Thread: Stonehenge?

Hello guys,

I just saw few last minutes of one documentary on TV about Stonehenge.
Since i saw only 2-3 minutes,i get really interested by that subject.
I don't know good info site on internet that is valid,so i wanted to ask you.
My question is:who,when and why build Stonehenge?
I read it has something to do with Sun,but im not familiar with it,so if you could please help me with that?

People built it many decades ago to have a way to tell when the seasons are some speculate.

tbh, we don't know all that much about the people who built Stonehenge, and even less about their motives for doing so
there's lots of speculation, some of it even based on real facts, but mostly speculation nonetheless

but i suppose it does make a good mystery, and therefore entertaining television

"The Pagans were into sex, death, and religion in an interesting night-time telly type of way. And we had the Druids! Long white robes, long white beards, early transvestites, didn't get their shaving together; and they built Stonehenge, one of the biggest henges in the world. No one's built a henge like that ever since. No one knows what the fuck a henge is! Before Stonehenge, there was Woodhenge and Strawhenge, but a big bad wolf came and blew them down, and three little piggies were relocated to the projects." - Eddie Izzard

I've been to Stonehenge a couple of times.
It's... got some big rocks.

"No one knows who they were...or what they were doing..." Spinal Tap - Stonehenge Lyrics

My theory of Stonehenge which I have visited several times and seen from different angles:
It is a monument to magic mushrooms, one of which is probably Amanita Muscaria. The stones from its original construction, which were quarried locally or brought from the Presceli Hills in Wales were plundered for building material. Until then you would have seen a circle of upright stones topped with lintels in the form of a temple. The cap of each mushroom is represented by 2 lintels which each serve 2 stems.
If you look at Stonehenge now there is only an interrupted circle and some lintels have been moved to sit alone on the top of an upright.
The phallic nature of the mushroom is also reflected in the phallic nature of the stones.
The theory that Stonehenge is a solar temple or an ancient calender may be of interest, but the sun has to rise over some stone or other.
I have also visited similar impressive sites such as Avebury, Rollright and Callanish and I think it is unlikely they are solar temples.

Originally Posted by ox

It is a monument to magic mushrooms, one of which is probably Amanita Muscaria.

You have a vivid imagination.

Kindest thing you've ever said about me, Harold!
I mentioned this in a new thread called Grand Unified Theory of Religion which had no replies. I'll shorten the original so maybe someone could comment now and prove me wrong.

The study of comparative religion tends to focus on the links between certain groups of religions, and in particular the Abrahamic and Indian religions. While no religion can be studied in isolation, it does not investigate the true roots of these religions.
The oldest sacred site in the world is believed to be in Turkey at Gobekli Tepe. It is believed to be 11,000 years old. Its massive stone pillars are arranged in a set of rings, each mashed up against the next, and capped with further stones. Similar in its construction is Stonehenge in England and is at least 5,000 years old. No satisfactory explanations have ever been given for these structures. You take your choice. They could have been burial grounds, temples to the sun, healing centres or whatever. Their builders obviously went to huge pains to construct them. In the case of Stonehenge the giant sarsen stones were dragged at least 20 miles to the site on Salisbury Plain. The smaller white flecked bluestones can only have come from West Wales, meaning a journey by sea and land (unless dumped nearer by the Irish Sea Glacier).

We need to look no further than 3 fundamentals for the founding of all religion, and these are phallic imagery, hallucinogenic drugs and astrology. Whatever is above is also below, and if humans could unite the macrocosm of the heavens with the microcosm of the earth then this became a powerful idea. Correspondences were made. Thus the red setting sun sinking into the earth was the tip of the divine penis entering the womb of the earth. This became associated with the red tip of one of the holiest of all plants, the red and white speckled mushroom, Amanita Muscaria, whose poisonous cap when crushed in a powder and drank as a tea, became one of the most powerful hallucinogens of the ancient world. In so doing it became the soma of Vedic worship and the sacrament of the Aryans. It became the inspiration for the Eucharist found in many religions of antiquity. Its secrets were well guarded. Codewords for this mushroom, which grows like a limp penis into a fully extended one from apparently nothing, include Solomon, Buddha and Jesus. It was the basis for drugs mysticism, but it was a danger to life and antidotes had to be found. These included Cannabis Sativa, white lilies, hellebore and various roots. The symbols of the Amanita Muscaria became the red lion, the stag, the orb, the rose, and when combined with the Cannabis Sativa the double headed eagle of artists through the centuries.

