Stonehenge Decoded

 

Last night the National Geographic Channel premiered Stonehenge Decoded and presented new theories about the ancient stone circle to the world. The newest theory is all about how Stonehenge was a monument to the dead; a sacred place where people may have brought the ashes of their deceased loved ones to join their ancestors. A bunch of evidence was presented to support this theory. While archeology is often full of guess work, I think this theory makes a lot of sense from a Pagan persepective and I have some elaborations on the info I watched last night.

First, I think the theory is most likely right about Stonehenge being a temple of the dead. As the show pointed out, it's made of stone, which makes it permanent (like death). It was built to honor the sun at Midsummer, when the sun begins to die. If people brought cremains there perhaps they implored the sun to take the spirits of the dead with it as it waned in the sky over the following months.

There is a wooden henge a couple of miles from Stonehenge. As the theory goes this was most likely a temple for the living; for celebrating life. It's made of wood which is impermanent like life. At Midsummer the people would walk to Stonehenge and then walk back to the wood henge; going from a place of the dead to a place of the living. At Solstice they took the opposite root and stood to watch the Solstice sun set through the wood henge - which seems to have been built specifically for the event. Here they would know the sun was being reborn; that it would soon begin to wax again as the days grew longer. Perhaps the sun also had the power to give rebirth to the people who had died and whose ashes had been spread at Stonehenge? Maybe the ancient Britons believed that as the sun was reborn at the "Temple of Life" so too were the spirits of their ancestors.

Regardless of what actually occured at these sites it seems rather obvious that the ancient people who built them were people who lived in harmony with nature. They were agricultural and depended on nature as their way of life. They would've been interested in praying for fertility, honoring the dead, and celebrating life. Ah... those lovely ancient Pagans.

I think this is all very Goddess-y in nature though there has yet to be any evidence of a female god - or any god to the best of my knowledge. It seems the emphasis here is placed on the ancestors, though there is little to support this as well. I would say there is better evidence to support a deity of the sun. There is no way to know for certain what was worshipped at these sites, at least not until some idol is unearthed. Until then we will have to theorize.

Watch Stonehenge Decoded on June 5th at 9pm on the National Geographic Channel. Image found at the official National Geographic web site for Stonehenge Decoded. Go there for more theories and more info. Check out the Earth Mother theory too.