Underground Knowledge — A discussion group discussion

In my recently published Australian historical novel White Spirit, which I co-wrote with Lance Morcan, we mention songlines which relate to a spiritual awareness the First Australian (Aboriginal) people have of the landscape and sacred landmarks.

Regarding the indigenous people of Australia, I found this:

Leylines and Songlines:
The Aboriginal people of Australia believe that the land is alive and that to keep it alive, they must sing to it. In fact, they can navigate the landscape of Australia by singing songs about the sacred landmarks that traverse it. The tradition of singing songs as a map or guide is known as songlines. Also known as Dreaming Tracks they trace the route of ancient creator spirits from the Dreaming Time. By singing these songs an initiated person could navigate thousands of kilometres across a track.

Full article here: http://www.greencauldrontours.com/fle...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ley_line
Ley lines /leɪ laɪnz/ are apparent alignments of places of significance in the geography or culture of an area, often including man-made structures. They are in the older sense, ancient, straight trackways in the British landscape, or in the newer sense, spiritual and mystical alignments of land forms.



The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin is one book that also covers the subject.

Thanks for this, James. It will help with research for a new novel I'm working on:-)

A.D. wrote: "Thanks for this, James. It will help with research for a new novel I'm working on:-)"

Great, A.D.

Interesting stuff about the 'songlines'. Had no idea Aboriginal people navigated the terrain that way.

Further to James’ reference to White Spirit, here’s an excerpt from our novel which conveys our understanding of the Songlines the Aboriginal people of Australia follow with astounding accuracy. To set the scene, the subject of our novel, Irish convict John Graham, together with members of the tribe who gave him sanctuary after his escape from Moreton Bay penal settlement, relocates to new hunting grounds. John’s in the company of Mamba, a fetching young widow who believes him to be Moilow, her deceased husband who has returned to her in the form of a white spirit…

Excerpt follows:

John noticed Mamba’s eyes were now fixed on a craggy, bush-covered hill to their left, and she began singing louder and with more feeling. He remembered seeing the hill once before – this time last year to be precise – and he recalled Mamba had told him it was the place where her father had died. He could see tears now rolled down her face, and he wanted to comfort her, but he resisted because he had learned she didn’t appreciate being distracted at such times.

Since Mamba had first told him about the Songlines, John had imagined more than once he could hear them singing back to him. It only happened when he was alone, and then only very occasionally. Once, quite recently, it had seemed so real he’d mentioned it to Mirritji. John had half expected the elder to laugh at him, but Mirritji had assured him it was the Songlines he’d heard. He remembered advising the old man that he couldn’t understand the words of the song. Mirritji had smiled and said, “The language of the Songlines is in the rhythm of the song, not the words, Moilow. The rhythm is an echo of the sky and of the land below. Listening to it, or singing it, guarantees you always have a path to follow.”

“I can make no sense of the sound I hear,” John had complained.

“You must clear your mind and listen harder, Moilow,” Mirritji had patiently advised. “The Songlines guided you back to us. They will guide you again.”

The next time John thought he heard the Songlines, he took the elder’s advice and listened harder, but still he could make no sense of the sound. Yet he found it comforting.

*
On the off-chance this is of interest to anyone, I’m happy to include more excerpts from our novel which further explain the Songlines and, indeed, the mystical Dreamtime, which is closely interrelated and equally fascinating.

Interesting topic. I've searched a bit about it in the past after reading the Songlines by Chatwin. I wonder if european laylines would have been some sort of songlines in the aboriginal sense. If it would be possible, all european leylines could be a form of songline orientation in the past. Same with american leylines. Maybe the ancients knew more than we though.

Sorobai wrote: "Interesting topic. I've searched a bit about it in the past after reading the Songlines by Chatwin. I wonder if european laylines would have been some sort of songlines in the aboriginal sense. If it would be possible, all european leylines could be a form of songline orientation in the past. Same with american leylines. Maybe the ancients knew more than we though. ..."

I tend to think so, yes.

Here's a further excerpt from our novel, which actually precedes the excerpt in #5 above and which further illustrates the Aborigines' familiarity with the Songlines. As before, in this excerpt, Irishman John Graham is walking through the Australian wilderness with Mamba, the Kabi tribeswoman who in real life 'adopted' him as her husband returned from the dead...


Mamba was currently singing to herself – something John had observed her do often, especially whilst walking. He found the melody enchanting, captivating even, and though he could understand little of what she sang about, it nevertheless strangely resonated with him. For reasons he couldn’t explain, it made him feel at one with nature.

