THE GLEN OF PRECIOUS STONES
To read firsthand accounts of experiences at the The Glen of Precious Stones - please study "The Book of Air - Vol. I" and " The Book of Earth - Vol. I".
The Glen of Precious Stones is found at the Heart of Faerieland - and is a central location associated with the inner direction of the heart. It is depicted at the very center of the Faerie Emblem in the middle diamond of the heart. On Bernard Sleigh's Map of Faerieland it is represented by the "Wishing Well" found at the Heart of the Crossroads as shown below:
To the right, near to the rainbows are the words " Here do the Sidhe make the Water of Life ".
It was in this location that I also met with the Sidhe, as is described in my Book of Air - Vol. I:
"I felt like a blessed spectator to be there among the tall and very majestic Sidhe beings, who were immersing themselves in the great fountain of jetting light. The ground is made of the most beautiful sparkling gems I have ever seen in one place. I met with a tall and powerful being of the Sidhe, glowing and flowing with light and peace. He had a beautiful soft hooded cloak on. I went towards the fountain and stepped in. Boom! I felt my heart open up completely and my head fell back, looking up at the sky and the stars with the feeling of something bursting, blooming and unfolding from my heart center. I saw the clearest visions of an unfolding central rose in the heart of the cross, and a bright burning flame. I felt myself being entirely transformed, and I breathed in the very peaceful light."
Fiona Macleod writes that it is this land where " the Sidhe go to refresh their deathless life ".
It is one of the most rejuvenating locations that we can visit in the faerie worlds - and it is often the result of having already explored/traveled through many of the other realms first - (though it can be found from within the Air Realms of the Faerie Worlds).
In the Bible (Genesis 2:10) we read that "a river watering the garden flowed from Eden, and from there it was separated into four headwaters." - which is somewhat symbolic of how the Glen of Precious Stones is at the center of the four elements/crossroads - and is where one may bathe in the Fountains of Youth. I describe in " The Book of Air - Vol. I", that I walked " through the yellow topaz lands and through the Edenic gardens, the Glen of Precious Stones and its fountain, as well as the nearby woods on its other side. These woods eventually lead out by one path to the widest and largest green plains as far forward, left, and right as the eyes can see, of flat green land with no hills or bumps in sight. Forward though in the near distance can be seen a giant wall of water, seeming to come down from the sky itself and extending as far as can be seen in each direction either side. It is shimmering rainbow colors and it leads to the outskirts of the Water World. "
The idea of a "Glen of Precious Stones" may very well have biblical connections related to Eden - in that Lucifer is also implied in the Bible as having “been in Eden the garden of God" where " every precious stone was thy covering , the sardius, topaz, diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold...”
After having traveled first through the Fire Realms of Findias , the Air Realms of Gorias , the Water Realms of Murias , and the Earth Realms of Falias - then to re-enter the "Glen" which one may have already experienced during the exploration of "Gorias in the East" - will be a most liberating and renewing experience, seen with fresh eyes and perceived in a new way.
My 40th Day in Faerieland (after exploring each individual world for 10 days), concluded at the Glen of Precious Stones before exiting back through the Fire Realms of Findias , and thus returning to the Green World of everyday life. When drawing this upon the corresponding points of a diamond, it is what completes the transformative butterfly symbol of renewal.
The location seen near "where the Sidhe make the Water of Life" on Bernard Sleigh's Map , called "St. Brandan's Isle" is represented near to this vicinity for its own connection with the "Glen of Precious Stones". The reference comes from an old book entitled " Curious Myths of the Middle Ages, by S. Baring Gould " from the last chapter " The Terrestrial Paradise ".
"The exact position of Eden" are its very first words - further drawing the Edenic parallels:
“The River Indus, which issues out of Paradise, flows among the plains, through a certain province, and it expands, embracing the whole province with its various windings: there are found emeralds, sapphires, carbuncles, topazes, chrysolites, onyx, beryl, sardius, and many other precious stones. There too grows the plant called Asbetos.”
"A wonderful fountain, moreover, breaks out at the roots of Olympus, a mountain in Prester John’s domain, and from hour to hour, and day by day, the taste of this fountain varies; and its source is hardly three days’ journey from Paradise, from which Adam was expelled. If any man drinks thrice of this spring, he will from that day feel no infirmity, and he will, as long as he lives, appear of the age of thirty.”
We are clearly reading here of the very same location as the "Glen of Precious Stones".
The item associated with the Glen of Precious Stones is perhaps a ruby or a precious stone. The symbol which I was introduced to after accessing these realms was a Purple Crystal Ball.
My description of this land upon revisiting it in " The Book of Earth - Vol. I", is as follows:
"Visiting the Glen of Precious Stones is always an indescribably renewing and beautiful experience, but especially so this time after a year of writing a 40-day journey into the Faerie Realms. More than anything, this was a celebration, but a time also of renewal and rebirth. Stepping into the red fountain of jetting rainbow energies soon transformed my entire aura, and filled me with the most sparkling sensations. All around me, was every being I had met along the way – from every book, all there in attendance, as a giant celebration day. A pathway opened from the fountain of gems next to a river, leading in the Southern Direction, and all the way along the path, while walking, there was the most amazing fairy music, pipes, harps, guitars, drums, singing, and even some bagpipes. There were also tall and beautiful fairy women dancing and twirling in colored green, blue, and pink dresses – laughing and frolicking on the great open green fields for miles all around. All sorts of unique creatures seemed to appear along the way. The stream was very thin, and wound its way gradually through the fields, until reaching the southernmost part of the Air World – where we traveled through a bubble (not unlike the one described towards the end of The Book of Air – Vol. I), and the stream too traveled underground carrying all kinds of gems and jewels with it. "
And