Stonehenge Depicts Female Genitalia, Researchers Say

[Nottingham]

Stonehenge Depicts Female Genitalia, Researchers Say
Tue July 8, 2003 03:37 PM ET




By Amran Abocar
TORONTO (Reuters) - Stonehenge is a massive fertility symbol, according to Canadian researchers who believe they have finally cracked the mystery of the ancient monument in southern England.

In the arrangement of the stones, the researchers say they have spotted the original design: female genitalia.

The theory is laid out in a paper entitled "Stonehenge: a view from medicine" in the July issue of Britain's Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.

"To the builders of the henge, the most critical events in life were birth and death," Anthony Perks, a retired professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of British Columbia, wrote in the paper.

more.....




http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/redir.php?jid=248c9a5661f78713

I want what the Canadians are drinking! :bounce:

Mother Earth wouldn't be to pleased with us right now!

[Warpy]

1. Bollocks!

And you can be sure that's what's clouding the vision of these researchers.

I thought it had been conclusively proven that Stonehenge had been an observatory, calculated to mark the spring solstice and thereby give folks an idea of when to plant their crops. Although it may have been used for other purposes since, namely a place for speeches, a series of bizarre religious rites, and military executions, that its primary purpose when it was erected was as a yearly clock.

Am I the only one who has noticed, but don't male researchers see genitalia in nearly everything?

[The Magistrate]

2. The Things Are Not Mutually Exclusive

An observatory to calculate the proper time for planting crops is hardly incompatible with a representation of woman's fertility: these things are joined symbolically in most elder cultures.

[Barrett808]

14. Female fertility imagery is very common on the British Isles

See, for example, the various "Sheela-na-gig" images:

http://images.google.com/images?q=sheela+na+gig&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en

[JNelson6563]

22. this is what I recalled when I read

the headline for this thread, these pics and others like them I've come across in studying the Druids and others.

It is hard for some to even conceive the thought but not all societies were Patriarchal.

Julie

[The Magistrate]

23. Nor, Ma'am

Were such matters hidden away as shameful secrets among the ancients: they were the very substance of religious practice.

[Gimel]

55. Patriarchs

The more patriarchal, the larger the wish for procreation, validity in large families and many off-spring. Therefore the honor of the female genetilia. A means to that end.

[The Magistrate]

57. Not Quite, Ma'am, Unfortunately

Patriarchal societies are murderous to women. This can be clearly seen even in the present day. Women are superior biological engines, with more efficient metabolisms and immune systems, and where social practices are equal have longer life spans, and come to constitute a greater proportion of the living than males. In those societies today that are most rigidly patriarchal, these natural trends are reversed; women have shorter life spans, and constitute a decided minority of the living. This is not a result of the rigors of child-birth, but of poor feeding, and the terrorization required to enforce their subservience.

The most basic element of patriarchy is not large families, but the identification of children as belonging to a father. In all early cultures, the great incidence of death among young children constituted an imperative for frequent child-birth, regardless of social arrangements. The second most basic element of patriarchy is instilling shame at being female in women: far from being glorified, female genitalia become the mark of this shame; this can be seen in the common patterns of insult among males even in our own culture.

[htuttle]

59. Way, way back in time....

I mean WAY back...I'd imagine that there wasn't actually a concept of 'father'. Consider: at what point did humans realize that the sex act and pregnancy were connected?

I'm not entirely sure myself. I'd think that it was well before Stonehenge was built, but the origin (and age) of Stonehenge hasn't been agreed upon to the best of my knowledge, so who knows.

Before humans realized that sex leads to children, a matriarchal society would be the only one that made sense. At that point in our development, women would be seen as being entirely responsible for the creation of new life, so the only 'parent' a child would have would be his/her mother..

[Mari333]

76. Sheila Na Gig story

Heres a funny and tragic story of the sheila na gig that occured for me...
I live in a small Michigan town, and when I returned from Ireland and the UK, I had a number of pics of the Sheila Na Gigs on the walls of the old churches in Ireland , which I shared with friends..I had been visiting neolithic and ancient sites in both countries, and was fascinated by these images, including the oldest one in Ireland at Tara...
My one friend suggested that the Grand Rapids press do a story on my trip, as she was a reporter for the paper there..
She and I met, with a photographer, at an appointed place, and I told the story of my trip , replete with some artifacts I had, including a replica of a Sheila Na Gig..
The photo of me with the artifacts was supposed to be printed in the Sunday edition...

