Curiosity No.1

The number 108

The stone circle is 108 feet in diameter. The distance from the Earth to the Moon is roughly 108 times the diameter of the Moon. The diameter of the Sun is 108 times the diameter of the Earth. The distance of the Earth from the Sum is 108 times the diameter of the Sun. 

It's relatively easy to calculate the size of the Earth but it's another thing to calculate the size and distance of the Sun and the orbit of the Moon. The best hints come during Solar and Lunar eclipses. I have a theory on How they did it. I'll explain it sometime.

The Moon and Earth have the same proportion as the Sarsen Circle and the inner ditch of Stonehenge.

Silbury Hill has the same proportions as Stonehenge; plus, Its hight is equal to its radius.

A Henge can help a lot in getting things organized. At first Stickhenge looked like it could be a distraction from the many things that need to be.done on the property, As it turns out, Stickhenge actually helps with organization. Because I decided to make it into a garden with raised beds, there are lots of places to put wood and garden waste that had been cluttering the property for years. Each of the thirty sections of Stickhenge can be made into a composter. Composting for a garden is a good thing though and shouldn't detract from my following thoughts about Stickhenge. Over the centuries many people have imagined that Stonehenge was a temple. I've always been sceptical about this but after looking at the  construction very closely i can see that Stickhenge at least, has a layout very much like a Cathedral, though it is round rather than straight. Stickhenge also looks like a round barn or stable. I can imagine stabling some horses, especially if it was a full size Stonehenge. I'm not proposing that this was how Stonehenge was used. This is how I would use it  it's like the Roman theatre in Arles that was used as an apartment building after the fall of Rome.   I've decided that each "stall" of my Heng will be dedicated to a phase of the Moon and its planet as set by the day of the week. On each day the position of the planet will be observed. Each lintel is 12 degrees so they can easily represent 24x.5 degrees.Therefore .5 degrees, or at Stickhenge's Half scale, .25 of a degree equals one hour. From here on I will be using the Vedic Astrology system. It is the closest link we have to the Neolithic.

LOOKING FROM OUTSIDE

I was trying to think of an explanation of the hengebuilders' possible use of scale models to understand the motion of the Moon and other objects through the sky. I decided to describe their philosophy as a view from the outside, and Googled this description. The result was a list of articles on Stoacism. 

I had been thinking about Stonehenges use of a ring to represent lunar or solar orbits though only a part of the orbit was visible. The builders understood that the world is round and the Sun and Moon shine over different places after they disappear over the horizon. Thw builders could imagine a world beyond what they could see.

From this outside view (see illustration) I can see 12 major positions of the Sun and Venus that are like the numbers on a clock face.

I've decided to use Vedic Astrology to help the structure of my Henge Philosophy. Astrology does carry a lot of baggage caused by its fortune telling confidence tricksters loonies and pick-up artists. The result is Astronomy is the respected science whereas Astrology is relegated to the comics page or net to the freak shows at the circus.

From what I've seen astrology iis an effective way of learning astronomy. At least when used with a henge it's more inclusive.

My idea of Henge astrology and why it's a good thing is that Henge-keeping is a good "grounding" activity and astrology, without the crazy stuff, gives you grounding in the wildly spinning universe. People with problems like ADHD and trauma need grounding to understand and maintain their place in cyclone of events that swirls around them. With Astrology their birthplace and time connects them to the universe and shows that they are unique. It's a holistic concept that ADHD sufferers can understand.  Simple concepts  are a problem for them.

Stickhenge is 1/2 the size of Stonehenge I'm using a 6 degree measuring stick. This stick is my guide for the 12 degree spacing  of the Sarsen stone circle. 12 degrees represents the distance that that Moon travels in an hour. It also represents how far the Moon travels per day in its orbit. There's other measurements to take which include the point of Moonrise, culmination and Moonset, and the angle between the Moon and the Sun. All of these things were measured by multiples of the width of a finger of an outstretched hand, which is the same as the diameter of both the Sun and the Moon.  The motion of the Sun is 15 degrees per hour. This is the same angle as on a clock's face. This mesurement is based on the rotation of the Earth. The Sun's position relative to the Earth's orbit results in a motion of one degree per 24 hours, or 30 degrees per month. 30 degrees is the width of each of the twelve signs of the Zodiac. My measuring system is based on the division of space in Stonehenge, and Ancient Egyptian Cubits. I propose that the Henge builders used a measuring system similar to the Cubit which uses inches and feet. I got the idea of this because of the diameter of the Sarsen Circle, which is 108 feet. I think this number is unlikely as a coincidence.

While searching the web for information on navigation, I found references to crystal sphere projection. I try most circular maps ect as overlays on Stonehenge to see what turns up. This one is interesting, though I suspect a problem with this one because it was easy to get interesting results from several positions and it uses Polaris as the North Star.

I found another 108 in Vedic Astrology that can be applied to Stickhenge. A circle divided by 27 and further divided by 4, makes 108. In this case 108 represents the orbit of the Moon around the Earth. The lunar zodiac is made of 27 signs rather than the 12 signs of the Solar Zodiac.