This reference to the Amanita Muscaria and Cannabis Sativa now becomes clear.
No wonder Christians can't understand most of the Bible. The Book of Revelation is nothing more than a book of drug inspired hallucinations.
Although it has been observed that these sacred plants do not grow everywhere, the drug pedlars of the ancient world were the Magi. Their wisdom was that of the attributes of these mystical healing plants, which they needed to combine with the astrology of the patient. Birth signs were important because each sign had its own characteristics and this determined the correct doses. In a similar way the medieval grimoires required the use of sacred oils to help draw out the demons.
Now the stone arrangements at Gobekli Tepe and Stonehenge start to make sense. The upright nature of the stones suggests the phallic imagery of a fertility cult. The white flecked bluestones at Stonehenge were probably brought a long distance because of their vague resemblance to the white flecked cap of the Amanita Muscaria. But what about the original arrangement of the sarsen stones capped with lintels? If you see an artist's impression of this, you see a near circle of stones as a temple of doorways, but looked at another way, you can also see the Amanita Muscaria in a fairy ring with 2 lintels representing each cap. How else can you really explain the similarity between these 2 great sites?

Originally Posted by ox

My theory of Stonehenge which I have visited several times and seen from different angles:
It is a monument to magic mushrooms, one of which is probably Amanita Muscaria. The stones from its original construction, which were quarried locally or brought from the Presceli Hills in Wales were plundered for building material. Until then you would have seen a circle of upright stones topped with lintels in the form of a temple. The cap of each mushroom is represented by 2 lintels which each serve 2 stems.
If you look at Stonehenge now there is only an interrupted circle and some lintels have been moved to sit alone on the top of an upright.
The phallic nature of the mushroom is also reflected in the phallic nature of the stones.
The theory that Stonehenge is a solar temple or an ancient calender may be of interest, but the sun has to rise over some stone or other.
I have also visited similar impressive sites such as Avebury, Rollright and Callanish and I think it is unlikely they are solar temples.

Amanita muscaria is not really one of the "magic mushrooms" it has a much different chemical action.

Amanita muscaria is noted for itshallucinogenic properties, with its main psychoactive constituent being the compound muscimol. The mushroom was used as an intoxicant and entheogen by the peoples of Siberia, and has a religious significance in these cultures. There has been much speculation on possible traditional use of this mushroom as an intoxicant in places other than Siberia, such as the Middle East, India, Eurasia, North America, and Scandinavia.

It certainly is easy to identify and I have not heard that it can be confused with the other Amanita, which are noted for their deadliness.
New word there Entheogen:

An entheogen ("generating the divine within")^[4] is a chemical substance used in a religious, shamanic, or spiritual context^[5] that may be synthesized or obtained from natural species. The chemical induces altered states of consciousness, psychological or physiological (e.g. bullet ant venom used by the Satere-Mawe people). Entheogens can supplement many diverse practices for transcendence, and revelation, including meditation, yoga, and prayer, psychedelic and visionary art, chanting, and music including peyote song and psytrance, traditional medicine and psychedelic therapy, witchcraft, magic, and psychonautics.

Thanks for mentioning the word entheogen. Any altered state of consciousness would be considered to be divine.
You know, I can't help thinking that Stonehenge along with similar sites were primitive hospitals where powerful plant based drugs were administered by priests in the hope of either healing the patient or lessening the pain before entry into the perceived afterlife.
The circle of stones also functioned as a magic circle to help drive out demons with the help of spells and incantations. Life expectancy then was somewhere in the region of 30-40 years and the best drugs available were the mushrooms, but there was also a danger that they would be too potent.
In the case of Avebury, the settlement (now the village of Avebury) actually lies within the main circle of stones with avenues of stones leading up to it. Could the original settlement have been a kind of hospital?

Originally Posted by ox

Thanks for mentioning the word entheogen. Any altered state of consciousness would be considered to be divine.
You know, I can't help thinking that Stonehenge along with similar sites were primitive hospitals where powerful plant based drugs were administered by priests in the hope of either healing the patient or lessening the pain before entry into the perceived afterlife.
The circle of stones also functioned as a magic circle to help drive out demons with the help of spells and incantations. Life expectancy then was somewhere in the region of 30-40 years and the best drugs available were the mushrooms, but there was also a danger that they would be too potent.
In the case of Avebury, the settlement (now the village of Avebury) actually lies within the main circle of stones with avenues of stones leading up to it. Could the original settlement have been a kind of hospital?

