John Billingsley reports back from a more than usually liminal caving expedition In 2007, a group of us had an excursion to caves in the N of England, and were moved by an unexpected experience in a small cave that had a history of prehistoric usage from the Upper Paleolithic through the Mesolithic and Neolithic, […]
Edna Whelan was a familiar name to friends of NE and holy wells, as well to many others with whom her enthusiasms brought her into contact. We regret that she passed on June 15 2015, at the age of 95. In 1995 she wrote this article for NE that expresses her very intuitive and experiential
Communicating with Stones Read More »
There has long been disagreement about what kind and how much of a role dowsing can play within the left/right brain approach of earth mysteries, and NE is generally wary of an over-emphasis on dowsing as evidence for anything other than objective or visualisable targets like water, minerals, specific objects, etc., and we have long
The Role of Dowsing in Earth Mysteries Read More »
Neo-antiquarianism owes a huge debt to the man behind leys, Alfred Watkins. But what was his main legacy to earth mysteries? Rose Heaword suggests it is not just leys that we should thank him for. “I don’t believe in leys…” – a sharp intake of breath from the audience – “because Watkins never meant us
Alfred Watkins: The Richest Legacy Read More »
We frequently hear the word ‘shamanism’ bandied about in the context of prehistoric and tribal religion, and even in the context of witchcraft and modern contemporary trance techniques. But how far, really, does this all-encompassing idea of shamanism take our understanding of the phenomenon itself? We asked Alby Stone to comment. Since about 1950, shamanism
Shamanism and European Pre-History Read More »
F J Falding speaks to us from the 19th century about how antiquarianism embodies an over-arching and syncretic involvement with a local environment, an approach that is still valid in NE’s version of ‘neo-antiquarianism’ Not until I began to prepare this paper was I quite aware how difficult a task I had undertaken. Anyone who
When Jim Kimmis died at the end of 2006, the neo-antiquarian world lost a figure whose contributions to its world-view went largely unrecognised. Here we have Jim embarking on a phenomenological journey that many of us will share. Elements of a Journey Any journey, from a short walk to a world tour, can be analysed
An Enquiry into Walking Read More »
Jim Kimmis muses further on the debate over whether earth mysteries can claim to be a discrete entity. Although I dropped out of the EM scene many years ago, I read John Billingsley’s ‘E.m is dead – Long live e.m.!’ (NE98) with interest. It is useful to locate the development of earth mysteries within a
People, Places and Phenomena: A model? Read More »
How far and how long can we trust the memory of a people? John Billingsley stirs the forgetfulness of a West Yorkshire village. Claims are often made for the longevity of oral tradition, and the belief that a people can hold memorable events in their minds and lore for long afterwards. The unspoken and quite
Collective Amnesia Read More »
This article by John Billingsley is a set of linked psychogeographical reflections deriving from a time, a place, an exhibition (a Richard Long retrospective), and a book (Colin Renfrew’s Figuring It Out, Thames & Hudson, 2003) . Tuesday, August 4, 1998. Pavilion Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Arriving late, just an hour till the gallery closes,
Taking the Long View Read More »