Land of the Fae

North Wales - Holy Wells and a Holy Mountain

2011-11-18T12:44:00.000-08:00

After my experience with Gwyn ap Nudd on Dinas Bran I travelled over North Wales visiting several of the holy wells there.

St. Tecla's Well (where epilepsy could be cured by carrying a chicken under your arm!) was in a small village and seemed to be well looked after.

St. Dyfnog's Well was in a magical wooded gully behind a church and has a large bathing pool where I was guided to go in and take an icy dip! I amplified the healing properties of the water here using my wand.

St. Trillo's well was in a tiny chapel on the seashore, in the smallest church in Wales! Legend states that St. Trillo was drawn to the well by a column of light issuing forth from the ground. I ended up sitting through a Eucharist service here in order to sample the well's water's! I didn't feel like St. Trillo made me feel welcome there though.

St. Tudno's Well, on the Great Orm's Head, was overgrown and forgotten, but somehow clogged up with plastic rubbish which I spent some time removing.

Next on my list was St. Seriol's Well at Penmom Priory on the island of Anglesey. I was quite excited to be going to Anglesey, and my first view over the Menai Strait was directly towards the remote corner of the island where Penmon Priory lay.

After crossing the Menai bridge I arrived at Penmon Priory quite late in the day. After a quick look at the ancient and impressive dovecote I went directly over to the holy well, which lay just behind the priory. The short winter day was already drawing to a close, but a family was there already, the children gazing at the coins deposited in the crystal-clear waters of the well, so I took the opportunity to explore the area around the well and look back towards the priory.

When I returned the family had gone, so I finally had the place to myself.

I sat on the stone seat inside the wellhouse and meditated.

I didn't get any messages in there but was drawn instead to the circular foundations outside, the remains of the ancient hermit's cell of St. Seriol.

The cell seemed to be filled with a yellow, glowing light, which flickered inside golden tendrils. I cautiously stepped into the energy of the cell and stood directly in its centre, where I planted my wand purposefully into the ground. Golden energy then seemed to fan out from my wand in all directions, like the spokes of a great wheel, connecting it to the walls of the cell. A beam of white light then shot out from the tip of my wand, directly upwards, seemingly all the way up to the stars. My wand now seemed to be connected to a distant star hidden deep in the heavens, and it felt like some kind of communication was going on, like my wand was receiving a download of some sort. The communication finished, but I didn't quite know what any of it meant, it felt like whatever information my wand was now carrying was there for me to use somehow.

I decided to get out my dowsing rods to try to find out what was going on here. I summoned the white light down from the sky into my rods, like I always do, and put up my protections, but instead of the energy entering into the crown of my head as it usually does, it landed in front of me and instantly transformed into the glowing white image of Merlin!

Merlin spoke to me. He told me I had performed my tasks well. I had not abused my power, and was ready to ascend to the next level. I would become Merlin! What did he mean by this? He told me to go to the highest point on Ynys Mon and meet him there.

I walked back to my car in the gloomy twilight and said hello to the local cat, who seemed to be waiting for me and was meowing loudly. I sat in the car and got out my map. The weather was cold and damp, and I could feel a cold coming on. I did not relish the prospect of having to climb a mountain! Luckily for me though Anglesey (Ynys Mon) does not have any mountains as such, just some moderately high hills!

A quick search on the internet soon directed me to Holyhead Mountain, the highest point on Anglesey. Although not strictly on Anglesey, as Holy Island is separated from Ynys Mon by a narrow strait, I instinctively knew that it was the right place. The Holy Island! Where else? It's name goes back to ancient druids when Anglesey was the holiest place in Wales, and Holy Island was the holiest place on Anglesey! Truly a place of power!

So I started the engine and drove over to Holyhead in the dark, and awaited the dawn.

*************************

It was a chilly, windy, damp day in late November. My throat was getting sore, my nose runny and my limbs achy, so I drove as near as I could to Holyhead Mountain, up a farm track near its south face. The mountain looked daunting, with sheer rock faces, but my map indicated a path of some sort to the top, so off I trotted, feeling better with each step I took into the clean fresh air.

I walked over to a craggy point on the east of the hilltop and stood facing into the strong wind. I held my wand in front of me and meditated while the wind buffeted me. Soon I could hear myself chanting, a deep guttural tone sung directly into the wind, which seemed to carry it right through me and deep into the mountain.

"The old ones would awaken!" I thought as I heard the sound reverberating through hidden underground caverns.

Then Merlin appeared before me, a giant, huge and powerful, composed entirely of white light. I rose up in size to meet him, Aurvandil, tall and powerful also, another glowing giant of light. We stood there facing each other on the mountaintop, as equals. Merlin praised me again, and told me that I had now achieved my initiation. He told me I could now ascend to the next level. He touched a blue teardrop crystal that sat on my forehead and it glowed. Was this my third eye opening? Had I now come full circle? From my initiation in Merlin's Cave to my ascension on Holyhead Mountain?

The blue gem on my forehead glowed brightly, as did the white crystal on my wand. They both glowed brilliantly with a blinding light. I raised my wand into the air and called down a huge and powerful column of white light from the sky which filled the whole mountain with its energy. So powerful was the energy that soon the whole island seemed to be filled with it. I connected this place of power into the grid of energy, but somehow this felt different, not just a node of energy but an entire hub, huge and powerful. The holy island of the druids, the power centre of Anglesey, the power centre of Wales, the Holy Isle of Merlin! As the energy coursed through me I could feel my body trembling as the huge column of light passed through me, into the mountain and then out into the web that covered the whole earth.

As the energy slowly faded I could feel myself returning to my own body again, back to the windswept mountaintop and the wild nature of the island of Britain. My body had been shaking but now I felt calm. Merlin told me that my task for the present time was now done. I should relax now and await further instructions.

I started to set off walking back down the mountain but soon came to a pool that I hadn't noticed on my way up. I felt compelled to place a crystal in the pool and some of the water from St. Trillo's well. This mountain would now become a magical place I thought, full of dancing lights and strange energies and phenomena. Local people would notice the difference, the old magic would return.

As I reached the bottom I looked back up at the summit. In my mind's eye I could still see the giant forms of Merlin and Aurvandil standing up there.

"Once giants walked the earth," I thought.

And maybe soon they will again...

Castell Dinas Bran - Gwyn ap Nudd

2011-11-16T14:26:00.000-08:00

Castell Dinas Bran near Llangollen in Wales is where St. Collen was invited to the court of the fairy king Gwyn ap Nudd. Legend says that he climbed the hill and entered a magnificent kingdom of richly attired courtiers where he was offered all the food, drink and entertainment his heart could desire by the fairy king who was seated upon a golden throne; but St. Collen refused to believe the illusion and threw holy water over them all to make them disappear.

I arrived in Llangollen on a dank, cold, misty afternoon in November. It was already getting late so it didn't seem like the right time to head up to the summit. I contented myself instead with wandering around the fairy-haunted woods below. Local folklore tells of an ancient walnut tree near Llandyn hall where the fairies used to hold their weddings at night.

I found a likely looking spot that fit the description, but the tree was no longer there. It was chopped down in the 19th century, but not before the fairies had their revenge, as a man was killed by a falling branch during the process!

I reached the base of Dinas Bran but the summit was barely visible through the mist, just a hint of ruined walls visible now and then. A sheep coughing sounded eerily human, the atmosphere was sombre. I could sense the presence of the fairy king up there but now was not the time to pay him a visit, I would return the next day.

************************

I was greeted in the morning by bright sunshine, what a relief! I set off early to Dinas Bran and parked in a lane behind the hill to save on climbing time. The valley below me was still filled with the early morning mist, so I wandered down through the fairy woods to soak up the atmosphere.

I recalled another tale told of Dinas Bran where a shepherd had an encounter with the fairy folk in a wooded glade called Nant Yr Ellyllon. He met a small man playing the most magical music on a fiddle while the fairies danced all around. Unable to resist he joined in the dance and was unable to stop until his master arrived in the morning and broke the spell.

I sat in the woods above Llandyn Hall and meditated, hoping to make some connection with the Fae there, but all I could sense was Gwyn ap Nudd up on the hilltop, waiting for me! Clearly that was where I was meant to be!

I couldn't put it off any longer so up I climbed. The walk was a lot less difficult than I thought it was going to be, so I soon found myself near the top. I came first to the shallow remains of a ditch, that probably once surrounded the ancient hillfort that crowned this hill. I felt like I should say some words before I stepped inside, so I circled the ditch chanting:

"Gwyn ap Nudd,
Lord of Annwn,
I ask your permission to enter!"

I could feel the energy building, something big is about to happen! I stepped forward: "I am Aurvandil, the luminous wanderer. I come here bringing the light. The light of the evening star. The light from above."

I approached an archway in the ruined walls of the ancient castle.

Gwyn ap Nudd is standing there in his shining black armour and greets me: "You are most welcome here Aurvandil!"

I walk through the archway and feel myself stepping into another world.

A large banquet hall is filled with much revelry and music. I sit at the high table besides Gwyn ap Nudd and he offers me food and wine. I feel like I am a powerful and respected lord like him, my white silks contrasting with his magnificent black armour.

I stand up and my crystal-tipped wand glows brilliantly in my hand as I hold it aloft.

"I come here to bring the light and the energy you need!"

"No longer must you live underground. It is time to return to the world above!"

The hall erupts into a loud cheer as they hold their drinks aloft and celebrate.

I open my eyes and find that I am not alone in Castell Dinas Bran. A German photographer is there, taking photos for an article about Arthurian sites in Wales. The castle is linked to the grail legends through its association with King Bran. I'm hoping that he's going to leave soon so that I can perform my ritual in peace, but he lingers, taking photos of the fort from every possible angle.

I can feel the Fae growing restless: "What is he waiting for?" they say.

Eventually I can wait no longer and with the photographer still hanging around the periphery I step into the centre of the fort and start to tune in to the energies. I can feel the energy building like a lightning storm about to explode. I start to feel light-headed and cast a circle around me. I raise my wand above my head and as I do so the lightning strikes! The energy courses through me directly into the hill, a massive amount of energy!

I plant my wand into the ground to anchor the energies there. All the while the energy is still flowing down from the sky into the ground, filling the whole hill with a matrix of white light. I can feel the Fae being transformed into beings of light, and see them flowing out of the hillside in great streaming, serpentlike torrents, up into the sky.

Gwyn ap Nudd stood before me, no longer dark he was now composed entirely of white light covered in streams of iridescent colours like some being from another dimension. He thanked me for what I had done. I could now see the web of light connecting this hilltop with countless similar places of power all over the world. The Unity Consciousness Grid! Was this it? I had just been reading about it, and how it was preparing the world for the shift in consciousness and the ascension the next level of being. Was I here in Britain doing my own small bit to contribute, like so many other lightworkers all over the world? I had just been reading about how the ancient Maya had been exiled underground, awaiting the fifth world when they could return to earth as beings of light. Were the Fae our version of the ancient Maya? Weren't they also forced underground long ago, and were they not now returning?

Suddenly everything that I had been doing was starting to make sense. Anchoring energies. The grid. The return of the Fae. Raising the consciousness of the people by energising the water. The ascension. Those that will rise to the next level and those who will be left behind. A new world created. Nature in harmony, vibrant and alive. The Lord of the Wild claiming back is domain. The Fae who will once more walk over the face of the earth, and the enlightened ones who will create a new world!

Looking around the castle I notice a little enclosure that looks like a shrine, it is facing due west. I leave an offering there and give thanks.

I walk down the hillside and watch two jays chasing each other through the trees. The magical wooded glade ahead is surely Nant yr Ellyllon as mentioned in the folk tales. The glade of the shining ones, where if you're not carefull you'll spend all night dancing with the fairies!

Craig y Ddinas Fairy Fort

2011-11-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

The vale of Neath in South Wales has long been held to be a place of special enchantment and has many tales attached to it regarding the fairy folk, but the central place of enchantment in the whole valley is the fairy fort of Craig y Ddinas, said to be the last stronghold of the fairies in Wales.

I arrived there on an early November afternoon under an overcast sky. The minor road through the village of Pontneddfechan led over a bridge to a small car park right at the base of the craggy hill. A couple of climbers wearing hard hats were scaling one of the rock faces, while another rock face had been completely covered over in a wire mesh, presumably to avert rockfalls. This was disappointing, I was hoping to have the place to myself, and fairies really don't like iron!

I avoided the climbers and managed to find a small trail to the right that seemed to lead right up the side of the hill. As I crept up the path got steeper and the rocks got slippier, until eventually I was climbing on all fours, hauling myself up the side of the crag through narrow gaps in the rocks or around precipitous ledges.

With relief I made it to the top and admired the spectacular view. It was then that I noticed that this rocky promontory sat in a fork between two rivers that joined together just beyond the car park. I had always found these no-man's lands in the fork between two rivers to be especially magical places, and in that respect this was the most magical place of it's type I had ever been to! I could clearly hear the roaring of the rivers on either side of the fort, even though they were out of view down deep wooded gorges.

Closing my eyes I stood there on the summit of this high windy place and tuned in to the energies. I was immediately transported to the face of the cliff, just in front of where I was standing. Floating there in mid-air I saw a fairy door open in the cliff face before me, so after a slight hesitation I stepped inside.

The interior of the hill contained a rabbit-warren of dark corridors populated by elves in dark shiny armour, who all seemed to be preoccupied, either going about their business or just standing there as if on guard. I didn't find anyone to talk to and soon found myself transported back outside to the summit where my physical body was still standing.

My guide Atheron was there, himself one of the 'dark elves' he told me to link this fort to the others, as I had done oftentimes before.

"The dark elves are hidden here, not departed," he told me. "Connect them to the web!"

I raised my wand over my head and did as I was instructed, bringing down the pure white energy from the sky, conducting it through my own body, and down into the ground through my feet where it entered the chambers below me. The energy then spread out in many directions on beams of white light, connecting this fort with all the other high places I had visited, both in this land and in others, linking it in to the web which now seemed to cover the entire earth.

Then I remembered the tale associated with this fort of the sleeping knights of King Arthur who are said to dwell within it. All at once I knew! The knights had now been awakened! The knights were the fae! Sleeping, waiting for the day when they would return once more to the surface as beings of light.

I wandered over to the very edge of the cliff and sat with my legs wrapped around a young oak tree which was perched precariously over the void.

I was sitting right on top of where I now knew the fairy gateway to be. I could see the car park far below my feet and the forest rolling off into the distance ahead of me. Below and to my left I could see a long slope of bare rock reaching all the way from the clifftop to the base of the hill. Closing my eyes I could the days of long ago when beings of light happily danced and played and span cartwheels down the long slope, to the amazement of any local people who happened to be out wandering on these auspicious nights.

With a slight sense of vertigo I hauled myself back up and went to explore the hilltop further. I soon came across a strange shaped rock that looked invitingly like a throne.

I couldn't resist settling down into it and as soon as I did so I found myself uttering the following words:

"O fairies of the sacred hill

I come not here to wish you ill

I come here but to send you forth

To east, south, west and north

To carry forth across this land

The members of the secret band."

I then stood up from the 'chair', surprised with myself again! I wandered over to the cliff edge, this time to a deep crevice in the rock that overlooked the wooded gorge containing one of the raging rivers. A dangerous looking path seemed to lead down through the crevice to the cliff face where it turned a corner and disappeared from view.

It made me think of the tales of fairy treaure that had been found up here and I wondered if any of them were true and where this mysterious path led.

I closed my eyes and summoned Atheron again, but he had other things on his mind:

"It's time to step into your power!" Atheron told me. "Time to become one of the beings of light!"

It's a message I had got many times recently, but I still did not fully understand what it meant.

"Most will be left behind in this fourth world, but some will ascend to fifth world to join the shining ones. Others will be inspired to follow, but your real job here is to help prepare the world for this ascension."

He was refering to the Hopi prophesy that I had learned about recently in Arizona. They believe that this present world, which they call the fourth world, will soon be coming to an end, and only those who remain of one heart and follow the teachings of their god Maasaw will survive to populate the coming fifth world. But Atheron seemed to be giving me a slightly different message, that somehow some people would 'ascend' from this world, leaving the old world behind. To my mind it meant that those who ascended would enter a different reality, a different consciousness, while to those who were left behind it would appear like nothing had happened. This would all become much clearer soon, but at this point my understanding was still rather vague.

I stepped back from that hollow place near the cliff edge and decided to go searching for Ffynon Ddu, the black sping. I continued down the path that passed down the spine of the hill until eventually I came to a tiny little rivulet of water that passed over the path. "This must be it!" I though. Now all I had to do was follow it to its source.

I scrambled through bracken and briars for a couple of hundred yards until I noticed that the gurgling rivulet to my right was no longer there. I backtracked a little and there hidden under a mass of brambles and ferns was the spring, bubbling up from between some rocks.

After dowsing to ascertain if this spring carried the correct vibration, I placed a crystal deep into it's source, energised it, and then drank the water.

I could see the web of light in the sky that connected this fairy fort to all the others, immediately to my mind came the Hopi prophesy that one day a web would cover the entire land. This has been interpreted as meaning the internet, but was this the real web that was prophesied? I then saw all the springs, and the web of energy that they created over the land too. The male energy of the sky web, and the female energy of the earth web.

I sank deeper into a trance and was told that I should soon ascend into the light and leave this mortal body behind. It's worries and concerns were not mine. My work here would soon be done, the old me would die and a new me would be reborn.

Suddenly I felt a powerful presence to my right, it was the god Pan. I felt humbled and called him my master.

"I am not your master," he retorted. "Your love of the wildwoods comes from your past lives that you're still holding on to. You must truly let this go before you can ascend into the light."

I knew that he was right, but right now I did not feel ready to let go of my attachments to this earth and all its wild wonder.

I was then given a revelation concerning the shamanic worldview of lower, middle and upper worlds: The lower world is the previous third world, where mankind and nature were one. The upper world is the coming fifth world, a magical, spiritual realm where the current laws of nature do not apply. I had nothing to fear from the fifth world, nature is still there, but in the fifth world it would assume its perfect form and I could commumicate directly with nature's devas.

"Step into your power! Become Aurvandil!"