NEEDLESS to say, the minute the editorial staff saw the pic of me with the objects d'art, they freaked out..
Their objection? The Sheila Na Gig ,,
"We cant show that in a newspaper!! what kind of sick thing is that!
That is pornography!"
an ancient replica of an artifact , evidently, to a supposedly well educated group of editorial writers and staff, is not allowed even an iota of press...
Culturally, at that moment, I was once again rolling my eyes at the stupidity of the culturally inept and illiterate...

The story was never printed.

[Nottingham]

4. No I have noticed too! I think Stonhenge is much more than that

But I can understand how Birth is a fascinating concept but to lift
a whole bunch of really heavy rocks to make an artwork well whatever floats your boat! all I know once Ashcroft sees this he will request
a cover be put over it! :bounce:

[October]

64. More?

What is more than birth?

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but with all the Washington Monument types all over the world, reaching towards the heavens in their unabashed phallus pride, I for one am thrilled to see the woman's role (and genitalia) honored for once without shame attached to it.




:donut:

[LWolf]

73. LOL!

What we need to do is put Ashcroft to work around the globe. We could keep him busy running from place to place with drop cloths, and follow behind removing them....he wouldn't have for his other BS.

[Nambe]

3. Somebody inhaled.

Go Canada.

[Ouabache]

5. Canadian researchers have finally 'cracked' the mystery, eh?

okay.

Looks like the writer for the wire sevice was having a little fun.

[classics]

6. More news, public discovers that 'researchers' are idiots.

Film at 11.

[Merlin]

7. Why the ridicule?

I don't understand why so many are ridiculing this idea. There is plenty of evidence throughout the world that cultures, both primitive and contemporary, create elaborate structures designed to emulate the male genitalia. This makes perfect sense to me.

If you've ever actually watched your own child being born, you would know what an unbelievably staggering, awesome experience it is. No description can prepare you for it. I'm 59, been in combat, business, etc. My son's birth is still the single most profound experience I've ever had.

I think these researchers are onto something.

[Jacobin]

11. As for myself,

I couldn't think of a finer thing to build a commemorative stone symbol to....:-)

Much better than some statue commemorating a dork politician.

[alfredo]

12. It is getting warm in here

Axum, standing tall after all these years.

[Maple]

17. Ahh but only

male researchers see that as an erect penis, and only after Freud.

Could just as easily be something quite different...a finger, a rocket a la VonDaniken, a public sundial....

Mazes have recently been thought to represent female organs too.

Amazing anatomy those ancients had!

[SpiralHawk]

25. "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar"

- Whoever

[RapidCreek]

53. How about a real tall skinny building?

RC

[lazarus]

27. and a fairly recent one

[bobthedrummer]

8. I'd love to get in there then

and do some research meself-lol.
O8)

[xchrom]

9. very possible

earth mother was the first all powerful deity after all.
and she is depicted in all sorts of ways.

[Jacobin]

10. Shrieeekkkk. Somebody Call Ashcroft!!!! Quick!!

He can send Tony a Big Blanket to drape over Stonehenge before anyone gets any ideas about.....well,...you know ......sex.

[goforit]

75. LOL!!!.........Toooo Funny!!!!!!!!!!

YaH.....He'll have to rewrite history!!!!!

[bvar22]

13. built by Larry Flynt's ancestors.

I wonder if Stonehenge will appear in the foldout?

[David Zephyr]

15. In Praise of the Vagina!

How utterly beautiful if it turns out that the Canadian researchers are correct.

With all of the clutter of crass monuments around the planet devoted to war, soldiers, religious figures and tyrants, nothing could be more beautiul and meritous of exaltation than the vagina...and the penis.

Hail Stonehenge!

[RandomKoolzip]

16. Spinal Tap...are you taking notes?

Was "Sex Farm" part of the "Stone'enge" concept album?

[AntiCoup2K4]

19. Nope.. totally different eras.

"Stonehenge" was on their 1974 album "The Sun Never Sweats" while "Sex Farm" didn't appear until the "Shark Sandwich" album in 1980.

Stonehenge, where the demons dwell
Where the banshees live and they do live well
Stonehenge
Where a man is a man and the children dance to
the pipes of pan
Stonehenge
Tis a magic place where the moon doth rise
With a dragon's face
Stonehenge
Where the virgins lie
And the prayer of devils fill the midnight sky

And you my love, won't you take my hand
We'll go back in time to that mystic land
Where the dew drops cry and the cats meow
I will take you there
I will show you how

[RandomKoolzip]

20. Wow. you certainly know your Tap Trivia.

"Talk about mudflaps, my baby's gottem!"

