THE HOLISTIC HOUSE
(Published in” EARTH GARDEN” 1991)

Have you ever found your child curled up in a corner of the bed? Have you ever noticed that your cat chooses particular spots to sleep? Does your dog seem systematically to avoid certain areas? Do you feel more comfortable in certain parts of your home than others? Are you affected by recurrent migraines, allergies or insomnias you can’t explain?
The relatively new art and science of geobiology suggests answers to questions like these. It is new in the sense that it strives to analyse age-old building traditions and to support them with recent discoveries of science. It tries to understand the relationships between the local environment and the health of living organisms by integrating the studies and discoveries of many specialised scientific subjects such as astrophysics, geophysics, geology, hydrology, biology, electronics, architecture and traditions both local and collective.

The tradition
Since the earliest time in history, a wide set of parameters and rituals have determined suitable building sites. In China it was defined by Feng Shui, the art of reading the landscape and its influence on an area. Mountains, lakes, rivers and forests were all charged with quantities of energy (Ch’i) according to their shape, size and disposition, and the relationship between them affected and defined the suitability of sites for particular uses.
According to the architect Vitruvius Pollio, before building a city, the Romans would let a herd of cattle live on the land for one year. Then after having slaughtered them and inspected their entrails, they would decide if the chosen site was healthy or not.
Throughout history the foundation of a city or a public building was the occasion of special rituals and dedications to gods, planets, or saints. The symbolic aspects of the consecration were most important. An official laying the first stone of an edifice is the remnant of this tradition. The exact moment when the first stone of Cairo (Egypt) was laid corresponded with the ascension of the planet Mars (in Arabic EI Kaher the victor). The astrological theme which defines the cosmic affinities of each individual was applied to architecture – the moment of birth of a construction corresponded to laying the first stone.
The start of work on the Escurial Palace, the centre of the Spanish Government, was appointed with the entrance of the sun and the moon in Aries, which presides symbolically to the highest political and military ambitions. Furthermore, the budding was dedicated to St Laurence (martyr tortured on a grille) and its plan assumes the shape of a grille.
The orientation of an edifice, its position in relation to the stars, the sun, the planets and the obscure tellurian forces, was recognising the hopes for its higher aspirations – what the ancients called the pillar of the world or “Axis Mundi”.
It was often symbolically illustrated with the image of an archangel (the cosmic or positive light forces) striking a dragon (the tellurian or negative obscure forces) or as Apollo slaying the serpent Python. The Abbey of Le Mont St Michel (Normandy, France) is positioned on the axis 64 degrees off North. This direction faces towards the sunrise of the 8th of May, traditionally the St Michel day of spring. The opposite direction shows the sunset of the 6th of August: the Transfiguration of Christ.
The ancients understood architecture as the materialised image of a natural and invisible order. The Egyptian or Mayan temples, the Chinese pagoda and the gothic cathedral represented on the material level the more subtle realms from which they emerged.
In the Alps of Switzerland a few older carpenters are still inspired by respect for the forest and the wood. The trees are felled only during a very specific period, between December and February, and under the descending moon. The timber is seasoned for up to 11 years depending on the nature of the wood and its future use.
When building, each beam, rafter and stud is carefully positioned according to the original direction of growth of the wood. A tree grows from the Earth (negative pole) to the sky (positive pole), thus rafters and studs will always be fixed to have their positive pole towards the sky. The beams would have their positive pole towards north or east, to ensure a natural flow of energies between the construction and the biosphere.
The finished structure is always blessed in a small ceremony when a decorated sapling is nailed to the pitch of the roof. Many chalets, some of them up to 400 years old, are still standing in perfect condition, never having received a coat of paint or wood treatment.

These traditional practices and the great body of knowledge they came from have been discarded slowly with the arrival of the Industrial Age, giving way to ‘cost efficient’ building practices and the use of toxic products. The times seem long gone when any stonemason knew it was unwise to build on the ‘veins of the dragon’, as the Chinese and the Celts called the streams of tellurian forces.

The natural field of radiations
A healthy house should not cut its occupants from the natural influences of Earth and heavens. It should be the vessel where these energies can meet and be transmuted for the benefit of humans. To obtain this, a construction must keep as much of the original natural radiations of the environments as possible. Humanity has evolved within this field of radiations for over 40,000 generations and has developed a highly sensitive nervous system. Modem technology and new housing techniques have considerably deprived us of the contact with Nature for only three generations. There has been little time for biological adaptation.
The influences of the heavens include solar radiations, the radiations of planetary bodies and, to a lesser extent, the stars. The intensity of these radiations varies according to latitude, altitude, weather and solar activity.
The influences generated by the Earth are generally from the Earth’s magnetic field and local geological characteristics. Our planet, being a great magnet with its positive and negative poles, is surrounded by its own magnetic field (the geomagnetic field) pulsating at the rate of 7.8 beats per second. The intensity of this field varies according to time of day, and place. Magnetic disturbances have been observed over underground water streams and geological faults.