Are you thinking it had some sort of roof over it once?

You don't need to postulate hospitals or similar. Just look ar ound at the cathedrals and temples in the world today. Or the statue of Christ in Rio. People will spend enormous amounts of money, labour, and materials on religious monuments. We do not know what religion possessed the imaginations of the people in the time of Stonehenge, but it obviously was powerful.

Incidentally, there is a guy in the USA building his own version of Stonehenge, using primitive construction methods, all by himself. He has proved with his own ingenious methods, that it is possible to move enormous stones around (albeit very slowly) using simple techniques and just one man's labour.

Originally Posted by Robittybob1

Are you thinking it had some sort of roof over it once?

No stone circle had any sort roof, as far as I know. It's interesting that nobody knows just how many of these exist in the British Isles. One estimate puts it at about a thousand, but how many lie buried?
A couple of days ago I parked my car at a place in Wales (Beaumaris, Anglesey) and immediately on my left was a stone circle! The circular structure probably served one main function. There would be no corner for the devil or demons to hide.

Originally Posted by skeptic

You don't need to postulate hospitals or similar. Just look ar ound at the cathedrals and temples in the world today. Or the statue of Christ in Rio. People will spend enormous amounts of money, labour, and materials on religious monuments. We do not know what religion possessed the imaginations of the people in the time of Stonehenge, but it obviously was powerful.

Incidentally, there is a guy in the USA building his own version of Stonehenge, using primitive construction methods, all by himself. He has proved with his own ingenious methods, that it is possible to move enormous stones around (albeit very slowly) using simple techniques and just one man's labour.

I think you're missing one point. The bluestones of Stonehenge were not quarried locally, whereas the cathedrals of the middle ages were mostly built from local stone.
All studies have concluded that the bluestones were quarried in the Presceli Hills of West Wales which would have meant a massive overland journey of at least 100 miles to cross rivers and estuaries. They could also have been transported by sea and land. I have walked the Presceli ridge a few times (a haunting place in itself) and it's not clear exactly where the stones came from.
We should know what religion possessed the minds of the ancients. It was that of survival in a world of gods, demons and spirits (animism). The sacred plants were part of this survival.

What point am I missing, ox? Transporting stones is nothing new. Just think of the Pyramids of Egypt. It is easier to transport a giant stone 100 kms on a raft than to move the same stone 1 km over land. Stonehenge is an essentially useless construction. As someone said, it does ot even have a roof. It has to have a religious meaning. In no other field of human effort is so much sweat for so little practical benefit.

One of the popular legends I've read is that Merlin built it to show off his magic. To ancient people seeing it, they would likely believe that whoever built it had to be a wizard.

So if you knew how to move stones with levers or something, and had a crew to help you, you could put on wizard hat and set up shop. The perfect magic trick to amaze the masses, because it's actually real.

Wally Wallington - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

No magic needed. A guy named Wally Wallington is developing techniques for moving and raising very large pieces of rock using only such tools as would be available in the days when Stonehenge was built. You don't even need large teams of people. What he can do all by himself is pretty damn amazing.

That is nothing new. I remember seeing a TV documentary in about the 1980's which proved the sarsen stones were raised by levers and smaller stones.
You are probably correct by saying that the bluestones were conveyed by raft. At the western end of the Presceli ridge is the harbour of Fishguard. They could have been towed on rafts navigating a careful route along the coast before crossing the mouth of the River Severn to Avonmouth. Continuing up the Somerset Avon they could then be taken to a site only about 20 miles from Stonehenge. Rollers and levers would do the rest.
The question remains as to how the builders knew the stones they required were found only in Presceli. Could the standing stones found all over the British Isles be some sort of network and places for dispensing the magic mushrooms? The stones would also be used for astrology as the patient needed a reading for the correct dosage to be given. Stonehenge was then some sort of super site in competition with nearby Avebury, a place even more impressive but lacking the lintels.
There is likely to be some link with the fairy faith which dominated the British Isles. Could the fairies have been the hallucinations which the mushroom drug invoked? The 'little people' were then the mushrooms themselves.

I'm just wondering if living in NZ you have ever been to Stonehenge and Avebury. Have you read The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries by Evans-Wentz? Have you read The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross by John Allegro? These go a long way to proving that the source of religion is not what it seems.

Ox

I have been to both Stonehenge and Avebury. Most impressive.
As to religion, who knows?