The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘ley lines’

Sunday 20th June, 2010 – Glastonbury, Somerset.

This is the fourth in the series of Summer Solstice posts, and by far the most ….important, astonishing, profound? In previous posts I have detailed my quest to finish off my tasks for the previous eighthpart of the year, and then to discover the purpose of the next eighth-part. Bothof these were very successful, and involved working with the heart chakra to bring about a harmonisation and integration within me. Then I had been posed a riddle to solve that would be the key to the next phase of the year from the Solstice to Lammas. With that safely determined, I could relax (could I relax any more?) and just “be”. I would say I was in a state of “openness” at this point, and ready to chill out in the lovely Chalice Well gardens, given that it was a fantastic sunny day. So, off we went down the Tor in a state of contentedness.

If there’s one place in the whole of Glastonbury that I appreciate more than any other it’s the tranquil space and beauty of the Chalice Well gardens. Its serenity is such an oasis from the hubbub of the Tor and the High Street, sandwiched as it is between the two. As we approached the ticket boothour thoughts were already turning to the “mindlessness” that such a place engenders and were were both quiet in preparation. The bearded man in the booth looked us up and down and then commented on the beauty of my ash staff. Thus began a special moment in my spiritual journey – I met Brian Conquer, ArchDruid of Glastonbury, for the first time.

The beauty and tranquility of the Chalice Well gardens

How To Inlay A Staff

The conversation with Brian began with him asking about how I came across the staff. I told him the story that it had asked me to rescue it, how I had heard its call, revived it and how now I wanted to decorate it. Now we were inseparable companions, the staff and I. Straight away I felt as though he understood what I meant, which rather surprised me, but hey – we were in Glastonbury and people must hear comments like that all the time. Brian began to explain how I might decorate the staff usinga particular technique involving twisted copper wire, superglue, a soldering iron with a square head, and some sandpaper. It sounded like it was just the piece of information that I had been waiting for because I had been holding off from carving the staff for a while now feeling that this was not the right thing to be doing, and having dowsed that the marks I was making needed to be more distinct. Here was Brian telling me exactly how that could be achieved!

Brian’s technique for inlaying the staff in copper was firstly to burn a shape into the wood using the soldering iron. Then, twist the copper wire, glue it in place, and use the sandpaper to cause heat via friction which blends the copper and glue until the finish is smooth. Well, it sounded simple enough, and I said I would go and practise that. He commented that he would be holding a workshop on how to do exactly that in late August here in the Chalice Well gardens. I made a special note to leave a space in my calendar. This was just the guidance that I needed to complete my “side quest” of transferring the shapes I am dowsing, the sigils of the genius loci of various sacred sites, and putting them onto my staff. Here was a man who was experienced in just that technique.

There was even more information on offer too, though. Brian informed us about the red spring (female water) that emerged from under the Tor and had been enshrined here in the gardens. Over the road in the white spring, the male quality of the water was surfaced, channeled and enshrined.  So, on either side of the road that separated the White Springs from the Chalice Well, the two qualities of water were available.

Another nugget of information was that there was an old yew tree with special qualities in the churchyard of St.Andrew’s church at Compton Dundon nearby. Brian reckoned that the yew tree was around 1500 years old, but also that it was the home of a friendly female dryad – a tree spirit. Having met only male dryads so far I made a mental note to go visit this should I get the chance. Some other arrivals at the gardens overheard this conversation and took an avid interest as well. Mr Conquer was holding court to a rapt audience!

Nooks and crannies in Chalice Well gardens

Meeting The Goddess

Kaland I thanked the old man for his effusive and passionate display of knowledge. He had given us so many ideas to play with in such a short time that we felt we needed to spend some time in the gardens now to assimilate it all! Kal went off doing his thing (he loves the gardens) and I went off following a dowsing rod to find the best place for me to be. I started by asking if there was anywhere I could re-energise my healing ash staff – this was, after all, the quintessential healing place. I was lead to a sun-drenched circle of sawn tree trunks through a narrow archway that overlooked the main running spring water. ‘Idyllic’ is barely an adequate word! Perfect for re-charging – in terms of sunlight, the geometry of the space, and the quietness. I felt perfectly fine leaving the staff there whilst I went off elsewhere to find my own perfect spot.

After spending time on a fruitful trail moving from beneath various types of tree – beech, then willow, then rowan, and finally yew – I wandered down to where Kal was playing into the channeled spring, observing its flow. It looked like he was doing something akin to Schauberger’s principles of flowing water, but he didn’t elaborate. Seeing he wasn’t finished I didn’t interrupt, but began to wander aimlessly. That was when Brian nipped out of the ticket hut to shout some advice across to me: “Why don’t you try standing between the yew trees facing down the hill, groudn your staff and calling on the Goddess?“, he suggested. I had already been between the yew trees on my last visit, and again on this one, but his additional instructions made me think he knew something I didn’t, and beside – how the whole garden was watching to see what I would do! Nothing like a bit of pressure!

I stood in the centre of the two yews and asked them if they minded me doing this little experiment. I got a pleasing feeling, and so I thanked them and carried on. There was a lady behind me who seemed to be taking a very keen interest in this procedure, but I did my best to screen everyone out and followed the instructions. I faced down the slope, unfixed my attention and then struck the earth with my staff. At that precise moment I sent my attention up and down into the earth and sky. Once I was connected above and below I looked into the middle distance and called mentally upon the Goddess to visit me in this place. Would anything happen? Or would I just look foolish?

