Stone Pilgrimage

This is how my mind works.  If you scare easily, stop reading now.

Ok, you are still reading….you must be a glutton for punishment.  There are many of you out there.

On Tuesday, June 19, I had the television on the History channel and they were showing a marathon of Ancient Alien Theory, a show I absolutely love.  Giorgio A. Tsoukalos is my favorite speaker on this show.  He has crazy man hair and likes it.

Giorgio A. Tsoukalos

I was listening to Giorgio talk about the Mayan calendar, extra-terrestrial life, UFOs, etc. and I was overcome with the desire to get my ass to Georgia to see the Georgia Guidestones.  I don’t remember how I first heard about the stones but last year I watched Brad Meltzer’s Decoded episode featuring them.   I also did a tremendous amount of research to make it part of my New Religious Movement final thesis.  My fictional religion was based on the Guidestones and Lady Gaga as a charismatic leader for the apocalyptic end of the world.

http://girlboxer1970.com/2012/01/01/lady-gaga-leader-of-the-church-of-ga/

Don’t be silly.  I don’t believe Lady Gaga is going to take over the world even if she has enough little monsters following her to do so.

I had previously looked into traveling by train to Georgia but that didn’t seem like an appropriate action.  I wanted to drive to Georgia in the worst way so I called for a car rental price.  That was a no go because I didn’t have a major credit card or a job and Dale could not rent a car for me to drive.  This was a very personal, spiritual trip that I wanted to take alone or possibly with my sister Suz.  She just started a new job so she wasn’t going to be able to travel.  With no way to legally rent a car, I decided I was going to take my 20 year old Honda Accord and travel in faith.

I planned to drive to Cummings, GA first (near Atlanta) and stay with Dale’s sister, Georgie.  In my duffel bag I had a pair of jeans, a nice blouse, a York College t-shirt, two pair of shorts, swimsuit and other essentials I expected to need.  Grabbed Ying’s dog food, my laptop, camera and cell and I walked out the door for Georgia at 1:30 PM without telling anyone.

A few hours into driving I texted Dale “I’ve got GA in my GPS!” and he responded “good!”  It wasn’t until he came home from work that he realized I meant I was driving at that moment.  My leaving without saying goodbye upset him and I completely understood why he was upset.  I explained that I believe God wanted me to leave right then.  I didn’t question myself with this belief and I didn’t want to give anyone the opportunity to question it.  There would be no one trying to talk me out of driving my car over 1,000 miles to see this granite monument if Ying and I just left.

At first it seemed like I was making great time.  I was passing through states quickly and my GPS (speaking in Spanish) gave an arrival time of 2:00 AM.  I drove straight through to South Carolina before I stopped at midnight at a rest area and fell asleep in my car.  Ying who had been napping the entire trip stood guard while I dozed.  I awoke at 6 AM seriously cramped from sleeping in a Honda Accord.  After a potty trip and some stretching, Ying and I hit the road.

We drove for about an hour and I couldn’t keep my eyes open.  At the next rest stop I pulled off again and slept until 8 AM.  I know the dangers of driving when you are so sleepy you can’t keep your eyes open.  Another hour of rest did me wonders and for the second time on Wednesday, we left for Georgia.

At noon I noticed Elberton had popped up on the GPS and suddenly driving to Cummings first was no longer an option.  I texted Dale I was going to the stones first, then to his sister’s house.  That didn’t happen either…

I didn’t know the road the stones were on so I just put Elberton into the GPS.  I saw the Georgia Guidestones on the hill before the GPS announced we were in Elberton.  There was a small sign noting the Guidestones location on Guidestone Road.  I had already passed the road so I turned around.  If you are not looking, the sign and the stones would easily be missed.

At first I felt giddy at finally reaching my destination 24 hours after leaving Pennsylvania. But as I drove up the gravel road, I was overcome with emotion.  This was not the reaction I had expected.  Tears were flowing out of my eyes and my nose was running so bad it grossed me out.  I had no tissues or napkins left in the car so I opted for my York College t-shirt.  I couldn’t get out of my car at first, even after all that driving.

