Two Unfathomable Mysteries? Beyond All Reasonable Conjecture?
March 9, 2009 - 12:18 am
Jesus was demonstrably absent from his homeland for as many as 18 years. A documentary team funded by Universal Studios recently went in search of evidence for Jesus having visited India and Tibet, but with little success, it appears. The New Testament makes it unmistakably clear that he returned to his homeland aged 30 as a stranger, unrecognisable to those who should have known him best, while the only place where he’s reliably and consistently located is the West of England. I believe that there’s a huge body of evidence to support this idea, and that’s apart from the many detailed legends that place him in this region.
The legends and other evidence that I’ve outlined in my book place Jesus in what’s broadly called “The West Country”, which includes South Wales and the West of England. With this in mind, it appears that he spent as many as two decades in close proximity to Stonehenge, a monument that had dominated continental Europe and which had drawn pilgrims from as far away as the Alps for as many as two and a half thousand years before the birth of Jesus. The idea that Jesus visited Stonehenge is “one that dare not speak its name”, but it seems to me to be inevitable and I think there’s evidence that he did just this.
By simple virtue of the fact that Stonehenge was such a dominant structure in such a huge landscape, I could not avoid dealing with it at length, so this may come as a welcome surprise to those of you who have regularly visited this site for some years now. New theories on Stonehenge or new solutions occur quite regularly, it seems, but my thoughts on Stonehenge were formulated a long time ago and I’ve never published them before. Instead, I kept the idea in an open mind and I’ve been very pleased to see that a gradual flow of informed comments from others on this site, men such as Aynslie and Alex, have hinted to me that I wasn’t entirely alone in what I saw with great clarity in my mind’s eye.
I’ve written before on this site that any credible explanation for the original function of Stonehenge simply cannot avoid the question of why the architecture was constructed in such an apparently singular fashion, both bluestones and sarsens, so I’ve addressed this at length. I believe that it’s perfectly possible to reconstruct one of the original ceremonies that took place at Stonehenge as far back as the timber phase of 2,900 BC and possibly beyond. What I have to say doesn’t conflict with the notion of the place being used for royal burials, nor does it conflict with the idea of the monument as an observatory, while it also accounts for all that has been discovered at the ruins over the centuries. Furthermore, it includes an explanation for the Avenue, its various features and the reason it originates at the Avon, as well as the surrounding funeral mounds, the southern entrance to Stonehenge and much else besides.
I’ll go further still. I have in my possession three crystal clear photographs of a stunning archaeological discovery that have never been made public before. It was made in a significant location in the Stonehenge landscape, but I’m not going to say when, other than the fact that the photographs depict this astonishing discovery in situ. There was not enough room in my book to include a satisfactory study of this find, but I shall certainly air it at some point after publication, if anyone’s interested, while there are numerous other detailed posts on the subject of Stonehenge that will also appear after publication by way of backing up and elaborating on the various cases I’ve made in my book.
My book will make clear my thoughts on precisely why Professor Atkinson went on his rampage at Stonehenge in the 1950s and 1960s, while it’ll also gratefully acknowledge the sterling work, thoughts and discoveries made by high profile and conscientious archaeologists who have excavated in the Stonehenge landscape in more recent times, because the considered thoughts of these various men and women have served to buttress the different cases I’ve made.
For years, it has become something of a mantra on the part of some other archaeologists that the various mysteries of Stonehenge are insoluble and that anyone who dares claim otherwise is telling an untruth, but I think otherwise. I also believe that the photograph below contains all the information that anyone could reasonably need when making an informed and educated supposition as to Stonehenge’s original function, especially if we pay close attention to what some senior archaeologists have had to say about the different features in this photograph over the years.
If we’re told often enough that a particular mystery is insoluble and if we’re told this by apparently authoritative sources, then we’ll eventually begin to believe it; as Professor Lyall Watson once observed “Reality is an idea that has gained universal acceptance.” If we’re told that the ancient Druids had nothing whatsoever to do with Stonehenge, then we’ll eventually come to believe it. If we’re told by an authoritative source that Saddam Hussein can deploy an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction against Britain within 45 minutes, then it’s inevitable that people will believe it. And if we’re told often enough that it’s impossible to discover where Jesus spent his 18 missing years, then there’s a chance that some of us will come to believe it.
