Ley Lines

Ley Lines
Ley lines are hypothetical alignments of a number of places of geographical interest such as ancient monuments and megaliths. Ley lines or Leys as they are sometimes called are alignments of ancient sites stretching across the landscape. Ancient sites or holy places may be situated in a straight line ranging from one to several miles in length. A ley may be identified by an aligned placing of marker sites or it might be visible on the ground for all or part of its length by the remnants of an old straight track.

Ley Lines were 're-discovered' on 30 June 1921 by Alfred Watkins (1855-1935). He was a locally well known and respected Herefordshire businessman. Watkins visited Blackwardine in Herefordshire and went riding near some hills in the vicinity of Bredwardine where he noticed many of the footpaths seemed to connect one hilltop to another in a straight line. While looking at a map for features of interest he noticed a straight line that passed over hill tops through various points of interest, all of which were ancient. At the time of his discovery Watkins had no theory about alignments. On that June afternoon he saw a whole pattern of lines stretching across the landscape. Four years later, in 1925, he described his vision in a book he titled The Old Straight Track. He wrote:

"Imagine a fairy chain stretched from mountain peak to mountain peak, as far as the eye could reach, and paid out until it reached the 'high places' of the earth at a number of ridges, banks, and knowls. Then visualise a mound, circular earthwork, or clump of trees, planted on these high points, and in low points in the valley other mounds ringed around with water to be seen from a distance. Then great standing stones brought to mark the way at intervals, and on a bank leading up to a mountain ridge or down to a ford the track cut deep so as to form a guiding notch on the skyline as you come up.... Here and there, at two ends of the way, a beacon fire used to lay out the track. With ponds dug on the line, or streams banked up into 'flashes' to form reflecting points on the beacon track so that it might be checked when at least once a year the beacon was fired on the traditional day. All these works exactly on the sighting line."

Watkins believed that in ancient times, when Britain had been far more densely forested, the country had been covered by a network of straight line travel routes with prominent features of the landscape being used as navigation points. Watkins claimed that ley lines were the remnants of prehistoric trading routes. This observation was made public at a meeting of the Woolhope Club of Hereford in September 1921. He went on to associate ley lines with the Greek god Hermes who was the god of communication and of boundaries, the winged messenger and the guide to travellers on unknown paths. Watkins identified Hermes with the chief god of the Druids and argued that a Celtic god is what Caesar referred to. He claims that it’s a fact that sighting mounds called Tot (and various other names such as Toot, Tout, Tute and Twt) and the root is probably Celtic. The fact that such mounds are points on tracks strengthens the link.

The identification of leys as ancient traders' routes was as far as Watkins went in his explanation despite the fact that numerous ley lines travelled up very steep hillsides. Watkins book brought the topic of ley lines in to public awareness. Speculation as to their meaning and purpose continued after Watkins' death in 1935. Watkins theory was generally received with scepticism in the archaeological community. The archaeologist O. G. S. Crawford refused to accept advertisements for Watkins’ book in the journal Antiquity. Most archaeologists since then have continued to be unaccepting of Watkins' ideas.

In 2004, John Bruno Hare claimed that Watkins never attributed any supernatural significance to leys and that he believed they were pathways that had been used for trade or ceremonial purposes. Watkins claimed these routes were very ancient in origin and possibly dated back to the Neolithic or pre-Roman era. His obsession with leys was a natural outgrowth of his interest in landscape photography and fondness of the British countryside. He was a rational person with an active intellect. Despite the largely negative reception to his ideas, some have made observations similar to Watkins': Megalithic researcher Alexander Thom offered a detailed analysis of megalithic alignments and proposed a standardization of measure by those who built megaliths. Thom avoids using the term "ley line" in his discussion of megaliths. The discovery by Europeans of the Nazca lines, manmade lines on a desert pavement in southern Peru prompted study of their astronomical alignments. William Henry Black gave a talk titled Boundaries and Landmarks to the British Archaeological Association in Hereford in September 1870. He speculated that monuments exist and mark grand geometrical lines which cover the whole of Western Europe. It is possible that Watkins' interest and ideas stemmed from some recollected memories of an account of Black’s presentation.

According to Paul Devereux, it was the occultist Dion Fortune in her 1936 novel The Goat-Foot God who invented the idea that ley lines were "lines of power" linking prehistoric sites. A few years later, it was claimed that ley lines followed lines of cosmic energy in the Earth and could be detected using dowsing rods. In the 1960s, ley lines became linked with UFO sightings.

In 1969, ley lines were taken up by John Michell, in his book The View over Atlantis, who discussed them within the context of geomancy. By 1974, ley lines and geomancy and other esoteric subjects to do with the Earth were collected under the umbrella term of "Earth Mysteries."

