🌍 Big world events ripple through more than just our lives — they shift the Earth’s energy field too. What happened on 9/11 and when Diana died? The energy spoke volumes. ✨
 
https://de320.isrefer.com/go/root396gift/Stuartn/
 
#EarthEnergy #CollectiveConsciousness #GlobalShift #EnergyMatters #ThinkandGrowEducation #RayBehan #Frequency #Science

What happened to Earth’s energy field on 9/11 and when Princess Diana died? 🌍✨ Powerful events ripple through our planet’s consciousness.
https://de320.isrefer.com/go/root396gift/Stuartn/
 
#EnergyAwareness #PlanetaryHealing #ThinkandGrowEducation #RayBehan #Frequency #Science #EarthEnergy #GlobalConsciousness #CollectiveEnergy

 
🌍⚡ What happened to Earth’s energy field on 9/11 & when Diana died? Powerful collective grief and shock sent ripples through our planet’s energetic field — moments that shifted consciousness worldwide. Our healing begins when we honor and transform that energy.
https://de320.isrefer.com/go/LUYDFREE/Stuartn/
#CollectiveHealing #EarthEnergy #ShiftInConsciousness #ThinkandGrowEducation #RayBehan #CollectiveThinking

Pic de Bugarach: The mysterious mountain

Pic de Bugarach in Aude, France, is a place that effortlessly combines natural wonder and legends. Add to its history a heaping portion of serious scientific misunderstandings, flavor with rumors and imaginative speculation, then bake for centuries, and the result is a bizarre mashup of fact and fiction that satisfies in our modern spooky times.

There are so many sacred mountains around the world. Perhaps every significant peak has its own mythical origin story. Pic de Bugarach, ranks near the top. Its geological oddness was recognized early in the scientific community as one of the “Pyrenean Paradoxes”. But the copious number of metaphysical claims about this particular mountain is striking. To demonstrate the weirdness, I can’t do better than to quote from a horrendous website called Mary Magdalene France Tours. I leave the spelling and punctuation as in the original:

Pic De Bugarach is both an energetic and geological phenomenon. Geologists say Bugarach is a mountain built upside down. Thousands of years ago when the formations of the Pyrenees Mountains were arising out from the earth one particular peak arose and was toppled over in this cataclysmic transition. […] From an energetic perspective Pic De Bugarach is one of the special power centers of the world holding a dynamic presence for the planet. This relatively small mountain, standing less than 4,000 feet above sea level and a two and a half-hour walk to the top from its base, is a Stargate. A conduit for energies (and possibly life-forms) from other dimensions and realities to pass into the earth, as well as move out from a deep source within the planet. Those with extrasensory abilities, perceive an invisible cloud-like formation directly above the small dome shape peak, it is the entry point into something beyond the human/earth experience, something at such a higher vibration few humans can comprehend all of what it is. […] It appears Pic De Bugarach was designed through the thousands of years for this very function as it has an energetic presence (most likely due to the Stargate) with lay lines streaming out in a variety of directions. The early places of worship were built on the lay lines and later Catholic Churches and Chateaus constructed their temples on the same spots.

Bart Sharp

The writer then meanders into musing about earth chakras, but I will spare you any more of this “sciencey New Age” (or “Sewage”) prattle. This source hits upon most of the claims about the mountain that circulate in fiction (which some think are fact), in paranormal circles, and in modern media. The town of Bugarach itself even capitalized on the weirdness for their own means.

Claims

You don’t need extra-sensory ability to notice that the mountain above the sleepy commune-village of Bugarach has a certain presence. Its height at 1230m, while not towering, is enough to generate clouds that shroud the peak. Sources mentioned it is also called ”the crossroads of the four winds” and link it to Atlantis (of course). A few online sources give a magical origin to the peak saying (without reference) that the name is derived from the tale of two brave dwarfs (or children of Jupiter) called Bug and Arag who were granted a wish by the Gods. They wished for a mountain that would shelter the three regions of Roussillon, Corbieres, and Aude. More legitimate sources ignore that tale and opt for a more mundane naming of the village from a Roman settler.

The mountain has caves that are said to be “magical” or full of beautiful crystals. There are rumors of a river and lake under the mountain. There are also stories of old mines and burial crypts. The caves are linked to the colorful conspiratorial tales about Mary Magdalene, and even Jesus, escaping to France. The Cathars, a religious sect in opposition to the Catholics, supposedly hid sacred items in the area, including perhaps in these caves, and kept the location secret and protected. Pic de Bugarach is only about 20 miles from Rennes-le-Chateau, one of the rumored resting places of the lost treasure of the Knights Templars. Daniel Bettex was consumed by his search for the Ark of the Covenant in the mountain. In 1988, his correspondence to others relates that he was looking for the entrance to this hidden world of treasure. When he seemed days away from a revelatory discovery, he was found dead. The circumstances of his death were never made clear and feed additional conspiracies about clandestine groups still guarding the mountain and various secrets or treasures.

