The Soul Of The Land

The Castle of Arianrhod "Arianrhod was sent for, and, as soon as she arrived Math said, 'Girl, art thou a virgin?' Arianrhod replied, 'I do not know but that I am.' Then he took his magic wand and bent it. 'Step over this' said he 'and if thou art a virgin I shall know.' Arianrhod stepped over the wand, and a baby boy with yellow hair dropped out from beneath her skirts. She made for the door. Another little something dropped out from under her..." Arianrhod is the virgin who isn’t – who says that she is but in fact bears two – maybe three – children: Dylan, the ‘son of the waves’, Lleu, the magical child and, by some accounts, Nwyvre (meaning atmosphere, space.) Her myth enacts the question: how does something come out of nothing? Why is there anything at all? It is a ‘myth of origins’, a remnant of the ancient native tradition of philosophy in these islands, which did ask the big questions and was not about floating in the Celtic twilight, twanging harps and composing ogham odes. So where is Arianrhod’s Castle? There are various ways of answering this question. It can be seen as an ethereal, crystalline structure, floating out on the western horizon of the sea, glinting in the dawn light as it slowly revolves. We could say it lies off the Welsh coast, at a place called Tregar Antbrag on the Lleyn peninsula. Folklore tells us that there is a lost city out in the western sea which can only be seen at certain times. And, one might add, by certain people, in certain specific states of consciousness. Maybe at dawn or at dusk. Maybe when the inner eye is opened. More of that later. We could say it is in the stars, specifically in the constellation Aurora Borealis, also called Caer Arianrhod, a semi-circle of stars hanging above the head of the Serpent. Have a look and see if you recognise it. You can take a trip there now – go ...and return. Now close your eyes, relax your breathing, and imagine yourself standing on that beach. It is dawn, smell the air, feel the sand under your feet. Look out towards the horizon and see the castle. Go there. There is a guardian at the gate. What do you have to do to pass the guardian? What is the interior of the castle like? Notice particularly the atmosphere… The quality of the light. Are there any presences? Explore but do not stay too long. Notice the effect of this place on your body. Now return via the guardian to the beach And open your eyes. Another way of seeing Arianrhod’s castle is as everything you perceive, the world you make with all your senses at every moment. Taliesin the bard claims he spent three spells in Arianrhod’s prison. Which makes sense – we create a prison for ourselves in every moment by limiting our perceptions – we repeat, we do not live. Can we learn to do otherwise? The poet Blake wrote ‘if the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to us as it is, infinite’. Can we transform this prison into an observatory, from which we can see the suburbs of the infinite, the other worlds? Can we make of it a vehicle to travel to the Otherworld? Between sleeping and waking she builds her domain… Or.. is the Crystal Palace inside us? There is a place in the centre of the brain which the Taoists actually call ‘the Crystal Palace’. It’s between the pineal gland and the pituitary, between the old brain at the back and the new brain at the front of the head, between the left and right hemispheres, sitting above the two wings of the mysterious ventricles. It’s said that when the pineal gland is activated it becomes illuminated like thousands of shining crystals, able to receive light from the universe. For more on this go to www.alchemylab.com/circulation_of_the_light.htm If you look at a model of the ventricles you will see they look like a flying dragon, with two wings, a head and body between them, the tail leading into the spinal cord. There are ways and means to ride this dragon, to make the Crystal Palace shine and turn. What might we be, if we could do that? I am talking, not of more of the same, but something of completely different order. Between sleeping and waking, she builds her domain… To get there you must learn to be awake on the very edge of sleep and you must be prepared to live on that edge for as long as it takes… For the navigators of the infinite to find you…