The Song of Being
"In the Beginning there was the energy of the Source, which could neither be made nor unmade, enhanced nor diminished, but only change its form. And within this Source was Awareness; and within Awareness, Self-awareness. And from Self-awareness came the knowledge of unique Emanations of Resonance from within the Source. And from these Emanations, further Emanations whose source was also in the Source, and each Emanation generating another. And the All-Mind dwelt upon these Emanations, and in dwelling, the knowledge of many intelligences and the awareness of many voices sounding within the Silence of All That Is. And within this sounding the Harmonics that are the seed sounds of the flow of life force that defines All Being.
And the seed sounds played upon the awareness of the All-Mind, which heard the voices of the Silence and knew their Power; and the All-Mind plaited the threads of the Emanations together through the Silence in a Binding Song that resonated through all Creation. And from this, the perpetual Choirs. At the sounding of the Song the resonances of all things were amplified, and their energies lent to the power of the Song gave it shape and form which were manifest in all Being. And by these Emanations was the Song sung, and thus was the shape of the world as we know it first sung into Being. And so while each thing is a unique emanation, yet all derive from the Source and together form and reflect the Great Pattern of Being; and the body of Being was known as the Temple of Life or Soul Temple. Howsoever faired the Body, so too the Emanations of the Source, for when the Song was in harmony then so too the world and the Soul and Spirit of Being ..."
Spirit of Place & The Power in the Land
The ancestors knew intimately the places that were earthly portals to other planes of existence, and shaped the landscape to enhance its efficacy as both a beacon for souls seeking passage and as the gateway through which they might make their crossing. At these "thin" places they kept perpetual choirs to maintain the Harmony of Creation, using the monoliths to store, direct, shape and channel these energies. Through their efforts came the fruitful plain. In Avalon, Dreamers acting as "midwives" use these earth energies in guiding souls to and from this life. Soul work may seem far removed from our basic consideration of the qualities of the land, and yet these understandings form the basis for such work on every level; even in so simple a thing as Spirit of Place.
We often think of Spirit of Place (Latin, 'genius loci') as the aware, indwelling presence that enhances and protects the local area, and with which we come into relationship and interact during spiritual work. It is true that in Avalon we neither enter nor use any space without first obtaining the blessing and permission of its Guardian Spirit. But Spirit of Place is more than one specific presence; it is also the inherent, defining character of a site. We are taught that, as humans, we dwell where we feel we 'fit' and experience the environment as meaningful. If so, then dwellings and sacred sites are not mere shelters or ruins, but places whose distinct character holds the mirror up for us to observe the truth of our own natures.
Why do sacred places feel the way they do? What sanctifying power endows these sites with more holiness or makes them 'more harrowing' than others? Surely it is not that they are more sacred, for who can say which part of the Great Mother is holiest? ... Perhaps it is merely that the energy inherent within them inclines us toward a deeper awareness of the sacred. Some of these influences are physical, such as convergences of sharply opposite features whose dramatic aura awakens within us the expectation of meeting something extraordinary. The awareness itself amplifies the atmosphere of place, which in turn further heightens our sense of expectation, increasing the likelihood of a mystical experience. The presence of unusual, mysterious features such as caves, ancient groves, seaside cliffs, or rare qualities of light, will tend to increase these effects. This inherent expression of life force through a site's unique, but changeable natural features, creates a charged atmosphere that we call (Cymraeg) Nwf or (Old Irish) Brí.
The Wise have a saying, "It is not we who shape the Land, but the Land that shapes us." This acknowledgement of the power of brí is very true, but place memory (people's emotional memories and reactions) can also charge and substantially shape a site. Remembrance can be stored within the site itself, reinforcing its overall energy and mood. The more 'like' memories are stored, the more powerful the site's atmosphere will become. This overlay of residual energies imposed upon a site by events remembered in the Land, we call (Cymraeg) Nerdd or (Old Irish) Bua. Thus a place's brí is linked to it's basic nature. Dramatic and imposing features tend to have higher intrinsic brí. A place's bua is determined (and changed) by what occurs there, which is why it can be so difficult to discern the energies of ancient sites. Humanity has a predilection for locating societal power centres at high-brí localities, a habit which overlays a site's inherent brí with various kinds of bua. Usually, the bua develops the brí, but the opposite can also occur. For instance, Tara once had a great deal of both kinds of power; today, its bua is fairly low and its brí is elusive. The change is the direct result of early Christian magic. Thirteen Christian priests used the high brí of Teamhair (Tara Hill) to amplify the power of their bua, enabling them to drain, restrict, and hinder the site's earlier (pre-Christian) bua, afflicting Tara with the great curse of barrenness (Irish, "Mallacht Dhealúis").
