No problem, Mysterious. I am a "hedge strider".
Portals, Doorways, “Striding the Hedge”, Ancestral and Nature Spirits.
This is a tale of our remote, ancient ancestors in Britain [and Northern Europe]. During the last Ice Age, there was a huge cold tundra to the south of the ice sheet in the area now occupied by the North Sea [about 10000 BC]. It was home to herds of grazing animals of a wide variety and their predators, including Hunter-Gatherer Tribes who followed the herds. The south of this plain was a wide, marshy delta where the Thames, the Rhine, and the Seine all ran into the Atlantic, along with their many tributaries. Along with the H-G tribes were Fisherfolk who lived in the marshes in villages raised on stilts - one such village, dating from about 8000 BC, is currently being excavated and is in a remarkable state of preservation.
www.starcarr.com
Around 6000 BC, the Ice Sheet began to melt very rapidly and the dry tundra began to flood, the tribes had to migrate away from the melt water along with the herds. Some of the tribes fled to the West into a land regarded as marginal - a land of dense, damp, gloomy forests - home to wolf, bear, wild boar and red deer. A completely alien landscape to the tribes who were used to open flatlands, now they were faced by folded land and an endless forest. This was the island of Britain.
However, this new land was not unoccupied, It was home to the Green Spirits of Nature. Clearly this presented a major challenge to those early tribal shaman as the spirits were not especially friendly to the "invaders". Over a long period of time, the shaman recognised places in the forest which seemed to be the sources of the Green Spirits and began to leave offerings in the hope of gaining the friendship of the spirits. Ultimately, the shaman were successful and gained much knowledge from the Green Spirits including the Places of Power in the landscape where the realm of the Spirits could be accessed to seek advice. These places were doorways or portals.
As man increased in numbers and knowledge of metals, whereas previously they used stone tools, now they had first bronze axes and later iron. The deforestation of the land increased rapidly as more and more land was cleared for agriculture and animal husbandry. The Green Spirits retreated to their own realm but entered our mythology as the Green Men, the Wild Men, Robin Goodfellow, Hob, and Elves. They entered our enduring legends as Robin Hood, the Green Knight of Arthurian legend, etc. The most enduring deities came from this source also = The Green Man, the Horned God [Kernunnos]
However the places of power remained active for those who knew the secrets through the ages.
The barrier between one realm and another came to be known as the veil or the hedge and the successors of the shaman - the Cunning Folk and ,later, the Hedge Witches continued to "cross the veil" or "stride the hedge" to commune with the Nature Spirits, now also recognised as Ancestral Spirits.
So, how are these "doorways" recognised ? Largely instinctual and empathetically, they could be said to be "places between places" and "times between times". Examples : cave mouths, depressions in the ground, springs, waterfalls, the strand of the beach between high and low tide, nightime, the change of seasons, the change of year, etc. A long list which still require difficult searching to identify.
Firstly, the seeker needs an intimate knowledge of the land, the seeker needs expertise in meditation, and most importantly, the seeker needs the approval of the spirits on the other side to open a doorway. I must stress the journey across the hedge is not physical but in spirit only.
Earlier , I talked about portals, striding the hedge, and Nature Spirits. I also hinted that Nature Spirits and Ancestral Spirits were one and the same. Perhaps some explanation is needed.
To do this, I must go into pagan cosmology.
In the pagan model of creation, especially the Celtic model, there are three realms of being - the Heavens, Middle Earth, and Underworld. These realms are connected by the "axis mundi", the World Tree. The tree has it's roots in Underworld, it's trunk in Middle Earth, and it's branches in the Heavens. The best known "tree" is the Norse Yggdrasil, a giant ever-green ash. The Celtic equivalent is an apple or oak tree.
Middle Earth is the physical plane where we live, a realm of the Conscious. We are part of this Earth and we must interact with it, care for it. We can, on occasions, contact other realities but must always be in touch with the Earth and our physical bodies - this point is of prime importance when "striding the hedge" and explains why you should not do so without another person acting as anchor for your spirit to find it's way "home".
Underworld is not like the christian hell, a place of torment and punishment but a place of care and rest for the spirit awaiting re-incarnation after death. It is the womb of the Dark Mother where all life originates. This is the sub-conscious or unconscious mind, the source of ancestral or primal knowledge and the place where this knowledge may be accessed. It is the place where the Self may be sought.
Finally, the Heavens, the celestial realm, home of the Sky Gods. It represents the highest aspirations of the spirit and the highest level of consciousness. It is a realm that we all aim to achieve even if briefly.
So, Nature Spirit or Ancestral Spirit. As I said, Underworld is part of the Wheel of Life, death - renewal - rebirth. The spirit may make a choice not to re-incarnate, but to remain in spirit form as part of the spiritual essence of Gaia i.e. an Ancestral Spirit. And this resource of knowledge is where the Seeker hopes to gain guidance when opening a portal.
Now, is this that I have told you just a legend ? You decide if I am telling truth or just a fanciful story ! And if I am telling truth, where did my knowledge come from, do you think ? Hope this either clarifies or mystifies the subject for you !
Norseman 2010