Tag: herne

Arrows point to Arthur – Solstice 3

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Arrows point to Arthur – Solstice 3
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.

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Five bones and Five Wells

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Five bones and Five Wells
Ancient Sites, Hedge Druidry, Natural Magick, Staff

Five Wells barrow near Chelmorton, Derbyshire [link].

Every once in a while I have an experience which is completely unexpected and yet immensely powerful. Yes, I am on a sacred path, and much of this is marked out for me, but when you’re not expecting something it can be much more powerful. Such was the nature of my vision at Five Wells Barrow near Chelmorton village in Derbyshire.

Kal and I ventured out because it had been a while since we had just gone out for “fun” with no agenda or notion of what might happen. We wanted a site we could get to relatively easily, but which we hadn’t been to in a while. Five Wells fitted that bill. Yes, it’s close to Arbor Low, but frankly that site is rather harsh at this time of year (or any time of year really). There was a biting cold wind so the idea of being snug inside a barrow seemed more inviting that being blasted in Arbor Low’s open space.

Five Wells barrow - Oct 14 (3) (Medium)
The fantastic Five Wells Barrow above Chelmorton, Derbyshire

Kal and I seemed to have similar ideas. We both began to dowse and were soon standing just feet apart from each other as we moved from a cleansing power centre to one which would allow us to get to the right vibration to energetically connect to the site. It was amusing that we seemed to choose adjacent or even the same power centres.

Soon we were moving off to do our own work. Kal had some questions about his current quests and the journeys they would involve, whereas I had no particular purpose in mind except that I had brought my yew staff and wondered whether I was to work with that in some way. Standing on a suitable power centre I connected in to the site and to its Spirit of Place. Soon I was seeing through glazed eyes.I asked a simple question:

“Why is this site called Five Wells?”

My attention was being moved for me now – my eyes being systematically moved from one point in the distance to another. My head was being turned too, and when the point in the distance was achieved then my vision was momentarily re-focused so that I could see what I was supposed to look at. I have had this kind of “being moved” thing happen before, and so I wasn’t afraid of it. I just let it happen, and as my eyes were focused on one spot I asked “What is there?” Each time the answer was “sacred water”. I counted the number of points I was drawn to. Five!

What was I being told?

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Summary 2013 – Lessons Learned Pt2

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Hedge Druidry, Hedge philosophy

In the second half of my second summary post I’m completing the lessons learned for the remainder of the year – that’s August to December. In this post I talk about the stag energies, energetic balance, death energy and some of the natural magickal techniques that I have been shown this year.

August

Stag and the Staff

  • Learned that a staff can become associated with a kind of ‘patron’ energy form
  • My new yew stag-headed staff becomes associated with the Gwyn Ap Nudd/Herne/Cernunnos energy.

Related posts: Initiation of the Yew Staff

Balancing and Tuning at Sacred Sites

  • You can reconfigure your own energy field to match that of a sacred site (especially a stone circle).
  • When the circle is at a balanced point in the year (equinoxes) then you can easily balance your chakras/energy field

Related posts: Mitchell’s Fold balancing

  • Chakras can be tuned through the vowel sounds – caves are excellent places to do this

Absorbing the Gwyn energies

  • The energies of an energy form such as Gwyn Ap Nudd can be absorbed into your own energy field, such that they “walk with you”
  • The purpose of this is to be able to invoke their guiding presents more readily

Related posts: Chun Quoit, Faery Portal, Faery Feast

What the Romans Did For Us

  • On Anglesey I discovered that one of the few remaining traditions that were left virtually intact by the Roman invasion were the arts associated with the knowledge of local plants and their powers.
  • I was asked to continue this tradition when communing with the shade of Iestyn.

Related posts: Lligwy Lore and Song

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Summary 2013 – Lessons Learned Pt1

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Hedge Druidry, Hedge philosophy

In the second of my year-end summary posts I am listing the most important things I have learned this year. I’ve arranged them in chronological order by month as this seems to show the development of the learning in the best way. There’s too much to read in one go, so I’ve split this into two posts. Part 1 is January to June/July. Part 2 will be the back half of the year.

One of my favourite phrases is “Every day is a school day.” It certainly feels like that walking this path of druidry and divination!

January

Spooky!

  • Learned that some pet energies can be grounded through respectful burial involving knowledge of their energetic links to humans (e.g. an owner)
  • Also found a spirit that is classically called an Incubus preying upon the vibrant energies of the three teenage girls in the house. Discovered that they can be ‘ensnared’ using a spiral-carved stone to confuse their pathway, and by changing the energy flows around the house to disrupt its patterns and portals.

Related posts: Exorcising an Incubus, Poltergeist Pet

Tarot Framework

  • Created a four-stage cross tarot layout coinciding with the Celtic festival dates, and drew from the Camelot Oracle to define the path, the champion and the challenges at those special dates. The result was a fantastic way to keep me on track with my progress!

