A few weeks ago the New York Times posted a story on Chimney Rock in Colorado and how it is a lunar observatory much like Stonehenge in England and Callanish in Scotland. It is set up to observe the Lunar Standstill Period that happens once every 18.6 to 19 years.My interest in this topic is the question of why. Why would ancient people be interested in watching the moon rise through its monthly cycles during this time? Why notice it's cycle at all? In my opinion, because the moon is seen as the Goddess - or at least she was way back when before the Goddess was all but wiped out from human conciousness.
Just putting it into the perspective we have today as modern Pagans - it would seem that these ancients wanted to take note of the Moon Mother's cycles and notice the end/beginning of her longest cycle. Could this be seen as a recognition of the concept of rebirth as we know it today?
While there is no substantial evidence to support a Goddess cult in this part of America, it can still be considered a recognition of nature as blueprint/bible and evidence of a nature based society. Most nature based people considered the Earth itself to be their mother. So even if they saw a man in the moon, the basic principles of Goddess-friendly worship are there.
Am I grasping at straws? What do you think?
Image: www.chimneyrockcolorado.com
2 comments:
I wouldn't say grasping at straws, but making the leap from "built a lunar observatory" to "thought the moon was a Goddess" should be done with considerable caution. You do have some wiggle room among the Chacoan tribes, though.
We'd talked about going, but logistics and timing are against us; the tickets are long gone, and it's a long trip and a cold time of year for us to be bringing along the kidlets. Mesa Verde is closer, and has an observatory of its own, so we may yet see.
Yes, I realize I have taken certain liberties with this post. I guess it's all subject to a person's perspective. From my perspective the evidence is somewhat there - from a purely scientific point of view - none of what I stated holds any weight.
Oh, it would be lovely to be able to see the standstill in person. I hope you get the chance to make the trip.
Thanks for visiting and sharing your opinion! I truly appreciate it. Good luck with your travel plans.
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