“What do you sing about, Mamba?” he enquired, speaking slowly so that she would get the gist of what he was asking.

The young woman smiled patiently and then rolled her eyes in mock exasperation – as if to say this was something John should know. “Why you ask…such thing…Moilow?” she asked in pigeon English. “Surely remember…the Songlines.”

John just shrugged. He had heard her and others often talk about something they called the Songlines, but still he didn’t know what they were.

When Mamba saw that her man looked genuinely bemused, she reverted to her native tongue. “You know we sing to the land and its sacred landmarks because it is alive,” she said. “Our ancestors have told us it is so, remember? The Songlines allow us to follow the paths left by our spirit ancestors from the Dreamtime.” She paused to assess whether John understood.

The Irishman had heard Mirritji speak of the Dreamtime. He understood it no more than he did the Songlines, but he knew better than to dismiss it as twaddle, so he nodded to indicate he was following her so far.

Encouraged, Mamba continued, “By following the…Dreaming Tracks…we walk in footprints of those…who went before us…and so we journey safely…and never get lost.”

That bit John did understand. He had long observed the Kabi never seemed to lose their way, not even when venturing into foreign territories never before visited. He’d learned that for their initiation, the clan’s boys went bush, as they called it, armed only with a spear and often trekking hundreds of miles into the interior – an age-old ritual which, if they survived, formally ushered them into manhood. On occasion, they didn’t return. Not because they’d become lost, he’d been assured, but because some other catastrophe had befallen them. More often than not, that catastrophe was a failure to find food or water, or falling foul of enemies of the Kabi. Whatever the reason, the end result was usually death.

*
As a footnote, it seems very likely the Aborigines' oneness with the Songlines endures to this day. Their tracking abilities are second-to-none, and their ability to survive in the harsh Outback of Australia defies explanation. They must surely be tapping into underground knowledge of their own.

It seems pretty clear that ley lines were part of a technology. Standing stones and other structures appear to channel, divert, or harness the energies.

There also seems to be some connection with telluric currents but the two are not identical.

I believe feng shui is a similar technology that has been diluted over time.

Jim wrote: "It seems pretty clear that ley lines were part of a technology. Standing stones and other structures appear to channel, divert, or harness the energies.

There also seems to be some connection with..."

I suspect you're right about the standing stones and other structures somehow tapping into energies. Can't think of any other logical explanation. Maybe homing pigeons and the like tap into similar energies...

Aboriginal Men of High Degree: Initiation and Sorcery in the World's Oldest Tradition by indigenous Australian author A.P. Elkin

Enter now for a chance to win a copy of the paperback edition of our book White Spirit. Based on the remarkable true story of Irish convict John Graham, WHITE SPIRIT is an epic historical adventure set in 19th Century Australia.

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/sh...

“Those who lose dreaming are lost.” –Aboriginal proverb

Sustaining aesthetics: songlines, leylines and dragon lines http://kairos.laetusinpraesens.org/so...
From Information Highways to Songlines of the Noosphere: Global configuration of hypertext pathways as a prerequisite for meaningful collective transformation

The coherence of the Australian Aboriginal world derives from the centrality of belief in a dreamtime during which powerful beings walk the earth, establishing topographic features, calling the natural species into life, and instituting the rules of group and individual behaviour. They "wrapped the whole world in a web of song" (Bruce Chatwin, 1988, p. 82). Creation occurs by means of song. It is therefore as though the landscape is a musical score, and the traditional tracks are what have been termed songlines. These are themselves a powerful memory aid to navigation over the earth and to the location of essential resources, as well as providing a continuing rehearsal of cultural history. A songline is therefore "a succession of sites" along a track, "vibrant with incident, power and meaning" allowing for a dramatic and aesthetic participation in the environment. (Yi-Fu Tuan, 1993, pp. 125-7). "Music is a memory bank for finding one's way about the world" (Chatwin, p. 120).

The world's oldest observatory? How Aboriginal astronomy provides clues to ancient life http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-12...

An ancient Aboriginal site at a secret location in the Victorian bush could be the oldest astronomical observatory in the world, pre-dating Stonehenge and even the Great Pyramids of Giza.

Scientists studying the Wurdi Youang stone arrangement say it could date back more than 11,000 years and provide clues into the origins of agriculture.

Duane Hamacher, a leader in the study of Indigenous astronomy, has been working with Aboriginal elders at the site to reconstruct their knowledge of the stars and planets.

"Some academics have referred to this stone arrangement here as Australia's version of Stonehenge," Dr Hamacher said.

