SOME TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Ever since I published the first version of this work last February, I have made a series of calculations in the endeavour to discover the way The Crowns was divided based on the three said seasons. But I have as yet been unable to reach a definitive conclusion except in that it seems obvious that its stone circles offer a classical representation of the Path of the Moon. We have inherited different paths listing and numbering the asterisms followed by the moon on its way round the earth and against the stars. The Mul Apin tablets list 17 constellations, which some authors specify with reference stars, often coinciding with those found in The Crowns. In India, in the first centuries of the last millennium BC, the lunar seasons were called Nakshatras and came to a total of either 28 or 27, corresponding to the 28 days —27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes— which it takes for the moon to complete its monthly cycle against the stars, the sidereal month; the Arabs called the lunar seasons “Manazils” and, according to a number of authors who knew them before Mohammed —570 AD—, there were 28 Manazils, a word deriving from an Acadian expression meaning mansions, referring to the asterisms crossed by the moon during its annual circle. Whether in Mesopotamia, India, Arabia or China, where the path of the moon was also divided into 28 Sieus or houses, the month started with the first appearance of the waxing evening moon, when the sun and the moon set on the eastern horizon. The path of the moon does not exactly coincide with the ecliptic given that it has an inclination of 5º on either side of the latter, making it seem broader.

The calendar was initially lunar in Mesopotamia, where the months started with a moon waxing on the eastern horizon after the sun had set. These synodic months actually had 29.53 days, i.e. the moon was full after 29 or 30 days and the 12 month year had approximately 354 days. Ritual celebrations and farm work followed the solar cycle which, as we know, had approximately 354 days, as a result of which there was a difference between the lunar and sun months, making it necessary to insert an 11 extra days a year. It isn’t until around 380 BC that we find the first typified interpositions, before which a thirteenth month was added approximately every three years. This system of intermittent, irregular interspersion was decided in Mesopotamia by means of observation. The Mul-Apin tablets feature two kinds of interspersion as reflected by Hunger & Pingree in Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia, pp.75-79. The former of the two, Mul-Apin II i 22-24, is based on observation of the sunrise, the time for which the moon is visible and the appearance of Sagitta —in principle Canis Major— on the 15^th day of the I, IV, VII and XI months, i.e. at the theoretical full moon, the equinoxes and solstices. This observation made it possible to see the extra days calculated and omitted. The second option, Mul-Apin II A I – ii 20, based on the solar year, is defined by the period of time spent by the sun on the Paths of Enlil and Ea —three months each— and their two periods of three months each on the Path of Any. Without going into too much detail, these periods reflect an ideal calendar, in which certain phenomena occur on specific dates, given their delay on the real calendar, and strongly suggest the interspersion of a month in order to once again adapt the real lunar month to the ideal solar month. I suspect, although I don’t know why yet, that the two anomalies observed on drawing 3, with respect to the celestial vault and the precision to which the constructors of the Psc have us accustomed, could be due to the fact that these graphic incoherencies were made with a view to calculating both the relationship of these paths with due north at a particular moment, and the imbalance of the lunar cycle with respect to the solar cycle.

Continuing with the observable analogies between The Crowns and the Mul-Apin tablets, starting with the area of Ku-Or, practically complete, we can see —by following drawing 3, giving the list of the stone-circle/star matches of this work, and the part of the Mul-Apin lists referring to the 33 stars on the Path of Enlil, the 23 on that of Anu and the 15 on that of Ea— that the sector Ku-Or starts with Ku, a of Piscis Austrinus, first star of Ea on the Mul-Apin lists, circle K, located to the right of the drawing, in order to subsequently spread towards the left showing to the north stars on the Path of Enlil: k2, k1, k3, k4, k5, k?1, k8 and k9, followed and accompanied by stars from the Path of Any, to the line of separation of the Or group which is once again headed to the north by stars on the Path of Enlil, circles: o1, o2, o3, o4, o5, o7, o8, o9, o10, o15, o16 and o17 in representation of stars on the Great Twins, Cancer and the Little Twins which meet in o18 with a Ori and the True Celestial Shepherd —Orion— and the Path of Anu. In definitive, the layout of the circles in The Crowns also seems to have some kind of a connection to the Mul-Apin lists.

