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The White Goddess of Albion ~
Weaving Together the Spiral of Time |
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During a shamanic journey in March of 2005, I was invited into
the magical enigma of England’s crop circle phenomenon. I
visited my first crop circle in the summer of 2005 and have
returned every year since then. Over time, I have come to the
understanding that it is not relevant who the circlemakers are
or how the formations are made. These powerful designs in the
crop fields have become my guides in bridging the mythical realm
of the wisdom keepers with the energetic world of nature,
deepening my relationship with Spirit and all of life.
Prior to 2005, my professional life had been centered on human
to human engagement. Now I am learning
the amazing world of human to nature communication. I have found
that this human to nature connection is strongest at locations
where the
'veil
is thin between the worlds’
– sacred places. Having spent a
considerable amount of time in permanent sacred spaces like
Chichen Itza in Mexico, Machu Picchu in Peru, and Chartres
Cathedral in France, I find the crop circles to be a very unique
and different kind of sacred space. They are temporary sacred
spaces or as I like to call them, "temporary cathedrals". The
ephemeral aspects of the circles have provided me, through this
unique and mysterious human to nature engagement, with an
extraordinary opportunity to be directly taught by Spirit
through the heart of nature.
I have incorporated this knowledge into my private practice as a
shamanic practitioner and shamanic life coach. Every new crop
circle season has brought me invaluable insights and increased
my wisdom. The 2011 season was a good example of this.
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The Dragon Path Expedition ~ Journal Entry
May 2011
I was leaving a much needed private dinner at one of Wiltshire,
England’s gourmet restaurants with my husband and co-leader of the
2011 Dragon Path Expedition tour, Bert Janssen, when we had one of
those magical, mystical experiences that have, throughout the ages,
created and shaped the myths and legends of Albion, which means the
White Goddess or Great Britain.
We were half way through the Dragon Path Expedition tour
and had spent our dinner discussing the next few days. Usually, when
we have a tour in England, we’re chasing crop circles, but our
Dragon Path Expedition is a non-crop circle tour. This Expedition,
focuses on power places, medieval cathedrals, and the Michael and
Mary ley lines.
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| West
Kennet Long Barrow |
Avebury |
Salisbury Cathedral |
The Mary and Michael ley lines snake their way across the English
countryside following a linear heading, the ‘old straight track’ as
it is sometimes called, from Land’s End in Cornwall to Hopton in
Norfolk. Their trajectory, the average of the two lines courses, is
known as the Michael alignment. Some legends say these lines are the
source of all the magic in the English landscape. Many modern day
researchers identify them as the Ida (Mary), Pingala (Michael), and
Sushumna (Michael alignment) lines of the Yogis.
I can testify based on my many experiences
that, wherever these lines intersect with ancient sites, man-made
structures, or crop circles, magic happens! The Michael alignment
also has another name borne of mysterious legends. In ancient times,
it was called ‘The Dragon Path.’ For thousands of years in England,
these fascinating creatures of power and magic, the Dragons, have
been entwined with the legends of St. Michael and St. George. Now,
they are the namesake of our tour, Dragon Path Expedition.
Although this is our non-crop circle tour, secretly we were both
missing that crazy crop circle-chasing adrenaline. At dinner, we
agreed that if a crop circle was formed during the remaining days of
the tour and met several conditions, we’d take the group into it. We
were both certain that even if a formation appeared, it would never
meet all our conditions.
The Conditions:
• The formation would have to be located next to a power
place, cathedral, or dragon Line
• We’d need enough ‘free time’ in the itinerary for us to go to the
formation
• There’d be plenty of safe parking for our cars
• The formation had to be on the same side of the road as the
parking
• The farmer would need to welcome us into the formation
As we left the restaurant, I was ruminating about the rest of our
itinerary and all of our conditions for going into a crop circle.
Slowly smiling to myself, thinking that even on a “good”
circle-chasing day, those conditions are rarely all met.
I was just about to say something about this when I l saw two small
white birds sitting in our lane about a car width apart. “Watch
out!”
