 MYSTERY
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Shrouded
in Mystery... The Georgia Guidestones Picture a high knoll in the middle of a cow pasture. The hay grows in its natural state under the bright sun. Wild flowers scatter themselves in profusion. There on the highest point in Elbert County, Georgia, stands a massive granite monument that evokes feelings of an ancient Druidic site. Rising 19 feet high into the skyline, the monument is built of rectangular granite blocks. The center stone, called the Gnomen Stone, stands 16 feet high, is 3 feet, 3 inches wide and 1 foot, 7 inches thick. It weighs over 20,000 pounds. The four upright stones that circle the center stone in paddle wheel fashion are similar in size to this center stone. A rectangular capstone weighing almost 25,000 pounds lies across the top of the center stone and rests on the inside corners of each of the four surrounding stones bringing to the mind images of Stonehenge, England. But these stones have a mystery about them unlike any at Stonehenge. On each of the eight sides of the four 'paddle wheel' stones circling the central Gnomen Stone are words sand blasted into the hard granite surface to be preserved far into the reaches of time. The same message is inscribed in eight different languages: English, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Spanish and Swahili. Each stone presents the same ten guidelines in two of these languages -one language on each side of each stone. The ten guidelines are as follows: *Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature. * Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity. * Unite humanity with a living new language. * Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason. * Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts. * Avoid petty laws and useless officials. * Balance personal rights with social duties. * Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite. * Be not a cancer on the earth - leave room for nature. Around the edges of the capstone are written more words repeated in the four “dead” languages of Sanskrit, Babylonian Cuneiform, Egyptian Hieroglyphics and Classical Greek. They translate: “Let These Be Guidestones To An Age Of Reason.” The guidelines suggest plans for an age to come in the future, but astronomical aspects built into the monument suggest ages past. In a publication titled, The Georgia Guidestones “Elberton's Most Unusual Granite Monument,” the astronomical aspects are described as follows: * The four large upright blocks pointing outward are oriented to the limits of the migration of the moon during the course of the year. * An eye-level, oblique hole is drilled from the South to the North side of the center, Gnomen stone, so that the North Star is always visible, symbolizing constancy and orientation with the forces of nature. * A slot is cut in the middle of the Gnomen stone to form a “window” which aligns with the positions of the rising sun at Summer and Winter Solstices and at the Equinox so that the noon sun shines to indicate noon on a curved line. * The capstone includes a calendar of sorts where sunlight beams through a 7/8 in. hole at noon and shines on the South face of the center stone. As the sun makes its travel cycle, the spot beamed through the hole can tell the day of the year at noon each day. Allowances are made because of variations between standard time and sun time to set the beam of sunlight at an equation of time. * The site, 7.2 miles north of Elberton on Highway 77, was chosen because it commands a view to the East and to the West and is within range of the Summer and Winter sunrises and sunsets. The stones are oriented in those directions. The monument seems to prepare us for the future and throw us back into the past at the same time. This mystery causes questions to come to the mind of the viewer. Why is this setting in a cow pasture in rural Georgia? Who put it there? What is its intended purpose? The mystery began in June 1979 when a neatly but casually dressed grey haired man stopped by the office of Joe Fendley, then president of the Elberton Granite Finishing Company. The man was not from the area. He said his name, Robert C. Christian, was a pseudonym, and he and a small group of dedicated Americans he represented wished to remain anonymous. He said he chose the name Robert C. Christian because he was a Christian. Christian wanted to commission Fendley to build a monument dedicated to the preservation of humanity. When Fendley saw the plans and realized the tremendous scope and cost of the undertaking, he suspected Christian might be a phony. Fendley sent Christian to a local banker, Wyatt C. Martin. Martin insisted on legal proofs before he would do business. Christian revealed his real name and other legal proofs to Martin and put a very large sum of money in escrow - the amount remains another secret. Martin agreed not to ever divulge Christian's true identity and hasn't to this day. The plans went forward and a sight was chosen on five acres of the Double 7 Ranch on the highest point in Elbert County and very near Ah-Yeh-Li A-Lo-Hee, the Cherokee Indian's Center of the World. Expert craftsmen were enlisted as well as interpreters to translate the 10 guidelines