How The Solar Cross Symbol Was Inspired By Total Solar Eclipses

Here are some screen shots of images from my archived 'The Cross Symbol & Total Solar Eclipses' eclipsology "web sight" with some explanatory text pulled from the archived website and some additional images of solar cross symbols and explanatory text taken from my 'Southern Cult Iconography Decoded' website -

Various forms of equilateral crosses, often radiating out from circular hubs, appear on the pottery and textiles of ancient cultures all around the world too numerous to list; in fact, there are comparatively few ancient cultures that did not utilize this universal symbol. A common coronal form when the sunspot phase is near maximum is that of a four-rayed star with the polar and equatorial streamers having similar sizes. The polar rays in particular have a tendency to fan out in a manner that clearly reflects the wedge-shaped arms of the so-called "Maltese cross."

In 'The Sun' we are informed by a turn-of-the-century professional astronomer that, "The corona shows a disposition to assume the form of a quadrilateral or four-rayed star, though in almost every individual case this form is greatly modified by abnormal streamers at one point or another." Various scientific drawings of the solar corona which were made in the latter part of the 19th century, a period when the total eclipse was gaining much interest in the scientific domain but before the widespread use of photography to record the corona, show this four rayed cross-shaped pattern of the corona in a very distinctive manner. In an engraving depicting the total eclipse of the sun of July 29th, 1878, as it was observed over the Rocky Mountains of the U.S.A., appearing in Flammarion's 'Astronomie Populaire' the coronal streamers bear a striking resemblance to a Christian cross and even more so to the much older Egyptian 'Crux Ansata' or ankh. Two bright equatorial streamers burst from either side of the black disc of the moon and an exceptionally long streamer hangs down from the lunar disc while three or four shorter rays or streamers thrust upwards from the sun's upper pole.


A stele from Kalah, Iraq, the site of ancient Nimrud, depicts Assurnasiripal II holding a long thin rod extending from the floor to the height of his chin. Over this rod hovers a "ring with wings" which contains a "Maltese cross" formed by four broad triangular wedges radiating out to the inner circumference of the ring from a smaller central hub. The space between each of these four wedges is bisected by a thin slightly curved ray. This so-called "Maltese" cross also appears on a medallion which hangs from a cord around Assurnasiripal II's neck where it is clearly a symbol of his royal authority, if not divinity.


It should be noted that the Mesopotamian version of the ancient "winged disk" symbol could be seen as a form of cross in its own right with the wings forming the horizontal axis and the tail the vertical axis of a T-shaped cross. In 'The History of the Cross' we are informed that, "Ancient Assyria developed a majestic form (of cross), known as the feroher, the principal portion being a winged globe. One famous example from Nineveh shows the deity Ashur, who fights for his people in battle. The whole figure is in the form of a Tau-shaped cross." Thus the cross is clearly associated with the total eclipse of the sun since the feroher is nothing other than a highly accurate representation of the bird-like pattern that occurs in the sun's corona when the sun-spot activity is at its minimum phase.


The natives of Hawaii drew elaborate crosses to represent their gods long before the first European explorers arrived. In a book depicting some of these ancient Hawaiian crosses the cross of the Goddess Marama is shown formed by four white lozenge-shaped arms radiating out in an 'X' from a dark central disc. Four triangles or "Maltese cross" style wedges intersect the angles of the four arms of the 'X' but do not reach the central disc. The drawing of this cross of Marama looks virtually identical to a drawing of the intermediate form of the coronal streamers which occur between the minimum and maximum phase of sunspot activity depicted in Théophile Moreux`s "Les Eclipses". The caption attached to this drawing reads, "The Goddess of the Sun was also known as the Goddess of the Moon, Marama, who watched over Tane's children while they slumbered in peace when the sun was out of the sky." This is a rather sketchy caption to say the least but it is not difficult to see that this Cross of the Goddess Marama may well have been inspired by the cross-like form that is readily perceivable in the sun's corona during an "intermediate phase" total solar eclipse.


The Cross of Tane depicted in this book has similar, though slightly thinner, lozenge-shaped arms divided by dark "trunks" each having three sprouting "stems" along its length. A veritable "Maltese cross" with flared ends also radiates out from the hub of the cross which is clearly an eye. The caption is much more explicit than that for the cross of Marama and plainly states, "The "eye," which forms the centrepiece of this cross and slants downward, is a reminder that "the Eyes of God are upon you; therefore, beware of your behaviour lest He witness your misbehaviour."" The cross of Tane clearly represents the "All-Seeing Eye of God" as symbolized by the total eclipse of the sun. The caption goes on to say, "It is interesting to note that this cross is similar to the ones which sit on top of the crowns of British royalty. Yet this pattern was drawn by Hawaiian artists centuries before the first British crown made its appearance in Hawaii. A variation of this cross was selected by the kings of the Tameha. ? . a dynasty as the foundation for their holy emblem."






Pre-Columbian examples of pottery made by the Ica Indians of southern Peru also depict various forms of crosses and again they would appear to be linked to total solar eclipses since they tend to radiate outwards from central, eye-like, concentric circles. One example in particular bears a striking resemblance to a drawing of the cross-like form of corona of the 1860 total eclipse drawn by a professional astronomer. An example of Ica pottery depicts both circular "Maltese" crosses and square crosses with eyes at the centre in a context that would tend to link these symbols to the total solar eclipse.

It is abundantly clear that various forms of the cross were used as solar symbols by numerous cultures in diverse regions of the world, and that these crosses were virtually certainly inspired by the cross-like pattern of the coronal streamers that are seen in the total eclipse of the sun between the minimum and maximum phases of sunspot activity. These crosses were quite common some millennia before the crucifixion of Jesus and the subsequent adoption of the cross as the primary symbol of the Christian faith. The ancient Egyptian's used the "Crux Ansata" or "ankh" as a symbol of life and Egyptian Croix Patées or "Maltese crosses" appear in numerous ancient hieroglyphic inscriptions. The Mesopotamians similarly used various forms of the cross including the "Maltese Cross" as a solar symbol on their cylinder seals, stelae, and bas-relief sculptures. The Mayans and Aztecs of Meso-America and the Nazca, Ica, Moche, and Inca civilizations of ancient Peru used crosses for evidently identical reasons and some versions are uncannily analogous to the "Maltese cross" found in the winged disc on Assyrian bas-reliefs.

The cross, "Maltese" or otherwise, may also be used to symbolize the total eclipse of the sun for the very simple reason that any solar eclipse only occurs when the celestial path of our moon's orbit literally "crosses" over that of our sun in the skies above Earth. Stellate (i.e. pointed) and regular, straight lined, crosses are commonly depicted within the sun disc in sun-moon conjunction symbols and winged discs on Mesopotamian cylinder seals dating as far back as the Isin-Larsa period circa 2000-1800 B.C. and similar crosses appear within the sun disc motif of numerous other cultures around the world, thus lending no inconsiderable support to this straightforward hypothesis.

What is truly interesting to note is the incredible universality of the use of the "Maltese cross" symbol, not only has it been depicted on the crowns of European royalty for centuries but it was utilised by Assyrian rulers as a royal, and possibly sacred, emblem many centuries prior to its first use by any European king. It appears prominently in the sacred artwork of Mayan, Aztec, and various American Indian cultures. No doubt it crops up elsewhere and always the sun and moon and the "all-seeing eye of God" seem to be closely associated with this ancient symbol. Can there be any doubt that the "Maltese cross" and numerous other non Christian variations on this theme were inspired by, and even depict, the total eclipse of the sun?