Sites that combine a strong bua with powerful brí (such as Teamhair or the dragon vortices at the Tor in Glastonbury) may become psychic mirrors, reflecting back the essence of what the observer brings to them -- a dynamic ideally suited to the study of the Mysteries, making them natural pilgrimage sites. The spiritually prepared receive back love, nurturing, and a sense of unparalleled depth and beauty; while the unready may confront their own Shadows and flaws, amplified and cast back at them in forms that cannot be ignored. If we are ready to accept the truth of the lesson we will advance. If not, then our own denial will cast us further back into Shadow (hence the pilgrimage saying, "A thousand steps forward or back, according to one's heart").
Of course, not every place of power is appropriate to every use or purpose. Some sites are unsuited to ceremony, others are unsuitable for burials, and some would be toxic as settlements. To know one from another, we must first learn two things:
- How the local differs from the Universal; and
- How our own perceptions are distorted by conditioning and personal experience.
The place that "feels like home" will make a good dwelling only if the home remembered was balanced and healthy. "Comfortable" places provide general comfort only if our assessment of their qualities is founded upon a universally comforting experience. The far ancestors, who lived close to Nature, were perhaps better able to match a site's essence to its closest corresponding function. They charged sites much as we charge small magical objects. For example, consider the charging of artefacts and place-memories as local threshold guardians. Because the dread these manifestations inspire blinds us to what they really are, their defense of sites from disturbance and intrusion by strangers is quite effective. Thus, a burial site combines the site's inherent brí with the overlaid energies of those who are buried there, those that buried them, the threshold guardians who were put in place to protect them, and all feelings and reactions of those who have visited since, which makes up the site's bua.
Whilst brí is attuned to certain energies by its basic nature, bua is usually keyed, gained, or lost by specific actions. Personal attunement of a site requires not only compatible bua, but (since bua is highly contextual) that keying occur in an appropriate way and time. Both brí and bua may be "keyed" or attuned toward or against other types of energy. We feel "at home" or "unwelcome" in otherwise neutral environments when encountering energies that are keyed toward or away from our own. Some places even develop a general malevolence (Irish, 'frithbhuachán'; a place or thing that drains bua and assaults brí).
Brí and bua do not conform to any man-made grid-like patterns such as the Hartman and Cory Grid or the "grids" sometimes described by ley hunters (although these exert their own influence). The "map" of a country's power does not resemble a street map, but more natural images such as topographical renderings or maps of the human body. The energies manifest are not even and linear in distribution, but irregularly shaped with sharp or gradual demarcations in energy. High bua is generally accompanied by at least moderately high brí; however, the reverse is not true. High brí is often found with low bua (particularly where human activity has been minimal), and entire areas may be low in both bua and brí.
Suppose we consider these two energies as being represented by Avalon's red and white dragons (e.g. the red and white springs in Glaston) with the red representing brí, and the white bua. The two energies flow side by side just as do the dragons themselves, each feeding, balancing, or draining the other according to the character of each place. The Land, like the body, is always striving toward harmony and balance. Where the earth's energy is disrupted this struggle may be perceived as a striving between "conflicting" energies. The tale of Taliesin and King Vortigern may be interpreted as an example of the manifest dialogue between brí and bua in a site where the earth's energies have been disturbed. The mirroring of the King's actions in battling the dragons also illustrates the close interrelationship and interaction (or bond) between ourselves and the Land.
Brí and Bua do not flow evenly through the land, but there is a pattern to their flow and ebb. Although the "power-map" of the continents shows great contrasts, the west generally holds much higher power than does the east (as is evidenced by the fact that invaders generally gain their footholds via their victims' eastern shores). Ancient myth and lore also consistently place power "in the West". The power inherent in the land from Wales to the Hebrides and Highlands of Scotland, the Orkneys and Lothian is palpable to any who visit. By contrast, the lowlands of the east have far fewer areas of high brí/bua. In eastern Ireland, areas of significant power are limited to the counties Meath and West Meath, and the area from the Sliabh Blooms through Kildare and Wicklow; much as do the Adirondack and Appalachian Mountain in eastern North America. These weaknesses in the Land's "aura" can be used in the same manner as traditional healers often use weaknesses in the human aura, to identify areas vulnerable to infection, injury, and disease. Strengthening these weak areas in the spirit ("energy") body is one form of preventive treatment.
