Aztatlan Culture Petroglyphs Found At Tepic Mexico May Depict An Eclipse Monster

Earlier today* a Tweet by ArchaeoNewsNet saying Ancient petroglyphs found in Mexico brought my attention to this article about ancient Aztatlan petroglyphs being found near Tepic, Mexico, at a site called "Cantil de las animas" (Cliff of the souls).

When I saw the photographs of the Tepic petroglyphs, the upper photo reproduced below, looked like it might represent an eclipse monster. The crescent shaped upper eye-lid framing a totally round eye looks a LOT like a common sun-moon conjunction symbol that is found in many ancient cultures.

I did some quick research, using NASA maps for the paths of solar eclipses, and found that there was a concentration of solar eclipses near Tepic early in the Aztatlan era in the 10th century AD. There was another concentration of solar eclipses near the end of the Aztatlan era in the early 14th century. In light of the fact that the petroglyphs face the rising sun I think that there is a strong probability that these petroglyphs were inspired at least in part by solar eclipses that took place over Tepic, or not far from Tepic. Tepic was within the path of totality of the July 16, 1311 total solar eclipse as may be seen in the NASA solar eclipse maps from the NASA solar eclipse atlas reproduced below -

Major eclipses of the sun preceded and followed the July 16, 1311 total solar eclipse, such as the hybrid eclipse of June 15, 1303 which would have been seen as a strong partial eclipse at Tepic. Obviously more research needs to be done but, based on the available evidence, I think my "gut feeling" that the Tepic petroglyph depicts an eclipse monster is quite valid.

This is a work in progress and I will add new material to it as it becomes available.

Here is a NASA map of the total solar eclipse and annular eclipse that occurred somewhat to the north of Tepic early in the 10th century AD. The total solar eclipse of June 18, 931, was followed by the annular eclipse of April 16, 934 less than three years later. . . Both solar eclipses would have been seen as strong partial eclipses at Tepic.

Here are some additional links -

http://www.pvpulse.com/en/news/news-from-banderas-bay/thousand-year-old-petroglyphs-discovered-at-nayarit

The Spanish quoted below comes from this article - Hallan petrograbados milenarios en Nayarit

"En la mitad oriental se concentran diseños relacionados con la fertilidad-fecundidad: nubes de lluvia, caracoles seccionados y vulvas femeninas; mientras, en la sección occidental, aparecen de forma recurrente representaciones de cráneos de perfil, cuyo frente en todos los casos apunta hacia el oriente, precisamente hacia la salida del sol."

"In the eastern half are concentrated designs related to fertility-fecundity: rain clouds, sectioned snails and female vulvas (Editors's note: Are there any other kind?), while in the western section, representations of skulls in profile appear recurrently, in all cases pointing towards the east, precisely the direction of the rising  sun."

It thus seems that the archaeological team believe that the fact that these petroglyphs point towards the rising sun is intentional.

* Thursday, January 24, 2013 that is. It seems that the time stamp for this blog is set to Greenwich Mean Time and thus it is claiming to have been posted on Friday, January 25, 2013.

This Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky Colour Photograph Of A Russian Eclipse Expedition To Observe The January 14 1907 Total Solar Eclipse

*May* be the earliest colour photograph of an astronomical expedition according to an article by Paul Sutherland titled 'Earliest colour photo of astro event' on the SkyMania website.

From the article:

Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky does not appear to have recorded the eclipse itself. But his image offers a fascinating glimpse of how scientists headed into the snowy peaks in the depths of winter to observe totality.

Two refracting telescopes on equatorial mounts stand proudly outside the team’s yurt – a traditional tent-like but wooden structure that nomads typically used in this part of the world. The photographer himself stands, second from the left, in a fur hat.

Prokudin-Gorsky’s notes tell us they were at Cherniaevo Station in the Tian-Shan mountains above the Saliuktin mines on Golodnaia Steppe. That is in the east of what is today Uzbekistan, near its eastern border with Tajikistan.

end quote

Here is the uncropped original colour photograph from the Library Of Congress collection of Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky photographs -

And here are the two 'I CAN HAS CHEEZBURGER?' LOLcats style photos that I could not resist creating -

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.

