Posted on 08/03/2015 10:20:23 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Our ancient Irish ancestors carved images of an ancient eclipse into giant stones over 5,000 years ago, on November 30, 3340 BC to be exact. This is the oldest known recorded solar eclipse in history.
The illustrations are found on the Stone Age "Cairn L," on Carbane West, at Loughcrew, outside Kells, in County Meath. The landscape of rolling hills is littered with Neolithic monuments. Some say that originally there were at least 40 to 50 monuments, but others say the figure was more like 100...
Martin Brennan and Jack Roberts discovered that the sun illuminates this chamber on the mornings of Samhain and Imbolc, the ancient Celtic festivals... Though this may not be the original alignment we are still left with a spectacular display.
The 3340 BC eclipse was is the only eclipse that fits out of the 92 solar eclipses in history tracked by Irish archaeoastronomer expert, Paul Griffin. With none of the technology available to our modern experts the ancient Irish constructed these complex structures, that not only endured over 5,000 years, but were built with such accuracy that they continue to perform their astronomical functions today.
Many believe that the ancient Celts created the "festival of light" to welcome the eclipse, which they predicted.
On August 26, 1980 Brennan and Roberts observed the full moon entering and illuminating the end recess of the cairn. The moon struck a cup mark on the endstone and then moved to the right to illuminate the bottom of the Whispering Stone. Little observational research has been done on the movements of the moon in these monuments.
(Excerpt) Read more at irishcentral.com ...
The ancient structure of the "Cairn L" remains a mystery. The most unusual aspect of the monument is a tall pillar stone within the chamber known as the "Whispering Stone." This limestone pillar is two meters tall and gives the impression that the whole chamber and cairn were built to house it. Below is an illustration of the interior. This drawing, from c 1870, is by Eugene Conwell, who discovered the structure.
Sorry, I missed Saturday's Digest ping. This is an archaeoastronomy topic. I regard 99 percent of archaeoastronomy claims as absurd -- "Though this may not be the original alignment we are still left with a spectacular display... The 3340 BC eclipse was is the only eclipse that fits out of the 92 solar eclipses in history" -- but I love me some megalithic sites.
Oi wus doin’ a line me lassy under de moon whaen de sun vanished loike a banshee in de noight.
Interesting factoid.
Within the chamber of Cairn L The art and basin can be seen in the recess to the right, guarded by the Whispering stone, a mysterious limestone pillar. The green is a growth on the stones. Photo Padraig Conway. http://www.carrowkeel.com/sites/loughcrew/cairnl.html
To those who might wonder ...
Samhain and Imbolc, (Sow-en and Im-bohlk) having been determined by those who studied the old Celtic agrarian calendars, fall on Oct. 31st., and Feb. 2nd, consecutively. Imbolc, as was suggested in the article, is celebrated as ‘The First Light After Winter’s Darkness’, which is Yule, the Winter Solstice, aka “Winter’s Dark and Deep’/Shortest daylight-longest night of the astronomical year. Samhain, on the same calendar, was considered the end of the year, and the time of the last harvest, after the harvests of grains, then vegetables, when the livestock were slaughtered for winter meats.
They told their wives they saw the sun disappear during the day and the women said to the Irishman.
YOU WERE DRINKING AGAIN!
Thanks!
An Irishman walks out of a bar.
Hey, it could happen.
Concentric circles and spirals are universal petroglyphs. I have seen them in rock art in Oregon, Arizona, Southeast Asia, Japanese museums and Chinese museums. You can go to publications showing concentric circles in some of the oldest rock art sites in India, Africa, Europe and South America. Are they just geometric designs and their makers were doodling or did they have some meaning. I’ve read a lot of guesses (the shaman’s entry point to the other world) but nothing convincing.
dear sunk,
y’all welcome!
For more insightive detail, look up ‘The Wheel of the Year’.
Spirals and other Rock Art
Marija Gimbutas in The Goddesses and Gods of Old Europe says:
“Compositions on the shoulders of cult vases reveal pairs of snakes with opposed heads, making the world roll with the energy of their spiralling bodies.”
