ursa major – The Hedge Druid

Thornborough and Arthur – Solstice 1

December 29, 2014December 28, 2014 Chris 1 Comment

Hedge Druidry

This is the first in a short series of tales about my journey into the darkest depths of Yorkshire for the Winter Solstice this year. It was only one day’s outing, yet it managed to encompass a number of new sacred sites and to throw up a number of amazing synchronicities between the work that I did and what Kal was experiencing at the same time. I’ll tell my side of the story, and then you can compare these to Kal’s tales. I think you’ll be amazed too!

A Lesson In Patience

The journey was unspectacular except for one incident. I had arranged to meet Kal at 8:30am and despite the fact that he wouldn’t mind if I was one or two minutes late I was rushing to get there on time. Some people were driving very slowly that morning, possibly having nowhere in particular to get to for any specific time. This was rather frustrating me, and so I was getting increasingly flustered. Then, just as I was about to overtake someone ahead of me I looked up at a tall telegraph pole, and atop it was a hawk – just sitting still, and being patient. I saw the message straight away and my foot moved off the accelerator. I would get there when I got there. Phew – and relax….

Then I realised that only two minutes earlier I had been wondering whether I would see a hawk today as a sign, because I so often see them whenever I am journeying on a sacred calendar day. Well, there he was!

Thornborough By The Thorny Route

Finding Thornborough Henge should have been easy. I mean – you can hardly miss a henge in such a flat landscape! Yet it took Kal and I several attempts before we were on the correct small country road, and we had gone off track and gone through a lovely village called Kirklington before we spotted the structure in a field just beyond the village of Thornborough itself, heading towards West Tanfield. There was enough space to park outside a utility building, and soon we were walking through the impressive Thornborough Cursus – a long wide embanked structure which ended in a dog-leg right turn. What on earth was this structure for, we wondered? Soon we would find at least one purpose! I’ll come back to Kirklington later because the church in the village seemed to call to us.

For a short while we were the only ones inside the henge. The diameter of the embankment is quite impressive. It has an Avebury scale feel about it – far larger than Arbor Low, which is what we are more used to. Despite the cold dull day I felt warm and excited – something special was about to happen!

The Relationship of Lightning

October 8, 2013October 15, 2013 Gwas 1 Comment

Ancient Sites, Arthurian, Celestial, Elemental, Quests, Spirit Guides

This is the second of my tales about my return to Dyserth Castle in the dark. In this story, having cleared and calmed the fire pit of its chaotic energy signature, I find out some information about how to call lightning and from a source that I wasn’t expecting. I am introduced to the idea that Earth can mix with Fire to produce an interesting effect.

The Lightning Difference

I asked the dowsing rods to lead me to somewhere that I could learn about my ‘Call Lightning’ quest. Was there any such place here? YES. Then lead on! The rods swung to point behind me, and then moved in almost a straight line deeper into the high semi-circular cliff of the castle’s perch.

With it being dark, I needed to look up. Besides, I was wondering where the rods were taking me so directly. I was walking towards the cliff, and as I stopped to assess my position I saw in front of me a huge face in the cliff. It was at least sixty feet high. I wondered if the face would actually be visible in daylight – it kind of needed the relief of the rock without shadow and without any other visual distractions in order for it to appear as clearly as it was to me that night. This was what I was here to see. I just knew it. This was an Earth Spirit. The spirit of this place.

RockFace — The kind of thing I saw that night

I checked my protection, paid my respects to the entity, and then stilled myself in order to see if I could get into the right state of mind to connect to it. Minutes later I was in the right place, mentally, and felt like I could communicate. I asked about the lightning quest, of course, “How can I call lightning?” I enquired hopefully. My rational mind was fighting the impulse to think that I was directing the question to the wrong form of elemental – surely an air spirit would know this, not an earth spirit?

