ENERGY OF THE EARTH
Every place is unique in its own way – some have a certain view, impossible to find anywhere else.
Others have a particular kind of scent, or is home to a type of flower or plant that only grows in this very spot.
Every city is different from other cities in the way that roads have been planned and in how buildings have been decorated, used and lived in.
This is what makes traveling so fascinating: with each new place you visit, you learn more about how it differs from others, as well as about the ways that they are similar.
Not all differences are noticeable to the naked eye.
Some are experienced through sensation, not always easy to translate into words. The islands of Hawai’I is one such site.
Here, there is a serenity and calm that appears intertwined with the physical reality of the place.
Another place like this is the area around the Pyrenees mountains, at the border between France and Spain, forming a high wall (and almost 430 kilometres long) between the two countries.
What affects the energy of a place?
Why do some places seem to be more charged than others?
Esoteric thinkers have suggested it has less to do with a subjective experience of a place, and more to do with how earth’s energy fields are organized.
According to these sources, ley lines structure the flow of energy across the planet.
At certain points, these lines intersect, and in these spots, energy is concentrated. A parallel theory exists in traditional Chinese philosophy, called feng-shui (in English, “wind-and-water”).
Feng-shut teaches that earth is a reflection of heaven, and both are alive, sentient beings, with streams of energy – positive and negative – constantly flowing through them.
Positive streams of energy, bearers of good “chih” or “life force”, are called dragon lines.
They follow the flow of groundwater and magnetic fields, under the earth’s surface.
The Pyrenees is a place of particular beauty, geographically close to densely populated areas but also, as most mountain areas, with a sense of remoteness.
Its most famous town is Lourdes, for more than a hundred years centre of Marian pilgrimage.
In 1858, 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous and her sister, Toinsette and their friend Jeanne were gathering firewood near the grotto at Massabielle, when Bernadette suddenly heard the sound of gushing wind.
When she lifted her head, she saw a lady, bathed in white light. This happened, on a nearly daily basis, a total of eighteen times.
Word spread of the miracle, and on one of the occasions, nearly 5,000 people became witnesses to the apparition. The grotto was closed, but reopened by the order of emperor Louis Napoleon III.
In 1870, the apparitions were confirmed by the Catholic Church, leading to the building of a shrine.
Soon, it was listed as one of the pilgrimage destinations of Roman Catholics. Bernadette herself entered into a religious order and is today celebrated as a saint.
“The energy field is still clearly vibrant.”
Visiting Lourdes today, the energy field is still clearly vibrant, the place’s eerie atmosphere enhanced by how the scene of the apparitions has been transformed into a large souvenir shop, selling various items in the colour blue (which throughout history was considered feminine and soft, and thus the colour of the cloak worn by the Virgin Mary).
People in wheelchairs are taken care of by staff, hoping for a miracle as they approach the grotto, where priests chant and candles are lit for hope and prayers of better health and fortune.
