Journey in a Mystical Slovenian Landscape

Here are extracts from my journalling about my recent journey through the mystical Bohinj area of the Slovenian Alps in late August and early September.

Ziva the Ancient Goddess of Slovena

The scenery is exhilarating, especially when seen from the saddle of an extremely high tech e-bike! It is the first day and I cycled along a new bicycle path to Bohinj and noted the thirteenth century Church of John the Baptist at the head of the lake. The young woman working there is called Ziva, after the ancient goddess of the waters. She is also the deity of life, fertility, Spring and Love. Her name derives from the old Slavic word for “living’ or ‘existing. It represents the ultimate force of vitality, the awakening of nature after Winter, and most interestingly the life-giving properties of water. Given that my interest has sharpened intensely this year on water, I found this interesting.

I also find the name of the high priestess who guarded the temple of Ziva on the island on nearby Lake Bled interesting, as her name Bogomila reminds me of the name of an ancient sect the Bogomils in Bulgaria. This group originated in the tenth century and would be far later than the goddess Bogomila. The Slavic name means “one who is dear to God”.

Oldest Church in Slovenia Overlooks Lake Bohinj

As I chatted with the sweet-natured Ziva at John the Baptist church I discovered that across the Julian Alps there are many springs and thermal spas dedicated to her namesake the goddess of the living waters. So from Day 1 I was mindful of the waters, and it reminded me of how an Irish friend had tuned into Lake Bohinj and believed that a deep etheric water current should be going clockwise but was currently set anti-clockwise. This left the lake bereft of its life force. Leaving Ziva close the church I said I was going to return with my pendulum and dowse the church site, which is set on a prominent mound.There is ancient bridge leading across the river that feeds the lake here and here you can see the tower of John The Baptist church and the repaired bridge.

The following day I was able to avail of the electric bike again and cycled the local circuit around the mountains behind me.What a lucky age I was born into that electric bikes are invented as I start to really need one! Jan the owner would recharge the bike and place it outside my patio each morning for free use. Staying in a rural location often means that the owners are still kind and know how to host guests without just looking at their bank balance all the time! I met many locals who described their area as “Paradise” although the tourist numbers are getting dangerously high on many grounds. Since my chosen village of Savica is within the national park there are severe building restrictions that help it remain so pristine and unspoilt.

Mostnica Gorge

The next day I walked up Mostnica Gorge from Stara Fuzina, and coming back by road spotted a black woodpecker in the beautiful woods, and another time a lesser-spotted eagle! I am a relative newbie to birdwatching so this was special for me to recognise them. Since nature and good natural local food was abundant here I was relaxed enough to dowse once I arrived back a the site of John the Baptist.

I don’t think there are many days when dowsers arrive at the church. Ziva was pleased to see me again since the mystical side of life appeals to her! Using the back of an envelope she lent me to draw the energy lines on,  I investigated the site for directional flow, strength of energies, vortexes etc. Now today I learn from Ziva that, like the island church on Lake Bled, this site was previously a Pagan temple. They excavated some years ago but i am not sure if anything interesting was found. Unfortunately the booklets were only in German or Slovenian that would inform me. Here is a nice short video of the lake and the church.

Discovering a northeast ley line at the church

I began to dowse in a clockwise direction from the west end and discovered a longer ley line running through the north east corner of the apse.  It continues then through the raised platform upon where the priest would stand, and then it exits to reach the site of the pagan temple. The north eastern aspect is the direction from which the strongest spiritual energies flow and if the energy is strong in the north east there is a good chance that an eight-pointed wheel is set up to spin the energies around. Often sites that are active such as Stonehenge have a marker stone in the north east known as the Heel stone where spiritual light codes can be downloaded.

The Eight Pointed Wheel

Recognising the ley from the northeast seemed to boost the energies overall. The mutable north east direction sets up an eight pointed wheel which will increase the overall energy field of a site linking it to much more sacred dimensions of energy. Further, as I was leaving the church I saw a young mother breast-feeding her child, calmly sitting under a tree.  This peaceful scene reminded me of Ziva’s fertility and life-giving energies, appropriately placed there.

Two Vorteces

The energy seems to vortex in two places within the older temple site- one where the ley reaches and the other beyond the path oustide the office building adjoining the tower. I wonder if this ley extends far across the region. I would need an OS map of the area to determine this. Normally I only buy them if someone has requested a detailed energy survey of their land. Returning to the dear church, walking back counter-clockwise I found the energy positive outside along the south wall, and all the way round to the north east corner. After that

it becomes distinctly weaker along the north and the west side that faces the lake. Standing in the western portica I was struck at how the lake was not being treated with the respect it once had, much in the way this holy church (allegedly the first church in Slovenia!) is nowadays becoming a crowded tourist spot.

Connecting more with the Waters of the Lake

So I walked down to the lakeside and did some Gaia Touch exercises that had been devised by Marko Pogacnic a Slovenian earth healer and artist. These exercises strenghen and heal broken relationships with Gaia. Standing on the northern shores of the lake I soon sensed an abnormal relationship between the people and the lake. I had heard that it was a deep lake but it did not seem open. I vowed to return there on my last day.

The Contrasts with Lake Bled

By contrast, when I visited Lake Bled the next day the water shared her energy from the deep instantly, and I felt a connection to it in my heart. It did not matter that there were tourists around- all could feel the harmony of the waters. According to an old story, a bell bound for the Church of St Mary on the island

was lost in a storm. Its ringing from the depths of the lake can still be heard on occasion. By contrast in the folk tale of Lake Bohinj, an ugly, greedy merman named Jezernik dwells in an underwater castle in the lake. The fact that St Mary’s is built on Lake Bled Island and St Martins on the short is also significant. St Martin was a very early Christian saint who spent time in the Egyptian desert and introduced the hermetic tradition of the Culdees to the British Isles.

Do the churches on Lake Bled and Lake Bohinj align?

I now wondered about drawing a ley line between St Mary’s on Lake Bled and St John the Baptist on the shore of Lake Bohinj. Dedicatory sites to these two saints were noted in Ireland where I used to live. My book Spirit of the Burren testifies to this when looking at the Kilmacduagh monastic complex. I sense an energetic link to the two ancient families t. of Mary and John the Baptist. In addition there is another old church on the southern shoreline of Lake Bohinj and another church in the castle on Lake Bled so more study of the energetic roles of the churches might be  useful.

When I went later that day to St Martin’s Church I stumbled on a traditional Catholic wedding. It was as if the wedding mirrored how the masculine and feminine energies of area are in harmony. Again, if I contrast it with Lake Bohinj which is on the surface less busy than Lake Bled, something on Lake Bohinj is missing despite its relative peace and visual serenity.

Final Dowsing at John the Baptist

On my third visit to the Church of St John the Baptist on Lake Bohinj, I intentionally connected the lake with the church as one symbiotic whole. Then I dowsed it in a clockwise direction once more, and discovered that the previously weak west and north sides had grown considerably stronger in flow. When connecting with the water I asked that the feminine could rise again. I also asked whether my dowsing the church would also adjust the etheric energies of the lake. I got an affirmative so the dowsing results did not surprise me. It was only because I visited Lake Bled with its energy of abundance that I was more aware of this lack of etheric energy on Lake Bohinj.

Conclusion

I don’t intend to present a full analysis here of the energies of the region- I would need longer in the area to fully comprehend the area and also to go deeper. I thought it might be helpful to read this small report to get a feeling of how one may approach a landscape- with curiousity and deep respect for the history, culture, nature and people. The spiritual aspects of the region are one part of the whole experience in my view.