1) Getting to Aberdeen.

Well, it was on, then it was off... right up to the day before I was due to leave for Aberdeen, I didn't know how I was going to get there. I had the usual problems getting paid for work I'd done and to cut a long story short, it was only with the help of my son-in-law Richard and good wishes of a lot of people that I actually got there at all. Thank you to everyone who called me and offered to help out, you're really nice people...

So, somehow the universe had enough money for the train tickets and a little bit of pocket money to spend, so off I jolly well went...

The first thing I gotta say though, is;"the trip started in typical Geomancy Group weekend style". The first thing I had to get over was a sudden Death/Rebirth attack - and I hadn't even left Worcester!

The train left Worcester at 05.55am and I live only about 15 mins from the station. Do I get a taxi, no... and I had to lug a huge rucksack which weighed a ton, another small one and of all things, Maria's overhead projector, all the way to Glasgow.

By the time I got to the station I was nearly hanging, then I had three flights of stairs to go up just to reach the platform. I was gasping for breath as I fell onto the waiting train and it was only 6 o'clock in the morning! The relief of being able to put those heavy bags down was the thing that saved me... and being fairly used to these GG weekend near death experiences, I actually got myself together quite quickly, even for me, and I was off.

I got to Birmingham New St station, dragged myself and kit up the escalator to find the connection for Glasgow and none of the arrival or departure boards were working. I wandered up and down in a trance, and just when I thought "f**k it". an announcement came over the airwaves and I just happened to be standing at the top of the right escalator for the Glasgow train. I had devicelessly dowsed my self to exactly the right spot, which made really made me smile big-time (this was going to be a great week in Scotland. It was meant to happen!).

The train journey to Glasgow was quick but uneventful, I was there for 11:30 in the morning and Grahame, bless him, was waiting to meet me at Glasgow Central. We even had a couple of hours to chill out before the car journey to Aberdeen. Grahame lives in a top floor flat, so I had to hump all my gear up three flights of stairs again.

After a fleeting visit to Grum's local Sainsburys we were off early afternoon.

It was just like old times, Grum drives, I navigate and make jokes (let me tell you this one: "Its much harder to navigate with a map and no glasses, than it is with a GPS and laptop!").

Anyway, we arrived in Alford at around 5/6 o'clock and I was going to say it was an uneventful journey, but thinking back on it, the journey up there did something to me. It brought home to me how much the countryside became more and more beautiful the further north we went. It's nice between Stirling and Perth, don't get me wrong, but then it goes a bit blah after that. I was brought up in Blah land, in Dundee, and the countryside around there, well, it is bland. I can see that now. I think that growing up in the landscape around Dundee made me in some part, dismiss my Scottish heritage, and that's not right.

Scotland, the way most people see it, looks like the side of a shortcake tin, but where I came from, it was rough and industrial and drab, but thank universe, its not all like that. The feeling of coming home grew stronger when we got to the other side of Dundee heading towards Aberdeen. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I was feeling more and more at home and the funny thing was, we were actually driving into a shortcake tin landscape.

Now, it might sound odd to some of you, to hear me saying I felt at home in Scotland. Why shouldn't I? The truth is I never have. I couldn't wait to get out of the place. I left when I was 18 and never went back. That's a lie, I have been back, three times in 25 years, and they were all memorable for the wrong reasons, but you get my point. It all comes down to being born in England, Derby in fact. I'm English! I just talk Scottish cos that's where I grew up. So to feel these homely feelings was all new to me. Spooky, but nice. I discovered a few things about my family heritage while I was in Aberdeenshire, Wednesday's eclipse was very special. I'll tell you about that when we get to Wednesday's page - stay tuned!

We arrived!

Haughton House.

Grahame had chosen well. Haughton house was just the right place for a bunch of Geomancers to hang out. It was leaping with spirits and entities.

Oliver was already at Haughton house and had settled into one of the flats. We had three altogether. Ours was right at the top of the house on the third floor. Yip, that was three times in one day, I had to carry my gear up three flights of stairs. Grahame went off and picked up Maria from the station in Aberdeen and me and Oliver caught up on what we'd been up to since our last meeting.

We heard from Jon and Maryrose that they had been caught in a huge traffic jam on the Forth Bridge, so after Maria arrived we took off to find something to eat in Alford. The Alford bistro is where we ended up and where we met up with Ros, Jon and Maryrose.

Once we all got back to Haughton House and got settled, it was than that people started talking about the house and it's other-worldly inhabitants. You've got to bear in mind that Haughton House was much older than its Victorian facade. It had been the center of a busy campsite for six months and everything was starting to close down for the winter.

