Do places have power?

iBrian

iBrian

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I'm aware of the concept of Ley Lines, Song Lines, etc - but can there be other reasons that certain places have a sense of "power"?

I don;t know about anyone else, but places of hills, mountain, and solid rock seem to have a particular "feeling" about them - I'm talking about places I've been to, such as Scotland and the Isle of Man.

The flat glacial alluvial plains of East Yorkshire just don't have that same feeling. And even in my favourite places in the Yorkshire Wolds - Wharram Percy and Rievaux Abbey - the surroundings just don't evoke the same feelings as hoary grey rocks and mountains.

Is there something principly different about very rocky landscapes that conveys a certain sense of "something" with them - and if so, is this due entirely because of the sense of scale involved, or is it a much more primal connection?
 
I said:
I'm aware of the concept of Ley Lines, Song Lines, etc - but can there be other reasons that certain places have a sense of "power"?

I don;t know about anyone else, but places of hills, mountain, and solid rock seem to have a particular "feeling" about them - I'm talking about places I've been to, such as Scotland and the Isle of Man.

The flat glacial alluvial plains of East Yorkshire just don't have that same feeling. And even in my favourite places in the Yorkshire Wolds - Wharram Percy and Rievaux Abbey - the surroundings just don't evoke the same feelings as hoary grey rocks and mountains.

Is there something principly different about very rocky landscapes that conveys a certain sense of "something" with them - and if so, is this due entirely because of the sense of scale involved, or is it a much more primal connection?
Click to expand...

Large rocky expanses and mountainous areas tend to promote a feeling of smallness just as the ocean sometime can. That's the only psychological explination I can offer to you that seems the least bit relevant. This feeling of smallness can be interpreted by people - especially those who ascribe to a faith that revers the environment in some way - as an intuitive feeling of power and grandeur.

On the other hand, there are several places in the world that are neither especially hilly nor near oceans, and that have been ascribed as having some sort of mystical power about them. Glastonbury, for example, would be one of these such places. While I personally believe it entirely possible that such places - both the places that invoke a feeling of smallness and the various places of power that dot the globe - do hold power, I cannot attest to having ever felt it. I should like to one day travel the world and see the places for myself, but at present I can offer only speculation.
 
Blackpool Rocks

Gently Gazing Eyes said:
Large rocky expanses and mountainous areas tend to promote a feeling of smallness just as the ocean sometime can. That's the only psychological explination I can offer to you that seems the least bit relevant. This feeling of smallness can be interpreted by people - especially those who ascribe to a faith that revers the environment in some way - as an intuitive feeling of power and grandeur.



I've have not been to Blackpool, but I think it can give one a real buzz.
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Do places have power? They most certainly do and the reasons for their existence has absolutely nothing to do with people being awe struck by the scale or hugeness of the landscape. When we are awe struck by dramatic scenery the positive energies are generated from within us. But when our spirits are lifted by 'Earth Powers', our moods and thoughts are being influenced by external energies.

It was experiences with Earth Powers that first led me to become interested in pagan topics. Indeed, I do not really consider myself as being any category of Pagan, I am just a guy who enjoys hallucinogenic mushrooms with a tendency to question the meaning of things. Anyway Brian, it is true that many of the magic places that I like to visit are on the top of small hills. However, I can think of many power spots that are not sited upon hills. As for your speculation on the geological processes affecting whether an area of land is magic or not, consider this. Take a large square chunk of rock with a constant concentration of energy flowing/contained within it. Now take some tremendous pressures and squash this rock into an entirely new shape containing various troughs and mounds. As well as having a very much altered rock shape containing troughs, peaks, and faults, would you not also have very altered concentrations of energy contained within or flowing through the rock? My idea of Leylines is that they are energy paths or the 'energy creases' that have been formed in the land due to tectonic and other geological forces disturbing the constant energy flow channelling it into concentrated streaks and blobs. An example that backs up my idea about the formation of land powers is Iceland. As everyone knows, Iceland is a very geologically active island. Is it any great coincidence that the Icelandic still have a very strong tradition of 'faeries and evles' and other phenomena associated with earth powers? Of course, what takes a little more explaining is why each magic hill/den/spot seems to have a very individual mood of its own and whilst there are places that feel similar, just like people, there are no two magic places the same.

