Honoring the Goddess in All Her Forms,
God in All His, and
Transcendence Beyond All Forms
Introduction || Listing || Spiritual Paths || Search || In Situ: Megalithic Websites || Resources
Introduction
Welcome to Standing Stones of Worship, dedicated to sharing spiritual reflections, information, and links to other websites which may be of interest. These include sites dedicated to ancient monuments and temples, world religions and alternative spiritual paths, and education, as well as links to search engines such as Yahoo!
Throughout the ages people have responded to the wonder of being in innumerable ways, ways of worship, ways of invocation, ways of transcendence, ways of philosophical insight and artistic invention. Since the earliest creation of superfluous beauty beyond practical function in an superbly carved spearhead several times too large to be remotely useful (other than as an object of beauty and, perhaps, worship), since the ceremonial worship of cave bear skulls as seen in situ sites undisturbed for tens of thousands of years, since the first human burials a hundred thousand years ago, our sense of wonder, of awe, and of worship has found expression.
The Listing
As a teacher of English and Humanities courses including Tales and Legends and Introduction to World Religions, as a writer of fiction and poetry and articles based in part on the monuments of prehistoric Britain and in part on many other approaches to divine wonder, and as a practitioner of yoga, meditation, and philosophical enquiry for over 25 years, I am always seeking new expressions of divine wonder. On this page I present links to some of the websites I have discovered where ideas and insights are always expanding. This is by no means a complete nor a sanctioned listing; it will change from time to time; it does not advocate any particular approach(es) nor condemn any; it reflects no affiliation with the sources (whether in fact any affiliation in any sense does exist or not); in short, it is simply my gathering, at this time, of sites which I think you may well be interested in if you find the subjects discussed here interesting.
In Situ:
Ancient Monuments and Megalithic Websites
Stone
Pages. An awesome collection of high resolution photos
of a great many
ancient stone monuments throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland, including
many less well known sites. Excellent information about each site, including
map reference and historical/legendary detail. Glossary, image map of sites,
a subjective but insightful site evaluation chart. Outstanding
links. (Photo © Diego Meozzi.)
English Heritage - Home Page. The homepage of the English Heritage Society, the agency which has responsibility for Stonehenge, Avebury, and innumerable other ancient sites throughout England. Visit here, especially before you visit there!
The Wiltshire Web. Wilshire County is the home of Stonehenge and Avebury and a great many other wonderful places, from the Stone Age to the Modern Period.
Save Stonehenge. Most of these sites focus on Stonehenge's past, or visiting it today. This site provides an updated chronology about what's being done to preserve Stonehenge. A vital site, maintained by the Council for British Archaeology.
MYTHING LINKS: PRE-HISTORIC PERIOD: Paleolithic to Bronze Age Europe. This is a subset of Kathleen Jenks' marvelous and comprehensive Mything Links website, "An Annotated &Illustrated Collection of Worldwide Links to Mythologies, Fairy Tales &Folklore, Sacred Arts &Traditions," compiled and maintained by Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D., Mythological Studies Department at Pacifica Graduate Institute (see complete description below). This section explores prehistoric Europe, with many links related to neolithic culture.
Stonehenge VR. Check it out, but only if you're running Windows 95 (or so they say).
Stonehenge—the Truth? A fascinating site, rich with information regarding Stonehenge.
The Stonehenge Association. The Stonehenge Association can sometimes arrange special access passes for you to be able to go into the stone circles.
Photos of Prehistoric Sites in Britain.
Stonehenge Revisited. Prepared for Alworth Institute talk on November 2, 1995 by Frank Simmonds.
Stonehenge: Clones and Metaphorms. catherine yronwode's unique site which examines the replicas and "metaphorms" (archetectural or scupltural variations on a theme using form metaphorically, as in the sacred landscape of Stonehenge and other ancient sites) of Stonehenge which have been created in the United States.
The Buckingham Gate Events. Their site is intricate, with numerous links to events and shopping in Britain, including a couple of good stone monuments pages like this one on Stonehenge.
Ancient Sites of Britain - Stonehenge, Avebury and other Stone Circles
The Ancient Ways Stone Circle Directory Title Page
Buttered Stonehenge. How it was really built!?
Megaliths, stone circles, menhirs, dolmens - a picture database
Religion and
Spiritual Paths
MYTHING LINKS: An Annotated &Illustrated Collection of Worldwide Links to Mythologies, Fairy Tales &Folklore, Sacred Arts &Traditions, compiled and maintained by Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D., Mythological Studies Department at Pacifica Graduate Institute. A marvelous compilation of links to all things mythological, from the deep past to living traditions today. You can wander happily here for hours, exploring traditions from around the world and throughout time. I have also provided a direct link to the section of her website dealing with prehistoric Britain, above.
(Note: Kathleen Jenks is a "cyberfriend" whom I have come to know through many email exchanges on matters both mythological and technical, from artistic considerations to html programming. She combines a wonderful enthusiasm with academic depth and scope. Enjoy your visit!)
50 Religions, Faith Groups, & Ethical Systems. Perhaps the most complete internet listing of major and minor religious traditions in the world today.
Mysticism in World Religions. A rich site with numerous links to sites focusing on mystical traditions in the major world religious traditions.
Religious Resources on the Net. Site contains 3545 listings in 173 categories as of April 9, 1999.
Buddhism. Numerous links to Buddhist sources, sites, and traditions.
