Winter edition / June 2003
the free E-magazine of dowsing & geomancy,
in Australasia and beyond. Edited by Alanna Moore.
Welcome to the winter 2003 edition of Geomantica.
It may be getting cold here in Victoria, but early winter rains are transforming the land with a new green sheen developing, while the cold sharpens ones mind! (Creeks and dams are still dry though.)
In this issue we have an interesting smorgasboard of articles once again, and thanks go out to contributors! Within this issue is aired a healthy diversity of global views about Earth healing, from the formulas of Perelandra and Christan Hummel in America questioned, to pioneering work with flower essences by Peter Archer in New Zealand and the intuitive approach of Marko Pogacnik of Slovenia described (in the book reviews section).
On the home front Geomantica has finally moved from very cramped office space to a brand new home at 'Mucklestone', two years in the building and at a place of great natural beauty and powerful energy (see the photo of the MuckleRocks in the What's On section). Local pagans helped to make for a blissful blessing ceremony and a photo taken later in the evening under the May full moon has inexplicable specks of light floating around the house warmers.
Keep cosy this winter,
until next quarter
Alanna Moore
Photo- Billy Arnold
Observations on Geopathic Stress
Dear Alanna
Thanks for the email. I have observed that
where the ley lines* cross the hips in bed, there is correlation
with hip replacement. Three times I have observed this phenomena,
I would like to know if other diviners have come across this
observation. Also I have found that the same goes for degeneration
of the back bone. That's why people are getting back fusions
done. This is not necessary all they have to do is shift their
bed a few feet, too easy.
...Melanoma follows this same phenomena.What happens is the field
from the earth is deflected by water or minerals or rock. The
ley line is the strongest part of the field .If you put your
hand horizontaly over the ley line you can feel the radiation,
that is why the hips or back deteriorate when the human body
sleeps over extra field above the mean. The body thinks it is
having a growth spurt and shuts down mineral up take, leaving
that part of the body deficient.
Kind regards, Kevin Heitman.
* Kevins definition of ley lines may differ from other peoples, but you might just call it an energy line... ed.
Impressed
Dear Alanna
.....I really am impressed with your wonderful work on Geomantica.
I'll send you some of my stuff when its done.
Best regards
Pauline
EEG & BSD Edition editor
Dowsing Down Under
www.divstrat.com.au/dowsing <http://www.divstrat.com.au/dowsing>
dowsing@divstrat.com.au
Icelandic geomancy
G'day Alanna,
...You may be interested in a workshop I attended in Iceland the leaders Lilja and Elli are very approachable http://www.geocities.com/lillyrokk/Iceland-waterfallessences-workshop2002.html
It was a privilege working in such a pristine and rich environment where often the connection between people and the spirits of the land is still honoured.
Thank you for your important work
Genevieve Quirk
Genevieve Quirk
Scientific Communications Coordinator
Salinity and Soils Unit
Department of Land and Water Conservation
Impressed by Deva Dowsing
(A letter to the NZ Dowsing Society Journal March 2003-05-03)
To the Secretary
I went to Alanna Moore's 'Stone Age Farming' workshop at Marahau, just north of Motueka, on the 18th March and really enjoyed it. A lovely place with great people. The highlight of the workshop was building the 'Tower of Power'. Andreas, one of the hosts, had obtained some very good quality paramagnetic rock dust from Germany.
Dowsing the site, checking the energy, building the Tower, then giving it our energy, then dowsing again, was amazing. I've never felt so much positive group energy and the effects on our pendulums confirmed the result.
Alanna was able to point out the deva in that
area and that it was then stronger and closer to the Tower. I
was able to pick up the deva's energy and (its) presences. This
was a great experience and proved outright with an open mind
and an open heart one can truly be with the positive power of
nature."
Paul Mead, Nelson, New Zealand.
Certification of Dowsers?
Hello Alanna,
Greetings from San Francisco and springtime! Our mutual friend Tom Graves recommended I write you in hopes that you might have a lead or a phone Nº or an e-mail address to any of the dowsing groups listed below. I got them last fall from Michael Rust of the BSD, and now want to get in touch, but would love to avoid writing paper letters if possible.
The ASD's board - or some of its members - are pushing forward a plan to certify dowsers and issue diplomas. To find out what is going on in other places, I have already called and written people in Austria, Ireland, Germany, England and Latvia, and the personal contact was much more satisfactory and quick. Incidentally, only some of the Germans & Austrians have certification programs and the others are with our philosophy that dowsing is not something you can satisfactorily quantify to give out a piece of paper saying that you can do it. One of the Germans seemed to agree with me and said he gives a certification that a person has taken his course, but not that s/he can dowse.
An interesting crossroads we have come to.
So if you have so much as a lead to one, I will take it from there, and be very grateful for the help.
Meanwhile, we hope you are well, and that you may come and join us for a West Coast Conference some year! Check out http://www.dowserswestcoast.org/ for a look (the lectures shown will still be last year's, but everything else has been up-dated).
With best wishes,
Nicolas Finck, American Society of Dowsers
eliznico@earthlink.net
(Geomantica replied with contacts and to say
that we share Nicholas's views of the subject of certification.)
Background - Sometime in early 2002 Geoff and Sindhu Lawton of the Permaculture Research Institute at The Channon, northern NSW, contacted the editor to see if she could offer any tips on regenerating salt affected land in Jordan, where they were teaching permaculture.
I passed on ideas from The Men of the Trees in Western Australia, who had told me of success with research in Canada in the use of mulches on salty soil. (See page 30 of 'Stone Age Farming'.)
They gave it a go and the results were so phenomenal that the Jordanian government have taken great interest. Here is a report that was posted at the permaculture-oceania@lists.cat.org.au (which anyone can freely subscribe to).
Greening the Desert
Friday, 15 November 2002
They laughed at him and said it couldn't be done. Nothing could be grown in that salt laden dustbowl. But Geoff and Sindhu Lawton had other ideas. They travel the world teaching others how to repair trashed environments that are beyond hope of becoming productive.
In this story, Geoff talks about re-greening the deserts of Jordan. By applying the principles of permaculture, they managed to salvage a heavily salted environment and turn it into a green oasis.
Geoff and Sindhu live and teach at their farm near The Channon, a small community not far from Lismore. Geoff boasts that despite not having a police station or church, The Channon has some of the most tolerant and friendly people in Australia.
Transcript - Geoff Lawton
"So we went in and had a look and we thought "Oh, no! This is the end of the earth. This is like as hard as you can get. This is hyper arid. Completely salted landscape. Four hundred metres below sea level - lowest place on Earth. Two kilometres from the Dead Sea. About two kilometres from where Jesus was christened. Hardly got any rainfall. We,ve got temperatures in August that go over 50 degrees. Everybody is farming under plastic strips - spray, spray spray! Everybody,s putting synthetic fertiliser on. Overgrazed with goats! Just like maggots eating the flesh off the bone, down to the bones of the country. Literally like maggots giant maggots eating it to nothing. So we designed up a system that would harvest every bit of rainwater that fell on it.
"On ten acres, there's a one and a half kilometres of Swales - water harvesting ditchs on the contour. And when they're full, one million litres of water soak into the landscape. And they'll fill quite a few times over a winter. And then we heavily mulched those swales with organic matter which was trashed from organic fields nearby. We put that almost half a metre deep. So we saved that and mulched our swales which were about two metres wide and half a metre deep on the trench. And then we put micro irrigation on the trench. And on the uphill side of the water harvesting trench we put Nitrogen fixing, very hardy desert trees which helped shade and reduce wind evaporation and also put nitrogen into the soil. And structure the soil for us. And on the lower side of the trench we put fruit trees. Majoring in date palms as the long-term over-storey in the end. And then we put in Figs, Pomegranates, Guavas, Mulberries and now some Citrus.
"Within four months we had figs, a metre high with figs on, which is impossible. We taught a course, one for males and one for females. Trained up some locals. And we got a translator who's working for the project. He had his degree in agriculture, in the Jordan University. And he got onto his mates in the agriculture department, "Well, he said, "you (said we) couldn,t grow figs. We got figs growing. We got figs on em. You better come and test the soil because no matter what you say, we're either growing in salty soil what we shouldn't be growing or we've desalted the soil! And we'd like to know what we've done. They came in and the salt levels were dropping. So they became interested. The salt levels were dropping around the Swales. They said, "You,ve must have washed it through. See, normaly you put this huge amount of water on them and wash the salt to the lower levels which just makes the ground more and more salty. In the end, you'll salt it twenty metres deep if you keep doing that. And then it'll take a thousand years to recover. And we used only one fifth the amount of water. So the water they thought we've washed it all through, no we used just one fifth! That really got them, when they realized how much water we hadn't used. With the same amount of water normally used on that much area, we could have done 50 acres.
