The Mysteries of the Black Madonna

The Venus of Willendorf

We begin our story a very long time ago, with the Great Mother Goddess of ancient times.

In Europe, the mother goddess has been ever-present since Paleolithic times. Connected to the earth, fertility, and life, she is usually depicted as a very full-bodied woman. One of the oldest was discovered in Germany. The Hohle Fels Venus dates back to around 40,000 years ago. Another more famous one is called the Venus of Willendorf. She was found in Austria and is 25,000 years old.

Other relatively modern mother goddess cults can be found in Malta and Turkey and date back to 6000 to 5000 BC. In Neolithic times, carvings that look like breasts can still be seen carved inside dolmens and are regarded as belonging to the cult of the Mother Goddess. The energy in these unique places is full of life and fertility.

A row of breast-like carvings from the Cult of the Mother. Kergüntuil Dolmen, France

As we move into more historical times, the Mother Goddess appears in the cults of the Mediterranean. The Sumerians, the Phoenicians, the Greeks, and the Egyptians all had Mother Goddesses. These famous goddesses are Artemis from Ephesus, Inanna, Persephone, Demeter, Hera, and Hecate. Of course, the most notable was Isis.

The cult of Isis first appeared in 2400 BC in Egypt.

Isis with Horus.

It spread throughout the Roman Empire from 400 BC to 400 AD.  She traveled up into Europe and throughout Gaul to many Gallo-Roman cities. In 1944, a bronze statue of Isis Lactans was discovered during an archaeological dig in the Gallo-Roman thermal bath complex of Therme de Cluny in Paris. She dates back to 200 BC and is holding baby Horus on her knees.

Many Isis Lactans were found in Egypt and made their way up to the north of France. Isis Lactans were worshipped for around 700 or 800 years in the Roman Empire. It is easy to see that Isis could have been the inspiration for the Black Madonna, who sits with her baby on her knees.

Who is the Black Madonna?

Much has been written about her. We believe she is a continuation of the great Mother Goddess from ancient times. The goddess of the dark earth of fertility, abundant growth, and life. As mentioned before, the Black Madonna, like Isis, is depicted holding her baby on her lap. For the Christians, she is seated on the Throne of Wisdom, representing being in majesty.

Many Black Madonnas are found in Auvergne, France.

Traditionally they were placed deep in the earth in the crypt. Most Black Madonnas have a specific type of energy, which is very connected to the earth and fertility. The energy that goes deep into the earth opens the first and second chakras, then rises through the rest of the chakras and opens the crown.

The Black Madonna of the Cathedral of Orcival, France

Black Madonnas are associated with miracles and healings.

The very first church dedicated to Mary is an example of this. It is called Nôtre Dame du Puy and is built in Auvergne, an ancient volcanic region in France. Le Puy en Velay, together with Chartres, were the first places dedicated to Mary in France. Of course, both were associated with miracles and are powerful healing places.

Le Puy en Velay was inhabited since Paleolithic times, some 17,000 years ago. When the dolmen builders arrived in Neolithic times, it was a country full of forests and old volcano plugs. These people found a place on one of these ancient volcanoes, which had exceptional healing power. Because of this, they constructed a dolmen over it to enhance the healing energies.

The Celts also lived here and arrived in the 3rd or 2nd century before Christ. When the Romans invaded in 52 BC, the Celts were conquered and a Gallo-Roman town called Anicium was built.

After the Roman Empire collapsed, the Christians built their first church in the 5th or 6th century on the hill. But it wasn’t until the first half of the 12th century that Mary came into the picture with a miraculous healing.

The Virgin appeared to a woman with a life-threatening fever.

She was told to go to the dolmen on the hill and lay down on top of it. After being miraculously healed, an angel told the woman that Mary had chosen this site for her church. The old lady told the head Bishop of the area named Scutaire, and he decided to visit this miraculous place.

When they arrived, they discovered a stag tracing the outline of the future sanctuary. The Bishop said to surround the area with some thorn branches. The next day, the branches were flowering. Thus, the Bishop decided that a church dedicated to Mary would be built because of these two miraculous signs.

The Stone of Fevers, the original capstone of the miraculous healing dolmen.

The Cathedral of Nôtre Dame du Puy still has the original capstone from the dolmen, called the Stone of Fevers. The cathedral was built with the dolmen incorporated into the altar, with the healing stone of the dolmen in view. Doing this was a common technique used by the Christians. Some of the most potent dolmens, menhirs, and even cromlechs have their healing energy integrated into church altars simply by building over them.

In the cathedral of Nôtre Dame du Puy, the capstone of the dolmen became a popular pilgrimage destination. People desiring to heal would come and lay down upon it one by one for healing. Through the centuries, the Stone of Fevers moved to different locations inside the cathedral. Now it resides in a room to the left of the altar.

The Black Madonna

The Black Madonna in the Cathedral of Nôtre Dame du Puy presides over the most powerful place of the cathedral, the altar. Like the Mother Goddesses who came before her, she guards the true location of miraculous healing power in the cathedral. The gift of Mother Goddess in any of her forms is healing, fertility, and life and is still true today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is the Mother Goddess and the Black Madonna calling you? If so, join us in May for the Black Madonna Tour. We will follow the goddess’s trail and discover her secrets of healing, of connecting deep into the earth, and of connection to the heavens.

“Click hereto check out the tour!

Who is This Temple Really Dedicated To?

Dominique and I are passionate about exploring sacred sites.

We love to decode the solar sacred geometry used to build them and love to discover their healing energies. We are often surprised by what we find, and one such surprise was the Gallo-Roman Temple of Janus, located at Autun, France. 

Autun is located in the Loire valley, a famous wine region inhabited since Neolithic times.

A vast Neolithic enclosure was found near the temple and is still being studied. The Celtic tribe of the Eduéns had also settled in this area. Afterward, the Romans built their city called Augustodunum. Celtic people were wine lovers and cultivars. Some believe that the Romans conquered Gaul because of their wonderful wines!