The Diocese of Partenia. Homepage of the social activist Bishop Jacques Gaillot whose diocese (Evreux, France) was taken away by the Pope and replaced with the nonexistent diocese of Partenia (an bit of the Sahara uninhabited since the 5th century). Home of the electronic catechism.
Friends of Siddha Yoga. A site dedicated to the teachings of Bhagawan Nityananda, Swami Muktananda and Gurumayi Chidvilasananda. As the authors state, "the information expressed here is the opinion of independent authors"; it is, therefore, not an official site of the Siddha Yoga Dham of America (SYDA). (Swami) MUKTANANDA, (Swami) CHIDVILASANANDA, GURUMAYI, SIDDHA YOGA, AND SIDDHA MEDITATION are registered trademarks of the SYDA Foundation®.
Dalai Lama Homepage. Dedicated to the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and living in exile since the communist Chinese takeover of Tibet in the 1950s.
Church of All Worlds (CAW). Inspired by Robert A. Heinlein's groundbreaking science fiction novel Stranger in A Strange Land and one of the leading proponents of NeoPaganism. This site offers a wide range of additional links, and a wonderfully laid out site for those with Netscape 2.0 and Java capabilities (also sites for those without the added features).
Moonstorm: Three Liberal Religious Traditions. One of the many essays you can access through CAW, I found this one provides an insightful examination of Unitarian Universalism, Siddha Yoga, and the Church of All Worlds.
General
Search
Yahoo! What more need I say? Probably my favorite search engine.
Infoseek. They claim the "Web's largest directory" and their salesmark is "Proof of intelligent life on the net." Could be; they let you search the web by asking questions in plain English.
Galaxy. "The professional's guide to a world of information." Indeed. A very powerful search engine.
IPL The Internet Public Library. What it is. And you don't even need a library card.
AstroWeb: Astronomical Internet Resources. A fascinating metapage for extensive astronomical data.
New Riders World Wide Web Yellow Pages. They call it "the mother of searches" and it provides extensive search capabilities, by category, keyword, or site name. You may also want to visit Macmillan Publishing USA, the "parent" site of New Riders WWW Yellow Pages and homepage of the reference and computer publishing divisions of Simon & Schuster.
Resources:
being a compendium of useful references for the comparative
study of religion
General Studies
Eliade, Mircea, and Ioan P. Couliano. The Eliade Guide to World Religions. San Francisco: Harper, 1991.
Griffiths, Bede, ed. Universal Wisdom: A Journey Through the Sacred Wisdom of the World. London: Harper Fount, 1994.
Hick, John H. Philosophy of Religion. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1973.
James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature. New York: Collir Macmillan, 1961.
Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects. New York: Doubleday, 1994.
Panati, Charles. Sacred Origins of Profound Things. New York: Penquin Arkana, 1996.
Reese, W.L. Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion. New Jersey: Humanities Press, 1980.
Smith, Huston. Essays on World Religion. M. Darrol Bryant, ed. New York: Paragon House, 1992.
Vardey, Lucinda, ed. God in All Worlds: An Anthology of Contemporary Spiritual Writing. New York: Pantheon, 1995.
Walker, Barbara G. The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets. San Francisco: Harper, 1983.
Biblical Studies: Jewish, Christian, and/or Islamic
Armstrong, Karen. A History of God. New York: Knopf, 1994.
Borg, Marcus, ed. The Lost Gospel Q: The Original Sayings of Jesus. Berkeley: Ulysses Press, 1996.
Guillaumont, A., et al., trans. The Gospel According to Thomas. New York: Harper & Row, 1959.
Kugel, James L. The Bible As It Was. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press, 1997.
Metzger, Bruce M. and Michael D. Coogan, eds. The Oxford Companion to the Bible. New York: Oxford UP, 1993.
Rosenberg, David. Congregation: Contemporary Writers Read the Jewish Bible. San Diego: Harvest/HBJ, 1987.
Thiede, Carsten Peter and Matthew D'Ancona. Eyewitness to Jesus. New York: Doubleday, 1996.
Judaism
Buber, Martin. I and Thou. New York: Scribner's, 1970.
Cooper, Rabbi David A. God Is a Verb. New York: Riverhead Books, 1997.
De Lange, Nicholas, ed. The Illustrated History of the Jewish People. New York: Harcourt, 1997.
Fellner, Judith B. In the Jewish Tradition: A Year of Food and Festivities. New York: Smithmark, 1995.
Ganz, Yaffa. The Jewish Fact Finder. Jerusalem: Feldheim, 1988.
Scholem, Gershom G. Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism. New York: Schocken, 1974.
Telushkin, Rabbi Joseph. Jewish Literacy. New York: William Morrow, 1991.
Wiesel, Elie. Night. Toronto: Bantam, 1982. (Recommended: Any book by Wiesel, including A Testament.)
Christianity
Catechism of the Catholic Church. New York: Doubleday Image, 1995.
Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity, Surprised by Joy, The Great Divorce: all are highly recommended.
Maccoby, Hyam. The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity. San Francisco: Harper & Row Perennial, 1988.
Mayotte, Ricky Alan. The Complete Jesus. South Royalton, Vermont: Steerforth Press, 1997. (Purports to collect all the sayings attributed to Jesus, from Gospel to Apochryphal sources.)
Pope John Paul II. Crossing the Threshold of Hope. New York: Knopf, 1995.
Sheldrake, Philip. Living Between Worlds: Place and Journey in Celtic Spirituality. London: Darton, 1995.
More will follow!
All material on this and other Standing Stone Designs web pages copywrite © Ernest Black 1998 unless otherwise noted. This page updated 25 January 1998.