"Originally people laughed at us because we didn't put straight lines in. We went on contour with these swales. They thought, "Why don't you, you've got a bulldozer, you can flatten the desert, you can straighten things-- We said, we want to go on contour, because we've got a longer edge and we can harvest the water passively. And then we planted more non-fruiting trees than we did fruit trees. So they laughed at us. (They said,) "You're planting unproductive things more than productive things. What's the point? You know. In soil that won't even grow anything. And then we covered all the inside of the swale with huge amounts of mulch, where they scrape all their organic matter off and burn it, like most traditional agriculture.
"In the middle of winter we got a funny email saying "We've got a problem. We've got mushrooms growing in the Swale. Well they called it fungus, but when we saw a photograph of it, it was mushrooms because they'd never seen mushrooms, because they never had so much humidity in living history in the soil. And when you open up the mulch, there's all these little animals there, you know those little insects and the soil has come alive. And the fungi net that's underneath the mulch, is putting off a waxy substance, which is repelling the salt away from the area. And the decomposition is locking the salt up and the salt is not gone. It's become inert and insoluble.
"So we could re-green the Middle East. We could re-green any desert. And we could desalt it at the same time. And if we can do it on an insignificant little bit of flat ten acres of deep desert, if you give us something with catchment, or a Wadi, or a canyon or any of those erosion gullys, we can turn it right around. Completely.
"You can fix all the world,s problems in a garden. You can solve them all in a garden. You can solve all your pollution problems, and all your supply line needs in a garden.
"And most people today actually don't know that, and that makes most people very insecure."
See pictures: http://www.abc.net.au/northcoast/stories/s727970.htm
The PRI website features some videofilm on this exciting project - www.permaculture.org.au
A NEW AUSTRALIAN HOMA NEWSLETTER
Frits and Lee, of the HOMA THERAPY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA, write:
"We are starting a regular (email) newsletter to bring updates about Homa Therapy in Aust and in other areas where we are directly involved such as in India."
The first newsletter of 28/3/03 was filled with stories of success of Homa Farming in India. Where drought and soil salinity have become major problems - Homa farmers are sometimes doubling their crop yields!
You can get on their email list by contacting them at:
omshreedham@hunterlink.net.au
Media release from the Victorian Attorney-General
Monday, 14 April 2003
TO DISAPPEAR IN A PUFF OF SMOKE
The offence of witchcraft is set to do a vanishing
act
from the statute books, along with several other
outdated sanctions, Attorney-General Rob Hulls said
today.
Mr Hulls said that, following a review of
the Vagrancy
Act by State Parliament's Scrutiny of Acts and
Regulations Committee (SARC) last year, the Bracks
Government had decided to repeal the Vagrancy Act,
which outlaws witchcraft and fortune telling.
Under Section 13 of the Vagrancy Act, it's
an offence
punishable by a $500 fine to practice witchcraft,
sorcery, enchantment or fortune telling.
"The Vagrancy Act contains a range of
offences and
provisions which are largely obsolete or which need
modernising," Mr Hulls said.
"Offences for witchcraft and fortune
telling are
virtually never used in practice and are out of place
in a culturally diverse and tolerant society. The Act
is a hangover from English laws dating back hundreds
of years and does not reflect current community values
or social attitudes.
"The Government supports the Scrutiny
of Acts and
Regulations Committee recommendation to repeal the
Vagrancy Act, while up-dating those provisions which
remain useful and keeping them in the Summary Offences
Act."
Mr Hulls said the Bracks Government embraced
multiculturalism and diversity.
"We govern for all Victorians - and that
includes
witches, magicians and sorcerers. That's why I can
predict, without having to looking into any crystal
ball, that these offences are going to be repealed and
disappear in a puff of smoke," Mr Hulls said.
There were currently 2,091 witches living in Victoria.
(Note: Victoria has been one of the last states in Australia
to scrap such laws. ed)
Christan Hummel of Earth Transitions - a Warning.
American Christan Hummel is well known for her work teaching geomancy and attunement to the nature spirit kingdoms, claiming huge benefits in Earth/water/air repair as a result. Her methods have leant heavily on the precise rituals of others - notably the Perelandra processes of Earth energy balancing.
Slim Spurling, who once worked closely with her, has now dissassociated himself from Christan, and Perelandra has published a warning on their website about her unauthorised and inaccurate use of their material (the various Perelandra processes). They tell me that the issue has not yet fully been resolved. This warning can be found on the Perelandra website at:
http://www.perelandra-ltd.com/AB1473/webpage.cfm?WebPage_ID=117&DID=8)
"As far as we know" Perelandra wrote to me recently, "Ms. Hummel removed / stopped offering the Perelandra material in her workshops that she had distributed in 1998 and prior. However, we don't have confirmation that she notified people who already had the illegally reprinted copyrighted material in their possession that the information was printed without Perelandra's permission and was not accurate."
In July 2003 Ms Hummel threatened to sue Geomantica, and Perelandra, for publicizing the above. But for the sake of maintaining the good name of the geomantic profession, one thinks it to be in the public interest to make this known.
(One wonders why Ms Hummel didn't just make up her own rituals, as the nature spirits are not so precious about formulas of communication. But perhaps she was responding to public demand in offering the Perelandra style. It reminds me of the person who phoned to find out if my deva dowsing workshop involved using the Perelandra method. When I told him that it did not - he had no interest in attending!)
Editor - Alanna Moore
Extracted from an article in The Times via The Australian 22/5/03
A team led by the University of Herfordshire's Richard Wiseman examined paranormal experiences at Hampton Court Palace in south west London and the South Bridge Vaults in Edinburgh. Hampton Court, acquired by Henry VIII, is said to be haunted by a number of spirits, including Catherine Howard, who was beheaded in 1542. The South Bridge Vaults, built in the late 18th century, are said to be visited by a boy who pulls at clothing, and by 'Mr Boots' who pushes people and whispers obscenities.
Although people who report ghostly apparitions or an eerie sense of presence are having genuine experiences, these can be explained by natural phenomena, the psychologists say. Cold draughts, poor or variable lighting, claustrophobia and magnetic fields can all promote a sense of unease some people interpret as a supernatural presence. As these environmental factors affect the same spots again and again, they quickly acquire a reputation for being haunted.
The results of the study are to be published in the British Journal of Psychology and "This is the first time that someone's made the case that these things are environmentally driven and has come up with evidence for it" Dr Wiseman said.
In the first experiment a warder at Hampton Court identified areas of the Haunted Gallery and Georgian Rooms in which supernatural events are consistently reported. Dr Wiseman's team then asked 462 visitors to walk around reporting whether and where they had experienced unusual phenomena.
Much to the scientists surprise there was a strong correlation, much better than chance, between the 'haunted' spots marked by the warder and the locations at which people reported odd experiences (and people who knew about the alleged hauntings reported no more unusual experiences than those who did not).
The 'haunted' spots were often those that stood in draughts or in which local magnetic fields varied significantly.
The findings, Dr Wiseman said, showed that ghosts and things that went bump in the night were best explained as the brains interpretation of real phenomena and by our own conditioning through Hollywood films and ghost stories, the article concludes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
Geomagnetic conditions and the paranormal
The implication of geomagnetic variables in relation to the paranormal
is not a new idea. Several scientific studies have shown a correlation
between the presence of strong magnetic fields found at sacred
sites and visionary experiences. The induction of strong magnetic
fields into the brain at such sites may well be responsible for
hallucinatory effects visions of gods and saints (while
not explaining everything..)
Paul Deverauxs book 'Places of Power - Measuring the secret energy of ancient sites', Blandford 1999 (2nd edition), explores the concept of unusual geomagnetic conditions and the paranormal at sacred sites most comprehensively.
An article in the current edition of Nexus magazine (vol 10 no. 4, June 2003) HAARPs Threat to the Planet, alludes to such concepts also. The theme of the article "Part of the US militarys 'Joint Vision 2020' plan, the HAARP energy beam weapon poses a major threat to the subtle electromagnetic interplay between the Earth's surface and ionosphere and all biosystems." It's a scary scenario with some interesting references at the end.
