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   Earth Navel's (Navel's of the earth. Omphalus)

The term 'Earth Navel' was applied to several 'sacred' locations from the ancient world. Generally, these sites were accredited with the title following their development into a 'sacred' or 'special' place, such as Delphi or Jerusalem, but in certain cases, the original name of the site contained a translation of the word 'navel'. It appears then, that certain sites were given this status during construction. The ancient Peruvian capital Cuzco, for example, literally means 'navel', and it acted as such to the Inca empire during its great expansion. The mythology of Cuzco recalls that the city was located by the 'children of the sun', from Tiahuanaco, according to pre-designed rituals.

 
 

The ancient landscape was a canvas upon which in prehistory, our ancestors connected points on the ground with points in the sky, There is much evidence that certain ancient cities and constructions were located according to 'geodetic' or 'geomantic' principles, and these ancient centres are now termed 'earth navel's' because of this.

The suggestion of a further geometric connection or of alignments between sacred sites has always been a bone of contention for mainstream pre-historians, who still argue that Neolithic people were simple tribal, hunter/gatherers, with only basic skills, as yet not identifying any presence of any order or hierarchy in their society, which might facilitate the existence of such grand architecture.

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Earth Navel's.

 

There are several locations around the ancient world that have inherited the accolade of 'Earth Navel'. By definition, each location represents the place through which we connected with an invisible umbilical connection to the earth-mother-earth. These sites are invariably considered the centre of the world, or even the universe, and often become primary pilgrimage locations (such as Mecca or Allahabad).

It has long been argued that there may exist a geometric connection between such sites, with a clear geodetic connection between Delphi and Karnak (Egypt), as established by Livvio Stecchini.

Stecchini said this about the subject:-

‘The Temple of Ammon at Thebes at latitude 25° 43’ N was considered, and is, located at 2/7 of the distance between the Equator and the pole. Ancient geographers divided the space between the Equator and the Pole into 7 zones. Egyptologists have vainly tried to explain why the Greeks gave the name of Thebai to the city called Wast by the Egyptians; the explanation is provided by the Hebrew word thibbun meaning “navel”. From the Bible (Jud. 9:37) we learn that “a navel of the earth” was located at Mt. Gerizim where there was originally the sacred center of the Hebrews before it was moved to Jerusalem; the Samaritans never accepted such a shift, and geographically they were right, since the claim of Jerusalem to be the navel of the earth was not correct. The eastern gate of the Second Temple, where the standards of length were located, was called Gate of Susa, but Susa was located at the latitude of Mt. Gerizim which is 32° 11’ N. The sanctuary of Mt. Gerizim was located at a latitude that is 2½ sevenths from the Equator. Egyptian benchmarks had the shape of the “navel” found at the Temple of Delphoi in Greece. These “navels” had the shape of a hemisphere with the meridians and parallels marked upon them; at times they are half a sphere and at times they are elongated at the Pole. The sanctuary of Delphoi was considered a “navel of the earth,” as being located at 3/7 of the distance from the Equator to the Pole. This would correspond to a latitude 38° 34’ N; the Temple of Delphoi is actually located at a latitude 38° 29’ N, … which makes it 6° to the North of one of two Egyptian anchor points, the original apex of the Nile Delta at latitude 30° 05’ N on the axis of Egypt which is 31° 13’ E. Susa was computed as being 17° to the East of this point; it is at latitude 48° 15’ E. When the Assyrians established their religious capital at Nimrud in 875 B.C. they chose a point that was 6° to the North and 12° to the East of this Egyptian anchor point. (5)

(see below for list of Earth Navel's)

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Omphalus: (Navel stones).

 

Omphalus stones have been found at several sacred sites. (i.e. Delphi, Dodona and Thebes (Egypt). Within these stones lies a symbolism which is almost lost to us now.

Although not at first apparent, the Omphalus stones from Thebes and Delphi have several features in common through which it is possible to see the fusion of Egyptian and Greek iconography and mythology, and the thread of an older set of ideas.

    

Thebes, Egypt (left), Greek engraving of Delphi (Note: Apollo’s harp, Doves), (right).

Santillana (4), offers several examples to support the association between navel-stones and ‘the great flood’ by referring to their function as ‘plugs’; an idea typified by the following phrase “The opening of the navel brings the deluge”. The Doves on both the omphalus above reflect this suggestion

Service and Bradbury (2), state that 'Within concept of the Omphalus, there is also implied an umbilical cord, an invisible link reaching from the depths of the earth through the navel right up into the heavens' (Roscher 1913) (2). 

 

 

 

Oracle centres 

 

Following on the work of Michell, Stecchini, Temple and others, Hancock (1), suggested that an ancient network of geodetic centres was established, which were connected mathematically.

