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Tag: torc of the hawk

Summary of the Year 2013 – P3 – Loose Threads

Posted on March 5, 2014February 13, 2014 By Gwas No Comments on Summary of the Year 2013 – P3 – Loose Threads
Hedge Druidry, Uncategorized

Like a greased eel this post nearly slipped out of my grasp. It’s March 2014 and before the Spring Equinox launches me off into an orbit of seemingly never-ending work I thought it would be a good point to mention the “almost rans” of the last year – those aspects of my work which seemed random, inexplicable, and without any obvious annual resolution.

Of course, in this game, some spirals are larger than it’s possible to perceive and things come around on a very long trajectory, like a kind of Planet X.

The unexpected arrival of the immanent

I’m sure you will find these loose threads fascinating, but they also act as markers for events and information that might become important in the following years too. I document them here as a reminder of what might be built upon in the forthcoming year.

1. The Serpent Eating The World

At Belas Knap long barrow I was shown an unusual energy formation. The energy flowed the entire length of the top of the structure. The shape of the formation was an undulating sinewy form which culminated at the semi-circular “entrance” of the barrow. At the pinnacle of the mound could be found a circle. I recognised the image as a snake with its jaws around the world.

Belas Knap - snake energy

Interesting that the Earth is depicted as female energy, whereas the snake is formed of male energy. Perhaps the symbolism is sperm and egg, rather than serpent and world? Certainly, fertility was a theme at this site. Yet, in a world before microscopes how could this biology have been known to an ancient culture?

The formation has always been there since the creation of the mound. How had it persisted? Who had created it? Why had they created it? I found some vague answers, but the formation threw up more questions than answers. It makes me wonder how many other sacred sites have such energy forms?

Post: Snake Eating The World

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Summary of the Year 2013 – Themes

Posted on December 20, 2013December 24, 2013 By Gwas No Comments on Summary of the Year 2013 – Themes
Hedge Druidry, Wheel of the Year

Welcome to the first of three posts to summarise the adventures I’ve had this year. The first post will discuss the major themes of the year and my opinions on them. The second post will go into detail about the lessons I’ve learned and how I have developed as a result of those teachings. Finally, … Read More “Summary of the Year 2013 – Themes” »

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Claiming The Torc of the Hawk

Posted on October 30, 2013November 8, 2013 By Gwas No Comments on Claiming The Torc of the Hawk
Hedge Druidry

It is becoming less surprising when the threads of my path’s journey knit themselves into a situation where opportunities can arise. I had the chance to visit Ireland with my wife. She was working in the week, but at the weekend I could join her before she went elsewhere in Eire. Initially the venue was Dublin, then her work changed and it was Belfast. Then, though a mutually beneficial arrangement it was somehow back to Dublin, though no pressure of mine! Well, well. So be it. Now was the time for me to fulfil a quest that I had been given at the start of the year.

The Torc of the Hawk is an artefact that is of especial significance to me. I had been given a quest at Imbolc by the female energy known as ‘Brigid‘ in lore. In her Maiden Castle in Cumbria, as the day’s rays faded to a pink sunset that I will never forget, I was informed that I had to seek out this golden torc.

The torc, I would discover through dowsing, was an artefact from my ancestry in Roscommon in Ireland. It had been worn by the spiritual warrior that I had fought at The Fort of the Bulls – an ancient site of contest in the heart of western Ireland. You can read about the background to this whole Ireland quest here. The essential aspect is that in order to inherit the spiritual energies of my ancestors there are several artefacts that I need to recover. One of them – The Eel Sword – I had already found. This second one – The Torc of the Hawk – I knew from research had once been in the National Museum of Ireland. I had no idea if it was still there.

National Museum of Ireland in Dublin

So it came to be that I was granted the opportunity to go to Dublin for a weekend with no itinerary other than to visit the museum and fulfil the quest to absorb the energy of this torc, if I could find it. To make matters harder I decided not to take my dowsing rods. If I was going to find the torc, then it would have to be done by feeling alone. So I flew out to Dublin, met with my wife, and we agreed to spend the next day looking around the museum. What would we find?