Some additional images with explanatory captions -

This somewhat "regularized" scientific astronomical drawing of the "intermediate corona" displayed during the July 28, 1851 total solar eclipse published in Thierry Moreux's 'Les Eclipses' clearly reveals the origin of the solar cross symbol.

The polar rays and streamers of the sun's corona above and below the moon's occulting disk, combined with the "wings" of the sun's corona spreading out on either side of the moon during the July 11, 1991 total eclipse of the sun, form a kind of solar cross in the form of a bird. This reveals how the solar cross symbol gets incorporated into winged sun symbol in the Assurbanipal II stela. Both symbols are inspired by the cross-like form and bird-like form of some total solar eclipses and are synthesized into one composite religious symbol.

This astronomical drawing of a 19th century total solar eclipse observed at Creston Wyoming by Ettiene Leopold Trouvelot reveals not only the original inspiration for the winged eye symbols of ancient Egypt and other ancient cultures, but also the original source of inspiration for the solar cross symbol in general and the so-called "Maltese Cross" in particular.

The very "architectural" astronomical drawing of the suns's corona as witnessed during the May 2nd 1715 total solar eclipse is virtually identical to the Moundbuilders Indians solar cross symbol and numerous other very similar solar cross symbols. This astronomical drawing in particular demonstrates that what is actually seen by an eclipse observer differs somewhat from what gets drawn on paper or otherwise transformed into artwork. It is very unlikely that the sun's corona actually looked so much like a square cross to the observer's of the eclipse but they obviously perceived it that way and represented it that way. To quote or closely paraphrase the author of 'Canada's Stonehenge' Gordon Freeman, human beings like to make order out of chaos.

This is another example of a solar cross symbol arising from people trying to make order out of chaos, or at least showing somewhat more order than is already present in the ever changing form of the sun's corona. . . The scientific astronomical drawing of the December 22nd 1870 total solar eclipse was apparently created by someone who may not have actually witnessed the eclipse themselves. At minimum this drawing creates a very orderly four-armed "solar cross" image that is virtually identical to the Southern Cult aka Moundbuilders Indians solar cross symbol that is shown to its left, out of input from other people in the form of sketches made my other eclipse observers as well as oral descriptions of diverse eclipse observers. In any case now you know the original source of inspiration of the Zia cross symbol that is prominently displayed on the state flag of New Mexico.

The state flag of New Mexico
The flag of the city of Albuquerque New Mexico.



Update: Someone in Hong Kong reproduced my old 'The Cross Symbol & Total Solar Eclipses' web site.

How The Stonehenge Summer Solstice Sunrise Alignment Fits With Dr. Anthony Perks' Theory That Stonehenge Is The Symbolic Vulva Of An Earth Goddess

Herewith page 2 of my 'The Vagina Monoliths' eclipsology website as preserved by the Internet Archive's WayBack Machine dealing with the how the summer solstice sunrise alignment relates to the concept of Stonehenge as the vulva of an Earth Goddess aka Mother Goddess -

In the penultimate section of his paper sub-titled 'Relationships To Other Theories' Dr. Anthony Perks correctly points out that "there is no conflict" between his new theory that Stonehenge was designed to symbolically represent the vulva of an "Earth Goddess" when viewed from the sky and the well established, and increasingly accepted, scientific astronomical theories that - "Stonehenge was concerned with the movements of the sun and moon, perhaps as a calender, a predictor of eclipses, or a temple for veneration of the heavenly bodies: it could be a sun or moon temple, or both." In fact, not only is there no conflict whatsoever between these two theories but the astronomical theories, including the modern theories that Stnehenge may have been used as an eclipse predictor, quite significantly complement and enhance Dr. Perk's Stonehenge as symbolic vulva theory and vice versa. This will become much clearer as we progress with this work in progress. For now however I want to deal exclusively with how the solstice alignments of Stonehenge relate to his "Vagina Monoliths" theory.

Dr. Perks says, "It was the sun which gave the light and warmth by which the Earth Mother brought forth the plants and animals of the world. The Sun was Sun Father." Why Dr. Perks omits any mention of human beings as progeny of the "Earth Mother" as well as the plants and animals of the world I do not know, however his point about the Sun being perceived as a male "father" god by ancient cultures is perfectly valid. In fact the sun was perceived as a phallus by many ancient cultures for reasons that are quite obvious if one simply compares the blood red orb of the setting or rising sun with the blood engorged head of a human penis. There are of course additional reasons for perceiving the sun as a phallus but the simple physical resemblance of the red orb of the sun to the head of a human penis is the most obvious and striking one. The ancient Egyptians, who were more or less contemporaneous with the people who designed and constructed Stonehenge, clearly refer to the sun as the "Phallus of Ra" in their religious scriptures and the sun is often depicted as a blood red circle with a small black dot at its center in ancient Egyptian religious art. This common Egyptian depiction of the sun alludes both to the phallus and the human eye with the central black dot representing both the opening of the urethra in the head of a penis and the pupil of the eye. The concept of the sun as a "Sun Father" was also inspired by total solar eclipses, as the solar eclipse myths of diverse ancient cultures, which speak of a male sun making love to a female moon during solar eclipses, make abundantly clear. In fact there is some reason to believe that the white corona of the sun bursting out around the black "hole in the sky" formed by the moon may well have been perceived as an ejaculation of cosmic semen by some ancient cultures, perhaps most notably that of ancient India. Such a perception in ancient "pagan" religious beliefs would only serve to further reinforce the conception of the sun as a cosmic phallus or "Sun Father".

Dr. Perks says, "If we accept the underlying feeling that Stonehenge was some sort of temple, or at least sacred in some way, and combine this with the ideas of Earth Mother and Sun Father suggested by the stones, we can make sense of the many suggestions of ceremonials at the solstices. At the winter solstice, the sun seems weakest and most distant from Earth Mother, perhaps threatening not to return; the people might have wished to encourage this return, so that the two would come together for the rebirth of the summer." This is indeed one possibility; however, there are some other perceptions that the builders of Stonehenge may well have had with respect to its role at the winter and/or summer solstices assuming that Dr. Perks' Stonehenge as symbolic vulva theory is basically valid. There are some other interesting ways to "make sense" of the solstice alignment incorporated into Stonehenge and Dr. Perks' proposal that Stonehenge symbolically represented the vulva of an "Earth Goddess."

Strangely enough Dr. Perks makes no mention whatsoever of the fact that the axis of the Stonehenge symbolic vulva that he is proposing is directly aligned with the summer solstice sunrise. This is a very important and readily verifiable fact that lends considerable credibility to his theory. As already mentioned ancient cultures perceived the sun as a "Sun Father", a cosmic phallus, or both. The fact that Dr. Anthony Perks' proposed Stonehenge vulva is directly aligned with the rising of the "Sun Father" or solar phallus at dawn on the summer solstice constitutes circumstantial evidence which clearly supports his theory that Stonehenge was designed to symbolically represent a vulva. It would seem that the ancient builders of Stonehenge may have conceived of a symbolic sexual intercourse or, more politely, a cosmic "marriage" between the "Sun Father" and the "Earth Goddess" during the summer solstice sunrise. Such a perception would be very much in line with what we know of the "pagan" religious beliefs of a variety of ancient, and even prehistoric, "solar cult" religions.

