Earth Mysteries Art

Introduction

The Earth Mysteries Art Movement developed in England in the late 1960s. These unfashionable artists investigated geometry, archaeoastronomy, myth and legend, combined with visits to sacred sites in the landscape, which formed the basic inspiration for creative celebrations of our ancient heritage. Meeting enigmatic remains of the early beginnings of European human culture, such as the great megalithic monuments, ultimately instills unforgettable impressions on one's life and work. This interest, moreover, contributed to engendering site saving efforts and may have further stimulated the study and wider recognition of the symbolism and the intricate, multi-functional purposes of many ancient sacred sites.

The work of John E. Palmer was part of the Earth Mysteries artists' tour of Britain, as also of the Ancient Landscapes tour of Britain, followed by exhibitions in California, USA. His work was also shown in numerous exhibits in the Netherlands and Belgium, and is in private and public collections, including the Provincial Museum of Drenthe. He has, in addition, been published in many books and catalogues about Earth Mysteries and the study of ancient sacred sites. Some of his oil paintings have been reproduced on postcards. He is working on a book on the Mystery of the Blue Stones. Mr. Palmer is a member of Sacred Sites International Foundation and of the World Field Photographers Association. He is currently working as a photographer using large format cameras (View or Field cameras), mainly in landscape photography.

A Benefit for Sacred Sites International

Sacred Sites International Foundation is offering for sale a selection of original prints, etchings, and photographic works by John Palmer, that have been produced in small, limited editions. The masterplates of the etchings have all been destroyed. Prices range from $200 - $375, representing the special benefit nature of the sale, to non-profit Sacred Sites International. Please call 510-525-1304 for a private showing of prints that are of interest.

Many of the prints have been reproduced in this booklet. They feature ancient sites in Europe, including the British Isles, Belgium, Netherlands, Malta, Brittany (France), Spain, Poland, and Morocco (North Africa).

This booklet has been published by Sacred Sites International (SSIF), and was written by John Palmer and edited by Nancy Becker, Co-Founder of Sacred Sites International and Editor-in-Chief of Sacred Sites Newsletter.

İ Copyright 2002. All Images and text, John E. Palmer. Reproduction prohibited without permission.

All prints are available for purchase via Pay Pal and the prints will be shipped anywhere in the US by 2nd Day Air. Please email for a quote for international and Canada shipping.

Black Elk - 1984
Color Etching, 6/6
4 3/4" x 2 1/3" (Image) 10 1/2" x 9 1/4 (Paper)
$375

The Oglala Sioux, Hehaka Sapa, otherwise known as Black Elk, was born in 1862. He fought in the battles of Little Bighorn and Wounded Knee and was an accomplished shaman, a man of vision. He witnessed the spiritual hoop of Indian life terminated. Suffering, and nearly blind, he died in 1950. My etching is based on a photograph, of which the original is in the Smithsonian Institute.

The Cove, Avebury 1988
Color Etching, 4/15
9 1/4" x 12 3/4" (Image) 19 1/2" x 12 3/4" (Paper)
$285

Avebury Circles 1980
Etching, 3/10
12" x 9" (Image) 15 1/4" x 12 1/2" (Paper)
$325

The great circle-henge of Avebury, in Wiltshire, England, is one of the grandest and most stunning Neolithic sites in Europe. The work expended on this site was stupendous. It was set round with some hundred stones; within this vast ring were at least two other circles, each of about thirty stones. The great circle is enclosed by an outer bank and inner ditch, and remains of a lengthy stone avenue runs from the circle. The site does not fail to impress despite grievous destruction. Many of the hard sarsens were either toppled or buried in the late Middle Ages and ruthlessly broken up by fire in the 18th Century. Two enormous, dramatic sarsens still stand of the original three stones that formed the central Cove, a feature within one of the two circles; these may have had a shamanic ritual function. A Cove is also known at the stone circles of Stanton Drew, in Avon, England and at Stenness, on Orkney, Scotland.