The Temple of Janus dates back to the 2nd half of the 1st century and sits on a plateau northwest of Augustodunum. A mystery surrounds who the temple was actually dedicated to. In the 16th century, historian Pierre de Saint-Julien de Balleure thought it was dedicated to Janus. But, the name could actually be a corruption of the toponym Genetoye which means where the broom grows. 

The God Janus
Photo by Loudon Dodd, from the Vatican Museum

Who is this Roman God Janus?

He is the god of duality, doors, gates, and transitions. Because every door and passageway had two directions, Janus was depicted with two faces, keeping an eye out in the front and back. He is also the god of beginnings and endings, the gatekeeper, and he protected the start of all activities. His shrines in Rome were all located near the crossings of rivers. In his early days, he was associated with waterways and bridges. Interestingly in ancient cultures like the Hindus, the Tibetans, and the Chinese, water crossings were considered a doorway for spirits to interact with the human world, particularly demons.

The Romans were masters at syncretism, meaning they combined different local beliefs and traditions to ease the transition of Roman rule. Many times, the names of their temples were a combination of Roman and Gaul gods, like the goddess Sulis Minerva. Mercury was often associated with Lugh, the Celtic god of light. 

The Romans often build their temples over pre-existing Celtic ones or even Neolithic sites.

The temple of Janus was a fanum, a type of religious sanctuary commonly found in Roman Gaul. Originally this type of temple was Celtic and was built out of wood. The Celts called them nemetons, stemming from the word nemeto, meaning holy wood enclosure. 

Fanums had an inner sacred space called a cella. Its shape was typically square or circular. The cella housed the statue of the deity, and only priests had access to this inner sanctum. During certain ceremonies, the temple’s doors were opened so the god could gaze out to the masses. The cella was surrounded by a veranda, which served as an ambulatory where people could walk around it. Interestingly enough, I found a reference to the Celts circling around the cella, a traditional way to enhance the sacred energy inside.

The Temple of Janus

When building any sacred place, earth energies were employed to give power and energy to the holy center.

As you can see, this temple was placed over a powerful configuration of subterranean water veins. The most sacred place is the crossings of three water veins and a few faults. Notice also that all the temple openings have water veins flowing through them and are roughly the same size. The center is a healing crystalline vortex of energy.

 

In the analysis of the geometry used by the master builder, the first thing we notice is that the temple is square-shaped. More than that, it was conceived with three concentric squares using a common building technique called a triple enclosure. Triple enclosures were used in temples and churches to strengthen, refine, and protect the sacred energy at the center.

The illustration below is the solar mandala of Autun and the Temple of Janus. This unique mandala is intimately connected with the sun’s annual rhythms throughout the year. It is called a solar rectangle (solsticial quadrilateral) because each corner is connected to the solstices. It becomes a complex mandala relating to the five elements, the seven chakras, and musical notes. Another essential thing to understand about this solar rectangle is that it is unique to each latitude and changes in shape and size with latitude changes.

 

The solsticial quadrilateral was used as the beginning point to build sacred structures worldwide, and the Romans were part of this tradition.

In the Temple of Janus, the master builder employed different circles relating to the sun and a fractal of the solsticial quadrilateral to design the temple. The first solar circle is found at the intersection of the solar and lunar quadrilaterals. This circle forms the first sun square, as can be seen in the illustration. The outer wall of the cella is found by placing a square around the outside of the sun circle and the inner wall is found by placing a square inside of this sun circle. And the inner rectangle that the god would be placed upon is a solsticial quadrilateral connected to the golden mean. 

 

Everything in this temple relates to the sun, making it a very, very solar temple.

When you see this geometry, you begin to think that this temple is not dedicated to the God, Janus. The gods, Lugh, Mercury, or Apollo, were probably suited for this type of solar temple. 

Lastly, there is a feeling quality associated with the healing abilities of every sacred site. Standing in the sacred center, you can notice this temple opens and balances the heart chakra and the lungs. It is connected to the air and ether elements. This type of energy is closer to the power of the God, Mercury. He is a god of the Air Element, a healer, and being the messenger of the Gods, was able to travel from the underworld to the spiritual realms. For the Celts, this place was a good match for the God Lugh, their solar god. 

Names, Energies, and Sacred Places

Have you ever visited a cathedral and wondered why it was named for a particular saint?

During my early travels, I never did. I accepted the name, marveled at the architecture and other artwork, took photos, and then left for my next adventure. But over the years of studying the Art of the Master Builders, names of places have taken on a whole new dimension.

I work with solar geometry, which can also be called energetic geometry.

It was the first geometry used by our ancestors to build their amazing sacred places. This geometry is connected to the heavens, the sun, the moon, and the stars. It is also deeply connected to the earth and its patterns and energies. It is a geometry that is alive and life-enhancing. Because of this connection to heaven and earth, it is sacred. Even more than that, it creates a sacred space when used to build any type of structure. A place where you can connect much more quickly to the divine, to our own spirituality. It also can be used to emphasize different qualities of energies, like love.

Within the solar mandala of any particular place, the measurements of the Elements can be found.

Elements can be related to the chakra system and have a feeling quality. The ability to use measurement to create a place where a sensation can be felt with the body is simply incredible. For building a cathedral, the master builder can create a space that helps to open the heart chakra with the ether element, for example. But there is more to a sacred place than the geometry that was used to build it.

Much of our human life revolves around spirituality.

All cultures have their unique mythology and ways to deepen their spiritual connection. Most of the time, a structure is built over an extraordinary point. A place with exceptional healing qualities or a place where one could easily deepen their spiritual connection, a place kissed by the divine. A temple or cathedral built with precise measurements of solar geometry would enhance the natural energies of the healing point, making the healing energies more powerful. These enhanced energies could then radiate outwards, balancing the land and environment around, helping crops grow better, and improving the health of animals and humans who lived nearby.

In Neolithic times, these first unique places were where menhirs were erected.

