Bluestone and Blake
The Druids are now being accepted by many as pioneers of mathematics, medicine, astronomy, engineering and theology, as commented on by historians both ancient and modern, so it seems only logical that these keepers of the wisdom of the early Britons would have been the chief architects of the ambitious Stonehenge project. However, the idea that the ancient Druids played a role in the design and utilisation of Stonehenge has gone in and out of favour with so called expert opinion many times over the years, but one thing that archaeologists are at last beginning to accept is, that the stones selected for Stonehenge came from a place that was of considerable spiritual importance to the people of the past.
Blake knew this, but he did not have the benefit of access to the many well-researched documents on the subject that we do today, which now shine a dim but crucial light on the lost religion of those far off days. Never the less he was convinced of both the existence of this ancient ‘divinity’ and its unquestionable purity and he was not afraid to extol those convictions from the highest of rooftops. In his book, The New View over Atlantis, John Michell comments on Blake’s vision thus:
Nothing less than the recreation of the old system of spiritual engineering whose ruins are still visible in every corner of the country. From the rocks, mountains and headlands a mysterious current once flowed down avenues of standing stones over mounds and earthworks towards some central hill dedicated to Mercury, the terrestrial spirit. Below the hill an instrument of solar generation produced the spark by which the current became animated and recoiled in a wave of fertility through the hidden veins of the land.
Those familiar with the Carn Meini outcrop in the Preseli Hills, the source of the Stonehenge Bluestones, will surely wonder at the remarkable resemblance of Michell’s description to that particular site. If you follow the most important ley line in the world, starting from Mecca, you will pass directly over the Pyramids of Egypt and on through the centre of Stonehenge, inevitably arriving at the scattered remains of an avenue of once magnificent standing stones in the Preseli Hills. These stones, which originally formed a dramatic gateway to the sacred mount of Carn Meini, are now sadly gone. They were smashed in relatively recent times to clear the way for agriculture, but nestling quietly at the foot of this rugged and awe inspiring outcrop, the Bluestone circle of Gors Fawr still survives. Some believe that this modest circle was the prototype for Stonehenge, the ‘Throne of the Sun’, but we will probably never know for sure.
The Druidic tradition of passing knowledge by chant or rhyme has resulted in an almost total loss of both their belief system and their vision of the universe and its laws. It is quite possible that these people happily embraced the arrival of Christianity in apostolic days, as an anticipated development of their doctrine. However, the successive imperialist onslaughts of the Romans, first as pagan militarists and then as religious dogmatists, coupled with the devastating destruction of the Saxon and Norman invasions, have succeeded in wiping almost all traces of their ancient wisdom from our consciousness, but perhaps that vision is not totally lost after all.
An increasingly popular adage amongst the ‘Bluestone’ community, “there is only one truth”, informs us that we can rebuild that lost knowledge by starting once more from the very beginning. This is where I believe the simple but powerful philosophy of the Third Quest with its search for truth will prove invaluable. Through that search we can reacquire the lost knowledge, and in our newfound wisdom we will come to understand that our ultimate salvation can only be attained through unity.
Blake may have been an idealist but he was also a visionary, a prophet of modern times. We have seen that his belief, that there was an ancient spiritual homeland located somewhere in Britain was correct. Perhaps his prophecy, that Jerusalem will one day be built on England’s green and pleasant land will eventually be realised for a re-unified Celtic Nation, and the continued unfolding of their long lost history will provide the inspiration for a new age of wisdom and hope. But more importantly for the immediate future of humanity, let us join our hands together and begin to build that prospect now, in the hearts and minds of people everywhere, regardless of their cultural or religious heritage, as I am sure Jesus would have wanted us to do.