One of the most enduring mysteries are the ancient megalithic sites of Europe. In this video I look at the evidence to find out why these sites were built and what they were used for. The answer may come as a surprise.
They are some of the oldest and most advanced in the world, and include the iconic Stonehenge, which is among the most well-known. Thousands of them cover Europe – in the form of standing stones, dolmens, megalithic temples, and chambered mounds.
Why did ancient Europeans go to so much trouble to build these sites? Why so many? What were they used for? Were they just tombs or calendars as so many people think? Or do they have a far more profound meaning?
In this video I delve headlong into answering these questions. I piece together some of the key evidence, taking a look at:
- their acoustic properties
- folk traditions about them
- their design and astronomical alignments
- and how they compare to sites in other parts of the world
I then bring this together to put forward a new explanation as to why they were built.
Mark and I have come to this after 13 years of researching ancient sites across the globe, combined with decades of having out-of-body experiences. This has given us a unique perspective, which we think can totally change how people look at Europe’s ancient sites, and even enable people to use them as they had been by their builders.
We’ve called our theory about the purpose of Europe’s ancient sites, our Ancient Europe OBE Theory, and we discuss it in detail in our book The Spiritual Out-of-Body Experience.
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Thanks to Jon, Erik, and Jenny who did so much work to help produce this video. A special thanks to Lucia, who made some of the image collages and graphics, and to Julian who did some beautiful illustrations and animations – including the man chanting in the Hypogeum’s oracle room, and the Stonehenge, Newgrange, and Malta temple alignments. Thanks also to Vida and Justin who filmed the OBE footage.
It’s been quite a task to put it all together. Thank you to those of you who’ve supported us to make it possible.
Thank you Lara, Mark, and the team, for generously sharing your findings about the ancient European megalithic sites. In the past, before reading your research, I considered these sites little more than very old burial places. I’m particularly intrigued by the acoustic properties of underground chambers, and this is something I will explore personally by incorporating experimentation into my daily routine. Thank you again for continuing to inspire and for freely sharing your knowledge.
Another incredible video, filled with valuable content. The connection between these ancient megaliths and OBEs is now made even more obvious! And, the connection to these sites being burial chambers for kings/royalty who needed to return to heaven – but this being a remnant of a different purpose – made clear yet again!
More dots being joined – it makes even more sense now, that these places seem to be of greater spiritual significance (places to invoke esoteric focus and connect with higher dimensions) which matches the effort and diligence to build them with such accuracy. It is amazing how they would have such knowledge, how they would access it – perhaps these were secrets revealed to them during OBEs to higher dimensions, to help humanity connect and stay connected to the source using these sites/places; and also making them sacred spaces as well as places of “rite of passage”. Perhaps our humanity was once infiltrated and these sacred sites were either neglected, forgotten, damaged or destroyed, The work of Sam Osmanagich (Bosnian Pyramids) might be pointing to this.
From this video I was also reminded of the Mycenaean civilization, and how they had domed like structures to bury their kings in. I remember visiting this area many years ago and being told that the large domed structure was the kings burial chamber. It seemed odd to me at the time, but now I can hypothesise that it was an OBE megalith site and eventually a site for the king/royal to return to heaven. Here is a link to Wikipedia that explains it a bit more – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mycenaean_chamber_tomb
There is reference to a time when gods mingled with humanity too. Another puzzle in our history.
The point about certain frequencies being able to generate or strengthen spiritual OBEs in such megalith spaces is also connecting more dots. The purpose of the Barabar Caves (BAM series) comes to mind at this point as well as the study of Cymatics. I have become more interested in vibrations, frequencies and how they can influence our brain – alpha waves, delta waves, theta waves, etc. I have noticed with the increase of nnEMFs (discussed under a different thread), the ability to astral project has become harder as though those non-natural frequencies are interfering with a natural human ability to have astral experiences.
I too agree with being able to have a sensory deprivation space of my own, without the influence of the external forces to enable my inner focus and OBEs to continue unfolding. It would also be beneficial to have others with the same intention and focus gather for the same purpose in mind. Perhaps in the near future, this will be possible – but for now, our own individual efforts will have to do.
This is a beautiful video, made by those who appreciate beauty and possess love for our long lost world. The feeling I’m getting while watching this is that the people of that past had this focus on the internal expansion as opposed to today’s which is mostly outward, thus building kind of inward oriented structures, that directed and supported the inner growth.
Another feeling is that these structures stand as a memory trigger for those who can recognise and reconnect with its truths deep within one’s soul. As we have gone too far into the outworld, we have been completely disconnected with these memories and so desperately needed a guide and a source to bring us back, thanks to you ,Lara and Mark we are able to do so.
Nobody could have gone to such length to build so many mounds, dolmens and such if it wasn’t so valuable to them, which points out that they didn’t just think and theorised about those things but felt deep within their being the emanating light and love from the source, which then they were able to pour it out into the world.
Sacred passage mound visit.
I happened to be near Antequera two weeks ago and went to visit the Dolmen of Menga area for an afternoon. I’d looked into them previously, but that was some time ago, so with this spontaneous visit I felt I walked in quite ‘fresh’, just letting impressions come to me.
The first thing was the mountain in the distance. I read online that the Dolmen of Menga was built to align with it and the mountain’s shape is in the silhouette of a face. When I saw it in person it hit me how obviously this was the case and the presence of this ‘God’ moved me. How does that work? It reminded me exactly of the Chinese Feng Shui sacred landscaping science, utilising the natural landscape to become even more of a channel of divine manifestation. I think it’s been speculated more often to be a goddess but I didn’t feel that particularly, more like a male or general ‘god’.
The vibe in the valley area felt nice.
Picture of Menga exterior Valley and mountain. Vid of Menga interior and and a look out Lavender outside.
The passage mound right next to it is the cave/dolmen of Viera. Beautiful passageway with its smooth slabs. Video with little visual effect (by sliding my phone brightness :- ).)
A few minutes down in the valley is the Tumulus of El Romeral. The central chamber has a ‘beehive’ domed ceiling. Photo In it you notice this dense feeling (in a good way) as the walls completely absorb the sounds (like in a studio space), and along with the thick walls of the cairn, and the coolness – it creates an environment of stillness that makes you get to that powerful silence within and just anchor yourself in that state. It seemed to me highly probable that thought and engineering went into here to create certain effects for people inside.
Vadim’s comment about making the effort also made me think.. as something that might be a good idea for a practice (I don’t think something like it is mentioned specifically in the book) to do a visualization of being in the dark mound site, those ideal conditions, resonance, then imagining the portal/passage out into the light.
