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Objection letter from Gerald Ponting, who is the co-originator of modern knowledge of the Sleeping Beauty / Callanish Stones / major southern moonset connection and author of , ‘Callanish and other Megalithic Sites of the Outer Hebrides’ and many technical papers on the site
Dear Mr Smith,
It has recently come to my attention that there is a plan to construct a 133-turbine wind-farm on the top of a group of hills on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Although my home is now in the south of England, I was a Lewis resident from 1974-1984, during which time I became very involved in archaeological research, mainly concerning the Standing Stones of Callanish (Calanais).
I understand that you will already have received objections to the proposed wind-farm from others with archaeological, and with what I might call ‘sacred landscape’, interests. They will no doubt have explained to you that these hills, as seen from the area of Callanish, form the profile of a prone figure of a woman, known variously as ‘the Sleeping Beauty’ or ‘Cailleach na Mointeach’. They will also have mentioned the once-in-18.6-years event known as the ‘southern extreme of the major standstill of the moon’ – next to occur in 2006 – which is especially spectacular at the latitude of Callanish.
In particular, for observers standing at the north end of the Callanish avenue, the full moon appears to rise from the body of the Sleeping Beauty, before skimming across the southern horizon and setting among the stones of the circle. Undoubtedly, this infrequent observation was one of the intentions in the design of the site by the skilled prehistoric people who once lived at Callanish
While this event has been enthusiastically adopted by ‘earth mysteries enthusiasts’ and by those who identify the prone lady with the ‘White Goddess’, I can claim to have been (in cooperation with Margaret Curtis of Callanish who was then my wife) the first to recognise and publish this connection between the standing stones, the hills and the moon. I therefore enclose for your information some photocopied excerpts from our original paper* expounding the idea for the benefit of other researchers in the field of archaeo-astronomy (given at an international conference at Newcastle University).
While the only people who have observed this event in modern times are those who were on Lewis on appropriate dates in 1987, there are many people who, having seen versions of our original horizon diagram in popular books of archaeology and on several television programmes, plan to travel to Lewis specifically to make this observation in 2006.
Clearly, the construction of wind turbines in such a windy spot as the Isle of Lewis is desirable from the point of view of alternative energy generation – a concept which I fully endorse. However, placing the turbines in such a prominent spot would clearly have an extremely detrimental effect on the ‘wilderness’ landscape of central Lewis, as well as interfering with a spectacular celestial event which is now well-known among all those interested in prehistoric megaliths.
Yours sincerely,
Gerald Ponting
* Ponting, G. & M., 1981
Decoding the Callanish Complex - some initial results, in Astronomy and Society in Britain, ed. Ruggles & Whittle; British Archaeological Report, Oxford
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