There are many henges, most of them in Ireland, all eclipsed by the modified in modern times Stonehenge, which was arranged with large machinery about 50 years ago, bringing into question research on its amazing symmetry or celestial alignment. Yet the famous Neolithic Irish sites get nearly no press, perhaps because of war and oppression brought on by neighboring Britain.
When is the winter solstice? In 2022, the date of the winter solstice is Wednesday, Dec. 21st. What is the winter solstice, and why does it happen?
It's either the shortest day of the year or the longest night, right? No, it's both. Learn all about the shortest day of the year — and tell The Old Farmers' Almanac what winter means.
When is the winter solstice?
The first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere is marked by the winter solstice, which occurs on Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022, at 4:48 PM EST.
England's Stonehenge, like Africa's Adam's Calendar, marks astrological dates and seasons.
Winter in the Western Hemisphere (Marina Zezelina/Shutterstock/Alamanac.com)
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For the northern half of Earth (the Northern Hemisphere), the winter solstice occurs every year on Dec. 21 or 22. (For the Southern Hemisphere, the winter solstice occurs on June 20 or 21).
The winter solstice is the day with the fewest hours of sunlight during the whole year, making it the “shortest day” of the year. Conversely, it's the longest night of the year.
Thankfully, after we reach the winter solstice, the days begin to once again grow longer and longer until we reach the summer solstice — the first day of summer and the longest day of the year.
Think of it this way: Although the winter solstice means the start of winter, it also means the return of more sunlight. It only gets brighter from here on it (until the cycle repeats)!
[It was therefore a key day for astrotheology, the day of the birth of an important religious figure who will return, a kind of Maitreya or Messiah. See Jordan Maxwell for more on this historical phenomenon that has given many religions their power and influence over the millennia. For example, Jesus is not the "reason for the season" and was not born on Christmas or Christ's Mass. The Bible reveals he was born much earlier in the year when the animals were out to pasture. But the Church needed to appropriate a popular winter holiday to brighten the year and make it their own to promote the imperial state religion. Researcher Eric Dubay has a better alternative explanation for the facts as to what causes the solstices and equinoxes on the plane of the earth described by most of the religions of the world. But it is so controversial that he is banned and dismissed out of hand.]
Scientist and author Michael Tellinger talks about his work on stone relics of South Africa, which he believes have a direct connection to the ancient gold mines of the Anunnaki, said to be an ancient race of ETs that visited and ruled planet earth.
The Anunnaki, the ones who came from above, and other civilizations conducted massive gold mining operations all over the planet, even the Grand Canyon. It was not created by natural erosion but by gold mining, Tellinger has concluded.
Their obsession with mining gold may have had to do with their survival or extending their lives, specifically making use of monatomic gold (powdered white gold) and its demonstrable property of disappearing -- moving into another dimension -- when heated to 800 degrees.
Regarding the mysterious ancient stone circles found in large numbers in South Africa, Tellinger says they are amplification devices for "Earth's natural sound frequencies that come out of the ground."
Human slaves of the "gods"
Evidence shows that the Anunnaki created stone circles 300,000 years ago, according to Tellinger, and used human slaves to place them in cymaticpatterns.
"When you put 10 million of these stone circles together, they generate an...unimaginable amount of energy" that can produce such things as scalar waves, levitation, electricity, and more, Tellinger claims.
He also touches on his work with the UBUNTU Movement and the One Small Town initiative, which emphasize a community-driven structure and abundance for all. AUDIO
(OurSL) One day the Buddha alighted from India to visit Sri Lanka by supranormal means and came down on Adam's Peak, known locally as Sri Pada, or "Sacred Footprint," for the print his foot left behind. The faithful are very pleased to see the enormous indentation, skeptics not so much. - Sivanolipada malai, Sri Lanka, 2014.
