Thread: Sacred stones

Winter solstice in northern hemisphere happened a few minutes before 10pm last night.

But why Stonehenge?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan...shire-64063109

Could it be:

A. Great place for looneys to congregate?

B. Stones represent the subconscious mind (Carl Jung)?

C. Ancient place of healing?

D. People who don't have a calendar?

E. Other.

I'll plump for C. A place of healing for people who did not understand what caused disease.

Originally Posted by ox

But why Stonehenge?

Many of the great "monuments" of ancient times seem mostly to involve some religious aspects. One might also consider option E as being a place for worship of deities, or as an offering.

These are all built on astronomical events*. Perhaps deities play the biggest role in most of these, but one can never rule out looneys for whatever reason :

Stonehenge (England)

Machu Picchu (Peru)

Chichen Itza (Mexico)

Chaco Canyon (New Mexico, USA)

Newgrange (Ireland)

The Great Sphinx and Pyramid of Khafre (Egypt)

Of course there are others, but most appear directly related to one or more gods who did not make the cut to spread their notions to the cultures of today.


"6 Ancient Sites Aligned With the Solstice and Equinox"

* https://www.almanac.com/content/anci...ce-and-equinox

Avebury is not far away from Stonehenge and is far more impressive but has far fewer visitors.

Must be something to do with circles. Standing inside one confers some 'magical' influence, but I don't know why.

The only one I visit these days is on the border of England and Wales.
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/...-stone-circle/

It's peaceful and the views are magnificent.
I'm told that some people go there for the summer solstice.

Originally Posted by ox

Must be something to do with circles. Standing inside one confers some 'magical' influence, but I don't know why.

Most of these ruins seem related to the sun, and it is circular. Perhaps their circular nature relates to the solar disc, and the circular nature of the seasons has something to do with this.

The moon goes through phases but also has its final stage as a full disc - also a circle. In any event, circles and other symbols have played a major role in many religions.

The circle seems like a universal symbol if for no other reason than the solar disc, certainly a powerful image to most early humans, and likely to have inspired various religious cults.

Originally Posted by Double Helix

Most of these ruins seem related to the sun, and it is circular.

That made me look up the sun's actual shape, and a bit of a mystery as to why it's perfectly round.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...%20scaled%20to

Perhaps their circular nature relates to the solar disc, and the circular nature of the seasons has something to do with this.
The moon goes through phases but also has its final stage as a full disc - also a circle. In any event, circles and other symbols have played a major role in many religions.
The circle seems like a universal symbol if for no other reason than the solar disc, certainly a powerful image to most early humans, and likely to have inspired various religious cults.

Ancient peoples did worship the sun, but there again so do modern humans.
Carl Jung had a theory about circles and the subconscious mind.
If I can get around to finding my copy of his book MDR (Memories, Dreams, Reflections) the answer might be there.

Originally Posted by ox

Carl Jung had a theory about circles and the subconscious mind.

Wiki has a brief on Jung's circle concept. It appears he went through a number of variables which relates to this idea of geometric patterns to explain the psyche. From the link below* is the "two center hypothesis" :

"The idea that there are two centers of the personality distinguished Jungian psychology at one time. The ego has been seen as the center of consciousness, whereas the Self is defined as the center of the total personality, which includes consciousness, the unconscious, and the ego; the Self is both the whole and the center. While the ego is a self-contained center of the circle contained within the whole, the Self can be understood as the greater circle."

end quote


Anything you can add to this might be helpful. He certainly influenced numerous areas of science and medicine.


"Self in Jungian psychology"

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self_i...ian_psychology

Jung took a lot of interest in eastern religion. Books like the Tibetan Book of the Dead, The Secret of the Golden Flower.
Texts that we are likely to reject today as it suggests death and rebirth.
He was also influenced by mandalas.

https://jungcurrents.com/carl-jung-t...about-mandalas

His theory that flying saucers are a modern myth is contradicted by how the military use UFO's to cover up secret testing.

The big question here is does the subconscious mind actually exist?