by L. L. Babcock
The bathing traditions of many ancient cultures such as the Greeks, Romans, Indians, Chinese, and Japanese are well known. Ancient and modern bathing practices are summarized elsewhere (cf. "Bath", in En. Brit., 1972, v.3, pp. 275-277) and will not be described or discussed herein, except in relation to the use of quartz.
Unfortunately, we know virtually nothing about the bathing practices of the megalith builders c. 3600-7000 years ago, let alone that of later Bronze Age and Iron Age peoples in the British Isles and Northern Europe. In Roman Britain (43 BC to 410 AD), bath-houses in military forts and public baths were common in towns and cities. We also know that water was held to be sacred by Celtic Christians as well as the later Roman Catholics (who systematically dismantled and replaced the Celtic Christian Church). An example of reverence for water is shown by the ancient tradition of *holy wells* in the British Isles. In "Mysterious Britain" (Bord and Bord, 1973, pp. 153-158), there is a chapter entitled: "Holy Wells and their Healing Powers". According to this husband and wife team (1973, p. 153):
"Although not often written about, and rarely visited, Britain's holy wells are in great abundance. Today there are over 1,000 throughout England, the same number in Wales, at least 600 in Scotland, and no fewer than 3,000 in Ireland, and there were once probably more than this. Water was sacred in pre-Christian times, and not only wells but rivers, streams, lakes, springs and fountains were revered. Traditions and legends have remained to testify to the sanctity of such sites, and the following, for example, were sacred lakes and now have legends attached to them: the Silent Pool, Albury, Surrey; Lochmaben in Dumfriesshire; Mathern Pill near Chepstow, Monmouthshire; the village pond at Ewelme, Oxfordshire; and the lake at Loughadrine, Co. Cork.
Medicinal properties were attributed to the water in many of the holy wells, and such beliefs may originally have had some factual basis because of the minerals present in the water. At some wells, customs and legends have grown up concerning their use and what is likely to happen if their surroundings are disturbed.
Some of the wells had small chapels or baptistries built over them, and were used by Christian priests to perform baptisms. This is one way that Christianity absorbed pagan sites into herself (see also 'The Sancity of Ancient Sites'), and there are several examples of ancient churches standing in close proximity to wells - East Dereham, Bisley, Llandelga, Jesmond, Lichfield, Watchet, Musselburgh, Strathfillan, etc. In some cases, the holy well is actually found within the church."
The first of five illustrations of holy wells, presented by the Bords on page 154, is a photograph of Dupath well, Callington, Cornwall [OSOI ref. & sheet no. SX 375692 (186)]. It shows "a small baptistry, built of granite blocks" which stands over this well. Pilgrims once visited this holy well. One of their customs was to bring an offering of quartz and deposit it near the well. According to Burl (1995, p. 32), "bits of quartz can still be found near Dupath holy well east of Callington." At nearby Dunloe, about 11 miles (18 km) southwest of Callington, a 39 ft N-S by 35 ft (12 x 11 m) megalithic ring consists of "eight large shiningly white quartz stones." The tallest block, with a heighth of 8.5 ft (2.6 m) is at the southpoint of the ring and weighs an estimated 12 tons!
As noted above, quartz fragments were taken as offerings to Dupath holy well, a well-known site for ancient baptisms. The writer believes this quartz <-> water correlation echoes beliefs of a past age. More specifically, these people *knew* at least *qualitatively*, about the action of quartz upon water. This is 'lost knowledge', not merely speculation, because recent research proves conclusively that certain ancient Britons had *quantitative* (technical) knowledge about quartz, water, and pressure which they used to construct arrays utilizing Earth energies available in the grids. (Please refer to Tilt's document here in The QUARTZ Archive, entitled: "An Ancient Energy System Using Quartz".)