I’ve already mentioned some of my thoughts on Stonehenge, so let’s have a look at the apparent insolubility of the mystery of the missing years of Jesus, which is perfectly illustrated by the opening sequence on this link, the trailer to the recent documentary on Jesus in India. As you’ll see and hear, the famous quotation from the gospel of Luke appears on the screen, while the voice-over announces “And Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and with man – that’s all the New Testament has to say about Jesus from ages 12 to 30.” From the way the word ‘all’ is stressed, it’s clear that the narrator believes that there’s nothing of worth to be discovered here, so let’s see if this oft-expressed mantra of hopelessness is true. For my part, I’m inclined to regard it as a perfect example of the saying “He who stares too hard into the mist risks tripping over the stone at his own feet.”
It’s perfectly natural that many people should expect my forthcoming book to be long on speculation and short on detail; whether or not you ultimately choose to buy it and read it is up to you, of course. Be that as it may, perhaps what follows will give you some idea of the degree of detail I went into during the course of my investigation.
At the age of 12, Jesus was already renowned as a scriptural prodigy, capable of amazing the elders in the temple with whom he was discoursing, so how do you improve on being a prodigy? Well, it’s one thing to have a complete command of a set of scriptures, but quite another to acquire the other form of wisdom that Jesus displayed throughout the gospels, the kind that cannot be learned from books. He presented a radical new message to the world, entering into verbal confrontations that he never lost, championing the rights of women and so forth, so this was a form of wisdom that he acquired or formulated as he grew to maturity.
He acquired a formidable ability as an orator who could address huge crowds and he was capable of using the most enchanting language, to give just two further examples, so this would reasonably constitute “growing in wisdom”. He was demonstrably not in his homeland between the ages of 12 and 30, so while the Bible is correct to point out that he grew in wisdom, we should be looking for a physical location where he could have credibly acquired the many notable characteristics with which he returned to his homeland.
We’re also told that he grew in stature, which can mean physical stature and/or standing among his fellows. He clearly grew from a 12 year old boy into a man, but again, we must look for a location other than his homeland where this took place and when we consider some of the detailed legends of Jesus in the West of England, we learn that he worked with miners in the Mendip Hills and that he built a church in Glastonbury to honour his mother Mary.
The stories could simply have told of the wanderings and preachings of some ascetic, but they specifically tell of a young man who possesses sufficient physical stature to construct a wooden building that was said to have survived for some centuries and who was furthermore capable of the arduous and prolonged labour of mining, two feats entirely compatible with growing in stature in every sense of the expression.
As for growing in favour, he’s first said to have grown in favour with God, something which has many implications, one of which is that he inevitably “grew in favour” by building the world’s first church to honour his mother, a specific act that the legends credit him with that’s also supported by ecclesiastical sources and present-day royal traditions. Otherwise, the gospels are at pains to point out that in life and in death, Jesus fulfilled many Biblical prophecies of the Messiah, but there are some other striking predictions that receive no mention or acknowledgment in the New Testament. Are we to suppose that some prophecies were more important than others? Or could it be that these other prophecies were also fulfilled, but during the period in Jesus’s life where he’s absent from the Biblical record?
I don’t plan to give the game away ahead of publication, but it’s worth pointing out that some Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah specifically refer to what I’ll call a “northern place” that many informed commentators have taken as being Britain. In addition, other prophecies go into great detail concerning the activities of this Messiah; not only are these prophecies entirely consistent with the location of Britain, but they also tally with specific details to be found in certain legends of Jesus in Britain to the extent that they pinpoint an area of a few square miles. A coincidence it may be, just one out of many that I’ve encountered, but if it is, it’s a highly striking one, while it’s reinforced by still more evidence of a different nature that I’ve dealt with in detail in my book.
Finally for now, what are we to make of the observation that Jesus “grew in favour….with men?” In English, this seems to be about as general a statement as it’s possible to make, but when we take the trouble to look at the original Greek of Luke 2:52, a radically different picture emerges. The word used to describe men is ‘anthropos’ (in the dative case) and this word means Mankind in general, men and women, or the human race.
