That Old Blood Track: Centers of Power Part II

In part one of this series we examined the concept of ley lines with a special emphasis on the so-called 'centers of power' that fall upon these lines. Most compellingly, we found multiple links between the Dog Star, Sirius and these lines, especially in the 'New World.' There are other possible strange connections between Sirius and the 'New World.' One may come in the symbolism of the rose.

"Numerologically, the rose represents the number five because the wild rose has five petals and the petals on all roses exist in multiples of five. Geometrically, the rose corresponds to the arcane symbols of the pentagon and pentagram, which was the symbol of the school of the Pythagorean brotherhood. Because of its association with the number five, the rose has also been linked to the five senses and, in an absolute sense, to the expanding awareness of being through the development of the senses."
(The Templar Meridians, pg. 14, William F. Mann)

Both the rose and the pentagram are attributed to the 'secret Star of Magick' in the Crowleyian school, which is quite possibly Sirius.

"...an eleven-rayed star symbolizing the union of the human and the divine elements of consciousness. Its full form is the fusion of the Pentagram (5) with the Hexagram (6), the former being the glyph of the feminine powers (Nature), the latter of the masculine powers (Creative Will)...

"The secret Star of Magick is also elevenfold; it is Unicursal Hexagram of the Beast plus the five-petalled Rose typical of Babalon, for the flower (or flow-er) is the symbol of her magical function."
(The Magical Revival, Kenneth Grant, pg. 23)

There is a more overt connection between Sirius, the occult rose and the number five. More commonly Sirius is represented by a five pointed star. This is especially true of Freemasonry, according to the 33rd degree Mason Albert Pike:

"To find in the BLAZING STAR of five points an allusion to the Divine Providence, is also fanciful; and to make it commemorative of the Star that is said to have guided the Magi, is to give it a meaning comparatively modern. Originally it represented SIRIUS, or the Dog-star, the forerunner of the inundation of the Nile; the God ANUBIS, companion of Isis in her search for the body of OSIRIS, her brother and husband. Then it became the image of HORUS, the son of OSIRIS, himself symbolized also by the Sun, the author of the Seasons, and the God of Time; Son of Isis, who was the universal nature, himself the primitive matter, inexhaustible source of Life, spark of uncreated fire, universal seed of all beings. It was HERMES also, the Master of Learning, whose name in Greek is that of the God Mercury. It became the sacred and potent sign or character of the Magi, the PENTALPHA, and the significant emblem of Liberty and Freedom, blazing with a steady radiance amid the weltering elements of good and evil of Revolutions, and promising serene skies and fertile seasons to the nations, after the storms of change and tumult."
(Morals and Dogmas, Albert Pike, pg. 15)

So, on to the roses. Researcher William F. Mann, whose great-uncle was Supreme Grand Master of the Knights Templar of Canada (a modern Masonic order), presents compelling evidence of a series of meridians passed down in occult tradition and used by the Knights Templar to escape persecution in Europe and resettle in North America. Mann embraces the theory of the 'Rose Line,' recently popularized by The Da Vinci Code. Supposedly this Rose Line is either an alternative name for the Paris Meridian or located near said meridian, and plays into the whole 'Jesus Bloodline' theory centering around the Merovingian dynasty and popularized in Holy Blood, Holy Grail.

"For all the traditional rose symbolism associated with the Virgin Mary, however, many recent books now explain the importance of that other Mary -Mary Magdalene, who may have stolen the heart of Jesus -to provide a secret symbolism to the image of the rose. According to the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail, the name Notre Dame de Lumiere is in fact a direct reference to Mary Magdalene. They hint that even the earliest Notre Dame churches in France are dedicated to the Magdalene, not the Virgin Mary. The authors seem also to identify Mary Magdalene with the Meridian, the ancient longitudinal line established as the starting point of a grid that spans the earth, and claim that within a modern context, she may have been the progenitor of a bloodline from her 'husband' Jesus, which became the central hypothesis of their book.
(The Templar Meridians, William F. Mann, pgs. 15-16)

Associating the Magdalene with the rose and the Rose Line is apt if one insists on a Jesus bloodline, but if the rose is symbolic of Sirius, then the Virgin Mary is your lady.

