Just think of her as one of those talking pictures out of Harry Potter. Weird that she should be here, from 19th C. France and the brush of Ingres. She is or was in fact Madame Moitessier (née Marie-Clotilde-Inès de Foucauld). Although the painting is an utter masterpiece (this image is a detail) and a high point in neo-classical portraiture, it is visually baffling as well: sometimes she looks solid; at other times it is as if she is melting like a Dali clock; those elegant rubbery fingers, reminiscent of little octopus arms, suggest she is made of malleable play-dough. Her amicable gaze, reserved, skeptical and self-assured, brings us closer, while somehow the pearly enamel surfaces bend like flux and she with them, changing shape slightly. This combination of the precise detailed image and how it "melts" is why Ingres drove other painters crazy, and why he raised questions about how we perceive visual objects, that have not been answered wholely to this day. There is so little there, in fact, yet she is fully realized. How did Ingres do this? Does our breathing make her change shape? Is her hand moving? Are her eyes changing color slightly? The contrast between the texture of the dress and the skin, the bracelet with its cool shadow, accelerating round the curve of her wrist; the lace head-dress and her hair -- all these are dynamic, not static. The secret may be that the burden of too much detail is abstracted out, disappearing in a kind of aerial haze before our eyes. There are expanses of skin with no features at all, while the exact opposite effect is created: "look at that detail," people say. The alternation of these two planes, the formed and the unformed, is a secret of the vortex too.

[image: detail of portrait of Madame Moitessier by J.A.D. Ingres, 1856. In public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.]

"... If the radio is on, but not tuned to a station, it does not mean music is not being broadcast."

Questions and comments we have received. 

What is vortex energy?

But, why is it called a vortex? does the energy at a vortex location take the shape of a rotating funnel, gyre or spiral?

How do I know I have had a "vortex experience"?

What is the exact location of the Basye Vortex? 

Are there maps and directions to the vortex spots available? 

I toured the vortex sites and felt nothing special. I was very disappointed. What gives?

What is the significance of the springs in Orkney Springs?  

How many springs are there in Orkney Springs? where exactly are they located? aren't they really just legends?

Are there other vortex energy spots in the Shenandoah Valley outside of the area known as the Basye Vortex? 

What are the differences between the vortices of Basye and the vortexes of Sedona? 

Where can I find out more about the Senedo tribe (or Shendo, Genantua, Gerando)?

Is there an undiscovered trove of Senedo treasure? are people looking for it?

What about mounds and Indian burial sites in the Shenandoah Valley? Do they exist?

Can you prove that Saint-Sulpice in Paris (or for that matter Basye itself) is a vortex, and that they have a subtle energy attunement? 

Why do people talk about "Pleiadean energies"? what is the relevance of that to Basye-Orkney?

Is Lake Laura itself a vortex?

Is the name of the lake related to the poet Petrarch's love interest, "Laura"?

What is vortex energy? 

A: To all evidence, vortex energy is energy of a wavelength or vibrational frequency in which it is outside of our primary sensory range, and yet we feel its effect somehow. This is not such a surprise, since the visible spectrum (visible light is 380 to 780 nanometers in wavelength), for instance, is a sliver of the electromagnetic radiation of which the entire universe is a part. There is no reason to assume that because an energy is not in the visible spectrum, or in the spectrum accessible to the other "physical senses," it is not in fact still felt somehow. [image: from Wikimedia Commons, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 and later.] Psychically sensitive individuals seem to be among the first to detect vortex energies.

For reasons no one fully understands, certain places emanate or project energy that is palpable, remarkable and transformative. Spiritual (or "psychic") vortexes seem to transmit energy that is both more powerful and qualitatively different than is the case with normal experience. Because that energy has an attractive quality -- that is, it gets our attention -- and not because it has the form of a funnel or gyre (mostly, it doesn't), the term "vortex" has been applied to it.  

An unanswered question is whether vortex energy is "natural" in the sense that it is a property of things - canyons, rocks, streams, landscape features -- or whether it is psychic, meaning its source is primarily in consciousness, occurring in presence of objects to which the energy is attributed. Is it part of the organic field around the object, or is it part of the awareness of the perceiver's relationship with things, i.e., is what is described as vortex energy a state of mind catalyzed by certain objects or places?