To give an example of a very intense magic place that is not situated upon rugged dramatic terrain, there is Canterbury Cathedral. If you ever plan on visiting Canterbury you should write to the cathedral stating that you are a worshipper travelling to the cathedral and that you wish to be let into the original underground church which is usually locked to members of the public. The original Christian church was built upon a very important ancient site of pagan worship. There is not a more calming, peaceful, and serene magic place that I know of in this whole country.
 
Absolutely, yes.

The place in Maine where I until recently lived is blessed by an enormous granite boulder which different people have sensed or dowsed independently, all reporting the place as being at the nexus of two sets of ley lines. The tingly feeling I, personally, get in any place or situation where subtle energies are present is unmistakeable at that site. We used to hold Wiccan ritual up there, and it was a favorite meditation place for me.

Here's a bit of science to go with the purely subjective feelings, though.

Several years ago, researchers devised a device that generated random events, using, first, nuclear decay, and, later, electronic white noise, to randomly create a positive or a negative signal--the effect of repeatedly flipping a coin, but much, MUCH faster, thousands of times per second. Experiments showed that people could affect the randomicity through intent, prayer, or concentration . . . i.e. make the numbers significantly less random [i.e. moving the results away from 50-50]through the power of mind alone.

More sophisticated experiments showed similar effects--loss of randomness--at key points in prayer services, Wiccan ritual, or sports events. When everyone is tuned in together, the REG registered the event by shifting significantly away from 50-50. This effect was demonstrated many, many times, often with multiple machines in use to check on one another. Perhaps the most amazing outcome resulted from leaving several machines running unattended in the lab. Researchers later found three specific peaks in the data for one particular morning, moments of increasing coherence in the event generation. When they checked, they found the indicated times marked the day when O.J. Simpson's verdict was televised; the times corresponded to the moment the pretrial commentary began [9:00 a.m. PST], to the time when actual coverage of the trial began [10:00 a.m. PST], and to the instant when the verdict was read aloud [about 10:12 p.m. PST]. Apparently, the fact that more people than ever before in history were watching an emotionally-charged event somehow "bent" the fabric of reality, as indicated by the REG results.

Portable REG devices have been taken into the field, where they have shown strong correlations of data indicating a reshaping of reality in various "places of power," including Stonehenge, other megalithic sites, certain Native American holy places, and certain churches [which in Europe are often built on much older recognized "power places"] such as Notre Dame and Chartres.

This information comes from "The Field," by Lynne McTaggart, which discusses these experiments in much greater detail. The book itself is about quantum physics and the maleable nature of reality. I find the data fascinating in its bearing on such notions as magic, psychic phenomenon, group consciousness, and "subtle energies."
--Bill
 
I said:
I'm aware of the concept of Ley Lines, Song Lines, etc - but can there be other reasons that certain places have a sense of "power"?

I don;t know about anyone else, but places of hills, mountain, and solid rock seem to have a particular "feeling" about them - I'm talking about places I've been to, such as Scotland and the Isle of Man.

The flat glacial alluvial plains of East Yorkshire just don't have that same feeling. And even in my favourite places in the Yorkshire Wolds - Wharram Percy and Rievaux Abbey - the surroundings just don't evoke the same feelings as hoary grey rocks and mountains.

Is there something principly different about very rocky landscapes that conveys a certain sense of "something" with them - and if so, is this due entirely because of the sense of scale involved, or is it a much more primal connection?
Click to expand...
Hey Brian,

Interesting thought. There is a place here in Maryland called the Grotto. It is located a few kilometers from the Pennsylvania border, in a town called Emmitsburg. On the land is the St. Marys University (a seminar for priests, and theologians primarily). This is also home to a replica of Our Lady of Lourdes. Mother Seton is buried there (as are my 1st gen American ancestors).

