Tag: solstice

Understanding The Energy of Hills – Summer 14 P11

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Understanding The Energy of Hills – Summer 14 P11
Ancient Sites, Dowsing, God or Goddess, Quests, Spirit of Place, Wheel of the Year

Drombeg stone circle, West Cork, Country Cork, Ireland.

Finally, we have arrived at the last of my posts in the Summer Solstice set (for all the series see this link). It has taken much longer than expected, not only due to the number of posts that the visit generated, but also due to issues with the blog stability that we have now hopefully traced and resolved. Thank you for bearing with us during this particularly extended period of disruption. Sometimes the Universe communicates to us in peculiar ways, and certainly for me the gremlins have struck at my very heart by disrupting this blog. However, re-alignment is taking place, and I am confident that soon you will see a more unified approach to the blog. You’ll see what I mean very soon. For now, let’s finish this set of stories.

Entrance Of The Initiate

Drombeg stone circle - June 14 (5) (Medium)
Fuchsia bushes line the entrance to Drombeg stone circle

After a steep and narrow descent around Drombeg we arrived at a startlingly spacious car park, and then proceeded along the hedge-lined path to the stone circle itself. Along the way we passed a couple who had camped in the circle the previous evening. They looked like they had had an interesting evening! Along the path the fuchsia bushes reminded me of the wonderful floral displays on Iona that we had seen in September 2012.

Information about Drombeg
Information about Drombeg

There were several things to see at the site. Obviously, the circle, but we’ll come to that. Elsewhere there were some smaller oval and circular enclaves which were labelled as “Fulachta Fiadh” – more ‘cooking pits’ it seems. Hmmm… As I sat on the ridge overlooking the site and connecting to the area I had a vision of how the structures were used. I saw a young man being escorted by a hooden and robed figure. He was led into the covered dome structure. Inside he was put through a ‘sweating’ process and then left alone for the night. During the night he emerged and walked into the stone circle to meditate. That relationship seemed to replicate the way I felt about the Dromagorteen circle too.

Now it was time for my own initiation into the circle mysteries!

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The Pact with Cailleach – Summer 14 P9

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The Pact with Cailleach – Summer 14 P9
Hedge Druidry

Shronebirrane stone circle, Kerry, Ireland

To find this circle you need to follow the brown signs inland from the R571 Beara peninsula coast road after passing through Lauragh village. More information can be found at the Isle of Albion site.

After wending our way along a single track road that snaked along a valley floor for what seemed like an eternity we end up at a small car park next to a long farmhouse. We are surrounded by beautiful and tall hills, yet the valley is wide enough for us to catch the remainder of the solstice day’s rays.

Parking at the floor of the valley for Shonebrane circle
Parking at the floor of the valley for Shronebirrane circle

As we pass the farmhouse we are met by the owner who charges us a nominal fee to enter the site in what is effectively their back garden. Their sheep wander around the circle leaving small black deposits.

I begin my investigations outside of the circle, whilst Kal heads straight inside, as he often does. I dowse firstly for the Spirit of Place for the site and find that the circle has one. Good. I ask to be shown where the spirit is, and I am taken all around the outside of the circle, threading in and out of some of the stones. That’s unusual, but vaguely familiar! I’m sure I found the same energy form at Cerrig Pryfaid near Conwy years ago. After my third perambulation I am back on the same track again, so it would appear that the spirit forms three discernible circles of energy around the stones.

When I ask to connect with the spirit I am taken by the dowsing rods to stand at one of the stones which lie to one side of the circle. Here I can connect with the spirit, and I learn that she is born of the surrounding mountains and that she has been at this circle for thousands of years.

The helpful sign is ten feet away from the circle!
The helpful sign is ten feet away from the circle!

