oak tree – The Hedge Druid

Spring 2015-P5 – Oak Staff of Sherwood

April 21, 2015April 23, 2015 Chris No Comments

Staff, Trees

For a while I’ve felt that I needed a staff that is more practical than my too-obvious antlered yew staff. The yew staff was right at the time, and is good for ceremonial occasions, but is impractical, too decorative, and was fashioned by someone else. I felt I needed something more subtle that I can carve and work myself. Something that I more “me” and “now”. An oak staff, perhaps?

As we travelled homeward from Dale Hermitage we discussed potential source forests. The New Forest? No trees, mainly gorse bushes and not many oaks. The Forest of Dean? Lovely place, but it had the wrong vibe for me personally. The conversation paused for a moment while we assessed where we were.

We just happened to be around Nottingham heading towards Mansfield. Did we have time to search in Sherwood Forest? Wouldn’t that be a perfect place to get a new oak staff? We set the navigation and within the hour we were parking and preparing for our new outing.

How To Find A Staff

Dowsing is a great method of finding your way on a spiritual path. It can lead you efficiently towards your goal. When dowsing leads you back to the same place but by a different route then you know that you are being taken to a special place. Such was the case as we made our way through Sherwood Forest, visiting the Major Oak first, then moving off the paths following the dowsing rods in meandering trajectory into the woodland.

We passed many fallen branches on our journey. Each time we assessed their suitability, but the rods carried on regardless. They were all clearly “wrong” in some way. Mainly because they weren’t oak, I suspect. After fifteen minutes walk the rods swung together and crossed at a point in the forest where the trees were taller. I stopped to assess the area.

Spring 2015-P3 – Hemlock Stone vortex

April 15, 2015January 26, 2016 Chris No Comments

Arthurian, Circles and Stones, Crystals, Visions, Wheel of the Year

Having found very little in the way of sacred sites to keep us in Rutland or Leicestershire we headed northwards towards Nottinghamshire. We had in mind to head for Dale Hermitage, but there would be an unexpectedly pleasant detour first, for as we passed round the outskirts of Nottingham a place popped into mind – The Hemlock Stone. One of our blog readers had mentioned it in a comment recently, and I had not had a great deal to say about it at the time. For some reason it impinged on my thoughts very strongly today. Kal did a quick calculation and we found that we were only 20 minutes drive away. Then, we should pay it a visit.

5 - Hemlock Stone (5) — Approach to the Hemlock Stone site

We arrived and parked in the Bramcote Park facilities, which today included a convenient ice cream van. Far too cold for that, but Kal wasn’t going to be put off. We wandered across the road to Stapleford Hill, and were fortunate enough to have the place to ourselves for the duration of our visit. Everyone else was busy being entertained in the park.

Free To Roam

I don’t cope with barriers very well. Demarcations. Fences. Gates. Ditches. Boundaries of any sort. I like to think of the land as being open and free. That’s part of what our grandparents believed they were fighting to preserve, so you could consider it a “landright” – an inherent right to roam freely on the land if not causing harm. When I’m retired I intend to walk the Belinus Line from the south coast to the north without deviating. That will be one hell of a book, right? I can write it in prison. Anyway – The Hemlock Stone.

As we approach we see the railings around the stone “protecting it”. Well, it is sandstone, so it will wear down easily. Yet, I assert my landright and intending no harm I hop over the railing, as does Kal. It’s his first time here, but my second.

Today felt different from my last visit (which was in February). The energies are much stronger. I felt a tingle of excitement as I sat on the stone. Something was going to happen!

Oak Healing and Ley Lines – Solstice 4

January 17, 2015January 10, 2015 Chris 2 Comments

Dowsing, Energy grid, Healing, Hedge Druidry, Trees, Wheel of the Year

In the fourth part of my Winter Solstice outing I provide an example of what can happen if you let yourself be intuitively guided when you are out and about. Fixed agendas are all very well, but when following an energetic spiritual path then fixing events can be counter-productive (to say the least).

We were hungry. We had been up since early morning, travelling to Yorkshire, and then moving around the Ripon area for several hours seeking adventure. I wondered whether the National Trust property of Fountains Abbey might have not only a cool holy well to visit, but also a good cafeteria where we could get some warming food. Turns out they have both, but we only got to sample the food. When I thought about the size of the estate and the amount of daylight we had left – it wasn’t feasible to traipse around Fountains Abbey estate in search of its treasures. That will have to wait until the summer.

We were about to leave, heading back to the car park after a hearty lunch, when we saw a wooden sign pointing to something called “St Mary’s Church“. Hmmm… we had visited a Michael church that morning – maybe we should balance it out by visiting a Mary church? Game on! We walked through the puddles and mud to get to the site – a good ten minute walk.

St Marys Church, Fountains Abbey - Solstice 2014 (3) — St Marys Church, Fountains Abbey

The first thing that strikes you about the church is that is near to a sandstone obelisk which is aligned with its front entrance. For energy workers and seekers such as ourselves this was too much to be ignored – was it a ley line alignment that was being signified here? Was the energy of the ley being concentrated and directed through the church?

I took a bearing in order to check the alignment on a map later….

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.

Read More “The Watcher’s Portal” »

The Heartbeat of Sherwood

July 24, 2012September 13, 2026 Gwas No Comments

Ancient Sites

Often I need to squeeze an evening out of nowhere in order to get my spiritual path moving a little. I had been stagnating for a while, burdened by “life” getting in the way of what I wanted to do. It happens sometimes. So, I made some time and invited Kal to come with me … Read More “The Heartbeat of Sherwood” »

The Green Man and The Major Oak 2012

March 25, 2012September 13, 2026 Gwas 30 Comments

Ancient Sites, Dowsing, Healing, Hedge Druidry, Natural Magick, Other Entities, Trees

A note about this post This was a difficult post to write, and not just because it is one of the longest I have ever written. It has also taken the longest time to publish! It is the final post in my Nottinghamshire tales [see also: The Hobgoblin of Creswell Crags and The Beech of … Read More “The Green Man and The Major Oak 2012” »

Sickness, Shadows and Swords

December 8, 2011September 12, 2026 Gwas No Comments

Dowsing, Healing, Magick, Trees

As the nights draw in here for the Northern Hemisphere countries our lives begin to change in subtle ways. We lose the lightning power of The Sun in the mornings and evenings. As this power is depleted the changes may even be mirrored in our body chemistry, and consequently in our thought processes. For many … Read More “Sickness, Shadows and Swords” »

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