There is however another quite intriguing possible perception that comes to my mind, largely as a result of contemplating Dr. Anthony Perks' words in relation to what I know about how ancient "pagan" cultures perceived and responded to the sun and the moon, and their respective eclipses, in their "pagan" religious beliefs and practices. Throughout his intriguing paper Dr. Perks strongly emphasizes that his theorized Stonehenge vulva was most symbolic of the act of giving birth. As I have already pointed out, Dr. Perks strongly underlines the fact that the round shape of his proposed Stonehenge symbolic vulva directly parallels the clearly round shape of the human vulva as the baby's head is emerging from the birth canal during "crowning", and thus distending the labia of the vagina into a form that is distinctly "more circular, like the outer ring of Stonehenge." Remember that Dr. Anthony Perks concluding statement to his paper is ". . .Stonehenge was a place of life and birth, not death, a place that looked to the future."

It thus occurs to me that, besides symbolically giving birth to "the plants and animals on which the ancient people so depended" as Dr. Anthony Perks suggests in his paper, his proposed symbolic vulva of Stonehenge may have also, or alternatively, been conceived of as symbolically giving birth to the sun itself, on which all life so heavily depends, at the "rebirth" of the summer solstice. The Egyptian goddess Nut is graphically depicted in ancient Egyptian religious art as swallowing the sun at night and giving birth to the sun in the morning via her vagina. Surely we are thus obliged to seriously consider the very real possibility that the ancient designers of Dr. Perks' proposed symbolic vulva may well have entertained similar, or even identical, notions in their "pagan" religious beliefs. In fact it is by no means inconceivable that the prehistoric builders of Stonehenge layered these religious perceptions and symbolism, just as the ancient Egyptians were quite evidently so ready, willing, and able to layer their own very well documented religious beliefs; and thus, they may very well have conceived that their Stonehenge symbolic vulva was engaging in sexual intercourse with the rising "Sun Father" or solar phallus while at the same time giving birth to a "new" and "reborn" Sun during the summer solstice sunrise.

The Vagina Monoliths - On Dr. Anthony Perks' Theory That Stonehenge Was A Symbolic Vulva Of An Earth Goddess aka Mother Goddess

The Internet Archive's WayBack Machine is a fickle thing but it has managed to preserve the index page of my 'The Vagina Monoliths' eclipsology website presenting my take on Dr. Anthony Perks' theory that Stonehenge was a symbolic vulva of an Earth Goddess aka Mother Goddess for now. . . Catch it while you can. I will reproduce as much of it as possible in this and other blog posts here -

The introduction - Dr. Anthony Perks' new Stonehenge theory has not been presented very well in the international media. Second rate journalism has misrepresented what Dr. Perks actually claimed in his academic paper that was published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. This web site is intended to provide truthful and accurate up-to-date information about Dr. Perks' theory that Stonehenge was designed to symbolically represent the vulva of an ancient pagan "Earth Goddess". I also will be providing my own commentary and analysis of Dr. Perks' Stonehenge theory which will show how his symbolic vulva theory works very well in synthesis with the existing scientific astronomical theories that Stonehenge was aligned with the summer solstice sunrise and other important astronomical alignments. In particular I will demonstrate how the modern astronomical theories of Gerald S. Hawkins, Sir Fred Hoyle, and Alexander Thom that Stonehenge was designed to observe and record the celestial motions of both the sun and the moon in a prehistoric effort to predict the future occurrence of lunar eclipses, and possibly even solar eclipses, synthesize remarkably well with Dr. Anthony Perks' intriguing new theory that Stonehenge was also intended to symbolically represents the birthing vagina of an ancient "Mother Goddess" when viewed from the heavens by a solar "Sky Father".

The first page - It should be clearly understood that Dr. Anthony Perks is not claiming that, when it is viewed from high in the sky, Stonehenge graphically resembles a human vagina much like some pornographic "flower shot" that one might see within the folds of Penthouse magazine. Many misinformed people apparently believe this however, probably due to the shoddy journalism in some of the news reports about Dr. Perks' Stonehenge theory. What Dr. Perks is actually proposing in his intriguing new Stonehenge theory is that Stonehenge, at least in the later stages of its "evolution", was designed by its ancient architects to symbolically "represent" the female sexual organs of the vulva; including the labia majora and minora, the clitoris, and the opening of the birth canal, when viewed by the "Eyes of Heaven" of their sky-dwelling gods. This prehistoric symbolic representation of the human vulva would be created in a manner that is pretty much analogous to an *** anatomical drawing *** of the vagina or a *** diagram of the vulva. *** This becomes abundantly evident from what Dr. Anthony Perks actually says in his controversial paper titled 'Stonehenge: a view from Medicine' which was published as a short article in the February 2003 issue of the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

I will extensively quote Dr. Anthony Perks own words, as they are actually presented in his fairly short article, in the hope that such extensive quoting will lead to a better understanding of his quite misunderstood Stonehenge Theory. Extensive quoting should also clear up the various misconceptions about it, and help to "debunk" some of the misleading misinformation that has been used by "expert" archaeologists to try to publicly discredit Dr. Perks Stonehenge theory.

On page 95 of the JRSM article Dr. Perks says -

"Figure 3 compares the layout of the henge with the anatomy of the human vulva. There is a distinct similarity. Normally the anatomical structures would be more elliptical, or egg-shaped-forms found in many stone circles at other sites; indeed, in Stonehenge, the layout of the inner trilithons is more elongated than a true circle, and as suggested by Alexander Thom, almost an ellipse. However, towards birth the structures around the opening of the birth canal would become enlarged, and with the bearing down of the baby's head, more circular, like the outer ring of Stonehenge."

Please note that the diagram of the aerial view of Stonehenge and the anatomical diagram of the human vulva that are linked to above are not the simpler diagrams that are actually shown in Fig. 3 of Dr. Perks' article and they are not correctly oriented to the same alignment. These two diagrams serve only to illustrate that what Dr. Perks thesis is proposing is "a distinct similarity" or "analogy" between the "layout" and "structure" of Stonehenge, as it might be viewed from high in the sky by an ancient "sky god", and the "layout" and "structure" of the human vulva; most particularly as it would appear during childbirth to an ancient British midwife or a curious husband.

I will happily display the actual simple diagrams from the JRSM article but I wish to obtain Dr. Perks' permission before posting scans of them here. These simple diagrams are of course available for viewing on the internet in the Adobe Acrobat file of Dr. Perks' original short article in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine - 'Stonehenge: a view from Medicine'

Dr. Anthony Perks goes on to say - "Although other analogies are possible, the labia majora could be represented by the outer stone circle, and possibly the outer mound; the labia minora by the inner circle of trilithons; the clitoris by the altar stone (which probably stood upright), while the empty geometric centre of the henge would be the birth canal, perhaps outlined by the bluestones. The birth canal analogy would account for the absence of any monolith at the geometric centre of the henge, despite the way in which one's attention is drawn there: the central area is empty because it represents the opening to the world, the birth canal. This notion is supported by the remarkable find at nearby Woodhenge; the body of a sacrificial child was discovered buried at the centre of the circles. Clearly we are approaching the concept of Earth Mother."

Original picture caption - According to Dr. Anthony Perks' new theory that Stonehenge symbolically represents a vulva at childbirth when viewed from the sky; the Altar stone represents the clitoris. The U-shaped "Horseshoe" formed by the bluestone trilithons represents the labia minora and the outlines the vaginal opening of the symbolic Stonehenge birth canal. The outer circle of trilithons, and possibly the outer bank or mound, represents the labia majora.

