St Wendreda

During my Reiki II attunement I had the feeling of someone standing at my right shoulder.  I had not experienced this feeling before and so assumed it to be a new guide, here to help me specifically with Reiki.  I mentioned it to my Reiki Master and she confirmed that there was indeed someone standing just behind my right shoulder.  She suggested that, during a self-Reiki session, I ask for a name and who they are.

During my session the following day, I asked the guide to come and help me and also asked if I could be told the name and a little more about them.  Again, I felt a very strong presence of someone just behind my right shoulder and this time had a feeling around my chin and neck, as if I was wearing a garment.  That was it, no name and still none the wiser as to who my new guide was.

The following morning, just as I was waking up, I saw words that looked like “St Wendra of Dreda”.  I was a bit taken aback, where did that come from and what did it all mean?  I googled and was absolutely gobsmacked on the hits I got – amongst them was the following:

St. Wendreda was the daughter of seventh-century King Anna, one of the earliest Christian kings. At a time when Christianity was putting down roots among the Anglo-Saxon peoples of England, St. Wendreda and her sisters, Etheldred and Sexburga, were enthusiastic missionaries spreading the Gospel of Christ.

Shunning the life of a princess, Wendreda dedicated herself to healing. She eventually settled in a small settlement called Mercheford, where some humble fisherman resided. Her sister, Etheldred, went on to found the monastery at Elyl, while her other sibling, Sexburga, became abbess of a monastery in Minster.

Later, Wendreda founded a community at March, Cambridgeshire, dedicated to healing. She passed peacefully into the heavenly kingdom, and her relics, enshrined in gold, were buried in the Ely Cathedral.

However, in 1016, the relics were carried off in battle in the hopes they would bring victory. At the Battle of Ashingdon, the conquering Danish king, a pagan, seized the relics, but soon was converted to Christianity. He took the relics to the Canterbury Cathedral where they rested for the next 300 years.

In 1343, St. Wendreda was returned to March and enshrined in the church dedicated to her memory. The St. Wendreda Church stands to this day, and is world famous for its magnificent double-hammer beam roof along with 120 carved angels.

Not only was that so mind-blowing for me but, as a keen genealogist, I have traced my paternal family back to March in Cambridgeshire!