The Mystery of Stonehenge

Posted by Unknown On Tuesday, July 3, 2012 2 comments

It was in the summer of 1997 that I visited Stonehenge by accident. In mid-August, that I flew to London in a bid to escape the horrible haze in Malaysia. In fact, it was so bad that I was unsure if at all the flight would take off on time. When I checked into a Bed and Breakfast Hotel in an old Victorian townhouse, I had no idea that the place was so haunted. After a terrifying night followed by another spooky experience that totally freaked me out, I checked out and took the first train out of London - to Bath (I wrote about that HERE.) After exploring the Roman Baths there and other scenic sites, I took a day tour to Stonehenge and Cotswold. Fifteen years down the road, memories of that visit and the experience remain fresh in my mind.


Upon reaching Stonehenge, I went to the mini museum before heading for the structures. The most remarkable experience I had during my visit was dowsing for ley lines there and also at Avesbury (another place I visited after Stonehenge). Basically, ley lines are energy lines which criss-cross the earth.The tour guide then distributed the dowsing rods (copper rods) to the group and asked us to walk around the place  with both rods in our hands. She told us that  if the rods crossed and uncrossed, it was a sign that we had walked over a ley line.

I was MOST skeptical when I head her hypothesis. Still, I walked around with both rods and the wind blowing strongly at my face and hair. And then, to my horror, as I walked over one area, both my dowsing rods began spinning powerfully in a clockwise direction! I gasped and stepped back - no movement. I stepped forward again and the rods were spinning. Most intrigued, I walked around and tried to see if there was a pattern in the ley lines. Indeed, the whole group looked a sight as we walked around silently, in awe of the place and power of the ley lines.

According to THIS SITE:

Stonehenge is positioned at the centre of a hub, or network, of alignment ley lines, making Stonehenge an energy portal, or a place of power. There are 14 major ley lines that converge at Stonehenge making a powerful vortex. One simple method of locating ley lines is by drawing a line connecting two old ancient sites, or churches. Churches were often built on ancient sites to acquire their energy, in some cases churches were built in the site of a henge, as was Winchester Cathedral, and at Avebury a whole village sits in the middle of a henge. These ley lines interconnect all of Britain’s ancient sites......


A significant Wiltshire ley runs through Stonehenge, Old Sarum, Salisbury Cathedral and Clearbury Ring. Dowser Romy Wyeth, from Codford near Warminster, demonstrated to the BBC how a line of energy can be detected at the centre of Stonehenge, again at Old Sarum and running through to the Cathedral Close and beyond.The subject of ley lines - at least what they represent - is a controversial area but the strength of evidence is compelling.Many of Wiltshire's sacred sites are associated with ley lines and those who support the theory suggest that such locations act as a focus for these powerful earth energies - something of which our ancestors knew a great deal about.However, for many archaeologists, the idea is very much a matter for conjecture, arguing that it's more about coincidence than knowledge of the earth's energy lines.

According to Wikipedia:

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument located in the English county of Wiltshire, about 2.0 miles (3.2 km) west of Amesbury and 8 miles (13 km) north of Salisbury. One of the most famous sites in the world, Stonehenge is composed of a circular setting of large standing stones set within earthworks. It is at the centre of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.

Archaeologists believe the iconic stone monument was constructed anywhere from 3000 BC to 2000 BC, as described in the chronology below. Radiocarbon dating in 2008 suggested that the first stones were erected in 2400–2200 BC,[2] whilst another theory suggests that bluestones may have been erected at the site as early as 3000 BC.

The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. The site and its surroundings were added to the UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986 in a co-listing with Avebury Henge monument. It is a national legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage, while the surrounding land is owned by the National Trust.

Archaeological evidence found by the Stonehenge Riverside Project in 2008 indicates that Stonehenge could possibly have served as a burial ground from its earliest beginnings. The dating of cremated remains found on the site indicate that deposits contain human bone material from as early as 3000 BC, when the initial ditch and bank were first dug. Such deposits continued at Stonehenge for at least another 500 years. CLICK HERE for more.

Last month, The Week featured a very interesting article about how the mystery behind Stonehenge could be solved. Excerpt from the article:

Forget the druids and aliens. Scientists in Britain say they've figured out the real story behind the puzzling megalith.