[TahitiNut]

18. Hmmmm....

"Viewed from above, Perks suggests Stonehenge's inner bluestone circle represents the labia minora and the giant outer sarsen stone circle is the labia majora. The altar stone is the clitoris and the open center is the birth canal."




It seems man's inability to find a woman's G-spot has been a problem for millenia. Do you suppose the architects of Stonehenge were able to ask for directions?

[Nottingham]

26. Tahiti! By Golly you could be onto something there!

Fascinating stuff!

:bounce:

[TahitiNut]

32. Yes, now we know why men gave up asking for directions.

Women even today say "You should already know!" (Man, talk about punishment!) :silly:

[JM]

60. Is it possible this is...

...an overhead view of an early Bush* family brain?

Large skull, small brain rattling around inside. A few random thoughs floating around in between.

Later,
JM

[sendero]

21. well...

... If the dig down 50 feet and find a stone cervix, the question will be answered once and for all :)

I have no trouble at all believing it could be a fertility symbol. All human life comes from there, what is more worthy of a monument?

[fshrink]

29. Exactly!

nt

[Lady President]

24. Obscene!

Well, I can't believe my parents allowed me to go to England and see Stonehedge as a teenager because it's clearly obscene. Maybe they could cover it with a giant tarp...

Please, it's a calendar. It's amazing and beautiful, but it's a calendar. Anthropology is a bit of a hobby for me and making a monument this size that represents fertility is not in keeping with anything I've seen or read. The pictures posted on this thread are proper examples of fertility goddesses, especially the first. Generally, a fertility statue is small because people wanted to keep them in their homes and is a complete woman with exaggerated feminine characteristics (large breasts, hip and a rounded stomach.) They were not subtle.

I wonder if Canada has a publish or perish academic standard like the U.S.? That would explain a lot.

[Gman]

30. Why not a calendar made to look like female genitalia?

To their great fortune, the people of Stonehenge were not influenced by modern day America's continuing Victorian attitudes and conservative right wing morality.

[Lady President]

39. Don't think mores have much to do with it

If this was a calendar in central or southern America, I might agree more readily with the genitalia modeling idea. However, based on nothing but the climate of the region, I have a hard time believing that these were not well clothed individuals. Generally, the more nudity and openness about sexuality, even for the ancients, occur in warm climates. Obviously, because populations increased in England there was sex, but the freedom regarding the human body left the colder climates much more quickly.

[The Magistrate]

58. You Might, Sir

Want to look into contemporaneous reports of pagan Scandinavian practices before you stake down that position too firmly. Arab merchants in the 8th century were rather startled by what they found at the northern termini of their trade routes.

[Mithras61]

70. You might want to look into...

the weather patterns of England & Scandinavia before you swear by that claim. For large parts of recorded history England & Scandinavia were quite warm by todays standards.

Also, you may not be aware of something... In northern parts of this country, people still go quite scantily clad in the summertime. They seem to think that 75 degrees farenheit is just as warm as we think 98 degrees farenheit is in Houston. My folks live in northern Wisconsin, and can't even imagine what weather in Houston is like in the summer. They get all freaked out when it gets above 80 degrees farenheit, and start running around in as little clothing as they can get away with. I don't imagine ancient cultures were any different in their adaptation to climate and shedding of clothing during the warmer months...

[Lady President]

77. I Live in the North

I live in the northern part of the country and understand that we consider different temperatures warm. My point was that Stonehenge was primarily used to worship the changing of seasons. Could there be people scantily clad for the summer solstice? Sure, but that's one of four major celebrations that supposedly took place there and it is chilly for the rest in northern climates.

Who knows, maybe I'll be proved wrong, but I'm sticking with "silly" until there is a whole lot evidence.

[Mithras61]

78. So you don't believe the climatological evidence

that northern Europe was mostly "mediteranean" in its climate for most of recorded history, then?

[Ouabache]

48. Calendar, female body parts, maybe it was first swimsuit calendar !?

I dunno, could be.

[TahitiNut]

33. A calendar, you say? Well, menstrual cycles

... can be plotted by a calendar, too. :eyes: (Or, so I'm assured.) :silly:

[Lady President]

40. Rumor has it they can...

but I think the main purpose of most ancient calendars was to worship the changing of seasons for planting purposes. Frankly, scientists are just beginning to understand our menstrual cycles and ancient societies didn't value women or their cycles that much~ beyond wanting us to make lots of babies, of course. An erect penis, maybe, but nothing feminine. (Note: I mentioned the penis because Egyptian mummies usually had the penis wrapped to make the king look virile in death, not because I'm a newbie and a perv.)

