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.
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.
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