Shamans Rest

25/03/2026

Spring Equinox Gratitude – Arbor Low & Nellie’s Wood ✨

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined us for the Spring Equinox at Arbor Low and then into the heart of Nellie’s Wood 🌿

There was something truly powerful about standing together on that ancient land — feeling the balance of light and dark, the turning of the seasons, and the quiet shift into new beginnings.

From the stones of Arbor Low to the flowing energy of the woodland stream, you could feel the connection… not just to the land, but to each other.

These are the moments that remind me why this work matters. Not just the drumming, not just the sound… but the shared experience, the grounding, and the space we create together.

Thank you for your energy, your presence, and your openness. You all helped make it what it was.

We move now into the lighter half of the year — a time of growth, action, and stepping forward 🌱

I look forward to seeing many of you again soon, whether in the wood, the cellar, or at the next circle.

Much love and respect to you all,
Andrew

Shaman’s Rest

25/03/2026

Shamanic Drumming: What It Really Does to Your Brain 🥁

Shamanic drumming isn’t just “relaxing music”…
It’s one of the oldest technologies for shifting human consciousness.

For thousands of years, shamans used the drum to enter altered states — to journey, to heal, to connect.

But here’s the interesting part…

👉 Modern science is now catching up with what ancient traditions already knew.

⸻

🧠 The Scientific Side

When you listen to a steady drum beat (usually around 4–7 beats per second), something powerful happens in the brain:

• Your brainwaves begin to synchronise with the rhythm (called entrainment)
• You shift from normal waking Beta state into Theta brainwaves
• Theta is the same state linked to:
– Deep meditation
– REM dreaming
– Creativity
– Emotional processing

This is why people often say:
“I felt like I went somewhere…”
“I saw things…”
“I released something…”

Because neurologically… you actually did.

The drum literally helps guide your brain into a state where healing and insight become more accessible.

⸻

🌌 The Spiritual Side

From a shamanic perspective…

The drum is not just sound — it’s a heartbeat.

• The heartbeat of the Earth
• The rhythm of nature
• The pulse of life itself

When you sit with the drum, you’re not just listening…
You’re remembering.

Entering the space between worlds.
Where guidance, ancestors, and inner truth can be accessed.

This is why drumming has been used for:

• Journeying
• Soul retrieval
• Emotional release
• Spiritual connection

⸻

✨ Why It Feels So Powerful

Because both are happening at once:

👉 Your brain is shifting into a deeply receptive state
👉 Your spirit is opening into a deeper layer of awareness

That’s where the magic is.

Not in belief…
But in experience.

⸻

🌿 At Shaman’s Rest, we don’t just play instruments…
We create a space where your mind slows down, your body softens, and something deeper begins to move.

Because sometimes…
Healing isn’t about thinking.

It’s about rhythm.

25/03/2026

✨ Just 9 more to go… ✨

We’re sitting at 991 followers on Shaman’s Rest…
Only 9 more to reach 1000 🙏

If you’ve been to a sound bath,
sat in the cellar,
walked the woods,
or simply felt the energy of what we’re building…

👉 give the page a follow
👉 share it with someone who needs it

This isn’t just a page…
It’s a growing community 🌿

Thank you to every single one of you who’s supported this journey so far.

Let’s cross that 1000 together 🙌

— Andrew / Shaman’s Rest

19/03/2026

COMING SOON — ANDREWELSON.COM

This isn’t just a website…
It’s everything I’ve been building, brought together in one place.

From the cellar of Shaman’s Rest
to the shop at Dreamcatcher Gifts
to the teachings within Dreamcatcher Academy

And now expanding further through my work with Centre of Excellence…

Everything connects here.

🌿 The teachings
🔮 The stones
🌲 Courses at Nellie’s Wood
🔥 The journey

Including something new…
🌿 Sprigite — a stone of the land, shaped by water and time,
from the energy of Nellie’s Wood.

Over the years, I’ve guided thousands of people through sound journeys, workshops, and courses…
Now it all comes together.

⚡ AndrewElson.com — launching soon

A place to learn
A place to heal
A place to reconnect

To everyone who has supported, attended, shared, or believed in what I do…
You’ve helped build this journey.

Thank you 🧙

16/03/2026

16/03/2026

Check out Shamans Rest’s video.

09/03/2026

Doll Tor – History & Legend

Doll Tor is a small but very powerful prehistoric stone circle on Stanton Moor in Derbyshire, not far from the famous Nine Ladies Stone Circle.

Although it is tiny compared with places like Arbor Low, many archaeologists believe Doll Tor was an important ceremonial site around 4,000 years ago.