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Two Male Streams – Summer 14 P7

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Hedge Druidry

Cashelkeelty stone row, Kerry, Ireland

As we drive down the R571 (Ring of Beara road) towards Lauragh village I make a sudden and impulsive decision. There is a brown sign with a megalith on it, and I am sure I saw the words “circle” on it. I pull over at the next available parking space which is some half a mile down the road. Little did I know that if I have gone back I would have found a car park next to the sign. Hey ho! Only the first of a series of decisions that would make this journey more difficult than it needed to be!

Castlekeelty alignment and circle - June 14 (1) (Medium)

The sign reads “Caiseal Coillte” or Cashelkeelty when rendered from the Gaelic into English. Sure enough, it’s a stone circle indicated on the sign, so we hop over the metal stile and head off into the dark and closely-knit fir trees. The day is humid which adds to the intensity of the climb up the hill, but after half an hour we are clear of the tree line and heading over the couple of rounded slopes that separate us from the ‘good stuff’ on the top. All told we climb for the best part of an hour before reaching the remains of a stone circle.

Castlekeelty alignment and circle - June 14 (3) (Medium)

There is nothing of interest to us at the stone circle. Kal has moved on within seconds of arriving there, whereas I stay a while to ensure that it is of no interest. Yep – there’s hardly any energy here and certainly nothing worth wasting time over. A bit of a disappointment, but suddenly Kal is waving at me from the near distance. Is there something else to see further up the slope?

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The Nineteenth Hole – Summer 14 P4

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Energy work, Remote Viewing, Wheel of the Year

Still the first day of our Summer Solstice outing in Ireland. On our return through Ballinskelligs I stop off to phone home and see how things are. Standing on the shore of the Atlantic Ocean I watch the sun drifting lower as I chat to my wife. It is a beautiful scene, and I remember how powerful it feels to be next to the sea. At the moment it is calm and clear, but I remember when it rages how impressive it is too. As I finish my call I stand by the shore shifting large round pebbles with my feet – this day isn’t over yet. There is more to do, I feel. Today I am feeling the solstice energy, and I want ot make use of it. I go to re-join Kal who is waiting patiently in the car. We drive back off towards Eightercua again, heading back to the hotel in Kenmare.

Golf course or sacred site?

The sun is dipping and the light is fading quickly now as we leave Waterville behind us and climb the hill. On our right we see Skellig Bay Golf Course. Its entrance looks like an abandoned car lot. Then suddenly I see a line of tall stone on the ridge just above the entrance. What is that, I ask? We get excited about the possibility of one more site before the end of the day, and so I take the chance to drive off on to a track which runs alongside the gold course, and I park up. We walk back to the entrance in eager anticipation. Is it a folly? Decoration? Or a real site?

Eightercua Golf Course - June 14 (1) (Medium)
Looking to Waterville at sunset

There’s a welcome chill developing in the air after the long day’s warmth, and without appropriate extra clothing we decide we should act quickly. We’re so “on fire” this evening that we simply have to see what these stones are all about, and we rush up the slope to investigate them.

Read More “The Nineteenth Hole – Summer 14 P4” »

Solstice and The Death of the Sun

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Hedge Druidry

I have often heard people talking about “the death of the sun” but I wondered what that meant. Initially, I took it to mean that the sun would nto be visible for three days between 22nd-25th December. A quick glance into the sky showed me that this was not true. Some other astronomical effect was being symbolised … Read More “Solstice and The Death of the Sun” »

The Quiet Time

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Theory, Wheel of the Year

I have been using the term “The Quiet Time” in recent posts and thought it was time that I explained this phrase better, and what the concepts are that I associate with this phrase. The Quiet Time is a period in the cycle of the Wheel of the Year, the turning of one season to … Read More “The Quiet Time” »

2012 – Summary of the Year by Gwas

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Ancient Sites

My summary of the year could easily take up several posts, but I’m not going to do that. Instead, I’m going to highlight the many important distinct elements that have taken place this year, and then provide links to the posts that illustrate these elements. On the whole it has been an amazingly packed, dense, active year. … Read More “2012 – Summary of the Year by Gwas” »