"And to Isis in her later character of patroness of mariners the Virgin Mary perhaps owes her beautiful epithet of Stella Maris, 'Star of the Sea', which she is adored by temptest-tossed sailors. The attributes of a marine deity my have been bestowed on Isis by the sea-faring Greeks of Alexandria. They are quite foreign to her original character and to the habits of the Egyptians, who had no love of the sea. On this hypothesis Sirius, the bright star of Isis, which on July mornings rises from the glassy waves of the eastern Mediterranean, a harbinger of halcyon weather to mariners, was the true Stella Maris, 'the Star of the Sea'."
(The Golden Bough, James Frazer, pg. 389)

the Star of the Sea

In both cases, however, the Virgin Mary and the Magdalene would be associated with a child. Isis is also frequently depicted with the infant Horus upon her knee, a la the Virgin Mary and possibly the Magdalene as well. But I digress -Back to the roses.

The Rose Line runs north and south and supposedly stretches up to the Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland. This chapel plays heavily into various esoteric theories surrounding the connections between the Knights Templar and the Freemasons, as well as the royal bloodline of the Sinclair clan, who are also linked to Christ's bloodline.

"Following this central theme of the ancient meridian or roseline leads directly to Rosslyn Chapel, the ancestral home of the Scottish St. Clairs, or Sinclairs, located fifteen miles south of Edinburgh. In earlier times, this area was named Roslin, an amalgamation of the Celtic words ros, meaning 'ridge' or 'promontory,' and lin, or 'waterfall.' There is, however, a deeper explanation of the origin of the name Roslin: It comes directly from Roseline, which symbolizes a bloodline of immense significance that has perpetuated ancient knowledge handed down to or rediscovered by the original nine knights who excavated beneath the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem following the First Crusade. As such, it has also been suggested that the Sinclairs were descended from the Jesus Roseline lineage -the 'true vine.'

"Alternatively, speculation has only just begun that the chapel falls on an ancient ley line -a roseline -within a geometric grid pattern that crisscrosses the world. Ley lines, also known as dragon lines, are straight lines or trackways passing over and through the landscape. Throughout Europe, ley lines appear to carry earth energy or an electromagnetic force and are marked by landmarks including standing stones, megaliths, earthworks such as barrows and mounds, and holy wells. The signature of the chapel's founder, Sir William Sinclair, on a prominent charter suggests this very theory: His reads 'St. Clair of Roselin.' This confirms that since the earliest times, Rosslyn was considered an energy point and spiritual center."
(The Templar Meridians, William F. Mann, pgs. 17-18)

the Rosslyn Chapel

In linking the notion of roselines with ley lines, Mann is stating that there is an entire network of these lines stretching across the globe. He goes on to speculate than an esoteric order held the secret to establishing these lines.

"The notion of a series of longitudinal meridians spanning the globe is not a new concept... but to associate it with Mary Magdalene implies both an ancient and a secret connection. It offers that through the union of Jesus and Mary, the bloodline of ancient kings, including the House of David and Tribe of Benjamin, continues to this day, but also that there has been perpetuated an ancient knowledge which, among other things, allowed the highest initiates to establish their relative position on earth's surface. In a time when the Church was promoting the concept that the earth was flat, this information represented pure power in terms of trade and natural resources. Needless to say, the holders of such knowledge would very quickly realize the necessity to veil it in layers of esoterica and religious symbolism that outwardly fell under the sanction of the Church."
(ibid, pg. 16)

Mann goes on to speculate that various megalithic structures and the like were constructed in part to help initiates calculate their position across the globe.

"Calculating the difference in longitude, then required the ability to predict an eclipse and to accurately record local time, which would lead to the possibility that there were ground almanacs of some sort positioned throughout the world -that is, the mysterious megalithic rings, circles, and other prehistoric monuments and ruins found all over the known world, including both North and South America. Increasingly, individuals or groups such as the New England Antiquities Research Association (NEARA) are discovering in New England stone circles, dolmens, underground complexes, mine shafts stone walls, petroglyphs, and other evidence of ancient civilization that seem to have supported advancement in metalworking, astronomical charting, and habitation well beyond what we at first thought possible. In their book Uriel's Machine, Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas offer powerful evidence that the purpose of the great megalithic sites in western Europe, which date to a time long before the Egyptian pyramids, was to build an international network of sophisticated astronomical observations that provided accurate calendars and could measure the diameter of the planet and predict eclipses of the sun and moon years in advance."
(ibid, 34)

one of the most speculated about observatories

In addition to mapping position, it seems that several of these shrines were built to mark areas of rich mineral deposits. If riches could be found along ley lines, this would be another reason for various esoteric orders such as the Knights Templar to make them one of their most closely guarded secrets. Mann implies that various mines had been established along or near ley lines for a very long time, such as the alleged Templar site at Green Oaks, Nova Scotia.