Coming back down to earth I returned to my human body and continued walking through the woods, down the slope on the far side, and down to the river encased in autumnal forest, thinking of how attached I was this this world and all its natural wonders, despite the cold gloominess of the day and all the imperfections of this world.

St. Anne's Well, Trellech - Fairy frogs?

2011-10-31T15:34:00.000-07:00

I'm starting my investigation of the faery lore of Wales at St. Anne's well, Trellech, in the south-east corner of the country near Monmouth.

As well as being associated with the Celtic deity Annis, goddess of waters, wells and wisdom, St. Anne's well is also said to be the haunt of fairies, who come out each midsummer's eve to dance around the well and drink from harebell cups.

I arrived on a dull, wet, overcast Samhain, cursing the foul weather. Having just arrived back from the hot deserts of Arizona I gave thanks for the rain anyway, remembering the life and vitality it brings to our land, but wondering if we really need so much of it!

The well lies just by the road and is easily accessed. I could immediately see the clootie rags tied to the trees and the stone outline of the well.

I stepped inside and saw many more offerings lying in alcoves and around the well.

I approached the alcove containing the well and peered down into the murky water, it looked stagnant and not a trickle could be heard.

I left an offering in a scallop shell and tied a silk clootie rag to the tree. It was not an inspiring day, but the drizzle was easing off so I got my dowsing rods out to try to get some inspiration. The only message I got was that this water carried a vibration I needed and I should drink it!

Putting off the idea of dipping my cup into the murky water I sat down under the trees to meditate instead.

As I did so I noticed a small frog in the grass.

"I bet you like the rain!" I said.

It made me realise that while I was cursing the rain, others were thriving in it and needed it for their very survival. That made me feel a bit more humble.

"Are you the guardian of this place?" I asked.

I picked up Mr. Frog and held him in my hands. He didn't like it and leaped off, but as he did so it felt like he was leaping down my throat!

I could hear my voice speaking with the voice of the frog, I literally had a frog in my throat!

"Drink the water!" he said in his froggy voice.

"Not that again," I thought.

As the frog sat there in front of me I closed my eyes and meditated. I followed him into the otherworld and he showed me the fairies dancing in a circle around the well. They looked like children wearing white shifts with flowers in their hair. I wanted to see more, I wanted to know why I was here, but he had nothing more to show me, so I bade him farewell and returned to the well, drinking cup in hand...

I peered down into the water. It was dark, deep and still, but I could just make out the bottom, which meant that the water couldn't be that murky, could it?

"Oh well, here goes!" I thought.

I scooped up some water and pondweed. It looked surprisingly clear, so I took a sip, and then another and another. It went down nicely, as did the small pieces of pondweed! After the third sip I opened my eyes and was astonished to see a big frog looking back up at me from the depths of the pool! I didn't even question it, it was magic! The guardian of the pool like the salmon that guards magic pools in Irish legends.

He was swimming around helplessly against the side of the well, but how could he possibly get out? The well was over a foot deep from the rim to the waterline and there was absolutely no way to jump out! A magic frog indeed!

I thought I would give him a hand so I placed my hand under him, fully expecting him to struggle and squirm, but he just lay there contentedly as I picked him up and placed him gently in front of the well opening.

I sat and looked at him, and he sat and looked at me.

"Do you mind if I take your photo?" I said. He didn't object so I went to fetch my camera.

What did he want me to do now? Was he a messenger from the fairies? Did he have a task for me? Did he want me to follow him?

I took some crystals and other items from my bag to try to get a clue, but he showed his disapproval by crawling back inside the well-house and sitting in a crevice in there.

"You take a lot of photos," he said.

"I like to show people what I've been doing," I replied.

"Release that need," he said.

He was right, I worry too much about keeping records and informing people, I was getting distracted. I had been away from my homeland too long and was focusing on the wrong things.

"Switch off your mind," he said.

I knelt down in front of the well and meditated deeply. I pushed my head through the entrance and seemed to pass through a veil into another world. Sounds echoed around and oscillated within the chamber in a strange way. Soon I was in a world of huge gnarled old oaks, black and damp from the rain. The frog was ahead of me leaping through the wet twisted roots as I jumped onto his back. We were in the underworld, the old world of nature and spirits where I came from before I entered this world.

"Use your intuition," he said.

I opened my eyes and then noticed the half-burned joss stick sticking in the earth right in front of him.

"Light it!"

I got a lighter out and lit it, fully expecting him to reel from the flames, but he just sat there impassively, staring.

First I placed the joss stick outside the well, but a tiny frog appeared from nowhere, jumping out of the well and past the joss stick! Now I'd seen three sizes of frogs; medium frog, big frog and now tiny frog!

I placed the burning joss stick back in the well and knelt down to meditate some more. I was immediately carried away on the heady scent, to the spicy land of India with visions of deserts, towering dunes, mystical cities,intricately carved temples and exotic robes. I could feel myself back there and I was loving it! Did I have to return again? The idea had been in the back of my mind for some time now. Is this what it took to bring it to the front of my mind?

I opened my eyes again. Big frog was still sitting there impassively in his crevice, throat oscillating with a regular rhythm.

"Thanks Mr. Frog," I said.

I sat down on the stone bench inside the well and took out my glittering purple stone which I use for releasements.

I called upon archangel Zadkiel and felt the whole chamber fill with a violet light from the heavens. I released the need to record my discoveries, my need to share my findings with others, the need to convince others, and anything else that was holding me back from getting into the flow of my own true path, all the fears and pressures of this physical world.

I could see my path unfolding before me and the freedom was exhilarating! The freedom to pursue my destiny! 'The Virtuous Well' was showing me the virtuous path!

And now that I'd released the 'need' to record all this information I could actually enjoy doing it again! ;)

***********************

As dusk fell I went to visit the nearby standing stones. The waters of the spring are said to run under the stones and be linked with druidic rites. I could just make out the stones in the twilight and could hear the loud screeching and hooting of a pair of owls nearby.

I saw a fluttering near the top of the right hand stone. One of the owls? I walked around them in the darkness and placed my hands around the central one. They seemed to be pointing up towards the stars. Ancient reminders of a long lost technology and civilization. A monument to the vanity of mankind. Maybe this was why I was never too keen on standing stones, mankind's earlier attempts to manipulate the forces of nature. Springs were entirely natural, the creation of the goddess, standing stones were not, they were planted there by mankind, linking earth and sky, as above so below.

It was Samhain, a magical night when the veil between the worlds was thinner, but now it was cold, dark and wet. The frogs had nothing more to show me this evening, it was time to seek shelter and warmth.

St. Blane's Church & The Fairy Well

2011-08-29T14:39:00.000-07:00

The ruins of St. Blane's Church lie on the site of an ancient monastery, one of the first of it's kind in the British Isles. The walls of the monastery and the foundations of some of the ancient monks' cells still exist in this secluded wooded location near the southern tip of the Isle of Bute.

I was drawn to the place because of it's healing fairy well and a strange circular enclosure called the Devil's Cauldron which archaeologists can find no real explanation for. Folklore tells that within the Devil's Cauldron grew a pine tree that had the magical power to give visions if a sprig of its leaves was left under one's pillow overnight.

I arrived at St. Blane's Church in the light of early evening, bright and breezy. The place was deserted so I had it all to myself!

The layout of the place was impressive, with the vallum that enclosed the original 6th century monastery still clearly visible and marking out the boundary of this ancient sacred space.

I could see the ruins of the 12th century church ahead.

I ignored the ruined church for now and headed straight for the fairy well, but I was disappointed to see that a very heavy iron grille had been placed over it, set permanently into concrete.

To me it was a desecration to treat such a sacred place in this way, it interferred with the spirit of the place, but at least the well was still there, even if it did have to be viewed through iron bars, and it still gave off a certain sparkly energy.

I next went over to the Devil's Cauldron. It no longer had a pine tree growing in it, or any trees growing nearby. Perhaps those eager for visions had destroyed the pine tree long ago? Now it was just filled with cropped grass and a few rocks, but it had a certain energy that made me wary about entering, it felt somehow powerful, glowing and golden.

I did some protections and then stepped through the entrance.

Inside it was filled with golden light, and I could see an even brighter light coming from a large being that stood inside there. It was a strange 'alien' creature, with a long head and long arms that stood stooped over me. I reached out to touch its long fingers, but it was like trying to touch a mirage, I was not able to communicate with it.

I stepped back outside the Cauldron and noticed many primrose leaves growing nearby. I picked 13 of them and rubbed them into my wand so that the juice stained the runes on there. Primroses are known from folklore to be a way to open doors to the otherworld, so my intent was to infuse my wand with this ability. Perhaps it would come in useful someday?

I next decided to get out my dowsing rods and I dowsed an energy line going into and of the Cauldron, but when I stepped inside the Cauldron to follow the line it formed a spiral going in to the centre. This was definately some kind of power node, a place of power and a place of visions. So I decided to lay down inside the cauldron and see where it would take me.

I was accompanied by a power animal that had been lurking around in the background for a while now, but who I'd never quite got aquainted with. It was a blue-eyed silver wolf. He took me to a crystal cave where a wise old bearded man awaited, some kind of god-like spirit guide. He showed me that the cauldron was a place of power, glowing with yellow energy, and he showed me the sparkly white energy coming from the well.

This is the reason why the monks chose this place and built a wall around it all. They wanted to harness the energy of this place and use it for their own ends, to employ its power and to have spiritual experiences and visions. These monks were more like druids than churchmen! But over the generations these powers were forgotten as the monks became more orthodox.

I was told that I should venerate the well, and focus my intention there to make it become a sacred and magical place once more.

I got up from the cauldron, feeling rather spaced out, and headed back over to the well.

I took a quartz crystal out of my bag and held it in my hand.

"With this crystal I hereby place my intention

That this place shall once again be venerated.

It shall become a holy place,

A magic place,

That folk will flock to

To worship

And receive healing, joy and happiness"

I placed the crystal into the well and then took out a corn dolly which I had bought in Glastonbury. I attached to to the metal grill so that people would know this was a special place.

"Let the magic flow forth

Flow forth from this holy well

Let it light up the sky

Let it draw folk here from far and wide

It's magic shall flow out

Flow out over the land

Cascading

Drawing people here

Bringing the joy of nature

And Mother Earth to all

They will dance and sing and tie ribbons

Soon they will come

They will feel the magic

It will enter them

A place of ceremony and celebration

A new paganism

A new spirituality

Filled with joy and love

I will make this happen!

Old institutions will crumble

All shall be enlightened, renewed and refreshed

So mote it be!"

I felt like my work was done here at last, so I wandered around this peaceful and enchanted place in the late evening light enjoying the nature and the atmosphere of the place.

Iona - St. Columba and the Well of Age

2011-08-28T04:18:00.000-07:00

I was drawn to the sacred island of Iona for several reasons, for its holy wells and fairy sites, and for its associations with mysticism and prophetic visions.

I started by climbing Dun I, Iona's highest hill, to look for the fabled Well of Age, also known as the Well of Healing or the Fountain of Youth. It is said that if you splash the water on your face at sunset it will "roll back the years", but it is also known as a vision site by mystics. The Celtic goddess Bride (St. Bridget) is said to have climbed Dun I, and after rescuing a lamb from a falcon at the Well of Age she drank the water and had a vision. She stepped through a magical gateway created by two rowan trees and was transported back to birth of Jesus by two angels to act as midwife!

The climb to the top was easy enough, but at first I couldn't find the pool, only a small puddle under a rock. I got my dowsing rods out to find out if I was in the right place, and after asking a few questions I turned around and there it was! A large pool perched upon the edge of a cliff.

The wind was blowing up there making quite a din, but as I climbed down to the edge of the pool all was calm and quiet. I sat by the pool in that sheltered spot and splashed the water onto my eyes, then sat down and meditated as the cold water slowly evaporated from my face.

I could sense small playful elfin creatures dancing and playing around the pool and then at portal opened at the back of the pool with stairs going down under the rock. I walked down and soon found myself in a beautiful passageway, with an ivory, arched colonnade to my left through which I could see the most breathtaking trees covered all over in bright pink blossoms. I knew that I was back in Elfland. To my right was an elven lady wearing a long white dress with long flowing yellow hair.

"It is always spring in Elfland", she said, "If you wish it to be!"

I knew that again I was being tempted to stay, and the place was so beautiful and calming that the temptation was great indeed, but I also knew that I had a job to do here on Earth, and no matter how tiresome and difficult my life here on Earth was, I had to complete whatever I had come here for before I could return to Elfland.

Without a word, but with a knowing look of calm serenity she led me further down the stairs to a high colonnaded courtyard containing the most majestic and awe-inspiring tree I had ever seen. Its perfectly formed branches shone golden to hold aloft a perfect crown of leaves giving off a golden light in which were nestled myriad glowing gems of all shapes and colours, sparkling and twinkling in the light.

"This is the tree of knowledge", she said, "but it is sick. You must heal our tree."

I knew that she meant there was something I must do on Earth in order to help heal the tree, but what that was I could not comprehend.

As the vision faded I head a voice say: "Come back and midnight and drink the water".

Afterwards everything felt otherworldly, almost like I was seeing our world superimposed upon another, more real world that lies beneath.

*********

I descended from Dun I, down the other side that led towards the centre of the island. My next destination was the Hermit's Cell, a place of "spiritual wish-fulfillment and mystical experiences" where Robert Ogilvie-Crombie had met with the god Pan and many people had had visions and mystical experiences.

After struggling across the rough and tractless terrain for about an hour I finally spotted some low stone walls by a large rocky outcrop, and from the descriptions I had read I knew I had found the place.

I climbed to the top of the rocky outcrop to survey area from above. To my right was the square enclosure incorporating some huge boulders that looked like standing stones.

To my left I could clearly make out the Hermit's cell "Tigh nan Cuildich" The House of the Culdees, looking like a strange ulcer on the surface of the land.

I climbed down from my hilltop eminence, walked slowly around the cell and then stood by the entrance and closed my eyes.

I could feel the energy emanating from the cell. A column of yellow light reaching up to the sky filled with flickering golden tendrils reaching up to the heavens. I stepped inside and basked for a while in the energy. It made me feel very spaced out! The energy seemed to be beaming down from an extra-terrestrial source. A flying saucer? I imagined myself being lifted up in the energy, growing taller, until I was a huge being, like an ancient god, Lord of All Wild Things. I looked down upon Iona from above and could see the Hermit's Cell at the centre, the omphalos of the island, it's centre of power.

I returned to my body and lay down in the cell, the energy formed a dome over me and I lay there feeling very otherworldly, in a deeply meditative state, until I was no longer aware of my body, like I was dreaming.

I arose and walked back to the large square enclosure by the cliff. I found a deep crevice in the rock face and squeezed in there with my back to the rock, facing the landscape of Iona. There I meditated even deeper and released some of my deep-seated needs which I realised were focused too much on this material world. Spirituality has no need to prove itself or justify itself, I could just be.

I walked back to the village by a long and boggy route, slightly lost my way, and then was almost attacked by dog in a farmyard as I approached the village!

Back on the internet I looked up the "Tree of knowledge" and found out that it was the tree from the Hebrew bible from which Adam and Eve took the forbidden fruit, but of course this is an allegorical tale, the real meaning seems to be that the tree represents the knowledge that first separated mankind from the animals. We chose to become different to the other animals in this world and by taking the 'forbidden' knowledge. It also seems to be linked to the advent of farming somehow, as Adam and Eve's descendants were farmers, no longer in complete harmony with nature but struggling against it. Another reference to the "ancient teachers of mankind" maybe?

*********

I returned to Dun I later that evening in total darkness. There was no moon or stars, and the wind was whipping in from the sea, rattling wires and fences. Everything looked dark and spooky, some scarecrows by a vegetable patch had a demonic appearance and even a collection of garden gnomes clustered around someones doorstep looked somehow sinister. After walking through the village I set off up the tractless hillside in complete darkness, with only my weak head-torch to guide the way through the surrounding blackness. I could just make out the grey outline of Dun I in the darkness and so I headed in that direction, trying to avoid slipping into a bog or some treacherous hole in the ground. As my route started to get steeper and steeper I thought I must be crazy, but I persevered nonetheless, not liking it one bit!

Eventually I reached the top and the cairn of stones, and was immediately almost blasted off my feet by the howling gale blowing in from the far side of the hill! The roar of the wind, the darkness and my small cone of light was all I was aware of. I struggled over the top and made down to the Well of Age, which was taking the full blast from the onshore wind. Climbing down into rocks by the pool didn't offer much protection, and the black surface of the well was being pummelled by the air as it cascaded down from the rock face, creating a constant rippling effect on the surface of the pond like it was being blasted by a giant hair-dryer.

I sat there and tried to relax. Turning off my torch I could see lights twinkling on the rock face and blurry patches 'otherness' passing over it that never quite coalesced into recognisable forms, but I could sense the presence of spirits nonetheless. I closed my eyes and tried to meditate in the howling darkness, but it was no use. As I opened my eyes I noticed that it had got even darker. It started to rain. Clearly I was not meant to be here!

I made my way back down the hill, stumbling in the darkness. I imagined what it must of been like living here long ago, in the darkness, when the land was populated by malevolent spirits intent upon trickery and luring people to their deaths; urisks, mermaids, selkies, the sidhe and the walking dead. How superstitious and terrified people must have been on nights like this. What a comfort it must have been when the Christian missionaries arrived offering people the protection of God and the saints, and the sanctuary of the church. Is it any wonder that people converted so easily?

I was glad to make it back to the relative safety of the village. As I wandered past the abbey I noticed a flickering red light coming from the tiny window in the door to St. Oran's chapel. It looked warm and comforting so I decided to investigate. I pushed the door and it was open, so I stepped inside. The chapel was lit by the warm glow of a single red candle sat on the altar, it's light reflecting from a polished steel Celtic cross set above it to illuminate the tombstones of old Highland chieftains set all around the walls.

It seemed like a place of peace, contentment and spirituality, carrying none of the heavy energy I usually associate with churches. I sat on one of the benches and soaked up the air of calm serenity as I watched the flickering glow of the candle dancing over the walls.

I closed my eyes and saw a cowled figure step out from the corner of the room, his hand held up in a blessing. Was it St. Columba? He told me that I had come to Iona seeking spirituality, like so many others before me. He said I should stop chasing spirits [fairies] and serving them, and that what I really sought was spirituality. "Spirituality not wizardry" was his message to me. He anointed my forehead with oil. Feeling calmed I left the chapel and headed back to my lodgings.