After making a video with Ying full of crying, blubbering and probably not making much sense, I exited my car and headed to the stones.  There were other people there also.  Two men appeared to be making a documentary and were interviewing another man.  I didn’t pay much attention to them as I walked towards the stones.  When I came around to the English inscription and read it in person, touching the granite, I lost it again.

The documentary guys had finished talking to the other man and now they were apparently watching me.  I have no idea who they were and their white passenger van gave no clues to their business.  No one else got out of the van even though I could see the outline of other people through the tinted windows.

The tears were really rolling while I leaned on that granite stone trying to grasp what all it meant for the future of the world.  I tried to get a grip but it was pointless so I just bawled like a baby.  I could hear the man with the video saying, “Now tell me people don’t believe what these stones say?  There is a woman weeping on the monument and that is proof of belief.”  How the hell did I wind up in this man’s video about the Georgia Guidestones?  Neither man tried to speak to me and I was pleased.  I didn’t drive there to have some religious debate or discuss my personal beliefs.  That’s what I have a blog for.

Engraved on the stones:

A message consisting of a set of ten guidelines or principles is engraved on the Georgia Guidestones in eight different languages, one language on each face of the four large upright stones. Moving clockwise around the structure from due north, these languages are: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, andRussian.

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely — improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion — faith — tradition — and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth — beauty — love — seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth — Leave room for nature — Leave room for nature.

So why was I crying?  Relief.  I felt a huge relief.  Maybe because my car made it and that was my goal.  No, that’s not why.  I cried because I am saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.  When I read on these huge tablets that the population of the Earth will be reduced to 500 million people I interpret that as the apocalypse that is written about in the Bible.  I’m not going to be one of the people left behind.  On December 21, 2012 the Mayan calendar ends.  What do a bunch of Mayan people know?  I’m thinking they knew more about the Heavens then we will ever learn before the end of times.  They didn’t just run out of rocks so there must be a reason the calendar ends on that day.  I was at the Mayan ruins and there was no shortage of stones.

My religious beliefs are out there.  I was raised in the Lutheran faith and I’m thankful for that.  I learned all the Bible stories, went to Sunday school and VBS over the summers.  I memorized the Lord’s Prayer, the Nicene Creed, Bible verses and songs.  I believe what it says in the Bible.  It’s not some fictional book full of crazy stories.  It’s a non-fiction book full of crazy stories.  All of the stories revolving around an alien named God who decided to create Earth and everything on it.

There were many people who came to see the stones in the 45 minutes I was there.  I could tell by watching them who knew what the stones were all about and who was getting a shock by way of huge, granite tablets that day.  Some were outraged and stated it was someone with money who wanted to cause a stir.  That theory doesn’t work for me.  The land had to be purchased, the monument drawn up on blueprints, and then taken to the granite company to be made and placed.  This all happened in 1979-1980 so if the goal was just to stir things up in the world, it was a complete failure.  Even in Georgia, people had no idea what I was talking about.  Dale’s sister Georgie lives less than 2 hours from the monument and had never heard about it.

It was hot on that hill and there was no shade available other than standing under the capstone of the monument.  Ying had crawled under my car to get out of the sun.  I would have left the car run if I had air-conditioning but that took a shit back when the car was still my brother Sam’s.  This trip has reminded me how luxurious cooled air is.  I texted Dale I was leaving the stones and coming home.  He asked why and I wrote back, “I saw what I came to see in GA.”  I pushed the home button on my GPS and was headed back to Pennsylvania.

My faith in God is stronger than it has ever been and I am thankful he watched over me on my pilgrimage to see the Georgia Guidestones.  ~P.

Want to read more about the Guidestones and why people feel the need to do this?

Click here  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_Guidestones