"In his book America B.C., Barry Fell contends that over three thousand years ago a band of roving Celtic mariners crossed the North Atlantic to discover and subsequently colonize North America. Fell found support for his theory in the hundreds of inscriptions discovered among the stone ruins during an archaeological survey of New Hampshire, Vermont, and other Eastern Seaboard states. From these inscriptions he systematically traces the remnants of a North American Celtic civilization throughout the New World as well as evidence of Egyptian hieroglyphs and Iberian-Punic script. In most cases, evidence of pre-Christian exploration and habitation in the Americas corresponds to the geological patterns underlying the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountain chains, which run from Nova Scotia to Louisiana.

"... American archaeologists estimate that over half a million tons of copper were removed from the now abandoned mine shafts lining the north shore of Lake Superior, yet only a tiny portion of it has been located in burial mounds and other archaeological sites in continental America. Samuel de Champlain's diaries talk about his search for the 'old copper mines' near Minas Basin during 1604 and 1608 explorations of the area...

"It therefore seems likely that if the Templars had reestablished mining activities in the Green Oaks area -even throughout the entire north-eastern seaboard, for that matter -they would surely have veiled these operations in esoteric ritual recognizable only to those who were 'on the square...'

"Beyond its obvious material riches in the form of metals, recent geological tests at the Green Oaks site confirm that a fault line runs directly through the property, suggesting that it is an area of potential underground energy, which the more learned among the Templars would be capable of diving. Much like the site of Rosslyn Chapel, that of Green Oaks has been revered for thousands of years by those natives of the area because of its natural energy."
(ibid, pgs. 30-31)

Was there a large scale mining operation in 'pre-contact' North America?

Whether it is to pin earth energies, to map various ley lines and star paths, or to mark mineral deposits, there is clearly much significance to these centers of power. As noted above, the Crowleyian school had a most peculiar view of these centers of power. Deriving from Tantra, it essentially believes that the various nerve plexuses in the subtle body of human beings is a microcosm of the macrocosm of the physical earth. There are seventy-two thousand of these nerve centers in the human body, and presumably as many upon the earth. There are, however, seven major centers, known as chakras, both upon the human body and the earth.

"The macrocosmic centres are widely distributed over the earth's surface; one is located in Cairo, another in Sumer, a third in the British Isles, and the most exalted and spiritual centre is located at the southern extremity of India. The remaining three are situated in the trans-Himalayan region of the Gobi desert, in the Andes and in California respectively...

"The supreme seat of energy -the Sahasrara chakra -is not located within the physical body at all, but above the cranial suture, where, figuratively speaking, the Lotus of Infinite Light blooms and bathes with its perfume the subtle anatomy of man. The Sahasrara is the seat of the Atman, the True Self in Man which is known as the Brahman in the Cosmos. It is the Abode of Siva and is represented on earth by the Sacred Hill of Arunachala in South India. This is the cult-centre of the most profoundly spiritual Path now open to humanity, i.e. the Advasita-marg or Path of Non-duality. Arunachala, the oldest hill in existence is said to date from the Lemurian phase of the earth's history. The Light of Pure Wisdom, Jnana, shines through the Sahasrara. It is broken into a thousand streams by its multitude of petals. The nectar drips perpetually over the subtle bodies and energizes the chakras beneath it, each chakra absorbing and transmuting a little of the Light in accordance with individual spiritual development...

"On the earth-plane, as if to counterbalance the southerly situation of Arunachala, the Ajnic centre is located in the northern and trans-Himalayan region of the Gobi; it is sometimes referred to as Shamballah, where an occult concentration of Cosmic Will radiates through the vehicles of the so-called Hidden Masters, of whom Aiwaz is the Chief in the present Aeon.

