Avebury – The Magical Stone Circle

Stukeley's Serpent Temple

I first came across Avebury stone circle on a day trip to visit Stonehenge; we’d planned to stop somewhere first for a cup of tea and a cake. I knew nothing back then about the centre-piece of what William Stukely called a “Serpent Temple.” It was the start of a love affair for me with ancient Wessex, crammed full of Ancient Monuments, White Horses and the epicentre of the UK’s prolific Crop Circle/alien activity.

When I needed a stomping ground for my medieval teens to experience their adventures, I looked no further than Avebury itself – a place that resonates with magical energies, unsolved mysteries and the clang of swords. I was – and still am – totally under its spell.

“But I’ve never heard of it,” I hear you say. “Why not use Stonehenge, it’s much more famous?”
Not that size matters, but the bank and ditch (i.e. the henge itself) at Stonehenge is only a quarter the diameter of Avebury’s – which, at 1,140 feet, is the largest henge (and stone circle) in the world.

The Priest's Chair

Many of the stones from the impressive outer ring remain and you can actually go and touch them – unlike the other place where you have to petition for a private viewing or join thousands of thrill-seekers at the summer solstice.
My personal favourite is the Swindon stone – an impressive, almost regular pentagon which guards the northern entrance.
A close second is the one at the southern portal which houses the priest’s seat. I was lucky enough to be on one of Maria Wheatly’s tours when she taught us to dowse the stones for the bands of energy which transmit an aerial form of electromagnetic ley-energy. As you sit in the seat, your head is level with one of these bands which can induce a state of heightened awareness necessary to connect to spirit in order to lead a ritual. If you ever get the chance, try it for yourself. Or if you’re interested in the science behind it, check out Sun, Moon and Earth. So. Much. Stuff! - P.S. It’s cheaper on AMZ, but only if you’re in the UK.

Avebury in Neolithic times

Inside, the northern (moon) and southern (sun) rings have diameters of 322 feet and 354 feet respectively. Compare this with the sarsen circle at Stonehenge - only 100ft in diameter. In theory you could get ten times as many people in either of the small Avebury circles than it’s more glamorous counterpart. When it comes to height, there’s no touching those horseshoe trilithons, but having experienced the solstice sun rising at both, there's no contest.

Avebury might not have scores of drunken youths spraying beer and crowing their achievements as they disrespect the sacred monument, but it does have a stack of friendly people only too ready to share their celebration (amid tribal drumming and fire-poy), their cakes and ale, and their stories as we all tap into a common magic.

I've barely scratched the surface - there's so many different aspects, like Michael and Mary ley-lines, the properties of the stones and the competition to outdo Stonehenge. Along with all the other components of the landscape (the Sanctuary, the ceremonial avenues, Silbury Hill and various burial structures). I'm hoping you'll share my spiritual journey, picking it up piece-by-piece.

To delve into Avebury’s chequered history and awesome facts about each feature, try these:
Avebury-web (aubrey/stukely)        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury
If you’d rather experience the magical aspects, and maybe plan a visit, I recommend these:
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/avebury       https://theaveburyexperience.co.uk/

Whatever, I hope I’ve piqued your interest about the first place to capture my heart.

More puzzling patterns

The answers to the last lot were:
a. 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, 17 – 3 times table - 1
b. 2, 5, 10, 17, 26, 37 – square numbers +1
c. j, f, m, a, m, j – months of the year.

Here’s the next lot. Give me the next 2 in each of these sequences:
a) 5, 12, 19, 26, __ , __
b) 3, 9, 18, 30, __ , __
c) r, o, y, g, _ , _

Good luck. I will be giving the answers some time in the next month.
The third one is a little tricksy - if you want a clue, scroll down.

































Clue: c) You’ll need the luck of the Irish to solve this.