Spiral Castle, Glastonbury Tor - 1984    -- SOLD --
Etching, 9/15
7 1/4" x 6" (Image) 10" x 9 1/2" (Paper)

Glastonbury Tor is a natural hill in Somersetshire, England. It dominates the Somerset levels, which in ancient times were surrounded by water and marshes. The Britons called it Ynys-witrin, or Isle of Glass. Around the flanks of the Tor winds the remains of a tierred laybrinth. On its summit stands a medieval tower, the chapel of St. Michael that was destroyed in an earthquake.

There is a folk story of how St. Collen, a Welsh saint of the Dark Ages, having selected the Tor as the site for his cell, received an invitation from Gwyn ap Nudd, King of the Fairies, and from Lord of Annwvynn - the Other World - who had his abode in a magical castle on the summit. Lord of Annwvynn is leader of the Wild Hunt, widely found in European folklore, who guides the spirits of the dead to Annwvynn; his father can be identified as Nodens, who reigned over the Severn. The heraldic symbol of Somerset, a winged dragon clasping a staff, has its roots in these ancient stories.

The Arthurian Romances relate that after the battle of Camlann, King Arthur was ferried to Avalon, to be healed of his wounds. In the nave of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey is the official site of Arthur's grave. In the vicinity is Chalice Well, a stone-lined spring, in which the Grail is said to be hidden. The concept of the Grail, initially, is derived from the Celtic cauldron of knowledge and inspiration, which in myth restored dead warriors back to life. These cauldrons were sunk by Celts in lakes, hence their relationship to water and the Chalice Well.

Another legend tells of the arrival of Joseph of Arimathea, from whose staff flowered a holy thorn tree. With such a noble ancestry of legends and divine god-heros, Glastonbury is a renowned spiritual center for our time, too, whether the seeker after spiritual knowledge is pagan or the follower of one of the world's major religions.

I arranged a venue at the Assembly Rooms at Glastonbury, for the traveling art exhibition of work by Ancient Landscape Artists.

West Kennet Long Barrow: Silbury hill 1980
Etching, 7/14
9 1/3" x 12" (Image) 12" x 17" (Paper)
$285

Following the stone avenue from Avebury and crossing the river Kennet, one arrives at West Kennet Long Barrow, one of the largest Neolithic chambered mounds in Britain. Behind the sarsen blocking stones, a covered passage leads into the mound, which has chambers or cells on both sides. A large number of skeletal remains were found within the tomb, together with pottery and flints. I once unrolled my sleeping bag in one of the cells and experienced an awe-inspiring vision.

Carreg pumsaint standing stone, south wales 1980
Etching, 11/14
9 1/4" x 11 3/4" (Image) 10 3/4" x 14 1/2" (Paper)
$275

This curious slab stands upon a slight hillock near the Dolaucothi gold mines that were first worked by the Britons, until the Romans took it over. All four sides of the stone show a depression fitting the human back. When I was contemplating the stone, a farmer came along and said five saints whom he named, sat with their backs to the stone. But there were only four sides to the stone! The farmer was adamant, insisting it had five sides and I should look again!

Glynsaithmaen standing stones, prescelly, cymru 1984
Etching, 2/9
8 3/4" x 11 1/2" (Image) 11 3/4" x 16" (Paper)
$275

This pair of fine slabs, one of which features a circular depression, stands at Mynachloch Ddhu, in the vicinity of Gors Fawr stone circle. There may have originally been more standing stones at Glynsaithmaen, because the name means the Valley of Seven Stones. Cymru is Welsh, a branch of the Celtic language, for Wales.

Glynsaithmaen is situated near the Prescelly mountains, where there are ruined cairns. From this hallowed center, the megalith builders, in re-designing Stonehenge, obtained the ³blue stones". These stones, according to the 12th century scribe, Geoffrey of Monmouth, were transported by giants from Africa to Ireland, where Merlin the magician, by royal order, dismantled a circle and transferred the stones to Salisbury Plain in southern England.

Cors-Y-Gedol Cromlech, Snowdonia, Wales 1985
Etching, 1/7
8 3/4" x 11 1/4" (Image) 11 1/2" x 14 1/4" (Paper)
$275

Cors-Y-Gedol is a megalithic dolmen, or cromlech in Welsh. It has an angled, massive grey capstone, and is situated in the wilds of the Cambrian coast of North Wales. A local common name for the dolmen is Coetan Arthur, suggesting only a heroic figure like King Arthur was able to successfully construct it. The dolmen may have been originally embedded in a long cairn that was reduced by pilfering of its stones.

