According to New Agers an occult energy network, referred to as the "planetary energy grid," connects the power spots of the planet. Esoterically viewed, goes this doctrine, the planet pulsates energy from specific points which are like springs flowing from a subterranean lacework of rivers. The ancient "ley lines" are the broad channels of the system, which further form axes, centers, distribution and diffusion points. 

The theory would have it that this subtle energy is present everywhere; it surrounds the planet like an ornate kaleidoscope, and the planet exists within it as if in a cradle (this is actually Descartes' description of a vortex...). It is a field of consciousness. We not only see by this energy, in some sense it constitutes us; and "energy centers" are places where we are more likely to realize our relationship to this energy because there it is more pronounced -- the extraordinary places where the ordinary (which is in truth anything but ordinary) can be understood in its true nature. When these energies are particularly "attractive," drawing people to the place, it is termed a "center." Two or more centers connected together can form an "axis," which is a powerful channel comparable to an electrical mainline; add a third and you have an "occult triangle." The etheric mantle of the earth consists of a rich pattern of such triangles, like an ornate oriental carpet made of light, except that the patterns are changing in time. Two vortices connected in an axis develop great similarities of energy "frequency," and can have a great effect on the surrounding areas. A diffusion point, which is the least perceptible of these major components, is what happens when a channel weakens or meets an obstruction. The effect is very like the Pleiades constellation, casting soft halos which are in fact a nursery of sorts, just like the actual Pleiades constellation is a nursery of stars.

Thus Basye is not "a" vortex, it is a diffuse cluster of vortices, and the local group, like a nebulous astronomical entity, comprises an oval area with about a 3 mile radius -- with the exception that the Meems vortex is 12 miles away. There is a strong effluence of the vortex in Orkney Springs, which is 1.6 miles from Basye. 

Orkney Springs is not only the end of a state highway, but the source of a subtle energy distribution path connecting it to Basye. Basye shares in these diffuse qualities and it is also an awakening center in the network . . . as yet subtle, but steadily becoming more powerful and perceptible. When you find yourself saying, "there is something about a place, I can't put my finger on it," you may be talking about a diffusion point... a place where a distribution path casts energy in soft ways that elude description. In Orkney Springs, source of the stream (named Stoney Creek) that flows into Lake Laura and eventually branches off toward the North Fork of the Shenandoah, the energy is fine, subtle, but very strong in certain spots and at certain times. Basye's Lake Laura is an artificial lake, created by a large earthen dam, but its 44 acres hold the largest body of the water of Stoney Creek.

The Basye center is also thought to be in a specifically strong relationship to certain others on "the grid." One of these places is the "dyad" of Saint-Sulpice and St Germain des Prés, two churches separated by only four city blocks. Both locations are said to have been dedicated to the Black Virgin, and the Basye / Orkney Springs, VA energies also have a specifically feminine note. For that reason among others, thoughts of the goddess, and of ancient goddess worship, are evoked. The feminine association of the Senedo ("daughters of the stars") seems to support these intuitions, which are further stimulated by a spate of recent books revealing the role of the "feminine divine" within western religion. Other places to which Basye is connected on energy levels are Peru (Machu Picchu) and Akhetaten, Egypt, where again a very powerful feminine quality is present. Akhetaten is the ancient capital of Egypt's Akhenaten, the Pharaoh who is credited as being "the first monotheist," and whose beautiful wife Nefertiti is universally recognized because of the elegant bust of her at the Egyptian Museum in Berlin. Her beauty and mystery have, to all practical purposes, cast her into the role of a Nephthys, a "dark Isis," a goddess who inspires devotion because she conceals yet intimates within herself the potential for resurrection and rebirth. Akhetaten - whose energies have been in quiescence - is exactly 6,000 miles from Basye, "vortex to vortex."

The Abbey of St. Germain, the oldest abbey in Paris, seems to vibrate to a very similar note to the Shenandoah vortices. The St-Germain church houses the tunic of St. Vincent, is the burial site of many Merovingian kings and, it is said, of the heart of the philosopher Descartes who conceived the notion of a stellar vortex in the 1700s. Perhaps the secret behind the relationship between Basye and St-Germain (and St-Sulpice) may be the relationship of each to the Black Virgin - associated with flowing water and springs specifically -- but there is so much speculation not to mention shoddy scholarship around this subject that one hates to add too much to it without more solid evidence. In any case the fascination with the black virgin continues unabated, proof or no proof. One of the most profound symbols of spiritual transformation in all of Christianity, she signifies the unknowable fertility of the mind - of utter humility reached in extremis - and therefore she signifies the potential of the spirit to intervene in and transform everyday lives. There is a clear connection between the "dark phase" of the Egyptian goddess Isis, and the Black Virgin of Christian mystics; if these things are correct, we have an occult triangle connecting Basye to both St-Germain and to Egypt.

Visit the University of Dayton's Black Madonna pages to find out more about black virgins.