New Nazca Lines Geoglyphs Discovered By Eduardo Herrán Gómez de la Torre

In a report headlined 'New Nazca Lines geoglyphs uncovered by gales and sandstorms in Peru', The Independent is reporting that Eduardo Herrán Gómez de la Torre, a pilot and director of research at Ojos de Condor, discovered some new Nazca Lines and geoglyph while flying over the desert in late July 2014. The original report appeared in  El Comercio. de la Torre believes that one of the newly discovered geoglyphs, found not far from the famous “hummingbird” biomorph geoglyph, depicts a 60 metre long snake. The Independent reports that archaeologists are attempting to determine if these recently uncovered geoglyphs were created by the earlier Paracas culture, which predated, and influenced, the Nazca culture in the Ica region of southern Peru from 800BC to 100BC.

The photo provided in this Tweet by Anselm Pi Rambla certainly suggests that these newly discovered geoglyphs are cruder, and thus possibly earlier, than Nazca culture geoglyphs. They have the look of other Paracas style geoglyphs that have been discovered in the last decade or so.

New lines are revealed by the strong winds in the Nazca pic.twitter.com/9wQKInmg16
— Anselm Pi Rambla (@pirambla) August 3, 2014

The director of the regional archaeological authority, the Regional Directorate of Culture of Ica, Ruben Garcia Sota, told El Comercio that this recent discovery of new geoglyphs is “a valuable contribution to our knowledge of ancient Nazca”.

My theory that the Nazca Lines and biomorph geoglyphs were an ancient religious response to total solar eclipses that occurred over southern Peru may be read in this old website that preserves much of the content of my original website that went down in 2006. A more recent and updated version with new eclipse maps from NASA may be read in this earlier blog post.


these earlier blog posts -

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 -

Is The Atacama Giant Geoglyph Of Chile A PreColumbian Religious Response To Total Solar Eclipses?

Please forgive my rhetorical question. ;-)

Needless to say I believe that it is highly probable that the Atacama Giant geoglyph, along with other geoglyphs in the Atacama desert of northern Chile, is in fact an ancient religious response to total solar eclipses that took place over the Atacama desert over a thousand years ago. I have long thought that the Atacama Giant geoglyph aka "El Gigante" probably depicts an anthropomorphized sky god inspired by ancient observations of the total solar eclipse "Eye of God." I recently decided to do some eclipsology research to try to determine which total solar eclipses may have inspired the preColumbian, indeed pre-Inca, natives of northern Chile to create the "El Gigante" geoglyph, and other geoglyphs that appear to be inspired by total solar eclipses, and found that a few total solar eclipses that occurred over northern Chile in the 10th century CE are those which are most likely to have inspired these geoglyphs although it is possible that earlier total solar eclipses may have inspired some geoglyphs that were created before the 10 century BCE.

My research, which is based on the currently accepted archaeological data for the dating of the Atacama desert geoglyphs, suggests that the series of three total solar eclipses that occurred between March 16, 945 CE and April 18, 999 CE, was the most probable inspiration for these geoglyphs, although it is quite possible that the annular eclipse of December 22nd, 930 CE, which preceded this series of three total solar eclipses, may have had some influence as well. The fact that this annular eclipse occurred during the summer solstice may have had a profound impact on the religious beliefs and practices of the people in the region. Needless to say it is possible that earlier total solar eclipses which occurred over the region may have inspired some older geoglyphs that predate the 10th century CE.

As usual NASA's World Atlas of Solar Eclipse Paths helped me to quickly determine which total solar eclipses may have inspired the Atacama Giant and other geoglyphs in the Atacama desert. NASA's Solar Eclipse Search Engine, which allows one to search NASA's Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses and thus find and view Google maps charts of the paths of totality (or annularity) of individual solar eclipses, allowed me to determine which solar eclipses were witnessed by the creators of these ancient geoglyphs.