Baptism is bathing of the ritualistic variety, which is usually performed during a brief span of time, as opposed to normal bathing practices for purposes of cleansing and relaxing the body. However, the perceived differences between public bathing and baptism are eliminated by 1) ritualistic and/or religious "group baptisms in rivers", and 2) the "obscure Coptic custom", described below. Here, quoted in its entirety, is the *baptism* entry in "The Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend" (Leach and Fried, eds., 1949, v.1, p. 114):
"baptism Ceremonial purification by immersing, bathing, or sprinkling with water, usually symbolic of acceptance into the community, typically the religious community, and often accompanied, as in the instance of a newborn child, by name-giving: a practice originating in the pre-Christian era and found today among many cultures all over the world. While baptism as a sacrement is most common in Western culture, similar ceremonies without this religious background are widespread. Baptism, essentially, seems to be based upon the concept of the removal of the ceremonial uncleanness of the mother and child, and of safeguarding them against the demons and evil spirits to which the ordeal of birth has made them susceptible. Water, as a "living' material, is most used, but baptism by saliva, blood (human or sacrificial animal), milk, clay, dirt, and even rum is known. Adult baptism is usually an initiatory rite, as for candidates for the Eleusinan mysteries or for proselytes to Judaism, though sometimes the ceremony is a reaffirmation of faith.
Generally, in Europe, underlying the religious significance of the Christian rite of baptism are more ancient, indigenous beliefs. The idea is that the unbaptized adult or child is a pagan, hence subject to pagan influences. In Ireland of the 16th century, for example, the right arm of the male child was left pagan (unbaptized) so that it might strike harder blows. The general belief that the newborn child is endangered by fairies or demons gives rise to numerous customs for safeguarding the child and the mother until baptism and churching. In the Middle Ages it was thought that witches took a toll of unbaptized children on Walpurgis night. The Greeks and the Slavs believe that the Lamia has a certain power over the unbaptized. An obscure Coptic custom, adapted from Christian baptism but observed by many Copts and Moslems in the Middle Ages, was the baptismal river festival in the Nile on Epiphany Eve which cured all illnesses. Group baptism in rivers in the United States has been well publicized. No matter how cold the water or raw the weather, United States Primitive Baptists believes baptizing never leads to a cold. Among the Lapps, a second or third or subsequent baptism, with renaming, may be gone through in case of illness to foil the malignant spirit causing the ailment.
Baptism accompanied by naming ceremonies is found in Africa, Malay, Polynesia, India, and Iran, among the North American Indians, Teutons, Greeks, Lapps, and Celts. In Europe, the circumstances attendant on the naming of the child are accompanied by a number of customary observances and beliefs. The behavior and physical and moral perfection of the godparents, the actions and speech of the officiating clergyman, the occupation of the parents during the ceremony, all have influence on the future development of the child. The actions of the child himself during the baptism are important. Widespread in England is the belief that a child who cries is expelling the devil. On the other hand, in Germany a crying child will not live to grow old.
Among the ancient Teutons the *vatni ausa* (sprinkling with water) of the infant by the father acknowledged it. After that the child was a member of the community and could not be exposed by the parent. The idea behind this is recognition of the infant as a new person of the social group. The formalized religious overtones and ceremonies, while significant, are perhaps subordinate in origin. It is the bathing of the new child that is of community importance. In Fiji, the group holds a feast without the child being named at that time, although the name itself is significant in later community life."
Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapeutic practices cover a wide range, from 1) "self-administered (though unstated), very informal, public and/or private bathing for extended periods at mineral hot springs and health spas, through 2) Hydropathy = a formal system of curing disease using water, also known as the "water cure" or "spa therapy", to 3) the formal therapeutic procedures employed by professionally trained and licensed physical therapists. In the western USA, some examples of famous mineral hot springs with large public and private facilities for hydrotherapeutic bathing, include Glenwood Springs, Colorado; Lava Hot Springs, Idaho; and Thermopolis, Wyoming. The Encyclopedia Britannica (1972, "Bath", v. 3, pp. 275-277) states that "medicinal baths exist in all countries; among the best known are those of Baden-Baden, Germany; and Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad), Czechoslovakia; Vichy and Aix-les-Bains in France; Bath and Harrowgate in England; Spa in Belgium; White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and Hot Springs, Arkansas in the United States."
Here is the "Hydropathy" entry in its entirety from the Encyclopedia Britannica (Rusk, 1972, v. 11, pp. 974-975):
"HYDROPATHY, the treatment of disease by water, commonly called the "water cure", is a system that professes to cure all disease by water. The use of water medicinally both by application and by drinking was recognized by the ancient Greeks and Romans and older civilizations. Hydropathy as a formal system, however, came into vogue in about 1829 under the leadership of Vincent Preissnitz (1801-1851), a Silesian farmer who believed in and widely publicized the medicinal values of water upon his paternal homestead. It became a popular and accepted form of medical treatment during the 19th century both in Europe and in America.
