spring quarterly edition / September 2004
the free web magazine of dowsing & geomancy,
in Australasia and beyond. Edited by Alanna Moore.
Welcome to the springtime/September - November 2004 edition of Geomantica.
It's still actually winter where I live in Victoria, but flowers of plums and peaches are starting to burst forth, happy for the extra moisture we've had this winter, which is better than has been seen in the last few years (after the driest start to the year ever recorded). Up north and no doubt elsewhere - the drought is still biting and they wait for rain in vain. It is the worst drought ever known in New South Wales. So read on for some rain making tips!
Feature articles are a bit thin of the ground in this issue. But I hope that my two new books that have been produced in the last two months will compensate. (It has been frantic!) This has cleared the decks and I will be able to produce more films in the coming months. So look forwards to being able to feast on geomancy!
And if you can't afford to buy a book for yourself, remember that you can get your local library to order one in, and thus share it around the wider community as well.
This book presents a spiritual dimension to
environmental awareness, through the ideas and experiences of
Earth mystery researchers and dowsers from around the world,
from an Australasian perspective. It has relevance for all Earth
stewards and concerned planetary citizens.
Originally a compilation of articles and items taken from 'Dowsing News' and 'Earth Spirit Quarterly' magazines, that were produced by Alanna Moore in the 1980's, it was published in 1994 as a 41 page A4 photocopied booklet. Ten years later it has been fully revised, updated and greatly added to, in the new 232 page B5 paperback 2nd edition, including over 40 photos and illustrations. Many of the best articles from the 25 issues of Geomantica have been incorporated, with many of them revised and expanded. The result covers epic vistas from diverse viewpoints.
The Contents of 'Divining Earth Spirit - an Exploration of Global and Australasian Geomancy':
Introduction
Gaian Geomancy:
Geomantic Overview. Earth's Crystal Grid. Chinese and Tibetan
geomancy. Feng Shui. British Earth Mysteries. North American
Earth mysteries. Modern trends in northern hemisphere geomancy.
Crop circles. Neo-Megalithics.
Australasian Geomancy: Geomancy in Australia - The Rainbow Serpent, The
Coiled Palms, An Earth Mystery in South Australia, Tower Hill,
Dowsing Aboriginal Sites, Kumarangk, Nimbin Rocks, Sacred Alice
Springs, Flinders Ranges, The Battle For Timbarra. Geomancy in
New Zealand and Polynesia.
Geobiology and Electro-biology: Are You Under Geopathic Stress? Dangers of Electro-stress. Book reviews - 'Watts the Buzz?' and 'Technology's Curse'. Are You Sleeping in a Safe Place?
Meet the Devas: Discovering the Devic Dimensions. Deva Dowsing. Book Reviews - 'Irish Fairy Tales', 'Nature Spirits and Elemental Beings'. The Green Man. Meetings with Pan. Angels in Canberra. Spirit Dimensions of the Pacific Islands.Tales of the Taniwha. Monster stops Roadworks! Treading on the Taniwha's Tail.
Meet the Geomancers: Steven Guth Custodianship at Bibaringa. Billy Arnold Maps of the Dreaming. Phillip Simpfendorfer Interview and Obituary. Frank Moody North Queensland's 'Feng Shui Man'. Tim Strachan - Geomancing the City. Peter Archer - New Zealand Flower Power. Charles Curwain - Energy Worker in Victoria. John Billingsley - Yorkshire Dreaming
Working with Earth Energies:
Suburban Sacred Site. 'Real magic under a southern sky'
book review. A Workshop of Earth attunement. Gariwerd gathering.
Exploring an Earth vortex. Chanting at sacred sites. Gundagai
Earth Connection Weekend. Cycle of pilgrimage in Yorkshire. 'Healing
the Heart of the Earth' - book review. Fountain groups. Community
geomancy. Devas and Power Towers.
What reviewers and readers said of the first edition of Divining Earth Spirit:
"This book is a classic for anyone wanting to get involved with Earth healing. It contains information by the bucketload... The research that has gone into this book is incredible and no doubt will stir you into wanting to use it yourself." 'Radionics Network' vol 2 no.6 (Australasia).
"As a skilled dowser and Earth healer,
Alanna writes from a depth of experience. The information is
clear, concise and comprehensive..... Its information is important
to all people looking to a future of human survival on Earth."
'Glastonbell' vol 5 no 4 ( Bell,
NSW, Australia).
"A masterpiece" J. Rowse, Oxy-Life Clinic (Brisbane, Australia).
Unique in that all the natural management and health tips required for happy poultry are found in this one comprehensive and highly acclaimed book. The author was intensively involved in the breeeding of rare fowl and duck breeds for over six years and discovered the need for such a book. She researched and wrote about natural fowl care for poultry and permaculture magazines in the 1990's and the 153 page B5 book 'Backyard Poultry - Naturally', published in 1998 by Bolwarrah Press, was the result. (Alanna also writes a regular poultry column for Earth Garden magazine.)
What people have said about 'Backyard Poultry - Naturally':
'A wonderful resource! Alanna Moore has provided poultry enthusiasts with all the information they need to raise healthy poultry without using harmful chemicals.' Megg Miller, Grass Roots magazine.
'The poultry health section is the best I've seen.' Eve Sinton, Permaculture International Journal.
'An interesting and worthwhile book that will no doubt have a lot of appeal for the amateur or part-time farmer.' Kerry Lonergan, 'Landline', ABC TV.
by Alanna Moore
The proposal by Telstra to place a 37m high mobile phone tower base station on the summit of sacred mountain Lalgambook/Mt Franklin, in central Victoria, caused great consternation amongst locals who rallied to oppose it. Letters of objection were sent to many relevant parties, a petition and photos simulating the visual impact was circulated, and the authorities lobbied. A potential protest camp was set up in the crater in readinessFinally, at the 20th July council meeting, at 5 minutes to midnight, Hepburn Shire decided that they too would reject the proposal.