The most durable claim is that the mountain is a place of special energy. This is often associated with its unusual geology but also that it is located on the Paris meridian ley line and is part of a system of sacred geometry of earth features. The mountain is said to be “magnetic” and cause compasses to malfunction, so much so that planes will not fly over it because their equipment fails. The nebulous “energy” seems to affect some people positively and others negatively. Strange sounds and lights are said to come from inside. These arcane stories morphed in recent times to encompass the belief that the mountain was a UFO base. The caves, which were also thought to be a passage to the hollow earth or another dimension, were now a hiding place for alien craft.

Inspiration

It is not altogether clear why the mountain of Bugarach was considered sacred and why it motivated many in the weaving of such fantastic yarns. Jules Verne was influenced by it and ultimately strengthened its mysterious nature. Bugarach is said to be where he found the inspiration (and the entrance) for his Journey to the Center of the Earth.

Famous sci-fi story weaver Stephen Spielberg also poked around here and may have formed ideas for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, prior to choosing Devils Tower in Wyoming as the alien rendezvous location. We can see several similarities between the two locations! But in several ways, Bugarach has the upper hand in weirdness.

The swirling mysteries of Pic de Bugarach coalesced in 2012 around the imaginative rumblings about the Mayan apocalypse. In the approach to the so-called doomsday, the mayor of Bugarach appealed to authorities to help him safeguard his village from the hoards of “esoterics” that were coming to the mountain because of its sacred energy. A narrative emerged that the alien craft holed up inside the mountain caves would emerge on the day of destruction and whisk away the lucky pilgrims. The mayor clearly embellished the stories as a way to push out unwanted visitors, depicting them as a possible suicide cult. The media took the bait, repeating many of the spooky and outrageous claims about the village’s magic mountain.

“These blasted prophets from all over the world have turned our mountain into some sort of UFO garage,”

Jean-Pierre Delord, mayor of Bugarach. Reuters

The hot topics of aliens and Mayans intersecting at one sacred mystical mountain were headline gold. The apocalypse at the end of 2012 in all aspects was a giant bust. The mountain was quiet; no crowds came.

Geology

What’s next is to unpack the actual geology of the Pic de Bugarach. Crazy stories are fun and popular and blatant errors will regularly be passed on and assumed to be factual. Several popular sources repeat the misleading information that the mountain was an ancient volcano. In one absurd book, author Richard Leviton (Walking in Albion, 2010) compares it to Tolkien’s land of Mordor. Although there are extinct volcanoes in the area, Pic de Bugarach isn’t one. Tales of smoke from the mountain are more likely from the clouds that readily condense around it.

Esoteric writer Phillip Coppens repeats that claim that Bugarach is an “upside down mountain” because the layers are millions of years older than the strata below. “It is as if someone shot the mountain in the air, flipped it around, and then it landed again.” Well… No. It’s not like that at all and no reasonable geologist would think this. But the analogy was gratuitously included in several media reports during the 2012 frenzy:

“Scientists say that is because when the 1,230-meter (4,040-foot) mountain erupted, its peak flipped upside down before crashing back down upon the mountain’s base.”

Yahoo News

The peak of Bugarach has long been called “the sacred mountain”; geologists say that soon after the mountain was formed, it exploded and the top landed upside-down.

New York Times

Maybe the media should ask an actual scientist/geologist instead of esotericists because, as we look back to the early days, geologists had a pretty good idea of what really happened here.

Back in the late 1800s, geology was congealing as a science, particularly in Europe. There was not just one but many “paradoxical” locations in the Pyrenees where the law of superposition appeared to be violated. The idea of nappes — large-scale overthrusts on a low angle fault plane caused by compression — had formed based on observations in the European Alps. Nappe (pronounced “nap”) belts were confirmed in similar locations: the Dinarides, Carpathians, and Balkans. Calling the circumstances nappe de charriage (thrust sheets), Marcel Alexandre Bertrand had examined earlier studies from the Glarus Alps and unraveled the tectonic story of rock layers that had been pushed, folded, and stacked upon each other like a rumpled cloth pushed across a table. The scientists of the time recognized the idea of compression of the crust but thought it was a result of the shrinking and cooling of the earth. The timing was just not right for anyone to recognize plate tectonics in action.

