Most of us believe that our ancestors, when they stopped being nomadic and became sedentary, more than 10,000 years ago, practically did not move from the area in which they had settled. Many of us were amazed when Ötzi’s remains were found in the Alps, confirming that our ancestors traveled between communities. This leads to the question, how did they find their way? What knowledge did they have? Some have believed they found the answer in the Ley Lines, the mysterious alignments that mark ancestral paths.
In we have told you about one of the Ley Lines most famous in the world, the one known as the San Miguel Line or «micaelic alignment». It is truly amazing how all those churches dedicated to the archangel follow a straight line through Europe until they reach Israel. If you want to know more about it, you can read it in this article: Línea de San Miguel | The mysterious line between sanctuaries of the world.
Ley Lines, mysterious alignments that mark ancestral paths
Before analyzing what the Ley Lines, it is necessary to point out that many historians and geographers do not believe in them and think that they are nothing more than casual alignments. That anyone can choose a concept and, on a map, draw Ley Lines choosing or discarding the places of interest to establish a pattern. Other people, however, believe that they really exist and their origin can be both natural, due to underground energy currents, or follow spiritual paths.
Ley Lines «are those that can be drawn by joining places of historical or geographical interest that have a common denominator». The concept arose in 1921 from the hand of the amateur archaeologist Alfred Watkins. He discovered that many important ancient sites, whether natural or man-made, were aligned according to a pattern that generally drew a straight line. He called those alignments Ley Lines. His discoveries were initially focused on certain areas of the United Kingdom, but later they were expanded to other places in the world and his followers gave these paths an esoteric or spiritual meaning. Those who believe in this theory think that there are numerous lines that intersect on the globe as parallels and meridians based on rivers of supernatural energy or energy channels. On these lines there are special natural formations or monuments have been built and at these points there are pockets of concentrated energy that some people can take advantage of.
For the followers of this current of thought, the first discoverers and enhancers of these Ley Lines They were the ancient druids. These marked certain places with menhirs or dolmens, since they had a particularly beneficial condition for those supposed telluric currents that ran through the lines. There they performed rituals and ceremonies. In addition, they marked paths that our ancestors could follow to travel between very distant communities. The druids believed themselves to be children of that «cosmic serpent» or current that crossed the earth and the sky and in those areas they believed they received both physical and spiritual benefits. They also claim that many Christian churches were later built along those roads.
The term Ley Lines was coined by Watkins. It is because the name of most of the places where these lines crossed or ended, in the United Kingdom, which is where he began his research, ended in -ley, -leigh or -ly. This ending meant, in the language of the ancient Anglo-Saxons, «clean land» or «clear land» or meadow and marked the route of ancient commercial or processional routes. They are also known as «Luminous Lines.»
To identify one of these Ley Lines, Watkins believed that he should start on a promontory and from there look for elements of the landscape such as long roads, dolmens, menhirs, moats, ponds, springs, castles, churches, crossroads, marks on hills and other elements. Since then, many people have dedicated themselves to searching for Ley Lines around the world. In addition to the already mentioned St. Michael’s Line that crosses Europe, there is another smaller one that also links sanctuaries dedicated to the archangel and that crosses Great Britain. Here you have a map.
This is not the only Ley Line identified by Watkins’ followers in Britain. Another well-known one is the one that crosses the crests of the Malvern Hills from St. Ann’s Well in Worcestershire and passes through several places famous for their springs.
There are other ley lines marked in Belgium, France, Portugal, Malta and many other places in the world. Have you heard about the Ley Lines? What opinion do you have? Do you think these are alignments really related to spiritual or telluric forces or are they simply the result of chance? Do you think that search engines of those Ley Lines Do they only mark those places that interest them to constitute their magical path? We look forward to your comments! If you want to know other curious and magical places in the world, we invite you to read the post: The terrifying Paths of the Dead | Superstitions and legends.