The 'Friends of Mt Franklin' were tired but elated. But it wasn't the end. It had been discovered that Optus had already quietly erected a so called 'low impact' tower on the summit. Surely this was inappropriate too? (Vodaphone is keen to put a Tower up there as well.)
Was it possible that a sacred mountain could be kept free from inappropriate developments and structures in the future and keep its integrity? (We still don't know)
What is it?
Mount Franklin is a prominent and classically shaped scoria cone
volcano of great geological interest, some 635m high and about
10km north of Daylesford in central Victoria. From its pine plantation
swathed summit no less than ten other scoria cone volcanoes can
be seen. The southern end of the cone was breached, possibly
by a late lava flow, and this has enabled a road to give easy
access into the central crater area.
The park like interior abounds with mighty exotic trees, like the grove of stately Californian redwoods, planted after a severe bush fire denuded it all. It is now a registered arboretum. People can camp there freely.
Lalagambook/Mt Franklin on left, Lady Franklin on the right.
Photo: Billy Arnold
Sacred to Aboriginals
But there's more to this mountain than just a place for picnickers, campers or geology students. For thousands of years the Gunangara Gundidj clan of the Dja Dja Wurrung tribe have used Lalgambook for corroborees and initiation. White people attended some of these corroborees and there has been a certain harmony between black and white people associated with the mountain.
The Gunangara Gundidj have (probably) been witness to the eruptions of Mt Franklin, which ended about 5000 years ago, for they have a story about it, one of the few stories left.
They said that Lalgambook was throwing rocks at her rival, the granite mountain Tarrengower, near Maldon. But Tarrengower (not an eruptive volcano but associated with the magma activity) just grumbled.
Artifacts, such as stone axes discovered by Mt Franklin farmer Rees Powell on his property at the foot of the mountain and other local residents, attest to the Aboriginals' occupation. Most of these relics are now in the Daylesford Museum, in the E S Parker room. The collection includes a 2000 year old ground edge long pebble axe, found at the nearby Franklinford /Lar-ne-barramul swamp, hafted and hand axes, millstones, conical pick and a number of geometric microliths.
Lalgambook is close to and strongly associated with Franklinford/ Lar-ne-barramul, another place of great historical and cultural interest. "When the (white) squatters arrived in the district, and conflict ensued between the Aborigines and the settlers, the Victorian government sent Edward Stone Parker to establish an Aboriginal Protectorate ( ''well-intentioned'', but in reality a glorified concentration camp ) in the Loddon District. Parker finally established the protectorate at Franklinford, on the slopes of Mount Franklin. The protectorate lasted from 1840-49, after which some Aboriginal families continued to farm at the foot of the mountain through to the 1860's. It is believed by local historians that the historic Franklinford cemetery is possibly the only cemetery in Victoria where blacks and whites were buried together, without segregation" Ken Mansell writes.
"In his journals Parker testified to the sacred importance of the mountain. He mentioned that the Aborigines used the Larnebarrumul (meaning ''place of the emu'') Swamp at Franklinford as a camping ground. That swamp is still there, as are many of the existing original footings etc of Parker's buildings. Parker's journals turned up in the Victorian State Library in the 1960's. They were discovered by local farmer Edgar Morrison who proceeded to write up a book from them"
By 1841Parker could count only three members of the Gunangara Gundidj clan left in Franklinford. Smallpox, murders by squatters, venereal disease, etc had taken a hideous toll by then. So his journals are an important reference.
White people love the mountain too
Mt Franklin has also been a tourist destination since 1867 and the mountain was painted by Eugene Von Guerard in the gold-rush days of the 1850's-60's. In 1875 concerned local citizens rallied there to demand protection for the Mountain, which was being encroached on by farmland.
And for the past 30 years the annual Beltane neo-pagan festival has been held there - the longest running pagan festival in Australian (and possibly world) history.
Geomantically speaking Lalgambook is an important centre for landscape energies for the whole region. The mountain is a pivotal point for energy leys/ley lines that criss-cross the landscape, connecting at mountain tops. When the harmony of such landscape energies is destroyed there can be many far reaching consequences. Powerful energies, such as a huge vortex, can also be detected by dowsing in the crater.
The Refusal
The Refusal to Grant a Planning Permit sent out by Larry Waldron,
the Hepburn Shire planner gave the following reasons for refusal
given by the Planning Department:
1. The proposal is inconsistent with the provisions of the State
Planning Policy Framework of the Hepburn Planning Scheme, in
particular Heritage.
2. The proposal is inconsistent with the provisions of the Local
Planning Policy Framework of the Hepburn Planning Scheme, in
particular Environment and Heritage ( Landscapes, Cultural Heritage
).
3. The proposal is detrimental to the amenity of the area.
4. The proposal is inconsistent with the Code of Practice for
Telecommunications Facilities in Victoria.
5. That the traditional owners of the land and the Ballarat and
District Aboriginal Co-operative have not given their formal
consent.
Council had not been opposed to the plan up until this time, but the 'Friends of Mt Franklin' had been intensively lobbying. Ken Mansell had the following letter published in the Ballarat Courier.
"Hepburn Shire Council's rejection of Telstra's application for a telecommunications tower on Mount Franklin was not achieved easily. It was the culmination of a six-month campaign by a dedicated group of residents and ratepayers. Telstra is Australia's largest company. The campaigning group is made up of ordinary people who somehow found enough time after work and college to do the necessary research, build a network through many phone calls and emails, and collect hundreds of signatures. In the end, David beat Goliath because of the force of our arguments and the moral pressure placed on Council."
What to do next?
