SACRED SPACES
by LYNDA BRASIER
susoni@sbcglobal.net
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Each natural or man-made sacred place has a certain quality. Sometimes it's in the particular design, sometimes it's in the building materials used. Many sacred sites inspired religious movements. It is the emotional or physical response these places evoke in people that make them so meaningful. People venture to sacred sites to satisfy the human spirit's desire for communion with our collective unconsciousness and ourselves.
This article will provide a small listing of sacred spaces in the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland), Spain, and Africa. A series of books could be written about the wonderful spirit filled places steeped in Celtic myths alone. The Celts were the first true people of Britain, settling mainly in what is now northern England, Scotland and Wales. Their ancient priests and sorcerers were known as Druids. Most famous of the Druid's monuments is probably Stonehenge, although mystery surrounds the dating of Stonehenge, as it apparently pre-dates the Celts by 1,000's of years. The Druids have many sites in Ireland and Spain also.
Important in the study of Celtic Sacred spaces is a working knowledge of Fairies and Leprechauns. Within the ancient Fairy faith is the beginnings of many of the European religions and philosophies. Other important Celtic legends are ones about Silkies . Also known as Selkies , Kelpies, Roane , Mermaids and Seal People. These mythological creatures can shift between human and seal form by removing their skins.Mermaids in folklore have also been known to intermarry with humans, and their children reputed to have some powers of the faery . Several legends also take mermaids from the sea, to haunt rivers and pools, such as Mermaids Pool below Kinder Downfall in Derbyshire and Black Mere, near Leek in Staffordshire . Venus rising from the sea is an important creation myth in the Scotish highlands.
Glastonbury - England
Glastonbury is one of the major centers of spiritual power in England, both Celtic and Christian. It was called Avalon in the days of Merlin and Arthur, and is now a crossroads for many seekers. It has always been regarded as a place of great energy, where wisdom freely mixes with mystery Tradition. Where the veils between the worlds are thin and penetrable.
The association of King Arthur and Glastonbury goes back at least to the early Middle Ages. In the late 12th century the monks of Glastonbury Abbey announced that they had found the grave of Arthur and Guinivere , his queen. According to the monks, during an excavation they found a stone inscribed "Here lies Arthur King." Below the stone they found the bones of a large man, and the smaller skeleton of a woman. The monks reburied the bones in the grounds of the abbey, where they were a very handy draw for pilgrims willing to pay money. The site of the grave can be seen today in the abbey grounds.
Glastonbury Tor , the conical hill that rises above Glastonbury, has been linked with the Isle of Avalon, where King Arthur was supposedly buried after his death. This isn't so far fetched as it may sound, a millennium ago, the water level was much higher, and the tor would have been an island. Avalon was also called "the isle of glass" which does suggest similarities to the name "Glastonbury".
The Holy Grail, the object of Arthur's questing, is said to be buried beneath Glastonbury Tor , and has also been linked to the 'Chalice Well' at the base of the Tor .
There is a curious tale of Joseph of Arimathea associated with Avalon. Joseph was reputed to be the Uncle of Jesus Christ. After Jesus was crucified he came to Britain with a small group. He brought with him 'The Holy Grail', the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper. Some versions of this story claim it contained several drops of the blood of Jesus.This would make the 'Grail' a bloodline DNA grail. Joseph was also reputed to have started the first Church of England in Glastonbury. Close to Glastonbury is a Forest full of mythological tales and sacred to the Celts.
For a very interesting tale about Merlin, Avalon, and Uther Pendragon see this site; http://www.enya.org/stories/story10.htm
Cerne Abbas Giant - England
In the small Dorset village of Cerne Abas is the 60 meter tall Cerne giant, with a Maypole mound above his head. This site has long been held as a fertility power place. The deep trenches (cut into the chalk rock of the hillside) outlining the giant's form have been maintained by generations of local inhabitants since at least the 2nd millennium BC. Maypole dancing still occurred at the site as recently as 1635 when Christian authorities finally suppressed the pagan festivals. During prudish Victorian times the trenches of the giant's penis were filled with dirt and hidden beneath grass. The giant, whose name derives from the Celtic fertility god Cernunnos , has the legendary power to cure barrenness in women, and childless couples still copulate while lying on the grass in the giant's phallus. Below the giant flows an ancient holy well, once known as the `silver well' but renamed St. Augustine's Well after the arrival of Christianity in the area. Local folklore tells how the people of Cerne drove Augustine away, preferring to remain good honest pagans, and that their children were all born with fishes' tails until they converted to the New religion.
Bath - England
Archaeologists have unearthed evidence that these hot mineral baths have been in use for at least 10,000 years. The Celts erected the first shrine here, they did so around 700 BC. The Shrine was dedicated to a goddess of water named Sulis . When the Romans came into the area the shrine was re-dedicated to a Roman goddess Minerva around 65 AD. The spring pumps out aproximately a quarter of a million gallons per day at 120 degree's Fahrenheit.
