Here is a lovely example of ancient knowledge being passed to us down the generations. Writing in AD 1200, Layamon recalled an even more ancient folk memory when he described a ritual use of Stonehenge in his poem "Brut" - "The stones are great And magic power they have Men that are sick Fare to that stone And they wash that stone And with that water bathe away their sickness" Why would they think to do such a thing?
Reverence for flowing water as a sacred entity was once a worldwide attitude. Today it is only found in native cultures and ‘new age’ thinking. The problem arises when we look at water as merely a physical substance and only look at how it is physically needed by living organisms. There is much more to water if we see it as energy. We find gems of truth in folktales if we take the time to interpret the symbolism. For example, it is said of several stone circles that the stones go down to the water to drink at midnight or on a full moon. This folktale speaks of the connection between the stone circle, Earth energy and underground water. It is now known that there is underground water present beneath every sacred site in the world. In fact, dowsing shows that most sites are animated by the serpentine currents of electromagnetic energy which course through the ground following the subterranean streams of water, and which vary according to the seasons, the phases of the moon and even day and night. All holy wells have stories of healings attached to them. When we realize that strong Earth energy currents have turned the waters into something akin to a homeopathic remedy, these folktales make perfect sense.
Our ancestors also understood the energetic properties of stone. The stone circle builders utilized primarily crystal-studded granite or sandstone blocks. Both stones have a quartz crystal content of over ninety percent. We are all aware that our wristwatches and computers operate because of the energetic properties of their silicon chips. Well silicon is the same thing as quartz. So the circle builders chose these energetic stones in order to have control over the build-up of earth energies in the stones and within the space they enclosed. Tom Graves compared them to acupuncture needles in his book ‘Needles of Stone.’ Here are two ways of looking at it. Left-brained The Earth is a huge generator with a crystalline iron mass core spinning at 1100 miles an hour ringed by a gravitational field. The resulting electromagnetism that is generated makes its way to the surface via geological fault lines, beds of crystalline rock or underground watercourses. The water rises under pressure towards the surface but is often blocked by a ‘dome’ of solid impervious rock that diverts the water laterally. However the energy, having no physical substance, carries on vertically to ground level where it is detectable as an energy hotspot or vortex. The frequency of this energy is approximately 8 hertz, the same as our brainwave emissions when we are in a deep meditative state. Place a crystalline stone in the ground at this point and –bingo, you have a healing stone. OR… Right-brained The Earth is alive and is our mother, creating us, nurturing us and taking us ‘back home’ at the end of our lives. All life comes from Gaia, or the goddess, she is the great giver of life. The underground streams of life-giving water are her blood supply maintaining her well-being and nourishing all life on the planet. She sends vitality to all parts of her body through potent currents of energy that we can access for healing and spiritual purposes. Her breath is our breath and we share the same heartbeat and pulse. If we honour her we honour ourselves, if we abuse her we abuse ourselves.
So now re-reading Layamon’s poem it makes perfect sense. The only question is ‘Why don’t more of us still perform these ceremonies?’ Will sacred sites ever look the same again?!
by Glenn Broughton
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