Recent research in Germany and France shows that certain types of massive construction can reduce the effects of the geomagnetic field to the extent of inducing different health problems such as heart diseases. The German physicist Robert Endros studied this question with Professor K E Lotz of the School of Architecture of Biberach (in West Germany). Their analysis of 400 deaths due to cancer revealed that 383 cases were related to dwellings over geological faults, underground waterveins and disturbances of the natural geomagnetic field.
A well-known and documented geological cause of disease is the radioactive gas radon 222 produced by the disintegration of uranium 238 in uranium rich minerals. It is found in greater concentration in well-insulated and poorly ventilated spaces.

In the 1930s, Dr S Jenny in Aarau (Switzerland) experimented with the effects of geological faults and underground streams on 25,000 mice for a period of 12 years. Mice in cages placed over a perturbation of the geomagnetic field became agitated, gnawed their tails and even ate their offspring, sometimes developing cancerous tumours. When placed over a neutral zone they became more settled. If a cage was placed partly over such a perturbation (geopathic zone) and partly on a healthy zone the mice preferred to stay on the latter.
In France beekeepers place hives over underground water veins. Such hives can produce up to three times more honey than hives positioned a few feet away, but according to these beekeepers, the life span of these bees is considerably shortened, and they are more aggressive.
The Hartmann grid (H grid)
For some years researchers like Dr Hartmann (Director of the Research Committee for Geobiology, Eberbach- Waldkatzenbach-waldbrunn), Dr Palme, Professors Endros, and K E Lotz and many others have studied the undeniable influences of electromagnetic fields on living organisms. According to the research of Dr Hartmann the geomagnetic field is composed of active and neutral zones, the active areas being lines 21 cm wide with the neutral zone lying between the lines.
These lines form a north-south and east-west grid. They are about 2.0 m apart on the north-south axis and 2.5m apart on the east-west axis in the Temperate Zone.
The crossing points of these lines are considered to be unhealthy if one is to remain over them for long periods, as in a bed or at a work station for example. The regularity of the H grid can also be affected by man-made disturbances such as high-tension power lines and roads.
The effect of a crossing, or knot, in the H grid can be amplified by other local characteristics such as an underground stream or a geological fault, making a spot potentially dangerous. According to Professor Endros trees growing on the crossing of the grid are prone to lightning strikes, especially if they are near or over an underground stream. Most trees or plants showing deformities are found on such ‘knots’ of the H gird. On these the Romans used to build sham wells dedicated to Jupiter and consecrated to ‘Fulgur Conditum’ (buried lightning).
Animals and very young children have not lost their instinct to feel if a place is healthy or not. In the morning, one can often see children cramped into one side of their beds, oriented differently from when they were tucked in. It is wise to see if the bed is well positioned. Sensitive adults will not sit in a particular spot often without being able to explain why they feel uncomfortable. Animals in pastures will avoid a disturbed zone to the extent that you can follow the path of disturbance by looking at the area that’s been grazed.
Throughout history animals have constituted the economic base of rural properties and the greatest care has been taken to build healthy shelters for them. We see very few old farm buildings situated on a disturbed area. Most of the cases of diseased animals observed by Professor Endros living over geopathic zones have been observed in new installations built in recent decades.
It is interesting to observe that cats and ants will thrive over a spot submitted to radiation, but dogs or mice will avoid them. According to Professor Endros the statistical study of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) shows high differences in frequency depending on the location, which led him to the hypothesis that SIDS may be caused by local factors. Further studies in German and American cities by Egon Eckertof Newton showed that most cases were distributed along high-power lines. The conjunction of high power lines, underground water streams and H grid crossings should be considered as extreme perturbation of the ambient field. It should be essential to have a correct positioning of beds in places where people have a diminished resistance and health, such as hospitals.
According to the Institute of Geobiology of Lausanne (Switzerland) 30 percent of the patients studied showed signs of improvements after having their beds shifted away from active zones.
Describing the Cairo Hospital built in 1823 by Sultan Galaotin, the historian P. d’Avenne explained the importance of the building: “The doctors took more care of the air than of the food, because one eats now and then, but one breathes continually. The patients were placed in large or small apartments oriented towards north or south, heated by aromatic fumigations or cooled by different means according to the nature of their diseases.”
“An important part of the edifice was reserved for mental patients of both sexes who were treated in vast porticoes made healthy and pleasant by fountains and running streams of water whose freshness brought rest and wellbeing.”

The structure of geobiology
Geobiology aims to provide the information for us to reproduce a habitat as near to natural living conditions as possible, taking into account the need for comfort provided by old and new technologies favourable to the environment. It strives to define and examine the numerous elements influencing the quality of our home. To diminish or enhance the salubriousness of the house the accumulation of many factors is required. These elements can be roughly ordered in three interdependent levels.