Kerloas MenhirThese standing stones did many things. They balanced the land, creating harmony for crops to grow and where animals and people could live in a healthy environment. Interestingly enough, these points where the menhirs were placed had different qualities and healing energies. One menhir could be connected to the lungs and the heart. Another could have energies of fertility and birthing. Others worked on kidneys or the liver; others still opened the crown chakra and balanced the chakra system.

Over time, humans created elaborate rituals to ensure that they stay connected to the divine and be blessed with happy and healthy lives. Sacred sites were built to spiritually guide people and for miraculous healings. Pilgrimages for healing are a common theme all around the world. The Christians are famous for their pilgrimages of healing, and they continue today.

But what does this have to do with a name of a cathedral?

Given a little thought, one can conclude that the name of a cathedral conveys an underlying message. When you think of Mother Mary, what comes to mind? What are her special qualities? Love instantly comes to mind, the energy and feeling of love, grace, and healing.

What if these qualities were found at a place?

Love, healing, and grace? I believe they are. During research into the geometry and the energies of 100s of churches, cathedrals, and megaliths in Europe, cathedrals dedicated to Mary have one thing in common, the feeling of love. They were often built over an older temple or megalithic site, one that had the same qualities of love. In fact, it seems that our megalithic ancestors were concerned about a few things. Fertility, love, and spiritual connection are pervasive themes to find at their megalithic sacred places.

These same qualities are found in other temples, churches, and cathedrals. It is incredible to consistently find that Mary always shares her energy of love. She is in churches dedicated to her. When she is placed in a side chapel, this quality of love is usually present.

Other saints have specific energies as well.

For example, St. Michael and St. Peter Churches focus on the earthly and cosmic energies found at a particular healing point. St. Peter cathedrals usually have spiritual energy that comes down from the cosmos. He is the saint holding the keys to paradise, to heaven. His points are very cosmic. The healing power comes down to the earth instead of radiating up out of the land like most points or energy vortexes. In St. Michael churches, healing energy rises out of the land, opening the chakras of the feet, moving up the meridians, and cleaning our body’s energy system.

Names of places can be powerful reminders and indicators of the type of healing energy that is part of the story of a place. Next time you visit a cathedral, pay attention to its name and how you feel inside to see if you can get a glimpse into its healing abilities.

 

by Karen Crowley-Susani

If you would like to experience the healing energies of Cathedrals dedicated to Mary, the Black Madonna, St Peter, and St Michael, join us on the Path of Light Tour coming up in 2022. We also have the Magical Brittany Tour for all of you stone lovers. If the mysteries of the Black Madonna fascinate you, don’t miss this wonderful tour.  During our time together, we share with you how to recognize places with healing energies. You learn how to feel with your body and chakra system these high vibration and spiritual connection points.

Learn new skills, eat good food, and enjoy many laughs along the way.
Which tour calls to you?

Keep checking back for new tour updates.

Santa María de Carrión de los Condes

The Hidden Story of Building a Church

Santa María de Carrión de los Condes
Santa María de Carrión de los Condes

To build a church, even a simple Romanesque one is a big job.

The role that earth energies play in building and designing a church or cathedral is one of the most important and most unrecognized elements. There are no modern-day discussions about this essential job of the Master Builder. The question of where to place the altar is a crucial one because it sets up the entire vibration and power of a church. This point is what gives the energetic power, flavor, and ambiance to the entire structure. For a church or cathedral to function properly in its role of spirituality, healing, and connection to the divine, it must be built over powerful earth energies.

As you learn about the energies of churches, you will find that many are named according to the energy of the place. For example, Mary churches usually have a resonance with love and the heart chakra or they are related to fertility. St Michel is associated with a special golden vortex. St Peter is associated with cosmic energy that comes from the heavens instead of up from the earth.

The name and the energy of the place are important.

For example, In Brittany, there is a church called St Michel de Braspart. The church was originally built in 1670 on one of the seven sacred Hills (mounds) of Brittany. The mound called Menez Kronan, is named after the Celtic God of Life and was an ancient place of sun worship. The tiny little church was built on top of this high mound, a place like many other St. Michael churches was built upon. Here the church was trying to convert pagans and stories began to be told of the miracles performed by St Michael. Usually, St Michael churches, have fantastic energetic qualities.

But this church was not fortunate enough to be built over the correct energetical spot.

The St. Michael point of golden energy is actually located outside the church! The priest who designed and built it missed the mark and in doing so, built a disappointing church, lacking the high vibration and healing qualities that one associates with this type of church.

Fortunately, most of the Master Builders were trained well and knew their job.

Subterranean water veins were traditionally used to build churches and most of the time you will find a big water vein running the length of the church. Because the altar sets the tone for the entire church, this critical point needed a crossing of several good quality (high vibration) water veins. The better and more miraculous the water, the better for the energy of the cathedral. Many times, the Master Builder did not have to do much work to find a good place, because he would position the church and altar over a Roman Temple or a menhir, dolmen, or cromlech. It was a very common technique used by many cultures around the world. There is a good example of this in Santa Fe, NM. The altar of the Church of St Miguel was built over a kiva and you can see it through the clear plexiglass that now covers it.

In a simple idealized cruciform church, you would find a big water vein running the length of the church, a water vein crossing it at the transept, and then one or more water crossings at the apse as you can see in the drawing. Armed with this basic knowledge, you can see that there would be a couple powerful energetic points created by these water crossings inside the church.

As a reminder, energy vortexes are created at the crossing of subterranean water veins.

They are seen as tornado-shaped and have colors and qualities relating to our chakra system. For example, the altar crossing of earth energies would usually have a big and powerful vortex of energy and the inside ambiance of the church would be connected to the color and qualities of it. In a church dedicated to Mary, for example, the ambiance is usually green, opens the heart chakra, and at the altar a big green vortex is normally present.

In our example of St Jean de Pied Port, we can see that the earth energies are pretty standard for building a church. There is a water vein that runs the length of the church. At the altar, there is a crossing of water veins and faults. The violet vortex is located at the crossing and helps to imbue the church with high vibration energy. As you will see, the spiritual qualities of this crown-opening vortex were further enhanced by the use of the solar geometry employed in the design of the church by the Master Builder.