The Volvo went into a slide. A quick right turn set the antilock
brake system to screeching. I flashed back to a slalom downhill ski
race I had seen recently on TV. The announcer sounding like an
auctioneer,
“He’s through the top gates. He’s 30 seconds behind the winning
time. He’s about to do his famous ‘slice slide’ through the gates
knowing that if he barely kisses one of the poles, he will be
disqualified.”
Our Volvo was doing a slice slide through these two white birds like
they were the poles on a slalom course. My heart was pounding as I
gripped the sides of my seat so hard my hands cramped. As I let go
of the seat, Bert and I looked at each other.
“What was that?” he asked.
I shook my head, “I don’t know.”
We sat quietly as we drove through rural roads. Roads
with fields of crop on both sides; roads with some of England’s most
intriguing crop formations from this and past seasons.
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We were heading to our favorite night watch location called
‘the tires’ at the East Field. Even though we weren’t chasing
circles with our tour, we’re still croppies at our core, and maybe
tonight we’d witness something extraordinary. We were about a mile
from our destination when, majestically and gracefully, a white owl
did a rolling dive and flew in front of our car as if guiding us
somewhere. Knowing this must be a messenger, Bert, increased the
speed to keep up with the white owl.
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White Owl
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White Owl on post |
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Suddenly, the owl mysteriously disappeared. As if the car were
driving itself, we took a sharper than usual left turn and began
heading up Knapp Hill. We saw the white owl perched on a fence post
looking straight at us. Bert slammed on the brakes, pulled off the
side of the road and we got out of the car.
It was a crisp evening with an electric feel to the air. An
excitement began to build, as we approached the owl. Without a sound
it spread out its wings and, looking like a stealth fighter jet,
flew a few feet off the ground away from us.
Within seconds, I was seeing the ground get closer to me and then
further away. I realized I was seeing through the eyes of the white
owl as it flew over the undulating ground. I knew where it was
going. It was heading to the East Field. As I stood in the night
air, putting together the last ten minutes of wonder and chase, I
asked myself some questions.
First, how did we end up on the Knapp Hill Road when we were heading
to the East Field? Second, would we have corrected this mistake
without the white owl, who was sitting on the fence post, looking
like a sentry, radiating to us that we were on the wrong road? We
ran back to the car and in true Starsky and Hutch style, we were
back on the road with the pedal to the metal and another slice slide
to the left, over the knoll and safely at ‘the tires’ over-looking
the East Field.
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The East Field |
The owl was not to be seen. Had I made a mistake about
what route the owl was showing me? We sat at ‘the tires’ for 20
minutes talking about the evening and the significance of white
birds. We decided to head back to the hotel for some sleep since we
had to be up at sunrise for our visit to Stonehenge.
We were heading back down the same road and, as if out of nowhere,
our white owl guide was back, flying lead again in front of the car.
Not wanting to lose track of our messenger this time, Bert
accelerated to keep up with the owl. It made a swooping left turn
onto a dirt road which borders the side of the South Field. We
followed.
As the owl circled overhead, Bert exited the car to get a better
look. I was retrieving a flashlight from my back pack when I looked
up the dirt road to where Bert was standing.
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South Field dirt road |
What I saw made me instantly jump out of the car. “Bert, are you
alright? Are you Ok?” I shouted as I ran towards him, scaring off
the owl. Running past Bert up the crest of the dirt road, I must
have looked like a mad woman.
Bert came running up the dirt road, “What are you doing?” he managed
while bending over, grabbing his knees and panting.
“Didn’t you see it?” I whispered, short of breath myself. ”It was
huge!”
“See what?” Bert asked with an inquisitive look and more than a
ripple of surprise in his voice.
“That huge black, wild-looking cat-dog animal that came out of the
South Field and crossed the road right here! It disappeared into the
grass field on the other side.” I went on to explain its
characteristics; it had a large square head with pointed ears,
glowing red eyes, huge feet with long, pointy claws, and a body
about six feet long. It was completely black as the darkest night
and moved like it was stalking prey, the way a large wild cat moves.
