Stonehenge replica at Maryhill, WA, USA

[Greenbare Woods]

I was on my way to a pagan Beltane camping event held at an aging hippie commune called Windward Foundation http://www.windward.org/.   I was driving along when I saw a sign for the Stonehenge replica.  My father had taken us to see it way back in the 1950s, and I've been meaning to see it again ever since.  So I turned off and went to see.  Admission is free.   It is not crowded.  I was the only person there when I arrived on a Thursday about mid day.   I decided it would be good to get naked at the monument. 

The Stonehenge replica at Maryhill, WA, USA is perhaps the only full scale replica in existence.  It is constructed of concrete, not natural stone, but that works for me.  The altar was dedicated on July 4, 1918 to WW I soldiers who died in battle.  The remainder of the monument was finished a few years later. 

It was constructed by James J. Hill, a  wealthy railroader from the 19th century.  He also built an amazing manor house for his wife at Maryhill.  The manor house is now an art museum you should go see too.  I didn't pay admission to the art museum which is a couple miles away from the Stonehenge.  Really nice view of the Columbia Gorge. 

The Stonehenge replica is now officially a Veterans Memorial for Klickitat County war dead.  http://www.maryhillmuseum.org/visit/stonehenge-memorial

If you are ever traveling I-84 east of Portland, OR, turn off at Biggs Junction.  Its only a few miles across the bridge and up a hill on the WA side of the Columbia river.  Its well worth the extra time to see and feel the stones. FREE parking and admission. 

Here I am naked among the stones.  It was a  beautiful summer day. 





This is how it looks from the parking area.





The concrete forms were made to look sort of like natural stones. 





The altar stone at the right and the overall alignment is set by astronomers to correspond to local summer solstice.  The problem with that is the surrounding mountains make it impossible to see sunrise at astronomical dawn.   The altar was dedicated to WW I war dead on July 4, 1918. 
That makes it a century old this year.

[BlueTrain]

I've seen the actual one in England and nothing helps authenticity like rain.

Another, and perhaps better, replica construction is the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, complete with statue of Athena. Haven't seen it and haven't seen it either. Better go see it before the Evangelicals have it demolished.

[Greenbare Woods]

Another, and perhaps better, replica construction is the Parthenon in Nashville, Tennessee, complete with statue of Athena.

I have also been to the Parthenon replica in Nashville.  The golden statue of Athena is so large that she holds a human size statue of Nike standing on the palm of her hand.   Its totally awesome.  However there must have been hundreds of tourists there when I was there. Way too many tourists and security guards to go naked with Athena.

 

[John P]

Bob, I think the Maryhill Stonehenge is just too neat and regular!

I've been to the original too, in fact earlier than 1978, which was when they put a fence around the stones to stop people from touching them.

There's an "Inter Faith Sanctuary" in Pennsylvania where they're erecting their own version of Stonehenge, stone by stone:
https://www.4qf.org/values/stone-circle/why-we-raise-the-standing-stones

They also set up a sweat lodge periodically, and say "Bring a towel, drinking vessel and whatever you want to wear or not wear."
https://www.4qf.org/values/earth-spirit/sweat-lodge

And they say "About Our Clothing Policy: There is no Clothing Policy in the Main Camp during WickerMan (June 8th-11th).  Four Quarters regular clothing policy applicable at all other times, asks that you dress like you would for a day at the beach with skinny dipping in the river."

As for the pseudo-Parthenon, I'll skip it, but if they ever do a Temple of Knidos, I'd be interested.

[Greenbare Woods]

Bob, I think the Maryhill Stonehenge is just too neat and regular!

The Maryhill Stonehenge was an attempt to recreate what the original English Stonehenge would have been like when it was first built, with all the standing stones standing and all the capstone lintels in place.  They did not try to copy thousands of years of weather and other damage to the original stones.  It provides a feeling of how the original may have looked and felt upon its original completion. 

For more reading about Maryhill Stonehenge and other replicas see the Wikipedia page
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge_replicas_and_derivatives.   

I've been to the original too, in fact earlier than 1978, which was when they put a fence around the stones to stop people from touching them.

I've never been to the UK.  Its a long way from here.  I'm sure its a lovely place. 

