MY SUMMER STAYCATION 2020: Chasing Ley Lines

Noha Nasser

 

Have you ever been on a walk or visited a place and returned feeling happy and invigorated? You probably don’t know why. In the past few years, I have discovered the secrets of these feelings and I would like to share my experience with you.

 

The Ancients had a wisdom we have sadly lost in the name of rational thinking and modern progress. Our ancestors were much more attuned to the earth, her rhythms, her cycles, and her energies. For centuries those that continued to respect these ‘knowings’, such as the Aborigines, the native American Indians, the Peruvian Shamans, the English Druids (and many more indigenous peoples), were branded as either backward or superstitious. Only recently, with the realisation that the modern ‘Western’ world is so ill with stress, debt-based anxieties, and media-manipulation, that more and more people are awakening to the fact that there is more to living a simpler life closer to nature and in sync with her.

 

I am one of those people.

 

For the past four years I have been on a quest to prove to myself that there is more to life than what this Western paradigm is offering.

 

At the same time, my awareness has been drawn to ‘energy’. For sceptics and for rationalists, if you can’t see something it is not there. But energy exists in an electric current which we cannot see, and we know it lights up our homes and even electrocutes us if we are not careful. Energy exists in many tangible forms as ‘frequencies’, such as light, sound and heat. The same can be found in nature.

 

Energy effects our mood. We feel better in sunshine, or when we hear an uplifting song because the frequencies are high. When people radiate a more positive outlook on life, we prefer to be in their company. In nature, when we walk with our feet on the grass, or on the beach, when we walk in the woods, we generally feel happier. There is a great deal of scientific evidence to support this, but my invitation to you is to start taking notice. Why is this important? In a Western paradigm, we tend to be divorced from nature, spending proportionately more time in our busy lives in front of screens. I do the same, but the difference is now I am spending, in fact, dedicating, a great deal of my ‘time off’ in search of these natural places that make me happy.

 

Through my readings and research, I discovered that many of these ‘happy places’ are in fact connected to energy lines that flow under the ground. They are called Ley lines. These lines of energy vary in energetic strength, and they criss-cross every continent and connect in a global web. At certain meeting points, or vortices, the energy is amplified. You can compare them to acupuncture points and connections in the body. When the energy flows freely you are healthy. The same applies to the planet. When the Ley lines are flowing the planet is healthy, but so are the peoples who live on and around these Ley Lines. The Ancients knew all about these Ley Lines and all of the most significant sacred and important ancient structures can be found at these high energy vortices. Think of the Pyramids, Stonehenge, the Dome of the Rock, Easter Island, Machu Pichu, Angkor Wat etc, even local churches and other places of worship, are places intentionally positioned on intersections of the Ley Lines.

 

I set about putting this learning to the test. Every opportunity to travel, I consider where the Ley Lines and vortices are, and I head there. Since I have known about Ley Lines I have walked 800km of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, visited many of the ancient Goddess Temples and Pyramids in Egypt, taken a road trip around Iceland, spent 4 months in Bali, and 5 days in Angkor Wat, attended the Winter Solstice in GobekliTepe and hiked parts of the Lycian Way coastal path in Turkey.

 

I live in the UK, and as you can tell, all these locations are international. In fact, I wonder if you agree with me, those of us hardcore international travellers, we tend to overlook where we live, always focusing our sights on ‘other’ places. What if you were forced to look closer to home? What if there was a pandemic that restricted your movement internationally? What if instead of a vacation, you had to consider a ‘staycation’?

 

Following the 3-month lockdown of Spring 2020, the gradual easing of restrictions to movement in June, offered an opportunity to venture out of our homes. We had no choice but to ‘stay’ within our borders. This concept quickly caught on as a ‘staycation’ and many guests houses, hotels, and Airbnb rentals became fully booked. People couldn’t wait to start venturing out, and I was one of them.

 

Like me, my best friendsShobana, Jave and Rudy, felt restless. Where could we go and what could we do for our staycation this summer?Shobana suggested chasing Ley Lines in England. Jave wanted to plan a trip to Scotland, and Eli and Rudy wanted to explore Wales. I will share with you my trip to Cornwall with Shobana.

 

Chasing the St Michael and St Mary Ley Line, Cornwall

 

It was my first time to research the Ley Lines in the UK. I was surprised to see so many. One in particular caught my attention because of its 350-mile length, and its diagonally straight alignment.