If the writer of the gospel had meant to inform us that Jesus grew in favour with a certain group of people living in a given locality (presumably in the Holy Land), then the words certainly exist to describe this precise circumstance, but instead, we’re told that he grew in favour with men and women in general, not just those in his homeland. It’s clearly ridiculous to suggest that he toured every inhabited country on Earth, but when we consider the prophecies I’ve dealt with briefly above, the “famous last words” at the very least allow for the possibility that he grew in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and with men in the West of England and South Wales – among others – “in ancient times.”
Furthermore, the final words of the gospel of John tell us that “there were many other things that Jesus did” and whoever the author of this gospel was, he made clear that if all these things were written down, the whole world would not be enough to contain all the books that would be written. Jesus did not spend 18 years of his life working as a carpenter (or anything else, for that matter) in Nazareth, but even if he did, it’s very difficult indeed to see how, before his famous ministry, such a life could include and give rise to such a huge quantity of deeds that the whole world would be filled with books relating these actions.
However, if we consider that Jesus once embarked on a journey by sea to the West of England and stayed there for as long as 18 years, formulating his ministry, meeting with the inhabitants and working among them, then the picture changes completely. One of the great epics of the ancient world was Homer’s Odyssey, which tells us of the travels and adventures of Odysseus as he attempted to make his way home to Ithaca from Troy, so I suggest that the true story of the missing years of Jesus is far more likely to resemble the wanderings of this ancient Greek mariner than it is to echo the mundane existence of a ‘carpenter’ working in a small and unremarkable village for 18 years.
When we ignore our preconceptions and closely examine the famous line “And Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and with men”, we find ample material that points toward and allows for the possibility of a young man growing to maturity and acquiring his fantastic abilities in a northern island that some of the authors of the Old and New Testaments were extremely familiar with; all this without delving into the twilight zone of apocryphal gospels, insanely involved Bible Codes, tales of Lost Tribes and the like.
And all this is just the molehill-sized tip of a Mount Snowdon-sized iceberg.
23 Responses to “Two Unfathomable Mysteries? Beyond All Reasonable Conjecture?”
Alright, here’s a question for you: at the time when Jesus the prophet lived, how common were first names that approximated phonetically to “Jesus” (Which is of course an anglicised version of the Latin Iesus, which comes from Greek, which derives from Aramaic…)?
You see, just because we’ve got reports of a foreigner in the West Country with a name that sounded like Jesus doesn’t mean we’ve got the actual Jesus who went on to be really famous; we might just have some random Jesus or indeed several of them, some of whom were quite skilled chappies and good at carpentry and so on.
Another thing to look at is the current issue of Northern Earth magazine, wherein there is an article that tries to probe how accurate folk memories are. In the village of Mytholmroyd, there once lived a famous poet, Ted Hughs. It is recorded where he lived, but even though people still lived in the village who knew the man, none of the three houses he was reported as growing up in was in fact the correct one.
Similarly a huge fire which partly destroyed the most prominent local mill and was a large factor in its eventual decline and closing was hardly remembered at all, despite having been a very prominent local event reported far and wide, with fire engines coming from as far away as Todmorden and Bacup.
This would tend to suggest that folk memory is very poor indeed, and folk stories would tend to be very garbled so the stories of Jesus in the West Country might well be little more than stories made up on the back of half-remembered shaggy dog stories from long ago.
Still, if we knew how commonplace the name Jesus or similar was, we’d be a lot nearer the truth.
Hi Dennis
Is it just me, or do any others wonder what they are missing in the Stonehenge photo, featured above, that
“contains all the information anyone could reasonably need when making an informed and educated supposition as to Stonehenge’s original function, especially if we pay close attention to what some senior archaeologists have had to say about the different features in this photograph over the years”?
I’m really intrigued by this.
I can see a face on the middle stone?
Hi Angie,
I didn’t write the line you quote on a whim. I wrote it after visiting the ruins when I was 10 and after spending decades wondering and reading about the place. I wrote it after visiting the ruins 3 times a week during the 10 years I lived nearby, after attending all the open solstices and after English Heritage kindly allowed me private access on occasion.
I wrote it after working with the Amesbury Archer and the Boscombe Bowmen and after having worked on the A303/Stonehenge Test Pit Project back in 2002. I wrote it after listening very carefully indeed to what Mike Parker-Pearson has had to say over the years and after reading as much I could by others like Mike Pitts, Atkinson and soon and so forth.