That face is very striking, especially in the video where it appears through the passageway. It would be pretty spectacular to watch the sun rise over it on the summer solstice, it fits very well with the “crowning” symbolism at the summer solstice, there’s an image of it here: https://www.visitcostadelsol.com/malaga-costa-del-sol/culture-and-museums/monuments-and-areas-of-tourist-interest/the-menga-dolmen-p28431
These figures… it is quite a mystery how they work. There are many, many in Peru (and elsewhere), some of unbelievable size, some smaller, but like at Menga they were noted and highlighted in the sacred landscape.
Awesome job on seeing it! The way you approached this site, sites will unlock and reveal their secrets. The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that it’s the bridging of right and left brain, heart and mind, and sustaining that while observing, like the god-an symbol. I try to remind myself that it’s not just for examining sites, but that I can use it for navigating everyday life more easily.
I love this, the beauty and depth of it, and the thought and care that very evidently went into its planning and execution.
It made me think about the fact that most ancient Thracian sites here that I know of seem to be in the open air, apart from some caves, but then again there are so many more and new ones are being uncovered all the time. Also there are very many different types of sites. Then it occurred to me that there is a region with a lot of (passage) mounds (the Valley of the Thracian Kings). Looking in Wikipedia it says 1,500 mounds with only 300 studied. It seems though that most were (made into?) burial chambers, some very rich, so they are obviously well guarded and many if not most are closed to the public (apart from tickets and restricted visiting hours). There is actually what looks like an unstudied mound close to our house and once when a friend was taking a walk there he was questioned by forest guards who thought he was there for treasure digging.
In the south there is a womb cave aligned to the winter solstice midday sun (Tangarduk Kaya) that has the ceiling of its central part intentionally shaped so that there is a resonance. It was evident that it responded only to a specific note and to a low male voice. Chanting in there was really nice and it would be great to know if it resonates at a particular frequency.
Your video has inspired some thought about where and how this could be attempted ;)
Thanks very much for your feedback and appreciation!
I wanted to get your thoughts on something that is becoming apparent to me.
It seems that people in the US at least, aren’t particularly aware of ancient sites in Europe. If I search “megalithic structures…” the autosuggest in YouTube brings up around 30 ways to finish my phrase by ending it with places like Montana, India, Peru, China, Japan, Russia, and even New Zealand and Siberia. But nothing in Europe! I search again for “megalithic sites…” and same thing. Even “stone circles” doesn’t bring up anything in Europe! Only “standing stones” with one suggestion in Scotland.
It made me wonder if there is much consciousness about ancient sites in Europe even among pagans. I realized that come to think of it, often at solstice celebrations at sites like Stonehenge, the crowd seems mostly to be modern Wicca and New Age (although I know at Stonehenge there are druid groups that attend). Where are the Celtic and Norse pagans at these ancient sites? Is it because they think they are old tombs, or don’t know what they’re for? Even people in the New Age go to these sites for things like their “spiritual energy.”
Does anyone know why the ancient sites of Europe seem to be missing in the consciousness of pagans and people interested in ancient mysteries? Or maybe I have it wrong?
Lara these are such good questions… I have some thoughts and experiences to share, sorry if this is too long and rambling, hopefully there are answers in there!
I think one of the biggest aspects is being considerate and respectful. Often the people who would most benefit from using the sites are also the least likely to “trespass”. For example, climbing Silbury hill is forbidden. At Stonehenge, there’s this feeling that you’re not supposed to be in there in the middle, as there’s official walkways, rules against touching the stones, fences and corded off perimeters (I was there during the Covid lockdowns, so there were also about 20 guards, as well), the result being that in the inner circle you had the most rebelious and “grungy” version of pagans (including me), and the druids met in a circle outside of the stones, respecting the authority and rules that were there. I know of pagans that would meet in sacred groves nearby, and I found evidence of ceremonial fires on top of mounds in the area as well. I lean into following my heart when I’m at these sites, and it tends to lead me to ending up on the “wrong side” of the rope 🫢 I think Stonehenge has “star power” that attracts people for the wrong reasons, making it kind of like disneyland, and making ceremonies less possible. I feel that many sites that have become attractions suffer this fate 😕
I observed the equinox sunrise at West Kennet Longbarrow, and there met a group of about 20 pagans. They identified as pagans, but are maybe more new-agey than what you’re thinking, definitely not traditional pagan types (like norse or celtic). They had camped out at the site overnight, and one reported having a dream experience where the ground under the barrow was teaming with snakes, which I thought was pretty interesting. They clearly came with the intention of incubating dream experiences, though I didn’t know that term at the time. They were very respectful and coordinated a beautiful chanting session in the chamber, followed by silence where we each had a few moments to connect with the rising sun from within the interior chamber, and we shared some vegan snacks they brought afterwards. These people were more respectful and “authentic” than the folks I encountered in Stonehenge.
I believe that people who use the sites as sacred places do it somewhat secretively like this, and it’s not widely advertised because it’s unclear whether it would be a good result if many more people showed up. I doubt many people would film these experiences, precisely because they’re sacred, and also because they may not be technically allowed to be there. On another visit to West Kennet there was a spiral of cornmeal inside the barrow chamber, and on the Isle of Wight, I found some dolls made of wheat chaff that were left sitting on a pair of standing stones. I believe there are more folksy beliefs that are still practiced as well, such as touching particular stones for fertility, or crawling through the stone men-an-tol to be cured of disease.
Averbury is a very special place because it’s very open and approachable, and anyone is free to wander the landscape at any time. The town of Averbury (inside the circle), at the time I was there, was home to a druid, a witch, a faery faith practitioner, and a christian pastor, all of whom would collaborate on holidays like the solstices and easter, which was really very touching. Averbury seems to pull people to it in a unique way… They hold a number of rituals there, including large gatherings for the solstices and equinoxes. I happened to be there when there was a full-moon ceremony lead by the witch, it was very beautiful. So definitely having permission to use the site enables things to be done more publicly, and Averbury is also a place that has many people looking after it, so it felt safe to do so. I’m sure things could even be coordinated in advance. At the summer solstice, people come in vans and camp nearby, it’s apparently quite a large gathering. The witch told me a beautiful story of a young man that came to the solstice party and was totally drunk, and asked him why people were standing around there, so he explained about the solstice sunrise, and the drunk guy yelled at all his friends that they had to stay up and watch the sunrise. When the morning came around, they were all waiting for the sunrise patiently, and the following year they came back, with a more serious attitude. Now apparently he’s been coming for decades and even brings his kids. At the car camp, I met a self-proclaimed guardian of Averbury; he was wiry with a bald head, beard, kilt, and no shirt. He was sweet and believed he was performing a sacred duty, which I don’t doubt.