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Hound Of Hell on crest of South Field dirt road |
“I thought it might hurt you, that’s why I came bolting out of the
car.” Bert thought it was cute that I ran up there to protect him
with my little LED flash light. Ok, well maybe it wasn’t the best
plan, but my intentions were good.
We looked around for the next half hour. We didn’t find any tracks,
which should have been prevalent since the ground was wet and you
could see our footprints. We looked all over the grass field with
our binoculars trying to detect any movement. We looked where the
animal came out of the crop to see if it had bent any wheat stems.
It seemed as if this large, black animal wasn’t in this dimension.
There were no tracks, no bending of crop, no movement in the field,
and no circling white owl overhead.
We slowly, uneventfully drove back to the hotel.
End of Journal Entry
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‘What kind of interesting experience will the Universe bring the
group today?’ ran through my mind as I poured cups of coffee into my
very sleepy body to make it to Stonehenge at sunrise.
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Stonehenge |
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We arrived at the guarded parking lot of Stonehenge and showed the
guards our reservation. The barriers were removed, and our cars
allowed into the parking lot.
Stonehenge is guarded 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and must be
booked a year in advance. It’s a great honor to go inside the stone
circle of Stonehenge. The guard escorted us into this cathedral of
stones while giving us the very long do’s and don’ts list. Actually,
there is only one Do. Do enjoy the stones by only looking at
them or taking pictures of them. The long list of don’ts starts with
– do not touch the stones at any time for any reason. I let a small
chuckle escape because the do’s and don’ts remind me of the
conditions that we agreed upon for taking the group into a crop
circle.
After our magical time in Stonehenge, we drive to Salisbury to visit
St. Thomas Church and Salisbury Cathedral.
We’re about to enter St. Thomas’ Church when one of our participants
says she was reading a book late last night, and kept feeling
compelled to share a certain part of it with the group.
After digging through her purse, she opened a little book about
legends and myths of Albion
“Here
it is,” she said, “the legend about the Hounds Of Hell.” She stood
on a bench outside the church to show everyone the pictures.
I almost faint. It is a picture of the large, wild black cat-dog I
saw last night. I get this strange voice in my head as if I am
transported back in years; I’m hearing one of my shamanic teachers
discuss the concept of circular time.
“This is where time bends and loops backwards and forwards on
itself. Physicists call this non-local. A shaman recognizes this is
sacred time, and that here she can influence events across space and
time. She knows there is no now versus then. There is no difference
between here and there. Everything happens simultaneously
everywhere. It’s like a dream where you get in a taxi in Paris, and
at exactly the same time you get out of that same taxi in New York.”
Thinking about this idea of non-local time, I’m wondering, what
occurred first? If time loops and bends on itself, did I see the
Hound of Hell in the book first – 12 hours after I saw it come from
the South Field? Did the future occur before the past? Is time
circular in Albion, like it is for the shamans? And, why did the
messenger, the white owl, want me to see this legend? Why did the
white owl ensure I was in the right place at the right time?
Consumed with my own thoughts, we enter St. Thomas’ Church, and I
begin explaining the symbolism in two stained glass windows. Far off
in the distance, I hear myself saying the Dragon stands for life force, prana. I can
hear my voice, but I’m aware I’m only catching a few sound bites
here and there as if I’m still caught in between the tick and the
tock racing around in the circle of time. It’s as if I’m on some
kind of autopilot while I explain, “Spiral…symbol that is found all
around the world etched into stone, a labyrinth laid out on the
ground…Dragon…life force, Ch’i…a symbol for the Goddess…For the
Christian mystics, the earthly aspect of the Holy Spirit is
symbolized by the Dragon, and the white dove is a symbol for the
heavenly aspects of the Holy Spirit.”
As we left the church for Salisbury Cathedral, I was thinking about
all the other beliefs around Dragons. Some researchers, like Jung,
believed that the Dragon is a symbol for our unconscious.
Other researchers that study Alchemy believe Dragons have their
roots in that science. There are so
many interpretations of the Dragon, from so many disciplines, since
the beginning of time. I wonder what the ‘real’ meaning is.
