On Day 3 we said goodbye to our now-good-friend Diana, and headed to the Inverness Airport to meet up with the Gothic Images Tours group. Turns out there were 10 of us: Couples from Minnesota and Florida, sisters from Alaska and Seattle, a single woman from North Carolina, our in-tour tarot reader, Linda, from Australia, plus our tour guide, Jaime, from England.
We were an eclectic bunch. Most, including Druids Jaime and Linda, were some version of pagan. Those who were not, like my husband and Caroline, our single traveler, were open-minded and curious. I mean, if the tour says “Sacred Scotland” and travels with an in-house tarot reader, you kinda have to expect an interest in neo-pagan sites and worship.
I’ve always wanted to spend a night in a castle, and I got my wish! Our group spent the first night in Tulloch Castle in Dingwall.
We were an eclectic bunch. Most, including Druids Jaime and Linda, were some version of pagan. Those who were not, like my husband and Caroline, our single traveler, were open-minded and curious. I mean, if the tour says “Sacred Scotland” and travels with an in-house tarot reader, you kinda have to expect an interest in neo-pagan sites and worship.
I’ve always wanted to spend a night in a castle, and I got my wish! Our group spent the first night in Tulloch Castle in Dingwall.
According to the staff, and most of the posts online, this castle is haunted. After our haunted tour, I can believe it. This painting of some previous tenants, the Davidson family, convinced me the rumors could be true.
The young red-haired girl in the ballroom portrait fell down the castle stairs to her death, after walking in on her father in bed with his mistress. (If you look at the left side of the portrait, you will see the black area where the husband’s likeness has been painted out of the portrait.) Now known as the green lady, she is the castle’s most famous ghost. The portrait is really spooky. No matter where you stand in the room, her eyes follow you.
Day 4 – We all got better acquainted the next morning on the bus ride to the Fairy Glen, in Rosemarkie on the Black Isle We completed the mile and a half hike through this magical woodlands in silence so we could soak in the atmosphere of the glen. Birches and rowan trees, luscious ferns, babbling streams on each side, deep pools and fossilized trees, ending in a series of amazing waterfalls.
Day 4 – We all got better acquainted the next morning on the bus ride to the Fairy Glen, in Rosemarkie on the Black Isle We completed the mile and a half hike through this magical woodlands in silence so we could soak in the atmosphere of the glen. Birches and rowan trees, luscious ferns, babbling streams on each side, deep pools and fossilized trees, ending in a series of amazing waterfalls.
The water was icy cold, but people took the plunge anyway.
The Fairy Glen was once the scene of well-dressing ceremonies, where the children of the village decorated the pool with flowers, to ensure that the fairies kept the water supply clean.
Modern visitors have embedded thousands of coins in the fallen trees around the falls.
I filled a tiny bottle from the waterfall to bring home for my altar.
The Fairy Glen was once the scene of well-dressing ceremonies, where the children of the village decorated the pool with flowers, to ensure that the fairies kept the water supply clean.
Modern visitors have embedded thousands of coins in the fallen trees around the falls.
I filled a tiny bottle from the waterfall to bring home for my altar.
On the way back, I performed a releasing ritual for Carol and Christy, the sisters in our group. We all dropped coins in the stream to offer thanks.
And look what was right beside our ritual area – red fairy mushrooms!
Next we visited the Clava Cairns located at Balnauran of Clava, only a mile south of the Culloden battlefield. Oh, what an evocative site! Three burial cairns (two entrance cairns and a third ring cairn in the middle) are in a clear alignment for winter solstice sunset.
Each cairn is surrounded by massive standing stones, and the entire complex is circled by the most amazing ancient trees.
Each cairn is surrounded by massive standing stones, and the entire complex is circled by the most amazing ancient trees.
I felt those trees, they had presence.
The central chamber is large enough for a small group to gather, and works as an echo or resonance chamber for chanting. Yes. Of course we tried it. Gave me shivers.
The Clava Cairns date from the Bronze Age, about 4,000 years old. Cup-marks within the chambers, as well as on the north cairn, look like a stargazer’s map.
This was one of my favorite sites, and the feel of the whole complex was
extraordinarily calm and welcoming.
However, in 1999, a Belgian tourist took a rock from the site. The next year, he mailed it back to the Inverness tourist board (Guardian newspaper, 19 January, 2000, BBC News) after suffering several family misfortunes, so beware….
At this point, I thought we’d seen the best of the tour. But then, we went to Orkney. But that’s a story for next weekend. See you then!
The central chamber is large enough for a small group to gather, and works as an echo or resonance chamber for chanting. Yes. Of course we tried it. Gave me shivers.
The Clava Cairns date from the Bronze Age, about 4,000 years old. Cup-marks within the chambers, as well as on the north cairn, look like a stargazer’s map.
This was one of my favorite sites, and the feel of the whole complex was
extraordinarily calm and welcoming.
However, in 1999, a Belgian tourist took a rock from the site. The next year, he mailed it back to the Inverness tourist board (Guardian newspaper, 19 January, 2000, BBC News) after suffering several family misfortunes, so beware….
At this point, I thought we’d seen the best of the tour. But then, we went to Orkney. But that’s a story for next weekend. See you then!
RSS Feed