into the different languages. The Guidestones were unveiled on March 22, 1980 before a crowd of over 400 spectators and guests. Christian has had very little contact with Fendley since that time, and years often pass without word.Christian felt the focus of attention should be on the ten guidelines rather than on his personality or on the personalities within the group he represents. Although the Guidestones can be seen from the main road, Route 77, they are sitting in an unmown pasture. You should plan to wear comfortable walking shoes when you visit the site. You might want to carry a cooler with something to quench your thirst so nothing will interfere with spending quality time at the monument. A blanket for sitting is advisable, and a camera is a must. Restrooms and restaurants can be found in the country town of Elberton about seven miles away. A video of the Guidestones may be viewed at the Elberton Granite Museum which opens at 2 PM each day. It will increase your appreciation of the monument. MYSTICAL SIGNIFICANCE A feeling of the mystical and the sacred arises when standing before the Guidestones. They at once take one to the past and transport one into a dimly seen future. Ancient manuscripts and folklore tell of once great civilizations like the fabled Atlantis that because of mankind's ignorance combined with massive earth changes have been almost completely obliterated, leaving mankind to pick up the pieces and begin again - often, it seems, to repeat the same destructive processes! They have left their monuments such as Stonehenge, the heads on Easter Island and the pyramids of South America and Egypt. But what is lacking is a message to prevent mankind from repeating the same mistakes. The Guidestones will stand for eons - and they do have a message - in enough languages that 92% of the world's present population can understand at least one of them. The astronomical aspects have a purpose also. The mysterious group who designed them into the monument intended that in the event of a world cataclysm or disaster, survivors could find these stones and reconstruct three valuable tools: the compass, the clock and the calendar. This monument is a statement of belief in what psychics and seers such as Nostradamus, Edgar Casey and even the Christian Bible have predicted - the destruction of our present civilization, and the monument offers guidelines for an “Age of Reason” to follow. The intensity of the thought vibrations the purpose of the Guidestones generates, alone, can make this a sacred spot. But along with these vibrations, the spiritual community reports that many lines of energy from the earth's magnetic grid cross at this spot. There is even said to be a rare double vortex in the area with one vortex pouring energy out of the earth, and the other vortex pouring energy into the earth. Bear in mind the Cherokee Indians have always considered this area the “Center of the World.” Spiritual visitors to the area report the energy, “electrifying.” As one woman said “...I placed my hands on the center stone and the energy flowing through me was incredible! Energy simply coursed through me in waves.” Others report intense vibrations along with feelings of peace just walking around the stones. SUGGESTED RITUAL Sit on a blanket before the list of guidelines. Read each guideline and meditate on it separately before going on to the next.When finished, get up and walk five or ten feet away from the monument and then make a slow circle around the monument getting in touch with the vibrations and peacefulness of the area. Stop at each cardinal point: north, south, east and west. Face the monument and mentally or verbally say a short prayer to our Creator for the preservation and upliftment of humanity. Then sit with your back against the east face of the center stone facing East from whence comes the greater light of illumination and meditate on the future of the world and your personal purpose or part in that future. Find a spot to sit and record your meditation experiences in a notebook for further contemplation later. DIRECTIONS Located on the farm of Mildred and Wayne Mullenix On state Highway 77 7.2
miles north of Elberton. You can see them in a pasture on the right side of the road. A marker stands at the entrance of the small road leading up to them. TRANSPORTATION Patz Field, the Elbert County Airport, is 2 miles southeast of Elberton. It has a 3,400 foot lighted asphalt runway. Elberton is 100 miles from Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport and 60 miles from the Greenville/Spartanburg Jetport in Greer, South Carolina. Scheduled commuter service runs from Clark County Airport in Athens, 35 miles from Elberton. Bus service as well as rail and nationwide truck service operates in Elberton. FOR MORE INFORMATION Elberton
Chamber of Commerce OTHER POINTS OF INTEREST The Elberton Granite Museum is on Highway 17 in Elberton. Nancy Hart State Park is on Highway 17 about 10 miles south of Elberton. Nancy Hart's Revolutionary War log cabin can be seen. The Cherokee Indian Center Of The World monument and sign is on the right side of the road coming from Royston on Route 17 and is almost to Hartwell. Linda
Gobelle is a free-lance writer. She can be contacted at |