I met some druids, and it seems they tend to meet up in private groves (an advantage to being a druid 🧙🏻♂️) People with private places in nature will host gatherings, and sometimes they will make pilgramages to sacred rings, sites, leigh lines, etc… When the circumstances are favorable and things can be done in a respectful way, they will have ceremonies at lesser-known sites like Stanton Drew.
Glastonbury Tor is another place that has regular gatherings. On pretty much any evening sunset you’re likely to encounter a kirtan group or a digerdidoo or drum circle. I observed the soltice sunset there, and there was a large group gathered to watch, and everyone then went 30 paces to the other side and watched the full moon rise, that was really magical… There you had a combination of individual people, spontaneous groups, and groups that had come there together. Admittedly it was mostly new age folk.
There are many sacred springs and trees throughout england, and they’re easy to identify because you’ll see hundreds of little ribbons and prayers tied to them. There are also rumors of sacred yew trees in church cemeteries, though I never looked for those as I don’t like cemeteries. Although I never saw other people there, obviously many people had been through these sacred places with spiritual intent.
Finally, there are a number of retreat centers and events that incorporate Celtic or other spiritual elements, some great, and some mixed. I visited a beautiful little celtic retreat in Wales that had a stone circle, a triple-spiral labyrinth, and authentic celtic house, and a great library. It had at times been a meeting place between indigenous European (celtic) and North American groups. On another occasion, I went to a large festival which had some beautiful music, chanting, and ceremonies, but regrettably had a heavy focus on psychadelics and “spiritual trance music”, which honestly just sounded like a rave. Thousands of people had tents, and there were lights strung up around the event, creating a beautiful atmosphere, and there were a bunch of charming shops and food stalls…. A druid gave a talk there, and a singer reviving folk songs, community organizers, and herbalists. This was on a private estate that hosted this and other events, probably also a retreat center of sorts.
So my experience in England is that there’s quite a lot of activity, and sacred sites are often used, even when it’s not necessarily allowed. I think the sites, and particularly the gatherings are largely kept secret, in part at least to protect the sites, and in part just because it feels unnatural to be very public about them. Sometimes people seemed to know what to do, like observing the sunrise or tying prayers at springs, and others they kind of just winged it, singing kirtan or holding drum circles. I think purposeful gatherings to accomplish specific aims would be well-received, although just being there as a sincere participant added a lot in itself. Even with the druids, there was a sense of… like a group performance rather than trying to accomplish something, which is probably quite normal now that I think about it. I think there are probably not that many true pagans, in the sense of people who believe in honoring the gods, and atheism may be a major culprit.
The Youtube algorithm and popular perception is kind of another thing entirely. I would guess that wide-scale awareness of sacred sites in the US is largely driven by the more “popular” alternative authors and investigators, such as Graham Hancock and Jimmy Corsetti, both of whom were on the Joe Rogan Experience, and both of whom have discussed Gobleki Tepe as well as sites with mysterious hallmarks such as nubs, metal anchors, and polygonal masonry. Ancient Aliens is another driving force. In my opinion us Americans are hungry for mystery, and tired of getting fed the same old boring stories that we instinctively feel don’t tell the whole story. Many European structures seem more boring, as it’s just about within known history, and as you said, they are “known” to just be old tombs and little more than a pile of rocks. At least Stonehenge is made of impressively sized stones, and everyone has heard of one weird story or another because of how much it’s been studied.
FInally, I would say that my perception of England is that there’s a much more natural connection to sacred landscape than there is in the US, at least for people like me. I did find at a couple native american sites evidence that native people still use them ceremonially, leaving prayer bundles for example. There is this sense however that one needs permission of the native people, and probably that could be done in a very positive way to positive effect. I spoke to a native american man who was very interested to hear that I have my own “ancestral roots” to draw on, and that there’s a lot of common ground between the traditional beliefs of Europeans and Native Americans. He was accostumed to Americans trying to take native teachings for themselves, something he didn’t much care for. In all cases, anyone who’s trying to practice something like paganism is trying to find something in the past with very limited information to draw on, so practical goals like you’ve raised around OBEs and dream incubation provide incredible direcitonality and life to the intention of reviving something like this.
Great portrayal of the sacred-site and general pagan situation here Julian! It’s so interesting to hear a review of the UK’s ‘scene’ from an American’s perspective and how it differs. It makes me really kick myself to take more advantage of what’s so easily accessible here, as it’s definately the smaller, lesser-known sites that allow for more intimate experiences. From my experience, lots of people would go somewhere special for the summer solstice in particular as a teenager, but often just to party. I really liked your description of the drunk man sobering up, it seems like young people especially are often pulled unconsciously to these places. Unfortunatly they’re often drunk or high and it can be really hard when you’re older and sober not to be annoyed or judgemental or just sad for the situation. But I do think under all the hormonal and egoistic mess there’s something pure they’re answering, and those experiences can actually be formative and life-changing. My first messy solstices at Stonehenge were!
That was my impression as well, that there’s something genuine within the more rebellious nature of the people in the center of Stonehenge. Also, during lockdowns, there was this big England/Italy soccer game, and everybody was out at the pubs watching it, there’s not a force in the world that could have made them stay home that night, and somehow I find that beautiful, like a latent spiritual potential, the warrior celts!
Enjoyed reading this Julian. Thanks!
Lara, I can only comment on the two European cultures I know and it may not be worth much!
There is not much to say of Finnish pagans. The revival is mainly about folk customs or holidays and can be blended in with things like wicca and new age. Using sacred megalithic sites either at home or abroad is practically an unknown concept as we would worship in sacred groves or had sacred trees and most were eradicated by the church too long ago to feel much connection to it anymore. Reviving an ancient religion and practicing it is probably foreign to most, along with visiting ancient sacred sites for spiritual purposes. At least this would be very private and not something to talk about, for fear of ridicule.
In Bulgaria, also as Julian mentioned, a few sacred sites are used locally according to folk beliefs, like tying ribbons or crawling through stone passages for healing, but the folk connection to them is mostly severed. There is such a wealth of ancient Thracian sites, some more or less known within the country, and it is popular to visit them. Many do it purely for tourism, or for a bit of exercise in nature on the weekend, but many show their respect for them by leaving offerings or small orthodox icons, which I think shows that people feel and respect the spirituality in them in their own way. The ethnic revival group Threskeia still do ceremonies at a few regular sites, and I’ve seen signs of private ceremonies like crushed grapes in stone vessels or offerings of fruit in fire, and people meditating alone. There is a strong spiritual connection in Bulgaria and many people are really into their native culture and history, but I think the spiritual interest is mostly funneled into the teachings of local modern mystics like notably Petar Deunov (an esoteric Christian mystic) from the first half of the 20th century. In comparison, Threskeia for example is very small, or people reviving a purely Thracian ancient religion. But it is wonderful to see how the spiritual connection and interest is alive and natural in many people, compared to how things generally are in the west like Finland.
