Scientists believe they’ve uncovered the meaning of some of the Moai stone monoliths found on Rapa Nui, better known to Westerners as "Easter Island." Here’s the truth [so far].
Here’s what readers will learn when reading this story:
Scientists believe they’ve uncovered the meaning of some of the Moai (giant stone statues) stone monoliths found on Rapa Nui (Easter Island).
The scientists analyzed soil in the vicinity of two of the Moai statues and found traces of banana, taro, and sweet potato, according to research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.
These traces indicate the statues could have been used to celebrate the crop fertility of soils in the region.
The famed stone monoliths that tower over the island of Rapa Nui—colloquially known as Easter Island—have puzzled scientists for centuries.
But archeologists and soil scientists studying the ancient Moai now believe they’ve uncovered the meaning of the famous statues.
Clues in nearby soils suggest the statues may have been placed there to celebrate the fertility of crops in the area.
Remote island research is the best kind of work
For more than three decades, Jo Ann Van Tilburg of UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) has studied the origins of the Moai along with Rapanui artist Cristiรกn Arรฉvalo Pakarati and other members of the local community.
They recruited soil scientist Sarah Sherwood, of the University of the South in Tennessee, to analyze the soil the base of two statues found peculiarly perched upright in the Rano Raraku quarry on the eastern part of the island, where most of the more than 1,000 Moai statues originated.
(The scientists suspect that work in the quarry began around A.D. 1455). The team analyzed soils at the foot of two of the structures, which archeologists believe were erected by or before A.D. 1510 to A.D. 1645, and found chemical evidence of common food crops.
The soils revealed traces of foods like taro, banana, and sweet potato, according to research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science. More
We were all taught to believe that the people of Easter Island (Rapa Nui) destroyed themselves by destroying their environment until the last tree was chopped down, bringing that civilization from decline to a perilous end. But that's not quite what happened. The only people in the South Pacific to develop their own language and writing system used incredible technology we do not understand and probably cannot mimic today to create moai (activated statues) with eyes made of iridescent shells watching over them, somehow buried so deep in the ground that only their massive heads stick out. It was the Europeans who arrived and possibly brought vermin and disease with them, to say nothing of their greed, malice, and eagerness to enslave and exploit the Natives that ruined this distant outpost of humanity.
Across the empty pool (which not "the Pond" that is the Atlantic but rather the flyover states that are the heart of the country) in Bay County, Florida, they're trying to shut down Spring Break 2025.
Sunday will be super special for all the fans of the now defunct Brokechella (LA's alternative to Coachella). Hollywood superstar Woody Harrelson, owner of The Woods, is hailing the haoma (soma) of today in a 4:20-friendly festival he calls "Woodchella."
The Sperm Races are also going on in Hollywood, thanks to a startup that is making the content of seminal fluid respectable. And, of course, it being spring, The Renaissance Pleasure Faire (Ren Faire: California, Wisconsin, New York) is back in L.A. over by the lake (Santa Fe Dam) in Irwindale on the way east on the freeway to Coachella.
(Blakwoodz) April 17, 2025:Today, let's look at ๐ The Holy Fire ("Holy Light") in Jerusalem – an annual Easter miracle at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Palestine. ๐ Hey, Doubting Thomas, you can't walk on water (if you disbelieve).
Welcome to full coverage of The Holy Fire 2025, the annual miracle that takes place on Holy Saturday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
LA Marzulli talks about the "miracle" and how the local doubting Muslims, those who follow Islam, tried to debunk it and became converts.
This sacred event, known as the Holy Fire miracle, draws thousands of faithful from around the world each Easter to witness this awe-inspiring tradition.
๐ฅ
The Holy Fire is one of the most ancient and spiritual Easter traditions celebrated in Jerusalem. Every year, during Orthodox Easter and Holy Saturday, the miracle of the Holy Fire takes place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, believed to be the site of the resurrection.
