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Just the mere phenomenon of the beautiful triple circle formation at
Watchfield Wind Farm nr Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, reported August 1, 2008
is a wonder in itself! Its precise placement before the centre windmill
of the five in a row, and the clear association with the windmills
themselves addresses the very contemporary issue of eco-friendly energy
sourcing. As well as all this, this giant diagram of some great power
also refers to history, not only of crop circles, but also of ages of
human culture and traditions. From the Paleolithic cultures in the
world through the Neolithic and on into the Middle Ages, the language of
science was not separated from the language of myth and religion.
Instead, as Giorgio De Santillana proposes, the mythology of the
ancients was actually their way of describing the workings of the
cosmos, as they perceived them. The Precession of the Equinoxes and
changing of the ages is key to one interpretation of this crop circle,
as it was in the All Cannings formation. The connection to the idea of
water also turns up here as in All Cannings and also the Cheesefoot Head
formation of 1981. The reference to All Cannings goddess symbolism is
apparent in the actual design and placement of the three circles. The
relationship to the idea of the ‘mill’ in this formation takes us to a
complex of mythological symbols that relate to creation, regeneration
and the ‘New’. The numbers 14, 18, 5 are particularly significant for
the interpretation of this formation. The huge drive belt that
encompasses, and snakes around and between the circles is also very
significant.
Beginning with a brief look at the crop circles related to Shrivenham,
we see that the Cheesefoot Head formation has a similar design in regard
to the relative size and placement of the circles. This crop circle was
the one presented as a symbol for the water molecule in Freddy Silva’s
book Secrets in the Fields. When I searched through my plentiful
though not exhaustive collection of images, I could not find one in
which the three circles are presented as they are in this formation.
The only significant visual image I found was the likeness to the water
molecule that was recognized in Secrets of the Fields.
Water, as the ocean is thought to be the source of life; it is a basic
element for life on Earth. The age we are entering is that of Aquarius,
the Water Bearer. Earth is known as the Water Planet. Is this all
coincidence?
In
the All Cannings formation, the central horizon of the crop circle is
filled with three circles in the same arrangement as the Shrivenham
formation and the Cheesefoot formation. By association, it would be
reasonable to presume that the imagery has some common meaning, and so
the importance of the water element could be considered for Shrivenham.
As well, the symbolism of the Great Goddess and the Earth symbolism
would be valid considerations, if the comparison to the Neolithic
Goddesses (see
HERE)
were seen as reasonable.
The relationship of this formation to the windmills and the use of the
‘cogwheels’ and the ‘drive belt’ as design aspects seem to imply that
this crop circle could be a schematic for a great ‘mill’. It just so
happens that in Norse mythology the great Mill Sampo turns out in fact
to be a symbol for the turning motion of the Earth through the 25,970
years it takes to make one revolution around the Milky Way to an
original position. It is the symbol for the changes that are seen in
the sky as our planet travels on the arm of the Milky Way Galaxy with
our Solar System. This relationship between the Earth and the zones of
the constellations that give their names to the ages (i.e. Pisces,
Aquarius, etc.) can be seen as a gyroscope or slowed down spinning top
whose poles ‘wobble’ as the top turns. The slanted axis causes
different constellations to appear on the ecliptic every 2,000 years or
so. The ‘mill’ idea comes from the perception of a giant churn, drill,
axis or mill (The idea is an ancient universally held understanding,
with only the types of machinery varying.) moving around. In fact, it is
the Earth itself turning on its axis as it moves around the Sun and in
Space on the arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. This is where the connection
to the Precession of the Equinoxes comes and where the significance of
the ‘Age of Aquarius’ could be considered. In ancient times, whenever a
new constellation appears on the ecliptic, there was a sense of
disaster, the end of a reign of gods or such; nowadays that sense was
exercised when the new millennium approached and many were prepared for
some kind of disaster. What the ancient imagery really meant was that
it was just the end of a time period marked by a certain shape in the
sky. Consequently, a new constellation on the ecliptic meant a new
world, or new creation.
So
are we being reminded that there is a new world coming for us as well?
