My Journey to the Union of Heaven and Earth
by Elyn Aviva
Join me on a journey into the unknown, where what you think you know melts away and is replaced by something something bigger.
For decades I have been drawn to sacred sites and powerful places, drawn to go on pilgrimage across France and Spain, drawn to place my feet in the footsteps of if not my ancestors then of the ancestors of spirit who have traveled these paths before me. Like iron pulled toward a magnet, I have sought out well- and little-known places of power ancient stone circles, half-buried dolmens, ruined Romanesque chapels, spire-topped inspiring cathedrals, thick forests, hidden holy wells, dark sacred caves. Seeking I knew not what, going I knew not why, except that I was driven by a simple but all-consuming question: What are these places? I think I hoped that, by going to enough of them, I would find the answer.
The first time I knew I was in a very powerful place was when I saw the alignments at Carnac in Brittany, France. My husband, Gary, and I had driven through the flat Breton maritime pine forest toward the coast. The nearly straight road reached a crossroad and there, behind green metal fencing, were rows of large, upright stones, some as tall as a person, stretching in rows as far as the eye can see. Brakes screeching, we pulled over. I jumped out and ran across the lane, twining my fingers through the barrier to get as close as I could. What were they? Who put them here? What purpose did they serve?
And thus began a journey of discovery, a gradual journey from skepticism to belief with conclusions based not on faith but on experience.
This journey has had many twists and turns, meandering its way with guidance from unexpected sources. For example, years ago Gary and I visited the Romanesque cathedral in Le Puy en Velay, in south-central France, its stunning fa ade constructed of alternating layers of beige sandstone and black volcanic breccia. Le Puy is the starting point for one of the four medieval pilgrimage Ways of St. James that spread like fingers of a hand across France to the Pyrenees, where they join the Camino de Santiago.
A pleasant Frenchman whom we encountered in the cathedral offered to point out the hidden energies of the place. Of course we said yes, curious about what he meant. At one point he pulled out a pointed crystal pendulum attached to a short chain. I d never seen such a thing. My surprise was obvious, and he smiled. He told me to pull a hair out of my head, take off my wedding band, fasten the hair through the ring, and then, holding the end of the hair between two fingers, ask the ring to spin in one direction for yes, the opposite direction for no. Much to my amazement, it did.
He then had me stand over a place he said was an energy spot and ask the pendulum a specific question. The pendulum responded. How curious, I mused, as I unfastened the strand of hair and put my ring back on my finger. Perhaps I was just very suggestible, I chided myself, and then intentionally thought no more about it.
Despite my initial skepticism, I became seriously interested in earth energies because I wanted to learn more about powerful places and sacred sites. Gary and I began studying with several teachers who knew a lot about these topics. We learned there is a body of knowledge or more accurately, several bodies of knowledge called geomancy, Zahor Arts, Earth Mysteries, Feng Shui, etc. Some of this knowledge has been passed down through the millennia. Some of it is being rediscovered through modern research, including archaeo-astronomy computer programs, magnetometers, and other high-tech devices.
The megalith builders used some of this knowledge or gnowing, a term used by Sig Lonegren 4,000, 5,000, 6,000 years ago to construct complex stone circles, standing stones, and earth-covered stone enclosures oriented toward certain stars or marking the recurrent cycles of the sun or moon. Rather than being primitive folks who knew little, these ancient Master Builders knew a great deal much of which we have forgotten and are only now reclaiming. The Master Builders of Egyptian temples, medieval churches, and Gothic cathedrals used some of this knowledge to carefully situate and meticulously construct these sacred sites in order to create specific energetic and emotional experiences. These are places where Heaven (the Cosmos, Divine Consciousness) and the living Earth unite. It s not by chance you feel something in these places, nor is it a figment of your imagination.
Perhaps you doubt me. After all, I doubted myself too, years ago. It s only been through repeated exposure and diligent study that I have come to give credence to what I have experienced. Thanks to excellent teachers (including Dominique Susani, Sig Lonegren, and Ferran Blasco, with whom I have just written a book) I have learned not to take any of this on faith but also not to deny reality.
The original question that compelled me on my travels was, What are these sacred sites? After encountering a number of them and writing books and essays about them, my question expanded to something like, What is the relationship between me, the living Earth, and the Cosmos?
Ultimately, this journey has led me to reconsider what is reality. It is obviously much different from what I used to think. Much bigger, more expansive, vibrational more conscious, if you will. I have been to sacred sites where I have experienced our agreed-upon consensual reality suddenly changing. Like the time when, after marching rapidly around a stone circle, my companions and I could see something like smoke rising off the top of the stones.
