Sacred Journeys part 1

Or- Or, Lets Tell Mr. Ogdoad where to go!!!

Our own Mr. Ogdoad is planning a trip to Europe soon.  I agreed to work on a list of potential destinations for him, as research is both my passion and profession.  I, in a way, see it as a form of vicarious travel for me.  If I can get him to go to Sacred, interesting, or just photogenic places that I would like to visit, 2nd best to me going myself.  If you, too, want to play the game, give him some travel suggestions and tell him why they would be good destinations for him.

Sacred Journeys

“Travel safely, travel soulfully, travel gratefully, and as the old pilgrim’s advice goes, “Stranger, pass by that which you do not love.”  Phil Cousineau preface to 2012 ‘ the Art of Pilgrimage.

Books-

Abram,  David.  The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language In a More-Than-Human World.  Vintage Books, New York. 1996

Hitching, Francis.  The Mysterious World: an Atlas of the UnExplained. Holt, Rinehart         and Winston, New York. 1978

Gray, Martin.  Sacred Earth:  Places of Peace and Power. Sterling, New York/ London. 2007.

Cousineau, Phil.  The Art of Pilgrimage:  A Seeker’s Guide to Making Travel Sacred.  Conari Press, New York, 2012

Penczak, Christopher.  City Magick  : Urban rituals, Spells and Shamanism.  Weiser, York Beach,  2001.

I will mainly be discussing megalithic sites, and pagan sites, as the usual tourist sites are easily found, and constantly written about in tourist literature.  I couldn’t Completely help myself, so have included some of the more generally known that are also locations of interest to me, just to make sure I vicariously get to go again.

Most people in the world of occult study know about Ley lines, first written about by Alfred Watkins in the 1920’s, in The Old Straight Track.  He postulated that lines ran between several ancient sites in straight lines.  Leys have also been discovered crossing over into other European countries, linking with those in England.  Also of interest, a relatively unknown French philologist Xavier Guichard, hypothesized in his book Elusis Alesia, that certain place names with a common root occurred throughout Europe; these locations invariably had hills overlooking a river, man made wells and served as traveler stops set at disconcerting regular intervals on lines radiating from a central place, Alaise.  In the Greek, ‘Eleusis’ meant a meeting place to be travelled to.  He further speculated that the lines were laid out at regular intervals using compass cards such as Greek geographers used.

Mr. Ogdoad, could, then if he chose, follow a system of old energy lines both all over the British Isles, and Europe Itself.

Some of the sites I have chosen lie quite clearly on one of the ley lines in Southern England into France.   There is also no way I can list all of the Cool Places in the given amount of time, for even Bowling Green, much less the whole of Europe!! I still have a day job, so I can’t even really wax poetic about why someone might want to go to the places I have chosen.  For that, I recommend the locations’ tourist bureaus or among guide books, I enjoy Lonely Planet.

Ley Line map and locations for Britain on Link:

http://www.beckhampton-adam.co.uk/index.cfm?pageid=6

England  Cornwall-Tintagel (supposed site of King Arthur’s Castle, commonly supposed to be of Roman anscestery, though it cannot be dated to Rome), Men-a-tol,

Penzance - numerous megalithic sites - St. Michaels Mont-a line to Glastonbury Tor, (All churches on this line frequently bear the name of St. Michael or St. George, Ley lines are frequently also refered to as dragon lines…), Wiltshire, Stonehenge, Avebury Stone Ring

Salisbury –Old Iron Age Earthworks—Old Sarum-oldest found human habitation in Britain, 3000 BC London- the British Museum, Threadneedle street

Glastonbury Tor- (once an island surrounded by fen ,remnants of an iron age settlement, and later Roman occupation, associated with Arthurian Legend as the Isle of Avalon)St. Michael’s Tower,  Glastonbury Abbey, Chalice Well

Bath Abbey and Roman Baths also Georgian Crescent

Keswick Stone Circle(tradition has it that if you count the stones in the circle more than once, you will end up with different answers)

Lindisfarne and Cuthbert Priory ruins

                                      

Ireland – County Mayo- Croagh Patrick  mountain( site of pilgrimage for centuries, esp at Summer Solstice.  Legend has it that this was the site that started the snake driving from Ireland by St. Patrick.  Obviously more to do with it being non-Christian.)

County Cork- Blarney Castle and The Blarney Stone( You know, so there is no point in me telling you )County Kerry- Mt Brandon Stone, Holy well, Stone Circle and Holy well of Kenmore. County Meath- Hill of Tara, Knowth, Dowth, Loughcrew, Newgrange Passage cairns. County Sligo- Carramore- dolman tombs.  Cashel

Well and Cathedral at Kildare

Round Towers in several places- Glendalough, County Wicklow,  

Scotland- Callanish Stone Ring. Elgin Cathedral (magnificent even in ruins) Orkneys- Stones of Stenness,  Ring of Brodgar ( dating from about 2500 BC). Outer Hebrides- Isle of Lewis. Lochness in the Scottish Higlands-Loch Ness Monster- you know you want to!!

Also, of course, men in kilts!

Xavier Guichard and his place name maps on the link v

http://www.ancient-wisdom.co.uk/xavierguichard.htm

The Northern Lights!!

Iceland – Thigeukkir Ruins of Althing Assembley ground

Sweden- Uppsala- Former site of Norse Temple of Uppsala. Gotland- Bronze age burial mounds.  Oland- Stone age passage graves. Stora Alvaret- Bonze age cairns

Denmark- You really are on your own here.   Lejre. Legoland Billund.Copenhagen Tivoli Gardens

France- Normandy- Mont St. Michel (on the line that links Ireland to Greece, including St. Michaels Mount in England.  Previously, for large sections of the day, the sea would cover the causeway linking it to the mainland, as seen as an important plot point in the Scarlet Pimpernel). Carnac Megalithic site.  Chartres Cathedral and Our Lady of Chatres church on top of a pagan site.  The Louvre

Germany-  Black Forest-Schwatzwald.  Neuschwanstein Castle (I have had a picture of this since childhood)  Aachen( Aix-la- Chappelle) collegiate church of St Mary’s and pagan hot springs  Owen –Celtic Holy Mountain of Teck and Oracular cave Sybillenlock

The Brocken- today part of the Harz National Park-Goethe- Now to the Brocken the witches ride;The stubble is gold and the corn is green;There is the carnival crew to be seen,  The time to be there, would of course be Beltaine

Speyer- Imperial Cathedral on top of a pagan site.  Teutobergerwald Neolithic observatory

 Help Mr. Ogdoad, by posting your own destinations, persuasions in the comments section!