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.

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.

The Nazca Lines and "The Eye In Sky" How Total Solar Eclipses Inspired The Nazca Lines and Geoglyphs

Apparently someone liked my eclipsology "web sight" titled 'The Nazca Lines and "The Eye In Sky"' and sub-titled 'How Total Solar Eclipses Inspired The Nacza Lines and Geoglyphs' enough to reproduce it verbatim on their own website. I guess that I should be grateful to them for hosting my Nazca Lines theory for several years for free and in a way I am. At least the information was more accessible than what is more or less hidden away in the Internet Archive and they did not outright plagiarize me without giving the slightest credit where credit is due as some people have. . .

There is not much point in reproducing the original text that has been preserved but I will post some screen shots of the more pertinent images from that archive of my Nazca Lines theory website below -

Was Canada's Stonehenge aka The Majorville Medicine Wheel An Ancient Religious Response To Total Solar Eclipses By Plains Indians?

I first became aware of the Majorville Medicine Wheel in Alberta aka "Canada's Stonehenge" in the late winter or spring of this year when it was mentioned in a CBC radio program I was listening to. The report spoke about how Gordon Freeman, a chemistry professor at the University of Alberta had written a book titled 'Canada's Stonehenge' in which he put forward his theory that various important astronomical alignments were built into and associated with the Majorville Medicine Wheel. The report interested me because I had always thought that medicine wheels could be depictions of the totally eclipses sun in much the same way that rayed sun petroglyphs. I intended to look into the matter further but was distracted by other things and let it drop.

Just a few weeks ago I was reminded about "Canada's Stonehenge" while doing some research on the internet. I decided to look into it further and soon found the 'Canada's Stonehenge' website after some appropriate Googling around. The "slideshow" at the top of the page showed an image of the cover of the book with an aerial view of the Majorville medicine wheel, a very similar aerial view was portrayed amongst six thumbnail photographs of "Canada's Stonehenge" and the original Stonehenge in England on the top right side of the webpage. I was immediately struck by how this "bird's eye view" of the Majorville medicine wheel distinctly resembled the ancient rayed sun petroglyphs that were inspired by total solar eclipses and I quickly decided that it was highly probable that the "Canada's Stonehenge" medicine wheel was a gigantic geoglyph version of such "compound sun/eye symbol" petroglyphs which was fully intended to be viewed from the sky, just like the Nazca Lines biomorph geoglyphs in Peru and other geoglyphs and effigy mounds in North America are clearly meant to be viewed from above. I was quite certain that the large central cairn surrounded by rays was intended to represent the total solar eclipse "Eye of God" just as the very similar, indeed almost identical, "compound sun/eye symbol" petroglyphs that are carved into Ireland's prehistoric 'The Stone Of The Seven Suns' at the Dowth Passage Tomb almost certainly do.