I could go on, mentioning the English Heritage custodians, the massive Stonehenge in its Landscape volume and many other sources, but I suppose that my point is that I’ve listened and kept my eyes and ears open, rather than formulate an idea then go in search of evidence that supported my idea and mine alone, if you follow me. The penny dropped some years ago, but as I wrote in my piece, I’ve been fascinated to see, hear and read what others have had to say in the meantime, while I was astonished by something you kindly sent me after my book had gone off to the printers.
With your permission, of course, I’ll refer to this a bit further down the line, and as promised, I shall publish the three photographs that I mentioned that I believe have a direct bearing on a specific aspect of early ceremonies at Stonehenge.
Of course, all this does not automatically make me right, because it is just an opinion. But I will say that it is an informed opinion and in reaching it, I pursued certain avenues that some senior archaeologists have hinted at over the years, but which they’ve not looked into further for reasons known only to themselves.
Thank you as always for writing in, so I’ll compose my thoughts and reply to what the others have had to say.
Hello Hugo,
It’s very kind of you to write in and to express such optimism, but we’ll just have to see how well this book fares before contemplating a sequel, although I’ll just say that I’m not short of material for a number of separate projects – we’ll see.
As for what my book covers, it’s easiest to say that I’ve tried to concentrate on establishing the whereabouts of Jesus as a young man virtually to the exclusion of all else. I don’t as a rule lose a great deal of sleep over people saying rude things about me, as Liann can verify if she’s reading this and cares to write in.
Publication day isn’t far off now, but I can’t for the life of me see why anyone should be offended in any way by what I’ve written, but again, we’ll have to see what the reception is. On the static page dealing with the book at the top of this site, I’ve posted up an exceedingly generous observation by a devout, astute and well-informed Christian gentleman, so I’m waiting to see what response my book receives from various other quarters.
For example, I know that the Stonehenge Druids wrote to my publishers requesting a copy for review. These men strike me as a singularly well-informed, courteous and thoughtful group, while one of their number, Frank Somers, was chosen by the BBC and the Smithsonian Museum to lead the ceremony at Stonehenge last year at the beginning of the excavation conducted by Professors Darvill and Wainwright that produced so much fascinating material i.e. the Roman coins, evidence of use of Stonehenge up to the 17th century, grains dated to 7,000 BC and so on.
I’ve had many emails from friends of mine around the world saying what a first-class job Frank Somers made of it; be all that as it may, he’s entitled to his opinion on what I’ve written, be it good or bad, so I’ll just have to learn to take the rough with the smooth.
And finally, for how – the day may soon come when you look back at the opening line of what you wrote in your comment and wonder if it referred to a mystery to match the ones I’m writing about. My first and last words on the subject.
Could it be about lines of sight from the solitary stone in the middle lining up on particular days over the course of the year to help mark the seasonal changes (As would be important, supposedly, to early users?) when the sun rises between the two pillars behind?
My book’s not entirely devoid of some contemplation of the relevance of humour, as you’ll see on page 22. Although it was a very dark work, the central theme of The Name of the Rose concerned comedy, so I’ve done my level best to take every last thing of relevance into account. To cut a very long story short, you’ll see what I mean on page 22.
Hi Dennis
You didn’t mean ‘just what we can actually see in this photo’ then? That’s how I read it, and where I’m mistaken. Maybe others are too?
I guess we all know, and can appreciate, how much knowledge and many years of experience you have of Stonehenge and I certainly would not dispute that.
I thought you meant that archaeologists had seen something crucial in that particular photo! DOH! :-S
Yes, of course you’re welcome to use those pics.
Well, I don’t know about anyone else for now, but I can see all manner of ‘crucial things’ in that photo, or as Marcus Aurelius observed “Of each particular thing, ask – What is it in itself? What is its nature? What does it do?”
Thank you also for permission to use the pictures, which I’ll do a bit further down the line.
Dear Dr Dan,
As long as there’s breath in my body, I will never stoop to wilful misinterpretation of what others have to say, at least as far as these subjects are concerned. Nonetheless, while I’m pretty sure that I know what you’re getting at, there are some broad generalisations and inconsistencies in the whole thing.
