OCCASIONALLY, I revert to the iconic English monument, Stonehenge that Unesco declared a World Heritage Site (WHS). The English media is fond of carrying stories on the monument, particularly when new insights and discoveries have been made.
This time, the BBC carried a story on Stonehenge. I happened to have been in Harare in a hotel with television services. At home in Bulawayo, I do not have the time to watch television or listen to the radio. In fact, both electronic gadgets are conspicuous through their absence.
A BBC reporter referred to the latest finding at Stonehenge. It was all about the source of a colossal stone that constituted the Altar Stone. During the summer solstice in June, the longest day, three strategic stones are in alignment with the rising sun. I did not know the sources of these three spiritually and astronomically strategic stones.
The biggest stones that constitute the outer ring of standing stones, known as the triathlons, were obtained from the nearby Marlborough Plains. The inner ring of smaller and shorter stones, the bluestones, have had their origins traced to Wales, a hill where the stones are found standing at an angle to the ground. What is to date still not clear is how both types of stones were transported to the Salisbury Plain where Stonehenge is located.
This is where the connection between Stonehenge and Ancient African Science lies. The science at work is centred on energy from numerous sources such as the closer cosmic bodies, in particular the sun. More recently, the moon, hitherto sidelined is headlining research at Stonehenge. It was indeed strange, from an Afro-centric perspective, that the moon was ignored in favour of the sun.
Geological aspects relating to energy equally have a bearing on the location of iconic monuments. We are here referring to ley lines that criss-cross below the Stonehenge resulting in a hub of energy in the ground. The choice of location was not accidental. In fact, numerous religious monuments were sited where there is maximum energy, where ley lines create some concentrated network.
Given their more advanced research capabilities, English scientists and archaeologists are in a better position than our own to unearth more aspects relating to the monument whose traits lie beyond comprehension through the application of current Western science. I have said, with tongue in cheek, that whatever the researchers find, they would do well to send these to us in Africa.
In Africa, we are still closer to ancient science than the current English generation. It was when I detected the African Mind and African Spirituality within Stonehenge that I developed a keen interest in the English iconic monument.
I am convinced that the ancients shared a common spirituality, a common view of the world and its terrestrial extensions and common perceptions. Monuments, as physical infrastructures, were built, not by hands, but by minds that made use of hands and tools as their loyal and obedient servants.
The siting of Stonehenge was influenced by the same factors as happened elsewhere at the same time. Sacredness as spiritually determined was critical in the choice of a site. These shared materiality resident in the ancient monuments. This was also true about their requisite artefacts that complemented sacredness and holiness. In a situation such as this one, it is not amiss that artefacts are the same or similar to those in other parts of the world, it is not amiss to surmise common science, common cosmologies, common thought, common beliefs, common ideologies and common spiritualities. Intangibles give birth to tangibles. In such situations, we would expect common technologies as we from time to time espouse in this column.
Our story is about the Altar Stone whose origins have been traced to Scotland. Save for the gigantic outer ring of triathlons that were extracted from the Marlborough Plains in England, the other stones came from outside of England. Ironically, the young researcher who came up with the finding regarding the origin of the Altar Stone is of Welsh extract. In the beamed program, he indicated that as a child he used to visit Stonehenge with his parents. Little did he know that one day he would take away from Wales, the credit of providing special stones of spiritual and sacred significance.
I will argue that the six-tonne Altar Stone was the most important among all the stones used at Stonehenge. An altar then and today is central to a sacred site. The altar is in essence and reality the centre where sacredness is concentrated. Other spiritual aspects within cultural features complement it. A spiritual persona takes care of the altar and the site overall and seeks to retain sacredness to the site and conviction by the adherents of the site and what it stands for. His role is known and expected yet some secrets accompany his work.
His importance lies in the secrecy of what he does. Ritual power lies in him/her retaining that power through secrecy, regarding how he manipulates spiritual forces to effect expected results. The community lends support to what he does as long as expectations are fulfilled.
Drawing on African spiritual experiences, rocks are different in their inherent traits and characteristics. Where spiritual thrust is targeted, a special and appropriate stone must be sought to fulfill intended roles and purposes. Lithic qualities are partly determined by the nature of a stone regarding its formation. Some stones were formed under conditions of extreme heat in the earth’s core. When the magma moves towards the surface, it begins to cool. The rate of cooling produces different sizes of crystals or grains.
For example, both granite and basalt are igneous (fire) rocks. However, their lithic traits differ and that has a bearing on their spiritual roles within an African homestead and, by extension, their spiritual suitability for intended outcomes. Basalt is darker and fine-grained, meaning it is a product of slower cooling down. Such a stone was used as an altar stone where libations, offerings and sacrifices were made during traditional prayers and communication with the ancestral spirits. In some cases, the large single stone was provided with a grass thatch roof and wall.
