Not Your Ordinary Love Story #KeystotheHeart #lovestories

On By Alethea KehasIn A Better World of Books, the labyrinth, Warriors of Light

A few months ago, I came across an article that said middle-grade and YA readers are now seeking stories about strong friendships rather than romance. Perfect, I thought, because the bond of friendship threads through my middle-grade Warriors of Light series. It is, you could say, a rather non-traditional love story. The six young protagonists are driven by their philial love for one another, as well as their filial love, and their love for Earth.

A giant in the land that helped to inspire the character Albion in Keys to the Heart. Photo taken at Jordan Pond, Acadia National Park in 2018

A year after visiting Arbor Low, I journeyed back to England for another weekend of Silent Eye adventures, and to partake in my graduation ceremony. “You need to come to this one,” Sue had urged me. “It’s all about the ley lines and the hexagram star.” Once again, while exploring the ancient landscapes of England, I would discover more insights about the stories that had been whispering their secrets onto my pages.

These sacred waters were the site of my graduation rites

We spent a very busy day following the ley lines (aka dragon lines) in the pattern of a hexagram star, hopping from church to church to feel into their energy. Many of the ley lines/dragon lines in Earth follow geometric patterns and connect to sacred sites. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, churches were frequently, and probably not coincidentally, erected atop ancient sacred sites and dragon lines (it makes one wonder about religious images of dragons being slain or “tamed” in paintings and church windows). Truthfully, the day for me was mostly unsettling. To me, the energy of the land beneath these religious edifices feels not so much sacred, but deadened in an attempt to exert power and control. 

Sue standing beside one of the churches we visited that is situated on a hexagram of ley lines

So when we journeyed away from the churches to visit ancient sites that still feel alive in the landscape, I felt much more at home. One of our stops was to visit the chalk giant embedded into a hillside in the Cerne Valley. Legends tell that the Cerne Abbas Giant, with his erect phallus, was a fertility god of sorts. Couples would (and perhaps still do, although it is now fenced in) flock to the hillside to make love in the hope to conceive.

The fertility giant in the background of a “Hardy” sign.

But I was more interested in the idea of a love story about the land itself. The carne giant, as well as a giant I saw a month later in the landscape of Acadia National Park (see above photo), helped inspire me to created the character Albion (whose name is derived from an old name for Great Britain) who appears in book two of the Warriors of Light series. The giant Albion, whose body is comprised of the British Isles, holds within him the heart of Earth. So Albion became part of the love story I was writing. A giant whose body is a part of the body of Earth. The two, like the yin and yang energy that exist inside all of us, cannot live without each other. Keys to the Heart is not the love story of romance novels, but about the love that threads the life into the veins of Earth and all of her children.

20 thoughts on “Not Your Ordinary Love Story #KeystotheHeart #lovestories”

  1. I saw the Cerne Giant on my first visit to the UK many years ago. Your photo of the giant up in Maine reminds me of a story I posted several years back, The Washerwoman. I did a pencil drawing for it where if you look closely at the mountains, you might see a figure… (the story was set in a fictional location in NH).

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  3. What wonderful tie-ins to your book, Alethea. Including a love story about the earth is great timing. I enjoyed these pictures, especially the ones of Acadia – a place we’d like to visit again, since it’s been over 30 years! Coincidentally, while typing this I see you are commenting at the very same time on my Steinbeck post – hahah!

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  5. I love the idea of a giant called Albion being part of the Earth. It sounds like your trip to England was incredibly inspiring.
    I once heard that there is a dragon energy line running down from Bali to the east coast of Australia. It is said to end around a mountain behind Byron Bay.

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    1. I love that you love this idea of Albion. I am always inspired by the ancient landscapes. They stir deep memories inside of me. I think dragon lines are all over the place, but are especially powerful where there are sacred sites. 🐉💚

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      1. Yes there is something about the ancient sites with old buildings and structures that does emanate with power. That said, there is something about the ancient land of Australia and (I imagine) in America that also speaks of Earth power. The dragon line I have heard about on the east coast of Australia terminates at a mountain.

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