Moon Power

THIS VIDEO IS REALLY AWESOME TO WATCH

For 6,000 years the eerie standing stones at Callanish on Lewis have intrigued archaeologists and

historians. The monuments, which were erected by Neolithic farming people, are believed to have a

special association with the cycle of the moon. A TV programme, to be shown this weekend to

coincide with a full moon and also a total eclipse of the moon, will explore the stones’ lunar

importance.

Starting at 11:30pm on Saturday, the face of the moon will darken, as the shadow of the Earth

passes across its entire lit surface. By 1:18am on Sunday, the moon will reflect no light at all,

as the total eclipse blacks it out, a spectacle which will be seen across Britain.

The lunar association with Callanish will be examined in Moon Power, a BBC Natural World

programme. The site includes a central circle with four limbs running out in line with the points

of the compass. Some of the stones are said to be aligned with the sun and moon at various times

of the year and could have been used to predict eclipses and the coming of the seasons.

The programme will feature a simulation of a moonlit event which happens every 18 and a half

years at Callanish and which culminates in the appearance of the "Earth Mother", a figure

seemingly outlined in the shape of the hills to the south of Callanish. The next event is not due

to happen until 2006.

Local people call the image "Sleeping Beauty" in English or "Cailleach na Mointeach" in Gaelic -

which translates as "The Old Woman of the Moors".

After rising over the Earth Mother, the moon passes through the Callanish stones two to five

hours later. As this happens, if a person stands on the hillock at the higher south end of the

site, the moon is "reborn" with a person silhouetted within it.