The Saint Michael line across England is more than a curiosity of cartography. It encodes a cosmology in which earth mirrors sky, in which solar and lunar, male and female, life and death, winter and summer are reconciled through the mediating figure of the serpent-slayer. Other alignments across Europe also link places dedicated to Saint Michael, Saint Mary and ancient prehistoric places, and connecting the movement of the sun to the golden ratio. It's a story of union of opposites, through which transformation arises. The landscape inscribed with this alignment, preserves in stone and church tower the same truth found in Ophiuchus above: the world is renewed through reconciliation, and the spear of light forever pins chaos, not in destruction, but in transfiguration.

A Brief Overview of Landscape Geometry across North-West Europe linking Saint Michael, the Sun and the Golden Ratio.

The Saint Michael lines are alignments of stones and shrines, but also an earthly mirror of the cosmic reconciliation of opposites. The English Michael line, from Cornwall’s southern shore, at Saint Michael’s Mount runs through The Hurlers, Glastonbury Tor, Burrow Mump, Avebury, and reaches as far as Bury St Edmunds. Measured carefully on the map, the azimuth of this line holds astonishing consistency: from the Cornish coast it falls between 58.4° and 58.9°, with an average of 58.8°. When observed from Saint Michael’s Mount, the rising sun on 14th and 15th May, neither equinox nor solstice, but a precise point in between, appears at the horizon at almost the exact same azimuth. On 14th May 2025, the sun rises at 58.85°; on 15th May, at 58.44°. The terrestrial line and the solar motion coincide within less than half a degree. This date falls at a Phi Point of the year, a division of the solar year by the golden ratio (φ ≈ 1.618). From the equilux of 17th March (day of equal day and night) to the summer solstice, starting on the 21st June, is a span of 96 days. Divide this interval by φ, and the result is 59.3 days; counting forward, this falls on 14th or 15th May. Thus the Saint Michael alignment is not a vague orientation toward “the east”, but a rigorous and intentional tuning to the mathematics of light and time.

Saint Michael's Mount acts as an anchor point connecting Avebury to Stonehenge. While the sunrise there at the Phi point between the spring equilux and the summer solstice marks the beginning to the line towards Avebury and the many other important sites along this alignment, the sunrise at Saint Michael's Mount on the day in summer when daylight and darkness are in Phi ratio marks the beginning of the line towards Stonehenge. At any given place, darkness and daylight can be in roughly Phi ratio four times a year, twice before the summer solstice, and then twice before the winter solstice, within a certain band of latitudes, beyond which it becomes impossible. If there are either 14 hours and 50 minutes, or 9 hours and 10 minutes of daylight, then daylight and darkness are in Phi ratio, with each other as well as with the 24 hour period. The summer Phi Day (distinct from the Phi point in the year) is when day and night are in Phi ratio, in the summer time, with daylight being 14 hours and 50 minutes. This is significant in that the azimuth of the rising sun at Saint Michael's Mount on this day at the mount points precisely to Stonehenge. The angle of sunrise on the summer Phi Day at Saint Michael's Mount is 62.36°, which corresponds to the diagonal of a rectangle with sides of 10 and 5.23606, or 5 and 2.61803, which is Phi². This is a kind of golden rectangle, and has an area of 10 Phi². The Phi ratio (approximately 1.618:1), and Phi² (approximately 2.61803:1) are proportions often regarded as divine or aesthetically ideal. Phi² is associated with the Egyptian royal cubit, as one of its accepted values is Phi² x 2 / 10 metres, the metre itself being an important unit of length in the ancient world. Sometimes Phi² is approximated to 55/21 or 144/55, and there are also several accepted values for an ancient metre, from the modern, to 39.375 and 39.6 inches, giving a range of possible values for the Royal Egyptian cubit, such as 20.61444 inches, 20.6181818 inches, and 20.625 inches. Either way, the importance of Phi squared is clear, which is what the rectangle below shows.

A similar geometry can be found in Egypt, at the site of the ancient oracle of Amun-Ra, at the Siwa Oasis, but on different dates: the summer and winter solstices.

