Although Stonehenge is surrounded by
mystery and clouded in the mists of time, there is one
practical use of the ancient monument: it is an astronomical
observatory that measures the movements of the sun, the
moon, and perhaps, the stars. The findings of astronomy may
not lead us to the exactitudes of Neolithic life and the
construction of the monument and its origins, but what is
clear is that Stonehenge is still a viable and useful
calendar of extreme accuracy. With the use of computers,
Stonehenge, an absolute peak of astronomical genius, might
be used as such today. Moreover,
an ancient bronze calendar tablet discovered near Coligny,
France in 1897 believed to be the calendar of the tribe of
Celts called the Sequani, sheds amazing light on the use of
stone circles and in particular, Stonehenge. The astronomy
of the ancients is easily understood and made applicable to
today's night sky by understanding the basic principles upon
which the text of the bronze calendar, called The Sequani
Calendar, and Stonehenge is based. Keeping in mind the
diversity of the stone circles of the ancient world and the
diversity of the belief systems of Celts, especially in the
myths of each tribe, certain basics of Druidic belief are a
simple and clear beginning to understanding the calendar
systems of these ancient astronomer-priests. In
1988, Alban Wall published a paper in the Epigraphic Society
Occasional Publications (Vol.17) that summarizes the
similarities of Stonehenge and The Sequani Calendar.
According to Wall, both Stonehenge and The Sequani Calendar
are luni-solar, both are based on a 19 year cycle or the
Metonic cycle of the moon, and both have months that
basically alternate between 30 and 29 nights. Both can be
expanded to 235 months that are divided into light and dark
halves which begin at the first quarter moon. The months, or
as the ancients called them, "moonths" have the full moon
marked on the eighth night of the light half of each lunar
cycle and the new moon as the eighth night of each dark
cycle. On The Sequani Calendar, the full moon is designated
as the Oenach or people's holiday and the new moon is the
Druid's Holy Night. Each
marks the solar year holidays at the solstices and the
equinoxes as well as the cross-quarter days the same as they
are celebrated in Neo-Pagan circles today: Winter Solstice,
Imbolc, Spring Solstice, May Day, Summer Solstice, Lugnasad,
Fall Equinox, and Samhain. These well-known solar holidays
were easily adapted to the Roman calendar that we use today,
but the moonths were never transferred to our calendar as
they involve the precision that a luni-solar calendar
demands in order that each lunar cycle remain one moonth or
month. Stonehenge and The Sequani Calendar, as mentioned
above, both retain the luni-solar months and yearly cycle so
that they follow the moon and the sun with "extremely close
reconciliation of lunar with solar time" (Wall 30). To do
this, The Sequani Calendar allows for an Intercalary Moonth
every two years and six months. Both, however, give special
prominence to the solstices. The
year on Stonehenge and The Sequani Calendar is divided into
two distinct halves: a light and a dark half. The light half
begins at the Winter Solstice when the new light of the year
begins on December 21st, and the dark half begins at the
Summer Solstice with the disappearing of the longest summer
day on June 21st. In their Winter Solstice Oenach, the new
year is celebrated on the full moon or eighth day of the
moonth of the Winter Solstice. Similarly, the Summer
Solstice is celebrated on the mid-point of the lunar cycle
of the Summer Solstice moonth. The holiday celebrated in the
dark half indicates special observance of the Summer
Solstice in the darkest part of the moonth which is the
eighth day of the dark half of the moon or the Holy Night of
the new moon. Light is welcomed as the light in the darkness
and cold of winter and darkness is welcomed as the relief
from the long summer days. Alban
Wall observes that both Stonehenge and The Sequani Calendar
differ from most other luni-solar calendars in their special
prominence given to the solstices, their amazing accuracy of
the reconciliation of lunar with solar time, and their
division of the year into two halves with their year
beginning on the Winter Solstice. Moreover, both calendars
differ from all other luni-solar calendar systems relative
to the marking of the special days of the moon in each
moonth such as the beginning of the moonth as the first
quarter or sixth day of the waxing moon, the full moon on
the eighth night of the first half of the moonth and the new
moon of the eighth night of the dark half of the moonth.
