AGIANT STAR MAP FACING HEAVENS
Myth has it that the first king of the city, Cecrops was a mysterious hero who was associated with a special cosmic serpent and taught the men marriage, reading and writing, and ceremonial burial. ref During his reign other powerful 'gods' were 'hired' to become the patron of the city - they saw the land of Athens was beautiful and produced 'magical' gifts. It was Cecrops and they who founded the Greek culture in a city that is today the capital of the country. His look had a striking resemblance to China's Fuxi and Nuwa - the divinities who were also founders as examined on page Far East HERE
The dawn of the society started on a cluster of hills that earned the mythical 7 hills title even before the 7 of Rome. ref It was an unanswered obsession up until the discoveries by Wayne Herschel why countless cities around the globe founded their culture on 7 such hills. ref They were naturally in the shape of the 7 stars of Pleiades. The ancient people desired to replicate a special star map on the ground which showed their origins from sunlike stars near Pleiades.
The natural layout of Athen's landscape was so neat that even other hills fit into a more grandiose picture. Just like in Tenochtitlan of Mexico and Cydonia complex of Mars the hill cluster was naturally aligned with 3 large mountains in a row matching Orion's belt, 3 times larger in order to emphasize it points the way to the sacred area. ref1 ref2 (discoveries by Wayne)
ON A CLOSER LOOK
The 7 hills are well-defined and mimic the general layout of the 7 stars convincingly. ref Amazingly the largest and most important of them holds the Acropolis, the famous high temple complex. This hill in the middle matches the star Alcyone which too shines the brightest in Pleiades! But not only that; the Parthenon on Acropolis itself was archeo-astronomically aligned to Pleiades, an ultimate clue that elevates the 'coincidental' match to solid ground! ref (page 175)
THE MINOAN - MYCENAEAN CULTURE
Being almost 5000 years old the ancient Minoan civilization claims a special place in history. The nation flourished on the island of Crete but had a great influence on mainland Greece especially the Mycenaean culture and thus could be seen as a forerunner of the famous country. ref
Minoans were known for their obsession with the bull worship; be it carved relief of bull stelae or actual bull sporting just like modern day Spanish traditions! Seen here is an actual famous mural showing athletes jumping over the bull's back - something that already hints at the importance of the back area. But little is known why they revered this animal to the extent at which they did, as also half of the world did! ref While scholars agree that the bull tradition has some ties to astronomy, the deeper meaning was largely dismissed especially in the knowledge that it speaks about the same ancient cosmic secret which all civilizations seem to have records of. ref
The centre of the culture flourished around the palace of Knossos, the royal city where giant statues of bull horns were erected along the raised wall platforms called Horns of Consecration many of them facing towards the horizon. ref It implies something might have been observed and measured in the sky, at the time of rising and setting of the stars when the celestial bodies stationed just above the line of horizon.
Amazingly there are many pictorial artifacts available which show two special objects situated between the horns and the absence of those two between the real sculptures suggests they were meant to be in the sky completing the look. A sketch included here in the upper right hints at this measurement. This sacred altar piece from Knossos itself shows an H shape in alignment towards what appears to be a horizontal blob right in the middle of the horns. But just what could it represent and for what purpose?
BULL HORN STATUES
To examine the question one must look at the topic globally. The ancient countries around the Mediterranean seem to have a common obsession placing the sun between bull's horns; it was so in Gobekli Tepe, in Egypt and in the case of Minoans - Mycenaeans as well. Instead of a defined sun disc they used a golden rosette but it is commonly agreed that it represented the sun... or a sun, another one!
Wayne Herschel in his research pointed it out how the ancient star murals of both Egypt and other neighboring nations show they revered a star like our sun near the 7 stars of Pleiades in constellation Taurus the bull hence the sacred animal. Records show how the Ancients celebrated this star in conjunction with our Sun when it passed between the celestial bull's horns - a sacred moment so to speak, marking the place of the tiny sun star in question. The first such combination of Taurus and the star theme dates as early as 17,000 years, in the Cave of Lascaux, deciphered by Wayne ref
ASUN BETWEEN THE HORNS
The double axe or Labrys was a special and sacred symbol for the Minoans, it signified power and authority, no wonder it often appears on the important paintings as well as it does in the sky above rulers and royals! And sometimes in companion of other celestial bodies. ref1 ref2
But just what was this object intended to represent? A group of researchers who examined the ancient Mycenaean texts actually discovered how it was associated with a particular constellation the whole world revered, Orion. They realized how the stars of Orion could be joined as a giant axe and how the handle of the axe which represented the Belt of Orion could be a pointer to something very important in the sky, something that made Minoans to develop such an intriguing scenery. See their article HERE (page 65)
SECRET OF THE DOUBLE HEADED AXE
ANCIENT VASES TELL EVERYTHING
Some of the most ancient Minoan - Mycenaean Greek vases show clues of the same star myth, story of the heavenly bull accompanied by a sacred bird surrounded by star shaped forms. As a matter of fact the bull here is filled with small x'es like stars and so is the crane or bird here. It couldn't be any clearer here that they were meant represent constellations...
