Sacred Places to Visit

Basilica of Our Lady - Maastricht

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 15:25:57 -0400

The Basilica of Our Lady (Onze-Lieve-Vrouwebasiliek) in Maastricht, Netherlands is a well known Roman Catholic basilica that was build around 1, 000 AD. The main attraction for visitors from around the world is the ‘miraculous statue” of Our Lady, Star of the Sea. There have been claims of miracle healings and guidance after the intercession of the Virgin Mary have been requested.

She is known here as Our Lady of Maastricht or the "Star of the Sea" where 1700 lives were miraculously saved during a shipwreck. Possibly sitting on an ancient site of a Roman temple, this church as been a place of Christian worship for a thousand years. This video shows the entrance way in front of the statue where the public can visit, light a candle and pray. The actual statue and altar are situated in a room farther back that is not accessible by the public. Nevertheless, the energy in this room was quite palpable and one of the few sacred sites I've visited where the feeling of energy was quite strong.

copyright © 2011 Lisa K.

Basilica of the Holy Blood - Brugge

Fri, 8 Jul 2011 10:27:22 -0400

First Visit - December, 2003
Legend has it that after the Crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea wiped blood from the body of Christ and preserved the cloth. This relic was placed in a chapel built on Burg Square in the 12th century. The basilica houses this relic and many other relics of saints. The Basilica of the Holy Blood is a very popular cathedral and there was a long line to get in, which started forming even before the doors opened. As I moved slowly on the line, just as we got to the door I could feel that familiar buzzing energy I could only describe as the energy of divine blessings, we hadn’t even walked through the door yet. I remember it clearly, because I was staring at this big black nondescript door, feeling the energy, and thinking, “Wow, what’s in there!?” The energy was pouring down from my head through my whole body. After we entered, I could almost follow the feeling through the basilica, strangely, the energy disappeared in the upper chapel where the “holy blood” relic was, but it was very strong in the lower chapel. The lower chapel housed the relics of Saint Basil.

Update: July, 2011
I went back to Brugge this summer and had to go back to this basilica, how could I miss out on that wonderful energy? This time the first place we went to was the chapel under ground, where I first felt that incredible buzz. Here is my travel story I shared with my friends and family, I’ll share it here with you:

7/8/11

Friday we were in Brugge seeing the sights. It was a rainy day, spotty showers here and there, so we planned to try to stay inside and go to some museums. We went to a museum first and saw some amazing Flemish paintings of Jon Van Eck. Then my husband had a change of plans, (he makes the trip schedule) and he said instead of going to the Memling museum let's go to the Basilica of the Holy Blood today instead of Sunday (Saturday was reserved for Tournai). The Basilica of the Holy Blood was one of the places that I really wanted to go back to see since we saw it in 2003. I had the most wonderful feelings from the rush of energy there then, and to me that meant it was a really sacred place. Back then I felt the energies more down stairs in the chapel than upstairs where the Holy Blood was, so I was interested in going back to see if I still felt the same way.

It was about 2:00pm when we headed there. The good thing about Brugge is everything is in short walking distance. As we got there it started to rain. We went downstairs to the chapel I was speaking about. To my surprise I didn't feel anything. A couple of altars were there for praying, and we sat there. I did feel the energy at a statue of Jesus, but it wasn't as strong as I remembered it last time. Very curious....
This is the statue of Jesus in the chapel downstairs.

As the chapel started to fill with tourists there was an announcement about inviting people to come venerate the Holy Blood. We couldn't quite make it out, but we went upstairs to the main sanctuary where the Holy Blood was anyway. We had to exit the building and enter again to go upstairs, outside there was a sign that said that you could venerate the relic of the Holy Blood only on Fridays between 2 and 4pm! Wow.

The Basilica houses the relic of the Holy Blood, which is said to be the actual blood of Jesus that was wiped from him at crucifixion. People travel far and wide to visit it, not always for religious reasons.

The last time we were there, the inside of the sanctuary was dark and dimly lit. The altar that held the relic is ornately carved in marble, and the relic is kept in a silver box. This time, an altar that was next to the altar with the box was open. It looked like an altar up on a stage, you walked up a few steps to the right, and a priest dressed in robes that were green, white and gold sat behind the altar where the Holy Blood was kept in front of here. As you come up to the relic, she removes a cloth that is covering it. (See the video below.) You may touch the relic. You may give your offering (of money) and can venerate the relic (veneration is respect very much like darshan). My husband said to my son, go stand in front of it and make the sign of the cross. My husband went first and gave our offering, then my son, then I went. As I stood in front of the blood and said a short prayer, which seemed to say itself in my head, something about praying for peace for the whole world (that's odd I usually just pray for my family and friends), I then felt a huge rush of energy, just like our visit in 2003. It was very strong, it felt like the crown of my head was being squeezed with a buzzy energy. Most of the energy swirled around and through my upper body and my head. That was cool. I didn't touch the relic, it felt somewhat disrespectful, though others did.

Lots of people went up to just look, sort of like a museum exhibit. Others seemed to truly venerate it with a prayer and a touch of the relic then placing their hand to their heart.

....now if my husband hadn't had an urge to go just then, Friday....at 2pm...we would have missed it.
---

In my mind, it’s not really the relic that we are ‘worshiping’, in fact, we don’t really know if the relic is real. If you understand that it is a representation of the presence of Jesus within you, and therefore God, that is what it is about. The holy places that are visited by thousands to stand in peace and love with their hearts turned to God in prayer is what creates the sacred energy of a spot. That is why we have altars, to connect us, remind us of God and the divinity that is with us. The Basilica of the Holy Blood allows us to feel that Oneness through the energy that has accumulated there, and give us a chance to experience more tangibly God’s grace.

