The Kogi, The Well and the Magic of the Middle Dan Tian
Last month I wrote about the three most sacred places of Glastonbury having intriguing similarities to the three Dan Tian that reside within the energy system of the human body. This month I will focus upon The Chalice Well and it being the representation of the middle Dan Tian.
The middle Dan Tian is an energy field that resides in the centre of the chest at the level of the heart. It is the energy field most closely related to our Qi and is a depository for our emotions. It is the connecting gateway between our energy and consciousness bodies. The Taoist philosophy states that if we are able to rid ourselves of too many hindering emotions then we will be able to convert more of our Qi into Shen – more of our energy into sprit. When working with this centre during Qi Gong or Nei Gong then it is not uncommon for emotional releases to occur. Emotions are like vibrations that can be experienced as they are leaving the body, but when they are cleared there is more room left for our higher spirit to be housed.
This middle Dan Tian also energetically extends outside of the body. This is sometimes known as the hearts’ field and it can be felt by those who are sensitive enough or even measured through electro-magnetic detectors. Some people have a small weak field whilst others have much stronger and more ‘solid’ ones, that can stretch out meters away from the physical body. Instinctively we can often tell the state of someone’s heart field by the way they meet and merge with our own.
It is also said that our Shen or our higher spirit, sometimes translated as the soul, resides in the middle Dan Tian. In fact it is said to be located in the depths of the heart, in the temporary vacuum created by its beating.
The similarities of this middle Dan Tian and Glastonbury’s Chalice Well are striking and hard to ignore. Geographically this is clear as it sits directly between the lower Dan Tian of Glastonbury Abbey and the upper Dan Tian of Glastonbury Tor. Due to its rich iron deposits, Chalice Well has long been associated with blood and a quick taste of its metallic waters will be enough to confirm this. The water springs up from deep within mother earth and has never, to any ones knowledge, ever dried up. It has been for many thousands of years the beating life blood for the people of Glastonbury. If Glastonbury truly is the heart chakra of the earth, then Chalice Well is the heart of the heart. The pulsing aorta of the middle Dan Tian.
Even the name the ‘Chalice Well’ gives us more connotations with the middle Dan Tian – for a chalice is a cup or a container…a container that holds a very special substance, one that is so revered that it was said to hold the blood of Christ himself. Clearly it has long been seen as a place where higher levels of consciousness can be reached.
It is also a very emotional place. It is not uncommon for a visitor to become overcome with emotion, sometimes even breaking down in tears when entering. It is a place that affects people on a very deep level. The well itself is depository for people’s prayers and its waters hold and remember all the wishes, the memories, the thoughts, the grief and the joys of all those thousands of people that pass through.
The energy of Chalice Well, like the middle Dan Tian also reaches out beyond the boundaries of the garden. Its waters flow out and down and underneath the rest of the town, bringing with it all those energies that it picks up as it rises and falls. A great recent example of this was the emotional out pouring that occurred when the statue of the Goddess was moved from its little niche by the well. Not only were many local people really upset by this but people from far around seemed to be up in arms and affected by it.
But the far reaching nature of Chalice well doesn’t stop just there. In a very strange and impeccably timed, interconnected sequence of events, I had the absolute honour of bringing one of the Kogi to Chalice well just last week. The Kogi are a tribal people from the mountains of Northern Colombia and they are renowned for their abilities to communicate with the Mother Earth. Their most holy people, the Mamas, are chosen from birth and are brought up in the absolute darkness of a cave. This continual sensory deprivation causes other senses to come to the fore ground, which enable these chosen ones to ‘hear’ the message that the Earth whispers to them – through the sounds of water. Their message is clear…Mother Earth is not happy with how many of us are treating her, and that sooner or later she may have to just shake us off.
This is the message that the Kogi are trying to get out to us, the ones they call ‘younger brother,’ as we are deemed as being immature in our understanding of the true nature of life.
My Shamanic acupuncturist, Wendy, went to stay with the Kogi over fifty years ago and it has always been her dream to take one of the Kogi to Chalice Well. She wanted them to come so that they could listen to what our most holy of waters might say. King Charles had recently set up a meeting with some indigenous tribal leaders from around the globe and one of those invited was the Kogi. Whilst here, somehow the Kogi remembered Wendy and after a brief meeting with the King, one of the Kogis’ spiritual ambassadors came with us on a pilgrimage to the well.
Now, you may or may not know Dowser Dave, the head gardener of Chalice Well, but we are extremely lucky to have him as one of the guardians of the well. Every morning he goes up to the two Yew Trees, (who are the actual guardians of the garden) and via his dowsing rods, he gets sent off on his merry mission for the day. Chalice Well garden actually speaks to him and through him and the energy of the place feels like it has greatly expanded through his relationship with it.
When we arrived with the Kogi early that morning, Dave explained that the night before, he and another well guardian had actually gone down in to the well to clear it out. They released the well head that was full of a thousand wishes and prayers from all the visitors to the gardens. The well had refilled overnight and the water was fresh, clean and clear. Dave then took us all on a tour of the gardens, via the Yew Trees, and via the dowsing rods, which ended up at the well head itself.
Whilst this was all occurring I was watching the Kogi and I could see that he was genuinely moved and awe-struck. In Dave it seemed he had met a long lost kindred spirit. When we got to the well, under the Kogis’ guidance we sat in silence and listened to the bubbling sound of the waters coming up from deep within Mother Earth. We all got messages from the well that day but this is a rough, paraphrased translation of what the Kogi translated for us.
“We the Kogi have long listened to the messages that Mother Earth gives to us via the water. We call our home in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta the Heart of the Earth and here you also call Glastonbury the Heart of the Earth. These two places are strongly linked and this link has now become stronger by this visit. I now have much more hope for the Earth than before because there are people like you. People that also act as guardians of the water. We often thought that we were the only ones but it fills my heart to know that there are others. It doesn’t take a lot of us to make a difference, as long as there are some of us who can still listen to what Mother Earth is telling us. There is still hope. Be still and listen to her message”
That was the profound message that has stuck with me since then. We can clearly equate the energies of Chalice well with the heart centre of the middle Dan Tian but in truth it doesn’t really matter where you are – as long as there is water. Water is the life blood of Mother Earth and wherever it resides so does she. And her message is clear…
There is still hope. Be still and listen.