*********

The next day as I sat eating breakfast I could see dolphins swimming in the sound, leaping out of the water and playing as a yacht sailed by them. What a way to start the day!

After my experience of the night before I decided to visit the abbey. There was something about the Celtic church which interested me, it was not like the stuffy old churches I had been brought up with in England but seemed to be more closely linked to our spiritual and pagan past.

I sat in St. Columba's tiny shrine and started to meditate there when the caretaker suddenly stepped inside the door. He had come to clean the bird droppings off the walls which were deposited there by the nesting swallows. The very moment he told me this a swallow flew in, fluttered past our heads, and dropped into its nest above us! The swallows, already late for their southerly migration, only added to the magic of the place.

I wandered around the rest of the abbey and took note of all the ancient grave slabs of Scottish chieftains which had been moved in here from the graveyard to preserve them.

A Sunday service was going on in the main hall, and the ethereal singing would have created a perfect enchantment were it not for all the gaudily dressed, camera-touting tourists wandering around.

I decided I had had enough of the tourist circuit and so I headed out to the next place on the island I wanted to visit, Sithean Mor, 'The Large Fairy Mound' where St. Columba had been spied upon while talking to a host of angels.

The wind was howling again as I made my way across country down a little lane. I found the fairy mound in a field by the lane, it was part of a farm called Sithean, which itself means 'Fairy Mound'!

I had intended to sit on top of the mound and see what I could pick up there, but I was being buffeted so badly by the wind that I decided to sit facing the mound in the shelter of Sithean Beg 'The Little Fairy Mound' instead.

I took myself back in time and saw St. Columba wandering over to the mound, his hand clasping a knobbly staff. He looked more like a druid than a priest, and it occurred to me that perhaps that was, in a way, what he was. As he reached the top of the mound shining white beings descended from 'heaven' and then consorted with the saint.

So were these the Shining Ones? The secret teachers of mankind who reveal themselves only to a select few? The record states that St.Columba was certainly annoyed about being spied upon, and punished the priest who did so. So who are these Shining Ones? Are they fairies, or angels, or are they all one and the same? And what of the druids? Did they really die out, or did they become the priests of the Celtic church?

These questions I could not find the answers to for now, so I decided to leave the island, knowing that the answers to these riddles would lie elsewhere.

Loch Maree - The Queen of Fairies Island

2011-08-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

In the remote North West corner of Scotland there is a large loch, which nowadays is called Loch Maree, and on that loch there is an island, and within that island there is another small hidden loch, and on that loch there is another island! An island within an island within an island! A legendary place where on certain nights of the year the queen of the fairies is said to hold court.

After doing some research I discovered that the island containing the loch is called Eilean Subhain and is the largest island on Loch Maree, but even more intriguing seemed to me the island called Isle Maree, an ancient burial ground going back to the time of the druids and containing a wishing tree and a holy well, so off I headed up North to investigate!

The hotel on the edge of the loch was closed, a string of bad luck had seen a previous manager commit suicide (he was buried on Isle Maree) and the current manager having to close for the whole year due to numerous burst pipes caused by last year's severe winter. Despite this the manager still seemed like a jolly chap and offered to take me over to the islands in his boat.

We passed Eilean Subhain on our left, barren looking and dotted with pines, and then Isle Maree came into view ahead, a lush oasis of thick oaks said to have been planted there by the druids. In any case the island is unique, the Scots pines that cover the other islands are absent here, replaced by oak, holly and other hardwoods.

He dropped me off on Isle Maree, and left me stranded there for few hours on this tiny remote island in the middle of a huge loch.

The island cannot be more than 100 metres across and seemed to be composed entirely of small rounded stones. Man made perhaps? Or the remains of a glacial moraine? Several theories have been put forward but none have satisfactorily explained this strange little island.

I headed off on a small track that led up from the beach and soon came to the remains of the famous money tree, studded with old coins left there by countless pilgrims from times gone by, including Queen Victoria herself!

Near the money tree was said to lie the holy well, famous for curing lunacy, but the well had long ago been filled in and there was now no trace of it at all. Higher up on the island, to my left, I could make out some gravestones and so went over to investigate and soon came to a low stone wall which formed a complete a circle, around 20 metres across. This was the famous 'druid' circle which had lain here since ancient times, but was more likely built by the Picts for ritual purposes.

I walked around the edge of the circle, not wanting to enter yet. Isle Maree had seemed like a magical place when viewed from the outside, but now that I was in the heart of island it seemed like a rather forbidding place. I avoided entering the circle for a while, but finding nothing more of interest on the island I decided to enter.

I came first to the two Viking graves, slabs of stone set into the ground and carved with ancient Celtic crosses in a very simple style. The story of their death is a tragic one. The first grave belongs to Olaf, who killed himself when he thought that his truelove had died. The second grave belongs to his lover, who killed herself when she realised what she had done, pretending to be dead to test her hero's love.

I thought that I had come to this island to find the holy well, but being able to find absolutely no trace of it left me wondering why I was here. For some reason I felt compelled to lie down on top of Olaf's grave slab and meditate there.

I felt Olaf's spirit enter me. Was he looking for his lost love? No, he seemed to be more concerned about a pot of gold he had buried and not been able to retrieve before he died! Well so much for legends...

Even in the spirit world this island seemed grey and forbidding, a place of sacrifice. I felt my spirit rise up into the sky, ascending higher and higher. I looked down upon the loch and saw Isle Maree, a grey and ghostly speck with it's stone circle in the centre looking like a sun-wheel. I then looked across and saw the large island of Eilean Subhain, also looking ghostly in the twilight, but within it a could see a small glowing island of glittering golden light! Yes, that's where I had to go, that's what had drawn me here! I had become too distracted by myths and legends of Isle Maree!

Suddenly I felt a spear pierce me! I was back in my body and saw bull-headed man standing over me thrusting a spear into my belly! I cast him away and placed protections around myself, and then rose up from the slab a bit shocked and shaken.

Is this why this island was famous until the 17th century for its bull sacrifices? Were they sacrificing to this demon? I later discovered that highlanders were known for wearing bull skins over their heads when performing rituals, had I perhaps met the spirit of one of these ancient shamans who still protected the island?

I took a final wander around the shores of the island while I waited for the boatman to return, and gazed across at the remote wooded hillsides on the Northern shore of Loch Maree.

If there was another channel running east-west then the circle would indeed form the sunwheel that I had seen in my vision.

The boatman took me over the short hop to Eilean Subhain and dropped me off in a sheltered bay on the Northern shore of the island, my plan being to trek across the island, investigate the loch, and then meet the boatman later in the evening on the southern shore of the island.

I heard the boatman's engine chug away into the distance and was then left in the perfect isolation of this rugged landscape.

The ground was rough and boggy as I made my way in a southerly direction towards where I believed the small loch to lie.

I came to a rise in the land and suddenly there it was, a lake where no lake ought to be, not Loch Maree, but a hidden nameless loch secreted away on this small island.

But before I could stop to admire the view I noticed movement in the water. An otter! And he had just caught a fish!

He carried the fish onto a tiny island within the loch and disappeared into the heather, but I could hear him crunching away on his fish, crunch, crunch, crunch! I crept up as close as I could to the island, some instinct led to me to exactly the right spot where I crouched down with my camera at the ready, waiting for him to emerge. He did not disappoint me...

It's not often you can get one over on an otter! I could have sat and watched him all day, but I was here for a reason. The otter swam off to the other side of the lake, hunting for more fish, while I stood up and stared plodding around the edge. The island where the otter had eaten his fish looked like a likely place, but the boatman had told me that the fairy queen's island could be waded to, and the water to this island was too deep. There was another island near the opposite shore of the lake, so off I plodded, hoping to make it around to the far side.

The heather and grasses were full of a multitude of insects, especially many brightly coloured dragonflies that seemed so tame I could actually walk right up to them and stroke their wings!

After trekking over the rough ground I finally made it to a stand of tall pines that I had seen from the opposite shore, and then the final stretch over some very boggy terrain that threatened to suck my shoes off until I made it to the small sound that separated the tiny island from the shore.

It was time to take off my boots and start wading! So finally, without too much difficulty I made it across onto the rough heather that covered this tiny knoll. So was this it? Was this the fairy queen's island?

I sat and meditated upon the top of the top of the island and instantly felt the flutter of huge dragonfly wings by my side. The faerie queen had landed! She stood there with flowing golden hair and flowing orange dress, and summoned forth a swarm of insects from the wilderness all around! Glittering dragonflies, butterflies, bees and beetles of all shapes, sizes and colours. The insects coalesced around her and formed into a whirlwind. They then spread out all over the land carrying with them a magical energy.

As I watched the vision words came forth spontaneously from my lips:

"You will sit on your throne again

Your magic throne

Lady of the beasts

Lady of the wild

Come take back your throne

The animals await

They're at your command

They're here to do your bidding

Lady of nature

The animals are at your command

Queen of nature

Retake your throne my lady

My lady of nature

The animals approach

The animals are coming here

Great stirrings in the Earth

A time of change and reckoning

Swarms and swarms swarming

Carried on a whirlwind

A portal opens from above

A gate to the otherworld

They're coming through

They've been waiting for this day

The shining ones return to Earth!"

I had watched as a golden portal opened in the sky above me, and golden winged beings has stepped down through it onto the surface of the lake, forming a glowing line of bright celestial winged beings spread out right across the lake, wings spread, gazing skywards...

What did it all mean? Who were the shining ones? I pondered this as I waded back from the island, put on my boots, and carried on across country towards another lake, further to the south.

I walked through some odd, almost prehistoric looking terrain until I came to the second lake, which if anything looked even more magical than the first!

I had some time to kill before the boatman arrived so I lay there on a spit of grass and tried to meditate some more. I thought about what had drawn me here. Was I activating these nature spirits, preparing them for a time soon to come when they could repopulate the land? It certainly seemed that way. But who were the shining ones? They seemed like they came from another planet or another dimension.

When I got back I did some research on the shining ones, but there were no simple answers. It could refer to the sons of Horus, Hindu devas or Roman and Celtic solar deities. I dug around for a while and finally came up with an article that seemed to resonate somehow, it describes the "Mighty Shining Ones" as the Elohim of the Hebrew bible, the ancient gods and teachers of mankind. The article is absolutely fascinating and well worth a read: http://www.gnosticliberationfront.com/The%20Cosmic%20Battle.htm

The section on the Elohim begins:

The Hebrew word Elohim is translated as ‘God’ in the Old Testament scriptures to give the misleading impression that it is a single form, when in actuality, it is a word in the plural form. Elohim being the plural of Elyon. The word Elohim is used 2,250 times in the Hebrew Bible, even to describe idols. The Elohim are a class of beings, more accurately described as the Mighty Shining Ones, equivalent to the Neteru (Ancient Ones) of Egypt and the Sumerian Anunnaqi (“those who Anu sent down to Earth”) in the Enuma Elish.

Mulgrave Woods and Jeannie the Fairy

2011-01-29T06:27:00.000-08:00

Folklore tells that Mulgrave Woods in North Yorkshire was the abode of Jeanie the Fairy. She was said to live there in a cave called Hob's Cave and to dislike visitors intensely. She would cast curses on anyone who bothered her and many a local misfortune was blamed upon the malevolence of this mysterious spirit. Long ago a brave and foolish local farmer decided to go and find this elusive fairy for himself, to purge the place of her misfortune once and for all. But as soon as he laid eyes upon her terrible visage his courage failed him and he leapt back on his horse and fled in terror. Jeanie chased him and he only escaped with his life when he remembered that the spirit could not cross running water, so he galloping for the nearest stream and leapt across it. As he did so Jeannie struck the horse with her wand and cut it in two but the farmer just managed to reach the safety of the other side before his horse fell down dead.

"A very mischievous fairy, Jeanie of Biggersdale, resided at a place so called at the head of Mulgrave woods. A bold young farmer, perhaps under the influence of John Barleycorn, undertook one night, on a wager, to approach the habitation of this sprite, and to call her : but his rashness nearly cost him his life ; Jeanie angrily replied that she was coming, and while he was escaping across the running stream he fared worse than Burns's Tarn O'Shanter, when pursued by Nanny the witch ; for Jeanie overtaking him just as his horse was half across, cut it in two parts though fortunately he was on the half that got beyond the stream !"

This snippet of folklore was all I had to go on, so I took out a map and located Mulgrave Woods. I was surprised to discover that the woods were still completely intact and covered an extensive area on a private estate, filling a whole valley which contained two streams with many side valleys and gulleys. The woodland extended almost all the way to the sea at Sandsend and reached inland for several miles, its many fingers following the stream beds and gulleys deep into the countryside. Exploring this area was going to be a daunting task!

Further investigation poined me towards one of the side gulleys with a high waterfall, famously known as Biggersdale Hole. Could this be it? The steep gulley leading down into the hole was called the Wizard's Glen and was reputed to be a magical place. Of course I just had to investigate!

I set off one morning in late January, crossing the North York Moors until I reached the seaside town of Sandsend, just north of Whitby. The weather was not great so I didn't fancy a long hike through the woods and instead opted to drive around the woodland to a farm located just above Biggersdale Hole. I parked my 4x4 in a field and soon found the stream that led me directly to the waterfall. The small trickling stream suddenly transformed into a torrent of water as it disappeared over a lip of rock and plunged into a hidden gorge deep below.

I gingerly crept around the edge of the gorge on tiny rabbit trails but could find no possible way down the sheer sides.

I sat there and meditated, I could sense an entrance at the base of waterfall, a hidden doorway to the otherworld, somehow I had to get down there! I was left with no option but to follow the top of the gorge and hope that the sides became less steep further downstream. I was able to walk through the field that adjoined the gulley, but unfortunately the sides of the gulley were sheer for its entire length and it was only when I reached the main valley directly ahead that I was able to scramble down and eventually made my way down to one of the main streams in the valley called East Row Beck.

Now all I had to do was follow the bank of East Row Beck until I came to the small stream that flowed out of Biggersdale Hole! The going was tough and sometimes I had to leave the flooded riverside and climb up the steep banks into the forest again, but eventually I made it to the entrance of a steep-sided valley. There was a clearing there with a little wooden footbridge crossing the steam, now all overgrown and little used. The hint of a pathway, long overgrown, led into the Wizard's Glen.

The day was overcast and misty and the glen seemed incredibly magical and mysterious. It may have been a trick of the light but as I stood there I kept catching movements out of the corner of my eye, as if hidden spirits were darting from tree to tree, watching me. Apart from the bubbling of the stream, dampened by the mist, the silence was total, and I was totally alone there, but the place was so magical that it lifted my spirits and drew me onwards into the glen.

The old pathway soon came to end, petering out by the tiny stream and disappearing into undergrowth and fallen branches. The magical feeling was now giving way to a more ominous one, so I decided I'd better tune in and ask permission to continue first. I was told to drop an offering of food into the stream, and also to place my new batch of flourite eggs in there too. I did as instructed and the food floated off downstream, while the eggs glittered under the surface of the water. The eggs would be infused with energy, I was told, but I must leave them there.

I now felt like I had been given permission to enter and so I pushed on through the bushes, waded through the stream and climbed over fallen branches.

The going got tougher and tougher the further I continued. Clearly no-one had been this way for a long time! I could sense the presence of Merlin above me, he seemed to be encouraging me to continue. Was this his glen? The Wizard's Glen?

Ahead of me whole trees had fallen down the gulley into the stream, it seemed impossible to go on. I wanted to turn back, to get out of this place, but the silent encouragement willed me forward. I climbed over the fallen trees, through thorn bushes and over wet slippery rocks and after an exhausting struggle finally I neared the end of the gulley and could hear the tumbling waterfall ahead!

The head of the gulley was rocky and barren, and the rocks slick with spray from the waterfall. It didn't look so deep as it had done from above though, but still there was no way out other than the way I had come in. Carefully I climbed over the wet rocks and sat down by the pool in front of the waterfall and got my breath back.

As I tuned in there I projected my spirit through the waterfall and through the wall of rock behind, and suddenly found myself standing on a green hillside. There I was met by a young troll with shaggy black hair. He seemed happy to have company and he danced and played with me, and eventually we tumbled off down the hillside, head over heels, until we stopped by the side of a bubbling stream. We sat there and talked like old friends. I asked him if the Wizard's Glen was Merlin's Glen. He told me it was not, but that Merlin was always with me when I needed to call on him. He also told me that I would not find Jeanie the Fairy here, I needed to look elsewhere in the woods.

I returned to the rocks by the waterfall. It seemed like my efforts had been in vain, but I was not despondant and was happy to have found such a magical place. As I looked down I then saw a red stone gleaming in the water, so I reached for it and picked it up. Merlin spoke to me and informed me that this stone would add fire to my wand. I wasn't quite sure what he meant by that but I popped the stone in my pocket before starting on the arduous hike back out of the gulley.

I felt a lot more relaxed now and the sense of foreboding had completely gone. Only now could I truly appreciate the beauty of the place. As I walked slowly back, taking in the atmosphere, I suddenly noticed a white feather falling from the sky directly in front of me. I reached down and picked it up and then looking to my left noticed a row of small holes like rabbit holes that seemed to have been carved directly into the conglomerate that made up the sides of the gorge. I couldn't see how they could have formed naturally and the rock looked too hard to have been carved out by animals.

I sat down there and tuned in and soon realised that a colony of small boggles dwelt here, living halfway between our world and the otherworld, the shallow holes being just entrances to their subterranean otherworld. Slowly they crept out and as I had done in other places I planted my wand into the ground there and sent them healing. The boggles were happy here in the Wizard's Glen, they felt protected and needed no help from me, but they were not aware of the other communities of boggles that I had encountered. They could not leave the area of the glen and the nearby forest and so had never ventured out into the wider world. I told them that this would soon change, and sometime in the future they would be free to roam the world again.

After more scrambling and climbing I finally made it back to the walking trail where my flourite eggs still lay glistening in the water. I picked them up and they seemed to feel very fresh and energised. Holding them up to the light all the flaws and fractures in the crystals seemed to shimmer as if they had been coated in a tiny thin layer of gold leaf. I was sure they had looked nothing like this before! They were now ready for whatever purpose my guides had in store for them.