⸻

Ancient History

Neolithic Origins (around 2000–2500 BC)

Doll Tor dates to the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age.

The circle originally consisted of about six standing stones, forming a small ring about 9 metres across.

Archaeological excavations revealed:
• A stone-lined central hearth or altar
• Burnt material and charcoal
• Evidence of repeated fires

This suggests the site was used for ritual gatherings and ceremonies.

Unlike larger circles used for big gatherings, Doll Tor may have been a more intimate ceremonial space.

⸻

Rediscovery in the 1930s

By the early 20th century the stones had fallen and the site was almost lost.

In 1931 an archaeologist named Charles Markham excavated and partially restored the circle.

He discovered:

• the ritual fire pit
• fragments of prehistoric pottery
• signs the stones had been deliberately placed in a circular layout

Later conservation work in 1993 repositioned the stones more accurately.

⸻

Why It Was Built

Prehistoric stone circles in the Peak District often had several possible purposes:

Ceremonial gatherings
Small communities meeting for ritual.

Ancestor rituals
Honouring the dead or the spirit world.

Seasonal ceremonies
Connected to the sun and moon cycles.

Sacred landscape markers
Marking spiritually important locations.

The Peak District has a very dense concentration of prehistoric ritual sites, including:
• Arbor Low
• Nine Ladies
• The Bull Ring (Dove Holes)
• Doll Tor

This suggests the region was once a major spiritual centre in ancient Britain.

⸻

The Legends of Doll Tor

Like many stone circles in the Peak District, Doll Tor has several folklore stories.

The Dancing Maidens

Local legend says the stones are young women turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath.

This same legend appears at:
• Nine Ladies Stone Circle
• The Rollright Stones
• The Merry Maidens in Cornwall

It was likely a Christian story used to discourage pagan gatherings at ancient sites.

⸻

The Guardian Spirit

Some modern folklore says a protective spirit or energy guards the circle.

People visiting the site sometimes report:

• sudden silence
• strange feelings of calm or heaviness
• strong atmosphere around the centre fire pit

These experiences are common at ancient ritual sites.

⸻

The Meaning of the Name “Doll Tor”

The name likely comes from old English or Norse language.

Possible meanings include:
• “Dole Tor” – boundary hill
• “Doll” meaning a small mound or hill
• “Tor” meaning rocky hill

So the name probably means something like:

“The small sacred hill.”

⸻

Why Doll Tor Feels Different

Many visitors say Doll Tor feels more intimate and concentrated than larger circles.

Possible reasons:
• Its small size
• The central fire altar
• Its position in woodland

Unlike huge ceremonial landscapes, Doll Tor feels almost like a private ritual chamber in nature.

08/03/2026

The Nine Ladies – A Circle of Stone, Story, and Spirit

High on Stanton Moor in the Peak District stands one of the most enchanting prehistoric sites in Britain — the Nine Ladies Stone Circle.

This small but powerful stone circle is believed to date back over 4,000 years to the Bronze Age, a time when people were deeply connected to the land, the stars, and the cycles of nature.

The circle itself is made up of nine upright stones, set gently into the moorland landscape. Just a short distance away stands a lone outlying stone known as the King Stone, watching silently over the circle.

The Ancient Myth

Local folklore tells a haunting story.

Long ago, nine maidens were dancing on the moor on the Sabbath day, ignoring the sacred day of rest. A wandering fiddler played music for them as they danced.

As punishment for breaking the Sabbath, the maidens were turned to stone, forever frozen in their circle.

The fiddler himself was also transformed into stone — now believed to be the King Stone that stands nearby.

Whether myth or metaphor, these stories remind us how deeply our ancestors respected the rhythm of life and the sacredness of the land.

A Place of Energy

Many people today feel that the Nine Ladies is not just an archaeological site but a place of spiritual energy and quiet power.

Visitors often speak of:

• A deep sense of calm
• A feeling of stepping outside time
• Strong earth energy within the circle

Stone circles like this were likely ceremonial gathering places, possibly used for seasonal rituals, community gatherings, or observing the movement of the sun and stars.

Standing there today, with the wind moving through the heather and the ancient stones surrounding you, it is easy to imagine the people who gathered here thousands of years ago.

Walking With the Ancestors

Places like the Nine Ladies remind us that spirituality did not begin in temples or churches — it began in nature, under open skies, among the stones and trees.

The ancestors built these places to honour the earth, the seasons, and the unseen world that surrounds us.

And when you stand quietly within the circle… you can still feel it.

✨ Ancient places still speak — if we are willing to listen.