If you spend time examining the phenomenon, you may come to believe, like Helen Hunt's character in the film Twister believed about tornadoes, that vortex energy is conscious. If you look at the very latest cosmologies (a.k.a. "theories of everything" such as string theory), or the latest brain research, and begin to contemplate the fundamental composition of matter, the chemical and molecular composition of consciousness, that is not such a crazy idea. This is a major cognitive science issue.  

Thus, the way we started our answer to the question of what vortex energy is - it is "just energy" -- is of course disingenuous because it simply emphasizes how little is known about energy, its relationship to consciousness, and about consciousness itself... but these considerations go beyond our topic.

There is also experiential evidence for believing that our awareness is raised in the presence of vortex energy. As many people attest, it can effect a transformation of how we experience the world, and such experiences are generally unexpected. People report feeling that the had never seen something before, even though it could be something they look at every day. It is hard to imagine that a mere incremental change in the quality of perception -- sharpness, detail, luminosity -- could be so dramatic. 

Here is an example. Nineteenth C. artist, critic and social theorist John Ruskin first glimpsed the clouds -- yes, just clouds, and how often have we all seen clouds? -- over the Alps at age 14. It was approaching sunset. He later wrote the following famous passage about his experience. It comes as close as anything to a definition of a vortex perception. 

"There was no thought in any of us for a moment of their being clouds. They were clear as crystal, sharp on the pure horizon sky, and already tinged with rose by the sinking sun. Infinitely beyond all that we had ever thought or dreamed, the seen walls of lost Eden could not have been more beautiful to us; not  more awful, round heaven, the walls of sacred Death."
[Ruskin, from Praeterita, his incomplete autobiography, published in episodes from 1881 to 1886. Our italics.]

But, why is it called a "vortex"? does the energy at a vortex location take the shape of a rotating funnel, gyre or spiral?

[image: NASA.] 

A:  The classical vortex from the physical sciences has a whirling spiral or corkscrew shape -- such as the airflow caused by the tip of the airplane wing in the NASA picture, above. Subtle energies may have this shape as well, but mostly the term just refers to the ability of the vortex to disrupt and raise consciousness to a higher frequency. The terms "magnetic" and even "electromagnetic" are often applied to vortices, but most often this is done without any rigorous intent to apply the meaning those words carry in science. There is no model or set of laws at this time describing the field of consciousness, so "magnetism" applied to vortices remains a metaphor -- except, ironically, for scientists working with superconductors and nano-optics -- both topics involving vortices. As far as we are aware, no unusual electromagnetic forces have been demonstrated by science at vortex locations, which doesn't prove much however if in fact the vortices do not act on matter but on consciousness.  

The term "vortex" was first applied to subtle energy vortices in America by psychic Page Bryant (who called them "vortexes" and fully credited her spirit guide, Albion, for the discovery) in reference to the four major vortex locations in Sedona, AZ. Subsequent statements by Bryant tend to support the view that the term was purposeful and that she thinks of "vortexes" as rotating zones of energy with magnetic centers that pull in the observer. 

How do I know I have had a "vortex experience"?

A: You will know. If you don't know, you have not had it. But very often people have "some" sense of something unusual, but it is not totally certain or remarkable. You might experience tingling, slight disorientation; or things look more luminous, beautiful, or interesting; there is sense of something present but not quite realized... You might feel happy or fulfilled without having any apparent reason. Stronger experiences are highly personal but very often there are three salient "gateway" qualities in them -- things that are experienced at the point of real engagement with the vortex (see the passage from John Ruskin, above, in answer to the "What is vortex energy?" question):

1) a sense of seeing something for the first time: the familiar looks unfamiliar, and there is an almost hypnotic spell of looking at something utterly new. It feels like a revelation.

2) a state of startling sensory acuity and heightened sensory response, either visual or auditory, but it can include all the senses. You feel "riveted" by something. It is what we call the "vortex disruption." One of the reasons things look unfamiliar is that they are perceptually new, utterly clear, lucid and vivid; all of which make it consciousness expanding.