I now found a small path leading up the side of the gorge that I had not noticed before. The path was quite broad but was overgrown. Clearly it had once been constructed by human hands for some unknown purpose. I decided to follow it as I thought it might provide a shortcut back to my car. As I neared the top I took one last look back into the Wizard's Glen, half-expecting to see faery forms dancing through the air, but the glen was silent.

I pushed on through the rhododendrons and was startled to encounter what I at first thought to be a small holy well, but on closer inspection appeared to be some kind of small shrine. A fairy shrine? Out here in the middle of nowhere?

I left a small offering there and continued on. Following the path to a knoll just above the shrine I then found an old abandoned summer house hidden in the undergrowth. Was this the answer to the mystery? In times gone by the landowner must have built this summerhouse, and the shrine, with the path leading up to it from the valley. Some Victorian romantic fancy no doubt.

Then I made the strangest discovery of all! A dead cock pheasant lying suspended in a tree as if he had just recently tumbled down out of the sky. I inspected the pheasant closer and I could reach no other conclusion than that was what had actually happened. How strange! This was not the first nor the last time that I was to encounter dead birds that had seemingly fallen from the sky, but what was the meaning of it? That one would have to remain a mystery for now.

I continued down the path and was happy to find that I was soon heading back towards my car, it had been an amazing detour, full of discoveries, but I was still no closer to finding Jeanie the Fairy. I referred back to the folklore "a place so called at the head of Mulgrave woods". Perhaps I needed to try higher up the valley?

I checked the map and saw that there was an old motte buried in the woods near the head of the valley called Fosse Castle, which I remembered had some old folklore associated with it. The motte was abandoned in the 13th century when the newer medieval castle was built right in the heart of the valley.

I took a long drive around to the other side of the valley and parked near High Lees Farm. I then followed a vert wet boggy footpath back down into the valley until I came upon a tree-covered mound near the valley bottom, the old motte of Foss Castle. I stepped up onto the flat-topped motte and paced around it's upper rim wondering how I was going going to find Hob's Cave. Beneath me the valley tumbled down into a rocky gorge where a stream cascaded over a jumble of dark and damp looking rocks. Any number of dark shadows under the rocks could have been the entrance to a cave, but how was I to explore such difficult terrain?

I decided to scramble down to the gorge in any case, just to see what I could find, and was relieved to discover an old partly-overgrown path down near the bottom. Turning right I followed the path upstream towards the head of the gorge, but the path petered out and I soon found myself scrambling over rocks and climbing up the side of small cascades. The rocks were slippery and at one point my foot slipped into pool, soaking it.

Eventually I came to a point where I could go no further, the rocks were just too slippery and steep, but the place looked absolutely magical! Bright green moss coated all the rocks and a large hollowed-out basin lay to the left that must have been carved out by swirling rocks over many thousands of years.

Gazing around I suddenly noticed that to my right was the remains of an old building! So weathered and overgrown with ivy that at first glance it looked like part of the rock face.

I sat down there in this enchanted spot by the stream and called upon Jeanie to show herself to me if indeed she dwelt here.

I waited a short while, tuning in to the energies of the place, and then I saw a woman appear! A strikingly attractive, powerful woman with flame-red hair that seemed to sweep up into the air like it was actually composed of flames. She did not appreciate being disturbed but when I explained to her my purpose she assented and agreed to show me the way to her cave dwelling. She took me by the hand and floated off to the north east, but unfortunately I could not keep up with her, and my way was blocked by the steep sides of the gully. I tried several times to scramble up but each time was defeated. By now it was starting to get dark, so with regret I had to abandon my quest for that day.

I later picked up an old Victorian novel called "Jeannie o' Biggerdale" which was set in a mill house by the stream in Mulgrave woods. I realised with a start that the old building I had discovered was indeed the mill house mentioned in the book! And the gully that I had been sitting in was where the woman in the tale had committed suicide by casting herself down onto the rocks because she was unable to be with her love, all caused by the curse of Jeanie the Fairy. After reading about the genteel lifestyle of those dwelling in the manor house and how they would take walks in the grounds of the forest it also explained to me the mysterious paths I'd discovered and the old summerhouse. How odd that the place was now so abandoned and reverting back to it's more ancient and natural state. Perhaps Jeanie still jealously guarded her realm and put paid to any plans to develop the place by casting one of her renowned and much feared curses!

Claymore Well and Wade's Stone

2011-01-28T16:32:00.000-08:00

I was intrigued by a story from Kettleness, North Yorkshire of a spring known in folklore as Claymore Well where it was said that the sound of the fairies could be heard at night "beating their bittles and battledores". Research on the internet indicated that the well could no longer be found but I decided to visit the area and investigate some of the nearby springs and pools. If that failed then I could turn to the mysterious Wade's stone which sits nearby, which has associations with the mythical giant Wade and stories of strange supernatural phenomena.

I drove over the moors and parked in Goldsborough Lane just south of the small village of Goldsborough and was drawn to a spot on the map where five trackways seemed to meet. Perhaps this was an important crossroads in times gone by? I set off on foot down the edge of a cultivated field and the first thing I spotted was a couple of hares grazing on one of the grassy verges near the far hedge, they were the first of many hares that I spotted that day.

I continued on towards the crossroads and dropped down over an odd field boundary, like a low drystone wall that had been set into the ground, causing the field I had just crossed to appear like it was on a raised platform. I followed this boundary wall all the way to the crossroads but could not work out its significance, it seemed mysterious somehow, and very ancient.

I passed straight by the crossroads and came to large grove of alder trees on my right that was marked on the map as Stangoe Carr. The ancient, twisted, stunted trees looked somehow mystical and drew me to investigate them further. I knew that on the far side of the carr stood Wade's stone so perhaps I could make a shortcut somehow? I should have known better though, a carr is basically a swamp full of trees and this one was no exception, the ground was completely flooded!

Searching around though I did manage to find a narrow raised causeway heading into the centre of the swamp, so I decided to follow it. Perhaps the causeway had once been traversed by people in times gone by, but now it was completely overgrown with mature trees growing right through it. I had to climb under branches and over roots, scaring many a duck in process, who obviously wasn't used to clumsy humans crashing through the undergrowth!

Eventually I came to a point where the causeway sank down into the swamp and nothing lay ahead except open water dotted with trees.

I stopped there and stood in silence for a while, and noticed the intense sound of dozens of small birds chirruping all around me that I had failed to take note of while forcing my way down the causeway. The winter sun beamed brightly through the bare branches of the trees adding a magical aspect to this wild place as I took a closer look the swamp and some of the birds which darted from branch to twig all around me. I noticed that they were pretty, bright yellow little birds called siskins, so I took out my camera and tried to get a shot of some of them.

But as I did so a very strange thing happened! I heard a sudden whooshing sound all around me! Directly over my head, to my right and to my left, all at the same time, seeming to come from near and far: "Whoosh! Whoosh-whoosh!" It sounded like the wings of a glider, or a kite straining in a high wind, or a flock of geese flying past at high speed, except that the sound came from all directions at once! It went on for several seconds and then just as suddenly stopped. I was left feeling like invisible beings with batlike wings had just taken off whooshing into the air, disturbed from their secret tryst by my uninvited presence and intrusive camera. Visions of the film "Predator" came to my mind, strange indeed!

But I wasn't afraid, I stood there in silence, half-hoping that the sounds would return, but all I could hear were chirps of the siskins who were still hopping through the branches all around me, singing away as if nothing had happened. Undaunted I continued to photograph the birds, waited a little while longer, and then made my way back out of the mysterious swamp.

I couldn't get through the trees and so I followed the edge of the wood, all along its south side and then the east side until I came to the northern edge of the wood where I could see Wade's stone in the distance, standing alone in a field. It is not a huge and impressive stone, but it does look ancient and weathered, deep channels on its surface telling of the passage of thousands of years of wind and rain as it sat there exposed to all the elements.

As I neared the stone I thought I heard the strange whooshing sounds coming from the trees again! Could this be the sounds of "bittles and battledores" as told of in the folklore? In the olden days they would wrap newly-washed damp linen around a large rolling pin and sweep across it with a bittle or battledoor in a backwards and forwards motion until the linen was dried and flattened. The bittle was like a long flat piece of wood with a handle, sometimes elabourately carved. Could this produce a similar whooshing sound if passed back and forth fast enough? It was something I would have to try out later.

I walked around the stone several times and then sat down with my back to it, but I didn't experience any of the strange phenomena that other visitors to the stone have sometimes reported, I just got a sense that somehow this stone was drawing energy down into the land.

I headed westward now towards Brockrigg Farm to go looking for the fabled Claymore Well. As I passed by Brockrigg Farm a strange pool on my left drew my attention, but I continued on towards Claymoor House to see if there was any sign of a well around there. There was no-one around to ask so I searched all around the building and the field boundaries but could find nothing, so I decided to return to the pool I had spotted near Brockrigg Farm.

The pool looked semi-natural and there was a spring there issuing forth water, so perhaps this was it! I sat down there, closed my eyes and tuned in.

I sensed a presence in the water, and then the hideous face of a hag emerged from the depths! She had sharp, pointed teeth, and hair of matted pond weeds. I tried to talk with her but she was not forthcoming with any useful information. I decided to leave before she turned nasty.

I walked back past Claymoor House towards the sea cliffs and then followed a trackway and field boundary to an old burial mound called Butter Howe. I was intrigued by the name as there were stories of 'fairy butter' from this area.

There was an ancient spirit living there in the mound, but he didn't like to be disturbed and he didn't like people tramping over all over him! I assured him of my good intentions and then climbed the mound and planted my wand on the summit, drawing down energy into this sacred place.

I explored some more of the local landscape features and then returned to my car. What had I discovered today? The strange sounds of "bittles and battledores" I now believed came from the swamp and not from the well. The sound was said to have been heard for "miles around", so did it necessarily have to come from one particular spot? And was it the fairies making these sounds, or something more sinister? Weren't all strange supernatural beings at one time described as 'fairies' anyway? I truly believed that I had had a close encounter out there in the swamp, but with what? Well whatever they were they did not reveal themselves to me at this time so that, for now, would have to remain a mystery.

Roulston Scar and the Devil's Parlour

2011-01-24T15:29:00.000-08:00

Roulston Scar forms a headland of limestone cliffs on the southwestern edge of the North York Moors, a continuation of the Whitestone cliffs near Sutton Bank. To the eastern side lies the famous Kilburn white horse, carved into the hillside during the 19th century, while above the cliffs sits an airfield where gliders regularly cast off into the abyss between Roulston Scar and Hood Hill, and glide up on the thermal air currents that flow up the cliff face. But I was not here to watch the aerial displays, I was here to find a hidden cave in the cliff face that was known in local folklore as the Devil's Parlour. I had no idea however if the cave even existed.

The cliffs of Roulston scar are high and their base sits upon very steep wooded slopes which are inaccessible without climbing and scrambling. The cliffs run west from the white horse, and then curve around to the northeast as they head towards Sutton Bank to form a kind of a headland that projects out over a densely wooded valley towards Hood Hill.

I decided to start near the white horse and make my way along the cliff top, but I hadn't gone very far before I noticed strangely perforated rocks set into the steep hillside below me. I was intrigued and decided to give the rocks a closer inspection, so I scrambled down the hillside and climbed over them, inspecting the large cup-shaped depressions that seemed to have been gouged out of them.

I climbed further down and was amazed to see a whole row of these huge boulders that seemed to have cavities carved out of them everywhere so that they had the appearance of a giant Swiss cheese.

I shone my torch inside and could see a whole honeycomb of tiny caverns and passageways, like some subterranean world that had been carved out by mysterious small hands. I sat down there and tuned in, and suddenly I could see them! Tiny 'boggles' about 8 inches tall with brown furry skin and long, pointy drooping ears. They each wore rustic-looking breeches with braces passing over their shoulders.

At first they were afraid, peeking out from dark corners of their subterranean caverns, but again I surprised myself by starting to talk in rhyme. I spoke long with them, too much to recall this time, asking them to come out and sing and play and have no fear. Having gotten over their initial mistrust all of a sudden they did start to sing: "Hey-hey-yap! Hey-hey-yap!" and slowly they crept out into the light.

Soon they were dancing around and playing and climbing all over me. They knew then that I had come to liberate them! I planted my wand firmly in the ground and white light shone forth from it, illuminating all the dark places within the rocks.

I drew in energy and concentrated it into my hands which started to glow red. One by one the boggles leaped forward and touched my glowing hands, each one taking a little bit of the energy for itself before returning to the rock and carrying the energy to its own little cavern which then seemed to glow red also with the energy that had been brought back. It seemed then that every cavern turned into a little forge, where happy little boggles were beating away joyously forging magical weapons.

I could sense now that the whole ridge seemed to have come back to life and was filled with energy, life and light, and small boggles everywhere!

I edged further along the ridge, climbing through the undergrowth, and passed many more of these pock-marked rocks.

Some of the holes looked truly bizarre, like dinosaur eggs that had just hatched, while others looked like they had been deliberately broken into, chipped at and mined. For what purpose? And by whom? Were the boggles mining for hidden treasures?

The whole ridge seemed to be buzzing with energy now, and I felt like my job had been done. I was about to leave the steep slope behind and scramble back up to the cliff top when I heard a woodpecker drumming at a tree in the forest below me and then saw a flash of red and black as he flew further down the slope. I had heard it was lucky to follow woodpeckers and they had served me well in the past so I decided that I had to follow this one too to see where he would lead me.

I scrambled down the steep muddy slope, past stunted ancient oak trees that had barely seen the passage of man and followed animal tracks through dense thorn bushes until eventually I came to clearing where there were rocks smothered in bright green ivy. I stopped and looked around. It was a magical place, untouched by the outside world which was so close by, but protected by its inaccessible location.

I had travelled west slightly, across the cliff face, and was now facing uphill towards an ivy-covered boulder. To the left of the boulder was a forked tree, and beyond it a small glade that seemed even more magical. I knew this was a special place. I closed my eyes and took a step through the forked tree, but a voice in my head told me to leave my backpack and coat behind. I dropped them to the ground and left an offering by the tree, and then continued on carrying only my wand.

otherworld.

Suddenly the scene darkened and a huge presence loomed over from the clifftop. A huge, powerful and terrifying spirit of the land. A hundred feet tall, dark and djinn-like. He was the spirit of the moors and demanded to meet with me. I opened my eyes with a start and found myself back in the clearing. I didn't know what the earth spirit wanted but I didn't feel like the time was right to confront such a being.

I looked around and the place now seemed more magical than ever and was vibrant and buzzing with energy. Ivy climbed and cascaded over the rocks all around me. I continued on, heading further westward along the steep wooded slope until I came to a sheer cliff face. I climbed down to the base of the cliff and rested my back against it. As I sat down I tuned in to the energies of this secluded place.

I was met by a dark and sinister-looking elven commander wearing black armour and an intricate, tight-fitting black helmet. Was this the same dark elf I had met on Hood Hill? He seemed to have a similar energy. I didn't trust him and was slightly afraid of him. But I did trust my intuition... suddenly it was clear to me what I had to do! I was afraid of the consequences and performed the act in a kind of daze, but I found myself drawing my sword of light, my otherworldly weapon. The dark elf looked at me with a challenge in his eyes but before he had chance to say anything I struck him down!

I felt a surge of energy as the light overcame the darkness! A sudden shift to a higher state of being and awareness. I am the bringer of light! I am Aurvandil the luminous wanderer! I felt myself grow and it was if I had a huge pair of wings like an angel. I was filled with white light, and the light from my wand and my sword burned with an blinding brightness!

Feeling elated I opened my eyes and the evening sun was shining brightly into the clearing where I was standing. I walked towards a gap in the trees and soaked up the intensity of the sun's rays, absorbing its light and then casting it out in all directions like I was a star myself. What an exhilarating experience!

Coming back down to earth I realised that it was now getting late and would soon be dark, so I made my way back along the base of the cliff, back out through the forked tree and back into the mundane world. The Devil's Parlour would have to wait until the next day.

************************************************

The following morning I decided to take a different approach. I walked through the wooded valley to northeast of Roulston Scar that is known as Happy Valley, and made my way to a small footpath that led up to the top of the cliffs. I followed the footpath until I could see the cliffs looming to my right and then headed off through the undergrowth towards the base of the cliffs where they met with the top of the steep wooded slope.

I then followed the base of the cliffs, scrambling up and down, climbing over trees and rocks. Progress was slow, but I checked every nook and cranny in the cliff face and I knew that if there were a cave here then I was eventually going to find it! A few promising looking holes and fissures led nowhere, but as I rounded a corner in the cliff I came to a fissure larger than any I had seen previously and I knew that this had to be it!

I climbed up to the entrance and squeezed inside, it was not a large cave by any means and the narrow crevice only led a few yards into the cliff, but it was a cave! And a cave with enough of a reputation to at some point have been given the name of the Devil's Parlour. But why? Perhaps that was what I was here to find out?

I crawled deep inside the crevice and once I reached the end I sat down and meditated.

I called upon any spirits here to show themselves. After a while I sensed the presence of a small humanlike creature. It was a hob, a hobgoblin like the one I had met at Hob Holes. He hid deep within the dark recesses of the cave and didn't want to come out.

I asked him why he was afraid and he told me that a priest had cast a spell upon him and banished him to the darkness, he couldn't leave his cave any longer and was trapped in this dark otherworld. I promised him that I could break the spell, that he longer had any need to be afraid, that the Christian priests did not hold power here any longer. So I took him by the hand and led him into the light...

He seemed so happy! He told me how long ago the druids used to come to his cave regularly to seek his aid. Druids and locals alike would leave offerings of food there for him; but then the Christians came and called him a devil! They forbade the local people to visit him anymore and they cast wards and spells and banished the poor hob.

But now he was free again! He jumped and leaped for joy, and then tumbled head over heels down the hillside and disappeared into the trees below.

Well now I know why it's called the Devil's Parlour, I thought! No doubt a similar cave I had found earlier called the Fairies Parlour had a similar story attached to it.

I decided to continue a little further around the base of the cliff and made some curious finds.

Firstly the imprint of a fossil ammonite.

Then a small rock shelter filled with feathers and snail shells.

