| Bicycle touring Sardinia. We
descended from Li Mura to nearby Giant's Grave. When we saw it,
we realized why it was so named: its dimensions were huge! The
tallest rock in a semi-circle of standing stones loomed upwards
some fifteen feet. A burial chamber -- located behind an arched
opening in the headstone -- was a twenty-foot-long trench where
the ancients had buried bodies side by side. The hole in the
bottom of the center stone was believed to be a gateway that
allowed spirits to come and go between our world and theirs.
I stared at the immense headstone, and wondered less about the
ancient's spirit world convictions, but more about how, in 1800-1200
BC, they had managed to set the immense blocks upright. As I
stood pondering, the low angle of the setting sun struck a notch
in one of the lesser slabs, producing a flare that bathed the
grounds in dramatic spirituality. For an instant, I gained insight
into their beliefs of how the powerful forces of nature had directed
their daily lives. Then, just as quickly as the sun set, the
intuition was gone. |
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