Glastonbury – The Heart Channel
I write this article in the calm before the storm. In a couple of days hundreds of thousands of people are about to ascend on to the fields of Glastonbury to partake in what is generally considered to be the greatest show on Earth. And I for one, absolutely love it! I clearly remember thirty odd years ago, rushing through a maths exam so I could escape early and go and watch my heroes, The Beastie Boys, who were incredibly playing on a farm just up the road. This began my love affair with the festival and I have made that pilgrimage every year since, along with millions of others – who generally have to travel a lot further than I do!
But what is it about this hallowed land that draws all these people in year after year. Obviously there is a spectacular show that’s put on, but Glastonbury festival is more than just a pop concert. It’s a complete and utter alternative reality. A place where people can escape from their normal lives, in to a new one where almost anything is possible. And looking on, the back drop to the whole is experience is Glastonbury tor, a sight that connects you to the millions that have come before.
For Glastonbury has always been a place of pilgrimage. A place that people have always come to seek a heightened sense of awareness, whether it be through druidic rituals, religious worship, or the more modern incarnation of the gathering of a massive raving tribe. Is it a coincidence that the pyramid stage itself is centred on a major ley known as the Michael line? Is it just chance that the two farmers who own all the festival land are both called Michael? Is there a possibility that, as some people suggest, Glastonbury is the Heart Chakra of the planet and the festival manifests so that as many people as possible can experience its wonder and magic?
Who knows? But as an acupuncturist I work under the premise that there are pathways or channels of energy that traverse the body. This energy can be accessed at various crossings or internodes known as acupuncture points. Each of these pathways or meridians has a different inherent energetic quality, and so too does each point along that line. If we see the planet as a giant living organism then the ley-lines can be seen in a similar vein to these meridians. Taking this further we can surmise that the ancient peoples of this land were well aware of these lines of energy and placed their places of worship, their temples, their standing stones and henges along the internodes and meeting points of these energetic pathways.
If Glastonbury does indeed sit astride the Heart Meridian then it is surely in exalted company. Other places that relate to different meridians or Chakras include Uluru, Mount Kailash, Mount Shasta and the Great Pyramid of Egypt. All places off great historical energetic power. And if this is true, don’t we, the people of Glastonbury have a great responsibility to ensure that the beating energetic heart of the planet is in fine health?
I feel that the Glastonbury festival could definitely be a part of this. Yes I know that “It’s not like it used to be”, and you can certainly spend a dreadful hour or two listening to some droning bore playing at the pyramid stage. But this is not really what the festival is about. There are over a hundred stages and one minute you may find yourself dancing to a Cuban salsa band and the next be immersed in some deep Jamaican Nyabingi drumming circle. The whole world is wonderfully represented but even this doesn’t get to the true heart of the matter.
In Chinese medical theory the Heart pertains to the Fire element and the energetic nature of fire is to expand outward. This manifests as the heart’s electro-magnetic field that expands outward from the body three to four feet in all directions. If you could fly above the festival and somehow see all these thousands of heart fields interacting, moving, conjoining and sometimes beating as one, then you could truly witness the Heart chakra in action. And if you could trace all of those auras as they all slowly returned back home, then surely you would see that they were all positively altered by the experience. I know mine certainly was, and continues to be so.