In the town of Elberton, located in north Georgia, USA, there stands a mysterious monolithic structure of stone. Resembling something out of Stonehenge, this enormous granite construct stands nineteen feet high, and is built from five rectangular slabs plus a capstone. The upright granite slabs list, in eight Languages, (Arabic, Chinese, English, Hebrew, Hindi, Russian, Spanish, and Swahili) guidelines for ‘rebuilding humanity in an age of reason.’ Like their ancient counterparts these stones are also positioned with astronomical significance. The Twisted Dixie.Com: Your Guide To The Strange and Unusual In The South website has some nice pictures of them .

Whoever is responsible for their construction is unknown. A stranger who called himself R.C. Christian commissioned the project in 1979 as a monument to 'conservation'. Mr. Christian's true identity has never been revealed, and the sponsors of the Georgia Guidestones remain shrouded in secrecy to this day.

The Message:

The Guidestones have been referred to by some as a monument to God, others refer to it as a monument to Satan, saying that the 10 'Guides' are actually the '10 Commandments of the Anti-Christ'. I'll leave that determination to each visitor, but I feel that a visit to the site is a good idea, if you are in the region.

Georgia's 'Stonehenge' is a fascinating place in Elbert county, GA. Unfortunately, many people associate it with witchcraft or a cult, but I believe it was constructed by people who care about humanity and the environment, and just wish to enlighten others. No-one is suggesting wiping out the majority of the worlds population in order to be 'in balance with Nature'. The world was not created in a day, and it's going to take us much longer to get it sorted out than it took God to create it. Visit the stones. Read the messages with an open mind, and you will come away refreshed and inspired.

-two personal opinions by visitors to the stones

Engraved on each stone is a list of guidelines for rebuilding human society (apparently after some great catastrophe).

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.

People have read a lot into these messages that may or may not really be there. Radio Liberty states: 'The messages engraved on the Georgia Guidestones deal with four major fields: (1) Governance and the establishment of a world government, (2) Population and reproduction control, (3) The environment and man's relationship to nature, and (4) Spirituality.'

World government? Message 6 says, ‘Let all nations rule INTERNALLY resolving external disputes in a world court.’ This sounds more like an opinion that individual nations should let an international court, much like the UN, settle disputes.

The ‘guiding reproduction’ guideline has reminded some people of the Nazi breeding program, but the Guidestone does stress ‘diversity’, which sounds more likely to be a concern for keeping the gene pool from getting stale.

The fact that sponsors are listed as a ‘small group of Americans who seek ‘The Age Of Reason¹’' spurs a lot of people to assume that this small group is The Freemasons or some other ‘secret society’ bent on controlling the world.

Most of the concern is centred around the first guideline. Instead of seeing this as guide for a world that has ALREADY experienced a planet-wide tragedy, they assume that this small group of elites is planning an apocalypse! The most popular conspiracy theory postulates a flu-like epidemic unleashed on an unsuspecting populace.

Christian website Radio Liberty is also of the opinion that it’s designed to help ‘destroy the Judeo-Christian beliefs upon which our Republic was founded.’ This website blames the Rosicrucians (and apparently believes they’re the same as the Illuminati ²). On balance, here’s a non-Christian guide to ‘spiritual places’ that also contains a huge chunk of info from the Elberton Museum guidebook: Church of Y Dynion Mwyn.

TripAdvisor.com merely states, 'Called America's Stonehenge, these stones mark the spot believed to be the centre of the universe by the Cherokee Indians.'

The Astronomy:

Like much of the architecture of the ancients, the guidestones also have a position significant to the movement of earth through the heavens.

The four upright blocks are positioned to bracket the limits of the moon's migration during the course of a year.

A slot cut in the middle upright block aligns with the rising sun at the summer and winter solstices and again at the equinox projecting a ray of light on a curved line at noon.

A hole is drilled through the north/south sides of the middle pillar so that the North Star is always visible.

The capstone is cut with a hole through which the sun shines at noon on the south face of the centre stone enabling one to tell the day of the year.

The stones stand alone on a hilltop flanked on one side by the road, and another by a cow pasture and distant private homes. The stones are viewed by some as an interesting oddity, by others as an intellectual inspiration, and others still, find their vaguely occult significance either inviting or threatening.

Links

A nice account of one family’s trip to the site.

A site with a lot of tourist-friendly info and an explanation of the ‘Mystical Significance’ of the stones: Aquarius-Atlanta.com

People making money from other people’s fears: the Conspiracy - a special report

Using history to suit your assumptions: An Historical Timeline of Population Control

Lots of nice pictures by a non-hysterical Christian man: Derrick R. Gable

Message board rant that drags Jacque Cousteau into the conspiracy: Armageddon Online.org

This site blames the Skull and Bones Society, the fraternity club that former US President George W. Bush belongs to! : Above Top Secret. Good-sized pictures, though.

My absolute favourite, from The Canada Free Press: Georgia Guidestones: Message to mankind or giant peeing post?