The Google maps chart of the path of totality of the March 16, 945 total solar eclipse shows that "El Gigante" was created on a hill that is just to the west of the centerline of the path of totality of this TSE. The geoglyphs at Salar de Pintados are to the south of the centerline of this path of totality. Select the Hybrid option which shows a map of modern roads and towns overlaying satellite imagery and zoom in until the town of Tarapaca becomes visble. The Atacama giant geoglyph was created on an isoltaed hill called Cerro Unita that is about 10 kilometers to the west of the town of Tarapaca, just north of the A-55 highway. "El Gigante faces west, notably the direction of the setting sun, at the ridge of the hill just east of El Gigante's head there is a ring shaped structure that may have been an astronomical viewpoint. On the southern flank of Cerro Unita there are geometric geoglyphs that are very similar to some of Peru's Nasca Lines radiating outwards from another ring shaped structure. Geoglyphs in the shape of concentric rings are found on the hill and a string of five or six concentric ring geoglyphs begins abour 400 meters to the east of the Atacama Giant geoglyph.

The Atacama Giant geoglyph is located at the red dot.

The centerline of the path of totality of the March 16, 945

total solar eclipse runs through the lower right side of this

screenshot of NASA's Google Maps chart of this solar eclipse.

Note the round structure on the ridge of Cerro Unitas,
just to the east of the rayed head of the Atacama Giant.
Might it have been an astronomical observation point?

The November 21, 960 CE, total solar eclipse path of totality passed somewhat to the south of the Atacama giant and Pintados geoglyphs, between modern Antofagasta to the north and Taltal to the south, but none-the-less may have had an impact on the region, especially if the March 16 945 TSE had already inspired the construction of the Atacama Giant and other geoglyphs.

The path of totality of the April 18, 999 CE total solar eclipse over what is now northern Chile was very similar to that of the March 16 945 TSE albeit somewhat to the south. The hill that the Atacama Giant was created on is still well within the path of totality of this total solar eclipse as are the locations of other Atacama desert geoglyphs.such as the Pintados geoglyphs. The VisitChile.com website kindly provides a helpful highlighted Google map of the Pintados geoglyphs. Maarten van Hoek provides a few photos of the Pintado geoglyphs and "El Gigante" here. A decent photo of some of the Pintados geoglyphs is found on this Flickr page. Please take note of the geoglyph at the bottom left of the photo that is in all probability total solar eclipse inspired solar cross symbol. . . Google SightSeeing has a useful page dedicated to the Incan Geoglyphs of Chile but, strictly speaking, most of these Atacama geoglyphs predate the rise of the Inca empire by several centuries. One sub-page zeroes in on the Pintados Geoglyphs while another one locates the Tiliviche geoglyphs and yet another subpage zeroes in on the Chiza geoglyphs.

The Google Earth Community has an interesting page dedicated to the Pintados geoglyphs which depicts an owl-like geoglyph that is closely associated with the kind of rayed sun symbol is typically inspired by observations of the sun's corona during total solar eclipses. The "owl" is in all probability a kind of winged sun symbol inspired by the bird-like form of the corona that is displayed during some total solar eclipses. Other Atacama geoglyphs depict more geometric versions of the winged sun symbol.

This "owl" geoglyph, which is very closely associated

with a rayed sun geoglyph, is most probably inspired by
the bird-like form of the sun's corona that is displayed
during some total solar eclipses. A more geometric form of 

winged sun symbol is found amongst the Pintados geoglyphs
at Lat.: 20.6198° S Long.: 69.6755° W as shown below -

Dare to compare this Atacama geoglyph to astronomer
Ettiene Leopold Trouvelot's scientific drawing of the 1878
total solar eclipse which he observed at Creston Wyoming.

This blog post is a work in progress. I have decided to publish it somewhat prematurely due to the temporal proximity of the July 11 2010 total solar eclipse which will be visible over Easter Island and southern Chile next Sunday.

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.