Two yews and a thorn tree in Chalice Well gardens

A gentle but powerful force arrived surrounding me in a maelstrom of whirling energies- a veritable vortex of coiling charge built up around me. I could feel my aura expanding and pulsing in and out in slow and very strong heartbeats. The American lady behind me, whom I had completely forgotten about, so awed was I by this ‘visitation’, was saying things like “Whoa – I’m being pushed backwards – now I’m moving forwards again!”. I continued feeling like I was in the centre of a storm and couldn’t imagine what it must look like from the outside – did people see this swirling vortex of subtle energy like I was feeling it?

I had a question I wanted to ask my visitor. I guessed she might be able to help me with this one. I asked if I might ask the question, to which the winds increased in strength momentarily. I imagined my question to her: “What was the nature of the dragon that I had to awaken? Was it a hill, an energy, a skill, a tale, or what?” The answer came back immediately, “It is the serpent fire within you. Can’t you feel it?” she whispered witha strong hint of humour. Of course I could! It was swirling all around and through me now! I was happy with that clear guidance, and thanked her for helping me. I released my mental grip, re-focusing my attention back into the present world and the winds around me began to ease off. As they did so I thanked the visitor for the experience – the single most powerful and exhilarating experience of that nature that I have ever had.  The American lady behind me looked equally shell-shocked and could only say “Thank you! Thank you for that – that was amazing!” over and over again as she walked away, wide-eyed. I smiled and looked over at Brian in his wooden ticket office. He winked at me and smiled too. He seemed to know what that had been like for me.

I returned to Kal again and he still seemed to be busy meditating. I suddenly noticed that there were lots of herbs planted along one side of the garden’s walls and I wandered over to stroll amongst them – touching and smelling each in turn. I had never paid any interest at all to herbs before, but suddenly they it seemed to me that they were very important, and that I should learn their properties. I have no idea why this suddenly seemed so important, but since then I have been buying herb seeds, studying their lore, and have designated a space in my garden ready for planting them! Most odd. Or maybe just a natural progression on this druidic path?

As I wandered around Brian appeared again with a conspiratorial wink, and handed me a small wrapped hand-sized package. “A present from the Goddess.” he winked and smiled before chuckling to himself as he walked away. I thanked him as he retreated, and I unfolded the paper – it was a large prism of clear quartz. A present from an Archdruid? A treasured possession already! I was very humbled.

Gwas.

CropCircleConnector – the site that I trust to deliver sensible and timely information about the location and circumstances of the latest crop circles – has posted pictures of the first 2010 circle to appear. Yet again it has started in Wiltshire, and again the location is significant to those of us who watch for such things. The bigger question though is – what does it signify?

That has been a difficult question, but not one to which I have placed much of my attention, time or focus over the last year as I casually observer their appearance, and equally casually admired their form. This time, however, the formation seems to be particularly relevant to my researches at this very moment. Timely in a spookily coincidental way – the kind of coincidence that makes me prick up my ears and have a good sniff of the flow of consciousness as it passes.

Here’s what it looks like (courtesy of CCC’s site):

Old Sarum's consciousness map

What this means to me

My reading of this formation is entirely personal, and I urge you to make your own reading to suit yourself. This is in no way relevant for anyone else, but in case you’re interested, here’s what it means to me. Remember that this eighth part of the year I have recently found to be concerned with the study of how to investigate, understand and utilise the seven chakra energies that can be produced from the white light of neutral light energy? There was also the suggestion that I work at uniting the two energy centres of the lower and upper energy stores in order to work towards this understanding of the seven energy powers.

So, I look at this picture and I see the eye in the lower half – the observant eye – the eye that is looking at the seven circles – the seven vortices – the seven chakra points. Above it I see the upper wider eye symbol, which I take to be the third-eye – a stylised and symbolic eye, more perfect and with wider vision than the lower “real” eye. Through that third-eye flows five lines of energy, that may either be passing through, emanating from the power point, or flowing into it. Perhaps all three directions at once?

I think the five energy streams are five levels of consciousness through which I have to pass as a result of working with and understanding the seven forms of vibrational energy form that can be diffracted from the white light energy source of the neutral energy form. That’s about as mad and esoteric as it needs to get, right? Clearly, I’m cracked and ought to have voted Monster Raving Loony. But there’s one more thing…

The formation is reputedly laid out on the ley line that Danny Sullivan documents in his book “Ley Lines” on page 199, and which he credits to Sir Norman Lockyer and Alfred Watkins, calling it perhaps the oldest identified ley (by modern man). He names this as being the “Old Sarum Ley”.

It passes through the following sacred sites:-

1. Durrington Down tumulus [link]
2. Stonehenge [link]
3. Old Sarum [link]
4. Salisbury Cathedral
5. Clearbury Ring [link]
6. Frankenbury Camp [link]

That’s a lovely North-South line, and it comes close to a line that I identified as passing through Arbor Low as it travels further up north. I will see whether I can get anything more about those five lines of consciousness change. I have a draft post that I was already preparing about the numbers 7 and 12. Well, I don’t need to point out to you that 7+5….. Things just keep knitting together in this line of work!

Gwas.

Introduction

I had been looking forward to Beltane for a while. The promise of warmer, longer days to work in plus the chance to get back to some of the best ancient sites in Derbyshire had been whetting my appetite for a few weeks, making all else seem like filling in time until the Big Day. For us, we had worked out that Beltane was happening at the full moon on the 27th and 28th April. This is, of course, different from the ‘new traditional’ concept that Beltane is the 3rd May. Some say the 1sy May – May Day. Others maintain that due to the calendar shift caused by Pope Gregory XIII that the actual date is 23rd April.  You see how confusing this all is?

Our reasoning was simple – we timed the change from the third eighth of the year to the fourth as being when the full moon’s energies signalled a phase change, not on an arbitrary and disputed calendar date. After all, for us the interesting change was a change in subtle energies, so why not connect it to a major factor in the strength of those energies, namely The Moon?