Or where, after consciously, intentionally entering into a church and pausing in a deliberate way under various vaulted arches, I could feel a shift in my own energy. Or another time, when walking over a grassy lawn toward Wells Cathedral on a mist-filled night, I felt the cathedral as a sentient being not a human consciousness but nonetheless conscious.
Another time, standing on a spot inside a tiny eleventh-century church, I suddenly felt the walls dissolve around me and was catapulted into an expanded awareness where the I I thought I was had no boundaries and was floating in an immense, brightly lit darkness beyond time, space, and movement, beyond words. It was as if years of meditation practice had coalesced into a moment.
Over the years my question has changed to yet a different question, perhaps best summarized as Who am I? What is my true identity? Visiting sacred sites has expanded my awareness. It s not the only way to achieve this, but it has worked for me. As a result, my outer journey to powerful places has shifted to an inner journey into Consciousness and ultimately, to the recognition that, in fact, there is no outer and inner : there is only the sacred. Whenever we become aware and awake, we recognize that we are where Heaven and Earth unite.
Where Heaven and Earth Unite by Elyn Avivia and Ferran BlascoElyn Aviva and Ferran Blasco are co-authors of the new book, Where Heaven and Earth Unite: Powerful Places, Sacred Sites, and You.
PURCHASE Where Heaven and Earth Unite: Powerful Places, Sacred Sites and You.
Elyn is also co-author with her husband, Gary White, of Powerful Places Guidebooks. To learn more about their publications, go to www.powerfulplaces.com, www.powerfulplaces.info blog, and www.pilgrimsprocess.com.
Discover Elyn's fiber art at www.fiberalchemy.com.
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Reader Comments (12)
Sacred Space is a place where one can experience the unity of Heaven and Earth. It doesn't happen every time, but even once in a lifetime can open the door to that reality.
Elyn, This is such a special piece. I have forwarded it to several people and wish I could pull it out every time somebody asks
me why I am going here or there.
I also wish that I had your sensitivity and knowledge, but I'm a late starter.
Thank you for sharing so much of your experience with others.
Yes, Sig--once in a lifetime is enough! I feel blessed indeed to have had the experiences I've had and the teachers (including you) who have taught me so much.
Wendy--dear Wendy, I am very touched by your comments and grateful that what I write is of service. Sensitivity and knowledge comes with time and experience--and good teachers. That's why I wrote the book with Ferran--we include specific practices for developing the "body antenna" and for being present to a place so you CAN experience it more fully. Other than that, it's a matter of Grace.
Elyn, once again you have touched the sacred within me. Your writing catapults me into the magic of the present moment. I am blessed to walk this path with you on many levels and am grateful for your wisdom and truth.
Dear Marika--the blessing is mutual!
I enjoyed reading your piece. It reminded me of the first time I saw Stonehenge, before the barriers and busses. I felt as if I were being pushed toward the stones, then stopped, allowed to go no further. My heart pounded and I felt as if I might faint. I stayed where I was for what felt like a long time but was probably half an hour before I was able to move, backing away as if the stones commanded me to pay attention. I think one of the messages of these special places is that in order to feel we have to pay attention and to listen carefully.
Hi Nancy--what a wonderful experience to have had! And yes yes--being aware and awake during the approach to a sacred site is extremely important. In our book, Ferran has us walk very slowly down a path in the woods to a chapel, then pause near it but not too close so we can come into harmony with "the breathing pattern" of the place. We sat nearby and meditated for a while, listening and paying attention to our surroundings. Powerful stuff. Thank you for affirming the importance of this!
A wonderful article Elyn -- it's so inspiring to read about your experiences at sacred places and your insight into their transformative power. This directly relates to my interest in ex-votos and pilgrimage -- being a seeker and exploring art objects' healing energies. Your experience at the cathedral in Le Puy sounds fascinating -- I walked just a few legs of Via Podensis into St. Jean last summer but hope to go back to visit Le Puy, especially after hearing about what you found there.
"Where Heaven and Earth Unite" arrived this week and looking forward to learning more about your discoveries!
Beautiful reading Elyn, and certainly memory journey reading for me at many points. Since we met together gigantic changes.
From when I was 6 years old and for 54 years after I followed the stones, the stories, the celebration, the rituals wrote poems of my inspirations since I was about 8 years, was a stone mason on Iona for 12 years though my 20s and early 30s ... You bring me memories of those times, I travelled them again for a few minutes.
