Touchstone

Magazine Overview

Title: Touchstone
Issue: No. 102
Date: July 2013
Publisher: Surrey Earth Mysteries Group

This issue of Touchstone delves into ancient landscapes, myths, and archaeological wonders, focusing on the Brent Knoll Triangle in Somerset, UK, and extending to the ancient site of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey.

The Puriton Mound and the Brent Knoll Triangle

The cover story highlights Brent Knoll, an Iron Age hillfort rising spectacularly from the Somerset Levels. At 449 feet high, it offers panoramic views of the surrounding county, including the Polden Hills, Glastonbury Tor, Mendip Hills, Bristol Channel, and Quantock Hills. The hill has been inhabited since the Bronze Age, with later Iron Age double ramparts utilized by the Romans, who knew it as 'The Mount of Frogs' (Mons Ranarum). Roman coins from Emperors Trajan and Septimus Severus have been found there. Brent Knoll is also associated with Arthurian legends, notably the tale of Arthur's knight Ider questing to slay three giants guarding the mount. The hill is also a contender for the site of the Battle of Mount Badon. Adjacent to it is Battleborough, possibly referencing an AD875 battle between Saxons and Vikings. King Ina of Wessex is also linked to the area, with a statue of him in East Brent Church.

The article explores the network of ley lines associated with Brent Knoll. One ley is traced from Puriton Church, potentially the site of a Roman building and an ancient estuary port. This ley forms a small triangle with other lines near the church. Another ley runs through the village of Brent Knoll, passing through the churchyard and a raised green. The ley then crosses Batch Road and aligns with the Brent Knoll church tower, continuing through Cannington Church, Downend, and towards the Mendips. A second ley at Brent Knoll runs along a road at Holwell Combe, passing through Pawlett Hams, Brent Knoll Church, and East Brent Church, then skirting Cadbury Hill fort. A third ley goes through Brent Knoll Church and the Coronation Stone on the Knoll's summit, continuing through Charterhouse Church and its Roman fort, and Compton Martin Church, forming a triangle around the Knoll's summit.

A Visible Ley in Scotland

This section recounts a 1982 field trip to Scotland with Philip Heselton and the Northern Earth Mysteries Group, focusing on an apparently visible ley between Cambret Hill and Cairnharrow Hill in Dumfries and Galloway. The alignment features prehistoric sites including a ringmarked stone, a cairn circle and cist, a standing stone, a stone circle, and summit cairns. The ley continues south of Laggan, passing a burial chamber north of Mossyard, and leaves the coast at Mossyard Bay.

Oldest Stone Circles and Alignment to Jerusalem

This article shifts focus to Urfa in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey, identified as the biblical Ur of the Chaldeans, believed to be Abraham's birthplace. It is also known by its Greek name, Edessa, and is associated with the Image of Edessa, the first icon. Nearby lies Göbekli Tepe, a vast complex of Stonehenge-style megalithic circles from the Early Neolithic period, buried for millennia. Estimated to be eleven thousand years old, it predates the Great Pyramid and the earliest cuneiform texts. The site consists of multi-ton T-shaped limestone pillars, many engraved with bas-reliefs of animals like lions, foxes, boars, vultures, scorpions, spiders, and snakes. Unlike typical habitation sites, Göbekli Tepe lacks evidence of daily life, suggesting it was a religious sanctuary built by hunter-gatherers. The pillars are described as humanoid figures with long bodies and large oblong heads. The site was deliberately buried around 8200 B.C.

Researchers theorize that Göbekli Tepe might record events of a cataclysmic flood, potentially pushing the date of Noah's flood back to the end of the last ice age. The site raises many questions about who built it, its purpose, and how it was preserved. The pictograms and animal reliefs remain enigmatic. The article also mentions other Neolithic sites in Syria that appear to align with Damascus and Jerusalem, including Jerf el Ahmar, Cheikh Hassan, and Mureybet, noting their excavation dates and characteristics, such as grinding stones at Jerf el Ahmar and the disappearance of Mureybet under Lake Assad.

Book Reviews

• The Old Straight Tracks of Wessex by Paul Devereux and Laurence Main: Reviewed as a significant work on leys, despite the author's later rejection of the concept. It offers guided walks on classic leys like Avebury and Stonehenge Cursus, introducing associated concepts and folklore.
• Alfred Watkins' Herefordshire, in his own words and photographs by Ron and Jennifer Shoesmith and Alfred Watkins: This book provides a biographical insight into Alfred Watkins, the discoverer of the ley system, highlighting his photography, beekeeping, and original research on leys.

Letters

• Cheryl Straffon comments on a previous letter regarding leys in Cornwall, clarifying that the St. Michael Line does not cross at South Crofty mine but runs southeast of it, passing through Gwennap Pit.
• Bob Shave provides bearings for the St. Michael Line in Cornwall using computer software, noting a slight discrepancy for Gwennap Pit and suggesting the line might be better considered a corridor.
• Norman Darwen describes a venerated oak tree in Lancashire covered with white rags, similar to other trees he has seen, but lacking further information about its significance.

MEYN MAMVRO: Ancient stones & sacred sites in Cornwall

This section advertises a publication or resource related to ancient sites, sacred sites, paganism, ley paths, pre-history, culture, megalithic mysteries, and folklore in Cornwall.

The Hidden Unity and Beginnings

This review discusses a booklet titled 'The Hidden Unity,' which examines subconscious siting of ley points and the tendency for places of worship to be located on leys. It explores environmental and philosophical implications and investigates two ley centers: the Shah Jehan Mosque in Woking and the Guru Nanak Sikh Temple in Scunthorpe. An appendix by Eileen Grimshaw covers the significance of Pagan religion. Another booklet, 'Beginnings,' by Jimmy Goddard, covers discoveries in earth energy detection, natural antigravity, subconscious siting, ley width, and the solar transition effect, including a chapter on cognitive dissonance.

Earth People, Space People & The Legacy of Tony Wedd

This section reviews two works related to extraterrestrial contact and ancient energies. 'Earth People, Space People' is a booklet based on Tony Wedd's unpublished manuscript, detailing claims of extraterrestrial contact, the STAR Fellowship, evidence for life in the Solar System, and extraterrestrial language. 'The Legacy of Tony Wedd' is a CD-ROM of Tony Wedd's exhibition on flying saucers, landscape energies, and lost technology.

Recurring Themes and Editorial Stance

The recurring themes in this issue of Touchstone are ley lines, ancient sites, archaeology, mythology, and unexplained phenomena. The magazine consistently explores the connections between landscape features, historical events, and esoteric beliefs, particularly focusing on the British Isles but also venturing into global archaeological discoveries like Göbekli Tepe. The editorial stance appears to be one of open inquiry into these subjects, presenting research, historical accounts, and personal observations from contributors and reviewers, encouraging readers to explore the 'mysteries' of the Earth.