The existence of alignments between sites is easily demonstrated. The causes of these alignments are disputed. There are several major areas of interpretation:

Archaeological
A new area of archaeological study, archaeogeodesy, examines geodesy as practiced in prehistoric time and as evidenced by archaeological remains. One major aspect of geodesy is surveying. This method states that ley lines can be the product of ancient surveying, property markings or commonly travelled pathways. Both ancient and modern societies employ straight lines between points of use. Archaeologists have documented these traditions. Modern surveying also results in the placement of constructs in lines on the landscape. It is accepted that human constructs and activity areas to reflect human use of lines.

Cultural:
Many cultures use straight lines across the landscape. In South America, such lines are often directed towards mountain peaks. The Nazca lines are an example of lengthy lines made by ancient cultures. Straight lines connect ancient pyramids in Mexico. Today modern roads built on the ancient roads deviate around massive pyramids. The Chaco culture of North Eastern New Mexico cut stairs into sandstone cliffs to keep roads straight.

The New Age approach: magical and holy lines
Some writers that are regarded as pseudoscientific claim that ley lines and their intersection points resonates psychic or magical energy. These theories include elements such as geomancy; dowsing or UFOs stating that UFO's travel along ley lines in the same way that one might observe that cars use roads. Some believe these points on lines have electrical or magnetic forces associated with them.

Watkins' theories have been adapted by later writers. Some of his ideas were used by the occultist Dion Fortune who featured them in her 1936 novel The Goat-footed God. Since then, ley lines have become the subject of a few magical and mystical theories.

Two British dowsers, Captain Robert Boothby and Reginald Smith of the British Museum have linked the appearance of ley lines with underground streams and magnetic currents. Underwood conducted numerous investigations and claims that crossings of 'negative' water lines and positive aqua stats explain why certain sites were chosen as holy. He found many of these 'double lines' on sacred sites that he named them 'holy lines.'

Two German Nazi researchers Wilhelm Teudt and Josef Heinsch have claimed that ancient Teutonic peoples contributed to the construction of a network of astronomical lines called “Holy lines” (Heilige Linien). These could be mapped on to the geographical layout of ancient or sacred sites. Teudt located the Teutoburger Wald district in Lower Saxony, centred on the dramatic rock formation called Die Externsteine as the centre of Germany. Nazism employed the idea of superiority and associated Aryan descent with ancient higher cultures with little regard for archaeological or historic fact.

By the 1960s, the ideas of a landscape crossed with straight lines had become conflated with ideas from many geomantic traditions. According to New Age geomancers, mapping ley lines can foster harmony with the Earth or reveal pre-historic trade routes. John Michell's writing can be seen as an example of this. He has referred to the whole face of China as being heavily landscaped in accordance with Feng Shui. Michell has claimed that Neolithic people recognised that harmony of society depended on the harmony of the earth force. In China, ancient Greece and Scotland men built their temples where the forces of the earth were most powerful.

A sceptical approach: chance alignments
Sceptics of ley lines often classify them as pseudoscience. Some sceptics doubt that ley lines were planned or made by ancient cultures. They argue that apparent ley lines can be explained without resorting to extraordinary or pseudoscientific ideas.

Some sceptics have suggested that ley lines do not exist and are a product of the human imagination. Watkins' discovery happened at a time when Ordnance Survey maps were being marketed for the leisure market. These made them reasonably cheap and easy to obtain. This may have been a contributing factor to the popularity of ley line theories.

Given the high density of historic and prehistoric sites in Britain and other parts of Europe, finding straight lines that connect sites is trivial and may be attributed to coincidence. It is debated whether all ley lines can be accounted for in this way or whether there are more such lines than would be expected by chance.

Regarding the trade route theories, sceptics point out that straight lines do not make ideal roads in all circumstances. This is particularly true where they ignore topography and require users to march up and down hills or mountains or to cross rivers at points where there is no bridge.

Are alignments and ley lines the same thing?
The existence of observed alignments is not controversial. Both believers in magical and ancient theories of ley lines and sceptics of these theories agree that alignments exist between megaliths and ancient sites.

Most sceptics believe that their null hypothesis of ley-line-like alignments is due to random chance and is consistent with the evidence. They believe that this consistency removes the need to offer an explanation of alignments in any other way. Some Chaos Magicians share the same views with that approach. They claim it to be in accord with their generative view of chance. Others believe other theories are needed to explain the observed evidence.

In discussing the arguments for and against the chance presence of ley lines it is useful to define what is meant by ley line. One definition that expresses the generally accepted meaning of Watkins' ley lines defines them as:

A set of points, chosen from a given set of landmark points, all of which lay within at least an arc of 1/4 degree.

Watkins remarked that if this is accepted as the degree of error, then:

“If only three accidentally placed points are on the sheet, the chance of a three point alignment is 1 in 720. But this chance by accidental coincidence increases so rapidly in geometric progression with each point added that if ten mark points are distributed haphazard on a sheet of paper, there is an average probability that there will be one three point alignment.