So we were all sat around the kitchen table, as we do; and like I say people started talking about the spooks. Lots of talk but no consensus of what to do. I took the initiative, I went through to the sitting room and got the candle. I came back and switched off the light as I entered, I put the candle on the table and said that this was the perfect place for us geomancers to come to. We need to experience this kind of environment. I spoke to the house, I said we were a very special group of people who can assist any trapped spirits or entities to move on if they wanted to. If there were any that didn't want to go, that was fine too, but we had the house for nine days - so back off! and they could have it back after we'd gone. It seemed to settle down quite quickly after that and we all went to bed knowing we were responsible for clearing our own sleeping spaces.

Now that were away from Haughton House I'll tell you what I picked up while I was there.

There was an armchair on the middle landing which had an old guy sitting in it. Every time I walked past on my frequent journeys outside for a smoke I had to acknowledge him in some way, nodding or saying hello. The couple of times I didn't, I tripped on the stairs. Once I was in a bit grumpy going down the stairs and thought, no, I'm not going to say hello and be part of some stupid head game I was playing with myself. As I walked past the chair I deliberately said nothing but though "**** you" (I was in a grumpy mood after all) and as I started off down the next flight of stairs, I could feel something coming up on me from behind. I stopped suddenly, stamped my feet and turned giving it my best "Ok then, do your worst" kind of looks and what ever it was stopped right in front of me and slowly backed off.

I always nodded after that, and the old boy started opening up saying hello back. Haughton house was the kind of place where you don't have to lock the flat everytime you go out. It was well protected.

I think there was also something in the attic room above our flat but it never came out or down to where I was so I can't tell you more about it except that it felt there was something a bit sad up there.

The dream time was great at Haughton house. Very active. I got a lot of Celtic King stuff, lots of seeing ceremonies, and rituals of all kinds. A belonging kind of feeling... Colourful and mysterious with lots of easy gateways into the other worlds. I had the feeling of being tested or assessed once, until I put a stop to it by taking control. I pulled out new tricks that these guys hadn't seen before.

All I did was to fluctuate the level of my protection. I could blank them out completely and lower it till they could just see through to me. They had a poke at me and I would send it back, then again, then again till I got bored and sent them one with fizzy core. Which made them freak out completely, then I had to go off and catch up with them to say I was sorry and I was just playing. It sounds funny saying that I had to chase around after a couple of ghosts, to say sorry for freaking them out when they had come and hassled me in the first place, but I was on holiday, and there's no point in upsetting the locals.

The grounds around Haughton House were lovely too. You could hear the coo's coughing on one side of the park and the sound would echo back a second later from the other side. You could see the sun rise out a notch in the mountains every breakfast time.. The quietness was of the place was delicious. I loved to go back there again. It's got everything I need in a good holiday and I can talk the local lingo! ....... Fit like?

AGM

We had a circle on Saturday morning and discussed lots of topics to do with the public face of the geomancy group.. The public perception is growing everyday and we should start taking charge or we'll miss the boat. It still needs us all to get to grips with it. But we're still talking, and no definite conclusion has been reached.

The Workshop with Geo

As group facilitator, ably helped by my number two, Maryrose. All the geomancy group members had bums on seats, and were in the right location for the workshop at exactly 10am, and we waited .....and waited..... for Geo to get started. She was being quite clever really, while waiting we listened to one of the tracks on her cd.

I loved the chant, it sounded Tibetan'ish, but strangely familiar too.

I asked Geo what it was and she said, Celtic, 1st century old Irish. I bought a copy of Geo's cd and since I've been home I've played it loads. It's great for working to (writing program code) and for relaxing, and I'd recommend you to get your self a copy from her website.

She explained about her Irish, Celtic connections and we did some inner journeys and chanting and had a good day, ending with a rather rushed ceremony. I was left with lots to think about and absorb. So it was a good day for me. I got a lot out of knowing more about the Celtic traditions. It was one of those little things that made me understand more and more where I was coming from. She mentioned about the way the tradition sometimes skips a generation in a family but some how survives by producing the odd black sheep here and there.

Sunday night Geo's (Archeologist) husband Dave gave us a talk which lasted till the early hours, about the work he's done in the area on ring cairns. It was very interesting and set the scene for the following day, which was actually visiting some of the circles.
	We also met Jason Schroeder of Sacred Way Tours who was going to drive us around the sites on Monday. You can check out Jason's website www.sacredway.co.uk here. Jason has recently constructed a stone circle in the area and was keen for us to check it out.
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