I lived through this

You gain strength,
courage, and confidence
by every experience in which
you really stop
to look fear in the face.
You are able to say to yourself,
“I lived through this horror.
I can take the next thing
that comes along.”
… You must do the thing you
think you cannot do.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 – 1962)

The Grey Mare and her Colts

I stumbled upon this ancient site by accident. On my way to another nearby site (more of that another day), and walking along a hedgeline, at first I thought I was looking at a derelict farm building, the blocks were so prominent it just didn’t ‘look’ like an ancient megalithic chambered long barrow…… but it drew me in….

The Grey Mare and her Colts

On closer inspection the stones were observed to be part of a larger complex. There is clear evidence of a barrow, and lots of smaller stones in and around the main still standing stones.

In my photo (sorry about the poor quality but its from my phone), the nearest stone is diamond shaped, reminiscent of stones I saw at Avebury recently. I’ve been reading that this shape is thought to represent the ‘female’?

The two standing stones stand next to the collapsed capstone, and are each easily over 7ft. With my dowsing pendulum I think I picked up a leyline. I certainly got some distinctive readings that seemed to be pointing towards the nearby village of Martinstown.

This is a lovely site, isolated, away from the nearby path (I didn’t see a soul all day), and with wonderful views across rolling hills. I’ll be coming back that’s for sure, but today, I was heading off on another adventure.

The Corscombe Stones

What a lovely find this site is. My thanks go out to Peter Knight (well known local Dorset author) whose book, ‘Ancient Stones Of Dorset’ has been an inspiration for me to get off the beaten track and to explore the lesser known ancient sites within my county.

The stones are just outside the village of Corscombe, which in itself is midway between Maiden Newton and Crewkerne. Unusually, this ancient site is in a valley!!! Think about it, I know I have, and I can’t think of another site that’s not on the high land. This one is a beauty. It’s quite hard to find, so persevere, and you will be rewarded. 

Corscombe Stones

In a sheltered valley, I had the place to myself for several hours with just the sheep for company. I found it magical and felt real energy and power off of two of the stones, one was even warm to the touch.

The site has three main sections, the main standing stones (3 in total), a small cluster to the side of the main stones, and two stones which stand apart from the rest by some 50 meters (in this first image I am standing by these two stones, looking over towards the three standing stones).

There are several different ‘feels’ to the site which I find hard to put into words. The best way to describe my feelings are as follows: 
I  felt calm standing and touching the two stones that were set apart.
I felt warm and full of love when by the small cluster.
I felt odd when touching the three main stones.
Sorry if thats confusing or unimaginative… but thats the best I can do!!

Corscombe Stones

There are of course local legends and associations connected with the site, some of which have labelled one of the three standing stones as ‘The Devil’s Chair’.  There are certainly some unusual shapes here, one of which is the central of the three stones which has a pointy look to it, some would say reminiscent of the stones at Avebury, although the truth (if ever we could define it) is likely to tell us that the site is probably a chambered long barrow.  But why was it built in a valley and not in a prominant position on any of the nearby hills? Having said that, research by several local people has established a leyline linking the site right back to Milton Abbas Abbey.

It’s all a mystery really, but then I guess that’s all part of the attraction isn’t it?

Corscombe Stones

One of my favourite moments was discovering that one of the stones has a distinctive hole? I have no idea what to make of that!!!

My dowsing pendulum went into overdrive…. way to much information for me to decipher, so this is going to be a site I will HAVE to come back to a few more times. The wonderful thing about the site though is that coming back here is hardly going to be a problem…. it’s going to feel like visiting an old friend.

To Love

“To love is to risk not being loved in return.
To hope is to risk disappointment.
But risks must be taken because the greatest risk in life
is to risk nothing at all.
The person who risks nothing, does nothing,
sees nothing, has nothing and is nothing.
He cannot learn, feel, change, grow, love and live.”

Arthor Unknown

Orbs and other Light Anomalies

I went along to the Bournemouth PLG group the other week to hear Sandra Chattaway give a talk on Orbs. The group are a friendly bunch, and this was my second visit in as many weeks so I started to know and be recognised by a few of the members, it all helps!!!