Off we ventured with the intention of visiting as many sites as we could within one day. On our list were Arbor Low, Nine Stones Close, Doll Tor, and possibly Nine Ladies if we had time. Oh, we had time! Arbor Low, Nine Stones, The Andle Stone and Doll Tor will all be covered in this first post.

In part two of this set of posts I will describe our experiences at Nine Ladies, but also The Bullstones and The Bridestones which were also added to the list. We worked efficiently and effectively on this auspicious day and here’s the beginning of my account of our work and our findings.

1. Arbor Low and Ringham Low

The purpose we had set out with for this first site was to check our recent information about the movement of the ‘spirit of place’, the Genius Loci (henceforth – ‘GL’). Kal had found at Penmaenmawr and subsequent places that the GL enters an energised sacred site like a stone circle through an arc of neutral energy – like a fashioned gap or portal into the dome of energy covering the site. The same was true of the exit too – there was an arcing neutral energy that formed a kind of doorway.

Our intention was to verify whether the neutral arc I had found on my recent visit to Arbor Low was in fact an entrance or exit point for the GL. Here is what we found:-

• The Genius Loci travels along a neutral North-South ley line that connects to other distant sacred sites
• It enters the site at the place I identified last visit
• The exit is directly opposite, at the northern-most point of the stone circle
• The path of the GL oscillated more strongly as it approached the embankment of the site
• The path circles around the position where a standing stone would once had been placed on the earthwork (now all missing)

Satisfied with these findings we headed off to a site I had spotted marked on an OS map as being near to Arbor Low. This site as called Ringham Low, but when we got to the place where it was marked on the map, there was no sign of it. We walked the field for a while then got dowsing rods out. We found a circle thirty feet wide on the slightly sloping ground, and wondered what might once have been here. Then we moved on. More interesting work was due next at Nine Stones Close.

2. Nine Stones Close

Our second site was up on Harthill Moor, and was a site we were both very familiar with – our old friend Nine Stones Close. My intended purpose for visiting this site was to try to establish my wider purpose for the fourth eight-part of the year – the time between Beltane and Summer Solstice. We always have a little chuckle about what people might think when they encounter “Nine Stones”, with its four standing stones. Do they think it might once have had nine? It didn’t. Possibly five, but never nine.

Dull weather at Nine Stones Close

Despite the passing human traffic, ramblers and school outings everywhere, I was able to meditate quite deeply at Nine Stones, and to get a lot of dowsing done too. As a precaution, remembering the warning that I had been given by the Llangernyw Yew tree, I put up some energetic protection around myself. According to Kal that did its job, because a passing inquisitive person thought twice about approaching and came nowhere near whilst I has meditating. Just lucky, I guess.

Here’s what I found out:-

• I identified the purpose of the time between Beltane and the Summer Solstice
• The purpose of this time of the year is to learn how to diffract, dissociate and extract the different frequencies that my energy field can generate. Then to learn how to bring those frequencies together again to form a pure white energy form.
• I found that my meditation visualisations have changed from streams of fire to those of water – streams, fountains and geysers.

That purpose seemed like a natural extension of the research I had done for the previous eighth part of the year, which had been to learn how to work with neutral energy. I have yet to discover whether there is something about the energies of this time of the year that promotes or encourages that kind of work – this I will try to discover in the next few weeks.

From Nine Stones we headed towards the imposing gritstone structure that is named Robin Hood’s Stride.

3. Robin Hood’s Stride

There was not much to do at Robin Hood’s Stride. The huge outcrop of gritstone is impressive against the surrounding skyline of rolling hills and tree-studded fields, and something made us both want to go and pay it a visit. The one time we had felt like that previously we had found respective power centres, but that had been such a long time ago (in our minds) that we had forgotten where those were. We decided to re-dowse them to see if we could verify the original findings and to see whether that would jog our memories.

Minutes later Kal had found his centre in a small sheltered cave-like formation on the side of the Stride, whereas I was being directed into a crevice. I looked up the crevice to see that there was some kind of hit-like formation of rock slabs above me. Seems like I would have to climb up. I remembered from the last time that I had had to do that to find my power centre, so I hoped I could find it again, now that the rods had led me to this spot directly underneath this unusual slab formation fifteen feet above my head.

Once on top I followed the rods until they crossed and circled around inside a square box of a rock shelter. Inside I felt cushioned from the cold winds of early Spring and my voice resonated within the stone chamber as I called forlornly to my now absent friend below. As usual Kal had gone a-wandering. There was a beaten and chewed stick that some dog must have deposited within the chamber which kept attracting my attention. I picked it up and started to bounce it off the walls and floor of the chamber like a drumstick. For several minutes I beat out strange rhythms that seemed inspired by the sound of the wind on the walls of the chamber, but which were immensely pleasing. This was the place I had found the last time too.

Here’s a link to a YouTube video showing you Robin Hood’s Stride.

Read the rest of this entry »

HAMISH MILLER 1927 -- 2010 

 Hamish was probably the most publicly-known dowser at the time of his death. He had built a reputation as a tireless educator in the field of dowsing, and there is not a single character in the field who will be able to step into the gap he leaves. His boisterous yet gentle character and permanent smile in the face of what must have been endless questions about the subjects he loved and live were an inspiration to me and I’m sure to many others who will have got the chance to see him dowse, hear his lectures, and learn from his wealth of experience over the last few decades. 

He died on the 25th January this year, aged 82. I had read many of his books (in fact, only a few weeks ago I re-visited is seminal “Definitive Wee Book of Dowsing” for some pointers as to a seminar article  am writing myself and found him, yet again, to be an inspiration to my work. 

His initial inspiration to dowse came from a near-deathexperience (which he talked about every time I saw him). It was to turn his life around in his latter years, after having initially been a blacksmith and businessman. When he turned to dowsing he maintained the blacksmithing, forging his own style of dowsing rods. 

