West Kennet Long Barrow, Avebury
A day with Peter Knight and Sue Wallace-Knight — part 2
After lunch at Avebury Stone Circle, we headed the couple of miles or so to West Kennet. I am partial to a long barrow, having a similarly aged one within a couple of miles of my home in Dorset. They contribute a powerful energy into the land. But I had not been inside one. West Kennet Long Barrow is 100 metres long and the only excavated one, so I was looking forward to experiencing it.
Parking at the lay-by we had a half mile or so walk to the top of the hill. Before heading up, Peter and Sue led a water blessing of the River Kennet (its source begins not far from the little bridge we had to cross). It was a moment to pause and reflect, to watch the passing movement and aliveness through a visited past. All sacred sites are, or would have been, close to water. Peter reminded us that our planet only has a set amount of shared water (also information channelled from my guide, the Spirit of Plato, in my book The Teachings of Mr P.) and that we have to look after it. Whether here in the UK or on the other side of the world, we are sharing the same water. It was a beautiful pause into the continuation of life and respect for our elements.
I loved the long barrow … it’s so, pretty. Strange word for a ‘burial chamber’, I know. The large sarsen stones form a welcoming invitation (Peter shared that the largest ‘blocking’ stone at the entrance came later and is perfectly aligned to Stonehenge, 18 miles away). After Peter requested permission from the barrow for us to enter (which is not just respectful, but creates an altogether different experience and is a practice I also use for trees and all ‘entry points’) I felt into its soft energies. It is ‘deep’ and it is also more. After all the ‘outside’ energy of the stone circles, it felt good — a relief, even — to ‘go in’.
The energies take some adjusting to. The building is circa 5000-6000 years old (constructed approx 3500 BC) with the five chambers being located only in the front section of the barrow (the rest has ‘nothing’ in it) — 2 chambers on each side as you enter and one larger one at the end. Long barrows are considered ceremonial sites of burial and birth and also places our ancestors would come to, to commune with the wisdom of their ancestors. Twenty of us squeezed in, many of us accompanied by our drums. I was immediately drawn to the first chamber on the left by a gentle wise spirit of place: Come and sit here, she said. The energies go down into the Earth by the entrance, I was told, and into ‘the void’ in the furthest chamber. I was shown that the ground beneath is crystal, compacted, and told it is a place of ‘The Sacred Wisdom of the lower levels’: a Liminal Space — not liminal as a happenstance, but a created liminal space — to call the Natural Spirit to protect and fortify the Land. And then she told me to go join the others, in the large chamber.
The Mary Line runs through Avebury Stone Circle, over Silbury Hill, and through the length of West Kennet Long Barrow, we are told. Aligned with the Equinox sunrises, the stones and construction create a channel for the energy. This is a place ‘of the wisdom of the feminine’, which we, as a group, honoured with our prayers, our seeking of guidance, our drumming and gentle singing to the symbolism — which Peter and Sue are showing us still remains today.
I leave pondering, how do we take care of our dead and honour the ancient wisdom? Here is a place where it is possible to connect — to tune in — to the, physical and liminal, space in which many others have sat; contemplating the same questions, seeking the same solutions. A human made structure is a glorious thing … I wonder how many of our ‘buildings’ will survive 5000 years — survive in spirited wisdom, as well as place. And crucially, as part of the landscape and not a blot ‘on’ it. What is the energy, or combination of energies, we must include to create this continuity? Now that’s an interesting thought :)
[Read part 1 of my day with Peter and Sue Knight]
Love,
Delilah
PS. You can read more about Peter and Sue’s work and books at www.stoneseeker.net
Visited: 13 April 2025