In this video, witness the moment the Holy Fire (alleged to be the "spirit of Jesus" except for Jews who call it the Holy Spirit in Judaism) appears like a dove (Holy Spirit, Holy Breath, Pneuma, Prana, Holy Ghost), the powerful reactions of the crowd of believers, and the deep meaning imputed on this sacred tradition.
Join us as we explore the historical significance, religious symbolism, and modern-day celebration of this unique Easter event. We will also discuss more about all the biblical prophecy and The Third Temple of Solomon being built by Israel.
๐ Location: Jerusalem, Israel (Occupied Palestine) ⛪ Site: Church of the Holy Sepulchre
๐ Event: Holy Fire 2025, Orthodox Easter, Holy Saturday.
See the buildup to the Holy Fire ceremony, the exact moment the "Holy Fire" appears, Orthodox Christian pilgrims lighting candles and singing hymns, the atmosphere inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the way Easter (borrowed from the ancient pagans) is celebrated elsewhere.
[Let's explore the history, the miracle, and the cultural impact of this Holy Light – a "fire" that does not burn (like that Burning Bush Egyptian Jewish Moses, if he ever existed, saw in that psychedelic/entheogenic vision that one time), that connects millions of believers during Orthodox Easter in the heart of the Holy Land taken over by Ashkenazi Jews for their war on Palestinians, God and Bible based genocide on human beings, and the start of a new US-sponsored empire in the Middle East ruled by secular Jews from Europe and their proxies.]
Biblical prophecy, space aliens, UFO sightings, ghosts, creepy TikToks, and scary videos, The Woodz Show has got it all.
Blakwoodz, The Woodz Show, April 17, 2025; Christian Youth Channel, April 27, 2024; LA Marzulli; Sheldon S., Shauna Schwartz, Seth Auberon, Pfc. Sandoval (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
April 2025 Full Pink Moon: When to see the micromoon this weekend
(KHOU 11)
April 10, 2025: The Full Pink Moon rises on Saturday, April 12th, 2025, as a rare "micromoon" and Paschal Moon, which matters a great deal to the world's Christians and Astrotheological "Pagans" who celebrate the great rebirth/resurrection now called "Easter." Was it once the worship Esther (Eostre, which gives us the sexual word estrus)? Here’s when to watch it and why it matters for Easter celebrators.
Full moon observance
Moon over Buddhist Burma, Shwedagon Pagoda
Buddhists the world over celebrate the "sabbath" or "lunar observance" (uposatha) according to the four phases of the moon, the planet's cyclical timekeeper. Of these four phases, the full moon phase is of particular importance. Many who may only observe the Eight Precepts and intensive Buddhist practice once a month will choose this phase for their observance. It is a great way to make regular skillful (wholesome, good, profitable) karma. This will be great merit for the future because "karma is everywhere we're going to be." What is the uposatha observance and how does one fulfill it? That is a good question to ask Theravada monastics in the area. They are all over the United States now. May we suggest Western scholar-monk and Pali-to-English translator Bhikkhu Bodhi at the Buddhist Association of the United States (baus.org/en) in Carmel, Upstate New York? It is also New Year's Day on Monday (Moon-day) in Theravada Buddhist Sri Lanka and Buddhist Bangladesh (which still has two thriving albeit tiny Theravada Buddhist communities surviving in Chittagong and the Hill Tracks).
The True Pagan Origins of Easter | Ancient Architects
(Ancient Architects) Easter Sunday is a time when the Christians of the world are celebrating the "resurrection" (rebirth) of their man-god Jesus, the "Annointed One," while Christians and non-Christians alike are feasting on chocolate eggs.
The consumption of chocolate eggs is certainly not a Christian tradition. Biblical scholars and historians universally concede that before ever becoming a Christian holiday, Easter was undoubtedly a pagan festival.
This can be seen by the fact that the date of "Easter weekend" changes every year, which is due to Easter always being celebrated on the first Sunday following the full moon after the spring equinox.