I decided to do some initial research into when a concentrated series of total solar eclipses took place at or near "Canada's Stonehenge", being quite certain that it was simply a question if "when" not "if" in lught of the fact that it was supposed to be five thousand years old. It took some more browsing through the website, and some additional Google searches, to get an idea of where "Canada's Stonehenge" was located in Alberta. I did not initially know that it was called the Majorville medicine wheel, and I did not know where Majorville was when I did find that out. Once I found out that Majorville was southeast of Calgary I began to have a look at NASA maps of the paths of solar eclipses to see what total solar eclipses and annular eclipses occurred over Majorville or near it. I knew that the Majorville medicine wheel was supposed to be five thousand years old, and I also knew that NASA's map of solar eclipse paths only goes back four thousand years to 2000 BCE but I decided to work with what I had available. I knew that even if the Majorville medicine wheel had been originally inspired by a 5000 year old series of total solar eclipses in its environs, something that is not necessarily the case, that later series of solar eclipses would have had an important influence and may have inspired the Indians who built the medicine to modify it so that it looked like a gigantic drawing of a total solar eclipse, indeed what I call the total solar eclipse "Eye of God" when viewed from the sky.
Imagine my gratification when the very first NASA map of solar eclipse paths that I looked at, obviously the earliest one available from 2000 BCE to 1981 BCE showed a total solar eclipse path of totality running down through what is now Alaska and British Columbia into Montana and crossing the USA to the east coast. That total solar eclipse would have been visible just a few hundred miles west of the site of "Canada's Stonehenge". It took place on October 25 1988 BCE. The path of an annular eclipse of the sun, the ringlike type of solar eclipse that takes place when the moon is too far away from the Earth to totally eclipse the sun, ran right alongside much of this path of totality to the east of it from Alaska and the Yukon, through British Columbia and southwestern Alberta, and across all of Montana. This annular solar eclipse occurred on August 12 1984 BCE less than four years after the 1988 BCE total solar eclipse and its path was even closer to Majorville as depicted on the NASA map. As if this was not enough, a third solar eclipse path was shown crossing both of these two eclipse paths from west to east (or east to west if you prefer) near the southeastern part of British Columbia and across southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan and mid Manitoba. This solar eclipse was a rare hybrid solar eclipse which is a solar eclipse which appears as an annular eclipse at both extremities of its path of totality, but is also a brief total solar eclipse in the middle part of the path of totality. Hybrid solar eclipses occur when the angular diameters of the sun and moon are virtually identical. A hybrid eclipse is total on those parts of the globe that are closest to the sun and moon but turns into a thin-ringed annular eclipse on those parts of the globe that are farther away from the sun and moon. This hybrid solar eclipse took place on July 23 1993 BCE and thus was the first eclipse in this series of eclipses over southern British Columbia and Alberta. It preceded the October 28 1988 BCE total solar eclipse by just over five years and may have regenerated interest in observing solar eclipses, if not attempts to predict them, in the Indians who maintained the Majorville medicine wheel Sun Temple.

The upshot of all this is that about one thousand years after the Majorville medicine wheel is believed to have been first constructed, the Indians in south western Alberta and south eastern British Columbia had the opportunity to witness three major solar eclipses within a time span of just over one decade. It is kind of fun that all four types of solar eclipses were represented by these three solar eclipses. The first eclipse of 1993 BCE being a rare hybrid solar eclipse which appeared in the sky as a thin (and quite brief) annular eclipse soon after sunrise, the second eclipse being the dramatic total solar eclipse on the afternoon of October 28 1988 BCE, and the third eclipse being the annular eclipse which would have been seen in the west around sunset on August 12 1984 BCE.

What is the fourth type of solar eclipse you ask?

Nothing special, just the partial solar eclipses which would have been witnessed by those people who were outside of the paths of totality or annularity of these three solar eclipses. I say "nothing special" because partial solar eclipses simply cannot compare to high drama and cosmic symbolism of total solar eclipses, or even beautiful annular solar eclipses (which are of course a form of partial solar eclipse in that the sun is never totally eclipsed during one), but I expect that even a thin partial solar eclipse would have impressed those people who were not *too* far outside of the path of totality, especially if it occurred near sunrise or sunset. Indeed to the Plains Indians the thin crescent of partially eclipsed sun may have been thought of as a beautiful golden bow or even the golden horns of a cosmic solar buffalo. . .

Did I forget to mention that the very next NASA map that I looked at, which mapped all of the total and annular solar eclipse paths from 1980 BCE to 1961 BCE, showed that a total solar eclipse took place very close to Canada's Stonehenge on the "official" day of the Vernal Equinox on March 21 1968 BCE? Gordon Freeman would tell you that the *real* Equal-Night Day quite literally observed by the ancient astronomers he calls SkyWatchers who maintained the Majorville Medicine Wheel Sun Temple actually took place several days earlier on March 17th, none-the-less it must have seemed especially significant to have a total solar eclipse occur so close to what we call the Spring Equinox. Likewise it would have probably seemed of special significance if a major solar eclipse occurred on or near either the winter or summer solstice, as some solar eclipses did.