3) a profound or sometimes overwhelming emotional response, leading to a sense of humility, awe, even tears. Or one might experience an inner silence, what the poet called "the holy hush of ancient sacrifice." (Wallace Stevens, Sunday Morning.) (See Ruskin's description -- it ranged from an appreciation of astounding beauty, to a recognition of an inherent sacredness and even a sense of solemnity as if being confronted by ultimate truth.)

 

What is the exact location of the Basye Vortex?

A: The Basye Vortex covers Basye and Orkney Springs in general. But really it is not "a vortex," it is a constellation of "vortexes." If you were to think of vortex energy behaving like water in a garden hose, and then picture tiny leaks or pinpricks in the hose, so that the water sprays out in jets of mist, that is how the vortexes seem to be. There are six or seven of these "jets" (depending on whether you count Lake Laura itself as a vortex): in Orkney Springs (Chalice, Loop and Cathedral vortexes); in Basye, there is a zone of energy on the hills on both sides of the valley, especially the west side, along which Resort Drive runs, as well as in the hills off Greenview Drive behind the resort -- none of these vortices have been named; and also in Basye at Lake Laura (Horseshoe, Ashe and Red Serpent Vortexes); and finally another in Meems Bottom (Meems Vortex, by the historical bridge, south of Mount Jackson, VA, about 12 mi. from Basye). The last of these is probably part of another system, and for whatever reason it has a somewhat troubled history. In any case these are all areas characterized by woodland, springs, underground and surface streams, plus some striking human architecture. Whether the architecture (such as the Cathedral Shrine in Orkney Springs, or Meems Bottom Bridge) contributes to the energy by shaping, amplifying or filtering it, or was simply built where it is because of the energy, is something worth thinking about.

Visitors to the Basye Vortex are exploring the area further. Next year there will be probably more information than is available today.

View Larger Map

Above: Terrain map showing the Ashe Vortex (green arrow), contiguous with the Red Serpent. Ashe Drive (identified by the red A) makes a large three pronged "W" on its side, creating inlets of the lake on the west shore of Laura; the vortices are experienced along the walking path inside these inlets. 

START HERE:

Orkney Springs: the Orkney Spring, esp. the shallow ritual pool to the left of it as you view the spring; the green inside the Loop of 263, esp. along the stony streambed bisecting the green in front of Tea Spring; and the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration, esp on the south (the approach, with the pools), west and north sides. 

Basye: Lake Laura, esp. the embankments on the approach from the parking lot; along the bridle path, and on the western side, starting at the midway point toward the south end of the Lake, you should find the Ashe and Red Serpent locations (they are not sign-posted or marked on the path itself).  Horseshoe is on the east shore, almost at the southern end of Laura. We are working on providing detailed maps. (See our Lake Laura page.)

Meems: the west bank of the North Fork of the Shenandoah, right by Meems Bottom Covered Bridge.

 

Are there maps and directions to the vortex spots available?

A: We are working on it. Will make them available here as soon as we got 'em.

I toured the vortex sites and felt nothing special. I was very disappointed. What gives?

A. It happens. Many people visit vortex locations, in Basye, Ashville, Sedona, Mt. Sinai and elsewhere, and report that they found nothing out of the ordinary. Others think they may feel something, but they are not sure. No one to our knowledge has claimed that these forces are clearly recognized by everyone -- and good thing, because they aren't. The notion that we are supposed to feel something at a supposed vortex location is, quite frankly, just lame. When we (your vortex editor and spouse) first visited Bell Rock in Sedona, I felt nothing special, and on subsequent visits that has not really changed. To me Bell Rock is a beautiful natural formation, but that is all it is so far; yet I am not in the least slighting the opinions of thousands of people whose experience is the opposite and who physically experience a powerful vital energy. I felt something at the Kachina Woman (Boynton Canyon, which is now my favorite location in Sedona); but to my wife the latter was so strong she was "flipping out" -- maybe because she had zero expectations, being a person with her feet planted firmly on earth. At the Airport Mesa Vortex, by contrast, I confess I felt it unambiguously, and that is in appearance the least interesting of Sedona's vortexes -- just this saddle of rocky scrub on a hill. On Mt. Sinai (Egypt) I was completely persuaded -- it was far beyond any need to discuss whether the radiant energy existed there; I could only soak it in while marveling and regretting that it could have taken me so long to get there. So vortex experiences are received, personal and, if you will, interactive -- it does appear that a certain attunement is needed. If you turn on the radio and don't tune into the station, it does not mean music is not on the airwaves. We tend to want to skip over this question of receptivity, but I am pretty sure a person who has three glasses of pinot noir with dinner and heads for the Airport Mesa, is far less likely to sense the vortex. I also wonder whether vortex energy doesn't fluctuate, sort of like water pressure in a seasonal well. I think as the Basye Vortex gets more visitors, a profile will emerge of which vortices are more salient, perhaps even by traits of the perceiver.