Maeni hirion stone ring or druid's circle Penmaenmawr, north wales 1980
Etching, 7/14
9"x 12" (Image) 11" x 14" (Paper)
$275

A steep climb is needed to reach the desolate headlands of Penmaenmawr, in Snowdonia, North Wales. Here, high above the sea is the Druidıs Circle, with an outlying small circle, nearby cairn circles, solitary standing stones, and other ancient remains. About ten stones of dolerite, rhyolite, and volcanic ash, survive of the Druidıs Circle. It is actually an ellipse, standing in a low bank that had pieces of white quartz and an entrance on the west side. The ring, thought to date from the Bronze Age, was erected beside an ancient trackway, and cremation burials of children, one of which was in a cist in the center of the circle; this supports the belief that it was a chief sacred and ritual site in Snowdonia. From the small outlying circle and a further boulder in between, the stones in Druidıs Circle appear silhouetted against the horizon, indicating an astronomical purpose. This etching is one of a series on megalithic sites in Wales. The border of the print is Celtic knotwork.

Thought of trethevy quoit 1989
Goldtone Van Dyke Brown Print and Woodcut, 6/6
9 1/2" x 17 1/2" (Image), 18 3/4" x 25 1/2" (Paper)
$250

This fine megalithic portal dolmen, also known as Giantıs House, stands in Cornwall England. Quoit is a Cornish word for a dolmenic consturction. It was originally a chambered tomb embedded in a supporting mound surrounded by a stone kerb. The chamber formed by seven tall uprights, and a dividing stone, is covered by a massive capstone, which has a hole through one corner. The tradition of chambered tombs is very ancient; the oldest were simple cists (Neolithic stone coffins) dating from around 4300 B.C. My print includes symbols of both life ( a pregnant woman), and death; the dolmen squats between the beginning of human life and its final conclusion.

The arrival of llwch at callanish tursachan 1987
Cyanotype & Etching, 11/13
8" x 9 1/2" (Image) 13 3/4" x 15 x 3/8" (Paper)Sun Over Callenish (Arrival of Llwch at Callenish Tursachan)
$200

Goddess over callanish 1983
Gold Toned Van Dyke Brown Print, 15/15
15" x 6" (Image) 21 1/2" x 14 3/4" (Paper)
$265

The celebrated, tall standing stones of Callanish, on the Isle of Lewis, Western Isles, Scotland, are set in a circle which encloses a stone kist set within a circular cairn. From the circle radiates an avenue of standing stones towards the north; three other rows are oriented towards the other cardinal directions and the whole setting forms a Celtic cross. The stones are of white Lewissian gneiss and the tallest slab stands at the center.

Callanish is connected with a legend telling of the arrival of a Celtic solar god Llwch as suggested in this image. Other local legends have led couples making their marital vows to use the site. The lochs can be seen in three directions from the site suggesting it may have been tied to water or fertility rites. In the vicinity are several more well preserved stone circles and on the far horizon, the contours of the hills suggest a figure known as the Sleeping Goddess.

Winds of cambron-casteau 1989
Gold Toned Van Dyke Brown Print, 2/12
8 1/4" x 11 3/4" (Image) 15" x 21 1/2" (Paper) $285

This site was first mentioned as Cambrio in the year 751. Later it was known as Cambron-Casteau Abbey, in the province Hainaut, Belgium. It was founded at an ancient fortified site dating back to the Viking era, in 1148 by Saint Bernadus, assisted by Anselme de Trazegnies, Canon of Soignies, Lord of Peronne-Lez-Binche. The abbey became the chief burial place of the Counts of Hainaut, of which effigies remain in the 13th century church ruins. All religious activities at the abbey came to an end in 1796. My print depicts the immense neo-classical tower and ornate stairway on the abbey grounds.

