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ley lines
Ley lines are alleged alignments of ancient sites or holy places, such as stone circles, standing stones,
cairns, and churches. Interest in ley lines began with the publication in 1922 of Early
British
Trackways by Alfred Watkins (1855-1935), a self-taught amateur archaeologist
and antiquarian. Based upon the fact that on a map of Blackwardine, near Leominster, England, he could link a number of ancient landmarks by a series of straight lines, he
became convinced that he had discovered an ancient trade route. Interest in these alleged
trade routes as sources of mystical energy has become very popular among New Agers in
Great Britain.
Today, ley lines have been adopted by New Age occultists everywhere as sources of power or energy, attracting not only
curious New Agers but aliens in their UFOs and locals with their dowsing
rods. These New Age occultists believe that there are certain sites on the earth which are
filled with special "energy." Stonehenge, Mt.
Everest, Ayers Rock in Australia,
Nazca in Peru, the Great Pyramid at Giza,
Sedona (Arizona), Mutiny
Bay, among other
places, are believed to be places of special energy. There is no evidence for
this belief save the usual subjective certainty based on uncontrolled observations by
untutored devotees. Nevertheless, advocates claim that
the alleged energy is connected to
changes in magnetic fields. None of this has been scientifically verified. Maps have been produced,
however, with lines on them which allegedly mark off special energy spots on earth. For
example, the Seattle Arts Commission gave $5,000 to a group of New Age dowsers, the Geo
Group, to do a ley line map of Seattle.
Photographs of the result, which looks like a defaced satellite photo of the Seattle area, can be purchased
for $7.00 from the group. It proudly proclaims that the "project made Seattle the
first city on Earth to balance and tune its ley-line system." The Arts Commission has
been criticized by skeptical citizens for funding a New Age, pagan sect, but the artwork
continues to be displayed on a rotating basis in city-owned buildings within Seattle.
Citizens had every right to be skeptical. Here is what the Geo Group has to say about their project:
The vision of the Seattle Ley-Line Project is to heal the Earth energies within the Seattle city limits by identifying ley-line power centers in Seattle, neutralizing negative energies and then amplifying the positive potential of the ley-line power centers. We believe the result will be a decrease in disease and anxiety, an increased sense of wholeness and well-being and the achievement of Seattle's potential as a center of power for good on Spaceship Earth.
The Geo Group's vision is little more than a profession of faith. It is reminiscent of the claim of Transcendental Meditation that group meditation could reduce local crime rates. The Geo Group's methods have been just as effective.
The word ley is a variant of lea, meaning grassland, clearing, or pasture. English towns with these names are somewhat common, e.g., Cantley (Cant's clearing).
further reading
The Buckingham Palace Ley Line
Ley-lines lead writer to wrong place in history "Robert Macfarlane, in a Daily Telegraph feature, ambitiously titled The truth behind Alfred Watkins’ ‘ley lines’, misplaced the site of Watkins’ famed discovery by around 20 miles.
Robbing the good people of Blackwardine of their most significant historical event, Mr Macfarlane attributed the setting of Mr Watkins’ moment of clarity – where he observed a network of ruler-straight tracks spreading across the countryside – to the west Herefordshire village of Bredwardine.
He is not, however, the first person to make this mistake insists the Hereford Times’walking correspondent Garth Lawson. “People have perpetuated an error in an anonymous foreword to one of Watkins’ books since 1925,” said Garth, who questions whether Mr Macfarlane actually read the whole book."
levitation