Not content to give Telstra the flick, the group is now moving
to secure the mountain's fuller protection by having it listed
on the National Estate.
Mount Franklin already has a 'Heritage Overlay' (meaning it possesses heritage features that require protection and consideration) but the mountain does not have a 'Significant Landscape Overlay'. Hepburn Shire has the largest ensemble of volcanoes of any area in Australia, but only one of the Shire's many volcanoes has a 'Significant Landscape Overlay' and that is Smeaton Hill / Kooroocheang, a scoria cone, once an icon of the Tureet Balug clan and where they held their corroborrees.
To gain Lalgambook more protection it has been recommended to first apply to the National Trust of Australia (Victoria) to have it put on the National Trust listing under a 'Landscape Classification', for its social, aesthetic, historic and Aboriginal values. (It already has a listing for its geological significance.) With that achieved there would be a greater chance of getting it on the National Estate.
The National Trust has such listings for other Victorian volcanoes - Mt Leura (Camperdown), Mt Elephant (Derinallum) and Tower Hill (Koroit). They have also listed Mt Eccles, which is seen as having enormous national significance. Eccles has been listed for the new National Heritage listing which the Federal Government is bringing in to replace The National Estate.
Once the National Trust has a place registered, that place automatically passes on to Heritage Victoria's listing. Mount Franklin and vicinity had already been 'recommended' in the recent past for the National Estate register, but for some reason it was not taken further to full registration.
What of Aboriginal consultation?
Telstra's required consultation with Aboriginal people was minimal
and some say that they may have been talking to the wrong people.
Nothing has come from it.
Ken Mansell wrote to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs in Victoria to say "I am an objector to the Telstra proposal to erect a mobile phone tower on Mt Franklin...My strongest objection to the tower is that Mount Franklin is an Aboriginal sacred site."
He informed the Minister that "In 1997-1998 Optus attempted to erect a mobile phone tower on Mannings Track, a high ridge three kilometers to the south of Mount Franklin. Over 600 local people signed a petition against it, but in the end the plan was stopped by the action of the Mirimbiak Nation's Aboriginal Corporation. This Corporation had lodged a native title determination application with the National Native Title Tribunal on behalf of the Dja Dja Wrung".
"Mount Franklin is even more worthy of saving, more sacred, than Mannings Ridge. It is within the area covered by the Dja Dja Wurrung native title claim"
Unfortunately there was a surprising lack of interest from the Minister, who replied that "the location has been surveyed for Aboriginal cultural heritage values, by a representative of the Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative, which holds the decision-making responsibilities for the area, and he has been advised that no Aboriginal heritage sites or places were found during that investigation, and it appears unlikely that the proposed tower would have a detrimental effect on any specific Aboriginal cultural heritage values."
And yet this same Aboriginal Cooperative still has not formally refused permission for a phone tower. They have apparently remained silent, so far.
The Co-op may yet refuse permission. (But are they really qualified to speak for Lalgambook, or are the appropriate parties to ask actually in Bendigo?)
Telstra may appeal.
Time will tell.
Stay tuned to Geomantica for updates.
References:
Ian Clark, Barry Cook, 'Victorian Geology Excursion Guide', Australian
Academy of Science, 1988.
John Tully. Djadja Wurrung Language of Central Vitctoria, including
place names, PO Box 50 Dunolly, 3472, Victoria, 1997.
Edgar Morrison, 'The Loddon Aborigines' Jim
Crow Press, 1971.
Norm Darwin, 'Daylesford - The Past Building a Future' 1999.
C C Culvenor, 'The Boundaries of the Mount Franklin Aboriginal
Reserve', Jim Crow Press, 1992.
The National Trust website is www.nattrust.com.au
( optional tune: 'Tour of the Dales' ( trad. Yorkshire ))
That has been passed down - I'm the great ''Lalgambook''
For millions of years, from the earth's molten core
A good deal of lava pushed up through my floor.
Oh I fought Tarrengower and I fought Moorookyle
With slingshot and boulder - and a scoria pile
I fought other mountains, exchanged many blows
Then lay down to sleep when my last blood had flowed.
Fished in my rivers, danced in my arms
Larnebarramul Swamp was a camp and a home
And they left their stone axes deep down in the loam.
The emu, echidna, the wombat and 'roo
Sought my green forests, danced with me too
For 5000 years I lay still asleep
Then along came John Hepburn - and the baaing of sheep.
And so very briefly I became Mount Jim Crow
Hepburn would visit when he felt like a ride
And soon there were squatters on every side.
With dogs and disease and the whitefella gun
The ''Dja Dja'' were moved from their place in the sun
Oh Edward Stone Parker came serving the Lord
And established a church that he called Franklinford.
And went into training to claim the North Pole
He climbed to my crater, good Lady in hand
And he said ''Now I'm ready for icy Greenland''.
They'd stolen my name, but my secret of old
Unknown still remained - ancient rivers of gold!
Where aboriginal farmers had dug only seeds
The white men came seeking deep underground leads.
The Shakespeare, Leviathan, Robbie Burns mine
From Dry Diggings township to Shimmins's Reef
And Rees was the butcher who slaughtered the beef.
These miners from Wales took up land for to till
Building stone fences, an old Celtic skill
Today at Mount Franklin, Welsh settlers are rare
But I know for a fact that the Powells are still there.
Horses and buggies drove to Lithia
The wealth of these waters far richer than gold
And Bill Liversidge dowsed for the rivers of old.
For millions of years since Lalgambook's birth
The eucalypt forest trees grew in my earth
But then the great bushfires, '44, '69
They swallowed the forest - now I'm covered with Pine.