I soothed my ever inquiring mind during this walk
to the Cathedral by reminding myself that I was on the Dragon Path
Expedition, and there were a few more days left for messengers and
messages.
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Avebury |
re so
many interpretations of the Dragon, from so many disciplines, since
the beginning of time. I wonder wh
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We were following the feminine Dragon Ley
Line called Mary through the Avebury complex, or the serpent
temple as most researchers call it.
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Silbury Hill |
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Mary leaves the circular sanctuary of stones and travels
roughly one mile away to gently caress Silbury Hill with her
bluish electric serpentine energy before she heads across
the street to run straight down the axis of West Kennet Long
Barrow.
The Long Barrow is a five-chambered sanctuary built in a
perfect isosceles triangle, and tall enough to stand in.
It’s the oldest and longest, Long Barrow in Britain, and
fortunately still available for everyone to enjoy. The fifth
chamber can hold about 20 people and is a perfect stone
sanctuary for a shamanic journey. The West Kennet Long
Barrow was built around 3650 BC.
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West Kennet Long Barrow
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Thousands of ceremonies have been performed in this
exquisite stone cathedral, and the drumming awakens
all the ancient voices.
Legends say that the barrow is
often visited by a white shadowy creature sometimes
called the White Goddess accompanied by a large
white dog.
As we were walking to the Long
Barrow, I was thinking about the last few days,
wondering to myself what will be the focus of the
shamanic journey inside the Long Barrow today?
I like to let the shamanic
journeys in sacred power places be spontaneous and
not pre-meditated. The anticipation of not knowing
what I’m going to say makes for a more powerful
experience for all in the journey. I was curious
about what the guardian of the sacred temple would
be saying to me and hoping that it would be the
White Goddess whispering into my ear today.
As we approached the top of the
knoll that the Long Barrow sits on, there’s an angle
that looks like a Dragon’s head with its teeth
sticking up and out of the mouth.
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West Kennet Long Barrow dragon
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I was showing our group the Dragon’s head so
they could take photos, when I happened to
briefly glance over to the West Kennett
fields below the Long Barrow.
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I burst out with an excited joyful voice,
“What’s that?”
Bert turned and looked. He pulled out his
binoculars, and a smile appeared on his
face. He said, “That, my love, is a new crop
circle, and in the middle of it is a sign
with a money box on it that reads,
Welcome to the corn circle. We would welcome
a donation.”
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West Kennet Barrow |
West Kennet
crop circle
seen
from
Barrow
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Welcome sign from farmer |
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He pivoted, looked at me and said, “It’s amazing, but all
the conditions we set to go into a crop circle have been
satisfied.”
The formation was in a field next to a power place that we
were visiting. There was plenty of safe parking, and we
didn’t have to cross a busy road. The parking and the circle
are on the same side, and we have time in our schedule later
today. Finally, the farmer is welcoming us into the
formation with his sign and donation box.
Bert could see through his binoculars that the formation was
a perfect spiral. With an arm around my shoulder, he pulled
me aside and said, “We should let them go in.
After all, they are
on the Dragon Path
Expedition.”
I looked towards the formation and was deep in thought about
all the connections. The Mary Dragon Line goes straight
through the axis of the West Kennet Long Barrow, runs down
the hill across the field, and through the center of the
crop circle. The formation was in the shape of a beautiful
perfect spiral which is also the symbol of the Dragon, the
Goddess, and more.
I smile to myself, as I think, ‘Of course, it has to
be a spiral.’ What other shape would let us know that the
CircleMakers are communicating with us during the
Dragon Path
Expedition?
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West Kennet spiral crop circle |
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We had started the tour lecturing about how the Dragon’s
ancient symbol as a spiral is found all around the world
etched into stone, painted on walls, laid out on the belly
of Mother Earth in labyrinths around the world, and much
more.