They also differ from all other calendars as to their
marking of the Winter and Summer Solstices. Wall
remarks that "It is highly significant that no lunar
calendar other than the Coligny system, anywhere in the
world or at any time in history, began its months at the
first quarter moon- except the one embodied in the stones
and holes of Stonehenge" (32). In the first century B.C.,
the historian Diodorus Siculus remarked that in the regions
beyond the lands of the Gauls, there lies an island where
the moon god visits every nineteen years, "the period in
which the return of the stars to the same place in the
heavens is accomplished; and for this reason the nineteen
year period is called by the Greeks 'the year of Meton.' "
Here, states Siculus, is a "notable temple which is
spherical in shape" (quoted in Wall 32). The
fact that Stonehenge and The Sequani Calendar alone begin
their moonths on the sixth day of the moon and that the
island culture referred to by Siculus in his description of
Stonehenge uses the Metonic cycle of the moon is strong
evidence to correlate these highly developed systems of
calendars which might have taken eons to develop and
perfect. Siculus' statement as to the genius of the
accomplishment that marks the stars returning to the same
place in the heavens in the Metonic cycle might draw another
important parallel between Stonehenge and The Sequani
Calendar: if the stars are measured on The Sequani Calendar
would it not then be highly possible for the stars to be
marked by Stonehenge? Why wouldn't a group of highly
educated astronomers and creators of a calendar system in
stone and bronze include a map of the stars in their
calculations of the cycles of the moon and the sun in their
stone circles? Wall
has designated that the outer circle of Stonehenge, or what
he calls the "Sun Circle," is used to count the days in the
year by advancing a marker stone two holes each day,
probably at Sunrise and Sunset in the ceremonies of the
Celts. This circle gives a total of the days of the solar
year if done thirteen times to equal 364 days. The next two
inner circles of Stonehenge, traditionally called the "Y"
and "Z" holes designate the lunar moonths by advancing one
hole each day, first around the "Y" circle, then around the
"Z" circle. Wall calls these the "Lunar Circles." The next
inner circle, The Sarsen Stones, symbolizes the 29.5 nights
of the moonth, one megalith being half size. The magnificent
Trilithon horseshoe represents the phases of the moon, and
the Year Dial of stones within them is used to count the
nineteen year cycle of 235 months. Where then could the
stars be measured on this ancient calendar? A
group of researchers including myself, Eadhmonn Ua Cuinn and
Barbara Carter, have translated the original reconstruction
of the calendar found in the headwaters of the Seine at
Coligny. Using the reconstruction of the bronze tablets done
by Eoin MacNeill for the Royal Irish Academy in 1926, our
group translated the calendar by silk-screening concentric
circles to represent each moonth of the first year. Using
computers to translate the astronomy into the year 2001,
Barbara, our astronomer, was able to identify the stars, the
moons and the sun marked in the ancient text. Eadhmonn, a
master stone-carver and artist, and a crew of graphic
artists, including Mark Butervaugh, designed the Celtic
circles for each month, and I researched the goddesses and
gods that told the story of the stars, the moon and the sun
from their Iron Age references to their Neolithic roots
using my training in comparative mythology. As
we move through the second year of the calendar for
reproduction for the public, we are gaining a keener
awareness of the stars presented in the text. The Sequani
Calendar marks a star of primary magnitude at the beginning
of each moonth designated as the PRIN. These twelve primary
stars appear on the Eastern Horizon shortly after sunset
when the moon is a first quarter moon in its sixth day of
waxing, the first day of each moonth for the Celts. They are
easy to identify as they are the brightest in the night sky
and appear first to the naked eye. The constellations of
these stars are deities of the Celts, and as they travel the
night sky through the seasons, their stories are told. In
turn, groups of constellations in each season tell the
stories of the seasons of the year. Although
the year is a circle without beginning or end, the beginning
of the light half of the year appears at the Winter Solstice
in the first lunar cycle of the year called Samonios. The
PRIN, or first magnitude star to guide us on the first
quarter moon, is the twin stars of Castor and Pollux, the
Divine Twins of both Greek and Celtic mythology. In Celtic
mythology, the twins symbolize a strong birth, a single
birth from one egg containing mortal and immortal life.
Twins such as Fiachra and Conn in the Irish tale of the
"Fate of the Children of Lir" and Nissyen and Evnissyen in
the Welsh Mabinogion exemplify the Divine Twins. In the
second moonth, Dumannios, the guiding star or PRIN is Sirius
and in the third moonth, Rivros, it is Regulus. Both these
stars as well as Orion are representatives of the Great
Goddess of the Winter Sky: Brigantia in Britain, Brigit, in
Ireland, Brighid in Wales, and Brigantu in Gaul. Brigit is a
goddess known for nurturing new life. In
the fourth and fifth lunar cycles of the year, the moonths
containing the Spring Equinox, the gods of sacrifice, Esus,
Teutates, and Taranis are represented in the PRIN of
Anagantios which is Arcturus, a reddish-orange star that
signals a time of blood-letting and self-sacrifice. Known
cross-culturally as The Dying Gods, these deities exemplify
that self-sacrifice is the highest form of love. In
Ogronios, the fifth lunar cycle, the rising star of Vega
denotes resurrection. Vega is the first star of the Summer
Triangle, a symbol not only of resurrection or of the
Vulture and Raven appearing in the heavens in flight, but of
the coming of the Great Mother Goddess of the summer, the
Mistress of Birds, Water and of the Earth. The
next two lunar cycles of the year, Cutios and Giamonios, the
sixth and seventh moonths, complete the Summer Triangle with
their primary stars of Deneb and Altair, respectively.
