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.

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

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


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

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

Tel. - (514) XXX-XXXX


The Editors of the Guardian/Observer

via email


Dear Editors,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sincerely,

Robin Edgar

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

Update - 3:00pm Wednesday July 16, 2003

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Observer Sunday July 6, 2003

Boston Globe July 12, 2003

CNN.com SCIENCE & SPACE

Reuters July 8, 2003 (not available)

The Discovery Channel

An early report in The Scotsman (not available)

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