Weris

an amazing megalithic center

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     Megalithic sites are a mystery for archeologists. They were originally thought to have been built by primitive cave people with stone tools for the purpose of bloody rituals. Well, this reflects more the state of mind of the archeologists than what megalithic sites are about. The more we study them the more we find that they are much older than we thought, and that they have been built by a people with a high level of astronomical knowledge and a sophisticated technology. One of those sites is Weris in Belgium.

     Weris, a small village in the Belgian Ardennes, lies at 50°N 20’ latitude and 5°E 32’ longitude. When I first visited Weris to explore its megalithic stones, the place was still virtually unknown, except for a few archeologists and a couple of esoteric seekers like myself. Some twenty years ago the town board made a flier for tourists and a couple of road signs were set up for the few most accessible sites. There is just no interest from the academic world in this little corner of the world.

     Archeological digs in the early 1900’s had not revealed that much, and it wasn’t until much later that some unorthodox people discovered more megalithic stones, uncovered their intricate relationships between sites, and came to the conclusion that Weris once was a vast megalithic center for religious ceremonies, astronomical observations, fertilization of the crops, healing of people and manipulation of the Earth’s energies. It is not an understatement that, in ancient times, Weris might well have been the most important megalithic center in Europe. I visited Weris several times and have spent some time with those ancient stones, some of them are virtually unknown and well hidden.

This photo was taken the day after the spring equinox. The locals had painted the stone white with chalk, and left the broom behind.

Let’s start at the "White Menhir" which is… not a menhir at all. On one of my visits I found a broom and a load of beer bottles that had been left behind, having arrived the day after the yearly local tradition of painting this "menhir" with white chalk. The White Menhir is on top of a small, rocky hill. Nowadays it is surrounded by trees, but once it must have been visible for miles. The White Menhir is a piece of rock, 3 meters high, 1 meter wide and has an inclination of 45° pointing to the East. The local population still calls it with the ancient name "Pierre Haina", meaning "Stone of the Ancients" in both Celtic and Breton. There are a couple of strange things with this apparently natural rock formation. The stone was not placed on top of the hill. No, the top of the hill was chiseled away leaving an outcrop that became the White Menhir. Who would go to such a lengths to sculpture a hill top? (1)

The Devil's Bed at the foot of the hill. Notice the smoothness of the horizontal stone. It is 2.45 m long, 1.45 m wide and 0.6 m high.

A legend tells of the White Menhir to be a seal of an immense deep tunnel going straight to the center of the earth. Usually the term "center, or navel, of the earth, or world" indicates a power spot, an important energy center. On certain nights, a mysterious being (according to the Church it is the devil himself) lifts up the "menhir" and flies around above the fields. After all that aerial activity he descends onto the "Lit du Diable", or "the Devil’s Bed", a megalithic construction at the bottom of the hill, consisting of a horizontal flat stone on top of two other stones, with a small vertical stone at the head of the "bed". This strange being would then rest until the rooster crows and then flies back to the White Menhir to disappear into the tunnel and seal it off again.

Well, we have a special energy spot here, a mysterious being that can fly and a tunnel that leads to an underground realm. Although I didn’t feel anything special at the White Menhir itself, one day at the Devil’s Bed I got quite dizzy, I almost felt drunk. The woman who was with me, experienced the same thing but she had felt it at the White Menhir too. The earth's energies were probably at a peak that time.

While on top of the hill, I walked away from the White Menhir, crossed the "Castle" (more about this will follow), and went a couple of steps down the hill. There I discovered a small depression in the rock. It was round, about three feet in diameter, one feet deep, and it was filled up with dirt. It looked man-made. I had not read about this feature and I think it still unknown to other people. I was strangely attracted to it. I was psyching it out and finally stepped into it to have a better feel. I felt that at one point in time it used to be a vertical air shaft to an underground realm. It had been closed of long time ago, and was now functioning as an energy shaft. A certain type of energy was being drawn inside. After only half a minute I just couldn’t stand there anymore, I had to get out of it. I had the strong impression that the beings in that underground realm did not want anybody blocking the energy flow. Those beings were of the gnome type, that is Little People. There are different types of Little People and I can’t tell you what type is living there. So I left it for what it was and strolled around a bit more, while my friend was doing the same. We always would scout around by ourselves to see what we could find. We would not talk to each other or interfere with each other until we were done. When we came back together she had found the feature and had the same impressions about it. It was a surprise to me to come up with this information, as I had not paid much attention to the legend. (2)

The top of the hill with the White Menhir at the far end, and the "Castle" at the right.