The Phi connection is a double one at Saint Michael's Mount, as it underlies the angle of the sunrise and sunset azimuths within the geometry of this 10 x Phi² golden rectangle, on a day when daylight and darkness themselves are in Phi ratio.

Furthermore the sunrise azimuth of the winter Phi day, when there are 9 hours and 10 minutes of daylight, points to the bay from which the Mont Saint-Michel rises, just north of the famous mount. These two Michael mounts are almost exactly equidistant from Stonehenge, and exactly so from the Normanton Down barrows. A third island dedicated to Saint Michael, a tiny rock, the Ilot Saint-Michel, is also exactly equidistant from Stonehenge, as is the Cathedral of Rouen. This illustrates the concept of landscape geometry on a big scale.

A third phenomenon confirms Saint Michael's Mount as an anchor point: it is not quite perfectly but almost aligned with Skellig Michael, a small rocky island off the coast of Kerry dedicated to the archangel, and the Mont Saint-Michel, off the coast of Normandy. The importance of Skellig Michael and the Mont Saint-Michel as anchor points themselves is confirmed by their being equidistant from Durham Cathedral, one of the most important ancient sites of the medieval world in England.

Another remarkable example of this ancient solar-geometrical language can be found along a Saint Michael line running across southern France, northern Italy, and onto Romania. These places include ancient cave shrines, some medieval chapels, some rocks and even a mountain peak, many of which are dedicated either to the Archangel Michael or to Saint Mary. Many of these sites share themes: they are elevated, often volcanic or mountainous, and frequently associated with caves, bulls, or divine encounters. At this precise latitude, something incredible happens: the Phi point between the spring equilux and the summer solstice, the 14th-15th May, as at Saint Michael's Mount, also has a Phi ratio of daylight to darkness. It is another double Phi Day, different in character to the line across England, though it is on the same date: here the alignment is along a line of latitude and the Phi character comes also from the ratio of daylight to darkness. The sacred sites along this latitude include Le Puy-en-Velay, the Saint-Michel Basilica, Bordeaux, Eglise Notre-Dame-de-la-Roque-Gageac, Grotte de Rouffignac, Lascaux Caves, Grotte Font-de-Gaume, Rocamadour (Chapelle Saint-Michel), Pic Saint-Michel (Vercors), Sacra di San Michele, Sacro Monte di Crea, Castillo Estense or Castillo San Michele, Ferrara, and Băile Herculane, in Romania.

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There are many other key sites across north-west Europe linked by a 15th May sunrise, as the image below shows:

The Phi ratio is also associated with the alignment of Michael sites from Skellig Michael, past Saint Michael's Mount, through the Mont Saint-Michel, then Le Mans, the Sacra San Michele, and other key sites through France and Italy. What connects them is a series of winter Phi Day sunrise azimuths, that is, the day on which daylight and darkness are in Phi ratio during the winter months produces a sunrise azimuth which leads to the next point on the European Michael alignment, starting from Skellig Michael in Ireland.

In addition another line confirms the importance of Skellig Michael in relation to Stonehenge and another important Michael site: the Cathedral of Saints Michael and Gudula in Brussels. These are linked by successive sunrises on Michaelmas, the 29th September. What these many alignments show is that there is a whole network of sunrise lines across northwest Europe, and beyond, which are connected to the figure of the Archangel Michael, but also Saint Mary, Saint Patrick, and other figures, and to the sun, and darkness and light. The connections are precise and linked by Phi, the golden ratio, in most cases.

Phi: The Proportion of Life... and the Psychopomp

The golden ratio (φ ≈ 1.61803...) appears in the Saint Michael alignments not by chance, but as a key to its meaning. It is more than a number: it is a principle of reconciliation. Unlike the equinox, where day and night are equal, or the solstice, where one dominates completely, Phi divides time and space into unequal parts that nonetheless relate in perfect harmony. The ratio of the smaller to the larger equals that of the larger to the whole. It is balance without sameness, difference held in proportion, the mathematical analogue of the alchemical coniunctio oppositorum.