Please look at the video below, it was taken on this latest trip to the Basilica. They were even playing my favorite sacred music piece, Sicut Cervus by Palestrina! Now isn’t that heaven?

copyright © 2011 Lisa K.

Balanced Rock - North Salem, New York

Tue, 5 Jan 2010 14:12:39 -0500

Balanced Rock is a megalith or dolmen, it is a large boulder that is estimated to be about 60 tons. Megaliths, particularly those that are ‘balanced’ on smaller rocks and it is a mystery as to how these monoliths were placed or ended up on these smaller rocks.

Balanced Rock in North Salem is listed in Martin Grey’s site; sacredsites.com, as a sacred power place. It indeed has some powerful energy there. We found that on the north side of the boulder there was some wonderful positive energy. I believe this particular spot has also seen a lot of history with the revolutionary war. It still carries the energy and I’m sure if you listen carefully you’ll hear some stories!

Vézelay - Relics of Mary Magdalene

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:19:13 -0400

The Basilique Ste-Madeleine (Basilica Church of St. Mary Magdalene) in Vézelay is the largest Romanesque church in France. In this basilica are the relics of St. Mary Magdalene. Set upon a hill over looking the French country side of Burgundy, Basilique Ste-Madeleine is one of the most beautiful and serene sacred places we’ve been to. Inside, the giant basilica, the crypt of Mary Magdalene sits directly beneath the altar. The warmth and soothing buzzing energy of this space was undoubtedly filled with love as it was easily felt. When you enter the crypt it felt like a sanctuary and immediately you felt the peace of this sacred space.

At the other end of the crypt was an altar with a crucifix behind it. The space was very serene and sacred.

The surrounding country side of Vézelay is absolutely magnificent, you walk up wonderful hilltop, through a street lined with ancient buildings that were built around the 12th century. When you arrive at the top, the basilica stands majestically over looking the beautiful French countryside below.

The basilica at Vézelay was built on the hill in such a way that the building is oriented such at on the Summer Solstice, June 21st, at noon on the longest day of the year, the sun’s rays enter the south side windows and cast the sun’s rays to shine exactly in the middle of the center aisle of the nave. We coincidentally arrived on June 22nd, but you could still see the effect, just off set. To the right is a picture of me in the nave around noon.

Sacred Sites are often built in such a way that structures built on them are oriented with celestial bodies, such as the sun, moon and stars.
Copyright (c) 2011 Lisa K.

Sedona, Arizona

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 12:20:43 -0400

In the summer of June 2008 I led a retreat to the Sacred places of Sedona with my colleague, Deana Marie. We visited many of the sacred places that have strong vortexes of energy. We had a great group of people with us. We visited Cathedral Rock, Bell Rock, Oak Creek Canyon, Boynton Canyon, the Chapel of the Holy Cross, the Grand Canyon and had a fire ceremony with a Native American Navajo Medicine Man.

The spiritual energies of the earth and heaven intersect in the sacred places of Sedona where many spiritual seekers travel to visit each year. These seekers travel on a spiritual quest to find enlightenment and healing in Sedona, Arizona, one of the most naturally powerful energetic places in the United States. The strong energy vortexes allows for a higher vibration of energy to rise in a person’s mind, body and spirit allowing for access to higher consciousness and deep spiritual healing. The energies of these sacred places provide rejuvenation and a recharging of spiritual energy. A visit alone is transformational. The picture above is the back of Cathedral Rock.

These photographs are from my spiritual retreat to the Sacred Places of Sedona Retreat I led with my colleague, Deana Marie, in Sedona in 2008.

Cathedral Rock has feminine energies that are soothing and, to me, have a calming effect. These pictures are of the river that flows behind Cathedral Rock, which probably add to the feminine energies since water is Yin, from the Chinese Yin and Yang, or feminine and masculine. Below, visitors swing from a rope to jump into the the river. On our visit, we didn’t go in the water, but we did sit nearby and meditated.

Bell Rock is where you are supposed to leave your negative energies behind. It looks like a bell, here we are climbing up to the bottom of the rock. Bell Rock has masculine energy and you could almost feel the solid foundation of it’s energy as you sit beneath it.

Next to Bell rock was the portal to the spirit world and as we stood there and called in our spirits and passed loved ones, we felt this sudden WHOOSH whoosh of a whirl wind, whipping around us. It was quite surprising!

Our trip to the fairy glenn at Oak Creek Canyon was amazing. It’s such a beautiful place. Here is the foot bridge on the way there. Below is the fairy glenn near the creek. The feeling there is peaceful but also playful as if you were a kid again playing in your own little secret place in the woods. We payed our respects to the fairies and their king and invited them to join us while we played court dance music for them. They loved it! Many of us were actually able to see the fairies!

Copyright (c) 2009 Lisa K.

Sanjusangendo Temple, Kyoto, Japan

Mon, 1 Jul 1996 10:55:35 -0400

This wonderful temple sent incredible waves of energy through me. I was in Kyoto, Japan, visiting as a tourist. We were visiting the historical Sanjusangendo Temple, which is still run by Buddhist monks. The temple was built in the 12th century and is famous for it’s 1,000 carved statues of armed Q’uan Yin, who is the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy. As we walked through the threshold of the door to the temple, I felt an overwhelming rush of energy. It felt as if I ran into a wall of buzzing air, but I could feel it in my body, not just on my skin. As I walked through the door, it was like was walking through a waterfall of buzzing energy, flowing down, around and through me. I was shocked, I didn’t expect it! I thought, “Whoa! What WAS that?” As we continued to walk around the 1,000 carved statues, the energy was so strong I thought I might faint, but I didn’t. When we emerged from the temple, the feeling dissipated.

Copyright (c) 2011 Lisa K.