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Report on a New Horizons Research Project. STUDIES on PRESUMED Report on a New Horizons Research Project. STUDIES ON PRESUMED ANCIENT "ZODIACS" IN BRITAIN. by Jensine Andresen and Marck Bonchek, of Princeton University. Copyright: Jensine A. Andresen and Mark Bonchek and the New Horizons Research Foundation. November 1986. INTRODUCTORY NOTE. This paper reports investigations carried out by Jensine A. Andresen and Mark Bonchek while in Britain, July and August 1986, in addition to their magnetic field survey of megalithic sites which they have reported separately. As the reader may he aware, in the present century many new ideas have "become current in respect to antiquities of the European countryside. Among these ideas is the theory that communities in the immediately prehistoric period - - the Bronze and Iron Ages - - having developed a system of astronomical knowledge created earthworks of immense size to symbolize the zodiac. This theory first came into prominence through the writings of Mrs. K.E. Maltwood concerning the Glastonbury Zodiac (The Enchantments of Britain, or King Arthur's Round Table of the Stars; James Clarke and Co., Cambridge, England, U.K.), and has been taken up by others, especially Mrs. Mary Caine. In addition to their research on the earth's magnetic field at megalithic sites, the authors of this paper made some enquiries relating to presumed zodiacs, which they report here. (A.R.G.O., New Horizons). ZODIACS. The next segment of our research was devoted to studying the Glastonbury and Kingston zodiacs. Although other zodiacs have been purported, (notably those in Nuthampstead and Carmarthenshire), the zodiacs at Glastonbury and Kingston were clearly the most convincing in terms of their physical boundaries. Our research into the zodiacs consisted of two stages. In the first stage, we examined the geology around Glastonbury and Kingston to determine any correlations between geological formations and zodiacal figures. (Maps of the geological composition of the Glastonbury region are shown in Appendix.) We were pleased to find a number of very clear correlations in the Glastonbury zodiac. A formation of silt and clay without limestone distinctly outlined from the surrounding clay with limestone forms the phoenix figure and the fish of Wearyall Hill. The area of the Gemini Twin near Compton Dundon consists of Keuper Marl, which is distinct from the surrounding area consisting of Alluvium. These two relationships are apparent on the geological maps to even the most casual observer. Some less obvious but still significant relationships also exist. Like the first twin, the head of the second twin at Lugshorn is Keuper Marl, distinct from the surrounding Alluvium. The back leg of the lion is formed by a juncture between Alluvium and clay with limestone. The figure of the dog consists of Alluvium, and is surrounded primarily by Keuper Marl. The junction between the two minerals outlines the rear leg, the hind quarters, and the head of the dog. The nose of the dog is also a distinct geological formation, consisting of Mercia Mudstone as opposed to the Alluvium of the dog's body. [See Geological Map 296 (295 for dog's nose)]. An examination of the Kingston Zodiac does not reveal any of the geological correlations so apparent in the Glastonbury Zodiac. This may be due to the presence of the River Thames in the Kingston region. The geological maps for the Kingston region indicate only river brickearths or river terraces for much of the region. Clearly delinated junctures between regions of differing mineral beds do not appear on the Kingston maps in the way they do on the Glastonbury maps. The second stage of our research consisted of a lengthy visit with Mary Caine, the author of the books The Glastonbury Zodiac and A Kingston Zodiac. Mary Caine is an elderly yet extremely energetic and witty woman. She possesses a wealth of knowledge, not only on the Zodiacs, but also on English history from the Bronze Age to the Welsh Bards and Saxon kings. She was extremely friendly and consented to a lengthy interview, the transcript of which is attached as Appendix D. Mary Caine lives with her husband on the Kingston Zodiac, just outside London. She and her husband had planned to make a video on the Glastonbury Zodiac, but they have had to put their plan on hold due to lack of funds. She financed the publishing of her own books, vhich depleted her savings. She and her husband also discussed with us their hope that a more scholarly book might someday be published on the zodiacs, perhaps with contributions relating to the history, astronomy, psychology, geology, and possibly astrology of the terrestial patterns. She suggested that such a book might result from an inter-disciplinary meeting of experts in these fields. Again, it seems that funding is a problem. We did mention our interest in the geological implications of the Glastonbury Zodiac, but we did not discuss the subject thoroughly. INTERVIEW WITH MARY CAINE M: Mary Caine J: Jensine Andresen Mk: Mark Bonchek Tape 1, Side 1. J: How did you first become interested in the Glastonbury Zodiac? M: Well that's rather interesting, actually. I was going to Oruid meetings, thinking of becoming a Druid, and I heard it mentioned by one of the old Druids, Ross Nieholls — he's dead now. And they mentioned the Glastonbury Zodiac, and I said, "What's that?" He said, "Oh, it's a great circle, in the West of England." I said, "I thought I knew all the stone circles in the South and West." "Oh," he said, "it's not a stone circle, it's much bigger." Then he said, "Don't try, I wouldn't bother if I were you." He said people go mad researching it. And this was 25 or 30 years ago. And in those days it was so weird that people went off their heads I suppose. But, you know, things have changed a lot, actually, in 30 years in matters of this sort. It was harder to accept in those days. So, of course, I went and bought the books -- I had to -- they were in print at the time. J: Katherine Maltwood's? M: Yes. And I made out a list of questions just like yours. I read books, and I was intrigued. I thought, "this is ridiculous, BUT why am I so intrigued by it?" She seemed to have a lot of evidence on her side — place names and legends and a lot of philosophy, too, which I liked immensely, because it made sense of Christianity. It just put Christianity into place, in a way that it never had to me, a parson's daughter, so I had rather given it up. But reading this Mrs. Maltwood I saw what the virgin birth was about. Well, this is the virgin earth giving birth to everybody; and all of the dogmas suddenly made sense in light of the Zodiac. I thought, "Very strange, it's weird. There must be something in it." So I wrote out all sorts of questions and objections and sent them to Mrs. Maltwood, via Watkins, her publisher at the time. Watkins is a rather esoteric bookshop. In about three months I got a letter back from her husband saying she died three months ago. I wrote back, and I realized that that was when I went to this meeting and they happened to mention it in my hearing. J: The same day or around the same time? M: Around the same time. I couldn't say the same day. J: How old was she when she died? M: Eighty-one when she died. And she died in Canada, of course, right across the globe in Vancouver. A lot of her stuff is there to study still, actually, but you know about that, don't you? J: No, I don't, actually. H: Well, there's a place called Thatch Lodge. I've got a picture of it in my book. Her husband gave it as a museum with all of their art collection, which they had collected from all over the world, and a lot of her sculpture, and her notes. There's a room there now that has been rifled, I've been told, and her notes stolen by some ghastly man. J: They have her notes on the Zodiac there? M: They let him in, and he was going around boasting that he had got all her notes from a black box in the padlocked museum. He walked off with them. J: Oh, no. N: Well this is a rumor, and I'm not sure if it's true. J: Do they have copies of any of the notes? M: I don't know. He certainly never got in touch with any of the principals. J: Probably not. How many people are in the Druid order now? M: I don't know because I've been out of touch with them for so long. There are about thirty, I suppose, who come to the dawn festival. But there may be many more than, that who don't come to meetings any more. It broke up, rather. There was a row over the succession, and then it mixed off into two lots. And then I stopped going. J: I read in that book — that just reminded me of a different question -- that you said it was very impressive how Mrs. Maltwood, she integrated the Druids and the Templars. The other group I didn't know, the Plantegentics? M: The Plantagenets. J: Who are they? M: Well, those are the kings that came from Anjou in France. Henry II was the first Plantagenet to rule England.
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