Ley Line

### Abilities

Networks of magical energy beneath the Earth's surface which produce magical and spiritual energies

### Origins

Occult Mythology

**Ley Lines**, or **Dragon's Meridians**, are the networks of magical energy located beneath the Earth's surface, generating natural mana and spiritual energy.

## Overview

**Ley lines** are straight alignments drawn between various historic structures and prominent landmarks. The idea was developed in early 20th-century Europe, with ley line believers arguing that these alignments were recognised by ancient societies that deliberately erected structures along them. Since the 1960s, members of the Earth Mysteries movement and other esoteric traditions have commonly believed that such ley lines demarcate "earth energies" and serve as guides for alien spacecraft. Archaeologists and scientists regard ley lines as an example of pseudo-archaeology and pseudo-science.

The idea of "leys" as straight tracks across the landscape was put forward by the English antiquarian Alfred Watkins in the 1920s, particularly in his book *The Old Straight Track*. He argued that straight lines could be drawn between various historic structures and that these represented trade routes created by ancient British societies. Although he gained a small following, Watkins' ideas were never accepted by the British archaeological establishment, a fact that frustrated him. His critics noted that his ideas relied on drawing lines between sites established at different periods of the past. They also argued that in prehistory, as in the present, it was impractical to travel in a straight line across hilly or mountainous areas of Britain, rendering his leys unlikely as trade routes. Independently of Watkins' ideas, a similar notion—that of *Heilige Linien* ('holy lines')—was raised in 1920s Germany.

During the 1960s, Watkins' ideas were revived in altered form by British proponents of the countercultural Earth Mysteries movement. In 1961, Tony Wedd put forward the belief that leys were established by prehistoric communities to guide alien spacecraft. This view was promoted to a wider audience in the books of John Michell, particularly his 1969 work *The View Over Atlantis*. Michell's publications were accompanied by the launch of the *Ley Hunter* magazine and the appearance of a ley hunter community keen to identify ley lines across the British landscape. Ley hunters often combined their search for ley lines with other esoteric practices like dowsing and numerology and with a belief in a forthcoming Age of Aquarius that would transform human society. Although often hostile to archaeologists, some ley hunters attempted to ascertain scientific evidence for their belief in earth energies at prehistoric sites, evidence they could not obtain. Following sustained archaeological criticism, the ley hunter community dissipated in the 1990s, with several of its key proponents abandoning the idea and moving into the study of landscape archaeology and folkloristics. Belief in ley lines nevertheless remains common among some esoteric religious groups, such as forms of modern Paganism, in both Europe and North America.

Archaeologists note that there is no evidence that ley lines were a recognised phenomenon among ancient European societies and that attempts to draw them typically rely on linking together structures that were built in different historical periods. Archaeologists and statisticians have demonstrated that a random distribution of a sufficient number of points on a plane will inevitably create alignments of random points purely by chance. Skeptics have also stressed that the esoteric idea of earth energies running through ley lines has not been scientifically verified, remaining an article of faith for its believers.

## Summary

The ley lines are the source of all the natural magical energy of the planet, also known as *mana*, which flows through them reaching everywhere across the Earth. They are created by the Mother Earth Goddesses, powerful embodiments of the planet's will, and the natural spiritual energy found within the ley lines are said to be the goddesses' personal life-force.

Ever since ancient times, buildings and locations of immense religious and/or spiritual importance have been placed directly upon the ley lines. Usually, a magic practitioner can only take advantage of a limited amount of mana, but with certain enchanted items, the mana can be exploited until the area becomes entirely depleted.

During the Age of Gods, there existed **Divine-Made Ley Lines**, networks of ley lines created and administered solely by the gods, capable of superior mana provision compared to regular ley lines. However, most of them were destroyed in the Great War and the subsequent Holy Wars, and the ones that weren't destroyed are relocated into their gods' respective cosmos.

## Other Forms

### Convergence

**Convergences**, also known as the **Sacred Sites**, are points where the ley lines converge, forming a net-like matrix within which magic spells and rituals are amplified. They are described as an "in-between", places out of space and time, where dark magic can be done undetected and demons can be summoned without triggering demonic omens.

### Faery Portal

**Faery Portal** is a dimensional rift through which one can enter ley lines as means of transportation across vast distances. The rifts are created and remained open thanks to the **Ley Line Terminal**, created by the wizard Taliesin using his own research on Faerie Magic which gave the rifts their name.

Once established, the Ley Line Terminal can open the rift whenever the user wishes to, as well as determining its destination provided that it is connected with another Terminal. On rare occasions, wild magic from Faerieland also gets caught by the Terminals and creates accidental portals to the Faerie.

### Daemon Line

**Daemon Lines** are corrupted ley lines, which can only be created through extremely powerful curses or immense *miasma* infestations. The consequences of the daemon lines are devastating, bringing forth countless kinds of disasters, pollution, and misfortune that can destroy a small country in a short amount of time. While these lines can be purified, only powerful Mother Earth Goddesses or those whose power rivaling that of a Mother Goddess can perform such a miracle.

## Trivia

* They are the subjects of many topics, including *feng shui* and Electromagnetic Theory.
* Hogwarts is built upon the highest-quality Convergence in Western Europe.