After the altar point was chosen, a connection to the sun was made.

Geometry connected to the sun is the time-honored way to build all sacred structures around the world, and churches were not the exception. As some of you are aware, churches are oriented with the apse in the east. But there are more connections to the sun besides this east/west orientation. Solstices are very important times of the year in which the sun reverses in its direction of travel. If you track the sun’s travels on the earth, you will notice a rectangular form taking shape. We call this form, the solsticial quadrilateral, or the solar rectangle. It was used as the basic form to build churches and cathedrals.

Churches can be just a simple solar rectangle or as complicated as a cathedral with their many different layers of different types of solsticial quadrilaterals. Jerusalem, Rome, Ephesus solsticial quadrilaterals were employed as a way to connect the church to these powerful places.  Dynamic rectangles connected to the golden mean could be used, as well as, solar rectangles connected to musical notes and chakras.

For our example of St Jean de Pied Port, our Master Builder combined several of these different types of solar rectangles in his design.

Let’s break it down. First, he used the solsticial quadrilateral oriented in the north-south directions. This type of solar rectangle is called the Lunar Quadrilateral or the Spiritual Quadrilateral. Side by side, two of these rectangles create the inner length and width of the nave. The side of the quadrilaterals relates to the 3rd and 7th chakras, mixing the emotion of the 3rd with the connection to the spirituality of the 7th. It helps to refine the energy and ambiance of the church. The interior also is connected to the 3 x 4 rectangle, a famous static rectangle used in building structures since the Neolithic times. It brings an element of calm and peace to the structure. The external measurement chosen by the Master Builder encloses the church with a golden rectangle adding the connection to life inherent in this figure.

At first glance, the apse seems to be an octagon figure, but the apse angles fit perfectly into a heptagon shape instead. The sides relate to the musical note associated with the 3rd eye. Another characteristic of the apse is that the circle of ether (of the 3rd enclosure) fits exactly inside this polygon of seven. The 3rd duplication of the mandala is connected to sacred space and the ether element to the opening of the heart chakra. The use of the 3rd enclosure here emphasizes the sacredness of the space.

The Master Builder also used the ratio of the latitude of Jerusalem to fit a solar rectangle in the front part of the apse, connecting the church to the Christ energy.  He also used the elements of fire and ether, actively bringing in qualities of love and tenderness. Overall, the Master Builder of St Jean Pied Port does a good job utilizing the earth energies of the place. The church was positioned well, taking advantage of the violet vortex for the altar area. He employed solar geometry to create an ambiance of spirituality and the most sacred place, the apse, hit the mark as a place to connect to the divine. One interesting side note is that in modern times, the position of the altar has been moved off of the violet vortex and the center of the solsticial quadrilateral of Jerusalem. Leading one to the conclusion that the knowledge of this point’s power and connection to the divine, has sadly been lost.

by Karen Crowley-Susani

Rocamadour, history, legends and mystery

Dive deep into the Templar secrets at Rocamadour

Rocamadour, history, legends and mystery

Wrapped in mystery, Rocamadour has been a place of legends and miracles for eons.

Our first knowledge began over 50,000 to 70,000 years ago in the Paleolithic times. Archeologists discovered a Neanderthal camp in the area, and nearby the Grotte de Merveilles or Grotto of Wonders was found. Inside cave paintings were found with hands and animals. The Celtic tribe of Cadourque lived here too. They were the last Celtic tribe standing up against Caesar’s Roman invasion and genocide.

The cliffs were places where hermits in the 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries would find a small cave to make their home.

It was the fashion of the times. Sometimes these hermits became saints in later legends and were endowed with miracle-making skills. One such hermit’s body was discovered sometime after the Christians built a small chapel in the cliffs dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the 11th century at Rocamadour.

Chapel of Saint Amadour
The church of Saint Amadour in the cliffs

One story told is that while digging a grave in 1166, an incorrupt (undecomposed) body was discovered. Finding such a body was miraculous. Even more astonishing was that this mysterious person was cradling a carved virgin, who became known as the Black Madonna of Rocamadour. The mysterious person was identified as none other than Saint Amadour, a hermit who had lived and died there years or perhaps centuries before. His name inspired Rocamadour because he was found in the rocks; Roc means rock, plus Amadour. A church in the cliffs was soon built in honor of Saint Amadour, and pilgrimages to Rocamadour began.

There is another name associated with this hermit as well.

In the 15th century, because it was important to connect saints and places of pilgrimage to Christ, Zaccheus of Jericho became associated with Rocamadour. During his life, Zaccheus knew and conversed with Jesus. His wife, Veronica, even gave Jesus a cloth to wipe his face during his journey to Calvary. According to the updated legends, Zaccheus supposedly ended up in France to escape persecution and died in AD 70 as a hermit in the rocks of Rocamadour.

The Black Madonna of Rocamadour
The Black Madonna of Rocamadour

Pilgrimages were big business for the church, and Rocamadour became famous for all the miracles and healings that the Black Madonna performed.

She cured illnesses and was the patron saint of sailors, saving many of them during shipwrecks at sea. The 6th-century bell in the Chapel of Our Lady miraculously rings to warn sailors of storms and foretells miracles. The Black Madonna has a book of miracles, and entries are still entered in it today! Rocamadour has the distinction of being one of the most significant pilgrimage destinations in Europe for the last 1000 years, second only to Mont St Michel, with 1 ½ million visitors per year.

Both the Templars and the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, also called the Hospitallers, are associated with Rocamadour. The sects were devoted to the Black Virgin. In one decisive battle against the Saracen troops of Muhummand an-Nasir in Spain, the Templars carried the Black Madonna of Rocamadour into the Navas de Tolosa battle in 1212 and, despite overwhelming odds in favor of the Arabs, were victorious because of her. Afterward, the Archbishop of Toledo began a Te Deum in thanksgiving to God and Our Lady of Rocamadour for the miraculous intervention needed for the battle’s success. This vital ceremony healed to seal the Black Madonna’s reputation ability to perform miracles.

