Changes

[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Celtic-article-graphic.jpg|right|frame]]

[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Celtic-article-graphic.jpg|right|frame]]

'''Ley lines''' are alleged alignments of a number of places of [[geographical]] interest, such as ancient [[monuments]] and [[megaliths]], natural ridge-tops and water-fords. Their [[existence]] was suggested in 1921 by the amateur archaeologist [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Watkins Alfred Watkins], in his books ''Early British Trackways'' and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Straight_Track ''The Old Straight Track'']. Watkins theorized that these alignments were created for ease of overland trekking by line of sight [[navigation]] during [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic neolithic] times and had [[persisted]] in the [[landscape]] over millennia. In more recent times, the term ley lines has come to be [[associated]] with [[spiritual]] and [[mystical]] [[theories]] about land forms, including Chinese [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui feng shui].

'''Ley lines''' are alleged alignments of a number of places of [[geographical]] interest, such as ancient [[monuments]] and [[megaliths]], natural ridge-tops and water-fords. Their [[existence]] was suggested in 1921 by the amateur archaeologist [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Watkins Alfred Watkins], in his books ''Early British Trackways'' and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Straight_Track ''The Old Straight Track'']. Watkins theorized that these alignments were created for ease of overland trekking by line of sight [[navigation]] during [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic neolithic] times and had [[persisted]] in the [[landscape]] over millennia. In more recent times, the term ley lines has come to be [[associated]] with [[spiritual]] and [[mystical]] [[theories]] about land forms, including Chinese [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui feng shui].

==Alfred Watkins and The Old Straight Track==

==Alfred Watkins and The Old Straight Track==

The [[concept]] of "ley lines" is generally thought of in relation to Alfred Watkins, although the stimulus and background for the concept is attributed to the English astronomer [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Lockyer Norman Lockyer]. On 30 June 1921, Watkins visited [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwardine Blackwardine] in Herefordshire, and went horseriding near some hills in the vicinity of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bredwardine Bredwardine], when he noted that many of the footpaths there seemed to connect one hilltop to another in a straight line. He was [[studying]] a map when he noticed places in alignment. "The whole thing came to me in a flash", he later told his son. It has been suggested that Watkins' [[experience]] stemmed from faint [[memories]] of an account in September 1870 by William Henry Black given to the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Archaeological_Association British Archaeological Association] in Hereford titled ''Boundaries and Landmarks'', in which he speculated that "Monuments exist marking grand geometrical lines which cover the whole of Western Europe".[7]

The [[concept]] of "ley lines" is generally thought of in relation to Alfred Watkins, although the stimulus and background for the concept is attributed to the English astronomer [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Lockyer Norman Lockyer]. On 30 June 1921, Watkins visited [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwardine Blackwardine] in Herefordshire, and went horseriding near some hills in the vicinity of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bredwardine Bredwardine], when he noted that many of the footpaths there seemed to connect one hilltop to another in a straight line. He was [[studying]] a map when he noticed places in alignment. "The whole thing came to me in a flash", he later told his son. It has been suggested that Watkins' [[experience]] stemmed from faint [[memories]] of an account in September 1870 by William Henry Black given to the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Archaeological_Association British Archaeological Association] in Hereford titled ''Boundaries and Landmarks'', in which he speculated that "Monuments exist marking grand geometrical lines which cover the whole of Western Europe".[7]

<center>For lessons on the [[topic]] of '''''Ley Lines''''', follow [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Ley_Lines '''''this link'''''].</center>

<center>For lessons on the [[topic]] of '''''Ley Lines''''', follow [https://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Category:Ley_Lines '''''this link'''''].</center>

Watkins believed that, in ancient times, when Britain was far more densely [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest forested], the country was criss-crossed by a network of straight-line [[travel]] routes, with prominent features of the [[landscape]] being used as [[navigation]] points. This [[observation]] was made [[public]] at a meeting of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolhope_Naturalists%27_Field_Club Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club] of Hereford in September 1921. His work referred to G. H. Piper's paper presented to the Woolhope Club in 1882, which noted that: "A line drawn from the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ysgyryd_Fawr Skirrid-fawr] mountain northwards to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur%27s_Stone,_Herefordshire Arthur's Stone] would pass over the camp and southern most point of Hatterall Hill, Oldcastle, Longtown Castle, and Urishay and Snodhill castles." The ancient [[survey]]ors who supposedly made the lines were given the name "[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodmen dodmen]". He believed that the lines themselves had been called "leys" because so many of them passed through locations whose names included the element "ley",[9] stating that [[philologists]] defined the [[word]] (spelled also as lay, lea, lee, or leigh) differently but had misinterpreted it.