I don’t know, it seems to be that main search engines do work within the “agenda” and might be deliberately programmed to affect people’s search.
When I was in Stonehenge last time, the day was very cold and still many people gathered, Glastonbury has many little shops carrying the vibe of the mystery, in Greece I could barely take a good picture of Mycenae megalithic structure because it was so crowded and then crowds gather in Greek sacred sites famous for sunset watching. You know that there are many dolmens in the European part of Russia, one of them got destroyed by water and was reconstructed in the main historical Russian museum right in the heart of Moscow. This is the most interesting thing I saw in that museum and we kept talking with other visitors about dolmen mysteries for a long time, everyone was just sincerely amazed. I used to have an article about a Celtic type of site in the US and a number of people contacted me to ask for the directions, as it is kind of secret.
From my experience, there is a lot of interest, but maybe what I say is subjective and doesn’t reflect a big picture.
Hi Lara,
Maybe part of the answer lies in the not knowing of: ‘How does one even use an ancient site?’
What do I do there? How do I connect my
personal practice to it?
I’ve seen lots of people visit with a genuine interest in the mysterious, but don’t know what to do.
I’ve seen people go there but to do their own thing really with energies unconnected to the more original intentions.
In terms of the demographic and activities I’ve observed lots of things, quite similar to Julian’s informative (and some funny) anecdotes.
Mmh the popular and more well-known places are often managed. Like how Newgrange in the Boyne valley is more like a conveyor belt experience, a tourist attraction basically. Stonehenge similar.
Management can be well done and I understand its need. But it caters to a tourist/archaeologic interest, not as a place that can be used for practice or worship.
Some smaller activities, like what I saw at Ales Stenar, you wouldn’t really find reproduced online, or found on YouTube unless using specfic search terms.
Another question and one I don’t personally have a good view of (because I don’t follow the YouTube community leaders or anything) how many pagans are there that have a dedicated practice, of those – are there many groups (or is it more an individual thing) and organised in-person events, of those who know of the deeper & of the practical nature of sacred monuments.
Maybe there’s many factors in the answer to the question. For example (if even known about in the first place) the monuments are also regarded as basically disconnected from each other.
How to make a change in the awareness of them and their use is another question too.
From a North American point of view, I speculate that the old religion is not practiced as it would if there were sacred megalithic structures that would be easily accessible, as it is for many Europeans and other cultures with abundant sites.
I think those with European roots specifically don’t immediately associate the ancient sites in North/Central America, as a place for them to reconnect to their own spirituality/ journey/ ancient lore & tradition for them to build their faith around visiting them. In North America, it feels like there is a lot of lost knowledge on how to retrace and rekindle the practice of spiritual paganism, since much depends on the accessibility of what remains mostly being written sources, readings, mythology and folklore rather than travel to places abroad.
Otherwise, the traditional return to one’s roots perhaps remains in living a more quiet and traditional lifestyle, in nature and within the preservation of older customs within the family and household. I have watched a few pagan/Norse/Celtic/Slavic/Druid podcasts where living self-sustainably, and being in nature, growing one’s own food/natural remedies etc.. is believed to be big part of upholding one’s ancient cultural tradition. The ceremonial/religious part is often in the safety/privacy of one’s own home/backyard, or otherwise in other more private nature settings when with more people. From reading and looking into how modern pagans practice today, the spirituality thrives in the intimacy and wonder of being amid the elements of nature. Visiting an ancient site, specifically one in Europe, may be a special treat. Factors against this would be the high cost – as traveling cross-continentally can be financially challenging for average North Americans. From what I can tell, in North America compared to many Europeans who for instance have the whole month of August off, people work more, and travel less (unless its somewhere sunny!), with often only 10 days (including doctor’s appointments) of holiday allowance most employers permit if they work full time, which is slowly growing.
But it seems individuals adapt to what they have, and perhaps take on a more introverted/intimate approach to their reconnection, and strengthen their faith with what is at hand and makes the most sense on a surface level, such as being in nature.
As Julian mentioned, the rise of popularity of ancient sites is largely due to big budget documentary series, and best-selling authors that demystify ancient history, which has been basically annihilated from family heritage and the education system. My Polish parents for example, didn’t even know there were ancient spiritual sites in Poland. I have visited several ancient sites around the world, but the mound site in Odry Poland, was one of the most impactful, like stepping into another dimension. I would definitely return there to explore dream incubation and spiritual out of body experiences.
Wow, thank you for sharing about those stone circles in Poland Olga. They indeed sound like a magical place, with even some ice-age specimen being preserved there! ❄️ It is also interesting how the logo of the Pomorskie/Pomerania region on the top of this article about the site (https://pomorskie.travel/en/punkty-poi/the-kamienne-kregi-reserve-in-odry/) looks exactly like the keyhole/pyramid with sun shape we have been talking about here! 😃
Now looking a bit more into this, i am learning how many megalithic places Poland actually has! Long barrows, burial chambers, etc., its amazing! Here is a link to some barrows with more places on the bottom of the page:
https://paganplaces.com/places/wietrzychowice-long-barrows/
And more Pomeranian barrows:
https://nexusnewsfeed.com/article/ancient-mysteries/polish-pyramids-massive-megalithic-tombs-discovered-in-western-pomerania-poland/
Hi Lucia, yes, Poland has so many interesting sites, many of which have solar and stellar alignments with people attending on the solstices and equinoxes. They seem insignificant and small in size compared to more famous places, but like I said, the experience was powerful. Here is a good intro/overview to many of these places and some of the mystical properties they refer to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD9rGzfxUzc&t=19s
Apparently loads of people, go to them specifically for healing purposes. Interestingly, the site I mentioned at Odry, some people felt the energy was so high, they lost consciousness momentarily, which makes me all the more curious to return there and explore the sites’ impact/influence on OBEs. (Maybe with someone standing by overlooking the experience).
Looking closely at the quality of some of these simple stone circles and mounds, I also wonder how possible it is to replicate and enhance similar structures to recreate spiritual spaces of our own. For instance, having a better understanding of the material such as quartz and other mineral resources and somehow implementing or infusing them with sound frequency, or looking into the ability of absorption of magnetic fields, or solar/stellar energy they are able to sustain.