Related posts: Arthurian Overview of 2013, Camelot Oracle

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Samhain 2013 – Charging the Stag Staff

Posted on By Gwas 1 Comment on Samhain 2013 – Charging the Stag Staff
Ancient Sites, Magick, Staff, Wheel of the Year

In this second part of my Samhain visit to Tinkinswood I tell about how I negotiate the charging of my new yew staff at a sacred site near to Cardiff. The site is a ‘burial chamber’, and was chosen due to the amazing response we got from it on our last visit. Having travelled over three hours to get here, we were rather pleased that the site was in a powerfully energetic state as this time of the year. “Lucky”, I guess, right?

At the entrance to the site is a new audio feature powered by cranking a handle. We listened to the various sections which speculated as to the purpose and use of the site in relation to the archaeological evidence. This kind of thing always makes us smile. Looking at the archaeological evidence of a sacred site is like looking at the waste products of a household and deducing their philosophical predilections from the packaging they discard. A mere sliver of the total amount of available information, as any psychically-oriented person will tell you,. The key phrase which sets us off is the phrase “…for religious purposes…“. We love that.

Here’s a snippet of what’s on offer:

Charging the Stag Staff

Interesting – that’s the first time I have written “The Stag Staff” as a description of my new staff, and yet that’s what I should always have called it. I will call it that from now on.

Tinkinswood Chamber - Samhain 2013 (canon) (15) (Large)
An inner chamber where The Elemental Masters congregate

I ran through my usual “dowsing etiquette” questions – the ‘could I’, ‘should I’, ‘may I’ type of preliminaries, and getting a favourable response I began to search for the best location to station my staff while it was worked upon.

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Sitting with The Stag

Posted on By Gwas 1 Comment on Sitting with The Stag
Hedge Druidry, Quests

On my last visit to Delamere Forest I was taken to a specific location after I had run through the forest in a free fashion. Something like this, but the forest trails are a lot more overgrown!

httpv://youtu.be/JhPPDPsAvFI

The light had gone when I got there and I felt I needed to go back. There was more to learn. Finding the stag’s horns on the fir tree was not the final outcome.

I went back the next night. It was light this time, but raining heavily. I was reluctant to approach the tree with the stag’s horns because it was surrounded by tall bracken which was dripping wet. However, the dowsing rods insisted that I needed to be at the base of the tree to do any work, so I parted the fern fronds and walked through the wall of wetness to sit at the base of the tree.

Actually, one I was beneath the tree the ground was dry, and as I sat I realised that the tall fronds completely blocked off the main path. I couldn’t see it, and no-one on the path would see me. Perfect! As if to prove that , seconds later two cyclists whizzed past me. Even though I was wearing a bright coat I was still hidden.

I settled down to work. My preliminary dowsing had revealed that there was a spirit associated with this tree, and that I could use this site to speak to Herne. So I did just that. I called upon my spirit guide Ash to ask him to broker the contact and protect me while I worked. I felt the familiar shiver. It was done. Now to speak to Herne.

Stag's horns in Delamere Forest
Stag’s horns in Delamere Forest

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Finding the Horns of the Stag

Posted on By Gwas 1 Comment on Finding the Horns of the Stag
Hedge Druidry, Quests, Spirits

I know – a stag’s horns are usually called antlers. I am choosing to use the term ‘stag’s horns’ because those are the words that came to me when I asked for this next quest. “Horn” seems to have more resonance with concepts such as drinking vessels and therefore “grails” too. It makes my work feel more Like a Grail Quest than a Stag Party. This evening’s work began when I was considering where I might go to try to run like a stag. How does a stag run? Unhindered. Freely. Instinctively.

The obvious choice for such a run was my nearest large forest – Delamere in Cheshire. It was a cooler evening. The nights have been drawing in, getting darker sooner, and the temperature dropping accordingly. Nevertheless, on my way back from a fitness session in Manchester I made myself drive back through Delamere Forest. The light was already low as I parked in a convenient lay-by – one that I had parked in many times before. I knew where I was heading and why. I was going to visit The Father of the Forest – the spirit of Delamere – to seek his blessing in my next endeavour which was to Seek the Stag.

Seeking the stag was the instruction I had been given as my quest this turn of the year’s wheel. It had recently been revealed in a vision to be related to discovering the feeling of running freely through the forest, uninhibited, undaunted by obstacles. In the low light of early twilight which was descending quickly this seemed like a true test in these conditions.

Delamere Forest lake at sunset
Delamere Forest lake at sunset

In my sports gear I blended well with the last of the forest trail runners. They were better prepared than I was having torches, and heading out of the forest instead of in. I knew that the Father wasn’t far away, however. Working from memory (when was the last time I had sought him out – a couple of years ago?) I went off the main trail and into the undergrowth. I couldn’t find the usual trail and instead ended up hopping over young sharp bramble tendrils as they tried to snare and slice my exposed limbs. At the point where I was brought to a standstill by one offending strand I made a verbal exclamation: “Hey – don’t you know I’m here to see the Father of the Forest? Let me pass!”

As if in response to my demands I spied a clearer trail and moved across to walk on that. This was much easier and I didn’t get stuck or sliced up from that point on. I was still smarting from the original “defenders” work, however, to be too grateful for an easy passage at this point in proceedings. I made my way slowly down into the bowl of swampy ground where the newer growth had formed in a clearing. This was my starting point for this evening’s work.

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