Healing the Sacredness of the World Trade Center Site

By Alex Stark. Copyright 2001 and all rights reserved.

Much has been said and written about the World Trade Center tragedy and the need to rebuild on that site. Many valuable suggestions have been put forward, and it is clear from these proposals that the spirit of this city will prevail over the will of those who sought to destroy it. However, before reconstruction can begin, it is important to consider the implications of such actions from all angles, not the least of which is the sacredness of the land itself.

As an architect, feng shui practitioner, and geomancer I am keenly aware of the energies contained in the land (a feng shui practitioner is concerned with the balance of all things in Nature, a geomancer is concerned with the sacredness and integrity of the land. Both are motivated by the well-being of their communities and their relationship to the land). Our landscapes, whether pastoral and pristine, or urban and chaotic, are nevertheless the repositories of all our dreams and aspirations. The land in turn, feeds and energizes us. Traditional peoples across the planet have recognized this simple truth: the Earth is our primary source of life, and living in harmony with her is imperative. A land ravaged by death and destruction is like a person raped, and the shock of this attack can be detrimental not only to those who inhabit it, but to the land itself. We are all fully aware of the need to honor those who died in this attack and of the need to memorialize them. The earth under the World Trade Center site, however, is in as much need of healing: Earth that is ravaged tends to hold the energy of death and destruction, making it difficult for the following generations to make good use of it. Among geomantic circles it is well-known that the site once occupied by Chernobyl had been an orphanage, bombed during World War II, and never cleared of this horrible legacy. It would be wise to make gestures to honor the ancestors and spirits of the land at the World Trade Center site by clearing it of the negative energies it now is imbued with.

What makes these actions even more urgent, however, is that beyond its importance as a repository of our hopes and dreams, the World Trade Center site also happens to be a particularly sacred and powerful spot. In feng shui terms, lower Manhattan represents a nearly perfect geomantic formation, with Bear Mountain and the Catskills holding what is known as the Black Turtle's higher ground in the North, and with New Jersey and Brooklyn/Queens as the Dragon and the Tiger to the west and east, respectively. Governor's Island, and Staten Island beyond it, are the Red Phoenix of the south, and the waters of the Hudson and the East River represent the nourishing energy of prosperity and growth which gently hold and cradle the island within their curvature, making possible its unprecedented success as a city and as a center of political and financial power.

Furthermore, it is said that before the white man arrived, lower Manhattan was used extensively by indigenous shamans because of its tremendous power. Furthermore, the portion of the site above Greenwich Street (which was the shore line for Manhattan on the Hudson at the time), is said to have been used as a sacred burial ground by its native peoples. It is interesting to note as well that the site is only a few yards from an earth ley line that bisects lower Manhattan from north to south, roughly along lower Broadway. Ley lines are conduits of energy in the land which, like the meridians of oriental acupuncture, help to disperse and channel the vital energy which the land provides in order to sustain life. I have dowsed this ley line many times and found it full of charge and quite masculine in its intensity. It is intertwined with a more feminine energy which rises like springs which bubble up at intervals, one of which is located only yards away from the site of the attack. This is and has always been a powerful place. Geomantically speaking it is clear that such a powerful site should be used with the greatest of care and with utmost respect. Today this power is compromised and the ley line weakened by the violence of the attack.

It is my growing conviction that the World Trade Center tragedy, although similar in many ways to the suffering inflicted by wars, starvation, and neglect throughout the world daily, is nevertheless different energetically to what has happened in the past. Popular reaction world-wide seems to have picked up on this fact, sensing behind the obvious political implications, a much larger message. For those of us who have lived and worked through it, it has been both a deep wound as well as a gigantic revelation. This event has served to open many eyes, not only to the perils of world politics, but also to the frivolity and excess in which we continuously find ourselves. Our societies have been blind to the need to honor land and ancestors, forgetful of the rituals and processes needed to do so, and clumsy in our attempt to redress this imbalance. The attack on the World Trade Center must therefore be seen, at the energetic level, as a call to a new consciousness in our relationship with the land, prompted by the urgings of our ancestors and the by the land below our very feet.

In addition, the tragedy of the World Trade Center represents also the reopening of the power of this site to the uses for which it was originally created by Nature. A sacred place is sacred not only because Nature has focused its power on that spot, but because humans have recognized it a such and have taken steps to preserve that power and use it for the good of the community. Its reconstruction must therefore take this in mind. Planners, architects, artists, politicians, clergy, and the public involved in this effort need to remember that the spirit of our people is bound intimately not only to the memory of our dead, but also to the land, the waters, the wind, and the other life forms that share it with us. If peace is to come of the World Trade Center tragedy, it is important that these timeless connections to Nature and the elements be recognized, respected, and harnessed. Shrines such as the Vietnam Memorial or John F. Kennedy’s tomb draw us to them because they have harnessed the power of those elements: the stone monolith of the Vietnam Memorial is a clear evocation of the earth’s womb which now shelters the bodies of so many dead; the eternal flame at John Kennedy’s grave is a symbol and reminder of the hopes and dreams of an entire world generation and the devotion to the cause of peace this man created. In addition, it is important to recognize that the land under the World Trade Center is still loaded with the violence and hatred which the attack sought to perpetrate. Today, thanks to the courageous efforts of teachers and elders who preserved this knowledge against daunting odds, there are keepers of this wisdom who understand the process and techniques of healing the Earth after such trauma. It behooves us to listen to their advice. The healing of the land and therefore our own healing, both of the body and of the spirit, depends upon this.