His inspiration 

When I first came across dowsing I was looking for as much information as possible -- buying every book I could find, and trying to see how people went about doing dowsing -- what issues did they come up against? What was their technique? What kinds of things could they find? Hamish Miller took part in a pilot programme which subsequently did not go to air, but made it to DVD, released as “The Spirit of the Serpent”, and featuring both Hamish and Ba Russell (his long-time partner), and Rupert Soskin and his wife. Oddly, Claire Grogan fronted the programme! A bit incongruous indeed. The team investigated the Merry Maidens stone circle in Cornwall over two days. 

What inspired me about this program was the way in which Hamish visually defined the earth energy spirals he found by placing pegs in the ground at intervals and then looping ribbon around them to visually demarcate the lines. I was inspired by this, and enjoyed listening to his explanations to a bemused Altered Images pop starlet about the way these energies could be discovered. 

 What he brought to the subject 

For me he introduced me to the concepts of the spiral form of energy and how it could be traced against the background patterns of the criss-crossing Hartmann and Curry grids. His detailed explanation of this fed into my own work on finding the spirals out in the land at so many places around ancient sites. Others may have found this before hand (Underwood or Michell perhaps) but Hamish brought it to life for me.

He also demonstrated concepts such as manifesting energy, in other words, using the power of the mind to ‘bring out’ patterns that already exist within the earth. These manifestations, he showed us, could be chained together from one site to another with increasing complexification occurring downstream. Another practise that I tested myself and found to be somewhat valid (my patterns got increasingly simple!).

 His inspirational books

Hamish might be best remembered for his classic dowsing treatise “The Sun and The Serpent”. A seminal work with Paul Broadhurst (another author whose work I admire). Together they followed the Great Dragon Ley Linethat John Michell had identified earlier. This line is an earthenergy line that can be found all the way from Norfolk to the tip of Cornwall. Miller and Broadbent added to this identification by dowsing the male and female “Michael” and “Mary” earth energy lines that moved around this national ley line. Fascinating stuff, and inspiring to a new dowser like myself.

His unique dowsing rods

Hamish was, as I mentioned, a blacksmith. He used his skills to create his own style of dowsing rods. Frankly, I didn’t like or understand them, but that was probably my problem. Hamish certainly made expert use of them, and I could rarely disagree with his findings, although we did differ on the detail, and I was also quite surprised that he never elaborated greatly on his findings in any study paper. But then he was a very practical man, and such things were probably anathema to him.

Hamish's unique and unusual hand-forged rods

Miller -- The Teacher

I will remember him best for his practical demonstrations of dowsing, and for his unswerving enthusiasm, even in his later years. I’m so pleased to be able to say that I saw him, learned from him, questioned him, and that he was my inspiration for taking dowsing to even deeper levels. I wish him his peaceful rest.

Gwas Myrddyn

Following on from the Great Man.

At the Mid-Winter Solstice Kal and I ventured forth to Anglesey again. In the following set of three posts I will share with you all the encounters we had, the energies we mapped and worked with, and the discoveries on our tour of Anglesey on 21st December 2009.

1. Bryn Celli Ddu (South Anglesey) 

We started at our favourite Anglesey starting point – the neolithic mound of Bryn Cell Ddu. It has all the right ingredients – it’s away from traffic but easy to get to; it’s close to the Menai Bridge; it’s beautiful; it’s aligned to the Winter Solstice. Perhaps that last point was the most important!

We missed the sunrise moment, but arrived at about 11am, in time for the midday sun. The previous day’s weather had been appalling making us wonder whether we’d be out here at all, but today the sun was out and the sky was blue, despite being very cold. Not impossible weather to dowse in if kitted out with gloves, hats and sturdy boots (well, I was anyway).

Almost the first moment we began to dowse we noticed something rather unusual – our usual alignments (myself = female, Kal = male) had been inverted! When I asked to be taken to a compatible power centre I arrived at a male power centre atop a recumbent stone at the edge of the mound. Later, when I caught up with Kal this was the very first thing he said to me: he’d been drawn to female centres and lines. We had confirmed each other’s findings, even if we didn’t understand why this was so. 

Winter Solstice sun path

We set about dowsing. I had vague memories of when we had last mapped the site’s energies and was keen to see whether that had changed at all, given that this was the Winter Solstice. Oh my word, had it changed! The energy flows were significantly different from when I had dowsed here last. Either that, or we are finding more and more layers to the existing energy structures. However, when I had finished dowsing I asked if there were any more energy formations and the rods indicated that there were not, so I suspect the flows have modified, rather than us finding more and more new formations. This, of course, makes the idea of mapping the energies a moving target, as they would have to be mapped over the course of a year the get a full picture of how they change. 

Energy flows

The mound was enclosed in the loving ‘hands’ of female energy, which stayed clearly outside of the ‘moat’ feature that surrounds the mound. A ‘tunnel’ of female energy was diverted into the mound’s interior along the ‘Entrance’ path and flows into the gap in the rear of the chamber. As I had found previously the female energy then hugs the walls of the passageway, and flows up and over the mouth of the passage as it emerges at the Northern end. It seems as though this ‘entrance’ is the entrance for energy, whilst the passageway is the human entrance to the structure. 

Midwinter Solstice energy fields

Inside the chamber I found that the male energy was the same as the last time – it emerged from the petrified tree trunk (as proposed by Rupert Soskin, see this YouTube link for details, from the video ‘Standing With Stones‘), and from the recumbent stone outlying the mound, but within the moat area. 