Chrysalis – finding your inner butterfly

Goodness me what a ride this has been. I wrote the first draft of this story back in 2011, it was intended to be the 6th in the Hengist series, called Aurora. But it quickly became clear this was not the same “sweet, clean” adventure stories of the sixteen year-old heroic boys living in a world filled with medieval values (and lack of technology).
Poor Rory suffers every bit as much at the hands of nasty bullies as Archer and his friends, but when girls do it, it’s much less physical, more psychological. And the best kind of grounding for when she meets a real-live psychopath – but I’m getting ahead of myself.

The Nature’s Tribe series set the groundwork with a series of medieval romances. This one features probably the longest-running will they/won’t they love story since Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd spent four years and 67 episodes finding reasons not to be together in Moonlighting. Or for those way too young to remember late eighties rom-com detective shows, think Harvey Spector and Donna Paulson in Suits (2011-19). I’ve just gone through all eight series for the third time since I first heard about it after watching Meghan marry Harry.
Mmm – there’s a whole other blog post on its own!


Anyway – Chrysalis is available on Amazon at a tempting $1.75/£1.42 for a little while longer Click on the piccie to go straight to your store and snap it up before it goes full price.
Here’s the blurb – with a huge thank you to Julie at Hidden Gems for helping to polish it.

An unrequited teenage crush. A suppressed super-power. 
A world under threat from evil incarnate. 
When Archer rescued Rory from bullies many years ago, she was smitten, but he was lukewarm. She doesn't realise what she'd do to grab his attention until her supposed BFF decides he'd look good on her arm. When Rory's gift, delayed from puberty, has her blacking out in the lighting box for a high school show, only he can help. What was that about being careful what you wish for?

The revelation that her mum and Archer come from a quasi-medieval alternate-world should have knocked Rory for six, but strange dreams clue her that she might have something in common with her idol, Buffy. As if! Archer's attempts to help control her powers bring a bittersweet torture, but with college looming, she must persevere

Archer's mission to scope out the threat from the technology-obsessed world breaching into his own includes protecting Rory. But his orders are clear - inter-world relationships are verboten. It hurt to spurn her pre-teen crush, but grown-up Rory proves irresistible. As her gifts develop, her connection to the monster threatening his world makes her dangerous to be around, and he has to choose between his heart and duty.

The chemistry between them unleashes a devastating energy as the monster escalates his evil plan. They must dig deep to endure unbearable torment, and defy fate to stop him from destroying everything they hold dear.

A blend of magical realism and humour, this medieval-meets-modern romance will delight fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Masquerade series.

Warning: Although mild in terms of sex, profanity and violence, some readers may be upset by the torment in a couple of scenes. Nothing fans of Hunger Games or Divergent can't handle.

This story runs in parallel with the Hengist series, but it is not necessary to read them before enjoying this series, as the stories in Context give a good summary of key events.

Colour of Light series:
#1 Context: Seven short stories of rebellion and redemption - Available May 2020
#2 Chrysalis: Medieval magic meets modern-day mystery - Available June 2020
#3 Captive: Modern-day mystery meets medieval magic - Available August 2020
#4 Catalyst: Modern military thriller meets medieval magic - Available October 2020

Do you dream of flying?

I always understood that dreaming about flying was indicative of a spiritual connection, related to astral projection. According to Nerys Dee in her comprehensive Understanding Dreams, experiencing weightlessness and rising above the ground is thought to indicate the spirit leaving the body. She suggests people who can do this can usually rise above their problems when awake and rarely remain depressed for long.

Sounds good, huh? I can still remember the feeling vividly from my infant school, but that was a long time ago. It would be so good to do that now.

In researching it, I came across several other interpretations. Dreams about flying can mean:

• freedom from troubles (being free to fly as a bird)
• expansion or elevation of your spiritual life
• the release of sexual tension (according to Freud)
• a new perspective – the ability to look down and get a wider perspective of things
• a symbol of your own personal sense of power (if you can control your flight)
• freedom, success, independence and happiness (particularly if floating out of control)
• calmness and the peace in your waking life (again more floating than controlled flying)

So your flying dream may be telling you to let go of things, rise above petty problems or look at the broader picture.

