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treaclechops

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Re: Henge corrals?

Dec 19, 2005, 00:21

Hi All,

Hope you are all well, and enjoying a jolly:

Yule/Saturnalia/Solstice/Midwinter/Christmas/Eid/whatever your particular festival is - we are, here in North Wales!

Further to henges, a few thoughts, for what they're worth:

a) With regard to alignment of henges and the astro-archaeo angle. Don't forget that the sun, moon, stars and planets have all shifted a little in the sky since these structures were built. What might not seem to be aligned now probably was then.

b) The immediate assumption is that they are aligned to the sun and the moon. What about Venus? The morning or evening star appears in many cults and mythologies around the world, and is also personified - e.g. the Venus of the Romans, Ishtar of the Babylonians. Venus is hugely influential. It has also been suggested that by tracking the course of Venus through the sky, ancient astronomers were able to work out the circumference of the earth, and develop an accurate measurement system. This is also assuming alignments occur on a regular basis - what about once in a lifetime, or 18 yearly events, such as the moon being so high in the sky a couple of days ago? What about eclipses? These are now interesting events that occur every so often and we tick them off in our Letts pocket diary. It would have been much different then.

c) I'm writing this after taking the dogs out for a late moonlit stroll. Although the moon had an almost magensium brightness, and the major constellations were there to be seen, we live beneath immense light pollution. Starlight alone can be very bright - our ancestors would have experienced a very different night sky to the one I saw tonight. How do we know that some of these structures weren't aligned to specific constellations? What if a clan felt an allegiance to the constellation we know as Orion? Consider also that in the Celtic calendar, festivals are always celebrated on the Eve of whatever day. Additionally, many of the stars they would have observed will now have disappeared from our view. An example is Argus, a constellation to be found in the southern hemisphere. Evidently, two-thirds of the constellation has disappeared since the ancient Babylonians first mapped it 3-4,000 years ago.

d) I personally don't see any of this as unreasonable, just different. Why not? Why is York Minster built the way it is? The Taj Mahal? Versailles? Norman Foster's Gherkin? All of these are perceived as beautiful in their own right - perhaps the horns of Belas Knap were no more than a Stone Age architectural triumph, a thing of beauty for its own sake. (Though my own feeling is that there's a bit more to it than that).

These people lived more closely with the land than we will ever be able to begin to imagine. When I visit megalithic sites, I try to see the big picture - look around, see the elements, the shape of the land, feel the land . . . I am convinced they saw it as the life force personified; and here we could get into Gaia Theory. Why not? As we have become more 'civilized', our visualization of life force has become increasingly ethereal, remote, distant. We have a very unconnected spirituality, despite what we think to the contrary. However, I appreciate your comments about them being stock markets - indeed, some of them may have been. Some may not.

As for the shape and form of these structures, perhaps trying to get into the mind and thinking processes of our Stone Age forefathers is a challenge akin to getting into the mind and thought processes of someone living in the Takla Makhan desert - they'll be very different to ours. Just because the people who built Capel Garmon are our ancestors, it doesn't allow us some form of head start on understanding and ownership of the culture. Personally, I love it!

I'm sure there's lots more I could waffle on about, but I really must go to bed. Good luck with your mapping and measuring, Peter, perhaps you'll discover something none of us had considered - wouldn't that be cool! :0)

Nadolig Llawen!

treaclechops x

In reply to:
Re: Henge corrals? (Littlestone)

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Re: Henge corrals? (cropredy)

Topic Outline:

Henge corrals? – PeterH, Dec 18, 2005, 17:18


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