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The Human Touch Blog ~
David Farrant

Borley still haunted?

David Farrant at Borley Church 1979 © Della Farrant

The following article about ley lines first appeared in my book Dark Journey  published in 1999.

In fact, I first visited the site of Borley Rectory with its extant church in 1979 and was immediately struck by a spiral arc of dense cloud that seemed to eclipse the immediate landscape. It was almost like looking at a rainbow, but made of clouds instead of having any transparent colour.  This appeared to meet the horizon in front of Borley Church and join it again somewhere behind the church in the distance.  Apart from this anomaly, the sky was almost clear apart from slight wisps of high cloud lying high above this lower mass.

I was with psychic medium Colette Sully on this particular summer’s day, but found the church locked; although a hand written notice pinned to the door gave directions for interested visitors to find the local caretaker who lived nearby in the tiny village.  She was a pleasant lady in her fifties, and she trustingly reminded us to sign the visitor’s book for any opinions or comments.  She said that she had not had any ‘ghostly experiences’ inside the church, but her husband had (who was out at the time) when he was leaving the church one evening.  If I wanted to ask him about it when I returned the key – and if he was back by then – I’d be more than welcome.  Unfortunately he wasn’t, and we had to make our way back to London, but we nevertheless managed to obtain some good interior photographs of the church . . .
 
 LEYS – A MYSTERIOUS MYTH OR A STORY UNTOLD?

THE  20TH CENTURY  might have heralded a turning point in scientific knowledge, discovery and intention, but virtually none of this ‘human knowledge’  (because humans we are, and humans we remain) seems to have one iota closer to solving or understanding the numerous cases of unexplained phenomena world-wide which just will not seem to ‘go away’.

Amongst multiple categories of these cam be included …  UFO’s, crop circles,  (the strange appearance of precise geometrical formations that appear in isolated fields over­night, precognition (an ability by some people to ‘see’ – through vivid dreams or visions – events that have yet to take place) and telekinesis, another faculty possessed by some that enables them to move objects without the aid of any physical contact.

There are numerous other examples of unexplained phenomena, of course, which from a material or scientific point of view can neither be understood or explained, and these include the psychic abilities of some mediums and clairvoyants whose ‘powers’ apparently enable them to make  people contact with spirits and forces unseen.  There are too, of course, the numerous sightings of ghostly apparitions (whether of ‘people’, animals  or even scenes of places or landscapes which have long since disappeared into history) which, over the years have been witnessed and reported by so many people.

The possibility that  ‘ghosts’ might exist in their quite literal sense is one, in fact, often seized  upon by vehement sceptics who seem to want to ‘debunk’ the entire field of psychic research.  Assuming that all witnessed cases of unexplained phenomena must automatically relate to figures in white sheets that go around ‘groaning’ or ‘clanking chains’, or even ‘carry their heads’, materialists frequently use this misguided criteria as an example of the absurd and argue, perhaps understandably, that if these portray typical examples of ghosts and the unknown; then all similar legends and reports can safely be based on nonsense.

They would be absolutely right, of course; but only if such an assumption was based upon  a supposition that was correct in the first place.

Fortunately however, the workings of genuine psychic research and the opinions and conclusions of  those involved in it, do not quite work that way!  In fact, dedicated psychic investigators would almost certainly be in full agreement with hardened materialists in that the whole concept of spookily-clad figures ‘wailing in the night’ can be ascribed to sheer fantasy.

But it is only a brief meeting point for, leaving more frivolous types of ghosts aside, dedicated researchers are aware that there is much more to the field of psychic research; not least its quest to understand unknown Laws in the Universe than could possibly be responsible for the numerous unexplained phenomena reported world-wide which, so far, no physical laws or any amount of material theories or reasoning, have been able to explain …

The possible existence of ley lines, (which, as already explained, are ‘lines of energy’ that cross the earth’s surface and might be responsible for the occurrence of many psychic phenomena), could be cited as just one example where modern science or ‘intellectual reasoning’ has entrapped itself within material boundaries and left behind ‘jewels of knowl­edge’ rich in potential wisdom, but luckily, not so easy for the taking.