The sacrificial child that was discovered buried at the centre of the circles of Woodhenge is indeed solid circumstantial evidence that does lend at least a modest amount of support to Dr. Perks' Stonehenge theory. I intend to present considerably more circumstantial evidence that should serve to lend further support to Dr. Perks' theory as this "web sight" evolves over the coming days, weeks, and months. My own area of knowledge and expertise is how eclipses, especially total eclipses of the sun, profoundly influenced ancient humanity's religious beliefs and practices. Lunar eclipses also had a far more significant influence on humanity's religious beliefs and practices than most people realize, in fact one of the ways that lunar eclipses may well have influenced ancient humanity's religious beliefs and practices might well be responsible for the fact that we modern human beings usually get a day or two of rest at the end of each week thanks to the ancient concept of the Sabbath which may have been originally inspired by total lunar eclipse phenomena. Not bad eh?

My extensive research into this genuinely fascinating area of anthropology and archaeoastronomy etc. has provided me with considerable knowledge and understanding of ancient religious beliefs and practices which allows me to not only recognize that there is a very real possibility that Dr. Perks' Stonehenge theory is quite valid, and certainly should not be gratuitously dismissed by members of the scientific and academic community, but which also allows me to offer significant further insights into this proposal and provide valid alternative perspectives that should serve to "flesh out" Dr. Perks' theory and ultimately to put together more of the many pieces of the anthropological "jigsaw puzzle" that provides us with the "Big Picture".

I will post the second page and other material in separate blog posts here.

Defending Dr. Anthony Perks' Theory That Stonehenge Was A Symbolic Vulva In A Letter To The Editors Of The Observer

I first became aware of UBC professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Dr. Anthony Perks' theory that Stonehenge symbolically represented the vulva of an Earth Goddess aka Mother Goddess in the summer of 2003 when Dr. Perks' theory was reported in the mainstream media. Dr. Perks' Stonehenge vulva theory, which could shed considerable new light on the purpose and meaning of Stonehenge if true, was flippantly and quite disingenuously dismissed out of hand by the chief archaeologist for English Heritage David Miles in the article that The Observer newspaper ran under the witty headline 'The Vagina Monoliths'. Here is the letter to the editor that I sent to The Observer in response to that article with some pertinent links embedded in it. The letter was never published by The Observer but I did forward a copy of it to David Miles and even received a personal email response from him playing down his attempt to discredit Dr. Perks' theory -


Subject: Vagina Monoliths response
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2003 17:02 EST
From: RobinEdgar1
To: letters@guardian.co.uk

Robin Edgar
XXXX rue XXXXX,
Montreal, Quebec
Canada HXX XXX

Tel. - (514) XXX-XXXX


The Editors of the Guardian/Observer

via email


Dear Editors,

I do not know Dr. Anthony Perks nor have I yet had the opportunity to read his paper proposing that Stonehenge was constructed in the shape of the female reproductive organs however I do know enough about ancient history and culture to say that Dr. Perks' Stonehenge theory deserves better than the gratuitously dismissive response of English Heritage's chief archaeologist David Miles.

David Miles displays glaring disingenuousness, if not outright ignorance of ancient history and well established archaeological fact, by rhetorically asking, "if Stonehenge was built so that it looked like a female sexual organ when viewed from above, how were people supposed to see that? As far as we have been able to tell, they didn't have hot-air balloons in prehistoric times." Surely most competent archaeologists or ancient historians understand that ancient geoglyph artworks and religious structures (perhaps most notably the Nazca Lines of Peru and Great Serpent Mound of Ohio) were never intended to be seen by the eyes of the people who built them but rather were meant to be seen by the "eyes of heaven" of the "sky gods" the ancients venerated such as the sun and the moon etc. Dare I ask David Miles if the ancient Britons who created the 3000 year old Uffington White Horse chalk figure were able to see it in all its radiant white glory from the skies above?

Dr. Perks' theory in no way conflicts with the scientific theories of Gerald Hawkins, Alexander Thom, and Sir Fred Hoyle that Stonehenge (amongst many other megalithic structures) served as an astronomical observatory, and even an eclipse calculator. In fact these two theories closely complement each other when one more fully understands how ancient cultures responded to both solar and lunar eclipses.

The totally eclipsed sun distinctly resembles the pupil and iris of a gigantic "Eye of God". One of the diverse ways in which ancient cultures responded to this "Eye of God" effect and other cosmic symbolism that is spectacularly manifested during the awe-inspiring "death" and "rebirth" of the "Sungod" was to create gigantic religious artworks that are best viewed from an "eye in the sky". There is quite literally rock solid archaeological evidence in the form of prehistoric petroglyphs that the ancient inhabitants of the British Isles and Ireland witnessed the total solar eclipse "Eye of God", most notably the "compound sun/eye symbols" at Dowth.

The deep red color of the eclipsed moon was universally perceived as blood. Indeed it was perceived as the vaginal blood of menstruation and birthing by a variety of ancient cultures. It is thus well within possibility that Stonehenge was created to predict lunar eclipses, and perhaps even solar eclipses, so that ancient Britons could practice "pagan" religious rites directly associated with birth and sexual fertility on those occasions when the sun and the moon most spectacularly manifested perceivable cosmic symbolism associated with birth and "rebirth" after death, to say nothing of menstruation and other aspects of human reproduction and fertility.

David Miles might benefit from taking a good look at aerial photographs of Glastonbury Tor, noting the terraced "lips" that ring it, and paying close attention to the position of the tower of St. Michael's church which was no doubt intended to obliterate an ancient pagan altar but most ironically ended up accentuating it when viewed by the "eyes of heaven". I am fully confident that Dr. Anthony Perks would be suitably impressed, and even quite amused, if he was to do likewise.

The Stonehenge, and indeed the Glastonbury Tor and other cultural heritage sites, that the modern age deserves are those revealed by modern insights and interpretations that most truthfully and accurately reflect the human culture of the ancient ages during which they were created. I am confident that Jacquetta Hawkes herself would agree that Dr. Anthony Perks' Stonehenge theory thus deserves greater respect and further investigation.

Sincerely,

Robin Edgar

Here is a follow-up comment that I posted to the web page where that letter was made available to the public -

Update - 3:00pm Wednesday July 16, 2003

A very helpful "little birdy" provided me with a phone number in England where I could reach Dr. Anthony Perks. I have thus had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Perks about his Stonehenge theory in person and to share some of the fruits of my own research and knowledge with him during a fairly lengthy long distance phone call earlier this afternoon. As I fully expected, it was abundantly clear from our lengthy phone conversation that Dr. Anthony Perks is a serious academic researcher and that his Stonehenge theory is highly plausible. It is thus eminently worthy of being responded to in a responsible and respectful manner by the archaeological and other academic communities to say nothing of the general public.

The chief archaeologist of English Heritage, David Miles, whose flippant and quite spurious dismissal of Dr. Perks Stonehenge theory is much quoted in the media in a manner that serves to publicly discredit Dr. Perks Stonehenge theory appears to have forgotten that he is on public record as saying the following words:

"We're (i.e. English Heritage) at great pains to promote
a responsible attitude to amateur archaeology. . ."

"Stonehenge is a site of global significance
and anything that adds to our knowledge and
understanding is of great importance."