Firstly, the reports or legends or however you care to describe them specifically refer to Jesus, not to someone “with a name that sounded like Jesus”. We know this because in addition to the name he’s given, he’s variously credited with turning up with Joseph of Arimathea and/or his mother Mary, which is a fairly definitive identification; I write this part in response to “just because we’ve got reports of a foreigner in the West Country with a name that sounded like Jesus doesn’t mean we’ve got the actual Jesus who went on to be really famous”.
You also wrote “we might just have some random Jesus or indeed several of them, some of whom were quite skilled chappies and good at carpentry and so on” and you previously mention the existence of names that might approximate to something like Jesus. Quite.
Given the many possible permutations on this name, I find myself wondering just how many individuals there once were who were called or known by a name resembling Jesus, who were foreigners in the West Country and who were also generally good at building or the like. There may have been absolutely hundreds of them, if not thousands, but what time frame are we talking about?
If we’re referring to the rough period of AD 12 – 30, then it’s quite a coincidence that such a person with such a name should make such an impression at precisely the same time that Jesus is absent from the Biblical record. Being able to narrow this memory down to 18 years over a period of something like two millennia also rather goes against the idea of folk memory being unreliable, although I’d never claim that all folk memories are 100% reliable, of course.
And why the West Country? If the idea of the arrival of a stranger, from whatever part, who had a name that sounded something like Jesus and who was generally good at building could make an impression on people in a given locality, then I’d reasonably expect that the British Isles would be completely awash with such stories, but such is not the case. So, why the West Country? And why highly specific sites in the West Country?
There’s also the matter of the legends speaking of Jesus working in mines, building a church to the memory of his mother and so forth. I would expect to hear all manner of embellishments about miracles, given his later status, but the West Country stories are very straightforward – there are tales of him stepping ashore in Cornwall, sometimes working there, and there are tales of him working as a miner in Somerset, all of which sounds very uncomplicated and predictable if we’re envisaging the details of a historical visit by this specific young man. There seems to be nothing concerning Devon, but this is another matter entirely that I’ve examined in detail in my book.
Yes, I’m sure that there were many strangers with a name a bit like Jesus who were generally good with their hands, but why did just one of them apparently make such a huge and lasting impression in one particular place and in one particular time without being credited with all manner of miracles?
Again, I’m guessing, but there must also have been numerous horsemen with a name “something like” Edel or Adla or somesuch, but I don’t know of any stories of Attila the Hun turning up in Britain and let’s face it, he too was an exotic foreigner whose name was known around the world, albeit for entirely different reasons. With the best will in the world, you can’t have it both ways and regardless of how commonplace or rare a name like Jesus was at the time, I don’t think it has any real bearing on the truth of the matter.
You also wrote “….the stories of Jesus in the West Country might well be little more than stories made up on the back of half-remembered shaggy dog stories from long ago.” So, I’m left wondering just what exactly was this original, half-remembered shaggy dog story? What was its nature, for it to enable those who came later to weave in a sober and credible tale involving the most famous person who’s ever lived?
Unless you radically alter it, then logic suggests that the original story has to be something along the lines of a young carpenter or builder with a name like Jesus turning up in a boat in the West Country from the Middle East, working in the local mines with his uncle, not performing any miracles, then returning home at some point. Is this scenario out of the question? I suggest not and I further suggest that not only was it possible that Jesus did such a thing, but that it was virtually inevitable - these and all further details are in my book.
Please don’t think that this is meant to be confrontational in any way, because it most certainly is not. I’m very pleased that you wrote in and I’ve done my best (short of reprinting the whole book) to answer your question, but I’m sometimes told that I’m far more affable in person than I appear to be in print. In any event, thank you again for taking the time and trouble to write in, and I’m sure that our exchange will give others food for thought, regardless of whatever conclusion they ultimately reach.
“There is a green hill far away” sung to the Animals “House of the Rising Sun” (it works – credit to my music teacher Mr Sweeny) ……..I cannot imagine a more approriate combination for this site at the moment?
It is most unlikely folk memory will be ever be reliable in terms of specifics nor will the trivial survive. However it does not mean significant events were not recorded orally and then over time what was once history became embellished.
Although it may not now be in black and white and also require considerable interpretation it is important that any truth in tradition should be considered and not just ignored because of a bias for “hard” evidence.