There is not much else is said about the Templars and Rocamadour. Still, you can find their mark in the construction of the Basilica. There are numerous Templar type crosses carved on columns and one extraordinary one on the floor before the altar in the Basilica of St Sauveur.

Cross before the altar in the St Sauveur Basilica
Cross before the altar in the St Sauveur Basilica

In the surrounding countryside, many buildings and churches once belonged to St John’s knights, who had enlarged their holdings after the abolition of the Templars in the 14th century. Jean de Vallon was the Head Master of St John of Jerusalem Knights in the 15th century who were active at Rocamadour. His family was from Quercy, and he was buried in St John the Baptist chapel.

The Basilica of St Sauveur is a classic Templar structure.

The rectangular shape is called in the Master Builder tradition, a solsticial quadrilateral or solar rectangle. This particular shape is special and is used worldwide to construct sacred places. The rectangle points connect to the solstices. Each one marks either a solstice sunrise or sunset shown in the drawing.

 

Solsticial quadrilateral

This shape is important because it connects the structure to the sun’s rhythm and the cosmos.

The rectangle of the sun is also connected to the earth’s pattern. When builders use the solsticial quadrilateral, they connect heaven and earth, endowing the space with spiritual qualities. The natural energies of the place are refined, calibrated, and strengthened. Read more about a solsticial quadrilateral’s characteristics and read our blog called Real Sacred Geometry. The link is below.

When a master builder, such as the Templars, decides to build a sacred place, one of the first considerations is what type of earth energies can be employed in the space. Sacred structures are built for several reasons, and one of them is to heal. Earth energies are vital because they give healing energies to the church or temple. These earth energies are water veins and geological faults found below the earth’s surface.

Earth energy lines of Rocamadour
Earth energy lines of the Basilica and Chapel

The Basilica and the Chapel of Our Lady have excellent earth energies that the builders took advantage of during their construction. As you can see in the drawing, there is a big network of earth energies under the Basilica and Chapel. The blue lines are water veins, the red and yellow lines are different types of faults. At many intersections, there are vortexes of energy, depicted as concentric circles of different colors. These vortexes relate to our chakra system and can be felt with our bodies and seen by sensitive people. You can read more about these vortexes in this blog called Secret Energies of Sacred Places in the link below.

One other thing to keep in mind about Templar constructions is that they use the octagon.

During the Crusades, During the crusades, the Templars learned many things from the Muslims in Palestine, including advanced building techniques, mathematics, astronomy, and more. It is interesting to note they learned how to employ the octagon in construction and other designs. Some of their churches are even octagonal shaped, such as the Chapel of Ste Claire in Le Puy en Velay, France, and Eunate and Torres del Rio in Spain. Of course, the Templar cross is created using an octagon, but we will discover it is much more than a simple octagon later in this blog.

Solsticial quadrilaterals of Rocamadour
The solsticial quadrilateral of Rocamadour

The analysis of the Basilica and the Chapel plan shows that the builders used the solar rectangle of Rocamadour as the foundation of the design. They also employed another vital element, Ephesus’s solar rectangle, in Turkey. Builders frequently used this technique to connect churches to Ephesus, the Great Mother Goddess place.

Ephesus was connected to many of the great goddesses in ancient times.

Such as Cybele of the Phyrigians, Astarte of the Phoenicians, Ishtar of the Assyrians and Babylonians, etc. It is known to Master Builders as the Goddess latitude. The temple of Artemis, one of the 7 Wonders of the World, was built there. She reigned as the Queen of Heaven and as the Mother, Healer, and Savior. Reverence for her was so deep that in AD 431, Constantine declared the Virgin Mary to be the Mother of God, and she took over the role as the Queen of Heaven. It is generally accepted that Mary lived out her final days in Ephesus in a tiny stone cottage at the top of Mount Koressos, overlooking Ephesus.

solsticial quadrilateral of Ephesus as used in Rocamadour
Solsticial quadrilateral of Ephesus as used in
Rocamadour

In this drawing, you can see how Ephesus’s solar rectangle was employed in both structures by the blue rectangles.

You can also notice how the Master Builders, the Templars connected important earth energy points (the vortexes) into their structure. For example, the two columns in the Basilica are placed on vortexes of energy, strengthening their effects. The golden yellow fault is used for the cross by the altar. Also, it shows up at the center of the solsticial quadrilateral of the Basilica. The Black Madonna is placed above the golden yellow fault. A mosaic star on the floor of her chapel with its giant crystalline vortex is also connected.

What makes this golden-yellow fault so unique?

Because it joins all of the major energetic points of these two structures. As we touched on earlier, water was employed in all sacred places because of its healing qualities. It can also be miraculous. On the other hand, golden yellow faults were used because of their particular characteristic of bubbling up energy. They can work with the stomach, liver, and pancreas. When there is a configuration of a golden fault beneath a water vein, energetic steam is produced, opening the chakras of the feet and the body’s meridians, resulting in cleaning the body’s channels.

Vortexes of energy at Rocamadour
Vortexes of energy at Rocamadour

Because these earth energies are remarkable, the Master Builders took advantage of them.

The cross before the altar is fascinating. The geometry connected with the solar mandala of Rocamadour calibrates the vortex’s energy. Octagons are the best transmitters of information because they relate to the lymph and water circulation throughout the body. The solar geometry in the cross features water, air, and ether elements and the sun and moon’s energies. The inner-circle is called primordial water and has the unique ability to circulate the water in our body, clean the central channel, and open all the important centers of the body. Jean de Vallon, the headmaster of the Knights of St John, could have been the designer. The design is not a classic Templar design, nor is it a Malta Cross. The design falls somewhere between the two. The Knights probably used the cross for initiations because of its exceptional energetic qualities. It can open the body’s energetic systems and connect people to a higher spiritual vibration.