A new dimension to stargazing

November 2, 2012 Gwas 5 Comments

Celestial, Dowsing, Wheel of the Year

I have now concluded my quest that was given to me to complete before Samhain. The task I was given (adopted) was to discover for myself (i.e. without any help from dowsing or other divination methods) which stars had an emotional influence upon me, and what that influence was. Once I had identified the star and its emotional influence, then I was free to fill in the gaps using research through whatever means I wished to. Why the restriction? Well, I suppose it would have been too easy otherwise, and would not have required me to learn a new skill.

The new skill I had to come to terms with was to find an astrological connection purely by intuitive feeling. However, to give myself a chance I dowsed one thing – how many connections was I looking for? THREE. Ok – now I could proceed. On a full moon in October – Corn Moon – I visited a nearby sacred hill on a clear night. I sat on a power centre and got connected. Once done, I scanned the heavens slowly feeling for any emotional connection to my energy body. I found two. Later in the month I went out to find the third of the stars on a clear night after the rains when the sky was clearest. Standing in the road I did the same scan and soon found my third and final star connection.

stargazing42524 — A new dimension to stargazing

Although this quest seems very personal in nature I offer it here as a demonstration of how one can find useful information about oneself – one’s personal astrology, if you like – through an act of intention and exploration. It is quite a different experience than doing a Natal Chart. I don’t trust Natal Charts for these reasons – should one take the influence from the moment of conception or the moment of birth? Why choose these times and dates? Isn’t it more accurate for you to know which stars are affecting you in the present?

I offer this information as a demonstration of the ways in which research and divination can combine to offer you new insights into yourself and how you might change to achieve greater wisdom from the stars.

Arthur’s Stone – Initiation and Concepts of Arthur

September 3, 2011 Gwas No Comments

Ancient Sites, Dowsing

Near to the village of Dorstone in the Golden Valley of Herefordshire is a wonderfully preserved ancient monument called “Arthur’s Stone“. The monument is on the borderlands of England and Wales, and as the map below shows there is a congregation of settlements and an alignment of sites along the ridges between the rivers Wye and Dore (“of gold”). Before I go on to explain my findings at Arthur’s Stone I want to discuss a little bit about my current concepts of what Arthur is, or who he was.

My current concept of Arthur

This Arthur fellow – he got about a bit, eh? These days I prefer the interpretation I read recently that “Arthur” is a title adopted or given to many kings, several of whom may have contributed to the myth and legend, the story and history surrounding the King Arthur that we have been remnanted. I like Paul Broadhurst’s idea that the Arthur figure was associated with the fixed constellation of the Great Bear, the guardian of the Pole Star. In my own additional interpretation, Arthur is aligned with and gets energy from the Great Bear’s stars. In particular I think this is the asterism of The Plough, or The Big Dipper as it is also known.

dorstone_valley — Plan of the sites surrounding Dorstone

My wife, M, entered the site straight away and went to sit on a small man-sized mound next to the monument. There she settled in for what she expected would be a long dowse. I wasn’t about to go against expectations. I got my dowsing rods out and began to explore, but first I had to find an entrance suitable for me and my energy at that time. I entered the site after asking silently for permission from the spirit of the site. I would be allowed in today – no pushing away or dive-bombing birds, or claps of thunder or anything like that.

As I entered the gate in the fence surrounding the monument I saw two other couples reading the information board provided by English Heritage. I turned my attention away from them, not wanting to overhear anything they might say about the site. I would stay out of earshot until they got bored and wandered away, as most people do at these places after ten minutes. I began by asking to be shown a ritual path that I could follow that would lead me to a power centre that was most suitable for me. I was taken from where I stood in a path that snaked in front of the “false entrance” stone, and then wound its way into the monument from the right-hand side of the covering front stone (seen slanting in the picture below). My path ended in the shadows at the back of the chamber on the left-hand side. I repeated the exercise from three other locations chosen at random and soon I was walking the same snaking path to the front of the dolmen, and then into the right-hand side of the chamber and to the back left corner again and again. By the fourth time I was realising this was a pretty certain dowsing result.

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