On the huge super-natural landscapes of Antequera in southern sunny Andalusian lands are the vast repositories of ancient humanity known as Menga, Viera and Romeral. These three (I do not use this word for fun) *immense* passage graves have stood in view of a bent mountain, for at least 2,000 years, each alligned to a different point in the natural calendar. I know of (y)our constant preoccupation with things megalithic, but I sometimes wish more attention was paid to the Mother that inspired the monuments. The huge monuments of Antequera are well-known, being among the grandest in scale, weight and size of the stones that make up the walls of the interiors. But my interest was obviously somewhere ELSE, as this little old man took me and Miss Fortune through the opening in the wiring. He guided four of us straight to the *monumental* barrows. Solar/astral, phallic/sexual or man/female symbols adorn one of the walls. I quickly searched the Mother for clues. This huge crooked phallic mountain intrigued me, and I have sometimes seen her in various guises in the line of vision of a megalithic temple. Othertimes, there’s this gorgeously long snake-like hill seen from a perfect and calculated angle. As I’ve always said, the Mother is the principal perpetrator of the inspiration for the creation of most of the monuments. Think of all the monuments you have ever seen and wonder how many landmarks you have missed as you looked inside the stones. Most of the stones we see today spent most of their pre-Christian existence in total darkness, therefore *invisible* to visitors. To ignore the land around a Neolithic/Bronze Age community is like ignoring the love or intention behind a present given to you. Have a look at any map of France, Iberia, the British Isles or the Pyrenees and you will find most megalithic monuments ‘attuned to’ a special area of the land, that often coincides with what modern institutions now call a natural park. Atheist/christian ideals have us believe they possess “leisure” qualities, though, in truth, the powerful presence of Creation and Spirituality ooze out and soak anyone who is ‘slightly receiving’. It wouldn’t be otherwise in Antequera. For not far from the tombs is Torcal, one of the most mysterious and beautiful places I have ever seen. Once up on the mountains, the splendour of the granite is magnificent, as well as the biting wind, and the shapes, slits, holes and protruding rocks transform this place into one of pure and utter magick. As I walked alone inside this vast repository of the most spiritual silence, I suddenly felt blessed and afraid at the same time; a familiar feeling when in awe of something that is so full of Light and mystery. Some explorers used to call this ‘a city of stone’ and I can also feel the tremendous power that this (like many other natural areas in the ancient world) must have imprinted on every single man and woman who lived and loved the land, the giver of births and existence.
A week or so after this discovery, a visit to a remote megalithic corner near the tiny village of Zalamea, near the Algarve, made my day (and year). This group of dolmens are virtually unknown in a global megalithic context, but impressive in their complexity and beauty. Some of these huge multi-chambered mushrooms litter the landscape, and there’s even an intact passage grave, dead scary to go in without a torch. Another 8 tombs remain in the same area, perfectly in view of one another and proudly atop hills all conceived for a visual celebration of the skies and the wind. The whole of the Andalusian and Algarve territory is immensely rich in passage graves and dolmens, the likes of which would rival those photographed aplenty in books, but which sadly (or luckily) still lie dormant in remote corners of rural Iberia.
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