The term hydropathy is not widely used in modern times; the formal system of hydropathy is divided into two categories: spa therapy and hydrotherapy. Spa therapy, much more accepted medically in Europe than it is in the United States, is based upon both drinking and bathing in certain waters containing agents believed to be of medicinal value. Many United States authorities believe that most of the medicinal effects of spa therapy are indirect, resulting from the relaxation of the patient as the result of the environmental factors of the spa.
There is a much wider medical acceptance of the scientific value of hydrotherapy, the external application of water for specific therapeutic purposes. Its primary values are found through its versatility as a medium for the external application of heat, which brings about an increase in the temperature of the tissues, vasodilatiion and an increase in circulation. Sedation and the relief of pain and muscular tension are the best-accepted effects of heat therapy. The hydrotherapeutic means of applying heat most usually used are whirlpool baths, the Hubbard tank (underwater mechanical passage), hot packs, contrast baths and paraffin. Because the effects of superficial heating are practically the same regardless of the source and type selected, its application is based upon the availability of source, extent of area to be treated, depth of effective penetration, time necessary to produce desired effects, ease of application, margin of safety and individual preference. Hydrotherapy is a therapeutic modality usually employed by specialists in physical medicine and rehabilitation by physical therapists."
In the above quote, Rusk states that spa therapy is based upon the belief that (chemical) "agents" present in these medicinal waters are responsible for their healing qualities. Furthermore, "most of the medicinal effects of spa therapy are indirect." The writer believes that "agents" is a very bad choice of words in this context, because it implies that something chemically added imparts healing qualities. In combination with therapeutic heating effects, bodily relaxation, and "environmental factors", Rusk would have us believe these medicinal effects are mainly attributable to *chemical* factors, i.e., chemical additives such as natural mineral salts, entrained gases, or a combination thereof. He also omits any effects attributable to *radioactive* mineral salts, entrained radioactive gases (such as radon), or some combination thereof. But Rusk's most glaring omissions are *physical* factors attributable to changes in the structure of water caused by outside influences.
These structural criteria are manifested by the facts that 1) water is a *polar* liquid whose physical structure and chemical properties are modified by energy fields of all types, and 2) water is a "weak" = inefficient Field Synchronization Resonator (FSR), which can be radically modified by other physical factors. More specifically, crustal forces of all types and the presence of quartz. Quartz is a "strong" = highly efficient FSR, because of its high-order crystalline symmetry and 1) its intrinsic structural dependence on three length-based universal physical constants, including the Earth's radius, and 2) its intrinsic structural correlations with the Earth's surficial energy grids, which are based upon differential functions of the Earth radius. The piezoelectrical properties of quartz lead to the generation of energy fields in addition to the Earth's natural magnetic and gravitational fields, when quartz is subjected to crustal pressure.
These *physical* factors are totally ignored by Rusk in his hydropathy entry above. This suggests that he was given some maximum wordage by the editors of Encyclopedia Britannica or he is totally ignorant of certain well-known facts. For example, the effects of "strong' = high-energy fields upon water, attributable to its *polar* properties were well-known over 120 years ago, i.e., before Rusk was even born! The structure of the water molecule is not based upon a repetitive linear arrangement of H-O-H. Instead, it has the shape of an isoceles triangle with the oxygen atom at the apex, between the two smaller hydrogen atoms located at the corners of the base. Water molecules exhibit partial charges on each "corner": a partial negative (-) charge on the oxygen and a partial positive charge on each of the two hydrogen atoms. The polar properties of water are attributable to this uneven distribution of electrical charge. In the writer's opinion, one of the clearest and most understandable discussions of the polar nature of water is found in the beautiful high school chemistry text prepared by the American Chemical Society, entitled: "ChemCom - Chemistry in the Community" (Heikkinen, 1993, pp. 30-31).