For example:
- Miller, R.A. and Miller, I. (2202-2003) The Schumanns Resonance
and Human Psychobiology" Nexus vol 10 no 3, see also www.nwbotanicals.org
- Persinger, M.A. (1989) "Psi Phenomena and temporal lobe
activity: the geomagnetic factor" in Research in Parapsychology
1988, Scarecrow Press, Metuchen, New Jersey, 1989, pp 121-156.
- Persinger, M.A. and Krippner, S. (1989) "Dream ESP experiments
and geomagnetic activity", Journal of the American Society
of Psychical Research, 83:101-106.
- Pitkanen, Matti (2002) "A model for remote mental interactions",
JNLTMI, vol 1, no 2, May 2002 at www.emergentmind.org/pitkanen12b.htm
In another newspaper story that the editor remembers from the last couple of years there has been a decline in hauntings and ghostly visions experienced in the UK. This might be because of the ever increasing electro-magnetic smog we are bathed in, the report suggests.
If the US military gets its way, we may be in for a whole new wave of demonic activity, with the homeostatic equilibrium of Earths weather and life systems thrown into turmoil
In March 2003 around 150 people attended an Earth Wisdom Summit which was held in Christchurch, New Zealand. I was pleased to be able to attend this geomantic event, which was repeated on the next Saturday in Auckland.
There were three speakers - Gary Cook and Barry Brailsford, well known for their geomantic work in New Zealand, while Hamish Miller was brought out from the UK for the event. These three were collectively referred to as the 'Three Wise Men' grey hair and beards being the prevailing look, and their publicity photos might have been mistaken for a Lord of the Rings movie advert. (More about them at the end.)
Gary Cook
Gary began his talk by painting a big picture of the origins
of human kind.
"Our common ancestor the 'African Eve' is from about 200,000 years ago; Mungo man in Australia goes back some 80,000 years while here in New Zealand we can now trace back people to some 3-4000 years ago - much later than the historically accepted date of about 800 years for the so-called fleet Maori".
Seven years ago Gary was inspired by Barry Brailsford's book 'The Song of the Waitaha' which told of the time of an ancient people, the Waitaha Nation, which existed before the 'fleet Maori'. Gary has been having many exciting adventures travelling the country to visit sacred sites with his wife Raewyn. He has met many of the Waitaha elders, participated in their ceremonies and had deep contact with the land, listening to its messages.
He also started to walk the greenstone trails in the south island around 7 years ago, having many enlightening experiences there. Life became a pilgrimage. Some places had a deep effect on him, but didn't necessarily have Maori associations. Gary has visited many sites both in New Zealand and overseas and he finds that such places all have many factors in common are they are "where we can make a connection with the natural order of the world". Some places make a personal impact, others seem to manifest the soul of nature, he feels.
Gary suggested that we approach such special places with a pure heart and reverent spirit. We have a responsibility to preserve these places, which are everywhere, he feels. "They revive the thirsty soul".
Carl Jung stated in 1895, Gary told us, that "As scientific understanding increases we become more dehumanised and lose our identity with natural phenomena. We no longer speak with the stones, plants and animals"
In the previous 12 days he had been travelling around New Zealand with Hamish Miller and others, visiting the sacred sites and speaking with the elders on both islands.
He spoke of the volcanic areas of New Zealand where the basalt deposits have become highly magnetised and where there are often found magnetic anomalies. "Some people are known to go into altered states of consciousness within magnetic fields. Often sacred lodestones are found in church crypts in Europe and this is where people may spontaneously go into a trance state, depending on their level of magnetic susceptibility. Silica rich stones no doubt have a memory capacity too."
He spoke of research into the northern lights phenomena . "Some people can hear crackling or hissing when the lights are shining. People who wear glasses have found that they can hear it, as the glasses act as an antenna; and also people with dry frizzy hair can. Even if you are bald and glass-less, by standing under a pine tree (- another antenna), you can also hear it. The Inuit people of the Arctic had spoken of the sound of the lights as being the whispers of the ancestors So traditional wisdom restores sanity."
"Japanese geophysicists have been boring down many kilometres into the Earth and when they lowered microphones down to listen to seismic events they discovered that there is a constant hum going on inside the Earth, an amazing cacophany you might call the music of the Earth."
"You don't have to be anywhere particularly special to experience the sacred, we can find it in our backyard, or in a remnant of bushland. We need to pay special attention to waterways, as these can be a conduit of transcendental experience and of healing. We don't need to go to other countries on holy land pilgrimages, when special places are everywhere. These places just don't usually have any structures around them in this country."
Gary's quest is to discover and visit these places all around New Zealand, and to talk widely and write about them (unless they are secret-sacred to the Maori).
Barry Brailsford
"We've got to get out of the dominant mind, it gets in the
way" Barry began.
"We've got to ask ourselves 'Who am I?' and from there the
meaning of life can be asked."
The answer to that question of who we are? "- We are the ancestors. Over 500 years time we amass four million relations. We have so much power, so much knowing. It's what scientists call instinct. The elders are saying now 'It's time to return and gather for the remembering.' Tradition here and elsewhere says that the people who carry sacred knowledge are chosen by the stars. We are all the children of the universe."
Barry went on to talk about the importance of using natures cycles in our activities as part of our sacred connection with life.
"There is a tribe in South America who do not work on one day of the month the day of the dark moon. It's not because they are lazy! We need to do important things on the 14 days of bright (waxing) moon, when the energy is right. We pay for not following these cycles. We need to be gentle on ourselves during the dark moon and then we are better prepared for the activity of the bright moon and everything just falls into place so easily. And they say that you can't step into the same river twice."
Hamish Miller
Before he spoke Hamish was presented with a beautiful piece of
carved greenstone, the most sacred stone of the Maori.
Then this highly esteemed dowser/author gave us an overview of his discoveries. For 20 years he has been keenly dowsing Earth energies. When he read in John Michell's book 'View over Atlantis' about the alignment of St Michael churches and St Michaels Mount in Cornwall he went out and dowsed the St Michaels energy (dragon) line associated with that alignment.
He practised for 6 months and found the St
Michaels line to be 12 paces wide. It sometimes plunges into
the Earth and re-emerges in a way that defies logic. One of 12
major energy lines around the planet, its energy flows like a
river, weaving to the left and right of alignments, and displaying
its own particular energy signature.
He followed the line over 18 months to Avebury and by then he
found that he didn't get so tired after long spells of dowsing
and deduced that he must be using energy other than his own.
A most powerful site, at dawn on May 1st there used to be a huge
celebration, with a procession which started at Silbury Hill.
Despite pouring rain his hairs stood up on his neck as he dowsed
down the Kennett Avenue (which is also the path of the line).
As he dowsed around the stone circle he made an important discovery at one of the standing stones where he encountered the path of a female energy line, that was a balancing energy to the yang Michael line. So it was at Avebury, that sacred and awesome Serpent temple, that the 'Mary line' was rediscovered. The two lines, he discovered, follow each others path in close proximity, weaving across each other at various node points.
Hamish later went with a bus load of Russian dowsers, who were mostly scientific types, to continue dowsing the Michael/Mary lines in Russia, stopping the bus whenever dowsing indicated. At Viborg on the Finnish border they dowsed in 2 foot of snow! He thinks there may be an extension of the Michael line between Leningrad and Viborg, but didn't get that far to look for it.
Energy patterns
Every tree, rock and sacred centre has energy connections, Hamish
told us. Where two energy lines cross, that is a point of cosmic
connection. Hamish has discovered radial energy lines emanating
from energy centres (line crossings and vortices) and his dowsing
indicates that these pulsate. He also finds star and pentagram-like
patterns associated with energy centres, often finding them near
stone circles.
In the late 1980s he dowsed at Glastonbury a ten pointed star pattern that was 12' across, at a spot where energy lines crossed. At Avebury he found a 12 pointed star. At the next place along the Michael line he found a double 12 pointed star. The patterns seemed to have evolved from the original distorted pentagram pattern he had first found. In June 2002 when dowsing a St Michaels Mount line crossing he found a multiple 12 pointed star that was 18' across. Was it that the patterns were evolving or was it just his own perceptions growing, he wonders?
