Ancient Pyramids Explained
Because they rise into the heavens, several mountains, and high places, in the Early World, were sacred and were associated with the gods. The Phoenicians worshipped in high open places on mountains and in China there are temples on mountain tops. Fuji, Japan’s highest mountain, is regarded as sacred and in Greece, Mount Olympus was said to be the home of the gods. In Athens, the Parthenon, which was dedicated to the goddess Athena, stood on the Acropolis above the surrounding city. In the British Isles, pre-historic burial mounds were often sited on the summit of hills and in a monastery in Dubrovnik, Croatia, to save time on his Afterlife journey? a man had his tomb built high on the side of a wall for him to be nearer to heaven when he died.
In Central Asia there are legends of a mythical mountain called Meru which rises from the surrounding ocean in the centre of the world. In physical form it’s associated with 22,000 ft. high Kailas in Western Tibet in the Himalayas range which is sacred to Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains. Dedicated pilgrims endure hardships when they travel to it over rugged and dangerous terrain. In Hindu Bali, Meru is identified with the Mount Agung. This is the highest point on this lovely island and the home of the mother temple Besakih where important religious festivals take place. The World Mountain, or Primeval Mound, has also been represented in the form of a pyramid whose watery features, or surrounding moat, show that it has emerged from the surrounding oceans. Examples are Angkor Wat in Cambodia and certain pyramids in Central and South America. Another Primeval Mound is the mysterious Silbury Hill in England. But that’s another fascinating story. There are also pyramids which incorporate World Mountain symbolism but without water. These are found in Egypt, Asia, and Central America.
Chichen Itza pyramid, Mexico (Image credit: Bruce Fenton).
Some people created their own high places in the form of pyramids and platform mounds. Pyramids, of varying shapes and sizes, are found in many parts of the world including on remote islands such as the Azores in the Atlantic, in the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, and in Polynesia. These structures, which are sometimes astronomically aligned, were usually made with stone and earth and they were used for different purposes. Some pyramids were tombs for important people whilst others were religious monuments or high places where priests conducted their rituals above the congregation gathered below. These ceremonies would usually have taken place on major religious festivals. Some North American mound builders constructed earth platform mounds on which there were temples and chiefs’ houses. This raised them above their people. Human sacrifices took place on some of the New World pyramids such as on the Teocalli, (known to the Spaniards as, the Templo Mayor.), in Aztec Tenochtitlan where thousands of prisoners had their hearts ripped out and their bloody bodies thrown down the pyramid’s steps. Human sacrifices have been found in the Moche Pyramid of the Moon, in Peru, and in pyramids in Teotihuacan.
Throughout the Early World, people had legends of a great being who civilised their ancestors. Although he had human form, he was often associated with a snake from which he ‘emerged’. The Maya called him Kukulcan (Feathered Serpent) and at the pyramid/temple at Chichen Itza, in the Yucatan, Mexico, they celebrated his return on the equinox when the sun created the impression of a serpent descending from the pyramid’s summit. The Aztecs called him Quetzalcoatl which also means The Feathered Serpent. His temple at Tenochtitlan, 300 ft. from the Templo Mayor pyramid, was a circular structure on a pyramidal base and its entrance had the form of the open jaws of a serpent. This temple was aligned to the Templo Mayor on the equinox sunrise and it’s likely that a priest, representing Quetzalcoatl, emerged from the ‘god’s circular temple, at that time, enacting his return. There was a circular temple, dedicated to Quetzalcoatl, on the summit of the Tipanipa pyramid in Cholula-the largest pyramid, in size, in the world. The Spaniards destroyed the temple and replaced it with the present day church.
The Egyptian counterpart of Quetzalcoatl was known as Osiris and, for those interested, I have explained his link with the serpent and the Great Pyramid in my book The Pleiades Legacy (The Old World). Also covered are the many other pyramids of Egypt and those of Babylon and Assyria.
by Leonard Farra author of the Pleiades Legacy series.
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