What is the significance of the springs in Orkney Springs? 

A: That is a big question... It is believed they were important and possibly sacred to the Senedo native Americans, if not tribes who came before or after (Shawnee, possibly Iroquois); we cannot know for certain. Today, from a New Age perspective, psychically sensitive people experience extraordinary energies and presences there. These have been designated Pleiadean energies (the feeling of the "the seven sisters" -- a diaphanous cluster of stars communing as a group). Then there is the time factor. In karst terrane like that of the Shenandoah, streams and springs appear and disappear, and there is great interest in locating the lost springs, since only three of the seven are generally known today. The term "Pleiadean energies" may be off-putting, by the way, but you don't have to feed high on the New Age pop literature food chain to find this notion used (and overused). In general the energy of the Pleiades is thought to be feminine, verdant, subtle, loving -- knitting together diverse places and things. The main association is with healing or enhanced perceptual abilities as an effect. In the old days Orkney Springs was perceived as simply a place where one could relax and enjoy the healthy qualities of the waters. Today, the subtle energies of the village are receiving much more attention; for one thing our thinking about the sacred has gone beyond traditional boundaries (and not to everyone's delight). Christianity, viewed as a spiritual path, one among others, is experienced in a wider and deeper context, no longer in conflict with its pagan antecedents but inheriting from them and complementary with them.

How many springs are there in Orkney Springs? where exactly are they located? aren't they really just legends?

A: (Please refer also to previous question and answer.) The springs in Orkney Springs are real; they were seven (or eight), and they were specifically enumerated and known in the nineteenth century. There were references in the press of the time, and the campingva.com web site used have materials referring to them (if we remember correctly); we are trying to research historical records. The springs were called by the following names in the 19th C: Bear Wallow, Iron, Healing, Arsenic, Iron Sulfur, Chalybeate, Alum, and Freestone. "Chalybeate" is the name of the Orkney Spring itself (the one you can see today with the plaque dedicated to Georgia Moore, in the center of the village --it may be the Iron Sulfur as well). However, today, only three of these are known for certain; the others are lost (for now).

Are there other vortex energy spots in the Shenandoah Valley outside of the area known as the Basye Vortex?

A: We really don't know of any. We along with other interested people are looking into it. 

What are the differences between the vortices of Basye and the vortexes of Sedona?

A: To begin with, watery terrane vs. rock as "media of transmission." Basye and Shenandoah Valley are part of karst terrane, which is characterized by caverns, springs and underground waterways and what are called "karst aquifers," an important source of fresh water.* That may be why Basye's vortices are emanated by water, or by landscape and structures near (and under) water, pools, streams, rivers; whereas Sedona's energies are emanated by its remarkable red rock formations. By consequence, Sedona's force feels concentrated, to the extent that many people have spoken of feeling transported, and sensing the closeness of access to other worlds and dimensions; but Basye and Orkney Springs are softer -- not less powerful but more subtle and sweeping; and also the energy is projected over a wider area perhaps because the waters which unite the vortices with everything around them, are carried through a system of surface and subterranean networks into the Shenandoah River, thence to the Potomac and ultimately the Atlantic. The energies are the strongest near the source, or when gathered in a relatively large body, like Lake Laura; which is why Orkney Springs and Basye -- really a single vortex location -- remain among the most powerful vortex spots on the planet. Both Sedona and Basye are locations with strong native American presence and history, which may or may not be coincidental. 

