green man – The Hedge Druid

Spirit of Place in the Meditation Circle

October 27, 2015October 27, 2015 Chris No Comments

Energy work, Land healing, Meditation, Spirit of Place

I started a weekly meditation circle last year. I was impressed by how many people turned up regularly, but this year the intake was even bigger. I made a few changes this year. I moved the venue slightly to provide a more intimate working space, and to accommodate more people. Part of that work involved me clearing out a place that was overgrown and full of old rotting and rusting junk. It took me a couple of days to clear, but when the space was finished it felt amazing.

Before I had done any work I had entered into a dialog with the Spirit of Place. Was the space suitable? Would it be alright to use it in this way? Was the spirit happy with me preparing the space or should it be left as it was? All these questions were asked and more. So, I already felt comfortable with working with the spirit of this new space.

For the last 16 weeks the group has been gathering momentum and getting familiar with each other. Now they are at a point where they have shared experiences, and lasting friendships have been formed. There is a lot of love circulating amongst the group, and that is a lovely experience. Tuesday evenings have become very special.

A few weeks ago we did “Connecting with the Spirit of Place” as the topic. It was particularly remarkable, and so I want to tell you about it here.

The Yew of the Four Glyphs

June 28, 2015June 16, 2015 Chris No Comments

Ancestors, Churches and Temples, Glyphs and Wards, Higher-Self, Staff, Time and Space, Trees, World Tree

On a delightfully warm and sunny Summer’s evening the intrepid duo ventured forth into the heartlands of Northern Wales in search of inspiration. Our destination was the ancient and venerable Yew tree of Llangernyw.

The environs of Llangernyw were beginning to flourish with a beautiful display of wild flowers.

Llangernyw Yew - June 15 (1) — Llangernyw wild flower hedgerow

We entered the graveyard, drinking in the sounds, smells and sights of Summer as though to store them in memory for the ‘leaner times’. As we began to follow the dowsing rods I noticed that Kal was following my footsteps exactly! He was chuckling to himself as he realised that his path to the perfect spot was exactly the same as mine. How amusing! At that moment a chorus of birdsong arose from the surrounding trees – a welcoming chorus of delighted cheeps and warbles which almost drowned out any thoughts!

When Formalities Are Dropped

We both came to a halt at the same time and in the same spot. It was just inside a clump of young yew trees with fresh growth at their tips. The spot on which we were stood was lain with a carpet of damp grass cuttings, and this made me think of a time when I had stood on other grass clippings and had an encounter with the spirit of the Green Man [see this post].

There was no need for either of us to ‘cleanse’ today. For some reason we were already cleansed of outer worldly energies, and ready for work. The spot with the grass clippings was a place for us to simply tune our energies to place. It was simply about getting into the right energy state.

As we walked up the sloping path towards the grand old yew tree, following the dowsing rods to find the bets place, I felt like tree knew I was coming. Indeed, although I stopped at the perimeter of its canopy before entering, there wasn’t the usual ‘resistance’ or barrier in place. I realised that I didn’t need to ask permission to enter now. Perhaps we had become such good friends over the years? The balance of ‘power’ had shifted somehow, and was much more equal now, I felt.

Llangernyw Yew - June 15 (10) — One day I’ll get a good picture of this tree without ‘misting’!

I had two purposes for being here this evening:

to see if I could help my wife get through a forthcoming exam, and
to see if there was any work I could do to discover the Essence of the Merlin Staff

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.

The Long Man – Striding Like a Giant

May 3, 2015April 27, 2015 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Energy grid, Giants, Other Entities

Some people like to take their holidays in a place they know and love. Me too – but let me qualify that statement. For me holidays are about an opportunity to visit somewhere I haven’t been before in a place that I know I love – Britain. You can imagine, though, that having spent over 40 years in these islands finding new places is getting more difficult. M and I therefore agreed that Hampshire and The South Downs should be our target as we had little knowledge of that region.

Before we left I did very little research. I had an idea that I might get to some of the places mentioned in Andrew Collins‘ book “The Black Alchemist“. Something, however, was keeping me away from such places. I think I know why, but that’s another story.

I wasn’t expecting much ‘activity’ as I was supposed to be having time away to rest. However, one day I looked at the map and saw that we were travelling near to a place I’ve always wanted to visit: The Long Man of Wilmington. We had to go!

