Twinn
Crop Circle Weekend 2002
Visit by the Earth Energies Group (EEG)
of the British Society of Dowsers (BSD) to
Crop Circle formations around Alton Barnes in Wiltshire
3rd & 4th August 2002
Although a resident of South West Devon for the last 28 years, I grew up in West Berkshire and have taken a keen, if somewhat distant, interest in the crop ‘circle’ phenomenon since its appearance in the 1980’s.
Crop formations (many are anything but circular) started out as infrequent, plain flattened circles in the wheatfields of Wiltshire, centred on an approximate area between the prehistoric sites of Stonehenge and Avebury. Over the years they have developed in size and complexity to a remarkable level – and have attracted an international audience. During the EEG/BSD weekend, we encountered ‘croppies’ from all over Europe, North America and the far east, who had seen the remarkable images on the internet and had come to see them for themselves. Indeed, such was the interest - and the desire to compare findings - it was at times difficult to do any serious dowsing at all!
Being so close to Warminster UFO territory, the cereal formations were at first ascribed to the activities of ‘little green men’ – although no-one could quite ascertain why super-intelligent beings from across the universe should want to draw in the corn on Salisbury Plain. Shortly after the famous formation appeared on the cover of a Led Zeppelin album, around 1990, two local men – Doug and Dave – held a press conference to announce that the whole thing had been a hoax, and that they had made the circles using planks and weights on ropes. The mystery was apparently at an end.
But the formations kept appearing, in ever greater complexity, beauty and number, and far from the mystery being at an end, it just seemed to get stranger and more esoteric. The scale and technical accuracy of many of the designs seem to rule out the plank and roller brigade, especially when you appreciate that they appear overnight - at a time of year when the hours of darkness are at their shortest. Those created in broad daylight for adverts or film sets have shown just how much time and equipment is required to make a half-decent pictogram using mechanical methods.
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This was the first time I had dowsed crop formations systematically. I can report that, even if they were made with bits of wood and lengths of string, they are impressive, energetic, incredibly complex and remarkably precise. They are both works of considerable technical skill and great art.
As a dowser, the first thing you notice (in all but the most obvious hoaxes, which are quite inert when tested with rods), is the manner in which the design takes on board the underlying energy features -earth energy, blind springs, ley lines etc..
I tried to test Alan Neal’s theory that the formations could be designed on a computer and somehow transmitted (thought?) into place. I got some rather equivocal, but not insignificant, positive responses to the question ‘Are these formations created with electronic assistance?’. I feel I was probably asking a dozy question - and that the responses were more an interpretation of my intent.
Interestingly, the formations have a reputation for causing odd electrical effects – compasses not reading correctly etc.. In our group, one person found their mobile phone was clicking on, even though it was switched off and, for my own part, I spontaneously developed a ‘no’ dowsing response of splayed rods, quite distinct from my usual motionless rods, for a negative reply. So, for the period I was there, I had 3 modes – yes, no and duff question!
The 30-odd dowsers in action over the week-end were well marshalled by David Sangwine and Tony Hathway of the EEG/BSD, to whom we owe considerable thanks. We split up into groups, so as not to swamp any specific site, and I had the congenial company of dowsing colleagues from East Midlands and London & Thameside. Dave and Tony had drawn up a dowsing feedback questionnaire, the results of which are no doubt being pooled as I write.
My overall impression of the 8 sites we visited was that they had a very definite dowsable input. Interestingly, one site, at Stanton Bridge, was quite inert (presumably an obvious hoax), and formed a very useful yardstick, against which to consider the other seven. The locations of the formations seemed more relevant than the designs themselves, and all gave me a definite response for ‘creation with the involvement of mankind’. There were a number of positive responses for the purpose of healing - the earth, rather than the current crop. This reaction was corroborated by other, more experienced, dowsers in the group.
Given the impact of agribusiness on this area during my lifetime - with the patchwork of fields and hedges being replaced by prairies of wheat and barley, the deluging of the land in artificial fertilisers and pesticides (sometimes from the air), the removal of much of the wildlife & trees, and the intensive short-term commercial monoculture, with subsequent soil erosion – perhaps it is not too surprising that a more intelligent or sensitive energy form – human or otherwise – might try to redress the damage to some extent.
Despite this, mid Wiltshire remains a beautiful and very English area - as unique and compelling in its own way as the more dramatic scenery in other parts of the world. The crop formations seem totally in keeping with the lie of the land - indeed many are quite invisible even when you are close to them on the ground, and have a location map with the chosen site marked on it! Searchers have to rely on the attendant squadrons of microlights, hang gliders and light aircraft to discover the latest locations and to transmit their findings to the local information centres.
With such a huge input to the local tourist trade, the ‘need’ for the formations to keep appearing must be strong, but as a reasonably neutral observer, my feeling was that there was at least some fire behind the smoke and the hype. One circle in particular, shaped like a Hindu prayer wheel (the icon in the middle of the flag of India), was particularly energetic, yet very healing and soothing. You would have to have been already dead not to sense some invisible energy present there.
For those who have never dowsed a crop formation, I can strongly recommend it to you. As with any dowsing, keep an open mind and a positive intent - and you may be as pleased and surprised as myself at what you find. You may even become a ‘croppie’, but we won’t tell on you!
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Nigel Twinn