Autumn Equinox
Current mood: awake

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Equinoxes occur because the Earth's axis of rotation isn't aligned with the plane of its orbit around the Sun: it tilts over by about 23½°. The direction of this tilt is effectively constant, relative to the stars, so that the Earth's north pole always points towards Polaris, the Pole Star, and the south pole always points at the constellation of Octans. (In fact, this direction is not completely constant, and the poles move against the stars by about a fifth of a degree every century).

Each year, the Earth completes a circuit of the Sun, and for its poles to remain fixed against the stars, their direction must rotate relative to the Sun. This effect gives us the seasons. When a pole is angled towards the Sun, its hemisphere receives more hours of sunlight, and when a pole is turned away from the Sun, its hemisphere experiences long cold nights.

The Autumnal Equinox signals the end of the summer months and the beginning of winter. At this time of year, days have been shortening since the Summer Solstice some three months earlier, and the Equinox is the point where nights reach the same length as days. After this point, the Sun will shine lower and lower on the horizon until the Winter Solstice in about three months' time.

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The equinoxes represent the points where the direction of poles are at a right angle to the Sun. They represent the point of transition from summer to winter, or from winter to summer. The Autumnal Equinox occurs in late September, and is named for the fact that it marks the end of summer and the entrance into winter of the northern hemisphere. South of the equator, its name is less appropriate, since it corresponds to the beginning of summer, though for historical reasons the name autumnal tends to be used for the September equinox in both hemispheres.

Table of Autumnal Equinoxes
Year	Date and Time (GMT)
2005	22 September, 22:22
2006	23 September, 04:02
2007	23 September, 09:50
2008	22 September, 15:43
2009	22 September, 21:18
2010	23 September, 03:08
2011	23 September, 09:05
2012	22 September, 14:50
2013	22 September, 20:45
2014	23 September, 02:30
2015	23 September, 08:21
2016	22 September, 14:22
2017	22 September, 20:02
2018	23 September, 01:55
2019	23 September, 07:51
2020	22 September, 13:31

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Mankind has followed the cycles of the Sun for millennia. Stone circles like this, dating back more than 3,000 years, are aligned to the Solstices and the Equinoxes.

Currently listening : Inside the Great Pyramid By Paul Horn Release date: 1992-01-23

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Bryn Celli Ddu - An amazing site
Current mood: artistic
Category: Blogging

Bryn Celli Ddu ..Anglesey.. ....Wales.... (SH 507702)

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This article is a collection of facts and speculations surrounding the megalithic burial chamber of Bryn Celli Ddu on the ....island.. of ..Ynys.... Mon (..Anglesey..) just off the coast of ....North Wales..... I visited some years ago and wrote about my investigations but this is the first time I have shared it. I hope you enjoy it as a lot of research has gone into this article. It is quite long but I am not aware of anything of this length and scope covering the monument apart from the detailed archaeological reports of with their narrow focus on the excavation of the site.

First I wish to discuss a little about the ....island.. of ..Anglesey.... as this was a stronghold of Druidism and indeed the last refuge of the old priesthood after the Roman invasion of ....Britain..... There are numerous Megalithic monuments and Menhirs present on Anglesey testifying to the presence of mankind in prehistory. ..Anglesey.. was and is a sacred island and was of great importance to the Celts, this is demonstrated by the discovery of votive offerings found from as far away as ....Somerset...., deposited in the nearby sacred ....lake.. of ..Llyn Cerrig Bach.... from a small ledge of rock above it.

Historically, Anglesey has long been associated with the Druids.  In AD 60 the Roman general Suetonius Paulinus, determined to break the power of the Druids, attacked the island, destroying the shrine and the sacred groves. News of Queen Boudicca's Celtic Revolt reached him just after his victory, causing him to withdraw his army before consolidating his conquest. ....Rome.... might not have been interested in conquering ..Anglesey.., if only it had not been the last bastion of rebellion. The Romans vehemently opposed the Celtic druids, whom they did not see as pious priests, but as ferocious freedom fighters – terrorists. The druids continuously tried to rally the local population to take up the arms against the Romans. The Roman invasion of ....Britain.... had set these men on the run, with the centre of the druid cult becoming - or possibly always being - ..Anglesey.., which thus, in the first century AD, was the centre of the Celtic religion in ....Britain..... This situation is confirmed by the Roman historian Tacitus and Emperor Nero, who specifically identified ..Anglesey.. as an island that needed to be conquered. The island was finally brought into the Roman empire by the governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola in AD 78. The Romans called the island Mona from whence its Welsh name Ynys Mon is derived.