*To read: Wikipedia's article on karst regions lists the Shenandoah Valley.

Where can I find out more about the Senedo tribe (or Shendo, Genantua, Gerando)?

A: There is very little information available and some of it is contradictory or confusing. We are researching this, and would love to find out how / where the renowned author Julia Davis got her information. For instance, she refers to burial mounds (of the Shendo? or the Shawnee?) in the Winchester, VA area. But we are not aware of any evidence that there are or were mounds (burial or ceremonial mounds, like those found in present day Ohio) of the tribes who lived in the Shenandoah Valley. 

 

Is there an undiscovered trove of Senedo treasure? are people looking for it?

A: We are not aware of any trove, or possible trove, and we have no clues or leads, so please don't email us because you think we are being guarded. (And please READ OUR DISCLAIMER.) We think a lot of the "buzz" about this goes back to good old fashioned greed and a few thin references, primarily comments by Julia Davis in her book The Shenandoah. But even she does not allege that valuable artefacts and jewelry are around for the finding. We would hate to cause or even just contribute to a wave of treasure hunters crawling over Orkney Springs or around Lake Laura in Basye with picks, shovels, metal detectors and computer based sensing devices. We're sure the residents would really love this (not)!

There are rumors of a silver mine that existed somewhere below the southern tip of the Shendandoah Valley, but still on the eastern side of the Appalachian Trail, so it isn't impossible that the tribes who lived in the Valley would have made jewelry and certainly other archaeological items are a possibility always. As far as we know historically, however, there have been no silver objects of the native Americans found anywhere on the eastern side of the Alleghenies and nothing like them in the Shenandoah Valley. The Smithsonian's Museum of the Native Americans in Washington DC, and in New York City, has no such information either; the Senedo are not on their list of tribes. We spoke with them to make sure.

The Julia Davis passage in question is the following (not clear which tribe she is speaking of -- in fact it appears that she does not know their name; it is not apparently the Senedo): 

"They had a more organized society than the tribes which followed them. They built cities which inclosed fifty acres behind earthen walls, they used copper and silver, pipes carved in shapes of tropical animals, ceremonial mounds symbolically shaped."  [Julia Davis, The Shenandoah, Farrar & Rinehart, 1945, p. 17.]

 

What about mounds and Indian burial sites in the Shenandoah Valley? Do they exist?

A: To our knowledge, there are no extant burial mounds of the Senedo, the Shawnee, the Iroquois, the Powhatan (the thirty+ tribes which comprised the "supremacy"), the Catawba, or any other tribe that might have had a presence in the Valley or forays into it. The closest existing burial mounds by a Virginia Indian tribe are the mounds of the Monagan / Monocan near Natural Bridge, Virginia, south of the Shenandoah Valley. This is a thriving tribe in Virginia, one of the eight that have been officially recognized by the State of Virginia, but we are not aware of the details of the Monagan culture or legacy beyond that. Naturally anyone who is going to look for Virginia Indian historical artefacts today has to begin from the recognition that such an initiative might involve sacred grounds and precious historical records. Since there are still strong cultures of Virginia Indians in the state today with deep organic ties to their territories, they would need to be consulted on any such initiative. At least that is our opinion. 

That having been said, Julia Davis wrote that the Shawnee had settlements near Winchester and Woodstock. She also shared the following: 

"In the early eighteen hundreds a citizen of Winchester named William Pidgeon [...] opened a mound nine miles from his home and found a stone vault in the center, full of bones. The railroad destroyed it when they built their right of way, but after four hundred wagonloads of stones had been removed, it was still six feet high." [Julia Davis, The Shenandoah, Farrar & Rinehart, 1945, p. 17.]

Regarding what happened to the marvelous objects that were found in the Shenandoah Valley proper, she wrote: "The earliest historians of the Valley," she writes, "[...] mention these remains as having been 'reduced by the plow.' The seated skeletons, the earthen vessels, the pipes with twining serpents, were looked at curiously, and lost." [ibid, our italics]

Can you prove that Saint-Sulpice in Paris (or for that matter Basye itself) is a vortex, and that they have a subtle energy attunement?