There's an "Inter Faith Sanctuary" in Pennsylvania where they're erecting their own version of Stonehenge, stone by stone:
https://www.4qf.org/values/stone-circle/why-we-raise-the-standing-stones

There are numerous places with standing stones of one kind or another.  That place has a stone circle, but its not a replica of Stonehenge.  The Inter-Faith Sanctuary in Pennsylvania sounds like another interesting place to visit if I ever get back to Pennsylvania. 

They also set up a sweat lodge periodically, and say "Bring a towel, drinking vessel and whatever you want to wear or not wear."
https://www.4qf.org/values/earth-spirit/sweat-lodge

Jbee is big on sweat lodges.  He would enjoy. 

And they say "About Our Clothing Policy: There is no Clothing Policy in the Main Camp during WickerMan (June 8th-11th).  Four Quarters regular clothing policy applicable at all other times, asks that you dress like you would for a day at the beach with skinny dipping in the river."

What that seems to say is "Clothing REQUIRED" except for swimming in the river and except for their WickerMan celebration in June.  It would be nice if it were clothing optional all the time.

Bob

[jbeegoode]

Bob, I think the Maryhill Stonehenge is just too neat and regular!

I've been to the original too, in fact earlier than 1978, which was when they put a fence around the stones to stop people from touching them.

There's an "Inter Faith Sanctuary" in Pennsylvania where they're erecting their own version of Stonehenge, stone by stone:
https://www.4qf.org/values/stone-circle/why-we-raise-the-standing-stones

They also set up a sweat lodge periodically, and say "Bring a towel, drinking vessel and whatever you want to wear or not wear."
https://www.4qf.org/values/earth-spirit/sweat-lodge

And they say "About Our Clothing Policy: There is no Clothing Policy in the Main Camp during WickerMan (June 8th-11th).  Four Quarters regular clothing policy applicable at all other times, asks that you dress like you would for a day at the beach with skinny dipping in the river."

As for the pseudo-Parthenon, I'll skip it, but if they ever do a Temple of Knidos, I'd be interested.

Wickerman sounds fun. Might put it on the bucket list , but only if it fits in to the grander tour.

There are many ritualized traditional sweats around here. You have to travel in those social circles, generally. They are clothed. I have felt very constricted during these. I prefer the looser hippie sweat, some ritual. It is all about sincerity and respect for me. The local Native American sweats are with some clothing. It is said that clothing is tradition and respect, but I think that is hogwash passed down from a practical burho authority a hundred or more years ago. To cover a body is not showing appreciation, respect, or humility to that which gave the body. Ya know, it just doesn't make sense to cover a body before the white guys showed up. Things varied from tribe to tribe, but just thinking about it appears to be silly to claim that aspect as tradition.
Jbee

[Karla]

I remember as a young child being able to go up to the stones before it was all roped off. We drove by once back in the early noughties but we were put off by the busy road running nearby and the visitor centre.

If you can get there, I'd most heartily recommend the Callanish stones in the outer Hebrides. I've been there twice. It's really weird. There's a real connection to pre-history when you visit that place, You can walk amongst the stones. They are nice to touch. The first time we went it was dusk and just another couple sitting by. I intend getting naked photos there one day.

[jbeegoode]

That sounds like a bucket list site. Does it ever get warm out there?
One day, I might let myself do a heritage trip to Edinburgh and the Isle of Sky. That might fit in.

Many of those stone sites are associated with ley lines and energies dowsed. I wonder if these new American spots are dowsed.
Jbee

[eyesup]

. . from a practical burho authority . .

? ?
“burho” ? Couldn’t find in Urban dictionary. Was bedeutet das?

Duane

[jbeegoode]

"BRUHO" !!! I misspelled it.
Shaman, spiritual person, sometimes respected magical elder. See "The Teachings of Don Juan" by Carlos Castaneda. This is where that all began. The Yaqui are all around. Their reservation is just down the road south of town, and it is not just a Pascua Yaqui Tribe term.
Burho...sorry. That's a guy who plays tabla.
Jbee

[Greenbare Woods]

"BRUHO" !!! I misspelled it.
Shaman, spiritual person, sometimes respected magical elder. See "The Teachings of Don Juan" by Carlos Castaneda. This is where that all began.
Jbee

"Bruha" is Spanish for Witch.   "Bruho" is the male word form.  Google translate says "Bruho" --> "witch doctor." 

