The pit is old. It was said it was a lime pit, from back then when almost each house had a small hole back in the garden where they fired limestone to produce lime. Lime was a primary white paint, which was also antibacterial, so lime painted in underground cellars was also fighting against mould. Perhaps in some recent history it was also used as that, but it just looks far too great in diameter to be holding such quantities of lime. Its diameter is about 8 meters. It can be seen in a satellite image on Google maps, as a small semi-circular shape, red as earth and black from the forest shade.

We were invited to visit our host’s estate up in the hill. We heard her house was a former Roman fortress. And she had peacocks in her backyard! If her house and peacocks have half of her presence, then we were about to see something magnificent. She wanted to show us clay, or something that she thought it might  be clay. We imagined terra rossa, red earth well-known in Adriatic coast.

We entered the estate through simple organic gate made of branches. A short drive followed slightly up the hill and even as we driving the land was promising us something beautiful to see. Young oak trees were nicely cleaned and cut, set aside in neat piles. Big trees were left and ground around them was being taken care of. Scenery was harmonious with all the old ancient stone walls that were left from earlier land owners and keepers. I noticed natural rocks too in small gatherings around the estate which were part of terrain, looking sleek like the rock gardens of Japan. The road led to the tower house. It was all that we imagined and more, especially since we were looking at it from the lower ground and that made it stand in an even taller grandeur. A Scottish deerhound was guarding the entrance and the breed was worthy of the tower. We hesitated for a moment, but after the tail was wagging, we left our fears about the giant medieval dog behind us.

 

 

After cake and wine and short talk with a restorer, physicist and other people, who visited the tower coincidentally too at that time, we hurried further up the hill because the storm was coming. We crossed the beautifully groomed landscape behind the tower, seeing old trees with chairs and lanterns under it and after we walked into the young black oak forest. Two young cats were following us and we saw some sheep in the distance. The owner was explaining about the land all the way up. Forest was cleared of its undergrowth and piles ob round small wood were stacked all over. Neatly.

We stopped and stood in front of an elevated red earth ring and inside the ring was a pit. Storm was getting closer. What is this? Who made this? “It was already here,” she and I answered. The pit did not meet our expectations. It was bigger, deeper, and more powerful than a normal lime pit. When I first heard that there might be clay behind the house I thought that maybe they are having some construction site, some pipes being laid in the ditch or so. I did not expect an ancient pit. There were 5 of us together with the owner. I started to pull a bag out of my backpack, instinctively. I descended on the west side, since part of the wall eroded and a small part of the vertical cut collapsed. On the east side I also noticed burnt walls and recent fireplace. West side also had a partial arc around the ring made from stones. What is this? We were all wondering. The owner answered smilingly:”Well perhaps it could also be a ritual site.” Two of my friends joined me in. We didn’t even have tools, so we just dug in. It was better this way too, because this way we touched the earth and tried to feel it. We tried hard to sense it. We even touched different parts of the pit. I said, use your left hand, the one that is receiving. We tried with both. Clearly we were all impressed by the size, shape and presence of the pit. Storm was now around us. We could see the lightning in the round canopy opening above the pit.

Clearly this is not just a lime pit. What else could it be? My wish would be that this is a sacred ground. The three of use started to collect the clay. It felt like the right thing to do, since the owner invited us, and we had her permission. If we have hers, perhaps we have the permission of the land too. It felt like she could give this permission. “Can you feel it buzzing?” my friend asked. I said: “No, but I can feel hairs going up my spine.” The other friend was quieter and kept observing. After we collected, I stood on the ring, bowed with my hands together, saying thank you in my head and my eyes watered. At the time I didn’t knew what that meant. Obviously, the pit set our emotions on the move. This is the physics of it.

Later, after we sat around the table in the tower, all we could talk was about the pit, about the magic of it, while heavy rain, thunder and lightnings were raging above us. The sky knew something. Did someone else knew it too? The tower was as equally impressive as the pit, but impressiveness came from the impressive people who sensibly restored the old ruin in a way it felt like walking into ancient halls of Alexandria. The textured lime walls, stone, larch wood, drapped linen, and peacock feather flower arrangement was incredible. But the pit in its rawness and pureness made most of our attention being poured into it in the many conversations we had among us in the following next days. I meditated, cast cards, and even had lucid dreams about it. I asked my dreamscape: “What is this pit?” Answer came from around me from many sides, quietly. When I woke up, I did not remember what they said.

The pit is very old. It could be a lime pit too at some point. But it is also much older. From the times just after the cave man started living outside the caves, few thousand years ago. Celtic people were there too. Fighting over the land where this energy point laid. They knew the importance of this point, there are many other spots on the island just like that since the island lies on the dragon line. Slaves were being murdered there, children sacrificed in a ritual to cleanse the energy of the previous desecration. The hole was deeper and the walls had stones. I wonder what lies under the collapsed earth now. Could we find some remains? Or did the locals already took all they could find together with stones from the walls? The pit was a ritual site. But can we unlock its power and make it a sacred space again?