If the site is more than 7,000 years old, it will rewrite history and further disprove the notion that first Australians were uniformly nomadic hunter-gatherers.

Is this mysterious site Australia’s Stonehenge? http://www.news.com.au/national/queen...
"The mound is one of the oldest; I should say the oldest, forms of temples in the world and dates back to the Palaeolithic age with the advent of first man."

James wrote: "The world's oldest observatory? How Aboriginal astronomy provides clues to ancient life http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-12...

An ancient..."


Wow - very interesting. Although not totally surprising.

Out of Australia: Aborigines, the Dreamtime, and the Dawn of the Human Race

In their startling new book, Steven and Evan Strong challenge the out-of-Africa theory. Based on fresh examination of both the DNA and archeological evidence, they conclude that modern humans originated from Australia, not Africa.

The original Australians (referred to by some as Aborigines ), like so many indigenous peoples, are portrayed as backward and primitive. Yet, as the Strongs demonstrate, original Australians had a rich culture, which may have sown the first seeds of spirituality in the world. They had the technology to make international seafaring voyages and have left traces in the Americas and possibly Japan, Southern India, Egypt, and elsewhere. They practiced brain surgery, invented the first hand tools, and had knowledge of penicillin.

This book brings together 30 years of intensive research in consultation with elders in the original Australian community. Among their conclusions are the following:

There is evidence that humans existed in Australia 40,000 years before they existed in Australia.
There were migrations of original Australians in large boats throughout the Indian/Pacific rim.
Three distinct kinds of Homo sapiens are found in Australia.
There is evidence from the Americas that debunks the out-of-Africa theory.
The spiritual influence of the Aborigines is reflected in the religions of the world.

Looks intriguing, thank you :)

The secret history of Australia (with Acknowledgement of Country) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_Rtp...

A telluric current (from Latin tellūs, "earth"), or Earth current,[1] is an electric current which moves underground or through the sea. Telluric currents result from both natural causes and human activity, and the discrete currents interact in a complex pattern. The currents are extremely low frequency and travel over large areas at or near the surface of the Earth.

Telluric current https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telluri...

The Ancient Trackways of Britain’s Ley-Lines Steered Bronze Age Tin Miners https://www.ancient-origins.net/histo...

Ley Lines - Harnessed Wave Energy of the Ancients? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3OGK...

“To understand the Dreamtime, you must understand that we do not own the land. The land is our mother and she owns and nurtures us.”
―White Spirit (A novel based on a true story)

Speaking of Songlines, the Dreamtime and Aborigines, ‘Tea and Sugar’ is a moving poem I just have to share with you. It’s by an Aussie author/poet and friend of mine one John Holland who shares an affinity for the remarkable First Australians indigenous people.


Tea and Sugar

“Within a circle white stones glow,
but here Spinifex will never grow.

Even over Bradshaw’s grave,
brave and hardy grasses wave.

But never here where no one goes,
but an off-white child, on tippee toes.

Here in the honey coloured afternoon.
Beside a peaceful green lagoon.

Murdered tribesmen rise.

With lolling tongues and oyster eyes
from out of ochre coloured ground.

Then the sound.

Oh yes the sound,
that seems to come from underground.

As chantings start.
Old nightmares wake inside his heart.

Their singing

moans of

stolen bones.

Stolen lives.

Stolen wives.

Though he joins the chant.

Because he is their friend.

Will the singing never end?”


~John Holland~
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

And here’s the link to John’s Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/John-Holland/e...

Hello everyone,
I’m very interested in the idea of leylines. I stumbled upon it while reading a piece taken from an old book on beekeeping. Apparently bee swarms are prone to following ley lines and will build hives where the lines intersect.
I live in Canada and have a couple of honey bee hives as a hobby where I live. I’ve been very fortunate in that swarms of bees have come through my yard and I’ve been able to give them a new home (in return for a bit of honey).😁
Is there any way of determining where ley lines are, or a map of their location?

Lee wrote: "Hello everyone,
I’m very interested in the idea of leylines. I stumbled upon it while reading a piece taken from an old book on beekeeping. Apparently bee swarms are prone to following ley lines a..."

Hi Lee and welcome to the group. Most 'experts' say leylines can't be mapped, but here's a site that claims Google Earth can and does map 'em!

https://mapsdatabasez.blogspot.com/20...

Note it includes a Google Earth map that (supposedly) charts Britain's leylines.

Our Aussie Undergrounders may be able to advise whether the First Australians' songlines (a la leylines) have been mapped? I'd doubt they have been as following the songlines is a spiritual experience for Aborigines and I doubt they'd formalise it by mapping them.