Hidden History and Sacred Sites: An Interview with Freddy Silva

[This conversation has a 7/10 Woo Rating]

The theme of my last few pieces has been sacred sites, sound, vibration and the divine feminine. My synchronicity-filled trip to Portugal led me to the work of historian and author Freddy Silva.

His research explores the alternative history of ancient civilizations and sacred technologies for the evolution of human consciousness. What he claims to have found goes right across the woo spectrum, and threatens to upend my understanding of our collective past.

One of my rules is that any rabbit holes I go down have to emerge back from darkness into light. If I can’t find a practical application of a woo idea in my daily life, I tend to put it to one side. Where is the value of Freddy’s work if you, like my wife, are generally disinterested in sacred sites and alternative history, or, like me, are unable to independently verify how much of his work is accurate?

I briefly interviewed Freddy for The Leading Edge in order to dig more deeply into his life and work, but also to discern the practical applications of his findings. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Freddy’s life story is fascinating in itself. He was born in one of the world’s most mystical locations; Sintra in Portugal. He started his career in graphic design and advertising. But when he found himself unwilling to make moral compromises, he was drawn into the much-derided topic of crop circles. His book on the topic, “Secrets in the Fields,” became a bestseller and led him into a life of adventure exploring mystical topics and sacred sites. He has subsequently published nine books and appeared in sixteen documentaries, most recently Megalith.

In his 2019 book, The Missing Lands: Uncovering Earth's Pre-flood Civilization, Freddy proposes that a highly advanced and spiritually sophisticated global civilization existed over 12,000 years ago. This civilization was destroyed in a global cataclysm around 9600 BC, but not before seeding wisdom schools all over the world. Over time, this spiritual technology was suppressed by rising patriarchal systems, culminating in the fall of the Knights Templar, whom Silva sees as one of the guardians of this ancient knowledge. Today, Silva believes we are rediscovering a forgotten and suppressed technology designed to awaken human consciousness. These temples were built to last millennia because their builders wanted them to be standing in case we ever hit a “dead end.”

Specifically, he argues that megaliths, cathedrals, and pyramids were often built at geophysical energy hotspots, often using stones with electromagnetic properties in order to generate altered states. He has described his own mystical experiences at Stonehenge, Wells Cathedral and inside the King’s Chamber at Giza. There are energetic lines all over the Earth’s surface, and major sites tended to be where they intersected. Britannica describes one version of this “ley line” concept as pseudoscience, which is typically a promising sign. I’ve increasingly discovered calling something “pseudoscience” is like a Streisand effect, indicating promising areas for leading edge discoveries. You typically don’t mock something that’s easily disproven as false, only something that might threaten an established orthodoxy. Although obviously you need some scientific rigor and skepticism; flat-Earthers get mocked too. I have found that holding this tension has been incredibly difficult.

However, there are some potential signs that science may be aligning with some of Freddy’s discoveries. For example, while ley lines are often dismissed as symbolic or pseudoscientific, “telluric currents” are measurable, low-frequency electrical currents flowing naturally through the Earth’s crust. Unlike ley lines, telluric currents are a recognized geophysical phenomenon, offering a possible framework for understanding how ancient builders may have engaged with the planet’s energetic systems. In our conversation, Freddy also references NASA’s discovery of magnetic portals where energy flows directly from the Sun to Earth. He claims that many ancient cultures may have deliberately aligned their sacred sites with astronomical or geospatial harmonics.

Studies also show that many temples were built to enhance sound resonance at frequencies known to affect brain states. Quartz-rich stones used in megaliths have unusual properties, and some researchers have measured geomagnetic anomalies at sacred sites. Contemporary research into human sensitivity to electromagnetic fields and the use of harmonic ratios in architecture suggest ancient builders may have had an understanding of energetic design principles that we’re only beginning to understand.

Entirely consistent with my own explorations, Freddy believes some of these sites represented technologies for the integration of the masculine with the feminine, the left hemisphere into the right. As Freddy describes, he believes the divine feminine represents the dark, generative void, the womb of all wisdom, in some cases symbolised by the skin of the Black Madonna. Ancient and Templar initiation involved “marrying the divine bride:” a metaphor for integrating masculine and feminine polarities in alchemical marriage.

If there’s really a globally ubiquitous technology for the evolution of human consciousness, why all the secrecy? Freddy told me access to this technology was originally widespread and open. But it was driven underground after the collapse of the Bronze Age and the rise of fear-based religions around ~1,500 BC. We then entered an era where direct, gnostic access to divine transformation was intermediated by power structures and dogmatic religion.

These technologies are also powerful and susceptible to misuse. There’s a difference between making people aware that a technology exists and giving everyone unrestricted access to it. Up until recently, powerful psychotechnologies like meditation or psychedelics have tended to be held in a sacred, safe container. I don’t have a view on the controversial role of different secret societies, but Freddy believes groups like the Essenes, Templars, Freemasons and Rosicrucians created initiatory filters to ensure the power of sacred sites wasn't misused. Freddy often warns that what you go into the sites with might determine what you get out. Be careful what you wish for.

More generally, Freddy’s work reinforced my conviction that direct experience of transcendent forces is possible, and reunion with the divine feminine is our cultural destiny, should we choose to pursue it. This is often as simple as following your curiosity. He was willing to be laughed at for researching topics associated with gullible New Age hippies, but his left-hemispheric background allowed him to bring scholarship and diligence to his work. As a former advertising executive he’s also an excellent communicator. This is the arc of the common hero’s journey where you put your left hemispheric skills in service of the right.

What often gets lost in all this spiritual seriousness is that these fresh paths are fun. The risk of being perceived as crazy for leaving the Cave of Consensus is more than offset by the endless delight of visiting new places with energised companions. Most days I simply cannot believe I now make a satisfactory living from exploring exciting topics. I doubt any amount of money could ever coax me back into a cubicle under fluorescent lights, keeping somebody else’s hours.

Freddy’s work also made me realise how much that physical place matters, and the importance of being in harmony with the Earth. This is both literal and metaphorical. Each person that succeeds in following their bliss carves a path for the others. He asked our listeners to tend their own garden; to make their own lives beautiful.

"If you build, make your garden as beautiful as you can, you've just influenced your neighbor who says, 'Hey, that's a great way to grow peas and corn. Can I do that?' Sure. Of course you can."

[You can find out more about Freddy Silva and his work at Invisible Temple]