Hamish, like many geomancers, is fascinated by Earth energy spirals/vortices. He has found that their energies alter when there are eclipses, sunspots, seasonal changes, etc, while his own energies can also affect them. In interesting experiments with spirals he has dowsed the effects of placing special objects over a little vortex at his home. Sometimes the associated energy patterns of the spiral will change in response to the object placed there.
In one example he found a lemniscate shaped energy pattern at a crop circle. Later he placed a photo of that crop circle onto his little vortex at home and the spiral produced a lovely organic energy shape in response. (He has written about such experiments and some of the Earth energy patterns he has divined in his latest book 'The Definitive Wee Book on Dowsing', Penwith Press.)
During his talk Hamish demonstrated how he dowses an energy centre and located a small vortex on the stage, counting, by dowsing, each of its radial energy lines. He then asked everybody there to send love to that spot and after that went back to dowsing it. The number of radiating lines had doubled!
Line hunting in Ireland
Hamish went back to Ireland in his quest to follow the dragon
lines, in an act of faith that finances would come to fund the
expedition and they did! He found a man with a boat who was bold/crazy
enough to take them out to the bare, steep and rocky Skellig
Island, despite thick fog and a gale blowing making it very difficult.
The monks had built a settlement at Skellig Michael some 1500 years ago. Hamish went to the monastery site, with its freshwater wells on the top of the island. He dowsed that not only the Michael and Mary lines, but also the Apollo/Diana lines of Europe all cross at this point. He also dowsed an associated shamrock shaped energy pattern there.
In Europe and South Africa
Hamish spoke of his journeying along the Apollo/Diana lines through
Europe. In France the lines pass by sites in Bourges and Lyon,
then continue over to Italy, through Genoa, Pisa and Sienna,
through Perugia's Temple of the Sun, Assisi and the Temple of
Minerva. In Greece he traced the lines through Corfu, Dodona,
Delphi, Eleusis and the Parthenon. Delos has three line crossings.
Through Israel the energies pass through Mt Carmel and Armageddon
(Megedor)
When he was in South Africa he met up with the high priest of the Zulu nation. This important old man told him about the ancient esoteric Zulu tradition of the major male/female (yang/yin) dragon lines which originate from Table Mountain on the Cape. (Refer to Junitta Vallaks article this issue.) These lines are known as the Shango (- the Hercules of Zulu mythology) and Mau (Earth Mother) lines, and they span the whole continent, ending up in Egypt.
(Sir) Gary Cook DSc, PhD, KTJ, KGCStA, is the author of books such as "The Secret Land: Journeys into the Mystery" - available from www.stoneprint.co.nz . He runs sacred site tours around New Zealand. Email gcook@southernstars.org.nz
Barry Brailsford has undertaken much archeological research into New Zealands first peoples and has written classic books such as 'Song of the Stone' - an odyssey into the world of the wisdom keepers of Aotearoa and North American Indian peoples. The five "Chronicles of the Stone" books are about voyages on ancient navigational trails around the globe, exploring a new paradigm of walking in peace in the face of extreme aggression; challenging mind and heart to create peaceful solutions to confrontation. "The Tattooed Land" tells of the history of the village sites and the marks left in the land by South Island Maori, and "Greenstone Trails" - the story of pounamu (NZ jade), its spiritual and practical use in days long gone. These are all available from Stoneprint Press (www.stoneprint.co.nz).
Earth energy dowser/researcher Hamish Miller,
who lives in Cornwall with his wife Ba, is well known, thanks
to his fascinating books - 'The Definitive Wee Book on Dowsing'
(his latest), 'The Sun and the Serpent' (about the Michael and
Mary major dragon lines of Britain), 'The Dance of the Dragon'
and 'It's Not Too Late'. He has also produced maps of the pathways
of the important dragon lines he has followed which can be bought
individually. (The contacts for these I can't put my hands on,
but he could be contacted via Stoneprint Press.)
Hamish Miller gives the summit goers a short dowsing lesson outdoors.
Hamish is on the left, Gary Cook, with rods, right of centre.
By Junitta Vallak © August 2000
(reprinted with kind permission from The Casurina Bulletin).
In May/June last I travelled from Broome to Perth with Casurina member Judy O'Donnell and Geoff Linnell and also Robyn Adams, with whom I have been on spiritual trips before, ie Northern Territory/Uluru, Queensland and last year France and Italy.
Our aim was to link up with the 'Journey of Infinity'* and to connect with the Rainbow Serpent energy. According to Robert Coon** in his book "The Rainbow Serpent and the Holy Grail, Uluru and the Planetary Chakras' the Rainbow Serpent enters Australia at Beagle Bay, north of Broome. I have always understood that the Aboriginal people say that Creation came into Australia through the Kimberley the areas are not too far apart and when I 'saw' the Serpent, I was amazed how big it was.
The Sacred Heart Church at Beagle Bay is full of mother of pearly shell, which is the most sacred object representing the Serpent from Bali to Uluru. I was astounded at the magnificence of the Altar in the Church, with intricate designs made of pearl shell glittering all over it.
The actual bay is almost inaccessible, so we continued to Cape Leveque to do our Wesak Full Moon meditation. This was also to connect with work that Robyn and I had done at Uluru in 1989. I must admit that I had not delved into Robert's book in depth and it wasn't until I returned home and checked out what I 'saw' with what he has said, so I had no preconceived ideas (see map).
The tide was out so we were able to access a small rocky cove which gave us some privacy. I slipped easily into a meditative state and 'saw' the Rainbow Serpent rise out of the Arafura Sea, curve around and enter Australia. It was so huge that it covered all of the Kimberley. It was magnificent, vibrant and glittering, with rainbow lights that were in no fixed pattern, but shifting and flowing within it.
It travelled through Uluru, the Flinders Ranges, then exited at Wilsons Promontory, went through Tasmania, Macquarie Island and skirted the Antarctic. When it approached the Antarctic its colour changed to white, with rainbows shimmering through it, like opals from Coober Pedy.
It approached South America and went up the coastline and its colour changed to golden brown. When it came to Lake Titicaca it huge jaws opened and I thought it was going to swallow the lake, but it dived into it instead. It's hard to describe how I felt watching all of this, but I think I was just astounded at the beauty of its form. Gobsmacked in fact!
That was all I 'saw' at that time, but when we meditated at Monkey Mia the new moon was in Gemini- much to my amazement I 'saw' it emerge out of Lake Titicaca and travel across the Pacific through Easter Island and to the North Island of New Zealand. As soon as it touched there it changed to the full rainbow spectrum again, the golden brown colours seem to have been 'fixed', whereas the rainbow ones swirled and moved within it.
From New Zealand it forged across to Mount Warning on the east coast of Australia the first place to receive the sun. It then headed for Uluru and, as its nose touched itself at Uluru, there was an enormous explosion of rainbow light up into the stratosphere, down into the Earth and out in all directions. It created a huge energy field- a stunning sight.
It continued on to Monkey Mia/Shark Bay and headed out across the Indian Ocean, skimming under India, through the Maldives then down past Madagascar. It went past South Africa and then elegantly curved upwards and entered the Cape at Table Mountain. Curiously, it didn't have any colour when it left Australia. I don't really understand what I saw or its significance and I haven't seen anything since, but I guess there must be still more to be revealed in more ways than one, going by the following quotes!
In Charles Mountfords book 'Brown Men and Red Sand', he says that "Nothing shows more clearly than the legend of the Rainbow Serpent that the Aboriginal people were never entirely disassociated from world thought." He also says "The Rainbow Serpent is essentially the water element in nature and is related to everything that the Aborigines associate with water rainbows, pearl shell, rivers, permanent springs and rock holes."
In 'Voices of the First Day' Robert Lawlor says "The Rainbow Serpent is the first cosmological model for the spectral order of the universal energy" and "Only a small portion of these energies is visible in the seven colour spectrum of natural daylight" and "The electromagnetic spectrum, like the Rainbow Serpent, is a profound metaphor for the unity that exists between the tangible and the invisible worlds".
-------------------------------------
Junitta wrote about it elsewhere in the August 2000 Casurina Bulletin:
"There is a huge build-up of energy prior to the Olympic Games in September. We have many groups travelling around Australia with the focus on completing their Journeys to co-incide with the Olympic Opening Ceremony. The 'Journey of Infinity' began in March and they have been joined by many people doing segments
We also have a group walking for peace from Lake Eyre which is full again for the third time in a century to Sydney; two groups of horse people are travelling in opposite directions through Australia to meet also in Sydney in September. There is also the Sacred Run and we can't forget the torch which is going around the country!
