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(This article appeared in the Feb/Mar 2000 issue of Four Corners Magazine)
The sky and its stars make music in you.
-- Dendera wall inscription
DRAGON LINES ACROSS
THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE
Glastonbury,
the mythical Avalon, lies in the gentle green hills of southwest
England and has been a place of pilgrimage throughout known history.
From the time of the Druids, early Christians, Arthurian Knights,
and those in search of the Goddess and the Grail Mysteries, Avalon
has drawn seekers. The Tor, an earthen mound, the central outstanding
feature of the Glastonbury landscape can be seen for many miles
as one approaches, with the St. Michael tower on top.
The Tor has been sculpted with terraces that form a labyrinth, and
according to British author and geomancer John Michell, the labyrinth
must have been carved about 4000 BC, but accurate date still eludes
even the most regorous of modern dating techniques. The Tor is also
significant in the entire sacred landscape of Britain, as it is
one of many sanctuaries in the alignment known as the St. Michael
ley line, the longest line that can be drawn across southern England,
running from southwest to northeast, and one of the longest "dragon
lines" in all of Britain.
The
St. Michael Ley Line
Along this straight alignment, are many other sanctuaries dedicated
to St. Michael, and also including the entire Avebury megalithic complex.
An excellent reading reference can be found in Hamish Miller and Paul
Broadhurst's book "The Sun and The Serpent" (Pendragon Press, Cornwall,
England).
Avalon holds many layers of myth and magic. Numerous Cornish and Somerset
legends say that Joseph of Arimathea brought the Holy Grail to Glastonbury,
and established the first cross cultural Christian church, called
by some the New Jerusalem. With the quality of light present in Avalon,
especially on Chalice Hill and within Chalice Well Gardens, it is
easy to sense the presence of the Grail Mysteries.
The medievel Abbey ruins, supposedly built on the foundations or the
original wattle church of Joseph of Arimathea, rise elegantly in the
center of town with a major alignment and ley line running through
the abbey’s high alter and on to Stonehenge. We find these lines of
energy connecting and intersecting at all the megalithic temples,
linking them with the natural flows of the landscape and astronomical
cycles, to create an ordered system that maintains terrestrial harmony.
The ancient Chinese practice of feng-shui relates these lines of energy
to chi, and the dragon lines (lung mei) served to nourish all life
forms, revitalizing, sanctifying and promoting prosperity and happiness
for the land and the people who live there.
PERPETUAL CHANTS
From the time of the Druids, through the early Christian era, a tradition
of perpetual chanting was maintained in Glastonbury. According to John
Michell, in his book "New Light on the Ancient Mystery of Glastonbury",
these perpetual choirs were active in twelve different sanctuaries across
the Celtic land, and the chanting helped maintain the Grail secrets and the
life energy of Britain.
"...it was largely by chanting that the Druids kept up the spell of
enchantment across the Celtic Kingdoms. It can be assumed, from traditions
passed down through the Celtic Church, that a perpetual chant...was related
astrologically to its time and place and progressed through the seasons of
the year. It was a twelve-part chant, based on the twelve notes of the
chromatic scale, one for each hour of the day and of the night. Each note
corresponded to one of the signs of the zodiac and thus to one of the
twelve tribes in a Celtic Kingdom."
(For further reading on the
astrological-sacred site connections refer to Graham Hancock's books
"Fingerprints of the Gods" and "Heaven's Mirror" which compare ancient
temple complex designs with celestial alignments.)
In Glastonbury lore we find a recurring theme of a council of twelve, with
the twelve Arthurian Knights of the Roundtable, twelve monks maintaining
the harmony at the abbey and a phenomenon known as the Glastonbury Zodiac,
with representations of the twelve signs to be discerned in the landscape
features surrounding and within the town city limits, as viewed from above.
In recent years, there is a movement afoot with friends in Glastonbury and
Stonehenge to reinstate the practice of perpetual choirs. The Tibetans
remain as one of the last cultures to maintain this tradition. We know from
many ancient cultures that sacred sound not only nourishes all living
beings, but serves to keep harmony and balance on the earth. According to
the Australian Aboriginals, the very life of the earth is held together
with a song!
"...an unsung land is a dead land: since if the songs are
forgotten, the land itself will die."
-- "The Songlines" by Bruce Chatwin
CROP CIRCLE HARMONICS
This past July we found ourselves once again in England for the
grand cross planetary alignment and full moon eclipse (not visible
in UK) As readers may recall from Chet Snow's recent Four Corners
article on the 1999 crop circles, it was a prolific year for them.
As one drove over the narrow, winding roads (some only as wide as
a footpath!), the crop formations could be seen on most hills in
fields of grain, and on both sides of the road, especially in the
region of Wiltshire, near Avebury. The formations were extremely
detailed and complex, many giving new 3-D multiple patternings.
The forms ranged from swirling nine-pointed star patterns, to Egyptian
wings, a Hebrew menorah and one even appeared similar to a computer
chip.
Group in Crop
Circle near Silbury Hill, Wiltshire
Two days before the July
28th full moon and alignment of planets (in all four of the fixed
zodiac signs of tropical, western astrology), our group was meditating
inside the nine pointed star crop formation. We asked for an appropriate
tone, and the group sounded together for several minutes, and then
sat in silence, most experiencing a profound altered state of consciousness,
and luminosity. As we fairly floated out of the circle, we serendipitously
ran into Chet and Kalista Snow, who invited us to join their full
moon prayer in two days, in nearby Avebury's stone circle.
On the morning of the planetary alignment we arrived at Stonehenge
for sunrise. It was a perfectly clear and mild morning. Our group
filed into the inner circle, after receiving the purification of holy-well
waters that had been carried to each stone circle and sanctuary during
our journey, and imbued with many songs and prayers. With a clear
heart-centered intention and honoring the six directions, we began
our ceremony. Time seemed to stand still during the two hours of chanting,
prayer, and a powerful return to the center, honoring the sacred in
the earth and all of humanity. This felt to me like a fountain of
fortunate blessings pouring over the earth. (During a recent teaching
with Bardor Rinpoche of the Kharma Kagyu lineage, he told us that
when chanting a mantra in a sacred site, the benefits are a thousand
times more powerful) Using the power of place combined with sacred
sound and the potent planetary configuration, a greater harmony and
increase of life energy was felt by all.
We drove on from Stonehenge to Avebury to meet up with Chet's group
for the exact moment of the full moon, and continued our circle of
silent and guided prayer, songs, and chants. The wind picked up right
at the moment of the alignment, and the harp began to sing, being
played by the varying gusts of wind, creating multiple cascades of
harmonic sound. Most of the group had never heard anything like it
and it added a definite mystical ingredient to an already ecstatic
day. That very night a crop circle formed within view of our circle
of friends, as a possible response to the prayers and harmonic sounds
that blessed the land.
Avebury Triangle Crop
Circle at Warden Hill, England
Photo by Steven Alexander
Songaia
Sound Productions
2675 W. Hwy 89A, Suite 1081,
Sedona, AZ 86336
928-204-1124
Copyright
2005 Ani Williams, All Rights Reserved
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