A discourteous statement? Perhaps not. For if the protagonists of scientific research with all its available computerised technology, ever came to dream that there might exist some nebulous energy outside the scope of their text books, they would be among the first to try and exploit it, would they not?

Ley lines are, in fact, lines of energy that run in exact form across the earth’s surface and although the secrets of this energy are now all but lost, they were known (at least, to a much higher degree) to ancient mankind who were much more dependent on natural forces in Nature and within the earth itself.

Accordingly,  far more advanced in the understanding of this potent – though natural – energy, ancient man was instinc­tively drawn to ley lines, building his settlements and early places of worship on or around them, using them for naviga­tion purposes when travelling or hunting game and to utilise  their qualities for his spiritual well-being.  Essentially, ancient man was  ‘drawn’ to these invisible lines understanding that they contained great wealth and power; indeed, they were so important to his life-style that he ‘mapped’ them with stone markers and monuments over vast areas of terrain, and this, with the awareness that an understanding of Nature’s secret forces could help determine his very survival.

Ley lines usually run in precise alignment across the earth’s surface and although many have been seemingly ‘lost’ among the teaming vicissitudes of the 21st century (many of their markers having long since vanished into obscurity or lines themselves buried deep beneath the concrete jungles of modern civilisation) they are nevertheless still ‘there’ and no amount of human theories or conjecture can in any way affect their validity.

But perhaps what is not so well known about ley lines,  and the mysterious forces associated with them, is that many re­ported cases of ‘ghosts’ – or ghostly phenomena – and other unexplained happenings, just happen to occur along the course of ley lines.

To take just one example of ley lines and their possible connection with ghostly phenomena, one only has to look at the famous case of Borley Rectory which was said to be ‘con­siderably haunted’; not, least by the well known psychic investigator Harry Price.

Indeed, from the 1920’s until well into the mid 1930’s,  Borley Rectory acquired a fearsome reputation of being haunted by several different ghosts, in particular, by a phantom nun and a poltergeist that had a habit of immobilis­ing physical objects in the air in direct view of witnesses; bottles of wine rising mysteriously from shelves and bricks and being suspended in mid air before suddenly crashing to the ground. ‘Phantom footsteps’ were frequently heard at night and sometimes a ‘goblin-like figure was seen inside the Rec­tory, whilst outside in the grounds, a ghostly nun was fre­quently witnessed by several different people. Events and sightings such as these continued unabated for many years, until the Rectory was eventually destroyed by a mysterious in 1939.

Whatever the truth behind all these tales (and most of these have been so well documented that further repetition would be unnecessary) is now impossible to tell. But it is an inter­esting fact that Borely Rectory itself was situated directly on a spot where at least two ley lines converge; indeed, still do.

Speculation or fact?  Well, as its name might suggest “Borely” (a “bore” literally meaning a “tidal wave of great force”) was obviously originally named thus because of its posi­tion on a ley line and it is reasonable to assume (as is the case with many ancient monuments and sites) that the signifi­cance – if not importance – of ley lines was recognised by early architects and planners – even later architects and planners.  (It is a matter of fact that when Borely Rectory was built in 1863, it was constructed upon the site on Borely Manner built in 1042, and before this, a Benedictine Abbey was said to stand on the site.)  That this understanding was later lost is really academic for, like a meandering wave on a stormy sea, the energy in ley lines is never actually ‘lost’; although it can remain in a dormant state.

The Borely story is, of course, well known but, despite its destruction all these years hence, stories of ghostly phenomena still abound there.  One of these is the ghostly nun who is still reported gliding along a certain walk-way which fell within  the grounds of the old Rectory; while adjacent Borley Church only yards from the old Rectory site, has been plagued with stories of ghostly phenomena, even in years just gone.  Back in the 1960’s (in the days when the church was still unlocked to the public), one group of aspiring ghost hunters reported hearing distinct –though unexplained – sounds and witnessing strange lights while they were keeping a vigil inside the church at night.

Yet perhaps all this is not so surprising if we remain in the context that a good number of ghostly figures might have a connection with ley lines; or rather, that such lines may be directly responsible for numerous cases of ghostly phenomena that are reported on and around them.

David Farrant,  President, British Psychic and Occult Society.

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