A joint Field Trip by
The Tamar, The Devon (and some Trencrom) Dowsers
The predictably unpredictable weather on Cornwall's largest plateau isn't always a disadvantage. With a metropolitan forecast of heavy showers all day, it was both pleasing and surprising that a thirty strong group of the more intrepid dowsers from the far south west were prepared to give it a go. They were not to be disappointed. Apart from a brisk splash just as we were stopping for lunch (I blame the organiser) we were all but rain-free.
Bodmin Moor may lack the profile and the scale of its larger sister to the east, but it has its own ambience and individuality. Despite being ravaged by the brutality of corporate industrialism in recent centuries, it has retained much of its archaeology, and certainly most of its energetic imprint, largely intact.
Our proceedings got underway with a minute's silence for our late colleague, Derek Scofield - a long standing participant with both the Tamar and the Devon groups. At a football match, the referee usually blows his whistle to signify the start and finish of such a brief contemplation. In this case, when I got to 57 seconds a large flock of rooks left some nearby trees in an emphatically noisy manner. Someone offered 'Cheerio Derek' - and I am sure Derek himself would have enjoyed both the poignant and the funny sides of that.
The triple stone circles that are The Hurlers is ancient Kernow's Stonehenge or Carnac. It has all the romantic charm of an abandoned cathedral, and its underlying imprint is as vital and impressive as any mediaeval edifice.
While we could have spent a whole weekend in the centre circle of the Hurlers, those attending concentrated on the aspects of the site which drew them most. As has been shown geologically, the three rings are situated precisely over a fault where two rock types are now juxtaposed. The junction is a naturally gentle arc - and the three circles describe it exactly. For all their reputed wisdom, those in the late Bronze Age would have had little access to, or interest in, underground rock formations, so this pattern indicates both the awareness of the builders to the etheric sensations emanating from their local geology, and an ability to discern them through information transfer alone. Whether we call that activity dowsing as such is a matter of opinion, but the end result is that bulky megaliths were erected to mark or focus the unseen natural forces of the earth. Over time, doubtless other features were added by successive cultures to depict astronomical alignments and incorporate a raft of water and other earth energy flows.
Our group looked at the impact of the crossing points of major earth energy alignments - including Mary/Michael in the centre circle and Arthur/Guinevere in the southern ring. Spirals and vortices, patterns and pictograms were all traced out and considered. There was much debate about the extent to which some (or all) of these lines move about over time - perhaps to the tune of the cosmic dance of planets and plasma. The recent dramatic solar activity was felt to have been particularly important in this respect.
There are leys and grid lines in abundance. It is a veritable library of earth and water energy features. This was particularly interesting for some of the less experienced dowsers, who were able to pick up tips and different areas of interest from those who have loitered longer in the landscape.
We discussed how the Michael and Mary lines seemed to move, yet the monoliths erected to define them are (presumably) essentially static.
Those of us who read The Sun and the Serpent back in the 1990s inevitably regarded it as a new 'bible' of line definition, but that was never the intention. Miller and Broadhurst just found what they found at that time. It gave us an inspiring new beginning, but we can stand on the platform they provided and develop our own understanding of what the earth energies are telling us today about our interconnection with the planet and the cosmos.
We looked at the pictograms, first highlighted by Hamish Miller in the upper circle, but then moved north past a fallen menhir, discovered almost accidentally by a local archaeological dig a few years ago, whilst they were looking unsuccessfully for a potential fourth circle. Our dowsing at the time of the dig had informed the debate about the absence of an another circle, but we did concur with the physical findings that this one stone was indeed a menhir - and formerly part of the main Hurlers complex.
However, this was a two-centred site visit, with many present not previously having visited the geologically-sculptured masterpiece that is the Cheesewring. Technically, there are several 'cheesewrings', with four others encircled by the boundary-work/rampart of Stowe's Pound. However, the largest and most impressive is the first we encountered - now seemingly balanced precariously on the edge of the 18th-20th Century stone quarry, which has so comprehensively removed much of the granite that once formed the southern slope of Stowe's Hill.
That The Cheesewring itself has survived at all may be a testament to the powerful protection of inanimate forces. Even battle-hardened stone cutters might have drawn the line at toppling such a remarkable structure with quite such an ethereal presence.
It is a natural phenomenon and despite, or perhaps because of it, various major lines cross here. A ley runs through it, and various lines of consciousness have been added over the centuries. It is as powerful as it is beautiful, and as enigmatic as it is energetic.
Nearby, is the fortified settlement of Stowe's Hill, established in the Bronze Age and with a hut circle village founded five millennia ago. Again, lines and flows of various kinds abound. There are a number of water-filled basins in some of the flatter rocks. To what extent these are convenient, but naturally eroded, geological features and how much human enhancement has been involved in their making was a further source of discussion.
The views from the Cheesewring, across much of East Cornwall and West Devon, and right out into The English Channel, were well worth the scramble in themselves, but the abundance of dowsable interesting features also made for much group bonding.
Throughout, novices picked up much information and many ideas from the older hands, while members of the various groups involved mixed and mingled, whilst chatting over areas of common interest. We even introduced a couple of slightly bemused Australians to our world. I expect they thought they had seen it all . . . !
Many thanks to DD Alan Murray for his administration - and to TD Pete Bousfield for his sketch maps and his introductory talks.
We agreed that it would be well worth organising some more joint events of this nature, especially as so many of us are now members of both groups.
Nigel Twinn
Tamar Dowsers/Devon Dowsers
July 2024
Comments