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The sacred stone circle at Greenshire has been positioned so that it celebrates the astronomical events of the seasons… to celebrate Light and capture a moment in time. The circle consists of eight white marble stones in its perimeter. Four stones mark the four cardinal directions, (east, west, north, south), and the intermediary four stones mark the summer solstice sunrise (June 21st), the winter solstice sunrise (December 21st), the winter solstice sunset (December 21st) and the summer solstice sunset (June 21st). The equinox sunrise (March 21st) is marked by the east stone, and the west stone marks the equinox sunset (March 21st). The four intermediary stones also represent the elements of earth, air, fire and water. In addition, there is a ninth white marble ‘center’ stone used for a person sitting at the center of the circle for solitary prayer, contemplation and meditation. Numerologically, nine stones form a circle of ‘completion’. In the Tarot, the ninth card of the major arcana is the “Hermit” holding a lantern, a beacon, one who spends time alone in the center of the circle seeking wisdom and enlightenment. Architecturally, the crystallization of sacred geometry is used to create a sacred space. This sacred stone circle with its use of astronomical alignments also draws on historical and astronomical references from the ancient megalithic stone circles of England and Scotland which exist at Stonehenge, Avebury, Callanish, the Brodgar circle on the Orkney Islands and many other locations in the British Isles.
This sacred stone circle was initially designed with an astronomical sun rising and sun setting diagram for the solstices and equinoxes calculated for the latitude at the Greenshire Arts Consortium. In addition, dowsing rods were used to verify each stone’s location in the circle, and whether a certain side of a stone faced up or down and which side of the stone faced the center of the circle. It’s interesting to see how ‘faces’ can magically appear in some of the stones, depending on which way they are turned. After the circle was completed, dowsing rods verified a ring of energy passing through the stones at the perimeter of the circle, a column of energy rising skyward from the center stone, columns of energy rising from each stone, and another concentric circular ring of energy about twelve feet outside the circle of stones. These circular rings of energy form cones of ‘etheric’ energy rising skyward to symbolically meet at an infinite point in the heavens. Sacred places on the Earth create their own unique special energy, having white light to illuminate the spirit. The circle is an ancient symbol of many cultures for the Sacred; representing many things to many people including the sun and moon, the circle of life, the wheel of life, the cycle of the seasons and the eternal aspect of life. One feels centered sitting in the center of a sacred stone circle. We can gather around a circle and celebrate the unity, harmony and Love of Life together. The circle has a connection to the Cosmos and the passage of Time: To connect Man between Heaven and Earth; to revere silence in the center of a circle. Circles have many sacred architectural references including the circular Oracle Temple at Delphi from ancient Greece, Stonehenge, the dome of the Pantheon in Rome, the dome of St. Peters Cathedral in Rome, the dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, the dome of the great mosque of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, and many other domes and sacred circular references in various cathedrals, temples and mosques. King Arthur had his knights gather around the “round” table. West Plains Native Americans made their homes circular teepees. Sacred Kivas of the Anasazi and Hopi people are circular wells in Mother Earth. The ancients regarded the “ether” as the invisible substance filling all space in the heavens and condensing to comprise the planets and stars. An “Etheric” Sacred Architecture makes the invisible visible. Scott A. Ogburn, M. Arch.
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