In the natural world, Phi manifests in growth and transformation: the spirals of shells, the branching of trees, the whorls of sunflowers, and the proportions of living beings generally. Each new step grows out of the last, preserving continuity while generating change. So when the sun rises on the Michael line at the Phi division of the solar year (14–15 May), it is not a static balance, but a dynamic unfolding, a turning point inscribed in light.

There is also a metaphysical duality in Phi itself. When expressed as a fraction of Fibonacci numbers, such as 13/8, 21/13, 55/34, it belongs to the measurable world, the realm of fields and architecture, of music and rhythm. It is a proportion that builders, musicians, and artists can apply. But Phi in its true form is an irrational number, never ending, never repeating, impossible to capture fully in decimals. In this form it belongs to another order, a transcendent realm that the human mind can only intuit.

This double nature of Phi, at once practical and transcendent, finite in its approximations yet infinite in itself, mirrors the role of the psychopomp. Saint Michael, like Ophiuchus, stands between worlds, guiding souls from one state to another, mediating between life and death, earth and heaven. Phi is the numerical bridge, the invisible proportion that links part to whole, mortal to eternal.

Thus, Phi is not simply a geometric curiosity, but the very mathematics of mediation and transformation. In the Michael alignment it becomes visible: a sword of light cast across the land, marking the point in the year where opposites reconcile, where the finite touches the infinite.

Ophiuchus and Orion

The constellation Ophiuchus can be easily connected to images of the Archangel Michael. This constellation is directly above the constellation Scorpio, which stands in for the snakes, serpent, dragon or devil, and beside the constellation Libra, the weighing scales which the Archangel sometimes holds in his left hand. The connection to Saint Mary is also there in the sky: the constellation Virgo is just beside Libra.

Astronomically, the constellation Ophiuchus spans 240°–255° ecliptic longitude, placing it directly upon the path of the sun - though it is not one of the twelve constellations most often associated with the path of the sun, known collectively as the zodiac. Its brightest star, Rasalhague (α Ophiuchi), lies at RA 17h 34m, Dec +12°. Ophiuchus stands upright, holding the serpent in his hands, his left foot pressing down upon Scorpius, where the red star Antares (RA 16h 29m, Dec −26° 26′) blazes as the fiery eye or mouth of the serpent or dragon.

This imagery is mirrored in images of the Archangel Michael, Saint George, Horus or the many other serpent or dragon spearing divine figures from the ancient world, heel upon the serpent’s head, sword or spear in hand. The astronomical fact becomes myth made visible.

In addition, just beyond Ophiuchus’ foot lies the Galactic Centre itself (Sagittarius A*, at 266.4° longitude). From Earth, the Milky Way appears to flow outward from this point, a river of light, the stream of souls. It crosses the entire sky and, on the opposite side, runs directly past the upraised hand of Orion. Thus, the two great constellations, Ophiuchus and Orion, are bound by the Milky Way itself: one pressing upon the serpent at the threshold of the Galactic Centre, the other grasping the stellar river at its far end.

Orion and Ophiuchus are never visible together. Orion dominates the winter sky (Nov–Feb), his belt at RA 5h 30m, Dec −1°, rising resplendent as the nights lengthen. By May and June he has vanished beneath the horizon. Ophiuchus, in contrast, becomes visible in the summer months (May–Aug), high in the south when Orion is absent. Thus the two are polar, exchanging places as the seasons turn. This alternation recalls the polarity of John the Baptist and Christ: John’s feast is on 24 June, three days after the summer solstice, while Christ’s nativity is on 25 December (or the eve of the 24th), three days after the winter solstice. Six months apart, they divide the year into halves. John even declares: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). In the heavens, Orion decreases as Ophiuchus increases, and vice versa. The polarity is clear: Orion the hunter, armed and striding, rules winter; Ophiuchus the healer-serpent-bearer, standing on Scorpius, rules summer. Each embodies one pole of the eternal cycle.

The role of the Archangel Michael is to guide souls to the afterlife, a role known as 'psychopomp', and to act as a conduit between the other world and this one. Another aspect of the Archangel's role is to keep the battle between light and darkness going, and bring about balance. This idea is also found in many ancient cultures, such as Egyptian mythology, where the sun god Ra faces his eternal adversary, Apep (Apophis). Apep, a great serpent representing chaos and disorder, was said to lurk in the underworld, waiting to ambush Ra as he journeyed through the night. Ra, as the bringer of light and upholder of cosmic order (Maat), was Apep’s greatest foe, earning the serpent the title "Enemy of Ra" and "Lord of Chaos." But is the work of the Ophiuchus figure about more than simply keeping order and disorder in some kind of balance?