Orb

Sandra’s talk was a deeply personal journey through her ten year plus experiences of strange ‘light anomalies’, many of which she defined as ‘orbs’.

There were several shapes that were astonishing and which were hard NOT to describe as ‘fairy’ like.

Nearly all of Sandra’s images were taken from one location in Poole that she particularly connected with, and she encouraged the audience to go and have a go at capturing an image on film.

All good stuff, resulting in my needing to discover more so as to understand what it is I am seeing and hearing.

I was at an unrelated seminar this week in Dorset when I bumped into Lorna Heath. This is the lady who had held a talk in Sherborne which got me started, and here I was able to have a good chat with her all to myself. I love her unassuming approach to the subject. She doesn’t label anything and leaves it for YOU to try and interpret what you are seeing.

Hellstone Barrow

This is supposedly one of Dorset’s best known Neolithic monument… and to think, I’d never even heard of it, let alone set my eyes on it, until today that is!!

Hellstone Barrow

The Hellstone Barrow is in fact Dorset’s last surviving Dolmen with the capstone and chambers intact. Believed to have been erected around 4,000 BC, its on the Ridgeway running between Abbotsbury and Weymouth, just above Portesham, and is probably the oldest manmade structure still standing in Dorset. It’s remarkably close to a main road, but deceptively hard to find, so make sure you have a guide book of some kind with you.  I was fortunate on my visit to be the only person there. I had it all to myself for over an hour, and found the atmosphere to be almost tangible.

The View From Inside The Hellstone Barrow

Consisting of nine verticle stones, or Orthostats, and a single huge capstone, estimated at 20 tons, its an amazing site to see on the edge of a ploughed Dorset field. You can squeeze inside to a chamber beneath the capstone, measuring around 9 x 5ft, and with it all to myself, I allowed my mind to drift and had a go at meditating.  I had a go at capturing the view across the rolling hills (see my picture).

The area is littered with cairns and tumuli, and just 50 yards to the east there’s a mound, cut in two by farming. A quick examination of the site found two large stones, one half buried…. connected? Who knows.

I dowsed for some time, and had all kinds of results (understanding them is the difficult bit), but one result that I was particularly pleased with was that I picked up on a ley line running from the stone, connecting with Maiden Castle and on to the church at West Stafford. I was pretty chuffed with myself.

I think this would be an amazing site to visit on an ink dark night, and plan to return to see how it all ‘feels’ under different circumstances.

A Kiss

“It is the passion that is in a kiss that gives to it its sweetness; it is the affection in a kiss that sanctifies it.”

Christian Bovée

Firm as a Rock

“Stand through life firm as a rock in the sea,
undisturbed and unmoved by its ever-rising waves”

Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882 – 1927)

A Returning Goddess

Keeping up with the wide and diverse variety of talks and seminars available to me, tonight, I am going to listen to a talk by John Akayzar entitled, “Harmony of the Returning Goddess”.

Don’t ask… I’ve no idea!!!

Turkish Delights

The walled obelisk - Istanbul

 I popped over to Istanbul in Turkey last weekend, to see the F1 Grand Prix with some chums. We had booked an off-the-track Hotel, and were going to just chill out in the city before and after the race…. keep it simple.

On the first evening, we wondered up the hill from our Hotel and found a quiet little restaurant, opposite a park. Settling down over a few local beers and waiting for our meze to arrive, imagine my suprise when I noticed this obelisk right opposite our table!!!!!

Known as the Walled Obelisk (also the Constantine Obelisk)its actually within the old Hippodrome of Constantinople (now Sultanahmet Square in Istanbul, Turkey). It’s an unusual looking thing, looking like its got stone cladding, and measures 32 m (105 ft)-high.

The exact date it was constructed is unknown, but it is named after Constantine VII after he repaired it in the tenth century. At that time, it was reportedly decorated with gilded bronze plaques that portrayed the victories of Basil I who was the grandfather of Constantine VII. Also there was a sphere at the top of obelisk. However, reportedly these gilded bronze plaques were stolen and melted down by Fourth Crusaders in 1204.

So, the question I found myself asking is this. Given that I have literally only just started thinking and talking about these things, is it a coincidence that I should bump into one on my first night in Istanbul?