Let’s go back to the White Menhir. On a small distance, but still on the same top of the hill is the so-called "Castle", a natural elevation of rock. Legend tells us that in ancient times there was a castle on this place that for some reason sunk into the ground. Once every so many years the castle rises up again for one night. On this natural elevation a depression the size of a human being has been chiseled away. When one lies down in this depression, looking towards the White Menhir, one notices a V-shape sight as from a rifle.

This is the front of the Castle, the White Menhir is behind your back. At the point of the arrow is V-shape indentation in the rock.

Here are on top of the Castle, lying down in an depression looking through the V-shaped sight, with the top of the White Menhir lined up.

If you imagine the trees not being there, and you bring the top of the White Menhir in the V-shaped sight one will see in the same straight line the "Allee Couverte Nord", a well-known dolmen about 1500 m (about 450 feet) further down in a field. The ancients just loved to line up those sites. This is just the beginning! From the V-shaped sight one looks to the geographic West, this is the point of sun set at the equinox, when night and day are equally long (around 22 March and 22 September). (Equinox line in dark red on map below). What started out as a strange rock formation now turns out to be an astronomical observation post. (3) At the foot of the hill is the Devil’s Bed! A word about the Devil’s Bed. The horizontal stone is polished smooth, very smooth. Although the surface is uneven, something polished the top surface of that stone so smooth that you can run your hand over if without scraping your skin. I found one other stone like this as part of the "Allee Couverte Sud", a dolmen a little further down the fields. There are more megalithic sites on this solstice line: a devil’s stone in Poilvache, a "Zeupire" stone in Gozee and a dolmen in Bellignies. Whoever planted those stones had not only a great astronomical knowledge but was able to project their knowledge onto a wide landscape.

"Allee Couverte Nord", a megalithic chamber built out of massive stones.

Opposite view of"Allee Couverte Nord".

We leave the White Menhir behind and we go the "Allee Couverte Nord", an impressive dolmen with a cover stone of 20 to 30 tons and support stones of 20 tons each. All the stones together comprise more than 150 tons of stones! (4) This dolmen had been hidden behind the bushes for a long time until the officials cleared the place in 1881. It comprises 16 stones. In 1906 excavations revealed three incomplete skeletons.

Then in 1888 a second equally impressive dolmen was found, "Allee Couverte South", not in the bushes, it was dug out! It became obvious that this one had intentionally been covered with dirt a couple of centuries ago. In 1888 it was accidentally discovered when ploughing a field. It consists of 20 big stones. The front stone has a half circular opening that gives access to the interior of the chamber.

The Southern Dolmen and the Devil's Bed both are on the solstitium line, as are the Menhirs of Oppagne with the White Menhir. (Yellow lines on map below)

The Southern Dolmen, dug out, is a bit in disarray. Notice the stone on the bottom of the picture. Just like with the Devil's Bed, the top surface of this stone has been polished extremely flat and smoothly. The stone out of which all the megaliths in Weris are made is a conglomerate rock, pudding-stone, and extremely hard (Pudding-stone is composed of little stones, sandstone, limestone, quarts and flint). When you lie down on the rock, you can feel an energy going through your body, horizontal to its surface and only in one direction.

In 1906 three menhirs were found, also covered with dirt, in the nearby village of Oppagne. When they were found they were lying down, in pieces, next to each other and covered with dirt. Their location is not exact anymore as they were once transported to a park, but returned afterwards.

These menhirs line up with the White Menhir on the solstitium line (yellow line on map; the solstice lines are 53 degrees from geographic north and south at the latitude of Weris); and on the equinox line (geographic east-west) with a legendary stone, Pas-Bayard, to the east, and with the "Pierre St.-Nicholas" a little further on the same equinox line.

A new age was dawning for the megalithic stones, as in 1947 a farmer plowed up another menhir, 3.6 m high and 8 tons. Ms. Danthine of the University of Leuven pulled it away and set it up along the road with a sign "Menhir". It is called the Danthine Menhir

Then a dog began to dig some ten feet from the "Allee Couverte South", this instigated another find of three more menhirs lying down. One wonders why all those megalithic stones were intentionally covered with dirt. The solution probably lies in the arrival of Christianity. When the Catholic Church moved northwards to impose their religious doctrines upon the "heathen", it often demonized and destroyed the old religion. In reaction to this, the local population hid their knowledge, and in the case of the megalithic stones, the only choice was to cover them with dirt so the Church would not even suspect the existence thereof. At the famous site of Avebury, Southern England, some of the stones were also found buried. As a skeleton was found underneath one of the huge slabs (the stone had fallen unexpectedly on one of the people), it was possible to date the event to the 14-15th century.