 

Livvio Stecchini suggested that the ancient oracle centres were placed according to geodetic principles at which 'Omphalus' or 'Navel stones' were placed. This idea is supported by the historical narratives of Herodotus, who wrote that the oracle centre of Amon in Libya was founded by flying doves from Thebes, which was long considered the geodetic centre of ancient Egypt, is located 2/7ths of the distance from the equator and the North pole, and at which an Omphalus was later discovered. Herodotus also wrote that the oracle centre at Dodona was said to have been founded by Egyptian priestesses from Thebes and that doves flew between the two sites.

Following this, Robert Temple suggested that the separation of the oracle centres, each by 1° of latitude created an 'oracle octave', from which the seven major centres were placed, each devoted to one of the seven know planets, and symbolised by different sacred trees and letters (for more on this subject refer to the 'tree alphabet' in R. Graves book 'The White Goddess'), and this, he believed formed the basis of the Eleusian mysteries.

(Click here for more about the Oracle centres)

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The World Grid.

 

Q)... There has been much speculation over the existence of a 'world-grid' - But what exactly is it?

There are two general theories about a 'world grid' which are:

  • The most common theory suggests the presence of tangible earth-energies which flow in lines around the world and which can be either reinforced or tapped into through the building of megalithic and sacred structures along their path. It is speculated that at some time in the past, our ancestors constructed sacred sites at certain locations at nodes of these energy lines.

 
  • The other theory also involves the construction of ancient and sacred sites, only it speculates that their placement was based on geometric principles. This theory is often associated with the mysterious knowledge of 'sacred geometry', and is not exclusively  involved with energy, although there is suggestion of magnification of universal energies through constructions designed with certain proportions.

 

For the purpose of this page, we are concerned only with the latter theory, which suggests the placement of ancient and sacred sites according to geometric principles. The late, great, Alexander Thom determined the presence of geometry at numerous megalithic locations and concluded that the builders had applied 'Euclidean' geometry in the construction of many significant sites.

(More about the World-Grid)

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Examples of Earth Navels.

 
Cuzco - Literally translated means 'Navel'. The capital of the Inca empire was situated at Cuzco, high in the Andes. Tradition states that the city was founded according to 'geomantic' principles.

Easter Island - Was also called 'Te-Pito-O-Te Henua' Which translated means, 'The Navel of the Earth'. Hancock suggested that its geographical location may have determined the original settlement. (1)

Jerusalem - As the capital of the 'Holy land' Jerusalem is called an Earth Navel.

Delphi - Contained an 'Omphalus', which was believed to mark the centre of the world. It was supposed to have fallen from heaven. The story is that Cronus, the god of time, was driven to the depths of the universe by Zeus, who forced him to vomit the stone, which landed in the centre of the Earth. The current Omphalus is a replica of the original, made in the Hellenistic period. (1)

Eridu - Iraq. The original Sumerian 'Mound of Creation'.

Angkor Wat - The 'Bayon' in the network of temples at Angkor was described by B. Groslier as 'the Omphalus in Angkor's stone cosmos'. (1)

Karnak, Egypt - An Omphalus was excavated in the sanctuary of the Great Temple of Amon at Karnak, by G. A. Reisner. It supports the Greek traditions of doves flying between Delphi and Karnak. (1)

 

Mecca - The centre of Islam. The location of the Kabba, and the 'black stone' which, according to Islamic tradition, fell from heaven during the time of Adam and Eve. It is said that Abraham found the black rock and when he rebuilt the Kaaba, Archangel Gabriel brought the Stone out of hiding and gave it to him.

Ref( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaaba )

Allahabad, India - Formerly called Prayag, and listed in the Mahabharata as the last and most important of 270 ancient holy places. Prayag was considered the mythical creation point of the universe. The chief cult shrines at Prayag stood on an island with a shrine to the primordial serpent who protected the eternal tree (seen by Hsuan Tsang in 644). A goddess-shrine was recently found south of Allahabad that dates to 11,000 BC, along with Mesolithic cave paintings of a dancing shaman with horned head-dress, bangles and a trident, closely resembling Shiva. (3)

Allahabad is still the site of the largest gathering of humanity on earth.

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 ۞

 The 'Rough Guide' to ancient sites from around the world.

References:

1) G. Hancock. Heavens Mirror, 1998, Michael Joseph Ltd.
2). A. Service & J. Bradbery. Megaliths and their Mysteries. 1979. Macmillan.
3). Michael Wood. In Search of the First Civilisations. 1992. BBC Books.
4). Santillana, Hamlets Mill.
22). R. Temple. The Sirius mystery.

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