So we have an enormous focus of thought form energy which we can utilise to help raise the consciousness of everyone on the planet
On Sunday September 8th the Journey of Infinity group will ground the energies collected during their trip, and the crystals and earth they gathered will be buried on Peace Hill in Canberra
Brynn Matthews has finished his part and is back in Cairns. He tells me that the energies that went through people during the trip were incredibly powerful as they connected into them. Their trip from Kalgoolie across the Great Victoria Desert, the Gibson Desert, onto the Gunbarrel Highway to Katajuta (aka The Olgas) was extraordinary. They drove on dirt for 4 days and Brynn remarked on the clarity of the air, the landscape, the wild camels, wildflowers and the fact that they were on Aboriginal land. Approaching Katajuta from the west was an amazing sight"
New Zealander Peter Archer is the creator of a range of flower and gem essences the New Millenium Essences of New Zealand- which have proved greatly beneficial for people and animal healing. I met Peter in Christchurch in March 2003 and learnt about the power of flowers and how they can be also harnessed for geomantic work.
Essential evolution
"I started off with the classical method of Dr Bach who
pioneered this modality in the 1930's. He floated blossoms in
water in the sunlight- this is now a well proven technology."
Peter said. Unlike Dr Bach, who was contented with just a small
range of flower remedies, Peter is constantly discovering new
flowers and currently makes up a range of 3-400 different ones
to address various conditions, as well as a few animal remedies.
He produces specialist kits of remedies to assist with such things as counselling, recovery from addiction, animal problems, feng shui and house balancing, and land healing and balancing.
After Peter stumbled across a book by New Zealand flower essence pioneer Mary Garbely ('A New Perception', published in 1990) he was totally intrigued. He was able to study under Mary and after this he then did a major study of the American Perelandra methods between 1994-99.
"I lived, breathed, slept Perelandra" he said. "I had every book, tape and essence that Machaelle Small-Wright produced and learned the methodical approach she espoused. When you're learning to be a chef you need to follow the rules before you improve on the recipe."
Peter then launched into original work in discovering new remedies and uses for flowers, including some very deep cleansers. Nowadays he has developed enough short cuts that his style of operation is much different.
He was lucky to have had a colleague Lisa Bruens who had the ability to channel the information about the remedies from the flowers. He would telephone her and tell her the name of the flower and she would be able to describe its healing potential. These days he is confident enough to work alone.
With the evolution of his work, processes not possible before are now happening rapidly. For example a microbial balancing process can now be achieved with just one flower and previously this wasn't believed to be possible. "The time has come for new ways" Peter enthuses.
The Perelandra energy balancing technique takes one hour. Peter has discovered ways to expedite this process so that he can achieve the same results in just a few minutes, by connecting to the devas. It can be almost instantaneous.
Flowers and geomancy
I was particularly interested to learn about his geomantic work
and was told of a few case studies. In 1999 Peter was called
to check out a house with distinctly bad energy. He was able
to do a cleansing on it, but he was called back again. There
was a particular spot in one of the rooms that was very creepy
and the cat would always avoid walking through it, going right
around. Inwardly he asked 'what is it?' and the answer he received
was that this was an emotional pattern from pre-European times,
where, for over several 100 years there had been a small wooden
cage structure where people had been cruelly imprisoned.
Peter asked for help from 'his team'- the deva of energy cleansing- and the tainted energy lifted instantly and ever afterwards the cat would walk straight through the area.
Going beyond the Perelandra system, he always checks if there are any energy patterns on a very deep level at a place that needs energy work, such as 'fractures' in the energy matrix. (He once checked out a house with such an energy split, where a woman used to lock herself away from an abusive husband.)
Peter mostly works with people, but is keen to work more with the Earth doing geomancy. He generally works without 'props', but often he likes to use specially energised stones or pebbles. He finds stones in high energy places, taking a few from wild beaches and keeps this collection until some are needed. He first charges them up energetically, and either gives them to people to use, or else distributes them around a building. He might place them in a window to bring in cosmic energies. Sometimes he might put a big stone on an earthing place, to become a focus for earthing, as some houses, he finds "are kind of just floating." A stone which he has identified as being a 'heart stone' might be put near a fire place, as it has an affinity with the heart.
In the last year he has also developed a range of flower essences to do similar work for land healing and house balancing. Some of his people remedies have also proved useful in this respect.
He has created a standard mix of flower essences for Earth healing work in a spray bottle. But that alone may not be enough, he stresses. "People must be prepared to do inner work on them selves if they want their environment to change" he says.
Peter is mainly marketing his flower essences through his website and he has had many encouraging healing successes with people from around the planet who are using them.
In 1998 he was involved in the anti-genetic engineering movement and it was a frustrating time as the media was showing no interest in the issue and it was very hard to get the message across. Peter got the idea to do a Perelandra style global cleanse on the issue.
Just one week later the story was finally covered by a major New Zealand magazine - The Listener, and has been hot news ever since then.
Intuitive method
"Nature reflects to us what we need to know" Peter
explained. So just what is the technique that he uses to discover
new remedies, I asked?
When the energies between the Earth and the cosmos are in a suitable alignment Peter intuits to go outdoors and seek a flower of particular usefulness. These flowers, which he finds in parks and gardens, just seem to jump out at him, so he takes their photo and uses that to make remedies with. The energy signature of a flower is invited to come into a bowl of water from the photo. A popular remedy might have a mother tincture made from it first.
"When I do this work I'm in 'auto pilot mode'" Peter laughs, obviously taking great delight in his work.
"If people want to try this method of healing for themselves they can check out an innovative 'on-line healing' system on my website and see the photos of these beautiful flowers and read the story about how it all came about" Peter suggested.
Peters website is at www.nmessences.com and he can be emailed peter@nmessences.com.
Click on this link to go to Peter's Website
In Geoffrey of Monmouth's 12th. Century book
`Vita Merlini', translated by
Bob Stewart as `the Mystic life of Merlin', Merlin says to his
sister Ganida
"Before the other buildings build for me a remote one with
70 doors and as
many windows through which I may watch fire-breathing Phoebus
and Venus and
the stars gliding from the heavens by night, all of whom shall
show me what
is going to happen to the people of the kingdom."
In Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
we find "Phoebus (Greek, the
Shining One). An epithet of Apollo, god of the Sun." "Venus.
The Roman
goddess of beauty and sensual love, identified with Aphrodite".
One thing Phoebus and Venus have in common
is that they are key
indicators in the Octaeteris cycle. A calendrical cycle used
by the ancient
Celts, a reference to which is engraved on Stone K51 at the Dowth
passage
grave in Ireland (see `The Stars and the Stones' by Martin Brennan).
The Octaeteris cycle is based upon the observation
that Venus, as the
Evening Star, moves from maximum elongation from the Sun and
back again 5
times in 8 years or 99 Synodic months.
We know from Medieval sources that the Celts
counted in 8's (octal) and
12's (duodecimal), for weights and measures; and 2's (binary),
for
fractions (1/2, 1/4, 1/8, etc). This practice is still evident
in US
customary measure, eg. 12oz. = 1lb. and 1lb. of wheat = 1 pint,
8lb. of
wheat = 1gal. and 8gal. of wheat 1 bushel; see Geomantica 17,
"The Origin
of Tarot" also see Historical Metrology, Berriman.
A symbol for the 8 fold division of time is
found carved into rocks
across Western Europe and is the Neolithic symbol for the Sun,
the 8 rayed
circle or Wheel of the Year.
If the structure was designed upon the "Standards
of Measure" then the
number 70 is probably octal. When converted to decimal, such
as we use
today, Merlin's Observatory had 56 doors and windows!
A reconstruction of the eye witness description
of Merlin's observatory
quoted by Geoffrey of Monmouth is a linteled wooden circle with
56
apertures. After successive reconstructions it would leave behind
56 holes
such as make up the Giant's Dance, that is, the Aubrey holes
at
Stonehenge!
The 56 Pip cards of the Tarot are based upon
Merlin's observatory,
their place is given below. This is an integral part of the Giant's
Dance
and was probably it's main function.
A horoscope suggests itself where the Zodiac
is divided into 22 parts
as given in "the Giant's Dance", Geomantica 14. Each
Planet is ruled by
the Tarot Trump governing its position in the Zodiac! There is
more to
Astrology, however, than the Stars.