Just
like with the Hound of Hell, what came first? The
CircleMakers creating the spiral formation or us naming the
tour the ‘Dragon Path Expedition’? Also, in what order did
the conditions occur for going into a crop circle, us
creating our conditions or the CircleMakers informing us,
backwards in time, of the conditions at the West Kennet
formation? I had suspected at Salisbury that there’d be more
messengers on this tour, and I knew this crop circle was one
of them.
Of course, that crazy frantic circle-chasing feeling started
to pulse through my veins, and I agreed that we should all
go in.
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Adam and Eve Stones
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And so after the shamanic journey and a visit to the Adam
and Eve stones, we did
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The crop circle was a perfect spiral in young green barley
which feels like the wings of angels as you brush your hands
over the top of it. This formation was so precious, that
none of us stepped off the tram lines.
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Pole shots of West Kennet spiral crop circle
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Tram lines are made by the tractor when the field is
initially planted with the crop seed, and then used for
fertilizing later on. No one dared to actually explore the
formation. Everyone had the feeling that they were in the
Holy of Holies.
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2012 Dragon Path Expedition group in tram lines
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It was an amazing transcendental experience with a group of
people that are on a non- crop circle tour.
On the final morning of the tour as we’re closing the circle
for the May 2011 Dragon Path Expedition, one of the
participants said to me with a twinkle in her eye, “What
does it all mean – all the different experiences – backwards
and forwards in time?”
Startled, I looked at her, and I knew she was another
messenger. I gave her a hug and said, “I’ll let you know
when I know.”
After all the goodbyes, I spent the rest of the day
processing her question.
What did it all mean – all the different experiences –
backwards and forwards in time? I sat down in the lobby of
the hotel to map out the clues: Dragon, white owl, Hound of
Hell, Dragon Lines, West Kennet Long Barrow, and the spiral-
shaped crop circle.
First, I wrote down everything I knew about the white owl.
Athena, the Greek Goddess of Wisdom had a companion
white owl on her shoulder, which revealed unseen truths to
her. Native
Americans
associate the meaning of white owl with wisdom, foresight,
and keepers of sacred knowledge.
The Annwn of medieval Welsh tradition is an
otherworldly paradise, and there is this persistent myth of
the cauldron of Annwn. Some say the cauldron is a source of
everlasting life itself, just like Arthur’s Holy Grail.
The white owl is associated with the Goddess and wisdom as
well as being a messenger between the worlds. The otherworld
is a place, outside of our ordinary time, where the cauldron
of Annwn, or the Holy Grail, is guarded by the Hound of
Hell.
Could it be that the white owl is the one who brings an
initiate the invitation to enter Annwn? Is it possible that
the white owl is one of the gatekeepers to Annwn who can
open the doorway? If the white owl opens the gateway, does
the guardian of the cauldron of Annwn, the Hound of Hell,
make the decision who gets into the otherworld?
Was Gwenhyfar, the white owl, one of the messengers
that brought the knowledge of the cauldron of Annwn or the
Holy Grail, to Arthur? Did Gwenhyfar, invite me to enter
Annwn? And, if
so, what was the decision of the Hound of Hell? Since the
spiral, which is a symbol for the Goddess and universal life
force, was imprinted as a crop circle into the West Kennett
Field, could it be that there is a gateway into Annwn in the
ancient Long Barrow of West Kennet? Is that why the grail
myths are woven into the very fabric of Albion herself?
Is it possible that information from the future can ripple
backwards, information like the Hound of Hell in one of our
participant’s books, the spiral- shape of the formation at
West Kennet, and the conditions that must be met for our
tour group to go into a crop circle? If so, who or what from
the future was trying to get my attention?
Reminding myself what the shamans think about time, that it
is fluid and flows backwards and forwards simultaneously, I
wondered if this is the way time behaves in Albion as well--
sacred and circular? If this invitation to Annwn is true,
then time will tell, but not necessarily time in the future.
Since I have many more questions than answers, I have to go
back to the White Goddess. I must go back to Albion, the
white owl, and the gateway to Annwn. I invite you to travel
with Bert and myself to Albion on our 2012 Dragon Path
Expediton. Come with
us to meet the white owl and accept the invitation of the
White Goddess through the doorway of Annwn.
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