Geomancy

GEOMANCY - THE MAGIC OF SACRED SPACES AND LANDSCAPES

The practice of geomancy can be defined as putting humans, their habitats and their activities into harmony with the visible and invisible world around us. This art was at one time universal, and vestiges of it remain in the landscapes, architecture, rituals and folklore of every people. The patterns and themes of geomancy are the archetypal patterns of heaven and earth, echoed in the subconscious mind of mankind. These patterns have always led us to seek "power points" on the earth – special places where the mind can expand into new levels of consciousness, see visions or speak prophecy, and work magic to ensure harmony of self and universe.

The intrinsic geometry which underlies all things is the basis for geomancy, and has found its most beautiful expression with the geomantic architectures which have been used though the ages to harmonise sacred sites with their purposes and positions on the earth. The pathways of geomantic power which link these sacred sites show up as alignments between them and have been variously called dragon paths, fairy roads and ley lines. Thus we have two elementary symbolic forms – the straight line and the spiral - to show alignments between geomantic points and the energy fields around the points themselves.

Geomancy is perhaps one of the two earliest forms of magic. The other, shamanism, deals with spirits, elementals and powers. Geomantic magic deals with the very substance of earth and heaven that enables these entities to exist. The geomancy of a site can therefore tell us much about the usage of a site. Its orientation against sunrise alignments, the geometry of the site and the numerology built into its structure, its alignments to other sacred places: all these can tell of a sites symbolic functions and will reflect the macrocosm in the microcosm of the site, the greater in the lesser.

It may be that early man, like modern dowsers and sensitives, was very much more sensitive to the energies of the earth than most people are today. As they moved on their nomadic ways, these people would have recognised certain places as having a direct magical relationship with aspects of the divine, be it the Earth Mother, the Sun god, or some other personification or concept. Later, when these nomads settled into an agricultural lifestyle, they would have concentrated on those sites in their own locality. This would have certainly led to the production of  folklore concerning the sites and to a need to mark such places as special to that particular people.

Amongst the earliest sites of this kind were sacred springs where the stuff of life, enlivened by the earth energies, bubbled from the mother earth. There would also have been trees that by their placement and age showed the union of heaven and earth and so echoed the great World Tree which in many mythologies supports the universe.  New trees would perhaps have been planted to replace ones that died, as has happened at Glastonbury where this too became the legend of a saint planting his staff, which blossomed into a tree. Each such place was seen as the dwelling place of a "genius loci" or "spirit of the place" which could be contacted by the shamans of the tribe for aid or wisdom. Examples of such sacred sites include the Yew at Fortingall and Merlin's Oak in Caermarthen as well as the springs of Bath, sacred to the pigs of Cerridwen.

Rocky outcrops would also have drawn early man to them. Places like the tors of Cornwall or the volcanic stubs of lowland Scotland bear the marks of interest, from Stone Age carvings to modern graffiti. These places are those at which the earth powers can be perceived more clearly and are sites where shamans can conduct rites for visions or enlightenment. Interestingly, the Reverend Toplady wrote the Christian hymn, Rock of Ages, after being inspired during a trip to the massive rocks of Cheddar gorge, an ancient sacred place. Lower hills were often altered to enhance their geomantic powers and on occasion complete artificial hills were built at sufficiently auspicious places.

Many of these hills can still be discerned. The original symbology of such places was tied up with the image of the Sun God transfixing the earth dragon in place with a spear of light, thus making the dragon power available for use by his priesthood. In the Christian era, such legends became those of the dragon-slaying Saints, George and Michael. St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, the Church of St Michael at Glastonbury Tor and the cathedral of St. Michael atop an artificial mound at Linlithgow are all British examples and powerful sites in the network of dragon paths. Their famous French counterpart, last vestige of the sunken land of Lyonesse, was named Dinsul, or the Mount of the Sun, up until 710 AD.

Mention should be made here of other stones of veneration, the smaller often unworked stones called as a group "baitylos" stones. These stones are usually of meteoric origin, showing the union of earth and sky spirits in a gift direct from the Gods. Many are set in high places to reinforce the symbology, like the Stone of Destiny in its original position atop the manmade Moot Hill at Scone or the Irish Lia Fail which is atop the hill of Tara at the geomantic fulcrum of Ulster. Others are set in temples, such as the Omphalos stone of the oracle at Delphi or the sacred Ka'aba which forms the centre point of the temple at Mecca, centre of the Muslim world.

Other lesser examples abound and many Christian churches were placed over such stones or incorporated them into their structures. The symbols of the ancient religions were thus harnessed to lend their power and sanctity to the new religion – an act whose significance would not have been lost on the people of the time.

Next, as mankind became more organised and capable of major works of engineering, the sacred places became more formalised. Stone circles, megaliths or tombs were used to mark and further sanctify those spots where the earth currents were most strongly felt. Again, the key concept is often of a joining of earth and sky at a geomantic power spot. A common motif for this is to set up the stones in such a way as to record, fix and predict the movement of the Sun, moon or significant stars such as Cappella or the Plaeides. The latter, that group of stars known as the Seven Sisters, mirrors by its setting and rising the beginning and end of the British winter period. A second common motif was to set the stones up so that at a particular time a sunbeam could pierce through the tomb and illuminate a particular carved stone, as at Brugh na Boyne in Ireland.