Cutios, whose PRIN is Deneb, in Cygnus the Swan, is a month
for celebrating the gift of the waters of life as
represented in Sequana of the Seine River and namesake of
the Sequani; Boann, goddess of the River Boyne in Ireland;
or Danu of the Danube in central Europe. Like the Raven
goddesses, the water-bird goddesses are one aspect of a
Triskele of Goddesses that make up the Great Mother Goddess
of the Neolithic tribes represented in the night sky as the
Summer Triangle. Giamonios, the moonth of the Summer
Solstice, whose PRIN is Altair, is the another bird aspect
of the goddess. Altair is most closely associated with Lugh,
the eagle, who is the son of Tailtiu, the goddess of the
earth. With the Summer Triangle complete, the Triskele
reaches its full power. In
Simivisonnios, the eight lunar cycle, the constellation of
The Plough is upright signaling the month of the first
harvest of fruits and vegetables. Altair is still the
guiding star of primary magnitude and Tailtiu is the goddess
who declares Lugnasad be in honor of her son, Lugh. Marriage
contracts are renewed or dispelled, fruits of labor are
shared, and feats of physical prowess and gamesmanship
become displays of a productive life. Lugh, symbol of the
mastering of life, is an all-wise deity, guarding our fruits
of labor. Likewise, in the month of Equos, following
Simivisonnios, the gaming and horse-racing so important to
the concept of the Divine Horse in Celtic mythology
continues. The PRIN of Equos is Equuleus representative of
Epona, the horse goddess. Known also as Macha in Ireland and
Rhiannon in Wales, the horse goddess is a symbol of
independent strength, prowess, and physical challenge. In
the Otherworld of the Celts, horse-racing, feasting, and
other such pursuits represent the ultimate peace and
stability that attention to Epona brings us. The
last season of the year, the Fall, is perhaps the most
derivative of ancient ritual and therefore often considered
the beginning of the year by Neo-Pagan cults today. The
ancient rituals of the Neolithic tribes at the onset of
winter are clearly retained in the rituals of the Sacred
Calendar of Eleusis for the Greeks and in The Sequani
Calendar for the Celts. The PRIN marked on The Sequani
Calendar for the ninth moonth of the year, Elembivios, is
Capella, keeper of livestock and guardian of wealth, and the
guiding constellation for the last two moonths, Edrinios and
Cantlos, is the river in the sky, Erindanus. The rituals of
the ancients involve the high priest, or what the
Indo-Europeans called the "pont-dheh-ker," who is
responsible as a transgressor of souls into the otherworld
of death and winter as well as a guardian of the wealth of
the tribe; that wealth must be blessed and stored for the
winter as the seeds were originally stored by the ancient
tribes of Europe and the Mediterranean. In
Celtic mythology, this ancient high-priest of the forests
and all important deity of the tribes is known as Cernunnos.
As the ecliptic has moved from South to North in the night
sky, the PRIN, or guiding star of the month, Capella,
appears on the Eastern Horizon on the sixth day of the
waxing moon to guide us through Elembivios with the
protection, vision, and spiritual strength of Cernunnos.
Cernunnos accompanies us through the onset of winter. In the
moonth of Edrinios, he crosses the river in the sky,
Erindanus as the Milky Way meets with the elliptic. To the
ancients, crossing the river symbolizes the crossing from
one realm into another, from life to death, and in this
case, from fall to winter. As seen in the hero's journey in
the mythology of several cultures, the river acts as a
medium of transfer from one spiritual plane to another.
We
arrive through long dark nights of winter to begin the cycle
of life again with the celebration of the entrance of the
Winter Solstice light. As a full and strong beam of light
crosses the threshold of the great mound at Newgrange and
the Winter Solstice light is welcomed into the circle of
stones at Stonehenge, we rejoice in another completion of
the great cycle of the year. The mastery of the solar light,
the careful calculation to keep each moonth following the
moon's varying course, and the identification of each
primary star in a moonth gives us a sense of time and sense
about how our ancestors grasped for some identifiable part
of eternity by bringing the heavens down to earth. Their and
our participation in the celestial will only broaden our
understanding of the infinite. Might we now begin our
journey through time to re-capture this wonderful sense of
the infinite by tracing the stars on
Stonehenge?
Helen Benigni ©Summer Solstice 2002
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