And finally a mummified rat, which I decided to leave behind for future explorers to discover!

Clearly Roulston Scar has many more mysteries still to be uncovered!

Hecate and the Fairy Cross Plain

2011-01-02T15:59:00.000-08:00

Earlier in the year I had met an old druidess who heard some of my story and informed me that I should be working with the goddess Hecate. I didn't feel entirely comfortable with that as I associated Hecate with the darker side of magic and witchcraft; but when Samhain came around I felt like it was an appropriate time to try to contact the goddess.

I cast a magic circle in my room and summoned the goddess by name. She wouldn't answer any of my questions directly but told me to meet her instead at the crossroads by "The Old Hell Way". I didn't sleep very well that night, wondering what else I might have summoned through the portal that I'd opened to another world.

The Old Hell Way I had already heard about, it was a spirit road on the North York Moors where in the past corpses were carried from Fryupdale, over Danby Rigg, to the old church in Danby. The crossroads she was referring to lay on the Fairy Cross Plain, an area steeped in fairy lore and surely a crossing place of old spirit roads in times gone by. I had read the folklore about these spirit roads, how the ghosts of the dead could be seen marching down them, and sometimes the fairies too. Were fairy paths the same as spirit roads? Did the fairies and the dead inhabit the same realm? Or was it all in fact just a big trick played by the fairies to fool people? Either way I intended to visit the Fairy Cross Plain and find out.

******************************

I arrived at the crossroads by the Old Hell Way late in the afternoon. The weather was freeziong cold and a light dusting of snow covered the land. I could see the Old Well Way snaking up the hillside to my left, but my attention was drawn to a curious looking rounded hill away to my right. As soon as I saw it I thought "That's a fairy hill!" It sat right in the middle of the Fairy Cross Plain.

I decided to explore the Old Hell Way first and started ploughing up through snow that was knee deep in places. As\I passed along the ancient trackway I imagined ghostly processions marching by, a land of the dead imprinted upon the earth, spectral forms from times gone by. It felt uncomfortable and I had read that spirit roads were places best avoided due to the unhealthy energies that passed along them. I wanted to see some of the standing stones that marked the path over the rigg but soon the snow was up to my thighs and I decided that to continue on was pointless. In any case dusk was falling as I made my way back down I could hear eerie voices coming from the moor and sudden sounds of red grouse crowing or flapping their wings in the failing light.

I arrived back at the crossroads and decided that I could put it off no longer, it was time to contact Hecate.I tuned in to the misty, dusk-laden landscape and there she appeared, looking tall, lithe and sensual in a long, flowing dress of midnight black. I welcomed her, the "dark goddess", but she corrected me instantly as, turning, she revealed her bright white side. Half black and half white was her face, but whether she represented good and evil, or winter and summer I could not say.

"Why did you want to meet me here?" I asked.

"It was not by your will that you came here but by the will of others," she replied.

I thought of the druidess who had led me down this path. Had it all been a mistake? Should I have been listening to my own intuition and not what others had been telling me?

"Your mission lies with the fairies of the cross plain," she said. "Climb the hill, place your crystal there, then all will be revealed!" and with that she disappeared.

As usual I was left with more questions than answers, and feeling no wiser than I had done before. By now it was dark so I decided that I would return to investigate the fairy hill in the morning.

*********************************

The hill was indicated on local maps as "Round Hill" but it's prominent location, slap bang in the middle of the great basin known as the Fairy Cross Plain belied its prosaic name. Sure enough a little investigation soon revealed that it is indeed also known as "Fairy Hill"!

I approached this time from a different direction, which gave an even better view of the Fairy Cross Plain and the prominent location of the Fairy Hill. Away and to the right I could clearly make out the Old Hell Way winding its way up Danby Rigg.

I parked in a lane near the hill and climbed over a fence into the boggy field.

As I approached the slope of the hill I found an old spring that was being utilised by the local farmer.

I made a mental note of this important feature and continued on around the hill. I didn't walk straight to the top but spiralled around, checking out its slopes that seemed to be littered with a whole honeycomb of rabbit warrens, the rabbits scurrying away in all directions at my approach and disappearing inside the hill. It felt like the rabbit were guardians, but guardians of what? A grassy knoll in a widswept valley?

I reached the top of the hill and planted my wand firmly in its crown. Instantly I could see the crystal shining, and playful elfin spirits seemed to materialise from all around and started to dance a crazy carfefree dance around and around my wand. They were human sized creatures with naked, shiny brown skin, long black slanted eyes and sharply pointed ears. They seemed to be mindlessly playful and joyous, caring about nothing, strangely alien and incomprehensible.

The grinning face of a dancing elf approached me: "We dance around the fairy ring, but you shall not see our faery king!" he squawked.

They took hold of my hands and got me to dance with them, but I had to stop before I went crazy like them!

"I wish to meet your king!" I said. "I bring gifts from King Erowyn."

"We would know what you do bring, before you meet the fairy king!" he said in a most sarcasticly playful voice

I took the flourite eggs from my pouch, the same ones I had left on the faery mound in Lindsaylands to be energised by the fairies there. I felt like I must lay them out in a twelve pointed star, with 6 outer crystals forming a hexagon, and 6 inner crystals insterspersed between them, forming a smaller hexagon inside.

It was then that I realised my mistake! I had only 10 eggs!

At that moment the king appeared, an old sagelike man with white hair and a bushy beard. He wore a long, richly decorated cloak and carried a long staff in one hand.

"I bring some beryls, shiny green, fit for faery king or queen!" I said.

Had I made another mistake? These were not beryls! In any case the king looked jovial enough and greeted me warmly. I apologised to him for the missing two gems:

"My lord I do not mean thee ill, take these stoned for my goodwill!"

I promised him that I would leave these 10 stones here, and return with the other 2 as soon as I may. I found a suitable abandoned rabbit hole nearby and placed the stones deep inside, away from prying eyes.

I bid goodbye to the king and stepped off down the hill. I saw more rabbits scurrying away and started to wonder about them some more. I knelt by one of the rabbit holes and decided to take a spirit journey inside.

Deeper and deeper I went into the maze of warrens inside the hill until I reached the very centre, and there in the middle was the most enormous crystal I had ever seen, a quartz point as tall as a building! So this was the secret that the rabbits were guarding! It was almost as if the whole hill had been built in ancient times, just to hide this crystal. Truly this was a place of hidden power!

It would take me a couple of months before I could organise more flourite crystals and go to Scotland to get them energised, but I would return...

Baysdale - Fairies Butter Wasing

2011-01-01T14:54:00.000-08:00

Folklore states that in Baysdale in the North York Moors there is a spring where the fairies wash their 'fairy butter'. I did some research on the internet and found out that fairy butter is a kind of fungus, it gets it's name from the fact that it seems to appear miraculously overnight on gate posts and fences and looks like a blob of butter that the fairies have been throwing at each other during the hours of darkness.

Baysdale lies in a forgotten corner of the North York Moors, it is accessible only by a farm track and it is all private land, there are no public facilities, not even a layby to park in. I realised that my presence there would arouse suspicion from the local farmers so I tried to make myself as inconspicuous as possible, parking behind a low mound on the entrance road that led down into the hidden valley.

I walked down the hill and headed for the cover of the nearest forest and soon found myself in a magical birch wood. It felt like a very high energy place, almost untouched by the outside world. I stood in a clearing in the birch forest and communed with the birch spirits there; tall, thin, sticklike beings that peeked out from behind the trees. I sent them healing with my wand but also soaked up some the magical energy of this place for myself too. The birch people thanked me and said that if I ever needed their help, all I had to do was find a birch tree!

I walked up onto the moor behind the forest and found some boggy springs seeping out of the ground there. I had no clue as to where to go but I knew that this wasn't the right place, the spring I was looking for would probably be gushing out of the rocks, not seeping out of the hillside. It would be the kind of spring that people in the past could visit and fetch water.

I continued walking around the edge of the dale until I reached the far end, and then headed back down into the dale through a conifer plantation. Soon I could hear the unmistakable sound of trickling water. I followed the sound through fallen trees and low-hanging branches and eventually found its source, bubbling forth from between some rocks.

Although it was heavily clogged with fallen leaves I instinctively knew that this was the place! The withered trees growing out of the rocks nearby and the odd birch tree still clinging on to life gave clues as to what this place must have looked like in the past before the conifer plantation grew up; and despite the darkness created by those suffocating trees looming overhead it still held some of its ancient magic.

Immediately above the spring I could see tiny caverns sheltered under overhanging boulders. I was drawn to go and inspect them closer and then sat down by one of the entrances and meditated. I took out my wand and pointed the crystal into the hole and send healing rays deep down inside.

After a while small, shy faces peeked out of the holes. They belonged to tiny creatures about 8-10 inches tall with brown skin, long pointy slanted eyes, and long pointy brown ears. They stood on two legs and wore simple rustic clothing.

I planted my wand into the ground before me and the crystal on its tip glowed. Cautiously the little 'boggles' crept out and formed a circle all around me. Then they linked hands and formed two concentric circles facing me in the centre and started to dance; one circle dancing clockwise while the other circle danced anti-clockwise. They sang:

"HEY LEE lap-ehay!"
"HEY LEE lap-ehay!"

They seemed to be performing some kind of festive ritual or celebration. I felt like it was time to reveal my true form as Aurvandil, the faery lord in glowing white. They stopped dancing and stepped forward, they seemed to want to touch me in awe, like I was some kind of living god.

I told them that they didn't need to hide anymore, their time was come, they could spread out now and meet with others of their kind. Once they'd all touched me they slowly melted away into the rocks and undergrowth from where they'd come.

I picked up my wand and wandered back down to the spring. I peered into the water and there it was, fungus! Fairy butter!

I had never seen fungus under water before, I didn't even know such a thing was possible! I picked up the fungus, it wasn't attached to anything. Had the fairies been washing their fairy butter? For what strange purpose did they perform this task? That would have to remain a mystery, but I was more than happy to find this confirmation of my quest.

Cropton - Water Nymphs of the Lady Keld Spring

2010-12-28T14:32:00.000-08:00

On a cold and misty day at the tail end of the year I drove to the quant little moorland village of Cropton and parked my car up by the old church of St. Gregory's.

I had been drawn to Cropton by the following piece of folklore:

“About the middle of the eighteenth century the people of Cropton were sadly troubled by "a company of evil water elves having their abode in a certain deep spring at the high end of that village," and in order to rid themselves of the sprites, a most heathen ceremony was conducted at the spring, "three wenches" taking a prominent part in the proceedings which are quite unprintable.”

After scouring a map of the local area I settled upon the Lady Keld Spring as being the only likely location where this "heathen ceremony" could have taken place.

The mist hung heavy over the land as I trudged my way down through the snow-laden woods behind the church. I was following an ancient pathway that monks and pilgrims had once used on their way to visit the magical healing waters of the spring.

The air was silent and mysterious and I passed further and further down the hill, through woods and fields, until finally I could hear the sound of trickling water in the trees ahead of me, just over a barb-wire fence.

As I stepped over the fence I could feel a sudden change in the energy, from the heavy stillness of the fields and woods to the crisp fresh energy of the springs. The air was buzzing and alive!

As I stepped forward I could see a central rivulet that was being fed by many small springs all around, causing a lively flow of water to pass through the deep snow.

I knelt down and left an offering there by water, and suddenly found myself saying:

"Fair maidens of the Lady Spring,

A humble gift I for thee bring,

With words of hope and healing hand,

I call thee forth across this land!"

Where did that come from?! I'd never been much into poetry...

I decided to follow the rivulet upstream, as clearly there must be more springs above that were feeding it. The snow was deep but the spring water was cutting through it to leave dark patches in the snow wherever a little spring or rivulet appeared. Despite the ice and frost all around this lively water didn't look like it was about to freeze up anytime soon.

Eventually though I came to a large frozen pond.

It seemed like a significant place and so I drew forth my wand.

The quartz crystal on the tip of my wand shone, casting a halo of white light all around it. The halo spread out until it was several yards wide and I then swept the edge of the halo over the frozen surface of the water until eventually the crystal itself was pointing directly into the heart of the pool. A shaft of pure white light beamed out from the crystal and penetrated the ice, entering the water's hidden depths. Energy was being tranferred into the water, creating a vortex.

I could see small glowing creatures about a foot long flitting about under the ice, anthropomorphic figures with mermails tails; water sprites? They swam from the edges of the pool towards the vortex in the centre and seemed to swirl around, bathing in the energy.

The white light eventually filled the whole pool and then passed down the rivulet and into all the springs in this hidden little valley. More sprites seemed to emerge from all the springs where they had been sleeping and hiding from the world, they passed down into the rivulet and in a glowing torrent of bodies passed out into the wide world.

I now felt like I needed to anchor this energy, but my wand would not stick into the ice, so I stuck it into a small patch of turf in the pool instead. I felt red fire pass from wand into the earth.

Walking around the pool I discovered that the rivulet continued even further upsteam, so I followed it until I came to another pool. This pool was not completely frozen over like the first one but was matted with bright green pond weeds.

I drew forth my wand and prepared to repeat the process I carried out on the first pond, but this time the result was quite different!

Three beautiful naked women emerged from the water. They beckoned me in a tempting way, but occasionally I would catch a glimpse of them looking like old hags, with sharp pointed teeth and pond weeds in their hair. Were these the "Jenny Greenteeth" of folklore?

I sent white healing light towards them with my wand. I saw their shadow sides being driven out and sent skyward. Had I dispelled these evil spirits? The now beautiful nymphs approached me and started stroking me.

"We would have of thee! We would have of thee Aurvandil!" they hissed.

I could still see flashes of evil in their eyes but they were beautiful and tempting indeed! They led me into the water and then slowly down under the water to their watery home. At the last moment I snapped out of it and broke free! I swam back to the surface and climbed up onto the bank.

"Fare thee well then Aurvandil!" they said.

One of them tossed me a golden ring which I caught in my hand. They said that the ring would protect me so I placed it on my finger. Did this mean I could use it to call up the water nymphs in future?

I was left wondering as I walked back up the hill towards the village. Did I just have a lucky escape or was Aurvandil immune from such human failings? It was certainly an interesting experience in any case! And I seemed to be doing good work bringing the energy of the water sprites back into the land.

Back in the village I paid a visit to Cropton's other famous water supply, a 300 ft deep well in the centre of the main street.

Did this well too have sprites and magic lurking within it? I didn't detect anything at this time, and in any case the local villagers were eyeing me suspiciously so I wandered back to the church. I had a look around inside and found a leaflet about the nearby crypt beneath the church at Lastingham, an ancient sacred site full of old Saxon and Viking stonework and said to be the centre of many Ley lines and strange phenomena. A place I would soon have to visit of course!

By this time twilight was fast approaching and something drew me back to the medieval trackway beside the church. I was sure that there must be Fae associated with this place. Behind the church was an old Norman motte which I had missed earlier. I walked up and climbed it and then from the top gazed out into the mist. I half expected the Fae to appear from twilight at any moment, but I saw nothing.

I wandered back across the field beside the motte and soon found myself walking back through the woods towards the Lady Keld Spring. I crossed the barb-wire fence and the fresh air and energy of the springs hit me again! What a difference! One side of the fence heavy and still, the other side sparkling with energy!

I stood with my feet on either side of the rivulet, soaking up the energy of the place, letting it invigourate me! The trickling water passing beneath me and the sparkling energy electrifying the air all around me. I closed my eyes and suddenly found myself gushing in rhyme again!

"I come to thee to set thee free,

Along the road to what may be,

I've travelled down to misty dell,

To learn the secrets of the well,

To take them with me far away,

To use in earnest one fine day!"

Not prize winning poetry by any means, but how was this coming spontaneously to my lips without me even thinking about it?

As I pondered this I was startled by a sudden sound! I opened my eyes and saw two roe deer leap over the barb-wire fence just feet away from where I had crossed it. They landed just a few yards from me and sniffed the air. They hadn't seen me! I stood perfectly still over the stream in the twilight, hardly daring to breath. My leg started to cramp up as I watched the uncertainty in the deer's face. She had sensed something but she wasn't sure! We all stood there in perfect silence until the lead deer suddenly made a decision and started to walk, straight towards me! At the last moment she noticed me and almost leapt into the air! She shot off in the other direction as fast as her agile limbs would carry her!

At last I could relax. What an experience! Well I hadn't seen any Fae but if anything this had been just as good! Nature was truly as magical as anything the Fae had to offer!

As I walked back up the hill in the darkness the doubts started to creep in. Maybe I had missed an opportunity? Maybe this animal wanted to communicate with me? I had been been too overawed to think about it at the time though. As I stepped back into the forest owls hooted at each other in the darkness. No, nature goes on regardless of us I thought, our concerns are not theirs.

Return to Hood Hill - The Dark Elves

2010-12-26T12:46:00.000-08:00

A few days after the solstice I returned to Hood Hill with my newly energised crystals to try to find out their true purpose.

I climbed straight up the hill through the wet snow until I reached the fairy fort at the summit. Once there I placed a large quartz crystal before me and tuned in to the energies. I was told to place the quartz crystal in the large sycamore tree that seemed to be the centre of the energies up here. I was also told to remove an electronic device which is hanging there.

I inspected the electronic device which was hanging from the tree, it seemed to be some sort of GPS device used by an orienteering club, and it was firmly attached with thick wire. There's no way I could remove it without bolt cutters and so I took down the telephone number on there and phoned the club later to tell them to come and collect their discarded device.

I then walked around the tree and inspected its trunk and branches a bit more closely. After a while I found knotty hole which fitted my crystal perfectly. I stuck the crystal in the hole and left it jutting out like an extra limb.

I was then disturbed by a local farmer out for a stroll. I got talking to him and he told me about a hidden spring and stone water trough further down the western side of the hill, so I made a mental note to go and look for it later.

After he left I turned back to my crystal. It was jutting out between a large fork in the main trunk. Either the tree had split very near to the ground, or this was two trees that had grown together. I stood there and meditated, trying to work out what to do next. Suddenly I realised that the fork in the tree was a magic gateway to the otherworld! I opened my eyes and all the moss was glowing a vivid green, just like it had done in Lindsaylands a few days ago.

I closed my eyes again and stepped through the gateway...

