Journal of Geomancy vol. 4 no. 1, October 1979
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Dragons are of perennial interest, as can be seen in this Journal. Just as the article above is one example of an approach to this mythological beast, so this book is another. Francis Huxley sees the dragon in its role as the animating principle of every place – a concept readily acceptable by every geomant. Drawing on dragonlore from all over the world, the author weaves a tapestry of dragonalia romping through mythologies and religious rites like a combine harvester through a wheatfield. The sirenic denizens of the rivers of England vie with the sacrificed of Africa. Odin rides with the best of them and Cernunnos surfaces as he is wont to do from time to time.
Lavishly illustrated with unusual pictures in both color, line and monochrome, the dragon is amply documented from both all times and all places. In alchemy, geomancy, tantra, christianity, Paganism and myth dragons of all complections ride forth, flames turned on, to battle with their adversaries.
This may not be the last word in dragon
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books (perhaps there never will be), but for its illustrations alone it is worth every penny. Dragonlore could support a
whole research institute – the Institute of Dragonology? – but until this dream becomes reality, books such
as The Dragon will carry the torch of dragonalia to an avid public.
Gabriel Wedmore
Megalithic Europe is a subject seemingly inexhaustible. Thousands of stones arranged with the most intricate accuracy in baffling patterns related not only to local topography but also to the apparent movements of the heavens. In Megaliths and their Mysteries the authors move away from the well-worn track of Avebury and Stonehenge. This book deals with European megaliths, from Orkney to Malta. Brittany, France, Spain, Portugal, Malta, Sardinia, Corsica, Menorca, Majorca, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Ireland are covered as well as Britain – a remarkable and welcome departure from the usual material we are presented. In addition to the continental approach, we, as geomants, are treated to a brief yet informative introduction which includes geomantic ideas – a sign, perhaps, that the ‘Lunatic Fringe’ phase of academic dismissal may be nearing its end? One must hope so.
The book is illustrated with many first-rate photographs and drawings which capture the majesty and awe of these archaic
monuments. Diagrams and maps depict the design and occurrence of the stone structures, and a comprehensive bibliography
rounds off a thoroughly worthwhile book – essential reading for all students of the megalithic.
Nigel Pennick.
Stonehenge is the megalithic monument par excellence. It is known almost everywhere, appearing on LP sleeves, Popeye cartoons on TV, science fiction bookjackets, posters, T-shirts and in books. This book does not set out to add yet another theory to the many postulated by researchers of the past. It is an attempt to produce a comprehensive review of all that has been speculated and discovered about Stonehenge – and that is a lot. Balfour begins with a review of early writings on the henge, its supposed magical construction by the wizard Merlin and its early investigation. Inigo Jones, John Aubrey, William Camden and other early and famous antiquaries each ventured their not-so-humble opinions, varying between the Romans and the Druids for the constructors. The author covers the work of William Stukeley, and notes that the first ideas of an astronomical use for Stonehenge came from Dr John Smith, who in 1771 published the characteristically verbose Choir Gaur, The Grand Orrery of The Ancient Druids, commonly called Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, Astronomically explained, and Mathematically proved, to be a Temple erected in the earliest Ages, for observing the Motions of the Heavenly Bodies.
Plans and maps abound in this book, and to geomants the astroarchaeological ideas must be the most interesting. Balfour
details the various astroarchaeologists and their concepts, though he omits the German work by Heinsch and his comrades.
However, he exposes the origin of ‘Peter’s Mound’, later expanded into the full-blown, and
Christianized to boot, St. Peter’s Mount of Francis Hitching, a valuable exercise, and several other gems emerge
in what is a worthwhile book for anybody interested in the mysteries of Stonehenge. The layout of the book is
magazine-like, but the obscure photos of Druids and archaeologists are most interesting and another worthwhile point in
the book’s favour. Unfortunately, the geomantic alignments of Stonehenge are not dealt with in detail, as one
might expect from the former publisher of the Bords and John Michell. This, and the lack of German research aside, the
book can be recommended as a good introduction to Stonehenge and its researchers.
Nigel Pennick
Like Dragon, the book is a large-format paperback covering an aspect of mythology. This mythology, however, is not the traditional mythology of dragonlore or even geomancy, but the similar forms available to be seen in nature – rocks that resemble faces, even Richard Milhous Nixon (surely the blasting squad should be brought in), Jesus in cat’s ear, odd stones, vegetables, moths, crabs and the like. It has to be seen to be believed! The manic visions of lunatic poet Antonin Artaud is interwoven with the lysergic visions of the 60s and the age-old science of geomancy – the Fortean coincidence materialized.