Back to the top
Parvati related the following story in a recent message (June 2, 2004) from Poland to the Agnihotra network
"It was suggested that we go to Auschwitz,
the worst concentration camp in Poland where during World War
II, thousands of prisoners especially (though not only) Jews,
were tortured and exterminated. We were instructed to go there
to perform a healing fire for cleansing the area of negative
energies which remain there. Well, this we did and I wanted to
share with all of you the results. The experience, though quite
intense, was very powerful and cleansing for all of us who attended..
It was only after the visit that we realized it was one day before
the commemoration of World War II!
May 28, 2004 Auschwitz, Poland
"We drove to Auschwitz in two cars. Present were Shree Vasant Paranjpe, Reiner Sczypior from Austria, Bruce Johnson from Australia, Mary Lee Weils from Belize, Jacob Sawyer from U.S., Jarek and ParvatiBizberg from Poland,We were joined by a local Polish woman who practices Agnihotra in her home in Auschwitz. We toured the grounds silently, each of us experiencing our own feelings. Then, we walked behind the Wall of Death, where prisoners were shot during the war. There, we gathered on the grass and performed the healing fire, Vyaruthi Homa followed by Shri Shuktam. Shree Vasant then chanted many Mantras. I sang the Hebrew prayer, Sh'mah Yisrael. As we sat in meditation all together, this following message came. It felt more like a prayer.
'May those souls who suffered here be released of their misery. May those souls who have remained trapped here, searching for their lost loved ones, seeking redemption-may they be released from their suffering.
May the land so marked with the blood and bones of those who perished here be released of the scars which continue to emanate this poisonous reality.
Let us learn from this place to become compassionate toward all who suffer at the hands of others in this world.
From what happened here, let us learn love and compassion. Let us shun hatred and vengeance. Let us not bow before fear. Let us seek to comfort and to understand. So that never what happened here goes in vain.
Yes, let us not forget but let it make us better, more humane human beings.'
"Before I had the chance to hand Shree Vasant the message I had just received and written down, He began speaking out loud to the group about releasing souls who were trapped there. Then only did I hand Him the message. The words were nearly identical!
"After the Yajnya was completed, we all quietly walked on the path toward the front of the camps to return to our car. As we walked quietly, I turned around and this is what I saw. Very clearly, I could 'see' many people, still in the same state they were in during their confinement in the camps. They were bowing, one after another, and saying softly, 'thank you.' I felt they were free, at last. What wonderful grace to be a part of this work.
What caused the massive explosion over Siberia, equivalent to 1000 Hiroshima bombs and felt at vast distances away? It devastated an area the size of greater London and many people in the region died from what, in hindsight, sounds like radiation sickness.
Eyewitnesses from hundreds of miles away saw the intensely bright object before the explosion and impacts were felt thousands more miles away. The night sky was lit up in England after the incident, someone reporting that they could read a paper at 2am in the light.
"Thunder-like sounds and incredible light effects were seen not only during and after the bolide flight, but also before it. Observers were located tens of kilometers far from the area of the fall. A ballistic wave could not create such a sound: it could remain behind the bolide, but it could never outdistance it. The only real explanation can be linked with powerful electromagnetic phenomena, albeit scientists have not developed a complete analysis of the issue from this point of view," Pravda reported.
Nobody investigated until 1927 (World War One being a big distraction plus a local chief had declared it off limits), and it has puzzled scientists ever since. No meteror impact crater was found, nor fragments of one.
Past theories have involved meteorites, fire balls and comets, antimatter and mini-black holes. "When the first modern models for atmospheric impacts were published in 1993," NASA asteroid expert David Morrison said, "it became clear that this was a stony body." He suggested that it was "somewhere between an ordinary chondrite and a carbonaceous chondrite in physical properties... of about 60 meters [196 feet] in diameter that disintegrated explosively at an altitude of approximately 8 kilometers [5 miles]."
Then in August 2004 it hit national news in Australia (SBS) - for scientists in the latest expedition there report the discovery of UFO fragments! A web search reveals the report of 10/8/04 from Russian news agency Pravda ( at www.english.pravda.ru/science) and it was also the top story for Physorg.com website - that boasts all the latest physics and technology news (at http://www.physorg.com/preview766.html. (Tthere are another 20,000 references to Tunguska on a google search.)
Not only did the expedition "uncover
blocks of an extraterrestrial technical device, which crashed
down on Earth on June 30th, 1908. In addition, expedition members
found the so-called "deer" - the stone, which Tunguska
eyewitnesses repeatedly mentioned in their stories. Explorers
delivered a 50-kilogram piece of the stone to the city of Krasnoyarsk
to be studied and analyzed."
Sceptics write that 'the Soviet government
tolerated public interest in UFOs as a way of camouflaging actual
space and missile events. Many of the most famous Soviet UFO
stories that are still promoted in Western books and on Internet
sites have been traced back to original - but highly classified
- military space missions. The most spectacular Soviet "UFO
wave" in history occurred over the southern part of the
country in 1967 and 1968, when crescent-shaped giant spaceships
were reported flying across the skies. Endorsed as "unexplainable"
by top Russian scientists, the widely witnessed apparitions turned
out to be secret tests of Soviet thermonuclear warheads diving
back from orbit."
"Expedition leader Yuri Lavbin prefers the alien technology interpretation. That's the theory he admits he started with, even before he got to the area. But other space experts have pointed out that the region is a drop zone for discarded rocket stages launched into space from Russia's Baikonur base, and in fact was the crash site of one prototype manned space capsule at the very dawn of the space age" writes James Oberg in Houston (NBC News space analyst at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5686713/ )
by Alanna Moore © August 2004.
People have been developing rituals to induce rain for millenia. From the rain dances by the Hopi in southwest USA, to the beating of ceremonial rain drums in Ugandan rites, people have used similar methods to inspire rain to fall. With drought still malingering in many parts of Australia, it is perhaps timely to take a look at some of these traditions.
