Evidence of a Neanderthal religion dates back 175,000 years

January 12, 2023 By Ben H. Gagnon

An avalanche of scholarly studies in recent decades has yielded enough evidence to make a solid case for a Neanderthal religion, complete with symbolic ritual practices held around a 175,000-year-old stone ring that may be the predecessor of the cosmic egg. Numerous studies across Europe show that Neanderthals carefully removed wing feathers from birds, mostly golden eagles, white-tailed eagles, bearded vultures, Eurasian black vultures and ravens, according to Clive Finlayson’s The Smart Neanderthal: Bird catching, cave art, and the cognitive... Read more

Migration map suggests birds led St. Brendan to Iceland

January 9, 2023 By Ben H. Gagnon

0 Comments

It’s well accepted that the Irish version of Christianity is more rooted in the natural world than most, so it should come as no surprise that St. Brendan may have followed flocks of migrating birds on his voyage to Iceland, just a century after St. Patrick began his conversion of Ireland. While the Encyclopedia Britannica describes St. Brendan’s voyage as “a legendary Christian tale of sea adventure,” an impressive pile of evidence suggests it easily could have happened — it’s... Read more

Blockbuster news from Ireland or random cracks in a stone? The mysterious swan of K-15 at megalithic Knowth

January 5, 2023 By Ben H. Gagnon

0 Comments

It all started in the spring of 2014 during a visit to the 5,200-year-old megalithic mound known then as Newgrange, sitting atop a hill inside a bend of the River Boyne in County Meath, Ireland, about 35 miles north of Dublin. (In a welcome act of cultural sensitivity, the mound is no longer named after the English landowner who effectively seized the property in the late 17th century, but has been officially changed to the age-old Gaelic name for the... Read more

Science and mythology agree: Birdsong inspired human language

January 1, 2023 By Ben H. Gagnon

0 Comments

A profound connection between birdsong and human language has been identified by recent linguistic and genetic studies, several thousand years after creation myths across cultures made the same link.A linguistic study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology released in 2013 concluded that early humans developed language by imitating the melodies of birdsong. The following year a genetic study at Duke University found that humans and birds share an identical set of genes that are activated when birds learn to sing... Read more

Red deer, snails & birds: talismans of rebirth in ancient human burials

December 29, 2022 By Ben H. Gagnon

The three animals appearing most often in ancient human burials over the greatest span of time were red deer, snails and a variety of birds. Archaeological and genetic evidence shows ancient European cultures once spent a great deal of time and labor transporting red deer and snail populations over great distances, and later burying their bones and shells with infants and children. Avian-related burial artifacts included engraved ostrich eggs, the wings of large waterfowl, mummified birds, and bird-related artwork ranging... Read more

The origin of the magic wand & the self-healing world tree

December 25, 2022 By Ben H. Gagnon

Ancient and indigenous cultures around the world identified trees with long lifespans and medicinal properties as the axis of the universe, linking the earthly realm to the spirit world of sky and stars. Deeply rooted in sacred springs and reaching up to the Milky Way, world trees were often very tall and virtually always featured white flowers, berries, bark or sap to represent their reach to the stars. Virtually every part of a “world tree” was used for healing the... Read more

Healing bodies & delivering souls: The pagan roots of Christmas trees

December 20, 2022 By Ben H. Gagnon

Long before the advent of Judaism and Christianity, the world tree was a sacred conduit between the material and spirit worlds that bestowed gifts upon humanity, including the healing of both body and soul. Deeply rooted in sacred springs, the world tree above ground was like the handle of a cosmic umbrella that reached to the celestial pole and twirled the cauldron of stars all around it. The world tree was the axis mundi connecting the earth to the cosmic... Read more

The sacredness of turning on the solstice, from death to life

December 19, 2022 By Ben H. Gagnon

Each year the sun god Apollo was believed to travel north in a chariot drawn by swans to the mysterious island of Helixoia where he spent three winter months with his people, the Hyperboreans. Some accounts suggest Apollo conducted an orchestra of human musicians and singing swans. After three months that significantly included the winter solstice, Apollo turned his chariot around a mountain turning-post and headed back to Greece. The action of turning around a post was central to the... Read more

Live births and reincarnation: A new theory of the winter solstice

December 18, 2022 By Ben H. Gagnon

Long before the advent of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, reincarnation was a near-universal belief that was almost certainly linked to a sacred calendar. Cross-cultural evidence suggests a multi-phased process that began in spring when early farming cultures set aside a special day (or week) for people to get drunk, sing, dance and have sex. The officially sanctioned orgiastic sprees were intended to invoke the universal power of fertility during planting season. Sumerian kings had intercourse with a priestess in a... Read more

Music, crystals & rainbows: Welcome to a Neolithic winter solstice

December 15, 2022 By Ben H. Gagnon

To be a fly on the wall at a stone temple during a Neolithic-era celebration of the winter solstice would reveal a scene not unlike an arena rock concert, with smoke rising from an arc of fire pits and sunlight refracted through quartz, shooting rainbows through the audience. In cross-cultural legends of the winter solstice, music, dancing, poetry and rainbow colors were essential to the sun’s rebirth. When the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu hid in a cave in December, the... Read more