Shadows of Stones - Studies Unveiling the Planned Sexual Drama of the Hieros Gamos - Terence Meaden
Published in Expression June 2017 - The International E-journal Of Art, Archaeology & Conceptual Anthropology - A Quarterly published by Atelier.edit for the Commission on Intellectual and Spiritual Expressions of Non-Literate Peoples (UISPP-CISENP)
Advances in archaeoastronomy are announced with the identification of a prehistoric sunrise calendar. Demonstrated is the importance of the action and meaning of shadows cast by standing stones at recumbent stone circles of the Irish and British Neolithic and Bronze Age. Crucial is the visual drama of events planned for the first minutes after sunrise—scenes of action that can be watched today and which the author has witnessed at other sites too. The Irish stone circle at Drombeg is an appropriate archetype for study, for which a new site survey was necessary. An archaeological explanation for the core symbolism planned into the Drombeg monument is a principal purpose of this article. It is shown how stones were intelligently positioned such that shadows created at sunrise between selected pairs of shaped stones demonstrate their intended functions.
Primary is the discovery that, by embracing knowledge of the symbolic intentions for the shaped stones, the shadow-casting stone upon which the rising sun shines is always figuratively masculine while the shadow-receptive stone is always female-symbolic. This paper aims to resolve the beliefs behind the planning of such watchable occurrences that can still be witnessed today. The answers are based on recognizing a prehistoric belief in the much-loved worldview known as the Hieros Gamos, ΙΕΡΟΣ ΓΑΜΟΣ or Sacred Marriage between divinities of Sky and Earth.
The drama imitates the act of sexual union that the community could witness for themselves. Calendrical features were built in by which eight dates of the year—likely festival dates each separated by 45-46 days from the next—can be read back from observations of shadow union. These dates, starting with the winter solstice, are the traditional dates as known historically for the farming communities of Europe and beyond. Knowing this enabled the spiritual leaders at the stone circle to predict when every agricultural festival would next be due.
https://www.atelier-etno.it/e-journal-expression/
https://www.academia.edu/33989862/Shadows_of_Stones---Studies_Unveiling_the_Planned_Sexual_Drama_of_the_Hieros_Gamos.doc
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