Glastonbury, UKAE writes: "A friend of ours came to visit us last weekend. Her husband noticed that we had a moon and the sun facing each other (made of clay . . .) hanging on the center of our shed in our back yard. He told me that it is bad. He told me a little bit about the portal. What else are portals? Today, father Ed was talking about portals, but it is not clear to me.”
According to New Age philosophies, a portal is a gateway to another world, either of the past, present or future, to supernatural powers and entities, or to some form of higher consciousness/expanded awareness.
For instance, the ouija board, tarot, séances and other forms of spiritualism are known to be gateways to the occult because by turning to these practices, we open ourselves to occult influences. This opening may be referred to as a “door” but what it really means is to turn toward or invite a power other than God into our lives.
New Agers believe that symbols are also portals, which is probably what your friend was talking about when he referred to the ceramic symbol hanging on your shed. As one New Ager explains on her website: “Symbols are like focal points of energy, able to anchor energy to one specific spot, anchoring an energy vortex, spiraling the energy down or sending energy out or exchanging energies for balance.”
Many people also believe that geographical places are portals into other dimensions. Some of the most famous among New Agers are Sedona in Arizona, Stonehenge in England, and the famous New Age hubs of Esalen in California and Findhorn in Scotland.
Others believe there are more than 1,000 of these “major power centers” or portals scattered throughout the planet.
New Age writer Robert Scheer wrote an article describing three of these super energy portals, one of which he toured with Antón Ponce de León Paiva, made famous by Shirley MacLaine for his supposed encounters with extra-terrestrials and UFOs. This one is close to Lake Titicaca on the borders of Peru and Bolivia and is known as Aramu Muru’s Portal. This portal is a doorway-shaped niche in a stone outcropping that is located in a region known as the Valley of the Spirits.
Scheer claims that one woman in his group reported a “shift in consciousness” as she was kneeling in the portal, and said she saw a “light filling her inner vision and then felt herself ‘entering and experiencing the realms of total Unconditional Love.’ She heard a voice telling her about a past life experience, and that her life’s work was to help others open the doorway of their hearts, which is the pathway to God.”
Another portal he mentions is Mount Kailas, located in the Himalayas of Tibet, which is where Hindus believe the god Shiva sits and meditates. “Buddhists say walking the 32-mile circuit around the mountain, a three-day trek called a kora, washes away the sins of one lifetime,” Scheer writes.
The third portal, known as Glastonbury and located in Southwest England, is supposedly the site of ancient Celtic rituals. Legends link the site with Jesus, who was said to have visited the place as a child with Joseph of Arimathea. The chalice used at the Last Supper, also known as the Holy Grail, is said to have been hidden in Chalice Well, which is located in Glastonbury.
Of course, there is no scientific evidence that any of these places are energy centers or pathways to the gods. However, it's important to note that people, places and things can be used in ways that open us to dangerous spiritual influences. In other words, just about anything can be a "portal."
As for the ceramic plague on your shed, it would be superstitious to believe that it possessed any kind of power to open doors that you don’t want opened. I’d leave it where it is and don’t worry about it.