Ah, I liked what you wrote about a different tune, John – yet another insight that I’m sure Blake and others would have approved of.
I’ve certainly looked into the legends of Jesus visiting Britain in great depth in my book, but I assure you that it contains far, far more than just this. As to what constitutes ‘hard’ evidence, then I’m sure you’ll find some very surprising material inside and I’ve looked into it all to the best of my ability. Not long now, and everyone will be able to make up their own minds…
“I’m far more affable in person than I appear to be in print.”
I can vouch for that Dr Dan, after meeting Dennis last November.
He was such a nice guy, and very laid-back.
The trouble with reading emails and web articles is that we don’t hear the inflection in the voice, and it is easy to misinterpret what is being said. It happens to me quite often.
For the benefit of anyone else ‘out there’ idly toying with the idea of giving me a glowing character reference in public, rest assured that I’m always, ALWAYS happy to read such things. The more lavish and generous the praise, the faster they’ll get published, even if they only bear a faint and passing resemblance to the truth.
I hasten to add that this principle only applies to descriptions of myself, whereas the principles involved in writing my book were a different matter altogether.
Neil, there are many ‘faces’ at Stonehenge and if you have a look at Christopher Chippindale’s book, he mentions a lot of them and provides pictures as well. While I think of it, he’s another person whose considered thoughts on the ruins have provided grounds for some of the things I have to say about the monument.
I don’t know what to make of these faces and I was very surprised to see one appear on the trailer for the Timewatch programme, apparently watching benignly while the Druids conducted their ceremony and as Professors Darvill and Wainwright looked on. It’s here somewhere on my site, but I can’t remember where for the moment.
What puzzles me – and I’m looking forward to elucidation from Dennis’s book – is why Jesus should have come to England. After all, this is not exactly the time of mass tourism, and England can hardly have registered on the radar of any but the most dedicated navigators.
I suppose a child progidy may have aroused unwelcome interest in his home land, but a journey to the ends of the (known) earth would not have been necessary to escape attention.
England must have been known as a source of important minerals for instance, like tin and copper, but Joseph was a carpenter, not a metalsmith. And in an age before there was any “civilization” that would match what could be seen in southern Europe and the Middle and Near East, it seems surprising that England should have been a destination for Jesus and his father, let alone a home for some years.
So it seems likely that there must have been some stories of special sanctity, something distinctive about Britain that had reached Joseph. And relatively recent writings like those of Diodorus or Strabo on Pytheas’s earlier travels in Britain would have been available to Joseph.
I don’t know enough about these early writings to know if they describe anything else in Europe to rank with Diodorus’s “renowned temple, of a round form … a city likewise consecrated to the god (Apollo) …” but that seems to be a pretty good reason to come to Britain … and if that was what was in Joseph’s mind, I guess that Stonehenge would have been top of the list on his itinerary.
I’ll have to wait for the book to learn more. My copy is on order!
I believe that there’s an overwhelming body of evidence to suggest that Jesus would have been drawn to Britain just as surely as a moth is drawn to a flame, as surely as gravity drew Newton’s Apple to earth; my book’s divided into three sections, the first of which deals primarily with your question, Alex.
Hmmm, I spoke too soon when I said above that Joseph, father of Jesus, was a carpenter – apparently he could have been a metal working artisan, as the Greek word describing his trade is rather vague. And Jesus’s great-uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, was apparently “a merchant in metals and took young Jesus with him on his business trips …” So the metal mining connection is looking pretty good. I always stretched business trips to see interesting places in the countries I visited – and I bet it was the same 2000 years ago 
I’m looking forward to receiving my copy of your book, Dennis – I’m told it’ll dispatch in around 11 days.
Thank you Dennis for explaining what Stonehenge is all about. Indeed one photo does show everything. May I share with you how I drew my conclusions? I’m sure they are wrong but at least, it passes the time waiting for your book to be released. And it’s better to have wrong conclusions than no conclusions at all.
