great bear – The Hedge Druid

The Axis of Time

May 14, 2015May 14, 2015 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Axis Mundi, Dolmens and Chambers, God or Goddess

This is a post related to the quest “Become The Giant” that I was given at Spring Equinox.

As the weather was fantastic for April, and Kal was eager to go out, I was easily persuaded to venture forth into Wales. Having no destination I suggested Gop Hill. Within half an hour (through heavy commuter traffic) we were zooming down the A55 towards the special hill.

Then, out of the blue, I thought we’d gone past the junction. We’d been chatting and it suddenly occurred to me that I had already gone wrong. Kal suggested a new destination: what about Bryn Celli Ddu on Anglesey? We had time, petrol and inclination. Let’s go!

As we approached the Jubilee Bridge over the Menai Straits I got a different feeling – I should visit Lligwy Chamber – the one part of the “Follow The Bear” (a Great Bear Landscape Zodiac quest) that I hadn’t managed to visit this year. Now was the time, I felt. And for some reason, I knew that the two quests would come together in that location – one to be fulfilled, the other to be expanded.

lligwy_chamber_dec09 — The Chamber of Secrets – Lligwy on Anglesey

Feeling The Movement of the Universe

I was shown a cleansing place – one of the lumps of stone outside of the iron-clad fencing around the huge cap-stoned chamber itself. I used the dowsing rods to find the correct alignment for myself – which direction to face whilst cleansing. The detritus of the modern world sloughed off me like a snake’s skin shedding.

Next I was shown to stand on another of the lumpy stones. This time I felt inclined to discover the whereabouts of the Great Bear constellation (Ursa Major). It was directly above me! Perfect, I felt. I closed my eyes and felt something that I have never felt before. I felt that inside my head was a three-dimensional representation of the panorama of stars and galaxies. I could see and feel the gently rotation of the Earth in relation to the backdrop of other energy sources – the stars, moons, planets, asteroids – the whole constellational tapestry, sliding… shifting… swirling.

I nearly fell off the stone several times! With my eyes open the movement became the usual imperceptible shift, but once my eyes closed while standing on this stone then I felt the Universe’s subtle movement in three glorious dimensions.

Camelot Tarot 2015 – The First Half

March 18, 2015March 17, 2015 Gwas 1 Comment

Arthurian, Tarot

It has become almost a tradition for me to do a tarot reading in order to both frame the year, and to inspire my outings. This year I had not felt the need to do a reading until March. This surprised me, but I went with the feeling. Now was the time.

As usual I let my spirit guide (and now my ‘new’ ancestral guide) help determine which cards would best describe and depict my coming year. We chose the “Camelot Oracle” cards. Given the relationship that has been established with Arthur so far this year I wasn’t surprised. He was clearly going to be my central figure, my Camelot resident for this year.

I used the supplied sheet with its eight points and I drew cards that I wanted to link in to the eight Celtic festival dates. In this post I will describe the first set of cards drawn for Imbolc through to Summer Solstice.

My guiding star

My archetype – the card I would use as the central fixed theme for the year – was obviously King Arthur. To me he represented a fixed point in many ways this year – he represented the cardinal point North, the Pole Star, The Great Bear fixed constellation, and qualities such as strength, steadfastness and leadership. Like the Pole Star I might think of him as a “guiding light”.

0_archetype_arthur_camelot — Arthur is the fixed star of my 2015 tarot reading

Next I drew cards for the eight points in the year from Imbolc to Winter Solstice. The first set of cards came out like this.

Cerrig Arthur and The Seven Sleepers

February 3, 2015February 17, 2015 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Hedge Druidry, Landscape Zodiac, Spirit of Place

The road up to Cerrig Arthur stone circle is narrow and steep. It climbs sharply out of the town of Barmouth, winding at precarious angles until it settles into a straight line ascent above the seaside town. From houses through woods then out into open fields the road lifts you clear of the roar of the sea and replaces this with the howl of the wind across the valley which perches itself above the Afon Mawddach river mouth miles below.

We parked at the entrance to a farm called “Sylfaen” – a reference to the sylvan woods, perhaps, or maybe to the presence of sylphs? Either way Kal noted it as an auspicious sign. This visit would be the third Arthur-related site this year so far, and it was only the middle of January.

Ystum Cegid Isaf stone circle (6) — The view of the mouth of the river at Barmouth

We had maps. We had the right clothes. We set off in the right direction. We couldn’t find the circle though! We had to triangulate from mountain tops and buildings to try to work out the position of the stone circle. My tip, if you’re visiting, is this – go through the first gateway up the hill to the left of the farm and then follow the dry stone wall over a couple of crests until you see it. The circle is nestled between two dips, and is very difficult to spot until you’re almost on top of it. We were half way down the valley before we realised we’d gone too far!

When we found it, though, the sun came out and provided us with the kind of photo opportunity that can’t be resisted. We spent a good five minutes just taking pictures before we actually got down to doing some work.

Ystum Cegid Isaf stone circle (21) — Cerrig Arthur stone circle above Barmouth

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!

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

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!

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