The polar structure of water makes it susceptible to major changes in its physical and chemical properties when subjected to strong high-energy electromagnetic, piezoelectric, and/or gravitational fields. Even normally "weak" = low-energy fields modify the structure of water; such as when water contains "immersed" quartz under normal lithic (rock) pressures. Under more or less normal near-surface crustal conditions, these weak fields are cyclically developed into strong fields for awhile every month, because of variations in lunar tidal forces, and return to their normal energy level after attendant relaxation effects when these tidal forces subside. As the pressure builds up, piezoelectrical energy is generated by local quartzose deposits, and the total energy of the system increases. An example of this monthly cycle is cited in David Tilt's document here within The QUARTZ Archive, entitled: "An Ancient Energy System Using Quartz". More precisely, relative to its nominal or null intensity, "the energy level of the system reaches a peak five to six days after New Moon, and goes slightly lower close to the Full Moon." (Tilt, 1991, p.26)
This writer finds Rusk's glaring omission of any potential *physical* effects, in addition to known *chemical* effects, in hydrotherapy, spa therapy, or even casual bathing in thermal mineral springs, 'most curious'! It seems that such unscientific skeptics believe that if THEY can't explain HOW and WHY something works, you can ignore it as a 'red herring', or whatever rationalization process they employ to "explain it away"! I have fought these 'mentally handicapped' experts all my life. These "unscientific scientists" appear oblivious to the REALITY of the "engineering approach" to life here in the physical realm; namely, find out what works, use it, and improve it if possible! These skeptics would have you believe that Italian mothers use of a piece of quartz in the form of white chalcedony (as an obvious calmative), to ensure that their nursing child takes all the milk it needs, is based upon some old superstition or custom lost to antiquity, or some other specious garbage. Those scientists who filter all incoming data, based upon their own personal = subjective = unscientific prejudices or their unscientific belief in the existence of 'red herrings' = 'things excludable', will have to yield to the following facts:
Many ancient peoples knew that quartz and its varieties function medicinally as a stress-reliever and calmative, because it is thE most common and thE *best* natural FSR available on the surface of the Earth!
In other words, an Italian mother who uses a piece of quartz as a calmative so their child takes all the milk it needs, is functionally more intelligent than these so-called experts who don't know what they are talking about! Do they really believe that these mother's are superstitous fools and/or would use something that doesn't work!? I'll wager that this old medicinal knowledge about quartz has helped more Italian mothers than many known, proven, and more 'scientifically correct' nursing aids cited by Dr. Spock! The somewhat contrived scenario above is cited as more evidence, to add to the disgusting pile of similar real events in my professional life, which demonstrate that a purely scientific perspective is *unbalanced*, not grounded in "engineering reality", and, therefore, isn't worth much! The writer can say that, because he is not only a scientist, but a trained geological engineer! (BS, 1964, Michigan Technological University, Houghton)
Experimental Studies
The writer began investigating energy fields of all types during experiments with a working 1:200 scale model of the Great Pyramid (GP) over 20 years ago. Some results of these experiments included proving that 1) the GP is a "House of Mirrors", with vertical mirror planes (in a crystallographic sense) thru the diagonals of the square base, as well as horizontally in the plane of the base and a parallel horizontal plane though the apex/point, and 2) every time the nearby 52 gallon electric water heater came on, the 'gravitational polarity' of its easily detectable image, mirrored about the base and the nearest vertical diagonal mirror plane, reversed! This proves conclusively that the polar nature of water has gravitational field effects. In addition to these GP experiments, extensive field testing of aluminum, iron, and copper rods and pipe sections were completed. These metal objects employed as 'flux detector' extensions of my arm, were cut to the length of the current value of the Gravitational Wavebase (= 0.5791635 m). These early experiments lead to my use of quartz crystal resonators as meditation aids and my discoveries revealing the HOW and WHY quartz is an FSR. In 1992, I unequivocally solved the structure of quartz and began extensive on-going experiments with quartz crystal resonators as meditation and stress-relieving aids.
One of my continuing experiments revealed that meditations using quartz crystals were markedly enhanced by immersing oneself in a deep bathtub full of moderately hot water containing a large quartz crystal. In fact, the first time I tried it, I dozed off for awhile and woke up when the water cooled off! However, large quartz crystals have sharp points and long crystal edges between the prism faces which can easily lacerate your skin. I also found out that having to hold a large quartz crystal vertically in order to obtain its maximal FSR efficiency whilst sitting in the tub was too restrictive of movement, impractical, and distracted from the meditation experience. Besides, I found no convenient way or place to hold the crystal vertically after sliding down in the tub to obtain the wonderful cocooning effect of total body submersion! A larger and/or deeper tub would probably alleviate some of these problems.
