The "Age Of Taurus" in Co. Sligo
A week ago I had a thorough visit to the Carrowmore ancient site
in Co. Sligo. I have been three times before but this time I
wanted to make sure I carefully catalogued as many sites as I
could with photos and notes.
It was a very successful visit and I have posted a gallery
which you can browse. I'll be adding notes to this asap.
In 1837 a Mr George Petrie working for the Ordnance Survey
mapping company recorded 68 Carrowmore ancient sites.
Archeologists believe there were over 300 sites.
Today there are 45 sites visible.
I managed to visit, photograph and record 33 of them.
The other 12 are either on private farmland or on very difficult terrain.
The Carrowmore ancient sites are a combination of cairns,
boulder tombs, stone circles that are actually cairn kerbs,
a very interesting passage tomb
and an extremely important large wedge tomb.
All except the wedge tomb date back around 2000 years
before the Pyramids of Egypt were built. Some are even older.
The wedge tomb is the most recent
as this was built around 3000 to 3500 BC.
It appears to have replaced an earlier tomb built
1000 to 1500 years before it.
This re-enforces the tradition of sacred places having
a history of several structures being built on them.
If you visit Co. Sligo you'll notice that the most dominating
ancient site is on a mountain called Knocknarea.
It is famous for hosting "Maeve's Cairn"
because legend claims that Queen Maeve is buried there.
Archeologists refuse to excavate just in case she is not there.
As I visit the circuit of cairns and sites around Co. Sligo,
it seems that most of them point to Maeve's tomb.
When I visited Carrowmore, which is actually in a lowland area,
it was apparent that all sites, including Maeve's tomb cairn,
face and align with Carrowmore. They seem to align with
with one site in particular, the huge wedge tomb named Listoghil.
What they face is the site of Listoghil
and what was ever there before the current wedge tomb,
The building of these massive temple-tombs are an ongoing
mystery, largely because of the weight of the stones used to construct them.
How were these stoned transported and moved into position?
If it was purely men, ropes and log rollers that moved and assembled these
monuments then the amount of man-hours required is beyond belief
and seemingly impossible. A single monument might have required
the entire male population of Ireland at the time.
As I was browsing around the Carrowmore visitors centre I noticed
a lot of reference to stable agriculture and raising cattle
along with other references to the findings of cattle bones near the
ancient sites. All kinds of facts, theories and mythologies
synthesized and connected in my mind.
The bulk of the ancient stone sites around Ireland were built around
4000 to 2000 B.C. If any of you have looked into the mythology and
even mathematics of astrology you would know that this was also
"The Age Of Taurus"
Were these huge stones transported by large teams of cattle ???
I will write another blog to explain the incredible mathematics
that determines these "ages" as this may blow away any
occultish myth that is carried today. What is intriguing is the
world culture shift that occurs during each "age".
The previous "Age Of Gemini" was a nomadic time,
the so called Mesolithic period, yet in parts of the world,
the middle east, there were incredible developments
in symbol writing, sense of mathematics and astronomy
observing.
During the "Age Of Taurus" the population of the world seemed
to settle into permanent homes and developed agriculture,
farming and building.
The following "Age Of Aries" seemed to be the time that
a sense of boundary, land ownership and the formation of
countries and their sovereignty developed.
An age of empires?
Getting back to the cattle and the symbolism of cattle
a leading legend of Ireland is Brigid and her cattle,
especially her talent for raising cattle that provided an
abundance of milk.
Before the famed St. Brigid of Kildare there were
several Brigids all over Ireland well before
Christianity arrived, if folklore is to be believed.
For 1000s of years Brigid, her cattle and her milk were
symbols of fertility, the flow of life and abundant harvests.
The symbolism of Brigid seem to flow into
the Virgin Mary in Ireland
..... and I am tempted to write reams on "why" ..... but will refrain :-)
What also intrigues me is the lesser known legend
and Cessair who's symbolism possibly flowed into
or mixed into the legends of Brigid.
Cessair was said to be the daughter, grand-daughter or
neice of Noah who was refused entry on the ark.
It is said she arrived with the first people to Ireland,
40 women and 3 men 40 days before the "Great Flood".
Some legends call her Banba. Others call her Eri,
from which the Irish name of Erin or Eire comes from.
I wonder if she arrived with the first cattle ?????