Parts of a nappe belt can become isolated when erosion dismembers the overthrust layer. These are called klippen. A klippe (pronounced “klip’-uh”) is an island of older rock with younger ones around it. So, it looks “upside down”. Pic de Bugarach is a klippe where Jurassic limestones were thrust over younger Cretaceous strata. In 1889, geologist M. Carez had determined Pic de Bugarach was related to charriage.

No scientist ever had seriously held that Pic de Bugarach was a volcano or a mountain top blown over. Perhaps the idea of “overthrown” strata in the description of the formation of a nappe was misinterpreted by someone who wasn’t versed in geological concepts, and the sciencey-sounding idea was interesting enough to repeat. There may be small caves in the limestone but this is not a developed karst system. It’s wishful thinking alone to expect that there are reasonable hiding places for treasure here, not to mention the existence of such treasures to begin with. The exaggerated tales of energy and magnetism are also unfounded. Such claims can easily be tested but people would rather keep repeating the magical stories instead.

Even today, Bugarach is still plagued by misleading publicity and opportunists. The New Age Sewage continues to be propagated, unabated by facts and reality. People collect and sell ‘authentic’ Pic de Bugarach pieces to sell to the esoterics worldwide, much like magical crystals.

Across the world, misunderstanding of geology and natural features can lead people to think certain places are sacred, abodes of the gods or spirits, or doorways to evil realms. Like molten blobs, the stories accrete onto the place. This isn’t always a bad thing, but it can be. And the nonsense can mask a more elegant truth underneath.

For the story of Bettex and the publicity over 2012 in Bugarach, check out the Unexplained Mysteries podcast. Part 1 and 2.

Additional References

Stuart-Menteath, P. W. (1903). “The Pyrenean Paradoxes,” Pyrenean Geology, Part III.

Trümpy, R. (2001). Why plate tectonics was not invented in the Alps. Int J Earth Sciences. 90: 477- 483.

#aliens #ArkOfTheCovenant #Cathars #earthEnergy #esoterics #France #hiddenTreasure #Jesus #klippe #KnightsTemplar #leyLines #MaryMagdalene #MayanApocalypse #nappe #Pyrenees #sacredGeometry #Stargate #UFOs

https://sharonahill.com/?p=1441

Strange lights and levitating rocks at Arkansas crystal mine

Springing from the spine of Arkansas’ Ouachita mountains are several commercial crystal mines open for public collecting of sizable quartz crystals. Only one such mine claims to be an area of bizarre paranormal activity occurring in association with special “crystal energy” at the site. The claims are so extraordinary the owners think it may not be safe for people to visit unaccompanied. The activity at the site has attracted the attention of UFO investigators and a crew from the Travel Channel’s Expedition Unknown series. Stories from the Board Camp Crystal Mine are a perfect example of Spooky Geology.

This fascinating place in Mena, Arkansas is owned by Orville and Cheryl Murphy, who, by all accounts, are God-fearing, hospitable, well-spoken, humorous, and honest people who opened the mine in 2012. According to the local newspaper report, strange incidents began in February of 2017 when the Murphys noticed odd lights including glowing spheres that floated and moved as if under intelligent control. But even more extraordinarily, they have photographs and accounts that claim the rocks there move and even levitate!

Investigators from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) headed to the site. The following is from the Mena Star describing the MUFON involvement:

The Murphys report that since February of this year, there has been phenomena happening at Board Camp Crystal Mine, which was undeniably scientifically unexplained, according to [Chase] Kloetzke and her team of [MUFON] investigators. They conducted the investigation at the mine on February 22, just 4 days after the first oddity was experienced by the Murphys and their son, Josh White, who was visiting from Austin, TX. According to the Murphys, Kloetzke explained that the occurrence of the reported phenomena attracted MUFON’s interest because of the physical evidence left behind and the Murphys’ credibility as witnesses. Upon a visit, Kloetzke herself experienced some of the phenomena!

We aren’t privy to this evidence because the parties involved agreed not to disclose all the information until the Expedition Unknown special episode airs. Josh Gates, the host of the show and a well-known paranormal celebrity figure, visited the site on May 26. The MUFON team had reported their observations to the Travel Channel in March prompting the site to be featured in a four-part mini-series called Hunt for Extraterrestrials. You can view the quite dramatic trailer for the special here. (See update below.)

We can hear many of the claims about the mine from what the Murphys have shared on their Facebook page, YouTube channel, and from promotion on their website. A particularly detailed interview with the Murphys is available from the Inception Radio podcast, which is where I obtained several details below. What’s so weird about this place?

