Georgia Guidestones
34°13′55″N 82°53′40″W / 34.231984°N 82.894506°W
The Georgia Guidestones is a large granite monument in Elbert County, Georgia, USA. A message comprising ten guides is inscribed on the structure in eight modern languages, and a shorter message is inscribed at the top of the structure in four ancient languages' scripts: Babylonian, Classical Greek, Sanskrit, and Egyptian hieroglyphs.
The structure is sometimes referred to as an "American Stonehenge."[1] The monument is almost 20 feet (6.1 m) tall if the buried support stones are included, exactly 18 feet (5.5 m) otherwise,[2] and made from six granite slabs weighing more than 240,000 pounds (110,000 kg) in all.[3] One slab stands in the center, with four arranged around it. A capstone lies on top of the five slabs, which are astronomically aligned. An additional stone tablet, which is set in the ground a short distance to the west of the structure, provides some notes on the history and purpose of the Guidestones.
History
In June 1979, an unknown person or persons under the pseudonym R.C. Christian hired Elberton Granite Finishing Company to build the structure.[3] One popular hypothesis is that the patron's pseudonym may be a tribute to the legendary 17th-century founder of Rosicrucianism, Christian Rosenkreuz.[3]
Inscriptions
A message consisting of a set of ten guidelines or principles is engraved on the Georgia Guidestones in eight different languages, one language on each face of the four large upright stones. Moving clockwise around the structure from due north, these languages are: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian.
- 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.
- Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
- 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 — Leave room for nature.
Explanatory tablet
A few feet to the west of the artifact, an additional granite ledger has been set level with the ground. This tablet identifies the structure and the languages used on it, lists various facts about the size, weight, and astronomical features of the stones, the date it was installed, and the sponsors of the project. It also speaks of a time capsule buried under the tablet, but the positions on the stone reserved for filling in the dates on which the capsule was buried and is to be opened are missing, so it is not clear whether the time capsule was ever put in place. Each side of the tablet is perpendicular to one of the cardinal directions, and is inscribed so that the northern edge is the top of the inscription.
The complete text of the explanatory tablet is detailed below. The accompanying image shows the overall layout. The tablet is somewhat inconsistent with respect to punctuation, and also misspells "pseudonym". The original spelling, punctuation, and line breaks in the text have been preserved in the transcription which follows.
At the center of each tablet edge is a small circle, each containing a letter representing the appropriate compass direction (N, S, E, W).
At the top center of the tablet is written:
The Georgia Guidestones
Center cluster erected March 22, 1980
Immediately below this is the outline of a square, inside which is written:
Let these be guidestones to an Age of Reason
Around the edges of the square are written the names of four ancient languages, one per edge. Starting from the top and proceeding clockwise, they are:Babylonian (in cuneiform script), Classical Greek, Sanskrit and Ancient Egyptian (in hieroglyphics).
On the left side of the tablet is the following column of text:
Astronomic Features
1. channel through stone
indicates celestial pole.
2. horizontal slot indicates
annual travel of sun.
3. sunbeam through capstone
marks noontime throughout
the yearAuthor: R.C. Christian
(a pseudonyn) [sic]Sponsors: A small group
of Americans who seek
the Age of ReasonTime Capsule
Placed six feet below this spot
On
To Be Opened on
The words appear as shown under the time capsule heading; no dates are engraved.
Physical data
On the right side of the tablet is the following column of text:
PHYSICAL DATA
- 1. OVERALL HEIGHT - 19 FEET 3 INCHES [5.87 m].
- 2. TOTAL WEIGHT - 237,746 POUNDS [107,840 kg].
- 3. FOUR MAJOR STONES ARE 16 FEET,
- FOUR INCHES [4.98 m] HIGH, EACH WEIGHING
- AN AVERAGE OF 42,437 POUNDS [19,249 kg].
- 4. CENTER STONE IS 16 FEET, FOUR-
- INCHES [4.98 m] HIGH, WEIGHS 20,957
- POUNDS [9,506 kg].