Although there is evidence of ceremonies and public events reviving the old Slavic ways in areas like Mount Ślęża, a sacred pagan mountain in Sobótka, Poland, its definitely not as widespread as the media-covered events in the UK… I believe the Slavic pagans in Poland organize themselves however they can, and do not seek the limelight, or have very large organized ceremonies to clearly document/promote their religious activities. The Catholic church/mentality still has a bit of a cultural grip, probably on the media too, so perhaps much of the pagan growth is unrecorded and may be happening in private, or otherwise still to uncover.
Hopefully, with this wonderful book, and videos like this one, more and more people will know how these sites can be used, and what they were intended, and built for. Like Karim brought up, if people know how to interact with these sites for their own spiritual practice, I imagine this will greatly increase and shape the quality of visits to many ancient sites around the world dominated by tourists and day hikes.
Hi Lara,
What an interesting discovery… I would also think that these sites would be mostly visited by the pagans (or people who feel association with paganism, or call themselves like that). Like Laura, I can only speak what little I know about the situation in Slovakia, where, like in many other Slavic countries, the emphasis of the native spirituality has traditionally been on being in nature, with the rituals taking place near sacred rivers, sacred groves, or sacred mountains (like Polana, where the biggest yearly celebrations of the summer solstice take place in Slovakia), rather than at the man-made sacred sites.
This is understandable, especially since not many visible sacred sites remain from the ancient times there… There is many neolithic circular earthworks in Slovakia (called “rondels”), which are becoming more known thanks to some decent academic research regarding these structures, including astronomical alignments and discussions about their potential use, which is for now considered “astronomical and ritual”. A good simple article of this kind can be found here, with some nice images: https://lumyd.eu/article/najpozoruhodnejsie-rondely-slovenska-velkolepe-praveke-monumenty-medzi-moravou-a-dunajom/24
The celebrations at these structures are not happening, as not much of them has been left and many are only visible from the aerial perspective, even though if they could be reconstructed, like Goseck circle for example, the celebrations could possibly be happening in them, even though not sure how effective would that be acoustic-wise. :-)
There are several revival groups in Slovakia, with the biggest one started by the most famous revivalist of the native Slavic traditions in Slovakia, who calls himself Ziarislav (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BDiarislav), meaning “the one who celebrates the Light”, who has been tirelessly working on this revival since the communism collapsed in Slovakia back in 1989. Interestingly, I found out that even though traditionally, it has been the summer solstice that has been celebrated by these revival groups, now even the Winter solstice is celebrated as a birth of the new sun. Žiarislav says that the Sun is the “spiritual centre of our native religion” and that it has been repressed for a long time. He also says that it was from the fire of the Sun that all was created, according to an old Slavic myth, and has even come up with some improvised practices of connecting to the Sun. So I think he is sincerely trying to tap into the origin of the ancient Slavic paganism, even though he, like many, does not like the word “pagan” (“pohan” in Slovak), as he says it is the name that those who despised the native slavic spirituality came up with, since its verb form “pohaniť” means “to disgrace” or “to stain”, and so these people prefer to call themselves different names, including “vedomec”, which has the word root in the Sanskrit “veda”, meaning knowledge, or just simply “a practitioner of the native religion”.
I can’t say I “know” why that’s the case, but from what I understand, modernity often obscures the meaning and significance of ancient sites. They tend to be treated more as tourist attractions than as places of deeper cultural or historical importance.
Pagans often seem more inclined to “be left alone”, so to speak. They tend to prefer their small, close-knit communities and keep their practices and traditions more private.
For these (and other) reasons, not sure if the YouTube search engine is a very accurate indicator of what pagans are really looking for. Searching in the UK’s YouTube, for example, I get Japan. China, Russia, Montana and then England and Scotland. Difficult to believe that most English pagans are more interested in Japan’s sites more than in England’s.
I also wonder if the term ‘megalithic’ is more common among people with more interest in the academic aspect of archaeology and less in the pagan or alternative history of these sites.
Hi Lara and Everyone,
I’ll share my experience here, in case it helps.
I find that information is ‘edited’ according to our location (sorry if this sounds a bit ‘out there’ or controversial). I’ve had friends overseas send me links to information that I can’t access. I’ve also had another effect play out. I might be looking at a webpage and someone overseas is looking at the same webpage but with different content. I would hazard a guess to say this is a form of ‘editing’ or restricting access to certain information so that we can’t join those dots so well.
Thank you so much for bringing this knowledge that feels so right back into the world. Of course there are always more layers to discover, but at the same this knowledge has come such a distance and the core is starting to have a feeling of completeness, which starts to open the way for a future of practice, doing and using.
Really moving info for me.
The video, production-wise, is so well done of course, seemless blending from one shot to the next.
More to say, soon. But I enjoyed watching it carefully so much.🙏🏼
Another brilliant video. Thank you Lara and all involved.
It seems there is so much untapped potential waiting to be realised by exploring and understanding how resonances can augment OBEs, and how we can utilise them as ancient people did at these sites.
I find it amazing that there is research showing these places can actually alter brain function, and shift the brain from left hemisphere dominance to right hemisphere dominance. Given how left hemisphere dominant western civilisation has become (I’ve come across others arguing this accounts for the greater decline of spirituality in Western countries compared to elsewhere) we could really use that sort of help in our culture right now, which we used to have but have lost.
Personally, I wouldn’t mind a nearby chamber where I could turbocharge my right hemisphere after spending a day on a computer locked in the left hemisphere of my brain!
Obviously getting to an ancient site is ideal, but for those who cannot make it to sites, or make it often, there must be other ways to recreate the experience on some level using modern tech. By that I mean, optimal chants we could listen to, perhaps with those sleep headband/mask headphones that cover your eyes, recreating a sensory deprivation experience with modern technology. I know you mentioned in the book that some have tried listening to frequencies to induce OBEs to some extent, but these chants/sounds could be more overtly spiritual, designed to foster “the spiritual out of body experience” by having not just the resonance, but the direct relevance to the Religion of the Sun in the words and meaning.
In any case, I hope that this knowledge you and Mark are bringing back will in time lead not just to the revival of the use of these sites, but also creative new ways to bring appropriate sounds/resonances/chants accessibly into people’s lives en masse, to bring much, much more people more in touch with spirituality again via OBEs and lucid dreams.
We really need a “mind shift” in our materialistic society and perhaps, in time, this knowledge could be the catalyst that enables this in lots of different ways, opening up portals old and new to connect with the spiritual.
Yes – that they built huge megalithic chambers that were able to resonate at specific frequencies which have been scientifically found to alter brain function in a way that could potentially induce mystical experiences is nothing short of incredible.
A couple of points from this stand out to me:
* how on earth did they know about that particular frequency and its effects?
* how were they they able to build something that created it and know that it worked?
* is this why they went to such trouble to use such huge stones?
I totally agree – recreating music and/or environments that replicate these frequencies in a way that’s meaningfully connected to the ancient religion of the builders has a lot of potential.