Last winter, Orville reported seeing sparks of light at the site. He calls them “orbs” – a common term for seemingly intelligent and anomalous balls of light. Cheryl didn’t see them at first. Orville then filmed the orbs. The video taken at night shows a light, but size and distance are impossible to judge. They said some friends suggested that the lights could be caused by the “crystal energy” at the location. Claims about the magical properties of quartz crystals are ubiquitous on the Internet. Single crystals are promoted by New Age practitioners as healing devices, having some as yet undiscovered “energy”. Quartz does have piezoelectric properties – a voltage potential can be generated when a stress, like squeezing, is applied to it. Orville clearly understands that quartz has triboluminescent properties. As a demonstration, visitors reported that he heats a crystal, then sprays it with water to rapidly cool it to produce a spark and also strikes the crystals to produce visible light.The Murphys appear to connect the anomalous lights they see to this “piezo energy” feature of the crystals.

One anomaly, however, was described as beyond the normal activity. The Murphys experienced a light event of “major proportions” that lasted 10 seconds. Three beams of light, like spotlights, went an estimated 300 feet in the air and flattened on top. Cheryl said she couldn’t tell if the beams were going up or coming down. They later entertained the possibility that the lights were from some craft floating in the air. What if UFOs were fueling up on crystal energy?! Some neighbors, they said, had also reported lights on adjacent properties and also say they saw some kind of craft in the sky. The Murphys allege that several events were witnessed by multiple people at the same time.

MUFON and other investigators were called in. The timeline and circumstances aren’t exactly clear. But the claims grew to include more than just lights. People at the site reported their batteries were drained unusually quickly, that there were incidents of static electricity and perhaps burn marks or dead plant material, and that the fence posts became “magnetized” and “polarized”. Investigators brought in a hydrophone because they knew crystals were created by water, they said. The hydrophone was said to have detected the sound of water rushing below ground. Water coming up from the subsurface was also reported (after an above-normal rainfall period).

It all sounds very weird, the Murphys agree. The Murphys and the investigators who have shared bits of their experiences (noting the confidentiality agreements required by the Travel Channel until the show aires) are enthusiastically speculating about the causes. They think that the quartz crystal energy and the flowing water might be connected. In the Inception Radio interview, the Murphys suggest that the natural flow of earth energy has been disturbed. The crystals, they say, emit a “frequency” and they are part of a powerful “energy grid” in the earth – a theme related to ley lines. The crystals are interacting with the water’s electromagnetic charge and creating the light phenomena in the form of plasma. Ideas about the cause of these reported anomalies are all over the place. Also put forward was the idea that sound waves (or “vibrational frequencies”) may be producing the colors in the orbs which, the owners claim, are seen almost every night regardless of weather conditions. It is impossible to tell size and distance, let alone the source of the lights, from videos taken in the dark without markers or direction.

If you can believe it, things got even weirder. Another of the Murphy’s videos purports to show a rock on the site becoming weightless (a scale shown in the picture) and then levitating a foot off the ground! According to the Board Creek Crystal Mine Facebook page, others have reported that crystals obtained from the site levitated when they got home, which appears to exceed the bounds of known geological science (and sort of negates the idea that the site itself is producing some mysterious anti-gravity effect). Falling and rolling rocks, they suspect, might be coming out from “portals” (from another dimension). They also think the mine site may be a “vortex” – an area of the earth with special electromagnetic energy properties. Cheryl suggested that new scientific discoveries could explain this. In a comment to me on the FB page, she writes:

What’s amazing is that this last year or so, on the Science channel we hear scientists sharing theories of multiple universes, our universe is not finite, sound frequencies emitting color, (which is a possible theory for the colorful orbs we’ve been told), all the quantum science, it’s just amazing that we’re hearing things now, we never dreamed of hearing. We believe there has to be something with those levitating rocks to do with sound frequencies, or the continuing elevated electromagnetic field. For example, we just put new fence posts in the ground a month ago. They are now magnetized, when tested with a Gauss meter, and even polarized, when tested with a compass! What could cause that? It’s fascinating, and we prefer to approach this from a scientific viewpoint, but let’s face it… the number of testimonies of UFOs from credible witnesses for the last 50+ years, and now local neighbors who contacted us to share their stories of weird lights they’ve seen around here, does draw our attention!

The Murphys closed the mine until mid-July when it was reopened for special tours but not collecting. The new tours are billed as “UnXplained” and the website is curiously called metaphysicalcrystalsanctuary.com.  For more rampant speculation about the geology and hydrology and various fringe ideas, I suggest listening to the Murphys describe this in their own words available on the Inception Radio podcast, which focuses on potential UFO activity.