 

The St Michael’s Ley Line starts in Land’s End in Cornwall, the most southwestern tip of England and shoots as straight as an arrow diagonally across the country to Hopton-on-Sea in Norfolk in the northeast. With some detective work, we discovered along its alignment are several churches, mounds, and stone circles, many carrying the name of St Michael. But even more surprising, was another Ley line, following the same alignment, but this time, it wound its way in a snake-like manner, weaving across and around St Michael’s; this is the St Mary Ley Line.

 

The weaving of the masculine straight Ley (St Michael) and the feminine winding Ley (St Mary) fascinated me no end. It brought into my awarenessthe significance of these two types of energy, and how there is no time in history where the balance of these two energies are needed. It is an age-old idea which is in each of us. It is not related to gender, but to energy. In China they call it yin-yang, in India Shakti-Shiva, and in other cultures it has other terms. In the rational West it is called left brain-right brain; in other words, a combination of logical, rational thinking in balance with the creative and intuitive. Knowing the importance of this feminine-masculine balance has helped me personally. I could tell this trip was going to be part of my own self-discovery and a greater mission for the collective.

 

We carefully charted our journey, deciding to start in St Michael’s Mount in Cornwall, and to chase the Ley Lines up to Avebury Stone Circle in Wiltshire. What we discovered are ancient locations. Many of them spoke to us about the shifting earth energies, the healing of the divine feminine and divine masculine, and the creation of a planet free of poverty, war and disease.

 

How do ancient buildings and stones speak to you, I hear you ask? Going back to the idea of energetic frequencies, stones and crystals vibrate at different frequencies which hold data. When you are ‘consciously’ ready, these frequencies release that information, giving you subliminal messages. Sometimes these messages are strong and can be deciphered, other times they are subtle and just affect your mood, like make you happy. As we progressed along the Leys we pieced these messages together. I will highlight a few of these messages and why these locations were special to me.

 

We arrived in Marazion midday. It was busy with staycationers, and the sun was blazing. We were lucky enough to have a hotel room with a view of St Michael’s Mount. The Mount’s magnetism was compelling. We learned from our Brummie hotel owner, tickets to the Mount were limited. We soon realised we wouldn’t be able to visit the church perched atop, or the exotic garden surrounding the church, but we could walk to the gates. What is fascinating about this place is the causeway. A two to three-metre wide stone causeway connects the mainland to the Mount. It is half a mile long, only appearing at low tide for a few precious hours every day when pilgrims, like us, and visitors are permitted access. Other times, the Mount is isolated, out of reach, but within view, pulling your sight to it like a target. We bathed in its beauty on the sandy beach, knowing that this Mount is connected to St Michael’s Mount in France, another pilgrim hotspot.

 

 

If you follow the trajectory even further back along the alignment of St Michael’s Ley, the gate way to Eng-land is Carn Les Boels on the southwestern tip of the coast. This fascinated us. Google wouldn’t give us accurate directions. We had no choice but to orienteer ourselves in the car along the infamously, deadly, narrow winding lanes of Cornwall. We eventually came to a car park and realised to get to Carn Les Boels we would have to hike over the hills. It was already getting late so we decided to make the most of where we had landed. For those who don’t know the Cornish coastline, it is wild and majestic. Steep rugged cliffs line the edge of the land to the sea, and the white surfs engulf carved out caverns, jugged ravines in the rockface, and small alcoves. We found ourselves a cavern and decided to take our medicine drums and sing to the tune of the waves. We must have caught the attention of a Somali father and two sons down from London, also exploring these remote parts. They were happy to join in. A hike of sorts still beckoned and we climbed up on to the Coastal Path Walk and found ourselves a precarious looking giant boulder facing the sea, as if keeping sentinel. The wind beat against our faces. We gave a small offering and held a short ceremony thanking the spirits of the land, the sea and the wind for uplifting us.

 

What Carn Les Boels taught us about chasing Ley lines is that sometimes these places we are seeking remain hidden to us for some reason. It happened several times on our journey. The most surprising incident was in search of the South Zeal Menthir Stone. After asking several people who had no clue where it was, we discovered it inside the Oxenham Pub in the village of South Zeal! Yes, believe it or not, this holy stone, twenty-six feet deep in the ground was subsumed into the pub’s walls. We were fortunate enough to sit at a table right beside it and soak up its energies and to chat to locals about the magic of the stones dotted across Dartmoor.

