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there are many forms of geomancy some of which are linked to their Four Elements* namely Air, Fire, Earth and Water, which, in turn, are linked to the four corners of the earth. North American Indians also have their forms of geomancy.
Ley Lines in Britain
There are also aspects of Chinese geomancy that bear comparison with European beliefs. 'Dragon veins' for instance, are similar in some ways, to the invisible 'ley lines' that crisscross Britain (see Oxford English Dictionary, vol. VIII, 2nd Edition). This pre-Christian network, 'woven' across the countryside, crosses bogs and mountains, links salient points such as hilltops, and, in some cases, follows ancient tracks which were once trodden by merchants when transporting commodities like salt and flint. Ley lines embrace, symbolically, rich identifying features like sacred sites, stone circles, menhirs, encampments, watchtowers, earthen mounds, wishing and holy wells associated with saints, moats and ponds, and graveyards (Miller, 1989). Key positions, often at crossroads, were formed at intersections of the 'ley' (or lay) which included sites like Salisbury Cathedral and Stonehenge. From the latter, various astronomical observations can be conducted. Like watching the sun rise at mid-summer from the centre of the stone circle over the heel-stone.
The first stone churches were often built on pre-Christian sites, where symbolic rites had been performed, such as in the old 'Serpent Temples'. Some believe Saint Mary (the Virgin Mary) Churches are really Christianised versions of the old 'Shining Earth Goddess'. With the importance of life-giving solar energy and its involvement in everyday life, such events as the fire festival were important in ancient Britain.
This network of ley lines (Saxon 'leye'; an obsolete word for fire) which can be traced across the English landscape, is visible only to those who have 'eyes' to see it. Prehistoric tracks, sometimes pilgrimage routes, often followed ley lines. Roman or medieval roads were frequently not primary arteries but simply followed the ley. The Icknield Way running from the Wash down to the Thames, and on to the Berkshire Downs, is an example of a pre-Roman Track. There is also the famous Saint Michael Ley Line, with the Michael and Mary currents, which serpentines from the tip of Cornwall to the coast of East Anglia (Miller, 1989). Such lines are really 'routes' or 'corridors' rather than straight lines.