Water dragons
In China dragons have long been associated with water features
in the landscape and also the weather, tides and water levels.
Although fearsome adversaries, dragons were generally regarded
as auspicious beasts, as protectors and guardians of treasures,
waterways, clouds, winds, and Heaven itself.
To bring rain water dragons were said to fly up to the clouds. When harmony reigned, it was they who ensured the fertility of the fields and the prosperity of the people. But if a water dragon has been interfered with - havoc can be unleashed. Storms are said to be battling dragons, droughts are sleepy ones and floods are the dragon when wrathful.
Originally in the form of local water spirits that presided over lakes and rivers, dragons were regularly invoked in times of drought. The dragon dance that's still performed at Chinese New Year festivities, was originally a ritual of rain making. The dragon's image would also be taken out of the temples and paraded around to show the dragon the damage done and encourage precipitation. 1)
In the rain making rites of the Bronze Age Chinese, as well as in Indochina and Indonesia, ceremonial kettle gongs would be rung. Some kettle gongs in north Vietnam have been dated to 2,500 years of age. 2)
In China and many other parts of the world people would perform rain making ceremonies on mountain tops. In pre-historic Mexico the rain god Tlaloc was worshipped on the summit of Mount Tlaloc, a little east of Mexico City. The Aztecs used their astute astronomical observations (no doubt made on mountain tops too) to help predict the weather.
India
In Indian and Buddhist tradition kingship and rainfall were divinely
linked. One of a king's roles was to invoke rain when needed.
A righteous king would ensure rain in due season and if rains
failed it was the king who got the blame. In order to maintain
his position and power a king had to convince his subjects that
he had the ability to produce rain.
In Sri Lanka the mountain at Mihintale and the rock at Sigiriya were two of the main centres of ritual worship where pre-Buddhist Sinhalese kings held their festivals, involving both rain-making and fertility. (The later Buddhist kings shifted their ritual focus from mountain tops to Boddhi trees.) 3)
England
There are delightful descriptions from the British Isles of rain
making ceremonies where the playful frolic of ordinary folk was
the order of the day. At a rain making rite at Gellionen Well,
near Pontardawe, West Glamorgan, people danced on the green throwing
flowers and herbs at each other, singing jolly old ballads and
playing 'kiss in the ring'. The group leader would then go to
the well and cry out three times "Bring us rain!!"
Everyone then filled up bowls with well water and flung it around
or took it home to sprinkle on the garden. Apparently it never
failed to rain after such an event.
(A similar rite, where women danced and were splashed with well water, was performed to cure barrenness at some wells. At one such well the local parson was so outraged at the practice that he had the well filled in.) 4)
In Australia
According to Aboriginal lore the deity responsible for the balance
of water in a region is it's local snake spirit. The term 'rainbow
serpent' can refer to both the water elemental being that is
a major culture hero who formed landscapes in 'the Dreamtime',
and also to its lesser regional manifestations. Australian rain
making rites and rainbow serpents / snake spirits have been integrally
linked since time immemorial.
In the south west of Western Australia the woggal or wawgal / rainbow serpent was revered as the guardian of sacred landscapes. It was sometimes regarded as a healer, but it could also cause sickness and mete out punishment for broken laws. The powerful snake spirit was invariably described as feathered, finned, maned and or horny, Daisy Bates wrote in 1925, and was considered an arbitrator of life and death and "omniscient and omnipotent amongst the Bibbulmun" (tribe).
Residing in certain springs, pools, hills, caves, gorges and trees the woggal could also be an unfriendly and fearsome guardian spirit. The woggal's stations were 'winnaitch' taboo, and any game seeking refuge in them was left unmolested. When passing near its home fresh rushes were sometimes strewn by people, or a piece of cooked meat would be placed at the foot of a sacred rock or on the edge of Woggal's pool, to propitiate it. 5)
Permanent water holes in arid zones were the pre-eminent homes of rainbow serpents /snake spirits and were places where rain making rites were held Australia wide, sometimes with several tribes participating. In some areas these inter-tribal ceremonies were important social events.
At Mutawintji National Park in western New South Wales large gatherings of Malyankapa, Pandijkali and Wiimpatja people took place. Initiation rites were held at Snake Cave, with nearby Mushroom Rock another religious site. Other places within the park were used for rain making ceremonies and were women's sites, oral history tells us. It is still a tribal meeting place, but too arid now for habitation. Petroglyphs there have been dated to be over 8000 years old. 6)
In the north west of the Northern Territory the Walpiri tribe have for many generations visited Mawuritji, near Lake White, where they have met the Kokatja (of Western Australia) and the Ngardi people for initiation and rainmaking ceremonies. 7)
In the south Kimberleys rainmaking ceremonies are typically performed at jila - sacred permanent water holes, home to snake spirits called pulany. Local pulany have the power to generate rain at any time should they be disturbed. It is to jila that men go to generate and control rainfall, by persuading the pulany to 'get up'.
It is from these jila that the knowledge of songs and dances relating to rain-making arise and are given to people in dreams. To induce rain - songs are sung and special body designs are worn as people dig the jila, in a prescribed way, throwing the mud out to attract the rain.
