Hopewell Archaeoastronomy, Lunar Alignments
“The highly advanced ancient civilization, called the Hopewell Mound Builders, that flourished in the heartland of North America from about 300 B.C. to 400 AD built massive earth structures unparalleled in human history. What is even more incredible is that they built them in alignment with astronomical objects…such as the moon. Encoded in these earthworks are eight separate lunar alignments that envelope its entire 18.6 year cycle! They demonstrated their knowledge of the solar system, geometry and mathematics through the building of these massive earthen structures. This is astounding new information that may support the claims of the Book of Mormon (see Omni:21).
Ancient Mesoamerican worship revolved around the Sun and not the Moon like it is with the Jews and the Native Americans. “Maya astronomers had the ability to predict and mark the passage of the seasons by observing the movements of the Sun along the horizon, or the Sun’s movements with respect to the pyramids and other temples. The Sun and its cycles are the foundation for Maya calendar keeping.” Rod Meldrum
The Newark Earthworks below, built between 100 A.D. to 100 A.D.,* originally encompassed more than four square miles. Taken as a whole, the earthworks appear to symbolize elements of the Plan of Salvation and Redemption
- Pre-Mortal Life as spirits being born with a…
- Veil of Forgetfulness to begin mortal…
- Earth life: “the four corners of the earth”
- Direct path after death to a higher kingdom
- Spirit Prison (holding area for the wicked)
- Paradise (Gospel preached to the dead)
- Vicarious Path with multiple check points
- Lake of Filthy Water (worldly temptations)
- Terrestrial Kingdom (cf. 1 Cor. 15:40) The Seal of Melchizedek consists of two interlocked (or overlapping) squares, making what appears to be an eight-pointed star within the octagon.
- Celestial Kingdom (narrow path entered only through the realm of the Melchizedek Priesthood)
The “Sun” is the Mayan Calendar Tradition
The cycles of celestial bodies, particularly the Sun, form the basis of the Maya calendar. It is no coincidence then that the word for Sun, day, and time are the same, or are very similar to each other in all Mayan languages. To keep track of time, the Maya observed and recorded the yearly cycles of the Sun; including the times of equinoxes, solstices, and the zenith and nadir passages. Sunlight and shadows, as well as the position of the Sun during sunrise and sunset, are recorded in the architecture of the magnificent pyramids, palaces, and other structures of ancient Maya cities to this day. These special times of the year were celebrated with pomp and ceremony in ancient times; and, today, thousands of people, both Maya and non-Maya, visit archaeological sites and witness the relationship between the Sun and the structures of these monumental cities. Source
The “Moon” is the American Indian & Jewish Calendar Tradition
“The religious belief and ceremonies of the Indians that I propose showing some of the evidences of their being, as it is believed, the descendants of the dispersed tribes.” This opinion is founded —
1st. In their belief in one God.
2d. In the computation of time by their ceremonies of the new moon.
3d. In their divisions of the year in four seasons, answering to the Jewish festivals of the feast of flowers, the day of atonement, the feast of the tabernacle, and other religious holydays.
4th. In the erection of a temple after the manner of our temple, and having an ark of the covenant, and also the erection of altars.
5th. By the division of the nation into tribes with a chief or grand sachem at their head.
6th. By their laws of sacrifices, ablutions, marriages; ceremonies in war and peace, the prohibitions of eating certain things, fully carrying out the Mosaic institutions; — by their traditions, history, character, appearance, affinity of their language to the Hebrew, and finally, by that everlasting covenant of heirship exhibited in a perpetual transmission of its seal in their flesh.
If I shall be able to satisfy your doubts and curiosity on these points, you will certainly rejoice with me in discovering that the dispersed of the chosen people are not the lost ones — that the promises held out to them have been thus far realized, and that all the prophecies relative to their future destination will in due time be strictly fulfilled.