Using other quartz pieces, I soon discovered that well-rounded pebbles and cobbles of massive Late Precambrian vein quartz were very strong FSRs. The shapes of these featureless pebbles and cobbles exhibit no evidence of any kind of preferred orientation whatsoever. Such massive quartz exhibits no visible grain boundaries, even on a freshly fractured surface, and, thus, can be considered truly massive and homogeneous. In other words, theoretically, massive vein quartz consists of an aggregation of randomly oriented quartz grains.
Comparing rocks with crystals of similar weight, showed that vein quartz was superior to a single quartz crystal in the horizontal position, laying on the bottom of the tub. This suggests that orientation effects are not restricted to positive enhancements, but may also yield negative factors as well; especially if the entire mass of quartz is in the form of a single crystal lying on one of its six sides, 90 degrees out of phase with its own crystallographic axes!
The superiority of massive Late Precambrian vein quartz as a meditation aid is attributable in part to another structural factor, which has nothing to do with crystal orientation or the polar properties of water. More specifically, Mother Earth first attained her nearly spherical shape and Ideal radius during the Late Precambrian, about 1.05 billion years ago. Since that time, the Earth's shape has changed dramatically, the radius has gradually increased, and the statistical or mean dynamical radius is now about 761 ppm in excess of the Ideal value (Babcock, 1993, Appendix 1, Item 3, pp.18-19). In other words, compared to this ancient, nearly perfect quartz, synchronized on the Ideal Earth radius (= 2/pi x 10^7 m), a cultured quartz crystal made last month is only nominally synchronized with the consciousness frequency window. The technical explanation of this discovery is presented in the document "Quartz and Consciousness" elsewhere in this QUARTZ Archive.
There appears to be some threshold mass and/or volume function between water and quartz. For example, a 50 gram quartz pebble is inadequate to dominate the resonance state of a tubfull of water (est. 40 gallons = 5.63 cu. ft = 159.3 liters = 159.3 kg). A large 250 gram quartz pebble appears to be just above the apparent threshold and easily dominates the weaker resonance properties of water with its higher FSR efficiency. My own personal preference is to use large pebbles to small cobbles of vein quartz in the 300 to 600 gram range for a more or less standard size bathing tub.
Oversize bathtubs, hot tubs, jacuzzis, and small bathing pools require large cobble to boulder-sized pieces of quartz, or a number of pebbles or cobbles of equivalent weight, to ensure that the resonance properties of water are dominated by the much stronger quartz resonance. My experiments clearly show that for meditation use = access to the consciousness frequency window (CFW), still water is greatly preferred over swirling turbulent water, such as when the pump in on, or people are thrashing around! In other words, don't count on meditative access to the CFW in a bathing pool whilst the pump cycle is on and the pool is turbulent, even with a large crystal or piece of quartz in hand. If you do you will be disappointed! However, just the opposite is true, if your objective is simply to relax and relieve stress by water immersion. I also find that friendly people thrashing around enhance the latter objective as much as they ruin the former objective! This experimenter and writer prefers to combine these two purposes in some manner, depending upon the size and temperature of the water body, number of people involved, time duration of immersion, and assessed bodily needs for relaxation and meditation.
References Cited:
Babcock, L. L., 1993, "The Basic Electromagnetic Identity and Universal Structure": Privately Published by Synergy Information Systems, Tucson, AZ, 34p.
Bord, J. and Bord, C., 1973, "Mysterious Britain": Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, NY, 259p.
Burl, A., 1995, "A Guide to the Stone Circles of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany": Yale University Press, New Haven and London, 276 p.
Heikkinen, H., ed., 1993, "ChemCom - Chemistry in the Community": American Chemical Society, 2nd ed., Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, Dubuque, IA, 571p.
Hoffman, H., "Bath", in Encyclopedia Britanica, 1972, v.3, pp.275-277, Chicago.
Leach, M. and Fried, J., eds., 1949-1950, "Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology, and Legend": Funk & Wagnalls Company, New York, v. 1, A-I, pp. 1-532, v.2, J-Z, pp. 533-1196, v.3, Index and Bibliography.
Rusk, H. A., "Hydropathy", in Encyclopedia Britanica, 1972, v. 11, pp. 974-975, Chicago.
Tilt, D., 1991, "David Tilt on Crop Circles and an Ancient Energy System", in "Dowsing the Crop Circles - New Insights into the Greatest of Modern Mysteries": Michell, J., ed., Gothic Images Publications, Glastonbury, Somerset, 48p.