A senior rain maker /yiliwirri uses his power to placate the pulany or make them 'get up'. This is demonstrated in his ability to make winter rain, whip up thunderstorms and lightning, and divert storms or cyclones away from or towards particular areas. This can be also done in other areas where pulany reside, such as the sea. 8)
Down south in Victoria, Aboriginal rock wells were associated with rainbow snake Dreamings and rain making ceremonies. The Whroo area, south of the Goulburn River, was home to the Ngurai-illum-wurrung and Taungurong clans. The discovery of gold saw the township of Whroo established in 1850. Now abandoned, all that remains of Whroo is a rock well, which local Aboriginal people continue to have an association with. This rock well, with a 110 litre capacity, ensured that the clan groups would have a reliable source of water as they travelled through the area. When full, the water flows over a lip in the front wall. Whroo, Wahroo or Wooro means lips. 9) In south western Australia gnamma is the Western Desert name for rock holes. These are usually found in granite outcrops and were important water sources for the people. 10)
Rain maker experts of the Bushmen of Africa also go down to a water hole or springs said to be inhabited by a 'rain bull' (water spirit). This they somehow 'capture' and lead around the countryside to another site where "it is cut/bled", in other words the rain is symbolically made to fall. 11)
In Aboriginal Art
Rain making sites in the NT often have ancient engravings with
abraded grooves featured at them. When rain ceremonies are conducted
special designs are used in the body art of performers. Such
traditions are expressed in modern art too. Rain dreaming can
be seen depicted in the paintings of several contempory Aboriginal
artists.
For instance Western Australian artist Johnny Mosquito is the
custodian of the site of Puntukutjara, south-west of Balgo, and
the senior rainmaker in the Balgo community. This theme is evident
in many of his paintings which often depict Tingari and Water
Dreaming stories. John often visits the region during the dry
season to perform rain making ceremonies to this day.
Dinny Tjampitjinpa Nolan, who was born about 1920 near to the present day Yuendumu in central Australia, is another artist. As a highly respected senior custodian for the Walpiri people, he is officially recognised as a leader of Rain Making and Water Dreaming ceremonies. He oversees other corroborees, painting the bodies of those taking part in the ceremonies and is renowned for his powerful singing voice. 12)
Rain songs
Of Aboriginal songs that are associated with dreaming tracks/song
lines "The Kaytetye Akwelye, or Rain Song series is the
one most identified with the powerful rainmaking sites in the
Arnerre land estate, to the west of Neutral Junction Station
in the Northern Territory. This song series can be traced along
a track going from west to east, travelling close to the Kaytetye
Tara camp area" writes Jane Anderson, of recordings done
at Tara nearly 30 years ago. "These songs were (originally)
given in a dream by an ancestral rain figure through a mediating
spirit to a corporeal traditional owner of Arnerre country."
Songs had been performed during Rain Dreaming ceremonies since time immemorial. "(But) ceremonial life, particularly initiations at the camp at Tara, had been suspended for six years during the presence of an Arrernte pastor, but after his departure in the mid-1970s, the ceremonies had been reinstated."
When first recorded by white people in the late 1970's the songs were restricted to female ears only. "The five hour performance was sung away from view of the rest of the community in a tin shed which had been used for general meetings and as a church. Some women stood outside the shed to discourage visitors."
Somewhat surprisingly - in the mid '80's one of the songs' owners sang them on radio for all to hear. These days a new generation of Aboriginal people are often more keen to share their sacred culture, in a revival of cultural pride. 13)
One of the sacred sites along this Rain Dreaming songline is the clay pan Uweninga, near Alice Springs, pictured.
Uweninga clay pan. Photo by Billy Arnold
Maori magic
The Maoris were great farmers and gardeners. In their gardens
they placed stone and wooden statues to represent the atua/gods
and act as the mauri, or resting place of the life principle
of the garden. Here, at crop planting time, the tohunga/priest
recited ritual incantations, and again at harvest. If rain was
needed, the tohunga would swing a wooden bullroarer to ritually
bring rain to the crops. 14) Some Australian Aboriginal tribes
regard their sacred ceremonial bullroarers as the embodiment
of lightning. 15) )
Looking at these old traditions reminds us that we are not separate from nature. They help to tie us into the weather equation, to make us see all life as an integrated whole. And they can, indeed, bring rain.
So a little bit of rain making magic, I feel, can never really go astray.
1) 'Land of the Dragon Chinese Myth',
Duncan & Baird, UK, 1999.
2) Encyclopædia Britannica 2004.
3) J.B. Disanayaka, 'The King as Rain-Maker', Ministry of Environment
& Parliamentary Affairs, Sri Lanka, 1992.
4) Janet and Colin Bord, 'Earth Rites' Granada, UK, 1982.
5) Daisy Bates, 'Aboriginal Perth Bibbulmun Biographies
and Legends' Hesperian Press, Western Australia, 1992.
6) NSW Department of Education and Training Sites and Scenes
1999.
7) N.B. Tindale, 'Aboriginal Tribes of Australia' 1974.
8) Interview with Peter Clancy Tapirri, at Bidyadanga, 1.9.99,
in 'Living Water, Centre for Anthropological Research, University
of Western Australia
9) http://www1.visitvictoria.com
10) Ian Bayly, 'Rock of Ages', Uni. Of WA, 1999.
11) Paul Deveraux 'The Sacred Place', Cassell & Co., UK,
2000.
12) http://www.aboriginal-desert-art.com.au/artists/dinny_nolan_tjampitjinpa.html
13) Jane Anderson, 'The politics of context: issues for the law,
researchers and the creation of databases' PARADISEC (Pacific
And Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures)
AIATSIS. http://conferences.arts.usyd.edu.au/viewpaper.php?id=61&cf=2
14) Alanna Moore, 'Divining Earth Spirit', 2nd edition, Python
Press, Sept. 2004.
15) Mircea Eliade, 'Australian Religions, An Introduction', Cornell
Uni. Press, USA, 1973.
Dreaming the Dance - Part One
by Steven Hawkins
Dreams have always been important to Western
Europe's Aboriginal cultures. They believe that
all experience is of equal credibility, whether
from the mists of a dream or from the discipline of
a science laboratory, it all has to be perceived by
the human mind!
This is evident within the Celtic classic
"The High
History of the Holy Grail", branch 1, titles 3 and 4;
where King Arthur's Squire, whilest sleeping at the
Court, dreamed that he had followed the King on
horseback. Deep within the forest he found a chapel and
within a dead Knight, surrounding him were 4 candles
upon wondrous candlesticks.
