Journal of Geomancy vol. 2 no. 2, January 1978

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THE EDITOR’S NOTEPAD: OR MISCELLANEA ARIZING

There has recently been a revival in the ideas of Arthur Lawton, expounded in the 1930s, that the ley-system of Watkins, Heinsch and their allies is in reality an outward manifestation of an energy-system, detectable by dowsing.  Others, such as Larry Arnold (Fortean Times Nr. 23; 1977) have linked the ghastly phenomenon of Spontaneous Human Combustion, where people just catch fire without warning and burn to death, with alinements of sites.  They have been called ‘Fire Leynes’ by this writer.  Orthotenies, of UFO sightings or trajectories, too, have been linked with terrestrial geometry, as has another phenomenon or non-phenomenon, the alleged Bermuda Triangle.  What is of interest to students of geomancy is the connexion between all these claims, if any.  It would be rewarding to see some kind of reasonable analysis made, rather, than a half-thought-out idea being put forward, as so often is, as ‘gospel’ truth.  Power failures, such as the notorious 1965 blackout in New York, too, have been connected with everything from the Little People to extraterrestrials getting a free tankful of energy from the power grids.  The editor, being a staunch supporter of Light Rapid Transit systems, recently came across a strange event which took place in 1932 in South Shields.  At 5.30pm on October 3d in that year, there was a sudden failure of power on three of the six sections of the South Shields tramway system.  Trams on the lines from Cleadon to Westoe, the Mile End Road, and from Pier Head to Station Bank via the Market, came to a halt.  All the feeders and section boxes on the power supply were checked, and found to be in order.  The Corporation Power Station at Holborn was checked and it was found that all was operating normally, the station was sending out the usual amount of power for the Rush Hour.  Eventually, the power suddenly came on again without warning on the Westoe line at about 6.40pm, and at 6.50pm on the Pier Head and Station Bank lines.  The failure was never accounted.  Austin Baker, the Tramways manager, could find nothing to account for the failure, even though he inspected all feeders and section boxes.  This event is documented, with dates and times and places.  If some enterprising student of earth energies, strange phenomena or the like is interested in following it up, the event might show some coherent pattern with relation to place, time, astronomy etc. 

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THE INSTITUTE is putting on a display of the Geomancy of Britain as part of the central exhibit at the Festival of Mind and Body at Olympia, which is being held at the end of April and the beginning of May this year.  The exhibit, which will be 2 × 4 metres in size, covers the whole of Britain and will concentrate on the landscape geometry and the juxtaposition of Britain’s known and suspected terrestrial zodiacs.  Further details will be in Journal of Geomancy 2/3 in April.  As the main cost of the exhibit will be borne by several private individuals in the IGR, any donations would be gladly received, and duly acknowledged in the Journal.  The festival will bring the work of the IGR to a wider public, and a bookstall will carry our publications, including the Journal.  ........................................................................................................................

IGR member Prudence Jones is now translating a recently-rediscovered series of papers on geomancy and astroarchaeology published in Germany between 1909 and 1943, which the IGR hopes to publish before the end of 1978.  In this issue, the works of Prof. Hopmann, in the next Friedrich Mössinger and Dr Siegfried Sieber on mazes.  Journal 2/3 will be a metrology issue, and will contain extracts from the rare work Ideal Metrology by Hermon Gaylord Wood, an American metrologist of the early part of this century.  IGR has also obtained the complete works of Dr Rudge and several other forgotten research papers which will be printed in due course.  Fenris-Wolf Publications has just produced the definitive edition of Dr Josef Heinsch’s Principles of Prehistoric Sacred Geography, which is now available from the IGR @ 50p per copy.  {22}

PUTTING IN THE SASQUATCH

In 1975, the United States magazine the Humanist sent to every newspaper in North America a statement endorsed by 186 scientists which claimed that there was no scientific basis for astrology.  Two years later, the magazine noted the ‘regrettable fact’ that, despite their ex cathedra statement “very few, (if any), newspapers have dropped their astrology columns”.  With this abject failure as a spur, a new committee has been formed to ‘combat the public’s propensity for belief in the supernatural’.  Under the blanket heading of the ‘supernatural’, this body, the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (note the claims), attacks the following: astrology, parapsychology, faith healing, life after death, UFOs, ancient astronauts, astral projexion, Atlantis, Kirlian photography, exorcism, pyramid power, poltergeists, psychic plants, sasquatches, yetis and their allies, and the Bermuda Triangle, to name but a few! 

Our field, obviously, comes under the scrutiny of such people as these, who have been quoted as saying (of interest in any of the above) “It’s a very dangerous phenomenon, dangerous to science, dangerous to the basic fabric of our society”.  (Lee Nisbet, editor of the Humanist).  In order to further their crusade on behalf of dialectical materialism, this committee has published a magazine, the Zetetic, a name derived from that given to the followers of the ancient Greek sceptic philosopher Pyrrho.  Fear of the ‘rising tide of occultism’ has led Nisbet to state, in a most unscientific manner which expresses admirably the degree of objectivity in his approach “We feel it is the duty of the scientific community to show that these beliefs are utterly screwball”. 

This committee and its organ must be seen in the context of the increasing degree of censorship in science.  The last issue of Journal of Geomancy (2/1) reported the forthcoming ‘burning of books’ at the National Lending Library.  If unexplained phenomena, whether lights in the sky, dowsing, undescribed species of animal, destroyed cities of antiquity or unaccounted sources of energy are “utterly screwball” or “dotties at random”, then it is about time that the fundamental tenets of orthodox science were re-examined by these self-styled scientists, whose closed minds are themselves dangerous to true science. 

Even more ominous are the implications behind the ‘dangerous to the basic fabric of our society’ statement.  In effect, they are saying that regardless of the truth at the core of the matter, maintenance of the present orthodoxy is essential in order that the system as now constituted may continue in its present form, and because of this it must be defended – a far cry from the unbiased appraisal of facts upon which science was originally founded.  ........................................................................................................................

The Next One To Go?

The government of India is building a large oil refinery in Mathura, only 20 miles away from the Taj Mahal, one of the world’s greatest sacred buildings constructed entirely to geomantic principles.  The Indian government claims that the refinery will be equipped to trap any emissions of corrosive chemicals, but, as with any mechanical system from a watermill to Windscale, breakdowns must occur.  When this happens, harmful emissions will leak into the sky, threatening the Taj Mahal.  Sulphur dioxide, a common emission from refineries, when leaked into the atmosphere, links up with water vapour to form sulphuric acid.  As the Taj Mahal is made of calcium carbonate (marble), the reaction will be rapid and disastrous.  The Taj will first become pitted, then disintegrate completely.  Indian industrial licensing laws do not include pollution control standards, with the result that, several years ago, effluents from a public refinery literally set alight the sacred Ganges.  A committee has been set up to combat the refinery, and requires support from anywhere.  It can be contacted via Laxmipuram P. Srivatsa, Address, Basavanagudi, BANGALORE, Postcode, India.