I was in a dark cavern with tall guards dresses in dark, horned armour. They led me down a passageway and there was the dark elf king sitting behind his desk. He greeted me and I asked him what I was to do with my crystals. His answer was that I should make a 12 pointed grid around the moors, with one point on Hood Hill, and the opposite point on Jenet's Foss in Mulgrave Woods. A large quartz crystal should be placed in the centre of this grid, this would protect the moors from the coming pestilence!

I returned to my body on Hood Hill and thought about what he had said. I still wasn't sure what I really had to do. Should I be using my fluorite eggs, or should it be green beryls? Did I even trust this dark elf king? Something felt strangely sinister about him and about this whole place. In any case I did not leave any crystals there that day, I felt like I had to go away and find more clarity first.

I took a wander through the thick trees on the far side of the hill, and some intuition led me to very spring that the farmer had just told me about.

There was something special about this spring, but at the time I didn't realise it. I would be back this way another day...

Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse with the Fae!

2010-12-21T03:57:00.000-08:00

This was going to be a special day, not only was it the winter solstice, and a full moon, and a total lunar eclipse, but it was also the day when the clans of the Fae were going to have their gathering!

The winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, is one of those magical times when the veil between our world and the otherworld is thinner; the night of the full moon is a time when people have commonly seen the Fae according to folklore; and the total eclipse is a time of dark magic, when normal rules do not apply!

A total eclipse of the moon can only occur during a full moon, as this is the time when the moon is furthest from the sun, and the Earth can pass between the sun and the moon and therefore cast its shadow upon it.

The night before the solstice was bright and clear, and the moon, looking completely full, beamed down from a clear black sky peppered with stars.

I stood and meditated under the full moon and had a vision of the Fae pushing a large cart up a hill. The cart contained a huge glowing white disc which I assumed represented the moon. The cart reached the top of the hill and hundreds of Fae were gathered around, perhaps having some kind of ceremony.

For weeks now we had been getting messages that the Fae were going to gather on the solstice near to the fairy mound in Lindsaylands. It seemed like the gathering had already started, but exactly where they were and what they were doing I could not ascertain.

I got up at 6 o'clock the next morning in order to see the eclipse. As I stepped outside I could see that the sky was crystal clear and the moon was a glowing white ball, filling the sky with its radiance.

I drove to the fairy mound in Lindsaylands and by the time I got there I looked up through the trees and could already see that part of the moon was being eaten by the shadow of the Earth. I tuned in at the fairy mound but there were no Fae there, none at all! Were they all away performing their ceremony on the hilltop somewhere?

I decided to drive to Tinnis castle to get a better view of the morning sky. I wanted to walk to the top of the hill but it was intensely cold, at least -15 degrees, and in any case the eclipse was now almost total. I didn't want to miss it and so I got out my camera and tripod and tried to get some shots, despite my freezing cold fingers.

I was disappointed that I hadn't had any encounters with the Fae that night, but today was the solstice and tonight was the longest night, so there was still time...

Fee was running a fairy magic course in her yurt that day to coincide with the solstice and the Fae gathering. It was icy cold but soon warmed up inside the yurt. We did some meditations to get into the right frame of mind and connected with the four elements of earth, air, fire and water. I particularily remember becoming at one with each of the elements, like I was an elemental myself, merging with the earth, and then with the air, fire and water. Feeling what it was like to become a flame or to disperse on an ocean current.

Once the light started to fade we all walked over to the fairy mound, passed by the folly of a greek temple, and stood facing the magical beech tree.

We had come in the twilight to meet the fairy king, so we left an offering of honey beneath the tree, closed our eyes, and then tuned in to the faery realm.

The king and queen were seated on their thrones surrounded by the fairy court. We each stepped forward, one after the other, to receive our gifts. I knelt down and had a glowing necklace of light placed around my neck and a glowing circlet of light placed on my head. I was wearing a blue crystal and silver necklace which I had been inspired to purchase earlier, and I felt the magical light enter it. The king called himself Erowyn and I also got the message that my guide Atheron was dark elf from underground.

Before I got chance to find out more it was time for us to leave. We were walking back at the most magical time of night, the deep twilight, when your day vision gives way to your night vision. The moon had not yet risen and a slight haziness hung in the air. Fee paused and turned to look at the field by the fairy mound. We all stopped to look and suddenly I saw a twinkle of light, then another, and then another! Each time coming from an entirely different part of the field, a sudden twinkle that disappeared faster than you could look at it, somtimes blue, somtimes white. I stood gazing in wonder, I had never seen anything like this before! It seemed like at the most magical time of the night on one of the most magical days of the year that anything was possible!

Fee turned and walked away, she had seen the fairy lights many times before, but I stood entranced. In addition to the twinkling fairy lights I was starting to discern faint patches of light moving back and forth across the field, like faint clouds of luminesence; but after a while I too had to pull myself away before I froze solid to the spot. In any case the twilight was passing and a hazy moon was just starting to rise above the trees on the opposite side of the field, banishing the shadows with its glow.

We returned to the yurt and ate our fairy feast, but something was drawing me back to the mound, I felt like the day was not done yet! Sarah also wanted to return and so just before midnight we made our way back in the darkness and extreme cold to the fairy mound.

I entered their realm again and spoke some more with King Erowyn. He called me 'Arendil' and told me I was the wayfarer / waymaker. How back in the faery realm I had travelled from rath to rath connecting the web and joining the points of power. It started to come back to me, my long travels and my warm greetings in the fairy forts (raths) which I seemed to visit in some kind of circuit; but it still seemed like the purpose of my work in fairyland was beyond my comprehension, even the word 'work' seemed inappropriate, it was more like a calling, a purpose for being.

Sarah was meanwhile having an experience of her own, being carried off into the stars to meet the "creator", an experience which seemed to completely blow her away and overwhelm her! In the end I had to help bring her back down, before we made our way back from the dark frozen landscape to the warmth of Fee's cosy house.

********

A few days later I did some research on the internet and came up with some amazing facts and co-incidences. Aurvandil and Earendil are one and the same! Aurvandil being Norse and Earendil being Saxon, they both mean "Luminous Wanderer" and could refer to the morning star (Venus) or the star Rigel (Aurvandil's toe from Snorri's Edda).

The Anglo-Saxon poem 'Christ I' has this:

"Hail Earendil!

Brightest of angels!

Over middle-earth to men sent,

The true radiance of the sun,

Bright above the stars,

Every season thou of thyself

Ever illuminest!"

Tolkien, being a scholar of Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon, picked up on this and used the name for one of the elves in 'The Silmarillion':

"Hail Eärendil, brightest of stars!"

He carried the light of the moning star upon his brow. His jewel was a green beryl (emerald) which was set into a silver brooch in the shape of an eagle with outspread wings. Looking through the stone would see burned and withered things heal again. "The hand that holds it heals", he says.

Eärendil married Elwing who was forced to cast herself into the sea with one of the Silmarils, but was saved by the sea god Ulmo and turned her into a great white bird.

Is Tolkien tapping into some ancient knowledge, or did he just make it all up? It's interesting to speculate that perhaps he received his knowledge in the same way I do and spent a long time trying to collate it all and make sense of it. He never did finish the Silmarillion but just left a huge pile of incredibly detailed and extensive notes, including maps, histories, geneologies and two complete Elven languages!

As well as my research I finally got around to attaching the crystal I had found in Merlin's cave on Bardsey island, to the end of my wand. Now it really felt like a powerful tool, capable of chanelling and anchoring energies. I looked forward to using it out in the field again!

Lindsaylands Fairy Mound (Second visit)

2010-12-15T13:25:00.000-08:00

After my first visit to the fairy mound in Lindsaylands I was told by the Fae to collect some crystals. I wasn't told which crystals to collect, just that I should use my intuition to guide me. With this in mind I visited a crystal wholesalers in Yorkshire and was immediately drawn to the green flourite; green crystals with purple inclusions, formed into the shape of small eggs. I bought these along with several other crystals and then returned to Scotland. I later learned that green flourite has an association with the fae!

I returned to the Lindsaylands fairy mound on a cold December morning.

Immediately I could see my guide Atheron, the tall, dark-haired fae I had met on my first visit, and he led me back to the great beech tree on top of the long mound.

I felt drawn to give some energy to this tree so I closed my eyes and placed my hands against the trunk.

I could feel the energy passing from my hand, coursing through trunk, branch, root and twig to fill the entire tree with healing light.

I was starting to realise that I really had this power to heal and to impart energy to it where it was required!

I opened my eyes and was astounded to see all the moss covering the tree glowing a vivid green, the colour was so bright and intense that everything seemed lucid and magical, more real and intense than everyday reality ever was. The green sheen that covers most of the tree is barely visible normally.

I closed my eyes again and this time travelled with Atheron deep inside the tree to meet the faery king. He stood there with his court and came to greet me like an old friend, which indeed I was, as I could suddenly remember having visited this place many times before in long ages past. Somehow I felt like I was one of them, one of the noble race. I looked down and saw that I was wearing a white shirt of silky appearance and on my chest sparkled the deep-blue teardrop shaped gem.

"Greetings Aurvandil!" he said to me as he hugged me.

Was that who I was? Aurvandil? It certainly felt like I was him now. The human being I was on Earth seemed like another person, a strange shell that I had been inhabiting, full of fears and negative emotions. Had I forgotten my true identity in order to live as a human and carry out my task here on Earth? Now I will start to remember, slowly it will come back to me who I really am...

I don't remember if he spoke to me, or if the information suddenly just dropped into my head, but I remembered the world of the fae, a beautiful and undying land where nothing ever faded or decayed, everything remained constant and true to its perfect form. The Fae had no wish to come back to Earth, they were happy in their own land, but Earth is under attack by dark forces. The balance of nature is slowly being destroyed, but the "day of reckoning" is soon to come when mankind will have to pay back for all they have taken.

I was told to take my 12 green crystal eggs (seeds?) and plant them in the Earth, to return to Hood Hill and start my task there, planting my crystal-tipped wand into the ground to bring energy into these locations, but more than that I could not ascertain, the true meaning of my quest and the meaning of the coming solstice gathering still eluded me.

I knew that once I was done here on Earth I could return to Elfland. There seemed to be an elf maiden waiting there for me, I could see her standing in the background. Was it the King's daughter? I knew that I had to return to take care of her, but right now it wasn't very clear exactly who she was or what I had to do. This would all make more sense later...

I was told that dark forces were against me and would try to sabotage my mission. This included fears, doubts and suspicions that would enter into my consciousness.

I walked away from the mound with much to think about. What a revelation to suddenly remember a whole existence that I had completely forgotten! But it didn't feel strange or odd, it felt perfectly natural, like I had always known it.

I returned to the mound later to leave my flourite eggs under the tree. They would be left there overnight and while resting there would be infused with whatever energies and vibrations were necessary to complete my task.

Lake Gormire - Awakening the Dragon

2010-12-12T15:29:00.000-08:00

Lake Gormire is a Ice-Age lake, tucked away behind its glacial moraine just beneath the edge of the North York Moors. The lake had always intrigued me, it is semi-circular in shape, and yet entirely natural. It is said that an ancient village lies buried beneath the waters which can sometimes be glimpsed on a clear day or the sound of its bells heard.

(Photo I took some weeks before)

I had been at the faery rath on the nearby Hood Hill the day before. There I got the message to go to Lake Gormire to "Call upon and heal the selkies of the lake with a smooth white pebble". It's odd that the name 'selkies' should come up, as these female spirits wear seal skins and are usually associated with the sea, but who am I to question? The smooth white pebble was easy to find, as I had one with me that I had picked up in the bay at Findhorn, my 'selkie stone'.

I parked my car in a lane at the far side of the lake and then slipped and slid down an icy path through the woods until I reached the lakeside. There I got a bit of a shock! The entire lake was frozen solid! In Yorkshire that's quite an unusual sight, as rarely does it get so cold as to freeze over a lake of this size, and there had been a thaw on for several days.

I placed my pebble down on the frozen edge of the lake and called upon the selkies.

I had a vision of naked women with long flowing hair gliding over the lake towards me. At the bottom of the lake, deep down at the bottom of a cone, I could sense an awesome and powerful presence. I sensed the form of a sleeping dragon!

I planted my wand into the snow at the edge of the lake, attached the crystal, and then called upon the spirits of the place to awaken:

"Selkies of the lake,

Dragon of the lake,

Spirit of the lake,

Awake!"

I cast the pebble out onto the lake and it slid across the frozen surface until it skidded to a halt in the snow.

The selkies were drawn to the pebble and began to dance around it and draw energy from it. They span around and around it until they transformed into a cone that rose into the air like a whirlwind. The selkies could still be seen dancing in the cone as it extended all the way up into the sky, and down to the very bowels of the lake, connecting heaven with earth.

It felt now like I must join them, so I took a tentative step onto the edge of the frozen lake. But how thick was the ice? Could it hold my weight? Who could rescue me if it cracked and I fell in? Isn't this what water spirits do? Lure people to their deaths?

I slid my other foot forward slowly and the ice began to sing as it adjusted to my weight! Waves of sound rippling across it like a sheet of metal being flexed. Having lived in the frozen wastes of Scandinavia I wasn't too freaked out by this, but I slid forward even more gingerly after that surprise. Step by step I slowly made my way forward, I could sense stirrings deep in the lake below me. The dragon could rise up and consume me at any moment! I would never be seen again...

After what seemed like an age I finally reached the pebble far out in the lake, I could sense the depth of the water beneath me which at any other time of the year would have swallowed me up and consumed me. I was walking where none were meant to walk; but I soon settled down and tuned back in to what was going on.

The selkies were still dancing in their cone and chanting:

"We dance for energy,

For happiness,

For joy,

For life!"

I joined them in their dance and span round and round. I became part of their cone connecting the sky with the earth dragon, drawing down energy and sending it deep into the bottom of the lake. The dragon stirred and cast up bubbles from his nostrils. We had awakened him!

I felt like the job was done so I took up my stone and returned to the bank of the lake with more than a little relief!

I set off walking around the lake and heard a gentle trickling sound ahead. I'd heard that the lake had no outlets or inlets so I was surprised by this. As I approached the trickling stopped! I searched around and found a small wet outlet that seemed to disappear underground, but I couldn't catch a sound of the trickling again. I'd heard a folk tale about a goose that disappeared through one of these holes and was later found miles away without any feathers on! Perhaps this was the place from the story?

As I turned back to the path I noticed a large ring of melted ice far out in the lake which I'm sure hadn't been there before! Was this the dragon's breath causing the ice to melt?

I continued around the lake, viewing it from all sides, struggling along the icy paths through the woods until I reached my starting point again, and then for some crazy reason decided to circle the lake another two times!

Feeling quite exhausted I finally completed my thrice sunwise circuit and sat down. I felt that there was still more to do here and so I sent my spirit out into the lake.

My spirit, or avatar, took the form of a large muscular horned being made from pure white light. He stood over the melted ring of ice, plunged his arms into the water and hauled on a huge chain. He pulled and pulled with all his might until a dragon's head emerged from the water, attached to the other end of the chain! He held on to him using all his strength, I could feel him straining at the chain and knew he wouldn't be able to hold him for too long.

I picked up my crystal-tipped wand and pointed it at the dragon.

A burst of energy immediately shot out from the dragon and sent a beam of light all the way to the top of Hood Hill. The energy hit the crystal that I had placed there the day before and spread out in all directions. Perhaps the beams of energy were connecting to other similar places, forming a network of energy lines all around the Earth?

Well I can't say that it hadn't been an eventful day! What an experience! But what was I doing? Creating ley lines?? This energy grid connecting the fairy forts together certainly seemed to be something important. Was this my task? Was this why I was planting crystals? Who can tell?

Hood Hill - Faery Rath

2010-12-11T11:21:00.000-08:00

Hood Hill juts out from the edge of the North York Moors and makes an imposing sight when viewed from cliffs above Sutton Bank.

Legend has it that the Druids used to make sacrifices on an altar atop Hood Hill, but now somehow I felt drawn to the place.

I parked near the bottom of the hill on a cold December day and headed up through the conifer woods using my intuition to guide me in the right direction. I scrambled uphill through the trees until I reached a small clearing about halfway up the hill, and there I found what looked like an altar stone.

I left an offering there and tuned in...

I was met by a faery guide who told me to continue up the hill.

I made my way up through the rest of the spruce forest until I reached a more open area on top of the hill. This was more natural with oak trees dotted around waiting like sentinels for the time to come when they could dominate the land again. I gave them healing and put my intention out there they would grow strong and repopulate the land below.

I continued along the ridge until I approached the highest point on the hill where ancient earthworks were marked on my OS map. I was faced by an obvious bank and ditch enclosing a small circular area right on the crest of the hill. Small steps had been set into the bank and beside them sat a large boulder that seemed to be gaurding the entrance somehow.

I left an offering there, lit a candle, and asked permission to enter.

A feary woman with wings appeared, possibly the same one I'd seen earlier, and she beckoned me onwards.

I entered the fort and climbed to the top of the hill where a large sycamore tree sat.

The views all around were stunning!

I stood in front of the sycamore tree, on the highest point of the hill, and planted the pointy end of my hazel wand into the ground. I then felt like the crystal I had found in Wales had to be placed on top of it (This crystal needs attaching to my wand!)

As I did so a beam of white light shot out in all directions like a beacon. It felt like I had drawn energy into the place and then transmitted it outwards. I sat under the sycamore tree and was met by my faery guide Atheron. He told me the faeries here were pleased by what I'd done. The noble people here have stayed well hidden for a long time, but they could now come to the solstice gathering! I must now go to lake Gormire to call upon and heal the water spirits there with a smooth white pebble. Atheron asked me if there's anything I would like in return, and I told him that I'd just like to meet some of the animals of the forest.

On my way back I saw three roe deer who reminded me to be happy and carefree, and a group of long-tailed tits who were whistling all around me.

As usual the information I was getting was puzzling and cryptic, but by now I was learning to just go along along with it, and not to expect too many answers. Sometimes the tasks I have to perform are so small and simple it leaves me thinking there must be more to it; but somehow I am carrying energies around from place to place, and perhaps that is all that is required of me.

Lake Gormire is glacial lake left behind after the last Ice Age. It is very near to Hood Hill and I would return to perform my task there the very next day.

