Tag: yew tree

Illog The Well – P1 Winter 2016

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Illog The Well – P1 Winter 2016
Ancient Sites, Healing, Hedge philosophy, Holy Wells and Sacred Springs, Natural Magick, Saints, Trees

For the Winter Solstice I asked my spirit guides where I should go. In a dream I was given the name of a place to look for – “Llansantffraid“. Now, this seemed like a clear message, but Wales has a few options when it comes to places named in that way. The first option was … Read More “Illog The Well – P1 Winter 2016” »

Surrey 4 – The Matron and The Ancient Yew

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Surrey 4 – The Matron and The Ancient Yew
Churches and Temples, Holy Wells and Sacred Springs, Trees

On a bright clear morning I made my way south and west of the M25 ring road around London, and down into the heart of Surrey’s scenic surroundings. I saw signs for Bognor Regis and Worthing and realised that I was closer to the South Downs National Park then I had imagined. Yet it felt like the very … Read More “Surrey 4 – The Matron and The Ancient Yew” »

Yew Breathing and New Learning

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Yew Breathing and New Learning
Trees

It has been a while since I have visited the wisdom keeper that is the Llangernyw Yew tree. I was feeling that I should, even though I felt oddly out of kilter with the place. Maybe this  was an opportunity to recover myself, to recover my attachment to the tree, and to remember the good … Read More “Yew Breathing and New Learning” »

Summary of the Year 2015 Part 1

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Summary of the Year 2015 Part 1
Yearly Update

I was quite hesitant about producing “the usual” summary of the year. It has clearly not been a normal year. In fact, I would go as far as to say that the first half was good, but the second half took a much more dark and difficult turn. I’m not used to that. In all … Read More “Summary of the Year 2015 Part 1” »

The Yew of the Four Glyphs

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The Yew of the Four Glyphs
Ancestors, Churches and Temples, Glyphs and Wards, Higher-Self, Staff, Time and Space, Trees, World Tree

On a delightfully warm and sunny Summer’s evening the intrepid duo ventured forth into the heartlands of Northern Wales in search of inspiration. Our destination was the ancient and venerable Yew tree of Llangernyw.

The environs of Llangernyw were beginning to flourish with a beautiful display of wild flowers.

Llangernyw Yew - June 15 (1)
Llangernyw wild flower hedgerow

We entered the graveyard, drinking in the sounds, smells and sights of Summer as though to store them in memory for the ‘leaner times’. As we began to follow the dowsing rods I noticed that Kal was following my footsteps exactly! He was chuckling to himself as he realised that his path to the perfect spot was exactly the same as mine. How amusing! At that moment a chorus of birdsong arose from the surrounding trees – a welcoming chorus of delighted cheeps and warbles which almost drowned out any thoughts!

When Formalities Are Dropped

We both came to a halt at the same time and in the same spot. It was just inside a clump of young yew trees with fresh growth at their tips. The spot on which we were stood was lain with a carpet of damp grass cuttings, and this made me think of a time when I had stood on other grass clippings and had an encounter with the spirit of the Green Man [see this post].

There was no need for either of us to ‘cleanse’ today. For some reason we were already cleansed of outer worldly energies, and ready for work. The spot with the grass clippings was a place for us to simply tune our energies to place. It was simply about getting into the right energy state.

As we walked up the sloping path towards the grand old yew tree, following the dowsing rods to find the bets place, I felt like tree knew I was coming. Indeed, although I stopped at the perimeter of its canopy before entering, there wasn’t the usual ‘resistance’ or barrier in place. I realised that I didn’t need to ask permission to enter now. Perhaps we had become such good friends over the years? The balance of ‘power’ had shifted somehow, and was much more equal now, I felt.

Llangernyw Yew - June 15 (10)
One day I’ll get a good picture of this tree without ‘misting’!

I had two purposes for being here this evening:

  • to see if I could help my wife get through a forthcoming exam, and
  • to see if there was any work I could do to discover the Essence of the Merlin Staff

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Death is coming

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Death is coming
Hedge Druidry

A druid is asked to work with both light and darkness. The concepts of druidry seem to me to be centred around the concept of balance. All too often the concepts of life and death are separated out into their extremities. I like to think of existence as a sphere across whose surface we move from the reflected light of life through to the shadowed dark side of death. Often clouds of darkness move over our existence, or spots of intense aliveness light it up. This particular experience made me think about a darker aspect: death.

I was thinking about how much of this blog deals with a balance of light and dark. I have skills that I used with the darker aspects just as much as I work with the light. I do healing, but it could as easily be used to harm. I do death eating, yet I use it to ground spirits for their benefit. I clean and clear sites, but that is a destruction as much as a creation. I energise people and places for their benefit, but I could as easily taint. The differentiator is only intention. I have almost exclusively chosen to work with good intention.

My wife is becoming more psychically aware. She’s doing a course on energy healing, and in a moment of inspiration she needed to find a way to get some of her questions answered. Speaking with her I said “Well you know, really it’s all about you…”. She stopped the sentence before I could go on. “‘All about yew’….’ she echoed. “Which yew tree?” she asked, “The one you visit?“. She meant The Llangernyw Yew. I knew this was the right place to take her for inspiration, so we decided to go that afternoon.

Llangernyw Yew tree - Feb 15 (4)
The Llangernyw Yew in full splendour

 

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Summary of the Year 2014 – Chris

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Yearly Update

Taking a leaf from Kal’s book I will summarise my year in terms of the quests that I have been involved with. The year had many more facets than this, but I think the quests are the important factors, as they form a developmental framework for my druidry work. They show the progress of my spiritual quest. Ultimately, for me, that’s what this blog is about.

I will put the quests into a chronological order, but also show how they relate to the tarot reading that I did at the start of the year. I quickly lost sight of this as I began to work, but now I have re-visited it to see just how the reading relates to the activities of the year.

TAROT FOR THE YEAR

My tarot reading for the year was done using the Tree Angel Oracle deck. This seems appropriate, as the sacred trees of the druids match the lunar cycles. The cards were drawn to show either a sign or a challenge – something that would guide me onwards, or that I would have to overcome in order to progress.

Here are the cards listed against their positions in the Celtic Wheel of the Year:-

  1. IMBOLC – Ivy (sign)
  2. SPRING EQUINOX – Rowan (sign)
  3. BELTANE – Blackthorn (sign)
  4. SUMMER SOLSTICE – Almond (sign) + Elder (challenge)
  5. LAMMAS – Hawthorn (sign)
  6. AUTUMN EQUINOX – Elm (sign) + Lime (sign)
  7. SAMHAIN – Juniper (challenge)
  8. WINTER SOLSTICE – Birch (sign)

What follows is the detail of the year’s work. See whether it coincides with any of your own work this year – if it does, let us know!

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