- 5. CAPSTONE IS 9-FEET, 8-INCHES [2.95 m]
- LONG, 6-FEET, 6-INCHES [1.98 m] WIDE;
- 1-FOOT, 7-INCHES [0.48 m] THICK. WEIGHS
- 24,832 POUNDS [11,264 kg].
- 6. SUPPORT STONES (BASES) 7-FEET,
- 4 INCHES [2.24 m] LONG 2-FEET [0.61 m] WIDE.
- 1 FOOT, 4-INCHES [0.41 m] THICK, EACH
- WEIGHING AN AVERAGE OF 4,875
- POUNDS [2,211 kg].
- 7. SUPPORT STONE (BASE) 4-FEET,
- 2½ INCHES [1.28 m] LONG, 2-FEET, 2-INCHES [0.66 m]
- WIDE, 1-FOOT, 7-INCHES [0.48 m] THICK.
- WEIGHT 2,707 POUNDS [1,228 kg].
- 8. 951 CUBIC FEET [26.9 m³] GRANITE.
- 9. GRANITE QUARRIED FROM PYRAMID
- QUARRIES LOCATED 3 MILES [5 km] WEST
- OF ELBERTON, GEORGIA.
Guidestone languages
Below the two columns of text is written the caption "GUIDESTONE LANGUAGES". The names of eight modern languages are inscribed along the long edges of the projecting rectangles, one per edge. Starting from due north and moving clockwise around so that the upper edge of the northeast rectangle is listed first, they are English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese and Russian. At the bottom center of the tablet is the following text:
Additional information available at Elberton Granite Museum & Exhibit
College Avenue
Elberton, Georgia
Astronomical features
The four outer stones are oriented to mark the limits of the 18.6 year lunar declination cycle.[2] The center column features a hole through which the North Star can be seen regardless of time, as well as a slot that is aligned with the Sun's solstices and equinoxes. A 7/8" aperture in the capstone allows a ray of sun to pass through at noon each day, shining a beam on the center stone indicating the day of the year.[3]
Location
34°13′55″N 82°53′40″W / 34.231984°N 82.894506°W
The Georgia Guidestones are located on a hilltop in Elbert County, Georgia, approximately 90 miles (140 km) east of Atlanta, 45 miles (72 km) from Athens, and 9 miles (14 km) north of the center of Elberton. The stones are standing on a rise a short distance to the east of Georgia Highway 77 (Hartwell Highway), and are visible from that road. Small signs beside the highway indicate the turnoff for the Guidestones, which is identified by a street sign as "Guidestones Rd." It is located on the highest point in Elbert County.
Ownership
Elbert County owns the Georgia Guidestones site. Robert C. Christian deeded the five acres to the county immediately upon purchase from Wayne Mullenix.[2] According to the Georgia Mountain Travel Association's detailed history: "The Georgia Guidestones are located on the farm of Mildred and Wayne Mullenix..."[4] The Elbert County land registration system shows what appears to be the Guidestones as County land purchased on October 1, 1979. [5][6]
The monument was unveiled in March 1980, with the presence of 100 people.[7] Another account specifies March 22, 1980 and said 400 people attended.[2][3]
Controversy
In his article, "Decoding the Georgia Guidestones," Van Smith identifies three potential candidates as the true identity of R.C. Christian: Joe H. Fendley Sr., Dr. Francis Merchant, and Ted Turner. Smith concludes that Ted Turner is the most likely candidate for being R.C. Christian, stating, "Our investigation into the identity of Robert C. Christian has uncovered highly persuasive yet circumstantial evidence linking Robert Edward “Ted” Turner to the very center of the Georgia Guidestones originators. This evidence is so strong that we believe Ted Turner probably was R.C. Christian. At the very least, Turner probably knows who R.C. Christian is." [2]
Yoko Ono and others have praised the inscribed messages as "a stirring call to rational thinking," while opponents have labeled them as the "Ten Commandments of the Antichrist."[3]