Accurate surveying was a very sophisticated science in ancient times. Caesar tells us that the Druids knew much about the stars and the movements of the constellations. The Greek geometer Erastosthenes used the lengths of shadows cast by vertical poles at known latitudes to calculate accurately the circumference of the earth. Using geometry and number – the most essential expressions of the very nature of the universe – the ancients mapped out sacred observatories whose every measurement and angle was significant. Many people know that Stonehenge is a solar and lunar calendar, but few realise the true geomantic complexity and splendour of the stones. Using as an axis the rising point of the sun at Summer Solstice sunrise, and marking this with an outlyer called the "heol" stone, the builders then mapped out a geometric figure of interlacing circles. The area where two circles intersect in such a system is called a "vesica piscis" and is one of the basic figures of sacred geometry. I will return to this later, but this system becomes, along with observations of the heavens, the plan for the placement of the stones of the complex.

There are 19 bluestones – the number of years it takes the moon to return to the exact same position in the sky.
There are 56 Aubrey holes – the number of years in the cycle of the moon's eclipses.
There are 5 sarsen arches – the pentagram.
The entire system has a circumference of 370 megalithic yards – the perimeter sum of a square of the sun. (In geomantic convention a circle with a circumference the same as the sum of a magical square's perimeter is identical with that square.)
The bluestone circle has a diameter of 39.6 megalithic feet. This is the number of moon months in a solar year (13.2) times the 3 phases of the moon.

Perhaps the most peculiar thing about Stonehenge is that it could not be anywhere else. Only at it's own exact latitude is the symmetry and layout possible. If it was a few miles north or south it would look entirely different. The entire system is a fusion of heaven and earth, of god and goddess, at a point of harmony between all things.

When the sun rises on Midsummer morning over the heol stone then its first rays pass through the centre of Stonehenge and provide an axis for the whole system. This is a fundamental image, preserved in the Christian system as St. Michael (or St. George) transfixing the earth dragon with his spear. It has been used countless times to create a geomantic sacred space where none necessarily existed. Many Pre-Reformation churches are aligned so that the main axis of the church aligns, not to the East, but rather to the point of sunrise on the horizon on the feast day of the saint to whom the church is dedicated. At Chatres cathedral, the premier church of France, a single pane of clear glass is set into the vast stained glass window above the high altar. On Midsummer morning a beam of light passes through this and strikes the centre of an ornate maze laid into the floor. The maze is often used by both pagan and Christian alike as a representation of the windings of the dragon-path. Like Stonehenge, many of these great churches are built to a plan incorporating sacred geometry and geomantic patterns. The hexagram, symbol of the cosmos mirrored in the sacred space, forms the plan for Templar round churches, Rosslyn Chapel and Glastonbury Abbey.

Wherever the geomant practised his art, certain mathematical figures and functions have been used as symbolic of the underlying harmonies of all things. The nine dot cross, the maze, the pentagram and hexagram, the vesica piscis and the Fibionacci Series recur again and again. Let us look at each in turn, and see why they are so potent as magical symbols.

Pirate treasure, in all children's books, is marked on the map with a cross. The Cross, or Saltire, is a fundamental symbol in geomancy. Nine is a prime number, the number of the Moon and hence the Goddess of mysteries, of the tides and of those more subtle tides of earth energy. It is also, in the nine dot pattern, the root of the labyrinth or maze, the fylfot or swastika, and the Celtic shield knot. All are symbols of the fixing by geomancy of a sacred place. The cross, surrounded by a circle, becomes the Celtic cross or the four cardinal directions bounded by the limits of the world. It is this esoteric knowledge that is the root of the common expression that "X marks the spot".

Another common phrase, the notion of trying to "square the circle" also comes from geomancy. The construction of a hexagram requires an elementary application of geometry, beginning with a circle and then a square to finish with a perfect equilateral triangle. All without measuring, which means that such a figure is perfect at any size. The hexagram is symbolic of the hermetic maxim that "as above, so below, but after a different manner". Thus it is perfect as a geomantic figure where a sacred space is intended to mirror the larger universe outside. It is thus often used as the plan for churches and as the basis of magical circles.

The last three items on our list are the pentagram, the vesica piscis and the Fibionacci Series. These are all closely related as each embodies what the Greeks called the Golden Rule, a harmony of proportion that embodies beyond all other things the magical harmony of the universe.

The Fibionacci Series was first put in writing by that eminent 13h century Italian mathematician who's name it bears. However, all indications are that it was a well hidden secret of magicians long before then. In essence, it is a simple numerical formula that says add two numbers in the a series together to get the next number. Thus the series is 1,1,2,3,5,8,13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144,233,377,610,987,1597 and so on.

All well and good but so what? Well, we know that this series governs such natural growths as the curls in a ram's horn or the spirals of a snail's shell, along with the placement of seeds in a sunflower head. The series is an expression of a ratio expressed in maths by the letter e. Divide the largest number by the second largest and you get 1.618034447822 which comprises the number e to the first 13 digits. Like pi, the Golden ratio is an endless number. Things that incorporate this ratio simply look "right" to the human eye. This ratio is the geomantic magic in the pentagram, the only pure geometric figure which embodies the Golden Rule. The same is true of the Vesica Piscis, the figure created at the intersection of two circles. The figure of Christ is often shown seated in a Vesica Piscis, and the Christian symbol of the fish is another example of this geomantic figure being utilised symbolically.

In every faith, at every time, geomancy has been used to shape iconography and to shape the sacred landscape.