ley lines Also called Earth-energy lines, ley lines are features of the Earth’s landscape that, when traced from one point on the ground to another, seem to connect places of religious, historical, or cultural significance. These lines were first identified by English businessman Alfred Watkins in the 1920s, who insisted that lines crisscrossing the countryside between England and Wales were clearly human-made rather than the result of natural objects, land contours, or erosion. He called the lines leys because this word, in ancient Saxon, means “cleared land.” Watkins noted that some of these lines linked burial mounds, ancient stone monuments, and similar places. One line, for example, connected the stone monuments of Stonehenge with a burial mound and with Salisbury Cathedral, which Watkins said was built on an ancient religious site. Not every religious site is connected in this way, but wherever entire lines or parts of lines are missing, Watkins speculated that buildings and other additions and changes to the landscape obliterated them. Watkins theorized that in ancient times. the leys were used by religious pilgrims as well as by itinerant traders. Since Watkins first proposed the idea that ley lines were human-made rather than natural, similar lines have been discovered in other locations, including parts of Germany and Australia. However, views on their nature have changed over the years. In the 1950s some people suggested that instead of indicating routes of travel on Earth, these lines were actually associated with the celestial realm, perhaps serving to direct alien spaceships to landing sites or other Earth locations. In the 1970s adherents to the New Age movement connected the idea of ley lines to their belief in Earth energy, arguing that the lines indicate places where the Earth’s energy is particularly strong. Skeptics, however, say that there is no such thing as Earth energy and argue that Watkins was wrong when he suggested that the lines were humanmade rather than natural.

SEE ALSO:

• Earth Drawings
• Earth Energy
• Nazca Lines

SOURCE:

The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Paranormal Phenomena – written by Patricia D. Netzley © 2006 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning