of trees nearby with the male energy of this lone tree. We set up camp in a clutch of fir trees whose central space was both soft and welcoming, sheltered yet not smothering. A fire pit was dug by hand, wet logs used as a container, and then a small immediate flame established to ward off the worst of the Winter’s warmth-sapping strength.

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The Watcher’s Portal

June 17, 2014June 17, 2014 Gwas 4 Comments

Hedge Druidry

This dramatic story begins one late May evening, when the sun is out. Oh, and it’s the month’s full moon too. It’s a long story, but it really is worth the reading effort. The drama is in the detail, to paraphrase a saying.

The decision is made by Kal – we are heading to Nine Ladies stone circle at Stanton Moor in Derbyshire. Why? Well, he might have a clue, but I’m going to “tag along”. Maybe something interesting will happen if I let it? It’s always good to go with a purpose, but this year I’ve been a bit more laissez-faire about such things, and the events have come to me. Well, boy did they happen to me this time!

As we arrive I check with the dowsing rods whether there is anything for me to do here related to my current spiritual quest (which is to discover why the giant in my vision throws the stone). Nothing to be done, and so I wonder what I might get involved in. Always eager to do something, I begin to dowse for a power centre even as we approach the site.

Approaching Nine Ladies circle through birch trees at dusk

I ask to be taken to a place of interest to me. Well, it seems like a general enough enquiry to result in something interesting! And lo, I am taken to a tree with a red sandstone rock at its base – a place of cleansing. Er… didn’t I say a place of interest? Nevertheless, due process, I suppose. Cleansing always seems to be a requirement when I’ve spent time in the “real world”, where no doubt I am bringing in energies that are, to say the least, incongruous with effective natural magick working.

The same request for a place of interest then leads me to a pair of slim birch trees which formed a ‘doorway’. I ask if this is a portal – YES. Glad to hear that after many years of druidry I can now spot these features, and the dowsing rods are an ideal confirmation tool. Having recently been working with seal energies I ask if the portal has a seal on it – YES. Interesting. I see a seal and I feel a challenge coming on, providing that it is sensible to approach the challenge, of course. “Experience has made me rich“, Madonna sang. Indeed.

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Cornwall Winter 5 – The Piper and The Maidens

January 20, 2014January 20, 2014 Gwas No Comments

Ancient Sites, Dowsing, Energy cleansing, Energy work, Visions

I was making the most of the beautiful winter weather – despite all the prognostication from the official weather channels. Tow more delightful sites to visit – one of the Piper Stones, and the accompanying Merry Maidens stone circle.

1. The Pipers standing stones [megalithic]

You can park for the stones in a lay-by on a junction of the B3315 between Porthcurno and Newlyn (at Trewoofe, just above the Lamorna cove).

There are two such stones in the area but I only had time to visit one. As I leapt into the field from the stile nearby I could see the stone standing lonely, the sea close behind it. Apparently it’s an outlier from the Merry Maidens stone circle nearby. That’s quite a distance for an outlier – outliers are usually within a hundred yards or so of the main site. This stone would be visible from the circle but it’s further away than most outliers.

Had it been summer I would have followed the line I found which seemed to head off in the direction of the Merry Maidens circle. Then I could have categorically said that the two were energetically connected. There is every indication that they are, which would reinforce the idea of standing stones being a sort of relay for the subtle energy to be beamed or propelled across the landscape.

When I dowsed the stone from a distance I was surprised at the size of the stone’s aura. The boundary for the stone’s energy radiation was about 120 feet in diameter. Given that I expected low energy levels due to the time of year this was another site that was punching holes in that notion. A notion that I had held for quite a while! You live and learn. Dowsing revealed that the stone is acting as a repeater, directing energy in specific directions according to the faces and edges of the stone, and adding the energy of the place where it was positioned to amplify the subtle energy being transmitted. Seems like Tom Graves’ theory was right.

Blaise, Castle Mortal and Mortality

November 24, 2013December 2, 2013 Gwas No Comments

Arthurian, Hedge Druidry, Quests, Tarot, Wheel of the Year

This is possibly the most exciting, scary and powerful magickal experience I have ever had. It was the culmination of a whole year’s work, but it was also an opportunity that I thought I had missed. How wrong I was. I was about to be tested like never before, but the rewards would be all the more fulfilling. If you read no other post on this blog, read this one.