It seems though that this is yet another golden treasure trove of information that nobody knows to even know about!
I agree Matthew about more “spiritual tech devices” being available en masse… In this time and age, where technology is being used for all kinds of nefarious purposes, it would be great if for once, the technology was used to bring many people closer to the spiritual… In the past, I was avoiding all the “brainwave generators” and “binaural beats” and the like, as I thought why to be dependent on these kinds of things even if they worked, as I thought that it was better to train myself to reach the appropriate inner state for astral projection, meditation, etc. rather than relying on technology. But now I am starting to think that having an extra help available sometimes could be beneficial, as it could possibly increase the frequency of the spiritual experiences, which I think every one of us could use… But of course, I would have to try it at first, to see if it would work as imagined… Living somewhere close to a chamber like this, which would be only used by serious adepts would be best of course! 🌞
I’d love to have my own sensory deprivation tank at home…
Yes, it is very mysterious how they knew how to do this.
Maybe the knowledge was passed down via Egypt, and ultimately traces back to the founders of the ancient religion of the Sun as you suggested Lara, who would have had more advanced technology.
Then, as the knowledge was passed down over time, perhaps the people remembered how to build the chambers and mounds a certain traditional way, within certain specifications using large stone, but after many, many centuries perhaps did not understand how or why it technically works in a scientific sense anymore. It perhaps became religious practice to build the sites a certain way, and this belief was then is reinforced by the spiritual experiences people continued to have in such places.
A bit like how traditional medicine offers remedies via certain herbs, but usually does not explain the specific chemical components and inner biological mechanisms that cause it to work—they just know that it works, or have a more mystical explanation for why a traditional remedy works. Then modern scientists come along and analyses the components and can explain how it works in scientific terms: the bio active constituents and their mechanism of action. But people didn’t need to know that to understand that a certain remedy was useful for certain things, and pass that on.
I think it might be something like that with the chambers and the frequencies. It became a tradition that was passed on, even if the origins were forgotten. Until eventually even the surviving tradition was lost too.
If we are to revive this kind of knowledge, I suppose we will need to learn how to measure frequencies using appropriate technology, and then experiment with certain chants in certain places to measure the effects. That would be fun! Then perhaps we can reverse engineer the optimum design for OBEs so if people ever want to attempt to rebuild one of these at smaller scale, we could provide the optimised blueprints.
Lucia – I agree the traditional way would be best. But I suppose I was thinking of creating something more musical, something like Gregorian chants, but for the Religion of the Sun, that would produce those frequencies in the chambers, but would still be spiritually uplifting to listen to on headphones, and might even still produce those frequencies like those other modern options you mention. The difference is these would be meaningful spiritual chants in their own right. In any case, apart from being uplifting and inspiring, listening to them this way would be a good way to learn them, to be able to chant them for real in chamber one day!
Anyway, all of this is just a dream at this point, but one day, who knows…
This is another excellent and informative video. Thanks Lara and all who have been involved in its making! The images and video sequences are very creative again.
The topic covers newer approaches to looking at these ancient sites, which further highlight their spiritual relevance.
I wondered something around 5.45 minutes into the video, where it’s mentioned that petroglyphs in and outside of some of the chambers studied had characteristics of the chambers’ acoustic properties.
My thoughts went to cymatics, where a visual representation of an audio frequency can be made. Looking at the spiral motifs, it’s possible this may be the case and I wonder if this has been researched across other sites.
If so, it would be extraordinary, considering cymatics is a recent field of research. But I’m reminded of some of the mind-boggling discoveries related to the Turin Shroud and the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which were also only observable with more recent technology.
What a wonderful addition to the content of the book! The video provokes thoughts, shares knowledge, and inspires to have those type of heavenly experiences on your own.
How great it could be if the leaders of our modern world would have to pass through some type of initiatory OBEs… how different everything would be, if the external responsibility will match inner spiritual capacities.
Also to mention, that if you can’t do a practice inside the sacred site itself, do it next to it, if you can’t do a proper practice next to it, do it in your hotel nearby the night after. Seeing your efforts, within your limitations, the Divine can help you, and ultimately you are the portal, you are the key, you are the one to walk through it, or to be transported in some other way.
I wholeheartedly agree with you Vadim, about the effort and have experienced it that way too. Often with much learning, coincidences and astral experiences in the whole of the investigation time into a sacred site, not limited to the moment of physical visit only.
Thank you Lara and the team for another well researched and presented video. What I am discovering is that there is a vast array of ancient sites that simply can’t be explained with modern teachings. It’s like there is an effort to conceal what the truth is when it comes to megalithic sites.
Yet another stellar video, Lara. Thanks to you, the team, and the contributors for putting this together!
Your presentation is so well-researched and the evidence is very compelling. It makes me yearn for those “simpler” times when, arguable, technology was much better. Who cares about iPhones if you can do a spiritual practice in an ancient mound and visit heaven! That Hypogeum sounds so incredible.
You mentioned that some of the ancient European sites might still be usable today. It would be wonderful to visit one of those sites and use it for its originally intended purpose. Very exciting to think about what could happen if this knowledge you and Mark are uncovering becomes more widely understood/accepted.
What an amazing and inspiring presentation 😃
A big thank you to everyone ✨
Another well-made presentation! Glad to see your videos getting better with every upload! This video is really insightful at looking into the spiritual practices of pre-Christian Europe. Looks like a forgotten part of Western history which has being left out of explanation by many mainstream historians has been reexplored! Also speaking of the tombs of rulers I once came an image of Emperor Nintoku’s tomb in Japan (don’t remember if I’ve mentioned this before),which has an interesting shape of a keyhole. One explanation I found states that the keyhole-like shape is likely a representation of a rising sun shining on top of a mountain, which is an interesting explanation. Also Emperor Nintoku’s tomb is one of many burial sites in Japan known as kofun, and there is a little introduction about them here, https://www.dannywithlove.com/blog/locked-history-japan-keyhole-tombs I wonder if anyone has looked into the kofun tombs in Japan and their potential significance, since it seems like there is something to them. Kofun tombs also appear to have some specific orientations similar to structures found in other parts of the world like Europe, https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/14/2/377#:~:text=Therefore%2C%20the%20vast%20majority%20of,tombs%20of%20Europe%20%5B22%5D). One example being that many tombs of this kind in Japan, including Nintoku’s tomb, are oriented in a way that they align with the rising sun, with the entrance often facing east. However, due to restricted access to the tomb of the emperors, there is a limited amount of research that can be done on these sites. I think there maybe something to the Japanese Imperial Family, from the fact that they had been working with esoteric stuffs for centuries, such as with the case of Onmyodo. But still a lot of the details regarding what they do are kept secret and not available to the public even to this very day.