Himalayan Buddhist world (Skydancer4/flickr)
ADAM'S PEAK, Sri Lanka - It was about 5:00 am. Climbing to the majestic Adam's Peak, the highest point on the teardrop island of Sri Lanka. Formerly Ceylon and Serendib island or dipa (giving us the English word serendipity), it has long been a Theravada Buddhist stronghold with a heavy South Indian Hindu presence. About half way through a steep climb of 8 kms to reach the summit, completely out of breath and weighed down by camera equipment like a heavy tripod, it did not take too much to feel exhausted. The perfect shot presented itself during one of the many breaks to gasp for oxygen and grab a smoke. (Don't judge).
Light atop Adam's Peak (creative_pixels)
Although the climb left me as high as one would be on Himalayan ganja, this shot of the highest pointmade it all worth it. If I had been in the right frame of mind with enough energy, I might have worked it better. Nevertheless, a roundtrip hike of 16 kms -- or 9,000 steps -- over eight hours (most of it ascending in the dark to catch the sunrise from the summit with many other devoted pilgrims), it was all well worth it. Would I do it again? Never. Therefore, I like to think of it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
(BBC/DSL) Where is the "Green Paradise" of Sri Lanka? Full travel documentary
Adam's Peak
Jutting sharply skyward from the lush jungles of southwestern Sri Lanka is the 2,243 meter tall Adam's Peak. The mountain has the unique distinction of being sacred to the followers of four of the world's religions: Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam -- each arguing to claim of the giant footprint atop the mountain as their own sacred relic. The climb to the peak these days involves an 8 km hike with over 3,500 steps up followed by a descent over the same steps. It is a must-do for any adventurer, traveling thrillseeker, or devout religieux wishing to challenge her/his willpower, as the climb can go from fun to no fun in no time.
Every year European's gather at Stonehenge in England to mark the Summer Solstice. While this is a wonderful commemoration linking us to ancient generations of humans and the advanced technology that was delivered from above and developed here for the betterment of the planet, it obscures the fact that there are many megalithic "Stonehenges," even one in America.
But according to Michael Tellinger the oldest sits in the cradle of human civilization. Of course, human species (plural) are far older than we are allowed to believe. (Sacred texts and oral tradition across the planet as well as forbidden archeology tell us that). But the current dominant manifestation of our human race (Homo sapiensapien becoming Homo spiritus) seems to have been rooted in Africa.
Egypt, it may surprise many, is in Africa. We forget that in much the same way we are taught to forget that the ancient Egyptians were Africans. Or that Jesus was associated with Africa. And that the only Biblical description of him is as a typically black male. And the incredible Nile feeds more than Egypt, having once flowed out of Eden.
Africa has other amazing artifacts beyond the pyramids -- from the ancient (pre-Islamic) university (center of higher education buried by European explorers who stumbled on its treasures and the significance of what the ancient Africans had achieved) at Timbuktu (possibly older than the oldest Buddhist university, Nalanda, which is often credited with being the first of its kind, or Taxila), fossils in the Great Rift Valley to Adam's Calendar.
The title of the sutra [discourse], Lankavatara ("entering, or attaining to, Lanka), seems to have something to do with the basic way of thinking and practice in Mahayana Buddhism, though the Gunabhadra version of the ancient text apparently does not offer much help in this regard.
The title seems to have derived from the legendary story passed down among the Theravada practitioners of the island (modern Sri Lanka), which is recorded in the Dipavamsa ("Royal Lineage of the Island Lanka"), a history they compiled.
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The Buddha's [alleged] visits
According to the first two chapters of the story, Gautama Buddha [a.k.a., Shakyamuni] came to the island three times:
(1) nine months after attaining enlightenment ("awakening")
(2) five years after and
(3) eight years after.
(1) When the Buddha saw all the world with his fivefold eyes, he saw the island, where yaksas (spiritual apparitions, literally "something quick") and raksasas (when yaksas get angry they are said to be "flesh-eating goblins" or raksasas, literally, "anything to be guarded against") were abiding and afflicting people, groaning loudly and sucking human blood. The Buddha was afraid some strange teachings might flourish in that situation to worry people further. Using supernatural power, he came from India and expelled the terrible yaksas and furious raksasas by having them shift their dwelling place to a lonely island named Giri far out in the ocean. He then returned to Urvela in the state of Magadha, India (Chp. I).