Sun in the passage at Bryn Celli Ddu

The male energy was confined to the stones within inner circle of the mound area. The male recumbent transformer stone gathered the sun’s energy and fed it to the standing stone at the back of the mound in a circular link. The standing tree stone inside the mound chamber gathered energy from somewhere inside the mound (possibly male earth energy beneath the stone) and fed it out of the back of the chamber, around the mound, and pulled it back inside to the tree stone again. No other male energy formations could be found this day. 

The carved energy patterns

These energy formations were nothing like our previous experience of the mound in the summer months when energy had been evenly distributed between male and female. This shows us that our energy maps are going to change depending upon the time of year that we map them, making the maps even more dynamic than we anticipated! 

Thinking and stinking

To conclude we both did a little meditation and lighting of incense. This also involved us walking around the tree stone inside the chamber. It was an attempt to connect to the specific energies of the Winter Solstice and to try to gather them up, and indeed that was what happened. Both Kal and I felt as though we had managed to infuse ourselves with the Solstice energy and that it was being stored within us, ready for our next site visit, where we hoped to understand what might happen next. We were still at the stage of “letting things occur”, but adding in a little direction ourselves by stating our purpose for using the energies.

In the next post I tell of how we ventured further along the southern edge of Anglesey to the Bryngwyn Stones, and then up to the Soar Stone in the North West, and how the energies of those places interacted with the energy we had gathered from Bryn Celli Ddu. In the final post of this series we do some valuable energy work at Lligwy Chamber, and I map the energies again.

Section 2. Dowsing and Earth Energies

A lot of work was done by Kal in particular this year relating to the modification of energy centres within houses. Some people call this “house dowsing” or “healing sick houses”. It relates to a concept called “geopathic stress”, but we have found that this “stress” has more causes than simply a water course running under the house. There was a fantastic checklist produced by a British Society of Dowsers member in the December issue of the group’s quarterly magazine ‘Dowsing Today’, which lists these causes, and I will post more on that soon, because I think the information bears repeating and distributing.

I was lucky enough to spend a day at Carnac in France this summer. It was a most glorious day and highly productive, but I absolutely must go back to spend longer there. I feel there is more to be learned still from this massive and impressive site. Other interesting sites this year include: Druid’s Circle above Penmaenmawr; also Nine Stones Close and Nine Ladies stone circles in Derbyshire. I will publish a full list of sites as one of the summary posts in this series.

Here are some of things we learned about dowsing and earth energies this year:-

2-1. House dowsing:

• We can dowse houses accurately, either locally or remotely
• We can either send and receive energy to specific points in the house, providing the house has not been “sealed off” and permission is given
• We can modify the energy formations on site
• Crystals can be used to repair this energetic state, and to change unhelpful or misaligned energies into helpful and aligned ones
• Plants can be asked to contribute to this
• The beneficial effects take some time – depending on how far the energy has to convert from harmful to beneficial, this can take from hours to weeks to achieve. Also dependent upon the amount of new positive input into the formation(s).
• The Moon or Sun can also contribute to the energetic change, acting as a catalyst for the change, and also providing either male or female energetic input.

2-2. Flat recumbent stones attract female energy (moon), whilst pointed stones attract male energy (sun). We don’t yet know which elements of a site attract star or planetary energies, but we know they are present at sites, especially stone circles.

2-3. Kal found that certain geologically faulted locations with water running through them can pin energy to a place.

2-4. Ironwork and iconography (in the case of stones in Brittany I found that it was Christian crosses) can restrain the energy of a standing stone, reducing its aura (field of effect).

2-5. Earth energy spirals are created from sacred geometrical principles and number. Even manifestations created by us have the same properties. Of particular significance has been the discovery that stone circles are based upon sacred geometry in their design. For exmaple, Moel-Ty-Uchaf stone circle in North Wales is based upon a pentacle,or five-sided shape. I have found that this is linked to specific “deities”, but more importantly, that these deities are actually one of the planets. The pentacle therefore is associated with Venus, which itself describes a five-sided geometrical figure around the earth in its annual travel.

2-6. Power centres are the central point of two cones of energy- one going up into the air, the other going down into the ground. Also confirmed by Viktor Schauberger’s research.

2-7. Avenues or rows of standing stones have male and female energies intertwining, and travelling the length of the line of a stone rows of standing stones.

2-8. Tumuli can provide a terminus pointfor energy to sink back into the earth. As an example, I found this double mound pictured below was a terminus point for the energy running through the Kermario avenues of standing stones at Carnac in France.

2-9. Cup-marked stones often provide a rising point, a focal point or source of earth energies entering into sacred sites. Some standing stones that are cup-marked are a map of the energy power centres nearby.

2-10. “Hand spread” patterns of energy fields can be dowsed on the side of circles where energy is being dispersed out of the area. They indicate areas of high fertility energy.

2-11. Many neutral alignment leys travel the length and breadth of lands, and have accumulated sacred sites and churches along them. I suggest this is similar to the geometirc patterns that many dowsers and researchers have discovered overlaying the British Isles, and some say, the whole of Earth (cf. John Michell)

2-12. “Martin”, “Margaret” and “Anne” are other synonyms for the male and female energy lines surrounding national leylines, as well as the better-known “Michael” and “Mary” energies. This year I traced what I call The St.Martin Line running from South-West England through France and into Italy.

These findings should be viewed in the context of the complementary section coming soon on our findings at Ancient Sites. I hope next year to concentrate on water dowsing, or rather, dowsing the energetic properties of water, sap and blood. Next in the series – Part 3 – I will be summarising our findings relating to tree energies, elemental spirits and death energy.

Gwas.

As I reported in my previous Arbor Low post Kal and I were inside the stone circle taking dowsing readings. This post is the product of those readings, and, as I had hoped, the great stone circle did indeed give up some of its secrets that evening. The results I present here are only preliminary and cursory research into the amazing insights that we discovered, and I hope that over the course of the next year I can back up everything I am about to say with some solid on-the-ground fieldwork, dowsing, and more research. However, for now, I must content myself with my initial exciting findings, and must re-iterate that they are currently only theoretical and speculative.

