Wired on Georgia Guidestones
April 22nd, 2009Via: Wired:
The strangest monument in America looms over a barren knoll in northeastern Georgia. Five massive slabs of polished granite rise out of the earth in a star pattern. The rocks are each 16 feet tall, with four of them weighing more than 20 tons apiece. Together they support a 25,000-pound capstone. Approaching the edifice, it’s hard not to think immediately of England’s Stonehenge or possibly the ominous monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Built in 1980, these pale gray rocks are quietly awaiting the end of the world as we know it.
Called the Georgia Guidestones, the monument is a mystery—nobody knows exactly who commissioned it or why. The only clues to its origin are on a nearby plaque on the ground—which gives the dimensions and explains a series of intricate notches and holes that correspond to the movements of the sun and stars—and the “guides” themselves, directives carved into the rocks. These instructions appear in eight languages ranging from English to Swahili and reflect a peculiar New Age ideology. Some are vaguely eugenic (guide reproduction wisely—improving fitness and diversity); others prescribe standard-issue hippie mysticism (prize truth—beauty—love—seeking harmony with the infinite).
What’s most widely agreed upon—based on the evidence available—is that the Guidestones are meant to instruct the dazed survivors of some impending apocalypse as they attempt to reconstitute civilization. Not everyone is comfortable with this notion. A few days before I visited, the stones had been splattered with polyurethane and spray-painted with graffiti, including slogans like “Death to the new world order.” This defacement was the first serious act of vandalism in the Guidestones’ history, but it was hardly the first objection to their existence. In fact, for more than three decades this uncanny structure in the heart of the Bible Belt has been generating responses that range from enchantment to horror. Supporters (notable among them Yoko Ono) have praised the messages as a stirring call to rational thinking, akin to Thomas Paine’s The Age of Reason. Opponents have attacked them as the Ten Commandments of the Antichrist.
Whoever the anonymous architects of the Guidestones were, they knew what they were doing: The monument is a highly engineered structure that flawlessly tracks the sun. It also manages to engender endless fascination, thanks to a carefully orchestrated aura of mystery. And the stones have attracted plenty of devotees to defend against folks who would like them destroyed. Clearly, whoever had the monument placed here understood one thing very well: People prize what they don’t understand at least as much as what they do.
The story of the Georgia Guidestones began on a Friday afternoon in June 1979, when an elegant gray-haired gentleman showed up in Elbert County, made his way to the offices of Elberton Granite Finishing, and introduced himself as Robert C. Christian. He claimed to represent “a small group of loyal Americans” who had been planning the installation of an unusually large and complex stone monument. Christian had come to Elberton—the county seat and the granite capital of the world—because he believed its quarries produced the finest stone on the planet.
Joe Fendley, Elberton Granite’s president, nodded absently, distracted by the rush to complete his weekly payroll. But when Christian began to describe the monument he had in mind, Fendley stopped what he was doing. Not only was the man asking for stones larger than any that had been quarried in the county, he also wanted them cut, finished, and assembled into some kind of enormous astronomical instrument.
What in the world would it be for? Fendley asked. Christian explained that the structure he had in mind would serve as a compass, calendar, and clock. It would also need to be engraved with a set of guides written in eight of the world’s major languages. And it had to be capable of withstanding the most catastrophic events, so that the shattered remnants of humanity would be able to use those guides to reestablish a better civilization than the one that was about to destroy itself.
This has fascinated me ever since I first learned of it’s existence in the mid 90’s.
I hadn’t realized that it was an astronomical tracking device as well until I read this article.
As a guide for rebuilding a better civilization, all I can say is, It’s about time.
Thanks for the posting.
For anyone breezing through this, I recommend reading the whole Wired article and checking out the photos and links.
I formed a mental image connecting the Guidestones to prolific SF & technical author Robert Silverberg’s distant-future narrative “At Winter’s End” as I was first reading the book in its initial hardback edition some years ago. The follow-on tome, “The New Springtime”, did nothing to dilute this connection.
He relates the story of our planet in the ultra-distant future, approximately 700,000 years from present day, in a way that I will not describe here because I’m not going to be responsible for ruining the surprise for readers who follow. I will say this though, it’s a lot of fun to wrap your head around. If you must know, look it up.
As for my thoughts, the Rosicrucian connection seems to make the most sense at a basic level, while also acknowledging that speculating about the machinations of centuries-old secret societies doesn’t produce much of value beyond the realm of interesting late-night discussion with intelligent friends over adult beverages.
As for my future, I can only hope that the legendary Baba Yaga was wrong, or we’re going to be sitting right in middle of some seriously apocalyptic s**t over the next few years… =)
This all seems rather mild compared to how I would expect a “nwo” type plot to unfold. I mean…I kinda figured a post apocalyptic scene along the lines of … lots of folks coming up out of huge bunker-cities and using weapons, technology and other supplies to absolutely dominate. Any other survivors would simply be dictated to, not “guided”.
The secrecy seems noteworthy in that it might indicate that the folks behind this are both known to the general public and not well liked, or at least viewed with suspicion. Plenty of groups fall into that category though.
How long before Nick Cage makes a movie about this? National Treasure: The Guidestones Prophecy!
I heard of these before, but did not know the mysterious origins. Very good article.
It reminded me of a situation outlined in a grimoire I recently purchased, called Kingdoms of Flame. In it, a young wizard in training is visited upon by 3 mysterious strangers. The auther indicated they were well dressed, well groomed, educated…but that is all he was allowed to say about them…I kinda wonder if there was some mil or spook aspect about them.
Anyway they met with him, and each gave him a sealed manilla envelope with cipher codes in it. They did not tell him what it was, only that he is tasked to decode and reassemble the contents. They also said, never to disclose anything about their appearance, and that he would never see them again and to never look for them. With that, they left.
He was able to decode and assemble the documents. He discovered several magic squares and associated sigils of 56 entities never revealed in any grimoire (see vs. 24,25 of Liber Legis about the number 56). At the conclusion of the introduction, the chill went through me when he writes “I knew what I was dealing with was not only greater than me, but all of the human race.”
Not that there is any link here, but the spooky circumstances of both stories certainly caused me to consider an association. There are many vectors such as this, that correlate with world events, that outright speak to a significant evolutionary event, which these things such as guide stones and new magick are claimed to be leading up to.