It has been the general impression, as before mentioned, that great resemblance existed between some of the religious rites of the Jews, and the peculiar ceremonies of the Indians ; and the belief in one great spirit has tended to strengthen the impression ; yet this mere resemblance only extended so far as to admit of the belief, that they possibly may have descended from the dispersed tribes, or may have been of Tartar or Malay origin.” Discourse of the Evidences of the American Indians Being the Descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel. By Mordecai M. Noah page 2-3
As you see by reading this scripture in Omni, the Nephites used the counting of moons as the Jews did. “And they gave an account of one Coriantumr, and the slain of his people. And Coriantumr was discovered by the people of Zarahemla; and he dwelt with them for the space of nine moons.” Omni 1:21
OBSERVING THE LAW OF MOSES IN THE BOOK OF MORMON
Nephi recounted when commanded to obtain the Plates of Brass: “Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the Law of Moses, save they should have the Law. And I also knew that the Law was engraven upon the Plates of Brass” – 1 Nephi 4:15-16. The Law of Moses was instituted to bring the children of Israel to Christ, “And for this intent we keep the Law of Moses, it pointing our souls to Him” – Jacob 4:5. The Law provided for seasonal holy ceremonial assemblies whereby specific items were symbolically used to focus the people’s actions and thoughts on the role the Holy One of Israel (Jesus Christ) had on their salvation (see pp. 15, 142, 144, 169 and 300). The Prophet and Historian Mormon, when reviewing the history on the Large Plates of Nephi, noted that “…the Lamanites did observe strictly to keep the commandments of God according to the Law of Moses.” (Helaman. 13:1; p. 369). Joseph Smith wrote in his Church History to Mr. John Wentworth, “The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century. The remnant [the conquering Lamanites] are the Indians that now inhabit this country.” (See p. 551.) Mordecai M. Noah (1785-1851), a prominent Jewish lay leader published his, “Discourse of the Evidences of the American Indians Being the Descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel,” New York, James Van Norden, 1837-39
He [Mordecai Noah] based his discourse on their religious beliefs and seasonal ceremonies, “In their divisions of the year in four seasons, answering to the Jewish festivals of the feast of flowers [Feast of Weeks; see p. 300], the day of atonement, the feast of the tabernacle, and other religious holydays,” and, “by their laws of sacrifices, ablutions, marriages; ceremonies in war and peace, the prohibitions of eating certain things, fully carrying out the Mosaic institutions.” (p. 8.) He writes, “The most sacred fast day uniformly kept by the Jews is the day of Atonement, usually falling in the month of September or in early October…Precisely such a fast, with similar motives, and nearly at the same period of the year, is kept by the Indian natives generally…[James] Adair (see p. 544) stat[ed] the strict manner in which the [American heartland] Indians observe the revolutions of the moon, and describing the feast of the harvest, and the first offerings of the fruits, gives a long account of the preparations of putting their temple in proper order for the great day of atonement, which he fixes at the time when the corn is fully eared and ripe, generally in the latter end of September.” (p. 14.)
MODERN MOONRISE CELEBRATIONS
Hively and Horn’s discoveries about the Octagon’s alignments were first published in the 1980s. Brad Lepper and Jeff Gill were soon calculating when the 18.6-year cycle would bring the moonrise back to its perfect axial position. Historian Gill explains:
We were looking at getting to be the first people in 1500 years to go and watch something happen in a place and in a way that it was originally intended to do…. And so there we stood, on the central alignment, and looking along where those walls said to us, whispered across the centuries: “There it will happen.” And when it did, it was just one of the most memorable moments of my life…. And, you know, that’s the kind of stuff that you get involved in archaeology to do, which is to just reach across the centuries and have that human contact.
Now that the moonrise alignments have been re-discovered here, there have been increasing numbers of celebrations. A group of Native Americans came for the 2005 maximum moonrise, and went out into the Octagon. Dick Shiels recalls:
We got to the site and there was this mist: you couldn’t see the walls of the earthworks, let alone the moon. But we had brought a Lakota spiritual leader from South Dakota, who led us in. We had brought Native singers from around the state who led us in. We walked into the center of the octagon. The Native leader sang and prayed, we stood there in the mist unable to see anything at all for about a half an hour, and as we walked back I saw 50-year-old college professors with tears running down their faces. It was a tremendously moving experience. Those of us who have been planning these things have learned a great deal, we’ve learned to appreciate how fully these sites are Native sites, and so we have included more Native speakers, and more of a Native perspective… Source
Hopewell Earthworks explanations by Dr. Bradley Leper
Dr. Bradley Leper and the curator of the Ohio Historical Center in Columbus talk of the different kinds of mounds and ceremonial earthen structures associated with the ancient Hopewell Mound Builder civilization that was incredibly highly advanced…as advanced as any society of their time period! They built roads, massive earth structures aligned with astronomical objects such as the moon, they used metals and were an agrarian culture. Their archaeological time frame matches incredibly closely with the Nephite civilization of the Book of Mormon. If you come with Rod Meldrum on a tour of these areas, you will visit the actual locations that they are pointing out in the video! Join us on an unforgettable tour of the proposed lands of the Book of Mormon nestled in the heartland of North America!
“The world’s largest earthen temple complex is located in Newark, Ohio (see p. 250 of the Annotated book of Mormon). The central axis of the portion known as the Great Octagon (Fig. 9 on p. 250) is fixed at 58.1 degrees east of true north which is the azimuth for the maximum northern moonrise. This event occurs only once every 18.6 years. The moonrise for Saturday, October 3rd, A.D. 33 was in alignment with the central line of the earthwork. At this time the Calendar of Moses required the Children of Israel to gather at the temple. On the rising of the sun of the next morning, the Nephites gathered at the temple in Bountiful (3 Nephi 11:1, p. 399) to observe the 7th day of the Feasts of Tabernacles. This alignment points to Christ coming to the Nephites in His resurrected glory on this day” – John C. Lefgren, Ph.D. “Joseph Smith” by Danquart Anthon Weggeland (March 31, 1827 – June 2, 1918)