"The thyroid gland, in the region of the larynx, is backed by the Visudha Chakra. This gland, in its active state, enhances sensitivity and renders the individual hypersensitive to all kinds of physical, astral and mental sensation. If this gland is over stimulated there is danger of megalomania, because its vibrations attract cosmic entities seeking to dominate the earth-sphere through mantric and verbal impressions. In the present Aeon the cult-centre corresponding to this chakra is situated in Cairo, where the Voice of Aiwaz manifested and communicated The Book of Law...

"The thymus and the pancreatic glands are attributed to the Anahata Chakra -The thymus, situated in the chest, is the channel through which the Higher Knowledge (Daath) is brought down to inundate the chakras below the Heart-centre. This is the Tiphareth-centre; two cult-centres reflect its energies on to the earth plane. One of these secret centres is said to be situated in a mountain submerged beneath the sea about one hundred miles off the coast of Peru, in the region of the Andes. This mountain corresponds to Arunachala, situated precisely at the opposite side of the globe, so that if a stake were driven through the planet, Arunachala would form one end of the supreme spiritual axis. This axis is the macrocosmic expression of the link between Kether and Tiphareth, or the Sahasrara and the Anahata -the Head and the Heart.

"The second of these two cult-centres is at Glastonbury, the focus of the Western Mystery Tradition, which asserts that this region was an occult power-house long ages before it became the secret stronghold of the Holy Graal...

"The adrenals are backed by the Svadisthana Chakra, which forms the downward point of the second triangle of Chakras in the psycho-somatic organism. Sahasrara-Ajna-Visuddha form the first; Visudha-Anahata-Manipura, the second; Manipura-Svadisthana-Muladhara, the third. Svadisthana is the focus of the forces which nourish the animal and instinctual nature. The adrenals, which secrete adrenalin into the bloodstream, are small glands situated above the kidneys. In the qabalistic system, Yesod is the corresponding Sephira or vortex of energy. This is the whorl sacred to the Yezidi and to it is attributed the cult-centre at Sumer, which Crowley claims to have been the scene of man's first consciousness of himself as an individualized monad, or spirit. The complex symbology of this centre forms the substance of the present book. It is the cult-centre of Sun and Moon, of Moon-Magick and the IXº, as the final centre -Malkuth -is of the Earth and Saturn, and of the secret XIº.

"The extreme lower point of the Third Triad is represented in the physical organism by the gonads, backed in the etheric body by the Muladhara Chakra. The gonads are involved directly in the mechanism of psycho-physical creativity and sexual reproduction. They emanate potent kalas, or essences, which act dynamically wherever their impact reaches. Their radiations are used in all inspirational and psycho-magically creative work as well as in the more secret formulae of regeneration, astral and physical. At this region in the subtle body sleeps the primal Fire-Snake, Kundalini. It focuses the 'fires' of the physical plane -all the electro-magnetic currents of 'blind' force that are highly dangerous unless polarized by the controlling Light radiating from the highest centre in the region of the Supernal Triad. On the earth-plane, the energies of this lowest chakra -Muladhara -are concentrated in an occult centre in California that is only now becoming dynamic; it will prove to be a magazine of tremendous power during the evolution of both man and the planet in the present Aeon of Horus."
(The Magical Revival, Kenneth Grant, pgs. 77-81)

the Sacred Hill of Arunachala, one of the Crowley's centers of power 

The fact that the power center in ancient Sumer is only revealed to initiates is interesting to me. I have a theory as to this center's location, but I want to research more before speculating. All in all, Crowley's theory of seven major centers is most compelling. Sumer, Egypt, and India are of course responsible for most of the major religions in the world. The center of power in California that Grant claims 'is only now becoming dynamic' is likely a spot located somewhere in the Mojave desert. It is here that Jack Parsons, a Crowley disciple and rocket propulsion researcher who invented the rocket fuel used for spacecrafts and co-founded the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, performed his notorious Babalon Working with L. Ron Hubbard (yes, the founder of Scientology) in 1946.