I contacted the Arkansas Geological Survey to ask them what they knew about this mine and the bizarre claims surrounding it. They hadn’t heard the news of these extraordinary events! In my discussions with geologist Corbin Cannon, we couldn’t come up with any ideas for why this particular mine is any more geologically special than the rest.

The mine is situated in the Stanley Shale. The quartz veins and associated minerals were hydrothermally emplaced during the closing stages of the mountain building event, around 280 to 245 million years ago. [See Howard, 2008] The Murphys seemed amazed at the consistency of the prismatic crystal shape, however, this is a normal habit of quartz. There are no mapped magnetic anomalies at this location and, though there is plenty of faulting due to the past orogenic stresses, the area is not seismically active. The shale is an aquitard (cannot transmit any useful amount of water) and the location is on a dip slope. This might explain the sound of water reported by the investigators. But it’s unclear if there are pipes underground that could also account for the sounds. The possibility exists that stray current could be leaking from the electrical lines from nearby houses and traveling through the ground. This may account for electromagnetic field observations. With regards to polarization and magnetization of the fence posts, pieces of metal regularly exhibit such polarity. It’s not unusual. I just checked a garden ornament on a metal post outside with a compass and, sure enough, the top and the bottom register differently on the compass. It’s not clear what Orville meant when he said the posts were magnetized, especially if they contain iron. Iron posts in the ground can also conduct any small current running through the ground from stray electricity lines. These various factors could be producing some electromagnetic field variations. So, we can see that many of the so-called anomalous claims aren’t strange at all but can seem so when taken out of context.

It’s not possible to make any conclusions from the videos of the lights. There is not enough information.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wntjfrS9Cq8

The videos of the levitating and moving rocks are also not helpful. They consist of series of still pictures taken with a game camera. The levitation effects could easily have been achieved with clear thread or fishing line. The associated flashes of lights in the photos along with the temperature changes and other effects can also be recreated without too much effort. No live video of the anomalous movement is available.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIuDhDUP15g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76LoCqKk5jU

Several visitors reported hearing thumps (presumed to be falling rocks) or seeing rocks roll by. I’m afraid that’s just not enough evidence to say something unusual is going on. A few unimpressive videos are not enough to convince most people that the physical laws of the universe are being violated at this location considering that alternative, non-paranormal explanations are readily available. If it is eventually well-documented that the site is one-of-a-kind, where nature behaves supernaturally, or some undocumented stresses are causing the quartz to produce orbs of light, then perhaps we can consider it a phenomenal place.

The paranormal vibe created at the site is a nifty way for the owners to distinguish their mine from the others in the area as a tourist attraction. That the site will be featured on a TV show is priceless promotion. The site joins hundreds of other locations around the U.S. that use spooky claims to draw paying visitors. The Murphys continue to encourage scientists to come and investigate but, so far, only MUFON, the TV crew and some tour groups seem to have been able to make collective observations there. The Arkansas Geological Survey has not been contacted even after this contact was suggested to the Murphys. It is the job of the AGS to catalog the geological information of the state. Documenting claims of a crystal energy vortex that causes all sorts of amazing anomalies and serves as an extraterrestrial refueling station sounds like a very urgent phenomenon to document!

A request to the MUFON investigator for their report on the site has not been answered. But the report is scheduled to be published in the MUFON Journal issue of November 2017, after the TV program airs.

Expedition Unknown special 25 Oct 2017

Part 4 of the series “Search for Extraterrestrials” aired on Travel Channel in October 2017. I’ll be blunt – don’t watch it. It contains basically no interesting information or evidence about the location. The presentation did not live up to the extreme hype and it’s cringey to have to watch Josh Gates act so over-the-top dramatic about a big nothingburger. They did see a light at the Board Camp site at night and recorded it, but it doesn’t tell us anything. It could have been a satellite, a drone, or some other man-made thing, but the details are lacking in order to make that determination. Plus, it didn’t rise from the ground or descend from the sky. It simply floated over. Apparently. Remember: this is television and not good television at that. Do not trust “infotainment”; it is not equivalent to facts.

The show did not mention the levitating rocks or other paranormal effects that the owners and visitors have promoted as happening there. The idea of crystals playing a role was not even broached. No background was really provided at all.

As it stands, the promotion of alien craft, strange lights, crystal energy and physics-defying rocks at this location (or any location) are without substantial evidence to support their reality. There are certainly many subjective claims but those are not reliable enough to make a conclusion about the cause being something otherworldly. Extraordinary claims must have extraordinary evidence to back them up and these crystal claims fizzled out.