The Guidestones have become a subject of interest for conspiracy theorists. One of them, an activist named Mark Dice, demanded that the Guidestones "be smashed into a million pieces, and then the rubble used for a construction project,"[8] claiming that the Guidestones are of "a deep Satanic origin," and that R. C. Christian, belongs to "a Luciferian secret society" related to the New World Order.[3] At the unveiling of the monument, a local minister proclaimed that he believed the monument was "for sun worshipers, for cult worship and for devil worship".[7]
Radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, in his 2008 documentary Endgame: Elite's Blueprint For Global Enslavement, told the viewer that "the message of the mysterious Georgia Guidestones, purportedly built by representatives of a secret society called the Rosicrucian Order or Rosicrucians, which call for a global religion, world courts, and for population levels to be maintained at around 500 million, over a 6.5 billion reduction from current levels. The stones infer that humans are a cancer upon the earth and should be culled in order to maintain balance with nature."[9]
Researcher Van Smith claims to have uncovered numerological messages encoded within the proportions of the various Georgia Guidestones components that link the monument to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world which opened in Dubai over thirty years after the Georgia Guidestones were designed. Smith presents evidence demonstrating that the opening date of the tower, the death of Dubai's emir, Sheik Maktoum bin Rashid al Maktoum, and the exact height of the Burj Khalifa can all be deduced directly from the proportions of the granite slabs.[10]
In 2008, the stones were defaced with polyurethane paint and graffiti with slogans such as "Death to the new world order."[11] Wired magazine called the defacement "the first serious act of vandalism in the Guidestones' history".[3] More recently, in an apparent attempt to topple the monument, a large notch was cut from the top of the English language Guidestone near the 8" long, 1⅝" thick stainless steel dowel pin used to secure that slab to the capstone.[2]
As of November 14, 2009[update], the stones bear a variety of graffiti. Elbert County is funding ongoing repair and has installed two video surveillance cameras at the site.[2]
Notes
- ^ Roadside America Web site
- ^ a b c d e f g Decoding the Georgia Guidestones by Van Smith. Van's Hardware Journal (December 28, 2009)
- ^ a b c d e f g h American Stonehenge: Monumental Instructions for the Post-Apocalypse by Randall Sullivan. Wired Magazine ISSUE 17.05 (May 2009) Cite error: The named reference "Sullivan 2009" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ Georgia Mountains Web site
- ^ Land parcel information
- ^ Parcel map
- ^ a b Moran (2004); p.193
- ^ The Elberton, Georgia (2005)
- ^ Endgame: Elite's Blueprint For Global Enslavement Exposed + Why The Dreams Of The Rulers Are Humanity's Worst Nightmare by Paul Joseph Watson, October 25, 2007
- ^ More Linkage between the Georgia Guidestones and the Burj Khalifa by Van Smith. Van's Hardware Journal (January 12, 2010)
- ^ "Defacement of the Guidestones". Photobucket. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
References
- Gary Jones (18 May 2005). "The Georgia Guidestones: tourist attraction or cult message?". The Elberton Star.
- Fanthorpe, R. Lionel (2005). Mysteries and Secrets of the Templars. Toronto: Dundurn Group. p. 180. ISBN 1-55002-557-0.
- Moran, Mark McGuire; Sceurman, Mark (2004). Weird U.S. Barnes & Noble Publishing. p. 193. ISBN 0-7607-5043-2.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - Schemmel, William (2006). Georgia Off the Beaten Path. Globe Pequot. p. 206. ISBN 0-7627-4199-6.
- Sullivan, Randall (May 2009). "American Stonehenge: Monumental Instructions for the Post-Apocalypse". Wired. 17 (5). Condé Nast. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
Further reading
- Raymond Wiley (2011). The Georgia Guidestones: America's Most Mysterious Monument. The Disinformation Company. ISBN 1934708682.