So, what do we have up to now: an astronomical observation post, the equinox and solstice line, and a number a megalithic sites in the fields which archeologists think were used for human sacrifices and bloody rituals. After all they had found human remains buried in or next to the dolmens. Archeologists, like so many other scientists, first come up with a theory and then proclaim this to be the truth. Whatever doesn't fit their theory is discarded. It has become well established that almost all the megalithic sites in Europe have astronomical alignments, this reflects a sophisticated knowledge of astronomy.(5) According to archeologists these monuments were build 5000 to 8000 years ago when man (in Europe) was but a primitive creature with only stone or copper tools. He sure had other things to do than schlepping tons of stones around. Could it not be that the megalithic monuments were much older, and had been built by a more developed and knowledgeable society that had perished? Later on, other cultures had found the stones, and buried some of their people at those sacred sites. You see, the stones themselves can not be radio-carbon dated, therefore we do not know how old the megaliths are. The dating is done on the human remains found on the sites, and archeologists thought they were the creators of the megaliths. More evidence for an older culture, at least 12000 years ago, is being found continuously all over the planet. The latest great find is a big stone pyramid, amidst a large city under water, off the coast of a Japanese island. (In the waters around Okinawa and beyond to the small island of Yonaguni.) This find has sent a shock wave through archeological circles, since the stone pyramid has to date from a time when the sea level was lower than the level on which the pyramid stands. Scientific records of the sea level show that this must have been more than 12000 years ago. (6)

The "three" menhirs of Oppagne

Is it than a surprise then, that when we put the megalithic sites of Weris on a map, we find that they form the constellation of the Great Bear, or the Great Wagon? The Great Wagon consists of seven stars, of which four form the wagon and three the shaft or the horse. The ancients were very meticulous about representing this constellation in the fields of Weris. The center star in the shaft (or horse part) is Epsilon, Ursae Majoris, also called Alioth. It has a small companion star, Zeta, Ursae Majoris, which is hardly visible. The Arabs called it Saidak, what means "the test", because they used it to see if your eyes were sharp enough to distinguish it from Alioth. The megalithic site corresponding to Alioth is the three menhirs of Oppagne. Actually there are only two menhirs, because one of them is broken in two. The tall menhir is Alioth, the small menhir is Saidak. For two stars in the constellation of the Great Wagon the megaliths are missing. At the place of the star of Merak is a fountain, but perhaps the stone is still buried there. At the place of Al Kaid is a rock with a hole in it, which the locals call "Pas Bouhaimont", or "Step of the Ox of Haimon". Haimon, in the local legends, was a leader and Al Kaid in Arabian means leader or guide. Al Kaid is the star at the top of the shaft or horse, guiding us to the next constellation, Bootes the Herdsman.

Most of the megaliths are placed in a row over a distance of 2400 feet (7400 meters). When we also take into account the originals sites of those stones that have been removed by man, we see that those megaliths form five parallel lines which run from south-south east to north-worth east in a 26.5 degree angle from geographic north. 26.5 degrees is exactly half of 53 degrees, which is the angle of the solstice lines with geographic north and south. A detailed map of Weris and environment with the megalithic sites and solstice and equinox lines can be viewed here.

The ancient quarry were all the Weris megaliths were cut.

Where did the creators of those megalithic sites get the stones? In Weris, hidden in the woods, is the old quarry from which the stones were cut and transported. It is one of my favorite spots in Weris. Many thousands of years ago the ancients cut blocks of stone in all shapes and forms, of many tons each, and transported them down the hill. In a diameter of a kilometer or two (one or two miles) there are still hundreds of finished and unfinished megaliths strewn around. It looks like the builders suddenly stopped the work and left. What could have happened? It must have been a great catastrophe to force them to stop working overnight. Weris is not alone in this regard. All over the world we find evidence that the ancients suddenly stopped what they were building, leaving their work unfinished. It suggests a world wide catastrophe that ended a well organized, highly advanced and knowledgeable culture. I thought long about who the megalithic builders were and I have come to the conclusion that the megaliths must have been built in the latter days of Atlantis, before its destruction in 10,000 BC.

Perhaps the megalithic sites were all built by the same people, a class of megalithic masons so to speak. After all, wherever you go the ancient sites are all characterized by great astronomical, architectural knowledge that is way beyond the knowledge of common man. They also must have had sophisticated tools to project their astronomical knowledge onto the surface of the planet. There is also the question of how twenty or more tons of stone blocks were transported, sometimes over many miles. Legends tell that Stonehenge was built with stones that were levitated by magic from large distances. The Incas claim that the ancients built cyclopean buildings with a technology of sound. It appears that the Atlanteans were able to cut stones with something that might resemble microwaves, and were able to temporarily annihilate gravity to move the cut stones.