The most difficult part is to relax and not look too hard. Look at the picture for 5 seconds, then turn to your nearest and describe what you have just seen. Only a little, but a little is enough. The fewer words you use to describe the better. For example if you start by describing the photo as showing “stones rearing high into the sky” you are already on track. Remember some of the lectures in “Eternal Idol” and modify this slightly: “Stones linking Heaven and Earth”. This is getting really warm. “Stones defying gravity”, and finally reducing this to one word “weightlessness” – you have a keyword.
Thanks, Dennis. Now I feel I have enough background to describe the use of Stonehenge. I hope you are not offended if I jest for a moment about this sacred ground.
Here is a Neolithic visitor’s guide. It would have to be spoken of course, but I have learnt from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7911645.stm
that at least a few of my words could have been understood then.
“Welcome to Stonehenge – undertakers for overtakers. Once open ground, our ancestors called this place Cape Canaveral. Then it was changed to Weightlessness – and now Stonehenge.
As you know, those who are good go to the Kingdom of Heaven, and become a star, and enjoy eternal life. Those who doubt if they are good enough, come to Stonehenge.
The stones are THE WAY. They will guide your spiritual departure from this earth and conduct you to the heavens above. The ascent is guaranteed, for we have overcome all earthly bounds. Witness these mighty flying stones. In this magic place we have overcome gravity.
We greet many doubters from all over Europe, staggering in on their last legs. I say to you welcome, die in peace, and don’t forget your last words “Beam me up, Scottie…”
I didn’t explain what Stonehenge is all about in my piece, but I hope that I’ll be bringing something new and worthy of serious consideration along in the pages of my book. I’ve gone into the subject of the ruins in great detail and I’ve chosen to concentrate on some important aspects that I feel have been overlooked.
I’m not remotely offended if you jest about the place; I pride myself on my sense of humour, I’m 100% certain that the people who built it had a sense of humour and I’ve touched on the subject of Jesus having a sense of humour in my book, as I felt it was important [page 22, as I've mentioned before].
“The truth is a pathless land”.
You may be surprised to learn that your above description of Stonehenge is not a million miles away from how I see the place, but as I’ve said before, I’ve gone into this in great depth my book and I hope you enjoy reading it.
In all likelihood Stonehenge was not roofed which indicates the sky was important and marking, perhaps ritualising, celestial events would seem the obvious key.
That such events were could be predicted by alignments of stones showed that the heavens were under control. It was perhaps this contorl that was the source of power that allowed a priestly elite to develop. This elite increased its influence through even grander schemes culminating with the trilithons which framed the most significant astronomical phenomenon and thereby conquered the sky – ultimate control . It could be this pursuit that resulted in the monument being re-orientated to the sun rather than the moon.
This is all very good but clear views would have been important so it is disconcerting that trees were discovered in the Avenue last year!
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Care to comment?
There is a green hill far away,
Without a city wall,
Where the dear Lord was crucified,
Who died to save us all.
This was my favourite hymn as a child, and expresses eloquently and beautifully the essentials of the Christian faith.
But is it true? From my more recent reading, it would appear that perhaps not even one in a million Christians fully understand the reasons why Jesus was crucified. Many encrustations have been added over the years, and like onion layers, they obscure the core truth at the centre.
We have briefly touched upon this matter in an earlier discussion, and so I know that it is not addressed in your book. I am very much looking forward to reading your book, but now that you are in the swing of revealing new and unexpected aspects, maybe you have in mind to write a sequel. I hope that you will do. May I suggest “The Missing [Faith /Religion / Beliefs] of Jesus” as a title.
Another aspect that very much puzzles me, is where did the idea of drinking sacrificial blood come from? For traditional Judaism, the very concept of drinking blood is horrifying, even symbolically as a cup of wine. I would be interested to know whether you have addressed the root origins of this idea in your forthcoming book, although it probably is outside its scope.
I do very much wish for peace in the world, but we are beset on all sides by propaganda and misinformation. (I never did believe the 45 minute claim). Cutting through to the truth is hard work, and it is clear to me that you are on an important trail. We cannot hope for a genuine peace if we, or those in significant leardership positions are dishonest. We must face the truth, even if doing so is uncomfortable, not politically correct, or increasingly is legislated against.
Of course, your book will be variously lambasted, vilified, deliberately ignored, and seen as a threat. Would you expect otherwise? However, I do believe that it will also open the eyes of many, and as such will be of great assistance to the quest for a genuine and lasting peace in the world of today.