Rebirthing the Winged Serpent
Copyright Stella Woods
August 2011
Today the lines of the dragon (winged serpent) run unmarked across the world, their paths forgotten, the spirit they bear disregarded. Yet every year more people are drawn to visit ancient sites, centres of an invisible pattern woven across the world in some distant age. The powers of the earth are reasserting themselves, as if demanding that we recognise anew the vital part they play in our existence and welfare….our most precious inheritance, our promised and potential natural paradise.
John Michell - New View Over Atlantis
John Michell - New View Over Atlantis
The science of archaeo-cryptography – uncovering the secrets of the past - is moving forward in leaps and bounds thanks to the combined force of aerial photography, satellite imagery, computer imaging and the cross-fertilisation opportunities presented by the internet. A growing body of evidence seems to suggest that the ancient stone monuments and earthworks of China, Europe, The Middle East, Australia and Meso-America are not placed at random, but are an intelligently laid out system of psychic centres linked to the natural energy currents of our own planet and the sun, moon and stars of our solar system.
Have you noticed how some restaurants, homes and offices feel warm, relaxing and welcoming, while others make us feel tense and tired or just don’t feel right? We all understand the difference between the homely feel of a cottage on a green hillside overlooking a beautiful river versus the vibe of a busy downtown hotel. We can all instinctively pick the best house in the street, the best apartment in the building or the top spot in the office to place our desk. We can usually see why some restaurants and cafes attract patrons while others stand empty. It’s all about energy and the ancient Chinese art of feng shui or geomancy can teach us a lot about how this all works.
Most Westerners have all but forgotten their connection to the land and the cosmos, though it lives on in our mythology, folklore and esoteric traditions. Geomancy is the art of analysing the subtle energies of nature that ebb and flow throughout the landscape. Scientists call these subtle energies electro-magnetic or telluric currents (from the Latin tellūs, "earth"). Geomancers believe the way we feel and behave is greatly affected by our environment and physical surroundings. After all, scientific studies have shown that our bodies are simply molecules in a state of vibration and our thoughts and feelings emit electro-magnetic frequencies. When the body is ill, the crystalline structure of our DNA can actually become deformed. Placing the body in an environment filled with natural harmonics, magnetism and sound helps our DNA revert to its natural and harmonic geometry, leading to profound healing. Geomancy was once universally practised and I believe our current global and existential crisis offers us a fantastic opportunity to reconnect with and rebirth this ancient art.
Feng shui (the Chinese term for geomancy) can be translated as ‘wind and water’ and also 'that which cannot be seen and cannot be grasped'. In pre-industrial China, not only was every sacred temple sited using geomantic principles, but every building, stone, garden and planted tree was placed in the landscape in accordance with what the Chinese call ‘lung mei’ or 'dragon currents'. This magnetic force has the qualities of both yin (the white tiger) and yang (the blue dragon). The yang current takes the higher routes over steep mountains while the yin current flows along chains of low hills. The most favourable and sacred places are where the yin and yang lines intersect. This practice of divining the sites of buildings has continued into the 21st century with ‘The Bird's Nest Stadium’ and ‘The National Aquatics Centre’ built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics both erected in accordance with the principles of feng shui.
Geomancy is gradually becoming better known in Western countries where geomancers use dowsing rods or pendulums to analyse energy flows to select suitable sites for building, or to troubleshoot existing buildings affected by geopathic stress. Geopathic stress can cause irritation, poor sleep, ill health and other disturbances. This can result from radiation from a high tech environment - computers, TVs, power lines and household appliances or simply from the fabric of our homes, with concrete floors and steel framed homes magnifying geopathic stress. Too many of us are desk and couch bound in front of computers and TV screens, chatting on mobile phones or living virtual lives. To counteract this stress, it is wise to spend as much time as possible in nature and other outdoor environments, something our ancestors clearly understood.
Ley LinesThe term ‘ley’ was coined in the 1920s by the British archaeologist Alfred Watkins, in his books ‘Early British Trackways’ and ‘The Old Straight Track’. On looking at a map, Watkins realised that many ancient sites such as churches, stone circles, megaliths, natural ridge-tops, burial sites, wells and water-fords seemed to lie along a straight line. He studied more maps and discovered that most sacred sites fell along these alignments and called them ‘ley lines’ from ‘lea’, the Saxon word for ‘open space’. Could these ley lines have some connection with the earth’s magnetic currents or ‘dragon lines’?
One of the most famous British ley lines is the St Michael line which links many places dedicated to St Michael across England. These include St Michael's Mount in Cornwall; St Michael's Church, Brentor; St Michael's Church, Burrowbridge; St Michael's Church, Othery; St Michael's Church, Glastonbury Tor and Stoke St Michael. These churches were all built on former sites dedicated to the Celtic God, Lug whose name means ‘Light’. The Spring Festival of St Michael falls on the 8th May and the path of the sun on that day traces out this exact alignment. St Michael, like St George, is traditionally a dragon slayer. One might conclude that Christian churches and shrines dedicated to St Michael were perhaps designed to stamp out the old pagan earth energies on this ‘dragon line’. Quite the contrary - Michael brought energy and fertilisation to the land – in other words he aroused and enhanced the dragon energy.