#Arkansas #BoardCampCrystalMine #crystalHealing #crystals #earthEnergy #earthLights #levitatingRocks #lights #movingRocks #orbs #Paranormal #quartz

https://sharonahill.com/?p=479

Leylines: From the old straight track to Ghostbusters

Published February 2017

A few years ago, a paranormal investigator acquaintance who knew I was a geologist asked me what I thought about leylines related to paranormal phenomena. I wasn’t familiar with this association or the history of leylines then. After consulting several references and poking around the Web, I am now! Take a trip with me traveling down some spooky paths to make sense of leylines.

Ghostbusters 2016

I finally got around to watching the new Ghostbusters movie (with the all-female team). There they were: leylines at the crux of all the paranormal trouble in town! It is indeed past time to deal with these pesky leylines (or ley lines, leys)- a larger-than-life, distorted, misrepresented concept that manifested like the Stay-Puft marshmallow man in paranormal circles.

“What do those look like to you?”
“Leylines”
“What’s ‘leylines’?”
“It’s a hidden network of energy lines that run across the earth; it’s a current of supernatural energy.”
“Supposedly if you look at sacred sites and weird events all over the world and connect them with lines, where they intersect, it’s an unusually powerful spot.”
“He’s using the devices to charge the leylines. He’s creating a vortex.”

~Ghostbusters (2016)

Leylines as first proposed had NOTHING to do with energy or ghostly activity. How did we get to this?

As usually occurs with people and ideas, mix real bits with some imagination, blend it all into a confusing mess, then jazz it up Hollywood style, and you have the very convoluted answer. How about a walk down the fairy path? Or maybe it’s a UFO runway…

Watkins’ Old Straight Track lead to leylines

There are several books written on leylines but the term was coined in books by amateur archaeologist Alfred Watkins –  Early British Trackways (1922) and The Old Straight Track (1925). Watkins observed that places of pre-historic and historic significance were aligned across long distances in the British countryside. Ancient henges, barrows, cursuses, building sites, monuments, tors, ponds, holy wells, etc., could be mapped as points along a straight line regardless of the terrain. He wasn’t the first to notice the connection to other sites that some thought were akin to “beacon hills” (think Lord of the Rings call for aid) where you could see the next journey point from your current point, but he was the first to say that they were ubiquitous. Astronomical alignments had also previously been noted.

Watkins encouraged people to take a map and a camera and do their own exploration for “leys”. It became a hobby for some in the 1930s when there was a strong national sentiment for the romance, lore, and legend of British ancient heritage.

Watkins’s idea was purely utilitarian. The Old Straight Track is tedious reading – wordy, dry, and full of speculation (and suspected leylines). But his hypothesis was rejected by academia and his work was discredited and ignored. Connecting four points to make a line was not difficult in a country where there were thousands of prehistoric and historic monuments. The width of the lines varied to allow inclusion of other points alongside. And, there certainly were straight segments of some significance used as travel ways or for ceremonial processions (such as funeral paths or “corpse ways”), perhaps later to become Roman roads.

At some point, “leys” shifted from being a guide to where special places were located to being forces of nature that dictated where these special places would be located and why that made them special, even magical. Watkins’s ideas were adopted by more imaginative types.

Earth Energy via leylines

Straight lines already had some supernatural significance. For example, the paths where bodies were carried from the town to a burial site were called “corpse roads” and associated with routes of the spirits, which became spirit paths that you were encouraged to avoid. Spirits were said to have a preference for straight lines. Or the paths were said to be used by fairies so you surely had better steer clear of those!

Ceremonial paths, visible from the air and ground, are obvious in many cultures. In 1958, French author Aimé Michel in Flying Saucers and the Straight-Line Mystery said that UFO sightings in France had occurred along invisible lines across great distances that formed a grid. He called this idea orthoteny and suspected the lines might be associated with the terrain.

Leylines and orthotenic lines were joined in concept by John Michell. Michell wrote The View Over Atlantis which heralded the “earth mysteries” idea in 1969. Kate Shrewsday writes:

Enter John Mitchell (sic), Eton-educated member of the hippy hierarchy, author of The View Over Atlantis and so many other books which re-ignited our passion for the old places. It was Mitchell who resurrected Watkins’ lines and used them to mystify a landscape which had become mundane.

His premises were so engrossing, so seductive, that a whole counter-culture grew green and vigorous around it.