— Andrew Elson
Modern-Day Shaman
Shaman’s Rest

06/03/2026

Arbor Low & Gib Hill – The Spirits of the Ancient Stones

High on the limestone plateau of the Peak District lies one of Britain’s most powerful prehistoric sacred sites — Arbor Low.

Often called the “Stonehenge of the North,” Arbor Low is a huge Neolithic ceremonial site built around 4,500–5,000 years ago. The great circular earth bank surrounds around 50 limestone stones, which today lie flat but were almost certainly once standing upright.

Just a short walk from the circle stands Gib Hill, an ancient burial mound believed to be even older than the stone circle itself.

Archaeologists discovered cremated human remains there, showing that the mound was used for ancestral burials thousands of years ago. Many believe the two sites formed a sacred ceremonial landscape:

• Gib Hill – a place of burial and honouring the ancestors
• Arbor Low – a temple space for ritual and seasonal gatherings

But the history of Arbor Low doesn’t end in the distant past.

Local folklore tells of a ghostly presence sometimes seen near the stones and around Gib Hill. Visitors and farmers have reported seeing a shadowy figure or ancient warrior-like spirit moving silently across the circle, especially at dusk or early morning when the mist sits low across the fields.

Some believe it is the spirit of someone buried at Gib Hill — a guardian of the sacred ground. Others say it is simply the lingering energy of thousands of years of ceremony, prayer, and gathering.

Whether ghost or memory of the land, places like Arbor Low carry a deep spiritual atmosphere.

When you stand within the circle, something changes.

The wind moves differently.
The skylarks sing above the stones.
And the vast Derbyshire sky opens above you.

For many people, Arbor Low represents:

• Connection to ancient ancestors
• The cycles of nature and the seasons
• A reminder that spirituality began in nature, not buildings

These stone circles were not built randomly.

They were created by people who understood the land, the stars, and the rhythms of life.

When we walk there today, quietly and respectfully, we are walking in the footsteps of people who stood in the same place five thousand years ago under the same sky.

Sometimes you don’t just visit a place like Arbor Low…

You feel it remembering you.

— Andrew Elson
Modern-Day Shaman

05/03/2026

What We Discovered About Nellie’s Wood (Rusden Wood)

Today I spent time exploring the ancient landscape around Nellie’s Wood, historically known as Rusden Wood, and something fascinating began to emerge.

Just outside the wood lies Lark’s Low, a Neolithic burial mound. When we look at the surrounding landscape more closely, a possible alignment appears linking several ancient sites across the valley.

Starting at Rusden Wood, the line appears to pass through:

• Rusden Low – Burial Mound
• Lark’s Low – Burial Mound
• Gib Hill – Bronze Age Barrow
• Arbor Low – Neolithic Stone Circle

This suggests the possibility that the valley near the wood may once have formed part of an ancient ceremonial landscape, perhaps even a processional route leading toward Arbor Low — often called the Stonehenge of the North.

Even more interesting, there is also an ancient spring near the wood, and springs were often considered sacred places in prehistoric Britain.

Stone circles, burial mounds, springs and high ground were frequently connected across the land in ways we are only beginning to understand.

Standing quietly in the wood today, you can almost imagine people walking these same paths four or five thousand years ago, moving toward the great circle at Arbor Low.

Sometimes landscapes remember their past.

And sometimes… they reveal it slowly.

🌿

03/03/2026

Nellie’s Wood – Nature’s Sound Bath Peak District .

I’m considering something slightly different for May.

No gongs.
No drums.
No talking.
No guidance.

Just the living soundscape of the land.

A held space in the wood where you find your own place and simply listen.

The wind through the trees.
Birdsong across the gorge.
The subtle hum of the earth beneath you.

Sometimes we don’t need more sound.
We just need space to hear ourselves again.

I’d keep numbers very limited.

Would this be something you’d feel drawn to?

01/03/2026

March – The Turning of the Earth 🌿

March is not a gentle month.
It is a threshold.

The soil begins to warm.
Light stretches further into the evening.
Skylarks rise before the trees are fully awake.

We stand between seasons.
Between what has been… and what is ready to grow.

The Spring Equinox is the moment of balance —
equal light, equal dark —
a reminder that life is always shifting.

If you have felt restless, reflective, or ready for change,
this is the earth moving through you.

March asks:

🌱 What are you ready to plant?
🔥 What are you ready to release?
🌿 What in your life needs rebalancing?

Some of us will mark this quietly.
Some will walk in nature.
Some will gather in circle.

On the Equinox, we will be returning to the ancient stones of Arbor Low Stone Circle and Gib Hill Barrow to honour the turning of the year — with sound, drum, and intention.

However you choose to step into this season,
do it consciously.

The light is growing now.

—
Shaman’s Rest
Where Spirit & Nature Align