Templar cross at Rocamadour

The striking mosaic found in Our Lady’s Chapel also has some special energetic solar geometry characteristics.

Our analysis shows that this star octagon was designed using the earth circle as the base. In the Master Builder tradition, the earth circle is the boundary between organized space and chaos. The 8 points touch the solar mandala’s outer limit or the earth circle. The different measurements used to design this star opens the root chakra first and then all the other chakras and finally connecting you to heaven and earth. This star is powered by a water vein and the golden yellow fault. Crystalline vortexes are very healing, and this is a beautiful example of one. 

Octagon mosiac in the Chapel of Our Lady
Octagon mosiac in the Chapel of Our Lady

Finally, the Black Madonna herself is positioned between the two solar rectangles. She is connected with the energy of Rocamadour and the Divine Mother goddess energy of Ephesus. The violet vortex she has been placed over opens the crown chakra, and the crown she wears emphasizes this energy.

We hope next time you visit and ask the Black Madonna for a blessing, try standing on her star on the floor; what happens next may surprise you!

By Karen Crowley-Susani and Dominique Susani

The Secret Energies of Sacred Places: Vortexes

Sunset at Bagan, Myanmar

Sacred sites are extraordinary places.

They are healing; they align and balance our energy and raise our vibration. Their very essence is mystical, and we make pilgrimages to them most often for the healing they offer us. But what is the magical ingredient that gives these unique places their healing qualities? These secret energies are vortexes, and they have healing vibrations that have long been recognized by the shamans, priests, and builders of sacred sites all around the world.

Earth energy is a big topic, and besides the subterranean water veins and geological faults, there are energies that we encounter on the earth’s surface. These surface energy currents do not only flow horizontally. They also move in a vertical direction. A simple way to explain them is that they are vortexes of energy, shaped like a column. These vortexes are comprised of descending and ascending energy, which circulates by spiraling up and down.  We call them energy vortexes. Some people see them, and others sense them when they stand in the middle of one.

These vortexes are generally located at the intersections of major horizontal flows. Similar to how hurricanes are formed, many vortexes are created by the meeting of two different forces. For example, when the energies of two water veins meet inside the earth, this meeting begins a turning or spinning action, which at the surface translates into a vortex. Most of the vortexes that we encounter every day are caused by underground water veins, geological faults, or crossings of nets or grids that also cover the earth. Natural elements in the landscape create other vortexes, for example, volcanoes, pyramidal or conical mountains, confluences of rivers, or waterfalls.

People can feel energy vortexes with their bodies by standing in the center of one of them.

A light blue vortex of energy
Yoda is feeling a blue vortex of energy

Depending on the vortex’s intensity, it can affect the body and mind. Some vortexes put us in strange mental states, sort of like, feeling like we’re somewhere else, like in a dream. Or we can feel dizziness. We can mostly sense these energy vortexes within the central channel of our body and our chakra system.

For those of us that can see these columns of energy, you can notice that the vortexes have different colors, and we can relate these colors to the chakras. A resonance phenomenon exists between these vortexes, their colors, and human beings and animals’ energy centers. For example, a red vortex has a resonance with the first chakra. When you stand in the center of a red vortex and neutrally let your body feel it, you will become aware of how warmth or energy is centered in your perineum, legs, and feet.  For some people, it is a surprise actually to begin to feel their feet!

There are two main types of vortexes. One called telluric means it comes up from the earth. The other is cosmic, meaning it comes down from the heavens. Each of these types has both descending and ascending energies, but only one is the dominant one.

Our ancestors were aware of these energy vortexes and used them in building their sacred structures all around the world.

A golden vortex of energy, the result of a crossing of three water veins.
The golden vortex is the result of the crossing of three water veins.

All temples contain energy vortexes at the center of their holy of holies, the most sacred place of all. These special energy vortexes are often violet, golden, or crystalline in color, prized for their opening and balancing effects on the energy system.

For example, violet vortexes are present in at least 80% of the apses of Christian churches. Animals, especially dogs, cows, deer, horses, llamas, etc., also seek violet vortexes to restore their energy. Interestingly enough, the Berbers, nomads of Africa, watched where their dogs would rest and set up their tents in these places. They knew the dogs chose vortexes that recharged their energy and were good for the body’s health.

Golden vortexes have healing qualities and open the feet chakras and meridians of the body, and builders also used green vortexes because of their abilities to open the heart chakra. Crystalline vortexes also have healing abilities and were used in many places.

The megalithic builders discovered that when they marked a place of good, healing, or powerful energy with a stone, the energy vortex became stronger and more powerful.

Merry Maidens Cromlech and vortex of energy.
At Merry Maidens Cromlech, in Cornwall, there is a huge violet vortex, as a result of a big blind spring in the center.

In Neolithic times, erecting huge stones over these strong points of energy was the fashion. Most of these vortexes were connected to water, just like the temples and churches that followed them. These vortexes were water vein crossings and had specific characteristics such as fertility and other healing energies. Standing stones and dolmens were both placed over vortexes of energy created by the crossings of water veins. In contrast, cromlechs or stone circles were erected around a powerful central vortex of energy.

After this megalithic period, the best energetic points and vortexes became places to build other kinds of temples because of their ability to raise people’s vibration and help them heal. For example, we can find these points of energy in the temples of Göbekli Tepe, Malta, and the pyramids, to name a few. 

When the culture changed with the Roman invasion in Europe, how to designate a sacred place changed. For example, the Romans placed statues of their gods on vortexes.

Depending on the god, the statues were placed either outside or inside the temple. Figures of Jupiter, Mars, Athena were placed inside. On the other hand, the placement of Mercury was outside the temple. All of these statues were very big, more than 10 meters high. For example, a Mercury figure in the Puy de Dôme in France was more than 14 meters high! The statues’ height and weight were critical because the bigger it was, the greater the vortex’s influence and its specific healing qualities had on the people and the surrounding area.

When the Christians started occupying the sacred sites of Europe, they placed crosses on vortexes of energy. 