Invocation of the goddess at west bronneger dolmen - 1989
Gold Toned Van Dyke Print, 4/6
7 1/4" x 11" (Image) 15 1/2" x 22" (Paper)
$285

West Bronneger dolmen in the province of Drenthe, Netherlands, is one of 53 remaining hunebeds or giant's beds, Neolithic dolmens dating from c. 2600 B.C. There once existed twice as many hunebeds before they were destroyed by being blown up to strengthen Dutch dykes. Archaeologists later visited the remaining hunebeds and violated the remaining structures with "legitimized" vandalism. They lifted capstones to hunt for Neolithic pottery and "restored" one ruined dolmen with stones pilfered from another.

My print was first issued as a postcard when I sought to obtain legal protection for these sacred monuments, a process that took ten years to achieve. In 1992, all hunebeds were legally protected, and the government must care for them.

The hunebeds were built using granite glacial erratics with the flat sides of the stones facing inward. The main axes of the structures are oriented to solar calendar dates at the time the hunebeds were built.

Tella dolmen, Pyrenees, aragon, spain 1985
Etching, 8/14
7 1/4" x 4 3/4" (Image) 13 3/4" x 15 3/8" (Paper)
$275

This fine dolmen sits in the high Aragon in the Spanish Pyrenees from where a wonderful panorama unfolds. It is one of the highest sited megalithic tombs, dramatically situated at an altitude of about 1300 meters, above an immense gorge and in view of impressive Castillo Major, whose crenellated summit reaches 2423 meters. The chamber is five-sided and its entrance, which happens to be 1 Megalithic Yard wide, faces the winter solstice sunset, an important seasonal calendar date traditionally associated with spiritual regeneration. At Tella Pueblo are five Romanesque ermita's or chapels, of which Los Santos Juan Y Pablo, is spectacularly sited at a vast rock mass that may be a sacred mountain.

Kermario alignments, carnac 1982
Etching, 15/15
9 1/2" x 12" (Image) 13" x 16 3/8" (Paper)
$275

The megalithic alignments of Kermario, near Carnac, in Brittany, France, are formed by seven stone rows, numbering well over a thousand stones; the rows extend over 1128 meters. At the West and East end of the rows there once existed a cromlech, and a chambered passage tomb remains nearby. Peculiar forms of granite occur among the stones including this poised, fingerlike, elegant slab. Kermario means, House of the Dead, which may be a reminiscence of rites performed within what had once been the space of the curved cromlechs.

Snow over stone circle, odry - 1991
Gold Toned Van Dyke Brown Print, 4/6
6 1/8"x 6 3/4" (Image) 12 1/2" x 9 3/4" (Paper)
$200

Deep in the pine forest of Pomerania, in northern Poland, is a complex of stone circles at Odry, one of three complexes in Poland of well-preserved kregi kamienne, stone circles, and kurhany, barrows or burial mounds. It is debatable which prehistoric culture built the circles and stone settings, however, study of the complex of Odry proved the circles to be interrelated, incorporating accurate solar and lunar alignments geared to important seasonal dates. The presence of ancestral remains confirms the sacredness of the sites, which conceiveably also served as Moot or Thing sites, when communal or tribal interests were discussed. Such is substantiated by the discovery, at a circle complex, of a ceremonial Staff of Office, capped by a sphere that may have been held by a king-priest or shaman. Staffs like this are reminiscent of measuring rods and in medieval times, of royal staffs and judges' rods. Visiting the circles covered in a winter blanket of sparkling snow was an experience of intense, silent beauty.

El uted (the pointer), Msoursa, Morocco 1980
Etching, 7/16
10 1/4" x 14 3/4" (Image) 14 1/2" x 18 1/4" (Paper)
$350

This etching is one of a series of prints about Msoura, or Mzora, meaning Holy Place, which is situated near the hamlet of Sidi-el-Yamani, in the region of Tetuan, Morocco, North Africa. This intriguing site became known to the West only after 1830. The Berber people of the Maghreb ascribed the enigmatic megaliths as having been the work of the Djouhalas, pre-Islamic pagan giants, and the Ghouls, ogres and magicians. The Giant's Ring of Msoura is formed by a large, despoiled tumulus (possibly the sephulchre of a pagan Berber king), and is kerbed by a contiguous, elliptical ring of upright stones. The southeast sector features an abutting, internal parapet walk made of uprights covered over by flat lintel slabs. During my visit in 1978, I counted 175 menhirs - most of which have been broken at about half their height - surrounding the tumulus, of which the major axis measures 196 feet. The tallest monolith, tapering 18 feet (c. 5.5 meters) high, is called El Uted (or El Outed) meaning 'The Pointer"; it stands at the west side of the ellipse indicating an equinoctial orientation.