The Druids worshiped in open groves within sacred forests and the most convincing evidence for such groves on Anglesey are on lands adjoining the Menai Strait – the fiercely perilous  stretch of water separating mainland Britain from Anglesey - and this was the scene of  Paulinus's attack on the Druids.

Bryn Celli Ddu lies close to the Menia and is one of the most interesting monuments in Britain comprising of a combined henge/stone circle and burial chamber - Bryn Celli Ddu translates from Welsh as  'the mound of the dark grove' or possibly "the mound in the grove of the deity". Built between 4000 and 2000 ..BCE.. this site is a now a restored chambered cairn - built on a previous stone circle henge - and contains carved stones and a solar roof-box similar to the one found at Newgrange Ireland. The monument is in state care and is fairly easy to get to. It is sign posted from the main A 4080 road and marked on the OS map as a chambered cairn. A short walk is needed to reach it

The mound is located close to the River Braint, (a name associated with the Goddess Brigantia also found in the name of the Celtic city of Bragança ....Portugal....). And close by there is a significant rock outcrop which has a natural seat upon it (sometimes referred to as a gorsedd or Druid throne - it can be seen in the picture above just below the treeline in the distace to the left of the cental single tree) . This was the probable initial sacred focus of the site in the Mesolithic. There are also at least two ancient copper mines in the area which makes this particular landscape sacred on another level. Paul Deveraux has also found similar natural seats (in the Prescilly Hills where the Stonehenge Bluestones are reputed to be from) and around the world. He theorises that they are sacred places where the shaman can connect physically with the earth. There is another on an outlying standing stone at the Gors Fawr, ....Stone Circle.... itself located below the beautiful Preseli Hills of Pembrokeshire (SN134294). This stone is in alignment with the circle and another stone to the Summer Solstice.

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Gors Fawr stones outside the circle. The seat can be seen on the left of the first stone –believe me you can sit on it!....

Bryn Celli Ddu has gone through a number of significant changes throughout its ancient history. A row of five postholes previously thought to have been contemporary with the tomb have recently been proven to be much earlier. Results from a radiocarbon programme date pine charcoal from two of the pits to the Mesolithic (Pitts, 2006). During the early Neolithic period there was a stone circle consisting of 14 standing stones – Aubury Burl suggests 16 is a more likely number with two being removed to the entrance - within a ditch creating a 69ft henge. Only two of these stones remain on opposite sides of the cairn. The two largest stones stood at the cardinal points of North and South. Fragments of quartz were buried by the 7 foot South stone and the burial of an 8-10 year old girl by the 8 foot North stone. A partial cremation of another girl was found by the West stone. Also an area of burnt material covered with a flat stone at the centre was found. The stones were not spaced evenly but in opposing pairs whose diagonals pass over the central pit. This may have held a carved post according to Burl.

 Burl also suggests that the orientation of the monument was probably to the midwinter slostice sunset.....

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At a latter date the circle appears to have been abandoned and another group of people moved in and built their own type of monument on the same spot and destroying the original henge. All of the stones were deliberately damaged or broken and some buried within the new monument. These people were the builders of passage graves and they constructed a mound over the circle of stones surrounded by a double row of kerb stones. They built a stone passage into the mound; 8m long facing NE at the end of which there is a polygonal chamber consisting of six uprights with a large seventh stone - a 2m high worked pillar  - placed at one side. Skeletons were found here. Some have suggested a phallic significance to this stone but it has some other amazing properties as we shall see. There is a rough spiral inscription on the first stone on the left as you enter the chamber (Burl suggests that this is probably modern) and a curious "shelf" or "seat" that runs on one side of the passage to the cavity. This is a very unusual feature but is known at other sites in the ..Orkney Islands.. (....Scotland....) and ....Spain..... In front of the passage outside is a forecourt (ritual?)  And it was just in front of this that an unusual young ox burial within a three sided cist was found. A carved stone with a twisting, serpentine design stood in front of this outside the burial chamber. This stone has since been moved to the National Museum of Wales and replaced with a replica. ....

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An earth barrow covering the grave is a twentieth century restoration; the original was probably much bigger. It was also at this time a solar roof box was added to the top of the entrance to the passage.  This, it is suggested, is similar to the 'lightbox' at Newgrange Ireland (although pointing to the opposite solstice) . The feature could be evidence of a megalithic "reformation" when the sites original winter solstice sunset alignment was changed to a summer solstice sunrise one. This change of solstice orientation was also the case at ..Stonehenge.. (known for its midsummer sunrise alignment but originally orientated on the midwinter sunset) and many other sites. The new builders re-cut the central pit and added a human ear bone before covering it with a slab and erecting a carved pillar decorated with chevron patterns similar to the ones still to be found at the nearby Barclodiad-y-Gawres chamber (SH 328 708). This pit is now situated behind the central pillar. This is significant as we shall see.