A stone cross  beside the church of the 7 Saints, Le Vieux Marche, Brittany
This cross has a nice violet vortex of energy.

Many crosses along the side of the road in France have special energetic qualities. They are mostly green, light blue, or violet colors and opened the heart, the throat, or crown chakras. These places marked with crosses were actually where menhirs once stood. Menhirs too big to destroy were Christianized instead with a cross placed on top. There are many examples of this found in Brittany, France. Other important stones were Christianized with a cross on top as well. To the uninitiated, it looks strange to see a random stone with a cross stuck on top of it, but in reality, it has a giant vortex. People from ancient times would go there for healing.

It also became popular for Christians to use Mary to show a particular point of energy or healing vortex. 

They even customized her depending on the energy. For example, there are telluric Marys, indicating that the vortex of energy is coming up from the earth. There are cosmic Marys, showing the energy coming down from the heavens. Marys also hold baby Jesus, which indicates the energies are complete because they go up and down.

Some special vortexes were considered much more than a healing place; they were places that could awaken special abilities. They became connected to initiation rituals and helped people change their level of consciousness. These places awakened and opened the 4th, 5th, 6th, or 7th chakras and kundalini energy.

These secret energies of sacred sites are naturally occurring vortexes in the earth or the cosmos.

But there are other vortexes, ones that are created artificially. These vortexes appear when you apply a particular type of geometry on the land. This geometry is remarkable because it is connected to the sun’s rhythm and the energy of the earth and is considered alive and life-enhancing. This energetic solar geometry has been used throughout the ages to enhance and empower the natural vortexes of a place and create artificial vortexes in temples and churches. But this is another topic; stay tuned for our next blog to learn about these artificial vortexes.

Monsters under the bed

Dangers Lurking under Your Bed

by Dominique Susani and Karen Crowley-Susani

Many children are afraid of the monsters under their beds at night.

Have you ever stopped and wondered if it could be real? In our practice of geomancy, we know all about the dangers lurking under our beds. I have seen numerous children afraid to sleep at night because bedtime was a scary time for them. Many parents are stressed and anxious because their children have nightmares and sleeplessness. Children want to sleep in their parent’s beds and often wet their beds at night. Parents don’t know what to do and have no tools to make it better for their children.

 

 

When I (Dominique) began my training as a geomancer, one of my children was five years old, and he had these types of nightmares.

He described an entity or spirit that appeared under his bed that he called the ‘hairdresser spirit.’ He named him this because the entity had scissors and dreadlocks with ribbons in it. My wife and I were perplexed, upset, and worried, and we didn’t know how to help him.

As time passed, my wife and I couldn’t find a solution, which was a constant source of anxiety. One day, we visited a friend with a child roughly the same age as my son. She was sensitive and able to see energies. The subject came up about the nightmares her son was having. She began to describe what her little boy was seeing, and my son exclaimed, “that is the hairdresser spirit!” We realized at that moment that this nightmare was an evil spirit trying to scare children. Afterward, we found other children in the area having the same problem.

We talked with our geomancy instructor and luckily knew how to find a solution. His method involved closing the portal. He showed us how to do it using a technique with particular measurements. We didn’t understand the process very well, but it worked well. Much later, after I learned to work with these special measurements and fix nightmare problems, I realized these types of energetic portals were common worldwide.

I worked with many cases, and the reason for the nightmares was always an energetic portal close to the child’s bed.

When I analyzed the earth energies in these places, I always found subterranean water veins and geological faults crisscrossing there. Entities from the underworld travel through the underground water veins and come up to the surface at crossings of water veins or faults. Remember that not all intersections of water veins and faults are energetic portals. 

When my son’s nightmares began, my wife and I didn’t believe in spirits and entities. We disregarded these types of things because, perhaps, like you, we believed in a scientific approach to life. Entities and spirits couldn’t be measured or seen. But in ancient traditions, bad spirits or entities were well known. As humans ‘progressed,’ we lost the knowledge about what they were.

Ancient cultures had different ways of describing them.

Stupa of Chimi Lhakhang
Stupa of Chimi Lhakhang, Bhutan

For example, at the end of the 15th century in Bhutan, there was a monk, Lam Drukpa Kuenley, called the Divine Madman. One of his sacred deeds was subduing demons that tormented the Bhutanese people. He dealt with one famous demoness of Dochula by burying her on a mound and then building a stupa over this mound or the energetic portal of the land. In western civilizations, we call this technique to ‘tame the dragon.’

Like the Romans, Greeks, Etruscans, etc., other ancient people developed divinatory systems and tools to find places of negative earth energies. They knew very well that they developed diseases when animals lived and grazed in harmful zones. For example, when deciding where to build a Domus, a large Roman house, they would put a flock of sheep on the land to live and graze in the area they wanted to build the home. After one year, the divination priests, called Haruspex, sacrificed a couple of the sheep to read their organs and entrails. This ritual was crucial to see if the animals developed any diseases which would make the place unsuitable for habitation.

Another example is the Berbers, a nomadic tribe in North Africa. They would observe where their dogs would rest because it revealed the best places to recharge their energy. Dogs and other animals, given a choice, always choose excellent sites to restore their life-force energy. The Berbers knew this and erected their tents in these areas. These two examples illustrate that humans have known since ancient times that there are beneficial places to live and other places where diseases flourish.  

There are other problems besides nightmares and scary entities lurking under your bed.

70% of degenerative diseases come from the earth. Let’s look at some of the modern research about earth energies. Beginning in the early 20th century, scientists started to notice things connected to dowsing and earth energies. Swiss engineer Lienert and Dr. Jenny conducted numerous geobiological studies on laboratory mice in Switzerland in the 1930s. Mice were placed in 3-meter-long cages and positioned over a neutral zone and a water vein. The mice systematically made their nests in a neutral zone. Each time somebody moved the cage and the nests positioned over a water vein, the mice moved them to a neutral location. The mice quickly became ill, lost weight, and developed many tumors each time they were forced to remain in the disturbed area of the water vein. Conversely, when the mice were free to choose their nesting place, they remained healthy.