A: No, we can't prove it and do not seek to; we can only explore it. Everything is a matter of personal experience. When many people believe in an experience, we think it is significant. Others may view that as a mass delusion and certainly sometimes it can be; but in this case there is no blind devotion to a guru. Quite the opposite, these themes have come to the fore because people perceived something and started talking about it. The bevy of books over the last thirty years on the identity of the Magdalen (of which The Da Vinci Code is only the latest and most popular) attests to the fact that something is going on. We do agree that it is remarkable that a subtle energy connection should exist between Basye and Saint-Sulpice/St Germain des Prés, but now that we have followed the leads and connections we are not as skeptical.

IF there is a connection; and if ideas and thoughts are not just abstractions but they have substantial energy forms, a frequency, a chemical signature in our brain, or even just a unique "feel," then we would go along and say that the common vibration between Basye and Saint-Sulpice (and St-Germain des Prés) is the energy of Isis. Anthropomorphic religious images notwithstanding, Isis designated a natural feminine energy associated with water, rivers and fertility (flooding of the Nile). Isis accomplished her signature mythological feat via a river -- she collected the parts of Osiris (with the help of her sister) and caused the god to be made whole again. Osiris of course was the Egyptian Moses -- he was rescued from the River Nile, he became, via Anubis, the guide of his people to the Egyptian promised land, i.e., the afterworld (Osiris became the Judge of the Dead, the gatekeeper of eternity). 

So New Agers believe that Saint-Sulpice is a special location, and that part of it, at least, has to do with the idea that it was built on top of an ancient temple of the goddess, which in turn somehow "transmits" that energy like an occult radio tower. Orkney Springs and Basye, it is also believed, are places where that same energy is palpable -- a sacred feminine, "Pleiadean" energy in a natural setting -- in other words "Isis energy." Vintage seals of the city of Paris feature Isis (Napoleon Bonaparte was fascinated with Isis and ordered a city seal in 1811 showing her on the prow of the traditional ship of Paris); and arguably Saint-Sulpice (or St-Germain des Prés) is the original spiritual center of the city. According to Robert G. Bauvel, who has written books on Egyptian mysteries, St-Germain des Prés had a statue of Isis within it up the the early sixteenth C. when it was ordered to be destroyed. One other interesting factoid: Basye was named after a French Protestant family name (the Huguenots, French Protestants fleeing oppression, emigrated to the US in the early 17th C.). 

Why do people talk about "Pleiadean energies"? what is the relevance of that to Basye-Orkney?

A: See the answer to the previous question. Pleiadean energies, so-called, are very much a part of New Age lingo for evolutionary energies to which the earth system, according to many writers, is being receptive at this time. It is very popular to proclaim that one is "channeling" the Pleiadeans (e.g., search on "George Greene" on YouTube). One theory of why all this is happening is that people do actually feel energies that refer to as "Pleiadean," but some decide to concretize and externalize that into reports of alien visitors to earth. In other words perhaps it is just a way of naming something people are feeling and along with the name comes a whole set of contexts and associations that both help and hurt. This along with "2012" is a controversial subject. 

 

Is Lake Laura itself a vortex? 

A: Most likely, yes, although it is harder to comprehend since the volume of the lake is an "impoundment" (artificial basin) of the waters of Big Stoney Creek. It is impossible to say what it felt like there before the dam raised the water level. But the waters of Laura and Big Stoney Creek are probably fed by the network of tributaries and karst channels Orkney Springs is part of, and there is an undeniable energy there. Maybe the presence of vortex energy caused the creation of the "amplifier." Please refer to our Lake Laura page.

Is the name of the lake related to the poet Petrarch's love interest, "Laura"?

A: Petrarch? LOL... that would be something, but we know nothing about it. Would be a neat literary allusion. We would rather imagine though that when the Bryce Association wanted the lake in 1970, someone's wife or girlfriend or little baby daughter was named Laura.

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