All Planets have a "Horizon Effect",
it is a product of the azimuth and
the horizontal component of the elevation. Put simply, the orbit
of all
Heavenly bodies describes an ellipse on the ground around the
observer.
When the Constellation occupied by the Sun during the 4 Seasons
and the
Crossquarters is marked on this ellipse it forms the Wheel of
the Year.
The Geomantic influence of the Stars, the
Sun, the Planets and the Moon,
originates from their Horizon Effect. The landscape of the Horizon
modifies the influence of the heavenly bodies, a valley favours
the
Heavens, a mountain favours the Earth.
The most potent Horizon Effect occurs during
transits of a Natal
horoscope. This applies not only to Astrology but to Tarot cards
as they
are based on Astrology.
A Tarot card tends to manifest in a manner
pertaining to the question
using a transit. If the transit is obstructed at the Horizon
it affects
that manifestation.
While researching Feng Shui some years ago
I encountered a case that
demonstrates the "Horizon Effect". It is not normally
as dramatic as in
this case however it must always be accounted for in a reading.
The case history below is from the time when
I was following in the
footsteps of the "Great Chinese Masters". I now seek
what they sought, a
knowledge of Earth energies as objective forces.
It was early 1989, the year of the Wood Snake
in the Chinese calendar,
The man involved was born in 1929, the year of the Wood Snake
in the
previous cycle . Just before his 60th birthday he began complaining
of back
pain, not unusual.
In 1983 he and his wife had purchased a property
in the Brisbane
hinterland (Queensland, Australia), on the volcanic ring that
runs from
the Glasshouse Mtns. to Mt. Warning. He felt at home there, at
peace, she
liked the view from the house overlooking Mt Flinders to the
North-east
and the volcanic cones to the North.
Geomanticly speaking the house site was interesting,
an underground
stream had been dowsed running under the house to the East North-east.
An
old well to the side of the house had once tapped it.
The house site had a benign Horizon excepting
between the North-east
and the North. To the North-east is Mt. Flinders, with a volcanic
peak at
it's Easterly end and a flat ridge of lesser height projecting
out toward
the North, the center of which is to the North-east.
In feng shui this mountain is a composite
landform, the peak is ruled
by Fire and the ridge ruled by Earth. Three more volcanic peaks
break the
horizon at regular intervals as you approach North, each ruled
by Fire.
Wood creates Fire.
In the Southern hemisphere the Sun and Stars
move from East to West
around the South Pole, their motion is anticlockwise. For the
yearly cycle
the early Summer is the direction of the Snake and ruled by Elemental
Fire,
in Australia that's to the North-North-east.
Enter "SHA" or perverted chi. A
valley ran between the house site and
Mt. Flinders and at the base of Mt. Flinders is a creek with
areas of
swampy land. Feng Shui lore states that when the forces of Heaven
are
obstructed Sha wells up from within the Earth (you can smell
it) and flows
along any unobstructed path; straight to the house site!
The relevant history is that during WW2 he
had worked lagging steam
pipes with asbestos for the Royal Australian Navy. The diagnosis
was
Asbestosis of the lungs with Angina and prostrate cancer which
had
progressed to bone cancer in the thoracic vertebrae. After intense
medical
intervention he went into remission for 10 years.
I was a regular visitor to his home from before
the 10 years of
remission and during it. When his disease was first diagnosed
I recognised
the geomantic configuration of the volcanic peaks and advised
him to move,
he was too ill to do so.
In the case history cited above the blocked
Horizon effect (Wood Snake)
disrupted the flow of life force (Chi) to the man involved. This
allowed
putrid life force to destroy him and as Wood creates Fire he
was drained of
lifeforce (chi) when the volcanic peaks to the NNE obstructed
Elemental
fire in the year of the Fire Rabbit/Hare (1999), the Year he
died.
The case history can also be analysed using
Fixed Zodiac Astrology. This
the Wheel of the Year which is expanded upon to include zodiac
constellations. Below is the transit chart for our man's 60th
birthday, it
is analysed using the fixed zodiac for the southern Hemisphere.
The outer chart is Natal, 1929, the inner
chart is for his birthday in
1989, the year of the onset of disease. Aspects formed by the
same Planet
between charts are a transit, only the major aspects are considered.
The
60th birthday sees many conjunct-transits, Saturn's 2nd, Mars'
30th and
Jupiter's 5th! .
The Wheel of the Year begins at the Midwinter,
in the Southern
Hemisphere this is the Cusp of Geminii and Cancer and it is to
the South.
The fixed zodiac is directly analogous to the Chinese "Lo
Pan" or
Geomancer's compass.
In the "Illness transit" diag. above
Jupiter is conjunct Mars, Jupiter
has been in conjunct-transit within the last Year and Mars is
going into a
conjunct-transit (in opposition to Saturn) within the next 2
Months. Saturn
has been in conjunct-transit in the preceding Year.
A valley runs past the site of his house from
the base of Mt. Flinders
in the NE to the SW adding emphasis to the Natal transit of Jupiter
whose
Horizon Effect is to the SW. In the "Death Transits"
diag. below Jupiter is
again in conjunct-transit with its Horizon Effect to the SW,
it is also
approaching a conjunction with Saturn, Both Jupiter and Saturn
are
approaching a broad opposition to Mars!
Mars is to the NE with its Horizon Effect
obstructed by Mt. Flinders!
Elemental Fire, native to the North (South Hem.) and to Mars,
was
obstructed by landform while Jupiter in Natal transit, Elemental
Air, was
enhanced by it (Western Air is Chinese Wood). Both techniques
of Geomancy,
Feng Shui and Fixed Zodiac Astrology, are consistent in their
analysis of
the case. A tradition of Fixed Zodiac Astrology is Native to
Western Europe
and is embodied within the Glastonbury zodiac.
There is a 3rd way of analysing this case
history! The Celts saw Wind as
Spirit or Lifeforce, originating within the Earth, rising to
the Heavens as
volatile form of water or crystals; incandescing, then falling
back to
Earth as a condensed form of light. CRYSTAL melts to WATER evaporates
to
WIND incandesces to LIGHT; LIGHT condenses to WIND congeals to
WATER
freezes to CRYSTAL.
The qualities of a wind are assessed by looking
at the clouds or the
flight of birds and using the "Rule of the Winds",
also known as "crossed
winds rule". For the Northern Hemisphere the Rule of the
Winds states "face
the upper wind and if the lower wind comes from the right the
weather will
improve, if the lower wind comes from the left the weather will
deteriorate."
The Air at the bottom of a weather system
is coming from either the
left or the right to the air at the top depending on whether
it's a high or
a low pressure system. When column of Air rises, such as creates
a low
pressure weather system and stormy weather, it spins anticlockwise
to
create a wind. When a column of Air falls, such as creates a
high pressure
weather system and fine weather, it spins clockwise to create
a wind.
The Stars of the Night Sky revolve around
the Pole Star which the "old
lore" says stands directly over the Wellspring of Creation
within the
Earth. It is Lifeforce flowing back down to the Wellspring, it
is
perceived as a Wind.
The upper most wind is the Lifeforce blowing
from the North, the lower
winds are those of the Stars, the Sun and Planets, and the Moon,
whose
winds are seen as light. To assess the qualities of the winds
face the
relevant upper wind, if the lower wind comes from the right it
is
fortunate, if it comes from the left it is unfortunate.
In Europe this left or right hand direction
was applied as a "universal
law", anything approaching from the left was a bad omen!
The terms Deosil
(Sunwise) and Widdershins (against the Sun) are based upon this
concept.
When you face North the Stars and Planets
rise to your right and set to
your left, they move clockwise. The Sun rises to the right and
sets to
your left, it moves clockwise.
If you face the Stars, the Sun moving from
the Dragon's tail (South) to
the Dragon's Head (North) is a good omen, its moving from the
right. If its
moving from dragon's Head to Dragon's Tail its a bad omen, its
moving from
the left.
On the Wheel of the Year (NH Fixed Zodiac),
face the North, the Sun
shines from the right during Spring and shines from the left
in Autumn.
This is consistent with the Sun's seasonal cycle with growth
and flowering
in Spring and dieback and dormancy in Autumn.
The Moon rises to the right and sets to the
left but it's motion is
retrograde through the Zodiac; Planets can also move retrograde
in their
cycles. The relevant Wind is seen to be rising up from the Earth
and not
falling from Heaven like the upper Winds.
