Lydford Gorge
Stuart Dow leads a Group of DFesters
through Lydford Gorge
. . . and so it was that a nicely manageable party of ten intrepid dowsers assembled at Lydford Gorge on the Sunday morning of DFest 2018 for a walk, talk and dowse along that stretch of the Michael Line.
Lydford Gorge, the deepest in the south west, was formed by a process known as ‘River Capture’, whereby a spring or a nearby river eroded backwards and downwards, until its origin intersected with the River Lyd, diverting its course into a second channel.
There was once a Bronze Age fort in the forest above the gorge. Hut circles and other ancient remains from this period lie beneath the present day village and its Norman fort mound.
Lydford was part of Alfred the Great’s defensive network against the Danes in the 880s – and the village is still discernibly laid out in the classic crossed lanes shape that Alfred learnt during his time in Rome.
Aelfthryth, who was born in the Castle in 945, married Edgar 1st, and thus became the Queen of England. The town was of great strategic importance then, and it also minted its own currency. In 997 it was sacked by Vikings, who had plundered their way up the river Tamar, burning Tavistock Abbey on their way.
The first church at Lydford was of ‘Celtic’ Christianity, and it was a natural evolvement of the practices of the earlier druid/shamen priests, who would have worshipped at the Gorge. As a result of the raids, by the Middle Ages the town had shrunk, and had become a dangerous backwater. In 1644, William Brown, writing in his ‘A Lydeforde Journey’, described the gorge as:
“near to the Gubbins caves, a peoples that have no knowledge of law, of God, or man; whom Caesar himself never subdued, whose lawless lives are of manners rude. All savage in their den . . . by whom, if any pass that way, they dare not find the least time to stay, for presently they would howl, upon which their signal they do muster, their naked forces in a cluster, led forth by Roger Rowle”.
At the head of the Gorge, past the present road bridge is a pool and hidden caves. Once the pool was known as Rowle’s Pool, now sadly misnamed Tucker’s Pool. It is there that these outlaws made their primitive abodes.
It is believed by some that these ‘Gubbins Folk’ came about as a result of jesuit priests and others, who had served under King Charles during the Civil War, and had hidden from the Puritan forces – thus becoming infamous as ‘The Robin Hoods of Dartmoor’. Personally, I feel that the subtle, but powerful, effects of the Michael earth energy, channelled and intensified by this Gorge, had much to do with the power and naked lawlessness of these outlaws.
Much later, the present ‘Castle’ – which was actually built as a courthouse and prison – became known as a place of great dread. It was described as “one of the most heinous, contagious and detestable places in the whole realm”.
I think that is a good lesson about the power of ‘intent’ created on an energy line. We have a choice . . . and thus it is wise to go in peace in love and light upon this planet that we all share.
I handed each of the group a map showing the course of the Michael Energy, and we set off on the three-mile walk, taking in the beauty of the woodland. Halfway towards the White Lady Falls, people were beginning to zone in on the genius lociof the area. They had picked up the dowseable energy of a curious granite stone way-marker, with a backwards S carved beautifully into it. This Stone is an enigma. It has chakras, and appears to be placed on an energy line. Some found it severe and dark, others felt fine and were happy there.
As we approached the White Lady Falls, everyone appeared to notice the change in ‘vibe’, and soon we were tracking the course of Michael as we descended into the floor of the Gorge. At the foot of the Falls, where everyone stopped and gazed in rapture, is a beautiful, sparkling energy and undoubted healing presence, where the Lady conjoins with the coursing Michael Energy.
It took us quite a while to move from this place but, given the time schedule, we all continued along the woodland path by the river, with the Michael energy beside us creating a feeling of the ‘Otherworld’.
Further along, where the path crosses the river and also the Energy, there is a tunnel. Here, some found their dowsing rods spinning wildly! It was a wonderful to see the sheer joy on the faces of the dowsers.
We tracked, by this time more wearily, on through ‘Pixies Glen’ to the highlight of the walk, the Devil’s Cauldron.
At this point some left, as time was pressing on for lunch, but the more adventurous, bravely descended into the narrow gap between rails and rock down into the river chasm – with the near-deafening sound of the water assaulting their ears and senses. Rods were once more spinning wildly for some, as we were right in the middle of the funnelled, and thus accentuated, power of the Michael Line. At this point it’s a force to be reckoned with!
Here, I explained that the Devil’s Cauldron – no doubt named by a jealous church – should be renamed ‘The DIVINE Cauldron’! A chalice of white surging water, and of white noise – the sound of PURE energy!
I then spoke of our progression through the Ages, from Pisces (and of being ‘a fish in water’) to Aquarius (and of being ‘at one with water’) and that water IS life – and thus also the essence of pure Love.
I then asked everyone to spend a few minutes in silent meditation and gratitude amongst the deafening energy of the white noise, before climbing out of our Otherworld and back to the everyday world above.
Stuart Dow June 2018