Some rocks were formed in underwater conditions. Suspended sand particles in flowing water were deposited on the floor of a water body such as a sea or ocean when the velocity of flowing water slowed down and when energy was no longer powerful enough to suspend the relatively heavy sand particles. Sedimentation results and over a long period building pressure and heat transform the rock. Such relatively soft sedimentary rocks are different from igneous rocks and in a spiritual sense; they are used differently within the context of a sacred site such as Stonehenge.
Sedimentary rock, when subjected to intense heat and pressure may transform into a metamorphic rock that is harder. Rock formation and origins thus determine the lithic traits and characteristics and their applications within a cultural and spiritual landscape and context. Geological traits vary depending on, inter alia, rock formation below the ground. The location of monuments, especially the sacred ones, should be understood against cultural and spiritual backgrounds and related and varying energies and sacredness.
It makes sense therefore that rocks of differing traits will be found at different places underground. Their disposition too has a bearing on the resultant geological and spiritual roles. The bluestones extracted from the Preselli Hills in Wales were found not lying horizontally. Symbolic posture comes into play. Erection is understood from the reality of sexuality. It is the same understanding that probably resulted in the San artists drawing male human figures with erect penises.
This happens to evoke the same ideas as a stone pillar stuck into the ground. It is male and female, a biological phenomenon that underscores and headlines continuity, eternity, perpetuity and endlessness. Before the construction of Stonehenge, there was Woodhenge. Wood and stone (both symbolising masculinity) stuck singly into the ground (female) expressed the same idea. Stone, being more eternal, carries the idea more effectively and more convincingly, as a result, the Woodhenge was replaced by Stonehenge with changing ideologies.
The colossal and heavy Altar Stone that weighed no less than six tons had to be brought all the way from Scotland to South-western England at a time when transportation technologies and modern terms were not sufficiently developed to cope with such heavy stones.
Unfortunately, the BBC reporter did not shed light on the traits of the special stone. That information is critically important if we are to understand why a special rock had to be brought down from Scotland. It had to possess some special traits that suited it to its role as an Altar Stone. What we do observe is that the altar was the central and most sacred site within the complex Stonehenge cultural landscape. Starting from the triathlons, constituting the outermost ring, sacredness increases as one moves towards the altar at the centre of the landscape. Indeed, the bluestones, being the second inner ring of stones was more sacred than the outer triathlons.
One therefore expects the Altar Stone being the most central to be the most sacred. No wonder, therefore, such a stone had to be sought and found even if that place where it existed was in faraway Scotland. For now, we cannot take a more definitive position until more information is availed to us by researchers. What type of rock is the Altar Stone in terms of its formation? What was the disposition of the stone while in situ, before its extraction and subsequent transportation to the Salisbury Plain in South-western England?
Nevertheless, what is clear is that research is a going concern at Stonehenge. I do think researchers will make little headway when it comes to interpretation. They are in a position similar to the one that we found ourselves in when we visited San rock art sites in Matobo District’s Ward 17. How did we hope to interpret the art of a community whose culture we knew very little about?
The same is true of researchers at Stonehenge, an old monument that was constructed in stages following ideological ideas that were developing at the levels of cosmology, thought, worldview and perceptions. The cultural landscape that developed into Stonehenge slowly evolved. More importantly, the evolution was different from what the English of today know. Thought, ideology, worldview and cosmology of ancient were embedded in the designs, cultural practices of the creators, builders and users of the monument. All these numerous and varied aspects were integrated and complemented each other towards the creation of an overarching theme that expressed sacredness and holiness that guaranteed human survival and continuity.
The Western world has marched on since the Neolithic Era. What their ancestors believed in then, is no longer what current generations believe. Researchers are delving into a field of beliefs that no longer exist. To appreciate this, let me pose a simple question: Did the English at the time when Stonehenge was constructed practice witchcraft? Did the English have shamans or traditional doctors in their communities? The answer, in both cases, is in the affirmative.
For now, Africa still has some people who are endowed with perceptive minds that are under the direction and guidance of the minds of the ancients. It is this crop of Africans who are capable of interpreting the past and its secrets. If the right Africans are identified and approached, they will shed more light on Stonehenge and reveal and expose the resident African Mind. From about the 14th Century until about the 18th Century witches were identified and executed in several European countries.
These cultural and spiritual practices expressed the beliefs of the English back then. In their literature, these ideas are captured. Other arts genres do the same. They capture ancient beliefs that, when relevant culture is neither known nor understood, remain shrouded in mystery and reduced to pagan, enigmatic and supernatural phenomena. The world is on the march and that march will continue to its extinction.
If the red planet (Mars) was once inhabited, it certainly is not going to be the last. Africa is following behind although not very clear where other people are going.
Tonda bo!