If it is largely correct, Dr. Anthony Perks' theory that Stonehenge was constructed to symbolically represent the female reproductive organs when viewed from the sky clearly "adds" most significantly to our modern knowledge and understanding of Stonehenge and thus Dr. Perk's theory should be acknowledged as being, at least potentially, of "great importance" and even of "global significance".

I dare say that David Miles, and thus by extension English Heritage whom David Miles publicly represents, owes Dr. Perks an apology for the clearly sarcastic and gratuitously dismissive, evidently quite spurious, and indeed far from responsible publicly expressed "bad attitude" towards Dr. Perks' Stonehenge theory. In fact, Dr. Perks may well be quite deserving of an archaeological commission from English Heritage towards further archaeological investigation of his potentially very important Stonehenge theory. As far as I am concerned David Miles' gratuitously dismissive public comments represent a betrayal of his own words and English cultural heritage.

The Internet Archive's Wayback Machine has preserved some of the original newspaper reports about Dr. Anthony Perks' Stonehenge theory. Be patient as it may take some time for the pages to load. Once loaded I would highly recommend downloading these archived articles for future reference as they may not be around forever. . .

The Observer Sunday July 6, 2003

Boston Globe July 12, 2003

CNN.com SCIENCE & SPACE

Reuters July 8, 2003 (not available)

The Discovery Channel

An early report in The Scotsman (not available)

After posting that letter to the editor to the internet in the summer of 2003 I went on to create an eclipsology website dedicated to my take on Dr. Anthony Perks' interesting and quite plausible theory that Stonehenge was intended to be a symbolic vulva of "The Goddess" which showed how his theory was fully compatible with the now largely accepted theory that one of Stonehenge's purposes was to predict solar and/or lunar eclipses. I decided to use The Observer's witty 'The Vagina Monoliths' headline as the title of that website.

The Majorville Medicine Wheel aka Canada's Stonehenge Is A Rayed Sun Symbol That Is Probably A Total Solar Eclipse Inspired Compound Eye/Sun Symbol

Dare to compare. . .

I would say that this aerial "God's Eye" view photo of the Majorville medicine wheel compares very favorably to the Victorian era British astronomer's astronomical drawing of a 19th century total eclipse of the sun for the purposes of science, as well as the "compound eye/sun symbol" rayed sun petroglyph that was chiseled into The Stone of the Seven Suns at the Dowth "passage tomb" in Ireland for the purposes of religion several millennia ago.

Wouldn't you?

If you are a natural born skeptic, and the above very similar images are not enough to convince you of this highly probable hypothesis, please read the full text of the previous Eclipsology blog post.

A Stone Of The Seven Suns Petroglyph At Dowth Ireland Compared To A Victorian Astronomer's Drawing Of A Total Eclipse Of The Sun

Need I say more?

I shouldn't really have to say much more since these two juxtaposed pictures are easily worth a couple of thousand words on their own. . . but I will none-the-less go ahead and republish some of what I wrote in my 'The "Eye of God" In Total Solar Eclipses' eclipsology "web sight" years ago. For the immediately preceding background go to this Internet Archive web page.

Just as Ronald Giovannelli, Rolf Sinclair, and others apparently did not perceive the quite distinct similarity of the 'radiating sun' motif or the totally eclipsed sun to an eye so it would appear that Marija Gimbutas and her predecessors did not deduce that this 'radiant divine eye' motif, which Gimbutas has explicitly, and I have every reason to believe quite accurately, described as a 'compound eye/sun symbol', was almost certainly inspired by the striking similarity in appearance of the totally eclipsed sun to a 'radiant divine eye.' A colour photograph of just such a 'compound eye/sun symbol' or 'radiant divine eye' is published in 'The Monument Builders' by Time-Life Books. It is a petroglyph, which was carved onto a megalithic stone block at a prehistoric tomb near Dowth, Ireland, one of the Irish 'tomb-shrines' that Gimbutas mentions.

The caption to this illustration reads, "Either the sun or an eye may be signified in this carving in a curbstone of a retaining wall that was built to protect the base of a burial mound at Dowth, County Meath, Ireland."

The prehistoric Dowth petroglyphs are more than favourably comparable to nineteenth century drawings of total solar eclipses. The inner circle of each rayed-sun has been deliberately pitted to darken it, just as the moon is darkened when it is directly interposed between the Earth and the sun during a total solar eclipse. It is, in my opinion, well within possibility, even probable, that the heavily pitted surface of the inner circle of the Dowth petroglyphs was also intended to represent the cratered surface of the moon. If this hypothesis is true, it would evidently indicate that the prehistoric artists who carved the Dowth petroglyphs completely understood that total solar eclipses were caused by the glorious conjunction of the Earth's only moon with the sun. An unpitted, or 'clear', ring surrounds the pitted inner circle and it is of a thickness that is similar to that of the bright ring of the sun's crimson chromosphere, or inner corona, which completely encircles the lunar disc at totality. Several straight lines radiate outwards from this inner ring to an outer circle that delineates the outer limits of this 'radiating sun' aka 'radiant divine eye' aka 'compound eye/sun symbol.'

The only significant difference between the prehistoric petroglyphs at Dowth and astronomical drawings of the total solar eclipse that were made by astronomers in the nineteenth century is that the latter representations tend to show considerably more radial spikes in the corona than the Dowth petroglyphs which depict between one to two dozen spokes radiating outwards from the inner circle. The drawing of the July 28, 1851 total solar eclipse published in Thierry Moreux's 'Les Eclipses' bears this out. Several examples of nineteenth century astronomical drawings are provided along with reproductions of the Dowth petroglyphs for the purposes of comparison.

A description of the corona of the July 28, 1851, total solar eclipse in Volume 21 of the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society of Great Britain reads, "The corona, which was formed at the moment of total obscuration, shone with feeble light; equal, perhaps, to about one-third that of the full moon. The light was divided by radial lines, and presented the appearance of brushes of luminous rays from behind the moon."

A joint report by six German observers describing the same eclipse informs us that:

"The crown of rays (i.e. corona) had, from its very intense but not dazzling splendour, the greatest resemblance to the halo round the head of a saint; it formed a white-shining ring, equal in breadth to half the moon's radius, out of which twelve to fourteen white rays extended themselves, inclined to each other at equal angles, and of the length of the whole radius. . . No change or movement could be seen in them during the three minutes' duration of total darkness."

These comparatively 'modern' and 'scientific' descriptions of the 1851 total eclipse of the sun conform remarkably well to the Dowth petroglyphs which were hammered into Irish stone about four thousand years earlier. The portion of the Dowth petroglyph that represents the sun's corona has seventeen 'rays' divided by more or less equally spaced radial lines. The number of 'rays' depicted on other 'radiating sun' or 'radiant divine eye' petroglyphs at Dowth, as well as in other regions of the world, varies considerably.

The petroglyph at Dowth, Ireland, is remarkably similar to, and eminently comparable with, an astronomical drawing of the 1851 total solar eclipse that is depicted in figure2 of Plate VI of Volume XXI of the Memoirs of the Royal Astronomical Society. The sun's corona, as it is depicted in this purely scientific astronomical illustration, is divided into approximately seventeen quite distinct rays. These rays are separated from each other by a series of darker areas regularly interspersed between them. If one were to ask the artist who drew the 1851 eclipse to sculpt the very same image into stone with hammer and chisel they would inevitably create a petroglyph that would be virtually identical in appearance to the 'radiating sun' or 'compound eye/sun symbol' at Dowth.