Intending to show a candlestick to King Arthur
he
rode away with one hidden down his crotch. He was
challenged by a large black man with a knife who called
him "thief" and demanded that he return the candlestick.
When King Arthur heard the Squire screaming he came
to his bedside thinking it to be a dream. The Squire
produced the candlestick from his crotch and then
showed the wound where the man had stabbed him. After
confession the knife was withdrawn and the Squire died!
I've not met anyone who has had such a dream
as this!
However dreams do have a significant effect on your life.
Given that we spend one third of our lives
slipping
in and out of dreams, the ability to apply those
experiences to a useful purpose is a significant asset.
Lucid dreams are the most intense type of dream and it
is possible to achieve full consciousness within them.
I have used lucid dreaming to enrich my life
for
nearly 30 years, indeed, several important parts of
"the Giant's Dance" series, published in Geomantica
14,
17, 20 and 22, were researched using lucid dreams. All
such research was verified using academic resources
before it was used, however, before you can verify
information you have to know it exists!
I had known people who combined dreaming with
Gestalt therapy in the mid-sixties, although my own
introduction to dreaming was in 1975 with the book
"Creative Dreaming" by Patricia Garfield. I was soon
achieving erratic success with lucid dream induction
and within months had found the "Otherworld".
In 1991 I was using dreaming to research traditional
Celtic bronzesmithing techniques for a series of
sculptures when I received the "seed dream" on which
the "Giant's Dance" is based. I had the orrery working
by 1995 but I didn't understand why it worked.
Up until 95 the dreaming was confined to retrieving
visual images and assembling them in the waking state
like a jigsaw puzzle. The Celts used geometry for their
calculations not mathematics, everything is defined by
spatial relationships. The Giant's Dance functioned as
a slide rule!
To my knowledge the only precursor to the
"Giants
Dance" is my earlier work "The Tarot of the Britons",
published in the April 97 edition of "Silver Cord",
a
magazine focusing on "Spiritualism" in Australia. It
was presented as an "April Fool's Day" piece, it
caught all the skeptics!
I grew up with Spiritualism, my Great-grandmother
had helped Arthur Conan Doyle establish Spiritualism
in Australia. Spiritualists have the Spirits travel
from the "Otherworld" to visit them whereas Shamans
travel to the "Otherworld" to visit the Spirits.
As a Shaman I have two main methods of working,
dreams and meditation. The initial contacts and
visions are made in the dreamstate and are then
followed up by meditations.
Both meditation and dreaming are mutually
exclusive with respect to analytical thought. If,
while dreaming, you see something interesting and
you say "what's this", it's gone!
Attempt analytical thought during meditation and
it becomes fantasy, this severely restricts
meditation's value as a research tool. The transition
from meditation to fantasy is not obvious, if you are
capable of asking "what is my intent? to perceive or
to control" you are already in fantasy, abandon the
meditation!
Most of you will have had a dream of "all
knowing",
where the meaning of life as well as the past and
future are all revealed to you in an all embracing
ecstasy. Unfortunately when you awoke it was "just a
dream".
That's the depth of perception (level of
consciousness) I aim for in meditation, that
"at-one-ness", I've found that if you go there with
a
question you will return with an answer. It's an
automatic process involving no conscious input by the
meditater and thus no opportunity for analytical
thought.
Identify your starting point and your ultimate
goal, then go into meditation seeking the next step
along the way. If the meditation is successful that's
what you'll return with.
Analysing the answer with respect to the starting
point will reveal the process in action, this will be
a logical extension of previously identified
processes. Keep each step to your goal as short as
possible because if the process gets complicated it
will become unrecognisable.
It was during a particularly lucid dream that
a figure
emerged from the mists and in conversation said "you
know, they predict Eclipses here using stones the same
way we do with Tarot Cards!"
Within a later dream "The mists cleared and I was
among the stones, my Guide laid out the Trumps cards
in a circle with the Kings in the Quarters. There was
a six pointed star within the circle which slowly
turned. As our minds touched I understood Eclipse
prediction by Tarot".
I awoke and reaching for my cards I laid them
out
as per the dream. I understood nothing! It took 6
Years of dreaming and communicating with my Spirit
Guides to regain the understanding I had in that
dream.
But the point is that I wasn't working in
the
dark with totally new concepts, when the answers
came I recognized them. That made all the difference!
I had to develop a meditation technique to
identify
the mathematical concepts behind the orrery's dual
indications at the Equinoxes (see above). This was
obviously the key to identifying the error correction
techniques used by the Celts to synchronise solar and
lunar time. This knowledge was lost!
It took 3 years to arrive at an understanding
of the
error correction process relevant to Eclipse prediction
by Tarot. That process is the key to the functioning of
the ancient Celtic calendar, a working example of which
has survived to the present day as the "Coligny Calendar".
I am pleased with the results of all those
years of
research. I hope that this work stands as an example of
what can be achieved when one starts out with nothing
more than a dream!
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."
"Dreaming the Dance, pt1" 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.
(c) Hawkins 2004.
by Paul Deveraux, Cassell & Co, UK, 2000.
This plush, coffee table type book is from one of the world's foremost writers on sacred space and author of some 20 books on the subject. It's 183 large pages are lush with gorgeous colour photos of sacred sites around the world. The book covers some rarely seen sacred places, including the megalithic structures of Scandinavia, Britain, Mediterranean and the ancient Americas, with fascinating insights into them.
Deveraux used to be the editor of 'The Ley Hunter' magazine for many years, during which time he developed a great deal of scepticism about dowsing based research, which he totally dismisses. So don't expect any mention of powerful energies, such as ley lines, that so many people encounter in many ways at sites. But this shortcoming does not detract from the book, which abounds in interesting descriptions and historical references.