Watkins believed that, in ancient times, when Britain was far more densely [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest forested], the country was criss-crossed by a network of straight-line [[travel]] routes, with prominent features of the [[landscape]] being used as [[navigation]] points. This [[observation]] was made [[public]] at a meeting of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woolhope_Naturalists%27_Field_Club Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club] of Hereford in September 1921. His work referred to G. H. Piper's paper presented to the Woolhope Club in 1882, which noted that: "A line drawn from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ysgyryd_Fawr Skirrid-fawr] mountain northwards to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur%27s_Stone,_Herefordshire Arthur's Stone] would pass over the camp and southern most point of Hatterall Hill, Oldcastle, Longtown Castle, and Urishay and Snodhill castles." The ancient [[survey]]ors who supposedly made the lines were given the name "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodmen dodmen]". He believed that the lines themselves had been called "leys" because so many of them passed through locations whose names included the element "ley",[9] stating that [[philologists]] defined the [[word]] (spelled also as lay, lea, lee, or leigh) differently but had misinterpreted it.

==Attribution of spiritual significance to ley lines==

==Attribution of spiritual significance to ley lines==

In 1969, the British author [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Michell_(writer) John Michell], who had previously written on the subject of [[UFO]]s, published ''The View Over Atlantis'', in which he revived Watkins' ley line theories and linked them with the Chinese concept of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui feng shui]. The [[book]], published by Sago Press, proved popular and was reprinted in Great Britain by Garnstone Press in 1972 and Abacus in 1973, and in the United States by Ballantine Books in 1972. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Valentine_Lachman Gary Lachman] states that The View Over Atlantis "put Glastonbury on the countercultural map." Ronald Hutton describes it as "almost the founding document of the modern [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_mysteries earth mysteries] movement".

In 1969, the British author [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Michell_(writer) John Michell], who had previously written on the subject of [[UFO]]s, published ''The View Over Atlantis'', in which he revived Watkins' ley line theories and linked them with the Chinese concept of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng_shui feng shui]. The [[book]], published by Sago Press, proved popular and was reprinted in Great Britain by Garnstone Press in 1972 and Abacus in 1973, and in the United States by Ballantine Books in 1972. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Valentine_Lachman Gary Lachman] states that The View Over Atlantis "put Glastonbury on the countercultural map." Ronald Hutton describes it as "almost the founding document of the modern [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_mysteries earth mysteries] movement".

After Michell's success at mingling Watkins' amateur archaeology with Chinese spiritual concepts of land-forms, the 1970s saw many newly emerging theories about the alignments of monuments and natural landscape features by writers who made use of Watkins' terminology in service of concepts related to [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing dowsing] and [[New Age]] [[beliefs]], including the [[idea]] that ley lines have [[spiritual]] [[power]]  or that ley lines and their intersection points resonate a special [[psychic]] or mystical energy. Ascribing such characteristics to ley lines has led to the term being classified as [[pseudoscience]].[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ley_lines]

After Michell's success at mingling Watkins' amateur archaeology with Chinese spiritual concepts of land-forms, the 1970s saw many newly emerging theories about the alignments of monuments and natural landscape features by writers who made use of Watkins' terminology in service of concepts related to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dowsing dowsing] and [[New Age]] [[beliefs]], including the [[idea]] that ley lines have [[spiritual]] [[power]]  or that ley lines and their intersection points resonate a special [[psychic]] or mystical energy. Ascribing such characteristics to ley lines has led to the term being classified as [[pseudoscience]].[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ley_lines]

[[Category: Geography]]

[[Category: Geography]]