It is with sadness we record the destruction by fire of White Leaved Oak, a venerable tree at the centre of The Circle of Perpetual Choirs, near the
hamlet
of White Leaved Oak, near Malvern.
These books follow on from the work John Michell, who in
The View over Atlantis
,
and the revised
The New View over Atlantis
,
described a large landscape feature centred on White Leaved Oak.
John’s Gibson-Forty's first book -
The Interconnectedness
- describes the landscape figure itself, known as the Decagon, a ten sided figure, one of the perpetual choirs.
Britain’s Secret Highways
is the result of John and a colleague walking and describing the radial paths of the figure, and its circumference.
The Malvern Hills run more or less north-south, a Toblerone bar laid upon an Ordance Survey map. In
Early British Trackways
Watkins lists some of the leys that run through Malvern.
The hills are a great source of inspiration, and not just to people like Elgar. When not knocking out his cello concerto he was often riding his bike on the hills. Images from Ken Russell's 1962 Monitor film of young Edward riding his pony on the Malverns, are deeply embedded in my hard disk.
The Malverns is also the setting for Langland's poem Piers Plowman, and the town of Ledbury is nearby, hosting Britain's only (exclusively) poetry festival.
David writes of the triangle formed by Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester Cathedrals, and the approximate centre of that triangle around White Leaved Oak.
Kate Smart writes...
It seems very symbolic to me that the fire took place on the solstice weekend. This is the turning point of the year when we move from full expansion to the beginning of contraction and the natural cycle is recognised by all living things. Fire is the powerful elemental force of destruction but also of renewal, cleansing and healing. And even in the face of this adversity Nature is unstoppable as witnessed in the Australian fires. Where ever there appears to be a void, if you look closely, new life springs
.
The energies of this old tree (and the other trees in the area) are still holding the space and form the pivot point for the sacred geometry in this area like a giant pivot; the centre of the Circle of Perpetual Choirs and the Great Decagon. Fire nourishes and recycles ready for the new and in this case the daughter oak is now ready to take on the matriarchy/patriarchy so that the lineage continues.
It appears that the original tree made the final sacrifice in spectacular fashion. In fact it’s the snake eating her own tail. Her progeny will recycle her remains, grow strong from these nutrients and that’s the way of life. Our focus may be now with the new and how each of us can nurture life from the embers, strengthen our connections to the place as guardians and as pilgrims knit together this amazing place within the wider landscape and community
.
The State of
T
h
e
A
r
t
The recent publication of two significant new books has prompted me to compile my personal guide to literature on the discipline.
The Divining Hand : The 500 Year-old
Mystery of Dowsing
First published in October 1994, this is the definitive history of dowsing. Written by Christopher Bird - one of the driving forces behind The Secret Life of Plants, and Secrets of the Soil - this is an essential text, and a fascinating read.
A new reprint can be obtained from Amazon for only £151.95
Dowsing : A Path to Enlightenment
By comparison to The Divining Hand, this is the work of one man. It is Joey Korn’s labour of love.
Joey is essentially self-taught and self-directed, and as a result has a freedom in his dowsing and thinking which has enabled him to qualify the
‘negative energies leads to illness’
dictum by adding - as I would put it -
‘until you do something about it’.
This assumption of personal responsibility for one’s condition and situation was something of a revelation to me. The notion that things
(including the results of one’s environment and history)
were not irrevocably set in stone, but could be changed, was a happy revelation. An affront to my unredeemed northern Protestantism…
… on which subject I am reminded of the famous hell-fire preacher who regularly threatened his flock with eternal torments, and the gnashing of teeth. When informed by a dentally-challenged member of his congregation of the unlikeliness of this event, because “
I aven’t got any teeth
”, he thunderously responded,
“
Teeth Will Be Provided !
”
Joey’s therapeutic intervention is brilliantly simple, and fully set out in his book. If all else fails, read the instructions.
Beyond the Far Horizon : Billy Gawn
Billy is a master dowser, who has taken earth energy dowsing to an entirely new level.
He is brilliant at deviceless dowsing. He does not
‘see’
the line, but he sees
‘where it is’
, in 3D.
Looking straight ahead he turns his head until his eyes latch on to a line. He has spent a huge amount of effort on refining his skill, which is of Premier League Quality.
In addition to his spectacular practical dowsing ability, Billy is an important dowsing theorist. In fact Billy is so wide-ranging in his insight that we are extremely blessed in that Nigel Twinn has in conjunction with Billy written up his dowsing life. Having recently dipped (
again
) into the book, I experienced (
yet
again)
the page turning imperative which took me through the small hours.
An outstanding achievement.
Dowsing Magic : Book Two - from grumpy gnomes to healthy homes
by Grahame Gardner
This recently published book, would have saved me a lot of effort, writs, etc, if I had owned a copy when I began to dowse.
It is a compendium of what every good dowser now ought to know. Indeed it is an excellent representation of the current
State of The Art.
The chapter headings give a clue to its coverage ...
- Models, Magic and Metaphysics
- The Resonance of Water
- Geopathic Stress
- Shamanic Cosmology
- Ethics and Protection
- Spirit of Place
- Practitioner’s Guide
- Environmental Remediation
- Practical House Healing
Fraying at the Margins – The idea of dowsing :
Bill Kenny and Nigel Twinn
At some point the dowsing apprentice may lay aside his tools, and go deviceless.
Someone who has successfully dealt with a spot of arthritis, suddenly realises that there are few limits to healing.
And a dowser subject to physical lockdown by fat politicians, may stumble across a reference to remote dowsing.
Bill and Nigel’s book puts me in mind of vast numbers of Canada geese gearing up for a mass take off.
We are approaching Teilhard de Chardin’s Omega Point.
What would it be like if everyone in my city became a skilled
dowser ?
Could I really practice Spooky Inaction at a Distance without getting up ?
If we are all heading for the same StarPort, then consciousness is our collective ticket, despite the best attempts of some to convince us otherwise.