When one synthesizes the thoughtful, well presented, and perfectly reasonable assertions or 'theses' of Ronald Giovannelli, Rolf Sinclair and others that the 'radiating sun' motif was inspired by ancient observations of total solar eclipses, with the thesis of Marija Gimbutas that this ubiquitous 'radiating sun' motif is in her eloquent words, "a compound eye/sun symbols. . . more logically seen as a 'radiant divine eye'" one arrives at an inevitable conclusion. It becomes obvious that the prehistoric artists from a diversity of ancient cultures who carved these 'radiant divine eye' motifs onto stone monuments in numerous regions of the Earth, and who likewise painted them onto the walls of caves, imprinted them into their pottery, wove them into their fabrics, or even tattooed them onto their bodies, were evidently witnesses to one or more total solar eclipses during their existence. On recognizing the distinct similarity in appearance of the totally eclipsed sun to a tremendous eye in the sky, they perceived the total solar eclipse to be either the literal, or possibly allegorical, eye of a sky-dwelling god or goddess. They were thus inspired to create these 'radiant divine eyes' as a memorial of the occasion when this mysterious celestial deity deigned to look down upon them from the heavens above.

The book 'Boyne Valley Vision' by Martin Brennan deals with the archaeoastronomy of the megalithic site Newgrange, with which Dowth is intimately related, and in it Brennan informs us that:

"Another theme occurs in Egyptian literature and mythology which is also found in Irish mythology. In Egypt the eye represented the all-seeing power of the high god in all his manifestations. The Irish regarded the sun as the eye of the heavens. The Irish word 'suil', etymologically speaking, means 'sun' and is cognate with the Welsh 'houl,' and the Latin 'sol,' and later acquired the meaning 'eye.' A closer parallel with the Egyptian use of the symbol is found in the story of Balor, the huge, one-eyed being who slew his enemies with his glance in the mythological battle of Moytura. The theme is repeated in Irish literature through the ages, and in the cycle of tales concerning Finn McCool, Goll 'the one-eyed' has these powers. It is possible then that the ray of light which enters the cave at Newgrange also signifies the omniscience and the omnipotence of the creative, spiritual force."

Understanding that the prehistoric Dowth petroglyphs were almost certainly inspired by total solar eclipses I think that we can be more than reasonably assured that the 'radiant divine eyes' that are carved into what Brennan calls 'the Stone of the Seven Suns' at Dowth were intended to signify the omniscience and omnipotence of the creative spiritual force of the Creator. The prehistoric artists of Dowth likely perceived this spiritual force to be allegorized in the totally eclipsed sun's similarity to an eye.

How The Winged Eye Symbol Was Inspired By Total Solar Eclipses By Synthesizing The "Eye of God" And "Winged Sun Disk" Symbolism

The Internet Archive could have done a better job of archiving the illustrations for my 'The Winged Eye Symbol' but I am not about to complain. I am thankful that anything at all was preserved for posterity. Here is the full text with new embedded links and some appropriate illustrations some of which are new -

It should be quite evident from the captioned pictures of the "winged eye" symbols shown above (Author's note: Sorry not currently available. . .) that the ancient "winged eye" religious symbol is a composite symbol which synthesizes the so-called "Eye of God", that is dramatically manifested in the skies above our planet Earth during most total solar eclipses, with the "winged disk" or "Bird of the Sun" that is readily perceivable within the sun's corona during those total solar eclipses during which the "plumes" and streamers of the sun's corona are concentrated into the sun's equatorial regions like "angels' wings". This idea is perhaps most readily demonstrable in terms of the ancient Egyptian versions of the "winged eye" symbol, although it should also be quite evident that the Mayans and Aztecs of Mesoamerica, the Nazca of Peru, the "Southern Cult", and a diversity of other ancient cultures developed their own "winged eye" religious symbols as a result of their own observations of the awe-inspiring "Eye of God" and the radiant "Bird of the Sun" that are manifested in the heavens during total solar eclipses.

Well over a century ago, the British astronomer Edward Walter Maunder published his theory that the winged sun disk symbol of ancient Egypt, as well as what he called the "ring with wings" solar disk symbols of Assyria and other ancient Mesopotamian civilizations, were inspired by a remarkable bird-like pattern that is quite readily perceivable within the sun's coronal halo during total solar eclipses that occur during the minimum phase of sunspot activity. Besides inspiring ancient Egypt's ubiquitous winged sun disk symbol, this coronal "Bird of the Sun" was quite evidently the inspiration for Horus, the solar falcon god of Egypt, as well as the Egyptian bennu bird which we know as the Phoenix bird of classical Greek myth.

The Egyptian religious myth of the cosmic battle between the solar falcon god Horus and the sun eating serpent god Set (or Apop) was also evidently inspired by the total eclipse of the sun as E. A. Wallis Budge, Curator of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum, proposed in his translation of 'The Egyptian Book of the Dead' at the turn of the 20th century. In fact, the solar falcon god Horus is quite literally described as taking on the form of a "great winged disk" in some versions of this ancient Egyptian religious myth inspired by total solar eclipses.

Two Egyptian winged eye symbols in a screen shot from my
archived 'The Winged Eye Symbol' eclipsology "web sight".

The Egyptian version of the winged eye symbol is thus essentially little more than a modest variation of the "Eye of Horus" symbol or the very similar udjat eye symbol (aka wadjet eye) to which the wings, and sometimes even the talons, of the solar falcon god Horus have been attached. In fact, it might actually make rather more sense, and perhaps even strike considerably closer to the actual ancient truth, to propose that the "Eye of Horus" symbol of Egypt is actually a total solar eclipse inspired "winged eye" symbol that has had the bird wings, tail, and any other body parts of the solar falcon god Horus, removed from it in order to emphasize the god's attribute of divine watchfulness and protection that was inspired by the genuinely striking similarity in appearance of the totally eclipsed sun to an "Eye of God".

A rather murky but still quite viewable scientific astronomical illustration of the 1878 total eclipse of the sun that was drawn by Ettiene Leopold Trouvelot at Creston, Wyoming, also reveals how the "winged eye" symbol is a composite symbol which synthesizes the total solar eclipse "Eye of God" (aka "Eye of Horus") with the sun's coronal "wings". The much "cleaner" astronomical line drawing below, that was also done by E. L. Trouvelot, was used by British astronomer Edward Walter Maunder to illustrate his article titled 'An Old Record of the Corona' which was published in 'Knowledge' magazine on New Year's Day 1897. Maunder astutely pointed out how the "fan of light" formed by the corona's polar rays had a "practically perfect" "resemblance" to the "kilts" worn by Assyrian deities which also formed the bird-like tail of most Assyrian "ring with wings" religious symbols. Maunder commented, "If this be a mere chance coincidence it seems to me to be a most extraordinary one."

This astronomical drawing of a 19th century total solar eclipse
observed at Creston Wyoming by Ettiene Leopold Trouvelot
reveals the origin of the winged eye symbol of ancient Egypt.

It would appear that E. Walter Maunder either completely failed to notice, or chose not to point out, the "most extraordinary" "coincidence" of the "practically perfect" "resemblance" of the totally eclipsed sun's coronal "fan of light" surrounding the black pupil-like disk of the moon to the iris of an "Eye in the Sky" or "Eye of God".

