When traditional and mundane practices become true.
This past summer, I spent a month abroad in Ireland studying the intersections between Irish Catholicism and Celtic Paganism. We visited many spiritualistic sites, like Emain Macha and Newgrange, where Irish Pagans were laid to rest in mass graves. While these sites are magical in and of themselves—the sun only shines inside the site of Newgrange on the Winter Solstice—what I find to be, perhaps, the most interesting feature of these sites is that they were all built on top of ley lines. Ley lines are straight lines drawn on a map to connect various historical structures and prominent landmarks (BBC.com). While this sounds like those old Celts simply chose to build their fortress on a pre-existing map line, the idea of ley lines was only developed in the 20th century and the original list of monuments included mostly Roman structures. Today, ley lines are considered to be points of high energy where the veil between our world and the spiritual world is thinnest. So how did these Pagans know to build their sites there?
In a similar, yet different, vein, Indigenous members of the Potawatomi tribe held theories of trees being able to communicate with one another. According to the folklore, trees would “stand on their own council and craft a plan” (19). In this communication, they warned one another about coming droughts and insect attacks. Even the Potawatomi language points to the idea that nature is a living being. While humans may ask ‘what’ something is, in Potawatomi they ask ‘who’ something is. Nothing is an ‘it’ because everything is somebody (56). However, when colonizers entered the picture, they squashed out any idea that nature and humans were on the same level. Instead they forced individuals to adopt the idea that humans are above all in the natural order because that was the way that the Christian god intended, and their English language reflected that. Hundreds of years later, modern biology discovered that plants can, in fact, communicate with one another. According to Kimmerer, “They communicate via pheromones…Scientists have identified specific compounds that one tree will release when it is under the stress of an insect attack…” (20). Again, I cannot help but wonder how ancient Indigenous people knew this information?
A main theory is that earth wisdom is universal. No matter what, individuals have the ability to tap into a higher power and pick up on the natural influences around them. However, a much more tangible theory regarding ley lines is that they were once ancient trade routes. When ley lines were first being conceptualized, Alfred Watkins stated that they were “ancient tracks for navigational purposes” (BBC.com). Though this was a good theory, it was later disputed by Martin Bell under the premise that Watkins did not account for topographical barriers (Bell 3). Some of the lines intersect mountain ranges, ravines, caves, lakes, etc. While it is possible that ancient people found ways to navigate these specific obstacles, it would make more sense for the trade routes to avoid such dangers. Especially considering the fact that these traders would have been lugging goods and livestock, it is highly doubtful that they would have moved in straight paths. Additionally, this still poses the question of why people would think to build mass graves along trade routes. Perhaps ley lines do not follow trade routes, but they are areas where energies are elevated. According to the work of scholars N.S. Elrafie, G.F. Hassan, A.S. Abd Elrahman and M.A. Elfayoumi at Cairo University, ley lines are areas of naturally occurring electromagnetic radiation. Because all living things have their own energetic field, and the Earth has a natural magnetic field, horizontal energy waves intersect with vertical magnetic waves to create pockets of high energy (Elrafie 407). These areas are categorized into two sections: Power Spots and Geopathic Stress Zones (413). Power Spots amplify energy to work in harmony with our bodies, and these are areas where ancient people flocked to (414). For example, Stonehenge and other Megalithic stone structures sit on Power Spots and act as a sort of ‘power grid’ to harness the electromagnetic radiation of these areas. On the flip side, Geopathic Stress Zones are areas where electromagnetic radiation vibrates in a way that works against our bodies (415). To further illustrate this idea, individuals are likely to feel muscle cramps, depression, headaches, difficulties in concentration, and even frequent miscarriage (416). Thus, the strongest theory that I have encountered so far is based in the ideology that Celtic Pagans created spiritual sites on ley lines because the energy there simply felt better on their bodies. In this case, it is true that humans are able to naturally feel the energies around them.
Returning to the idea of Indigenous plant wisdom, their conception of plants being able to communicate with one another comes from gratitude practices. They thank plants when they harvest them as they will be used to nourish their bodies and create medicines. In a paper written by Laura Dev of Berkeley University, she explained that Indigenous individuals spent time with plant teachers—they held quiet periods of deprivation and solitude where they formed relationships with plant spirits (Dev 186). In this meditation, they would take a psychoactive decoction to receive messages from the spirit world (186). Plant spirits would communicate their knowledge to Indigenous individuals, and those people would apply that knowledge to their own practices. However, colonization worked to erase this so-called ‘drug culture’ and insisted that nature is incapable of feeling. Reading this from a colonizer standpoint may sound like these Indigenous individuals were simply high and not actually receiving ancient wisdom, yet these Indigenous people ended up being correct. As science worked to reject the notion that nature is feeling, modern science has shifted to the understanding that plants are actually able to communicate with one another.
It is hard to tell, but perhaps the thing that all of these ancient civilizations have in common is that they were more in-tune with the spiritual world. They were able to detect the shift of electromagnetic radiation in their bodies as well as receive information about plant wisdom through some sort of means. This type of spirituality sounds as though it is coming from a crazy conspiracist, but it is all actually rooted in and supported by modern science. However, these are all fairly recent discoveries. As time continues to progress, I cannot help but wonder what other ancient superstitions and wisdoms that are rejected today will end up being proven true.
Bell, Martin. “Steps towards Understanding: Routeways in Practice, Theory and Life.” Making One’s Way in the World: The Footprints and Trackways of Prehistoric People, Oxbow Books, 2020, pp. 1–26. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv138wsp4.5. Accessed 6 Oct. 2022.
Dev, Laura. “Pleant Knowledged: Indigenous Approaches and Interspecies Listening Toward Decolonizing Ayahuasca Research”. Springer International Publishing. Published in Plant Medicines, Healing, and Psychadelic Science, April 2018. https://ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/sites/ourenvironment.berkeley.edu/files/user/profile2/main/publications/Dev_Plant%20Knowledges_2018.pdf
Elrafie, N.S.. “Assessing the Effect of Electromagnetic Radiations on Human Beings in the Built Environment”. Cairo University. Published in the Journal of Engineering and Applied Science, August 2019. https://www.jeasonline.org/paper/1016/preview
Griffiths, Chris. “The Ancient Network That Links Britain.” BBC Travel, BBC, 5 Nov. 2019, https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20191104-the-ancient-network-that-links-britain
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