In time long past, the fact that the land was alive and mirrored our inner landscape was not a "secret doctrine", but common knowledge. For the Australian aborigines (as for us), the lines of power crossing the landscape are called Songlines, and are considered the paths walked by the "first ancestors", whose actions formed the world in which we live. Songlines are used not only as location maps, but for communication. Modern ('Neo') Druids recognize many different kinds of energies within the Earth, and to each its own specific purpose. In modern terms, we know them as:
(Artificial)
- Hartman & Cory Grid: Parallel, equidistant lines covering the whole planet, used as reference points in mapping out areas for evaluation in Feng Shui and dowsing. Each square of the grid is 2-3 feet across. (Qualities: Bua -- order, control, balance)
(Of a Fiery Nature)
- Dragon lines: Power inherent in the body of the planet; the detectable parts of the planet's various body systems. (Qualities: Brí -- fiery,invigorating, generative, destructive, transformative, protective)
- Leys: 6-8 foot wide lines of (usually masculine) power arising from, or following, ground faults and other strong geomantic features, in particular features characterized by a strong magnetic charge. (Qualities: Brí -- release, deflection, momentum, illumination)
- Electromagnetic Field: The "aura" generated and emitted by the planet (and everything on it). Although non-linear and peppered with anomalies, it is sometimes called a 'grid'. (Qualities: Brí -- regulation, harmony, the pulse or heartbeat of the planet)
(Of a Fluid Nature)
- Songlines*: Oldest of the lines of power resulting from ancestral / human activity, walked by the first ancestors of a spiritual lineage. (Qualities: Bua -- healing, unifying, long-memory, conveyance, harmony, attunement to the Song of Being)
- Ground water (from the water table, the kind that most hydrologists are interested in); and
- 'Primary' or 'juvenile' water (created not from rainfall, but by chemical reactions deep within the Earth and forced upwards by geological pressures until it is obstructed and forced to pool outwards through veins in clay and stone, forming 'domes' (US) or 'blind springs' (UK) that may eventually become 'holy wells').
* The term 'Songlines' is the only term in this list not in common usage amongst Neo-druids.
All of these energies flow, all are "stream-like", and all are of the two types of energy inherent to all places (unformed and formed or, as described in eastern medicine, 'warming or 'cooling'). Underground sources of water are present at virtually all megalithic sites. The dowser defines a site's character by the flow of water and its specific interaction with the flow of other Earth energies. While a working knowledge of these "seven streams" is necessary to share wisdoms in the wider Druid community, a simpler understanding governs our work in ADO; and it is this which will now be our focus.
North American Druids have much to do before we may claim to know our own lands as the ancients knew theirs. Our European cousins preserve a body of lore much of which remains applicable today. The corresponding "New World" wisdom has long since been lost or destroyed by conquerors who continue to perceive it as a threat to the status quo. But the memory of truth remains in the Land, and as "New Worlders" become more aware that there is an ancient legacy here belonging not to one, but to many peoples, the true story and Song of the Land may be reclaimed and renewed. The far ancestors maintained this body of lore through stories of place, and sacred story and song cycles -- and so can we.
The list below is similar to the list of Irish dinshenchas (stories of place) listed on the Pathwalker's pages of this site. Suppose you were charged with mapping out your local area in this manner, drawing upon the folklore and stories of place, the land's historical and current uses, the wisdom of the ancestors, and the rumour of the Land itself for your sources: How would you begin? How would you locate the central features / power sites of your local land? Your region? Your country? Your continent? And the planet as a whole? How would you choose between similar kinds of sites? ... And how might you work with the Druids of other groups and Orders to help forge such a precious, jointly-held resource?
The list below reflects the kinds of places identified in the Celtic literature; the sorts of places Druids learned about as being of particular importance, and around whose lore their "secret language" was built. Where are these places in your local landscape? Is the role of the land today the same as it was in time long past? What verification is there for this designation in local lore, and in the memory of the land itself? What relationship is there between the stories of these sites and the corresponding sites in Celtic lands?
- The Integrity of the Land
- The Sanctuary of the Land
- The Naval (Center) of the Land
- The Stability of the Land
- The Martyrdom of the Land
- The Spiritual Guidance of the Land
- The Wantonness of the Land
When you have located each of these features in your local, regional, national, and world landscapes, consider the brí and bua of each place. Visit those you can in each season and explore how each feels. Remember that if your list is correct, each of these places will likely have a high level of brí and bua. If they do not, or if your findings vary considerably from those of other members (particularly Elders familiar with these areas), you may need to reconsider some of your conclusions. Keep working at your list until you feel fairly confident of the results. What secrets does this reveal to you about the landscape in which you live? How might this knowledge be of use to you in working with other Druids? In performing world healings, for instance? Sample results will be shown on the next page -- but please don't spoil the fun for yourself by looking before you've done some exploration of your own!
A Note on the Otherworld
Celtic literature teaches that except by the direct intervention and guidance of the Sídhe, mortals cannot enter the Otherworld except by first crossing a "vale" or "void", experienced in Avalon as the "Mists between the worlds" (Irish 'idircheo', "between mists"). Caves, sea-fogs, and hollow hills are "thin places" that serve as "speckled gates" (cómhlaí breac) where the mists are currently more stable and we may access the Otherworld more easily. The popular image of the "Otherworld" as existing only on islands, on distant plains, or in hollow hills, etc., derives from later misunderstandings (and deliberate distortions) of this lore. In reality, the Otherworld exists everywhere. Many permanent Gates have been lost through damage, neglect, and our changing relationship with the Land, making the ability to recognize these shifting Gates even more important. But the Vale of Mists, too, is an illusion, for the only real separation between Worlds exists not on the physical plane, but in the gulf between our own perceptions of reality and those of our spiritual ancestors -- a gulf that it is in our power to span.
