Revisioning the Sacred Landscape
"Some other distinctive megaliths occur in both Europe and North America. These include phallic monuments of standing stones, called also dall or menhir. ...... associated with male fertility. So also the megaliths called men-a-tol (Cornish "Hole in the stone") or just "holey-stones," are [associated] with the fertility goddesses. The well-known stone rings and monuments such as Stonehenge are also a feature of the megalithic industry."
From "European Bronze Age Visitors in America",
by Prof. E.F. Legner, University of California, Riverside, Dept. of Archaeology
There is no point arguing over whether or not we *should* accept the evidence. It is there and we are each confronted with the choice of whether to accept it. We are also confronted with a responsibility to accept the right of others to choose differently. Science and history are inexact disciplines in which new findings are constantly being unearthed. They require us to remain flexible and ready to adapt (or even reverse) our thinking to accommodate the unexpected. Therefore it is wisest, perhaps, to remember that none of us has (or has ever had) "the one right answer"; and that, should we forget this fact, the line between lively academic debate and intolerance of another's beliefs can easily become blurred. It is not necessary that we all agree. It is necessary that we all inquire respectfully, and share discourse courteously.
Like everyone else, ADO Elders take the "new" academic thinking to verify our own view of the world. For us, the Earth is peopled by many perpetually wandering beings and races (making individual peoples "native" to no place and everyplace). Since "land ownership" as currently understood is not a part of the Braithion worldview, we have no problem sharing the planet with everyone. Hurrah! At last that issue is behind us. Where does that leave us? ...
In ADO, it means extending the history of Druidism beyond the borders of the Old World and expanding the areas to which we have confined our spiritual ancestors. It means re-envisioning the American sacred landscape as a place equal in status and relevance to that of Europe. And it means re-examining our modern reliance on "experts" whose livings depend upon maintaining the very systems and beliefs they purport to objectively evaluate (i.e. reclaiming independent thought). It means loving and opening ourselves to the Land's enchantment with the same willingness and eager anticipation as we do that of the Isles and Europe. American land is not less magical. It is not without Fae. It is not less responsive or harder to access. It is we who are less responsive to it. Our experience has been defined by our own biased expectations. As the guardians at Chalice Well once remarked to us, "The Tor is no different from any other place. The same things happen here that happen elsewhere, but here they are amplified so we can better see their workings." What is true in the UK and Europe will be true here also. Until we see our land as magical, it won't seem magical; because as with the Tor itself, the Land is simply reflecting back to us what we bring to it.
Ancient American Druids
"... [Some of the skulls] were of a Europoid type [and were interred with artifacts showing] inscriptions in old European scripts ... a number of sculptures ... [depicted] people of obvious Europoid origin, yet all the evidence indicates that these sculptures were created in America, at an era long before the colonists arrived ... Most striking is the head of a man, carved in Ancient Irish style, with the curving nostrils and staring eyes that one encounters in Irish art and wearing as a chaplet a twig of bog oak leaves and acorns."
From "European Bronze Age Visitors in America",
by Prof. E.F. Legner, University of California, Riverside, Dept. of Archaeology
No matter how improbable it might once have seemed, the idea that *real* Druids lived and practiced in ancient America, often alongside Amerindians, must now be grappled with if we are to earn the respect that the title 'Druid' demands. How shall we proceed? ... We are taught in all things to begin by looking to Nature, and it is in Nature that we find the physical evidence (archaeological sites, artifacts, etc.) for the presence in North America of ancient European peoples. This evidence is abundant and can be found in most areas of the U.S. and much of Canada. Thus many of us can start our explorations with our own Land; by listening with an open heart, a sense of anticipation, and no prior expectations.
"[The] circles of standing stones that occur in large numbers in Europe ... also span the entire continent of North America from New England to California."
