Raptor Cam Tracking

It was brought to my attention recently that The Amateur Falconer is currently undertaking a study of the movement of a falcon using as a tracking device the revolutionary RaptorCam.

I have offered my knowledge about ley lines and earth mysteries to explain the movements of this magnificent creature. (See my archived post: Flight Paths and Magnetic Fields)

Watch this space...

Equinoctial Extract from Iain Sinclair's 'Lud Heat'

             sits
the coat of darkness, wondering
if he would ever write it
             a small
                       hand of light
             melancholy
turkey wafer swells in his throat

in another room the electric serial
             loud & raw
has taken something from his eye

"pray stick to the point"
             the sentinel wood
lime, sycamore, london plane
the immigrant sails
                                   recording night breezes
an enclosure of persecutory bulbs

             the cat
is claimed is pregnant the white hairs
of fear mark my shirt
             so many call
so many coffees wines

these are the summer words
             & if he works
it is not all because he has to
             face down
along the curve of falling energies

there is nothing more
                                    or less
than to become unconscious

to hood this day's falcon

Spring Thames Walk to Old Rotherhithe

Flight Paths and Magnetic Fields

For many years, certainly since the publication of John Michell's seminal Flying Saucer Vision, it has been widely believed by ley hunters and enthusiasts that so called ley lines are aligned with electromagnetic currents beneath the earth's crust, a view which has long been dismissed by the scientific-archaelogo-academic complex. But is the tide turning? The direction of scientific research and seems to be edging ever closer to that of the divine and the mysterious.

Magnetite is a naturally occurring iron-oxide mineral that is produced in pure crystalline form in the bodies of many organisms including human beings (e.g., magnetotactic microbes, insects, molluscs, fish, birds, mammals). It forms the basis of biophysical mechanism of magnetic field detection, which aids in orientation and navigation. Ingestion of magnetite from exogenous sources is generally held to have a detrimental effect on human health. (source here) However, some researchers have also posited that endogenous magnetite particles may have some role to play in the long term storage of information in the brain.

Magnetite molecule

It is now beyond doubt that magnetic fields have been guiding humans and animals alike since the since the development of central nervous systems. Much research has been conducted on the effect of electromagnetic fields on human tissue, and has been linked with the physical effects described in many paranormal experiences. These fields can induce sensations, stimulating nerves and muscles in the human body. No wonder large neolithic sites like Avebury are situated on such confluences of leys; they are the prime sites of electromagnetic mingling.

Avebury Henge and its sacred geometry (attrib.David Furlong)

Modern Neolithic Long Barrow

A new Long Barrow has been constructed by Tim Daw at All Cannings, built in the traditional from local stone. The tomb is available for the storing of urns and is open for public worship on the equinoxes and solstices.

https://www.thelongbarrow.com/

New Edition of Lud Heat

Regular readers will no doubt be thrilled to hear about the announcement of a new edition of Iain Sinclair's legendary and long-out-of-print text Lud Heat, a major inspiration for Ackroyd's Hawksmoor and countless psychogeographers and ley-hunters since. For many years, and for those of us without the spare £500 the first edition now commands on eBay, it was available only as an appendage to Sinclair's other short works, shorn of the illustrations and photographs which were included in the 1975 text. Skylight press' new version restores the text (with an albeit inferior cover design.) Exciting news indeed!

Remembering John Michell (1933-2009)

Readers will be saddened to hear of the loss of one of esotericism's guiding figures. Not only was he a pioneer in the field of Earth Mysteries, but he was a bastion of the counter culture, a true polymath and above all a kind and generous soul. I met him very briefly after a talk he gave at FortFest 1998, and upon mentioning my teenage epistolary correspondences with him some decade or so before he said he remembered my name and still has my letters filed away somewhere. I was too awestruck to consider whether this was true or not! Needless to say, his work was a major influence on this blog.

If you haven't already, grab yourself a copy of his seminal The Flying Saucer Vision and View Over Atlantis.

(Here is a clip of John at his humorous best, from the very talk after which I met him - apologies for the poor audio quality: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMFthcRnXQ)