Hello,
Not sure if I recall this correctly, but -
As another instance for successful 'psychic archaeology', didn't T C
Lethbridge employ psychic methods in his (re)discovery of the Gog Magog
hill figures?
Or am I conflating two separate aspects of Lethbridge's work: his
dowsing research, and his archaeological investigations?
Christopher
-----Original Message-----
From: Society for The Academic Study of Magic
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Khem Caigan
Sent: 02 July 2009 06:18
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] FYI--Stone Circle In East Anglia?!?
Pitch doth schreibble :
>
> I probably would have let this report of a possible stone circle
> in East Anglia slip by ... Except that the argument for such a
> circle involves dowsing as well as lots of study and skillful
> inferences by the proponent.
>
> Stone circle in East Anglian village?
> http://tinyurl.com/mlos9q
<SNIPS>
This is precisely the sort of thing that Ronald Hutton
goes to some lengths to rubbish in chapter four of his
*Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles*, where
he takes issue with what he terms "earth mysticism".
Around page 130, he seems to me to be stating that there
are simply no successes at all to show in the history of
what, for want of a better term, we could call 'psychic
archaeology' or 'dowsing' or 'divination' or, as he seems
to prefer, "alternative archaeology".
Has everyone on 'the other side of the pond' forgotten
the work of Frederick Bligh Bond at Glastonbury ( for
example )?
Some of Bond's work ( including *The Gate of Remembrance*,
an inspiration for Dion Fortune's *Goat-Foot God* ) is
available in .PDF format from GoogleBooks :
http://tinyurl.com/ny2dkj
Prof. Hutton consistently characterizes "earth energies"
as being subjective and undemonstrable [ "...the only way
to demonstrate the reality of such energies is through
the rods of dowsers who are themselves believers." ].
Prof. Solco Tromp, Cecil Maby, and a host of others
involved in the history of radar [ among other things ]
demonstrated *instrumental* dowsing back in the 'forties.
Which is to say, demonstrating "earth energies" *without*
recourse to folks carrying forked twigs.
Tromp's book, *Psychical Physics: A Scientific Analysis
of Dowsing, Radiesthesia and Kindred Divining Phenomena*,
Elsevier, 1949, is a Classic by a well-respected Geologist
who later went on to develop the field of Bio-Meteorology.
Robin Baker's *Human Navigation and the Sixth Sense*, 1981,
built upon Professor Barnothy's earlier *Biological Effects
of Magnetic Fields*, and ties in with Prof. Helmut Tributsch's
*When the Snakes Awake: Animals and Earthquake Prediction*.
Robert O. Becker's *The Body Electric: Electromagnetism and
the Foundation of Life*, and his later book, *Cross Currents:
A Startling Look at the Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation
on Your Health* are related titles, as are Roger Coghill's
*Electropollution*, Michael Shallis's *The Electric Connection*,
Cyril Smith's *Electromagnetic Man*, and Michael Persinger's
*The Weather Matrix and Human Behavior*.
And perhaps some of you are familiar with Serena Roney-Dougal's
*Where Science and Magic Meet*?
If Prof. Hutton hadn't spent as many pages as he did on the
subject, I'd be inclined to write it off as mere ignorance
on his part. As it is, his comments on 'earth energies' smack
more of a considered agenda - like the on-going 'psychologizing'
of magical perceptions and practices.
Cors in Manu Domine,
~ Khem Caigan
<[log in to unmask]>
"Heat and Moisture are Active to Generation;
Cold and Dryness are Passive, in and to each thing;
Fire and Air, Active by Elementation;
Water and Earth, Passive to Generation."
'Of the Division of Chaos'
-Dr. Simon Forman
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