Watkins theorised that these alignments were created for ease of overland trekking by line of sight navigation during Neolithic times and had persisted in the landscape over millennia. However he believed ley lines were merely pathways between points of spiritual power, rather than conduits of that power. Modern researchers such as Freddy Silva www.invisibletemple.combelieve prehistoric cultures were aware of the cosmic lines under the earth and sought to build their sacred structures along them in order to tap into their magical properties. There is also the theory that the earth’s natural magnetism was used to re-fertilise the land and that ley lines vibrate with the energy from all the people who have trodden these paths since pre-historic times. In other words some kind of mystical and rejuvenating interaction takes place between sacred sites and those who visit these sites or walk along these ancient pathways.
Watkins might have ‘re-discovered’ and named the ley lines, but they can be found all over the globe. The Germans call them 'Heilige Linien' , the Irish refer to them as 'Fairy Paths'; the Chinese call them 'Dragon Lines'; the Peruvians 'Spirit Lines' and the Australian Aboriginals ‘Dream Paths’ or ‘Songlines’. Here are some examples of this mysterious and ancient phenomenon.
• Australian Aboriginals tell of the Dreamtime, when creator gods traversed the country and reshaped its natural features, hills, streams and rocks along important paths whose lines are still remembered. At certain seasons of the year they become animated by a vital force which fertilises the earth and gives new life to plants and animals. To ensure the seasonal return of this force they carve tjuringas, arrangements of interlinked dots and circles exactly like those found on cup and ring stones in Europe. These represent the sacred paths and meeting points of the landscape. The tjuringas are also used for divination and receiving messages over great distances.
• Radiating out from the Inca capital city of Cuzco and its Temple of the Sun are 42 ceques or ‘spirit lines’ dotted with hundreds of small shrines. The word 'ceque' meant many things to the Inca - a pathway or trail, a field boundary, a series of shrines, or a linear expression of kinship. It also meant something like 'religious journey' or 'pilgrimage'. The shrines were most often in the form of stones or springs, and often ended near the summits of holy mountains. Sometimes they were in more complex form, like stepped pyramids with special carvings.
• The Nasca markings in Peru, scratched on the desert surface and only truly visible from the air, are said to be thousands of years old. They stretch in perfectly straight lines, traversing desert ravines and gullies for distances of up to 60 miles. At first they were thought to be seasonal markers, or a vast astronomical database, but no satisfactory explanation has yet accounted for their mystery.
• The German name for ley lines is 'Heilige Linien', or 'holy lines'. The area of 'Teutberger Wald' has a significant network of these lines which include the Externsteine and the megalithic stone circle at Bad Meinberg. Ley lines stretch right across the European continent passing through key sacred sites in Ireland, Cornwall, France, Italy, Greece and on to Armageddon in Israel.
The rediscovery and proper use of these sacred earth energies would seem to pave the way for a holistic and universal way to heal our bodies, our souls and our planet – a system far more effective than anything our politicians can come up with. I’ll leave you with a quote by Freddy Silva:
The elements that make nature tick —magnetism, water, stone, sacred geometry, sacred measure, sound— converge at sacred sites. By carefully blending these principles together, it is possible to open a portal of connectivity to other levels of reality. It is even possible to apply the same principles today to construct a temple wherever you are. And that is precisely what our ancestors were up to when they created a grid of tens of thousands of temples all over the world.
Creating Your Own ‘Temple’Find a place in nature that feels energetically nourishing to you. A forest glade, a mountain top, a secluded beach, an ancient desert or simply your own garden or local park. Are you drawn to the spirit of rocks, flowers, running water or trees? Do you prefer to feel the wind blowing through your hair, the crash of the ocean waves or are you drawn to a more restful, peaceful environment? Think about a place you have visited where you felt inspired or uplifted and why that might have been.
Now it’s time to consider your favourite time of day or favourite season. Do you love the invigorating energy of spring, the abundance of autumn or the solitude and stillness of winter? Are you a dawn person or a twilight lover? Do you prefer warmth or cooler weather? The energy will change depending on the time of day and year you visit your temple. Energy is particularly strong at the solstice (22nd December & 22nd June) and equinox points (22nd March & 22nd September) which is why many ancient temples are built to align with the sun’s passage on these special days. Energy will also be particularly strong for you in the week around your birthday or when the moon is in the same sign as it was when you were born. Use your imagination and intuition to pick the best time to visit.
Once you’ve arrived at your special place, notice your surroundings. Are there any rocks or trees that ‘speak’ to you? Where do you feel like sitting or lying? Using your animal senses, tune into your environment until you become part of it. You might like to meditate or just sit quietly breathing and taking it all in. Perhaps you feel like toning or chanting or just listening to the sounds of nature all around you. Maybe you feel like lighting a fire or taking off your clothes (not recommended for the local park) or dancing and stretching and moving your body. Ask the guardian spirits of the earth to energise and protect you. Once you’ve restored and renewed your energy, open your heart and give thanks. The magic of nature is all around us and we can tap into its gifts any time we choose.