Remember that rising Wind turns in the opposite
direction to a falling
Wind. In the Northern Hemisphere to read the power of the Moon
face the Sun
on the Wheel of the Year or in the Sky, as this is the upper
Wind, if the
Moon, the lower Wind, is to the left it's fortunate, if to the
right it's
unfortunate.
The waxing of the Moon (to the left) shows
a tendency to leaf growth
and the ripening of fruit in plants while the waning Moon (to
the right)
shows a tendency to root growth and putrefaction. A cycle used
to
advantage by Organic farmers.
The division of the heavens into Spirit, Stars,
Sun and Moon is
consistent with the account of the Cosmos as the Celts perceived
it given
in "the Mystic Life of Merlin" quoted earlier in this
work. When using
the Rule of the Winds for Geomancy there are no calendars, no
Elemental
rulerships of direction or landforms, it is based upon the Horizon
effect
and Natal transits.
A precedent for the Rule of the Winds exists
in the "Kailleoracht inso
sis". It is an appendix to an Ancient Irish Psalter, "The
Hibernica
Minora", and is based upon the Wheel of the Year.>
AN EXTRACT FROM THE HIBERNICA MINORA.
Trans. Kuno Meyer 1894
(Rawlinson B.512)
Kailleoracht inso sis
Guide us,O Christ, that rulest the sea<br>
Around the mighty vast world,<br>
That I may tell what signifies the voice<br>
of the wind on the kalends of January.
Solina (Solanus) of a hundred battles,
It is friutfull though productive of plague,
It rejects(?) chiefs only,
Many are its diseases.
Affrica (Africus) from the south-east (anairdes),
not bad,
It signifies specially good fruit,
Fish and corn, while it lasts,
It is unique in its excellences.
As for Saranica (Saronicus) from the south
(andess),
It signifies to you a rich harvest,>
A great quantity of full fruit,
Marvellous huge fish.
Goods will be destroyed, a track not narrow,
If it is Famonia (Favonius) from the south-east (aniardess):
It signifies every corn crop laid low,
Battles and scant harvests.
It denotes the death of a king if from the
west (aniar)
It is Puinina around the ocean,
Great bloodshed, and slaying of men,
And plague on sinners.
Pessima from the north-west (aniarthuaid)
only,
Dearth and slaughters,
And fall of blossoms it says,
Without.......
If it is Fiaccina from the north (antuaid),
There will be noise of red-sworded battle,
Death of the sinnful, plague and heat,
Drought and heavy distress.
A fair multitude of fish, petty commemoration!
If it is Altina (Altanus)from the north-east (anairthuaid),
Sickness in it, battle with venom,
Many fruits it brings to us.
The "Kailleoracht" reveals it's
secrets when viewed from a Neolithic
perspective and is consistant with the Rule of the Winds.
Fiaccina sees both the upper wind, the Sun
and the Moon, and lower
wind from the North. Fiaccina brings death, battle, plague and
drought.
The North is the direction of the Winter when
many folk were reduced to
raiding their neighbours for food if the harvest was poor. More
fortunate
folk were fending off the raiders and living indoors most of
the time in
damp and unsanitary conditions that were conductive to the spread
of
plague. They were entirely reliant upon preserved food and malnuitrition
was rife.
Altanus sees the lower wind at 45deg. East,
when facing the upper wind
(North) it is to the RIGHT, it tends to be fortunate. Altanus
brings first
fruits, sickness and battle with venom.
The long Winter has left folk weakened with
much sickness. Folk still
supplement Spring's meagre harvest by raiding but the warmer
weather sees
any wounds infected.
Solanus sees the lower wind at 90deg. East
and is fortunate. Solanus is
fruitful though productive of plague. Spring is here and food
is more
plentiful, it also brings allergies and fevers.
Africus sees the lower wind at 135deg. East
and is fortunate. Africus
signifies good fruit, fish and corn.
Saronicus sees the lower wind at 180deg. and
is wholly fortunate.
Saronicus signifies to you Summer's rich harvest, a great quantity
of full
fruit and huge fish.
Favonius sees the lower wind 135deg. West
(to the LEFT) and tends to be
unfortunate. Favonius sees every corn crop laid low in the Harvest,
those
cursed with a poor harvest must begin raiding other's crops and
herds to
accumulate food for the Winter Months.
Puinina sees the lower wind at 90deg. West,
it is unfortunate. Puinina
denotes great bloodshed and slaying of men.
It's Autumn, the harvest is in and it's the
time for territorial
expansion. The raiding for the acquisition of other's food stores
invariably
involves combat.
Pessima sees the lower wind at 45deg. West
and is unfortunate. Pessima
brings dearth and slaughters, a falling of blossoms. The herds
must be
culled and the meat preserved, leaves fall from the trees, the
raiding
continues.
The most important questions a Neolithic society
could have answered are
"what will there be to eat and when? What disease will strike
and when? Who
will attack them and when?" The text of the Hibernica Minora
pertaining to
divining by Winds addresses these three questions in detail.
Because this work is based upon Northern Hemisphere
artefacts and
traditions it has been written for a "Northern" readership.
As the case
history above indicates this series was researched and written
in
Australia, there is a "Southern" readership to be catered
for.
The "Rule of the Winds" for the
Southern Hemisphere states "face the
upper wind and if the lower wind comes from the left the weather
will
improve, if the lower wind comes from the right the weather will
deteriorate."
For the case history cited above; "FACING
SOUTH, the LOWER WIND was
flowing NOT FROM THE LEFT, but FROM THE RIGHT through him TO
THE LEFT,
draining him of Lifeforce". This technique of Geomancy,
the Rule of the
Winds, is consistent in its analysis of the case with both Feng
Shui and
Fixed Zodiac Astrology.
The Orrery below is converted for the Southern
Hemisphere, you can look
up to the Sky and "see it". The full instructions for
the Orrery can be
found in Geomantica 14; "the Giant's Dance". The "Southerners"
must switch
Dragon's Head and Tail when tallying the intercalendry Months.
Photocopy or print "the Southern Hemisphere
Orrery" twice, then mount
them on cardboard and cut out the circle of 3 dragons from one.
Mount that
circle of 3 dragons inside the other Orrery by punching a small
hole
through both and securing it with a dressmakers eyelet so it
can
rotate.
The circle of 3 dragons is the Nodes of the
Moon with each opposite
point being a Dragon's Head-Tail pair. To use the Orrery align
the Dragon's
Head with the Faerie to Trump VI and the device is calibrated
to 1997AD.
To use the Giant's Dance Tarot spread for
predicting Eclipses in the
Southern Hemisphere the Pip cards are laid out as a 56 card circle
in a
specific sequence for use in Fixed Zodiac Astrology. The instructions
for
which will be in the next part of this series.
Lay down the 4 of Coins, this represents Samhain,
now lay down the rest
of the suit of Coins in the sequence given below in an anticlockwise
or
sunwise direction. 4, Page, 3, Knight, 2, Queen, Ace, King, 7,
8, 6, 9, 5,
10.
The King of Coins and Ace of Coins mark the
Winter Solstice. The suit
of Swords is laid down in the same way and following on from
the suit of
Coins with the 4 of Swords marking Imbolg. The King of Swords
and the Ace
of Swords mark the Spring Equinox.
The suit of Wands is laid down following on
from the suit of Swords
with the 4 of Wands marking Beltain, the King of Wands and Ace
of wands
mark the Midsummer. The suit of Cups is laid down the same with
the 4 of
Cups marking Lugnassad, the King of Cups and the Ace of Cups
mark the
Autumn Equinox.
At the 8 of Coins place Tarot trump 7, the
Lovers, and mark it as a
Dragon's Head. Lay down the trumps in numerical order and in
an
anticlockwise direction at each pip card until the Queen of Swords
and mark
that place as a Dragon's Tail.
At the 8 of Wands place Tarot trump 18, the
Star, and mark that place a
Dragon's Tail. Lay down the Tarot trumps in numerical order and
in an
anticlockwise direction at each pip card until the Queen of Cups
and place
down Tarot Trump 6, the Hierophant, and mark that place as a
Dragon's Head.
Mark the 4 of Coins as the Dragon's Tail then mark the 4 of Wands
as the
Dragon's Head.