Theories surrounding Stonehenge's origins seem to go back nearly as far as the stones themselves. Over the course of centuries, philosophers, scientists, and innumerable crackpots have tried to decode the meaning of the monument — composed of several enormous stones arranged in a circle thousands of years ago. Some said Stonehenge was brought to the English county of Wiltshire from Ireland by the wizard Merlin; others posited that it was a druidical temple, an architectural paean to the ancient Egyptians, or a kind of calendar; and still others insisted that aliens must have been involved, since prehistoric humans could not possibly have dragged the giant slabs from quarries more than 130 miles away. However, a research team from Britain now says it has the definitive answer to the riddle of Stonehenge. Here, a guide to the findings:


How was this study conducted?
The research team, made up of scientists from five universities in Britain, conducted "the largest program of archaeological research ever mounted on the iconic monument," according to Science 2.0. Researchers "worked to put Stonehenge in context, studying not just the monument but also the culture that created it," says CBS News.

So why was Stonehenge built?
Researchers say the monument symbolizes the unification of Stone Age Britain, which for centuries had been riven by an East-West divide. The stones are thought to represent different tribal factions, brought together in concentric circles to commemorate the peace. The erection of Stonehenge coincided with the development of an "island-wide culture," in which previously insulated and isolated communities began making similar houses, pottery, and tools. CLICK HERE for the rest of the entry.

The Daily Mail carried an article by Tamara Cohen about how scientists are now closer to cracking one aspect of the mystery after working out the exact spot where some of the rocks came from.

The 5,000-year-old circle of stones – thought at various times to have been a temple of healing, a calendar, or even a royal cemetery – have been traced to an outcrop 150 miles away in north Pembrokeshire. READ MORE HERE.

Other recommended readings:

The Mystery of Stonehenge

Stonehenge Facts

If you have visited Stonehenge, please share your experiences via the comment box. If you have other comments about Stonehenge, do share your thoughts and observations. Have a pleasant evening.


Did Those Statues "Walk"?

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When I was in Std 3, I remember how history fascinated me to bits. Studying about the Paleolithic Age, Neaderthals etc spurred my interest in archaeology. At one point, I wanted to be an archaeologist until my mom asked me if I wanted to survive on Bah-Kut-Teh made from dinosaur bones. That changed my mind forever. I know I would not have survived as an archaeologist because of my 'puteri lilin' characteristics which have been inherited by both my boys. Prolonged periods under the son trigger migraines, headaches and then I will be sick with fever for a few days. Still, all that never robbed me of my deep interest in the unknown. As such, I will be featuring a few posts on history. Check out The Giants of The Solomon Islands which I posted yesterday.

Thanks to one blogger whom I follow, Coyote Prime, I came across the following article about the statues in Easter Island from the Archaeology News Network:


Easter Island’s giant statues “walked” to their locations

The startling claim comes from archaeologists Terry Hunt of the University of Hawaii and Carl Lipo of California State University Long Beach, who showed how as few as 18 people could move a 5-ton statue with just some ropes and hopes. It sounds impossible, and contradicts other current theories. But it jibes with ancient village legends.


“The experts can say whatever they want,” 25-year-old Rapa Nui resident Suri Tuki told National Geographic. “But we know the truth. The statues walked.”


Some have suggested the 887 giant heads currently documented on the 63-square mile in the middle of the Pacific Ocean were built by stranded extraterrestrials, such as best-selling Swiss author Erich von Daniken. Others theorize the Peruvian Incas carved them. Modern science links them instead to Polynesia -- but how these peoples moved the heads from the quarry across miles of rocky island had remained a mystery. Scientists may have just discovered how.

CLICK HERE to read more about the experiments conducted by National Geographic and to watch the fascinating video!

The next post will be on Stonehenge.


How to Manage Failure

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This is a an excerpt of an interview with Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at Wharton India Economic forum, Philadelphia on March 22,2008.

Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders
should manage failure?

Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India ‘s satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India ‘s ‘Rohini’ satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources — but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.

By 1979 — I think the month was August — we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts — I had four or five of them with me — told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal . It was a big failure.

That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am , and the press conference — where journalists from around the world were present — was at 7:45 am at ISRO’s satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India ]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure — he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed.. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization.

The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite — and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, ‘You conduct the press conference today.’

I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.


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