Description

Healing Earth – Grounded – The wild one of wood and blood.

The lord of the woods speaks to the ancient ones, the wild ones as they draw near and gather round, boar, stag and wolf… the crafty and wise ones, serpent, badger, fox and bear.

He sits crossed legged at the base of the White Leaved Oak on Ragged Stone Hill, whispering songs of the lives and deaths of the ancestors through root, branch and leaf.

The gossamer strands of the living web cross the land from Tor, spring and vale curl and connect deep in the earth, flow to him, through him into the sky and stars. So with the wild god we find harmony with nature, life death and rebirth.

When balanced we align,
Once aligned we connect,
Once connected we grow,
And when we grow we flow
From above to below.

Cernunnos is the God of wild places, regenerator of the earth. A horned god found in Celtic mythology, although many believe him to be much older. He is connected with all things wild and untamed and is associated with fertility and vitality. Depictions of Cernunnos are found in many parts of the British Isles and western Europe. He is often portrayed sitting crossed legged with a beard and wild, shaggy hair holding the ram horned serpent in one hand and a torc in the other.

When I connected With the wild god I saw him sitting under a particular oak tree called the White Leaved Oak or the Pagan Oak it is an ancient oak tree situated in farmland on the lower western slopes of Ragged Stone Hill, between the hamlets of Hollybush and White Leaved Oak. It grows on top of a large flat rock on the north ridge of a sizeable, deep hollow in the ground.

At solstices gifts are left hanging from the sacred oaks branches. At the summer solstice the oak is left strewn with blossoms and flowers and decked with brightly coloured ribbons, feathers, pentagrams and other offerings.

The trunk has become hollowed with age, and it is now possible to climb down inside and stand on the rock on which it grows, which is also lined with offerings from the pagan communities who worship and honour the land and the ancestors under its ancient limbs.

The Pagan oak had been dead for several years when I did this painting, but the main trunk and a few limbs still stood, and it was still revered by many. On Summer Solstice 2020 it was sadly burnt to the ground. However its ashes return to the earth and replenish it, so it is ready for new growth for the future. So is the nature of life, death and rebirth.