The Hero’s Journey – Friday, May 6th, 2022…
Castlerigg Stone Circle
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“…Will you forge the straight track for us, old friend?”
Merlin asked the giant.
Ogmios’ eyes gleamed in the starlight.
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The straight tracks, a term which Alfred Watkins introduced to the world in his seminal work, The Old Straight Track, are now better known as leys.
When last we ventured to Castlerigg for a workshop we were considering the Belinus-Elen line which runs along the spine of the country from Dragon Hill in Old Wiltshire, and passes through a number of sites in Cumbria, which once formed a part of Old Scotland.
Although we ended our workshop at Castlerigg we were acutely aware that it did not form a part of that ley.
As it turned out Castlerigg is on what is known as The Ogmios Line, along with Callanish, on the Outer Hebridean Isle of Lewis, which we have recently visited, and Maiden Castle, the gigantic earth-worked hill-fort which formed the end point of our Dorset workshop in the summer of 2018.
Given that the tracks which Watkins studied were primarily concerned with travel on land, The Ogmios Line, which now passes over sea, must be very old indeed.
In Irish mythology Ogmios is also known as Ogma-Sun-Face and he was credited with the invention of the Ogham letters of the druidic tree alphabet.
As a god of eloquence Ogmios was often depicted as an aged figure with a line of acolytes literally hanging from his every word. Their ears being linked, by golden chains, to his tongue!
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The 3D brass representation of Castlerigg and her surrounding hills
which, once but sadly, no longer adorns the precincts of the circle.
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After directing our Companions to the sanctuary of the ego (Devil) the call to adventure came as an invitation to cross the threshold into their subconscious (Magician) and then into the hidden other world (Hermit) by performing two gestural keys drawn from the tarot images…
With the thresholds successfully breached our Adventurers were now free to seek the boons they sought in the world of spirit (Fool)…
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Calanais Stone Circle – A golden chain-of-stones
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… “Whither goest thou, Priest of the Sun?”
“I go hence to the High Place for the soul is in need.”
“What is that need?”
“The need is Light.”
“And what will you give for the passage?”
“I will give my Self.”
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The labyrinthine-like walls of Maiden Castle
France & Vincent 