Of the 24,000 mice studied, those living in the neutral zone were calm and produced three times more babies than those in the disturbed zone. However, those forced to stay in the disturbed areas were irritable, aggressive, gnawed on their cages’ wires, mutilated their young, and suffered 30% more tumors than the others.

In the early 1950s in Germany, Dr. Hartmann, interested in dowsing and geobiology, noticed something curious about some of his patients.

They made return visits to his practice due to relatively harmless and medically controllable illnesses. No medicine seemed to work. He concluded that places where subterranean water veins, faults, and Hartmann nets or grids, crossed were the cause of their illness, explaining why they could not heal. His suspicions were confirmed because illnesses quickly disappeared after changing the position of the patients’ beds.

In 1961, he founded the Forschungskreis Center for Geobiological Research, where eminent researchers, such as Professor Vaga of the Max Planck Institute, participated. In the 1980s, they claimed that at least 60% of degenerative diseases were attributed to where people lived and slept. His research results were summarized in his book “Krankheit als Standortproblem” – Illness as a Location Problem.

In France during the 1960s, Dr. Jean Picard of Moulins also became interested in the health and habitat link after reading a report of repeated cancer deaths in a particular building.

A 13-year-old child died from lymphoma of the pelvis. The parents moved, and a new family settled in the apartment. Two years later, one of their children, sleeping in the same place, also developed pelvic cancer. Dr. Picard questioned his colleagues and learned that a neighbor in the above apartment, whose bed was above the children’s, had also died of cancer. After some research, Dr. Picard realized that the city’s cancer rate was twice as high, as other French cities, with 300 cases in the same district. He discovered new apartment buildings were built over marshes. He later noted in his writings, “I realized that my patient’s illnesses were related to their place of residence.”

In Germany in the late 60s and early 70s, Physicist Robert Endrös began his research into the effects of telluric radiation on the human body. He published his book Die Strahlung der Erde und Ihre Wirkung auf das Loben in 1978. He demonstrated the impact of underground water veins and faults on the endocrine glands. 

This first graph shows the endocrine glands in a neutral zone without water veins or faults. Take note of the level of the sexual glands, adrenals, and thyroid. 

The next diagram shows how dramatically the glands’ secretions change over a water vein. The thyroid and adrenals perceive danger and significantly increase their secretions, around 2 -3 times more than in a neutral zone. Notice that the sexual gland secretions are barely visible. 

Many people have difficulty understanding that these types of subtle energies can affect their health.

But, you can see in nature the effect subterranean water veins have on trees. They bend to escape the influence of the water veins. This influence becomes evident when you see a tree trunk leaning to one side, and then it grows straight again at some point. Geological faults affect trees differently. Trees become very dry, and often you can see cracks on the tree trunks and dead branches. Other things you can notice are cracks along the walls in ancient constructions. When you analyze the earth energies present, it is possible to see that sometimes cracks begin at the edge of a water vein. Over time, it cracks.

 

With these examples, you can understand why your body, just like a tree leans or a wall, cracks because of these energies; your organs can be very disturbed by these earth energies. Their health can also be disrupted if they become stressed by these energies.

The common symptoms of sleeping over water veins, faults, and Hartmann nets are irritability, depression, sleeplessness, nightmares, tiredness, headaches, back pain, breathing problems, heart attacks, stomach and digestive issues, and sexual problems. Some people realize when they go on vacation for 1 or 2 weeks, they feel better and have a good night’s sleep. They chalk it up to being on holiday. But most of the time, it is not that. Most of the time, it is because they live in a house filled with the effects of negative earth energies.

These problems begin to make sense when we consider we sleep an average of 7-8 hours a night in our beds. As we sleep, our energetic defenses are lowered by two-thirds, making the effects of earth energies stronger on our bodies. Suppose we sleep over a crossing of water veins, faults, and Hartmann nets. Negative energy is beamed into our bodies for long periods, contributing to degenerative diseases. You can understand now why both Dr. Picard and Dr. Hartmann noted in their research; illness is a location.

Fortunately, we have solutions for these dangers lurking under your bed.

As the doctors mentioned above, the easiest solution is to move your bed off of the earth energies. But to do this correctly, you need to know where the water veins and faults are crossing under your bed. Fortunately, we have the talents of Nicolas Susani to help you with this if you are not familiar with dowsing. He is gifted with seeing earth energies, including underground water veins, geological faults, energy vortexes, and more. He has a diagnostic service that maps precisely where these energies are under your bed and at home. You can move your beds to a more neutral place with an Earth Energy map. Click HERE to learn about an Earth Energy Map

Energetic House Diagnostic
Earth Energy Map of a home

If you are interested in going one step further, we offer Home Harmonization plans HERE. These plans include harmonizing your home with energetic solar geometry techniques and earth acupuncture to neutralize the water veins and faults underneath your home. One essential point is placing a solsticial quadrilateral (included in your plan) around your home. Then the Hartmann nets disappear as well as stress and disharmonious energies caused by these noxious energies.

An example of a Home Harmonization plan using multiple solsticial rectangles.

 

Learn about earth energies, 
body dowsing, 
and sacred & solar geometry, 
to create harmony around you.

 

We offer a complete online course class called the Solsticial Quadrilateral Revealed HERE, for those of you who love to learn and do things yourself. In this class, you dive deeper into the subject of earth energies, how to body dowse for them, and how to harmonize your home with energetic solar geometry (the solsticial quadrilateral). The class is packed with techniques and stories to help you shift your home’s energy into something life-enhancing and harmonious, thereby transforming your life.

 

How to Heal your Home workshop

 

The next option is for those of you who want to master harmonizing home and how to build powerful energetic structures for healing. It is geared towards architects, healers, and energy workers who wish to take their designs and healing to the next level. The Secrets of Sacred Geometry Certification Course is a 2-year training that will absolutely change your life! Check the Certification out HERE.