Serpent Mound (Ohio, Pennsylvania) Trip and Survey; Part 2

Serpent Mound, in Peebles, Ohio is the world's largest effigy mound, it is  in the shape of snake. The serpent  is a 1,348 foot long earthen mound approximately 3 feet high consisting of several layers:
Top Layer--Sod
˜Next--Dark soil,
Next---Yellow clay and stones
Bottom layer--Gray clay or decomposed rock. 

Source AFK to Serpent Mound Tail--upper left, Head/Jaws around egg--upper right

There has been considerable debate over whether it was constructed by the Hopewell or the Adena. Recent archeological research points to the Adena as it is estimated to be more than 2,000 years old (New Radiocarbon Dates Suggest Serpent Mound is More Than 2,000 Years Old,  History Got it Wrong: Scientists Now Say Serpent Mound as Old as Aristotle .) So we can assume it was constructed by the Adena.

We may also assume that it is an Adena ceremonial site as no skeletons were ever found buried in it. There are very few Adena ceremonial sites left standing, as many were destroyed by treasure hunters and farmers. What few Adena mounds are left standing are burial sites.

Clearly Serpent Mound is a ceremonial site as you can feel the earth energies exuding from the serpent. Unfortunately, the vibe is not the greatest as the site was desecrated over the intervening years. And while kudos' go out to the Professor Putnam, Harvaard University and the Ohio Historical Society for rescuing the "physical structure", the "spiritual space" of the serpent continues to be disrespected. As I have noted on this blog and wrote about in detail in Vortices and Spirals, our thoughts linger and are retained wherever we go; we leave imprints on the land. If the thoughts are loving, focused on the divine the encourage and bolster similar in others, if they are focused on the material, worse yet, violence--it is not good.

While many do visit with solemness, pray/meditate and do ceremony and spread tobacco and perform other spiritual practices as we did, most don't. The focus is on the physical and not on the spiritual presence there and the way it affects your being. Sad. Particularly sad because I imagine that many cried for a vision there, prayed to great Spirit, gave thanks, prayed for others and more and those thoughts were once very powerful there and lingered in the ether beckoning others to do the same. VERY SAD!!!

Here are some pics:

We used the area in front of marker below as our Welcome Circle; smudging, prayers, ceremony and spreading tobacco.

View from the tower facing the head.

View from the tower of the tail. 

Looking towards the head. Dogs allowed as long as they are on a leash. Pepper and Jaeda Bear got pretty rev'ed up from the earth energies.

One of the turns in the serpent.

What many consider to be the egg, near the jaws of the serpent. Behind me is a bench we meditated on and said prayers.

Looking from the head back to the tail. Notice the tower.

Looking to the head on the other side of the tower.

The tail and the overlook.

The tail.

  

The paved path provides for a nice contemplative walk.