Ley Lines: Patterns of the Ancient Earth

In a recent interview I heard a parapsychologist remark that the existence of ley lines was unverifiable because they could only be determined by dowsing, which method (as he claimed) being paranormal, is itself unverifiable. What the parapsychologist seemed not to be aware of is that ley lines can readily be plotted on any good [1]map, using equipment no more ‘paranormal’ than an ordinary pencil and ruler. In Europe such landscape features as megalithic stone circles, hilltop churches and other such ancient sites can be connected with each other in straight lines, often over considerable distances. Why churches? Because these often were built upon the foundations of pagan monuments which the new faith destroyed.

Ley lines can be found in many locations around the world. In our contemporary era they were first brought to light by Englishman Alfred Watkins, who published a [2]book of his findings in 1925. Watkins discovered that lines on the landscape - sometimes invisible, sometimes forming straight trackways - connected many places whose antiquity suggested that he was dealing with a body of ancient knowledge whose meaning and purpose had since been lost.

Watkins' research established that the lines went far beyond anything that might have been due to chance, and sometimes extended for hundreds of miles between stone circles, Bronze Age burial sites, and churches, hilltop and otherwise. Many Roman roads, renowned for their arrow-straightness, actually follow these tracks, and it is these roads which can provide further clues to the leys’ whereabouts.

But what purpose do these lines serve? Clearly they had significance for those who marked their presence. Ideas as to what this purpose might have been vary from ancient survey lines to connections with underground water sources. There have even been suggestions that UFO's seem to make use of them, following leys in their paths of flight.

The author Tom Graves took the [3]idea to the next level and proposed a similar purpose to the meridian lines used in the curative practice of acupuncture. This theory suggested that the stone megaliths buried upright in the earth functioned as 'needles' in the same way that acupuncture needles are said to stimulate the flow of the body's subtle energy, with the ley lines marking out the paths of energy between them. In this way, the energy of the Earth itself could be refreshed and revitalized.

While preparing this post, the inevitable question for me was: sitting at my computer here in Holland, could I actually locate and plot a ley line of my own? Could I, just by using available data from the Internet, discover a ley line at any given location in the world? I opted for several locations which I knew by reputation to be locations of alleged paranormal activity, all of them within the two neighboring states of Indiana and Ohio. Evansville in southern Indiana is home to the Willard Library, with its famed [4]ghostly Grey Lady and other assorted entities. Across the State line in Ohio, Oxford is known for the [5]Oxford Light – a disembodied luminous entity which pursues terrified drivers along a specific stretch of road at night. Nearby Wright Patterson Air Force Base just outside Dayton is notorious for its supernatural occurrences and mysterious manifestations.

Three points on a map with clear paranormal connections. But do they make a ruler-straight line? Staggeringly, they do! A line drawn from Evansville to Dayton (a distance on the ground of over two hundred miles) passes directly through the Oxford location (my map, below). And when the line is extended it passes southeast of Cleveland. Why is this significant? Because this area is a known ‘hot spot’ for various unexplained phenomena up to and including [6]UFO sightings.

Could I correlate more data? From independent sources I collected data for UFO sightings and similar aerial phenomena, and also for the distribution of Native American mounds and related sites – the New World equivalent of European megalithic monuments. Lastly, from the data base of the [7]Bigfoot Field Researchers’ Organization I added all the reported sightings of that particular cryptid across both states. Remember: all of these sets of data were gleaned from sources independent of each other. I then converted each data set to a separate layer and superimposed them upon my map. Significantly, all data sets clustered at the hot spot southeast of Cleveland – the only place on the map where this happened. And surprisingly enough, Bigfoot seems to favour the area immediately north and east of Evansville – although over the border in Ohio the hairy horror appears to have made the whole state his own.

Of course I realize that other locations of significance which involve haunt and other alleged paranormal phenomena might cluster along this line. I’m just dealing with the material that is known to me. And on the basis of such material the evidence for an Indiana-Ohio ley line is persuasive, and does tend to suggest that such phenomena seem to be ‘aware’ of a ley line’s presence, and are attracted to it, perhaps as some form of energy source which they utilise to materialise in our reality. But which reality do they call home?

Hawkwood

Notes:

[1] In Britain, the hugely-detailed Ordnance Survey maps are excellent for this purpose.

[2] Alfred Watkins: The Old Straight Track.

[3] Tom Graves: Needles of Stone.

[4] Webcams of the library’s interior are installed and can be viewed at: 
http://www.willardghost.com/index.php?content=home 
http://web.courierpress.com/libraryghost/broadcast.html

Some years ago I was involved with a group that kept an eye on these cams. Some of the stuff that the cams captured was truly bizarre, and these phenomena – and on-the-spot investigations by specific groups – have led some investigators to speculate that the Willard Library is not so much ‘haunted’ as it is a portal for other realities. Our group witnessed various anomalies, including a pair of bizarre disembodied legs wearing white sneakers that walked around often enough to be captured on camera various times, and one inexplicable something about the size of a child that used to crawl over the floor which we simply called the GCT (right) - the Grey Crawling Thing! And most - but certainly not all - of this was at night, after the library had closed its doors to visitors.

[5] There are a number of videos on YouTube uploaded by those who have experienced the Oxford Light phenomenon. Heck, you know the search terms.

[6] UFO: unidentified flying object. It’s a poor term, because it assumes an act of flying for something that might be doing something entirely different. I prefer the term ‘unidentified aerial phenomenon’, which comfortably includes such mysterious and poorly-understood (but nevertheless natural) phenomena as ball lightning. My own vivid experience in a remote region of Australia I would consider to belong to this category.

[7] The BFRO dedicatedly maintains a comprehensive data base of sightings and other reports (tracks, vocalizations, etc.) of the Bigfoot phenomenon in all U.S. states. My own stance on Bigfoot has for years unwaveringly categorized the phenomenon as at least partially, if not wholly, paranormal. http://www.bfro.net/  

Sources:

John Michell’s The New View Over Atlantis has further information about ley lines in general, as of course does the Tom Graves title mentioned above. B. Ann Slate and Alan Berry’s Bigfoot is still for me the best book ever on the cryptid, and definitely recommended for those stalwarts who remain convinced either that it (A) doesn’t exist, or (B) is simply an unknown flesh-and-blood creature.

Top picture: I stood in the middle of a bleak and freezing January field in Yorkshire, northern England, to get this shot. The winter sun had climbed as high as it was going to get, and the way in which it reflected off the ice on the frozen track was a gift. The picture of the Calanais Standing Stones, Isle Of Lewis, is adapted from macdonnellofleinster.org.