In the widest sense, the astronomy reflected by the Psc, in addition to with the Mul-Apin tablets, has clear, though as yet not well defined, historical factors which I have been advancing disjointedly given that I research and explain my work at one and the same time. I therefore note that in www.geocities.com/astrologyzodiacs/lunarzodiac.htm the sidereal Vedic zodiac, with roots in the Rig Veda —approximately 1500 BC— has 27 Nakshatras, of which only 17 are located within the real solar zodiac with its few brilliant stars. On the other hand, the Vedic lunar zodiac has a number of old Pyrenean acquaintances the continuous presence of which, given my observations, may start to make a little more sense. Hence, Nakshatra 15, Swati, is lead by Arcturus, Unain; no. 6, Ardra, by Betelgeuse, standing 15º from the ecliptic outside of the lunar strip; no. 9, Aslesha, by Alphard, The Solitary One, accredited from 0100-03-18: Beltzuntza, branch of Bel, dreamt of in her day, and etc. References to the lunar mansions of the Vedic zodiac: 1. b Ari, 2. 41 Ari, 3. h Tau, 4. a Tau, 5. l Ori, 6. a Ori, 7. b Gem, 8. d Cnc, 9. a Hya, 10. a Leo, 11. d Leo, 12. b Leo, 13. d Crv, 14. a Vir, 15. a Boo, 16. a Lib, 17. d Sco, 18. a Sco, 19. l Sco, 20. d Sgr, 21. s Sgr, 22. a Aql, 23. b Del, 24. l Aqr, 25. a Peg, 26. g Peg, 27. z Psc, —bold indicates the division into three of the Vedic lunar path, adaptable to The Crowns— are mainly the faithful reflection and replica of that previously found on The Crowns, although this in no way means that the representations of the former take their inspiration from the Mul-Apin tablets or from the Vedic zodiac or vice-versa, while it does mean that realizations, seemingly of the calendar, such as the one at hand, would seem to correspond to a historical empiricism which must have been born beneath skies easier to read than the Pyrenean version, so often offering poor visibility. In principle, a year of 27 Nakshatras divided into three seasons would mean 9 per season. Changes of season on the Vedic lunar calendar, due to analogy with The Crowns, would correspond to Nakshatras 24, 15 and 6, related to l Aqr, a Ori and a Boo, respectively. In Antiquity, the constellation of Aquarius was frequently associated with Fomalhaut. Here, in the Pyrenees, remember what I said on page 297 of Del crónlech pirenaico, in 0100-02-03 Ezkain and in the 2nd instalment of cromlechpyrene.com, which showed an asterism with Ku accompanied by d Aqr, Skat, and in Kauso, which makes me think of a potential association of the 24th Nakshatra with Fomalhaut; on the other hand, the 15th Nakshatra is commonly located in Arcturus, while, as mentioned above, a number of authors —David Frawley in The Nakshatras, the lunar mansions of Vedic astrology, p 23— place Betelgeuse associated with Sirius in Ardra, the 6^th Nakshatra. All historical reality bearing out the factors observed in The Crowns. However, in order to be able to make a serious comparative study of the analogies existing between the stars represented in The Crowns and those quoted on other lunar calendars and sequential lists of stars, we would require a series of inexistent circumstances: in the first place a certain amount of interest in what I have been saying for over a decade advocating the decisive conservation of the monuments, the cleaning of the ground on which they stand —including the forest— reconstruction of the landscape and of the stone circles, the incorporation of well-trained youngsters to the project, etc.

I have made astronomical matches which, broadly speaking and for most of the circles, would seem to be correct. I still nevertheless have to review the drawing and clear the horizon with a view to achieving the precision required in order to be able to make some kind of calculation regarding the period in which the group was built, which, at first glance, doesn’t seem to be too far removed from that used for all of my calculations —540 BC.

With respect to the astronomical aspect of the group, I can talk with totally ‘empirically scientific’ asepsis, based on astronomic principles, demonstrating, as I have been doing for a number of years, that all of the Pyrenean stone circles found the length and breadth of the Pyrenees represent stars. Despite the large number of circles forming The Crowns, there seems to be no doubt of the equation: stone circle = star, although in some cases we could argue as to whether or not the match made is correct or not, and, even, the presence or absence or correct location of the occasional circle.

This said, on a different note, which must in no way affect the results of strict astronomical research and leaving to one side the scientific aspect which has made it possible to take a deeper look at the meaning of the Pyrenean stone circle, it would be a good idea to ask ourselves questions about other aspects in which it is easy to make mistakes, independently of whether or not the initial astronomical proposal is correct. In this respect, and as yet unorganized, throughout this work I have been making proposals and insinuations having emerged during the process in disciplines other than the merely astronomical, which will gradually take more shape. Meanwhile, I would say, to end the subject for today and bring The Crowns to a close, although I am not completely sure that it is even necessary – not following the standard academic style permits this kind of license which, almost like storytelling, is aided by a coherent intuition which I ‘think’ brings us closer to unwritten realities —that one of the keys to the past of the Pyrenees could lie, like in Greece, in the change of year from three to four seasons. This said, I won’t deal with this subject at this moment in time. As long as my proposed theory hasn’t been accepted and a certain amount of interest shown in these questions, it doesn’t seem to make sense to throw sticks into my own wheels, nor to lay myself open to rudeness when the question at hand is the enjoyment of late peaceful entertainment.

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