Long Man of Wilmington (1) — The Giant Surveryor

On arrival we realised that it was pretty busy. If you visit in a motorhome you’ll find that you can’t park at the car park at the top of the village. There’s another place further up the road, so we pulled up there. We were now on Windover Hill – a place teeming with ancient remnants. None more impressive than the giant on the hill, though.

Imbolc 2015 P1 – The Robin at Arthurs Well

February 9, 2015January 26, 2016 Chris No Comments

Ancient Sites, Arthurian, Hedge Druidry, Wheel of the Year

Imbolc began this year for me while I was meditating in the middle of Delamere Forest at midnight. Having felt the combined feminine forces of The Maid (Brigid) and The Crone (Morrigan) then I knew that my ventures the next day would now be filled with beautiful connections.

Kal and I had planned a full day out in Anglesey. Early on February 1st we made our way down the A55 coast road. Before crossing the “threshold” of the Menai Straits there was one place I wanted to visit. I was keen to visit a well dedicated to Arthur which was supposedly positioned close to the village of Deiniolen in the foothills of the Snowdonia mountain range.

Anglesey - Imbolc 2015 (1) — Deiniolen is not far from Snowdon and its surrounding mountains

Arthur’s Well Hidden

Although I had an Ordnance Survey map of the place where the well was supposedly located, and there was no foliage to obscure the hunt, still the discovery of the well eluded us initially. Even the path to get to the area near to the well was difficult! It was full of obstacles and at one point we were bounding from the crest of one murky drainage channel to another as we tried to avoid being scratched by dead spruce branches. The density and darkness of the forest seemed to go on forever! Finally, we were through it, though, and into a clearing – a crossroads of paths. Hmm.. cross roads.

Arthurs Well - Anglesey - Imbolc 2015 (3) — Crossroad after a dark passage near Arthur’s Well

Tarot for the Solstice – Summer 14 P1

July 16, 2014 Gwas No Comments

Tarot, Wheel of the Year

We’re a bit late with all of our Summer Solstice posts due to major problems with the blog. Apologies for the delays, the unavailability at times and the general faffing about with what had been a very stable setup. We are slowly returning to normality, and beyond. There are some great new things coming very soon which I will personally be launching for you in the late summer. Before that, we’ve got a series of Summer Solstice posts which we hope will fascinate and amuse you.

Our destination for Summer Solstice was The Ring of Kerry in Ireland. Before we left I did a tarot reading to try to determine some of the aspects of the trip. Now, doing such a draw is always a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario. In other words – does the reading make the events happen, or do the events happen in accordance with the reading? We can never really know objectively, but subjectively the tarot readings are inspirational, aspirational and often sensational. This was one such reading.

The Questions for Summer

1 What are the characteristics of my energy going in to Ireland?

Nine of Bows (Respect)
Ten of Bows (Responsibility)
Knight of Vessels (Eel)

Tarot draw for Summer Solstice 214 (3) (Medium) — Three cards to describe my energy going into the Summer Solstice

Notice that the Respect card features an Otherworldly face. Whenever I have encountered energy forms from the Otherworld I have been guided to treat them with great respect.

I also noticed that the Responsibility card showed a person climbing a mountain weighed down with stuff. Previous outings suggested that I would be climbing mountains on our expedition, but this was South West Ireland we were heading to – wouldn’t that be flat?

The Eel card had come up on my last summer solstice draw! Back then it had shown me the way to finding The Eel Sword. Would this be a reference to ancestors? I was certainyl back in my ancestral homeland, so that was promising. We will see.

Cloak of the Green Man

August 6, 2013August 6, 2013 Gwas 1 Comment

Ancient Sites, Crossing The Hedge, Other Entities, Staff

It was shortly after the visit to Dinas Bran in Llangollen that an opportunity arose to visit the old Llangernyw Yew tree near Conwy. Of course the weather reports said “rain” so we planned for sun. It was sunny. The shadows were lengthening at the end of the day, but the temperature was still warm. Always handy if you’re walking through a graveyard because it keep the chill of the shades off you!

I was here to try to learn something more about my new yew staff which I had recently acquired in Glastonbury, and which had just been “initiated” (charged up) at Dinas Bran. Now I wanted to know about the energy that it now contained – was there a spirit form associated with it (as there had been for my previous staff – the ash staff)?

Straight away on our arrival I put up protection. Recent experience had made me more careful. Although I felt I knew this place, maybe there had been some recent new arrivals? Better safe than ill! Kal immediately went off dowsing and I headed up to the church area to see where I should be going first.

Read More “Cloak of the Green Man” »

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