When I first approached the gates to this grotto, I felt a kind of physical pressure, very slight, yet there, like I was stepping from one world into another and passing a through a barrier separating the two. As I walked through the grotto, I felt something I can't describe except to say it was comforting and awesome...humbling in a way. I didn't tell anyone about my "feelings" on the issue, but when my parents came to visit, I knew I had to bring them there. My pop is one of the worlds biggest sceptics (he's a lawyer) ;) , and I decided to observe he and my mother's behavior while they were there.

The first thing my father said to us all was "you know, if I took one of those tombstones and used it as a sled in winter, I could fly all the way down the slope, of course I'd have to avoid the other head stones, but it would be a blast..." Coming from my eternally serious father, well you could have knocked me over with a feather. So, I asked him what he thought of the place, besides it being a potential tobogan run...?

"This is holy ground". He went on to explain that there are places on earth that are designated by God, or Cosmic decision, to be Holy and consecrated. He also pointed out that such places are never messed with by man. They are left natural. I asked him how he decided this conclusion. He said, "I don't think, I feel and know beyond doubt I am on Holy ground."

There is two other places that I have felt this "holy ground" and sensed apparition. The mountains of the Olympic Penninsula of Washington State, specifically near the towns of Port Angeles, and Sequim (pronounced "squim"). There, hot springs bubble from the earth's core, ferns and high old growth coniferous trees abound. Once while camping there, I swear I saw something like Henry Hudson and his merry men playing "ten pin" in a moss covered glade. I was sober, honest :D

But it felt like time stood still, while I was in the forest.

And finally, the land I live on. I literally live in the fields of Antietam, along the Monocacy River. And while suburban sprawl builds and attempts to encroach, there seems to be an unwritten, unspoken barrier between the housing and the area around this set of fields and river. Unlike any other "home" I've had in my life, I am loathe to leave for long periods of time, and so grateful to be back. I linger a little longer than I should before going to work, and can't wait to get home at the end of the day, and once my car wheels hit the gravel of the access, all troubles seem to melt away. When I speak of home, I have been often told that I have a half smile teasing my mouth, and a glint in my eye.

Do places have power? They have something Brian. It may be indescribable, but there is something there, something that touches the soul in a strange but comforting way.

v/r

Q
 
Oh Yes. Places have power.
People who have spiritual discernment could tell you of many places that have powers.

There are some places that look beautiful but have no life, no energy. There is a place here called Pt. Fermin and I love to go there. It is a park right on the cliff overlooking the ocean. On a clear day (which is a blessing here) you can see clear over into Catalina Island. Catalina Island is beautiful as well - you can see filthy air that loomes over the mainland quite well from there. But there is a place about 1/4 mile from Pt. Fermin where the Korean Bell rests. Whenever I go to the site of the Korean Bell, I am immediately compelled to spend time praying. I feel that way at the Grand Canyon too. And though it wasn't a comfort trip, I felt that way in alot of places that I drove through in Savannah Georgia, too. There are just some places that provokes a mysterious awe.
 
i agree withe everyone else here- yes, certain places do have a sort of "power" or "energy".

there are certain expanses of field i'll walk by that seem to glow... don't know how else to explain it. man-made places can give off an energy, as well, especially places of worship.
 
Come on people, we live in a world where almost all religions believe in one superior being, a God.. And people are the only living beings to have his energy, god is within us... Maybe we can sense and pick out things from the past, that it's all in your souls and body.... Nothing in material that contains energy or any godly power is my view. Only the human.
 
Postmaster,

You've forgotten God created the heavens and the earth. Anything that God created has power. God created man. When man creates, no doubt his power is in his creation. God did create man in His own image...
 
well maybe so.... Man I hate the fact I know nothing lol...

I'm very unstable in my thinking, there is only one thing I accpet in my life and that is that there is a God, I have built myself a good foundation of thoughts to back this up everytime.
 
Postmaster said:
Come on people, we live in a world where almost all religions believe in one superior being, a God.. And people are the only living beings to have his energy, god is within us... Maybe we can sense and pick out things from the past, that it's all in your souls and body.... Nothing in material that contains energy or any godly power is my view. Only the human.
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he, he, he, and you don't know Henry Hudson and his merry men...be careful Post, you might insult someone.;)

v/r

Q
 
Me offend anyone??? Nahhhhh :D

I should have a disclaimer or terms and conditions everytime I post :D
 
Not all religions consider the Divine to be exclusively transcendant or divorced from the material realm. Some religions consider the Divine to be immanent, which means that they believe the Divine is present in the physical realm.