[DemBones DemBones]

45. So you mentioned the mummy's penis because you're a newbie?

And not because you're a perv? :eyes: Isn't that what they all say?

Just kidding, armatt, just kidding! I had never heard that about wrapping penises on mummies -- was this only done on royal mummies?

I think it wasn't so much that men didn't value us as that they feared us because we can give birth. Not that they would want to give birth themselves but they feared our power of creating babies. As soon as they got a clue that they were a part of it, it became "scientific fact" that each sperm contained a tiny undeveloped human, ready to develop within the proper vessel (us, as mere incubators.) Yet it was always the woman's fault if the child turned out to be female and not the much-desired son and heir. From Henry YIII in the 1500s to the Shah of Iran in the 1950s, they all blamed the wife who bore only female babies.

I might buy Stonehenge as fertility shrine and calendar. Some, maybe most, legitimate discoveries sound goofy at first.

[Lady President]

47. Makes sense

I agree with you about men fearing women giving birth. Let's face it, a good percentage still don't handle it too well. Although, being a human incubator doesn't make me feel too valued.

As for the penis... I'm not sure if the wrapping was done on lesser mummies or not. I remember hearing about this with royal mummies after reading that someone stole King Tut's penis shortly after his tomb was discovered. (You can make up your own tasteless joke here. :))

[Pikku]

50. Uh... agriculture and "fertility" weren't

separate concepts in many cultures. No, not even in pre-Christian Europe. Sorry.

[Mithras61]

71. Actually, most archaeologists agree that...

ancient druidical peoples were matricarchal, not patriarchal, and were much more likely to worship female genitalia than male. Beyond that, there's pretty sound evidence that women at least knew & understood their own menstrual cycles well before "modern times" and understood the significance of it as well.

You're projecting your own patriarchal prejudices onto a matriarchal society...

[Lady President]

80. Acceptance not projection

Despite being called a "sir" earlier in this thread, I'm a woman. Being realistic I accept that while some societies were less violently patriarchal, (i.e. women separated from men, killing baby girls) they were not equal even by today's standards. I'm certainly not projecting any desire for a patriarchal society.

Out of curiousity I've surfed the net for info. about menstrual cycles and there is little indication that societies had anything but negative/fearful feelings toward it. One interesting thing I did find which makes perfect sense, but I never thought about it, was that prior to the 20th women's cycles were usually much less frequent than today. This was based on longer breastfeeding periods and poorer nutrition which lead to fewer and longer cycles. A calendar based on menstrual cycles in ancient times probably wouldn't be on our 28-30 day cycle. The moon and the seasons are the same, but not necessarily women's connection to it.

[Gman]

28. Best theory I've heard about Stonehenge to date

It's interesting how intimidated some people are by female genitalia. Hence, the negative posts here.

[TahitiNut]

34. "negative"?? Nawww...

... more like "worshipful". :silly:

[Tigermoose]

35. The reason for the negative posts is more likely because...

people are sick of the 20th century urge to sexualize everything. (Thanks Freud)

The 20th century is obsessively consumed by sex, and thus people tend to place their sexual obsessive values on other peoples and times, which may or may not be accurate, but many people are getting tired of it.

[Pikku]

49. I agree

It's not like goddess/fertility worship is some new invention being imposed on European history by wishful thinkers.

Goddess worship predated Christianity by tens of thousands of years, and much effort was expended by the church (unsuccessfully) in stamping it out. Mostly, the symbolism got transformed.

And, (gasp!) some of the original imagery/practices involved were quite... specific. For a more "masculine" example, consider the origin of the maypole. ALso, google the term "hieros gamos". :7

So the idea that Stonehenge is a monument to the female genitalia is not at all surprising.

[RapidCreek]

54. While I might agree with some of what you said

"The Church" hardly tried to stamp out goddess/fertility worship. On the contrary....the Catholic hierarchy has diluted pure Christianity by insisting its parishioners worship Mary "Mother of God"......often times in preference to the Holey Trinity. What was Mary, if not the embodiment of fertility? She conceived, birthed Christ and Christianity without ever having been inseminated....now that is pretty damn fertile if you ask me.


RC

[Must_B_Free]

56. it's just obvious

isn't it?

[October]

65. I agree

I'm surprised (disappointed) by the posts.

A lot negativity from the guys.

[Thor_MN]

31. Wow... England scoops Sports Illustrated's..

Swimsuit calendar...

[rocketdem]

36. I'm just wondering where ...

...the accompanying penis is located? That would be an awfully big prick.

[Robb]

63. It's in D.C.

...Interestingly, in the Oval Office. :)

[Mithras61]

72. If Stonehenge embodies Mother Earth...

then the "accompanying penis" would be located out amongst the stars (Mother Earth, Father Sky)...