Without further ado here is the full text of the first email that I sent to amateur archaeoastronomer Gordon Freeman, the author of 'Canada's Stonehenge', on August 18th after speaking with him during my first impromptu phone conversation that began around 9:30 the night before, and which lasted for well over fifteen minutes and maybe as much as a half-hour or so. I will be blogging about later conversations and written communications in the coming weeks and months with Gordon Freeman's kind permission to share everything openly. This initial letter is not terribly exciting but it gives a brief overview of the solar eclipses that occurred at or reasonably near to "Canada's Stonehenge". For the record Gordon Freeman is not overly thrilled with that designation of the Majorville Medicine Wheel and its related astronomical alignments, and neither am I, although it is beginning to grow on me. . . There are some pretty good reasons to use that title but other good reasons not too. I may use it less as time goes on but I am using it extensively now if only to help ensure that those people interested in "Canada's Stonehenge" will have a better chance of finding this blog post when searching for that term in Google and other search engines. Yes, some people actually use other search engines on occasion. ;-)

It should be noted that there are some apparent comparatively minor errors in this initial communication with Gordon Freeman. For starters I mixed up NASA's somewhat arcane dating system with true BCE (Before Current Era) so it is necessary to add a year to the dates marked XXXX BCE to get the true BCE date. Also. . . the very detailed Google Maps of the paths of totality of the individual eclipses follow paths that are somewhat different from those depicted on the maps that show the paths of total and annular solar eclipses over twenty year time spans. I only discovered this today when I looked at a one of the Google Maps of a path of totality and saw a clear discrepancy with same path of totality depicted on the more general purpose 20 year span maps. The much more detailed, and presumably (albeit not necessarily. . .) more accurate, Google Maps versions of paths of total and annular solar eclipses seem to be quite consistently shifted a few hundred miles further to the east than the "general purpose" ones. Needless to say this actually works in my favor in terms of the three paths of totality that were depicted as being somewhat to the west of the Majorville medicine wheel. :-) So some solar eclipses that I had thought occurred directly above "Canada's Stonehenge" actually occurred a few hundred miles to the east of the site, at least according to the more detailed Google Maps, but this is compensated for by the fact that solar eclipses that I had thought took place to the west of the site actually took place directly over it if we put our trust in the reliability and accuracy of the Google Maps versions of paths of totality. More about that later in another blog post.

My first email to Gordon Freeman -


Some Initial Research Into Total Solar Eclipses Observable Near Canada's Stonehenge
Tuesday, August 18, 2009 2:37 AM
(Author's note: Yes I was burning the midnight oil. . .)
From: "Robin Edgar" robinedgar59@yahoo.ca
To: XXXX@ualberta.ca

Hi Gordon,

After our initial phone conversation of Monday evening in which I suggested that the Majorville solar effigy "medicine wheel" may have been inspired by observations of total solar eclipses and that the related solar and lunar alignments that you have discovered may have been used to try to predict eclipses, I decided to browse through NASA maps of the paths of totality of total solar eclipses, and the paths of "annularity" of annular (ring-like) solar eclipses, to determine which total solar eclipses and annular eclipses would have been observable at or near what you call Canada's Stonehenge. Unfortunately the NASA maps only go back as far as -1999 BCE and thus do not go back a full 5000 years but the results were quite interesting none-the-less. In fact a number of significant paths of totality passing over the Majorville solar effigy site, or very close to it, were found in the earliest maps!

Herewith is a recounting of what I found -

NASA maps of the paths of totality of total solar eclipses only go back as far as 1999 BCE but interestingly enough there are two annular eclipses shown over what is now southern Alberta in the very first map. The first annular eclipse was the annular part of a hybrid eclipse (part total part annular due to sun and moon have near identical angular diameters at the time of the eclipse) which took place on July 23, 1992 BCE. The second annular eclipse was the solar eclipse of August 12, 1983 BCE. On October 25, 1987 BCE, a total solar eclipse took place with the path of totality (POT) passing to the west and south of the Canada's Stonehenge sun effigy "medicine wheel" at Majorville in what is now south eastern British Columbia and Montana.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas-2/SEatlas-1999.GIF

On March 21, 1967 BCE, a total solar eclipse occurred somewhat to the north of the Majorville sun effigy. On June 23, 1962 BCE, a total solar eclipse occurred soon after the summer solstice in what is now Montana.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas-2/SEatlas-1979.GIF

