Georgia Guidestones --- what's going on here?

Georgia Guidestones
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Coordinates: 34°13′55″N 82°53′40″W / 34.231984°N 82.894506°W / 34.231984; -82.894506
The stone featuring the English version.

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], though in comparison to the massive plinths of Stonehenge and the empty space of Salisbury plain surrounding that monument, the Guidestones are of a noticeably smaller scale.

The monument is almost 20 feet (6.1 m) tall, and made from six granite slabs weighing more than 240,000 pounds (110,000 kg) in all.[2] 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.
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In June 1979, an unknown person or persons under the pseudonym R. C. Christian hired Elberton Granite Finishing Company to build the structure.[2] One popular hypothesis is that the author pseudonym may be a tribute to the legendary 14th-century founder of Rosicrucianism, Christian Rosenkreuz.[2]
[edit] 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.

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely - improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion - faith - tradition - and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth - beauty - love - seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth - Leave room for nature - Leave room for nature.[3]

[edit] Explanatory tablet
The explanatory tablet, immediately west of the edifice.

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 cuneiform
* Classical Greek
* Sanskrit
* Egyptian 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 year

Author: R.C. Christian
(a pseudonyn) [sic]

Sponsors: A small group
of Americans who seek
the Age of Reason

Time 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.
[edit] 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 tons)
3. FOUR MAJOR STONES ARE 16 feet (4.9 m),

FOUR INCHES (102 mm) HIGH, EACH WEIGHING
AN AVERAGE OF 42, 437 POUNDS.

4. CENTER STONE IS 16 feet (4.9 m), FOUR-

INCHES HIGH; WEIGHS 20, 957
POUNDS.

5. CAPSTONE IS 9 feet (2.7 m), 8-INCHES

LONG; 6 feet (1.8 m), 6-INCHES WIDE;
1-foot (0.30 m), 7-INCHES THICK. WEIGHS
24,832 POUNDS.

6. SUPPORT STONES (BASES) 7-FEET,

4 INCHES LONG 2 feet (0.61 m) WIDE.
1-foot (0.30 m), 4 INCHES THICK, EACH
WEIGHING AN AVERAGE OF 4,875
POUNDS.

7. SUPPORT STONE (BASE) 4-FEET,

2 1/2 INCHES LONG, 2 feet (0.61 m), 2-INCHES
WIDE; 1-foot (0.30 m), 7-INCHES THICK.
WEIGHT 2,707 POUNDS.

8. 951 cubic feet (26.9 m3) GRANITE.
9. GRANITE QUARRIED FROM PYRAMID

QUARRIES LOCATED 3 MILES WEST
OF ELBERTON, GEORGIA.

[edit] 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
* Russian

At the bottom center of the tablet is the following text:

Additional information available at Elberton Granite Museum & Exhibit
College Avenue
Elberton, Georgia

[edit] Astronomical features

The four outer stones are oriented based on the Sun's yearly migration. 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.[2]
[edit] Location

34°13′55″N 82°53′40″W / 34.231984°N 82.894506°W / 34.231984; -82.894506

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 (precise distance is 44.3322 miles (71.3458 km)), 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.
[edit] Ownership

The ownership of the site is unclear. 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 specifices the 22nd of March and said 400 people attended. [2]
[edit] Reactions

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".[2]

The Guidestones have become a subject of interest for conspiracy theorists. One of them, an activist named Mark Dice, a Christian conservative political activist, 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.[2] 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]

In 2008, the stones were defaced with polyurethane paint and graffiti with slogans such as "Death to the new world order."[9] Wired magazine called the defacement "the first serious act of vandalism in the Guidestones' history".[2]

As of November 14, 2009, the stones bear a variety of graffiti, including splattered polyurethane, a silver spray-painted monkey, some anti-George W. Bush rhetoric, and a variety of quotes from classical authors such as from Shelley's "Ozymandias." The vandalism has yet to be repaired; moreover, it is unclear whose responsibility undertaking such repairs should be.
[edit] See also