Lindsaylands Fairy Mound (First visit)

2010-12-07T14:05:00.000-08:00

The next time I went to visit Fee she took me to a fairy mound she had just discovered. So we walked over there with her husband Rich to investigate.

The wooded mound was in the grounds of a country house. It was a long hogsback shape and was topped by three large beech trees and a small folly of a Greek temple.

Fee stepped forward and made an offering of honey in a scallop shell there beneath the most imposing of the beech trees. Me and Rich closed our eyes and tuned in to what was going on, and then we stepped forward too...

We were immediately surrounded by tall, slim, imposing beings in white robes with a serene air about them. These were the trooping faeries, or the Sidhe. Fee was speaking to them, but I don't remember what she was saying as at that moment I was approached by a rather flamboyant looking male faery wearing a lace-fringed shirt. He had long, straight, dark hair and eyes that were upturned at the corners. He took me aside and gave me information that was for my ears alone.

"I am Atheron", he said, "I will be your guide. You are a faery-friend. You work for us and you will work alone. You must collect some crystals to 'plant'."

That was all he would tell me for now. He took out a silver necklace hung with a large, blue, teardrop-shaped gem and hung it around my neck.

"You will get one of these for real", he told me, "Wear it with white clothes to show that you are a lightworker. When your work is done you will be rewarded. Your fairy-maiden awaits."

Fee was still performing her rituals so I joined her. It seemed right to keep this information to myself for now. He had specifically told me to work alone, and Fee was busy pursuing so many other avenues that would just be a distraction to me.

When Fee was done we left the mound. My guide Atheron accompanied me until we reached the exit between two tall trees and then I couldn't see him anymore. Fee told me that there would be a gathering here at the winter solstice where clans of Sidhe from many raths would meet. This was going to be a very special winter solstice with a full moon and a total lunar eclipse!

It seemed like at last I had a mission, but as usual it left more questions than answers. What crystals should I use? Where should I plant them? The only answer I could get was that I would be guided. And why did they consider me a faery-friend? And who was my faery-maiden?? The answers to these questions would be revealed in time and would end up turning my whole world-view on its head!

Tarn Hole - The Wild Man of the Woods

2010-11-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

My research into the Hobs of North Yorkshire brought me next to Tarn Hole, a small, remote valley off the Eastern side of Bilsdale in the North York Moors. Nothing is known about the Tarn Hole Hob apart from his name but I thought I'd visit the area just to see if I could discover anything.

I drove deep into the valley down a farm track and when I'd gone as far as I could go I parked up in the woods by Tarn Hole Beck.

I continued on foot up the dale, following the riverbank past large boulders left there by the ice age and old gnarly oak trees interspersed with bracken. The riverbank rose to a great height and I soon found myself creeping along the edge of a deep gulley with the river gurgling far below.

After a while the gulley became less deep and looking down I could see a beautiful little glade by the river, with a tiny waterfall.

I scrambled down and found the place to be totally enchanting. A place of high energy where I could recharge my batteries. This was not a place that needed healing, it was a place that could heal me!

I felt a great urge to connect totally with this place and so I stripped off completely and went bathing in the icy cold water.

I bathed in a pool and by a waterfall and then followed the river downstream, scrambling over rocks and sliding down small cascades while all the time I could see, hear and feel the rushing water all around me.

About 100 yards downstream I came to a muddy, gritty riverbank. I scraped out some of the mud with my fingers and started rubbing it into my arms, then my chest and pretty soon I was covered all over in mud! I wanted to mask the smells of the modern world, the shampoo, the deodourant, and become at one with this place. I started to feel like a wild man, a primitive, living in the deep forest. I rooted through the leaf litter and soon I was covered in twigs and dead leaves too. I was the Green Man!

I understood now what it really meant to be the Green Man; he was the wild man! The Wild Man of the Woods!

I started to tune in now in a way I never have done before. I felt like I was at one with all the vibrations of nature all around me. It felt so vibrant and alive! Not peaceful and quiet, like we imagine on a sunday stroll, but buzzing with electricity! Everything around me was alive, really alive! It was humming and interacting in a way that is indescribable unless you've experienced it. Somehow everything was connected, sight, smell, hearing and the static hum that connected all things. No wonder wild animals had such sharp instincts and could detect people approaching long before we could detect them!

I could just imagine what a clumsy discordant note modern humans must sound when they come clumping around these forests with their big rubber-soled boots and trivial conversation. How completely disconnected from what is really going on here!

I realised then the importance of becoming connected with your own patch of Earth. To truly connect you must bring nothing in from outside. Eat what you find there, clothe yourself and shelter yourself using only what you find there, only then will you be able to connect fully and truly feel like you're a part of the land.

Now that I had found this special place I would return again, to discover more of its magic and connect again with the raw spirits of nature.

Pudding Pie Hill - Fairy Mound

2010-11-03T13:47:00.000-07:00

Local folklore states that if you run around Pudding Pie Hill nine times sunwise and then stick a knife in the top you will be able to hear the fairies revelling inside the mound below. Well the mound is not far from where I live so of course I had to give it a go!

The mound now lies in the neglected corner of a field near a busy bypass, but despite this it still has quite an atmosphere.

I started making my way clockwise around the mound but it wasn't easy as it was muddy and one side of the mound runs into a hedge and ditch, but I persevered and tried not to lose count and eventually reached nine (I think!) then ran to the top and plunged my wand into the soft earth. I placed my ear against the ground and heard... nothing! Perhaps I hadn't done it right, or perhaps the fairies left a long time ago, annoyed by all the busy traffic. So I sat there on top of the mound, my legs astride the wand, and meditated. But try as hard as I might I still wasn't picking anything up.

Despairing now I opened my eyes and there sat on my leg was a perfect little two-spot ladybird. Well it wasn't what I had come here for, but clearly he had a message for me...

He told me that his name was Azimoth and he was here to guide me. He said I had to heal the land by drawing in 'life-force' at nodal points. The land will become wasteland without this life-force to fight pollution. My work with the land is all-important, all else is just a distraction to me.

As usual it felt like a riddle. What nodal points? How do I heal the land? But more than this I could not ascertain at this time.

I tried to place Azimoth back on the ground, but he didn't seem to want to leave and so joined me as I returned to my car. As I sat behind the wheel I noticed him crawl away into my car, but after that I never saw him again.

I later discovered that an 'Azimuth' is something used in navigation. It's the angle between a point of reference and the place you want to get to. Was this another clue?

Bardsey Island, Merlin's Cave

2010-10-17T13:25:00.000-07:00

While researching on the internet I came across mention of a small cave on Bardsey Island (Ynnis Enli in Welsh) off the far tip of the Lynn peninsular in Wales. The cave was associated with Merlin who was said to be imprisoned on this island in his tower of glass, along with the 13 treasures of Britain. I knew it was a place I had to visit! So the next day I set off on the long journey to north-west extremity of Wales...

Arriving at the very tip of the Lynn peninsular I was lucky enough to find a boat to take me over the sound to the island. The boatman, who had been brought up on the island, knew about the cave. He told me that the cave was very tiny and he had played in it as a child. He also told me a story about a local priest who had once lived in the cave as hermit, perhaps as a form of penance.

I asked the boatman if he'd ever heard of any strange occurrences on the island, but all he could tell me about were some lights which were often seen floating around from floor to floor of a deserted cottage.

The boat rounded the island and pulled into a bay heavy with seaweed, we were then hauled up the slipway by a tractor and trailer. The boatman pointed to the side of a nearby hill where I could just make out three white rocks forming a kind of triangle. The cave was there, just by those rocks, he told me.

I walked along the green lanes of this quiet, enchanting little island, past the occasional old whitewashed cottage until I came to house called Plas Bach where a literally unique apple tree grows. The apples are unusually free from disease and grow nowhere else in the world apart from on this one tree. After asking around I found the tree, but unfortunately it did not bear any fruit at this time, so I took a small sprig of leaves to carry along with me for good luck. The tree is known by some as Merlin's apple tree.

Opposite the cottage I followed a little passageway and started making my way up the heather-covered slope behind. By now I had lost sight of the triangle of white rocks and the hillside seemed to be criss-crossed with a maze of little track-ways, so I was wondering how I was going to ever find the place again.

As I rose I higher and higher I turned around and got an excellent view over the whole island, from the bay to my left where I had started, to a rocky peninsular with its lighthouse, and across to the haunted cottages and ruined abbey to my right.

Beneath me I could see black crow-sized birds with long red curved beaks flying by, the famous choughs of Ynnis Enli. After a while I came to three likely looking rocks and started scanning around for a cave entrance. Beside one of the rocks I found a tiny little hole, barely big enough to sit up in.

I crawled inside, first on my hand and knees and then on my belly. It was pitch black inside so I was glad of my head torch.

After about 3 metres the passageway came to an end, so I scanned around with my torch to see what I could find. I explored all the hidden crevices and deep within one of them I found crystal! A clear quartz point about 2 inches long and half an inch wide. One of the 13 treasures of Britain? Or left here by a passing hippy?? I preferred to think of it as a gift from Merlin and would very soon discover its usefulness...

To my left was a ledge and above it a wide hole just big enough to crawl into. Brushing aside spiders' webs I managed to twist myself around and poke my head into the hole. I shone my torch down and discovered that the hole dropped down into a small chamber, about big enough for two people to sit up in. As my torch shone down to the floor of the chamber I got a shock! There was the perfectly preserved skeleton of a sheep, lying exactly as it had died, but without a trace of flesh or wool on it. Instead there were just bare bones and a thin coating of green mold on the skull and spine. Judging by the state of the skeleton no-one had entered this chamber for a long, long time...

After my heart had stopped pounding I decided that I had to go in. Crawling in head first would have put me face to face with the mouldy sheep skull, so I decided upon entering feet first, with my back to the floor, head facing the ceiling. As my feet dropped down into the darkness I felt them crunch against the sheep skeleton and the spongy floor below. Yuk! But I continued to ease myself in through the small gap until I got my whole body inside. I was now squatting in the tiny chamber, the crunch of sheep bones beneath me along with big spongy patches of what seem like moss but could have been anything... big blue shiny beetles crawled over the 'moss' beneath me.

As I shone my torch around I found several large crevices containing bird skeletons, looking like the choughs I had just seen outside, as well as an egg shell and many big shiny black spiders, webs and silk cocoons. I also noticed that the ledge I had just crawled over seemed to be man-made, perhaps constructed by the hermit priest I had heard about?

As I squatted there I tried to meditate and tune in to get some information about this place, but you'll forgive me if it was not easy, given the surroundings, so instead I decided to try to contact the spirit of the dead sheep.

As he lay there he asked me what I wanted and answered me in a deep voice. He told me to go above the cave, not inside. He also told me that is not Merlin's cave.

I apologised for disturbing his corpse and stepping all over him, and with relief I made my way back outside.

I was happy to be back in the sunlight again and breathing the fresh sea air! I stepped back from the cave entrance and surveyed the scene. Above the cave, where I had just been crawling, was a huge white granite boulder, glittering with crystals in the sunlight. It made an impressive sight!

I decided that it was time to activate the crystal I had just found, so I held it in my hand and focused on it. What I expected to happen was that white light would slowly fill the crystal and then spread around my whole body until I and the crystal became one, but instead what happened was more like a nuclear explosion!

White light instantly burst forth in all directions, spreading out to the horizon in a huge burst of energy.

“Wow! This was some crystal!” I thought.

I climbed to the top of the huge granite boulder, directly above the hollow cave, and placed my new found crystal on top of it.

A massive amount of energy instantly shot down from the sky in a column of white light and entered the boulder.

I had never felt anything like this before! I now knew that this place had been transformed into a place of power.

I left the cave area and climbed to the top of the hill, and then explored the rest of the island with its rocky shoreline and hidden bays. I walked all around the island and then watched a colony of seals playing and squabbling as I waited for the boatman to leave again.

I arrived back on the Llyn peninsular and later on drove up to a remote headland to watch the sun go down over the magical island of Ynnis Enli.

I later found out that dowsers attach quartz crystals to standing stones in order to amplify their power. Is that what I had done? Perhaps the cave had been energised and should now be revisited? But perhaps that is for others to do and not me...

The Major Oak, Sherwood Forest

2010-10-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Sherwood forest at dusk, just as the last of the tourists were leaving. In the semi-darkness I made my way along the winding paths past ancient oak trees until I arrived at the clearing containing the biggest oak tree of all, the Major Oak.

This monster of a tree is so huge and ancient that it has to be propped up with wooden supports, it dominates the clearing and is surrounded by a low fence to keep the hordes of tourists at a distance.

There was no-one around so I slipped over the fence to take a closer look at this majestic old tree. As I walked around the tree it's huge limbs spread out above me, impossibly large and heavy, but still bearing fresh acorns despite its advanced age.

Then I noticed a huge fissure in the bark, I crept up to it and was able to squeeze inside and enter another world. The interior was huge. There was ample room to stand up straight or lie down flat. I noticed patches of fibreglass which presumably were placed there in an attempt to stop the rot and decay. I lay down on the floor, within the very bowels of the tree and meditated...

I was approached by a pair of tiny redcaps, only 8 & 10 inches high. They were squat creatures with broad faces and were dressed in peasant clothes. I asked them who they were but they just stared blankly at the ground in front of them. They appeared to me like a couple of peasant tribesmen being questioned by someone from a totally alien culture who's language they did not understand.

Suddenly one of them made a strange sound like an animal call: "Geee!"

Then the other smaller one, did the same: "Geee!"

Then both together rapidly one after the other: "Geee! Geee! Geee! Geee!"

I asked them to take me to the underworld. They were still staring at the ground, a look of non-comprehension on their faces, when suddenly one of them ran off, swiftly followed by the other. I followed them both and found myself on a broad path clinging to the edge of a mountainside. They ran off around a bend and as I followed them I just saw them disappear into a cave in the side of the mountain.

As I approached the cave I had a sense of foreboding. Something was in that cave and it wasn't pleasant. The redcaps were still making strange sounds: "Geee! Geee!", but now they seemed to be waiting for me to enter. I realised that I had no reason to trust these little creatures, and so I decided to return to the oak tree.

I hadn't really been expecting anything like this to happen and so I was unprepared when it did. It was a fascinating experience but at this stage I wasn't prepared to just travel into the depths of the underworld to see what I could find out. First I needed to find out my purpose and why I was doing all this...

Dunino, pagan shrine and druid's den

2010-10-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

My friend Trina had told me about a famous pagan site in Fife called Dunino Den where once the druid's had made their sacrifices. So as I was in the area I thought I way as well pay a visit.

I parked my car by the main road and started walking through the woods. Right away I found a discarded candle lying on the path in front of me! I took this to be a good sign! I followed the path through the woods, following the edge of a gully until I came to an old church. The turning right away from the church I walked down through the woods towards a deep gully.

The first thing I came to was a small circular pool at the top of a small cliff.

I sat by the pool and meditated there. After a while I felt a great urge to thrust my hands into the cold water. As I did so, wondering what I was doing...

I suddenly felt like my hands had gripped the hilt of a great and majestic sword! I drew the sword from the water and was amazed to see it's shining blade and golden cross hilt studded with glittering gems!

It was an etheric sword which I could use in the spirit world. Months earlier I had sacrificed a real sword into a river. Perhaps this was what I was getting in return?

I left the pool and then walked down the so-called 'fairy steps' and into the druid's den itself.

The place looked absolutely magical, a woodland glade hidden away by tall cliffs and bordered by a lively little burn.

The centre of the clearing was dominated by an upturned tree-stump inscribed with runes and being used as an altar.

All around the clearing people had left offerings of colourful beads, flags, ribbons etc.

The rocks around the clearing had been adorned with Celtic crosses and other strange carvings, while every small crevice seemed to contain an offering of a coin or a shell.

At the base of one of the rock faces I found a tiny cave, only big enough to crawl inside on my belly.

Once inside, the cave opened up a little and I was able to twist around and look up into all the small crevices in the ceiling. They were filled with big shiny black spiders, black millipedes, midges and moths! I lit a candle in there and lay down to meditate, I started to see some small red-capped creatures, but the midges were bothering me so I batted them away with my hands! Mistake! I don't think they liked that at all! I would have to learn to respect all creatures no matter how small and bothersome! For all I knew they could have been fairies that I swatted!

As I lay there I heard a deep rumbling sound. Was it an airplane passing by outside? Unlikely, as it seemed to go on and on, but I was too tightly wedged in to nip out and check. However I felt like it was time to leave this claustrophobic place so I squeezed my way out, and after making another tour of the clearing and its surroundings I headed back to my car.

St. Fillan's Cave, Pittenweem

2010-10-12T14:18:00.000-07:00

Fee received a message from spirit that I should visit St. Fillan's cave. I looked it up on the internet and found that it was in a small town called Pittenweem on the southern coast of Fife, Scotland.

I put it off for a week or two but eventually I made my way up there and found the cave entrance.

It was barred by a heavy iron gate emblazoned with a huge iron Celtic cross and it was inset with pieces of red hematite (iron ore)! My first impression was "Wow! Whatever is in there they REALLY don't want it getting out!" And what is it that is repelled by iron? Why the fairies of course!

I found out that the key was kept in the local chocolate shop, so I went to fetch the key, let myself in and wandered into the strange cave.

Near the entrance was a painting and story about St. Fillan, but deeper inside it had been converted into a chapel with an altar.

In the past the cave had seen all kinds of uses, from a smugglers cave to a prison for witches, but it is most famous as the place where St. Fillan hung out while he was converting the Picts.

I was disturbed a couple of times by tourists wandering in so eventually I decided to switch off the lights and lock them out. It certainly added to the atmosphere!

With my torch I found another gate...

which led to a 'secret' passage...

around to a another gate at the back.

Again it was barred with iron and locked! So I returned to the chapel and left an offering on the altar...

before crawling into the dark recesses at the back of the cave to meditate.

This cave is an entrance to the underworld. Spirits which were once able to roam in and out freely have now been imprisoned here. I told the spirits not to be afraid and to follow me outside, but they were terrified of the iron gate. I literally had to lead them by the hand, one by one, past the gate, so that they could be free.