Another video I’d like to share on the topic of kofun, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsUKUNiEH9o The round mound appeared at the first part of the video looks really similar to some of the ones found in Europe to me.
Hi Emily,
Thank you for bringing our attention to these kofuns! I have come across them before, but your post inspired me to look into them a bit again, and it does seem like a Japanese equivalent of the European mounds to me.
The video you shared on the Nagano kofuns was very nice, that 244 kofun definitely reminds me of the European cairns! Its also interesting what he mentioned about how the bridges to the circular kofuns surrounded by the water ditches may have given them their final keyhole shape…
This topic of Japanese Kofuns definitely deserves closer attention/research I think, as there seem to be so many of them (the guy in the video said over 160 000 of them in the whole Japan? 😯). Wikipedia actually has quite a nice article on Kofuns, with connecting links. Here are just a few examples of kofuns that caught my attention for people to get inspired :
Ishibutai kofun (cca 6-th century) – the largest known megalithic structure in Japan with an impressive stone chamber:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishibutai_Kofun
Omuro kofun group – group of kofuns in Nagano city neighbourhood dated from 5 to 8-th centuries:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%8Cmuro_Kofun_group
Hokenoyama kofun – one of the earliest kofuns dated to 250 AD, with burial chambers and a wooden coffin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokenoyama_Kofun
Interestingly, in addition to the round and keyhole shape, some of these mounds used to be also square-shaped, surrounded by ditches, especially from Yaoi period (1000 BC – 300 AD), or even square with protruding corners. Here is a nice animation of different shapes of the kofun over the ages:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kofun#/media/File:YayoiFunkyubo.gif
Now while it is possible that many of these were just tombs of high officials without any spiritual purpose to them, I was wondering if the square shape could also be a symbol of Earth, as I have learned that in China for example, the square was a symbol of Earth, and circle of heaven (https://www.purplemotes.net/2010/12/05/earths-a-square-heaven-a-circle/)
Anyway, as I said, there seems to be lots to explore here!
Yes,Lucia. The kofuns of Japan are definitely worth looking into. From the information that I’ve found many of the kofuns built could be dated back to a time known as the Kofun Period (as the names suggest, that’s when many of these structures were being built. An interesting fact is that this was supposedly a time when many parts of Japan were forming organized societies, different from the primitive tribal communities that were very common at the very beginning of human existence, as accepted by mainstream scholars. This was also a time when the worship of Amaterasu became prominent. This also seems to correspond to the theory the Atwoods proposed which suggest that in many places where the religion of the sun was introduced during ancient times, so did the seeds of civilization. So I think there may indeed be connections between the kofuns that were built and the practices of sun worship. For the case with Emperor Nintoku’s tomb the enormous size of it indicates that it was apparently a big construction project of its time, it is said that it was built by “people during days, and gods during nights” And the exact whereabouts of the tomb is still unknown, since it was likely built during a time where there Japan wasn’t known to have a writing system prior to the introduction of Chinese writing system to the Japanese archipelago. So there is little to no documented information could be retrieved from that time period. But given the size of construction of the tomb of Nintoku and all the available information about the kofuns, I think it’s likely that they are parts of the missing puzzles in the world of ancient mysteries. Of course, more research on these subjects is needed.
Here’s also a short documentary by BBC on Emperor Nintoku’s tomb, https://youtu.be/ZkUIMRTEe-k?si=8y9dkBTjSo3UhLMr By interviewing Japanese researchers who work on this subject, I think this short documentary provides some really interesting insights on to the mysteries of Nintoku’s tomb. And I feel that the researchers being interviewed in the making of this short documentary are so generous and nice that just maybe they would be a little bit more open to outlandish ideas than many of those in the West
I don’t know if this could be true by any means, but the idea just came to my mind that could the heyhole shape as seen with Nintoku’s tomb be another representation of the sun on top of a world axis? Although it’s not clear what is a world axis in Japanese mythology, as there seems to be nothing in there that refers to an axis mundi of some sort. Although Shinto cosmology clearly divides the world in threefold fashion from top-down,with Takamagahara at the top, ruled by the sun goddess Amaterasu, Yomi at the bottom, and Nakatsukuni in the middle. Maybe there was a world axis of some sort, but that part of the story had been lost. I here just offer a small guess that since the part below the circle looks like a mountain, maybe the world axis in Japanese mythology used to be a mountain? But that wouldn’t explain why Yomi is also referred to as “the land of roots”… Anyway it looks like there could still be a lot to be discovered about ancient Japan, but due to the geographical, cultural and language barrier it may be hard to research this country. Since I have lost touch with my friend, now I don’t know any Japanese person who may be of some help:( I’ve been doing my best in many ways, and I just hope that someone who is more capable could offer more insights on ancient Japan.
I think you are really onto something Emily. The cosmic axis could be symbolized in a number of different ways – often as a tree, which is why the underworld realm of Yomi would be “the land of roots.” One of these ways was as a sacred mountain – in comparative religion this symbol is known as “the world mountain”. Examples of sacred axis mountains are Mount Meru in Hindu and Buddhist tradition, and Mount Kunlun in Chinese tradition. This mountain was often portrayed as a pyramid. What we discovered when writing the Spiritual Out-of-Body Experience book is that a lot of sites across the world were built as representations of the cosmic axis, which is why there are so many pyramids. It appears to have been the main template for building a sacred site in the Religion of the Sun. We have a section in the book that explains all about it.
At the top of the axis was always a symbol of the sun – representing the Spiritual Sun as the Source of all creation, seated upon the summit of heaven.
The Kofun could well be yet another expression of this theme – being a representation of the cosmic axis as the pyramidal world mountain with the Spiritual Sun at its peak.
The elite were often buried inside pyramids because it was believed these sites functioned as real places where one could travel the cosmic axis to reach heaven. That the emperors of Japan were buried inside Kofuns would then make perfect sense.
Hi Lara,
I think this may actually makes sense. There is evidence that these kofuns are orientated towards sunrise, as mentioned in one of the articles I’ve shared above, but also another one that I just found, https://phys.org/news/2022-01-secrets-ancient-japanese-tombs-revealed.html It seems like these alignments did not happen by mere chance and the Japanese did care about these things. Almost all these sources I listed above suggest in one way or another that the kofuns had something to do with sun worship, although the exact details about the inside of these tombs are hard to obtain due to the scarcity of written records and the prohibition of excavation by the Japanese officials today. I think there is something to the kofuns indeed. This is definitely something that deserves more research by all means.