Deveraux has developed an approach to the subject that is based on speculations about shamanic type use of sacred sites. For instance lineal pathways on the ground (such as at Nazca in South America) were pathways for astral travellers in 'shamanic landscapes', he feels. Ancient art patterns could be based on psychedelic imagery derived from the ingestion of psycho-active substances at shamanic shin-digs, he imagines. Because of his approach he has gained much acceptance from the academic fraternity.
Deveraux 'traces the development of the concept of sacred space and shows that the nature of sacred space arose from the land itself and insinuated itself into the ancient mind.' The ruling myths that fuelled this emergence are revealed as Deveraux explains how the ancients saw their gods and goddesses in the natural shapes of the land. (The reality, I feel, lies deeper than visual appearances.)
'Because the songlines are mapped in the minds of native inhabitants, knowledge of them can readily disappear when tribal traditions become fragmented Many of the songlines have now sunk back into the land, as it were, as a consequence of disruption (of the Aboriginal relationship to the land)'
I cannot agree with this statement, as this 'knowledge' is of a more visceral than academic nature. Anyone can potentially perceive the living reality of the other-dimensional Dreamtime, in my experience, if they choose to tune into it. It is still present in the land and does not just die from neglect.
How the modern world can benefit from Deveraux's insights is not explored and we are left with an impression that these sites are just fossilised mythos with a curious atmosphere, that the Dreaming is virtually no more.
But perhaps I'm being picky. It's a beautiful
book!
Book Review:
by Sara Shannon, Instant Improvement Inc, USA, (1987), revised edition 1994.
From deteriorating nuclear powered naval fleets, leaking power station reactors, residue from nuclear testing and warfare and low level medical waste etc piling up, radioactive contamination is becoming rife world wide.
"During the last five years since the tragic accident at Chernobyl, there has been mounting evidence of much more severe effects of very small doses of radiation from nuclear fission products in the environment than had been predicted on the basis of the study of the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki As much as 100 miles from Chernobyl there has been a very large increase in thyroid disease, leukemia and infectious diseases far above those expected, in some cases ten-fold. Infant and foetal mortality rates as far away as Germany and the US increased significantly in the immediate period following the arrival of the fallout from Chernobyl, just as they did during the period of atmospheric testing, and so has total mortality at all ages from all causes combined" writes Dr Ernest Sternglass, Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine on the observance of the fifth anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster (26/4/86), in the Introduction.
This was one of the first books to address the problem of how to survive in radioactive environments. The author, a nutritionist in New York city, presents years of research into the protective effects of eating certain foods and diet supplements.
First Shannon explains the effects to our bodies of low level radiation and radioactivity. Cancerous conditions become prevalent, free radicals proliferate and infants are particularly susceptible. Repeated exposure weakens our immune defenses, while increasing the mutation rate of micro-organisms thus ushering in epidemics of new diseases which prove fatal.
The good news is that "the body can reduce absorption of radioactive elements by building up reserves of the essential minerals in which it is low" Shannon writes. For example "Inhaled radioactive gas or ingested radioactve iodine salts will be rapidly excreted if the thyroid is in no need of iodine" (pg 71).
As well adequate calcium will inhibit strontium 90 uptake, iron inhibits plutonium 238, 239; potassium inhibits cesium 137, sulfur inhibits sulfur 35, vitamin B12 inhibits cobalt 60 and zinc inhibits zinc 65 absorption. A good wholesome diet not high in refined foods can go a long way in ensuring our survival in this nuclear age.
Foods which have protective qualities include whole grains, beans, fresh vegetables, miso, tofu and tempeh, sea vegetables, seeds and nuts, and ginger, horseradish, scallions and garlic. There is a wholesome recipe section at the end of the book.
The sodium alginate found in kelp has a great
ability to bind with radioactive and toxic substances and allow
them to be safely excreted from the body. Other binding factors
in foods include the fibre in grains, beans, nuts etc; pectin
in fruit and seeds; the phytates in grains and beans; the sulphur
containing amino acid cysteine found in cabbages; and the zybicolin
in miso.
by Nicholas R Mann, Green Magic, UK, 2004.
Glastonbury Tor is acknowledged to be one of the Britiain's most powerful sacred places. Shrouded in mystery since before recorded time, myths and legends abound of its role in the spiritual life of the people of these islands and beyond. Today the power of this place still evokes feelings of awe and wonderment and Glastonbury village is an icon for new age geomancers like the author.
The 124 paperback is an in-depth study of the sacred nature of this ancient mythic landscape, the energies of its Tor and sacred spring waters. Drawing on new research and previously unpublished sources, Mann "reveals the ultimate purpose and function of this world famous landmark. He draws upon a synthesis of science and spirituality to challenge beliefs about the interaction between the worlds of body and spirit. His conclusions have profound implications for the study of sacred sites worldwide".
"I describe in this book how the springs, aquifer and axes of the Tor generate and are generated by a vortical energy field to form a power centre of terrestial and cosmic proportions, writes Mann.
"The Tor is a point upon the global body of the Earth where universal energies meet, and through their alignment with the energy of the soul perform vital transitional functions...( a point) where the energy meridians of the universe harmonise with the intentions of those working for the well being of all life, and specifically a place where beneficial influence is effected upon the transformational journey of the soul."
Chapters include Chalice Well, Vesica piscis, White Spring, the Aquifer, Under the Tor, The Natural Valley, Bronze and Iron Ages, Celtic and Christian Avalon, 18th & 20th Century Avalon, The Tor and Valley Today. In part 3 The Avalonian Soul Portal there are chapters on the Tor Vortex, Entranceway, Alignments, The Initiatory Journey, the Beacon of the Dead and the Soul Portal.