At Last a Post: Metaphors in Megaliths.

Wow! back on line! Have been having terrible problems with my computer, dear readers, but finally think they are solved. Also, have been writing in a journal by hand - so will share some of my musings. I have been thinking a great deal about spirituality and our ancient heritage. I have been studying such spiritual monuments as the Stone Henge in England, and the amazing dedication to spiritual ritual from our earliest human ancestors. before the discovery of metals, before written language, human beings were celebrating power greater than themselves, and creating rituals around concepts of life to death to life, using the sunrise to sunset metaphonr, and capturing the cycle through huge monuments such as the pyraminds in Mexico and South America, and the many stone circles in the British Isles, the Scandinavian countries and northern France.

(Yeah, I love lots of time on my hands! I know this is kind of heavy headed for a first post in so long, but it's really fascinating to explore!)

So on to Stonehenge. One reason this fascinates me is that apparently, my forebears came from the area of England where these huge stones stand - the Salisbury Plain. Pictures show these mighty slabs sitting in stark relief against the sky: some toppled over succeeding milenia, some missing, destroyed by ensuing generations. I've been reading a book on the history of excavation of Stonehenge - the structure was constructed over hundreds of years - between 2,500 BC and 1,600 BC! The researchers have concluded that the stones weere erected and placed to align with the rising sun, and it's movement across the Eastern Sky through the seasons. It may also be aligned with the phases of the Moon - they were non literate scientists who observed and registered what they saw as the movement of sun and moon across the sky, using this as a metaphor for life and death. These ancients celebrated equally important roles for men and women. In Avebury, another stone circle, some stones are perceived to be phallic pillars , while others are triangular, representing the female principal.

That we as humans have sought to understand and explain the relationship of our own human experience of mortality to the patterns of our solar system, our universe, is somehow awe inspiring, universal and personal. Last night was a full moon - I observed it on TV! We 'modern' humans think we understand the energy of the sun in physical terms, the reflected sunlight on the circulating moon. But still these celestial bodies provide metaphors for our own tiny sphere of existence, our own experience of mortality.

As we approach the winter solstice, that darkest day when sunlight hides from us, wrapping us in longer nights, I tend to musing about our human heritage of spirituality and search for meaning in the movement of the spheres. I am approaching a year since my diagnosis, a year of treatment- physical, psychological, spiritual. I won't be erecting megalith stone circles, but certainly seek the metaphors of meaning for this thing called our lives.

Hope a few of you are still out there!! xxSal