The Eye Of Horus Religious Symbol Of Ancient Egypt Was Inspired By The Total Solar Eclipse "Eye Of God"

The Internet Archive did a very good job of archiving my eclipsology "web sight" titled 'The Eye of Horus Symbol of Ancient Egyptian Religion' almost completely intact. Here is the full text with new embedded links and various appropriate illustrations some of which are new -

The original top of the page of my eclipse lore "web sight"
The ubiquitous Eye of Horus symbol of ancient Egyptian religion can be quite readily shown to have been inspired by the "Eye of God" aka "Eye in the Sky" that is manifested in the heavens above our planet Earth during most if not all total eclipses of the sun. Horus, the famous solar falcon god of ancient Egypt, was quite evidently inspired by the "winged disk" or the "Bird of the Sun" that is readily perceivable within the sun's corona during those total eclipses of the sun in which the streamers of the sun's corona are concentrated into the sun's equatorial regions and thus appear very much like a bird's wings spreading out on either side of the so-called "black sun" that is formed by the dark circle of the occulting disk of the moon. The ancient Egyptian myth of the cosmic battle between the solar falcon god Horus and the sun eating serpent god Set was quite evidently inspired by total solar eclipses as the British Museum's reputed Egyptologist EA Wallis Budge noted well over a century ago. In fact, the solar falcon god Horus is very clearly spoken of as assuming the form of a gigantic "winged disk" in some versions of this ancient Egyptian solar eclipse myth.


The Eye of Horus symbol does not usually show the wings of the solar falcon god however the Egyptians also had a closely related winged version of their total solar eclipse inspired udjat eye symbol. I expect that the wingless Eye of Horus symbol is essentially a winged udjat eye symbol from which the wings of the coronal SunBird have been deliberately removed in order to emphasize the religious attribute of this sky god's divine omniscience that is allegorized by the striking similarity in appearance of the totally eclipsed sun to an "Eye of God". The "solar eye" nature of the Horus Eye symbol is clearly revealed by the fact that some versions of this ancient Egyptian religious symbol clearly depict the pupil and iris of the "Eye of Horus" as red sun disk with a central black dot.

The Winged Sun Disk Symbol Of Ancient Egyptian Religion Was Inspired By Total Solar Eclipses

The Internet Archive has done a pretty good job of preserving my 'The Ancient Egyptian Winged Sun Disk Symbol' eclipsology "web site". Here is the complete text of the original website with some of the images that it displayed along with some new ones -

The winged disk symbol is found throughout Egypt. It appears in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic inscriptions and on the royal seals and cartouches of Egyptian pharaohs. This ancient Egyptian religious symbol is found carved onto obelisks, the capstones of pyramids, and alabaster bas-reliefs and is painted onto fading ancient wall murals. The winged sun disk symbol graces the stone lintels of the entrances to a great many temples and palaces in Egypt. Numerous Egyptian pharaohs employed this ubiquitous religious symbol of their sun gods as a royal sign of their divinely ordained status.

I have collected considerable evidence which supports E. Walter Maunder's theory that the ancient Egyptian "winged solar disk" symbol was, in all probability, inspired by ancient observations of total solar eclipses. During some total solar eclipses the condensed equatorial streamers of the sun's corona stretching out on either side of the "black sun" formed by the occulting disk of the moon bear a striking resemblance to the outspread wings of a glorious celestial bird. At the same time the plume-like polar rays distinctly resemble the fanned-out tail-feathers of a gigantic cosmic bird. This wing-like appearance of the streamers of the sun's corona was first remarked upon by eclipse observers in the latter half of the 19th century and it quickly became fashionable amongst astronomers to refer to the sun's coronal streamers as "wings".

The above composite image of the July 11, 1991 total solar eclipse was created by Steve Albers.

For much more detailed information about how the ancient Egyptian winged disk symbol, the Egyptian's venerated solar falcon god Horus, the bennu bird or Phoenix, and other mythical "SunBirds" were all inspired by the remarkable "SunBird" that is manifested during some total solar eclipses please see my 'Pedigree of the Phoenix' "Web Sight" which also reveals how the ancient Mayans and Aztecs, as well as many other ancient civilizations such as the Babylonians, Hittites and Assyrians, developed very similar religious beliefs and practices, and religious iconography, as a direct result of seeing the radiant "Bird of the Sun" that is spectacularly manifested in the heavens above our planet as day turns to night during a total eclipse of the sun. . .

The Dashur Pyramid Pyramidion of Pharaoh Amenemhat III.
Photo courtesy of The Egypt Archive of Jon Bodsworth.

This modern composite image of the Sun during the June 21, 2001 total solar eclipse helps to reveal how total solar eclipses clearly inspired the winged Sun disk religious symbol of ancient Egypt which is a much more ancient composite image of the Sun.

Khepri - Total Solar Eclipse Scarab God

The Internet Archive has done a pretty good job of preserving my 'Khepri - Total Solar Eclipse Scarab God' eclipsology "web site". Here is the complete text of the original website with the two main GIF animations that it displayed -
It doesn't look like Blogger likes GIF animations. . .
Just go to the archived site to view them.
Some years ago, as a direct result of my ongoing extensive research into the profound influence of eclipses, especially total solar eclipses, on ancient humanity's religious beliefs and "mythology" it occurred to me that the Egyptian scarab beetle god Khepri was almost certainly inspired by ancient Egyptian observations of total solar eclipses. Upon seeing the image of Khepri from an Egyptian 'Book of the Dead' that I used in these animations my intuitive hunch was considerably reinforced. The Egyptian scarab beetle god Khepri, as it is depicted in this image with the ray-like wings, distinctly resembles scientific drawings of total solar eclipses made by 19th century astronomers. Further research into the behavior of scarab beetles (aka dung beetles) and English translations of ancient Egyptian religious texts such as the Pyramid texts, the Coffin texts, and the Egyptian 'Book of the Dead' which the Egyptians actually called 'Coming Forth By Day' has convinced me that the scarab beetle god Khepri was in fact inspired by total solar eclipse phenomena and that Khepri represents the "black sun" that is formed by the new moon as it is seen during the total phase of a total solar eclipse (i.e. totality) when the darkened new moon seems to be endowed with the radiant white "wings" of the sun's corona.

It has recently come to my attention that the Egyptian astronomer Aymen Mohamed Ibrahem, who has also extensively researched how total eclipses of the sun profoundly influenced ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, as is evident from their various creation myths and their religious iconography, has come to the very same conclusion about the scarab god Khepri entirely independently of me. The above animation clearly illustrates how the "boat of the sun" that is associated with Khepri and various other Egyptian sun gods such as Ra and the Egyptian phoenix known as the bennu bird was inspired by the thin golden crescent of the partially eclipsed sun which corresponds both in shape and in gold color to ancient Egyptian papyrus reed boats. The 19th century black and white scientific astronomical drawing of a total solar eclipse is virtually identical to this ancient Egyptian depiction of the scarab god Khepri. I intend to provide more details in the very near future, since I have a slightly different take on this scarab beetle as total solar eclipse god thesis than Aymen Mohamed Ibrahem, one that provides some additional reasons as to why the Egyptians associated the scarab beetle with total solar eclipse phenomena, but for now I will suggest reading his interesting web page about how total solar eclipse phenomena inspired the ancient Egyptian scarab beetle god known as Khepri or Khepera.