I think the research done by a group of from the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy is really interesting. As they seem to reveal that the kofuns are indeed aligned to sunrise. I think maybe that could be a direction to look into regarding unraveling mysteries of the kofuns? It’s hard to know for sure from historical records what exactly did the people during those time periods in Japan believed, but it seems like they likely believed in similar things to the other traditions of the religion of the sun around the world. Maybe the Japanese believed that there was a gateway to the heavenly realm near the rising sun? Since the kofuns seem to be aligned to it, and the Married Couple Rocks at Futamiokitama Shrine in Ise, Japan(the shrine dedicated to Amaterasu is also located in Ise btw) that is aligned to summer solstice sunrise has a small torii on it which signifies that there is a transition from the mundane world to the realms of the sacred there. Given these clues I guess that is what the ancient Japanese people may have believed. That they believed there was some kind of pathway towards the realm of the gods somewhere near the rising sun. This would explain some of the alignments observed here.
More on the research done by the team from the Polytechnic University of Milan,
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-10423937/amp/Ancient-Japanese-tombs-face-arc-rising-sun-study-shows.html
https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/35693/20220121/over-100-japanese-burial-mounds-kofun-captured-satellite-imaging-keyhole.htm
https://www.inkl.com/news/secrets-of-japan-s-ancient-imperial-tombs-revealed-by-remote-sensing
I’m not sure if this might be related somehow, but there is a very interesting sacred well in Sardinia (an island off the coast of Italy), that when viewed from the air looks like a pyramid with a sun above it, and the main pyramidal sacred well and sun shape is contained within a ring of outer stones in a keyhole shape: https://www.pozzosantacristina.com/en/sacred-well/
I have a theory that the keyhole shape may represent two things. The circular part might represent the womb of earth and the sun since both are key aspects of creation, and the trapazoidal shape could represent the world axis in some form, and it along with the outer entrance of the tomb could also symbolize the birth canal of Earth/tunnel to the realms of the divine. Just a small guess of mine but the design of the keyhole shape is interesting indeed.
I watched the video about the Japanese summer solstice celebration again, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-u60e_sjZg at 4:30 point the text that appears on the screen says “the left part of Mt. Fuji can be seen!” and a few seconds later a guy in the background said, “Mt. Fuji! Mt. Fuji! I’ve seen it!” I’m not very good at Japanese language, so I’m not sure if my translations are accurate. But at that moment I’ve noticed the sun apparently could be seen on top of Mt. Fuji (it can be kind of hard to see, but the lower-right of the sun seems to be blocked by something,at first I thought it was just clouds) Since the video zoomed in on the sun, I guess they were referring to the top-left of Mt. Fuji blocking the lower-right part of the sun. The sky seems cloudy on the day this video was filmed, so it’s hard to see if there is really a mountain there. But if the sun could be seen on top of Mt. Fuji on summer solstice there, then this could add another symbolic meaning to the site of the Meoto Iwa… This is likely also why the explanation of the keyhole shape seen with Emperor Nintoku’s tomb being a representation of the sun on top of a mountain doesn’t sound very far-fetched… I believe there are symbolic spiritual meanings associated with these sites, including Emperor Nintoku’s tomb. They just need to be decoded.
It looks like I’ve written a lot here this time… the ancient sites just got me thinking about all these things again. It is always intriguing to see what is revealed when different pieces of the puzzle come to fit together… @Erik’s post, the sacred well in Sardinia looks interesting too, I didn’t know something of a similar shape could exist in Europe as well😲 This seems like an indication that a shape of this kind may not be limited to just one place, but more widespread just like many other symbols and shapes…would be interesting to find out what other keyhole shaped structures could be out there, and are they all aligned to the sun in some way? I think the rabbit hole here can go down quite deep(not sure if this is an accurate way of saying it), if anyone has any information on this topic they feel like they can offer, feel free to post in the comment section😊
Hey Emily, here is an article that has an illustration with Mt. Fuji and the sun in-between the “wedded rocks” of Meoto Iwa, so it seems to be an alignment there: https://yamatopeople.blogspot.com/2020/05/japanese-famous-ritual-in-summer.html
I tried to find some photos of Mt. Fuji behind these rocks, and it seems like it depends on where you are looking from, as from some angles the mt. Fuji is indeed on the right of the bigger rock, like for example these 2 photos:
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.37rjwdL6-jHKKc-u_Kpa_AAAAA%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=f081b56a3aa35a6e0f5cb4ab4d163e39977079768ec75ed5b97bc886913ba81d&ipo=images
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.yJUwpf0qep5ffxJ-POqzkgHaHa%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=e506aa4135d372c49c16f92fd4e812d925caf7ba0689973d9df4142f83246778&ipo=images
While at other angles, Mt. Fuji seems more to the left of the bigger rock, like for example this photo and illustration:
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse3.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP.T26fJp-zCKa2zP_Ae6BZTQHaE8%26pid%3DApi&f=1&ipt=a20fa6a65ecfc7bc9854026400c68a779a486a861ee9ed0a6afd43f4898e4745&ipo=images
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hiroshige,_Futamigaura_in_Ise_Province,_1858.jpg
And wow, that is such a beautiful well/pyramid/keyhole/ sun temple Erik. Never seen anything like that before, with so many symbolic shapes packed together!
Hi Emily 👋
Some of my favourites, these topics! @the Kofun keyhole tombs. When I was looking into them a bit and their possible connections to cultures 3000 years before them I was also wondering about their shape. The ‘keyhole’ designation might be very fitting to name them, but at some point I stepped back for myself to think ‘what am I looking at?’ Previously I’d seen lots of sacred altars sites either in a square shape or circular. One or the other. Square for earth, circle for heaven. So at the time I figured that no instead of a ‘key’ shape what I’m looking at is a combination of a square and circle architectually. Together they create that axis/portal potency. And all those meanings Lara puts forward in this video.👏🏻
Instead of a perfect square they more like trapezium rectangles, but that might a have practical design reason, or indeed they were simultaneously also made to be mountain shaped – retaining a similar symbolic meaning Lara mentions.
It seems(?) from that time elapse image Lucia linked to that once someone came up with the idea to combine both shapes, it became all the rage :^ D
@Lucia’s post here. Thank you for sharing those pictures of Mt. Fuji! They really look stunning! I definitely think it’s more likely than not that this is an alignment made on purpose to the summer solstice sunrise, with symbolic meanings encoded. What’s more amazing is that there is still a practice of summer solstice celebration that exists at the Futami Okitama Shrine. Wish there were more practices like this around the world.
Lots of symbolism revealed in the information to this reply sequence.
Is the shape of a keyhole representing the sun and a passage way to it? (akin to the circle and passageway for the Solstice and Equinox ceremonies outlined in Ancient Solstice book).