One of the stone serpents, made out of small rocks loosely piled up that connect most of the megalithic sites.

Another stone serpent running through the woods.

There is more! When you talk about megalithic sites you talk about energy. Many of those sites were built on energy spots of the earth, ley lines. The subtle energy of the earth was diverted to the sites. On many sites you still can feel the energy pulsing through, although the earth’s energy waxes and wanes. I was able to get a copy of a brochure made by a self-made druid living near Weris. He is also a clairvoyant and sensitive to subtle energies. He spent a lot of time with the megalithic stones in Weris, and was sometimes guided by ancient spirit beings still residing at those spots. He pointed out an overlooked feature, which he called the snakes. They seem to start from the highest point in the landscape, the White Menhir. At the bottom of it a little stone wall, rocks loosely piled up, winds down the hill and branches of to the other megalithic sites. Nowadays the network is incomplete as roads, houses, yards and so on have cut through and sometimes removed these stone serpents. One might easily mistake them for property borders, but the fact that they only run to megalithic sites tells us otherwise. This druid claims that the White Menhir had an additional function of attracting energy from lightning and the stone serpents would guide this energy to the megalithic sites to charge them up. Now here is an interesting thought. He also found additional dolmens, some still in good shape, hidden in the woods. He doesn’t want to make them public in order to protect them from vandalism and misuse. I found two of them, well hidden behind dense foliage. Very nice, it was obvious that someone was doing rituals at these spots.

This picture was taken as I went down the hill at the base of the White Menhir where the stone serpents start.

The round cut disk at the quarry.

I went to the back of the White Menhir, where the top of the hill suddenly drops off. I followed one of the stone serpents from the base of the White Menhir all the way to a small, forgotten, stone circle. A couple of stones were missing, and more than half had fallen down over time. A little distance from here, also in the woods, I stumbled upon an amazing structure: a massive stone, almost cubic in shape. Right angles, flat sides, and as far as I remember, at least 10 feet (3 meters) wide, high and deep. It was obviously an artificial object, and sitting in the middle of the woods, in a flat area. One wonders what it is doing there, why it was cut that way and what purpose it must have had. Or was it one of those unfinished pieces left behind? It must weigh many, many tons. At the quarry I had also found rocks cut in a weird, straight and slanted angles. There was one rock cut into a perfectly symmetrical, round disk, approximately three feet in diameter. It made me think of the so-called "witches tables" found in the woods of the Ardennes. Some of them are said to turn around by themselves on special nights.

Does the White Menhir not look like a penis?

The druid I mentioned before also tells of a hill ridge he found next to the hill where the White Menhir is. The hill ridge is overgrown with trees and shrubs. It is not always easy to find the megalithic sites up there, some of them are in disarray, others are clearly man made but not of a clearly defined structure. With his psychic abilities and his contact with the local spiritual beings he came to the conclusion that this hill ridge, together with the White Menhir, represents and emanates energies corresponding to the seven chakras. The White Menhir represents the lowest, or base chakra, at the lower end of the spine, where also the genitals are. Does the White Menhir, with his inclination of 45° , not look like a gigantic penis? I had a look on the hill ridge, it was a difficult climb and walk on the top. There were definitely some strange structures, but it was difficult to tell what they actually were, although I found on the hillside a small dolmen.

There are many aspects to megalithic sites, and it is a wonder how they all blend together. When we put everything together we have a vast and complicated site that was used for astronomical purposes, for rituals, for healing, for energy work, and maybe more. It is not an understatement to say that Weris must have been a very important megalithic center in Europe in the time it was built.

I used to wonder why the ancients, and let us assume they were Atlanteans, were building astronomical sites all over the world. The most plausible answer is that knowledge and technology was kept in the hands of a small elite, and that part of this elite went around the world giving the common people the means to establish a calendar by astronomical alignments. A accurate calendar is an absolute necessity for agriculture (sowing needs to happen on the right time), as well as for certain rituals that required subtle energies of the earth and celestial bodies that would fluctuate to cosmic rhythms.

There is more to Weris than what I have written about. I didn't visit all the sites. There are also small elevations in the landscape where more megalithic stones might be buried. The astronomical alignments seem to connect to other sites outside of Weris, and one wonder why the constellation of the Great Wagon was chosen. After all, some mysteries must remain, otherwise we stop wondering.

If you decide to visit Weris, pass by "Les herbes de Myrddyn" ("De kruiden van Myrddyn"), a non-profit organization, where working with herbs is central. Also classes in alternative life styles. Guest accommodations available. Their website: http://www.lesherbesdemyrddyn.be/

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