Shamanic Woodland

Image: © Ian Dodds Taken: 25 Jun 2022

It wasn't until I got to the entrance of this narrow wood that I found out, by way of a large sign/advertisement, the reason it was so well-kept. I'm not sure whether the organisation dates from 2003, or whether the organisation is solely tied to this pretty place and has been here since 2003, but the sign was headed 'The Planetary Healing Centre Community Woodland' and judging by the Facebook posts I narrowly missed out on some shamanic (or shamanistic?!) drumming. There are lots of short videos on Facebook of people lolling around small campfires - often underneath gazebos to keep both them and the fires going no doubt. Lots of the gatherings are based on the phases of the moon and most seem to be women-only, though other gatherings generally include men lolling round the fires too. Everyone always looks content, which is the main thing, though some of the rings on display look worryingly large to me (presumably the size of a ringstone is directly related to its energy-channelling ability). Ironically, I initially thought that the little hut on the right of the picture was a newly erected shooting hut, as there are an awful lot of shotguns blasting in the late summer evenings round here, which must be an odd juxtaposition for a group of this type (maybe crackling fires mask the noise a little?) But there ended up being so many perfectly-made little wooden bridges like the one in the picture, crossing over Cock Burn and it's tiny tributaries, that as I approached the road I decided it must be something else. And then all was revealed.

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