But while the bull is a clear indication of Taurus what about the sacred bird? Since it's shown as part of Taurus as seen on numerous artifacts ref1 ref2 (note how it points to the back of the bull), it is likely to be part of the bull constellation and only one such shaped star grouping is present in Taurus, the Pleiades. Various ancient sources refer to it as a cluster of heavenly birds - in fact 'Peleiades' means doves in Greek ref; this is also the reason Christianity uses the dove symbolism in context of star maps in art. But taking it one step further one just has to think about the naming of Pleiades in folklore, as its name in many old European languages compares it to a hen with chicks like Norse, Hungarian or even Thai myths ref But to make sure it is really Pleiades depicted here note its pointer shape, the star cluster is in the exact same pointer formation.
Moreover, the bird is often depicted as having a prominent distinctive leg shaped body - it is reminiscent of the ancient Egyptian tradition where Pleiades was seen as a leg of the bull with similar pointer nature, discovered by Wayne Herschel.
But more importantly the Pleiades bird is surrounded by a trio of special star forms here, a breakthrough, suggestive of important stars in the area, not just one but a trio! The tree in a triangulation match the general star pattern found worldwide by Wayne, a solar trinity or the actual 3 suns seen in the Athens star map, too. For more... click here
DEVELOPING THE STORY OF PLEIADES
The earlier vase detail is not the only one that displays the crane showing the way to a special star by its pointer body - the patterns found on other artifacts and sketches reveal an identical theme but this time with a twist, instead of a star a tiny orb like a sun is shown... and here too. Note how the crane on the picture above has a row of notches on its neck suggesting the string of stars of Pleiades, 9 in number, the 7 sisters and their parents Atlas and Pleione. ref
The sketches below taken from old vases even show how the pointer body of the bird is joined to the special star in question, exactly as Pleiades points the way.
THE SOLUTION TO THE NET SHAPED STARS
Still unclear is the strange shape of the stars as seen on vases like the one in the upper register of the above sketch. A researcher logically suggested it was a bird's nest and its eggs in it - the twist here is that they seem to represent stars as well, encoding the nest as the star and its eggs as the planets in crescents, the perfect analogy for birthplace of humanity there. See image here
OTHER DRAWINGS ON THE VASES
Take another look at the first vase with the bull on it shown previously. There are other mysterious symbols attached to the animal's body reminiscent of the same star story, redrawn here
It shows seven hills that align with a circumpunct. Not only is the circumpunct the ancient Egyptian symbol for the same sun-like star as found by Wayne but the seven hills are an uncanny reference to a place in Greece that has such hills with a marker monument for the sun star nearby, a star map laid out on the ground, possibly the ultimate capital of Athens discussed before which is known for its actual seven hills!
Last but not least the other depiction in bull's body shows 3 such circumpuncts in a triangulation possibly because there are 3 sacred suns in the area, each surrounded by several dots perhaps too referring to the cluster nature of nearby Pleiades or a planetary system of many orbs!
The famous palace of the Minoans features three special offset monuments in a row nearby, three huge circular shaped holes called Kouloures and although they were likely built for ceremonial purpose scholars have no idea what their original intention had been. Interestingly it was dated to the first era of the culture then later it was filled with dump and garbage, as if later people forgot its original meaning. ref1 ref2 Remember the Mycenaean bowl with bull, labrys and sun rosette upper on this page and also the horn statue image - a sketch of an old altar from Knossos palace is shown there that features the same theme. Now isn't it logical to theorize the palace itself had the same celestial secret? And that bull horn sculptures were also used to measure the rising and setting of sacred stars on the horizon, Orion as the axe, Taurus and the sun star(s) in particular?
The three sacred pits line up exactly as Orion's belt and they point to the heart of the complex at the sacred labrys altar, kind of signifying the place of the main sun star, an as above so below star map. Note how the last pit is smaller than the other two, just like the star Mintaka is smaller in the belt.
