The Center of the Universe in the Heart of the N_____ Wigwams (April 1934)
I just recently stopped thinking about and calling the four stones in the photo above a calendar site. It happened sometime after Norman sent me an article by Herman Bender entitled Medicine Wheel or “Calendar Sites”: Indian Time or the Space/Time Continuum. I remember that it took numerous readings to get everything to stick to my head – on the inside I mean.
Those four bright white spots clumped together in the center of the photo might or might not be boulders, three of which are still there in 2010 as I write this.
Then again, maybe they are SHEEP.
Big SHEEP...
The space within those boulders is something like the Center of the Universe or being centered in the Universe, if I understand what Herman is saying. I know that, no matter what the groundhog says about it tomorrow morning, on the Vernal Equinox the apparent sun set, viewed from the easternmost stone, will sink into the distant hillside directly above the westernmost stone. For a time the sun will set behind the northernmost stone, a standing stone, a few days before and a few days after the Summer Solstice. Whether the sun shines or not, I’ll know these things will happen, just as certainly as I know that when the sun is at it’s highest in the sky everyday, it will be, when viewed from the standing stone, will be directly over the southern-most stone.
I was paying too much attention to three large boulders but not enough to all four stones. I left the fourth stone, the southernmost stone, out of all the drawings I ever made and all the photos I ever took as well, but it may be just as well because it just doesn't" stand out" as a Standing Stone should - except in my imagination, unlike that other triangulation of Standing Stones...
This is, incidentally, where someone sketched a drawing of an Indian Sachem’s grave that became a wood cut illustration in a mid 1800’s history of the town, the author of the history relating “…the small remnant of his people buried him in the beautiful plain at the foot of the musical falls that are called by his name…An apple tree was planted at the head of his grave, which still stands there, the faithful guardian of the ashes that repose beneath its grateful shade. It is a venerable tree, some 150 years old, but does not bear the marks of so great an age, though there are several decayed places in it, so perfectly shown in the accompanying cut of the grave and tree, taken by the artist on the spot during the last summer. When the writer first visited it, twenty years ago, there was a large hillock, or mound, raised over the grave which remained, distinguishing the sachem's, by its size, from the other graves around him, till a few years ago, when the present owner of the field committed the sacrilege of plowing it down, saying lie was not going to have such an old " hummock in his field," much to the regret of every true antiquarian, and lover of ancient things. The mound thus destroyed was some ten feet long, six feet wide, and four feet high, having been gradually formed…”
I was paying too much attention to three large boulders but not enough to all four stones. I left the fourth stone, the southernmost stone, out of all the drawings I ever made and all the photos I ever took as well, but it may be just as well because it just doesn't" stand out" as a Standing Stone should - except in my imagination, unlike that other triangulation of Standing Stones...
This is, incidentally, where someone sketched a drawing of an Indian Sachem’s grave that became a wood cut illustration in a mid 1800’s history of the town, the author of the history relating “…the small remnant of his people buried him in the beautiful plain at the foot of the musical falls that are called by his name…An apple tree was planted at the head of his grave, which still stands there, the faithful guardian of the ashes that repose beneath its grateful shade. It is a venerable tree, some 150 years old, but does not bear the marks of so great an age, though there are several decayed places in it, so perfectly shown in the accompanying cut of the grave and tree, taken by the artist on the spot during the last summer. When the writer first visited it, twenty years ago, there was a large hillock, or mound, raised over the grave which remained, distinguishing the sachem's, by its size, from the other graves around him, till a few years ago, when the present owner of the field committed the sacrilege of plowing it down, saying lie was not going to have such an old " hummock in his field," much to the regret of every true antiquarian, and lover of ancient things. The mound thus destroyed was some ten feet long, six feet wide, and four feet high, having been gradually formed…”
I remember this site from years ago, when you wrote something about it. Those four stones look important, and now you should try to get photos of the solar events you describe.
ReplyDeleteI think you, Peter, and I visited this spot years ago. I'll put up a part 2 with photos etc.
ReplyDelete