Another summer solstice total solar eclipse took place somewhat to the north of your site on June 23, 1441 BCE. This total solar eclipse (TSE) was preceded by two total solar eclipses whose paths of totality overlapped over what is now southwestern Montana. The path of totality of the of October 15, 1457 BCE, total solar eclipse was considerably to the south of the Majorville cairn but perhaps not *too* far away for some word of mouth cultural contact to bring news of it, while the path of totality of the June 02, 1450 BCE, cut a swath from southwest Montana through north east Montana. All three of these total solar eclipses would have been seen as very strong partial eclipses at the actual site of the Majorville cairn/sun effigy but one or two of them were likely witnessed by Indians who were in the actual paths of totality not all that far from where the sun effigy is located.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas-2/SEatlas-1459.GIF

About 500 years later the path of totality of the May 11, 965 BCE, total solar eclipse cut a wide swath across North America from the coast of B.C. through southern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, southern Ontario, southern Quebec, Maine and southern Nova Scotia. It would seem that the southern edge of the path of totality would have been not far to the north of the sun effigy if not directly over it.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas-1/SEatlas-0979.GIF

Two total solar eclipses occurred over southeastern B.C. and southwestern Alberta within a decade. The first on July 28, 690 BCE, and the second on August 17, 681 BCE. Two annular solar eclipses took place directly over or very close to the Majorville sun effigy medicine wheel within the same generation. The first occurred on June 05, 696 BCE, and the second on October 30, 685 BCE.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas-1/SEatlas-0699.GIF

The total solar eclipse of October 10, 591 BCE, occurred directly over or very close to the Majorville sun effigy medicine wheel.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas-1/SEatlas-0599.GIF

The POT (path of totality) of the August 16, 263 BCE, total solar eclipse would appear to have passed over the Majorville sun effigy.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas-1/SEatlas-0279.GIF

The southern edge of the POT (path of totality) of the September 6 254 BCE total solar eclipse would appear to have passed over the Majorville sun effigy, making two total solar eclipses observable at or very near Canada's Stonehenge within the space of just over 11 years.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas-1/SEatlas-0259.GIF

Less than a century would pass before another total solar eclipse would be observable not far to the south of the Majorville sun effigy when the POT of the October 29, 164 BCE, total solar eclipse would pass over southern Alberta. It would have been preceded by the July 28, 169 BCE, total solar eclipse which cut a swath across Montana and may have served as something of a "heads up" for the subsequent eclipse. Any Native Americans living in the area of central Montana where the two paths of totality criss-cross on the NASA map would potentially witness two total solar eclipses within 5 years or so. . .

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas-1/SEatlas-0179.GIF

It would seem that, less than a decade after the October 29, 164 BCE, total solar eclipse, a hybrid eclipse that would have appeared as a total solar eclipse above or very close to the Majorville sun effigy took place on Octber 20, 155 BCE. Its path of totality appears to have been a very thin one so it is not clear how many people would have actually witnessed totality even if observing conditions were perfect but this hybrid eclipse would have been seen as a very strong, almost total, partial solar eclipse in the area around the sun effigy none-the-less and a privileged few people might have observed the very brief total phase of this hybrid solar eclipse. Eleven years later the path of totality of the March 25, 144 BCE, total solar eclipse cut a wide swath across southern Alberta.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas-1/SEatlas-0159.GIF

Thus, within a span of about twenty years, three total solar eclipses took place directly above (or very close to) the Canada's Stonehenge sun effigy "medicine wheel" which, as I said in our phone conversation, is very likely to be a geoglyph that graphically represents the totally eclipsed sun surrounded by the rays of the sun's corona. I am quite convinced that the solid 10 meter diameter central mound of rocks represents the moon eclipsing the sun during a total solar eclipse or is a "composite" image of the sun surrounded by the rays of the corona that are only seen during totality. Compare the aerial photograph of the sun effigy with the two images of the 2001 total solar eclipse and the petroglyphs that were carved into 'The Stone Of The Seven Suns' at Dowth about five thousand years ago -

http://www.flickr.com/photos/canadastonehenge/3075075644/

http://www.mythicalireland.com/ancientsites/dowth/sevensuns-slide1.jpg


http://www.williams.edu/Astronomy/eclipse/eclipse2001/2001total/2001composites/wcjp01litesun.htm

http://www.williams.edu/Astronomy/eclipse/eclipse2001/2001total/2001composites/wcjp01lite%2B100%25sun.htm

As they say. Seeing is believing. . .