Moreover, all of this is aligned to the east, rising of the constellations, a sacred moment to measure stars as traditionally done in ancient Egypt!
SECRET OF KNOSSOS PALACE
THE STORY OF ORION MAN
The Minoan story of Orion doesn't end with the sacred axe. It fuses with a myth that became a 'trademark' of the empire, story of Theseus hunting down the beast Minotaurus. ref Not many realized how this story too originated from the star obsession where Theseus through Greek influence became the modern day warrior of Orion and Minotaurus the well-known constellation of Taurus hence the original full name of the beast 'Minotaur Asterion' which literally means 'starry bull' ! ref
The legend narrates that Theseus enters a special Labyrinth to kill the bull beast and for help he uses a special cord not to lose himself. This enigmatic part of the story becomes clear in the context of the stars. The solution is in the meaning of the word 'labyrinth' - it comes from 'labrys', the double axe... it is Orion! ref The historical labyrinth was not a structure on the island hence it had never been found and the cord was not an actual cord either; it is the line of sight where Orion's belt shall be followed to, to reach Taurus the bull, place of the sun stars. This dodging and finding of the stars resulted in an imaginary labyrinth analogy made up of the stars.
Nothing mirrors this better than the authentic vases or 'kraters' produced by the Greek culture. Seen here is Orion man as Theseus slaying the bull. Note the three net shaped stars in a row in bull's body probably signifying the importance of belt stars which rise vertically above the horizon! Probably this was the original story that inspired the later cult of Mithras which 'coincidently' had the same secret as shown by Wayne too. ref (note 3 suns near Pleiades)
Myth also holds that 7 young girls and 7 boys were regularly 'sent' to satisfy the hunger of the bull monster, an act that sounds rather cruel but may hold a different meaning to it. It is possible that the youths were not sacrificed at all but were symbolic of a very rational story connecting to the sky bull. Is it just a coincidence that Pleiades was known as 7 young sisters or boys all around the world who rejoiced on the back of Taurus? ref
All these stories get especially clear when examined by a different, astronomical approach and ultimately lead to the same narrative.
What they failed to realize however is that Belt of Orion was not intended to show the way to the bright star Sirius which is a star without planets, without life ref but instead it should be followed in the other direction, to the area of the bull constellation. After all, this is exactly what Minoans tell us, don't they? Note how the bowl above shows how the axe Orion highlighted in blue points to an actual sun motif in Taurus, on the forehead of the animal. It is indeed an existing layout in the sky and the patterns found on Knossos Palace altars replicate the same theme.
Interestingly there are examples of a more angular version of labrys resembling even more how we bind the constellation today, like the one seen here. Note also how it looks like a cross which sacred symbol originates from the same ancient story, examined by Wayne Herschel. For more on this... click here
MORE ON ORION
THREE MONUMENTS NEARBY
It is next to the 7 hills where Athens' ultimate solar markers are to be found. 3 in a triangulation as shown in other star maps. In the south a giant circular city appropriately called 'Heliopolis' - the city of the sun... or another one. ref
To the north of it at the foot of the hills the onetime greatest Zeus temple ever erected ref and the ultimate monument, another Zeus temple put to the peak of nearby Mount Hymettus, a point high in the sky close to the 'throne of the gods'. ref All of these placed not far from the historical Taurus district of Athens, something fitting for constellation Taurus, the place of Pleiades. ref Also note how the area next to it was named as 'Field of Mars' with one of the 7 hills bearing the name 'Hill of Mars' exactly like in Rome and Cairo - all the three carry the Mars reference and has the same star maps, just like we find on planet Mars. ref1 ref2 ref3 ref4
ANCIENT COINS TELL A STORY
The coinage of past great cultures always whispers clues to the elements of a religious cult. Roman, Christian and Greek coins all preserved strikingly similar motifs that lead to the stars - and some of these very important pieces show the royals too, who stood behind the idea of the printed patterns. One such coin was that of Apulia Venusia, from the Greek-Roman transitional period which shows 3 dots in a row in alignment to a trio of stars as seen HERE. Not only it depicts the familiar theme where one should follow the belt of Orion to reach the sacred destination linked to the home of the 'gods' but this tradition could be followed through ages of coin printing.
The same 3 stars in a row appear above Rome's Romulus and Remus as it points the way to 2 or 3 special stars... in a scene where the she-wolf was linked to their beginnings just the like the star map of Greece is linked to founding Athens and the start of the civilization. For an example click HERE. The star maps show the human beginnings.
