THE FRENCH CONNECTION

As I stood on the simple bridge over the Trevelo stream the realisation that I was on the same energy line that ran through our orchard was both exciting and daunting. I had to find out where the energy line travelled across the local landscape and how it was connected to Otterhead. Back at the farmhouse in Limerzel I started pouring over the local map. With a sharpened pencil in one hand and my walnut dowsing rod (1) in the other I started marking out the route of the energy line, which from  now on is referred to as the Dragon Line. The line followed streams and rivers but also crossed over land. I now know from working on more detailed maps that the line follows wells and springs. Once I marked the line I then looked for trees along its route. Trees had led me to the dragon line so I wanted know their connection. Dowsing along the line I found the sites of three trees on the map. I had to visit them but firstly I had to check on the route of the line.

I was dropped off at the well at St Clair to the North of Limerzel. The waters of the well are reputed to cure blindness. It was a surreal experience as there was a small red headed woman who supported herself on two sticks by the well. As my command of the french language is none existent I was unable to ask who she was so I assumed she was the guardian of the well. I left her by the well and walked the hill to the bridge that crossed the Trevelo stream. Standing on the bridge I checked and it was confirmed that I was standing on the same dragon line that ran through the Valle de Trevelo and the orchard at Otterhead. It also confirmed that I was standing on the centre of a dragon line that went one and a half miles in both directions. A three mile wide band of energy travelling across the landscape. There is a small chapel and a stone cross at St Clair. I dowsed the cross with its Romanesque carving and I was told it was carved in 1026AD. It was clear from all my feedback that the stream and the well is where the power lies. A power that is fundamental to life on earth.

As I walked along the stream path back to Limerzel I was approached by a very small red headed woman herding a single cow along the path. As I moved to one side I could see it was a wonderful cow. It was white with small black markings like jigsaws all over it. It looked at me with brown and yellow eyes showing no fear but its drover was very ill at ease as she passed me. It was only when they had disappeared down the path that I realised that the old woman at the well was waiting for them.

Although I was plagued with aches and pains in my knees I decided to visit the nearest of the trees I had marked on the map. The walk to the small hamlet of Bocava required me to cross the Trevelo stream, which at this point becomes the Ruisseau river. Standing on the bridge I was in the centre of the energy line, my third confirmation of its route. The walk to Bocava was past open fields with plenty of examples of pollarded trees. Some have a saved vertical branch which is straight and true but some look decidedly drunk and twisted. As I neared the hamlet the air was full of the sound of bees and the smell of the oilseed rape flowers they were feeding on. Bocava was small and not a single person was in sight but I had no problems finding the track down to the Ruisseau. Here the landscape was much more intimate with hedgerows and woods all around. As I neared the river I noticed that that the woods by it were fenced off. One wood had an old chestnut but to my relief a good sized oak next to the river proved to be the Beacon Tree.

My intuition made it clear that I needed to spend half an hour in close contact. Although the wet ivy cladding did not make it a comfortable place to rest against  and my legs were tired from the walk I spent the time with the tree. The sounds of the birds and the river were intensified. A cuckoo was singing nearby and although I wished for it I was unable to see the singer. In order to make sure I did not stiffen up I moved my body around with my feet always in contact with the base of the tree. I have since found out that stretching and moving the body is an instinctive part of spending time with a tree. It’s not about trying to drift off into another world. It is a time to ask questions and get answers which in turn lead to new questions. The oak was 284 years old and its vertical energy field was twelve times its height (including its root structure) above and below making it a very powerful tree. When I left I found I had doubled its already large lateral energy field. It seems that I do not have the energy that increases the energy field of a tree but I do act as a conduit that transfers latent energy to a tree.

On a visit to Rochefort-en-Terre I persuaded my bemused family to stop the car next to a small wood near L’Ardoise so I could search for the second beacon tree. Fortunately it was only a thin strip of woodland at this point and I had no problem finding the energy line and the tree. It is an oak of 288 years on the eastern side of the wood with a conifer growing by and through it. It’s lateral energy field was two and half times its canopy but I had no time to increase it. As with the Bocava tree it’s vertical energy field was twelve times its height above and below it. I did not have the time to visit the third beacon tree on the map at Lescuit. It will have to wait to my next visit.

(1) My walnut dowsing rod came from the walnut tree in the garden at the farmhouse in Limerzel. When pruning this prolific tree I noticed this branch had the potential of being a good rod. It has proved to be a powerful tool and it travels everywhere with me. Walnut works just as well as hazel.