World map outlining ley lines. (Photo credit: Google Earth)
During my research into earth elemental magick, I came across a topic that I absolutely adore and wish I could devote more of my time to. I thought about including it in my series about the earth, but this topic is far too weighty for me to have mentioned it in passing. I want to take the proper time and reverence that this subject deserves by devoting at least a single post to it. So today we are going to explore the ancient mystery of ley lines and see what light we can shed on them.
I’ll start with the conventional “everybody knows this” knowledge. The 1920’s brought the idea of ley lines to light with Alfred Watkins’s book “The Old Straight Track.” In his book, Watkins describes ley lines as ancient pathways dating back to the Neolithic Era that were used as trade routes or, possibly, roads used in ceremonial practices. He demonstrated his theory by drawing straight lines through a British map to show linear paths to ancient sites, both naturally formed and built centuries before.
While Watkins hadn’t received much acclaim from the scientific community, many followers of the burgeoning New Age path dove deeper into his theory and brought ley lines into serious consideration. Today, we not only have ley lines attributed to ufology and other strange occurrences, but it’s also used as a real study of how our earth’s magnetic field may operate. The topic is widely debated by both magicians and scientists. Do ley lines hold magical energy properties that may even bridge the gap between other dimensions? Do ley lines reveal solid evidence of the earth’s magnetic field that shaped how early man navigated and expanded? What if it’s both? The one thing both sides can agree upon is that ley lines, whether magical or purely scientific, do exist.
The pursuit of ley lines has led to the popularization of ley hunters. Groups of researchers and travelers hunt down possible ley lines and travel along them in hopes of either discovering new pathways or strong wells of power. It’s amazing that such an international interest that binds science and magick all began with one man’s insights into the unseen world around us.
Next, I’ll go into some details not commonly known about ley lines, from cultural histories to modern day research and discovery. I even found evidence that mankind used ley lines in daily life thousands of years ago.