2010

Two year Moon Cycle

Yggdrasil Oracle

Click the audio play button above to hear Jon talk about the influences of people and places.

As a boy the books of Ernest Thomson Seton and John Hargrave about Native Americans such as “The Book of Woodcraft and Indian Lore” created in me an awareness of cultures older than and different from our own that seemed admirable, particularly for their close connection to and respect for the natural world. Other influences from that time were the stories of Robin Hood, King Arthur and the books of Arthur Ransome like “Swallows and Amazons”. I was interested in Alfred Watkins’ “Old Straight Track” and the idea of leys stretching across the landscape often past the tumuli and “camps” of the ancient peoples of Britain. Of course the most exciting places of all were the Megalithic stone circles of Stonehenge

and Avebury which the family visited then and I visit frequently now.

Two other experiences in those early years before the Second World War remain in my memory. One occurred while walking with my father in the fading light under the yew trees on the route of Stane Street near Box Hill where I “saw” a Roman soldier standing with spear and shield, as if on guard, beside the path. Dad was surprised to be asked “who was that man?”. The other, more significant one, was during a warm summer afternoon on Wimbledon Common where I was walking barefoot down a muddy path through the oak and hazel woods near Beverly Brook. There I “encountered Pan” and made a commitment to respect Nature, the land and our ancient ancestors. So, early in my life a seed was planted for the tree with its many limbs, branches and twigs that this website, in part, shares with you. Looking back at the chain of development through the years, the other events, people and authors that have given me food for thought, I can only highlight some of the most significant ones. Encountering Robert Graves’ seminal book “ The White Goddess ” in 1950 certainly started a thread that has persisted since my first encounter with his work. Along with that came an appreciation of the importance of mythology and the nature of poetic inspiration and imagination. His interest in Ogham and ancient symbolic systems spoke to me and led on to the Northern Runic alphabet and its associations. Later, two years with the army took me to Singapore and Hong Kong where there were opportunities to encounter Chinese culture, Taoism and Zen Buddhism. An interest in Hindu meditative techniques also developed at about this time. John Blofeld was an author who brought an appreciation of many of these matters to me then. Soon after my return to England the first incarnation of the Leyhunter magazine made its appearance and got my subscription for the rest of its existence and my attendance at the annual “moot”. At one of these, in Hereford, I got to know both John Michell and Martin Brennan who were significant influences on me. Fascination with Archaeology, Architecture, Geomancy, Gematria, Colour symbolism, Tesselation and Geometry led naturally to the work and publications of Keith Critchlow who was chairman of the Research Into Lost Knowledge society and to attendance at their meetings in Kensington. Books by Tom Lethbridge the archaeologist and dowser and, of course the incomparable Alexander Thom joined many others on my overloaded shelves. Henry Lincoln’s “Holy Blood Holy Grail” together with Arthur Guirdham’s investigation into the Cathar/Gnostic heresies were other strands of the tapestry. From another direction, Buckminster Fuller and his geodesic concepts applied to building structures excited me as well. My large collection of OS maps expanded with my sense of the interconnectedness of landscape and the seasonal movement of the Sun, Moon and Stars. Carlos Casteneda and John Lilly appeared on the intellectual horizon together with the whole fascination of the 60’s with matters of the mind and altered states of consciousness.

The Eightfold year

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