From "European Bronze Age Visitors in America",
by Prof. E.F. Legner, University of California, Riverside, Dept. of Archaeology
As abundant as pertinent sites are, it also is important to remember that not all sites will relate to a European presence. Many will be Amerindian, Norse, Saxon, Iberian, or others of the many people who made this land their home. The rights of all of these peoples must also be respected. Many Amerindians are unfriendly to the idea of white megalith builders in America, seeing it as simply more "white lies". And who can blame them? As a result of this well-earned distrust, Amerindian tribes have a policy of laying claim to all ancient burials in North America, regardless of the race or apparent culture of the bodies interred there. It is a policy few have challenged, and those that do generally face substantial public criticism. This backlash creates an atmosphere in which it is *politically incorrect* to explore the truth of our own history and ancestors.
Obviously we cannot yield to this pressure, but at the same time it is vital that we, as Druids, approach sites with due sensitivity. The presence of early Europeans in North America in no way diminishes the importance of Amerindian sites or culture (history is filled with examples of innovations appearing in multiple cultures independently; it merely reflects the diversity, sophistication, and beauty of the ancient world). But until the distrust these discoveries have aroused can be assuaged, we must proceed circumspectly; asking permission not only of the Spirits of Place, but of present landowners and those whom we might reasonably expect to lay claim to a site. We may also have to accept refusals that seem unfair and content ourselves with working "within sight", rather than "on-site". This is disappointing, to be sure, but it is naive to expect Amerindians to accept Druids because we say we are "native". They are as likely as any other people to see us as "shallow New Agers". Nor can we expect generations of distrust to dissolve simply because we say we are different. It is by our actions that our honour will be judged. If we are consistently trustworthy, we will eventually be trusted.
In the meantime, there are many forgotten places in our sacred landscape waiting to be rediscovered. We have found a number of unnoticed sites in public parks, and these sites are accessible to anyone, provided some basic courtesies are shown to park police. All that we have learned about the sacred landscapes of the Old World will be applicable here. We need only to open our eyes and hearts as we move through the landscape, and see things afresh. Of course it's true that some areas have higher concentrations of monuments than others. The New England States and Great Lakes Region of the US and Canada have been particularly blessed, but these are not the only places. The West Coast has its own treasures, and these are more readily searchable online. If we cannot visit the sites about which we read, we can look for parks in the general area where it seems likely we might pick up the sort of energy we are looking for. We've found this to be an excellent way to teach new members to work with the bua and brí in the land, while also providing Grove leaders opportunities to model good stewardship and human relations by example.
The advantage of working hands-on with power sites was of course beautifully elucidated by the Guardians at Chalice Well. A sacred site amplifies energies and illuminates relationships that exist everywhere in the landscape, making them easier to observe and interpret in context. If we cannot get to a 'power' site it does not mean that we cannot do this work. The same dynamics will be present wherever we are; they will simply be more subtle and require us to listen and watch more closely to perceive them.
Verification
It would be easy for American Druids to work independently and arrive at separate "right answers" to these questions; but such findings would have a limited value. To appoint one person or group to provide "the answers" for everyone would be simple, but then the chosen group would have to have members participating from virtually every part of the country. This is one area in which the Celtic literature can be of little practical help to us. While it provides guidance on how to establish and maintain a right relationship with our local land, it cannot offer us any specifics about the New World. There are no known surviving "American dinshenchas" by and for Druids. For that we will need to consult local histories and stories of place, and primary sources. Verification is a way of establishing reliability for these results.
We would like to see an approach to this work that more resembles a cooperative laboratory than an academic debate. Risk is vital to discovery. If we are unwilling to risk being wrong, we do not fully open ourselves to perceive, inquire, and explore. If we don't make mistakes, we don't learn. An environment that recognizes mistakes as hidden opportunities, where errors are examined and mined for what they can reveal, is more likely to encourage people's best efforts and less likely to restrict a healthy willingness to take risks. We can afford this liberal attitude because verification will eventually cull out anything without a basis in fact.
The way verification is approached in the Avalon Mystery Tradition is simple: Things which existed (or which are true) leave a footprint some place in physical reality, and usually in several places. Therefore is it not unreasonable to expect to find some evidence for their existence within physical law and record. Avalonian Druids subject all intuitively gotten information to verification by three independent, outside sources (usually science, academia, and folklore). Each individual is responsible to find verification for her or his own findings. If no verification exists, the findings are put on the back burner to await possible future verification as new information emerges. If three sources are found, they are submitted to recognized Elders for consideration. If the verifications are approved as valid (i.e. if they are sufficient to support the existence of the findings), the results are accepted as true -- no matter how improbable they might seem; the assumption being that it is not the results but our understanding that is lacking.