Another mystery of Carrowmore and Co. Sligo is how
there were enough dedicated people around to build the
initial tombs and ceremonial centres of incredible importance.
The Mesolithic time is said to have been a nomadic time.
The main theory is around Co. Sligo being the most
abundant region for food, especially sea food.
The word Sligo is derived from shells or shellfish.
This would attract most nomadic tribes to spend
most of their time in the region. After all, nomadic
living is about moving to where food is abundant
rather than staying in one place and creating food.
It seems like food was plentiful for most of the year
around what is now Co. Sligo.
I have tried to get to the "spiritual" island of
Innishmurray during the past two weeks without success,
Innishmurray does not have a natural or built harbour
so landing is subject to sea swell.
I hope for another attempt next week.
Innishmurray is interesting because only a few thousand
years ago it was part of the Irish mainland.
Ireland is largely a limestone country,
but Innishmurray and the underwater land leading to it
and around it is sandstone. This would indicate a once fertile area.
Was it the "Great Flood" that raised the sea that isolated
Innishmurray from the mainland?
This could indicate some kind of Atlantis style legend.
Some legends state that the first Irish people
arrived on what are now counties Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim
and that these people were from Atlantis.
The more we look into these legends more questions
evolve but solutions are very hard as all of these
stories and legends are from aural tradition.
Over the years of visiting ancient sites I have often noticed
their entrances are crowded with cattle. These cattle are
usually reluctant to let me pass. I used to think that maybe
this was something highly spiritual and that cattle may be
some kind of guardian to these spiritual sites.
Though the cattle today are far different to the cattle
around during the "Age Of Taurus" I now wonder if their
crowding of ancient sites is due to their genes.
Have their genes passed on an instinct to remind these cattle
that their ancestors were an important part of the building
of these ancient tombs and temples?.
The "Age Of Taurus" was roughly 4300 BC until 2200 BC
which coincides incredibly with the culture change of men
changing from being a nomadic species to farmers and
builders ..... and widely using cattle as both symbols
and currency.
Interestingly the next age, "Aries", coincided with the
creation of countries and empires using the symbols
of the circle, lamb and the cross.
Even more interesting is the following age of "Pisces"
incredibly symbolized by the story of Christ's birth where
the shepherds, lamb symbol, was rejected in favour of
a visit by the "wise men" ...... and since then the
heads of Christian religions have worn fish heads,
a symbol of Pisces, on their heads.
Today I am awed every time I visit a produce counter
and view all of the wonderful fruits and vegetables we seem
to now have available from all over the world all year round.
Each time I handle a living food I find myself reflecting,
appreciating and thanking the farmers
who's own instinctive origins may have been born
during that amazing change of man during what we
may call "The Age Of Taurus".
It seems like these ancient "tombs" were not just places
for the dead. These ancient "temples" seem connected to
the earth so that the farmers and those who feed from the
farms could pray for and give thanks for their harvests.
If so, there must have been a lot of thanking in Co. Sligo.
Even if your visit is short in Co. Sligo,
do try to make time for visits to Carrowkeel and Carrowmore.
Ask if I am available to take you too :-)
..... and, of course, join us at Markree Castle for your
rest, food and even entertainment when we can.
in Co. Sligo. I have been three times before but this time I
wanted to make sure I carefully catalogued as many sites as I
could with photos and notes.
It was a very successful visit and I have posted a gallery
which you can browse. I'll be adding notes to this asap.
In 1837 a Mr George Petrie working for the Ordnance Survey
mapping company recorded 68 Carrowmore ancient sites.
Archeologists believe there were over 300 sites.
Today there are 45 sites visible.
I managed to visit, photograph and record 33 of them.
The other 12 are either on private farmland or on very difficult terrain.
The Carrowmore ancient sites are a combination of cairns,
boulder tombs, stone circles that are actually cairn kerbs,
a very interesting passage tomb
and an extremely important large wedge tomb.
All except the wedge tomb date back around 2000 years
before the Pyramids of Egypt were built. Some are even older.
The wedge tomb is the most recent
as this was built around 3000 to 3500 BC.
It appears to have replaced an earlier tomb built
1000 to 1500 years before it.
This re-enforces the tradition of sacred places having
a history of several structures being built on them.
If you visit Co. Sligo you'll notice that the most dominating
ancient site is on a mountain called Knocknarea.