 

Chasing the Nine Maidens Stone Circle was another amusing incident. Again, Google took us to a number of isolated houses. An aerial view revealed to us that this stone circle was behind the buildings. Shobana and I plucked up the courage to knockon the door and to sheepishly ask whether we could access their back garden to visit the stone circle. We said to the gentleman who opened the doorwe were pilgrims and were interested in visiting the stones. He didn’t seem surprised, nor did he think we were weird. Luckily, we learnt that the stones were on public land and that the access was from the side. Strangely, access was blocked with electric fences, but we were determined to get through – and luckily without being electrocuted. When we finally spotted them, the stones in the circle didn’t seem to be very receptive to our being there. A stone wall had been built across the circle, cutting it off, and destroying its circular integrity. I received a strong message of the lack of trust and respect that these nine maidens had received because of the wall. It mimicked the feelings that many women feel as a result of the abuse of the dominant masculine paradigm. I gave prayers to heal these feelings in the human collective.

 

The raison d’etre of Stone Circles still remains an enigma. We know they are markers along Ley Lines; they hold sacred geometries, and often align to cardinal points, solstices and equinoxes, but whether they were used for rituals – and what kind of rituals – is not clear. The most profound stone circle we visited is The Hurlers consisting of an alignment of three stone circles in a row. I woke up that morning and meditated. I visualised the sacred union of yin-yang, it seemed to be at the back of my mind all morning. As we approached The Hurlers we bumped into a dowser called Stuart (someone who uses dowsing rods to read the high energy points in the land). It was completely by chance we connected with him as he was waiting for someone else. Stuart told us that the central stone circle was a node where the St Michael and St Mary Ley Lines cross. This resonated perfectly with my ‘sacred union’ meditation. I used this opportunity to play my crystal singing bowl. In the middle of the Stone circle where two stones; one flat representing the feminine and one upright representing the masculine. I placed myself between them and prayed for peace and harmony of the sacred union of feminine-masculine within ourselves and within the collective.

 

Besides stone circles, mounds are often energy markers as well. Along the St Michael’s Ley Line were a number of these mounds – circular, pointed and elevated hills jutting out from amongst the flat landscape as if they do not belong to their surroundings. Atop many of these mounds are ancient churches and towers, probably sentiment to the gatherings of pilgrims and local dowsers who would commemorate the many celebrations of the Shamanic calendar. Not surprisingly, many of these buildings are called St Michael’s. One mound in particular was memorable.

 

In Devon, the Church of St Michael de la Rupe (of the Rock) is built atop an old and extinct volcano. The 13^th Century church is tiny and is often mis-sold as ‘the smallest church in England’, but it can still sit 40 people. There is a small graveyard at the top of the Tor. We arrived shortly before sunset and made our way up the steep, winding, gravelly path between the boulders of this precarious mini-volcano no more than 100m high. We eventually swung round the church enclosure and graveyard to be welcomed by an iron gate leading up stone steps. As we approached the Church we were greeted at the door by a kind-looking lady. She asked us if we wanted to attend the Evensong. We of course said yes and quietly made our way to the back where hymns were being sung. We participated as much as we could (I didn’t quite know the tunes). We left after a few hymns to find a place to meditate for a short while. To our delight we found a ledge behind the chapel with the most magnificent long-distance view of the surrounding territory. We dangled our feet off the ledge, took in a sharp breath, meditated with our eyes open inhaling the view below us, and just felt pure bliss.

 

We continued to chase the Ley Line all the way to Avebury Stone Circle, the epitome of Divine Feminine worship. It had been such an enjoyable trip that it was not enough to stop there. A few weeks later I chased the Rose Ley Line from Edinburgh to Rosalyn Chapel to Stirling Castle in Scotland with Jave to heal the rift in the divine feminine exemplified by the bitter feud between Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth the First. Rosalyn Chapel was popularised by Dan Brown in his book (and film) ‘The Da Vinci Code’ which commemorates Mary Magdalene’s trip to the UK. Shortly after that I organised another trip to Bury St Edmunds in Cambridgeshire – a St Michael and St Mary node where I held ceremony with some friends. Finally, I ended the summer staycation with Eli and Rudy in a wonderful commune called Coed Hills in Wales, where they have built their own stone circle using dowsers.

My Summer Staycation 2020 was a summer holiday I will always remember. Chasing the Ley Lines gave me so much joy, happiness, and deep connection with Gaia and her beauty. The moral of this story is….there is more than meets the eye on your doorstep. Go explore your local Ley Lines to reconnect with the earth and to experience bliss.

For those who want to know more about the St Michael and St Mary Ley Lines you can visit The British Pilgrimage Trust at https://britishpilgrimage.org/portfolio/mary-and-michael-pilgrims-way/ and to know more about British Ley Lines on an interactive map go to https://www.higgypop.com/ley-lines/.