Fogou - England
The fogou (Cornish for cave) is an artificial underground passage, usually running just below the surface of the ground and roofed with massive stone slabs. Fogous have been found at various places in Britain and Ireland, mainly near villages and fortifications, but their purpose remains a mystery. Some people who go into fogous experience headaches, dizziness, messages from spirit guides or a distorted sense of space. One artist sketching inside Carn Euny fogou suddenly became aware she was being watched by an Iron-age woman. A visitor who tried to enter Boleigh fogou said she found her path blocked by boulders which do not exist. They could have been used for storage, habitation, or ritual.
A man named Paul Devereux (author of 'Places of Power, Secret Energies at Ancient Sites) was a organizer of a project called 'England's Dragon Project' Using scientific tools he measured the radiation and magnetic fields at several sites. Within all the fogous sites he found very high radiation levels. He claims this is what places people into different meditative alpha wave states.
Durham Cathedral - England
In Durham England is a Cathedral named after a man called ' Cuthburt '. He lived from 635-687 AD. He was noted to be a truly sainted individual. Cuthburt lived in various monasteries and was then transferred to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne . For nearly two hundred years, after his death, the relics of Cuthbert remained on the island until they were transferred to Durham by an interesting series of events. The monks of Lindisfarne , fleeing repeated Viking attacks, had abandoned their holy island in 875, taking with them the relics of St. Oswald and St. Aidan packed into the coffin containing St. Cuthbert's uncorrupted body. For over 100 years the monks wandered, settling here and there, and founding churches dedicated to St. Cuthbert. According to legend, when the monks approached the town of Durham the saint's coffin began to grow unnaturally heavy and one of the monks had a dream in which Cuthbert said his body would finally rest at ' Dunholme '. They built one of the finest examples of Norman architecture there. During late medieval times, St. Cuthbert's shrine was the second most visited pilgrimage site in all of England, exceeded only by the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury. Throughout the years, the coffin has been opened and the body inspected, the last time was in 1899, during all this time the body has shown no decay.
Round Towers - Ireland
All across the countryside in Ireland are the remains of some 65 round towers. These towers are as tall as 34 meters above ground and some (13) still retain the conical cap on top. These towers were built in between the 7th and 10th centuries AD. Most people assume these towers were built as watch towers, but an American scientist named Philip Callahan has a different theory. In his book 'Ancient Mysteries & Modern Visions. Callahan's research has led him to the conclusion that these towers were designed as resonant systems for collecting and storing meter long wavelengths of electro magnetic energy. He based his research in the fact that insects use their antenna as a way to resonate micrometer long electromagnetic waves. He suggests that these towers and other religious structures were used to collect radiation from the sun and resonate it to the monks within. The randomness of their arrangement across Ireland has been linked to the positions of the northern stars. The round towers are thought to be powerful amplifiers in the alpha brain wave region, 2 to 24 Hz, in the anesthesia region, 1000 to 3000 Hz, and the electronic induction heating region, 5000 Hz to 1000 KHz....It is fascinating that just above the surface of the ground, between 2 and 4 feet, there is a void zone of frequencies that get stronger and stronger, until between 9 to 15 feet above the surface they reach their peak.
Stonehenge - England
Few other ancient sites are as well known as the megalithic stones of Stonehenge. People from all over the world come to England simply to be able to experience this monument. It has been x-rayed, excavated measured and surveyed. Yet Stonehenge refuses to give up it's secrets so easily. The original construction was a circular ditch and mound with 56 holes forming a ring around its perimeter. The first stone to be placed at the site was the Heel Stone. 200 years later 80 blocks of bluestone were transported from a quarry nearly 200 miles away in the Prescelly Mountains. Stonehenge sits on a major Grid Point (dragon or ley line).
Theories abound as to why this structure was built. One of the most common is that it was an astrological temple or Solar calculator of sorts. Another was written about in the 12th century by a man named 'Geoffrey of Monmouth'. His book was called the 'History of the Kings of Britain'.
In this book we are told that Merlin brought the stones from Ireland to use it as a monument to men killed in Battle fighting the Saxon king ' Ambrosius '. This is one myth, another written about by Monmouth is a story of 'Red Headed' Giants who brought the stones from Africa (the land of Mero ) to Britain. The stones were used as a source of healing and ritual worship. In the Ireland version, Merlin and his men could not move the stones so Merlin used his magical arts. He was in Ireland with Uther Pendragon to see to the moving of the stones. Once in England they were reassembled into their present layout. Supposedly, Aurelius, Uther and Constantine are buried there.
Uther is reputed to be the father of King Author, here is a link giving a small bit of that history;
http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/bios/uther.html
Copyright (c) 2004 - Lynda Brasier (susoni@sbcglobal.net)
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