It is famous for hosting "Maeve's Cairn"
because legend claims that Queen Maeve is buried there.
Archeologists refuse to excavate just in case she is not there.
As I visit the circuit of cairns and sites around Co. Sligo,
it seems that most of them point to Maeve's tomb.
When I visited Carrowmore, which is actually in a lowland area,
it was apparent that all sites, including Maeve's tomb cairn,
face and align with Carrowmore. They seem to align with
with one site in particular, the huge wedge tomb named Listoghil.
What they face is the site of Listoghil
and what was ever there before the current wedge tomb,
The building of these massive temple-tombs are an ongoing
mystery, largely because of the weight of the stones used to construct them.
How were these stoned transported and moved into position?
If it was purely men, ropes and log rollers that moved and assembled these
monuments then the amount of man-hours required is beyond belief
and seemingly impossible. A single monument might have required
the entire male population of Ireland at the time.
As I was browsing around the Carrowmore visitors centre I noticed
a lot of reference to stable agriculture and raising cattle
along with other references to the findings of cattle bones near the
ancient sites. All kinds of facts, theories and mythologies
synthesized and connected in my mind.
The bulk of the ancient stone sites around Ireland were built around
4000 to 2000 B.C. If any of you have looked into the mythology and
even mathematics of astrology you would know that this was also
"The Age Of Taurus"
Were these huge stones transported by large teams of cattle ???
I will write another blog to explain the incredible mathematics
that determines these "ages" as this may blow away any
occultish myth that is carried today. What is intriguing is the
world culture shift that occurs during each "age".
The previous "Age Of Gemini" was a nomadic time,
the so called Mesolithic period, yet in parts of the world,
the middle east, there were incredible developments
in symbol writing, sense of mathematics and astronomy
observing.
During the "Age Of Taurus" the population of the world seemed
to settle into permanent homes and developed agriculture,
farming and building.
The following "Age Of Aries" seemed to be the time that
a sense of boundary, land ownership and the formation of
countries and their sovereignty developed.
An age of empires?
Getting back to the cattle and the symbolism of cattle
a leading legend of Ireland is Brigid and her cattle,
especially her talent for raising cattle that provided an
abundance of milk.
Before the famed St. Brigid of Kildare there were
several Brigids all over Ireland well before
Christianity arrived, if folklore is to be believed.
For 1000s of years Brigid, her cattle and her milk were
symbols of fertility, the flow of life and abundant harvests.
The symbolism of Brigid seem to flow into
the Virgin Mary in Ireland
..... and I am tempted to write reams on "why" ..... but will refrain :-)
What also intrigues me is the lesser known legend
and Cessair who's symbolism possibly flowed into
or mixed into the legends of Brigid.
Cessair was said to be the daughter, grand-daughter or
neice of Noah who was refused entry on the ark.
It is said she arrived with the first people to Ireland,
40 women and 3 men 40 days before the "Great Flood".
Some legends call her Banba. Others call her Eri,
from which the Irish name of Erin or Eire comes from.
I wonder if she arrived with the first cattle ?????
Another mystery of Carrowmore and Co. Sligo is how
there were enough dedicated people around to build the
initial tombs and ceremonial centres of incredible importance.
The Mesolithic time is said to have been a nomadic time.
The main theory is around Co. Sligo being the most
abundant region for food, especially sea food.
The word Sligo is derived from shells or shellfish.
This would attract most nomadic tribes to spend
most of their time in the region. After all, nomadic
living is about moving to where food is abundant
rather than staying in one place and creating food.
It seems like food was plentiful for most of the year
around what is now Co. Sligo.
I have tried to get to the "spiritual" island of
Innishmurray during the past two weeks without success,
Innishmurray does not have a natural or built harbour
so landing is subject to sea swell.
I hope for another attempt next week.
Innishmurray is interesting because only a few thousand
years ago it was part of the Irish mainland.
Ireland is largely a limestone country,
but Innishmurray and the underwater land leading to it
and around it is sandstone. This would indicate a once fertile area.
Was it the "Great Flood" that raised the sea that isolated
Innishmurray from the mainland?
This could indicate some kind of Atlantis style legend.
Some legends state that the first Irish people
arrived on what are now counties Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim
and that these people were from Atlantis.