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The first to notice the summer solstice algnment was father of modern archeo-astonomy and late Victorian polymath Norman Lockyer. He published the first systematic study of megalithic astronomy in 1906. His discovery was ridiculed at the time, but recent research by Steve Burrow, curator of Neolithic archaeology at Amgueddfa Cymru (National Museum of Wales) has proven his theory to be true. At midsummer dawn in 2005, Burrow was inside the chamber waiting to see what would happen. "First there is a sparkle through the trees, then the sun rises out, it's quite exhilarating." The sun's rays lit up a quartz-rich stone at the back of the tomb. It was powerful evidence that the passage had been constructed in line with astronomical observations – proving Lockyer right.  

So the evidence suggests the Neolithic site is the product of two different religious systems. The first phase is a henge, an open air sanctuary for religious ceremonies and included the ditch and bank and the ring of stones. Phase two is the burial chamber, a classic passage grave with a high chamber roof and lower passage roof.

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It is known that the site was broken into in 1699 by men with lanterns who were terrified by the site of the rounded pillar standing like a ghost in the main chamber.  The burial chamber was re-discovered in 1777 and first excavated in 1865. The site became more derelict over the years until in 1927-31 it was excavated and restored.

So today the restored chamber is easily accessible and its mound presents as near a romantic fairy hill as one could imagine, but is a shadow of its former self. It is now 26 meters in diameter and 3.7 meters high the mound covers previous flat bottomed ditch (5.2m wide and 1.8m deep although now silted up somewhat) and is surrounded by a ring of kerb stones. Through its vulva like entrance, the stone lined passage (with its curious shelf extending the whole length on your right) leads to the inner sanctum where you are met by the most amazing unusual, dressed, free-standing stone that looms on one's right at the entrance to the chamber. According to Burl this stone is "akin to others in ....Brittany.... believed to be embodiments of a female guardian of the dead"^[1], burial remains were indeed found in the chamber. This stone has a very unusual property that will be discussed below. At head height to the left of this stone is the faint crude spiral carving. The original burial pit stands close by. In the passage and in the chamber excavations revealed both burnt and un-burnt human bones, a stone bead, two flint arrowheads, a scraper and mussel shells. On the ridge to the north of the site (on the right of the lane as you return) is a tall standing stone....

Conclusion.

I visited this site last some 13 years ago with my then 13 month old son and Helen my partner. We were both fascinated by its situation in geographical terms (Meni Straits and Snowdonia close by), Neolithic terms (a plethora of interesting and impressive monuments nearby) and continuing social terms (the local primary school is very close and the children were coming out as we arrived giving the site a very active living atmosphere for some reason). The most significant discovery we made that I have not seen mentioned anywhere else is the stone pillar that stands inside the centre of the barrow. Presumably re-placed there in the restoration, it has been described as having a finished surface (we will return to this in a moment) and one other until now unnoticed but spectacular property. When struck this stone emitted a clear tone. It reminded me of a Tibetan singing bowl that I own having a similar long "clean" resonance. I have seen a similar stone deep within in an obscure and difficult to access sacred cave in ..Northern Thailand... This was however, a stalagmite that rings like a bell when struck but was a similar shape and close to prehistoric (according to our guide) funeral remains (some stone coffins, there was also a small old Buddha in the darkness).

The Central "Ringing" Petrified Log-Stone

The use of sound in ritual and consciousness expansion of course is commonplace and it seems likely that this was the function of both stones. I read a report of an article in antiquity by Paul Deveraux about the acoustics of the Carn Euny fougou in ....Cornwall.... ....UK.... suggesting that the space resonated at the same frequency as the chanting of the male voice. The use of these spaces has been open to debate but the ritual function is by far the most likely of course and the modern investigator must try to envisage the range of techniques used to instigate trance and higher consciousness ecstatic states. All in all the area of acoustic research in ancient tombs and elsewhere is an avenue of enquiry that needs further investigation. I for one will be taking my Tibetan bowl with me to sites in the future and politely (and softly) tapping any likely looking stones.