If only two more points are added to make twelve points, there is a probability of two three point alignments. It is clear that a three point alignment must not be accepted as proof of a ley by itself, as a fair number of other eligible points are usually present. A ley should not be taken as proved with less than four good mark-points. Three good points with several others of less value like cross roads and coinciding tracks may be sufficient.” The Leyhunter's Manual (page 88), 1927

One should also remember that lines and points on a map cover wide areas on the ground. With 1:63360 (1-inch-to-the-mile) maps a 1/100-inch (1/4 mm) wide line represents a path over 50 feet (15 m) across. In travelling across a sheet, an angle of 1/4 degree encompasses approximately an additional 600 feet (200 m).

Controversy
The demonstration of the plausibility of the evidence under the null hypothesis does not disprove ley line claims. It does make sceptics more likely to consider ley line theories as unsupported by the current evidence.

Many sceptics are willing to reconsider the hypothesis of ley lines if there were non-anecdotal evidence of physical, geomagnetic or archaeological features that lie along the lines. Sceptics believe that, to date, no such convincing evidence has been presented.

There is a broad range of beliefs about ley lines and a variety of theories about them. Many of these beliefs and theories are not falsifiable and are not amenable to the scientific method. Some people find ley lines compatible with a scientific approach but much of the literature is written by people actively oppose such an approach.

Scientific investigation
According to claims by researchers of ley line theories, some points along the lines possess a higher magnetic energy than the average geomagnetic intensity. Some geomantic researchers have investigated this by studying telluric currents, geomagnetism, and the Schumann resonance. So far the current data has proved to be inconclusive.

Ley lines in fiction
In a number of sword and sorcery universes ley lines are used as channels of subtle magical power. The intersections of which are sites of higher than usual magic energy. Examples of this can be seen in the Warcraft series of video games and the Magic: The Gathering card game series.

Alan Garner lists Watkins's The Old Straight Track in the appendix to The Moon of Gomrath as the inspiration for the Old Straight Track which is one of the core motifs of his book.

Pinvin Careless and his Lines of Force, a play by Peter Terson, has as its central character who is an old man that roams the country visiting sites on ley lines.

In the Palladium Books universe of role playing games, ley lines have been depicted by the authors as being unseen lines of magical energy. In games (such as Palladium Fantasy, Rifts and most recently Chaos Earth), these lines contain large amounts of Potential Psychic Energy (P.P.E.), from which magic and/or psychic characters can draw power to boost their own. Also, at points where two or more ley lines intersect an inter dimensional portal opens at the nexus. If a person steps through an open portal he is crossing through a tear in the space-time continuum. This can result in him ending up at another portal. This is usually one connected to one of the lines that composed the first portal miles away from where he started. The more ley lines intersecting at one point, the more powerful the portal. At very powerful ley line nexus points like those at the Bermuda Triangle, Calgary, and Saint Louis, the traveller may find himself crossing between planets, dimensions and time periods (past and future).

In the anime Outlaw Star, the Galactic Leyline is an ancient artefact that can apparently manipulate causality to general supernatural effects.

Ley lines appeared in Hellblazer No.15. The character Mercury explains to John Constantine that they are walking over a ley line which will give them a "positive charge".

In Doctor Strange's Shamballa Graphic Novel, the supreme mage must disrupt the sicken ley lines and restore the flux of arcane energy through the planet.

Robert Holdstock's novel Mythago Wood takes place in a small tract of primal forest (Ryhope Wood) that grows at a major intersection in the ley matrix. It won the World Fantasy Award for best novel.

Newly discovered "ley lines" outside the fictional village of Crybbe, set old evils against New Age in Phil Richman's Curfew.

Ley lines are discussed in Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum when the novel weaves telluric currents into the narrative and talks of ancient sacred sites as being transmitters or receivers of this energy. This is developed within the story to include modern structures such as the Eiffel Tower and linked to the overarching "conspiracy" or "The Plan". This is what underpins the novel. Ley lines were also used in the game Broken Sword: The Sleeping Dragon. A mad recluse and the Knights Templar attempt to gain power by standing at a convergence of ley lines. At that moment their power peaked and would surge through the Earth into the person being there at that precise time.

Ley lines were mentioned in the introduction of the game Watchmaker.

I n British comedian Bill Bailey's stand up routine "Part Troll" he suggests that Little Chefs were originally built on ley lines and then the roads came and connected them.

In the sprite comic 8-Bit Theatre, ley lines are referenced as powerful lines of magical energy that span the earth, forming nexus' when they intersect. The character Black Mage is said to be such a nexus.

Paragon City in City of Heroes is placed on a convergence of ley lines. This explains the amount of paranormal activity and the fact that there are so many heroes and villains.

In So Weird, Bricriu (inhabiting Jack) tells Fi that "they" are aware of her "sniffing around the ley lines."

In Harry Turtledove's Darkness Series, Ley lines are used as routes for magical transports analogus to trains and steamships.