Ley Lines

Ley lines are supposed alignments of a number of places of geographical and historical interest, such as ancient monuments and megaliths, natural ridge-tops and water-fords. The phrase was coined in 1921 by the amateur archaeologist Alfred Watkins.

In 1969 the writer John Michell revived the term “ley lines”, associating it with spiritual and mystical theories about alignments of land forms, drawing on the Chinese concept of feng shui. 

Shirley Maclaine writes: earth energy. It can’t be seen or tasted and it doesn’t have an odor. But, the effects of Earth energy can be experienced in all of those ways. It isn’t loud, but it can be heard. It can’t be touched, but it can definitely be felt.

And so it was when I first came to be at Vaseux Lake three years ago.  Mark and I were here looking at a vacant piece of property for sale on the south shore. It had been vacant for many years, nothing but an old decrepit shed occupied the site, along with a tangled mess of overgrown shrubs, trees and grasses. It definitely didn’t look like much. But as I sat on the edge of a crumbling stone wall near the waters’ edge, I felt it -- earth energy, and in a magical instance the communicative harmony between earth energy and me was reawakened, and I knew this was where I was supposed to be.

Two years later we finally purchased the property and I would once again feel, hear, and smell that energy during an incredible storm one summer night. As I stood on the shore of the lake near midnight, the rushing wind took on a supernatural power. It was all I could do to keep my feet on the ground. And as I lifted my arms and closed my eyes, I felt I could easily fly away and become one with the tempest whirling across the lake. 

Vaseux Lake lies in a very narrow section of the Okanagan Valley, between the towns of Okanagan Falls and Oliver. The lake, which is 4 km long and 1 km wide, is fed and drained by the Okanagan River. It is surrounded by a diversity of habitats, such as a cattail-bulrush marsh at the north end where the Okanagan River feeds into the lake, and some water birch woodlands surrounding the marsh. Arid grassland benches to the east and west give way almost immediately to rugged rock cliffs and ponderosa pine woodlands. To the east, the pine forests change to Douglas-fir and western larch forests above 1000 metres. Other fauna of conservation interest include Bighorn Sheep, Pallid and Spotted Bats, Great Basin Pocket Mouse, Night Snake and Racer.

The west side of the lake is home to the Vaseux-Bighorn National wildlife area. An area established in 1979 to protect habitat for species deemed, at the time, to be special and important; including the charismatic California bighorn sheep, which was considered endangered. This area is a dynamic natural system influenced by erosion, flooding, fire, grazing, and other natural processes. 

So is it really any wonder that I can feel an incredible amount of earth energy here? 
 
Today the lake is flat like a looking glass, and the water is low. A few ducks are dozing on my suddenly expanded beach, their necks curled back on themselves like miniature swans. It is quiet here, well if you don’t count the "barking" geese, or the raucous “shaack, shaack, shack” of the Stellar’s jay family foraging in the thicket near the house. It is the perfect situation for the likes of me. Welcome to my new life of discovery and adventure on the lake!