Another exciting property of the stone that also seems to have been overlooked is that this stone is actually a piece of fossilised wood that shows evidence of being worked while still wood. This suggests that the stone must have been a thing of wonder to the Neolithic/Bronze Age people who found it. According to Mike Pitts, (see my Woodhenge blog) stone may have symbolised the dead to Neolithic society (hence ..Stonehenge.. is a place of burial) and wood life (hence Woodhenge/Durrington Walls is a place of life/work). Here in this enigmatic piece of worked stone/wood an important part of their worldview was literally "set in stone". The fact that an ear bone is found behind an important stone that has acoustic properties just adds to the sense of wonder that this fantastic site invokes. Well worth a visit!

Porkbeast 2008

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^[1] Burl, A., A Guide to Stone Circles of ....Britain...., ....Ireland.... and ....Brittany....

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Cerne Abbas giant losing his Mojo....
Category: Blogging

Cerne Abbas giant in danger of disappearing

The chalk outline of the ancient British hill-carving the (Very Rood) Cerne Abbas giant has become almost totally obscured from view by thick vegetation, because there is a shortage of sheep to keep the hillside trim.

Local farmers have traditionally lent their flocks to graze on the grass around the ancient fertility symbol, but for the past nine months it has been left to overgrow.

Now the famous 180ft Dorset landmark is in danger of disappearing altogether.

The Romans in the National Trust, who own the site, say the problem is down to a decline in sheep farming in the area, which has prevented them from borrowing any of the animals.

Rodney Legg, chairman of the Open Spaces Society, said the situation has also been exacerbated by the damp spring, which saw double the average rainfall for the month of May, and encouraged the undergrowth to spread.

Mr Legg said: "Visitors have been disappointed because they can't really see it at all.

"We have had a very wet start to the summer and the grass and weeds have grown vigorously.

"This year the giant has gone from being a white icon, through a green man stage, into the invisible man.

"We need more sheep on the site or it needs the village to take him into their care by trimming the grass, weeding the trenches then whitewashing them."

Helen Mann, the National Trust's west Dorset property manager, said that the giant's hillside position makes mowing it too precarious.

She said: "We are aware the giant is not at his best right now.

"Being on such a steep incline, he's not in a position where we can safely mow or strim.

"In the past we have relied on sheep to keep him shorn but haven't been able to borrow any since last September for one reason or another.

"We are, however, expecting to have him re-chalked this September, which we hope will help him stand out once more."

It is unclear exactly when the giant was carved into the hillside at Cerne Abbas, near Dorchester, but the first documented mention was in 1694.

The giant has been in danger of disappearing before. In 1868 the owner Lord Rivers gave orders to have "His Mightiness" restored after becoming overrun with grass.

During the Scond World War it was covered over in brushwood by the Home Guard so Luftwaffe pilots could not use it for navigational purposes.

Stonehenge

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The Cerne Abbas giant as it used to look (left) and how it looks now

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Britain’s last Neanderthals
Category: Blogging

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

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Megalithomania Conference Glastonbury 2008: Part 7 The Bosnian Pyramids!
Category: Blogging

Suitably relaxed and recharged I ventured into what was to be one of the most intriguing and popular lectures of the weekend on "The Bosnian Valley of the Pyramids". I must confess to having already come across the claims of Bosnian researcher Sam Semir Osmanagich that an ancient megalithic culture in Europe built a pyramid complex that is larger and older than the pyramids of Giza and had dismissed it as an interesting but probable hoax. I am now not so sure as Sam gave a convincing account of his researches and a plausible explanation of why Bosnian and some international archaeologists have dismissed the claims.

 Apart from pyramids there are also many large carved stone balls (linking to Childress's claims of the previous day – stone balls found worldwide equals global megalithic culture) large megaliths and mysterious subterranean tunnels under the pyramids.

These claims – if true – will rewrite the pre-history of this part of the world and as such are being fiercely resisted by the archaeological establishment (just as they resisted claims of alignments and sophisticated archeo-astronomy at megalithic sites 30 years ago).

Sam's work claims that there are three main pyramids in Bosnia; the Pyramids of the Sun, Moon and Dragon. The largest – the Sun – is 220 metres; that is one third larger than the Great Pyramid at Giza. He also notes that the three form an equilateral triangle with each other. Sam claims that on or around the summer solstice the shadow cast by the Pyramid of the Sun touches the Pyramid of the Moon. The Sun Pyramid is also aligned to the cardinal points. Also there are around 66,000 megalithic "tombstones" in the area that are at least 40,000 years old. He also claims to have found evidence of writing here that is the oldest example in Europe. These are startling and important claims that will cause many a professor a headache if true!