The compound sun/eye symbol petroglyphs that were carved into 'The Stone Of The Seven Suns' at Dowth are almost certainly ancient rock art drawings of the totally eclipsed sun, and the Canada's Stonehenge sun effigy is strikingly similar to these and numerous other rayed sun symbols that were inspired by ancient observations of the sun's corona during total solar eclipses.

Back to the fray -

It seems that the next total solar eclipse occurring near the Canada's Stonehenge sun effigy did not take place until September 13, 657 AD about 800 years down the road. . . The path of totality cut a swath across Canada starting in what is now central southern B.C. all the way to what is now Nova Scotia. It looks like the southern edge of the path of totality would have been a bit to the north of Canada's Stonehenge.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas1/SEatlas0641.GIF

25 years later the path of totality of the May 12, 682 AD, total solar eclipse cut across what is now southern British Columbia and traversed Montana from northwest to southeast. It thus would have been some hundreds of miles south of Canada's Stonehenge but it is not unreasonable to propose some cultural contact may have brought news of it to the Indians of southern Alberta who would have seen it as a strong partial eclipse.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas1/SEatlas0681.GIF

On January 20, 771 AD, an annular eclipse was seen over much of southern Alberta and northern Montana. Just over 5 years later, the path of totality of the April 22, 776 AD, total solar eclipse traversed northern Montana.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas1/SEatlas0761.GIF

The path of totality of the May 16, 858 AD, total solar eclipse cut a path across Canada from Vancouver Island to Nova Scotia. This total solar eclipse would have been observable somewhat to the north of Canada's Stonehenge.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas1/SEatlas0841.GIF

Less than forty years later on November 8, 896 AD, another total solar eclipse would have been observable somewhat to the north of Canada's Stonehenge.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas1/SEatlas0881.GIF

This NASA map at the URL below is worth a look. Although the overlapping total and annular eclipse paths are somewhat to the north of Canada's Stonehenge it is quite possible that one or both were witnessed by Indians from the same tribe or a different tribe that had cultural contact with the Indians who built and maintained Canada's Stonehenge.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas1/SEatlas0901.GIF

In the first half of the 11th century several annular eclipses occurred over southern Alberta.

The path of totality of the July 07, 1442 AD, total solar eclipse passed directly over the Majorville sun effigy or just to the south of it and descended into Montana. The path of totality of the February 22, 1449 AD, TSE traversed Montana from southwest to northeast. The Indians in central Montana were treated to two total solar eclipses within seven years.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas2/SEatlas1441.GIF

The path of totality of the February 03, 1562 AD, total solar eclipse passed very close to Canada's Stonehenge if it did not pass directly over it and less than for years later the southern edge of the path of the November 22, 1565 annular eclipse passed over it.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas2/SEatlas1561.GIF

The very thin path of totality of the October 04, 1717 AD, hybrid eclipse passed within a hair's breadth of Canada's Stonehenge if it did not pass directly over it.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas2/SEatlas1701.GIF

The POT of the November 30, 1834 AD, TSE passed to the west of Canada's Stonehenge.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas2/SEatlas1821.GIF

May 26, 1854 AD, annular eclipse would have been seen over the Majorville sun effigy and the POT of the July 18, 1860 AD, TSE was directly overhead or not far from it.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas2/SEatlas1841.GIF

Less than a decade later Canada's Stonehenge would have been in the path of totality of the August 07, 1869 AD, total solar eclipse so it seems to me that it might be worth investigating the late 19th century lore of southern Alberta's First Nations people to see if these comparatively recent total solar eclipses had any influence on their beliefs.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEatlas/SEatlas2/SEatlas1861.GIF

Was Canada's Stonehenge possibly still being used by them in the 19th century?

I will be in touch again soon Gordon but you have plenty to ponder here, along with various other things that I related during our phone conversation. Suffice it to say that I have very reasonable grounds to believe that "Canada's Stonehenge" may well have as much to do with eclipses as the original Stonehenge, and I haven't even touched on lunar eclipses yet.

Best Regards,

Robin Edgar