Below

We look down to the earth, stable, flowering, nourishing all beings. We put our roots deep into the ground.

I am the home of those on two legs, four legs, those that creep close to the earth and those that burrow into the earth.

I am stone, rock, crystal, lava, moving over millions of years across the surface of this world. I am the deepest depths, the centre of this planet. I am a reminder and memory of the ancestors.

This is the direction where we experience the energies of support and share gratitude for the abundance of all that is.

Caves

There is a cave situated in Kiltobranks about two miles from Ballaghaderreen. In former days pilgrims used to travel barefooted from many parts of Ireland to do penance there, and kneel in prayer on the bare stones.
There is an entrance into the cave where there are three Holy Wells. The pilgrims used to walk in those wells, and leave a lighted candle at the last well. Holy pictures and beads were left by the people in the cave.

Each pilgrim who came had to bring seven pebbles from the road, and do so many decades on those, and when they were going they left the pebbles on the heap of stones near the cave.It is said that many people were cured there in olden times. Duchas Schools Collection - Pilgrims and 7 pebbles

Long ago there were two men, and they heard that there was a big cave near Galway, and at the end of the cave there was a pot of Gold. They went as far as the cave and they waited till it got dark. When it got dark the men saw light in the cave, a little man came up with a lantern in his hand, and said. Beware of this cave.

One man was very greedy and he said he would get the pot of gold. Down he went and the other man waited. It was not long till he heard shouting and crying like a person in pain. He hid behind a bush and after a while he saw several Leperacans come up with the man. They had his hands and feet bound. They threw him on the ground and they all went back down the cave again.

The other man came out from behind the bush and asked him what happened and he told him it was because he was so selfish. Duchas Schools Collection - a Pot of Gold and a Greedy Man

Cave art

Lost in time is the reason why our ancestors went underground to create works of art. These cave drawings and paintings often comprise hand outlines, zigzags, straight and circular lines, and a series of animals such as bison, horses, and star shapes.

At Lascaux, France, famous for it's cave paintings, dating from 15,000 to 17,000 years ago, this appears to be the Pleiades with dots representing the cluster.

Oracle at Delphi

In Greek society, an oracle was a person (usually a woman) who was represented as a spiritual counsel or prophet who assumed the role of the Pythia. She resided in an underground chamber (located under the sanctuary) in which she sat on a tripod seat that was exposed to the earth. Literary evidence suggests that she was consulted before all major undertakings, including: wars, the founding of colonies, etc.

Scientific evidence has also suggested that the Pythia’s prophecies were generated from vapours produced from volcanic faults of the area. This type of exposure to narcotic gases could have possibly induced a trance-like state or a disembodied euphoria. It has been theorized that the physical affects were exhausting.