Spirals and carvings of this snake energy are seen all over the world, much like the cult of the serpent. And, it is always found to be in association with the serpent worship. According to J.C. Cooper in An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Traditional Symbols, the spiral “typifies the androgyne and is connected with the caduceus symbolism” which is of course the symbol of serpent healing.
In Australia Robert Layton in Australian Rock Art: a new synthesis, points out the serpent origins of these images; images, which are always seen with other serpentine shapes. Figure three in Layton’s book shows these images clearly as “a snake entering a hole,” “a snake leaving a hole.” Remembering that the Ouroborus, the circular image of the snake eating its own tail, is an image of immortality, we should also remember the antiquity of the device. Along side spirals are circles like the Ouroborus, called often cup and ring marks.
There are also zigzags, thought by many to be the fiery aspect of the serpent, and waves, showing the fluidity of the serpent - something also related to the symbolism of Water. It is no surprise that such images of the snake, in all its relative forms should be seen on the most ancient of rock art. In the cup and ring marks there are many images of what appears to be a serpent entering the cup and rings.
Some have put this down to a serpent entering a hole, others that it is eating an egg; nobody is sure. What it does show is a serpent head towards a cup! If, of course, the snake is also the symbol of the macro sun, then these spirals and serpentine patterns may also reveal the pathways of the sun at various times of the year and the greater years – such as those of the precession of the earth.
The spirals have been associated with astronomical alignments. This can especially be seen in the work of N.L. Thomas in Irish Symbols of 3500 BC where the spiral running right to left is seen as the winter sun; the spiral running left to right is the summer sun and the double spiral as the spring and autumn equinox. There is little doubt from the work carried out by Thomas that this is true, but the fact also remains that the ancients were using symbols of the serpent in their astronomical alignments. This is matched by the fact that the serpent was seen in the sky, in various constellations and by the serpent encompassing the heavens. The two elements cannot be split apart – this was a unified theory of life and it was created by, given life by and kept fertile by the snake and the sun.
In Eurasia and Japan there are definite images of snakes as spirals. In earthenware from the middle Jomon period (approx 2000 BC) of Japan these can be seen quite clearly, and are said to be there to protect the contents of the jar from harm; something important was obviously in them. Clay figures from the same period also show wound snakes on the heads. These spirals became part of family crests and transformed over time into the Yin and Yang symbol of duality so popular today.
These family symbols are called Kamon and one class of them particularly is called Janome, which basically means eye of the snake. Characters for snakes in Chinese became part of the alphabet over 3000 years ago. Another interesting point about the snake in China is that the Rainbow is said to be the snake elevated into the sky much like the Australian Rainbow Serpent. Indeed, the Chinese character for Rainbow reflects this position as it has the symbol of the snake within it.
In Peru there is pottery with spirals ending in snakes heads. In Taiwan there is a sculptured door with spirals ending in snakes heads. In many Celtic stone monuments there are similar images – all leading to the now beautiful and ornate Celtic Knot-work
Thanks, that’s interesting.
Fascinating! We were just at Newgrange and Knowth a few weeks ago.
I found this video on youtube of the sunrise on the Whispering stone, and it slides off at the end to the rock next to it.
I wonder if the ancients thought that magical light or entity as they may have seen it entered that basin there, and if it was full of water now considered as holding a magic spirit?
Or something to do with that light moving across the room and toward that basin with all the cryptic symbols above it. Was their place of wonderment, magic, something...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SF8k6kCtBs
Moses, the Israelites, and the brazen serpent.
It’s everywhere.
:)
I can see the argument on the spiral relating to snakes. The concentric circles are less clear. Also the hash marks that are possibly the first “art” eludes me. They are universally found with the earliest rock art.
It’s much easier to pound a hash mark into stone than getr crazy with circles and whatnot.
Paleoart, probably.
The beginning of some kind of Oghamesque alphabet.
Who knows.
But it’s all massively fascinating.
Check out how early “airbrushing” began, such as the cave art of Lascaux.
:)
Thank goodness the Irish aren’t as dangerous as they are annoying.
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