Some, pantheists, believe that the Divine is present in all physical things. Panentheists believe that the Divine is present in all physical things but is also present in a transcendant realm at the same time.

Personally, I think that the panentheist view makes the most sense -- why would the Divine limit itself to just the transcendant, or just the physical?

Getting back to the topic of this thread, though, I do think that there are some places or objects where it's just easier for us fallible humans to notice the presence of the Divine. I think the Divine is still present everywhere else, just we aren't noticing it the same.
 
Yes, I believe places have power. I also think that different places have different levels and 'feelings' of power. I recently went to Dartmoor to Becky falls and that was...amazing. Very obvious energy, tingly, excitable. It made me feel like a 5 year old :rolleyes: I've also heard that some places have very negative energy...hmmm...something like the Rollright Stones? They apparently feel very...dark.
 
I'll have to watch out for that if I'm ever down Dartmoor way - and welcome to CR, Spritey. :)
 
Places have power, though whether it is because of people investing their power in them or another reason, who knows? Dalai Lama reportedly when he visited Lourdes proclaimed that he could feel the "spiritual power" there...a transreligion experience. I'm of celtic extraction (by way of Norwegian ancestory;) ) and, of course in the Celtic tradition predating Christianity, though purportedly initially absorbed into it, it was common to speak of "thin places," where the infinite and the finite, the temporal and the eternal, the sacred and the mundane would seem to merge as the "veil thinned." The Celtic love of creation/nature certainly carried over into some of the thinking of Celtic Christianity.

The "Deer's Cry," from St. Patrick's Breastplate:

"I arise today,
Through the stength of Heaven:
Light of Sun, radiance of Moon, splendor of Fire,
Speed of Lightening, swiftness of Wind, depth of Sea,
Stability of Earth, firmness of Rock.

I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me:
God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me,
God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me.
From all who shall wish me ill, afar and anear,
Alone and in a multitude.
Against every cruel and merciless power
that may oppose my body and my soul.

Christ be with me, Christ be before me,
Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left.
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me.

I arise today."

May Irish eyes smile upon you, Earl
 
That's lovely, Earl.

My experience is that places definitely have power. There are different energies to certain places. Some natural places do feel like "thin places," as Earl puts it. They contain a feeling that one is close to somewhere else, what some would call the Otherworld, or another reality. I don't know what to call it, I just know what it feels like. Some natural places have tremendous spiritual power for me and feel like "holy ground," as Q puts it. These places make me want to worship God, right then and there. Some places have positive or negative energies to them because of events that have happened there, because of the emotional investment put into the place. Old churches, for me, sometimes have that feeling. They don't feel the same as the natural "holy ground" places to me, but more like I can feel the energetic residue of hundreds and thousands of people's offerings of worship, praise, requests for help, etc. It's a residue of so many people's desire to connect with the spiritual over time. There are places I've been where there is the opposite- a distinct negative energy as a result of a history of war, prejudice, pain at a place. Sometimes it's so powerful that it is just overwhelming in its pain and grief for me. Sometimes there are resident nature spirits in a place, and these can impact the "feel" of it. Those places aren't in themselves a certain way, but rather it's more a collection of the nature spirits in the place. Old growth forests come to mind- it's not always the same feeling as the "holy ground" or "thin place" but sometimes feels different because of all the old trees and animals.

So I would say that places definitely have energy signatures and/or powers, and some feel almost like gates between worlds, or between heaven and earth, while other places feel like they possess a sort of emotional memory. I don't know if that makes sense- it can be difficult to explain how I sense a place.

And PM- many religions and arguably all indigenous/traditional religions recognize the power certain places had, as well as nature spirits. Many religions (including Pagan religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.) do not believe that humans are the only ones created "in God's image" or with God's unique stamp. For some of us, all of creation is sentient or at least has a life-force. It's OK that you do not respond to these energies, but they are still very real to those of us that can sense them. Everyone responds to the Divine (God, for you and me) differently, and some of us respond more to the transcendent aspect while others have an easier time with the immanent aspect.
 
path_of_one said:
That's lovely, Earl.