The real Adam's Peak, Island of Sri Lanka, where the Buddha landed and left a footprint
(2) After he left, in the island's highland mountains, land-snakes and marine-snakes struggled for sovereignty over the island, both being nagas [reptilians, dragons, supernatural serpents] with supernatural power, violent and cruel, arrogant and drunk with power, though different in size. The situation worsened to the extent that wherever they went, everything became contaminated and burned out. The Buddha, far away in India, felt he could not leave things as they were. Again he came to Lanka, which he had emptied of yaksas. He put both parties of snakes under control, reconciled them, and returned to the Jeta Forest (Chp. II).
(3) Three years later, the king of the Lanka snakes, Maniakkhika, invited the Buddha together with five hundred disciples to the island in return for the Buddha's work as peacemaker. The party came flying from the Jeta Forest. The Buddha went to Mahamegha Forest and predicted that in the future the very Bodhi Tree beside which he had attained buddhahood would be planted at the site in Lanka where bodhi trees had grown for previous buddhas (Chp. II).
There is no doubt that such stories were made on the basis of other more historical stories, also recorded in the Dipavamsa, that the transmission of the Buddha's teaching [the Dharma] to the island had begun during the reign of King Devampiyatissa (B.C. 241-207). In response to the gift of treasures from the Lankan King Tissa, King Asoka sent messengers from India with a gift and a message that he had taken refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.
King Asoka's son, Mahinda, who was an elder monk (mahathera), came (Chp. XI), and King Tissa of the island had a temple complex -- the famous Mahavihara -- built in the suburbs of his capital, Anuradhapura, as the center for practice and study for monks under Mahinda's guidance (Chps. XIII, XIV).
Ven. Mahinda had a messenger sent to King Asoka, and had him bring back a portion of the Buddha's relics. Then a dome (stupa, pagoda) erected for them (Chp. XV). Mahinda's sister, Ven. Sanghamitta, also came to Lanka. She brought a branch of the Bodhi Tree and had it planted in the woods of Mahamegha, near the Mahavihara (Chp. XVI). Mahinda died in B.C. 199 (Chp. XVQ), and Sanghamitta passed the following year (Mahavamsa, Chp. XX).
Indian Epic
The legendary stories of the Buddha's three visits to the island, however, seem to derive from one of the famous epics of India, the Ramayana.
Rama, the hero, came to attack raksasas on the island. He killed Ravana, their chief, and returned home to India with his beloved wife Sita, who had been abducted and forcibly taken to the island.
The Buddha was a hero equivalent to Rama, an avatar of Vishnu. But unlike Rama, the Buddha killed no one. He expelled "evil" spirits who had been devastating Lanka.
The role of peacemaker played by the Buddha for the two snake groups also seems to be rooted in the Ramayana. There, two groups of monkeys followed Rama and helped him in his attack on the Lanka demons, because Rama had worked as peacemaker for them during conflicts on the Indian subcontinent.
"Entering Lanka"
Thus, we know that the Theravada document, the Dipavamsa, invented the story of the Buddha entering Lanka on the basis of history and legends. But we need to consider what was meant by the Mahayanists' use of the title "Entering Lanka" (Lanka-vatara) for their famous scripture.
The Lankavatara Sutra, in the Gunabhadra version, begins with the description of the spot where the Buddha, the Sangha, and the bodhisattvas met, and how one bodhisattva named Mahamati from among other "bodhisattvas of mahamati" (see note) stood up and asked the Buddha for a teaching.
"On one occasion the Buddha stayed for a while in the town of Lanka on a mountain top, on the coast of the southern sea..."
Now the Bodhisattva Mahamati, who together with [other] "bodhisattvas of mahamati" (i.e., of great wisdom), with an attendant in every "Buddhaland," through the Buddha's influence stood up from his seat... Read more - NOTE: The word "mahamati," used here both as a common noun and a proper noun, reveals a close connection between the Lankavatara Sutra and the Dipavamsa. In the latter, the word was used only as a common noun, to show a deep respect when excellent mendicants were referred to...
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