Unlike the word "Christmas" (Christ mass), the word Easter has pagan roots, and history books trace it to the Saxons: Eastra was the spring goddess. It wasn’t until the 8th century when the Anglo-Saxons took the name from the goddess and married her up with the resurrection to form the new Christian holiday of "Easter."
Easter as a celebration goes back much further than the Saxons, and some say it evens goes as far back as the Sumerians and the legend of Damuzi (or Tammuz) and Ishtar (or Inanna).
The legend known as "The Descent of Inanna" was found inscribed on a 4,100-year-old clay tablet. As Tammuz dies, Ishtar follows him into the underworld where she gets judged, killed, and is hung on display.
Meanwhile, the earth goes into decline with crops failing and animals not reproducing. A lot of the information in this video comes from the brilliant article by Joanna Gillian from Ancient Origins and you can read this now at ancient-origins.net/myths... for more detailed information.
(ReligionForBreakfast)
March 21, 2025: Is the Easter Bunny pagan? Probably not. It seems to have been invented by German-speaking Protestant Christians sometime in the 1600s [who were totally not thinking about sex, spring fertility, lusty fecundity, or anything like that because who knew rabbits were symbolic of sexual appetite, libido, or having lots and lots of babies back in Old-Timey Germany? Goddess Eostre, for which we have the word estrus, being "in heat," and perhaps Easter, the East, or the Dawn...]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Stephen Winick, "Ostara and the Hare: Not Ancient, But Not as Modern as Some Skeptics Think,"
Library of Congress Blogs, April 28, 2016.
Stephen Winick, On the Bunny Trail: In Search of the Easter Bunny, Library of Congress Blogs, March 22, 2016.
Fat Thursday (French Jeudi Gras, not to be confused with next week's Maundy Thursday, ahead of Mardi Gras) on the Catholic Calendar takes place on the Thursday ahead of Ash(Tilaka) Wednesday (the official start of Lent) in February, right before the 40-day period of Lent. That’s February 27 this year.
And yes, it’s exactly what readers may be thinking — a time to indulge. Clear the kitchen and pantry in preparation for FASTING. That’s what Lent is all about, abnegation, austerity, asceticism as watered down as can be and still called a sacrifice and abstention.
I'm going to kill this Lamb (of God) and eat him
Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday") is coming, the time of year all Catholics become ducks and stuff themselves(Foie Gras)until, loving the Lamb of God, they demand Veal(made of baby Cow) and then go back to eating baby Lambs, chopped
As the lean season of Lent draws near, food becomes central to many peoples’ thoughts. There’s nothing like a fast (intentional cleansing starvation) to get us thinking about food, particularly those forbidden treats loaded with calorific ickiness.
If donuts were the first thing that came to mind, then that mind is on the right track because this holiday, originating in Catholic Poland, is about stuffing our faces with Polish donuts, known as pฤ czki, and a few other exotically named sweet treats. Pancakes come to mind.
Every Fatso knows calories don't count today.
History of Fat Thursday
Though the exact origin of how this holiday came to be founded is unknown [though the eating up of all the forbidden foodstuffs of the next forty days seems like a pretty convincing explanation], the Polish tradition of consuming donuts is very much known. It dates as far back as the 1500s.
On the religious side of things, Fat Thursday is the last hurrah before the fasting period of Lent, wherein devout Catholics give up many indulgences in the 40 days leading up to Easter, the pagan Day of Rebirth (Resurrection and fertility), when the world springs back to green life after winter.
Roman Catholicism is as far from Christ's message as Protestantism
Traditionally, Catholics abstain from meat and alcohol during this period, as the idea is to give up things one is addicted to, loves, abuses, can’t give up even though one knows one should, in order to focus on the meaning of Easter.
Fat Thursday is known as Tลusty Czwartek in Poland. For those who doubt, the "fat" part of the name refers to the fried sugar crust of different types of pฤ czki (pronounced \poonch-key\ or \pots-ski\) consumed by Poles all over the European country.
