Whether you’re a “new age” type of person or not, some places have a mystical quality. Look, we’re not talking auras, or ley lines. What we’re saying is, whether you believe in that sort of stuff are not, some places, when you experience them in person, give off a sense of being more than what they are. Sure, some could say you’re just picking that up from the people around you, but honestly. Perhaps it’s just a sense of the site’s history, or the mystery surrounding its origin. Suffice it to say, some places are mystical.
Stonehenge
Stonehenge image via Wikipedia
If you’re going to do a list of mystical places then you have to include Stonehenge. The place has been used as a ritual site for over ten thousand years. The Stonehenge as we know it, however, began construction sometime around five thousand years ago. The function of Stonehenge remains its greatest mystery. The most common known guess is it is an ancient astronomical observatory. Others have suggested it is a places of death or healing. The most likely guess possibly encompasses all of these, that the site has been used for multiple purposes.
Pyramids
Pyramids image via wikipedia
Mention “mystical places” to anyone in the western world, and they’ll probably bring up the Egyptian Pyramids. The one pyramid most of us are familiar with is also the largest, The Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. It is also the only wonder of the “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World” to exist today. The practical use for the Egyptian pyramids is well known. They were burial monuments, tombs. Their theological purpose, however, is still up for debate. Some believe they represent the rays of the sun. When they were new, the pyramids were smooth and bright. They would have even seemed luminescent at a distance. The pyramids could also have been built to assist with sending their deceased occupants into the afterlife.
Moai
Moai image via wikipedia
And what are “Moai”, you may ask? They’re the famous statues on Easter Island. These monolithic human statues were carved between the years 1250 and 1500. While most refer to these statues as the Easter Island Heads, this is a misnomer as the statues are actually full bodied or at least go down to their hips. The heads do, however, take up 3/5 of the statue, and many are also buried up to their shoulders, which explains inaccuracy. The statues are believed to represent specific ancestors and chiefs. While all of the statues were standing upright when the island was discovered by the western world, sometime during 1722 and 1868, civil war broke out among the island’s natives and many of the statues were toppled over. Today, many have been restored, and several have been taken to museums.
Nazca Lines
Nazca Lines image via wikipedia
If you’ve ever heard of ancient drawing drawn on the ground that could only be viewed from high up in the sky, these are them. The Nazca lines, found in Nazca Desert in Peru, were created between 200 BC and 700 AD. Their purpose, to this day, remains unknown, although there are several guesses. The most popular guess is that the geoglyphs were created to be viewed by gods who dwelled in the sky. Others suggest that various lines on the glyphs point in specific directions, towards celestial bodies on the horizon. Another suggestion is that the geoglyphs are purely ritual in nature. The lines were created by removing the reddish pebbles that cover the Nazca Desert, revealing the whitish ground beneath.
Temple Mount
Temple Mount and Dome of the Rock via Wikipedia
One would be hard pressed to find a more contested religious site than Temple Mount. The Jewish faith believes that this is where the world began, where God collected the dust to create Adam. The site is considered so holy that many Jews will not set foot on the site. So why is it contested? Because Temple Mount is sacred to the Muslims as well for an entire different reason. The Islamic faith believes that this was the site from which Muhammad left our world and ascended into heaven. Built on the Temple Mount is the Dome of the Rock, the oldest existing Islamic building in the world.
Bodhi Tree
Bodhi Tree image via wikipedia
In Buddhism, it is believed that Buddha received enlightenment after spending 49 days meditating beneath a tree. This is that tree—well, a descendent of it… or a clone. It is all very complicated. Suffice it to say, the original Bodhi tree is firmly believed to be very much genetically alive as several of its clones have been planted (by planting branches and seeds, etc.) since ancient times. There is a temple at the location of the original tree. Within the United States, a clone of the Bodhi Tree exists within an arboretum located in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Atlantis
Mythical Painting of Atlantis
Not real? A complete work of fantasy? Perhaps that makes this place the most mystical of all. One might even describe the lost city of Atlantis as “Biblical” if they wanted to go the whole “lost paradise” route. First mentioned in Plato’s Timaeus and Critias, all information we have on Atlantis ultimately originate from these two sources. As the original story goes, Atlantis was an island nation and rival of Athens. Athens ultimately won their ongoing war, and at a later time Atlantis sunk beneath the sea due to a great earthquake. To this day, some people believe the story is fact and search for the lost nation’s location.
The Internet
data strem
Yes, that’s right. The internet, that thing you’re using right now. Sure it’s just ones and zeroes, but you could say many of the places above are just rocks and plants. Still not buying it? Fine. Consider this… think of the first time you saw the internet first hand and realized what it was. Compare that to the reaction you might have to bearing first hand witness to one of the sites above. The internet is pure science, but there is a ghost in its machine. It is more than just the sum of its parts.
Whether it be lines in the sand, a mythical realm, an ancient building, or even a world changing technology, the mystical nature of some places can’t be denied. One can only imagine sites that are commonplace today, which may be mystical to our ancestors in a few thousand years.
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