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[ March/April 2003 ]

Center, Boundary, Gateway:
The Celtic Keys to Geomancy

by Christan Hummel

As the point where the energies of Heaven are anchored to Earth, it is of vital importance that the Center be guarded, protected, and properly revered.

At a dowsing conference in Northern California, I met a soul brother named Richard Feather Anderson. He created the first school of Geomancy in the West, bringing together much of the information from Celtic, Native American and Chinese feng shui traditions into one location, and was, for many years, a pioneer of Western Geomancy.

When we met, we felt an instant felt a spark of recognition, as if we had already known one another. As we shared our various adventures with Earth healing work over the years, Feather shared with me the key for him to Geomancy, or feng shui of the land. This key has its origin in the Celtic cross, (a Celtic version of the Medicine Wheel) which is summed up in three words: Center, boundary, gateway. Those three words are a key to unlocking the secrets of the geomancy of any property or area.

The Center is the energetic heart of a property, whether a home, a garden or a city. The most classic example I’ve seen is in Jerusalem, at the Dome of the Rock. It is the energetic center of the old city, and a sacred area for Jews, Moslems, and Christians alike. For Christians, it is the place where Jesus taught at the Temple. For Jews, it is revered as the spot where Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac when God intervened. It is considered Mt. Moriah, and also famed to be the location of Solomon¹s Temple and where the Ark of the Covenant was housed. For Moslems, it is the place where Mohammed received his revelation, where he took his night journeys to Mecca, and where he ultimately ascended. Prior to Mecca, all temples pointed towards this location. So, for three different religions this “center” is considered a very sacred point, and energetically crucial to the health of the region.

In Celtic traditions, the Center was enshrined by temples to protect the energies there from harm or desecration because it was felt that the harmony of the land depended upon the health of the sacred center. The Center of crucial importance to the health and prosperity of a region. It is the omphalos, or umbilical cord, the point where the energies of Heaven are anchored to Earth, so it was of vital importance that the Center be guarded, protected, and properly revered. Peace and prosperity were assured when the Center was properly honored. And conversely, if desecrated, war, famine, and disharmony were sure to reign.

Around the Center were boundaries, which determined the perimeter of the
region. In Jerusalem, the boundaries are formed by the old city walls. They clearly mark out the boundary of the old city of Jerusalem and were originally built for that purpose and to defend the city against invaders. Around the Dome of the Rock, is a retaining wall, or boundary for that Temple area. The remains of that wall, the Western Wall, is considered a pilgrimage place for Jews visiting the area.

At the edge of the boundaries, are gateways, or paths which allow energy in
and out of the area protected by the boundaries. These gates are of major importance energetically. However, they are often overlooked when doing geomantic work, or balancing the feng shui of an area.

Prior to my trip to Jerusalem, I was given the message “pay attention to the guardians of the gates.” This simple though cryptic message provided much information and guidance once we arrived in Jerusalem as I discovered that at each major gateway there was an energetic guardian. Honoring those guardians and requesting their permission to enter and continue proved to be of vital importance to the success of our work.

One such guardian, at the Zion gate, guarding the entrance to the Jewish
quarter of Jerusalem, chuckled at us for a while because we didn’t know which guardians we were supposed to honor and were offering our prayers to each and every one. When we discovered this gateway and did our usual propitiation, I realized that these were the Guardians of the Gates which I had been alerted to pay attention to!

I saw an iron bar on the large stone wall by the gateway and found that the orthodox Jews who passed by there paid some sort of respect by touching this bar with their fingers and putting their fingers to their mouths. They were honoring it in some way. I discovered later that this is an ancient tradition which goes back to the time of Moses during the plagues when he was told to put something on their door and the Angel of Death would pass by their house. So this tradition began and was carried down throughout the centuries.

This was my education into the significance of honoring the guardians of the gates, and several more “guardians” were honored before the trip was completed. One of the most significant was the Golden Gate on the east entrance to the old city. This is the only gate which has been sealed, and also the only one which has twin arches. All other seven gates into the old city held a single arch.

The significance of this gate to the geomancy of the city can hardly be overestimated. It allows the energies from the east (the light of the Sun) to come into the city, and the first thing the rays hit is the Dome of the Rock. The energy runs down a straight line, called the Messianic line because it was prophesized that the Messiah would come from the east through the Mount of Olives through the Golden Gate into the Temple, and then to the place where Jesus was ultimately crucified and arose from the tomb. This is actually the true path which Jesus is said to have come from the Garden of Gethsemane, through the Golden gate, to the Temple where he was tried, and then on to the place of his crucifixion.

If you follow this line further east, it ends at a place called the Church of Ascension, which is the spot that commemorates the last place where Jesus touched the earth before he ascended. From there, it goes through the Mount of Olives and, further, through the Golden Gate through Mt. Moriah, through the Church of the Holy Seplucure, and finally terminating outside the old city at the Holocaust War Memorial!! From Ascension at one end to the Holocaust at the other, and the crucifixion and resurrection in the middle! All along this same energetic line running through the Golden gate.

The significance of the Golden gate is, as mentioned before, the only gate which is a double arch and the only one which is sealed. When the Moslems took over the city of Jerusalem, sometime around 600 AD, the gate was sealed with concrete. This was supposedly done to prevent the Messiah from fulfilling this prophesy. Another significance of this gate is revealed when you look at the geomancy of the land. To the east is the feminine rolling hills of the Mount of Olives. This is where the location of the tomb of Mother Mary, and the line runs right through the Church of Mary Magdalene. For those who have studied the Essenes, or more esoteric renditions of the Christian teachings, Mary Magdalene is considered the priestess of the Isis. Thus, we see a major area of the land dedicated to the Goddess energy. As we trace this Messianic line to the west, it enters the old city through the Golden gate. Once it passed through the Golden gate, it enters the male, patriarchical area of Jerusalem, Mt. Moriah, with connections to Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed.

When we were directed to do work at this gate, I asked the land what we should do. What was revealed was that the archetype of the divine relationship of the cosmic male and the cosmic female was to be reminded to the land at this point. I was given an image of the co-creative relationship between Jesus and Mary, and understood that they as well were anchoring these energies into these most important places in the land.

I was traveling with a man named Alberto during this journey. He and I looked into one another¹s eyes as we endeavored to see past our physical selves and gaze instead to the divine Male and the divine Female in one another, and honor that sacred space within one another. As we did so, the energies that came through us at that moment were palpable. It was as though a flood gate had opened. We stood in tears and amazement at how simple and yet profound the experience was for both of us. The Bible prophesized that the Golden gate would be opened at a time to herald the return of the Messiah. Perhaps our work was a preparation for that eventual physical event?

Center, boundary, gateway -- these keys can unlock many doors of exploration and co-creation. May you use this knowledge with wisdom and joy.

Christan Hummel leads pilgrimages to sacred sites and teaches people how to access their innate relationship with nature. For more information about her upcoming workshop, see www.earthtransitions.com or call: 760-722-5555.