While in the back of the cave a noticed a flowstone pool which would make an excellent scrying mirror...

but I felt like my job was done here so left I left the cave and returned the key to the chocolate shop. Then a bizzarre coincidence! A woman I'd met on several of my recent spiritual courses was sitting in the chocolate shop drinking hot chocolate! What were the odds of meeting her in this cafe in this remote little town at this exact date and time? If there was any significance to this I have yet to work it out! But by this stage I was no longer getting shocked by all the odd co-incidences, which was just as well, for there were to be many more!

In hindsight maybe I did the wrong thing in releasing these spirits? I was a complete amateur at this stage and didn't really know what I was doing, but all I can say is that at the time felt right.

Hob Holes, Runswick Bay

2010-10-08T08:13:00.000-07:00

A hob is a creature from the folklore of the north of England. He is a household spirit who is quite helpful to the land owners until they do something to annoy him, at which point he either leaves or starts to make their life a misery by bringing terrible misfortune. He is portrayed as being small and shaggy haired, wearing either very rough clothes or no clothes at all. He is similar to the Scottish brownie or the Swedish tomte.

In the cliffs of Runswick bay on the north coast of Yorkshire there are some small caves called Hob Holes. In times gone by local people would bring their children to Hob Holes to cure them from the whooping cough by reciting this rhyme:

“Hob Hole Hob,
My bairn’s gotten t’kink cough,
Tak it off,
Tak it off.”

I first drove to the cliff top above Hob Holes and found an ancient trackway leading down to the beach. It was so overgrown with trees and bushes that it formed a kind of tunnel. It felt to me like some kind of processional way.

I followed it down to the beach and then walked along the misty shoreline until I found the caves. I was drawn to one of the caves and despite it's precarious looking condition I decided to enter.

I crawled inside and then sat down at the end of the long damp tunnel, looking out at the shoreline.

I called out to the hob: "Hob Hole Hob! Hob Hole Hob!"

I had a vision of the hob coming to greet me. He looked more like the hobgoblin from a bottle of Hobgoblin beer than the hobs I had read about from folklore! He was short and had a long pointy nose and a droopy pointed cap. He didn't have much to say so I planted my wand into the sand in front of me and sent him energy. It seems that when spirits such as this are neglected they lose their power and start to fade away. I was bringing him back to life again! He seemed to be happy that people were going to start to take notice of him again...

I crawled out of the tunnel and continued on down the beach. It was a mysterious landscape of sand, seaweed and seabirds.

I followed a steep gulley inland into a totally wild landscape, the tiny watercourse led me deeper into the undergrowth until eventually I could go no further. At that point I found a small fossil lying in the streambed.

Up on the clifftop the mist was clinging to spider's webs, covering them in dewy gemstones.

Strathaven, Fairy Mound

2010-10-03T07:16:00.000-07:00

Directly south of Strathaven, in a hidden bend of the Avon Water, lies a fairy mound that local people still venerate.

We met a local family there who according to tradition always walked three times sunwise around the mound to show their respects to the fairies. We did the same again this time and also planted some crystals around it.

Fee and I climbed to the top of the mound to discover that careless people had started a fire up there and burnt all the bushes while leaving broken bottles and litter lying all around. We cleaned up all the litter and broken glass, and then sent healing to the place. I guess that was why we had been drawn there?

We found the magical entrance to the fairy mound on the north side, but decided not to enter at this time...

Schiehallion - The Fairy Hill of the Caledonians

2010-09-23T06:48:00.000-07:00

There are many legends associated with this mysterious mountain in the centre of Scotland, but I was interested in finding a magical cave in its flank called 'Uamh Tom a'Mhor-fhir' which has much local folklore attached to it concerning the fairies:

"Of all the caves in the Parish, the most remarkable is that at Tom a Mhorair, on the south side of Glenmore, near the west shoulder of Schiehallion. It has a fairly wide opening which extends for three or four yards. It then contracts and slants into total darkness in the bowels of the earth. Some miles to the east of this there is another opening, which tradition holds to be the other end of the cave. According to the traditional accounts, this cave was regarded as an abode of fairies and other supernatural beings, rather than a hiding place of mortals. The only men who were supposed to have lived there were individuals who were believed to have been in league with supernatural powers."

"Two hump-backed men lived on either side of the mountain, one near Braes of Foss and the other near Tempar. One fine summer's eve, the man from Braes of Foss went to visit his friend, walking through Gleann Mor. As he approached the cave - Uamh Tom a'Mhor-fhir - he heard the singing and dancing of fairies. He was totally thrilled and joined in the song in a melodious voice, adding a new line. The fairies were delighted with the addition and gave him three gifts - that he would be tall and lose his hump, that he would be healthy and that he would have plenty until he died."

"There is a famous cave at the foot of Schiehallion where, tradition has it, fairies loved to dwell. There, it is said mortals from time to time dwelt among them, and interesting stories are told of the strange ways in which they were rescued from their power. Behind Schiehallion, again, on Creag Chionneachan, is one of the spots where the old Fingalian warriors were supposed to lie on their elbows awaiting the third blast of the horn that is to raise them to life again."

"…Schiehallion (3,547 feet)- i.e. the hill of the Daoine Shi or the Fairies' Hill. If all the tales one hears related by old natives of Rannoch could be fully relied on, Schiehallion in days of yore used to be a favourite resort of the fairy folks, and more especially once a year, when all the various tribes throughout Glenlyon, Rannoch, Strathtummel, etc. congregated. Here they used to assemble in large numbers and hold their annual convocation, presided over by the beautiful and accomplished Queen Mab, gorgeously arrayed in her favourite green silk robes, with her abundant crop of beautiful golden-yellow hair waving in long ringlets over her shoulder down to her waist. It is said that there are a long series of mysterious caves, extending from one side of the mountain to the other."

"There is a very remarkable cave near the south-west angle of Sith-chaillinn [Schiehallion], at the 'Shealing,' called Tom-a-mhorair, or the Earl's eminence. Some miles to the east, there is an opening in the face of a rock, which is believed to be the termination thereof. Several stories are told and believed by the credulous, relating to this cave; that the inside thereof is full of chambers or separate apartments, and that, as soon as a person advances a few yards, he comes to a door, which, the moment he enters, closes, as it opened, of its own accord, and prevents his returning."

Well it doesn't get any more intriguing than that! So I set off into the mountains and managed to find a very rocky 4x4 track that led up from Fortinghall almost to the base of Schiehallion.

After about 10 very bumpy kilometers I reached the end of the track and continued through the boggy ground on foot.

I then had to cross a small river to reach the old shielings where in times gone by the herders would have spent the summer with their sheep.

I performed a small ceremony by one of the shielings and was met by Faery Queen Mab dressed in her green robes with long flowing golden hair. She told me to spread the word and publicise my faery knowledge, not to keep it secret.

I always remembered what Queen Mab told me, but wasn't really sure how to proceed with it, and have always been worried that publicising these sites would ruin them somehow and take away their magic.

I spent the rest of the afternoon looking for the cave, but no matter how hard I tried I could not find it! This really was a magical cave, perhaps it was hiding itself from me!

After speaking with the gamekeeper I returned the next day to try to find the cave again, and again it eluded me! I remembered the tales about how upon entering the cave the doors will close behind you and you won't be able to get out again, so maybe I was being protected from finding it! Or maybe the fairies were just playing games with me?

I have read several accounts of people finding this cave, including the gamekeeper's own, but so far have not been able to find a single photo of it on the internet, despite its fame! Mysterious indeed! Maybe the time will be right for me to return someday...

Merlindale

2010-09-21T05:08:00.000-07:00

Merlindale is the place asscoiated with the story of "Merlin of the Woods". This is not the powerful wizard from the Arthurian tales, but a crazy wild man who lived like an animal in the woods near Drumelzier in Scotland.

The famous early medieval historian Geoffrey of Monmouth joined these two tales together, claiming that in his later years Merlin became a mad hermit and disappeared into the forests of Scotland.

I had come to Merlindale to attend a course to learn more about this Merlin and make some kind of spiritual connection.

During the course I had a vision of a white castle where I met with Merlin. He gave me a magical compass which I should use to find the correct locations to bring down energy. This energy would be a kind of life force which would beam down to Earth from an extra-terrestrial source to animate the land and the life here.

I had no idea then how significant this was to become, and did not pay much attention to it at the time.

After our meditations we then climbed the nearby hill, on top of which stood crumbled and blasted stone remains of Tinnis castle. We performed a ceremony up there and made offerings of gold to the dragon.

I could see the dragon sleeping beneath the hill, representing the powerful Earth energies there. Lines of power connecting him to other similar sites.

Earlier on I had made myself a wand made from hazel wood and carved with runes. I placed my wand on top of the hill and Merlin sent down a powerful column of white light, filling my wand with energy.

*****

The next day I returned alone to Tinnis castle. Legend has it that the castle was blasted apart by gunpowder but I saw something quite different as I looked into the past. A column of white light, like an enourmous lightning strike, crashing into the castle from above and blasting it apart... What the reason was for this I could not discern, but it seemed to have something to do with Merlin.

From the top of the castle I surveyed the landscape laid out before me. I could see the river winding its way through the valley bottom and in front of it I could just make out a standing stone, known as Merlin's standing stone.

I climbed down from the hill and in the stone wall of the farm opposite I found a gap which folklore has it was made to allow free passage for the fairies as it lies on a fairy pathway. I wondered if the fairy pathway led to the standing stone, as it seemed to be heading in that direction?

I then visited the standing stone and got a great view from there looking back to Tinnis castle. Could this be lying on a ley line?

I visited a couple more sites associated with Merlin of the Woods, including Merlin's grave by the river, which I couldn't find, and Merlin's altar stone, which to me felt like it had been used for animal sacrifice.

Merlin of the Woods was clearly a druid as in the tale he dies the classic druidic triple death: "Myrddin Wyllt prophesied his own death, which would happen by falling, stabbing, and drowning. This was fulfilled when a gang of jeering shepherds drove him off a cliff, where he was impaled on a stake left by fishermen, and died with his head below water."

Cup & Ring Marked Stone

2010-08-29T04:20:00.000-07:00

While up in Dumfries and Galloway I visited one of the local cup & ring marked stones.

As I sat by the stone I had a vision of Neolithic people grinding these grooves by hand using a rounded rock, and as they did so they were putting energy into the land at a point in the distance. Once they had carved the central cup then they amplified its power by carving the ring marks around it. New cup marks had to be created each time they performed this ceremony, which explained why there were so many of them covering so many rocks.

I later discovered that many dowsers hold the same belief, that cup-marked rocks somehow transfer energy from points of power to where it is needed. Dowsers have been able to follow these energy lines and find features on the landscape that correspond to the cup marks.

St. Ninnian's Cave

2010-08-28T04:04:00.000-07:00

I heard about St. Ninnian's cave from Damh the Bard at the Artemis Gathering. "It is said you can hear the voice of God in there," he told us, "and it's true!" Intrigued I decided to pay a visit, so on my next trip to Scotland I took a detour to Dumfries and Galloway.

Unfortunately I arrived there at the worst possible time. Once a year the local bishop holds a service in the cave and as I arrived they were just setting up the marquee and stage! I wandered inside the shallow sea cave anyway and had a look at some of the old rock carvings and christian offerings that had been left there, and after a while the people setting up the stage wandered off, so I had the place to myself at last.

As I lay down in the back of the cave the hooded form of a monk entered. It was St. Ninnian! He had come here to explain to me the true meaning of 'Christ consciousness'. He said that attaining Christ consciousness is the realisation that we are all spiritual beings and that matter as we perceive it is not real. The Christian cross is the symbol of this, it represents the death of the physical body and awaking to the realisation of Christ consciousness. The crucifixion of Christ was simply an allegory showing that Christ rejected his physical body and embraced totally the spiritual. The early Celtic church were aware of this, and did not take the bible literally as people did later on.

It was quite a revelation and made me look at Christianity in a whole new light. People have a terrible habit of taking allegorical tales literally and this has caused so much strife and confusion over the centuries. Once we understand that everything is spiritual, and that the material world of our five senses is just an illusion, then we will realise that no religious texts should be taken literally, we should always be looking for the deeper, spiritual meanings behind them.

Combe Hollow, Badgers and Wasps

2010-08-19T02:04:00.000-07:00

I went for a walk one evening down Combe Hollow, in the woods near Compton Dundon, Somerset. There I found some badger sets covered in old vines, with many trackways used by the badgers radiating out in all directions.

I walked around the woods until dusk and then was drawn to an old tree stump down a steep slope in the bottom of the hollow. I scrambled down to inspect it and then sat on top of it meditating. What had drawn me here I wondered? I walked around the tree stump several times until I noticed a hole at the base of it, I peered inside the hole and deep inside, at about arm's length was wedged a plastic bottle! How did that get in there? I reached inside and tried to pull the bottle out but it was firmly wedged in, I wriggled it around and pulled harder and finally it came out. It was clear that it had been there for a long time.

So what was the point of that? I sat there looking at the tree stump and wondered... and as I sat looking small wood wasps started to fly from the hole which I had just made. First one or two, and then dozens of them! I panicked at first until I realised that they meant me no harm! It's strange but there were definately no wasps here when I had first inspected the tree stump. Had I released them? I certainly sensed that they felt happy to be freed. It reminded me of the fairies I had released while up in Scotland. What strange compulsion had led to me this remote tree stump to free these wasps, and what significance did it have?

As I walked back in the near darkness, pondering these thoughts, I heard some snuffling in the undergrowth. I stood stock still and after a while a badger appeared on the bank right opposite me. We stood staring at each other for while and exchanged greetings. He didn't have much else to say so we moved on...

Glourourem Wood, Faery Wizards

2010-08-08T01:31:00.000-07:00

During this visit to Scotland Fee took me to visit her local faery woods. We drove to Biggar Common, parked near Glourourem Wood and then walked over to where two trees formed a magic gateway. We left an offering there of chocolate, (but apparently they would have prefered cheese!) and were then given permission to step through...

Some kind of gatekeeper escorted us through the liminal zone. It was important that we remembered which way we came through this part as didn't want to get lost in faeryland! Fee said that we were being taken to a part of the wood that she hadn't been to before. We came to another gateway and after waiting to get permission we stepped through.
I was letting Fee lead the way and wasn't really tuned in at this point, so most of what I'm relating is what Fee was describing to me.

We were met inside by three faery wizards. These are the tall, human-sized fairies known as the Sidhe or Seelie Court Faeries.They asked us for our help and said they wanted us to work for them. After we agreed we both had a wand implanted in our hearts. They told us that we would now become more sensitive to the pollution in the environment, and chemicals in our food etc. (As presumably they were too?) They told us that the time was coming when their power would return, and that we were to aid them in this.

We then carefully made our way back out of the woods, ensuring that we took exactly the same route that we had entered by.

Lindsaylands Hill, Fairy Releasement

2010-08-07T03:14:00.000-07:00

Taking my friend's dog out for walk in the hills of the Scottish borders I found the ruins of some old stone-built houses beneath a hill that was capped with a few sparse trees and rocky outcrops. I climbed up to the summit and beneath the roots of one of the trees I found a large rabbit hole. The hole looked quite magical and inviting so I decided to journey into it using the shamanic techniques I had learnt. The result was nothing like I expected though...

I had trouble entering the hole as it seemed to be blocking me somehow. So I mentally removed the blockage and instantly out of the hole shot hundreds fairies, glowing with a bright white light! They shot up into the sky in a seemingly endless stream, as if being blown aloft on huge column of rushing air. Finally the gushing stream of glowing fairies came to an end and they all drifted high up in the sky like seeds blown from a dandelion clock, spreading as far as the eye could see in all directions. Slowly they drifted back down to Earth settling like snow, or cherry blossoms, or all over the land, reinvigorating it and bringing it back to life.

Findhorn and the ancient Caledonian pine forests

2010-08-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

Driving up to Findhorn to attend a course to learn more about the elementals I took a detour through the ancient Abernethy pine forest.

These ancient woodlands are remarkable, the trees are huge and gnarly, and have plenty of open space between them to wander around in. They are nothing like the impenetrable mono-culture plantations that we are all depressingly familiar with. But unfortunately these forests are dying; overgrazing from sheep and deer mean that almost no new trees are growing. Eventually the existing pines will die of old age and there will be no more ancient pine forest remaining. Only drastic culling of the wild deer or the reintroduction of natural predators such as wolves can sort out this problem.

I drove all the way through the forest in my 4x4 and came out the other side high up on the wild Ryvoan Pass overlooking Glen More.

Ancient pine trees still clung to the hillsides up in this wild, remote place. I chose one particularily huge specimen, sitting there like a sentinel overlooking the pass, and tuned in to its energy.

The pine trees were retreating but they were not dead yet. Some healing and some energy will facilitate regrowth and resurgence, and the recolonisation of the land by wild nature.
Arriving in Findhorn for my courses I learned more about connecting with nature spirits and elementals. On saturday we tuned in to the nature spirits in the gardens there and got messages from Pan, and then on sunday we went to the beach to meet the mermaids, spirits of the ocean. Amazingly some seals were already there waiting for us, heads bobbing out of the water as they inspected us. To me this was greeting enough from the ocean spirits! I waded out into the deep icy-cold water to greet them back.

On the way back from Findhorn I decided to visit another ancient pint forest, this time in Glen Affric.

I camped alone high up in the valley and was awoken in the dead of night by a strange whorling sound like nothing I had ever heard, and it was coming from right outside my tent!

"WhooWhooWHOOwoowoowoowoowoowoo!"
"WhooWhooWHOOwoowoowoowoowoowoo!"

A eerie noise like that made by a bullroarer or sound hose.

I poked my head out of the tent but could see nothing. The sound seemed to be coming from near and far at the same time. I climbed out and followed the sound into the trees where I was sure it was coming from, but I didn't seem to be getting any closer. I ended up following the sound in all directions for a couple of hundred yards but found nothing. Sometimes it sounded like something was flying right around my head! Freaky!

The next day I explored more of the valley and then went to Plodda falls. They have built a platform there so you can stand right over the gushing water!

I climbed to the bottom of the falls and stared up into the cascading stream of water.

I felt myself enter the top of the waterfall and dancing with all the tiny water sprites that drew their energy from rushing and cascading water. Behind the waterfall there seemed to be a passage leading into the realm of Faerie. I started to enter but at this stage didn't feel confident enough to go far. What if I couldn't find my way back?

I would leave that experience for another day...