Carlos Castaneda was originally from Peru so Spanish would have been his native language and "Bruho" would have been a word to describe much of his teaching. 

There is very little that distinguishes between "Shaman" and "Witch," except language.   

[BlueTrain]

There is a German girl group that calls itself "Isartaler Hexen, which is an interesting name, to say the least. On one of their CDs, there is a Halloweenish-looking witch and some bats. One of the numbers is isartaler Hexenrock.

[eyesup]

Megalithic structures are fascinating. They represent large scale efforts to address the unknown. They are all over the planet. I guess it’s hard to resist replicating them for whatever reason. Some are genuine attempts, others are irreverently poking fun.

Such as this stonehenge replica in Nebraska. Or from back in the early 70’s a different riff, by a group of hippies near Amarillo, on the idea of megalithic monuments. I remember hearing about this one back in the 70’s when I was living in Lubbock while they were putting it together.

Those of us that are fascinated with ancient structures attempt in one way or another to tap into the cultural or religious intent behind the building. On my recent trip to New Mexico and Arizona, at Chaco, in New Mexico, we visited six houses spread out along 2-1/2 miles of the canyon.

Panoramic view of Pueblo Bonito. The large house in the canyon.

What was once the inside of a 2nd floor room.

A couple of the structures northern walls were oriented to the solstice lines. People all over clearly considered that event significant. Especially in the southwest US where dry farming was practiced.

We also visited the Aztec Ruin house in Aztec, NM near Farmington.

The reconstructed Kiva at Aztec.

It is thought that this is a private room. Notice the metate.

The ceiling seen in this photo has been dated to before 1000 AD. It is still doing it’s job. You can see that the rooms were simply connected with no evidence that there was more than possibly a curtain separating them.

Many personal items were left behind. They took only what they would need at the next settlement. They didn’t have the same level of attachment to things as we do. All of these settlements were built and used over a period of 300 yrs (ca. 950-1250 AD). then abandoned for religious reasons. They believe that after each part of a life of a person or community was completed, you move on to whatever comes next. There was no long term plan for these. That part was finished. It’s a different way of looking at things.

Duane

[eyesup]

On the subject of ancient people, buildings and messages, we always enjoy looking for petroglyphs and pictographs when we travel. On the trip we stopped at Four Corners. For those not familiar, it is where the Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah borders meet. You can see it easily in GoogleEarth. The river to the northeast is the San Juan which flows into Lake Powell. There is a quad at the intersection with a 150 ft. long row of vendors in each state.

We were talking to a man there that recreates petroglyphs he encounters on the land where his family lives. He engraves them on thin slabs of sandstone he takes from a mountain near there. We were asking him what each meant and he would explain, unless he didn’t know, then he would shrug and say, “We don’t know.” He was aware that the meanings of some of the symbols have been lost and others are handed down from oral tradition.

Some of the images we’ve seen in Nevada can be seen on this website. When it comes to what the ancient people were trying to say, figuring out what the symbols mean is a fun exercise. We were talking to an archaeologist once that we know here in Nevada that studies these sites and he said that essentially that, “We don’t know what they mean. For all we know, it could just be their form of grafitti.” They know they have meaning, but the best resource they have is to rely on the oral traditions of the descendants of the people that made them.

We’ve looked at them here in Nevada, in Colorado, in Arizona and New Mexico. At each place and time frame they all have minor differences. Fun stuff.

Duane

[Greenbare Woods]

Some of the images we’ve seen in Nevada can be seen on this website. When it comes to what the ancient people were trying to say, figuring out what the symbols mean is a fun exercise. We were talking to an archaeologist once that we know here in Nevada that studies these sites and he said that essentially that, “We don’t know what they mean. For all we know, it could just be their form of grafitti.” They know they have meaning, but the best resource they have is to rely on the oral traditions of the descendants of the people that made them.

We’ve looked at them here in Nevada, in Colorado, in Arizona and New Mexico. At each place and time frame they all have minor differences. Fun stuff.

Duane

On the bank of the Rio Grande near Santa Fe, NM, is a picture of a Viking long boat.   Sometimes the meaning of the rock art is quite clear.   Other times its just graffiti.