The landscape zodiac was one of the more outré concepts of the 20th century romantic landscape, and has not fared well in the harder-headed materialism of the 21st century. But there may be more to ponder in the concept that might appear at first sight…. https://northernearth.co.uk/walking-myth-into-place-the-damned-zodiac/
A few weeks ago, the subject of terrestrial zodiacs popped up in discussions on our e-group, NEReaders. They are definitely a carry-over from our early earth mysteries days, when questions previously deemed beyond credibility were to be asked and reconsidered (like leys), possibilities explored, and new hypotheses of the past and subtle reality to be …
#12 Walking myths into place: Is the damned landscape zodiac salvageable? Read More »
Summer’s passed and the Alt-Antiquarian shares his holiday snaps… Sometimes one experiences an object lesson in how closely related the antiquarian instinct and psychogeographic sensitivity can be, in reality as well as in the observer. Still, it can be a surprise… It’s always a pleasure to discover such convergence where one might not immediately …
Jeremy Harte’s exegesis of placenames [How Placenames Grow, reviewed NE169] is fired by the misuses to which they have been put, and more often than not by adherents of alternative viewpoints such as earth mysteries. In such impressionistic contexts, Balham (for instance) becomes the enclosure or home (ham, OE root) of Ba’al (ancient god, or …
#10 Honest visions and toxic errors in the neo-antiquarian landscape Read More »
The terrestrial or landscape zodiac is one of the more outré concepts to emerge from the 20th century discussions of ‘earth mysteries’, and unsurprisingly has not fared well in the more materialistic intellectual climate of the 21st century. However, NE editor John Billingsley thinks the concept should not be dismissed outright, as it provides food …
Walking myth into place: The damned landscape zodiac Read More »
Funeral paths, popularly known as corpseways, became a familiar topic in neo-antiquarian research in the 1980s when they entered discussions about leys as spirit roads. The association with leys faded, but they are still recognised as spirit paths of a kind, and often interact with hauntings and other supernatural encounters. In this book, John Billingsley …
Journeys of the Soul: Vernacular funeral paths in Upper Calderdale Read More »
To tie in with the Sowerby Bridge Rushbearing Festival on the first weekend of September, we are pleased to be able to offer again Garry Stringfellow’s brief history of rushbearing customs in Sowerby Bridge and N England. https://northernearth.co.uk/books/ Also available by courtesy of the publishers is Peter Harris and Thomas Gough’s revised and heavily illustrated …
Rushbearing & Ancient Measures books available again! Read More »
New uploads of articles by Janet Bord on holy wells in Wales, Bob Trubshaw on ways of seeing place, Eileen Roche on Treacle Mines, and John Billingsley on Britain’s last coal mine and mining traditions.
When Britain’s last deep coal mine closed, I found myself conflicted* between my environmentalist, folklorist and political identities, in all of which coal miners and their industry have played an important role. My overwhelming feeling in the end was one of sadness and loss, focussed on the communities and the values they represented. Folklore, they …
Janet Bord considers the development of holy well research and interest through the lens of her work in Wales Davina Ware Little did I know what I was letting myself in for when I started researching the book which was published in 1985 as Sacred Waters: Holy Wells and Water Lore in Britain and Ireland. I …