Impossible Bearings

We dowsed inside the inner circle to find the point from which the radial alignment leys that Kal had found previously emanated. The spot was in between the two central large recumbent sets of stones. I stood in the centre whilst Kal walked around this point with his dowsing rods. Whenever he got a reading he stopped, and I lined up the compass with his dowsing rod and noted the bearing. After only two readings it became apparent that something quite exciting was going on here – the numbers were coming out incredibly familiar: Zero degrees – due North! Not 1 degree, 5 degrees, or 10, but spot on zero. Next – 45 degrees! Interesting. Well, it doesn’t take a mathematical genius to recognise these numbers as particularly significant when related to a circle!! Kal was oblivious to this, as he was simply walking around and stopping at particular points when the rods moved to a right-angle. I was the one whose eyebrows rose a little at each reading until I couldn’t contain myself any longer and blurted out something like, “This is impossible!”.

Here are the set of radial ley line bearings taken:-

1. 0 degrees
2. 45 degrees
3. 90 degrees
4. 135 degrees
5. 180 degrees
6. 240 degrees
7. 270 degrees
8. 335 degrees

I took the readings home, quite excited at the prospect of plotting them onto Google Maps and following the result – perhaps this would open up some new avenues of sites to explore along the lines, or new centres of spirituality to visit and dowse this year? Stupid question, as it turned out – of course it did.

The importance of place

If those radials are extended out until they reach significant points, such as the end of the land, or a sacred site, then you get some pretty amazing coincidences across a very large area. How could the circle builders have managed to position the circle with such precision over such a wide area? By using star, sun and moon alignments alone?

Here’s a link to the Google Maps diagram of the radials extended in all directions: Arbor Low radials. In this view you can click on each of the markers and see that each of them is a significantly named place, containing either the name of a Christian saint (popularly “Mary” or “Margaret“), or village names ending in “-ley”, “-lea” or “-leigh”. Some of the villages include the name “Cross“”, which I also think is significant, as it may indicate a location where the alignment leys I have discovered intersect with other ley lines. A rich source of further investigation in the years ahead, I feel. One final criterion for a significantly named place is the inclusion of the word “-stone“, which I believe indicates a standing marker stone may have existed there at one time, acting as a sighting stone indicating the direction and placement of the ley line.

Defining the Criteria for a Ley Line

This has always been a hot topic for leyhunters and critics of them. What constitutes a ley line? One could argue, “Well, you could draw a line anywhere in Britain and find that it goes through a place name like that.“. To a certain extent this is true. Random chance would be one factor, but it may also be that this country is riddled with ley lines, and eventually you are going to cross one or run alongside one if drawing a straight line across country. However, these are the elements I felt constituted a ley line without me having actually dowsed its presence yet:-

1. The town or village must end in “ley”, “lea”, “lee” or “leigh”
2. Such a village/town must not lie more than 1 mile from the central path of the neutral ley line.
3. The path of the line must pass through at least THREE significant ancient sacred sites.
4. There ought to be many references to saints names in the name of the villages, towns or the churches that the ley line passes through.

You’ll find one or two random proximities over any long line placed across the country. I tested this set of criteria, all classic ley line definitions, by starting a line map at a random point in the British countryside, and traced some lines to the cardinal points from there Here are the results for the Random Ley Line:-

1. NORTH: one close and one direct hit on a line extending 118 miles.
2. SOUTH: three close and five direct hits on a line extending 142 miles.
3. EAST:  no hits or near misses on a line extending 99 miles.
4. WEST: two close and two hits on a line extending 140 miles.

Eight hits on the random southern line, eh? But let’s look at the clustering of those hits – they almost ALL appear in the small space between the M40 motorway in Oxford (a hot spot for ancient sites and leys) and the M3 motorway in the space of about 20 miles. I venture to suggest we have actually hit an existing ley line in that area, or some very close to it. The total line extends some 140+ miles in total, mostly devoid of hits.

How many ancient sites were passed through in this test? NONE. How many saints names were in the names of villages or towns near to this random line? NONE. Did it align three or more sacred sites? NO. Okay – so the “ley” name criteria was occasionally met in clusters, but the other criteria were completely devoid.

The Arbor Low Lines

Let’s compare that now with the lines that I found emerging from the Arbor Low stone circle. I’ll do the details later, but for now, let’s just compare those cardinal hits and near misses.

Let’s examine each of those radials in turn, and see which significant places they touch. NOTE: all the lines have at least ONE sacred site because they all emerge from Arbor Low.

1. The Northern Ley

• Bearing: 0 Degrees
• Length: 173 miles.
• Places: 18
• Sacred sites: 2

The northern ley ends at Holy Island, and goes straight into the Lindisfarne Priory and ends at a place called Mary Gate.