The Union of Opposites

These constellations express a principle older than Christianity, older than Greece: the coniunctio oppositorum, the reconciliation of opposites. In myth, Ophiuchus is both healer and serpent-slayer. Orion is hunter and hunted, rising proudly in winter yet fated to sink as summer dawns. The Archangel Michael is warrior and psychopomp, masculine in armour yet androgynous in form. This figure, in all its androgenous beauty, recalls Attis, son and lover of Cybele, who embodies male and female, death and rebirth. In all cases, opposites are reconciled not by erasing difference, but by holding them together in tension. Similarly, alchemists portrayed their goal as the rebis, the hermaphrodite crowned with sun and moon: a single body encompassing polarity.

The myth of Perseus and Andromeda and the story of the Frog Prince dramatise this process of union and transformation also. Andromeda, chained to the rock at the edge of the sea, is lunar, passive, threatened by the watery monster. Perseus, solar and armed, descends to slay the beast (as Ophiuchus tramples Scorpius) and release her. The result is not merely her rescue but their union in marriage: death is averted by love, chaos transformed into order. In the fairy tale, the frog, a creature of damp places, neither fully of land nor water, embodies the liminal. Only the kiss of the princess (lunar, feminine) can reveal the frog’s princely form (solar, masculine). Again it is union, not separation, that transforms the monstrous into the divine. Both stories reveal the alchemical principle: opposites united create a new reality, transcending death, ugliness, or chaos. Just as in alchemy, the base metal is transmuted into gold, so too in myth the monstrous or despised form becomes divine through union.

  These myths and constellations reflect a deeper principle, one that alchemy made explicit: transformation is only possible through the union of contraries. Sol and Luna, king and queen, sulphur and mercury, none achieves wholeness without the other. The final stage, the rebis or hermaphrodite, represents a perfected state in which all opposites are reconciled. In religion, too, this principle recurs. Reconciliation of polarities brings transformation, and transformation is the essence of the sacred.

The Saint Michael alignments and connected landscape geometries can be read as the earthly reflection of this cosmic drama. The sites along the lines, often churches dedicated to Michael, Mary, Patrick, George, reinforce the theme of the dragon being speared, subdued but never entirely conquered. The archetype of the solar hero confronting the serpent of chaos is repeated across many cultures, from different ages. Seen in another way, the alignment itself is a spear of light, cast from the rising sun across the land. Like Michael’s spear, it pins the dragon to the ground. The myth is written into the very geometry of the landscape.

Conclusion

The Saint Michael alignment encodes in landscape what Ophiuchus and Orion reveal in the sky: the cycle of life and death, solar and lunar, male and female, reconciled through the figure of the mediator. Whether Michael trampling the dragon, Perseus slaying the monster, or the frog-prince transformed by the kiss, the pattern is constant. Transformation is not destruction, but reconciliation; not separation, but union. At Ophiuchus’ foot lies the Galactic Centre, source of the Milky Way, the stellar river that flows across the sky to Orion’s hand. On Earth, the rising sun casts its spear of light along the Michael line, uniting heaven and land in golden proportion. In this way, the myths, the mathematics, and the sky are one: the reconciliation of opposites is not metaphor alone, but inscribed in the very fabric of earth and heaven. The Milky Way itself is the bridge. From our earthly perspective it rises by the foot of Ophiuchus, passes the Galactic Centre, and stretches across the heavens until it brushes the hand of Orion. The many religious and mythical figures derived from Ophiuchus, and Orion, are part of the essential act of preserving equilibrium between order and chaos, between light and darkness, but also about achieving transformation. The landscape geometry linking many ancient sites, some of which are linked to Saints Michael , Patrick and Mary in our culture, belongs to a long lost world in which surely this idea of the polarity of opposites was understood and respected.