[shugah]

37. sacred place of the goddess, or

ancient playboy magazine? :shrug:

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

38. does this mean

the Edsel was a fertility symbol, too?

[Yavin4]

41. So This Is What Early Man Used for Porn?

Before the internet, before Skinamax, before the back room at the video store, before Jenna Jameson, before Playboy, Hustler, and Penthouse, before underground smokers, Stonehenge is what man used for porn?!?!?! WOW!

Talk about getting your rocks off!!!

[BiggJawn]

42. Funny...I think it looks like teeth...

These researchers must have been scared by a bold woman when they were younger...:7

[w4rma]

43. Ancient make out place?

:P

[fshrink]

44. If you ask the local teen-agers...

nt

[arikara]

46. Judging by some of the reactions

this seems to be causing a bit of discomfort? Actually, ancient religions understood and respected the power of the female. According to something else that I coincidentally read tonight, even the patriarchal churches of today are designed to imitate the female body.

Here is an excerpt from the Vagina Monologues which I started reading this evening. In the forward to it, Gloria Steinem writes,

"In the 1970's, while researching in the Library of Congress, I found an obscure history of religious architecture that assumed a fact as if it were comon knowlege: the traditional design of most patriarchal buildings of worship imitates the female body. Thus, there is an outer an inner entrance, labia majora and labia minora; a central vaginal aisle toward the altar; two curved ovarian structures on either side; and then in the sacred center, the altar or womb, where the miracle takes place - where males give birth.

Though this comparison was new to me, it struck home like a rock down a well. Of course, I thought. The central ceremony of patriarchal religions is one in which men take over the yoni-power of creation by giving birth symbolically. No wonder male religious leaders so often say that humans were born in sin - because we were born to female creatures. Only by obeying the rules of the patriarchy can we be reborn through men. No wnder priests and ministers in skirts sprinkle imitation birth fluid over our heads, give us new names, and promise rebirth into everlasting life. No wonder the male priesthood tries to keep women away from the altar just as women are kept away from control of our own powers of reproduction. Symbolic or real, it's all devoted to controlling the power that resides in the female body.

Since then I've never felt the same strangement when entering a patriarchal religious structure. Instead, I walk down the vaginal aisle, plotting to take back the altar with priests - female as well as male - who would not disparage female sexuality, to universalize the male-only myths of Creation, to multiply spiritual words and symbols, and to restore the spirit of God in all living things."

There's lots of books on the subject of the ancient matriarchy's. The Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler; and When God Was a Woman by Merlin Stone are two that come to mind.

[lulu]

61. Excellent post!

Besides the Chalice and the Blade, I loved Riane Eisler's Sacred Pleasure. It's about the patriarchal repression of sexuality and its historical use of violence and fear of pain to maintain themselves.

[October]

67. That was the best post I've read yet

Thank you, arikara, for the post and the book recommendations.

I've been so disappointed reading all these negative posts, so yours was a relief.

The first thing I did after reading the researchers' article/conclusion was to send copies to all my girl-friends (and my husband).

I have to laugh at just how long it took the world to recognize female genitalia when it sees it.

Peace.

[Mithras61]

74. It's 'cause we don't see much of it...

in our patriarchal society! B-)

[October]

68. Also

Can you believe some are posting that they thought Stonehenge meant "more" than that? Are these people for real? More than birth, life...?

[arikara]

82. Exactly, unless

they sprang fully formed from the back of god's head...


;-)

[Character Assassin]

81. So they must be..... The Vagina Monoliths? Ta-duhm!

Just flew in from the coast and BOY, are my arms tired!

[Robin Hood]

51. Of course it is

The pagans were a matriarchal society. I'm moving to Canada.

[RapidCreek]

52. Looks more like a giant anus to me!

RC

[THUNDER HANDS]

69. shhh

Or Rick Santorum will try to ban visits to Stonehenge.

:)

[amagusta]

62. Future headline: WH demands Stonehenge be leveled

[Kelvin Mace]

66. Someone needs to date women

David Allen
Publisher, CEO, Janitor
Plan Nine Publishing
1237 Elon Place
High Point, NC 27263
http://www.plan9.org

[leftofthedial]

79. Scientists finally crack the meaning of the Washington Monument

It is a giant male sexual organ.

[goforit]

83. But they forgot the BALLS...................ROFLMAO!!!!!!

OMG!!!!!!!

Where is Monty Python when ya need them.....
but we got "left of the dial"

Too funny!!!!!!