Alderley Edge is a fun place to spend a night when the moon is beginning to come into its powers. Kal and I ventured out to this magickal forest one evening as the moon was waxing to its fullest, but had not yet reached that point. Once inside the forest I dowsed that it was at nearly 10% of its full potential. The following evening it would be at 55%, and then it would rise to 100% in the middle of Sunday.The three days of the Full Moon – The Hunter’s Moon – would be useful for we Seekers.

For me, personally, I have been working towards Samhain all year, preparing for a predicted challenge. I did a tarot reading at the start of the year which indicated that there would be some point of recapitulation during which the opportunity would be afforded for me to raise my abilities and make some real profound progress on my spiritual path. Tonight was the night to meet this challenge!

This is how I read the Camelot Oracle cards at the start of the year:-

CARDS: Blaise in Castle Mortal at Samhain

CHALLENGE. Whatever you are waiting for, is delay the result of reservation or suspicion?

Arthur’s Stone in Herefordshire was the site I had in mind to begin the process of visiting Castle Mortal and meeting with the energy entity which I could identify as Blaise – Merlin’s teacher and master. Although this was an Arthur-related site, I felt it had a strong affinity with Merlin too. However, my visit to Arthur’s Stone had not yielded any information about the tarot challenge. This had bothered me. Had I missed the opportunity? The dowsing rods indicated otherwise when asked. My dowsing showed me that actually I had needed the Merlin interaction, and that there was still a chance for me to find out about my Blaise/Castle Mortal challenge. Alderley Edge was a suitable location, said the rods. Then I would take the chance.

Who is Blaise?

That turns out to be a more difficult question than it first appears. On the face of it you would think that there ought to be a considerable amount of information about a figure related to such a person as Merlin. Actually, there are only a few vague sentences.

“Robert de Boron lays great emphasis on Merlin’s power to shapeshift, on his joking personality, and on his connection to the Holy Grail. This text introduces Merlin’s master Blaise, who is pictured as writing down Merlin’s deeds, explaining how they came to be known and preserved.” (source: Wikipedia)

Adam Ardrey (web site) in his book “Finding Merlin” reckons he knows who the man might be:

“I have argued in Finding Merlin that the real ‘Merlin’ was a specific late 6th c. British man of central Scotland; a man who worked with Arthur, Arthur Mac Aedan, against the Angles; a man I now call Merlin-Lailoken.

In Finding Merlin I also identified Merlin-Lailoken’s teacher as a man his friends called Cathen the Druid.

It was this Cathen who came to be called Blaise” (source: Finding Merlin)

Cathen, the author goes on to describe, is a nickname for a fighter – a druid in active physical rebellion. A worthy adversary, and a glorious archetype for me at this point in the year.

Where is Castle Mortal?

If you thought the last question was difficult, this one is even more challenging. There is no information about this place outside of the book which accompanies the Camelot Oracle.

“The castle is sometimes known as the Dangerous Castle, and is often said to harbour temptations of some kind. Only those who accept their spiritual selves, who are humble enough to allow spiritual protection into their lives, and who know that the secret of the Grail is service to others can leave unscathed.”

I asked if I could try to complete my quest to find Blaise, and fulfil the tarot reading that I had done at the start of the year – to meet Blaise at Samhain at Castle Mortal where he would pose the ultimate question – was I committed or not to this path of druidry?

I let one dowsing rod describe a path to the place where we could meet. The meeting point turned out to be a tree just off one of the main paths close to the cliffs which gave Alderley Edge its name. The tree was a tall mature pine – the only one if its kind within visible range – and it was bathed in a powerful moonlight which threw pale shadows around as it lit the black and white scene.

After grounding, centring, connecting and asking the permission of the pine tree to work within its aura space I began to call upon Blaise to make himself known to me. As my head cleared out of the day’s junk so a presence made itself known, like an extra shadow slipping in behind a tree. I asked my first question:

“Where is Castle Mortal?”

The answer came back directly and succinctly:

“It is a place where you are in mortal peril.”

Somewhere in Alderley Edge? Well, interesting correlation because the Camelot Oracle defines Castle Mortal as being “Northwest following the Turning Path“. An apt description of where I was right this moment.

It didn’t take a genius to begin to piece together an Infernal Triangle of “mortal”, “edge” and “peril”. There was a hefty and audible gulp taken as I came back to normal consciousness and headed over to the nearby tree where Kal was standing. He had done his work, but I didn’t want to say anything about mine next, except to ask him a question – would he hold on to my car keys and phone. He might need them… if….

The sentence remained incomplete. But he knew something was afoot.

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