My experience is that places definitely have power. There are different energies to certain places. Some natural places do feel like "thin places," as Earl puts it. They contain a feeling that one is close to somewhere else, what some would call the Otherworld, or another reality. I don't know what to call it, I just know what it feels like. Some natural places have tremendous spiritual power for me and feel like "holy ground," as Q puts it. These places make me want to worship God, right then and there. Some places have positive or negative energies to them because of events that have happened there, because of the emotional investment put into the place. Old churches, for me, sometimes have that feeling. They don't feel the same as the natural "holy ground" places to me, but more like I can feel the energetic residue of hundreds and thousands of people's offerings of worship, praise, requests for help, etc. It's a residue of so many people's desire to connect with the spiritual over time. There are places I've been where there is the opposite- a distinct negative energy as a result of a history of war, prejudice, pain at a place. Sometimes it's so powerful that it is just overwhelming in its pain and grief for me. Sometimes there are resident nature spirits in a place, and these can impact the "feel" of it. Those places aren't in themselves a certain way, but rather it's more a collection of the nature spirits in the place. Old growth forests come to mind- it's not always the same feeling as the "holy ground" or "thin place" but sometimes feels different because of all the old trees and animals.

So I would say that places definitely have energy signatures and/or powers, and some feel almost like gates between worlds, or between heaven and earth, while other places feel like they possess a sort of emotional memory. I don't know if that makes sense- it can be difficult to explain how I sense a place.

And PM- many religions and arguably all indigenous/traditional religions recognize the power certain places had, as well as nature spirits. Many religions (including Pagan religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.) do not believe that humans are the only ones created "in God's image" or with God's unique stamp. For some of us, all of creation is sentient or at least has a life-force. It's OK that you do not respond to these energies, but they are still very real to those of us that can sense them. Everyone responds to the Divine (God, for you and me) differently, and some of us respond more to the transcendent aspect while others have an easier time with the immanent aspect.
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Thanks for your reply path-of-one: neeedless to say, share your view, (frankly, I'd love to hear increasingly more re your mystical experiences-I'm a believer done haven't been there/done that; more of a wanna be, though I accept "whatever God gives me." The last part of the "Deer's Cry," also reminds me of the verse from the Navajo Night Way chant:

"In beauty, may I walk.
All day long, may I walk.
Through the returning seasons, may I walk.
Beuatifully will I possess again.
Beautifully birds.
Beautifully joyful birds
On the trail marked with pollen, may I walk.
With grasshoppers about my feet, may I walk.
With dew about my feet, may I walk.
With beauty, may I walk.
With beauty before me, may I walk.
With beauty behind me, may I walk.
With beauty above me, may I walk.
With beuaty all around me, may I walk.
In old age, wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age, wandering wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.
It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty."

The "Beauty Way," for the Navajo essentially meant to harmonize oneself with the True and the Good, the Tao, etc.

May we all walk in beauty, Earl
 
I think that Path_Of_One hit the nail right on the head. Energy signatures is really the best way to describe why places have power. I believe that places of power have that power because someone deemed it so special, so awe inspiring or so terrible that they transferred their energy and or emotions to the place. This is extremely evident to me when I sew at my grandmother's sewing machine. I inherited it from her when she died and it sits in a corner with all of the things I inherited from her and my grandfather on their passing. Because she put so much energy into that sewing machine when she was alive-she adored it so much none of us were allowed to touch it unless she was worrying over our shoulders-that her energy signature is permanantly imprinted onto the machine. When I sit at it to sew, I am always flooded with images of my grandmother sewing there. She also looks over my shoulder still, but this time she's not worrying.

I have also found this evident in a couple of graveyards I used to hang out in when I was in college in Louisiana. There was always one or two graves that were just brighter and happier feeling than the others. And there was one in particular that had a feeling of loss and terror. That one dated back to the times when people were often buried alive on accident.

Guen ~:)
 
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