Beginning: "What Would Amergin Do?"
We know from the myths that our first task when arriving at a new land is to win the blessings and support of the representatives of Sovereignty. Both the far ancestors and subsequent colonial settlers took this matter seriously, as is evidenced in our national histories (though you will have to dig further than your old school books to find it). Nicholas Mann found quite a lot about American sovereignty as conceived by US founders, by examining old records, maps, architectural plans, and the papers, letters, and journals of the nation's architects. This required much more time, effort, and travel than most of us are accustomed to invest to learn the truth of these matters, but we do not any longer live in a world where the truth is made easy for us to find. Fortunately for us, Mr. Mann published many of his discoveries in a book called The Sacred Geometry of Washington, DC. This book can also be a bit hard to find (if you live in the US), but it is well worth the effort. It is worth much more than its weight in gold.
In brief, the founders appear to have realized the need for the Sovereignty Goddess of the Land to bless the right of the new government to rule. The fact that they identified Sovereignty in all Her aspects and erected representations of each in the country's first capitol (Philadelphia, PA) attests to this fact. But their understanding appears to have been limited to a purely symbolic level. They did not so much believe in Sovereignty as a real, living presence, as they believed in its symbolic power to validate the new nation by providing it with Old World vestments. Their real magical commitment was to the sacred geometry of the capitol which they believed could assure the success of their whole enterprise. The symbols that they incorporated into their design are as significant for us as they were for them, and those of us who are US citizens should make ourselves especially familiar with them. Certainly the ancestors would have considered the story of the nation's founding a key factor in the story of place, and one that is necessary to attune with the Land.
It is also likely that the founders were aware of the possible presence of ancient Europeans on American soil, and also sought their blessings for the new nation. Hundreds of colonial journals and diaries have been found attesting that European settlers recognized in certain of the native monuments a striking resemblance to sites they remembered (or knew) from the lands they had left. Many of these records were collected and destroyed by the Army Corps of Engineers in the late 1800s, but numerous references to them remain in the State archaeological journals of the time. Current science would seem to indicate that the presence of early Europeans in America was common knowledge until fairly recently. It passed out of public memory and awareness in the early 20th century, and was not revisited until the firestorm ignited by maverick academics brought it back into public awareness at the dawning of the new millennium.
It is only in the past ten years that the presence of early Europeans in North American has been given any serious consideration by modern academics. It is still considered heresy and pseudo-history in older academic circles. But as the list of prestigious academics who support this alternative history grows, it is becoming more and more difficult to dismiss or ignore. Coupled with the knowledge of the intention and manner in which the US and its capitol city were founded, an amazing picture emerges. Contrary to everything we have been taught, the true history of North America is steeped in the same enchantments and magics as that of the Old Celtic world; and this sensibility carried through the the founding of the new nation.
The reclaiming of this knowledge is a tremendously exciting prospect -- one which our cousins across the waters possess in the form of literature, but which we may reclaim today through hands-on experience on this side of the ocean. It represents not only a magnificent way to approach personal exploration and group training, but a unique opportunity for disparate Druid practitioners and groups to come together and share in precisely the same manner as did their Druid forebears -- and on precisely the same lands!
The Song in the Land
This is the first step to discovering what some call, "the Song in the Land". The Song is really the story of all that has happened in a place since the land there was born into its present shape. It is upheld by the inherent energy of the place, but the story encompasses all that has come to pass as well. It is a story which will include peoples and cultures of many lands, over vast stretches of time -- but in which we will inevitably find something of our own ancestral ties if we have patience to listen for them.
It is said that the harkening to, and singing of this Song is a source of great healing; that the land needs to hear the Song sung back to it to remember its own enchantment, its sacredness -- just as we each need to remember our own Songs of Being and hear them sung back to us by the Land. May our voices join with the Song in the Land to make beautiful music, now and always.