Leylines were also seen as “arteries” of the earth, “veins” of energy flow, and equivalent to chi (qi) pathways said to be utilized in acupuncture of the human body. Standing stones, for example, marked the leys like sign posts but were also acting like acupuncture needles for the earth (I wish I was kidding with that) to channel astronomical energy into the leys.  Also borrowed from Asian culture was the idea that monuments were placed in balance and harmony along the leylines as a sort of geographical feng shui. Conductive minerals like iron, gold, and silver were said to be associated with leylines. (Hmm, a testable claim.)

It was a small jump to connect genuine scientific concepts of magnetic anomalies and telluric current to sciencey-sounding “earth energy lines”. The notion of telluric currents was co-opted by dowsers, but that is a completely different discussion I’m not prepared to have in this post. Some suggested that the power in leylines drew from the telluric current and that such power could be manipulated or used for societal advantages (what Michell called “spiritual engineering”). Watkins did not think leylines could be found with dowsing rods, but this creative subversion of his ideas occurred rather smoothly. Author and dowser Guy Underwood pushed the dowsing craze associated with leylines in the 1970s in the midst of the New Age wave of magical earth ideas. Underwood also espoused the idea of lines related to water-bearing zones or “blind springs“. I’ll return to this concept shortly.

So, in the 1970s, leylines were seen as channels of mystical “energy”. We can measure energy, yet no one was successful in measuring this particular energy scientifically. Ley proponents said the energy was too subtle or that research on the lines should be funded because of the potential to humankind. Locations associated with leylines became more magical as New Age popularity increased – places like Glastonbury (St. Michael’s ley and many others; see map above) and Stonehenge. Giants were said to be buried in the barrows as they were associated with incredible leyline power. This power was said to even cause the stones to come alive and move. (Another testable claim where evidence was never provided.)

When the leylines cross

Crossed lines have always been associated with magic. Crossroads are particularly notable as supernatural areas. Where leylines supposedly crossed, a strong “power spot” was created. These nodes could produce an energy “vortex”. Vortexes (vortices) are handy devices to explain an area as particularly prone to strange phenomena. No evidence for such energy vortexes exists, either.

Leylines as plot devices or explanations in fantasy fiction media began in the 1960s with authors like Thomas Pynchon and continued with concepts of conspiracy ideas of secret knowledge about sacred geometry of the earth. And, of course, we have leylines and the vortex as key plot devices in the new Ghostbusters, which brings us to the paranormal community connection – the intersection where supernatural ideas and vague scientific concepts crash and merge.

Paranormal connections

I liked this opening for an article about leylines in Fortean Times of June 2007:

Ever since Alfred Watkins announced his discovery of a network of ancient alignments criss­crossing the British countryside, the history of leys has been less of an old straight track and more of a long and winding road, one that has taken detours into everything from ufology to dowsing.

Poor Watkins! He was only trying to put some sort of order system into mapping remarkable places and things really spiraled out of control. This happens quite often as concepts sort of related to factual or scientific ideas lose their original meaning and clarity, or the terms get conflated. The above quote is the intro to a piece by Paul Devereux, a leading authority on leylines from the 1970s to the present. I found a 2003 interview with Devereux by paranormal personality Jeff Belanger on the Ghost Village site signaling that the American paranormal community was keying in on the concept of leylines around that time. Devereux’s opinion is that leys are not what Watkins thought or what the New Agers believed but something else related to sacred paths and possibly the supernatural.

Amateur paranormal research ramped up big time in the 2000s with the popularity of DIY spirit-seeking TV shows. But even before that, there were paranormalists who connected various geological features to reports of hauntings and poltergeists. A popular concept was taken from the Tectonic Strain idea of Dr. Michael Persinger who suggested that geological circumstances in fault zones might be responsible for anomalous luminous phenomena (also known as ghost lights) or related to earthquake lights. He thought these might be misconstrued as UFOs. (Ghost lights and Tectonic strain theory are future topics to explore here.) Leylines as sources of some undefined kind of energy were picked up as potential explanations for the manifestation of psychic energy that ghost researchers assumed was real. Genuine magnetic anomalies were turned into magical areas and connected to paranormal reports. Often, the researchers never actually checked for historic leylines or geological anomalies, they just assumed they were there because it was a very sciencey conclusion to make that sounded plausible (and the public accepted it). Use of dowsing rods to find this psychic energy is also common for paranormalists.

Ley nodes were commonly attributed to areas of “high strangeness” – a higher than normal occurrence of weird things like anomalous lights, poltergeist activity, bizarre creature encounters, and UFO sightings.