The more we look into these legends more questions
evolve but solutions are very hard as all of these
stories and legends are from aural tradition.
Over the years of visiting ancient sites I have often noticed
their entrances are crowded with cattle. These cattle are
usually reluctant to let me pass. I used to think that maybe
this was something highly spiritual and that cattle may be
some kind of guardian to these spiritual sites.
Though the cattle today are far different to the cattle
around during the "Age Of Taurus" I now wonder if their
crowding of ancient sites is due to their genes.
Have their genes passed on an instinct to remind these cattle
that their ancestors were an important part of the building
of these ancient tombs and temples?.
The "Age Of Taurus" was roughly 4300 BC until 2200 BC
which coincides incredibly with the culture change of men
changing from being a nomadic species to farmers and
builders ..... and widely using cattle as both symbols
and currency.
Interestingly the next age, "Aries", coincided with the
creation of countries and empires using the symbols
of the circle, lamb and the cross.
Even more interesting is the following age of "Pisces"
incredibly symbolized by the story of Christ's birth where
the shepherds, lamb symbol, was rejected in favour of
a visit by the "wise men" ...... and since then the
heads of Christian religions have worn fish heads,
a symbol of Pisces, on their heads.
Today I am awed every time I visit a produce counter
and view all of the wonderful fruits and vegetables we seem
to now have available from all over the world all year round.
Each time I handle a living food I find myself reflecting,
appreciating and thanking the farmers
who's own instinctive origins may have been born
during that amazing change of man during what we
may call "The Age Of Taurus".
It seems like these ancient "tombs" were not just places
for the dead. These ancient "temples" seem connected to
the earth so that the farmers and those who feed from the
farms could pray for and give thanks for their harvests.
If so, there must have been a lot of thanking in Co. Sligo.
Even if your visit is short in Co. Sligo,
do try to make time for visits to Carrowkeel and Carrowmore.
Ask if I am available to take you too :-)
..... and, of course, join us at Markree Castle for your
rest, food and even entertainment when we can.
1 Comments:
It's good to acknowledge the importance that all that has come before, and nice to see that there are others with a wandering inquisitive mind out there trying to re-establish the ever cyclic truths that are already manifest in ancient physical forms. I found the 'Age of Taurus' informative and enlightening with a friendly impartial stance, where conclusions are not drawn, or attempted to be made definite, placing an emphasis on the vastness of wealth that we have here under our grassy pastures...
I myself think that the tides of change that all our ancient sites have gone through, (allowing grass and earth to encroach, while at other times, being used for 'another' sacred purpose eons later, for the tide yet again to change and meanings forgotten). the innocent grassy domes have allowed for millennia, our ancient knowledge not to be pillaged and contaminated by the passing of time and the cultural changes within environment and society.
Something Egypt for all its glory may have paid for, as the tundra surrounding the pyramids tidally changed over millennia, so to did the earths ability to protect these vast monuments by the encroachment of jungle and grasslands.
I've ventured upon a few ancient (-1000bc-circe1400ad) Mayan sites and their jungles shielded their secrets for generations.
My point being, the finest sites excavated in Victorian and Napoleonic (as example, just like ancient tomb robbers and vandals) times suffered under 'brutal' archeological regimes in comparison to the more sustainable techniques of our contemporaries... just as future generations will look at our current excavating and exploration procedures as being massively intrusive on the evidence.
Scientific methods/tools such as carbon dating, dendrochronology combined with the computerisation era have allowed massive inroads to be dug (an unfortunate pun) into our ancient history. But what might get thrown out of a contemporary archaeological dig (eh, dirt) might be the base reagent for the next generation of investigatory devices! ... not just archaeology either... the guys that now study ice-cores, under lake sedimentation, the old science of geology and the tree rings already mentioned.
One of the reasons this article appealed to me so much, is that you recognise that so many different disciplines of study (very importantly must include the casual reasoned indulger in the debate and any other contributor, as no labeling of outsiders or non-specialist... every different opinion opens up new corridors of possibilities.) need to be involved to formulate the answer closest to the truth. And that’s one of my hopes for this day of planet-wide inter-connectivity (that may exist in the collective subconscious, which is now manifest in its physical form )... is that people like you are now out there and we can just come across each other by chance and keep that cycle of learning going as we built a collective understanding of the entirety of human knowledge farmed from the cosmos over the epochs.
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