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Bran, Corvus and taking possession

Posted on March 20, 2013March 20, 2013 By Gwas No Comments on Bran, Corvus and taking possession
Ancient Sites

I love going out in the week. Everyone else is asleep in front of their televisions and our lands becomes the playground of this hedge druid. At least, that’s how it feels. On this rare dry evening I called Kal to come and share the wonders of Dinas Bran. It’s probably our closest amazing place. I felt like I had neglected Bran, not having visited him yet this year. Time to remedy that. Of course I took gloves, a scarf and a thick coat – I’m not stupid – it’s early March. Kal forewent such superfluous apparel.

We climbed up the back path (the eastern side) in the dark. I had a torch but didn’t need it – there was enough ambient light. Kal used his, though, and as we neared the top he suggested I had picked the harder way up deliberately. It’s all relative – a balance between distance and gradient. As the top levelled off our breathing was audible in the crisp cool night air. Now the wind began to make itself known to us. Dinas Bran is always windy on top whatever the time of year. Go prepared, unless you’re Kal, in which case – freeze!

Unusually, there was actually someone on the top, and they were playing with luminous balls on string, swinging them around in dazzling patterns. I’ve seen people doing such things at festivals. It’s very skilful. I decided to nestle into a quiet space out of the wind where the dowsing rods led me. It was my starting point – a power centre that I was familiar with. Why not? A boost of subtle energy would be good before braving the full force of the cold night wind.

Kal pointed out The Great Bear constellation that was directly before us – East in direction – and then he left to go find what he needed to do in the main castle grounds. Plough/bear/seven sisters – this constellation was many things to many people. I knew it as a representation of Arthur, but now Bran seemed to be indicating that he and Arthur were signified by the same constellation. Interesting….

“In the early Welsh poem “Preiddeu Annwfn”, Arthur visits the Celtic Underworld, Annwfn, and his adventures closely parallel those of the cauldron-seeking god, Bran the Blessed” (Source: Britannia.com)

Well, there you go. Funny how these things come together. I will now always consider these concepts as one – Arthur and Bran.

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Delphi – The Hawk, The Shade and The Vapours

Posted on March 1, 2013March 1, 2013 By Gwas No Comments on Delphi – The Hawk, The Shade and The Vapours
Ancient Sites

The Hawk Vision

Standing in the amphitheatre half way up the Delphi temple complex I had beautiful scenes in either direction down the valley. Yet, it was not the scenery that captured the imagination, but the sonics of that space. I still find it incredible how perfectly mathematical the calculations were for such structures. Standing in the “play space” – a crescent of smooth stone at the base of the structure – I could project the smallest whisper upwards with no effort until it was amplified around the seats above. Incredible. Every time I visit an amphitheatre it amazes me. I imagined how it could enhance a sound vibration in a meditation – imagine a didgeridoo here!

Above the Delphic amphitheatre – playing with hawks

The dowsing rods then lead me upwards on a small path that seems to lean nowhere. That ‘nowhere’ turns out to be a vantage point above the amphitheatre affording a holistic view over the feature. I begin to get a ‘feeling’, and so I pay attention to it. The feeling exerts itself as an impulse, then emerges into a voice. “Sit back and relax!” it says to me. I look behind me and see a rock large enough to lounge against, and with a convenient ‘seat’. So, I sit down. “Lean back and relax!” I am instructed. OK, no harm in having a moment’s rest in the sun – I am on holiday, after all.

I am now practically lying back on the rock. My gaze goes skyward, and at that exact moment I hear the cries of a bird of prey slightly behind me. I look right up into the sky and see two hawks come out from the top of the cliffs behind me, performs a few circles, and then move back out of sight again. Wow! I wait to see if they re-appear, but they don’t. That moment was just for me to see.

The “inkling” leaves and I return to the dowsing rods to lead me onwards. They now stop me at a point in the path where the main path carries on upwards with its modern stone tessellation, but there is an alternate path – one which is overgrown but somehow ‘older’. The rods point over the restraining rope towards the old path, the lush green path, the path that leads into the woods. Time to make a decision.

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