At the end of this he received the warmest reception so far and he invited us to an international conference he is running this summer. I found his evidence of platforms and masonry convincing, they did not look like natural features. Also he has excavated the "join" between two of the sides on the Pyramid of the sun and found the expected stone right angle. He also presented satellite thermal images that show a differing thermal pattern as evidence of chambers and tunnels under the three main sites.

 Pretty amazing – if true! I for one will give him the benefit of the doubt on the evidence shown here and it strikes me as an interesting field trip that I will add to my list. If you wish to find out more visit here.

http://www.bosnianpyramid.com/

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Megalithomania Conference Glastonbury 2008: Part 6 Megaliths of The Mayenne France
Category: Blogging

The conference ended its first day and we retired for dinner. That evening musician Dirk Campbell presented a performance of ancient music using instruments from megalithic cultures world wide which we able to examine.

Dave used to be a member of UK psychedelic bands Egg (with Steve Hillage and Dave Stewart) opening for acts at the trendy UFO and Middle Earth Clubs in London as diverse as Captain Beefheart and Soft Machine (see an interesting career resume here)

http://www.btinternet.com/~stephen.yarwood/dirk.htm

He now composes for film and television as well as performing. This was highly entertaining and informative and made all the better by the support of local folk vocalists Ed Will and Ginge who wowed us with their traditional vocal harmonies of Olde English folk songs.

The next day the sun came out again and we kicked off with Kate Master's talk on megaliths of the Mayenne region in France. I was particularly interested in this as I have spent around a month exploring the megaliths of the nearby Morhiban area that includes the rich megalithic landscape around Carnac.

Mayenne is situated between Brittany and Normandy and has many examples of Dolmens (burial chambers)

and Menhirs (standing stones).

She took us on a guided tour complete with many fine slides of the different French megalithic style. It is a little noted fact that the stone circle is a British phenomenon; in France the rectangular allee-couverte is more common and there are a number of examples.

She also explained the rich Arthurian mythology of the area and its connection with the stones – as can also be found in Wales, Cornwall and elsewhere in Britain. Kate showed us examples of quartz stone rows and Christianised menhirs as well as a fine example of a polishing stone or "le Polissoir"; again there are examples in Britain. I myself found one near Gors Fawr Wales that I have not seen documented. All in all an interesting exposition of the major sites including the magisterial burial chamber the "Roche aux Fees" which I believe translates as the "Rock of the Fairies".

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Megalithomania Conference Glastonbury 2008: Part 5 The Lost Cities of the Pacific
Category: Blogging

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Megalithomania Conference Glastonbury 2008: Part 4 Tom Graves
Category: Blogging

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30,000 Celebrate at Stonehenge 2008
Current mood: artistic
Category: Parties and Nightlife

Big crowds cheer Summer Solstice at Stonehenge

Last night about 30,000 people gathered in the rain by the mysterious standing stones of England's Stonehenge to mark the Summer Solstice, as dawn broke on the longest day of the year.

At exactly 4:58 am, the mix of druids, hippies and the merely curious cheered as the first glimpse of sunrise was detected through the rain clouds.

Peter Rawcliffe, 26, cycled more than 50 miles from his home in Oxford to Salisbury Plain.

"I've done this for the last three years. I suppose I'm a bit of a closet druid. Most the year, I go about my business designing toys, but Summer Solstice brings out the hippie in me. It's a really magical experience."

English Heritage, the conservation body that maintains 5,000-year-old site, said about 30,000 people attended this year -- a five-year record.

The stone circle is one of the most famous and best preserved in the world. It was given world heritage status by UNESCO in 1986 and attracts some 850,000 visitors every year.

The 17 upright blocks of sandstone, which weigh up to 45 tonnes, topped with six lintels, are aligned towards the direction of the sunrise on the Summer Solstice.

As a result, theories have gained ground that it was either a prehistoric observatory or a temple dedicated to the sun.

Blowhorns signaled the rise of the sun over the ancient stone circle at 4:58 am (0348 GMT) — although in typically English fashion, the sunrise was barely visible through the clouds.

Still, the mist and drizzle did not dampen the spirits of revelers who gathered under umbrellas, ponchos and plastic bags to greet the dawn.

Trevor Wyatt, 55, described the historic site as his "cathedral."

"It's been a sacred place for 6,000 years for the people of this country," he said.

Wyatt, who lives in London, said he is neither pagan nor druid, "just English."

Currently listening : Summer Solstice: Bee Stings By Coil Release date: 1998-11-03

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National Geographic : Stonehenge Artical and Quiz!
Current mood: artistic
Category: News and Politics

National Geographic: Secrets of Stonehenge

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