leap years

close
more_vert
Steve Gray S
Steve Gray Mar 29, 2006 02:26:30
Replying to nigelswift

Here's an idea: (PeterH please note that this is pure speculation - I do not offer any scientific proof)

Perhaps the stone monuments were built to "contain" the sun and moon; to imprison them; to make sure that they never stray outside of their known cycles. Just as men could corral animals in a stockade, they could corral the chaos of the sky within a cage of stone.

It's an interesting observation that the word "lunatic" derives from "lunar".

Imagine: "We've put that big stone over there and the unruly moon can never get beyond it, not even during its wildest wanderings. We are the ones who can tame the chaos of the sky." That's a lot more powerful than saying "That stone aligns with the maximum traverse of the moon."

F FourWinds
FourWinds Mar 29, 2006 07:10:34
Replying to Steve Gray

I think this idea has been mooted in one form or another before, but not necessarily so succintly. Can't remember where I read it, but someone once proposed that Callanish was used in this way. When the moon appears in its position at the head of the circle at the time of its maximum a priest could stand there (outlined by the moon as demonstrated by Julian in the TMA TV program) and tell it to 'stop and turn back', which of course it does very dutifully.

The same could be said of the sun entring chambers at the solstices. However, the idea does not explain equinoctal alignments.