That paranormal investigator who asked me about leylines years ago was certainly hearing it from the buzz in his community. Again, we see the short jump to connect spooky feelings and unusual occurrences to the idea that there is a mysterious energy in the earth affecting humans on the surface. Their house, the moon phase, and solar activity were presumed to be amplifying the effect. Here is an example from Supernatural magazine of what paranormalists can believe about leylines (unedited):

Well most of the Earths leys are positive but when two of these leys cross or intersect a vortex of negative energy is then created. It is like a powerful magnet attracting all kinds of lower vibrational spirit, energy or entity and even sometimes people. These entities can then draw off the energy, feed on it and use it to manifest. Bodmin Jail (Cornwall) is a place where two such energy lines cross and therefore they form lower energy vortexes and this, in turn, will also affect the way people behave in such places. They will be prone or influenced to lower vibrational thoughts, paranoia, anger, ego and fear etc………it can be a source of food to an entity to recharge their essence.

Leylines appear to be an (at least moderately) accepted speculative explanation for ghosts and hauntings. Because of the emphasis on other geological aspects (like minerals, fault lines, and water-bearing zones), I wondered if some paranormal investigators could be mistaking energy lines with lineaments. Geologic lineaments are any linear feature that contrasts with the surrounding ground identified via maps (stereoviews being most helpful) and are associated mostly with carbonate terrain and groundwater well productivity. It was not unreasonable to think that natural lineaments might be features obvious enough to have been noticed by prehistoric societies who might have constructed wells into these fracture zones with great success. True lineaments are usually areas of structural weakness (not “power”) that have weathered more than surrounding rocks. Drilling into a fracture trace can result in a kick-ass well yield. I was not able to find any examples of leylines that really were geologic lineaments, though it’s hard to imagine some enthusiastic person hasn’t done so a few times.

Paranormalists have misunderstood and mixed up ideas of mineral veins, fault lines, contacts between rock formations, and fracture zones. They have widely attributed a nebulous idea of “energy” and “flow” to seismic, structural, mineralogical, and hydrogeologic characteristics to reach a conclusion that leylines are real and are associated with hauntings and the other weird events people experience.

Conclusion

In no way does this foray into leyline history come close to sharing all the information, creative notions, and opinions about them. Anyone interested can get lost for years in all the literature (some first decent choices are in the references). But, most of the current popular perceptions about leylines are based on presumption and are suitable only for entertainment.

Leylines have become a very messy melange of ideas about energy, electromagnetic fields, geologic fault lines, telluric current, voltage, and frequency conjured by paranormalists. It’s a concept that sounds just sciencey enough for non-scientists to think it might have some merit. But it doesn’t.

Leylines have not been objectively shown to have any measurable energy differential. Studies have not conclusively shown that independent reports of odd phenomena are concentrated along discrete lines. Dowsing for leylines (or for anything else) has also never been reliably demonstrated. No tests, as far as I know, have shown that leylines can even be independently mapped by two different people. Even Watkins’ lines were never fully substantiated as a theory, though many proponents insist they were. It’s very easy to draw lines to connect a few things; the thickness of the line can determine if you include features or not. And, after a substantive distance, a line drawn on a map will no longer correlate to the earth’s surface due to the curvature. 

Evolution of Ley Lines1. Long, straight alignments [Watkins]   ... connecting sacred spaces2. "Energy" paths of spiritual significance   ...that ancients could detect and so deliberately built on the lines    ...adopted by paranormalists3. Energy could be used or manipulated    ...negative or positive, earth and sky powers could combine    ...New Age mysticism, magic, geomancy4. This earth energy is vital to our survival; we must rediscover the old ways that were lost.    ...wisdom of the ancients, Gaia

In examining leylines we’ve seen them associated throughout the past few decades with an array of occult and paranormal ideas. Their ambiguous reality and flexible definition allow for seamless application from one strange phenomenon to another. The modern mystical concept of leylines that conduct earth energies, which can be harnessed for supernatural chaos, is fiction derived from subjective observations and perhaps even genuine earth processes. Going back to Alfred Watkins, even his old straight tracks may just be us pattern-seeking — connecting points because it feels satisfying — as people want to find connections and so will see them when they simply aren’t there. This has happened with leylines. Layers of lore and imagination have made leylines a useful trope to connect to spooky things.

References

A. Watkins (1925) The Old Straight Track. [Available in reprint from many publishers.]

D. Sullivan (2004) Ley Lines: The Greatest Landscape Mystery. Amazon Kindle edition.

T. Williamson and L. Bellamy (1983) Ley Lines in Question. Littlehampton Book Services Ltd.

J. Michell (1983) The New View Over Atlantis. Harper & Row.

#AlfredWatkins #dowsing #earthEnergy #energyLines #Ghosts #haunting #leyLines #lights #Paranormal #poltergeists #tectonicStrain #UFOs

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