The elliptical ring of standing stones is surrounded by a secondary, outer ring made up of tiny, contiguous stones embedded in the earth. This stone setting opens at the west side forming an angular enclosure or forecourt. Directly adjacent and in front of this is another, trapezoidal enclosure filled with rubble which may possibly have held an observation platform. To the north of the mound are a number of large, fallen outliers, which are surrounded by straight contiguous settings of small stones. There is, in addition, further north, an artificial earthen platform that possibly served as an observation and signal station. The major axis of the Msoura ellipse is oriented to the 867 meters high summit of Jbel si Habib, the highest mountain on the horizon.

Along Wad Ayacha river was an ancient settlement, Kouass, where there was an ancient edifice with a platform from which the arrival of sea voyagers could conceivably have been announced; the sea level was significantly higher in the Bronze Age. The Berbers defeated the Spanish army and when the Spanish archaeologist, Cesar Louis de Montalban, opened the tumulus in 1935-36 during the Spanish Civil War, he was soon arrested. I found evidence of holes drilled into the stones at about half their height enabling the upper part to be pulled down. The site is presently under the care of the Inspector of Historical and Antique Monuments of Morocco.

Ggantija Stone 1981
Etching, 5/12
17 1/2" x 11 " (Image) 19 1/2" x 13" (Paper)
$350

Near Xagra, on the island of Gozo, a sister island of Malta, are ruins of the Ggantija temples. Situated in view of tabletop mountains, the temple walls are gigantic, as if built by giants, hence the Maltese name. These are two transepted temples containing elaborate altars with blocks carved in relief spiral decorations; doorways were constructed by cutting large holes in some of the slabs. The interior walls of the temple were originally plastered and painted red of which traces remain. The temples are surrounded by a common outer wall built with globerigina and corraline limestone that was quarried elsewhere since no such stone exits in the area.

Mnajdra the sun temple 1981
Etching, 5/12
9" x 12" (Image) 13" x 16 1/2" (Paper)
$350

Mnajdra, one of the marvels of megalthic Europe, is a complex of three abutting temples in golden globerigina limestone, overlooking the sea on the island of Malta. The first, and smaller temple was dated to 3600 B.C. and at its extreme end sits a ruined dolmen. There is an outside terrace, carved doorways and elaborate altars within the transepted temples. The third temple contains an oracle chamber set in the thickness of the walls. The temple was likely to have been roofed and this may be substantiated by an engraving of a roofed building on an upright block near the entrance. Wedged in a corner near the trilithon entrance, is a fine, rare libation stone with a receptacle of blueish hardstone. A view of the third temple may be seen through one of two trilithon entrances finding its main axis is oriented towards a line of worn, forgotten standing stones that form an alignment indicating the equinox sunrise. This sunrise lights the apex of a triangle engraved on a floorslab and then the light illuminates only the altar at the far end of the temple. I was told to leave the area before finishing my research because of oncoming explosions in quarrying work on the hill behind the temples. This blasting continues today destroying the sanctity of the temples and is bound to disturb the ruins. I have notified the International Committee on Monuments and Sites that works with UNESCO and the President of Malta, all to no avail.

Hagar qim 1983
Etching, 2/10
9" x 11 3/4" (Image) 13 1/4" x 15 1/2" (Paper)
$275

Hagar Qim is a large complex of megalithic temples with pillar altars and betyl stones near the Mnajdra temples on Malta. The orthostats in the outer wall are among the largest and most impressive of all the Maltese temples. Within the temple with transepts were also limestone blocks carved with oculus spirals. The border of the print is derived from a Maltese megalithic design. It is striking how the curves of the temple transepts conform to the outlines of the squat, divine Mother Goddess to whom the temples are dedicated.