One of the descendants of Llywelyn the Great (c. 1173-1240) was born in ‘Raby with Keverstone’, which is an interesting connection to Yr Elen mountain, a peak conjoined with one named Carnedd Llywelyn, meaning “Llywelyn’s cairn”.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Farnley Tyas
2. Aspley
3. Bradley
4. Shipley
5. Burley
6. Ilkley
7. Thruscross
8. Bewerley
9. Pateley bridge
10. West Layton
11. Keverstone
12. Hedleyhope
13. Hamsterley
14. Throkley
15. Kirkley
16. Longhorsley
17. Adderstone
18. Mary Gate, Holy Island (Lindisfarne Priory)

2. The North–Eastern Ley

• Bearing: 45 Degrees
• Length: 71 miles.
• Places: 16
• Sacred sites: 4

Possibly travels through the Barbrook series of stone circles. Cannot find an end point, however, as many of the circles on the eastern seaboard would have been timber circles, and long since disintegrated.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Bakewell (St.Peter’s Well)
2. Handley
3. Pilsley
4. Birchen Edge cairns (between Wellington’s and Nelson’s Monuments)
5. Ramsley (reservoir)
6. Whickersley
7. Bramley
8. Alverley
9. Cantley
10. Wheatley
11. Twin Rivers (at the mouth of the Humber where it divides into two rivers)
12. Crabley
13. Hunsley
14. Rowley
15. Westwood Common timber circle
16. Beverley

3. The Eastern Ley

• Bearing: 90 Degrees
• Length: 73 miles.
• Places: 6
• Sacred sites: 3

The line ends, I believe, at Bolinbroke Castle, made famous for being the seat of many of England’s kings, as recounted famously in several Shakespearean plays such as Henry IV, who was born there. Wikipedia link. The only other significant place I could find on this line is the Nine Ladies Stone Circle, also in Derbyshire. Perhaps the line ends there – this is something I will have to test out in the field by checking points along the line.

The funny thing about this line is that its bearing is not exactly 45 degrees. If a line is drawn at exactly 45 degrees then it slightly misses Nine Ladies, and misses Bolinbroke by a mile or so by the time it gets out east. Now, despite what I said earlier about the fact that the line as measured on the night was 45 degrees exactly, I actually think this might be a case for saying that I may have taken the measurement slightly wrong for this line. I say that because I am, indeed, fitting this line retrospectively based on the evidence of the sacred sites and villages named “ley” that I only discovered when I traced the line across the land. If you follow the line and see that the sites fit if the line is angled slightly further than 45 degrees I think you’ll agree it’s a more convincing case for the existence of a ley line.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Nine Ladies Stone Circle
2. Clay Cross
3. Lower Pilsley
4. Pleasley
5. Clipstone
6. Bolinbroke Castle

However, by the criteria I laid out earlier, this line is not wholly convincing – only two ancient sites appear on it, and not three – unless Bolinbroke Castle could be considered to be an ancient site. We may never know. Where’s Time Team when you need them?

4. The South-Eastern Ley

• Bearing: 135 Degrees
• Length: 155 miles.
• Places: 12
• Sacred sites: 3

The least convincing of the radials, as I can’t find many ancient sites along this line for quite a long stretch. This is the problem with most of the lines that extend over the eastern side of the country – the geology of the area does not encourage the building of stone monuments. Instead, it would appear that their ancient monuments were rendered in timber, and then never upgraded to stone, as they had been elsewhere where suitable stone was abundant.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Brightgate
2. Matlock Bath (petrifying well, Heights of Abraham, Rutland and Great Masson caverns)
3. Lea Bridge
4. Lea Brooks
5. New Brinsley
6. Felley (old priory – information contributed by reader ‘Pat’)
7. Mapperley
8. Lambley (The Lambley Spring)
9. Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalen
10. Tivertshall St.Margaret
11. Pulham St.Mary
12. St.James South Elmham

There is clustering of sites on this line, with a section in the middle (between Lambley near Nottingham and Wiggenshall SMM in Norfolk) where there are neither correspondences or ancient sites listed. I am quite unsure about whether the line continues beyond Nottingham at the moment. The only thing I have to make me want to keep the line the length it is would be the end point being the mouth of the River Blyth, which is such an exact geographical feature for a line to end at. A mile further north or south would have been less convincing. End points being the mouths of rivers seems to be a feature of the Arbor Low radials.

5. The Southern Ley

• Bearing: 180 Degrees
• Length: 167 miles.
• Places: 25
• Sacred sites: 5

The southern ley ends at St Catherine’s Hill on the northern edge of a town called Christ Church at the mouth of the River Avon and River Stour. Either that, or it ends at the Breamore (Bremmer) sites just a few miles further north, where there is a “Giant’s Grave” long barrow, a “Giant’s Chair” and an ancient turf maze called the Miz-Maze. Passes next to Stonehenge and other Wiltshire sites, and through Marlborough.

Of Catherine’s Hill:

“One “miracle” legend that local heritage does not play up is that Christchurch, like Vortigern’s citadel, was reportedly consumed by fire from heaven – no doubt because the reason given is that it was devastated by a fire-breathing dragon sent to punish the town for its wickedness. An account by a visiting French monk, Herman of Laon, has the town being burnt by a fire-breathing flying dragon in 1112/1113. Herman came here with a group touring SW England to raise funds to rebuild their home church, but got an unwelcome reception here. As Herman’s group left, they looked back and were pleased to see the town being burnt up by a dragon in revenge for the insult to their Lady of Laon.

Dragons are often associated with “fire from Heaven,” but despite new-age attempts to equate dragons with ‘serpent lines’ (rather than ley lines) of esoteric or geomantic force, no link with St Catherine’s Hill is apparent, Herman’s dragon rising from the sea. There is a local land-based serpent-dragon legend, but it is localised across the valley at Bisterne (which means beast’s or pest’s secret place). Or at least the family whose ancestor supposedly slew it resided at Bisterne, with the dragon carved on their stone gateposts in commemoration, the dragon itself alighting at Burley Beacon nearby to drink the milk the fearful locals left out for it. (For more on dragons and the theory they are linked to ley lines, see Here Be Dragons (2008), by Michael Hodges, author of the history of St Catherine’s Hill pictured right.)

