Thank you. Very often, I dash off my daily column quickly - sometimes too quickly, but today is a special occasion for me. In part because the magic/science/lore of equinox and solstice happenings is fascinating, as is the astronomical and mathematical attention paid to the sky by our ancient cultures - long before education, science, communication, satellites and space travel - but also because I've been to the medicine wheel at Majorville and the Canada's Stonehenge book is promoted by a friend of mine who met and got to know the author while he was still alive. And, having been there several times (getting thoroughly lost two of those times) it is so amazing to stand there where 'they did' some 4,000 years ago - magical to seel what they saw as an extraordinary vista in all directions, wondering what ceremonial significance the place might have had for them (apparently there are no clues or artifacts pointing to something ceremonial, sacred, happy, sad - only speculation) to wonder why they came together in that place. The 'placed stones' extend over a 25-square-mile area, many 'spokes' of the wheel, all leading to the crown location - and then the alignment of the sunrise with that one axis only one day a year in it's most extreme north location - you have to wonder, how many years of watching (cloudy days wouldn't count, would they?), planning, and dedication that must have taken for many workers, and leaders to see it through. Magnificent ..
Well done, Mark.
Thank you. Very often, I dash off my daily column quickly - sometimes too quickly, but today is a special occasion for me. In part because the magic/science/lore of equinox and solstice happenings is fascinating, as is the astronomical and mathematical attention paid to the sky by our ancient cultures - long before education, science, communication, satellites and space travel - but also because I've been to the medicine wheel at Majorville and the Canada's Stonehenge book is promoted by a friend of mine who met and got to know the author while he was still alive. And, having been there several times (getting thoroughly lost two of those times) it is so amazing to stand there where 'they did' some 4,000 years ago - magical to seel what they saw as an extraordinary vista in all directions, wondering what ceremonial significance the place might have had for them (apparently there are no clues or artifacts pointing to something ceremonial, sacred, happy, sad - only speculation) to wonder why they came together in that place. The 'placed stones' extend over a 25-square-mile area, many 'spokes' of the wheel, all leading to the crown location - and then the alignment of the sunrise with that one axis only one day a year in it's most extreme north location - you have to wonder, how many years of watching (cloudy days wouldn't count, would they?), planning, and dedication that must have taken for many workers, and leaders to see it through. Magnificent ..