When I looked up the Milky Way on the Internet, I noticed that one of
the references uses the words ‘churning out stars’ to describe the
activity inside the core of the Milky Way. So, in a way, we are not
that far away, in our understanding, from the ancients. Perhaps the
photonic energy coming from the centre of the galaxy is changing us in
ways we cannot perceive. Perhaps evolution, even of our consciousness,
is preceded by energized impulses from the universe.
The formation at Shrivenham definitely communicates motion and
generation of energy. The association with the Neolithic goddesses also
implies the idea of birth, since the largest circle would be in the
place of the ‘womb’. What is interesting, and I thank Tejay Watts for
explaining how this particular alternator would work, is that the two
small wheels are the driving forces that move the large wheel. Even
though this crop circle is not a diagram of an actual working turbine or
cogwheel machine, it uses these familiar images to help us grasp more
esoteric ideas. That is the essence of the dynamic of symbolism.
This explanation coincides with the story about Vishnu who had to trick
demons to help the good guys churn the ocean of milk so that creation
would not be destroyed, something that would happen at the changing of
the ages. In this image we see that the ‘dark’ (the demons) and the
‘light’ (the good guys) are both crucial to churning the ocean of milk,
the source of life, the Milky Way, using the giant snake as the driving
force. The two small driving wheels in the Shrivenham mill could be
seen as similar to the positive and negative forces required to move a
current of electricity for example. Instead of being seen within the
formation as in the Yin-Yang symbol, the opposing forces are harnessed
to produce movement of the Great Wheel that churns forth life.
These three dynamic circles are surrounded by and driven with a great
belt. This gives a sense of a united entity that generates creative
energy, a close description of the Great Goddess or the Mother of the
Ten Thousand Things as She is known in Taoist tradition. The Shrivenham
crop circle could easily be a representation of the Great Goddess who
encompasses All, positive and negative, as Her Creation.
If
it is not enough that the ‘mill’ is associated with the world axis and
the Earth’s relationship to the Creator Mother, Hunab ‘Ku, the Milky
Way, in the Norse mythology it is alternatively called a magic cauldron
that exists to the far west at the bottom of the sea. In Celtic lore,
the cauldron of the goddess, Cerridwen, is found at the bottom of a
lake. The cauldron has the action of stirring around, or agitating in
circular motion in common with the mill.
“The magic cauldron or mill
called Sampo, producer of everything on earth, was located on or beneath
the island [of paradise in the far west, beyond the rim of the ocean].
Norse stories identified the western paradise with the Faroe Islands
which accordingly took their name from Faeroisland (Fairyland)” (Walker
342
The meaning of the Shrivenham crop circle could then also be derived
from the traditional symbolism of the cauldron. As Barbara Walker
points out:
“There can be no doubt that the
cauldron represented the womb of the Great Goddess, who was often a
trinity.. Celtic cauldrons of regeneration came from the Land Beneath
the Waves because the Sea Goddess was held to be the universal
birth-giver” (125).
“The Egyptian hieroglyph of the
great female Deep (womb) that gave birth to the universe and the gods
was a design of three cauldrons. [Book of the Dead] In India, the
life-giving female trinity of wombs from which Indra drank the magic
soma (moon-blood) was represented by ‘three mighty bowls’, or
cauldrons. The same three cauldrons stood for the female power of
cosmic creation in Norse mythology” (124).
The cauldron was the prototype
and perhaps the actual image of the Holy Grail that was “entirely pagan
and feminine, another transformation of the Celts’ Cauldron of
Regeneration, the female body-symbolic bowl of life-giving blood…”(90).
The three is an obvious
reference to the Triple Goddess if we take the cauldron imagery into
account for this crop circle, but the numbers 14, 18, and 5 may present
more of a challenge for deriving meaning.
The five windmills in a line
above the formation represent the 5 in this instance. The placement of
the formation directly before the middle windmill is a clue to the
interpretation of the number. The Mayan Tone 5 is represented by one
line and carries the significance of the centre from which radiates the
life energy of form. “This center connects us to the Earth’s center and
to the core of the Milky Way, and to the spiritual heart of Creation!”
(Arguelles). Five also carries the significance of the human microcosm,
the marriage of the male (3) + female (2), and the idea of mediation.