Amazingly, the same star theme appears on the clay artifacts sourced from the very monument of Zeus on Mt Hymettus, the one that acts as a marker for a sun star! See image here
THE AGE OF THE 'GODS' - WHEN WAS IT?
A HORN STATUE IN KNOSSOS
CITY OF ATHENS
THE AREA OF ACROPOLIS
THE SEVEN HILL DISTRICT
BULL LEAPING FRESCO FROM KNOSSOS
MINOAN BULL HEAD FROM ATHENS MUSEUM
BULL BOWL, EX JOHN VARLEY COLLECTION, 1850-1933
PALACE OF KNOSSOS
MYCENAEAN JUG, 13TH CENTURY BC, GETTY VILLA
KLAVDIA KRATER, 1300 BC
SUN CRANE JUG, KRETE
PHILISTINE CRANE CERAMIC
The mythical tales of Greece including the story of Titanomachy and Gigantomachy has it that in an ancient time, the Golden Age itself the 'godly' offspring aka titans and gigantes were in a kind of conflict that escalated into war-like conditions. The story stars Heracles, a powerful figure and 'demi-god' who was very famous and here is the clue: some ancient Greek writers associated him with certain ancient Egyptian gods and gave a date when he was supposed to exist! Amazingly it matches the general date Wayne found using the Mars star map... around 17.000 years ago! ref1 ref2 (star map Mars) It also matches the date concept of the antediluvian pre 10.000 BC Golden Age, time of Atlantis too - a time when these 'gods' themselves, our ancestors walked on Earth and Mars. Is this war the reason planet Mars was also associated with war cult? ref
HEAVENLY 'PRISON'
There is one more interesting aspect of the Age of Titans. After the conflict between the earlier titanic 'gods' and the new Olympian 'gods' the Titans were defeated and imprisoned in a far away realm that was measured in actual units of distance suggesting it was a real place in the universe. It is described as Hades, the dark netherworld and Tartarus situated behind it where the defeated were sent - two very important places whose names sound eerily close to the Hyades star cluster and constellation Taurus, in fact might have been the original terms for these two! It matches the place of the sun-like stars in question - next to Pleiades and Hyades. And, there's more.
The memory of exiled 'gods' to that area was preserved in a profound soul concept, the spirit of the deceased would be welcomed right at the 'gate' of Hyades on its journey to the 'afterlife' but Tartarus, the place of 'penalty' was first described as being the place of origin of life, something very uplifting however, as in many cases, it slowly became associated with torture. ref
Curiously, this story is perfectly replicated in the Christian Book of Enoch where the prophet is taken aboard a spacecraft but the 'gods' were replaced with angels, the Archangels and Fallen Angels where the latter would be the defeated Titans. Amazingly they also had to return to that very point of the sky as Enoch narrates a blazing heavenly body like a sun seen from close next to seven stars that are bound together, something fitting for a sun star near the Pleiades cluster. He mentions it is found in the topless, floorless place... the space and surprisingly the ancient text mentions the word TARTARUS just like its Greek counterpart, one of the Archangels was commissioned to supervise that area! ref1 ref2 ref3
This same exile story is found within the Norse and Indian mythologies as well, the Aesir and Jotunn in Scandinavia ref and the Deva and Asura in India ref In all cases the earlier or 'tall' fraction of deities was defeated by the newcomers. And it appears that these were two fractions of our human space ancestors in opposition but from the same sun star systems and some of them were exiled to one of the mother planets (aka prison).
SYMBOL OF THE AGES
The tradition of the double axe was so profound that not only it was used in the Minoan - Mycenaean culture but it had both predecessors and successors in terms of symbology. The H symbol in alignment with a small sun and crescent in the 10.000 BC site of Gobekli Tepe was first proposed to represent Orion pointing to the sun star and it world by Wayne Herschel. ref It bears a striking resemblance to the later pre-Greek and Greek traditions throughout Greece and Turkey where Gobekli Tepe is found and so is Assos, a former Greek colony where even today the some of the stone slab artifacts display the H symbol as a ribbon placed right between simplified bull horns just like in the Cretan tradition. Note also how the stones of Gobekli Tepe display the horned animal too.
The use of horned headdresses and double axes was known in Scandinavia as well and scholars correctly identified that such horned helmets were never in use in battle but were kept for rituals possibly to celebrate the same story seen here, the origins from constellation Taurus. ref1 ref2