The notion of the hill as a still actively pagan site in the Middle Ages is supported by some slight circumstantial evidence. At some point a chapel was built on the hilltop either in addition to, or else instead of, the planned hilltop priory church. This is despite the fact the downtown Priory site had up to nine chapels or altars there already. One theory is a hilltop church was erected to displace ongoing pagan use of the hill. It was the policy of St Augustine that the early Saxon church should take over ‘wood and stone’ pagan sites and give them a cosmetic makeover to convert them into Christian ones, beginning around 600.” (Source : http://www.south-coast-central.co.uk/n&q/stcatherineshill.htm)

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Fenny Bentley
2. Cubley
3. Fradley
4. Hilliard’s Cross
5. Lea Hall
6. Bentley Heath
7. Hockley Heath
8. Henley-in-Arden
9. Billesley
10. Blockley
11. Coln St.Aldwyns
12. Blunsdon St.Andrew
13. Westlea
14. Rockley
15. Lower Everleigh
16. Salisbury Cathedral
17. Clearbury Ring
18. The Giant’s Graves and Chair, and Miz-Maze
19. Gorley
20. Hangersley
21. Ashley Heath
22. St.Leonards and St.Ives
23. South Ripley
24. Sopley
25. St Catherine’s Hill

6. The South-Western Ley

• Bearing: 240 Degrees
• Length: 120 miles.
• Places: 14
• Sacred sites: 2

Passes through the legendary site of Caerleon, reputed site of King Arthur’s Camelot and long-time Roman Fort. link.

“When the feast of Whitsuntide began to draw near, Arthur, who was quite overjoyed by his great success, made up his mind to hold a plenary court at that season and place the crown of the kingdom on his head. He decided too, to summon to this feast the leaders who owed him homage, so that he could celebrate Whitsun with greater reverence and renew the closest pacts of peace with his chieftains. He explained to the members of his court what he was proposing to do and accepted their advice that he should carry out his plan in The City Of The Legions.

Situated as it is in Morgannwg (Glamorgan), on the River Usk, not far from the Severn Sea, in a most pleasant position, and being richer in material wealth than other townships, this city was eminently suitable for such a ceremony. The river which I have named flowed by it on one side, and up this the kings and princes who were to come from across the sea could be carried in a fleet of ships. On the other side, which was flanked by meadows and wooded groves, they had adorned the city with royal palaces, and by the gold-painted gables of its roofs it was a match for Rome.”

“After the death of Uther Pendragon, the leaders of the Britons assembled from their various provinces in the town of Silchester and there suggested to Dubricus, the archbishop of the City Of The Legions, that as their King he should crown Arthur, son of Uther. He called the other bishops to him and bestowed the crown of the kingdom upon Arthur. Arthur was a young man only fifteen years old …”

(from ‘History of the Kings of Britain’ by Geoffrey of Monmouth).

I suspect that the ley line may end at Butterdon Hill in the Dartmoor National Park. There is only circumstantial evidence for this based upon the frequency of nearby villages with the word “ley” or “leigh” in their names. Perhaps there is stronger evidence for the end point being Caerleon.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Farley
2. Checkley
3. Church Leigh
4. Dodsleigh
5. Chartley
6. Shirleywich
7. Teddesley Park
8. Gailey
9. Wrottesley Park
10. Romsley
11. Upper Arley
12. Tedstone Wafer
13. St Weonards
14. Caerleon

7. The Western Ley

• Bearing: 270 Degrees
• Length: 92 miles.
• Places: 6
• Sacred sites: 2

The western ley goes to the imposing mountain of Yr Elen. No-one seems to know why it is dedicated to Elen, but I can hazard a guess – it is Elen of the Roads – the spirit who shows the seeker the way, who makes visible the invisible paths of energy, the ley lines, and here stands this summit: due West of Arbor Low, on a ley line, and dedicated to Elen. No other sacred sites along the way though, unless you include the town of Mold, which is steeped in history and pre-history, and whose castle may have been the site of a former, much more ancient, fort or protected sacred space. Or perhaps its church dedicated to St.Mary may have a much older history. But that’s speculation.

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Healthylee
2. Wimboldsley
3. Tarporley
4. Buckley
5. Mold (St Mary the Virgin church)
6. Yr Elen (mountain)

8. The North-Western Ley

• Bearing: 335 Degrees
• Length: 68 miles.
• Places: 6
• Sacred sites: 2

The north-west ley ends up at Blackpool’s South Shore. Not generally considered to be a sacred site (although it oculd be considered to be the spiritual home of Mecca Bingo) until you do a little  reserach on the subject. Here’s a quote about Blackpool’s megalithic history from the Megalithic Portal site concerning the one sacred site known about in Blackpool:

“Information from Pastscape:

“The Rev William Thornber states that a round cairn or cairns formerly stood on the site of the Lodge of Stonyhill, and he was told that Mr. Fisher, the proprietor of the field, had carted away upwards of twenty loads of soil, burnt red and black, from the site of a large circular cairn, which had made it difficult to identify. He also states that adjoining the cairns are two wells, one called the Fairy Well, or Wrangdomwell, and the other Bull Spring, which issues from a huge oblong mound of stones, in the Bull Meadows, which he supposes to be of artificial origin. He says that the Fairy Well was still resorted to with offerings of rags , nails and pins, and that he had found, himself, nails, leather thongs and-an old shaped knife, after the meadows had been ploughed.

This area is now completely covered with modern buildings.” Source: http://www.pastscape.org/hob.aspx?hob_id=39366“

Here are the places that are upon or close to this ley line:-

1. Fernlee Reservoir
2. Pott Shrigley
3. Gatley
4. Tyldesley
5. Crosstown
6. Blackpool

Again, I’m  not sure if this line really constitutes being called a ley line. There are very few sites above random chance, the sacred site at the end of the line may or may not have been of significant size and status, and there are no known extant or remnant sites in between Arbor Low and Blackpool.

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As you can see, some of the radials are more convincing than others. Over the course of the next year I aim to see whether there is any dowsing evidence, or local custom that would back up these suppositions.

Gwas.