"A ritual he performed with Hubbard in the Mojave Desert to attract an 'elemental' -in this case, a female sexual partner, since Hubbard was scarfing up all the available lovers -had culminated in Parsons, in an intuitive flash, suddenly claiming victory ("It is done!") and rushing home to find that a vivacious, red-headed Marjorie Cameron (whom he had never met) was waiting for him at his home."
(Sinister Forces Book One, Peter Levenda, pg. 152)

the Mojave desert

The Andes have long maintained a reputation as a major spiritual center. In the mid-20th century, however, they would begin to attract a most sinister faith: National Socialism. This was especially true of the nations of Argentina, Chile, and Bolvia, all of whom share a portion of the Andes, and all of whom became havens for escaped Nazi war criminals. In several instances, such as the notorious Colonia Dignidad (which I've chronicled before here) they would set up shop very near the Andes. For some strange reason the Andes seem to play heavily into the metaphysics of Nazism, a notion embraced outside the expat-German communities.

"Is it the Andes Mountains, perhaps, that give Chile its unique spiritual character?..

"To the metaphysical Chilean author Miguel Serrano, the Andes are the West's equivalent of the Himalayas. Where a North American might expect llamas instead of lamas, he sees these venerable peaks as the spiritual domain of ancient supernatural forces; he believes a secret priesthood resides somewhere within the Andes chain, possessing the secrets of immortality, and of communion with the gods. Serrano -whose books on Jungian-type themes are familiar to North American readers -also wrote on the metaphysical aspects of Hitler's Germany in a volume which has not been translated into English nor made available in the United States, even in the original Spanish. While I was in Chile, I bought a copy and was startled by the fact that this author of the charming little alchemical love story, El/Ella, would have written so extensively on the initiatic aspects of the Third Reich in such terms of open admiration, insisting -thirty-years after the war -that National Socialism would be the salvation of Chile."
(Unholy Alliance, Peter Levenda, pg. 312)

the Andes

Glastonbury Abbey is one of the most heavily speculated about locations within occult and esoteric circles. It has been closely linked with the legends concerning King Arthur, Avalon and Camelot, among others.

"Roaming the Somerset countryside where every episode in the adventures of King Arthur's knights in quest of the Grail has its physical location, Kathryn Maltwood was haunted by the feeling of imminent revelation. One summer afternoon, standing on a low hill and watching the shadows move across the plain which stretches towards the ramparts of Camelot, she saw the secret of the landscape reveal itself. All the clues suddenly fell into place: legends of hidden giants in the landscape, the story that King Arthur never passed away but lies sleeping in his native hills, astrological themes in local folklore and William of Malmesbury's reference to Glastonbury as 'a heavenly sanctuary on earth.' She had aerial photographs taken of the Glastonbury landscape and, as she studied them, she found her intuition confirmed. She could detect a circle of figures, more than ten miles in diameter, evidently designed many thousands of years ago by the astronomical initiates of a noble civilization. Legends of these figures had become interwoven with episodes in the Grail quest, and she believed that knowledge of them had been inherited by the monks of Glastonbury Abbey who carefully preserved the landmarks and waterways delineating the great effigies. She identified the constellations which they each represented, and realized that the whole Glastonbury area had been marked from ancient times with the symbols of the celestial kingdom on earth.

"Mrs. Maltwood, although she never knew it, was not the first to recognize the zodiacal giants of Somerset. In about 1580 the famous scholar and magician, Dr. Dee, discovered what he believed to be Merlin's secret in the Glastonbury plains. According to his recent biographer, Richard Deacon, he became interested in 'the unusual arrangement of the prehistoric earthworks in the Glastonbury area and he had diagnosed that these objects when carefully mapped represented the signs of the Zodiac and the stars.'"
(The New View Over Atlantis, John Michell, pgs. 20-21)

There are of course connections between Glastonbury and Sirius. Legends of a 'great dog' haunting the Somerset marshes have been around for centuries. They led Kathryn Maltwood to speculate that the landscape around Glastonbury formed a dog's head that was linked with the constellation Canis Minor, which precedes Canis Major, the constellation that features Sirius.

Glastonbury area

And there you have it folks -energy pins, earth chakras, mineral deposits, star maps -these centers of power are nothing if not versatile. They appear the world over in different guises, yet from the Americas to Glastonbury they all seem to share similar features and purposes. Certainly they draw various groups of 'initiates' like buzzards to a fresh corpse. An over riding theme, however, seems to be their link to Sirius. Perhaps a more likely name for ley lines would be Sirius lines, as they all seem to lead to the Dog Star in some way or other.