Physical level
The physical level deals with all the known effects related to the quality of the ground (such as geological faults, water streams, and radon) to the quality of the location (that is, air pollution, noise) and the quality of the construction.
We have slowly come to realise the great influence that building materials have on our health, both physical and psychological. You can easily imagine yourself stroking a piece of wood, feeling its softness and warmth. The tree has grown from the energies of the Earth, the water and the cosmos. It radiates a message of life, very different from the message of a piece of polystyrene or plastic. But even the best of materials can be killed by toxic chemical treatments which are slowly releasing poisonous emanations such as lead, cadmium, formaldehyde, phenols and organochlorines. They are known to cause nausea, headaches, insomnia, asthma, brain damage and even cancer.

Energy level
The energy level includes the positioning of the house on the Hartmann grid and other tellurian currents, electromagnetic pollution and the Faraday Cage Effect due to bad earthing of electric installations, reinforcement of concrete slabs and steel frames. In recent years the rapid proliferation of artificial sources of radio-electric frequencies has become a cause for concern. It has surpassed many times the production of natural sources. According to a German specialist Wolfgang Volkrodt, electromagnetic pollution has in- creased a hundred times during the past 30 years.
Ten to fifteen percent of cancers affecting American children could be caused by low frequency electromagnetic fields around high volt- age power lines. This is the astonishing affirmation of the ‘New York Power Lines Project’. This study group was formed by the commission responsible for the power grid of the State of New York.

Symbolic level
The symbolic or spiritual level, which is the least recognized, is also the most important because it defines the quality of the whole. Most of us can feel clearly the difference of ambiance in extremes (for example, between abattoirs and churches) and be strongly affected by them. Persons endowed with a greater sensitivity win perceive subtle differences that would nevertheless unconsciously influence us. According to B Merz (Institute of Geobiology of Chardonne, Lausanne, Switzerland) just as a place can make us prone to disease or depression, another can lift us to more subtle levels of vibration, strengthening our body and spirit. Such places were sought after throughout history and held as sacred. Some are natural wonders like Uluru (Aboriginal people have long known this), the Grand Canyon, the Matterhorn and countless other places on this planet which inspire the millions of modem pilgrims we call tourists. Others are man-made poles of attraction built on powerful sites by architect-priests obeying a sacred tradition, like the pyramids of Egypt, the statues of Easter Island or many gothic cathedrals. 7be site of the Chartres Cathedral in France was already considered sacred by the Celts.

How to choose a home
Most people know intuitively what parameters would enhance or diminish the quality of their life when looking for a house. However, many important factors are overlooked in favour of less geobiologically significant elements.
After derma and clothing, the house is our third skin and a very important factor in keeping healthy. We should remember that when choosing a house or a site we are defining our future quality of life. Geobiology proposes coherent and structured ways to establish the important criteria bearing on this choice. It suggests the following rules of thumb.

Surroundings
Harmony between Nature and the inhabitants, flowery gardens, trees absorbing dust and producing oxygen.
Compact and hard ground, stony or sandy.
An atmosphere rich in negative ions, near parks, forests or ocean.
An orientation towards north and west for the living

-An area with little or no noise, away from high power lines and transformers.
-Locating the perturbed zones or having them located.

House
The construction materials should be of high natural quality such as wood, stone, bricks and tiles.
-The dimensions should respect human scale, with a good relation between height, width and length.
– Insulation should be with cork, coco fibre or mineral
– Use non-toxic paint and take notice of the influence of colours (chromotherapy).
– With electricity, avoid transforming the bedroom into a research laboratory with TV, radio and other electrical appliances. The ideal solution would be to be able to    switch off the bedroom area for the night to avoid long exposures to electromagnetic fields (the effects of these fields can be enhanced by metal beds).
– Floor coverings should be made of natural materials such as terracotta tiles, cork, wood, woollen carpets or plant fibres.
– It is not recommended to have a bedroom situated over a garage. The metallic mass of cars is a strong agent of disturbance of the natural magnetic field.
– It is best to sleep with your head pointing north to be aligned with the geomagnetic field.

Conclusion
The Ancients translated in their stone temples the great laws of the universe. They all based themselves on the same principles using the cosmo-tellurian forces. Their dynamic complementarity generated a third vital element for humanity: the evolution of all things. We must now rediscover these laws hidden in each of us and communicate them to our constructions, from the most modest to the most sumptuous. Such a realisation is possible on three levels.
1. The technical level – products of reason using the laws of mechanics, physics, chemistry and astrophysics to deter- mine the choice of materials and the site.
2. The harmonic level – the human soul rejoicing in the vital movements of cosmic cycles.
3. The symbolic level – the knowledge enabling the elaboration of the “Axis Mundi and humanity’s spiritual matrix. This level constitutes the intimate ties giving the other two levels their real grandeur.
When these three levels are balanced the building becomes an architectural medicine, a physical, psychological and spiritual harmony.