The Pope is dying, and all we're worried about is will he get his Angel Wings? We'll get ours.
The most traditional form of pฤ czki is a fluffy donut filled with rosehip jam and dusted with powdered white sugar that looks like cocaine and the contents of a bloody nose on toast.
However, there are many variations now when it comes to fillings. Essentially, this day serves a dual purpose, as it allows Poles to indulge guilt-free in their favorite confectionery, while also carrying a religious meaning.
Rio Carnaval: Fat Tuesday in Brazil: Carnival in Rio (Portuguese Carnaval do Rio de Janeiro) is a festival held every year before Lent that is considered the biggest (and probably the sexiest and most decadent) celebration of Carnival in the world, with two million people per day on the streets, first celebrated in 1723 (wiki).
Some even refer to the day as International Polish Donut Day, and the average Pole will eat two or three today, which translates to about 1,050 empty calories (if anyone is counting, though we’re not)!
If the thought of consuming donuts scares an eater (because of the gluten, fried oil, toxic white sugar, strange fillings, rancidity and carcinogenic acrylamides from heat exposure), the recommendation is to eat just one gluten-free one with a better sweetener (agave, coconut blossom powder, erythritol, monk fruit, birch xylitol, or herbal stevia, because not eating a donut on this day means bad luck for the rest of the year, according to fat Polish tradition.
Another traditional Polish dessert that is extremely popular on this day is faworki, in some places, also known as Angel Wings. Faworki are thin gluten dough ribbons, fried until crispy and sprinkled with powdered white sugar. More
National Day Today, 2/27/25; Recovering Catholic Madison, Ashley Wells, Crystal Quintero (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
(timeanddate)
Started streaming ~10:20 am (Pacific). Let's watch timanddate.com’s LIVE show of the annular solar eclipse on Oct. 2, 2024 — weather permitting, visible from super remote Easter Island and parts of southern Chile and Argentina.
Surrounding countries, including Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay, will get a partial solar eclipse.
Hop on timeanddate.com to see the livestream and follow live blog with real-time progress reports and background information.
Timeanddate.com has real-time animations, maps, times, and much more for this spectacular eclipse.
A fully evolved script, Rongo Rongo tablets - How old is Easter Island civilization? 3,000 years+
Exploring Rapa Nui (Easter Island)
(Funny Olde World) Premiered Sept. 23, 2024: Hey, Hunters, let's dive into the origin myths of the Moai (those giant head above/bodies below ground stone monoliths on Easter Island and the DNA evidence of cross cultural mixing with Natives from the Americas in the ancient past.
Myth research and references: earthstoriez.com/myths-legend... has an extensive source list at the bottom. Huge shout out to adeptexpeditions.com for running such an awesome tour of the Island. Enjoy! JJ xx. #rapanui #easterisland #ancienthistory
Autumn Equinox's ancient spiritual meaning | Fall traditions, rituals, celebrations, sites
(Sakro Sawel1) Sept. 19, 2024: Let's take a stunningly deep dive into the traditions, ancient sites, and myths of the fall season, which begins with the autumnal equinox. It is recognized and celebrated around the world. Let's uncover the deeper spiritual meaning of this shift and its relevance today.
The autumn equinox is when day and night are equal (equi + nox = "night"), after which nights become longer than the daylight hours, and darkness becomes greater than light each day.
It was celebrated by ancient peoples for millennia and is still one of the most celebrated religious times of year. Why is the autumn equinox such an important religious event? What is its spiritual meaning?
The amazing temples of Mexico are aligned
To answer these questions, we delve into its celebration throughout history. We explore the autumn equinox tradition of Durga Puja (devotional ritual dedicated to Ma Durga) in India, which is celebrated by over a billion people, and the Persian festival of Mehregan.
We also look at the meaning of the legend of the Minotaur, the Eleusinian Mysteries (entheogenic drug rituals), the descent to Earth of the feathered serpent (reptilian Nagarajas) at Kukulkan (Quetzalcoatl) in Mexico, the hanging of the Norse god Odin on the World Tree (axis mundi), the journey of the Egyptian sun god Ra, and the crucifixion of Jesus [an element of astrotheology], which are all connected to the fall equinox.