Even the modern scientific astronomers at the High Altitude Observatory perceived a "scarab" in the sun's corona of the 1998 total solar eclipse

Here are some alternative search terms for the Egyptian scarab god - Kheper, Khepera, Khepri, Khephri, Khepra, Khephra, Khopri, Kheperi, Khepery, Chepri, Chopri, Egyptian scarab beetle god, ancient Egyptian scarab god, scarabaeid beetle, family Scarabaeidae, scarab amulet, Scarabaeus sacer, dung beetle, genus Scarabaeus

Southern Cult Iconography Juxtaposed With 19th Century Scientific Astronomical Drawings Of Total Solar Eclipses

Southern Cult Iconography Decoded - An Unpublished Archaelogy Magazine Letter To The Editor

This is a bit of a blast from the past that I thought I might as well repost to this blog. It was originally posted to my 'Southern Cult Iconography Decoded' eclipse lore web site. In fact this letter to the editor led to the creation of that eclipsology website that went down in late 2006 or early 2007 along with all of my other eclipse lore "web sights". It has been retrieved from The Wayback Machine of the Internet Archive so I am not sure how reliable the embedded links are. I will test them and if they are found wanting I will either remove them or replace them with alternative links -

Here is the full text of the letter to the editor that I e-mailed to the editors and publisher of Archaeology magazine, the official organ on the Archaeological Institute of America, on July 23, 2002 in response to Alex W. Barker's article:

MYTH & MONSTERS -

Decoding ritual images of a mysterious ancient American religion

I have embedded links to pertinent web sites in the text of this letter


Robin Edgar
XX Lafleur apt. XX
Verdun, Montreal
Quebec, Canada
H4G 3C3

Tel: XXXXXXX

Dear Editors,

I realize that this letter to the editor is a bit too long to be published intact but I hope that you will see fit to publish the opening and concluding paragraphs at least and as much of the middle as possible.

Re : Myths & Monsters - Decoding ritual images of a mysterious ancient American religion

Decoding something is usually made quite simple and straightforward once one has discovered the key to the code. The key to "decoding" the "myths and monsters" of the Southern Cult, and indeed those of many other ancient cultures, is the total eclipse of the sun. The "great snakes, cats, or birds", even the "supernatural" insects, of the Southern Cult and other ancient cultures can be shown to have been inspired by total solar eclipses. Alex Barker's article failed to mention the fact that some of the Indian mounds are themselves effigies of "great snakes," gigantic birds, and other animals that are best viewed from the sky. A very significant Indian mound that was not mentioned in the article is the Great Serpent Mound of Ohio. It clearly depicts the mythical eclipse serpent swallowing the "cosmic egg" of the sun.

The totally eclipsed sun eerily resembles a gigantic "cosmic eye" staring down from the sky; even some modern eclipse observers call it the "Eye of God". Various ancient cultures created gigantic geoglyph images that are intended to be viewed by from the sky" in response to this "Eye of God". Total solar eclipses most probably inspired the Nazca Lines biomorph geoglyphs in Peru, the Uffington White Horse in England (total solar eclipses of 1168 and 1184 BCE), Ohio's Great Serpent Mound and other such gigantic ground drawings that are best viewed from the sky. There is abundant evidence in the religious iconography of the Southern Cult that its "myths and monsters", like those of many other ancient cultures, were inspired by total solar eclipses. The "sophisticated astronomical system" of the Southern Cult may provide evidence that solar eclipses were important cosmic events that the Southern Cult tried to predict.

A bird-like pattern is clearly manifested within the sun's corona during some total solar eclipses. This "sunbird" evidently inspired the Egyptian winged sun symbol, the anthropomorphic solar falcon god Horus, and the bennu bird which we know as the proverbial phoenix. The very same coronal "sunbird" almost certainly inspired the Southern Cult's own "supernatural" Bird-man (who is most probably an anthropomorphic sun god avatar) and its own "solar falcon" analogous to Horus. The large bird effigy mounds contained within circles probably depict this "supernatural" coronal "sunbird." The "weeping-eye motif" is most likely the Southern Cult's equivalent of the Egyptian "Eye of Horus" symbol which was inspired by the "Eye of God" and "sunbird" that are manifested in the heavens during totality. Some drawings of coronal patterns made by 19th century astronomers distinctly resemble the Southern Cult's "weeping-eye motif." Further south the regalia of Mayan and Aztec priests and rulers emulated this coronal "sunbird" as evidenced by the winged anthropomorphic sun god pectorals that they wore over their hearts.

Whether a butterfly or a moth the insect with the eye-spots on its wings that Jim Knight correctly interprets as a "supernatural" being is almost certainly inspired by total solar eclipses. When the equatorial "wings" of the sun's corona are less defined one can easily imagine it to be a cosmic butterfly. The Aztecs clearly did just that as evidenced by their own solar butterfly iconography. I take note of the fact that the proboscis of this "supernatural" insect morphs into a rayed circle in one of the examples, clearly suggesting that it was indeed inspired by total solar eclipses.

There is very good reason to believe that the Southern Cult's "cross in circle" motif is a sun symbol. The ubiquitous solar cross symbol, found in many ancient cultures, can be shown to be inspired by a cross-like pattern that is perceivable within the sun's corona during some total solar eclipses. The swastika formed by the woodpecker heads is clearly a variant of this solar cross symbol. The bird and the cross iconography are pretty much interchangeable since they are both inspired by the same pattern within the sun's corona. The bird in circle effigy mounds may be seen as a kind of "cross in circle" motif. The Southern Cult's "cross in circle" in the palm of the hand motif is interchangeable with its "eye in hand" motif because the cross and the eye are inspired by the same spectacular astronomical phenomenon. The supernatural spider that bears the solar cross on its back is most likely also a sun symbol inspired by total solar eclipses. The Moche of Peru who saw more than their fair share of total solar eclipses depicted their sun god as an anthropomorphized gold spider. The spider is also conceivably a symbol of the Creator itself.

The Southern Cult flourished from 1000 AD to 1500 AD. More than a dozen total solar eclipses* occurred over their territory (as mapped) during that time period. Many more annular and partial solar eclipses would have been witnessed by these "Mound Builder" Indians. Even more total solar eclipses would have been witnessed somewhat outside of this territory. Thus the Southern Cult had every opportunity to develop a religious cult that was profoundly influenced by solar eclipse phenomena. The fact of the matter is that eclipses, especially total solar eclipses, are the key to "decoding" the religious beliefs and practices of most pre-Columbian American cultures and many other ancient cultures. For detailed background information that strongly supports this "decoding" of the religious iconography of the Southern Cult please see my eclipse lore web sites linked from http://treasuresofdarkness.homestead.com I intend to create a web site detailing this "decoding" of Southern Cult iconography at http://southernculticonography.homestead.com

Sincerely,

Robin Edgar

* Julian calendar dates - July 20 985, March 7 1076, July 1 1079, August 13 1151, September 14 1205, June 13 1257, October 17 1259, July 26 1348, December 10 1349, May 25 1351, January 21 1395, July 7 1442, June 28 1451, July 29 1478, July 20 1506

end quote

Needless to say the links were not embedded in the original letter and I have had to change some of the links that went to dead web pages. There never were links embedded in the list of solar eclipse dates at the end of the letter but since the good people at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center have kindly provided Google Maps of the tracks of individual solar eclipses going back as far as 2000 BCE in the intervening years I have linked to the Google Maps of each solar eclipse listed.