Astronomy Online

Most everyone has heard of Stonehenge, the stone circle in England that has been portrayed as an astronomers’ tool, a grave yard, a druidic sacrificial altar, and even in some movies and television programs as a portal to other dimensions and other worlds. But although famous, astronomy Stonehenge isn’t unique. There are other such stone circles all over the world, many containing one astronomy henge stone or even an entire grouping of them.  In fact the word henge is an old English word that’s part of the Stonehenge name.  Henge means hang, not circle or stone as some people believe.  It refers to the Stonehenge site specifically as horizontal stones were hung around the circle by placing them on top of vertical stone pillars.  Eventually there was no need for hanging, the name was applied to any similar stone formation.  But a henge only refers to stones set within an earthen circle.  Without the earthen circle, either raised or dropped to be lower than the surrounding ground, it isn’t a henge, but rather a stone circle.

While many of these stone henges, including the famous Stonehenge, were used as burial grounds and sacrificial sites, almost all of them have some element related to astronomy. It’s sometimes argued whether or not these stone formations were built for astronomy first, but there’s no doubt of building skill and scientific know how that went into erecting them. The elements that have to do with astronomy include the markings of important dates, such as the summer or winter solstice, when the sun would rise at a point marked exactly by a stone placement. This might include the sun being viewable through a tiny window at sunrise from a point at the center of a circle. Stonehenge has an amazing array of astronomical measures built into the circle. It really doesn’t matter if they were the purpose for the site or added later. They’re still amazing.

Less famous but no less amazing is Wiltshire’s Avebury Henge.  Many small stone circles surround it, and the town of Avebury is inside it.  Because so many of the now downed stones were in precise locations, it’s well known the henge was used for astronomy.  But it also had a relationship to ancestral and gender worship as the stones come in two main types – tall, slender stones and short, squat stones – that may have represented female and male archetypes.  Some experts claim stone selection was purely for aesthetic purposes, however.

It may be a compelling idea to grab an authentic astronomy henge stone to set up in your living room. Don’t even think about grabbing an astronomy henge stone for your personal use.  But they’re meaningless when removed from their earthen circles.  Try painting an image of one instead.