This is in four parts.
Part 1 (Saturday May 11)
by Alan Murray
As an add-on to Don Bryan’s guided walk of Avebury Henge and Stonehenge on Sunday, a small but perfectly formed group of Devon Dowsers set off from Avebury on the chilly but bright morning of the 11th May in the direction of the mysterious Silbury Hill.
The hill itself is a protected Ancient Monument and part of the Avebury World Heritage Site, so to preserve it for future generations, access onto the hill itself is not allowed. However, access is allowed to the bottom slope of the hill so we set to trying to unravel the hill’s mysterious construction some 4,500 years ago. It is estimated that it took 18 million man-hours to construct and is the largest manmade structure in Europe. Excavations over a couple of hundred years have found nothing ‘buried’ inside – so why go to all this trouble? This structure is contemporary with the pyramids of Egypt that did have obvious purposes.
We then moved on briefly to the West Kennett Long Barrow where, not wishing to disturb the swallows nesting inside the first left hand chamber, we went into the innermost of the five chambers where we felt the ice-cold stones at the rear – some say a portal into the underworld? The Barrow pre-dates Silbury and the Avebury Henge by a thousand years!
After lunch in the Red Lion in Avebury (the only pub actually inside a stone henge!) we set off north for Windmill Hill, a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, like West Kennett, 5,500 years old but with relatively young Bronze Age barrows inside. The views are astounding from this beautiful and atmospheric place! We dowsed for the Mary/Michael node point here which is located on top of a Bronze age tumulus, the width of both lines totally encompassing the full diameter of the barrow.
Feeling somewhat tired from a day’s walking – and dowsing – we returned to Avebury with a short diversion to the church of St Mary Magdelene in Winterbourne Monkton. Formerly linked to Glastonbury Abbey (hence ‘Monkton’), this highly unusual church had the Mary current running right along its axis.
The chancel had been a small chapel with a separate bell tower a few yards away until these two buildings were connected by a nave that fully encloses the bell tower. The once ‘exterior’ windows in the west wall of the chancel can still be clearly seen. More amazingly two of the four massive timber columns that once supported the free-standing bell tower can still be seen inside the nave. Another magical place!
Tired but appreciative of what we had seen, experienced and dowsed, we set off back to Avebury only to find a sequence of evermore difficult stiles to clamber over feeling we were on some sort of Commando training course!
But what a great day!
Part 2 (Sunday 12 May) by Gwynn Paulett
Avebury is the largest megalithic stone circle in the world. Within the outer circle there are two smaller circles. It is part of a much bigger prehistoric landscape, which includes Windmill Hill, Silbury Hill, and West Kennet Long Barrow. The West Kennet Avenue, which runs to the Sanctuary, and the Beckhampton Avenue, lead off the main circle, and curve around the landscape in different directions.
We followed the matching curve of the earth energy current, which flowed within the West Kennet Avenue by dowsing as we walked, and then went in search of the Mary and Michael currents, which run through the site.
We dowsed the transmission bands of a number of stones and determined which other stones they were transmitting to. Unlike Stonehenge, one can touch the stones, sit on them, and enjoy their ancient presence.
Thanks Don for a fascinating afternoon of dowsing.
Part 3 (Sunday 12 May) by Gwynn Paulett
It is thought that the Cursus is of Neolithic origin. It’s about 1.9 miles long and 490 feet wide. The construction has been dated between 3630 and 3375 BCE, which is several hundred years before the earliest phase of Stonehenge was built around 3000 BCE.
Its function remains unknown with suggestions that it was a Roman race course, hence the name given to it by William Stukeley; a boundary between ceremonial activity and settlements; a ceremonial site; and, an earthwork alignment on the equinox sunrise, which rises over the eastern long barrow.
We walked eastwards alongside the Cursus until we met up with the Avenue, which was discovered in the 18th century. It sweeps round in a curve connecting Stonehenge with the river Avon. When stood on the Avenue looking south towards Stonehenge, it looked magnificent, sat on the sky line, and truly imposing, compared with the view from the A303, which for me is always a little under whelming.
Walking up to the fence of Stonehenge we stopped opposite the Heel stone and arrow marking the sunrise and sunset at the solstices. Approaching Stonehenge by walking up the Avenue, one couldn’t help feel a sense of awe at the scale of this monument and the engineering that created it.
Don suggested we dowse the energy current which flowed along the Avenue and went into the Circle, where we could dowse it again when inside the Stones. He had dowsed it back to Brittany and considered it to be an extremely significant energy current. The map below identifies some currents present, with the Avenue containing the split current which reunites within the Circle.
The sun was slowly throwing shadows as it began to set, so we made our way back to the visitors centre to wait for our “Access” tour to begin, having gained a unique perspective of Stonehenge, from the Cursus and the Avenue with its powerful earth energy current.
Part 4 (Sunday 12 May) by Gwynn Paulett
Devon Dowsers within the Circle of Stonehenge, May 2019.
Walking inside the Circle of Stonehenge was an “extraordinary” experience for those of us from Devon Dowsers who visited Stonehenge as the sun set on a Sunday evening in May.
Some of us recalled our childhood, when as children we played hide and seek running in and out of the upright stones and, climbing over those lying down. I knew nothing of their history as a small child and assumed they had been put there as my playground to break up long car journeys.
There is a plethora of theories by eminent archaeologists, adorning a wall at the visitors’ centre seeking to explain the purpose of Stonehenge. Mine seemed as valid as any of theirs! What we are sure of, is that the mystery of Stonehenge remains.
What is clearly evident is the incredible engineering technology that went into the construction of Stonehenge, which is quite staggering given the tools they had to hand.
Each of us experienced being at the centre of this beautiful ancient monument in our own way. As the sun set, it put the horseshoe of sarsen trilithons, the circle of sarsen stones with their lintels, and the circle of bluestones into silhouette. The reds, yellows, and pinks lit up the sky, whilst a half moon shone overhead.
Don Bryon gave us some of the archaeological history of the site as well as some suggestions as to where to dowse for the earth energies present. He remarked on how surprising it was that very few of the many commentators on Stonehenge gave any mention, let alone credence to the siting of Stonehenge on important and powerful earth energy currents.
The time we had available to dowse, went very quickly. Dowsers were seen walking in all directions getting reactions to their searches. I asked to be shown the most energetically powerful spot within the Circle for me, which turned out to be the crossing point (node) of the three strongest currents present, which was about 2 metres from the alter stone. Others had similar reactions resulting in rods spinning wildly in both directions if one moved slightly.
Possibly the least dowsed but arguably the most significant, was the presence of underground primary water veins crossing under the alter stone, which I got currently as ten. This for me is the reason why Stonehenge is where it is. Its orientation may be to the moon, the sun, other planets, the four directions, or the earth energy power centre present, but I have it, that it is anchored by the presence of sacred water.
When I wasn’t dowsing, listening to Don, or taking photos of the sunset, I stood “mindfully”, listening and sensing my body and breathing. I was left feeling exhilarated, energised and uplifted in a joyful way. I was in total awe of this mysterious construction made thousands of years ago with such sophistication, and amazing energetic applification.
So here I was sixty years later, “playing” once again in the energies of Stonehenge. Whilst the evening traffic moved along the nearby A303, it seemed that time had stood still. Countless sunrises and sunsets have come and gone at Stonehenge, and will continue into the future.
(With thanks to Gwynn Paulett and the amazingly talented but at present anonymous photographers in this Devon Dowsers group for the photos. Please let me know if you’d like me to add your name!).