The original beginning of Chrysalis had the following scene featuring Rory aged seven, but I cut it when I restructured the book to start from her as a teenager. I’d love to hear your flying dreams.

Rory had the distinct feeling she didn’t belong. Not merely to the class, but to the school, the town or even the world she lived in. She didn’t fit. Ever. Like the time some girls in her class were talking about their dreams.

“I had a pony with a long tail and ribbons in his mane.”

“I was a princess in a golden castle.”

“I had a genie who granted all my wishes.” Julie, as befits the playground bully, topped them all, and then fixed her stink eye on Rory. “Your turn.” The unspoken, “freak,” resounded. “What did you dream about?”

“I flew across the playground.”

“Oh, yeah. I had that dream, but it was ages ago.” Julie flicked her blonde pigtails and smirked at the others.

Rory tried to explain. “Except it wasn’t a dream. I really flew.”

“Of course it was a dream. Don’t be so stupid.”

Rory fell silent in the face of such blatant scorn, watching as they walked away with varying degrees of pity on their smug faces. It wasn’t a dream. At least, it didn’t feel like one. But it had happened pretty much every night for as long as she could remember. If she closed her eyes, she could still feel the sensation exactly. She would lift off the ground, a few feet at the start, rising above the hopscotch grid. Soon, she flew above the climbing ladder, then higher and higher, looking down on everything in the playground as it got smaller and smaller.

One or two of the girls whispered and pointed at her when she walked by, but she took no notice, uncaring about not fitting in with kids of her own age. She didn’t have much in common with them, and her sunny nature was quite content with the amount of loving support she got from the grown-ups. Until the fateful Wednesday it all went horribly wrong.

The day began differently when she woke up feeling sick and shivery with a bit of a snuffle: a completely new experience. Her mother’s ever-present broth normally kept all manner of coughs, colds and other nasty bugs at bay.

A temperature of two degrees above normal had warranted a huge spoonful of cod liver oil, but then she went straight to school. The teacher wouldn’t listen when Rory said she wasn’t feeling well; there were no excuses dreadful enough to get out of times table practice. By break time, Rory was burning up and freezing cold all at once, so she went to First Aid. The secretary told her to come back at lunchtime as the school nurse came in late that day.

It seemed important for Miss Dale to impress the stern man visiting the history lesson. She asked the whole class to put their hands up if they knew two things about the royal family and got very cross when Rory couldn’t raise her hand.

“This is not acceptable, Rory. You need to pay more attention. Perhaps you should sit on the front table so you can listen properly.”

Rory tried to get up, but her legs wouldn’t support her, and she collapsed back into the chair.

“Aurora Ballantyne, you naughty little girl. Come out here, immediately.” Miss Dale had her unhappy face on, but when Rory tried to tell her about the wobbly legs, no words came out of her mouth.

The next thing Rory remembered was being in bed with her mother holding her hand and crying softly. “Please wake up, sweetheart. I’ll never leave you again, I promise. Just please come back to me.”

“It’s all right, mummy. I’m here now and I won’t be going away for a long time. Malduc said I’ve got a lot of growing up to do first.”

Her mother looked worried, but the strange name wasn’t mentioned again for a long time.

If you enjoyed this and want to read more of Rory's story, Chrysalis is available on Amazon, and you can read it for free with Kindle Unlimited.

How are you with patterns?

For as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated by all manner of codes and patterns. When I sent some out at the end of a recent newsletter, I was thrilled by the number of people who engaged with the puzzles and doubly impressed by how many people got them right.
If you want to have a go, add your answers in a comment below.

Give me the next 2 in each of these sequences:

a)  2, 5, 8, 11, __ , __

b)  2, 5, 10, 17, __ , __

c)  j, f, m, a, _ , _

Good luck. I will be giving the answers some time in the next week.
The third one is a little tricksy - if you want a clue, scroll down.































Part c) is do do with time, it's not (exactly) a numerical sequence.