CONTENTS
Introduction 00:00
What is the fall/autumn equinox? 01:55
Symbols of the equinox 02:59
Journey of the sun god 03:47
Autumn equinox traditions 06:19
Sites with fall equinox alignments 10:49
Great Pyramid symbolism 12:18
Sphinx Temple meaning 18:18
Ahu Akivi alignments 21:53
El Castillo solar serpent 23:45
Palace of Knossos Significance 27:50
Death, descent, Jesus, and Odin 34:59
Meaning and purpose of darkness 39:26
Conclusion 42:52
We explore the alignments of some of the world's most enigmatic sacred sites to the autumn equinox to interpret their symbolic spiritual meaning, including the Great Pyramid and Sphinx Temple in Egypt, Ahu Akivi on Easter Island, the Pyramid of the Feathered Serpent in Mexico (El Castillo at Chichen Itza), and the ancient Greek Palace of Knossos in Crete.
We also explore one of the main themes of the autumn equinox, which is the worship of a great spiritual Mother Goddess (like Ma Durga, Guanyin, Mother Mary, Inanna, and many other names).
We uncover how the beliefs and traditions of the autumn equinox are connected across cultures and how celebrating the equinox was an important component of an ancient religion of the sun that spread to different parts of the world in prehistoric times.
As part of this video, we discuss some original theories I put forward as does my husband Mark Sawel, including:
How the autumn equinox reveals the important role that darkness plays in life and creation
How the annual journey of the sun was used in ancient religions to symbolize the path to enlightenment (our Sacred Sun Path Theory)
The symbolism of autumn equinox alignments at the Great Pyramids and Sphinx Temple in Egypt, Ahu Akivi on Easter Island, Chichen Itza in Mexico, and Knossos in Greece, which encode a spiritual meaning connected to the theme of descent on the path of enlightenment to confront one’s own inner darkness before being spiritually reborn [like Siddhartha did under the Bodhi tree before becoming the Buddha]
That these ancient sites and traditions were connected as part of a now lost [worldwide] religion we call the Religion of the Sun
The origin of dragon and serpent (reptilian, naga) slaying myths and how their symbolism was seen by the ancients in the stars
The deeper meaning in the pattern of descending into the earth, underworld, matter, body, tomb, subconscious, and womb, which can be found in the life of sun gods such as Ra, Rama, Odin, Jesus, and Osiris
An interpretation of the story of Theseus, Ariadne, the Minotaur, and the labyrinth and how it likely derives from Minoan initiatory rites conducted on the autumn equinox.
We first published these ideas between 2011 and 2016, where more details can be found in our book Ancient Solstice, which discusses the spiritual meaning of the fall/autumn equinox and ancient sites aligned to it, as well as how to celebrate it: sakrosawel.com/ancient-solstice.
NOTE ABOUT ATTRIBUTING OUR WORK
The information in this video is the culmination of years of work and research. It contains our unique interpretations of ancient sites and traditions. If anyone likes it and wants to share it, do so without plagiarizing it, please. Please share the video while giving us due credit as the source (Sakro and Mark Sawel).
This video is part of a series about the spiritual meaning of the solstices and equinoxes. Watch the other videos in this series:
Winter solstice: • WINTER SOLSTICE Ancient Spiritual Mea...
Spring equinox: • SPRING EQUINOX Ancient Spiritual Mean...
Summer solstice: • SUMMER SOLSTICE Ancient Spiritual Mea...
WEBSITE: sakrosawel.com.To make sure to keep receiving content from Sakro Sawel, sign up for this free newsletter at sakrosawel.com/newsletter. X/Twitter: sakrosawel.
Sakro Sawel, (Sakro Sawel1 on YouTube, Sept. 20, 2024); Pat Macpherson, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly
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