But 4 years ago now I had a massive stroke. As this happened spirit was shaken from my body and I was guided. I was severely shocked by what I was shown, an awful deception of the so called sacredness we were guided into, reverence for human actions we may call spiritual that were really hidden eco genocide. I will not take up more of your space on this
I returned to my body which was totally paralysed, and stayed that way for some days until the stroke faded from me and I was fully landed again. Today, I'm just fine.
I am now in the heart of a trilogy of books and music production CDs to explain as much of this guided journey as I can with Ogma's Tale of The Trees being the first.
You beautifully explain this in your own experiences here.
One example, the grassy lawn to Wells Cathedral and your feeling that none was there but the sacredness ... as if that lawn or cathedral did not need to be there. That's how I read it now, anyway.
In that journey during my stroke I was taken where limit of language calls me to describe as beyond alignments and geomancy.
Today I'm not really a follower of stone structures, stone relics, churches. I see alignments as something else and follow the trees, the water, the weather changes and those stories that incubate and morph from their dances together.
Even so I still visit the stone places, perhaps not out of my way now like I used to, but the stories of what was there before them and are still there are present, as they are not slaves of time, .... just as your beautiful article explains.
Thank you :-) xxx
Beautiful reading Elyn, and certainly memory journey reading for me at many points. Since we met together gigantic changes.
From when I was 6 years old and for 54 years after I followed the stones, the stories, the celebration, the rituals wrote poems of my inspirations since I was about 8 years, was a stone mason on Iona for 12 years though my 20s and early 30s ... You bring me memories of those times, I travelled them again for a few minutes.
But 4 years ago now I had a massive stroke. As this happened spirit was shaken from my body and I was guided. I was severely shocked by what I was shown, an awful deception of the so called sacredness we were guided into, reverence for human actions we may call spiritual that were really hidden eco genocide. I will not take up more of your space on this
I returned to my body which was totally paralysed, and stayed that way for some days until the stroke faded from me and I was fully landed again. Today, I'm just fine.
I am now in the heart of a trilogy of books and music production CDs to explain as much of this guided journey as I can with Ogma's Tale of The Trees being the first.
You beautifully explain this in your own experiences here.
One example, the grassy lawn to Wells Cathedral and your feeling that none was there but the sacredness ... as if that lawn or cathedral did not need to be there. That's how I read it now, anyway.
In that journey during my stroke I was taken where limit of language calls me to describe as beyond alignments and geomancy.
Today I'm not really a follower of stone structures, stone relics, churches. I see alignments as something else and follow the trees, the water, the weather changes and those stories that incubate and morph from their dances together.
Even so I still visit the stone places, perhaps not out of my way now like I used to, but the stories of what was there before them and are still there are present, as they are not slaves of time, .... just as your beautiful article explains.
Thank you :-) xxx
Beautiful reading Elyn, and certainly memory journey reading for me at many points. Since we met together gigantic changes.
From when I was 6 years old and for 54 years after I followed the stones, the stories, the celebration, the rituals wrote poems of my inspirations since I was about 8 years, was a stone mason on Iona for 12 years though my 20s and early 30s ... You bring me memories of those times, I travelled them again for a few minutes.
But 4 years ago now I had a massive stroke. As this happened spirit was shaken from my body and I was guided. I was severely shocked by what I was shown, an awful deception of the so called sacredness we were guided into, reverence for human actions we may call spiritual that were really hidden eco genocide. I will not take up more of your space on this
I returned to my body which was totally paralysed, and stayed that way for some days until the stroke faded from me and I was fully landed again. Today, I'm just fine.
I am now in the heart of a trilogy of books and music production CDs to explain as much of this guided journey as I can with Ogma's Tale of The Trees being the first.
You beautifully explain this in your own experiences here.
One example, the grassy lawn to Wells Cathedral and your feeling that none was there but the sacredness ... as if that lawn or cathedral did not need to be there. That's how I read it now, anyway.
In that journey during my stroke I was taken where limit of language calls me to describe as beyond alignments and geomancy.
Today I'm not really a follower of stone structures, stone relics, churches. I see alignments as something else and follow the trees, the water, the weather changes and those stories that incubate and morph from their dances together.
Even so I still visit the stone places, perhaps not out of my way now like I used to, but the stories of what was there before them and are still there are present, as they are not slaves of time, .... just as your beautiful article explains.
Thank you :-) xxx
Thank you, John, for your beautiful comments. And for your wonderful stories and labyrinth and guidance in the land of Eire! I didn't know the deeper part of your journey with the stroke and after--you have given much to think about.