Fourteen small dots in a circle
in the large central gear gives us the number 14 to consider; it can be
seen in two ways: 2 X 7 or 10 + 4. In the 2 X 7 analysis, 2 represents
the opposites, duality, the ‘first number to recede from Unity’,
diversity, conflict; 7 represents the universe, the macrocosm,
completeness, a totality (spiritual + temporal), perfection, safety,
reintegration, plenty; it is the number of the Great Mother. (Cooper)
Perhaps fourteen then could mean a coming to terms of the opposites in
our world to make a new ‘renovated’ so to speak world of peace, plenty
and harmony.
When we look at fourteen as 4 +
10, we have the four representing totality, solidness, the Earth,
harmonious proportion. 10 is the number of the cosmos, the paradigm of
creation. It contains all numbers and therefore all things and
possibilities; it is the radix or turning point of all counting. It is
the all-inclusive. “The tetraktys 1+2+3+4=10 symbolizes divinity; also,
one represents a point; two, length; three, a plane surface (as the
triangle); four, solidity or space.” Ten is the perfect number, the
return to unity. (Cooper) So once again there is reference to harmony
and Earth, the presence of the divine and a return to unity.
Eighteen, the number of cogs in
each gear in the formation, when broken into the expression 2 X 9 has
encouraging meaning as well. The two has its meanings of duality etc.,
as above. 9 is the Triple Triad (3 X 3), completion, fulfillment,
attainment, beginning and end, the whole. It is incorruptible. The
Triple Goddesses are thrice three. (Cooper) So again we see the
separateness represented by 2 coming into relation and transaction with
the complete cycle to be fulfilled (an ending, a new beginning perhaps!)
represented by 9.
In the
Shrivenham formation, the fact that the life giving element water, the
image of the water-bearer, the image of the Triple Goddess, the presence
of the polar opposites are all seemingly working together in creative
movement towards a fulfilling new creation, is really reassuring in
these times of apparent chaos, violence and mistrust that we hear about
in the news. The Circle makers seem bent upon keeping us focused on a
positive outlook and therefore outcome, regarding all the changes our
world is going through presently. The significance of 5 is pointed and
emphasized by the actual location of the crop circle close to man-made
windmills. It is from our core (coeur, heart) that we can resolve the
problems of polarity in our world, and it is through our core that we
are related to the Earth, and then the Galaxy and then Creation Itself!
Ours is a role of mediator, joining two opposing forces to participate
in creation. Relationship is the message the ancients include in their
relational symbolic cosmology. Perhaps the Circle makers, among other
things, are re-educating us in our important role. Essentially the
Shrivenham message could be LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND!
All in all, the
giant dynamo of Watchfield Wind Farm is a challenging puzzle to solve.
It requires associative, intuitive, synchronistic, scientific,
mathematical and historical approaches to name a few. It is really
exciting to see so many different points of view and understandings
being posted on your website. The more points of view, the better,
since each of us can grow and benefit from the other’s experience and
perception. We get a well rounded, so to speak, picture of the amazing
phenomenon we are all sharing in the crop circles. Thank you for
allowing such diverse and enlightening perceptions on your website, Mark
and Stuart!
-
Michelle Jennings
Sources:
Arguelles, José.
13-Moon Natural Time Calendar.
Chevalier, J. &
Alain Gheerbrant. The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols. Penguin
Books. London. 1996.
Cooper, J.C.
An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols. Thames and
Hudson. London. 1978.
De Santillana,
G. & Hertha Von Dechend. Hamlet’s Mill. David R. Godine,
Publisher, Inc. Jaffrey, NH. 1977.
Encyclopédie
des Symboles. Françoise Périgaut, trad. de l’allemand. Le Livre de
Poche. 996.
Julien, Nadia.
The Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols. Robinson Publishing.
London.1996.
MacCana, P.
Celtic Mythology. Newnes Books. London. 1983.
Silva, Freddy.
Secrets in the Fields. Hampton Roads Publishing Co., Inc.
Charlottesville, VA. 2002.
Stevens,
Anthony. Ariadne’s Clue: A Guide to the Symbols of Humankind.
Princeton University Press. Princeton. 1998.
Walker,
Barbara. The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols & Sacred Objects.
Castle Books. Edison, NJ. 1988. |