The Giant's Dance spread as laid down is calibrated
for 1997. Because
the procession of Equinoxes is retrograde through the Zodiac
this six
pointed star must be rotated 1 pip card clockwise (southern)
for each Year
until the current Year. The time of the Eclipses are indicated
by the
alignment of the Dragon's Head and Dragon's Tail with specific
Trump cards
showing when in the Solar Year these Eclipses can occur.
The Lore of the Winds is based upon British
Maritime tradition, it is
still "developmental" so expect some anomalies when
using it. Hopefully it
will grow into a fully functional system in Years to come.
Western Europe's "First Nations"
folk have inherited some cultural
beliefs and practices that are their exclusive intellectual property.
This
work is part of that cultural tradition and is not "available
for
appropriation" by other ethnic groups or any organisation."
The Giant's Dance series is not public domain
but providing that no fee
is charged it can be supplied as resource material for any course
of study
for which a fee is charged.
Book Reviews
'Sacred Places' by Alan Whitehead
'Sacred Places A Spiritual Science Insight on The Mineral Earth' by Alan Whitehead,
Golden Beetle books, PO Box 329 Blackheath NSW 2785. Reviewed by Alanna Moore
Seeing an ad in Nexus for this book I sent away for it with great anticipation. How disappointed was I to find very little information about 'Australia's 12 Sacred Places'. A section on nature spirits, notably an 'interview with four mineral elementals' was mildly illuminating...
If you are into anthroposophical thought (following the teachings of Rudolph Steiner), however, this may be a great book for you, for the sacred sites have been used by the author as a vehicle to push anthroposophical concepts. I have nothing against Rudolph Steiner, it's just that the adherents to his ideas often seem to be locked into some kind of time and space warp. Whiteheads approach seems to follow the same trap that feng shui exponents have fallen in to that of imposing a foreign system onto a place and not always seeing what is actually there. (But of course many people don't want to see what is really there.)
A lot of the books Christian emphasis also seems inappropriate and unnecessary. For instance (opening at a random page) "If the west-north Wandjina are similar to the Elohim, then Jehovah has his equivalent in south-east Aboriginal cultures in Biami." But what is the relevance? An Aboriginal person may well feel insult here.
Another random quote "..the Luciferic capital of New South Wales is the very north-east corner of the state, terminally hedonistic Byron Bay, Mullumbimby and Nimbin." Whithead had a bad time living in that region and is quite vitriolic in his descriptions of what he calls 'the land of a thousand lies', so the last four pages of the book are quite sickening. (And yes, I did my time up there too and I know the area ain't perfect, but it sure has a lot to offer in terms of sacred sites, creative people and innovative ideas.)
About all that he can offer us about that regions sacred places is that Mt Warning and Mt Everest share the same latitude 28 degrees, and that Bali is exactly in the centre at 33 degrees longitude. Yes, well, so it may be, but
I found so little real, genuine substance in this book that I'm wondering if perhaps I'm not being open minded enough and I invite anyone else to submit a review of it.
'Healing the Heart of
the Earth'
by Marko Pogacnik
In contrast to 'Sacred Places' - I would highly recommend this book as a must-have for any one who aspires to Earth healing. It's a great follow up to his wonderful book 'Nature Spirits and Elemental Beings' (reviewed in a previous issue of Geomantica). Once again we have a refreshing, original voice in the wilderness of hype, giving us the essence of geomancy and Earth healing, casting strings of pearls of Earth wisdom before us, that require repeated re-reads!
Pogacnik, a Slovenian artist and Earth healer, puts the subject on a sound and grounded footing. He starts with profound definitions. 'What is Earth healing?' begins the first chapter.
"(Earth healing) is not a repair kit for the landscape, nature and the Earth. The urge to heal everything originates from our superficial modern consciousness which expects problems to be fixed medically the moment illness sets in," he says.
To be effective Earth healers Pogacnik encourages us to develop understandings of life processes without the hindrance of dualistic thinking, ridding ourselves of the need to classify all things as good or bad; and also to take on board responsibility for humankinds relentless destruction of the Earth, whilst adhering to a strong ethical base.
"As a culture and as individuals we are especially called upon to become acquainted with the invisible realms of the Earth, nature and landscape and to their reverberations on the visible plane. Only this way can the largely unconscious repression of the vital-energetic, emotional and spiritual-soul dimensions of the Earth systems be alleviated step by step."
"I do not see any value in Earth healing activity that is done surreptitiously without giving public awareness a chance to participate."
"I only found the solution to the problem some years later when I discovered the possibility of combining Earth healing with art, thus tying it into social processes of awareness as an activity accessible to the public. This is how the technique of lithopuncture came into being, a method that is still based on the principle of Earth acupuncture but does not bypass the deciding element of consciousness in the process of healing the Earth.
"The 'acupuncture needles' forged from iron that I had been using I now replaced by standing stones that are very visible in the countryside and cannot be ignored. As needles of stone they directly stimulate or balance the energy currents with which they resonate. At the same time they direct the attention of the onlooker to the process of Earth healing"
Pogacnik has gone on to also be responsible for creating the coat of arms for his new little country, the Republic of Slovenia. They were "created as a cosmogram expressing Slovenia's identity."
With chapters in part two such as 'Cologne: the bitter fate of one of the heart chakras of the Earth', 'Invisible energy installations: the Berlin Wall'. 'Ousted elemental beings' 'The Landscape as War Victim', we are given examples of some of the many Earth healing projects that Pogacnik has been involved with in Europe.
In part three 'Personal Transformation is Essential for Earth Healing' he espouses the view that personal development and clarification must precede any attempts at Earth healing, while it is suggested to constantly monitor ones motivations to be doing this work. Pogacnik warns:
"Does the urge to heal the Earth mask a continuing determination to dominate the Earth and her nature realms? Traditionally this dominance has taken place through the power of human intelligence; therefore today this superior attitude towards the Earth could find expression through a misguided 'intention to heal' that continues to debase the Earth by regarding it as an object."
"Before interfering with the tissue of a place in order to give Earth healing we should ask the consciousness of the place: Do you wish me to intervene? Is it allowed? Is it time to do so?"
In the following four parts the methods of diagnosis and healing that he uses are described. The most important point about this work being that:
"We can understand that each living space or garden is different in nature and that there is never a case where it is possible to act following fixed guidelines" he writes. "In my opinion we can in no way do justice to life's infinite variations if we try to implement an inflexible plan when examining a family home." He stresses that we need to exercise our intuition at all times in Earth healing activities, whilst adhering to certain geomantic laws, but never acting in a robotic way, merely mimicking the techniques of others.
He urges people to become familiar with the geomantic features of their area and to visit these regularly. "This includes points in the vicinity of a house that are visited by its inhabitants on a more or less regular basis during walks, outings or journeys. They may be focal points in close proximity that can be visited on a daily basis or they may be located further afield, including places that are visited only rarely, at weekends or on holidays. Everyone can find places within the range illustrated here which have either the characteristics of places of power or represent focal points for individual elementals or else in some other way embody the sacred quaity in the landscape. "
"Usually places of this kind 'approach' the attentive visitor of their own accord. This may happen, for example, through unexpected events; or the place is distinguished by an unusual formation of trees. Sometimes such places make themselves known by a special feeling which keeps arising in the visitor whever he or she is there... If, in the course of approaching the chosen places in this way, signals emerge that indicate hidden problems from which the place is suffering, you can apply the appropriate Earth healing methods on your own or, better still, with the help of friends. Finally you can regularly create a protective cloak for the places in your care."
"If individual people around the globe would look after places in their close or more distant surroundings in this way, a network of caretaking for the subtle levels of the Earth would come about right in the midst of the relentless advance of a civilisation that has no consideration for the subtle dimensions of the planet."
Pogacniks approach to ghostly hauntings is refreshing. "The phenomena of 'trapped soul remnants' is often over-dramatised" he says. "We are not really dealing with the soul of a person who for various reasons is held trapped within terrestial space after death The idea that there could be souls trapped in terrestial space is, in my opinion, an expression of fear and a lack of trust in Earth and her life systems."
And yes, Earth healing work isn't always sweetness and light, as the section on 'Dealing with Destructive Forces' explains. Pogacnik has encountered destructive forces coming from both the elemental and human realm, including black magic as a result of jealousy of his high profile work. So-called evil is always generated by humankind, he points out.
"Unfortunately the ambition of being an Earth healer all too often opens the door which lets in the opposing forces, and, carried along on waves of false messages, they then occupy the place disguised as 'Earth healing forces'" he warns.